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Today in History 06/30/17

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Painting of King Henry II of France (© Hulton Fine Art Collection/Getty Images)(1559) A knightly sport claims a king
France’s King Henry II is celebrating both his daughter’s wedding and peace with the Habsburgs in one of his favorite ways, by jousting. This will be his final match, as a lance fragment strikes him in the head, killing him days later. The royal death will hasten the sport’s decline.
Henry II was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder brother Francis III, Duke of Brittany, in 1536.
Lived: Mar 31, 1519 – Jul 10, 1559 (age 40)
Spouse: Catherine de’ Medici (m. 1533)
Children: Henry III of France (Son) · Elisabeth of Valois (Daughter) · Charles IX of France (Son) · Claude of France (Daughter) · Francis II of France (Son) · Francis, Duke of Anjou (Son) · Victoria of France (Daughter) · Louis of Valois (Son) · Margaret of Valois (Daughter) · Joan of France (Daughter) · Henri d’Angoulême (Son) · Diane de France (Daugh…
Parents: Francis I of France (Father) · Claude of France (Mother)
Siblings: Francis III, Duke of Brittany (Brother) · Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry (Sister)
Buried: Basilica of St Denis
Highlights
  • 1533: Henry married Catherine de’ Medici, a member of the ruling family of Florence, on 28 October 1533, when they were both fourteen years old.

  • 1536: The second son of Francis I, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder brother Francis III, Duke of Brittany, in 1536.

  • 1554: Henry captured the three episcopal cities of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and secured them by defeating the Habsburg army at the Battle of Renty in 1554.

  • 1556: After the abdication of Charles V in 1556, the Habsburg empire was split between Philip II of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I.

  • 1559: The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis was signed between Henry and Elizabeth I of England on 2 April and between Henry and Philip II of Spain on 3 April 1559 at Le Cateau-Cambrésis.

  • 1559: Despite the efforts of royal surgeon Ambroise Paré, the king died of septicemia on 10 July 1559.

wiki/Henry_II_of_France
Charles Blondin crossing Niagara Gorge on a tightrope in 1859 (© William England/Getty Images)(1859) A terrifying tightrope walk conquers the air above Niagara
French daredevil ‘The Great Blondin’ steps out onto a 2-inch-diameter, 1,300-foot hemp rope stretched 160-feet above a raging gorge, and 25,000 spectators hold their collective breath. Blondin will travel from America to Canada on the first tightrope walk over Niagara Falls.
Charles Blondin was a French tightrope walker and acrobat. Blondin was born on 28 February 1824 at St Omer, Pas-de-Calais, France. His real name was Jean-François Gravelet and he was known also by the names Charles Blondin, Jean-François Blondin and called the “Chevalier Blondin”, or simply “The Great Blondin”. At the age of five he was sent to the École de Gymnase at Lyon and, after six months training as an acrobat, made his first public appearance as “The boy Wonder”. His superior skill and grace, as well as the originality of the settings of his acts, made him a popular favourite. He first married Marie Blancherie, and at the same time legitimised their son Aime Leopold. It is not known what happened to his French family after he went to America.
Born: Feb 28, 1824 · Saint-Omer, France
Died: Feb 22, 1897
Highlights
  • 1824: Blondin was born on 28 February 1824 at St Omer, Pas-de-Calais, France.

  • 1861: In 1861, Blondin first appeared in London, at the Crystal Palace, turning somersaults on stilts on a rope stretched across the central transept, 70 feet (21 m) from the ground.

  • 1862: In 1862, he again gave a series of performances at the Crystal Palace, and elsewhere in England, and on the continent of Europe.

  • 1866: While he was living in England he and Charlotte had two more children, Henry, born about 1863, and Charlotte Mary Janet, baptised on 25 April 1866.

  • 1873: On 6 September 1873, Blondin crossed Edgbaston Reservoir in Birmingham.

