1664

Today in History 10/28/16

Today in History
(312 CE) Constantine takes on Maxentius after a heavenly vision
312 CE The River Tiber’s banks swarm with charging men, clashing metal, and rearing horses as hundreds of thousands fight for control of the Roman Empire in its capital. Some accounts claim Constantine saw a vision from the Christian god the night before, and his side emerges victorious. .

The Battle of the Milvian Bridge took place between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius on 28 October 312. It takes its name from the Milvian Bridge, an important route over the Tiber. Constantine won the battle and started on the path that led him to end the Tetrarchy and become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Maxentius drowned in the Tiber during the battle and his body was later taken from the river and decapitated.

Date: 312 AD

— Source: wiki/Battle_of_the_Milvian_Bridge
(1420) Construction finishes on China’s new capital city
Seventeen years of a massive building project completed, Beijing is now China’s capital city. Having restored the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Zhu Di desires a power center to match his ambitions, and he’ll get just that as Beijing’s imperial palace, the Forbidden City, opens this year as well. . 1420

Beijing is the capital of the People’s Republic of China and the world’s third most populous city proper. It is also one of the world’s most populous capital cities. The city, located in northern China, is governed as a direct-controlled municipality under the national government with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts. Beijing Municipality is surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighboring Tianjin Municipality to the southeast; together the three divisions form the Jingjinji metropolitan region and the national capital region of China.

Population: 21.70 million (2015)
Area: 6,487 sq miles (16,801 km²)
Host of: 2008 Summer Olympics
Colleges and universities: Tsinghua University · Peking University · Beijing Language and Culture University · Beijing Normal University

— Source: wiki/Beijing
(1664) A legendary fighting force forms in Britain
1664 Chartered by King Henry VIII, England’s Honourable Artillery adds a new company to its roster, The Duke of York and Albany’s Maritime Regiment of Foot. They’ll go on to be renamed the Royal Marines almost 100 years later, and emerge as one of the world’s great fighting units. .

The Corps of Royal Marines is the United Kingdom’s amphibious light infantry force, forming part of the Naval Service, along with the Royal Navy. The Royal Marines were formed in 1755 as the Royal Navy’s infantry troops. However, the marines can trace their origins back to the formation of the English Army’s “Duke of York and Albany’s maritime regiment of Foot” at the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company on 28 October 1664.

Founded: 1755

— Source: wiki/Royal_Marines
(1886) Lady Liberty lifts a lamp over New York Harbor
‘Liberty Enlightening the World,’ 151-feet of copper neoclassical sculpture, is accepted as a gift from France and dedicated by US President Grover Cleveland after hundreds of thousands of revelers throw the world’s first ticker-tape parade in honor of the new lady of Liberty Island. . 1886

The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, a French sculptor, was built by Gustave Eiffel and dedicated on October 28, 1886. It was a gift to the United States from the people of France. The statue is of a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess, who bears a torch and a tabula ansata upon which is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. A broken chain lies at her feet. The statue is an icon of freedom and of the United States, and was a welcoming sight to immigrants arriving from abroad.

Address: Liberty Island, New York, NY 10004
Website: www.nps.gov/stli/index.htm
Phone: (212) 363-3200
Established: Oct 28, 1886
Annual visitors: 3.20 million (2009)
Architects: Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi · Gustave Eiffel · Richard Morris Hunt

— Source: wiki/Statue_of_Liberty
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Today in History

Today in History
(1664) The Dutch lose New Amsterdam to England and the Duke of York
1664 Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant peacefully hands over control of New Amsterdam, a small settlement at the tip of North America’s Manhattan Island, to the English after realizing he has no support to fight for it. The colony will be renamed New York City in tribute to England’s Duke of York.
(1900) Deadly hurricane strikes Texas
The Gulf Coast town of Galveston, Texas, is torn apart by 145-mph winds, as a Category 4 hurricane makes landfall. Along with the wind comes catastrophic flooding, and the combination will result in upwards of 12,000 fatalities, making this the deadliest hurricane in US history. . 1900
The Great Galveston Hurricane was a Category 4 storm, with winds of up to 145 mph per hour, which made landfall on September 8, 1900, in Galveston, Texas, in the United States, leaving about 8,000 dead. It was the deadliest hurricane in US history.

Damages: $21 million USD (1900)
Formed: Aug 27, 1900
Dissipated: Sep 12, 1900
Highest winds: 142.92 mph (230 km/h)

— Source: wiki/1900_Galveston_hurricane
(1935) Louisiana’s populist politician brought down in Baton Rouge
1935 Firebrand, brilliant political tactician, and powerful public speaker, Huey Long, US Senator from Louisiana, is famously controversial, and his over-the-top career now ends as an assassin’s bullets hit him in Louisiana’s State Capitol. Long will succumb to his wounds two days later. .
Huey Pierce Long Jr., nicknamed The Kingfish, was an American politician who served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a member of the United States Senate from 1932 until his assassination in 1935. A Democrat, he was an outspoken populist who denounced the rich and the banks, and called for “Share our Wealth.” As the political boss of the state, he commanded wide networks of supporters and was willing to take forceful action. He established the political prominence of the Long family.

Lived: Aug 30, 1893 – Sep 10, 1935 (age 42)
Height: 5′ 10″ (1.78 m)

— Source: wiki/Huey_Long
(1966) New show boldly goes where no show has gone before
Gene Rodenberry pitched his story of 23rd-century interstellar exploration as a sort of outer space Western, and tonight ‘Star Trek’ makes its TV debut. The series will be cancelled just three seasons in, but reruns in syndication prove that the show will live long and prosper. . 1966
The adventures of the USS Enterprise, representing the United Federation of Planets on a five-year mission in outer space to explore new worlds, seek new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no man has gone before. The Enterprise is commanded by handsome and brash Captain James T. Kirk. His First Officer and best friend is Mr. Spock from the planet Vulcan, and Kirk’s Medical Officer is Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy. With its crew of approximately 430, the Enterprise battles aliens, megalomanical computers, time paradoxes, psychotic murderers, and even Khan!

First episode: Sep 08, 1966
Number of episodes: 79
Episode duration: 50 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Quotes: Where no man has gone before
Theme song: Theme from Star Trek

— Source: wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series
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