Today in History ^01/27/17

January 27, 2017 by GµårÐïåñ

Sign at the traditional entrance to the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga. (© University of Georgia/Collegiate Images/Getty Images)

(1785) Georgia founds first state university in US

The University of Georgia is incorporated, and America’s first publicly funded institution of higher learning will be built on the banks of the Oconee River, in what is now the city of Athens.

The University of Georgia, founded in 1785, also referred to as UGA or simply Georgia, is an American public Land-grant, Regional Sun Grant, National Sea Grant, and National Space Grant research university. Its primary location is a 762-acre campus adjacent to the college town of Athens, Georgia, approximately an hour’s drive from the global city of Atlanta. It is a flagship university that is ranked tied for 18th overall among all public national universities in the 2017 U.S. News & World Report rankings. The university is classified in the highest ranking, “R-1: Doctoral Universities – Highest Research Activity”, with the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education classifying the student body as “More Selective,” its most selective admissions category. The university has been labeled one of the “Public Ivies,” a publicly funded university considered to provide a quality of education comparable to those of the Ivy League.

Website: www.uga.edu
Founder: Abraham Baldwin
Mascots: Uga · Hairy Dawg
Enrollment: 36,130 (2017)
Address: The Administration Building, Athens, GA 30602
Ranking: #56 National University (2017)
Undergraduates: 27,547 (2017)

wiki/University_of_Georgia

National Geographic Society building in Washington, D.C., in 1921 (© Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division)

(1888) National Geographic Society founded

Having gathered together for the first time two weeks previously, 33 founders, mostly scientists, explorers, and wealthy travelers, incorporate the National Geographic Society to promote “geographical knowledge.” Their magazine will begin publishing nine months later.

The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical conservation, and the study of world culture and history. The National Geographic Society’s logo is a yellow portrait frame – rectangular in shape – which appears on the margins surrounding the front covers of its magazines and as its television channel logo. It also operates a website that features extra content and worldwide events.

Website: www.nationalgeographic.org
Customer service: +1 800-647-5463

wiki/National_Geographic_Society

Troops march during the Siege of Leningrad in Russia, circa 1940s (© Oleg Konin/Rex Features)

(1944) Seige of Leningrad lifted

A Soviet offensive pushes German troops from the southern border of Leningrad, breaking the devastating military blockade on the city 872 days after it had begun. Surviving residents of Leningrad have endured a stranglehold on their city that cost the lives of roughly 1 million of their neighbors and defenders.

The Siege of Leningrad, also known as the Leningrad Blockade was a prolonged military blockade undertaken mainly by the German Army Group North against Leningrad, historically and currently known as Saint Petersburg, in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II. The siege started on 8 September 1941, when the last road to the city was severed. Although the Soviets managed to open a narrow land corridor to the city on 18 January 1943, the siege was only lifted on 27 January 1944, 872 days after it began. It was one of the longest and most destructive sieges in history and possibly the costliest in terms of casualties.

Start date: Sep 08, 1941
End date: Jan 27, 1944

wiki/Siege_of_Leningrad

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (© FITV/Rex Shutterstock)

(2003) Grandmaster Flash’s ‘The Message’ preserved for history

The newly created National Recording Preservation Board announces that 50 audio recordings are to be preserved in the Library of Congress for the National Recording Registry. ‘The Message’ – a 1982 rap single by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five – is inducted alongside recordings of Stravinsky, Bessie Smith, FDR, and others.

The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that “are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States.” The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, which created the National Recording Preservation Board, whose members are appointed by the Librarian of Congress. The recordings preserved in the United States National Recording Registry form a registry of recordings selected yearly by the National Recording Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress.
wiki/National_Recording_Registry

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Today in History ^12/23/16

December 23, 2016 by GµårÐïåñ

(1823) ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ is published

A newspaper in Troy, New York, publishes an anonymous poem with the memorable opening line, “Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro’ the house…” Literature professor Clement Clarke Moore will later be identified as the author of the poem that will help define the modern Santa Claus.
“A Visit from St. Nicholas”, more commonly known as “The Night Before Christmas” and “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously in 1823 and later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, who claimed authorship in 1837. Some commentators now believe the poem was written by Henry Livingston, Jr. Author: Clement Clarke Moore First published: 1823 Characters: St. Nicholas Adaptations: The Night Before Christmas (1905) Genre: Children’s literature — Source: wiki/A_Visit_from_St._Nicholas
(1888) Vincent van Gogh reportedly slices off part of his ear