  • 1897: Blondin died of diabetes at his “Niagara House” in Ealing, London, on 22 February 1897, in his 73rd year, and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.

wiki/Charles_Blondin
(From left) Adolf Hitler with SA leader Ernst Röhm circa 1933 (© Photo12/UIG via Getty Images)(1934) Hitler orders a purge of potential political rivals
Turning his homicidal paranoia inwards, Adolph Hitler sends execution squads to eliminate hundreds of Nazi Party members he deems a threat to his future domination. The SS and Gestapo secret police inflict the Night of the Long Knives mostly on members of the SA, or Stormtroopers.
The Night of the Long Knives, also called Operation Hummingbird or, in Germany, the Röhm Putsch, was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from June 30 to July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political extrajudicial executions intended to consolidate Hitler’s absolute hold on power in Germany. Many of those killed were leaders of the SA, the Nazis’ own paramilitary Brownshirts organization; the best-known victim was Ernst Röhm, the SA’s leader and one of Hitler’s longtime supporters and allies. Leading members of the left-wing Strasserist faction of the Nazi Party, along with its figurehead, Gregor Strasser, were also killed, as were establishment conservatives and anti-Nazis. The murders of Brownshirt leaders were also intended to improve the image of the Hitler government with a German public that was increasingly critical of thuggish Brownshirt tactics.
Start date: Jun 30, 1934
End date: Jul 02, 1934
Night of the Long Knives

wiki/Night_of_the_Long_Knives
1953 Chevrolet Corvette (© Heritage Images/Getty Images)(1953) First Chevrolet Corvette rolls off the line
The first Corvette is built in Flint, Michigan. The ‘Vette had been designed solely for the 1953 New York Auto Show, but enthusiasm from the public and Chevy ‘s chief engineer led to production of this consumer model. It will become an iconic sports car, with the one millionth Corvette being produced in 1992.
The Chevrolet Corvette, known colloquially as the Vette, or Chevy Corvette, is a sports car manufactured by Chevrolet. The car has been produced through seven generations. The first model, a convertible, was introduced at the GM Motorama in 1953 as a concept show car. Myron Scott is credited for naming the car after the type of small, maneuverable warship called a corvette. Originally built in Flint, Michigan and St. Louis, Missouri, the Corvette is currently manufactured in Bowling Green, Kentucky and is the official sports car of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Corvette Wings

wiki/Chevrolet_Corvette
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Today in History 01/15/17

Painting of Queen Elizabeth I in coronation robes (© Universal History Archive/Getty Images)(1559) Queen Elizabeth I crowned in England
Having succeeded her half-sister Mary to the throne the previous November, the 25-year-old Elizabeth is officially crowned queen. Once declared illegitimate, the daughter of the late King Henry VIII and his executed queen, Anne Boleyn, The Virgin Queen will reign 45 years.
Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, the childless Elizabeth was the last monarch of the Tudor dynasty.
Lived: Sep 07, 1533 – Mar 24, 1603 (age 69)
Related movies: Elizabeth · Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Parents: Henry VIII of England (Father) · Anne Boleyn (Mother)
Siblings: Mary I of England (Sister) · Edward VI of England (Brother) · Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset (Brother)
Children: Piers FitzThomas Butler
Speeches: Speech to the Troops at Tilbury · The Golden Speech
Highlights
  • 1558: Elizabeth’s intention had been to exchange Le Havre for Calais, lost to France in January 1558.

  • 1563: It was her first venture into France since the retreat from Le Havre in 1563.

  • 1564: In 1564, Elizabeth raised Dudley to the peerage as Earl of Leicester.

  • 1578: Public tributes to the Virgin by 1578 acted as a coded assertion of opposition to the queen’s marriage negotiations with the Duke of Alençon.

  • 1584: In December 1584, an alliance between Philip II and the French Catholic League at Joinville undermined the ability of Anjou’s brother, Henry III of France, to counter Spanish domination of the Netherlands.

  • 1594: The queen’s personal authority was lessening, as is shown in the 1594 affair of Dr. Lopez, her trusted physician.

