1948

Today in History 11/02 (Hughes H-4 Hercules)

Howard Hughes' flying boat, nicknamed the 'Spruce Goose,' glides over the water on November 2, 1947, in Long Beach, California (© AP)(1947) Howard Hughes flies the ‘Spruce Goose’
Howard Hughes pilots his huge, multimillion dollar wooden plane, the ‘Spruce Goose,’ in California. Designed to transport troops during WWII, the aircraft is completed two years late, after the war has ended. This short test flight is the only time the Goose will fly.
The Hughes H-4 Hercules is a prototype strategic airlift flying boat designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft Company. Intended as a transatlantic flight transport for use during World War II, it was not completed in time to be used in the war. The aircraft made only one brief flight on November 2, 1947, and the project never advanced beyond the single example produced. Built from wood because of wartime restrictions on the use of aluminum and concerns about weight, it was nicknamed by critics the Spruce Goose, although it was made almost entirely of birch. The Hercules is the largest flying boat ever built, and it has the largest wingspan of any aircraft that has ever flown. The aircraft remains in good condition. After being displayed to the public for almost 11 years in Long Beach, California from 1980 to 1991, it is now displayed at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, United States.
Range: 2,983 miles
Maiden flight: Nov 02, 1947
Length: 219 feet
Wingspan: 320 feet
Passengers: 3
Retired: Apr 05, 1976

H-4 Hercules
H-4 Hercules “Spruce Goose”
wiki/Hughes_H-4_Hercules
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(1947) Howard Hughes flies the ‘Spruce Goose’.
Also on this day,

1948 | President Harry Truman defeats Thomas Dewey
By a narrow margin, President Harry Truman wins an upset victory over Republican challenger Thomas Dewey, the governor of New York in the race for the US presidency. Truman’s win will be considered the greatest upset in the history of US presidential elections.
1959 | Quiz show scandal as Charles Van Doren admits role in TV quiz show scandal
American intellectual Charles Van Doren confesses to a US House subcommittee that he’d been given answers prior to his appearances on TV’s game show ‘Twenty-One.’ During Van Doren’s so-called winning streak, he’d found fame, fortune, and made the cover of ‘Time.’
1963 | Coup in Vietnam as a presidential assassination sends Vietnam into chaos
Ngo Dinh Diem had been president of South Vietnam since 1955 and enjoyed US support until his strong-armed tactics, particularly against Buddhists, soured the relationship, and now a US-backed coup has brought him down. Vietnam will erupt into civil war following his assassination.

Today in History 11/02/17

President Ngo Dinh Diem (© AP)(1963) A presidential assassination sends Vietnam into chaos
Ngo Dinh Diem had been president of South Vietnam since 1955 and enjoyed US support until his strong-armed tactics, particularly against Buddhists, soured the relationship, and now a US-backed coup has brought him down. Vietnam will erupt into civil war following his assassination.
The arrest and assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm, the president of South Vietnam, marked the culmination of a successful CIA-backed coup d'état led by General Dương Văn Minh in November 1963. On 2 November 1963, Diệm and his adviser, his younger brother Ngô Đình Nhu, were arrested after the Army of the Republic of Vietnam had been successful in a bloody overnight siege on Gia Long Palace in Saigon. The coup was the culmination of nine years of autocratic and nepotistic family rule in South Vietnam. Discontent with the Diệm regime had been simmering below the surface, and exploded with mass Buddhist protests against long-standing religious discrimination after the government shooting of protesters who defied a ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag.
Corpse of Ngô Đình Diệm in the 1963 coup
The corpse of Ngô Đình Diệm in the back of the APC, having been executed on the way to military headquarters

wiki/Arrest_and_assassination_of_Ngo_Dinh_Diem
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Today in History 09/09 (California Statehood)

California flag (© iStock/Getty Images)(1850) New state takes up most of the USA’s West Coast
The United States officially admits more than 160,000 square miles of West Coast territory, stretching from arid semi-desert lands near the Mexican border northwards to the evergreen forests of the Pacific Northwest, as the new state of California.
California is a U.S. state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.5 million residents, California is the most populous state in the United States and the third largest by area. The state capital is Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation’s second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, with 18.7 million and 8.8 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is California’s most populous city, and the country’s second-most populous, after New York City. California also has the nation’s most populous county, Los Angeles County; its largest county by area, San Bernardino County; and its fifth most densely populated county, San Francisco.
Population: 39.54 million (2017)
Capital: Sacramento
Area: 163,696 sq miles
Colleges and universities: Stanford University · University of California, Berkeley · University of California, Los Angeles · University of Southern California · California Institute of Technology · University of California, Santa Barbara · University of California, Davis · California State University, Los Angeles · University of California, San Diego · University of Californi…
Senators: Dianne Feinstein · Kamala Harris
Governor: Jerry Brown

Location of state of California
Map of the United States with California highlighted
wiki/California
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(1850) New state takes up most of the USA’s West Coast.
Also on this day,

1839 | Inventor makes pioneering photograph
England’s John Herschel is a true Renaissance man, and now the mathematician, inventor, chemist, and discoverer of the stunningly beautiful cyanotype process, makes the first photograph on a glass plate.
1948 | Socialist state is created on the Korean Peninsula
Following post-WWII annexations by the USSR in the north and the US in the south, the country of Korea is further split as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is announced. The new socialist dictatorship, led by Kim Il Sung, takes over the north, and will close its borders and grow increasingly isolated.
1954 | Bell becomes the first person to swim Lake Ontario
Marilyn Bell arrives in Toronto, having swum across Lake Ontario from Youngstown, NY. The 16-year-old Canadian swimmer took off the night before with two other swimmers (including American Florence Chadwick), but after nearly 21 hours of swimming, only Bell completed the crossing.

Today in History 09/09/17

Kim Il Sung gives a broadcast speech in June 1950 to all North Korean citizens regarding the breakout of the Korean war (© Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)(1948) Socialist state is created on the Korean Peninsula
Following post-WWII annexations by the USSR in the north and the US in the south, the country of Korea is further split as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is announced. The new socialist dictatorship, led by Kim Il Sung, takes over the north, and will close its borders and grow increasingly isolated.
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia constituting the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang is the nation's capital and largest city. To the north and northwest the country is bordered by China and by Russia along the Amnok and Tumen rivers; it is bordered to the south by South Korea, with the heavily fortified Korean Demilitarized Zone separating the two. Nevertheless, North Korea, like its southern counterpart, claims to be the legitimate government of the entire Korean peninsula.
Population: 25.37 million (2016)
Official language: Korean
Capital: Pyongyang
GDP: $25 billion USD (2015)
Area: 46,541 sq miles (120,540 km²)
Calling code: 850
North Korea (orthographic projection)
Area controlled by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea shown in dark green; claimed but uncontrolled regions shown in light green.

wiki/North_Korea
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