1791

Today in History 09/30 (Hoover Dam)

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A view of Boulder Dam on the Arizona - Nevada border, circa 1936 (© Herbert/Archive Photos/Getty Images)(1935) Gargantuan construction dams the Colorado River
A five-year construction program taken on at the height of the Great Depression to harness the mighty Colorado River results in Boulder Dam, a towering hydroelectric dam stretching across Black Canyon between Arizona and Nevada. Congress will later rename the structure the Hoover Dam.
Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives. Originally known as Boulder Dam from 1933, it was officially renamed Hoover Dam, for President Herbert Hoover, by a joint resolution of Congress in 1947.
Website: www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam
Address: #, Boulder City, NV 89109
Phone: (702) 494-2517
Opened: 1936
Height: 726 feet (Architectural)
Impounds: Colorado River

The Hoover Dam from the air. Colorado river and Lake Mead. Significant water level decline is indicated by the white high water line
The Hoover Dam from the air. Colorado river and Lake Mead. Significant water level decline is indicated by the white high water line
wiki/Hoover_Dam
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(1935) Gargantuan construction of Hoover dams the Colorado River.
Also on this day,

1791 | Mozart’s final masterwork ‘The Magic Flute’ debuts in Vienna
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 35, conducts in Vienna while his sister-in-law sings a key role in the premiere performance of his newest opera, ‘The Magic Flute.’ The work will be rapturously received, but its composer will relish the achievement for just two months before falling ill and dying.
1938 | In Munich Agreement Hitler’s Germany gains Czech borderlands
Adolph Hitler wants Czechoslovakia’s borderlands, and European leaders, still haunted by the ghosts of World War I and intimidated by the ever-growing Nazi war machine, agree to the demand. The Munich Agreement is signed by Britain, Italy, France, and Germany, allowing the Nazis to annex the ‘Sudetenland.’
1960 | ‘Yabba Dabba Doo!’ ‘The Flintstones’ premieres on ABC
The first animated primetime sitcom debuts, introducing viewers to Fred Flintstone and his modern stone-age family. The show will run for six seasons, but spinoffs—and vitamins—will keep the franchise rolling for more than five decades.

Today in History 09/30/17

German-speaking schoolchildren welcome Adolf Hitler in the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, in 1938 (© Central Press/Getty Images)(1938) Hitler's Germany gains Czech borderlands
Adolph Hitler wants Czechoslovakia's borderlands, and European leaders, still haunted by the ghosts of World War I and intimidated by the ever-growing Nazi war machine, agree to the demand. The Munich Agreement is signed by Britain, Italy, France, and Germany, allowing the Nazis to annex the 'Sudetenland.'
The Munich Agreement was a settlement permitting Nazi Germany's annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia along the country's borders mainly inhabited by German speakers, for which a new territorial designation "Sudetenland" was coined. The agreement was signed in the early hours of 30 September 1938 after being negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe, excluding the Soviet Union. Today, it is widely regarded as a failed act of appeasement toward Germany. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the future of the Sudetenland in the face of ethnic demands made by Adolf Hitler. The agreement was signed by Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy. Sudetenland was of immense strategic importance to Czechoslovakia, as most of its border defenses, and banks were situated there, as well as heavy industrial districts. Part of the borderland was occupied and annexed by Poland.
Munich Agreement
After the summit, the British prime minister Chamberlain returned to the UK where he declared that the Munich agreement meant "peace for our time"

wiki/Munich_Agreement
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Today in History 08/26 (Battle of Crécy)

