1922

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Today in History 02/02/17

Illustration of New Amsterdam in the 17th century (© Stock Montage/Getty Images)(1653) New Amsterdam, now New York City, is incorporated
A settlement surrounding Fort Amsterdam on the southern tip of Manhattan Island receives municipal rights from its Dutch owners. The English consider New Amsterdam to be a problematic trading post.
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, which served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The factorij became a settlement outside of Fort Amsterdam. Situated on the strategic, fortifiable southern tip of the island of Manhattan, the fort was meant to defend the Dutch West India Company’s fur trade operations in the North River. In 1624 it became a provincial extension of the Dutch Republic and was designated as the capital of the province in 1625.
wiki/New_Amsterdam
File photo of James Joyce's first edition of 'Ulysses' and his original manuscript (© Dan Loh/AP)(1922) James Joyce’s novel ‘Ulysses’ published
On his 40th birthday, Dublin-born author James Joyce sees his modernist novel ‘Ulysses’ released by Paris publisher Sylvia Beach. It will revolutionize fiction writing, but also lead to an obscenity trial.
Ulysses is a modernist novel by Irish writer James Joyce. It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach in February 1922, in Paris. It is considered to be one of the most important works of modernist literature, and has been called “a demonstration and summation of the entire movement”. According to Declan Kiberd, “Before Joyce, no writer of fiction had so foregrounded the process of thinking.”
Author: James Joyce
First published: Feb 02, 1922
ATOS reading level: 7.50
Followed by: Finnegans Wake
Characters: Molly Bloom · Leopold Bloom · Blazes Boylan · Patrick “Paddy” Dignam · Milly Bloom · Gerty MacDowell · Simon Dedalus · Stephen Dedalus · Buck Mulligan · Garrett Deasy · D. B. Murphy · Father John Conmee
Preceded by: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

wiki/Ulysses_(novel)
Major General Idi Amin, the new military leader of Uganda gives his first press conference in Kampala, Jan. 26, 1971 (© Brian Calvert/AP)(1971) General Idi Amin becomes Uganda’s leader in coup
Having overthrown President Milton Obote in a coup the previous week, General Idi Amin consolidates power, naming himself head of the armed forces and president of Uganda. He will initiate brutal political and ethnic slaughter, resulting in 500,000 deaths according to Amnesty International.
Idi Amin Dada was the third president of Uganda, ruling from 1971 to 1979. Amin in 1946 joined the King’s African Rifles, a British colonial regiment, serving in Kenya and Uganda. Eventually, Amin held the rank of major general in the post-colonial Uganda People’s Defense Force and became its commander before seizing power in the military coup of January 1971 that deposed Milton Obote. While he was head of state, he promoted himself to field marshal.
Lived: 1923 – Aug 16, 2003
Height: 6′ 4″ (1.93 m)
Spouse: Sarah Kyolaba (m. 1975 – 2003) · Madina Amin (m. 1972 – 2003) · Nora Amin (m. 1967 – 1974) · Malyamu Amin (m. 1966 – 1974) · Kay Amin (m. 1966 – 1974)
Movies: General Idi Amin Dada
Previous offices: President for Life (1976 – 1979) · President of Uganda (1971 – 1979)
Children: Maimuna Amin (Daughter) · Kato Amin (Son) · Ali Amin (Son) · Mwanga Amin (Son) · Hussein Amin (Son) · Iman Aminu (Daughter) · Taban Amin (Son) · Wasswa Amin (Son) · Jaffar Amin (Son) · Moses Amin
Highlights
  • 1966: He married his first and second wives, Malyamu and Kay, in 1966.

  • 1971: Having learned that Obote was planning to arrest him for misappropriating army funds, Amin seized power in a military coup on 25 January 1971, while Obote was attending a Commonwealth summit meeting in Singapore.

  • 1972: Amin retaliated against the attempted invasion by Ugandan exiles in 1972, by purging the army of Obote supporters, predominantly those from the Acholi and Lango ethnic groups.

