(1897) Mark Twain is still very much aliveAccomplished man of American letters, and possessor of an impressively arid wit, Mark Twain recounts for the New York Journal a visit from a journalist who mistakenly believed the author might be deceased. “The report of my death was an exaggeration,” Twain tells the reporter.Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. Among his novels are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and its sequel, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the latter often called “The Great American Novel”.
Lived: Nov 30, 1835 – Apr 21, 1910 (age 74) Height: 5′ 9″ (1.74 m) Spouse: Olivia Langdon Clemens (m. 1870 – 1904) Children: Langdon Clemens (Son) · Clara Clemens (Daughter) · Jean Clemens (Daughter) · Susy Clemens (Daughter) Buried: Woodlawn Cemetery Siblings: Orion Clemens (Brother) · Henry Clemens (Brother) · Benjamin Clemens (Brother) · Pamela Clemens (Sister) · Margaret Clemens (Sister) · Pleasant Clemens (Brother)
Highlights
1864: Twain moved to San Francisco in 1864, still as a journalist, and met writers such as Bret Harte and Artemus Ward.
1865: His humorous story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”, was published in 1865, based on a story that he heard at Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California where he had spent some time as a miner.
1870: She rejected his first marriage proposal, but they were married in Elmira, New York in February 1870, where he courted her and managed to overcome her father’s initial reluctance.
1861: He had unsuccessfully attempted to secure the rights for The Prince and the Pauper in 1881, in conjunction with his Montreal trip.
1901: A subsequent article, “To My Missionary Critics” published in The North American Review in April 1901, unapologetically continues his attack, but with the focus shifted from Ament to his missionary superiors, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
1910: Twain’s prediction was accurate; he died of a heart attack on April 21, 1910 in Redding, Connecticut, one day after the comet’s closest approach to Earth.
wiki/Mark_Twain(1919) Anarchist bombs explode in eight US citiesOperatives of Italian anarchist Luigi Galleani detonate package bombs in eight cities, causing property destruction and two deaths. The future US president and his wife, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, narrowly escape a blast, having walked by a package moments before it detonated.The 1919 United States anarchist bombings were a series of bombings and attempted bombings carried out by anarchist followers of Luigi Galleani from April through June 1919. These bombings led to the Red Scare of 1919–20.
wiki/1919_United_States_anarchist_bombings(1953) A young queen is crowned in Westminster Abbey In the first major event to be televised internationally, Elizabeth Windsor, 25, is crowned Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Sixteen months in preparation, the coronation hosts 8,000 guests to witness the ceremony from inside London’s Westminster Abbey, while millions across Europe watch on live TV.The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II as monarch of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey. Elizabeth ascended the throne at the age of 25, upon the death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952, and was proclaimed queen by her various privy and executive councils shortly afterwards. The coronation took place more than a year later because of the tradition that holding such a festival is inappropriate during the period of mourning that follows the death of a monarch. During the service, she took and subscribed an oath to, among other things, govern the peoples according to their respective laws and customs, was anointed with holy oil, presented and invested with regalia, and crowned.
Date: Jun 02, 1953
wiki/Coronation_of_Queen_Elizabeth_II(2004) Ken Jennings begins ‘Jeopardy!’ streakContestant Ken Jennings wins on ‘Jeopardy!,’ beginning a 74-game streak that will net him about $2.5 million. He will finally lose nearly six months later, with an incorrect response to the Final Jeopardy! answer, ‘Most of this firm’s 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year.’Kenneth Wayne “Ken” Jennings III is an American game show contestant and author. Jennings holds the record for the longest winning streak on the U.S. syndicated game show Jeopardy! and as being the second highest-earning contestant in game show history. In 2004, Jennings won 74 Jeopardy! games before he was defeated by challenger Nancy Zerg on his 75th appearance. His total earnings on Jeopardy! are $3,196,300, consisting of $2,520,700 over his 74 wins, a $2,000 second-place prize in his 75th appearance, a $500,000 second-place prize in the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions, a $100,000 win for second-place prize in the Jeopardy Battle of the Decades, as well as half of a $300,000 prize in the IBM Challenge, when he competed against Watson.