Drawing of cannon used at the Battle of Crécy in 1346 (© Hulton Archive/Getty Images)(1346) Outnumbered English win at Crécy
As King Philip VI’s French forces move into position at the Battle of Crécy, they vastly outnumber the troops of England’s Edward III. But the English army makes pioneering use of the longbow rather than the more cumbersome and less effective crossbow used by the French and most other European infantries. Edward’s English forces also surprise their enemy by introducing the cannon as a battlefield weapon. This combined-arms approach secures a surprise victory against the much larger French army.
The Battle of Crécy, also spelled Cressy, was an English victory during the Edwardian phase of the Hundred Years’ War. It was the first of three famous English successes during the conflict, followed by Poitiers in 1356 and Agincourt in 1415.
Date: Aug 26, 1346

visualisation of the Battle of Crécy
Map of the Battle of Crécy
wiki/Battle_of_Crécy
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(1346) Outnumbered English win at Crécy.
Also on this day,

1533 | Conquistadors execute the Inca’s last leader
Three centuries of an advanced and flourishing empire in the highlands of South America come to a violent end as Spanish conquistadors at the order of Francisco Pizarro execute the final sovereign emperor of the Incas, Atahualpa. Spain will call its new colony ‘Peru.’
1791 | Fitch wins a patent for his steamboat
Entrepreneur-inventor John Fitch receives a US patent for his steam-powered boat, after years of experiments result in a craft that can travel at a top speed of 8 miles per hour. It’ll take two more decades and engineer Robert Fulton’s involvement before steamboats become a profitable enterprise.
1959 | Gasoline rationing leads to a Mini marvel
The British Motor Corporation shows off its newest auto, the ‘Mini.’ Developed as an answer to fuel rationing brought on by the Suez Crisis, the car gets great mileage, and although terrifically tiny at only 10 feet long, it can still seat four adult passengers.

Today in History 08/26/17

Drawing of Atahualpa, the last sovereign emperor of the Inca (© Universal History Archive/Getty Images)(1533) Conquistadors execute the Inca's last leader
Three centuries of an advanced and flourishing empire in the highlands of South America come to a violent end as Spanish conquistadors at the order of Francisco Pizarro execute the final sovereign emperor of the Incas, Atahualpa. Spain will call its new colony 'Peru.'
Atahualpa, also Atahuallpa, Atabalipa or Atawallpa was the ruler of Quito for five years before conquering the Inca Empire from his brother Huascar, the 13th Inca Emperor. After defeating his brother, Atahualpa became very briefly the last Sapa Inca of the Inca Empire before the Spanish conquest. Atahualpa inherited the Kingdom of Quito from his father the Sapa Inca Huayna Capac in 1525. Before Huayna died, he made a verbal testament to the people in his empire that he intended to divide his empire into two parts. Atahualpa would become king in the Northern section of the Inca Empire and Atahualpa's older half brother Huáscar would receive the Southern section as Sapa Inca. Huayna died from an infectious disease. Atahualpa ruled as King over the Northern section named Quito peacefully for 5 years, until his brother Huáscar, the 13th Sapa Inca, attempted to conquer the Kingdom of Quito by first annexing the Cañari region. Atahualpa became Inca emperor after he defeated and imprisoned Huáscar and massacred any pretenders to the throne at the close of the civil war. Later, while imprisoned by the Spaniards, Atahualpa gave orders to kill Huáscar in Jauja, thinking Huáscar would use the Spaniards as allies to regain his throne.
Born: 1502 · Cusco, Peru
Died: Jul 26, 1533 · Cajamarca, Peru
Siblings: Huáscar (Brother) · Túpac Huallpa (Brother) · Manco Inca Yupanqui (Brother)
Parents: Huayna Capac (Father)
Highlights
  • 1525: Atahualpa inherited the Kingdom of Quito from his father the Sapa Inca Huayna Capac in 1525.

  • 1532: In April 1532, Quizquiz and his companions led the armies of Atahualpa to victory in the battles of Mullihambato, Chimborazo and Quipaipan.

  • 1533: In accordance with his request, he was strangled with a garrote on 26 July 1533.

  • 1533: Atahualpa died on July 26, 1533 in Cajamarca, Peru.

wiki/Atahualpa
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Today in History 12/15/17

Painting of the signing of the US Constitution (© MPI/Getty Images)(1791) The Bill of Rights is ratified and becomes law
When Virginia ratifies the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights passes the threshold of state ratifications needed to make the amendments law, and the young nation now has codified the freedom of speech, press, and religion, among other bedrock rights of the American system.

