1969

Today in History 08/17 (Hurricane Camille)

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A shopping center and motel complex in Biloxi, Mississippi, after high winds and tides slashed the Mississippi gulf coast on Aug 18, 1969 (© AP)(1969) America’s Gulf Coast is slammed by monster storm
A monstrous Category 5 hurricane, whose vortex of clouds fills almost the entire Gulf of Mexico, packs 175-mph winds and pushes a storm surge 24 feet high as it rages into the US at the mouth of the Mississippi River. In the end, Camille will kill 259 and cause $1.42 billion in damage.
Hurricane Camille was the second-most intense tropical cyclone to strike the United States on record. The most intense storm of the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season, Camille formed as a tropical depression on August 14 south of Cuba from a long-tracked tropical wave. Located in a favorable environment for strengthening, the storm quickly intensified into a Category 2 hurricane before striking the western part of the nation on August 15. Emerging into the Gulf of Mexico, Camille underwent another period of rapid intensification and became a Category 5 hurricane the next day as it moved northward towards the Louisiana–Mississippi region. Despite weakening slightly on August 17, the hurricane quickly re-intensified back to a Category 5 before it made landfall in Pass Christian, Mississippi early on August 18 with a pressure of 900 mbar. This was the second-lowest pressure recorded for a U.S. landfall; only the 1935 Labor Day hurricane had a lower pressure at landfall. As Camille pushed inland, it quickly weakened and was a tropical depression by the time it was over the Ohio Valley. Once it emerged offshore, it was able to restrengthen to a strong tropical storm, before it became extratropical, being absorbed by a cold front over the North Atlantic on August 22.
Damages: $1.43 billion USD (1969)
Formed: Aug 14, 1969
Dissipated: Aug 22, 1969
Total fatalities: 259
Lowest pressure: 900 mbar (hPa), 26.58 inHg
Affected areas: Mississippi · Cuba · Louisiana · Alabama · Southern United States

Hurricane Camille 16 aug 1969
Hurricane Camille on August 16, 1969. Image capture by NASA’s ATS III satellite
wiki/Hurricane_Camille
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(1969) America’s Gulf Coast is slammed by monster storm.
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1908 | Paris smiles at history’s first animated film
For 1 minute and 20 seconds, Parisians gaze on a fanciful figure seemingly drawn from chalk who morphs and leaps, changing form in amusing and amazing ways in ‘Fantasmagorie,’ a stream-of-consciousness silent film that will come to be regarded as the first animated cartoon.
1945 | Dutch face a revolution in a long-held colony
An end to more than three centuries of Dutch colonization and control is declared by the Indonesian National Revolution and its leaders Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta. WWII had weakened the Netherlands’ hold on the Southeast Asian archipelago and now Indonesia heads towards independence.
1959 | Miles Davis remakes jazz music with a landmark album
A new cool modality unfurls on Miles Davis’ latest album, ‘Kind of Blue.’ Davis’ brilliant horn playing, and his sublime supporting ensemble, including Bill Evans and John Coltrane, will make the disc an enduring success, and it will be considered by some the greatest jazz record of all time.

Today in History 08/17/17

Sukarno, leader of the Indonesian National Party, addresses a rally in Macassar, demanding independence from the Netherlands in an undated photo (© AFP/Getty Images)(1945) Dutch face a revolution in a long-held colony
An end to more than three centuries of Dutch colonization and control is declared by the Indonesian National Revolution and its leaders Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta. WWII had weakened the Netherlands' hold on the Southeast Asian archipelago and now Indonesia heads towards independence.
The Indonesian National Revolution or Indonesian War of Independence was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire, and an internal social revolution following the postwar and postcolonial Indonesia. It took place between Indonesia's declaration of independence in 1945 and the Dutch recognition of Indonesia's independence at the end of 1949. The Indonesian independence movement began in May 1908, which is commemorated as the "Year of National Awakening".
Start date: Aug 17, 1945
End date: Dec 27, 1949
RI Transfer Signing
The signing ceremony recognizing Indonesian sovereignty in The Hague, 27 December 1949

wiki/Indonesian_National_Revolution
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Today in History 08/15 (India Independence)

