Today in History ^06/04/17

June 4, 2017 by GµårÐïåñ Leave a Comment

Henry Ford is seen on the Quadricycle, the first automobile he ever built in Dearborn, Michigan, in 1896 (© AP )

(1896) Henry Ford takes his first automobile for a test drive

Henry Ford has been working for another inventor at the Edison Illuminating Co., but has taken time out to tinker on his own invention, an ethanol-powered 4-wheeled vehicle he dubs the ‘Quadricycle.’ Brakes are not included, but the vehicle’s top speed is only 20 miles per hour.

The Ford Quadricycle was the first vehicle developed by Henry Ford. Ford’s first car was a simple frame with an ethanol-powered engine and four bicycle wheels mounted on it. The earliest cars were hand built, one by one, and very expensive. The peculiar machines were seen as toys for the rich. In the 1890s, the “horseless carriage” was a relatively new idea, with no one having a fixed, universal idea of what a car should look like or how it should work. Most of the first car builders were inventors, rather than businessmen, working with their imaginations and the parts they had on hand. Thus, the invention of the Quadricycle marks an important innovation as a proto-automobile that would lay the foundation for future, with more practical designs to follow.
wiki/Ford_Quadricycle

Painting of Joseph Pulitzer circa 1909 (© Culture Club/Getty Images)

(1917) First awarding of Pulitzer Prizes

Publisher Joseph Pulitzer willed funds to Columbia University to reward excellence in American journalism, literature, and music, and the first awards are given out this year. In decades to come, the Pulitzer Prize will be bestowed on a stellar array of American artists and writers.

Pulitzer Prizes were first presented in 1917. There were initially four categories; others that had been specified in Joseph Pulitzer’s request were phased in over the next few years. The winners were selected by the trustees of Columbia University. The first Pulitzer Prize winner, French Ambassador Jean Jules Jusserand, who had written the best book about American history, won $2,000. Herbert Bayard Swope won a $1,000 prize for reporting.

Date: Jun 04, 1917

wiki/1917_Pulitzer_Prize

Bruce Springsteen performing in 1985 (© Bettmann via Getty Images)

(1984) Bruce Springsteen releases ‘Born in the U.S.A.’

The singer releases his seventh studio album, backed by his longtime E Street Band. ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ will produce seven top-10 singles, including the smash ‘Dancing in the Dark’ (propelled by a video featuring a future ‘Friends’ star) and the often-misinterpreted title track.

Born in the U.S.A. is the seventh studio album by American rock singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. It was released on June 4, 1984, by Columbia Records. It was written by Springsteen and recorded with his E Street Band and producers Chuck Plotkin and Jon Landau at The Power Station and The Hit Factory in New York City.

Release date: Jun 04, 1984
Genre: Rock, Indie / Alternative
Label: Columbia
Artist: Bruce Springsteen
Awards: American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Album · Grammy Hall of Fame · Juno Award for International Album of the Year

wiki/Born_in_the_U.S.A.

A Chinese man stands alone to block a line of tanks heading east on Beijing's Cangan Boulevard in Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989 (© Jeff Widener/AP )

(1989) A brutal crackdown in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square

The People’s Liberation Army arrives in Tiananmen Square with assault weapons and tank columns to forcibly remove pro-democracy student demonstrators after seven weeks of protests. The government crackdown escalates, and thousands are killed as the Chinese military fires into the crowds.

The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, commonly known in China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations in Beijing in 1989. More broadly, it refers to the popular national movement inspired by the Beijing protests during that period, sometimes referred to as the ’89 Democracy Movement. The protests were forcibly suppressed after the government declared martial law. In what became widely known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, troops with assault rifles and tanks killed at least several hundred demonstrators trying to block the military’s advance towards Tiananmen Square. The number of civilian deaths has been estimated at anywhere from hundreds to thousands.

Start date: Apr 15, 1989
End date: Jun 04, 1989

wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989

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Today in History ^04/06/17

April 6, 2017 by GµårÐïåñ

Athletes prepare for the 100-meter race during the Olympic Games in Athens, 1896 (© Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

(1896) The first modern Olympic Games open in Athens

Athens, Greece hosts the first Olympic Games to be held in 1,500 years as athletes from 13 nations parade before an audience of 60,000. Events include track and field, gymnastics, wrestling, and the first ever marathon, which will be won by Spyridon Louis, of Greece.

The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was the first international Olympic Games held in modern history. Organised by the International Olympic Committee, which had been created by Pierre de Coubertin, it was held in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896.

