Today in History ^04/07/17

April 7, 2017 by GµårÐïåñ Leave a Comment

Queen Matilda And Her Tapestry.' Matilda, queen consort of the Kingdom of England and the wife of William the Conqueror, is supposed to have worked on the Bayeux Tapestry. (© Print Collector/Getty Images)

(1141) England’s first female ruler takes the throne

Empress Matilda begins a seven-month reign during a chaotic period in England and Normandy known as The Anarchy. Although angry crowds stop her from being crowned queen, she will hold the title Lady of the English, and her son will become King Henry II.

Empress Matilda, also known as the Empress Maude, was the claimant to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as a child when she married the future Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. She travelled with her husband into Italy in 1116, was controversially crowned in St. Peter’s Basilica, and acted as the imperial regent in Italy. Matilda and Henry had no children, and when Henry died in 1125, the crown was claimed by Lothair II, one of his political enemies.

Lived: Feb 07, 1102 – Sep 10, 1167 (age 65)
Spouse: Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou (m. 1128 – 1151) · Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (m. 1114 – 1125)
Children: Henry II of England (Son) · Geoffrey, Count of Nantes (Son) · William FitzEmpress (Son)
Parents: Henry I of England (Father) · Matilda of Scotland (Mother)
Buried: Rouen Cathedral
Siblings: William Adelin (Brother) · Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester (Brother)
Highlights
1118: William and Matilda’s mother – Matilda of Scotland – had died in 1118, and so Henry took a new wife, Adeliza of Louvain.

1128: Henry knighted his future son-in-law, and Matilda and Geoffrey were married a week later on 17 June 1128 in Le Mans by the bishops of Le Mans and Séez.

1135: Henry died in 1135 but Matilda and Geoffrey faced opposition from the Norman barons and were unable to pursue their claims.

1137: Stephen returned to the Duchy in 1137, where he met with Louis VI and Theobald to agree to an informal alliance against Geoffrey and Matilda, to counter the growing Angevin power in the region.

1139: In 1139 Matilda crossed to England to take the kingdom by force, supported by her half-brother, Robert of Gloucester, and her uncle, King David I of Scotland, while Geoffrey focused on conquering Normandy.

1167: She was buried under the high altar at Bec Abbey after her death in 1167.

wiki/Empress_Matilda

Currier & Ives print of the Battle of Pittsburgh Landing (Battle of Shiloh), Tennessee, April 7, 1862 (© Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

(1862) Grant claims major Civil War victory at Shiloh

Casualties numbering 23,000 result from two days of fighting in southwestern Tennessee between Union and Confederate forces, in the bloodiest American conflict to date. Although Gen. Ulysses S. Grant can claim an important Union win, the carnage shocks both sides.

The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union force known as the Army of the Tennessee under Major General Ulysses S. Grant had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and was encamped principally at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee on the west bank of that river, where the Confederate Army of Mississippi, under General Albert Sidney Johnston and second-in-command Pierre G. T. Beauregard, launched a surprise attack on Grant’s army from its base in Corinth, Mississippi. Johnston was mortally wounded during the fighting; Beauregard, who thus succeeded to command of the army, decided against pressing the attack late in the evening. Overnight Grant was reinforced by one of his own divisions stationed further north and was joined by three divisions from another Union army under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell. This allowed them to launch an unexpected counterattack the next morning which completely reversed the Confederate gains of the previous day.

Start date: Apr 06, 1862
End date: Apr 07, 1862

wiki/Battle_of_Shiloh

Booker T. Washington 10-cent stamp (© Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum)

(1940) US issues first stamp to honor an African American

Educator, public speaker, presidential advisor, and one of the most influential black civil rights leaders in the post-Reconstruction South, Booker T. Washington appears on a commemorative postage stamp issued 25 years after his death.

Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and advisor to presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American community.

Lived: Apr 05, 1856 – Nov 14, 1915 (age 59)
Spouse: Olivia A. Davidson (m. 1886 – 1889)
Founded: Tuskegee University · National Negro Business League · Calhoun Colored School
Education: Hampton University · Wayland Seminary (1878 – 1879)
Parents: Jane Ferguson (Mother)
Children: Ernest Davidson Washington (Son) · Portia M. Washington · Booker T. Washington Jr.
Highlights
1878: He also attended Wayland Seminary in Washington, D.C. in 1878 and left after 6 months.

1881: In 1881, the Hampton Institute president Samuel C. Armstrong recommended Washington to become the first leader of Tuskegee Institute, the new normal school (teachers’ college) in Alabama.

1886: Booker T. Washington married Olivia A. Davidson in 1886; their marriage lasted 3 years till 1889.

1900: ACHIEVEIn an effort to inspire the “commercial, agricultural, educational, and industrial advancement” of African Americans, Washington founded the National Negro Business League (NNBL) in 1900.MENT

1901: When Washington’s second autobiography, Up From Slavery, was published in 1901, it became a bestseller and had a major effect on the African-American community, its friends and allies.

