Today in History ^07/18/17

July 18, 2017 by GµårÐïåñ Leave a Comment

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

wiki/Chappaquiddick_incident

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Today in History ^06/28/17

June 28, 2017 by GµårÐïåñ Leave a Comment

Portrait of Queen Victoria in her coronation robes in 1837 (© Culture Club/Getty Images)

(1838) Victorian Era officially begins with the coronation of a queen

One year and eight days after an 18-year old Alexandrina Victoria is told that her uncle, King William IV has died, she is crowned Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom in a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey after a procession through London witnessed by a crowd of 400,000.

The coronation of Queen Victoria took place on 28 June 1838, just over a year after she succeeded to the throne at the age of 18. The procession to and from the ceremony at Westminster Abbey was witnessed by unprecedentedly huge crowds, as the new railways made it easier for an estimated 400,000 to come to London from the rest of the country.
wiki/Coronation_of_Queen_Victoria

Photo of Ned Kelly taken by the Australian police on Nov 10, 1880, the day before he was hanged (Public domain)

(1880) Australian outlaw captured after pitched battle with police

Bushranger Ned Kelly is wanted for crimes committed during a 2-year outlaw spree, but he’s not going without a fight. Kitted out in homemade armor and helmet, Kelly and his gang take on the police during a siege in the settlement of Glenrowan. The law wins, but Kelly will endure as an Australian icon.

Edward “Ned” Kelly was an Australian bushranger of Irish descent. Kelly was born in the British colony of Victoria as the third of eight children to an Irish convict from County Tipperary and an Australian mother with Irish parentage. His father died after serving a six-month prison sentence, leaving Kelly, then aged 12, as the eldest male of the household. The Kellys were a poor selector family who saw themselves as downtrodden by the Squattocracy and as victims of police persecution. Arrested in 1870 for associating with bushranger Harry Power, Kelly was convicted of stealing horses and imprisoned for three years. He fled to the bush in 1878 after being indicted for the attempted murder of a police officer at the Kelly family’s home. After he, his brother Dan, and two associates fatally shot three policemen, the Government of Victoria proclaimed them outlaws.

Born: Dec 1854 · Beveridge, Australia
Died: Nov 11, 1880 · Melbourne, Australia
Height: 5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
Related movies: Ned Kelly
Siblings: Dan Kelly (Brother) · Alice King (Sister) · Ellen King (Sister) · John King (Brother) · Grace Kelly (Sister) · Kate Kelly (Sister) · James Kelly (Brother) · Margaret Kelly Skillion (Sister) · Anne Kelly Gunn (Sister) · Mary Jane Kelly (Sister)
Parents: John Kelly (Father) · Ellen Quinn Kelly (Mother)
Highlights
1870: Arrested in 1870 for associating with bushranger Harry Power, Kelly was convicted of stealing horses and imprisoned for three years.

1874: Kelly was released from Pentridge Prison on 2 February 1874.

1877: On 18 September 1877 in Benalla, Kelly, while drunk, was arrested for riding over a footpath and locked-up for the night.

1878: Before the Jerilderie Letter, Kelly had posted a 20-page letter on 16 December 1878 to a member of the Victorian Parliament, Donald Cameron M. L. A, stating his grievances, but only a synopsis was published.

1879: At midnight on Saturday 8 February 1879, Ned Kelly, Dan Kelly, Hart and Byrne surrounded the Jerilderie police barracks.

1880: When Kelly’s attempt to derail and ambush a police train failed, he and his gang, dressed in self-made suits of metal armour, engaged in a final violent confrontation with the Victoria Police at Glenrowan on 28 June 1880.

wiki/Ned_Kelly

Illustration from the French newspaper 'Le Petit Journal' depicting the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in 1914 (© Leemage/Getty Images)

(1914) A 19-year-old assassin pulls the trigger that starts WWI

Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip sees Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in a procession of stalled cars near his Sarajevo café, and he approaches and shoots the couple at point blank range. Their deaths will cause a rapid disintegration of European unity, provoking World War I.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, occurred on 28 June 1914 in Sarajevo when they were mortally wounded by Gavrilo Princip. Princip was one of a group of six assassins coordinated by Danilo Ilić, a Bosnian Serb and a member of the Black Hand secret society. The political objective of the assassination was to break off Austria-Hungary’s South Slav provinces so they could be combined into a Yugoslavia. The assassins’ motives were consistent with the movement that later became known as Young Bosnia. The assassination led directly to the First World War when Austria-Hungary subsequently issued an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia, which was partially rejected. Austria-Hungary then declared war, triggering actions leading to war between most European states.