Number of countries: 14
Start date: Apr 06, 1896
End date: Apr 15, 1896
Number of athletes: 241

wiki/1896_Summer_Olympics

(From left) File photos of Robert Edwin Peary and Matthew Henson (© Topical Press Agency/Getty Images; APIC/Getty Images)

(1909) Peary and Henson reportedly reach the North Pole

US explorers Robert Peary and Matthew Henson arrive with four Inuit men at what they and others believe to be the exact location of the North Pole. Their claims will be questioned in 1989 when an examination of navigational errors in Peary’s logs place the explorers about 60 miles short.

Matthew Alexander Henson was the first African-American Arctic explorer, an associate of Robert Peary on seven voyages over a period of nearly 23 years. They made six voyages and spent a total of 18 years in expeditions. Henson served as a navigator and craftsman, traded with Inuit and learned their language, and was known as Peary’s “first man” for these arduous travels.

Lived: Aug 08, 1866 – Mar 09, 1955 (age 88)
Spouse: Lucy Ross (m. 1906)
Education: Harvard University
Children: Anauakaq
Written works: A Black Explorer at the North Pole
Highlights
1906: Matthew Henson married Lucy Ross in 1906.

1909: He and Peary with their teams covered thousands of miles in dog sleds and reached the “Farthest North” point of any Arctic expedition until 1909 .

1912: In 1912 Matthew Henson published his memoir about his arctic explorations, A Negro Explorer at the North Pole.

1937: Henson was invited in 1937 as a member of The Explorers Club due to his achievement and was the first African American to be accepted.

1948: In 1948 he was made an honorary member, a distinction for 20 people annually.

1955: Henson died in the Bronx on March 9, 1955, at the age of 88.

wiki/Matthew_Henson

Robert Edwin Peary Sr. was an American explorer who claimed to have reached the geographic North Pole with his expedition on April 6, 1909. Peary’s claim was widely credited for most of the 20th century, rather than the competing claim by Frederick Cook, who said he got there a year earlier. Both claims were widely debated in newspapers until 1913.

Lived: May 06, 1856 – Feb 20, 1920 (age 63)
Spouse: Josephine Diebitsch Peary (m. 1888 – 1920)
Education: Bowdoin College · Portland High School
Children: Marie Ahnighito Peary · Kali Peary · Robert Edwin Peary Jr.
Buried: Arlington National Cemetery
Highlights
1886: Peary made his first expedition to the Arctic in 1886, intending to cross Greenland by dog sled, taking the first of his own suggested paths.

1888: On August 11, 1888, Peary married Josephine Diebitsch, a business school valedictorian who thought the modern woman should be more than just a mother.

1892: On May 3, 1892, Peary finally set out on the intended trek with Henson, Gibson, Cook and Astrup.

1902: Peary also achieved a “farthest north” for the western hemisphere in 1902 north of Canada’s Ellesmere Island.

1908: For his final assault on the Pole, Peary and 23 men, including Ross Gilmore Marvin, set off from New York City on July 6, 1908 aboard the SS Roosevelt under the command of Captain Robert Bartlett.

1909: Robert Edwin Peary, Sr. (May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer who claimed to have reached the geographic North Pole with his expedition on April 6, 1909.

wiki/Robert_Peary

Two US soldiers wear gas masks while walking through plumes of smoke during World War I (© Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

(1917) US declares war on Germany and enters World War I

After three years of war between European powers, the once-neutral United States, spurred on by German naval attacks on US civilian merchant ships, enters the fray as Congress declares war. Two million American soldiers will be shipped to Europe’s battlefields.

The United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, during World War I. The U.S. was an independent power and did not officially join the Allies. It closely cooperated with them militarily but acted alone in diplomacy. The U.S. made its major contributions in terms of supplies, raw material and money, starting in 1917. American soldiers under General John Pershing, Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), arrived in large numbers on the Western Front in the summer of 1918. They played a major role until victory was achieved on November 11, 1918 at 11:00am. Before entering the war, the U.S. had remained neutral, though it had been an important supplier to Great Britain and the other Allied powers. During the war, the U.S. mobilized over 4 million military personnel and suffered 110,000 deaths, including 43,000 due to the influenza pandemic. The war saw a dramatic expansion of the United States government in an effort to harness the war effort and a significant increase in the size of the U.S. Armed Forces. After a relatively slow start in mobilizing the economy and labour force, by spring 1918 the nation was poised to play a role in the conflict. Under the leadership of President Woodrow Wilson, the war represented the climax of the Progressive Era as it sought to bring reform and democracy to the world, although there was substantial public opposition to U.S. entry into the war.

wiki/United_States_in_World_War_I

A crowd gathered to watch the departure of 'New Orleans,' one of four aircraft to start the round-the-world flight. Leaving Lake Washington in Seattle on April 6, 1924, two remaining planes returned on Sept 28. (© E. Bacon/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

(1924) First round-the-world airplane flight departs

The US Army Air Service launches the first aerial circumnavigation of the globe, using a specially modified torpedo bomber and relay teams of pilots. Several countries had vied to be the first to accomplish the feat, but 175 days and 27,553 miles later, the US team will fly into the history books.