1915: He led the school until his death in 1915.

wiki/Booker_T._Washington

Tutsi civilians, seeking refuge from Hutu militias, queue for food inside the Sacred Family Church in the government controlled part of Kigali, Rwanda May 20, 1994 (© Corinne Dufka/Reuters)

(1994) Rwandan Genocide begins

In the aftermath of the Rwandan Civil War, conflicts in the African nation continue, reaching a flash point when ethnic Hutu forces kill Belgian peacekeepers and launch a genocidal campaign against their neighbors, the Tutsi. Roughly 800,000 will die in the largest genocide since World War II.

The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, was a genocidal mass slaughter of Tutsi in Rwanda by members of the Hutu majority government. An estimated more than 800,000 Rwandans were killed during the 100-day period from April 7 to mid-July 1994, constituting as many as 70% to 80% of the Tutsi population. Additionally, 30% of the Pygmy Batwa were killed. The genocide and widespread slaughter of Rwandans ended when the Tutsi-backed and heavily armed Rwandan Patriotic Front led by Paul Kagame took control of the country. An estimated 2,000,000 Rwandans, mostly Hutus, were displaced and became refugees.

Start date: Apr 07, 1994
End date: Jul 15, 1994

wiki/Rwandan_genocide

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Today in History ^12/29/16

December 29, 2016 by GµårÐïåñ

(1170) Archbishop Thomas Becket is murdered after king’s comment

When four knights hear King Henry II utter something like, “Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?,” they take it as a request to kill Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The knights confront and kill Becket at Canterbury Cathedral, shocking Christians, who canonize Becket just three years later.
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. He engaged in conflict with Henry II, King of England over the rights and privileges of the Church and was murdered by followers of the king in Canterbury Cathedral. Soon after his death, he was canonised by Pope Alexander III. Born: Dec 21, 1118 · London, England Related movies: Becket Buried: Canterbury Cathedral Education: Merton Priory · University of Paris Parents: Matilda Becket (Mother) · Gilbert Becket (Father) Highlights 1154: Theobald in 1154 named Becket Archdeacon of Canterbury, and other ecclesiastical offices included a number of benefices, prebends at Lincoln Cathedral and St Paul’s Cathedral, and the office of Provost of Beverley. 1155: His efficiency in those posts led to Theobald recommending him to King Henry II for the vacant post of Lord Chancellor, to which Becket was appointed in January 1155. 1162: Becket was nominated as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162, several months after the death of Theobald. 1162: His election was confirmed on 23 May 1162 by a royal council of bishops and noblemen. 1163: Attempts by Henry to influence the other bishops against Becket began in Westminster in October 1163, where the King sought approval of the traditional rights of the royal government in regard to the church. 1164: Henry summoned Becket to appear before a great council at Northampton Castle on 8 October 1164, to answer allegations of contempt of royal authority and malfeasance in the Chancellor’s office. — Source: wiki/Thomas_Becket
(1890) US troops massacre Indians at Wounded Knee

When a detachment of the US 7th Cavalry tries to disarm a band of Lakota Sioux, led by peace-seeking Spotted Elk, near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota, a gun goes off in a scuffle and the cavalry opens fire. More than 200 Lakota men, women, and children will be killed.
The Wounded Knee Massacre occurred on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the U.S. state of South Dakota. The previous day, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Major Samuel M. Whitside intercepted Spotted Elk’s band of Miniconjou Lakota and 38 Hunkpapa Lakota near Porcupine Butte and escorted them 5 miles westward to Wounded Knee Creek, where they made camp. The remainder of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, led by Colonel James W. Forsyth, arrived and surrounded the encampment. The regiment was supported by a battery of four Hotchkiss mountain guns. Date: Dec 28, 1890 — Source: wiki/Wounded_Knee_Massacre
(1940) The Blitz delivers the Second Great Fire of London

Germany firebombs London with more than 24,000 high explosive bombs and 100,000 incendiary bombs in one of its most aggressive attacks on the city, setting London afire. Firefighters work amid the dropping bombs and are able to save some of the city’s landmarks, such as St. Paul’s Cathedral, from total destruction.
The “Second Great Fire of London” is a name used at the time to refer to one of the most destructive air raids of the London Blitz, over the night of 29/30 December 1940. Between 6 pm and the early hours of the morning, more than 24,000 high explosive bombs and 100,000 incendiary bombs were dropped. The raid and the subsequent fire destroyed many Livery Halls and City churches and gutted the medieval Great Hall of the City’s Guildhall. Date: Dec 29, 1940 — Source: wiki/Second_Great_Fire_of_London
(1998) Khmer Rouge leaders apologize for Cambodia genocide