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Jawaharlal Nehru salutes the flag as he becomes independent India's first prime minister on Aug 15, 1947 during the Independence Day ceremony at Red Fort, New Delhi, India (© AP)(1947) British Empire’s former ‘jewel in the crown’ breaks free
British Crown Rule ends in one of the most populous places on the planet, the vast, diverse country of India. Although the Dutch, Danish, and French were there before them, Britain has had a presence on the vast subcontinent since 1612. Today, however, India gains its freedom.
India, also called the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
Founded: Aug 15, 1947
GDP: $2.85 trillion USD (2018)
Population: 1.34 billion (2017)
Calling code: 91
Area: 1.27 million sq miles
Travel tip: From the beaches of sun-soaked Goa to the frenetic bazaars of Mumbai, India offers wealth of vastly different, yet equally enthralling, experiences. Explore the sparkling lakes and palaces of Udaipur, watch traditional Indian dance in Kochi, or buy brilliantly-colored silk saris at a market in Varanasi… no matter how much you … @tripadvisor

India (orthographic projection)
Area controlled by India shown in dark green;claimed but uncontrolled regions shown in light green
wiki/India
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(1947) British Empire’s former ‘jewel in the crown’ breaks free.
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1483 | Consecration for a chapel with a heavenly view
Pope Sixtus IV consecrates a chapel in Rome after painters, including Botticelli, have finished their frescos. The ceiling, however, still needs a little work, and 25 years later a new pope will hire Michelangelo to paint what will be considered one of the greatest artworks of all time.
1914 | A channel carved through rock and jungle joins oceans
Thirty-three years of toil comes to a close as one of the greatest engineering achievements in human history, a 51-mile-long channel carved through the Isthmus of Panama, opens to maritime traffic. The new shortcut between the Pacific and Atlantic will speed transport and remake the global economy.
1969 | Three days of peace and music begin in Bethel, New York
Max Yasgur’s farm fills with masses of music lovers as the Woodstock Music and Art Fair kicks off its first day. Before the event is through, 400,000 will revel in rainstorms and mud, some of history’s best rock bands will jam, and a counterculture will consider itself transformed.

Today in History 08/15/17

Opening of the Panama Canal when the American Steamship SS Ancon entered the Pedro Miguel locks from Culebra Cut, Panama, Aug 15, 1914 (© PhotoQuest/Getty Images)(1914) A channel carved through rock and jungle joins oceans
Thirty-three years of toil comes to a close as one of the greatest engineering achievements in human history, a 51-mile-long channel carved through the Isthmus of Panama, opens to maritime traffic. The new shortcut between the Pacific and Atlantic will speed transport and remake the global economy.
The Panama Canal is an artificial 48-mile waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. There are locks at each end to lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial lake created to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal, 26 metres above sea level, and then lower the ships at the other end. The original locks are 33.5 metres wide. A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded canal began commercial operation on June 26, 2016. The new locks allow transit of larger, Post-Panamax ships, capable of handling more cargo.
Length: 47.90 miles (77.10 km)
Bridges: Bridge of the Americas · Centennial Bridge, Panama · Atlantic Bridge, Panama
Panama Canal Map
Map of the Panama Canal

wiki/Panama_Canal
4.4.j17


Today in History 08/09 (Battle of Adrianople)

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Drawing depicting Roman Emperor Valens circa 376 (© ullstein bild/Getty Images)(378) Romans fail to crush a Goth rebellion in the east
Thousands of soldiers mass near Adrianople in present-day Turkey to fight a battle some historians will later cite as the beginning of the end of the Western Roman Empire. Hoping to crush a Visigoth rebellion in his Eastern Empire, Roman Emperor Valens is instead killed and his army is decimated by Goth horsemen.
The Battle of Adrianople, sometimes known as the Battle of Hadrianopolis, was fought between an Eastern Roman army led by the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens and Gothic rebels led by Fritigern. The battle took place about 13 km north of Adrianople in the Roman province of Thracia. It ended with an overwhelming victory for the Goths and the death of Emperor Valens.
Date: 378 AD