A depressed Van Gogh cuts off his ear, reportedly after his friend, artist Paul Gauguin, says he’s leaving the “yellow house” in Arles, France, where Van Gogh is renting rooms. This dashes Van Gogh’s hopes of creating an artist colony there. Some historians will doubt Van Gogh cut his own ear and will blame Gauguin for the injury.
Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life. They include landscapes, still lifes, portraits and self-portraits, and are characterised by bold colours and dramatic, impulsive and expressive brushwork that contributed to the foundations of modern art. His suicide at 37 followed years of mental illness and poverty. Lived: Mar 30, 1853 – Jul 29, 1890 (age 37) Height: 5′ 7″ (1.70 m) Siblings: Theo van Gogh (Brother) · Wil van Gogh (Sister) · Cornelis Vincent van Gogh (Brother) · Elisabeth Huberta Du Quesne-van Gogh (Sister) · Anna Cornelia van Gogh (Sister) Periods: Post-Impressionism · Divisionism Education: Royal Academy of Fine Arts (1886) · Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts · Willem II College (1866 – 1868) Parents: Anna Carbentus van Gogh (Mother) · Theodorus van Gogh (Father) Highlights 1857: His brother Theo was born on 1 May 1857. 1886: In February 1886 he wrote to Theo that he could only remember eating six hot meals since the previous May. 1886: Van Gogh moved to Paris in March 1886 where he shared Theo’s rue Laval apartment in Montmartre, and studied at Fernand Cormon’s studio. 1888: His paintings grew brighter in colour as he developed a style that became fully realised during his stay in Arles in the south of France in 1888. 1888: The Flowering Orchards (also the Orchards in Blossom) are among the first groups of work completed after Van Gogh’s arrival in Arles in February 1888. 1890: In May 1890 Van Gogh left the clinic in Saint-Rémy to move nearer to both Dr Paul Gachet in Auvers-sur-Oise and to Theo. — Source: wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh
(1954) First successful kidney transplant performed

A medical team described by one doctor as a “bunch of fools,” performs the procedure on 23-year-old identical twins, Richard and Ronald Herrick. The recipient will live for eight years; his donor brother will live until age 79. One of the doctors, Joseph Murray, will go on to win a Nobel Prize for his work in organ transplants.
Kidney transplantation or renal transplantation is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage renal disease. Kidney transplantation is typically classified as deceased-donor or living-donor transplantation depending on the source of the donor organ. Living-donor renal transplants are further characterized as genetically related or non-related transplants, depending on whether a biological relationship exists between the donor and recipient. Exchanges and chains are a novel approach to expand the living donor pool. In February 2012, this novel approach to expand the living donor pool was featured on the front page of the New York Times in a story covering the largest chain in the world involving 60 participants organized by the National Kidney Registry. In 2014 the record for the largest chain was broken again by a swap involving 70 participants, covered by ABC News. — Source: wiki/Kidney_transplantation
(1986) Voyager completes the first nonstop, around-the-world flight

Pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager land the odd-looking experimental plane at Edwards Air Force Base in California, completing the first flight around the world without refueling. The trip took nine days and three minutes and covered 25,000 miles.
The Rutan Model 76 Voyager was the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. It was piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager. The flight took off from Edwards Air Force Base’s 15,000 foot long runway in the Mojave Desert on December 14, 1986, and ended 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds later on December 23, setting a flight endurance record. The aircraft flew westerly 26,366 statute miles at an average altitude of 11,000 feet. Maximum speed: 121.79 mph (196 km/h) Range: 26,229 miles (42,212 km) Maiden flight: Jun 22, 1984 Length: 29′ 2″ (8.90 m) Wingspan: 111 feet (33.80 m) Passengers: 1 — Source: wiki/Rutan_Voyager
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Today in History ^12/18/16

December 18, 2016 by GµårÐïåñ

(1888) Cowboys stumble upon an ancient “palace” on a cliff

Two cowboys, Richard Wetherill and Charlie Mason, are out looking for stray cattle in southwestern Colorado when they spy ruins of ancient dwellings high on a mesa. Wetherill dubs it Cliff Palace and the name will stick. The former home of Ancestral Puebloans will come to be considered the largest cliff dwelling in North America.
Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. The structure built by the Ancestral Puebloans is located in Mesa Verde National Park in their former homeland region. The cliff dwelling and park are in the southwestern corner of Colorado, in the Southwestern United States. Address: Ruins Rd, Uninc Montezuma County, CO 81330 Phone: (970) 529-4461 — Source: wiki/Cliff_Palace
(1892) ‘The Nutcracker Suite’ premieres in St. Petersburg, Russia

