1949

Today in History 08/29 (Electromagnetism)

Michael Faraday circa 1859 (© APIC/Getty Images)(1831) Faraday demonstrates electromagnetism
English chemist and autodidact Michael Faraday publically demonstrates his discovery of electromagnetism, or as he calls it, a ‘wave of electricity,’ via electromagnetic induction. His discovery of this energy transmission will help generate mankind’s electrical revolution.
Electromagnetic induction is the production of an electromotive force across a conductor exposed to time varying magnetic fields. Michael Faraday, who mathematically described Faraday’s law of induction, is generally credited with its discovery in 1831.
Drawing of Michael Faraday's 1831 experiment showing electromagnetic induction between coils of wire
Faraday’s experiment showing induction between coils of wire: The liquid battery (right) provides a current that flows through the small coil (A), creating a magnetic field. When the coils are stationary, no current is induced. But when the small coil is moved in or out of the large coil (B), the magnetic flux through the large coil changes, inducing a current which is detected by the galvanometer (G).
wiki/Electromagnetic_induction
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(1831) Faraday demonstrates electromagnetism.
Also on this day,

1786 | Farmers rise up in Massachusetts with Shay’s Rebellion
Protesting high taxes and political corruption, American farmers begin a military standoff that closes the federal court in Springfield. Shays’ Rebellion will eventually be defeated by a private militia, but it will sufficiently rattle national leaders to call for a stronger national government to suppress future uprisings.
1949 | ‘First Lightning’ detonates and the atomic arms race is on
Twenty kilotons of nuclear fission flatten a purpose-built ‘town’ in a remote part of the USSR’s Kazakh Republic, and the Soviet Union is now on par with the US as the only other nuclear power on the globe. Called ‘First Lightning,’ the Soviet’s atom bomb is born of espionage and scientific brilliance.
2005 | US Gulf Coast hammered by Hurricane Katrina
Once roiling with Category 5 strength over the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Katrina has weakened, but it’s still packing ferocious winds, as it makes landfall near New Orleans, Louisiana. A massive storm surge will breach levies, devastating that city as Katrina becomes one of the worst natural disasters in US history.

Today in History 08/29/17

Mushroom cloud from the first Soviet nuclear test, code named 'First Lightning' (© Universal History Archive/Getty Images)(1949) 'First Lightning' detonates and the atomic arms race is on
Twenty kilotons of nuclear fission flatten a purpose-built 'town' in a remote part of the USSR's Kazakh Republic, and the Soviet Union is now on par with the US as the only other nuclear power on the globe. Called 'First Lightning,' the Soviet's atom bomb is born of espionage and scientific brilliance.
The RDS-1, also known as Izdeliye 501 and First Lightning, was the nuclear bomb used in the Soviet Union's first nuclear weapon test. The United States assigned it the code-name Joe-1, in reference to Joseph Stalin. It was detonated on 29 August 1949 at 7:00 a.m., at Semipalatinsk, Kazakh SSR, after top-secret research and development as part of the Soviet atomic bomb project.
Casing for the first Soviet atomic bomb, RDS-1
Photograph of the first Soviet atomic bomb.