Battle of Adrianople 378 AD
Map of the battle, according to the History Department of the US Military Academy
wiki/Battle_of_Adrianople
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(378) Romans fail to crush a Goth rebellion in the east.
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1854 | Thoreau’s meditation on man and nature is published
Two years of living on the shores of Massachusetts’ Walden Pond have borne literary fruit as Henry David Thoreau’s memoir of his secluded time there is published. ‘Walden’ will sell well, and remain a seminal work of early environmentalism and a celebration of the individual’s spirit.
1945 | A-bomb hits Nagasaki as second nuclear military target
Three days after Hiroshima was destroyed by the first nuclear weapon strike in history, Nagasaki, Japan, is hit by an atomic blast dropped from a US bomber. Upwards of 39,000 people are immediately killed as the city is leveled, and Japan will surrender less than week later, ending World War II.
1969 | Five are found murdered at Sharon Tate’s L.A. home
Pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others are discovered dead in Los Angeles at the Benedict Canyon hillside home she shares with her husband, film director Roman Polanski. The murders will be traced back to Charles Manson and members of his cult, known as ‘The Manson Family.’

Today in History 08/09/17

Remains of a temple after the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 (© Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)(1945) Nagasaki is second nuclear military target
Three days after Hiroshima was destroyed by the first nuclear weapon strike in history, Nagasaki, Japan, is hit by an atomic blast dropped from a US bomber. Upwards of 39,000 people are immediately killed as the city is leveled, and Japan will surrender less than week later, ending World War II.
During the final stage of World War II, the United States dropped nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively. The United States had dropped the bombs with the consent of the United Kingdom as outlined in the Quebec Agreement. The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history.
Start date: Aug 06, 1945
End date: Aug 09, 1945

wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki
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Today in History 07/20 (Apollo 11 / Moon Landing)

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In this July 20, 1969 file photo, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, right, trudges across the surface of the moon (© AP)(1969) One giant leap for mankind as Armstrong walks on moon
NASA’s Apollo 11 Lunar Module lands 238,855 miles from Earth in the Sea of Tranquility and six hours later astronaut Neil Armstrong exits the vehicle, descends a short ladder, and becomes the first human to walk on the moon. Minutes later, astronaut Buzz Aldrin will join Armstrong on the surface. Millions back home tune in to the historic event.
Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first two people on the Moon. Mission commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin, both American, landed the lunar module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC. Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface six hours after landing on July 21 at 02:56:15 UTC; Aldrin joined him about 20 minutes later. They spent about two and a quarter hours together outside the spacecraft, and collected 47.5 pounds of lunar material to bring back to Earth. Michael Collins piloted the command module Columbia alone in lunar orbit while they were on the Moon’s surface. Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21.5 hours on the lunar surface before rejoining Columbia in lunar orbit.
Mission start: Jul 16, 1969
Mission end: Jul 24, 1969
Astronauts: Neil Armstrong · Buzz Aldrin · Michael Collins
Space program: Apollo program
Destination: Moon

Buzz salutes the U.S. Flag
Buzz Aldrin salutes the U.S flag on the Moon (mission time: 110:10:33). His fingertips are visible on the far side of his faceplate. Note the well-defined footprints in the foreground. Buzz is facing up-Sun. There is a reflection of the Sun in his visor. At the bottom of Buzz’s faceplate, note the white ‘rim’ which is slightly separated from his neckring. This ‘rim’ is the bottom of his gold visor, which he has pulled down. We can see the LEC straps hanging down inside of the ladder strut. In the foreground, we can see the foot-grabbing loops in the TV cable. The double crater under Neil’s LM window is just beyond the LM shadow.
wiki/Apollo_11
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(1969) One giant leap for mankind as Armstrong walks on moon.
Also on this day,

1944 | German conspirators target Hitler in ’20 July Plot’ and fail
Adolf Hitler is only slightly injured with a concussion and mild burns when a briefcase bomb detonates at the ‘Wolf’s Lair,’ his Eastern Front command post in Prussia. Conspirators in the assassination plot, most of them high-level German Army officers, will be captured and executed.
1976 | Mars receives its first successful manmade visitor, Viking 1
Exactly seven years to the day that humans first walked on the moon, NASA’s Viking 1 becomes the first manmade object to land on another planet and complete its mission. Just hours after touchdown, the lander got to work, capturing the first clear image of the Martian surface.
1989 | Aung San Suu Kyi, a force for Burmese democracy becomes a political prisoner
Having helped form the National League for Democracy the previous year, Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi is put under house arrest by her country’s ruling military junta, and will remain confined to her home on-and-off for 21 years. She will receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