The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. Proposed following the oftentimes bitter 1787–88 battle over ratification of the U.S. Constitution, and crafted to address the objections raised by Anti-Federalists, the Bill of Rights amendments add to the Constitution specific guarantees of personal freedoms and rights, clear limitations on the government’s power in judicial and other proceedings, and explicit declarations that all powers not specifically delegated to Congress by the Constitution are reserved for the states or the people. The concepts codified in these amendments are built upon those found in several earlier documents, including the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the English Bill of Rights 1689, along with earlier documents such as Magna Carta (1215). In practice, the amendments had little impact on judgements by the courts for the first 150 years after ratification.

On June 8, 1789, Representative James Madison introduced nine amendments to the constitution in the House of Representatives. Among his recommendations Madison proposed opening up the Constitution and inserting specific rights limiting the power of Congress in Article One, Section 9. Seven of these limitations would become part of the ten ratified Bill of Rights amendments. Ultimately, on September 25, 1789, Congress approved twelve articles of amendment to the Constitution, each consisting of one one-sentence paragraph, and submitted them to the states for ratification. Contrary to Madison’s original proposal that the articles be incorporated into the main body of the Constitution, they were proposed as supplemental additions (codicils) to it. Articles Three through Twelve were ratified as additions to the Constitution on December 15, 1791, and became Amendments One through Ten of the Constitution. Article Two became part of the Constitution on May 5, 1992, as the Twenty-seventh Amendment. Article One is technically still pending before the states.

Although Madison’s proposed amendments included a provision to extend the protection of some of the Bill of Rights to the states, the amendments that were finally submitted for ratification applied only to the federal government. The door for their application upon state governments was opened in the 1860s, following ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. Since the early 20th century both federal and state courts have used the Fourteenth Amendment to apply portions of the Bill of Rights to state and local governments. The process is known as incorporation.

There are several original engrossed copies of the Bill of Rights still in existence. One of these is on permanent public display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.


Bill of Rights Pg 1 of 1
The Bill of Rights, twelve articles of amendment to the to the United States Constitution proposed in 1789, ten of which, Articles three through twelve, became part of the United States Constitution in 1791. Note that the First Amendment is actually “Article the third” on the document, Second Amendment is “Article the fourth”, and so on. “Article the second” is now the 27th Amendment. “Article the first” has not been ratified.

wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights
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Today in History 03/02/17

Liebig Company trade card depicting Claude Chappe's telegraph system in use, circa 1754 (© Universal History Archive/Getty Images)(1791) The semaphore machine boosts long-distance messaging
The Chappe brothers demonstrate their new communications machine by sending a coded message via pivoting metal shutters set atop tall towers. This will be the precursor of the electric telegraph.
A semaphore telegraph is a system of conveying information by means of visual signals, using towers with pivoting shutters, also known as blades or paddles.
wiki/Exeter_railway_station,_Adelaide
Scene from the 1933 movie 'King Kong' (© RKO Pictures/ullstein bild/Getty Images)(1933) ‘King Kong’ debuts on silver screen
An epic take on the tale of beauty and the beast, and a special effects extravaganza, ‘King Kong’ premieres at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall. Box office and critical reception will both be boffo.
A film crew goes to a tropical island for an exotic location shoot and discovers a colossal giant gorilla who takes a shine to their female blonde star. He is then captured and brought back to New York City for public exhibition.
Release date: Apr 07, 1933 (United States)
Directors: Merian C. Cooper · Ernest B. Schoedsack
Gross revenue: $2.80 million USD
Music by: Max Steiner
Sequel: Son of Kong
Screenwriters: Merian C. Cooper · Edgar Wallace · Ruth Rose · James Ashmore Creelman