Date: Jun 28, 1914

wiki/Assassination_of_Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria

Protestor being restrained by police during the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village, NY, on June 28, 1969 (© Everett Collection/Rex Features)

(1969) Gay Rights Movement begins at the Stonewall Inn

Patrons of a Greenwich Village gay bar have had enough of police harassment and they fight back when another raid begins at the Stonewall Inn. The ensuing riot and uprising will galvanize the gay community across America and be marked as the start of the gay civil rights movement.

The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the gay community against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. They are widely considered to constitute the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights in the United States.

Date: Jun 28, 1969

wiki/Stonewall_riots

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Today in History ^06/22/17

June 22, 2017 by GµårÐïåñ Leave a Comment

Engraving of English explorer Henry Hudson being abandoned by his crew (© PHAS/UIG via Getty Images)

(1611) English explorer’s storied career ends in mutiny

Henry Hudson’s last known voyage begins as he, his teenage son, and seven crewmen are ordered on board a small open boat in what will later be called Hudson Bay. After enduring a brutal winter, Captain Hudson’s crew has mutinied and set the famous English explorer adrift. He and his boat mates will never be seen again.

Henry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the northeastern United States. In 1607 and 1608, Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a rumored Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle. In 1609 he landed in North America and explored the region around the modern New York metropolitan area, looking for a Northwest Passage to Asia on behalf of the Dutch East India Company. He sailed up the Hudson River, which was later named for him, and thereby laid the foundation for Dutch colonization of the region.

Born: 1565 · England
Died: 1611 · Hudson Bay
Spouse: Katherine Hudson
Children: John Hudson (Son) · Richard Hudson (Son) · Henry Hudson (Son) · David Hudson (Son) · Oliver Hudson (Son)
Parents: Henry Hudson (Father) · Katherine Hudson (Mother) · Barbara Alderman (Mother)
Founded: Muscovy Company
Highlights
1607: In 1607 and 1608, Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a rumored Northeast Passage to Cathay (present-day China) via a route above the Arctic Circle.

1608: In 1608, English merchants of the East India and Muscovy Companies again sent Hudson in the Hopewell to attempt to locate a passage to the Indies, this time to the east around northern Russia.

1609: In 1609 he landed in North America and explored the region around the modern New York metropolitan area, looking for a Northwest Passage to Asia on behalf of the Dutch East India Company.

1609: On 6 September 1609 John Colman of his crew was killed by Indians with an arrow to his neck.

1610: In 1610, Hudson obtained backing for another voyage, this time under the English flag.

1611: In 1611, after wintering on the shore of James Bay, Hudson wanted to press on to the west, but most of his crew mutinied.

wiki/Henry_Hudson

Joe Louis (left) exchanges jabs with defending heavyweight champion James J. Braddock at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, on June 22, 1937 (© AP)

(1937) A new force in boxing wins his first heavyweight title

An Alabama sharecropper’s son, Joe Louis, knocks out Jim Braddock in the 8th round, becoming the world heavyweight boxing champion. The first African American to hold the title since Jack Johnson, Louis will remain champ for 140 months, and will later be named history’s greatest heavyweight boxer.

Joseph Louis Barrow, best known as Joe Louis and nicknamed the “Brown Bomber”, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. He reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1949, and is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. Louis’ championship reign lasted 140 consecutive months, during which he participated in 26 championship fights. The 27th fight, against Ezzard Charles in 1950, was a challenge for Charles’ heavyweight title and so is not included in Louis’ reign. Louis was victorious in 26 title defenses, a world record second only to Julio César Chávez with 27. In 2005, Louis was ranked as the best heavyweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization, and was ranked number one on The Ring magazine’s list of the “100 greatest punchers of all time.”