Born: May 23, 1974 (age 43) · Edmonds, WA Net worth: $4 million USD (2017) Spouse: Mindy Jennings Education: Brigham Young University · University of Washington · Seoul Foreign School Children: Dylan Jennings (Son)
(1453) Constantinople captured and Byzantine Empire endsSultan Mehmed Il Fatih, 21, and his Ottoman forces break the siege of Constantinople after almost two months of fierce fighting. The Western world’s Christian power center will be converted to a capital of Islam and the Ottoman Empire. Though Mehmed II will rename the city ‘Islambol’ it will officially be Istanbul until 1930.The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by an invading army of the Ottoman Empire on 29 May 1453. The Ottomans were commanded by the then 21-year-old Mehmed the Conqueror, the seventh sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who defeated an army commanded by Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos. The conquest of Constantinople followed a 53-day siege that had begun on 6 April 1453.
Start date: Apr 06, 1453 End date: May 29, 1453
wiki/Fall_of_Constantinople(1660) The Restoration begins as Charles II’s exile endsWith civil wars, revolutions, insurrections, and Cromwell’s Commonwealth behind him, England’s Charles II ends a nine-year exile, returning to London to reclaim his throne. The Restoration will end in 1688 when the Glorious Revolution establishes the supremacy of Parliament over the monarchy.The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The term Restoration is used to describe both the actual event by which the monarchy was restored, and the period of several years afterwards in which a new political settlement was established. It is very often used to cover the whole reign of Charles II and often the brief reign of his younger brother James II. In certain contexts it may be used to cover the whole period of the later Stuart monarchs as far as the death of Queen Anne and the accession of the Hanoverian George I in 1714; for example Restoration comedy typically encompasses works written as late as 1710.
Start date: 1660 End date: 1666
wiki/Restoration_(England)(1913) Stravinsky’s avant-garde ballet provokes a near-riot Laughing, hissing, and shouting greet ‘The Rite of Spring’ as it premieres in Paris. The collaboration between Igor Stravinsky and Vaslav Nijinsky shocks many with its avant-garde music and unconventional dancing, but it will later be celebrated as one of the first great leaps of 20th-century art.The Rite of Spring is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Vaslav Nijinsky, with stage designs and costumes by Nicholas Roerich. When first performed, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on 29 May 1913, the avant-garde nature of the music and choreography caused a sensation and a near-riot in the audience. Although designed as a work for the stage, with specific passages accompanying characters and action, the music achieved equal if not greater recognition as a concert piece, and is widely considered to be one of the most influential musical works of the 20th century.
Composer: Igor Stravinsky
wiki/The_Rite_of_Spring(1953) Hillary and Norgay are first to summit Mt. Everest New Zealand’s Edmund Hillary and Nepal’s Tenzing Norgay stand at more than 29,000 feet atop the highest spot on earth. They remain on Mt. Everest’s summit just 15 minutes before Tenzing leaves an offering of chocolate, and Hillary a cross, and then begin their long, arduous descent.The 1953 British Mount Everest expedition was the ninth mountaineering expedition to attempt the first ascent of Mount Everest, and the first confirmed to have succeeded when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit on Friday, 29 May 1953. Led by Colonel John Hunt, it was organized and financed by the Joint Himalayan Committee. News of the expedition’s success reached London in time to be released on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, 2 June.
(1932) Australia’s Sydney Harbour Bridge opensUp to 1 million citizens celebrate the opening of the magnificent new bridge spanning Sydney Harbour. Nicknamed ‘the coat hanger,’ it’s the world’s tallest steel arch bridge and the widest long-span bridge.The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic image of Sydney, and Australia. The bridge is nicknamed “The Coathanger” because of its arch-based design.