Today in History 07/20/17

The first color photograph taken on the surface of Mars, by the Viking 1 probe, July 20, 1976 (© MPI/Getty Images)(1976) Mars receives its first successful manmade visitor
Exactly seven years to the day that humans first walked on the moon, NASA's Viking 1 becomes the first manmade object to land on another planet and complete its mission. Just hours after touchdown, the lander got to work, capturing the first clear image of the Martian surface.
Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft sent to Mars as part of NASA's Viking program. On July 20, 1976, it became the first spacecraft to land successfully on Mars and perform its mission. Viking 1 held the record for the longest Mars surface mission of 2307 days or 2245 sols until that record was broken by Opportunity on May 19, 2010.
Website: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/viking.html
Manufacturer: Jet Propulsion Laboratory

wiki/Viking_1
4.3.j17


Today in History 07/18 (Nelson Mandela)

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Nelson Mandela (© Allan Tannenbaum/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)(1918) A South African political icon is born
Rolihlahla Mandela, later given the name Nelson by a teacher, is born in Mvezo, South Africa. He will go on to become a lawyer and political activist, spending 27 years in prison for conspiring to overthrow the state, before serving as president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country’s first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalised racism and fostering racial reconciliation. Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as President of the African National Congress party from 1991 to 1997.
Lived: Jul 18, 1918 – Dec 05, 2013 (age 95)
Height: 6′ 0″
Spouse: Graça Machel (m. 1998 – 2013) · Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (m. 1958 – 1996) · Evelyn Mase (m. 1944 – 1958)
Parties: African National Congress · South African Communist Party
Education: University of South Africa · University of the Witwatersrand (1943 – 1949) · University of Fort Hare (1939 – 1940) · University of London International Programmes · University of London · Healdtown Comprehensive School (1937 – 1939)
Founded: Umkhonto we Sizwe · Truth and Reconciliation Commission · African National Congress Youth League · The Elders

Nelson Mandela in Umtata at the age of 19
Photograph of young Mandela, taken in Umtata in 1937
wiki/Nelson_Mandela
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(1918) A South African political icon is born.
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1334 | First artist of the Renaissance, Giotto, begins work on a bell tower
Florence Cathedral needs a new campanile, or bell tower, and Italian artist Giotto di Bondone, famous for his paintings and frescoes, begins work on what will be a 277-foot structure made vibrant with geometric patterns of Carrara white, Prato green, and Siena red marble.
1927 | A ferocious batter, Ty Cobb, becomes the first to hit 4 grand
Once described as “daring to the point of dementia,” baseball player Ty Cobb has a surly reputation to match his spectacular play on the field, and now he adds to his legend by getting his 4,000th hit for a double off of his old Tigers teammate, pitcher Sam Gibson.
1976 | A Romanian gymnast, Comăneci, performs a flawless Olympic routine
Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci, 14, is rewarded for her Montreal Olympics uneven bars routine with the unprecedented score of a perfect 10. The first perfect score in modern Olympics history stuns the sports world and will catapult Comăneci to international fame.

Today in History 07/18/17

Curious onlookers inspect Sen. Ted Kennedy's car in July 1969, Chappaquiddick Island, MA (© AP)(1969) Senator Ted Kennedy drives off bridge and into scandal
Just after 11PM, Senator Ted Kennedy drives his colleague Mary Jo Kopechne away from a party near Martha's Vineyard, and about an hour later their car goes off a bridge and into a pond, where Kennedy escapes, but Kopechne does not. The ensuing scandal will be blamed for hindering Kennedy's presidential ambitions.
The Chappaquiddick incident was a single-vehicle car accident on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, on July 18, 1969, that was the result of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy's negligence and resulted in the death of his 28-year-old companion, Mary Jo Kopechne, who was trapped inside the vehicle.
Date: Jul 18, 1969

Map of Chappaquiddick
wiki/Chappaquiddick_incident
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