1958

Today in History 12/28 (Westminster Abbey)

Westminster Abbey in London (© Joe Daniel Price/Getty Images)(1065) Westminster Abbey is consecrated in London
King Edward the Confessor is near death and unable to attend the consecration ceremony of the church he commissioned as a burial place and to atone to the pope for a broken vow. Edward will die eight days later. The abbey will be completed in 1090 but rebuilt in the Gothic style by Henry III.
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, is a large, mainly Gothic abbey church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United Kingdom’s most notable religious buildings and the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English and, later, British monarchs. The building itself was a Benedictine monastic church until the monastery was dissolved in 1539. Between 1540 and 1556, the abbey had the status of a cathedral. Since 1560, the building is no longer an abbey or a cathedral, having instead the status of a Church of England “Royal Peculiar”—a church responsible directly to the sovereign.
Address: 20 Dean’s Yard, London SW1P 3PA
Phone: 020 7222 5152
Construction completed: 960 AD
Height: 225 feet (Architectural)
Denomination: Church of England
Architects: Christopher Wren · Nicholas Hawksmoor · Henry Yevele · John of Gloucester · Robert of Beverley · Henry of Reyns

Panorama of Westminster North Entrance
North entrance of Westminster Abbey
wiki/Westminster_Abbey
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(1065) Westminster Abbey is consecrated in London.
Also on this day,

1846 | Iowa becomes the 29th US state
President James K. Polk signs a law making an area that was part of the Louisiana Purchase the 29th state. Iowa, named for a Native American tribe, joins the nation as a slave-free state and will support the Union in the Civil War.
1895 | Audience pays admission to see a movie
At the Grand Cafe in Paris, brothers Louis and Auguste Lumière charge admission to see short films they made about ordinary French life. It marks the first time an audience has paid money to see a movie. The films are shown on a hand-cranked camera-projector the brothers invented: the Cinematographe.
1958 | ‘Greatest’ football game as Baltimore Colts win ‘Greatest Game Ever Played’
The 1958 National Football Championship Game between the Colts and the New York Giants is the first playoff game in NFL history to go into sudden-death overtime. The Colts win 23-17 in Yankee Stadium and the matchup will become known as the ‘Greatest Game Ever Played.’

Today in History 12/28/17

US and Iowa state flags (© Brian Snyder/Reuters)(1846) Iowa becomes the 29th US state
President James K. Polk signs a law making an area that was part of the Louisiana Purchase the 29th state. Iowa, named for a Native American tribe, joins the nation as a slave-free state and will support the Union in the Civil War.
Iowa is a state in the Midwestern United States, bordered by the Mississippi River on the east and the Missouri River and the Big Sioux River on the west. Surrounding states include Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the east, Missouri to the south, Nebraska to the west, South Dakota to the northwest, and Minnesota to the north.
Population: 3.13 million (2016)
Area: 56,272 sq miles (145,743 km²)
Colleges and universities: Iowa State University · University of Iowa · University of Northern Iowa · Drake University · Grinnell College
Capital: Des Moines
Governor: Kim Reynolds
Senators: Joni Ernst · Chuck Grassley

Iowa in United States
Map of the United States with Iowa highlighted

wiki/Iowa
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Today in History 10/13 (ABA Basketball)

Larry Kenon of the New York Nets goes up to shoot over Roger Brown of the Indiana Pacers during a 1973 ABA game. (© Focus on Sport/Getty Images)(1967) New league takes a shot at competing with the NBA
The Anaheim Amigos take on the Oakland Oaks to tip off the first season of the American Basketball Association. Known for its colorful ball and colorful personalities, the league will last until 1976, launching the careers of some future NBA stars.
The original American Basketball Association was a men’s professional basketball league, from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading several teams to join the National Basketball Association and the introduction of the 3-point shot in the NBA.
Founded: 1967
Founders: Dennis Murphy · Richard Tinkham · Joe Newman
Teams: Springfield Sting

American Basketball Association (shield logo)
This is a logo for American Basketball Association.
wiki/American_Basketball_Association
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(1967) New league takes a shot at competing with the NBA.
Also on this day,

1773 | Messier spots another otherworldly ‘object’ and Whirlpool Galaxy is found
While searching the skies for celestial objects that might mislead comet seekers, French astronomer Charles Messier finds a cluster of stars that will later be named the Whirlpool Galaxy. It will eventually be found to have a spiral structure, the first spiral galaxy discovered, and will be plotted at over 23 million light-years away.
1958 | Paddington Bear’s debut as deepest, darkest Peru sends a small bear to London
A small stowaway bear with a distinct fondness for marmalade has turned up at London’s bustling Paddington Railway Station, where Mr. and Mrs. Brown decide to take him home. Author Michael Bond’s book for children, ‘A Bear Called Paddington,’ will launch this upstanding ursine into enduring fame.
1962 | George and Martha invite their new friends over for drinks as ‘Virginia Woolf’ opens
Edward Albee’s new play, ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ opens on Broadway, featuring four characters, a three-hour performance, and dialogue so barbed it could be weaponized. The chronicle of social niceties shredded by drink and neurosis will be adapted into an equally famous film.

Today in History 10/13/17

This 2005 image made by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) (© NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI), Hubble Heritage Team STS/AP)(1773) Messier spots another otherworldly 'object'
While searching the skies for celestial objects that might mislead comet seekers, French astronomer Charles Messier finds a cluster of stars that will later be named the Whirlpool Galaxy. It will eventually be found to have a spiral structure, the first spiral galaxy discovered, and will be plotted at over 23 million light-years away.
The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51a, M51a, and NGC 5194, is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy. Recently it was estimated to be 23 ± 4 million light-years from the Milky Way, but different methods yield distances between 15 and 35 million light-years. Messier 51 is one of the best known galaxies in the sky. The galaxy and its companion, NGC 5195, are easily observed by amateur astronomers, and the two galaxies may even be seen with binoculars. The Whirlpool Galaxy is also a popular target for professional astronomers, who study it to further understand galaxy structure and galaxy interactions.
Apparent magnitude: 8.40
Absolute magnitude: 8.40
Apparent mass: 160 billion solar-mass
Distance to Earth: 23,157,103 light-year (7,100,000 parsec)
Constellation: Canes Venatici
Galactic group: M51 Group
Messier 51
The Whirlpool Galaxy (Spiral Galaxy M51, NGC 5194), a classic spiral galaxy located in the Canes Venatici constellation, and its companion NGC 5195.

wiki/Whirlpool_Galaxy
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