Today in History ^05/13/17

May 13, 2017 by GµårÐïåñ

General Zachary Taylor leading American troops into battle at Palo Alto during the Mexican-American War (© Nathaniel Currier)

(1846) US declares war on its neighbor

The US annexation of Texas the previous year lit the tinder between neighboring nations, and now the conflict explodes into the Mexican-American War as the US Congress votes in favor of President Polk’s request for military action. The two-year conflict will end in Mexico’s defeat and the loss of about half its national territory.

The Mexican–American War, also known as the Mexican War, the U.S.–Mexican War, the U.S.–Mexico War or the Invasion of Mexico, was an armed conflict between the United States of America and the United Mexican States from 1846 to 1848. It followed in the wake of the 1845 U.S. annexation of Texas, which Mexico considered part of its territory in spite of its de facto secession in the 1836 Texas Revolution.

Start date: Apr 25, 1846
End date: Feb 03, 1848

wiki/Mexican–American_War

Pope John Paul II lies wounded after being shot in St. Peter's Square Wednesday, May 13, 1981, by Turkish terrorist Mehmet Ali Agca (© AP)

(1981) Pope John Paul II shot in assassination attempt

Four bullets hit Pope John Paul II as he enters Rome’s St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. While the Pope is rushed to the hospital, police capture Mehmet Ali Ağca, of Turkey. The Pope will later forgive his would-be assassin, asking for his crime to be pardoned, and meeting with him in prison.

The first attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II took place on Wednesday, 13 May 1981, in St. Peter’s Square at Vatican City. The Pope was shot and wounded by Mehmet Ali Ağca while he was entering the square. The Pope was struck four times, and suffered severe blood loss. Ağca was apprehended immediately, and later sentenced to life in prison by an Italian court. The Pope later forgave Ağca for the assassination attempt. He was pardoned by Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi at the Pope’s request and was deported to Turkey in June 2000.

Date: May 13, 1981

wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II_assassination_attempt

File photo of British mountaineer Alison Hargreaves in 1993 (Chris Bacon/AP)

(1995) Everest summited by unassisted female climber

Accomplished mountaineer, and 33-year-old mother of two, Alison Hargreaves makes history as the first woman to conquer Mt. Everest without the help of Sherpa guides or bottled oxygen. Sadly, she will perish after summiting another Himalayan giant, K2, exactly three months later.

Alison Jane Hargreaves was a British mountain climber. Her accomplishments included scaling Mount Everest alone, without supplementary oxygen or support from a Sherpa team, in 1995. She soloed all the great north faces of the Alps in a single season—a first for any climber. This feat included climbing the difficult north face of the Eiger in the Alps, in 1988. Hargreaves also climbed 6,812-metre Ama Dablam in Nepal.

Born: Feb 17, 1962 · Derbyshire, England
Died: Aug 13, 1995 · K2, Pakistan

wiki/Alison_Hargreaves

Louis Armstrong playing the trumpet (© Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

(1938) Armstrong records ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’

Jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong records the traditional gospel hymn in a Dixieland-jazz style. Though it isn’t the first jazz version of the song, Armstrong’s recording will turn it into a jazz standard that will be covered by hundreds of artists and find a place in pop culture and sports.

“When the Saints Go Marching In”, often referred to as “The Saints”, is an American gospel hymn. Though it originated as a Christian hymn, it is often played by jazz bands. This song was famously recorded on May 13, 1938 by Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra. The song is sometimes confused with a similarly titled composition “When the Saints are Marching In” from 1896 by Katharine Purvis and James Milton Black.

Album: Hello Louis – The Hit Years (1963-1969)
Artists: Louis Armstrong · Fats Domino · Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra · Louis Armstrong & His All-Stars
Release year: 1939
Duration: 2:45
Genre: Jazz, Contemporary Jazz

wiki/When_the_Saints_Go_Marching_In

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Today in History ^02/10/17

February 10, 2017 by GµårÐïåñ

Battle scene from the French and Indian War (© MPI/Getty Images)

(1763) The French and Indian War ends

The North American theater of the Seven Years’ War comes to an end, with Britain gaining Quebec and Spanish Florida, while Spain acquires Louisiana. Economic losses stemming from the war will help spark world-altering revolutions in both Britain and France.