Lived: May 13, 1914 – Apr 12, 1981 (age 66)
Height: 6′ 2″ (1.87 m)
Spouse: Martha Jefferson (m. 1959 – 1981) · Rose Morgan (m. 1955 – 1958) · Marva Trotter (m. 1946 – 1949) · Marva Trotter (m. 1935 – 1945)
Children: Joseph Louis Barrow Jr. (Son) · Joe Louis Barrow Jr. (Son) · Jacqueline Barrow (Daughter)
Boxer weight division: Heavyweight
Martial art: Boxing
Highlights
1935: Joe Louis married Marva Trotter on September 24, 1935; their marriage lasted 10 years till March 27, 1945.

1937: Louis’s manager Mike Jacobs attempted to arrange a rematch in 1937, but negotiations broke down when Schmeling demanded 30% of the gate.

1939: world light heavyweight champion John Henry Lewis who, attempting to move up a weight class, was knocked out in the first round by Louis on January 25, 1939.

1939: “Two Ton” Tony Galento, who was able to knock Louis to the canvas with a left hook in the third round of their bout on June 28, 1939, before letting his guard down and being knocked out in the fourth.

1947: After trouble finding another suitable opponent, on December 5, 1947, Louis met Jersey Joe Walcott, a 33-year-old veteran with a 44–11–2 record.

1981: Louis died of cardiac arrest in Desert Springs Hospital near Las Vegas on April 12, 1981, just hours after his last public appearance viewing the Larry Holmes–Trevor Berbick Heavyweight Championship.

wiki/Joe_Louis

US soldiers of the 29th Infantry moving under smoke cover in Okinawa, Japan (© Keystone View Company/FPG/Getty Images)

(1945) Battle in the Pacific finally grinds to a halt

One of the deadliest Pacific battles of World War II ends as US forces secure the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa, a few hundred miles from the Japanese mainland. Some will say that the ferocious Japanese defense is a major factor in the US decision to use atomic bombs to try to end the war without invading Japan.

The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a series of battles fought in the Japanese Ryukyu Islands, centered on the island of Okinawa, and included the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War during World War II, the April 1, 1945 invasion of Okinawa itself. The 82-day-long battle lasted from April 1 until June 22, 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were planning to use Okinawa, a large island only 340 mi away from mainland Japan, as a base for air operations for the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands.

Start date: Apr 01, 1945
End date: Jun 22, 1945

wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa

A fire tug fights flames on the Cuyahoga River near downtown Cleveland, Ohio, where oil and other industrial wastes caught fire, in June 1952 (© AP)

(1969) Cleveland’s polluted river catches fire and spurs change

A reporter witnesses an oil slick burning near a steel mill on Cleveland, Ohio’s Cuyahoga River and the resulting feature in Time magazine, despite using images from a previous fire on the river, will be instrumental in furthering the growing environmental movement in the US.

The Cuyahoga River is a river in the United States, located in Northeast Ohio, that feeds into Lake Erie. The river is famous for having been so polluted that it “caught fire” in 1969. The event helped to spur the environmental movement in the US.

Source elevation: 1,093 feet (333.15 m)
Length: 84.90 miles (136.63 km)
Basin area: 810.81 sq miles (2,100 km²)
Mouth elevation: 571 feet (174 meter)
Cities: Cleveland · Akron
Mouth: Cleveland · Lake Erie

wiki/Cuyahoga_River

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Today in History ^05/23/17

May 23, 2017 by GµårÐïåñ

Privateer William Kidd hanging in chains at 'Execution Dock' in London, wood engraving of the early 19th century (© Archiv Gerstenberg/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

(1701) Infamous privateer and possible pirate executed

Once a pirate hunter of great repute, and now convicted of piracy and treason himself, Scottish sailor Captain William Kidd is hung in London, his body then gibbeted over the River Thames as a gruesome warning to other would-be pirates.

William Kidd, also Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd was a Scottish sailor who was tried and executed for piracy after returning from a voyage to the Indian Ocean. Some modern historians deem his piratical reputation unjust.