wiki/RDS-1
Two people are rescued from their rooftop on Aug 29, 2005, after Hurricane Katrina flooded their New Orleans neighborhood (© Eric Gay/AP)(2005) US Gulf Coast hammered by Hurricane Katrina
Once roiling with Category 5 strength over the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Katrina has weakened, but it's still packing ferocious winds, as it makes landfall near New Orleans, Louisiana. A massive storm surge will breach levies, devastating that city as Katrina becomes one of the worst natural disasters in US history.
Hurricane Katrina was the eleventh named storm and the fifth hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the costliest natural disaster and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States.
Damages: $108 billion USD (2005)
Formed: Aug 23, 2005
Dissipated: Aug 31, 2005
Highest winds: 173.98 mph (280 km/h)
Total fatalities: 1,833
Affected areas: New Orleans · Louisiana · Bahamas · Mississippi · Alabama · Cuba · New York · Florida Panhandle · Georgia · Pennsylvania · Ohio · New Jersey · South Florida · Virginia · Tennessee
Hurricane Katrina August 28 2005 NASA
“Katrina is comparable in intensity to Hurricane Camille of 1969, only larger,” warned the National Hurricane Center on Sunday, August 28, 2005. By this time, Hurricane Katrina was set to become one of the most powerful storms to strike the United States, with winds of 257 kilometers per hour (160 miles per hour) and stronger gusts. The air pressure, another indicator of hurricane strength, at the center of this Category 5 storm measured 902 millibars, the fourth lowest air pressure on record for an Atlantic storm. The lower the air pressure, the more powerful the storm. Two hours after the National Hurricane Center issued their warning, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) captured this image from NASA’s Terra satellite at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Savings Time. The massive storm covers much of the Gulf of Mexico, spanning from the U.S. coast to the Yucatan Peninsula.

wiki/Hurricane_Katrina
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Today in History 08/03 (TRS-80)

A 1970s TRS-80 computer system (© Mark Madeo/Future Publishing/Getty Images)(1977) Radio Shack unveils the TRS-80 computer
Tandy announces one of the first mass-market home computers, the TRS-80, to be sold in its Radio Shack stores. It features 4K of RAM and sells for $399 (or $599 with a monitor and tape recorder for storage). Upgrades will keep various TRS-80 models on the market until 1991.
The TRS-80 Micro Computer System is a desktop microcomputer launched in 1977 and sold by Tandy Corporation through their Radio Shack stores. The name is an abbreviation of Tandy/Radio Shack, Z-80 microprocessor. It was one of the earliest mass-produced and mass-marketed retail personal computers.
Radio Shack TRS80
Radio Shack Tandy TRS-80 Model I with Expansion Interface
wiki/TRS-80
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(1977) Radio Shack unveils the TRS-80 computer.
Also on this day,

1778 | A palace of song is inaugurated in Milan, Italy
Music rings out among the glimmering oil lamps and luxurious boxes of the neoclassical New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala. Later known by its more familiar name, La Scala, the Milan opera house will offer some of the world’s greatest musical performances.
1861 | A pip of a tale finishes with a flourish
Chapters 58 and 59 of Charles Dickens’ latest novel, ‘Great Expectations,’ are published in a British periodical, finishing a tale that has been doled out to the reading public in monthly installments. The story will later be sold as a stand-alone book for those who prefer to binge read.
1949 | Two basketball leagues join to form a powerhouse NBA
Founded in June 1946, the Basketball Association of America meets with rival National Basketball League to join forces and create one organization. The merger will prove fruitful, as the National Basketball Association, or NBA, sees its sport grow from relative obscurity to a worldwide phenomenon.
1958 | America’s nuclear sub first to glide under the North Pole
The world’s first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, is now the first seagoing craft to reach the geographic North Pole. The ‘Operation Sunshine’ sub will spend 96 hours traveling nearly 2,000 miles under the Arctic ice and boost US morale a year after the Soviets launched Sputnik.

Today in History 08/03/17

The nuclear-powered submarine USS Nautilus in August 1958 (© AP)(1958) America's nuclear sub first to glide under the North Pole
The world's first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, is now the first seagoing craft to reach the geographic North Pole. The 'Operation Sunshine' sub will spend 96 hours traveling nearly 2,000 miles under the Arctic ice and boost US morale a year after the Soviets launched Sputnik.
USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine. The vessel was the first submarine to complete a submerged transit of the North Pole on 3 August 1958. Sharing names with Captain Nemo's fictional submarine in Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and named after another USS Nautilus that served with distinction in World War II, Nautilus was authorized in 1951 and launched in 1954. Because her nuclear propulsion allowed her to remain submerged far longer than diesel-electric submarines, she broke many records in her first years of operation, and traveled to locations previously beyond the limits of submarines. In operation, she revealed a number of limitations in her design and construction. This information was used to improve subsequent submarines.
Keel laid: 14 Jun 1952
Launched: 21 Jan 1954
Builder: General Dynamics Electric Boat

wiki/USS_Nautilus_(SSN-571)
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Today in History 06/08 (Orwell’s 1984)