The French and Indian War comprised the North American theater of the worldwide Seven Years’ War of 1754–1763. The war pitted the colonies of British America against those of New France, with both sides supported by military units from their parent countries of Great Britain and France, as well as by Native American allies. At the start of the war, the French North American colonies had a population of roughly 60,000 European settlers, compared with 2 million in the British North American colonies. The outnumbered French particularly depended on the Indians. Following months of localised conflict, the metropole nations declared war on each other in 1756, escalating the war from a regional affair into an intercontinental conflict.

Start date: 1754
End date: 1763

wiki/French_and_Indian_War

Illustration of Mormons on the trek from Illinois to Utah in 1846 (© Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

(1846) Mormons begin exodus from Illinois to the western US

Fleeing religious persecution that included the assassination of their leader, Joseph Smith, 1,600 members of what will become the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and their new leader, Brigham Young, head west, where they will eventually settle in the Great Salt Lake Valley.

The history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is typically divided into three broad time periods: the early history during the lifetime of Joseph Smith which is in common with all Latter Day Saint movement churches, a “pioneer era” under the leadership of Brigham Young and his 19th-century successors, and a modern era beginning around the turn of the 20th century as the practice of polygamy was discontinued. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traces its origins to western New York, where Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, was raised. Joseph Smith gained a small following in the late 1820s as he was dictating the Book of Mormon, which he said was a translation of words found on a set of “golden plates” that had been buried near his home in western New York by an indigenous American prophet. On April 6, 1830, in western New York, Smith organized the religion’s first legal church entity, the Church of Christ.

Author: Joseph Smith
First published: 1897

wiki/History_of_The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints

The HMS Dreadnought at its launch in Portsmouth, England (© Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

(1906) The HMS Dreadnought launches a new era in battleships

King Edward VII christens a game-changing new class of naval warfare in the HMS Dreadnought, whose armaments, speed, and agility are leagues beyond ships that sailed into battle before.

HMS Dreadnought was a battleship built for the Royal Navy that revolutionised naval power. Her entry into service in 1906 represented such an advance in naval technology that her name came to be associated with an entire generation of battleships, the “dreadnoughts”, as well as the class of ships named after her. The generation of ships she made obsolete became known as “pre-dreadnoughts”. Admiral Sir John “Jacky” Fisher, First Sea Lord of the Board of Admiralty, is credited as the father of Dreadnought. Shortly after he assumed office, he ordered design studies for a battleship armed solely with 12-inch guns and a speed of 21 knots. He convened a “Committee on Designs” to evaluate the alternative designs and to assist in the detailed design work. One ancillary benefit of the Committee was that it would shield him and the Admiralty from political charges that they had not consulted leading experts before designing such a radically different battleship.

Keel laid: Oct 02, 1905
Launched: Feb 10, 1906

wiki/HMS_Dreadnought_(1906)

David Bowie performs onstage during his 'Ziggy Stardust' era (© Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

(1972) David Bowie becomes Ziggy Stardust

Rock and roll begins to freak out in a moon-age daydream the moment a slender, pale, androgynous, ginger-haired, and decidedly otherworldly presence steps onto the stage at London’s Toby Jug Pub.

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is the fifth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 16 June 1972. It is a concept album telling the story of a fictional rock star named Ziggy Stardust. It peaked at No. 5 in the United Kingdom on the UK Albums Chart and No. 75 in the United States on the Billboard 200, then improved to a No. 21 position in the wake of Bowie’s death.

Release year: 1972
Genre: Rock, Contemporary Pop
Label: Parlophone UK
Artist: David Bowie

wiki/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_Ziggy_Stardust_and_the_Spiders_from_Mars

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Today in History ^12/28/16

December 28, 2016 by GµårÐïåñ

(1065) Westminster Abbey is consecrated in London

King Edward the Confessor is near death and unable to attend the consecration ceremony of the church he commissioned as a burial place and to atone to the pope for a broken vow. Edward will die eight days later. The abbey will be completed in 1090 but rebuilt in the Gothic style by Henry III.
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, is a large, mainly Gothic abbey church in the City of Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United Kingdom’s most notable religious buildings and the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English and, later, British monarchs. Between 1540 and 1556, the abbey had the status of a cathedral. Since 1560, however, the building is no longer an abbey nor a cathedral, having instead the status of a Church of England “Royal Peculiar”—a church responsible directly to the sovereign. The building itself is the original abbey church. Address: 20 Dean’s Yard, London SW1P 3PA Phone: 020 7222 5152 Opened: 1090 Height: 225 feet (68.70 m) (Architectural) Architects: Christopher Wren · Henry Yevele · Nicholas Hawksmoor · John of Gloucester · Robert of Beverley · Henry of Reyns Burials: Elizabeth I of England · Edward the Confessor · The Unknown Warrior · Mary I of England · Isaac Newton · Henry III of England · Edward I of England · Edward III of England · Edward VI of England . Anne, Queen of Great Britain — Source: wiki/Westminster_Abbey
(1846) Iowa becomes the 29th US state