Address: Cumberland Street, Sydney, New South Wales 2000 Opened: Mar 19, 1932 Length: 3,770 feet (1,149 m) Width: 161 feet (49 m) Longest span: 1,650 feet (503 m) Clearance below: 161 feet (49 m)
wiki/Sydney_Harbour_Bridge(1941) Tuskegee Airmen squadron is activatedThe 99th Pursuit Squadron is the first all-black unit in the US Army Air Corps. The squad of enlisted men will become the core of other black squadrons, collectively nicknamed the Tuskegee Airmen, that will go on to serve with great distinction in World War II’s North African and Italian campaigns.
The Tuskegee Airmen /tʌsˈkiːɡiː/ is the popular name of a group of African-American military pilots (fighter and bomber) who fought in World War II. Officially, they formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Forces. The name also applies to the navigators, bombardiers, mechanics, instructors, crew chiefs, nurses, cooks and other support personnel for the pilots.
All black military pilots who trained in the United States trained at Moton Field, the Tuskegee Army Air Field, and were educated at Tuskegee University, located near Tuskegee, Alabama; the group included five Haitians from the Haitian Air Force (Alix Pasquet, Raymond Cassagnol, Pelissier Nicolas, Ludovic Audant, and Eberle Guilbaud). There was also one pilot from Port of Spain, Trinidad, Eugene Theodore.
Although the 477th Bombardment Group trained with North American B-25 Mitchell bombers, they never served in combat. The 99th Pursuit Squadron (later, 99th Fighter Squadron) was the first black flying squadron, and the first to deploy overseas (to North Africa in April 1943, and later to Sicily and Italy). The 332nd Fighter Group, which originally included the 100th, 301st, and 302nd Fighter Squadrons, was the first black flying group. The group deployed to Italy in early 1944. In June 1944, the 332nd Fighter Group began flying heavy bomber escort missions, and in July 1944, the 99th Fighter Squadron was assigned to the 332nd Fighter Group, which then had four fighter squadrons.
The 99th Fighter Squadron was initially equipped with Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter-bomber aircraft. The 332nd Fighter Group and its 100th, 301st and 302nd Fighter Squadrons were equipped for initial combat missions with Bell P-39 Airacobras (March 1944), later with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts (June–July 1944), and finally with the aircraft with which they became most commonly associated, the North American P-51 Mustang (July 1944). When the pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group painted the tails of their P-47s and later, P-51s, red, the nickname “Red Tails” was coined. The red markings that distinguished the Tuskegee Airmen included red bands on the noses of P-51s as well as a red rudder; the P-51B and D Mustangs flew with similar color schemes, with red propeller spinners, yellow wing bands and all-red tail surfaces.
The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American military aviators in the United States Armed Forces. During World War II, black Americans in many U.S. states were still subject to the Jim Crow laws[N 1] and the American military was racially segregated, as was much of the federal government. The Tuskegee Airmen were subjected to discrimination, both within and outside the army.
wiki/Tuskegee_Airmen(1953) The Oscars are first broadcast on TVThe 25th Annual Academy Awards are held in Los Angeles and beamed into living rooms across the country as NBC televises the ceremony for the first time. ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ is awarded the Best Picture award.The 25th Academy Awards ceremony was held on March 19, 1953. It took place at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, California, and the NBC International Theatre in New York City. It was the first Academy Awards ceremony to be televised, and the first ceremony to be held in Hollywood and New York City simultaneously. It was also the only year that the New York ceremonies were to be held in the NBC International Theatre on Columbus Circle, which was shortly thereafter demolished and replaced by the New York Coliseum convention center.
Date: Mar 19, 1953
wiki/25th_Academy_Awards(1962) Bob Dylan’s first album is releasedA 21-year-old folk singer from Minnesota sees his self-titled debut LP, filled mostly with his Woody Guthrie-inspired takes on folk standards, released on Columbia Records. The album will not sell well and most critics are left unimpressed. Dylan’s fortunes, however, will soon be a-changin’ for the better.Bob Dylan is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on March 19, 1962 by Columbia Records. Produced by Columbia’s legendary talent scout John H. Hammond, who signed Dylan to the label, the album features folk standards, plus two original compositions, “Talkin’ New York” and “Song to Woody”.
