1908

Today in History 10/01 (NASA)

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Partial view of the port wing of the space shuttle Discovery in 2011 (© NASA/Getty Images)(1958) A new space agency takes off
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) becomes active, replacing the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Congress had approved the new agency earlier in the year in response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik 1.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.
Website: www.nasa.gov
Customer service: (202) 358-0001
Founded: Jul 29, 1958 · United States
Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
Founder: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Space programs: Apollo program · Space Shuttle program · Project Mercury · Project Gemini · Voyager program · Mariner program · New Frontiers program · International Space Station program · Discovery Program · Mars Exploration Program · Lunar Orbiter program · Mars Scout Program · Mars Surveyor ’98 program · Small Explorer program · Deep …
Spacecraft: Curiosity · 2001 Mars Odyssey · Nautilus-X · Mariner 9 · Ulysses · Landsat 8 · Aqua · Terra · Solar Orbiter · International Cometary Explorer · Uhuru · Explorer 33 · Graham · LAGEOS-1 · LAGEOS-2

NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building
Vehicle Assembly and Launch Control at Kennedy Space Center
wiki/NASA
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(1958) A new space agency takes off.
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331 BCE | Alexander the Great defeats the Persians
His warriors severely outnumbered, Alexander shows why he’s called “Great,” routing Darius III’s Persian army at Gaugamela, Mesopotamia near modern day Mosul, Iraq. With the defeat, almost two centuries of Persian rule ends and over two centuries of Hellenistic rule begins.
1908 | Ford makes autos affordable to ‘the great multitude’ as Model T on market
Henry Ford’s new auto is offered to the public at a relatively economical $825, and buyers can choose any color Model T as long as it’s black. Offering a four-cylinder engine, around 20 mpg, and a top speed of 40 mph, the Detroit automaker markets his car to America’s burgeoning middle class.
1946 | Judgments at Nuremberg as Nazis are sentenced
After a war that decimated Europe, and a holocaust that killed upwards of 11 million people, 24 convicted Nazi war criminals hear their sentences read out in a Nuremberg, Germany court following nearly a year of trials. Twelve will be executed, including Gestapo chief Hermann Goering.

Today in History 10/01/17

Leading Nazi figures during courtroom proceedings for war crimes in Nuremberg, Germany (© Raymond D'Addario/Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images)(1946) Judgments at Nuremberg as Nazis are sentenced
After a war that decimated Europe, and a holocaust that killed upwards of 11 million people, 24 convicted Nazi war criminals hear their sentences read out in a Nuremberg, Germany court following nearly a year of trials. Twelve will be executed, including Gestapo chief Hermann Goering.
The Nuremberg trials were a series of military tribunals held by the Allied forces under international law and the laws of war after World War II. The trials were most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, judicial and economic leadership of Nazi Germany, who planned, carried out, or otherwise participated in the Holocaust and other war crimes. The trials were held in the city of Nuremberg, Germany, and their decisions marked a turning point between classical and contemporary international law.
Start date: Nov 20, 1945
End date: Oct 01, 1946

wiki/Nuremberg_trials
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Today in History 08/17 (Hurricane Camille)

A shopping center and motel complex in Biloxi, Mississippi, after high winds and tides slashed the Mississippi gulf coast on Aug 18, 1969 (© AP)(1969) America’s Gulf Coast is slammed by monster storm
A monstrous Category 5 hurricane, whose vortex of clouds fills almost the entire Gulf of Mexico, packs 175-mph winds and pushes a storm surge 24 feet high as it rages into the US at the mouth of the Mississippi River. In the end, Camille will kill 259 and cause $1.42 billion in damage.
Hurricane Camille was the second-most intense tropical cyclone to strike the United States on record. The most intense storm of the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season, Camille formed as a tropical depression on August 14 south of Cuba from a long-tracked tropical wave. Located in a favorable environment for strengthening, the storm quickly intensified into a Category 2 hurricane before striking the western part of the nation on August 15. Emerging into the Gulf of Mexico, Camille underwent another period of rapid intensification and became a Category 5 hurricane the next day as it moved northward towards the Louisiana–Mississippi region. Despite weakening slightly on August 17, the hurricane quickly re-intensified back to a Category 5 before it made landfall in Pass Christian, Mississippi early on August 18 with a pressure of 900 mbar. This was the second-lowest pressure recorded for a U.S. landfall; only the 1935 Labor Day hurricane had a lower pressure at landfall. As Camille pushed inland, it quickly weakened and was a tropical depression by the time it was over the Ohio Valley. Once it emerged offshore, it was able to restrengthen to a strong tropical storm, before it became extratropical, being absorbed by a cold front over the North Atlantic on August 22.
Damages: $1.43 billion USD (1969)
Formed: Aug 14, 1969
Dissipated: Aug 22, 1969
Total fatalities: 259
Lowest pressure: 900 mbar (hPa), 26.58 inHg
Affected areas: Mississippi · Cuba · Louisiana · Alabama · Southern United States

