(1942) Missile crosses a cosmic thresholdA new Nazi ‘Wunderwaffen,’ or ‘weapon of wonder,’ is fired in a test flight, and the missile’s top 52.5-mile altitude is so high it becomes the first manmade object to enter outer space. In less than two years Germany will begin launching thousands of V-2 rockets, mainly against Belgium and the UK.The V-2, technical name Aggregat 4, was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile with a liquid-propellant rocket engine was developed during the Second World War in Germany as a “vengeance weapon”, assigned to attack Allied cities as retaliation for the Allied bombings against German cities. The V-2 rocket also became the first artificial object to travel into outer space by crossing the Kármán line with the vertical launch of MW 18014 on 20 June 1944.
Layout of a V-2 rocket
wiki/V-2_rocket(1990) A nation carved up by the Cold War is made wholeIn what will later be celebrated as ‘Unity Day,’ a country torn in two after the Second World War is reunited as the once Soviet-controlled East Germany is dissolved and its territory and citizens merged with the Federal Republic of Germany, formerly known as West Germany.The Day of German Unity is the national day of Germany, celebrated on 3 October as a public holiday. It commemorates the anniversary of German reunification in 1990, when the goal of a united Germany that originated in the middle of the 19th century, was fulfilled again. Therefore, the name addresses neither the re-union nor the union, but the unity of Germany. The Day of German Unity on 3 October has been the German national holiday since 1990, when the reunification was formally completed.
For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. ADN-ZB-Grimm-3.10.90-Berlin: Vereinigung/Hunderttausende waren dabei, als vor dem Reichstag die schwarz-rot-goldene Bundesfahne gehißt wurde.
(1942) Battle that will turn the tide of WWII beginsHitler’s Sixth Army is poised to enter Stalingrad as the Nazi Luftwaffe begins bombing the Soviet city. This opening salvo to what some call the bloodiest battle in history will lead to the destruction of the Sixth Army, and the loss of some 2 million lives before the five-month onslaught is over.The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia.
Start date: Aug 23, 1942 End date: Feb 02, 1943 The German advance to Stalingrad between 24 July and 18 November
(1099) The First Crusade’s push to capture Jerusalem beginsWestern European Christian forces arrive at Muslim-ruled Jerusalem and begin to lay siege to a city that both they and Muslims deem sacred. This climactic battle of the First Crusade will defeat the Fatimid Caliphate and see the return of Christian rule to Jerusalem after some 400 years.The Siege of Jerusalem took place from June 7 to July 15, 1099, during the First Crusade. The climax of the First Crusade, the successful siege saw the Crusaders seize Jerusalem from the Fatimid Caliphate and laid the foundations for the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Start date: Jun 07, 1099 End date: Jul 15, 1099
wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(1099)(1938) Act of environmental warfare kills at least half a million The Chinese government, hoping to halt a rapid Japanese army advance during the Second Sino-Japanese War, destroys dikes on the Yellow River near Zhengzhou. The resulting catastrophic flood two days later will temporarily stop the Japanese, but also kill 500,000 Chinese and leave 3 million homeless.The 1938 Yellow River flood was a flood created by the Nationalist Government in central China during the early stage of the Second Sino-Japanese War in an attempt to halt the rapid advance of Japanese forces. It has been called the “largest act of environmental warfare in history.”
Start date: Jun 09, 1938 End date: 1938
wiki/1938_Yellow_River_flood(1942) Major defeat in the Pacific for the Japanese navy A ferocious three-day battle a thousand miles west of Hawaii ends in a rout of the Japanese navy by an underestimated American defense. Pearl Harbor is partly avenged on its six-month anniversary, and the Battle of Midway turns the tide towards Allied victory in the Pacific.The Battle of Midway was a decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, only six months after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, the United States Navy under Admirals Chester Nimitz, Frank Jack Fletcher, and Raymond A. Spruance decisively defeated an attacking fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy under Admirals Isoroku Yamamoto, Chuichi Nagumo, and Nobutake Kondo near Midway Atoll, inflicting devastating damage on the Japanese fleet that proved irreparable. Military historian John Keegan called it “the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare.”
Start date: Jun 04, 1942 End date: Jun 07, 1942
wiki/Battle_of_Midway(1986) Kansas City Royals draft Bo JacksonThe Royals draft Jackson, who had played college baseball and football at Auburn University, but decided to play professional baseball after a dispute with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Jackson will go on to star in both sports, playing eight MLB seasons and four for the Los Angeles Raiders.Vincent Edward “Bo” Jackson is a former baseball and American football player. He is one of the few athletes to be named an All-Star in two major sports, and the only one to do so in both baseball and football. He is widely considered one of the greatest athletes of all time. While at Auburn University, Jackson won the 1985 Heisman Trophy, annually awarded to the outstanding collegiate football player in the United States.
