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Today in History 06/16/17

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Drawing of the Switchback Gravity Railway, the first true roller coaster, at Coney Island, New York (© Barry Norman/REX)(1884) A new thrill ride debuts at Coney Island
A nickel gets you on Coney Island’s Switchback Railway, a new amusement park ride carrying passengers on an undulating railroad track at up to 6 mph, running a length of 600 feet and an overall drop of 43 feet. America’s first roller coaster will be a hit, spawning ever-bigger thrills.
The original Switchback Railway at Coney Island was the first roller coaster designed as an amusement ride in America. It was designed by LaMarcus Adna Thompson in 1881 and constructed in 1884. It appears Thompson based his design, at least in part, on the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway which was a coal-mining train that had started carrying passengers as a thrill ride in 1827.
Opened: Jun 16, 1884
Height: 50′ 0″ (15.24 m)
Max speed: 6.03 mph (9.70 km/h)
G-force: 2.90 g
Track length: 600 feet (182.88 m)
Duration: 1 minutes

wiki/Switchback_Railway
Engraving of American businessman Charles Flint, circa 1880, who founded the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company, which later became IBM (© Kean Collection/Getty Images)(1911) Early computing companies merge to form a tech powerhouse
Charles Flint founds the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (C-T-R) after merging smaller specialized firms, some of which got their start inventing new computing technology to tabulate the 1890 US Census. C-T-R will be renamed International Business Machines (IBM) in 1924.
International Business Machines, or IBM, nicknamed “Big Blue”, is a multinational computer technology and IT consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. The company is one of the few information technology companies with a continuous history dating back to the 19th century. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and offers infrastructure services, hosting services, and consulting services in areas ranging from mainframe computers to nanotechnology. Ginni Rometty is the president, chairman and CEO of IBM.
wiki/History_of_IBM
Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, in front of the Vostok 6 capsule, June 1963 (© Sovfoto/UIG/Getty Images)(1963) Soviet cosmonaut is the first woman in space
Born into a decidedly earthbound proletariat family in rural Russia, Valentina Tereshkova has been chosen from over 400 applicants to become the world’s first woman in space. She will orbit Earth 48 times on a flight lasting almost three days, and parachute into re-entry at 20,000 feet.
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova is a retired Russian cosmonaut and politician. She is the first woman to have flown in space, having been selected from more than 400 applicants and five finalists to pilot Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. She completed 48 orbits of the Earth in her three days in space.
Born: Mar 06, 1937 (age 80) · Bolshoye Maslennikovo, Russia
Spouse: Yuli Shaposhnikov · Andriyan Nikolayev (m. 1963 – 1982)
Children: Elena Andrianovna Nikolaeva-Tereshkova (Daughter)
Space missions: Vostok 6
Parents: Elena Fyodorovna Tereshkova (Mother) · Vladimir Tereshkov (Father)
Highlights
  • 1962: On 16 February 1962, Valentina Tereshkova was selected to join the female cosmonaut corps.

  • 1963: She is the first woman to have flown in space, having been selected from more than 400 applicants and five finalists to pilot Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963.

  • 1963: Valentina Tereshkova married Andriyan Nikolayev on November 03, 1963; their marriage lasted 19 years till 1982.

  • 1982: She and Nikolayev divorced in 1982.

  • 1997: In 1997, London-based electronic pop group Komputer released a song entitled “Valentina” which gives a more-or-less direct account of her career as a cosmonaut.

  • 1997: In 1997, she was retired from the Russian Air Force and the cosmonaut corps by presidential order.