  • 1975: It was a British comedy album parodying Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, released in 1975 on Transatlantic Records.

  • 1980: Brian Barron, who covered the Uganda–Tanzania war for the BBC as chief Africa correspondent, together with cameraman Mohamed Amin of Visnews in Nairobi, located Amin in 1980, and secured the first interview with him since his deposition.

  • 2003: Amin’s family decided to disconnect life support and Amin died at the hospital in Jeddah on 16 August 2003.

wiki/Idi_Amin
South African State President F.W. de Klerk, announces the unconditional release of jailed ANC leader Nelson Mandela and the unbanning of the ANC, PAC, and South African Communist party in Cape Town, South Africa, on Feb. 2, 1990 (© Dana Le Roux-Argus/AP)(1990) Ban on anti-apartheid groups lifted, Nelson Mandela promised freedom
South African President F.W. de Klerk outlines sweeping reforms in a parliamentary speech, setting the stage for the dismantling of apartheid. The reforms lift bans on anti-apartheid groups and promise the release of political prisoner Nelson Mandela.
Frederik Willem de Klerk is a South African politician who served as the country’s State President from August 1989 to May 1994. He was the seventh and last head of state of South Africa under the apartheid era. De Klerk was also leader of the National Party from February 1989 to September 1997.
Born: Mar 18, 1936 (age 80) · Johannesburg, South Africa
Height: 5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
Spouse: Elita Georgiades (m. 1998) · Marike de Klerk (m. 1959 – 1998)
Previous offices: Deputy President of South Africa (1994 – 1996) · State President of South Africa (1989 – 1994) · State President of South Africa (1989 – 1994)
Awards: Nobel Peace Prize (1993) · Time Person of the Year (1993) · Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize (1991) · Philadelphia Liberty Medal (1993) · Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation
Parties: National Party · New National Party
Highlights
  • 1990: A couple of months later, in February 1990, he suddenly lifted the bans on the African National Congress (ANC) and the Communist Party of South Africa, released Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners.

  • 1996: He was one of the deputy presidents of South Africa during the presidency of Nelson Mandela until 1996, and is the most recent white South African and Afrikaner to have held the position.

  • 1998: F.W. de Klerk married Elita Georgiades on November 07, 1998.

  • 1999: In 1999, de Klerk established the pro-peace FW de Klerk Foundation of which he is the chairman.

  • 2001: On 4 December 2001, Marike de Klerk was found stabbed and strangled to death in her Cape Town flat.

  • 2003: On 15 May 2003, he received two life sentences for murder, as well as three years for breaking into Marike de Klerk’s apartment.

wiki/F._W._de_Klerk
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Today in History 01/23/17

Samples of insulin circa 1920s (© SSPL/Getty Images)(1922) First diabetic patient to receive insulin
Fourteen-year-old Leonard Thompson is injected with insulin, a new drug that saves diabetics’ lives. A Nobel Prize will go to the Canadian scientists Frederick Banting and J.J.R. Macleod, the researchers who developed the drug.
Insulin is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets. It regulates the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and protein by promoting the absorption of, especially, glucose from the blood into fat, liver and skeletal muscle cells. In these tissues the absorbed glucose is converted into either glycogen via glycogenesis or fats via lipogenesis, or, in the case of the liver, into both. Glucose production by the liver is strongly inhibited by high concentrations of insulin in the blood. Circulating insulin also affects the synthesis of proteins in a wide variety of tissues. It is therefore an anabolic hormone, promoting the conversion of small molecules in the blood into large molecules inside the cells. Low insulin levels in the blood have the opposite effect by promoting widespread catabolism.
May treat: Diabetes mellitus type 1 · Type 2 diabetes · Diabetic ketoacidosis · Hyperglycemia · Gestational diabetes · Hyperkalemia · Myocardial Reperfusion Injury
Possible side effect: Acanthosis nigricans
Legal status: Over-the-counter drug · Prescription drug
Brand name: Exubera
Pregnancy risk category: Pregnancy Category C (FDA) · Pregnancy Category B (FDA)