  • 1603: She died on 24 March 1603 at Richmond Palace, between two and three in the morning.

wiki/Elizabeth_I_of_England
British Museum in the newly converted Montagu House, circa 1810 in London (© Guildhall Library & Art Gallery/Heritage Images/Getty Images)(1759) Public invited to view national treasures
The doors open at Montagu House, a converted mansion, and the public explores thousands of curiosities, manuscripts, artworks, and antiquities. The collections of the British Museum belong to the nation, not the monarch nor a church, and they’ll grow to be among the largest and most comprehensive in the world.
The British Museum is dedicated to human history, art and culture, and is located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection, numbering some 8 million works, is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence and originates from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present.
Website: www.britishmuseum.org
Address: Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG
Phone: 020 7323 8299
Established: 1753
Founder: Hans Sloane
Architects: Robert Smirke · Sydney Smirke · Robert Hooke · John Russell Pope · John James Burnet · Spencer de Grey · John Taylor
Artwork owned: Rosetta Stone · Isabella Brant

wiki/British_Museum
Jim Taylor of the Green Bay Packers carries the ball against the Kansas City Chiefs during Super Bowl I on Jan. 15, 1967, in Los Angeles (© James Flores/Getty Images)(1967) The first Super Bowl is played in L.A.
Sixty million TV viewers tune in as the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs clash at Los Angeles’ Memorial Coliseum. Green Bay’s quarterback Bart Starr will guide the Packers to a 35-10 victory.
The first AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, known retroactively as Super Bowl I and referred to in some contemporaneous reports, including the game’s radio broadcast, as the Super Bowl, was played on January 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. The National Football League champion Green Bay Packers defeated the American Football League champion Kansas City Chiefs by the score of 35–10.
Date: Jan 15, 1967
Champion: Green Bay Packers
Runners-up: Kansas City Chiefs

wiki/Super_Bowl_I
Airline passengers wait to be rescued on the wings of a US Airways Airbus 320 jetliner that safely ditched in the frigid waters of the Hudson River in New York on Jan. 15, 2009 (© Steven Day/AP)(2009) Captain “Sully” safely lands jetliner on Hudson River
US Airways Flight 1549 strikes a flock of geese shortly after takeoff, and both engines fail. Captain Sullenberger quickly decides to land the jet on the Hudson River, saving the lives of everyone on board.
US Airways Flight 1549 was an Airbus A320-214 which, three minutes after takeoff from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport on January 15, 2009, struck a flock of Canada geese just northeast of the George Washington Bridge and consequently lost all engine power. Unable to reach any airport, pilots Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles glided the plane to a ditching in the Hudson River off midtown Manhattan. All 155 people aboard were rescued by nearby boats and there were few serious injuries.
Date: Jan 15, 2009

wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549
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Today in History

(1559) A knightly sport claims a king
1559 France’s King Henry II is celebrating both his daughter’s wedding and peace with the Habsburgs in one of his favorite ways, by jousting. This will be his final match, as a lance fragment strikes him in the head, killing him days later. The royal death will hasten the sport’s decline..
(1859) A terrifying tightrope walk conquers the air above Niagara
French daredevil ‘The Great Blondin’ steps out onto a 2-inch-diameter, 1,300-foot hemp rope stretched 160-feet above a raging gorge, and 25,000 spectators hold their collective breath. Blondin will travel from America to Canada on the first tightrope walk over Niagara Falls.. 1859
(1908) Earth’s largest impact event blasts Siberia
1908 An estimated 80 million trees are leveled as an explosion 1,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb bursts over a remote area of Siberia, Russia. Caused by an asteroid or comet, the Tunguska Event decimates over 800 square miles of forest, but no human fatalities are recorded. .
(1934) Hitler orders a purge of potential political rivals
Turning his homicidal paranoia inwards, Adolph Hitler sends execution squads to eliminate hundreds of Nazi Party members he deems a threat to his future domination. The SS and Gestapo secret police inflict the Night of the Long Knives mostly on members of the SA, or Stormtroopers. . 1934