The new two-act ballet, choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, with music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky gets an ambivalent reaction from critics. But the score will become one of Tchaikovsky’s most famous compositions and many ballet companies will rely on ‘Nutcracker’ ticket sales each Christmas season.
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann’s story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, by way of Alexandre Dumas’ adapted story ‘The Nutcracker’. It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg on Sunday, December 18, 1892, on a double-bill with Tchaikovsky’s opera Iolanta. Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Adaptations: The Nutcracker in 3D (2010) · Nutcracker: The Motion Picture (1986) · Shchelkunchik (1973) · Nutcracker Fantasy (1979) · Nutcracker Rouge · Nutcracker Compositional form: Ballet — Source: wiki/The_Nutcracker
(1915) US President Woodrow Wilson marries socialite

Woodrow Wilson, 59, marries a 43-year-old Washington, DC, socialite, Edith Bolling Galt. Presidential advisors voice concern about the marriage just a year after Wilson’s first wife had died. Wilson will suffer a stroke during his second term, leaving Edith to run many routine affairs of his administration.
Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, second wife of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, was First Lady of the United States from 1915 to 1921. She met the President in March 1915 and they married nine months later. Lived: Oct 15, 1872 – Dec 28, 1961 (age 89) Spouse: Woodrow Wilson (m. 1915 – 1924) · Norman Galt (m. 1896 – 1908) Buried: Washington National Cathedral Children: Margaret Woodrow Wilson · Jessie Woodrow Wilson Sayre · Eleanor “Nellie” Randolph McAdoo · Jessie Woodrow Sayre · Infant Galt Previous office: First Lady of the United States (1915 – 1921) Education: Emory and Henry College Highlights 1896: Edith Wilson married Norman Galt on April 01, 1896; their marriage lasted 12 years till 1908. 1896: While visiting her married sister in Washington, D.C., Edith met Norman Galt (1864-1908), a prominent jeweler; they married on April 30, 1896 and lived in the capital for the next 12 years. 1915: Wilson married Edith Bolling Galt on December 18, 1915 at her home in Washington, D.C. 1916: In 1916, the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury (1862–1947) was commissioned by Colonel Edward M. House to paint a portrait of Mrs. Wilson, which he did in the White House. 1919: Following his attendance at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Wilson returned to campaign for Senate approval of the peace treaty and the League of Nations Covenant. 1921: In 1921, Edith Wilson retired with the former president to their home on S Street NW in Washington, D.C., nursing him until his death three years later. — Source: wiki/Edith_Wilson
(1957) First civilian nuclear power plant goes online

The Shippingport Atomic Power Station, in Pennsylvania, is up and running, generating electricity for the first time. The $72 million plant, which is the world’s first large-scale nuclear power facility, will supply power to the Pittsburgh area for 25 years until it’s retired in 1982.
The Shippingport Atomic Power Station was the world’s first full-scale atomic electric power plant devoted exclusively to peacetime uses. It was located near the present-day Beaver Valley Nuclear Generating Station on the Ohio River in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, about 25 miles from Pittsburgh. Opened: 1957 — Source: wiki/Shippingport_Atomic_Power_Station
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Today in History ^11/23/16

November 23, 2016 by GµårÐïåñ

(1888) The jukebox debuts in a San Francisco saloon

	The Palais Royale Saloon rolls out a device that will be an overnight success and will eventually drum player pianos out of drinking establishments: the jukebox. This initial version, a nickel-and-slot player, is a phonograph with stethoscope-like tubes..
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron’s selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons with letters and numbers on them that, when entered in combination, are used to play a specific selection. — Source: wiki/Jukebox
(1936) Blues singer Robert Johnson makes his first recording

In a makeshift studio, Robert Johnson lays down tracks that will influence music for generations. These and later recordings will be considered so powerful that a legend arises purporting that Johnson sold his soul to the devil to achieve success. The blues legend will nevertheless die in poverty at just 27..
Robert Leroy Johnson was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generations of musicians. Johnson’s shadowy and poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend. One Faustian myth says that he sold his soul to the devil at a local crossroads of Mississippi highways to achieve success. As an itinerant performer who played mostly on street corners, in juke joints, and at Saturday night dances, Johnson had little commercial success or public recognition in his lifetime. Born: May 08, 1911 · Hazlehurst, MS Died: Aug 16, 1938 · Greenwood, MS Spouse: Caletta Craft (m. 1931 – 1938) · Virginia Travis (m. 1929 – 1930) Siblings: Carrie Thompson (Sister) Parents: Noah Johnson (Father) · Julia Major Dodds (Mother) Awards: Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2006) · Grammy Hall of Fame (2014, 1998) — Source: wiki/Robert_Johnson — IMDB: www.imdb.com/name/nm0426101/
(1936) ‘Life’ publishes its first issue as a photo magazine

