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Today in History 06/18/17

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Painting of the Battle of New Orleans, January 8, 1815, final battle of the War of 1812 (© Universal History Archive/UIG/Getty Images)(1812) War erupts between the US and UK just 30 years after revolution
A British blockade of French trade, America’s desire for Canadian territory, American sailors forced to serve in Britain’s navy, and unresolved issues from the Revolutionary War all culminate in US President James Madison signing a declaration of war against Great Britain.
The War of 1812 was a conflict fought between the United States and the United Kingdom and their respective allies. Historians in Britain often see it as a minor theatre of the Napoleonic Wars; however, in the United States and Canada, it is seen as a war in its own right.
Start date: Jun 18, 1812
End date: Feb 18, 1815

wiki/War_of_1812
Illustration of the Battle of Waterloo (© Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images)(1815) Napoleonic Era comes to a bloody end at Waterloo
A once immensely powerful ruler and seemingly unstoppable military leader, France’s Napoleon Bonaparte fights his final battle at Waterloo, in the Netherlands. The coalition of forces arrayed against Napoleon, including the British and Prussian armies, prove insurmountable.
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815, near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. A French army under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh Coalition: an Anglo-led Allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington, and a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prince of Wahlstatt.
Date: Jun 18, 1815

wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo
USGA President John Clock, right, presents the US Open trophy to Arnold Palmer, left, at the Cherry Hills Country Club after Palmer won the golf tournament in Denver, Colorado (© AP)(1960) Final US Open golf round cinches victory for Palmer
Rising star in golf Arnold Palmer wins the prestigious US Open in a record-breaking final round, besting legendary veteran Ben Hogan and talented newcomer Jack Nicklaus. Palmer will go on to be arguably the greatest golfer of his time, and one of the wealthiest athletes in history.
The 1960 U.S. Open was the 60th U.S. Open, held June 16–18 at Cherry Hills Country Club in Englewood, Colorado, a suburb south of Denver. Arnold Palmer staged the greatest comeback in U.S. Open history, erasing a seven-stroke deficit during the final round to win his only U.S. Open title. It is remembered as a crossroads for the three primary contenders in the final round: Palmer, Ben Hogan, and amateur Jack Nicklaus, three of the greatest players in the history of golf.
Start date: Jun 16, 1960
End date: Jun 18, 1960

wiki/1960_U.S._Open_(golf)
Astronaut Sally Ride communicates with ground controllers from the flight deck of the Space Shuttle Challenger (© Rex Shutterstock)(1983) First American woman travels to space
Sally Ride boards the Space Shuttle Challenger and becomes the first American woman (and the youngest US astronaut) to travel to space. She will later contribute to investigations into the Challenger and Columbia shuttle disasters before passing away from pancreatic cancer in 2012.
Sally Kristen Ride was an American physicist and astronaut. Born in Los Angeles, she joined NASA in 1978 and became the first American woman in space in 1983. Ride was the third woman in space overall, after USSR cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova and Svetlana Savitskaya. Ride remains the youngest American astronaut to have traveled to space, having done so at the age of 32. After flying twice on the Orbiter Challenger, she left NASA in 1987. She worked for two years at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Arms Control, then at the University of California, San Diego as a professor of physics, primarily researching nonlinear optics and Thomson scattering. She served on the committees that investigated the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters, the only person to participate in both. Ride died of pancreatic cancer on July 23, 2012.
Lived: May 26, 1951 – Jul 23, 2012 (age 61)
Height: 5′ 5″ (1.65 m)
Partner: Tam O’Shaughnessy (1985 – 2012)
Spouse: Steven Hawley (m. 1982 – 1987)
Founded: Sally Ride Science
Education: Stanford University · Swarthmore College · Gaspar De Portola Middle School · Harvard-Westlake School
Highlights
  • 1982: In 1982, she married fellow NASA astronaut Steve Hawley.

  • 1983: On June 18, 1983, she became the first American woman in space as a crew member on space shuttle Challenger for STS-7.

  • 1987: In 1987, Ride left her position in Washington, D.C., to work at the Stanford University Center for International Security and Arms Control.

  • 1989: In 1989, she became a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego, and director of the California Space Institute.