At a news conference, a Khmer Rouge leader whispers he is “sorry, very sorry” for the group’s murderous campaign to cleanse Cambodia of undesirables, including intellectuals and capitalists. The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, ruled Cambodia from 1975-’79 and sought to create an agrarian society.
Khmers rouges, more commonly known in English as Khmer Rouge was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea in Cambodia. It was formed in 1968 as an offshoot of the Vietnam People’s Army from North Vietnam, and allied with North Vietnam, the Viet Cong, and Pathet Lao during the Vietnam War against the anti-communist forces from 1968 to 1975. Khmer Rouge emerged victorious in the Cambodian Civil War, overthrew the military dictatorship of the Khmer Republic and installed their own government Democratic Kampuchea in 1975, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, and Khieu Samphan. This was followed by the Cambodian genocide from 1975 until 1979, when Khmer Rouge was finally removed from power by Vietnam in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. The military power of the Khmer Rouge organization was not broken however, and a long era of guerilla warfare involving large swaths of the Cambodian countryside began. Many different military factions were involved in the guerilla war era and it ended around 1994. Founded: 1968 — Source: wiki/Khmer_Rouge
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Today in History

September 12, 2016 by GµårÐïåñ

(1846) A pair of poets elope

	The lauded poet Elizabeth Barrett joins her beau, the up-and-coming poet Robert Browning, to marry in secret at a London church. They will then move to Italy, cultivate a circle of literary friends, have a son, and craft words for the ages. .
Girls blush, sometimes, because they are alive, half wishing they were dead to save the shame. The sudden blush devours them, neck and brow; They have drawn too near the fire of life, like gnats, and flare up bodily, wings and all. What then? Who’s sorry for a gnat or girl? — Source: wiki/Elizabeth_Barrett_Browning — Source: wiki/Robert_Browning
(1933) Szilárd’s stroll sets off a nuclear chain reaction

Hungarian physicist Leó Szilárd has been puzzling over using atoms as a form of energy, and as he strolls London’s streets, he suddenly conceives the idea of a nuclear chain reaction, which will lead to his work in the atom bomb’s formation and the harnessing of nuclear energy..
We turned the switch, saw the flashes, watched for ten minutes, then switched everything off and went home. That night I knew the world was headed for sorrow. Lived: Feb 11, 1898 – May 30, 1964 (age 66) Spouse: Gertrud Weiss Szilard (m. 1951) Academic advisors: Albert Einstein · Max von Laue Inventions: Einstein refrigerator Education: Budapest University of Technology and Economics · Technical University of Berlin · Humboldt University of Berlin Awards: Albert Einstein Award (1960) — Source: wiki/Leo_Szilard
(1940) A world sealed away from time is found under French soil

	Marcel Ravidat, 18, finds a narrow entrance into a series of caves beneath the fields of Dordogne, France, and comes back with three friends to explore the subterranean world. There they gaze upon the vivid Lascaux cave paintings that experts will later date to over 17,000 years old..
Lascaux is the setting of a complex of caves in southwestern France famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings. The original caves are located near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne. They contain some of the best-known Upper Paleolithic art. These paintings are estimated to be circa 17,300 years old. They primarily consist of images of large animals, most of which are known from fossil evidence to have lived in the area at the time. In 1979, Lascaux was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list along with other prehistoric sites in the Vézère valley. — Source: wiki/Lascaux
(1977) Anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko dies in police custody

After almost a month in South African police custody, Steve Biko, the leader of an anti-apartheid black student movement, has died in a Pretoria hospital. The 30-year-old’s autopsy will show that death was caused by severe brain injury, and 15,000 supporters will attend his funeral..
Stephen Bantu Biko was an anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the anti-apartheid movement. While living, his writings and activism attempted to empower black people, and he was famous for his slogan “black is beautiful”, which he described as meaning: “man, you are okay as you are, begin to look upon yourself as a human being”. Lived: Dec 18, 1946 – Sep 12, 1977 (age 30) — Source: wiki/Steve_Biko
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Today in History

September 7, 2016 by GµårÐïåñ

(1776) The Turtle submerges in Revolutionary warfare

	American patriots release a new weapon into New York Harbor to rendezvous with the HMS Eagle. A 6-foot by 3-foot single-person submersible craft, the ‘Turtle’ makes its way to the British ship, where the pilot unsuccessfully attempts to plant a bomb on the hull in history’s first submarine attack..
Turtle was the world’s first submersible with a documented record of use in combat. She was built in Old Saybrook, Connecticut in 1775 by American David Bushnell as a means of attaching explosive charges to ships in a harbor. Bushnell designed her for use against British Royal Navy vessels occupying North American harbors during the American Revolutionary War. Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull recommended the invention to George Washington; although the commander-in-chief had doubts, he provided funds and support for the development and testing of the machine. — Source: wiki/Turtle_(submersible)
(1927) Philo T. Farnsworth turns on the television