Release year: 1962 Genre: Blues / Folk, Contemporary Folk Label: Columbia Artist: Bob Dylan
(1525) The last Aztec emperor is executed Having survived years of war, the Spanish conquest of his empire, torture, and seeming accord with conquistador Hernán Cortés and his army, Aztec emperor Cuauhtémoc is executed by order of Cortés.Cuauhtémoc was the Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521, making him the last Aztec Emperor. The name Cuauhtemōc means “one who has descended like an eagle”, and is commonly rendered in English as “Descending Eagle,” as in the moment when an eagle folds its wings and plummets down to strike its prey. This is a name that implies aggressiveness and determination.
Born: 1497 Died: 1525 Parents: Ahuitzotl (Father)
wiki/Cuauhtémoc(1953) Watson and Crick reveal DNA discoveryCambridge University scientists James Watson and Francis Crick announce that they’ve uncovered the double-helix structure of the DNA molecule, helping to unlock the genetic code of humans and other living things. Their breakthrough drew on the pioneering work by their former colleague, Rosalind Franklin, who had produced X-ray diffraction images of DNA, but Franklin’s contribution to the discovery of the DNA double helix will go largely unrecognized during her lifetime.Deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule that carries the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning and reproduction of all known living organisms and many viruses. DNA and RNA are nucleic acids; alongside proteins, lipids and complex carbohydrates, they are one of the four major types of macromolecules that are essential for all known forms of life. Most DNA molecules consist of two biopolymer strands coiled around each other to form a double helix. wiki/DNA(1983) ‘M*A*S*H’ finale airs to record-smashing ratingsNearly 106 million viewers, or 77 percent of the American TV-watching public, tune in to the last episode of the beloved series ‘M*A*S*H.’ After 11 seasons, the television show about a US Army medical unit serving in the Korean War lasted longer than the war itself.The 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital is stuck in the middle of the Korean war. With little help from the circumstances they find themselves in, they are forced to make their own fun. Fond of practical jokes and revenge, the doctors, nurses, administrators, and soldiers often find ways of making wartime life bearable. Nevertheless, the war goes on,
First episode: Sep 17, 1972 Episode duration: 25 minutes Creators: Larry Gelbart · Gene Reynolds Theme song: Suicide Is Painless Awards: TV Land Impact Award · Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series · People’s Choice Award for Favorite Male TV Performer · TV Land Classic TV Doctor of the Year Award Producers: Larry Gelbart · Gene Reynolds · Burt Metcalfe · Don Reo · Dan Wilcox · Allan Katz · Dennis Koenig · Thad Mumford · John Rappaport · Jim Mulligan
wiki/M*A*S*H_(TV_series)(1993) Branch Davidian standoff in Waco beginsWhen agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives serve warrants at the Branch Davidian compound outside of Waco, Texas, a gunfight erupts, killing four agents and six members of the fringe Christian group. The resulting siege will last 51 days.The Waco siege was a siege of a compound belonging to the group Branch Davidians by American federal and Texas state law enforcement and US military between February 28 and April 19, 1993. The Branch Davidians, a sect that separated in 1955 from the Seventh-day Adventist Church, was led by David Koresh and lived at Mount Carmel Center ranch in the community of Elk, Texas, nine miles east-northeast of Waco. The group was suspected of weapons violations, causing a search and arrest warrant to be obtained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
(1631) Religious pluralist Roger Williams lands in AmericaRoger Williams arrives in Boston from England, and will become a proponent of the separation between church and state. He’ll also found the state of Rhode Island and America’s first Baptist church.Roger Williams was a Puritan, an English Reformed theologian, and later a Reformed Baptist who was expelled by the Puritan leaders from the colony of Massachusetts because they thought that he was spreading “new and dangerous ideas” to his congregants. Williams fled the Massachusetts colony under the threat of impending arrest and shipment to an English prison; he began the settlement of Providence Plantation in 1636 as a refuge offering freedom of conscience.