George Orwell (© ullstein bild via Getty Images)(1949) Big Brother is watching you as ‘1984’ is published
Newspeak, thoughtcrimes, and Big Brother are introduced as George Orwell’s vision of a dystopian future is published. ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ will be seen as both a great literary work and an accurate warning of the “double plus ungood” rise of totalitarianism and surveillance.
Nineteen Eighty-Four, often published as 1984, is a dystopian novel published in 1949 by English author George Orwell. The novel is set in the year 1984 when most of the world population have become victims of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance and public manipulation.
Author: George Orwell
First published: Jun 08, 1949
Number of pages: 298
Preceded by: Animal Farm
Characters: Big Brother · Julia · Winston Smith · Emmanuel Goldstein · O’Brien · Syme
Adaptations: Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) · 1984 (1956) · Brazil (1985) · Nineteen Eighty-Four (1954) · 1984 · 1984 · 1984 · 1984: A Personal View of Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ (1983)
Highlights
  • 1931: “Hop Picking”, by Eric Blair, appeared in the October 1931 issue of New Statesman, whose editorial staff included his old friend Cyril Connolly.

  • 1933: Down and Out in Paris and London was published on 9 January 1933, as Orwell continued to work on Burmese Days.

  • 1936: Orwell married Eileen O’Shaughnessy on 9 June 1936.

  • 1937: The result of his journeys through the north was The Road to Wigan Pier, published by Gollancz for the Left Book Club in 1937.

  • 1937: He recovered sufficiently to get up and on 27 May 1937 was sent on to Tarragona and two days later to a POUM sanatorium in the suburbs of Barcelona.

  • 1943: In March 1943 Orwell’s mother died and around the same time he told Moore he was starting work on a new book, which turned out to be Animal Farm.

Nineteen Eighty-Four cover by Penguin
A 21st-century printing by Penguin Books with an intentionally censored cover
wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four
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(1949) Big Brother is watching you as ‘1984’ is published.
Also on this day,
793 | Vikings invade England
The Kingdom of Northumbria sees uninvited guests arrive on Lindisfarne, an island off of England’s northeast coast. What these ‘Northmen’ do there, including destroying the abbey and killing its monks, will jolt Europe and earn the Vikings a fierce reputation for the ages.
1959 | Missile Mail launched
Three thousand letters streak through the sky at 600 mph, encased in a guided missile shot from the nuclear submarine USS Barbero. This newfangled airmail travels a distance of more than 100 miles in 22 minutes, but Missile Mail delivery will prove cost-prohibitive and won’t catch on.
1968 | MLK’s assassin caught
Two months after civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was gunned down in Memphis, Tennessee, his suspected assassin is apprehended at London’s Heathrow Airport. James Earl Ray will be extradited back to the US, stand trial, and be convicted and sentenced to 99 years in prison.

Today in History 08/29/17

Mushroom cloud from the first Soviet nuclear test, code named 'First Lightning' (© Universal History Archive/Getty Images)(1949) ‘First Lightning’ detonates and the atomic arms race is on
Twenty kilotons of nuclear fission flatten a purpose-built ‘town’ in a remote part of the USSR’s Kazakh Republic, and the Soviet Union is now on par with the US as the only other nuclear power on the globe. Called ‘First Lightning,’ the Soviet’s atom bomb is born of espionage and scientific brilliance.
The RDS-1, also known as Izdeliye 501 and First Lightning, was the nuclear bomb used in the Soviet Union’s first nuclear weapon test. The United States assigned it the code-name Joe-1, in reference to Joseph Stalin. It was detonated on 29 August 1949 at 7:00 a.m., at Semipalatinsk, Kazakh SSR, after top-secret research and development as part of the Soviet atomic bomb project.
Casing for the first Soviet atomic bomb, RDS-1
Photograph of the first Soviet atomic bomb.

