1908

Today in History 06/30 (Tunguska Event)

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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.
Also on this day,

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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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 06/30/17

Painting of King Henry II of France (© Hulton Fine Art Collection/Getty Images)(1559) A knightly sport claims a king
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.
Henry II was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder brother Francis III, Duke of Brittany, in 1536.
Lived: Mar 31, 1519 – Jul 10, 1559 (age 40)
Spouse: Catherine de’ Medici (m. 1533)
Children: Henry III of France (Son) · Elisabeth of Valois (Daughter) · Charles IX of France (Son) · Claude of France (Daughter) · Francis II of France (Son) · Francis, Duke of Anjou (Son) · Victoria of France (Daughter) · Louis of Valois (Son) · Margaret of Valois (Daughter) · Joan of France (Daughter) · Henri d’Angoulême (Son) · Diane de France (Daugh…
Parents: Francis I of France (Father) · Claude of France (Mother)
Siblings: Francis III, Duke of Brittany (Brother) · Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry (Sister)
Buried: Basilica of St Denis
Highlights
  • 1533: Henry married Catherine de’ Medici, a member of the ruling family of Florence, on 28 October 1533, when they were both fourteen years old.

  • 1536: The second son of Francis I, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder brother Francis III, Duke of Brittany, in 1536.

  • 1554: Henry captured the three episcopal cities of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and secured them by defeating the Habsburg army at the Battle of Renty in 1554.

  • 1556: After the abdication of Charles V in 1556, the Habsburg empire was split between Philip II of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I.

  • 1559: The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis was signed between Henry and Elizabeth I of England on 2 April and between Henry and Philip II of Spain on 3 April 1559 at Le Cateau-Cambrésis.

  • 1559: Despite the efforts of royal surgeon Ambroise Paré, the king died of septicemia on 10 July 1559.

wiki/Henry_II_of_France
Charles Blondin crossing Niagara Gorge on a tightrope in 1859 (© William England/Getty Images)(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.
Charles Blondin was a French tightrope walker and acrobat. Blondin was born on 28 February 1824 at St Omer, Pas-de-Calais, France. His real name was Jean-François Gravelet and he was known also by the names Charles Blondin, Jean-François Blondin and called the “Chevalier Blondin”, or simply “The Great Blondin”. At the age of five he was sent to the École de Gymnase at Lyon and, after six months training as an acrobat, made his first public appearance as “The boy Wonder”. His superior skill and grace, as well as the originality of the settings of his acts, made him a popular favourite. He first married Marie Blancherie, and at the same time legitimised their son Aime Leopold. It is not known what happened to his French family after he went to America.
Born: Feb 28, 1824 · Saint-Omer, France
Died: Feb 22, 1897
Highlights
  • 1824: Blondin was born on 28 February 1824 at St Omer, Pas-de-Calais, France.

  • 1861: In 1861, Blondin first appeared in London, at the Crystal Palace, turning somersaults on stilts on a rope stretched across the central transept, 70 feet (21 m) from the ground.

  • 1862: In 1862, he again gave a series of performances at the Crystal Palace, and elsewhere in England, and on the continent of Europe.

  • 1866: While he was living in England he and Charlotte had two more children, Henry, born about 1863, and Charlotte Mary Janet, baptised on 25 April 1866.

  • 1873: On 6 September 1873, Blondin crossed Edgbaston Reservoir in Birmingham.

  • 1897: Blondin died of diabetes at his “Niagara House” in Ealing, London, on 22 February 1897, in his 73rd year, and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.

wiki/Charles_Blondin
(From left) Adolf Hitler with SA leader Ernst Röhm circa 1933 (© Photo12/UIG via Getty Images)(1934) Hitler orders a purge of potential political rivals
Turning his homicidal paranoia inwards, Adolph Hitler sends execution squads to eliminate hundreds of Nazi Party members he deems a threat to his future domination. The SS and Gestapo secret police inflict the Night of the Long Knives mostly on members of the SA, or Stormtroopers.
The Night of the Long Knives, also called Operation Hummingbird or, in Germany, the Röhm Putsch, was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from June 30 to July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political extrajudicial executions intended to consolidate Hitler’s absolute hold on power in Germany. Many of those killed were leaders of the SA, the Nazis’ own paramilitary Brownshirts organization; the best-known victim was Ernst Röhm, the SA’s leader and one of Hitler’s longtime supporters and allies. Leading members of the left-wing Strasserist faction of the Nazi Party, along with its figurehead, Gregor Strasser, were also killed, as were establishment conservatives and anti-Nazis. The murders of Brownshirt leaders were also intended to improve the image of the Hitler government with a German public that was increasingly critical of thuggish Brownshirt tactics.
Start date: Jun 30, 1934
End date: Jul 02, 1934
Night of the Long Knives

wiki/Night_of_the_Long_Knives
1953 Chevrolet Corvette (© Heritage Images/Getty Images)(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.
The Chevrolet Corvette, known colloquially as the Vette, or Chevy Corvette, is a sports car manufactured by Chevrolet. The car has been produced through seven generations. The first model, a convertible, was introduced at the GM Motorama in 1953 as a concept show car. Myron Scott is credited for naming the car after the type of small, maneuverable warship called a corvette. Originally built in Flint, Michigan and St. Louis, Missouri, the Corvette is currently manufactured in Bowling Green, Kentucky and is the official sports car of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Corvette Wings

wiki/Chevrolet_Corvette
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Today in History 01/24/17

