Today in History ^07/16/17

July 16, 2017 by GµårÐïåñ Leave a Comment

This photo made by a US Army automatic newsreel camera, shows the test explosion of the world's first atomic bomb at Alamagordo, NM, on July 16, 1945 (© AP)

(1945) Nuclear age begins in New Mexico

Architects of the Manhattan Project, including project director J. Robert Oppenheimer, gather in shelters 10,000 yards from ‘The Gadget’s’ detonation site in New Mexico and at 5:29 AM the world’s first nuclear bomb explosion, code-named Trinity, pierces the darkness with 20 kilotons of atomic power.

Trinity was the code name of the first detonation of a nuclear weapon. It was conducted by the United States Army at 5:29 am on July 16, 1945, as part of the Manhattan Project. The test was conducted in the Jornada del Muerto desert about 35 miles southeast of Socorro, New Mexico, on what was then the USAAF Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range. The only structures originally in the vicinity were the McDonald Ranch House and its ancillary buildings, which scientists used as a laboratory for testing bomb components. A base camp was constructed, and there were 425 people present on the weekend of the test.

Date: Jul 16, 1945

wiki/Trinity_(nuclear_test)

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Today in History ^06/22/17

June 22, 2017 by GµårÐïåñ Leave a Comment

Engraving of English explorer Henry Hudson being abandoned by his crew (© PHAS/UIG via Getty Images)

(1611) English explorer’s storied career ends in mutiny

Henry Hudson’s last known voyage begins as he, his teenage son, and seven crewmen are ordered on board a small open boat in what will later be called Hudson Bay. After enduring a brutal winter, Captain Hudson’s crew has mutinied and set the famous English explorer adrift. He and his boat mates will never be seen again.

Henry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the northeastern United States. In 1607 and 1608, Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a rumored Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle. In 1609 he landed in North America and explored the region around the modern New York metropolitan area, looking for a Northwest Passage to Asia on behalf of the Dutch East India Company. He sailed up the Hudson River, which was later named for him, and thereby laid the foundation for Dutch colonization of the region.

Born: 1565 · England
Died: 1611 · Hudson Bay
Spouse: Katherine Hudson
Children: John Hudson (Son) · Richard Hudson (Son) · Henry Hudson (Son) · David Hudson (Son) · Oliver Hudson (Son)
Parents: Henry Hudson (Father) · Katherine Hudson (Mother) · Barbara Alderman (Mother)
Founded: Muscovy Company
Highlights
1607: In 1607 and 1608, Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a rumored Northeast Passage to Cathay (present-day China) via a route above the Arctic Circle.

1608: In 1608, English merchants of the East India and Muscovy Companies again sent Hudson in the Hopewell to attempt to locate a passage to the Indies, this time to the east around northern Russia.

1609: In 1609 he landed in North America and explored the region around the modern New York metropolitan area, looking for a Northwest Passage to Asia on behalf of the Dutch East India Company.

1609: On 6 September 1609 John Colman of his crew was killed by Indians with an arrow to his neck.

1610: In 1610, Hudson obtained backing for another voyage, this time under the English flag.

1611: In 1611, after wintering on the shore of James Bay, Hudson wanted to press on to the west, but most of his crew mutinied.

wiki/Henry_Hudson

Joe Louis (left) exchanges jabs with defending heavyweight champion James J. Braddock at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, on June 22, 1937 (© AP)

(1937) A new force in boxing wins his first heavyweight title

An Alabama sharecropper’s son, Joe Louis, knocks out Jim Braddock in the 8th round, becoming the world heavyweight boxing champion. The first African American to hold the title since Jack Johnson, Louis will remain champ for 140 months, and will later be named history’s greatest heavyweight boxer.

Joseph Louis Barrow, best known as Joe Louis and nicknamed the “Brown Bomber”, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. He reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1949, and is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. Louis’ championship reign lasted 140 consecutive months, during which he participated in 26 championship fights. The 27th fight, against Ezzard Charles in 1950, was a challenge for Charles’ heavyweight title and so is not included in Louis’ reign. Louis was victorious in 26 title defenses, a world record second only to Julio César Chávez with 27. In 2005, Louis was ranked as the best heavyweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization, and was ranked number one on The Ring magazine’s list of the “100 greatest punchers of all time.”