wiki/Insulin
Women tossing frisbees in the 1960s (© Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)(1957) The Frisbee takes flight
The toy company Wham-O has taken notice of a plastic flying disc invented by WWII veteran pilot Walter Morrison, who’s been selling his Pluto Platters on the beaches of Santa Monica, California. He sells the rights for the Pluto Platter to Wham-O, which soon changes its name to the Frisbee.
A frisbee is a disc-shaped gliding toy or sporting item that is generally plastic and roughly 20 to 25 centimetres in diameter with a lip, used recreationally and competitively for throwing and catching, for example, in flying disc games. The shape of the disc, an airfoil in cross-section, allows it to fly by generating lift as it moves through the air while spinning. Flying discs are thrown and caught for free-form recreation and as part of many flying disc games. A wide range of flying disc variants are available commercially. Disc golf discs are usually smaller but denser and tailored for particular flight profiles to increase/decrease stability and distance. The longest recorded disc throw is by Simon Lizotte with a distance of 263.2 meters. Disc dog sports use relatively slow flying discs made of more pliable material to better resist a dog’s bite and prevent injury to the dog. Flying rings are also available; they typically travel significantly farther than any traditional flying disc. There are also illuminated discs meant for nighttime play — they are made of a phosphorescent plastic or contain battery-powered light-emitting diodes or chemiluminescent glowing sticks. Others whistle when they reach a certain velocity in flight.
wiki/Frisbee
File photo of the U.S.S. Pueblo Navy ship (© USN/AP)(1968) US Navy ship seized by North Korea
The intelligence vessel USS Pueblo comes under fire and is captured by North Korean patrol boats off their coast. The 83 crewmembers will be held by the communist nation for 11 months.
USS Pueblo (AGER-2) is a Banner-class environmental research ship, attached to Navy intelligence as a spy ship, which was attacked and captured by North Korean forces on 23 January 1968, in what is known today as the “Pueblo incident” or alternatively, as the “Pueblo crisis”.
Launched: Apr 16, 1944

wiki/USS_Pueblo_(AGER-2)
President Nixon announcing the end of the Vietnam War and declaring a ceasefire on Jan. 23, 1973 (© AP)(1973) President Nixon announces accord ending Vietnam War
The Paris Peace Accords signed by his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and the top North Vietnamese negotiator, Richard Nixon announces that a ceasefire will go into effect in 72 hours.
The Paris Peace Accords, officially titled the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam, was a peace treaty signed on January 27, 1973 to establish peace in Vietnam and end the Vietnam War. The treaty included the governments of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), and the United States, as well as the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) that represented indigenous South Vietnamese revolutionaries. It ended direct U.S. military combat, and temporarily stopped the fighting between North and South Vietnam. However, the agreement was not ratified by the United States Senate.
The negotiations that led to the accord began in 1968, after various lengthy delays. As a result of the accord, the International Control Commission (ICC) was replaced by the International Commission of Control and Supervision (ICCS) to fulfill the agreement. The main negotiators of the agreement were United States National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger and Vietnamese politburo member Lê Đức Thọ; the two men were awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts, although Lê Đức Thọ refused to accept it.
wiki/Paris_Peace_Accords
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Today in History 01/09/17

West Indian Manatee, Florida (© Reinhard Dirscherl/Getty Images)(1493) Columbus sights “mermaids” in Caribbean waters
Half a year into his first transatlantic voyage, Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus spots manatees, mistakes them for mythical mermaids, and declares them “not half as beautiful as they are painted.”
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, navigator, colonizer, and citizen of the Republic of Genoa. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. Those voyages and his efforts to establish permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola initiated the European colonization of the New World.
Lived: 1451 – May 20, 1506
Height: 6′ 0″ (1.83 m)
Spouse: Filipa Moniz Perestrelo (m. 1479)
Partner: Beatriz Enríquez de Arana (1487 – 1506)
Children: Diego Columbus (Son) · Ferdinand Columbus (Son)
Parents: Domenico Colombo (Father) · Susanna Fontanarossa (Mother)
Highlights
    1479: Christopher Columbus married Filipa Moniz Perestrelo in 1479.
  • 1492: During his first voyage in 1492, the brisk trade winds from the east, commonly called “easterlies”, propelled Columbus’s fleet for five weeks, from the Canary Islands to The Bahamas.