wiki/King_Kong_(1933_film)
Artist rendition of the Pioneer 10 spacecraft as it passes the planet Jupiter (© John G. Mabanglo/AFP/Getty Images)(1972) NASA launches first manmade object to leave solar system
The Pioneer 10 space probe lifts off from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, heading for a rendezvous with Jupiter and other outer planets, then onward past the farthest reaches of our galaxy.
Pioneer 10 is an American space probe, launched in 1972 and weighing 258 kilograms, that completed the first mission to the planet Jupiter. Thereafter, Pioneer 10 became the first spacecraft to achieve escape velocity from the Solar System. This space exploration project was conducted by the NASA Ames Research Center in California, and the space probe was manufactured by TRW Inc.
Orbital speed: 7.48 miles/s (12.04 km/s)
Manufacturer: TRW Inc.

wiki/Pioneer_10
A CD, or compact disc, is shown at record store in 1985 (© Lennox McLendon/AP)(1983) Digital audio revolution hits the US and Europe
The first compact discs go on sale in the US, Europe, and other locales. The format will eclipse vinyl before being eclipsed itself less than two decades later by solid-state digital audio players.
Compact disc is a digital optical disc data storage format released in 1982 and co-developed by Philips and Sony. The format was originally developed to store and play only sound recordings but was later adapted for storage of data. Several other formats were further derived from these, including write-once audio and data storage, rewritable media, Video Compact Disc, Super Video Compact Disc, Photo CD, PictureCD, CD-i, and Enhanced Music CD. Audio CD players have been commercially available since October 1982, when the first commercially available CD player was released in Japan.
Inventor: James Russell

wiki/Compact_disc
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Today in History 12/15/16

Today in History
(1791) The Bill of Rights is ratified and becomes law
1791When Virginia ratifies the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights passes the threshold of state ratifications needed to make the amendments law, and the young nation now has codified the freedom of speech, press, and religion, among other bedrock rights of the American system. .

The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. Proposed following the oftentimes bitter 1787–88 battle over ratification of the U.S. Constitution, and crafted to address the objections raised by Anti-Federalists, the Bill of Rights amendments add to the Constitution specific guarantees of personal freedoms and rights, clear limitations on the government’s power in judicial and other proceedings, and explicit declarations that all powers not specifically delegated to Congress by the Constitution are reserved for the states or the people. The concepts codified in these amendments are built upon those found in several earlier documents, including the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the English Bill of Rights 1689, along with earlier documents such as Magna Carta (1215).

Created: September 25, 1789
Ratified: December 15, 1791
Location: National Archives
Author(s): James Madison

— Source: wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights
(1890) Sioux Chief Sitting Bull is killed by police
Indian agency police shoot the powerful holy man in the head and chest during a scuffle at his reservation cabin as they attempted to arrest him. Local authorities thought Sitting Bull was behind the growing Ghost Dance movement, which they feared would spark an Indian uprising.1890

Sitting Bull was a Hunkpapa Lakota holy man who led his people during years of resistance to United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation during an attempt to arrest him, at a time when authorities feared that he would join the Ghost Dance movement.

Lived: 1831 – Dec 15, 1890
Height: 5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
Spouse: Light Hair
Children: Crow Foot (Son) · Many Horses (Daughter)
Parents: Her-Holy-Door (Mother) · Jumping Bull (Father)
Siblings: Spotted Elk (Brother)

Highlights

  • 1865: In support of him, Sitting Bull led numerous war parties against Fort Berthold, Fort Stevenson, and Fort Buford and their environs from 1865 through 1868.

  • 1874: Although Sitting Bull did not attack Custer’s expedition in 1874, the US government was increasingly pressured by citizens to open the Black Hills to mining and settlement.

  • 1875: In 1875 the Northern Cheyenne, Hunkpapa, Oglala, Sans Arc, and Minneconjou camped together for a Sun Dance, with both the Cheyenne medicine man White Bull or Ice and Sitting Bull in association.