Lived: May 13, 1914 – Apr 12, 1981 (age 66)
Height: 6′ 2″ (1.87 m)
Spouse: Martha Jefferson (m. 1959 – 1981) · Rose Morgan (m. 1955 – 1958) · Marva Trotter (m. 1946 – 1949) · Marva Trotter (m. 1935 – 1945)
Children: Joseph Louis Barrow Jr. (Son) · Joe Louis Barrow Jr. (Son) · Jacqueline Barrow (Daughter)
Boxer weight division: Heavyweight
Martial art: Boxing
Highlights
1935: Joe Louis married Marva Trotter on September 24, 1935; their marriage lasted 10 years till March 27, 1945.

1937: Louis’s manager Mike Jacobs attempted to arrange a rematch in 1937, but negotiations broke down when Schmeling demanded 30% of the gate.

1939: world light heavyweight champion John Henry Lewis who, attempting to move up a weight class, was knocked out in the first round by Louis on January 25, 1939.

1939: “Two Ton” Tony Galento, who was able to knock Louis to the canvas with a left hook in the third round of their bout on June 28, 1939, before letting his guard down and being knocked out in the fourth.

1947: After trouble finding another suitable opponent, on December 5, 1947, Louis met Jersey Joe Walcott, a 33-year-old veteran with a 44–11–2 record.

1981: Louis died of cardiac arrest in Desert Springs Hospital near Las Vegas on April 12, 1981, just hours after his last public appearance viewing the Larry Holmes–Trevor Berbick Heavyweight Championship.

wiki/Joe_Louis

US soldiers of the 29th Infantry moving under smoke cover in Okinawa, Japan (© Keystone View Company/FPG/Getty Images)

(1945) Battle in the Pacific finally grinds to a halt

One of the deadliest Pacific battles of World War II ends as US forces secure the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa, a few hundred miles from the Japanese mainland. Some will say that the ferocious Japanese defense is a major factor in the US decision to use atomic bombs to try to end the war without invading Japan.

The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a series of battles fought in the Japanese Ryukyu Islands, centered on the island of Okinawa, and included the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War during World War II, the April 1, 1945 invasion of Okinawa itself. The 82-day-long battle lasted from April 1 until June 22, 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were planning to use Okinawa, a large island only 340 mi away from mainland Japan, as a base for air operations for the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands.

Start date: Apr 01, 1945
End date: Jun 22, 1945

wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa

A fire tug fights flames on the Cuyahoga River near downtown Cleveland, Ohio, where oil and other industrial wastes caught fire, in June 1952 (© AP)

(1969) Cleveland’s polluted river catches fire and spurs change

A reporter witnesses an oil slick burning near a steel mill on Cleveland, Ohio’s Cuyahoga River and the resulting feature in Time magazine, despite using images from a previous fire on the river, will be instrumental in furthering the growing environmental movement in the US.

The Cuyahoga River is a river in the United States, located in Northeast Ohio, that feeds into Lake Erie. The river is famous for having been so polluted that it “caught fire” in 1969. The event helped to spur the environmental movement in the US.

Source elevation: 1,093 feet (333.15 m)
Length: 84.90 miles (136.63 km)
Basin area: 810.81 sq miles (2,100 km²)
Mouth elevation: 571 feet (174 meter)
Cities: Cleveland · Akron
Mouth: Cleveland · Lake Erie

wiki/Cuyahoga_River

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Today in History ^05/08/17

May 8, 2017 by GµårÐïåñ

Rumor the German Shepherd at the Westminster Kennel Club 141st Annual Dog Show (© Eugene Gologursky/WireImage/Getty Images)

(1877) First Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show held

A group of hunters who had formed the Westminster Kennel Club hold their first dog show at Gilmore’s Garden, later renamed Madison Square Garden. The show is an immediate success and will become the second-longest running continuously held sporting event in the U.S.

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is a prestigious all-breed conformation show that has been held in New York City annually since 1877. Currently, the breed and Junior Showmanship competitions are held at Piers 92 and 94, while the group and Best in Show competitions are held at Madison Square Garden. The number of entries is so large at nearly 3000 that two days are required for all dogs to be judged.

Website: hwww.westminsterkennelclub.org
First occurred: May 08, 1877

wiki/Westminster_Kennel_Club_Dog_Show

The first business to sell Coca-Cola was at the soda fountain in Jacob's Pharmacy, 1886, in Atlanta, Georgia (© John Van Hasselt/Sygma/Corbis)

(1886) First bottles of Coca-Cola sold

Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, begins offering a bubbly beverage called Coca-Cola, a patent medicine said to ease ailments such as dyspepsia, headache, impotence, and morphine addiction. The drink will become rather popular as time goes by.

Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink produced by The Coca-Cola Company. Originally intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Pemberton and was bought out by businessman Asa Griggs Candler, whose marketing tactics led Coca-Cola to its dominance of the world soft-drink market throughout the 20th century. The drink’s name refers to two of its original ingredients, which were kola nuts and coca leaves. The current formula of Coca-Cola remains a trade secret, although a variety of reported recipes and experimental recreations have been published.

Website: www.cocacola.com
Inventor: John Pemberton

wiki/Coca-Cola

The ruins of Rue Victor Hugo and La Place Du Mouillage after the blast of the Mount Pelée volcano on May 10, 1902 at St. Pierre, Martinique (© Archive Farms/Getty Images)

(1902) Saint-Pierre buried after Mount Pelée erupts on Martinique

Called “the Paris of the Caribbean,” Saint-Pierre is wiped off the map as Martinique’s Mount Pelée volcano erupts with a fury, sending black clouds of superheated gases and dust 420 mph over the seaside town. More than 30,000 will perish in what will be the worst volcanic disaster of the 20th century.

Mount Pelée is a semi-active volcano at the northern end of Martinique, an island and French overseas department in the Lesser Antilles island arc of the Caribbean. Its volcanic cone is composed of layers of volcanic ash and hardened lava. The volcano is currently in a quiescent state, which means it is not active, but is registering seismic activity.

Last eruption: 1932
Elevation: 4,583 feet (1,397 m)
Prominence: 4,583 feet (1,397 m)
Mountain range: Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc

wiki/Mount_Pelée

People celebrating VE Day along the Champs Élysées in Paris on May 8, 1945 (© Serge DE SAZO/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

(1945) German surrender ends WWII in Europe

With the unconditional surrender of the German military now official, the Allies and their supporters celebrate with massive VE Day demonstrations around the globe. The deadliest conflict in world history is over in Europe, but WWII still rages on in the Pacific.

Victory in Europe Day, generally known as V-E Day, VE Day or simply V Day, was the public holiday celebrated on 8 May 1945 to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender of its armed forces. It thus marked the end of World War II in Europe.

wiki/Victory_in_Europe_Day

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Today in History ^05/02/17

May 2, 2017 by GµårÐïåñ

Anne Boleyn in the Tower of London (© Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

(1536) Anne Boleyn is arrested and imprisoned

Three years after King Henry VIII broke away from Rome’s Catholic dictates and annulled his first marriage to marry Anne Boleyn, he now has his eye on another potential bride. He has Queen Anne arrested on charges of adultery, witchcraft, and treason, and taken to the Tower of London.

Anne Boleyn was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of King Henry VIII, and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry’s marriage to her, and her subsequent execution by beheading, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the start of the English Reformation.

Lived: 1501 – May 19, 1536
Spouse: Henry VIII of England (m. 1533 – 1536)
Children: Elizabeth I of England (Daughter)
Buried: Church of St Peter ad Vincula
Siblings: Mary Boleyn (Sister) · George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford (Brother)
Parents: Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire (Father) · Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire (Mother)
Highlights
1514: Anne stayed with Margaret from spring 1513 until her father arranged for her to attend Henry VIII’s sister Mary, who was about to marry Louis XII of France in October 1514.

1520: She married William Carey, a minor noble, in February 1520, at Greenwich, with Henry VIII in attendance; soon after, Mary Boleyn became the English King’s mistress.

1529: George Cavendish, Wolsey’s chamberlain, records that the servants who waited on the king and Anne at dinner in 1529 in Grafton heard her say that the dishonour that Wolsey had brought upon the realm would have cost any other Englishman his head.

1529: Convinced that Wolsey’s loyalties lay with the Pope, not England, Anne, as well as Wolsey’s many enemies, ensured his dismissal from public office in 1529.

1533: Anne Boleyn married Henry VIII of England on January 25, 1533; their marriage lasted 3 years till May 17, 1536.