President James K. Polk signs a law making an area that was part of the Louisiana Purchase the 29th state. Iowa, named for a Native American tribe, joins the nation as a slave-free state and will support the Union in the Civil War.
Iowa is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States, bordered by the Mississippi River on the east and the Missouri River and the Big Sioux River on the west. Surrounding states include Wisconsin and Illinois to the east, Missouri to the south, Nebraska and South Dakota to the west, and Minnesota to the north. Population: 3.12 million (2015) Area: 56,272 sq miles (145,743 km²) Colleges and universities: Iowa State University · University of Iowa · University of Northern Iowa · Grinnell College · Upper Iowa University · Drake University · Morningside College · Simpson College Capital: Des Moines Website: www.iowa.gov Senators: Joni Ernst · Chuck Grassley · Tom Harkin · Roger Jepsen · Smith W. Brookhart · Clyde L. Herring · Richard L. Murphy · George A. Wilson · Thomas E. Martin · Dick Clark · Albert B. Cummins Governor: Terry Branstad — Source: wiki/Iowa
(1895) Audience pays admission to see a movie

At the Grand Cafe in Paris, brothers Louis and Auguste Lumière charge admission to see short films they made about ordinary French life. It marks the first time an audience has paid money to see a movie. The films are shown on a hand-cranked camera-projector the brothers invented: the Cinematographe.
The Lumière brothers, Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas and Louis Jean, were among the first filmmakers in history. They patented the cinematograph, which in contrast to Edison’s “peepshow” kinetoscope allowed simultaneous viewing by multiple parties. — Source: wiki/Auguste_and_Louis_Lumière
(1958) Baltimore Colts win ‘Greatest Game Ever Played’

The 1958 National Football Championship Game between the Colts and the New York Giants is the first playoff game in NFL history to go into sudden-death overtime. The Colts win 23-17 in Yankee Stadium and the matchup will become known as the ‘Greatest Game Ever Played.’
The 1958 National Football League Championship Game was the 26th NFL championship game, played on December 28 at Yankee Stadium in New York City. It was the first NFL playoff game to go into sudden death overtime. The final score was Baltimore Colts 23, New York Giants 17, and the game has since become widely known as “The Greatest Game Ever Played.” — Source: wiki/1958_NFL_Championship_Game
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Today in History

September 23, 2016 by GµårÐïåñ

(1642) Harvard holds its first graduation ceremony

	Nine graduates participate in Harvard College’s first commencement exercise as about 14 undergrads, family members, clergy, plus Governor Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Company, look on. America’s first college will go on to become one of the world’s most prestigious universities..
Harvard University is a private, Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, established 1636, whose history, influence and wealth have made it one of the world’s most prestigious universities. Address: 1350 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138 Phone: (617) 495-1000 Website: http://www.harvard.edu/ Ranking: #2 National University (2016) Undergraduates: 6,694 (2016) Acceptance rate: 6% (2016) — Source: wiki/Harvard_University
(1846) Neptune is plotted, and discovered

French mathematician Urbain Le Verrier has used celestial mechanics to plot the coordinates of a faraway planet that can’t be seen by the naked eye, and today, German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle’s telescope spies Neptune almost exactly where Le Verrier calculated it would be. .
The planet Neptune was mathematically predicted before it was directly observed. With a prediction by Urbain Le Verrier, telescopic observations confirming the existence of a major planet were made on the night of September 23–24, 1846, at the Berlin Observatory, by astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle (assisted by Heinrich Louis d’Arrest), working from Le Verrier’s calculations. — Source: wiki/Discovery_of_Neptune
(1889) Handmade playing cards launch Japan’s Nintendo