Born: Nov 30, 1962 (age 54) · Bessemer, AL Height: 6′ 1″ (1.85 m) Net worth: $16 million USD (2017) Spouse: Linda Jackson (m. 1987) Education: McAdory High School · Auburn University (1982 – 1985) Children: Nicholas Jackson (Son) · Garrett Jackson (Son) · Morgan Jackson (Daughter)
Highlights
1982: In 1982, Jackson’s freshman year, Auburn played Boston College in the Tangerine Bowl, where Jackson made a one-handed grab on an option pitch.
1985: For his performance in 1985, Jackson was awarded the Heisman Trophy in what was considered the closest margin of victory ever in the history of the award, winning over University of Iowa quarterback Chuck Long.
1987: Bo Jackson married Linda Jackson on September 05, 1987.
1989: Called “the greatest athlete in video game history”, Jackson’s digital counterpart was nicknamed by fans as “Tecmo Bo” since being featured in the 1989 video game Tecmo Bowl for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
1995: In 1995, Jackson completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Family and Child Development at Auburn to fulfill the promise he made to his mother.
2009: On May 9, 2009, Jackson delivered the commencement speech at Auburn University’s graduation ceremony.
(907) Powerful and cultured Chinese dynasty endsRuling over an estimated 80 million people from Chang’an, China, the most populous city in the world, Emperor Ai of the Tang Dynasty is deposed by Zhu Wen, a military governor, after famines, marauding bandit armies, and a collapsing political structure leaves the dynasty vulnerable.The Tang dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It is generally regarded as a high point in Chinese civilization, and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. Its territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han dynasty, and the Tang capital at Chang’an was the most populous city in the world.
Founded: 618 AD
wiki/Tang_dynasty(1328) Last Imperial Antipope is consecrated With a claim to the papacy backed by the Holy Roman Emperor, Pietro Rainalducci is consecrated as Antipope Nicholas V in Rome. His competing claim to head the Catholic Church will fizzle after he’s excommunicated by the reigning pope, and later “honourably imprisoned” for life.Nicholas V, born Pietro Rainalducci was an antipope in Italy from 12 May 1328 to 25 July 1330 during the pontificate of Pope John XXII at Avignon. He was the last Imperial antipope, that is, set up by a Holy Roman Emperor.
Born: 1260 · Borgorose, Italy Died: Oct 16, 1333 · Avignon, France
Highlights
1310: He joined the Franciscan order after separating from his wife in 1310, and became famous as a preacher.
1328: He was elected through the influence of the excommunicated Holy Roman Emperor, Louis the Bavarian, by an assembly of priests and laymen, and consecrated at Old St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, on 12 May 1328 by the bishop of Venice.
1328: After spending four months in Rome, he withdrew with Louis IV to Viterbo, but in December 1328 the papal legate Cardinal Orsini began a campaign against Viterbo and Corneto.
1329: Nicholas V was excommunicated by John XXII in April 1329, and sought refuge with Count Boniface of Donoratico near Piombino.
1330: Having obtained assurance of pardon, he presented a confession of his sins first to the archbishop of Pisa, and then at Avignon on 25 August 1330 to John XXII, who absolved him.
1333: He remained in honourable imprisonment in the papal palace, Avignon until his death in October 1333.
wiki/Antipope_Nicholas_V(1942) German sub sinks US ship at mouth of Mississippi Gliding through the dark waters of the Gulf of Mexico, German submarine U-507 spots the SS Virginia just off the mouth of the Mississippi River, and torpedoes the 10,000-ton tanker, sinking her. Twenty-seven sailors perish in the audacious attack that will shock Americans.German submarine U-507 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany’s Kriegsmarine built for service in the Second World War and the Battle of the Atlantic. She was mainly notable for two patrols she conducted during the “Second Happy Time” in mid-1942, during the first of which she caused havoc in the Gulf of Mexico amongst unprotected American shipping, and then in the second she attacked ships along the coast of Brazil, in an inexplicable and shocking attack on a neutral nation’s shipping in its own waters which almost single-handedly provoked the Brazilian declaration of war on Germany.
Keel laid: Sep 11, 1940 Launched: Jul 15, 1941
wiki/German_submarine_U-507(1949) Soviets lift their blockade of BerlinAlmost a year into their effort to isolate Germany’s capital after WWII, Soviet occupiers reopen supply routes to West Berlin. Over 200,000 flights delivering food and fuel to the blockaded city from the US, UK, and others had severely undermined the USSR’s expansionist plans.The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies’ railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. The Soviets offered to drop the blockade if the Western Allies withdrew the newly introduced Deutsche mark from West Berlin.