  • 1876: About three weeks later, the confederated Lakota tribes with the Northern Cheyenne defeated the 7th Cavalry under Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer on June 25, 1876, annihilating Custer’s battalion and seeming to bear out Sitting Bull’s prophetic vision.

  • 1881: On August 26, 1881, he was visited by census taker William T. Selwyn, who counted twelve people in the Hunkpapa leader’s immediate family.

  • 1884: In 1884 show promoter Alvaren Allen asked Agent James McLaughlin to allow Sitting Bull to tour parts of Canada and the northern United States.

— Source: wiki/Sitting_Bull
(1961) SS officer Adolf Eichmann sentenced to die
1961As one of the main organizers of WWII’s Nazi Holocaust, which killed 6 million Jews as well as many others, the former SS officer is to be hanged for war crimes. After the war, Eichmann escaped a prison camp and fled to Argentina, a safe harbor for ex-Nazis. But on May 11, 1960, Mossad agents abducted him and smuggled him to Israel for trial.

Otto Adolf Eichmann was a German Nazi SS-Obersturmbannführer and one of the major organisers of the Holocaust. Eichmann was tasked by SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich with facilitating and managing the logistics of mass deportation of Jews to ghettos and extermination camps in German-occupied Eastern Europe during World War II. In 1960, he was captured in Argentina by Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service. Following a widely publicised trial in Israel, he was found guilty of war crimes and hanged in 1962.

Lived: Mar 19, 1906 – May 31, 1962 (age 56)
Height: 5′ 9″ (1.76 m)
Spouse: Veronika Liebl (m. 1935 – 1962)
Movies: The Eichmann Show
Children: Horst Adolf Eichmann (Son) · Klaus Eichmann (Son) · Ricardo Francisco Eichmann (Son) · Dieter Helmut Eichmann (Son)
Parents: Maria Eichmann (Mother) · Adolf Karl Eichmann (Father)

Highlights

  • 1933: After returning to Germany in 1933, he joined the Sicherheitsdienst (SD; Security Service), where he was appointed head of the department responsible for Jewish affairs—especially emigration, which the Nazis encouraged through violence and economic pressure.

  • 1935: On 21 March 1935 Eichmann married Veronika (Vera) Liebl (1909–93).

  • 1939: After a posting in Prague to assist in setting up an emigration office there, Eichmann was transferred to Berlin in October 1939 to command the Central Office for Jewish Emigration for the entire Reich under Heinrich Müller, head of the Gestapo.

  • 1939: On 19 December 1939, Eichmann was assigned to head RSHA Referat IV B4 (RSHA Sub-Department IV-B4), tasked with overseeing Jewish affairs and evacuation.

  • 1948: In 1948 Eichmann obtained a landing permit for Argentina and false identification under the name of “Ricardo Klement” through an organisation directed by Bishop Alois Hudal, an Austrian cleric then residing in Italy with known Nazi sympathies.

  • 1960: When Eichmann’s father died in 1960, Wiesenthal made arrangements for private detectives to surreptitiously photograph members of the family, as Eichmann’s brother Otto was said to bear a strong family resemblance and there were no current photos of the fugitive.

— Source: wiki/Adolf_Eichmann
(1979) Two Canadian friends devise board game Trivial Pursuit
When photo editor Chris Haney and reporter Scott Abbott sit down for a night of Scrabble, they find some tiles missing and so instead sketch out an idea for a game based on inconsequential facts, trivia. When Trivial Pursuit rolls out commercially, it will become one of the most successful board games ever.1979

Trivial Pursuit is a board game in which winning is determined by a player’s ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions. The game was created in December 1979 in Montreal, Quebec, by Canadian Chris Haney, a photo editor for Montreal’s The Gazette, and Scott Abbott, a sports editor for The Canadian Press. After finding pieces of their Scrabble game missing, they decided to create their own game. With the help of John Haney and Ed Werner, they completed development of the game, which was released in 1982.

Playing time: 90 minutes
Introduced: 1979
Origin: Montreal

— Source: wiki/Trivial_Pursuit
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