	Fusajiro Yamauchi thinks a revival of Japanese card playing would mean good business, so he founds Nintendo Koppai in Kyoto, a company specializing in the Hanafuda card game. A century or so later the firm will gain worldwide success when it evolves into an electronic games company..
Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational consumer electronics and software company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. Nintendo is one of the world’s largest video game companies by net worth. Founded on 23 September 1889, by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it originally produced handmade hanafuda playing cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as cab services and love hotels. The word Nintendo can be roughly translated from Japanese to English as “leave luck to heaven”. Abandoning previous ventures in favor of toys in the 1960s, Nintendo then developed into a video game company in the 1970s, ultimately becoming one of the most influential in the industry and Japan’s third most-valuable company with a market value of over $85 billion. Between 1992 and 2016, Hiroshi Yamauchi / Nintendo of America was the majority shareholder of Major League Baseball’s Seattle Mariners. As of 31 March 2014, Nintendo has cumulative sales of over 670.43 million hardware units and 4.23 billion software units. The company has created some of the most well known and best-selling video game franchises in the industry, such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid, while also owning The Pokémon Company. — Source: wiki/Nintendo
(1994) ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ begins run in US theaters

Just 33 theaters host the limited American opening of ‘The Shawshank Redemption,’ and the resulting box office returns will not be impressive. ‘Redemption’ will be redeemed with rave reviews, seven Oscar nominations, and a growing reputation as one of the best-loved movies ever made. .
After the murder of his wife, hotshot banker Andrew Dufresne is sent to Shawshank Prison, where the usual unpleasantness occurs. Over the years, he retains hope and eventually gains the respect of his fellow inmates, especially longtime convict “Red” Redding, a black marketeer, and becomes influential within the prison. Eventually, Andrew achieves his ends on his own terms. Release date: Sep 23, 1994 (United States) Director: Frank Darabont Box office gross: $58.50 million USD Story by: Stephen King — Source: wiki/The_Shawshank_Redemption
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Today in History

September 12, 2016 by GµårÐïåñ

(1846) A pair of poets elope

	The lauded poet Elizabeth Barrett joins her beau, the up-and-coming poet Robert Browning, to marry in secret at a London church. They will then move to Italy, cultivate a circle of literary friends, have a son, and craft words for the ages. .
Girls blush, sometimes, because they are alive, half wishing they were dead to save the shame. The sudden blush devours them, neck and brow; They have drawn too near the fire of life, like gnats, and flare up bodily, wings and all. What then? Who’s sorry for a gnat or girl? — Source: wiki/Elizabeth_Barrett_Browning — Source: wiki/Robert_Browning
(1933) Szilárd’s stroll sets off a nuclear chain reaction

Hungarian physicist Leó Szilárd has been puzzling over using atoms as a form of energy, and as he strolls London’s streets, he suddenly conceives the idea of a nuclear chain reaction, which will lead to his work in the atom bomb’s formation and the harnessing of nuclear energy..
We turned the switch, saw the flashes, watched for ten minutes, then switched everything off and went home. That night I knew the world was headed for sorrow. Lived: Feb 11, 1898 – May 30, 1964 (age 66) Spouse: Gertrud Weiss Szilard (m. 1951) Academic advisors: Albert Einstein · Max von Laue Inventions: Einstein refrigerator Education: Budapest University of Technology and Economics · Technical University of Berlin · Humboldt University of Berlin Awards: Albert Einstein Award (1960) — Source: wiki/Leo_Szilard
(1940) A world sealed away from time is found under French soil

	Marcel Ravidat, 18, finds a narrow entrance into a series of caves beneath the fields of Dordogne, France, and comes back with three friends to explore the subterranean world. There they gaze upon the vivid Lascaux cave paintings that experts will later date to over 17,000 years old..
Lascaux is the setting of a complex of caves in southwestern France famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings. The original caves are located near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne. They contain some of the best-known Upper Paleolithic art. These paintings are estimated to be circa 17,300 years old. They primarily consist of images of large animals, most of which are known from fossil evidence to have lived in the area at the time. In 1979, Lascaux was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list along with other prehistoric sites in the Vézère valley. — Source: wiki/Lascaux
(1977) Anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko dies in police custody

After almost a month in South African police custody, Steve Biko, the leader of an anti-apartheid black student movement, has died in a Pretoria hospital. The 30-year-old’s autopsy will show that death was caused by severe brain injury, and 15,000 supporters will attend his funeral..
Stephen Bantu Biko was an anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the anti-apartheid movement. While living, his writings and activism attempted to empower black people, and he was famous for his slogan “black is beautiful”, which he described as meaning: “man, you are okay as you are, begin to look upon yourself as a human being”. Lived: Dec 18, 1946 – Sep 12, 1977 (age 30) — Source: wiki/Steve_Biko
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