  • 1492: After continually lobbying at the Spanish court and two years of negotiations, he finally had success in January 1492.

  • 1493: After departing, and after reportedly being saved from assassins by King John, Columbus crossed the bar of Saltes and entered the harbor of Palos de la Frontera on 15 March 1493.

  • 1493: Columbus left the port of Cádiz on 24 September 1493, with a fleet of 17 ships carrying 1,200 men and the supplies to establish permanent colonies in the New World.

  • 1502: Accompanied by his brother Bartolomeo and his 13-year-old son Fernando, he left Cádiz on 11 May 1502, with his flagship Santa María and the vessels Gallega, Vizcaína, and Santiago de Palos.

wiki/Christopher_Columbus
Wood engraving of the steamship Star of the West, 1861 (© Library of Congress)(1861) First shots fired in lead-up to Civil War
Three months before the official start of the American Civil War, cannon fire does minor damage to the Star of the West, a Union merchant ship sailing towards Ft. Sumter, South Carolina, to deliver supplies.
Star of the West was an American civilian steamship, launched in 1852 and scuttled by Confederate forces in 1863. In January 1861, she was hired by the United States government to transport military supplies and reinforcements to the U.S. military garrison of Fort Sumter, but was fired on by cadets from The Citadel, in what were effectively the first shots fired in the American Civil War.
Launched: Jun 17, 1852

wiki/Star_of_the_West
Ernest Hemingway outside of his residence at 113 rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Paris (© Ernest Hemingway Collection/John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum)(1922) Ernest Hemingway rents his first Paris apartment
A 22-year-old Ernest Hemingway in Paris moves into a small walk-up in Paris’ Latin Quarter. In Paris, the future Nobel Prize-winning writer will complete some of his most memorable fiction and hobnob with many of the most important artists of the 20th century.
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels, six short story collections, and two non-fiction works. Additional works, including three novels, four short story collections, and three non-fiction works, were published posthumously. Many of his works are considered classics of American literature.
Lived: Jul 21, 1899 – Jul 02, 1961 (age 61)
Height: 6′ 0″ (1.83 m)
Spouse: Mary Welsh Hemingway (m. 1946 – 1961) · Martha Gellhorn (m. 1940 – 1945) · Pauline Pfeiffer (m. 1927 – 1940) · Hadley Richardson (m. 1921 – 1927)
Children: Jack Hemingway (Son) · Gregory Hemingway (Son) · Patrick Hemingway (Son)
Related movies: Hemingway & Gellhorn
Awards: Nobel Prize in Literature (1954) · Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1953) · Bronze Star Medal (1947)

wiki/Ernest_Hemingway
Apple CEO Steve Jobs holds up the new iPhone that was introduced at Macworld on Jan. 9, 2007 in San Francisco, California (© David Paul Morris/Getty Images)(2007) Steve Jobs introduces the first iPhone
Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils a cell phone he dubs “revolutionary and magical,” and the touchscreen device becomes the first in a line of iPhones that will go on to sell hundreds of millions of units.
The iPhone, is the first smartphone model designed and marketed by Apple. It is the first generation of iPhone that was announced on January 9, 2007 after years of rumors and speculation.
It was introduced in the United States on June 29, 2007, and it featured quad-band GSM cellular connectivity with GPRS and EDGE support for data transfer.
On June 9, 2008, Apple announced its successor, the iPhone 3G. The original iPhone has not received software updates from Apple after iPhone OS 3.1.3.
Since June 11, 2013, the original iPhone has been considered “obsolete” in Apple retail stores, “vintage” by other service providers in the US, and “obsolete” in all other regions. Apple does not service vintage or obsolete products, and replacement parts for obsolete products are not available to service providers.
wiki/IPhone_(1st_generation)
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Today in History 12/30/16

