1957

Today in History 12/20 (Operation Just Cause)

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US troops position themselves in Panama City on December 20, 1989 (© AP)(1989) United States invades Panama to topple military dictator
The US launches Operation Just Cause to remove Gen. Manuel Noriega from power after he had been indicted on drug trafficking charges. Noriega’s regime will fall in just days, and Noriega himself will be arrested and later sentenced to 40 years in federal prison.
The United States Invasion of Panama, code named Operation Just Cause, was an invasion of Panama by the United States between mid-December 1989 and late January 1990. It occurred during the administration of President George H. W. Bush and ten years after the Torrijos–Carter Treaties were ratified to transfer control of the Panama Canal from the U.S. to Panama by 1 January 2000.
Start date: Dec 20, 1989
End date: Jan 31, 1990

Operation Just Cause
Tactical map of Operation Just Cause showing major points of attack.

wiki/United_States_invasion_of_Panama
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(1989) United States invades Panama to topple military dictator.
Also on this day,

1860 | South Carolina is first state to secede from the Union
In a unanimous vote, the South Carolina legislature enacts an ordinance of secession after Abraham Lincoln is elected president, declaring that in Lincoln they detect a perceived “hostility…to the institution of slavery.” Within months, other slave-holding states will also secede, forming the Confederacy and precipitating the Civil War.
1946 | Christmas classic debuts as ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ premieres
Frank Capra’s film starring James Stewart and Donna Reed debuts at New York’s Globe Theatre. Though not a critical or box office hit right away, it will become a holiday classic, showing in theaters and on TV for decades to come.
1957 | Elvis is drafted as Rock ‘n’ roll star Elvis Presley receives draft notice
The 22-year-old refuses special treatment, despite thousands of fans writing letters asking for this national treasure to be spared. Presley will serve two years and reach the rank of sergeant. An Army pal will introduce him to 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, whom he will later marry.

Today in History 12/20/17

Illustration of the first state-rights flag unfurled by secessionists at Columbia, South Carolina in 1860 (© Getty Images)(1860) South Carolina is first state to secede from the Union
In a unanimous vote, the South Carolina legislature enacts an ordinance of secession after Abraham Lincoln is elected president, declaring that in Lincoln they detect a perceived "hostility…to the institution of slavery." Within months, other slave-holding states will also secede, forming the Confederacy and precipitating the Civil War.
South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union, and was one of the founder members of the Confederacy. The bombardment of the beleaguered U.S. garrison at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861 is normally reckoned as the first military engagement of the war.
Founded: 1860
Dissolved: 1861

Map of US - SC
Map of the United States with South Carolina highlighted.

wiki/South_Carolina_in_the_American_Civil_War
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Today in History 12/18 (Cliff Palace)

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Cliff Palace photographed in 1891 (Gustaf Nordenskiöld via Wikipedia)(1888) Cowboys stumble upon an ancient “palace” on a cliff
Two cowboys, Richard Wetherill and Charlie Mason, are out looking for stray cattle in southwestern Colorado when they spy ruins of ancient dwellings high on a mesa. Wetherill dubs it Cliff Palace and the name will stick. The former home of Ancestral Puebloans will come to be considered the largest cliff dwelling in North America.
Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. The structure built by the Ancestral Puebloans is located in Mesa Verde National Park in their former homeland region. The cliff dwelling and park are in the southwestern corner of Colorado, in the Southwestern United States.
Website: www.nps.gov/meve/learn/historyculture/cd_cliff_palace.htm

Cliff Palace
Cliff Palace dwellings
wiki/Cliff_Palace
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(1888) Cowboys stumble upon an ancient “palace” on a cliff.
Also on this day,

1892 | ‘Nutcracker Suite’ premieres in St. Petersburg, Russia
The new two-act ballet, choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, with music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky gets an ambivalent reaction from critics. But the score will become one of Tchaikovsky’s most famous compositions and many ballet companies will rely on ‘Nutcracker’ ticket sales each Christmas season.
1915 | US President Woodrow Wilson marries socialite
Woodrow Wilson, 59, marries a 43-year-old Washington, DC, socialite, Edith Bolling Galt. Presidential advisors voice concern about the marriage just a year after Wilson’s first wife had died. Wilson will suffer a stroke during his second term, leaving Edith to run many routine affairs of his administration.
1957 | First civilian nuclear power plant goes online
The Shippingport Atomic Power Station, in Pennsylvania, is up and running, generating electricity for the first time. The $72 million plant, which is the world’s first large-scale nuclear power facility, will supply power to the Pittsburgh area for 25 years until it’s retired in 1982.

Today in History 12/18/17

A technician is suspended on a wooden platform in the reactor pressure vessel at the Shippingport Atomic Power Station, Shippingport, Pennsylvania, 1958 (© PhotoQuest/Getty Images)(1957) First civilian nuclear power plant goes online
The Shippingport Atomic Power Station, in Pennsylvania, is up and running, generating electricity for the first time. The $72 million plant, which is the world's first large-scale nuclear power facility, will supply power to the Pittsburgh area for 25 years until it's retired in 1982.
The Shippingport Atomic Power Station was the world’s first full-scale atomic electric power plant devoted exclusively to peacetime uses. It was located near the present-day Beaver Valley Nuclear Generating Station on the Ohio River in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, about 25 miles from Pittsburgh.
Opened: 1957

Shippingport Reactor
Photograph of the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, the first full-scale nuclear power generating station in the United States which began operating in 1957.

wiki/Shippingport_Atomic_Power_Station
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