wiki/Valentina_Tereshkova
Jimi Hendrix plays his Fender Stratocaster guitar while performing at the Monterey International Pop Music Festival on June 18, 1967 in Monterey, California (© Ed Caraeff/Getty Images)(1967) The counterculture comes together for music at Monterey
Kicking off the Summer of Love, the Monterey Pop Festival will blow everyone’s minds with a roster of new rock stars including The Who, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, and soul superstar Otis Redding. A young guitarist, Jimi Hendrix, will literally be the show’s hottest act.
The Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. Crowd estimates for the festival have ranged from 25,000-90,000 people, who congregated in and around the festival grounds. The fairgrounds’ enclosed performance arena, where the music took place, had an approved festival capacity of 7,000, but it was estimated that 8,500 jammed into it for Saturday night’s show, with many extra attendees standing around the sides of the arena. Festival-goers who wanted to see the musical performances were required to have either an ‘all-festival’ ticket or a separate ticket for each of the five scheduled concert events they wanted to attend in the arena: Friday night, Saturday afternoon and night, and Sunday afternoon and night. Ticket prices varied by seating area, and ranged from $3 to $6.50.
wiki/Monterey_Pop_Festival
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Today in History 02/01/17

File photo of an Oxford English Dictionary (© AP)(1884) The first volume of the ‘Oxford English Dictionary’ published
Words from ‘A to Ant’ are covered in the first fascicle, or volume, of what will become the world’s definitive collection of English words, their etymology, and their definitions. Public reception of the first volume will be disappointing, with sales totaling just 4,000.
The Oxford English Dictionary is a descriptive dictionary of the English language, published by the Oxford University Press. It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a comprehensive resource to scholars and academic researchers, as well as describing usage in its many variations throughout the world. The second edition came to 21,728 pages in 20 volumes, published in 1989.
Authors: Oxford University Press · John Simpson · E. S. C. Weiner
First published: Feb 01, 1884
Genres: Non-fiction · Reference
Original language: English

wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary
Plate depicting Schaunard, created on the occasion of the premiere of Giacomo Puccini's opera 'La bohème,’ 1896 (© DeAgostini/Getty Images)(1896) Puccini’s opera ‘La bohème’ premieres in Italy
The lives and lusts of Parisian bohemians play out in famed Italian composer Giacomo Puccini’s latest opera, ‘La bohème.’ It premieres in Turin, Italy, and will gain worldwide fame.
La bohème is an opera in four acts, composed by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger. The world premiere performance of La bohème was in Turin on 1 February 1896 at the Teatro Regio, conducted by the young Arturo Toscanini; its U.S. premiere took place the following year, 1897, in Los Angeles. Since then, La bohème has become part of the standard Italian opera repertory and is one of the most frequently performed operas worldwide.
Written: 1895
First performed: Feb 01, 1896
Composer: Giacomo Puccini
Adaptations: Rent · La Bohème (1926) · Colline
Compositional form: Opera
Librettists: Luigi Illica · Giuseppe Giacosa

wiki/La_bohème
Demonstrators (from left) David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, Jr. and Joseph McNeil after the first lunch counter sit in, Feb 1, 1960, in Greensboro, NC (© Jack Moebes/Corbis)(1960) The Greensboro Four stage sit-in protest
Four black college students sit down at the Woolworth’s “whites only” lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, inspiring a powerful civil rights sit-in movement throughout America.
The Greensboro sit-ins were a series of nonviolent protests in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960, which led to the Woolworth department store chain removing its policy of racial segregation in the Southern United States. While not the first sit-in of the Civil Rights Movement, the Greensboro sit-ins were an instrumental action, and also the most well-known sit-ins of the Civil Rights Movement. These sit-ins led to increased national sentiment at a crucial period in US history. The primary event took place at the Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth store, now the International Civil Rights Center and Museum.
wiki/Greensboro_sit-ins
Debris from the space shuttle Columbia streaks across the sky over Tyler, Texas, on Feb. 1, 2003 (© Dr. Scott Lieberman/AP)(2003) Columbia space shuttle disintegrates on reentry
The 113th space shuttle flight, returning from a successful 16-day orbit, breaks apart on reentry, killing all seven astronauts on board. The disaster will put an end to shuttle missions for two years.
The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, when Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven crew members. During the launch of STS-107, Columbia’s 28th mission, a piece of foam insulation broke off from the Space Shuttle external tank and struck the left wing of the orbiter. A few previous shuttle launches had seen minor damage from foam shedding, but some engineers suspected that the damage to Columbia was more serious. NASA managers limited the investigation, reasoning that the crew could not have fixed the problem if it had been confirmed.
Date: Feb 01, 2003

wiki/Space_Shuttle_Columbia_disaster
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Today in History 12/10/16

Today in History
(1541) Two men are executed for affairs with Henry VIII’s wife
1541 Thomas Culpeper, a friend of the king, and Francis Dereham are executed after confessing, under torture, to affairs with the Queen of England Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII. Catherine will meet a hard end, too — she will be beheaded within months..