wiki/RDS-1
Two people are rescued from their rooftop on Aug 29, 2005, after Hurricane Katrina flooded their New Orleans neighborhood (© Eric Gay/AP)(2005) US Gulf Coast hammered by Hurricane Katrina
Once roiling with Category 5 strength over the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Katrina has weakened, but it’s still packing ferocious winds, as it makes landfall near New Orleans, Louisiana. A massive storm surge will breach levies, devastating that city as Katrina becomes one of the worst natural disasters in US history.
Hurricane Katrina was the eleventh named storm and the fifth hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the costliest natural disaster and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States.
Damages: $108 billion USD (2005)
Formed: Aug 23, 2005
Dissipated: Aug 31, 2005
Highest winds: 173.98 mph (280 km/h)
Total fatalities: 1,833
Affected areas: New Orleans · Louisiana · Bahamas · Mississippi · Alabama · Cuba · New York · Florida Panhandle · Georgia · Pennsylvania · Ohio · New Jersey · South Florida · Virginia · Tennessee
Hurricane Katrina August 28 2005 NASA
“Katrina is comparable in intensity to Hurricane Camille of 1969, only larger,” warned the National Hurricane Center on Sunday, August 28, 2005. By this time, Hurricane Katrina was set to become one of the most powerful storms to strike the United States, with winds of 257 kilometers per hour (160 miles per hour) and stronger gusts. The air pressure, another indicator of hurricane strength, at the center of this Category 5 storm measured 902 millibars, the fourth lowest air pressure on record for an Atlantic storm. The lower the air pressure, the more powerful the storm. Two hours after the National Hurricane Center issued their warning, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) captured this image from NASA’s Terra satellite at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Savings Time. The massive storm covers much of the Gulf of Mexico, spanning from the U.S. coast to the Yucatan Peninsula.

wiki/Hurricane_Katrina
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Today in History 06/11/17

Country singer Hank Williams poses for a portrait circa 1950 in Nashville, Tennessee (© Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)(1949) Hank Williams makes his rapturous Grand Ole Opry debut
‘Lovesick Blues’ is a huge hit and is Hank Williams’ ticket to country music’s Mecca, the Grand Ole Opry, where Hank and his Drifting Cowboys wow the crowd and play a record six encores. Williams’ meteoritic rise will flame out when he dies, due in part to alcohol abuse, at the age of 29.

Hiram King “Hank” Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American country music singer-songwriter and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, Williams recorded 35 singles (five released posthumously) that reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 11 that ranked number one (three posthumously).

Born in Mount Olive, Butler County, Alabama, Williams moved to Georgiana, where he met Rufus Payne, who gave him guitar lessons in exchange for meals or money. Payne had a major influence on Williams’ later musical style, along with Roy Acuff and Ernest Tubb. During this time, Williams informally changed his name to Hank, believing it to be a better name for country music. He moved to Montgomery, where he began his music career in 1937, when producers at radio station WSFA hired him to perform and host a 15-minute program. He formed as backup the Drifting Cowboys band, which was managed by his mother, and dropped out of school to devote his time to his career.

When several of his band members were conscripted into military service during World War II, Williams had trouble with their replacements, and WSFA terminated his contract because of his alcohol abuse. Williams eventually married Audrey Sheppard, who was his manager for nearly a decade. After recording “Never Again” and “Honky Tonkin'” with Sterling Records, he signed a contract with MGM Records. In 1947 he released “Move It on Over”, which became a hit, and also joined the Louisiana Hayride radio program. One year later, he released a cover of “Lovesick Blues”

recorded at Herzog Studio in Cincinnati, which carried him into the mainstream of music. After an initial rejection, Williams joined the Grand Ole Opry. He was unable to read or notate music to any significant degree. Among the hits he wrote were “Your Cheatin’ Heart”, “Hey, Good Lookin'”, and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”.