1536: Author Mike Ashley speculated that Anne had two stillborn children after Elizabeth’s birth and before the male child she miscarried in 1536.

wiki/Anne_Boleyn

Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees at bat in 1939 (© Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images)

(1939) Yankee’s ‘Iron Horse,’ Lou Gehrig, ends game streak

First baseman Lou Gehrig benches himself following a record-smashing 2,130 consecutive games played with his baseball team, the New York Yankees. Gehrig will soon be diagnosed with a fatal case of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or what will come to be known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Henry Louis “Lou” or “Buster” Gehrig was an American baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees, from 1923 through 1939. Gehrig was renowned for his prowess as a hitter and for his durability, a trait that earned him his nickname “The Iron Horse”. He was an All-Star seven consecutive times, a Triple Crown winner once, an American League Most Valuable Player twice, and a member of six World Series champion team. He had a career.340 batting average, .632 slugging average, and a.447 on base average. He hit 493 home runs and had 1,995 runs batted in. In 1939, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and was the first MLB player to have his uniform number retired by a team.

Lived: Jun 19, 1903 – Jun 02, 1941 (age 37)
Height: 6′ 0″ (1.83 m)
Spouse: Eleanor Gehrig (m. 1933 – 1941)
Movies: Rawhide
Buried: Kensico Cemetery
Parents: Heinrich Gehrig (Father) · Christina Fack (Mother)
Highlights
1923: A native of New York City and attendee of Columbia University, Gehrig signed with the Yankees in 1923.

1925: In 1925, he batted .295, with 20 home runs and 68 runs batted in (RBIs).

1926: The 23-year-old Yankee first baseman’s breakout season came in 1926, when he batted .313 with 47 doubles, an American League-leading 20 triples, 16 home runs, and 112 RBI.

1933: In September 1933, Gehrig married Eleanor Twitchell (1904 or 1905–1984), the daughter of Chicago Parks Commissioner Frank Twitchell.

1939: After six days of extensive testing at the Mayo Clinic, doctors confirmed the diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) on June 19, 1939, which was Gehrig’s 36th birthday.

1941: On June 2, 1941, at 10:10 p.m., Gehrig died at his home at 5204 Delafield Avenue in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx, New York.

wiki/Lou_Gehrig

May 1945 photo showing Soviet soldiers hoisting the red flag over the Reichstag in Berlin (© Yevgeny Khaldei/ITAR-TASS/AP)

(1945) The Fall of Berlin heralds the beginning of the end of WWII

Soviet Red Army forces raise their flag over the former Nazi high command center, the Reichstag building, as the Battle of Berlin comes to an end. In the months to come, the German capital will be divided into Allied zones, with the USSR controlling East Berlin.

The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European theatre of World War II. Following the Vistula–Oder Offensive of January–February 1945, the Red Army had temporarily halted on a line 60 km east of Berlin. On 9 March, Germany established its defence plan for the city with Operation Clausewitz. The first defensive preparations at the outskirts of Berlin were made on 20 March, under the newly appointed commander of Army Group Vistula, General Gotthard Heinrici.

Start date: Apr 16, 1945
End date: May 02, 1945

wiki/Battle_of_Berlin

The BOAC Comet taxiing onto the runaway at London Airport on May 2, 1952 (© Reg Speller/Getty Images)

(1952) The jet airliner takes its first commercial flight

After years of testing and development, British airline BOAC welcomes passengers to the jet age as the De Havilland Comet 1 takes off from London for Johannesburg, South Africa. Although the route will make five stops, and take 21 hours and 20 minutes, it’s about 50 percent faster than conventional aircraft.

The de Havilland DH 106 Comet was the world’s first commercial jetliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland at its Hatfield Aerodrome, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom headquarters, the Comet 1 prototype first flew on 27 July 1949. It featured an aerodynamically clean design with four de Havilland Ghost turbojet engines buried in the wings, a pressurised fuselage, and large square windows. For the era, it offered a relatively quiet, comfortable passenger cabin and showed signs of being a commercial success at its 1952 debut.

Passengers: 81
Maiden flight: Jul 27, 1949
Length: 112 feet (34.14 m)
Wingspan: 115 feet (35.05 m)
Introduced: Jan 22, 1952
Maximum speed: 500 mph (804.67 km/h)

wiki/De_Havilland_Comet

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Today in History ^04/30/17

April 30, 2017 by GµårÐïåñ

Lithograph showing Napoleon (center) formally presenting a copy of the treaty for the Louisiana Purchase to the American Commissioners in 1803 (© Science Source/Getty Images)

(1803) US makes Louisiana Purchase for $15 million

At a cost of about four cents per acre, the American government purchases from the French 828,000 square miles of land, stretching across much of North America. France needs the money for another looming war with Britain, and President Thomas Jefferson is happy to oblige.