  • 2012: After Sally Ride’s death in 2012, General Donald Kutyna revealed that she had discreetly provided him with key information about O-rings (namely, that they become stiff at low temperatures) that eventually led to identification of the cause of the explosion.

  • 2012: Ride died of pancreatic cancer on July 23, 2012.

wiki/Sally_Ride
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Today in History 04/10/17

This 2010 aerial photo shows Mount Tambora's crater, created by the April 1815 eruption (© Iwan Setiyawan/AP)(1815) Most powerful volcano eruption in 10,000 years
Heard for thousands of miles, the Dutch East Indies’ Mount Tambora erupts with cataclysmic force, devastating everything around it with pyroclastic flows and ash falls. The eruption will significantly change the climate, spawning the “year without a summer” and causing global famine.
The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora was one of the most powerful eruptions in recorded history and is the most recent known VEI-7 event. The eruption of the volcano, on the island of Sumbawa in the Dutch East Indies, reached a climax on 10 April 1815 and was followed by between six months and three years of increased steaming and small phreatic eruptions.
wiki/1815_eruption_of_Mount_Tambora
This undated file photo shows Henry Bergh, who founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1866 (© AP)(1866) ASPCA animal welfare group founded in New York
Cockfighting, slaughterhouses, and widespread animal abuse leads Henry Bergh to establish the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a group dedicated to promoting the humane treatment of animals and enacting anti-cruelty laws.
Henry Bergh founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in April, 1866, three days after the first effective legislation against animal cruelty in the United States was passed into law by the New York State Legislature. Bergh also prompted the formation, in 1874, of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
Lived: Aug 29, 1813 – Mar 12, 1888 (age 74)
Spouse: Catherine Matilda Taylor
Founded: American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Buried: Green-Wood Cemetery
Parents: Christian Bergh
Education: Columbia College
Highlights
  • 1862: In 1862, Bergh was appointed secretary and acting vice-consul to the American legation in St. Petersburg, Russia by then President Abraham Lincoln.

  • 1866: The legislature passed the laws prepared by him, and on April 10, 1866 the ASPCA was legally organized, with Bergh as president.

  • 1874: Bergh also prompted the formation, in 1874, of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC).

  • 1874: In 1874, Bergh was approached by a Methodist missionary named Etta Agnell Wheeler, who sought help rescuing a child named Mary Ellen Wilson from her cruel abuser, Mary Connolly.

  • 1875: In response, Bergh himself, along with Elbridge T. Gerry and John D. Wright, formed the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NYSPCC) in 1875.

  • 1888: He died on March 12, 1888, in New York City.

wiki/Henry_Bergh
'The Great Gatsby' book displayed at Olympia Exhibition Centre on June 13, 2013 in London, England. (© Oli Scarff/Getty Imagess)(1925) Quintessential American tragedy debuts
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel will sell poorly in the years after its publication, but the Jazz Age tale will fare better after Fitzgerald’s death in 1940, and will go on to become a staple for high school students in the US. Fitzgerald’s story of lost romance, materialism, and the American Dream will resonate with readers for decades beyond its disappointing debut.
The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald that follows a cast of characters living in the fictional town of West Egg on prosperous Long Island in the summer of 1922. The story primarily concerns the young and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his quixotic passion and obsession for the beautiful former debutante Daisy Buchanan. Considered to be Fitzgerald’s magnum opus, The Great Gatsby explores themes of decadence, idealism, resistance to change, social upheaval, and excess, creating a portrait of the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties that has been described as a cautionary tale regarding the American Dream.
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
First published: Apr 10, 1925
Number of pages: 180
Characters: Jay Gatsby · Daisy Buchanan · Myrtle Wilson · George Wilson · Meyer Wolfsheim · Tom Buchanan · Nick Carraway · Jordan Baker · Mr. Gatz
Adaptations: The Great Gatsby (2013) · The Great Gatsby (1974) · The Great Gatsby (2000) · The Great Gatsby (1949) · The Great Gatsby (1926) · G (2002) · The Great Gatsby · Gatz
Genre: Novel

wiki/The_Great_Gatsby
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, right, US Senator George Mitchell, center, and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern pose together after they signed the agreement for peace in Northern Ireland on April 10, 1998 (© Dan Chung/Pool/AP)(1998) Good Friday Agreement brings peace to Northern Ireland
Three decades of conflict known as ‘The Troubles,’ and two years of peace talks, are resolved on this Good Friday with the signing of a power-sharing agreement between Northern Ireland’s Protestant and Catholic populations.