Today in History
(1816) Percy Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin marry
Color lithograph of Percy Bysshe Shelley (© Getty Images)
Two years after poet Percy Shelley and then-17-year-old Godwin eloped to France, the couple marries in England after Shelley’s first wife, whom he never divorced, dies. Later, the couple and their friend Lord Byron will challenge each other to write a ghost story. Only Mary Shelley will finish hers.

Mary Shelley | Novelist
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus. She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin, and her mother was the philosopher and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets, and is regarded by some as among the finest lyric, as well as epic, poets in the English language. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not see fame during his lifetime, but recognition for his poetry grew steadily following his death. Shelley was a key member of a close circle of visionary poets and writers that included Lord Byron, Leigh Hunt, Thomas Love Peacock, and his own second wife, Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein.

— Source: wiki/Mary_Shelley
— Source: wiki/Percy_Bysshe_Shelley
(1903) Deadly fire kills 600 at a Chicago theatre
This is the burned interior of the orchestra section of the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, after a fire that claimed over 600 lives destroyed it, Dec. 30, 1903. (AP Photo)
The “most beautiful” stage in Chicago, the Iroquois Theatre, turns into a death trap for over 600 people when a fire erupts backstage. Most of the victims die on the balcony level, which lacks fire escapes or ladders to safety. The tragedy will lead to new safety standards for public buildings that will be adopted nationwide.

The Iroquois Theatre fire happened on December 30, 1903, in Chicago, Illinois. It was the deadliest theater fire and the deadliest single-building fire in United States history. At least 602 people died as a result of the fire, but not all the deaths were reported, as some of the bodies were removed from the scene.

Date: Dec 30, 1903

— Source: wiki/Iroquois_Theatre_fire
(1922) The Soviet Union is founded
A man holds a Soviet Union flag as he attends a pro-Russian rally at the Crimean parliament building in Simferopol March 6, 2014. The decree making Crimea part of Russia is already in force and Ukrainian troops still on its territory will be treated as occupiers and forced to surrender or leave, the Russian-controlled region's deputy prime minister said. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili (UKRAINE - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or Soviet Union, becomes the first Marxist country in the world, following the October Revolution and the grueling Civil War that ended the Russian Empire. The USSR comprises a federation of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation, but will grow larger still.

The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, abbreviated to USSR, was a socialist state on the Eurasian continent that existed from 1922 to 1991. A union of multiple subnational Soviet republics, its government and economy were highly centralized. The Soviet Union was a one-party federation, governed by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital.

Dissolved: Dec 26, 1991
Population: 293.05 million (1991)
Official language: Russian
Area: 8.65 million sq miles (22.40 million km²)
Calling code: 7
Capital: Moscow

— Source: wiki/Soviet_Union
(1965) Ferdinand Marcos is inaugurated president of Philippines
Ferdinand Marcos, right, poses with his wife Imelda Marcos, Nov. 22, 1965, Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo)
The leader of the Philippine Senate is sworn in as president. During his campaign, Marcos touted his decorated war record, which will later be found to be largely untrue. He will impose martial law in 1972 and his 20 years in power will be known for corruption and brutality.

Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino lawyer, politician, World War II veteran and kleptocrat who was President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled as a dictator under martial law from 1972 until 1981. While his regime started an unprecedented number of infrastructure projects and monuments, it also became infamous for its corruption and brutality.

Lived: Sep 11, 1917 – Sep 28, 1989 (age 72)
Height: 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
Spouse: Imelda Marcos (m. 1954 – 1989)
Children: Imee Marcos (Daughter) · Bongbong Marcos (Son) · Irene Marcos-Araneta (Daughter) · Aimee Marcos (Daughter)
Previous offices: Prime Minister of the Philippines (1978 – 1981) · Secretary of National Defense (1971 – 1972) · President of the Philippines (1965 – 1986) · President of the Senate of the Philippines (1963 – 1965)
Parents: Mariano Marcos (Father) · Josefa Edralin (Mother)

Highlights

  • 1954: Ferdinand Marcos married Imelda Marcos on May 01, 1954.