The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition of the Louisiana territory by the United States from France in 1803. The U.S. paid fifty million francs and a cancellation of debts worth eighteen million francs for a total of sixty-eight million francs. The Louisiana territory included land from fifteen present U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. The territory contained land that forms Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska; the portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi River; a large portion of North Dakota; a large portion of South Dakota; the northeastern section of New Mexico; the northern portion of Texas; the area of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Continental Divide; Louisiana west of the Mississippi River; and small portions of land within the present Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Its non-native population was around 60,000 inhabitants, of whom half were African slaves.

Start date: 1801
End date: Apr 30, 1803

wiki/Louisiana_Purchase

Identification card of the fictional Major William Martin (Public domain)

(1943) ‘Operation Mincemeat’ fools the Nazis

The British dress a corpse as one of their officers, load it with fake invasion plans, and release the body off Spain’s coast. The Germans will find the body, believe the plan, and expect the Brits to invade Greece, instead of the real target, Italy.

Operation Mincemeat was a successful British disinformation strategy used during the Second World War. As a deception intended to cover the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily, two members of British intelligence obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael, a tramp who died from eating rat poison, dressed him as an officer of the Royal Marines and placed personal items on him identifying him as Captain William Martin. Correspondence between two British generals which suggested that the Allies planned to invade Greece and Sardinia, with Sicily as merely the target of a feint, was also placed on the body.
wiki/Operation_Mincemeat

Adolf Hitler in 1945 (© ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

(1945) Hitler commits suicide as Soviet Red Army takes Berlin

Hiding in his fortified underground bunker with his wife of 40 hours by his side, Adolf Hitler shoots himself, and Eva Braun takes a cyanide pill. Their bodies are hauled to the ruined garden above the bunker, doused with gasoline, and burned.

Adolf Hitler was a German politician who was the leader of the Nazi Party, Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and Führer of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. As dictator of the German Reich, he initiated World War II in Europe with the invasion of Poland in September 1939, and was central to the Holocaust.

Lived: Apr 20, 1889 – Apr 30, 1945 (age 56)
Height: 5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
Spouse: Eva Braun (m. 1945 – 1945)
Children: Jean-Marie Loret (Son)
Founded: Nazi Party · Schutzstaffel · Hitler Youth · Gestapo · Sturmabteilung · Wehrmacht · Waffen-SS · 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
Parents: Alois Hitler (Father) · Klara Hitler (Mother)
Highlights
1918: His wartime experience reinforced his German patriotism and he was shocked by Germany’s capitulation in November 1918.

1923: On 8 November 1923 Hitler and the SA stormed a public meeting of 3,000 people organised by Kahr in the Bürgerbräukeller, a beer hall in Munich.

1934: In August 1934, Hitler appointed Reichsbank President Hjalmar Schacht as Minister of Economics, and in the following year, as Plenipotentiary for War Economy in charge of preparing the economy for war.

1936: In August 1936, in response to a growing economic crisis caused by his rearmament efforts, Hitler ordered Göring to implement a Four Year Plan to prepare Germany for war within the next four years.

1938: In early 1938, in the wake of the Blomberg–Fritsch Affair, Hitler asserted control of the military-foreign policy apparatus, dismissing Neurath as foreign minister and appointing himself Oberster Befehlshaber der Wehrmacht (supreme commander of the armed forces).

1945: In the final days of the war, during the Battle of Berlin in 1945, Hitler married his long-time lover, Eva Braun.

wiki/Adolf_Hitler

A North Vietnamese tank rolls through the gate of the presidential palace in Saigon, Vietnam, on April 30, 1975, signifying the fall of South Vietnam (© AP)

(1975) Saigon falls to communists as South Vietnam surrenders

The Viet Cong and People’s Army control South Vietnam’s largest city after Saigon’s defensive forces surrender, effectively ending the Vietnam War. The capital will be renamed ‘Ho Chi Minh City,’ as the communist reunification of the country begins.

The Fall of Saigon, or the Liberation of Saigon, depending on context, was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People’s Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam on April 30, 1975. The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition period to the formal reunification of Vietnam under the Socialist Republic.

Date: Apr 30, 1975

wiki/Fall_of_Saigon

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