Francis Dereham was a Tudor courtier whose involvement with Henry VIII’s fifth Queen, Catherine Howard in her youth, was a principal cause of the Queen’s execution.

Died: Dec 10, 1541
Parents: John ( Thomas ) Derham · John Paynell

— Source: wiki/Francis_Dereham
(1884) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ is published in England
In colloquial language, Mark Twain’s novel tells the story of its narrator, Huck Finn, and Jim, a runaway slave. The book, which condemns racism, will stir controversy: It’s called “rough, coarse, and inelegant” and “more suited to the slums,” which Twain jokes will spur sales. . 1884

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain, first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written throughout in vernacular English, characterized by local color regionalism. It is told in the first person by Huckleberry “Huck” Finn, a friend of Tom Sawyer and narrator of two other Twain novels. It is a direct sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Author: Mark Twain
First published: Dec 1884
Characters: Huckleberry Finn · Tom Sawyer · Jim · Pap Finn · Aunt Polly
Genres: Satire · Children’s literature · Novel · Fiction · Comedy · Adventure fiction
Original language: English
Adaptations: The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993) · Huckleberry Finn (1974) · Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn (2014) · The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939) · Huckleberry Finn and His Friends (1979)

— Source: wiki/Adventures_of_Huckleberry_Finn
(1901) The first Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden
1901 Inventor of dynamite and manufacturer of weapons, Alfred Nobel didn’t want to be remembered as a “merchant of death,” and so willed that his fortune should fund annual awards to celebrate work that “shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.” Today, on the fifth anniversary of his death, the first prizes are conferred. .

The Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards bestowed in a number of categories by Swedish and Norwegian institutions in recognition of academic, cultural, and/or scientific advances.

Website: nobelprize.org
Categories: Nobel Peace Prize · Nobel Prize in Literature · Nobel Prize in Physics · Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine · Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences · Nobel Prize in Chemistry

— Source: wiki/Nobel_Prize
(1967) Singer Otis Redding dies at 26 in plane crash
Otis Redding’s private plane plummets into a lake just short of the runway in Madison, Wisconsin, killing Redding and six other passengers. Just the day before, the soul singer recorded ‘The Dock of the Bay,’ which will become the first posthumous No. 1 hit.. 1967

Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, and talent scout. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. His singing style influenced many other soul artists of the 1960s. During his lifetime, his recordings were produced by Stax Records, based in Memphis, Tennessee, and exemplify the sound of Stax.

Lived: Sep 09, 1941 – Dec 10, 1967 (age 26)
Height: 6′ 1″ (1.85 m)
Member of: Otis Redding & Carla Thomas
Parents: Fannie Redding (Mother) · Otis Redding, Sr (Father)
Awards: Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1999) · Grammy Hall of Fame (2011, 1998) · Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (1969) · Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance (1969)
Education: Ballard-Hudson High School

— Source: wiki/Otis_Redding
— IMDB: www.imdb.com/name/nm0714727
— Website: otisredding.com
DIH v2.9.o16

Today in History 12/06/16

Today in History
(1865) Slavery is abolished in the United States
1865 Eight months after the end of the Civil War, the 13th amendment is ratified by the required number of states, abolishing slavery in the US. Its passage was secured after intense lobbying by President Abraham Lincoln, whose Emancipation Proclamation had declared slaves free, but their status after the war was still uncertain. .

The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. In Congress, it was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, and by the House on January 31, 1865. The amendment was ratified by the required number of states on December 6, 1865. On December 18, 1865, Secretary of State William H. Seward proclaimed its adoption. It was the first of the three Reconstruction Amendments adopted following the American Civil War.