Hurricane Camille 16 aug 1969
Hurricane Camille on August 16, 1969. Image capture by NASA’s ATS III satellite
wiki/Hurricane_Camille
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(1969) America’s Gulf Coast is slammed by monster storm.
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1908 | Paris smiles at history’s first animated film
For 1 minute and 20 seconds, Parisians gaze on a fanciful figure seemingly drawn from chalk who morphs and leaps, changing form in amusing and amazing ways in ‘Fantasmagorie,’ a stream-of-consciousness silent film that will come to be regarded as the first animated cartoon.
1945 | Dutch face a revolution in a long-held colony
An end to more than three centuries of Dutch colonization and control is declared by the Indonesian National Revolution and its leaders Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta. WWII had weakened the Netherlands’ hold on the Southeast Asian archipelago and now Indonesia heads towards independence.
1959 | Miles Davis remakes jazz music with a landmark album
A new cool modality unfurls on Miles Davis’ latest album, ‘Kind of Blue.’ Davis’ brilliant horn playing, and his sublime supporting ensemble, including Bill Evans and John Coltrane, will make the disc an enduring success, and it will be considered by some the greatest jazz record of all time.

Today in History 08/17/17

Sukarno, leader of the Indonesian National Party, addresses a rally in Macassar, demanding independence from the Netherlands in an undated photo (© AFP/Getty Images)(1945) Dutch face a revolution in a long-held colony
An end to more than three centuries of Dutch colonization and control is declared by the Indonesian National Revolution and its leaders Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta. WWII had weakened the Netherlands' hold on the Southeast Asian archipelago and now Indonesia heads towards independence.
The Indonesian National Revolution or Indonesian War of Independence was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire, and an internal social revolution following the postwar and postcolonial Indonesia. It took place between Indonesia's declaration of independence in 1945 and the Dutch recognition of Indonesia's independence at the end of 1949. The Indonesian independence movement began in May 1908, which is commemorated as the "Year of National Awakening".
Start date: Aug 17, 1945
End date: Dec 27, 1949
RI Transfer Signing
The signing ceremony recognizing Indonesian sovereignty in The Hague, 27 December 1949

wiki/Indonesian_National_Revolution
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Today in History 07/26 (New York Statehood)

A parade in New York City celebrating the ratification of the Constitution on July 26, 1788 (© MPI/Getty Images)(1788) New York is 11th state to ratify the Constitution
Influenced in part by Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist Papers, New York delegates vote 30-27 to ratify the federal Constitution. The Constitution will go into effect that September with the remaining two states ratifying within two years.
New York is a state in the northeastern United States. New York was one of the original thirteen colonies that formed the United States. With an estimated 19.8 million residents in 2015, it is the fourth-most-populous state in the United States. To differentiate it from the city of the same name, it is sometimes called New York State.
Website: www.ny.gov
Population: 19.85 million (2017)
Area: 54,556 sq miles
Colleges and universities: Columbia University · New York University · Cornell University · Syracuse University · Rockefeller University · United States Military Academy · Binghamton University · University at Albany, SUNY · Hamilton College · University at Buffalo · Fordham University · Sarah Lawrence College · Stony Brook University · University of Rochester
Capital: Albany
Senators: Kirsten Gillibrand · Chuck Schumer
Governor: Andrew Cuomo

NY State Flag
Flag of New York
NY State Seal
Seal of New York
wiki/New_York
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(1788) New York is 11th state to ratify the Constitution.
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1908 | Roosevelt and Bonaparte bring about a bureau
United States Attorney General Charles Bonaparte, acting on ideas he’d hashed out with President Teddy Roosevelt, has hired staff for a new bureau, and today he officially orders them to report to the Chief Examiner. This will later be marked as the start of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI.
1951 | ‘Alice in Wonderland’ premieres
A daydreaming Alice gives chase to a white rabbit sporting a dapper waistcoat, following him down a rabbit hole and into movie history as Disney premieres its 13th animated film, based on Lewis Carroll’s books. Initially panned, it will come to be regarded as one of the best ‘Alice’ film adaptations.
1975 | Disco era hustles onto the scene with a chart-topper, ‘The Hustle’
Inspired by a line dance already popular in Manhattan discotheques, songwriter Van McCoy’s mostly instrumental homage hits the top spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. ‘The Hustle’ will kick-start disco music’s rise, win a Grammy, and become one of the definitive grooves of the ’70s.

