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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