Born: 1645 · Dundee, Scotland
Died: May 23, 1701 · Wapping, United Kingdom
Romance: Elizabeth Kidd · Sarah Kidd
Children: Sarah Latham (Daughter) · Elizabeth Troup (Daughter) · Henry Rousby (Son) · William Rousby (Son) · Christopher Rousby (Son)
Parents: John Kyd (Father) · Bessie Kidd
Highlights
1691: On 16 May 1691, Kidd married Sarah Bradley Cox Oort, an English woman in her early twenties, who had already been twice widowed and was one of the wealthiest women in New York, largely because of her inheritance from her first husband.

1696: In September 1696, Kidd weighed anchor and set course for the Cape of Good Hope.

1697: Kidd killed one of his own crewmen on 30 October 1697.

1698: On 1 April 1698, Kidd reached Madagascar.

1701: He was hanged on 23 May 1701, at Execution Dock, Wapping, in London.

1701: William Kidd died on May 23, 1701 in Wapping, United Kingdom.

wiki/William_Kidd

A lancer of the Northwest Mounted Police, 1875 (Public domain)

(1873) North-West Mounted Police patrol the provinces

Riflemen on horseback are needed to maintain order in Canada’s newly acquired North-West Provinces, so the ‘North-West Mounted Rifles’ are founded. US officials will be wary of the militaristic name, so the force is renamed the North-West Mounted Police and, later, the ‘Royal Canadian Mounted Police.’

The North-West Mounted Police was a Canadian police force. It was established in 1873, and in 1904 the name was changed to Royal Northwest Mounted Police. In 1920 it merged with the Dominion Police to become the current Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Founded: 1873

wiki/North-West_Mounted_Police

Portrait of bank robbers and Bonnie Parker, circa 1933 (© Hulton Archive/Getty Image)

(1934) Notorious outlaw couple gunned down in Louisiana

A stolen Ford Deluxe is met with a hail of bullets as it passes an ambush of lawmen lying in wait on a rural highway in Louisiana’s Bienville Parish. Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow’s car is hit by 130 rounds, and the FBI’s most wanted criminals are brought down after a 2-year manhunt.

Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow a.k.a. Clyde Champion Barrow were American criminals who traveled the central United States with their gang during the Great Depression, robbing people and killing when cornered or confronted. At times, the gang included his older brother Buck Barrow and his wife Blanche, Raymond Hamilton, W. D. Jones, Joe Palmer, Ralph Fults, and Henry Methvin. Their exploits captured the attention of the American public during the “Public Enemy Era,” between 1931 and 1935. Though known today for their dozen-or-so bank robberies, the two preferred to rob small stores or rural gas stations. The gang is believed to have killed at least nine police officers and several civilians. The couple were eventually ambushed and killed by law officers near the town of Sailes, in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. Their reputation was revived and cemented in American pop folklore by Arthur Penn’s 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde.
wiki/Bonnie_and_Clyde

(From left) Keith Moon, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who in 1970 (© Harry Harris/AP)

(1969) The Who release rock opera ‘Tommy’

The Who release the double-album rock opera ‘Tommy’—the story of a ‘deaf, dumb, and blind’ boy who finds redemption through pinball and becomes a spiritual leader. The album will go on to sell tens of millions of copies and be adapted as a film and a stage musical.

Tommy is the fourth studio album by the English rock band The Who, a double album first released in May 1969. The album was mostly composed by guitarist Pete Townshend as a rock opera that tells the story about a deaf, dumb and blind boy, including his experiences with life and his relationship with his family.

Release year: 1969
Genre: Rock, Classic Rock
Label: Geffen
Artists: The Who · London Symphony Orchestra
Adaptations: Tommy (1975) · The Who’s Tommy
Awards: Grammy Hall of Fame · Grammy Award for Best Recording Package

wiki/Tommy_(album)

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Today in History ^05/20/17

May 20, 2017 by GµårÐïåñ

Map of Europe from Abraham Ortelius' 'Theatrum Orbis Terrarum' (© Fine Art Images/Getty Images)

(1570) Ortelius maps the known world

Flemish geographer and cartographer Abraham Ortelius’ bound book of 53 maps, ‘Theatrum Orbis Terrarum,’ an extensive work of cartography that will be quickly reprinted in multiple languages and prove immensely popular, is issued. It will be the world’s first modern atlas.