There you are, electronic television! And with that, Philo T. Farnsworth announces his new “image dissector” is working properly as a camera transmits the image of a simple straight line to a receiver in another room. A year later Farnsworth will demonstrate his strange new invention to the public..
Philo Taylor Farnsworth was an American inventor and television pioneer. He made many contributions that were crucial to the early development of all-electronic television. He is perhaps best known for his 1927 invention of the first fully functional all-electronic image pickup device, the “image dissector”, as well as the first fully functional and complete all-electronic television system. He was also the first person to demonstrate such a system to the public. Farnsworth developed a television system complete with receiver and camera, which he produced commercially in the form of the Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation, from 1938 to 1951, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Lived: Aug 19, 1906 – Mar 11, 1971 (age 64) Inventions: Television Education: Brigham Young University · Rigby High School — Source: wiki/Philo_Farnsworth
(1940) Nazi Germany unleashes a blitzkrieg on London

	Bombs rain down on the British capital in a ‘lightning war,’ or ‘blitzkrieg,’ a favored tactic for the intimidation of Germany’s enemies. And while Hitler’s Luftwaffe will keep up the relentless attack for more than eight months, London’s populace will rise to the challenge of the Blitz..
The Blitz, from the German word ‘Blitzkrieg’ meaning ‘lightning war’, was the name borrowed by the British press and applied to the heavy and frequent bombing raids carried out over Britain in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. This concentrated, direct bombing of industrial targets and civilian centres began with heavy raids on London on 7 September 1940, during what became known as the Battle of Britain. Adolf Hitler’s and Hermann Goering’s plans to destroy the Royal Air Force to allow an invasion of Britain were failing, and in response to an RAF raid on Berlin, which itself was prompted by an accidental German bombing of London, they changed their tactics to the sustained bombing of civilian targets. Start date: Sep 07, 1940 End date: May 21, 1941 — Source: wiki/The_Blitz
(1963) Football gets into the fame game

Canton, Ohio, birthplace of the National Football League, opens the Pro Football Hall of Fame in homage to a sport that’s really catching on with the American public. Seventeen of the best players are inducted in the first ceremony, including Red Grange, Curly Lambeau, and Jim Thorpe. .
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football with a Mission to “Honor the Heroes of the Game, Preserve its History, Promote its Values & Celebrate Excellence. The Hall’s five core values that are learned from the game are commitment, integrity, courage, respect and excellence. The vision of the Pro Football Hall of Fame is “It’s not just the past, it’s the future; It’s not just about Canton, it’s the world; It’s not just a great museum for football but a message of excellence.” The hall opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter enshrinees. As of 2016, there are a total of 303 members of the Hall of Fame. Address: 2121 George Halas Dr Nw, Canton, OH 44708 Established: 1963 — Source: wiki/Pro_Football_Hall_of_Fame
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Today in History

August 20, 2016 by GµårÐïåñ

(636 BCE) Decisive Arab victory banishes the Byzantines from Syria
	The seesawing power grabs between Arabs and the Byzantine Empire in the Levant comes to a close as Khālid ibn al-Walīd and his 40,000 troops take on Emperor Heraclius’ 150,000-strong force and decisively defeat them. The win will be a springboard for Arab expansion in the region. .
(1882) Napoleon’s Russian loss inspires a sonic boom
Listeners gather under a Moscow tent to get the first public earful of Tchaikovsky’s new ‘Festival overture.’ Blasts of cannon fire finish this feisty 70th anniversary tribute to Russia’s rout of Napoleon, and the ‘1812 Overture’ will survive down the ages as everyone’s favorite fireworks soundtrack. .
(1940) Former Bolshevist hero gets on the wrong side of Stalin
	Twice exiled to Siberia for revolutionary acts, then a key player in the Bolshevik Revolution, Leon Trotsky has fallen out of favor with the new Soviet premier, Joseph Stalin, and is living in Mexico City when an assassin’s ice-axe attack fatally wounds him, killing him the next day. .
(1988) Massive fires consume 150,000 acres of Yellowstone
Drought, winds, lightning, and nearly 250 small blazes in just two months all combine to create the largest conflagration in Yellowstone National Park’s recorded history, hitting a peak today on ‘Black Saturday’ with firestorms burning 150,000 acres and smoke so dense that day turns to night..
The Yellowstone fires of 1988 together formed the largest wildfire in the recorded history of Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Starting as many smaller individual fires, the flames quickly spread out of control with increasing winds and drought and combined into one large conflagration, which burned for several months. The fires almost destroyed two major visitor destinations and, on September 8, 1988, the entire park was closed to all non-emergency personnel for the first time in its history. Only the arrival of cool and moist weather in the late autumn brought the fires to an end. A total of 793,880 acres, or 36 percent of the park was affected by the wildfires.