	Vivid images bring ‘Life’ magazine to life. Originally a humor magazine, ‘Life’ is reconceived by new owner Henry Luce, founder of Time, as a magazine focused on photojournalism. ‘Life’ will be huge commercial success, with a circulation of 8 million at the peak of its popularity..
Life was an American magazine that ran weekly from 1883 to 1972, published initially as a humor and general interest magazine. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936, solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name, and shifted it to a role as a weekly news magazine with a strong emphasis on photojournalism. Life was published weekly until 1972, as an intermittent “special” until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 to 2002. Founded: 1936 Website: www.life.com — Source: wiki/Life_(magazine)
(1980) Southern Italy rocked by devastating quake

Nearly 3,000 people are killed and many more are injured after a massive earthquake strikes southern Italy. Many of the victims are at evening mass when the 6.89-magnitude quake hits. Towns in the province of Avellino suffer the greatest damage and causalities..
The 1980 Irpinia earthquake took place in Southern Italy on November 23 with a moment magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X. The shock was centered on the village of Conza and left at least 2,483 people dead, at least 7,700 injured, and left 250,000 homeless. Date: Nov 23, 1980 — Source: wiki/1980_Irpinia_earthquake
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Today in History

August 31, 2016 by GµårÐïåñ

(1888) Murderer strikes in London’s Whitechapel district

	Mary Ann Nichols, a servant and prostitute, is discovered dead on the street in Whitechapel, in London’s East End. The slum area is notoriously violent, but authorities will begin to suspect a serial killer is at large when another woman is similarly killed just a over a week later. .
Jack the Ripper is the best known name given to an unidentified serial killer generally believed to have been active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name “Jack the Ripper” originated in a letter written by someone claiming to be the murderer that was disseminated in the media. The letter is widely believed to have been a hoax, and may have been written by journalists in an attempt to heighten interest in the story and increase their newspapers’ circulation. The killer was called “the Whitechapel Murderer” as well as “Leather Apron” within the crime case files, as well as in contemporary journalistic accounts.
(1928) Mack the Knife and Pirate Jenny meet in a Berlin premiere

Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s adaptation of ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ opens in Berlin as a musical slyly critiquing capitalism and socialism. ‘The Threepenny Opera’ introduces the world to ‘Mack the Knife,’ and will become one of the most performed works of musical theater in history..
The Threepenny Opera is a “play with music” by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from German dramatist Elisabeth Hauptmann’s translation of John Gay’s 18th-century English ballad opera, The Beggar’s Opera, with music by Kurt Weill and insertion ballads by François Villon and Rudyard Kipling. The work offers a Socialist critique of the capitalist world. It opened on 31 August 1928 at Berlin’s Theater am Schiffbauerdamm. First published: 1960 Written: 1928 First performed: Aug 31, 1928 Author: Bertolt Brecht
(1972) Soviet gymnast wows the world

	All 4′ 11″ and 84-pounds, the USSR’s Olga Korbut has the Olympic crowds cheering in Munich as she performs nearly flawless, and boldly athletic, gymnastics. Cold War tensions melt as the sweet-faced 17-year-old ‘Sparrow from Minsk’ wins three gold medals for her individual routines. .
Olga Valentinovna Korbut, also known as the “Sparrow from Minsk”, is a Belarusian former gymnast who won four gold medals and two silver medals at the Summer Olympic Games, in which she competed in 1972 and 1976 for the Soviet team. Born: May 16, 1955 (age 61) · Grodno, Belarus Height: 5′ 0″ (1.52 m)
(1997) The world mourns for the ‘People’s Princess’

Speeding through a Paris tunnel, the car carrying Diana, Princess of Wales, 36, crashes, killing her companion Dodi Fayed and the driver, injuring another passenger, and causing fatal injuries that claim the life of one of the most famous and beloved women in the world..
On 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales died as a result of injuries sustained in a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma road tunnel in Paris, France. Dodi Fayed, and the driver of the Mercedes-Benz S280, Henri Paul, were pronounced dead at the scene; the bodyguard of Diana and Dodi, Trevor Rees-Jones, was the only survivor.
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