(1755) Dr. Johnson’s dictionary is publishedNine years of solitary scholarly effort are about to change the world as Samuel Johnson’s ‘A Dictionary of the English Language’ is published in London. It will stand as the definitive dictionary for 173 years.Published on 15 April 1755 and written by Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, sometimes published as Johnson’s Dictionary, is among the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language.
Author: Samuel Johnson First published: Apr 15, 1755 Original language: English
(1927) America’s worst river flood beginsSwollen by the previous year’s torrential rains, the Mississippi River begins flowing over levees as more record-breaking showers fall. The ensuing flood will wash into 10 states, eventually covering 14 percent of Arkansas.The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States, with 27,000 square miles inundated up to a depth of 30 feet. To try to prevent future floods, the federal government built the world’s longest system of levees and floodways. wiki/Great_Mississippi_Flood_of_1927(1942) Malta is awarded the George Cross for bravery Britain’s King George VI awards an entire island’s populace a medal for heroism. Malta, an island in the southern Mediterranean, and part of the British Empire, has been relentlessly bombarded by WWII Axis powers.The George Cross is the second highest award of the United Kingdom honours system. It is awarded for gallantry “not in the face of the enemy” to members of the British armed forces and to British civilians. It has always been able to be awarded posthumously. It was previously awarded to Commonwealth countries, most of which have established their own honours systems and no longer recommend British honours. It may be awarded to a person of any military rank in any service and to civilians including police, emergency services and merchant seamen although no British civilian has received the award since 1976. Many of the awards have been personally presented by the British monarch to both recipients and in the case of posthumous awards to next of kin. These investitures are usually held at Buckingham Palace. wiki/George_Cross(1947) Jackie Robinson integrates baseballMore than 26,000 spectators, at least 14,000 of them African Americans, crowd into New York’s Ebbet Field as Jack Roosevelt Robinson, the first African American to play baseball for a Major League team, starts as the Brooklyn Dodgers’ first baseman against the Boston Braves. Robinson will endure racist resistance throughout his first season in the majors, but the national pastime’s color barrier will be forever broken.Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson was an American professional baseball second baseman who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when the Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base on April 15, 1947. The Dodgers, by signing Robinson, heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
Lived: Jan 31, 1919 – Oct 24, 1972 (age 53) Height: 5′ 11″ (1.80 m) Spouse: Rachel Robinson (m. 1946 – 1972) Education: John Muir High School (1935 – 1936) · Pasadena City College (1937 – 1939) · University of California, Los Angeles (1939 – 1941) · Washington Middle School (1931 – 1935) Related movies: 42 Children: Jackie Robinson Jr. (Son) · David Robinson (Son) · Sharon Robinson (Daughter)
Highlights
1945: In a famous three-hour exchange on August 28, 1945, Rickey asked Robinson if he could face the racial animus without taking the bait and reacting angrily—a concern given Robinson’s prior arguments with law enforcement officials at PJC and in the military.
1946: On February 10, 1946, Robinson and Isum were married by their old friend, the Rev. Karl Downs.
1947: Robinson broke the baseball color line when the Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base on April 15, 1947.
1947: Larry Doby (who broke the color barrier in the American League on July 5, 1947, just 11 weeks after Robinson) and Satchel Paige played for the Cleveland Indians, and the Dodgers had three other black players besides Robinson.
1948: Racial pressure on Robinson eased in 1948 as a number of other black players entered the major leagues.
1972: On October 24, 1972, nine days after his appearance at the World Series, Robinson died of a heart attack at his home on 95 Cascade Road in North Stamford, Connecticut; he was 53 years old.
(1942) Missile crosses a cosmic threshold
(1990) A nation carved up by the Cold War is made whole
(1942) Battle that will turn the tide of WWII begins
(1099) The First Crusade’s push to capture Jerusalem begins
(1938) Act of environmental warfare kills at least half a million 
(1942) Major defeat in the Pacific for the Japanese navy 
(1986) Kansas City Royals draft Bo Jackson
(907) Powerful and cultured Chinese dynasty ends
(1328) Last Imperial Antipope is consecrated 
(1942) German sub sinks US ship at mouth of Mississippi 
(1949) Soviets lift their blockade of Berlin
(1755) Dr. Johnson’s dictionary is published
(1927) America’s worst river flood begins
(1942) Malta is awarded the George Cross for bravery 
(1947) Jackie Robinson integrates baseball