Today in History 07/26/17

Charles Bonaparte in 1903 (Public domain)(1908) Roosevelt and Bonaparte bring about a bureau
United States Attorney General Charles Bonaparte, acting on ideas he'd hashed out with President Teddy Roosevelt, has hired staff for a new bureau, and today he officially orders them to report to the Chief Examiner. This will later be marked as the start of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, formerly the Bureau of Investigation, is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States, and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. A leading U.S. counter-terrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization, the FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes.
Website: fbi.gov
Founders: Theodore Roosevelt · J. Edgar Hoover · Charles Joseph Bonaparte
Address: 935 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20535
Customer service: +1 800-225-5324
Seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Seal of the FBI
FBI Field Divisions Map
FBI Field Divisions Map

wiki/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation
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Today in History 06/30 (Tunguska Event)

Trees on the ground near the Tunguska River in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia (© Universal History Archive/Getty Images)(1908) Space rock crashes into Earth’s atmosphere
A meteoroid explodes in the sky over a remote region of Siberia, leveling nearly 500,000 acres of forest. Night skies reportedly light up as far away as Asia, and the seismic shockwave registers in England. The object is consumed in the explosion and does not leave an impact crater.
The Tunguska event was a large explosion that occurred near the Stony Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate, Russia, on the morning of 30 June 1908. The explosion over the sparsely populated Eastern Siberian Taiga flattened 2,000 square kilometres of forest, yet caused no known human casualties. The explosion is generally attributed to the air burst of a meteoroid. It is classified as an impact event, even though no impact crater has been found; the object is thought to have disintegrated at an altitude of 5 to 10 kilometres rather than to have hit the surface of the Earth.
Date: Jun 30, 1908

Trajectory Models of The Tunguska Fireball
Tunguska’s trajectory and the locations of five villages projected onto a plane normal to the Earth’s surface and passing through the fireball’s approach path. The scale is given by an adopted beginning height of 100 km. Three zenith angles ZR of the apparent radiant are assumed and the trajectories plotted by the solid, dashed, and dotted lines, respectively. The parenthesized data are the distances of the locations from the plane of projection: a plus sign indicates the location is south-south west of the plane; a minus sign, north-north east of it. The transliteration of the village names in this figure and the text is consistent with that of Paper I and differs somewhat from the transliteration in the current world atlases.
wiki/Tunguska_event
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(1908) Space rock crashes into Earth’s atmosphere.
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1559 | A knightly sport of jousting claims king Henry
France’s King Henry II is celebrating both his daughter’s wedding and peace with the Habsburgs in one of his favorite ways, by jousting. This will be his final match, as a lance fragment strikes him in the head, killing him days later. The royal death will hasten the sport’s decline.
1859 | A terrifying tightrope walk conquers the air above Niagara
French daredevil ‘The Great Blondin’ steps out onto a 2-inch-diameter, 1,300-foot hemp rope stretched 160-feet above a raging gorge, and 25,000 spectators hold their collective breath. Blondin will travel from America to Canada on the first tightrope walk over Niagara Falls.
1953 | First Chevrolet Corvette rolls off the line
The first Corvette is built in Flint, Michigan. The ‘Vette had been designed solely for the 1953 New York Auto Show, but enthusiasm from the public and Chevy ‘s chief engineer led to production of this consumer model. It will become an iconic sports car, with the one millionth Corvette being produced in 1992.

Today in History 01/11/18

Toroweap Overlook at sunset in the Grand Canyon, Arizona (© Dan Ballard/Aurora Creative/Getty Images)(1908) Roosevelt declares Grand Canyon a national monument
Arizona’s astounding 277-mile gorge is given the honor of national monument status by noted wilderness supporter President Teddy Roosevelt, thus ensuring the Grand Canyon’s future protection. It will be made a national park in 1919, soon after the establishment of the National Park Service.
Grand Canyon National Park is the 15th site in the United States to have been named a national park. Named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, the park is located in northwestern Arizona. The park’s central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often considered one of the Wonders of the World. The park, which covers 1,217,262 acres of unincorporated area in Coconino and Mohave counties, received nearly six million recreational visitors in 2016, which is the second highest count of all U.S. national parks after Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Website: www.nps.gov/grca
Address: 20 S Entrance Rd, Grand Canyon, AZ 86023
Phone: (928) 638-7888
Established: Feb 26, 1919
Area: 1,902 sq miles (4,926 km²)
Annual visitors: 5.97 million (2016)
Travel tip: The Grand Canyon is on almost every traveler’s bucket list. Indeed, Theodore Roosevelt called it “the one great sight which every American should see.” The Bright Angel and South Kaibab Trails offer stunning views, but if hiking’s not your cup of tea, rent a bicycle or take a scenic drive through the park. @tripadvisor

Cape Royal Sunset
Sunset at Cape Royal Point, Grand Canyon National Park North Rim
wiki/Grand_Canyon_National_Park
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