Painting of the assassination of the Roman Emperor Caligula in 41 CE (© Lazzaro Baldi/De Agostini/Getty Images)(41 CE) Roman Emperor Caligula assassinated
Stabbed by his own Praetorian Guards, the infamously deviant Caligula’s reign over Rome comes to an end. Hopes of restoring a Republic are dashed when Caligula’s uncle, Claudius, is declared Emperor.
Caligula, properly Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was Roman emperor from AD 37–41. Born Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus, Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula’s biological father was Germanicus, and he was the great-nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius. The young Gaius earned the nickname “Caligula” from his father’s soldiers while accompanying him during his campaigns in Germania.
Lived: 12 AD – 41 AD (age 28)
Spouse: Milonia Caesonia (m. 39 AD – 41 AD) · Lollia Paulina (m. 38 AD) · Livia Orestilla (m. 37 AD) · Junia Claudilla (m. 33 AD)
Related movies: Caligula
Siblings: Agrippina the Younger (Sister) · Julia Drusilla (Sister) · Nero Julius Caesar (Brother) · Julia Livilla (Sister) · Drusus Caesar (Brother)
Children: Julia Drusilla (Daughter)
Parents: Germanicus (Father) · Agrippina the Elder (Mother)
Highlights
  • 29 AD: Agrippina and Caligula’s brother, Nero, were banished in 29 AD on charges of treason.

  • 30 AD: In 30 AD, his brother, Drusus Caesar, was imprisoned on charges of treason and his brother Nero died in exile from either starvation or suicide.

  • 35 AD: In 35 AD, Caligula was named joint heir to Tiberius’s estate along with Tiberius Gemellus.

  • 37 AD: When Tiberius died on 16 March 37 AD, his estate and the titles of the principate were left to Caligula and Tiberius’s own grandson, Gemellus, who were to serve as joint heirs.

  • 38 AD: His favorite sister Julia Drusilla died in 38 AD of a fever: his other two sisters, Livilla and Agrippina the Younger, were exiled.

  • 38 AD: Caligula married Lollia Paulina in 38.

  • 39 AD: Caligula married Milonia Caesonia in 39.

wiki/Caligula
Painting depicting fortune seekers during the California Gold Rush in 1849 (© Stock Montage/Getty Images)(1848) California Gold Rush begins
James Marshall’s morning work on a mill on California’s American River is interrupted when he catches sight of something glimmering in the sand. The discovery of gold will rock the nation.
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands, and Latin America, and they were the first to start flocking to the state in late 1848. All in all, the news of gold brought some 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. Of the 300,000, approximately half arrived by sea and half came overland on the California Trail and the Gila River trail.
Start date: Jan 24, 1848
End date: 1855

wiki/California_Gold_Rush
Robert Baden-Powell in 1914 (© PA Archive/Press Association Images)(1908) The scouting movement is launched
Writer, British Army officer, and national hero, Robert-Baden Powell publishes the first handbook of his ‘Scouting For Boys’ series. Inspired youngsters will start troops throughout England and, eventually, in many other countries of the world as well.
Scouting for Boys: A handbook for instruction in good citizenship is a book on Boy Scout training, published in various editions since 1908. Early editions were written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell with later editions being extensively rewritten by others. The book was originally a manual for self-instruction in observation, tracking and woodcraft skills as well as self-discipline and self-improvement, about the Empire and duty as citizens with an eclectic mix of anecdotes and unabashed personal observations and recollections. It is pervaded by a degree of moral proselytizing and references to the author’s own exploits. It is based on his boyhood experiences, his experience with the Mafeking Cadet Corps during the Second Boer War at the Siege of Mafeking, and on his experimental camp on Brownsea Island, England.
Author: Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell
First published: 1908
Genres: Nature · All Ages · Ages 9-12 Nonfiction

wiki/Scouting_for_Boys
Shoichi Yokoi at Guam Memorial Hospital in Agana, Guam, in 1972 after he was found in the jungle by fishermen (© AP)(1972) Japanese soldier found on Guam 27 years after WWII ends
Shoichi Yokoi, Japanese Imperial Army sergeant, is found living in a remote underground jungle cave on the island of Guam. Having believed it is his duty to die rather than surrender after WWII ends, Yokoi says, upon his return to Japan, “It is with much embarrassment, but I have returned.”
Shōichi Yokoi was a Japanese sergeant in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second World War. He was among the last three Japanese holdouts to be found after the end of hostilities in 1945, discovered in the jungles of Guam on 24 January 1972, almost 28 years after US forces had regained control of the island in 1944.
Born: Mar 31, 1915 · Saori, Aichi, Japan
Died: Sep 22, 1997 · Nagoya, Japan
Highlights
  • 1941: He was an apprentice tailor when he was conscripted in 1941.

  • 1944: When American forces captured the island in the 1944 Battle of Guam, Yokoi went into hiding with nine other Japanese soldiers.

  • 1974: Yokoi was the third-to-last Japanese soldier to surrender after the war, preceding Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda (relieved from duty by his former commanding officer on 9 March 1974) and Private Teruo Nakamura (arrested 18 December 1974).

  • 1997: Shoichi Yokoi died on September 22, 1997 in Nagoya, Japan.

wiki/Shoichi_Yokoi
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