In 1952, he divorced Sheppard and was dismissed by the Grand Ole Opry because of his unreliability and alcohol abuse. On January 1, 1953, he suffered heart failure while traveling to perform at a concert in West Virginia, and died as a result. His death came in the wake of many years of back pain, alcoholism and prescription drug abuse which lead to his poor health and death. Despite his short life, Williams is one of the most celebrated and influential musicians of the 20th century, especially country music. The songs he wrote and recorded have been covered by numerous artists and have been hits in various genres. He has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame, such as the Country Music Hall of Fame (1961), the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1970), and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1987).


wiki/Hank_Williams
Spectators flee the searing flames of a smashed Mercedes racing car after an accident at the Le Mans, France, race that killed more than 80 people, June 11, 1955 (© AP)(1955) Europe’s prestigious Le Mans car race turns deadly
In the worst accident in the history of motorsports, the collision between a Mercedes-Benz and an Austin-Healy in France’s 24 Hours of Le Mans catapults one car onto an embankment where it breaks apart, sending debris hurtling into the crowd, killing 83 and injuring upwards of 100.
The 1955 Le Mans disaster occurred during the 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race in Le Mans, France on 11 June 1955, when a major crash caused large fragments of debris to fly into the crowd. Eighty-three spectators and French driver Pierre Bouillin, who raced under the name Pierre Levegh, were killed and nearly 180 more sustained injuries in the most catastrophic accident in motorsport history which led Mercedes-Benz to retire from motor racing until 1989.
wiki/1955_Le_Mans_disaster
Aerial view of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco Bay, shown June 12, 1962, the day three prisoners escaped (© AP)(1962) Inmates escape from ‘The Rock’ and disappear into the bay
The infamous Alcatraz Island penitentiary has been thought escape-proof, but The Rock loses three of its inmates today as they pose dummy heads in their bunks, crawl through spoon-dug holes, scale the prison fence, and shove off into San Francisco Bay on rafts made with prison raincoats.
The June 1962 Alcatraz escape may have been the only successful escape from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in that facility’s history. Late on the night of June 11 or early morning of June 12, inmates Clarence Anglin, John Anglin, and Frank Morris tucked papier-mâché heads resembling their own likenesses into their beds, broke out of the main prison building via an unused utility corridor, and departed Alcatraz Island aboard an improvised inflatable raft to an uncertain fate.
Date: Jun 11, 1962

wiki/June_1962_Alcatraz_escape
(From left) Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara & Alan Ruck publicity portrait for 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' (© Paramount/Getty Images)(1986) ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ released
John Hughes’ comedy about a high school student’s elaborate plan to skip school hits theaters. It will become a box office success and produce quotes and catch phrases that will permeate pop culture for years to come. It’s over. Go home. Go.
Ferris Bueller is a clever and tricky fast talker, a legend in his own time. He decides to call out sick from school, feigning illness, to embark on a wild adventure involving his girlfriend, Sloane Peterson, his best friend Cameron Frye, and a Ferrari. From Wrigley Field to the Art Institute of Chicago to a Polish Pride parade, Bueller and friends intend on making the most of their day off. However, Ferris’ sister and the school dean, Ed Rooney, suspect that Ferris is simply pretending to be ill. Both Rooney and Ferris’ sister Jeanie are hot on Ferris’ trail and are determined to catch him and his friends in the act of class-cutting.
Release date: Jun 11, 1986 (United States)
Director: John Hughes
Gross revenue: $70.10 million USD
Estimated budget: $6 million USD
Featured songs: Love Missile F1-11 · BAD · Twist and Shout · Danke Schoen · Taking the Day Off · I’m Afraid · Oh Yeah · The Edge of Forever · Main Title · Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (instrumental) · Jeannie · Rebel Blockade Runner · March of the Swivelheads · Beat City · Radio People
Screenwriter: John Hughes

wiki/Ferris_Bueller’s_Day_Off
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