1968

Today in History 08/28 (St. Augustine)

Leave a Comment
Drawing of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (© Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)(1565) Spanish explorer finds site for an American settlement
Rushing to beat Huguenot French settlers, Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés speeds his fleet towards what will become ‘La Florida,’ where he today sights land, and will soon settle St. Augustine. It will become one of the oldest continuously settled European-founded cities in the continental US.
St. Augustine is a city in the Southeastern United States, on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement within the borders of the continental United States.
Population: 14,280 (2016)
Area: 12.76 sq miles
Travel tip: Saint Augustine is a luxurious, romantic vacation spot—you’ll find classic hotels and intimate restaurants. Those can be a dime a dozen, though. What sets Saint Augustine apart is its history—it’s the oldest European settlement in the U.S. And nowhere else in the world can you taste the waters of the Fountain of Youth … @tripadvisor
Colleges and universities: Flagler College · University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences · Saint Joseph College of Florida · First Coast Technical College

St. Augustine, Florida
Top, left to right: Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine Light, Flagler College, Lightner Museum, statue near the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, Old St. Johns County Jail
wiki/St._Augustine,_Florida
4.15.A18

(1565) Spanish explorer finds site for an American settlement.
Also on this day,

1898 | Indigestion gets an intervention with a brand-new brew Pepsi-Cola
Pharmacist Caleb Bradham has developed a digestion aid at his North Carolina drug store concocted with sugar, water, caramel, lemon, nutmeg, and what he terms ‘rare oils.’ Today he names it ‘Pepsi-Cola,’ a play on the word ‘dyspepsia,’ the ailment that the drink purports to soothe.
1963 | Dr. King delivers a speech of dreams in Washington, DC
Standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, his voice ringing out to some 250,000 listeners, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers a stirring speech that will galvanize the civil rights movement and be heralded as one of the greatest orations in American history.
1968 | Protesters clash with police at Chicago convention
Tens of thousands of anti-war activists and an even larger number of police officers and federal troops meet in a fray of batons, fists, and tear gas in Chicago, and TV cameras capture the melee as it arrives on the doorstep of the Democratic National Convention at the Hilton Hotel.

Today in History 08/28/17

Martin Luther King, Jr. addresses the crowd during the March on Washington at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC, where he gave his 'I Have a Dream' speech (© Central Press/Getty Images)(1963) Dr. King delivers a speech of dreams in Washington, DC
Standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, his voice ringing out to some 250,000 listeners, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers a stirring speech that will galvanize the civil rights movement and be heralded as one of the greatest orations in American history.
"I Have a Dream" is a public speech delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, in which he calls for an end to racism in the United States and called for civil and economic rights. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the speech was a defining moment of the Civil Rights Movement.
wiki/I_Have_a_Dream
An officer from the Chicago police department struggles with a protestor outside the Democratic National Convention headquarters on Aug 28, 1968 (© APA/Getty Images)(1968) Protesters clash with police at Chicago convention
Tens of thousands of anti-war activists and an even larger number of police officers and federal troops meet in a fray of batons, fists, and tear gas in Chicago, and TV cameras capture the melee as it arrives on the doorstep of the Democratic National Convention at the Hilton Hotel.
Protest activity took place prior to and during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. In 1967, counterculture and anti-Vietnam War protest groups had been promising to come to Chicago and disrupt the convention, and the city promised to maintain law and order. For eight days, the protesters and the Chicago Police Department met in the streets and parks of Chicago while the U.S. Democratic Party met at the convention in the International Amphitheater.
Date: 1968
File:1968 Democratic National Convention, Chicago. Sept 68 C15 8 1313, Photo by Bea A Corson, Chicago. Purchased at estate sale in 2011 by Victor Grigas Released Public Domain
1968 Democratic National Convention, Chicago. Sept 68 C15 8 1313 , Photo by Bea A Corson, Chicago. Purchased at estate sale in 2011 by Victor Grigas Released Public Domain

wiki/1968_Democratic_National_Convention_protest_activity
4.4.j17


Today in History 08/21 (Nat Turner’s Slave Rebellion)

Leave a Comment
Illustration depicting American slave leader Nat Turner and his companions in a wooded area, 1831 (© Stock Montage/Getty Images)(1831) Nat Turner leads a violent revolt against slavery
Acting on visions from God, Virginia plantation slave Nat Turner and seven supporters begin an armed insurrection that will last two days, rally at least 70 more recruits to the cause, result in the reported deaths of 60 whites, and end in Turner’s capture and hanging.
Nat Turner’s Rebellion was a slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831, led by Nat Turner. Rebel slaves killed from 55 to 65 people, at least 51 being white. The rebellion was put down within a few days, but Turner survived in hiding for more than two months afterwards. The rebellion was effectively suppressed at Belmont Plantation on the morning of August 23, 1831.
Start date: Aug 21, 1831
End date: Aug 23, 1831

Nat Turner woodcut
19th Century woodcut depiction of the Southampton Insurrection. Note part of the upper part of this woodcut was later reused in 1835/1836 during the Seminole War
wiki/Nat_Turner’s_slave_rebellion
4.15.A18