— Source: wiki/Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
(1884) US capital welcomes a towering marble obelisk
Workers have put the aluminum apex atop the 555-foot-high marble obelisk built in honor of George Washington. Construction began in 1848 but stalled during the Civil War. At the time of its completion, it’s the tallest structure in the world and will remain the tallest in the capital, thanks to city law.. 1884

The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and the first American president. Located almost due east of the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial, the monument, made of marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss, is both the world’s tallest stone structure and the world’s tallest obelisk, standing 554 feet 7 ¹¹⁄₃₂ inches tall according to the National Geodetic Survey or 555 feet 5 ¹⁄₈ inches tall according to the National Park Service. In 1975, a ramp covered a step at the entrance to the monument, so the ground next to the ramp was raised to match its height, reducing the remaining height to the monument’s apex. The obelisk was originally intended by its designer to stand 600 feet tall, but questions regarding the design of the foundations caused the height to be set lower by the time the building was eventually completed. It is the tallest monumental column in the world if all are measured above their pedestrian entrances, but two are taller when measured above ground, though they are neither all stone nor true obelisks.

Address: 2 15th St NW, Washington, DC 20007
Phone: (202) 426-6841
Website: www.nps.gov/wamo/index.htm
Established: Jan 31, 1848
Floors: 3
Annual visitors: 671,031 (2008)

— Source: wiki/Washington_Monument
(1907) West Virginia coalmine explosion kills 362 people
1907 A massive explosion inside two mines in Monongah, WV, kills at least 362 men and boys working below. Officials won’t be able to determine the exact cause of the worst mining disaster in the United States, but with victims including children as young as 8, the disaster will lead to calls for increased mine safety regulations..

The Monongah mining disaster of Monongah, West Virginia, occurred on December 6, 1907, and has been described as “the worst mining disaster in American History”. The explosion occurred in Fairmont Coal Company’s No. 6 and No. 8 mines.

Fatalities: 362
Date: Dec 06, 1907

— Source: wiki/Monongah_mining_disaster
(1917) Explosion in Canadian harbor levels neighborhood
Two ships full of ammunition for World War I collide in the Halifax Harbor, triggering a colossal explosion that kills about 1,600 people and flattens buildings, including a railway station, a sugar plant, and schools, in a 2.5-mile radius. Of the 500 students in the area, fewer than 10 will survive.. 1917

The Halifax Explosion was a maritime disaster in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on the morning of 6 December 1917. SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship laden with high explosives, collided with the Norwegian vessel SS Imo in the Narrows, a strait connecting the upper Halifax Harbour to Bedford Basin. A fire on board the French ship ignited her cargo, causing a large explosion that devastated the Richmond district of Halifax. Approximately 2,000 people were killed by blast, debris, fires and collapsed buildings, and an estimated 9,000 others were injured.

Date: Dec 06, 1917

— Source: wiki/Halifax_Explosion
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A Historical Day

(1884) A new thrill ride debuts at Coney Island
1884 A nickel gets you on Coney Island’s Switchback Railway, a new amusement park ride carrying passengers on an undulating railroad track at up to 6 mph, running a length of 600 feet and an overall drop of 43 feet. America’s first roller coaster will be a hit, spawning ever-bigger thrills..
(1911) Early computing companies merge to form a tech powerhouse
Charles Flint founds the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (C-T-R) after merging smaller specialized firms, some of which got their start inventing new computing technology to tabulate the 1890 US Census. C-T-R will be renamed International Business Machines (IBM) in 1924.. 1911
(1963) Soviet cosmonaut is the first woman in space
1963 Born into a decidedly earthbound proletariat family in rural Russia, Valentina Tereshkova has been chosen from over 400 applicants to become the world’s first woman in space. She will orbit Earth 48 times on a flight lasting almost three days, and parachute into re-entry at 20,000 feet..
(1967) The counterculture comes together for music at Monterey
Kicking off the Summer of Love, the Monterey Pop Festival will blow everyone’s minds with a roster of new rock stars including The Who, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, and soul superstar Otis Redding. A young guitarist, Jimi Hendrix, will literally be the show’s hottest act.. 1967