  • 1964: When the previous Philippine president, Macapagal, suggested in 1964–1965 to send troops it had been Marcos who had led the opposition against this plan on both legal and moral grounds.

  • 1965: Marcos won the presidency in 1965.

  • 1965: He was elected President in 1965.

  • 1978: In 1978, the position returned when Ferdinand Marcos became Prime Minister.

  • 1986: Allegations of mass cheating, political turmoil and excesses of human rights abuses led to the People Power Revolution in February 1986, which removed him from power.

— Source: wiki/Ferdinand_Marcos
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Today in History 11/04/16

Today in History
(1922) British archeologist finds the entrance to King Tut’s tomb
1922 After years of scouring the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, archeologist Howard Carter unearths hidden steps down to the sealed tomb of King Tutankhamun, the boy king. When he unseals the tomb in a few months, it will turn out to be remarkably intact, its riches hidden for over 3,000 years..

Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom or sometimes the New Empire Period. He has since his discovery been colloquially referred to as King Tut. His original name, Tutankhaten, means “Living Image of Aten”, while Tutankhamun means “Living Image of Amun”. In hieroglyphs, the name Tutankhamun was typically written Amen-tut-ankh, because of a scribal custom that placed a divine name at the beginning of a phrase to show appropriate reverence. He is possibly also the Nibhurrereya of the Amarna letters, and likely the 18th dynasty king Rathotis who, according to Manetho, an ancient historian, had reigned for nine years—a figure that conforms with Flavius Josephus’s version of Manetho’s Epitome.

Born: 1341 BC · Ancient Egypt
Died: 1323 BC · Ancient Egypt
Height: 5′ 11″ (1.80 m)
Parents: Akhenaten (Father) · The Younger Lady (Mother)
Siblings: Ankhesenamun (Sister)

— Source: wiki/Tutankhamun
(1956) Soviets crush uprising in Hungary
Soviet tanks roll into Budapest and other parts of the country to quash growing unrest over Soviet oppression. In a week’s time, the Hungarian Revolution will be over, with thousands of rebels dead or wounded and about 200,000 having fled the country. . 1956

The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 or the Hungarian Uprising of 1956 was a nationwide revolt against the government of the Hungarian People’s Republic and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956. Though leaderless when it first began, it was the first major threat to Soviet control since the USSR’s forces drove out Nazi Germany from its territory at the end of World War II and broke into Central and Eastern Europe.

Start date: Oct 23, 1956
End date: Nov 10, 1956

— Source: wiki/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1956
(1979) Militants storm US Embassy in Tehran, take US hostages
1979 The militants demand the US return the Shah of Iran, who’d fled after being overthrown in the Islamic Revolution. US President Carter refuses to “yield to blackmail” and imposes an Iran oil embargo. The hostages will remain in captivity for 444 days. .

The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States. 52 American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days after a group of Iranian students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam’s Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

Start date: Nov 04, 1979
End date: Jan 20, 1981

— Source: wiki/Iran_hostage_crisis
(2008) Barack Obama elected first black president in US
After a tough primary race against Hillary Clinton, Obama beats John McCain in the general election and makes history as the first African-American president. Obama’s promise of hope and his slogan “Change We Can Believe In” seem to register with voters, who give him a decisive victory.. 2008

The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. Democratic Party nominee Senator Barack Obama and running mate Senator Joe Biden defeated Republican Party nominee Senator John McCain and running mate Governor Sarah Palin. Barack Obama became the first African American ever to be elected president of the United States, and Joe Biden became the first Roman Catholic ever elected vice president.

Election year: Nov 04, 2008
Terms: 2 (8 Years)

— Source: wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2008
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