Lived: 1603 – Mar 1683 Spouse: Mary Barnard (m. 1629 – 1676) Children: Freeborn Williams (Daughter) · Daniel Williams (Son) · Joseph Williams (Son) · Mercy Williams (Daughter) · Mary Williams (Daughter) · Providence Williams Education: University of Cambridge · Pembroke College, Cambridge Parents: James Williams · Alice Williams Nominations: British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series (2002)
Highlights
1629: Williams also married Mary Barnard (1609–76) on December 15, 1629 at the Church of High Laver, Essex, England.
1634: In August 1634, Williams became acting pastor of the Salem church, the Rev. Skelton having died, and continued to be embroiled in controversies.
1635: Finally, in October 1635, the General Court tried Williams and convicted him of sedition and heresy.
1636: He was expelled by the Puritan leaders from the colony of Massachusetts because they thought that he was spreading “new and dangerous ideas”, so he began the colony of Providence Plantation in 1636 which provided a refuge for religious minorities.
1644: Williams secured his precious charter from Parliament for “Providence Plantations” in July 1644, then published his most famous book The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution for Cause of Conscience.
1647: Because of William Coddington’s opposition on Rhode Island, it took Williams until 1647 to get the four towns around Narragansett Bay to unite under a single government.
wiki/Roger_Williams(1909) Bakelite, the first synthetic plastic, is announcedLeo Baekeland, a Belgian-born chemist working in New York, announces his invention of the world’s first manmade plastic material, naming it Bakelite. It will help launch the plastics revolution.Bakelite, or polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, is an early plastic. It is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. It was developed by the Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland in Yonkers, New York, in 1907.
Inventor: Leo Baekeland
wiki/Bakelite(1919) A powerhouse Hollywood quartet forms United Artists Seeking artistic freedom and greater monetary rewards, director D.W. Griffith and actors Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks form their own production studio, United Artists.United Artists is an American film and television entertainment studio. The studio was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks with the intention of controlling their own interests rather than depending upon commercial studios. The studio was repeatedly bought, sold and restructured over the ensuing century.
Website: www.unitedartists.com Founded: Feb 05, 1919 CEO: Mark Burnett Founders: Charlie Chaplin · Mary Pickford · Douglas Fairbanks · D.W. Griffith Headquarters: Beverly Hills, CA Awards: Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year (1979) · Razzie Award for Worst Picture (1996) · Razzie Award for Worst Picture of the Decade (2000) · Satellite Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominations: Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year · Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel · Razzie Award for Worst Picture · Razzie Award for Worst Drama of Our First 25 Years
wiki/United_Artists(1953) Britain’s sweets rationing comes to an endIn place since the start of WWII, sweets rationing limited the amount of sugary goods the public could buy. The first day of unrationed sweets sees a run on toffee apples, nougat sticks, and licorice strips.Rationing was introduced temporarily by the British government several times during the 20th century, during and immediately after a war. At the start of the Second World War in 1939, the United Kingdom imported 20 million long tons of food per year, including about 70% of its cheese and sugar, nearly 80% of fruits and about 70% of cereals and fats. The U.K. also imported more than 50% of its meat and relied heavily on imported feed to support its domestic meat production. The civilian population of the country was about 50 million. It was one of the principal strategies of the Germans to attack shipping bound for Britain, restricting British industry and potentially starving the nation into submission. To deal with sometimes extreme shortages, the Ministry of Food instituted a system of rationing. To buy most rationed items, each person had to register at chosen shops, and was provided with a ration book containing coupons. The shopkeeper was provided with enough food for registered customers. Purchasers had to take ration books with them when shopping, so the relevant coupon or coupons could be cancelled. wiki/Rationing_in_the_United_Kingdom3.2.j17
(1897) Mark Twain is still very much alive
(1919) Anarchist bombs explode in eight US cities
(1953) A young queen is crowned in Westminster Abbey 
(2004) Ken Jennings begins ‘Jeopardy!’ streak