(1831) Nat Turner leads a violent revolt against slavery.
Also on this day,

1883 | Out of tragedy rises Mayo Clinic center of healing
A humid summer day turns tragic as an F5 tornado bears down on Rochester, Minnesota. After caring for casualties in an area with no hospital, Dr. William Mayo and his sons will be inspired to team with local nuns and open a medical facility that evolves into the world-renowned Mayo Clinic.
1911 | Lady with the mysterious smile ‘Mona Lisa’ taken from the Louvre
Vincenzo Peruggia, an employee at Paris’ Louvre museum, hides in the broom closet until the museum closes, then leaves the premises with Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ tucked under his large coat. He’ll keep the priceless masterpiece in a trunk in his apartment for two years before being captured.
1968 | The USSR puts a chokehold on Czechoslovakia Prague Spring
Hopes for a freer society are brutally quashed as Warsaw Pact tanks and hundreds of thousands of troops thunder through the street of Prague, Czechoslovakia. Democratic reforms that began seven months earlier as the ‘Prague Spring’ are now crushed in the iron grip of Soviet domination.

Today in History 08/21/17

Czech protesters holding a Czechoslovak flag on Aug 21, 1968, as Soviet-led armies crush the so called Prague Spring reform (© LIBOR HAJSKY/AFP/Getty Images)(1968) The USSR puts a chokehold on Czechoslovakia
Hopes for a freer society are brutally quashed as Warsaw Pact tanks and hundreds of thousands of troops thunder through the street of Prague, Czechoslovakia. Democratic reforms that began seven months earlier as the 'Prague Spring' are now crushed in the iron grip of Soviet domination.
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and continued until 21 August 1968 when the Soviet Union and other members of the Warsaw Pact invaded the country to halt the reforms.
Start date: Jan 05, 1968
End date: Aug 21, 1968

wiki/Prague_Spring
4.4.j17


Today in History 04/23/18

Mark Rudd, a leader of the student protest at Columbia University in New York, being interviewed in April 1968 outside Low Memorial Library, which was occupied by students (© AP )(1968) Students take over Columbia University in Vietnam protest
Angered at the school’s affiliation with institutions connected to the Vietnam War, students at New York’s prestigious Columbia University stage a mass protest and take control of buildings on campus. Police will later move in to clear the protesters.
The Columbia University protests of 1968 were one among the various student demonstrations that occurred around the globe in that year. The Columbia protests erupted over the spring of that year after students discovered links between the university and the institutional apparatus supporting the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War, as well as their concern over an allegedly segregated gymnasium to be constructed in the nearby Morningside Park. The protests resulted in the student occupation of many university buildings and the eventual violent removal of protesters by the New York City Police Department.
Start date: Mar 27, 1967
End date: Apr 30, 1968

wiki/Columbia_University_protests_of_1968
4.9.a18

(1968) Students take over Columbia University in Vietnam protest.
Also on this day,
1616 | Shakespeare`s mortal coil
1954 | Hank`s first homer
2005 | YouTube firsties

Today in History 04/04/18

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (center) stands with other civil rights leaders on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 3, 1968, a day before he was assassinated at approximately the same place (© AP)(1968) Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated
Visiting Memphis, Tennessee, to support striking workers, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot and killed as he stands on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. Months later, James Earl Ray will be charged with the murder.
Martin Luther King Jr., an American clergyman and civil rights leader, was shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. He was rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital, and was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. CST. He was a prominent leader of the Civil Rights Movement and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was known for his use of nonviolence and civil disobedience.
Date: Apr 04, 1968

Martin Luther King Jr
King in 1964
wiki/Assassination_of_Martin_Luther_King_Jr.
4.9.a18

(1968) Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated.
Also on this day,
1850 | L.A. becomes American
1873 | Kennel Club
1975 | Microsoft founded

Today in History 03/16/18

Women and children in My Lai, Vietnam, shortly before US soldiers shot and killed them, March 16, 1968 (© Universal History Archive/Getty Images)(1968) My Lai village massacre in Vietnam
US Army soldiers use machine guns and grenade launchers to kill between 347 and 504 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians, perpetrating what many will deem the worst atrocity by American forces in the war.
The Mỹ Lai Massacre was the Vietnam War mass murder of between 347 and 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians in South Vietnam on 16 March 1968. It was committed by U.S. Army soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division. Victims included men, women, children, and infants. Some of the women were gang-raped and their bodies mutilated. Twenty-six soldiers were charged with criminal offenses, but only Lieutenant William Calley Jr., a platoon leader in C Company, was convicted. Found guilty of killing 22 villagers, he was originally given a life sentence, but served only three and a half years under house arrest.
Date: Mar 16, 1968

My Lai massacre
Photo taken by United States Army photographer Ronald L. Haeberle on March 16, 1968 in the aftermath of the My Lai massacre showing mostly women and children dead on a road.
wiki/My_Lai_Massacre
4.8.d17