The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement (Irish: Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or Irish: Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste; Ulster-Scots: Guid Friday Greeance or Bilfawst Greeance) was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s.

Northern Ireland’s present devolved system of government is based on the agreement. The agreement also created a number of institutions between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.

The agreement is made up of two inter-related documents, both agreed in Belfast on Good Friday, 10 April 1998:

  1. a multi-party agreement by most of Northern Ireland’s political parties;
  2. an international agreement between the British and Irish governments (the British-Irish Agreement).

The agreement set out a complex series of provisions relating to a number of areas including:

  • The status and system of government of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. (Strand 1)
  • The relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. (Strand 2)
  • The relationship between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. (Strand 3)

Issues relating to sovereignty, civil and cultural rights, decommissioning of weapons, justice and policing were central to the agreement.

The agreement was approved by voters across the island of Ireland in two referendums held on 22 May 1998. In Northern Ireland, voters were asked whether they supported the multi-party agreement. In the Republic of Ireland, voters were asked whether they would allow the state to sign the agreement and allow necessary constitutional changes to facilitate it. The people of both jurisdictions needed to approve the agreement in order to give effect to it.

The British-Irish Agreement came into force on 2 December 1999. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) was the only major political group in Northern Ireland to oppose the Good Friday Agreement.


wiki/Good_Friday_Agreement
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Today in History 02/26/17

Painting titled 'Napoleon Returning from the Island of Elba' in 1815, by Charles Francois Gabriel Levachez (© Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)(1815) Napoleon escapes Elba exile
Having spent 300 days of exile on an island off the coast of Italy, Napoleon Bonaparte escapes. After future conquests fail he will again be exiled, but this time to the remote South Atlantic.
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, and again in 1815. Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, building a large empire that ruled over continental Europe before its final collapse in 1815. One of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. Napoleon’s political and cultural legacy has ensured his status as one of the most celebrated and controversial leaders in human history.
Lived: Aug 15, 1769 – May 05, 1821 (age 51)
Height: 5′ 7″ (1.69 m)
Spouse: Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma (m. 1810 – 1821) · Joséphine de Beauharnais (m. 1796 – 1810)
Buried: Les Invalides
Children: Napoleon II (Son) · Eugène de Beauharnais (Son) · Charles Léon (Son) · Stéphanie de Beauharnais (Daughter)
Parents: Carlo Buonaparte (Father) · Letizia Ramolino (Mother)
Highlights
  • 1793: Bonaparte and his family fled to the French mainland in June 1793 because of the split with Paoli.

  • 1796: French forces in Southern Germany had been defeated by the Archduke Charles in 1796, but the Archduke withdrew his forces to protect Vienna after learning about Napoleon’s assault.

  • 1804: His ambition and public approval inspired him to go further, and in 1804 he became the first Emperor of the French.

  • 1806: Following his triumph, Napoleon imposed the first elements of the Continental System through the Berlin Decree issued in November 1806.

  • 1810: In March 1810, he married the 19-year old Marie Louise, Archduchess of Austria, and a great niece of Marie Antoinette by proxy; thus he had married into a German royal and imperial family.

  • 1821: He died on 5 May 1821, after confession, Extreme Unction and Viaticum in the presence of Father Ange Vignali.

wiki/Napoleon
Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming (© Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)(1929) Grand Teton National Park is created in Wyoming
Environmentalists have been trying to preserve the striking mountainous region around the Teton Range since the late 19th century, and today President Coolidge establishes Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park. Its total area will eventually expand to over 300,000 acres.
Grand Teton National Park is a United States National Park in northwestern Wyoming. At approximately 310,000 acres, the park includes the major peaks of the 40-mile-long Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. It is only 10 miles south of Yellowstone National Park, to which it is connected by the National Park Service-managed John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway. Along with surrounding National Forests, these three protected areas constitute the almost 18,000,000-acre Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the largest intact mid-latitude temperate ecosystems in the world.
Website: www.nps.gov/grte
Address: PO Drawer 170, Moose, WY 83012
Phone: (307) 739-3300
Established: Feb 26, 1929
Area: 484.38 sq miles (1,255 km²)
Annual visitors: 3.27 million (2016)
Travel tip: Attracts more than 4 million yearly visitors, who come for the mountaineering, hiking, river rafting or the mere spectacle of a wall of high, sharp peaks. @tripadvisor