Theatrum Orbis Terrarum is considered to be the first true modern atlas. Written by Abraham Ortelius, strongly encouraged by Gillis Hooftman and originally printed on May 20, 1570, in Antwerp, it consisted of a collection of uniform map sheets and sustaining text bound to form a book for which copper printing plates were specifically engraved. The Ortelius atlas is sometimes referred to as the summary of sixteenth-century cartography.

Author: Abraham Ortelius
First published: 1570
Genre: Atlas

wiki/Theatrum_Orbis_Terrarum

Amelia Earhardt is greeted by a crowd in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, after completing her solo flight across the Atlantic in 1932 (© ullstein bild via Getty Images)

(1932) Aviator Amelia Earhart tries for the history books

Taking to the skies from a Newfoundland starting point in her single-engine Lockheed Vega 5B, Amelia Earhart hopes to become the first woman to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. Fourteen hours and 56 minutes later she will achieve her goal, landing in Northern Ireland.

Amelia Mary Earhart was an American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She received the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross for this accomplishment. She set many other records, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots. In 1935, Earhart became a visiting faculty member at Purdue University as an advisor to aeronautical engineering and a career counselor to women students. She was also a member of the National Woman’s Party and an early supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Lived: Jul 24, 1897 – Jul 02, 1937 (age 39)
Height: 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
Spouse: George P. Putnam (m. 1931)
Founded: Ninety-Nines
Education: Hyde Park Academy High School · Columbia University · Central Senior High School
Siblings: Grace Muriel Earhart (Sister)
Highlights
1929: Putnam, who was known as GP, was divorced in 1929 and sought out Earhart, proposing to her six times before she finally agreed to marry him.

1931: After substantial hesitation on her part, they married on February 7, 1931, in Putnam’s mother’s house in Noank, Connecticut.

1935: On January 11, 1935, Earhart became the first aviator to fly solo from Honolulu, Hawaii to Oakland, California.

1936: Early in 1936, Earhart started to plan a round-the-world flight.

1937: During an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe in 1937 in a Purdue-funded Lockheed Model 10 Electra, Earhart disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island.

1937: On July 2, 1937, midnight GMT, Earhart and Noonan took off from Lae Airfield in the heavily loaded Electra.

wiki/Amelia_Earhart

Paratroopers rush to help a wounded comrade after being evacuated off Dong Ap Bia, aka, Hamburger Hill, a North Vietnamese-held hill on the western edge of the A Shau Valley, May 19, 1969 (© Hugh Van Es/AP)

(1969) Bloody Battle of ‘Hamburger Hill’ ends in South Vietnam

Ten days of fierce fighting win US Airborne forces the scarred and decimated Hill 937 on Ap Bia Mountain. Hundreds were wounded or killed, almost 20,000 artillery rounds were fired, and 500 tons of ordinance dropped to secure what battle-weary GIs call ‘Hamburger Hill.’

The Battle of Hamburger Hill was a battle of the Vietnam War that was fought by the United States and South Vietnam against North Vietnamese forces from May 10–20, 1969. Although the heavily fortified Hill 937 was of little strategic value, U.S. command ordered its capture by a frontal assault, only to abandon it soon thereafter. The action caused a controversy both in the American military and public.

Start date: May 10, 1969
End date: May 20, 1969

wiki/Battle_of_Hamburger_Hill

The cast of the 'Cheers' finale (© Paul Drinkwater/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

(1993) ‘Cheers’ closes up after 11 seasons

The fictional bar ‘where everybody knows your name’ has its last call on TV, with an estimated 90 million viewers tuning in to make it one of the most-watched finales. The show had nearly been canceled for low ratings during its first season before becoming a mainstay of NBC’s Thursday-night lineup.

The regulars of the Boston bar Cheers share their experiences and lives with each other while drinking or working at the bar where everybody knows your name.

First episode: Sep 30, 1982
Episode duration: 30 minutes
Creators: James Burrows · Glen Charles
Theme song: Where Everybody Knows Your Name
Producers: James Burrows · Phoef Sutton · Dan O’Shannon
Awards: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series · Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy · Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series · Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series · Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series

wiki/Cheers

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