The first aerial circumnavigation of the world was conducted in 1924 by a team of aviators of the United States Army Air Service, the precursor of the United States Air Force. The trip took 175 days, covering over 27,553 miles (44,342 km).

In 1929 Australian Charles Kingsford Smith completed the second circumnavigation of the world by flight, and the first within both hemispheres, including the first trans-Pacific flight to Australia in 1928.

wiki/First_aerial_circumnavigation

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Today in History ^02/01/17

February 1, 2017 by GµårÐïåñ

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 ^01/05/17

January 5, 2017 by GµårÐïåñ

X-ray taken by Wilhem Conrad Roentgen of his wife's hand (© SSPL/Getty Images)

(1896) Discovery of X-rays reported

German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen’s discovery of a new form of radiation, later dubbed by Röntgen as ‘X’ for unknown, is published in an Austrian newspaper. One of his first experiments is a film of his wife Bertha’s hand with a ring on her finger, seen here.

X-radiation (composed of X-rays) is a form of electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 100 eV to 100 keV. X-ray wavelengths are shorter than those of UV rays and typically longer than those of gamma rays.
wiki/X-ray

Golden Gate Bridge under construction, San Francisco, California, 1935 (© OFF/AFP/Getty Images)

(1933) Golden Gate Bridge building begins

Construction officially starts on the iconic San Francisco Bay span when 3.25 million cubic feet of soil is excavated to make way for the bridge’s anchorages. The bridge will open to traffic four years later, in May 1937.

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate strait, the one-mile-wide, three-mile-long channel between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the American city of San Francisco, California – the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula – to Marin County, carrying both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 across the strait. The bridge is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco, California, and the United States. It has been declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Phone: (415) 921-5858
Opened: May 27, 1937
Length: 8,980 feet (2,737 m)
Width: 89′ 11″ (27.40 m)
Longest span: 4,200 feet (1,280 m)
Clearance below: 220 feet (67.06 m)

wiki/Golden_Gate_Bridge

Slovak politician Alexander Dubcek delivers a nationally televised address during his government's liberal reform period known as the Prague Spring, Czechoslovakia, July 18, 1968 (© Pictorial Parade/Getty Images)

(1968) Czechs defy Soviets and begin Prague Spring

Alexander Dubček is elected in Czechoslovakia and begins reforms to Communist Party restrictions in place since the 1940s. Seven months later, Soviet tanks will arrive to halt the revolution.

The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and continued until 21 August when the Soviet Union and other members of the Warsaw Pact invaded the country to halt the reforms.

Start date: Jan 05, 1968
End date: Aug 21, 1968

wiki/Prague_Spring

Bruce Springsteen, circa 1973 (© Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

(1973) Bruce Springsteen releases first album

Heralded by critics but slow to sell, ‘Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.’ is Springsteen’s debut album. Its folk-rock smolder is the first spark in a career that will catch fire two years later.

Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. is the debut album by Bruce Springsteen. Produced by Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos during July–September 1972 at the budget-priced 914 Sound Studios, it was released on January 5, 1973 by Columbia Records. Sales were poor in the first year, but the album gained some significant critical reviews.

Release year: 1973
Genre: Rock, Indie / Alternative
Label: Columbia
Artists: Bruce Springsteen · E Street Band

wiki/Greetings_from_Asbury_Park,_N.J.

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Today in History

August 16, 2016 by GµårÐïåñ

(1812) The British score an easy win against America
	Recognizing that his enemy is massing forces he can’t take on, and fearing for his family, General William Hull surrenders Fort Detroit to the British. The action will result in a death penalty, but Hull’s sentence will be pardoned due to his previous Revolutionary War heroism..
(1896) Gold fever hits in remote northwest Canada
Rabbit Creek in Canada’s Yukon Territory will soon be renamed Bonanza Creek, because it’s along this waterway that George Carmack and Skookum Jim Mason first discover gold deposits. An estimated 100,000 hopeful prospectors will soon stampede to stake a claim in the Klondike Gold Rush..
(1974) Four ‘brothers’ from Queens take the stage in downtown NYC
	Johnny, Tommy, Dee Dee, and Joey Ramone play the Bowery’s CBGB club in matching leather jackets, jeans, and attitudes, belting out their set of blistering songs in a style soon to be dubbed ‘punk.’ Rocketing from this first gig, the Ramones will change the course of rock ‘n’ roll. .
(1989) Space storms crash a stock market’s computers
All trading is halted on the Toronto Stock Exchange as three disc drives fail and computers crash. Scientists trace the failure to microchip interference from a geomagnetic storm caused by a massive solar flare, even larger than the one that took down Quebec’s power grid months earlier..