wiki/Grand_Teton_National_Park
South Korean troops bound for Vietnam march in Seoul, South Korea, in the 1960s (© Archive Photos/Getty Images)(1965) First troops from South Korea land in Vietnam
South Korea sends its first troops to Saigon as part of US President Lyndon Johnson’s effort to build an international coalition of fighting forces in Vietnam. More than 300,000 South Koreans will serve in the war by 1973.
The Republic of Korea, under the administration of Park Chung-hee, took an active role in the Vietnam War. From 1964 to 1973, South Korea sent more than 300,000 troops to Vietnam. The South Korean Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force all participated as an ally of the United States. The number of troops from South Korea was much greater than those from Australia and New Zealand, and second only to the U.S. military force. The military commander was Lieutenant General Chae Myung-shin, ROK Army.
wiki/South_Korea_in_the_Vietnam_War
People outside the World Trade Center after a bomb exploded in the underground parking garage on Feb 26, 1993, in New York City (© Porter Gifford/Getty Images)(1993) Bomb explodes at World Trade Center
A group of terrorists detonate a truck bomb, causing an immense explosion in the underground parking garage located below the North Tower of New York City’s World Trade Center. The blast is intended to bring down both the North and South Towers of the trade center complex. It won’t succeed, but will kill six and wound more than 1,000.
The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, carried out on February 26, 1993, when a truck bomb detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The 1,336 pounds urea nitrate–hydrogen gas enhanced device was intended to send the North Tower crashing into the South Tower, bringing both towers down and killing tens of thousands of people. It failed to do so but killed six people and injured over a thousand.
Date: Feb 26, 1993

wiki/1993_World_Trade_Center_bombing
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A Historical Day

(1812) War erupts between the US and UK just 30 years after revolution
1812 A British blockade of French trade, America’s desire for Canadian territory, American sailors forced to serve in Britain’s navy, and unresolved issues from the Revolutionary War all culminate in US President James Madison signing a declaration of war against Great Britain. .
(1815) Napoleonic Era comes to a bloody end at Waterloo
A once immensely powerful ruler and seemingly unstoppable military leader, France’s Napoleon Bonaparte fights his final battle at Waterloo, in the Netherlands. The coalition of forces arrayed against Napoleon, including the British and Prussian armies, prove insurmountable.. 1815
(1948) Columbia Records presents a new long-playing phono record
1948 At New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Columbia Records introduces their new 33 1/3rd-rpm long-play record (LP), offering more than 22 minutes of sound playback per side. Before this breakthrough the public enjoyed music and other recordings for just five minutes at a time on 78-rpm discs. .
(1960) Final US Open golf round cinches victory for Palmer
Rising star in golf Arnold Palmer wins the prestigious US Open in a record-breaking final round, besting legendary veteran Ben Hogan and talented newcomer Jack Nicklaus. Palmer will go on to be arguably the greatest golfer of his time, and one of the wealthiest athletes in history. . 1960

A Historical Day

(1815) Most powerful volcano eruption in 10,000 years
1815 Heard for thousands of miles, the Dutch East Indies’ Mount Tambora erupts with cataclysmic force, devastating everything around it with pyroclastic flows and ash falls. The eruption will significantly change the climate, spawning the “year without a summer” and causing global famine. .
(1866) ASPCA animal welfare group founded in New York
Cockfighting, slaughterhouses, and widespread animal abuse leads Henry Bergh to establish the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a group dedicated to promoting the humane treatment of animals and enacting anti-cruelty laws. . 1866
(1925) Quintessential American tragedy debuts
1925 F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel will sell poorly in the years after its publication, but the Jazz Age tale will fare better after Fitzgerald’s death in 1940, and will go on to become a staple for high school students in the US. Fitzgerald’s story of lost romance, materialism, and the American Dream will resonate with readers for decades beyond its disappointing debut..
(1998) Good Friday Agreement brings peace to Northern Ireland
Three decades of conflict known as ‘The Troubles,’ and two years of peace talks, are resolved on this Good Friday with the signing of a power-sharing agreement between Northern Ireland’s Protestant and Catholic populations. . 1998