1970

Today in History 09/21 (B-29 Superfortress)

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US Air Force B-29 Superfortress bombers (© Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)(1942) One of history’s largest warplanes takes to the skies
The B-29 Superfortress makes its maiden flight from Seattle’s Boeing Field. Almost 4,000 of the enormous US combat planes will be built, including the two that will drop the world’s first atomic weapons over Japan.
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing, which was flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. It was one of the largest aircraft operational during World War II and featured state-of-the-art technology. Including design and production, at over $3 billion it was the single most expensive weapons project undertaken by the United States in World War II, exceeding the cost of the Manhattan Project by between $1 and 1.7 billion. Innovations introduced included a pressurized cabin, dual-wheeled, tricycle landing gear, and an analog computer-controlled fire-control system directing four remote machine gun turrets that could be operated by a single gunner and a fire-control officer. A manned tail gun installation was semi-remote. The name “Superfortress” continued the pattern Boeing started with its well-known predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress. Designed for the high-altitude strategic bomber role, the B-29 also excelled in low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing missions. One of the B-29’s final roles during World War II was carrying out the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Maximum speed: 356.98 mph
Range: 5,592 miles
Maiden flight: Sep 21, 1942
Length: 99′ 0″
Wingspan: 141 feet
Notable aircrafts: Enola Gay · Bockscar · Big Stink · The Great Artiste · Full House · Jabit III

Boeing-Wichita B-29 Assembly Line - 1944
Boeing assembly line at Wichita, Kansas (1944)
wiki/Boeing_B-29_Superfortress
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(1942) One of history’s largest warplanes takes to the skies.
Also on this day,

1780 | Benedict Arnold plots to betray US Continental Army
General Benedict Arnold is dissatisfied with how his US Continental Army career has progressed and today meets with his ostensible enemy, British Major John André, to handover of his command, West Point, to the redcoats. His plot later exposed, Arnold’s name will become a byword for treason or betrayal.
1937 | ‘The Hobbit’ is published in London
J.R.R. Tolkien’s new novel ‘The Hobbit’ is published in London, and will sell out fast as the Oxford professor’s tale proves a hit with readers and critics alike. Publishers request a sequel, and more than a decade later ‘The Lord of the Rings will be delivered.
1970 | A football tradition starts as ‘Monday Night Football’ debuts on ABC
Don Meredith, Keith Jackson, and Howard Cosell call the action as the Cleveland Browns meet the New York Jets in the debut broadcast of ‘Monday Night Football.’ The ABC network show will garner great ratings and become an institution in prime-time TV sports viewing.

Today in History 09/21/17

Engraving depicting American army officer Benedict Arnold handing papers to British officer John Andre during the American Revolutionary War (© Stock Montage/Getty Images)(1780) Benedict Arnold plots to betray US Continental Army
General Benedict Arnold is dissatisfied with how his US Continental Army career has progressed and today meets with his ostensible enemy, British Major John André, to handover of his command, West Point, to the redcoats. His plot later exposed, Arnold's name will become a byword for treason or betrayal.
Benedict Arnold was a general during the American Revolutionary War, who fought for the American Continental Army, and later defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fortifications at West Point, New York, overlooking the cliffs at the Hudson River, and planned to surrender them to British forces. This plan was exposed in September 1780. He was commissioned into the British Army as a brigadier general.
Born: Jan 14, 1741 · Norwich, CT
Died: Jun 14, 1801 · London, England
Spouse: Peggy Shippen (m. 1779 - 1804) · Margaret Mansfield (m. 1767 - 1775)
Buried: St Mary's Church, Battersea
Children: Lt.-Gen. James Robertson Arnold (Son) · John Sage Arnold (Son) · Capt. William Fitch Arnold (Son) · Sophia Matilda Phipps (Daughter) · Henry Arnold (Son) · Lt. Richard Arnold (Son) · Lt.-Col. George Arnold (Son) · Lt. Edward Shippen Arnold (Son) · Captain Benedict Arnold, VI (Son) · Mary Arnold (Daughter)
Parents: Hannah Arnold (Mother)
Highlights
  • 1776: Arnold was promoted to brigadier general for his role in reaching Quebec, and he maintained an ineffectual siege of the city until he was replaced by Major General David Wooster in April 1776.

  • 1776: General Washington assigned Arnold to the defense of Rhode Island, following the British seizure of Newport in December 1776, where the militia were too poorly equipped to even consider an attack on the British.

  • 1779: Peggy and Arnold married on April 8, 1779.

  • 1780: In July 1780, he was awarded command of West Point.

  • 1780: On August 3, 1780, Arnold obtained command of West Point.

  • 1801: He died after four days of delirium on June 14, 1801, at the age of 60.

wiki/Benedict_Arnold
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Today in History 09/19 (Radio Free America)

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The Rev. Carl McIntire leads a protest (© John G. White/The Denver Post/Getty Images)(1973) Pirate radio station protests the FCC
Controversial minister Rev. Carl McIntire starts a pirate radio station, broadcasting 12 miles off Cape May, NJ, after the FCC had shut down his Pennsylvania station over violations of the fairness doctrine. Twenty-two years later, the day will be dubbed ‘International Talk Like a Pirate Day’ for reasons completely unrelated to McIntire’s broadcast.
Carl Curtis McIntire, Jr., known as Carl McIntire, was a founder and minister in the Bible Presbyterian Church, founder and long-time president of the International Council of Christian Churches and the American Council of Christian Churches, and a popular religious radio broadcaster, who proudly identified himself as a fundamentalist.
Born: May 17, 1906 · Ypsilanti, MI
Died: Apr 19, 2002 · Collingswood, NJ
Nationality: American
Written works: Author of liberty · Servants of apostasy · Twentieth century reformation · Communist China · For Such A Time As This · A Cloud of Witnesses: Or Heroes of the Faith
Education: Park University · Princeton University · Princeton Theological Seminary · Westminster Theological Seminary
Buried: Harleigh Cemetery, Camden
Highlights
  • 1936: In February 1936, during the series of ecclesiastical trials, McIntire launched a weekly newspaper, The Christian Beacon to give greater voice to his message.

  • 1937: McIntire and others left in 1937 to form the Bible Presbyterian Church, which emphasized Fundamentalist distinctives in contrast to continental Reformed positions, supporting political involvement, the Scofield Reference Bible, a premillennialist view of eschatology, and abstinence from the use of tobacco and alcohol.

  • 1941: In 1941, he helped create the American Council of Christian Churches (ACCC) as a conservative alternative to the liberal Federal (later, National) Council of Churches (NCC).

  • 1948: In 1948, he likewise helped to found the International Council of Christian Churches (ICCC) to challenge the World Council of Churches (WCC).

  • 1956: McIntire and west coast supporters of the Bible Presbyterian Church founded Highland College in Pasadena, California, a small Christian liberal arts college, and remained associated with the college until 1956.

  • 1965: In 1965, McIntire effectively purchased radio station, WXUR, Media, Pennsylvania, although it was formally owned by Faith Theological Seminary.

Carl McIntire (1906-2002), fundamentalist Presbyterian radio preacher
Carl McIntire (1906-2002), fundamentalist Presbyterian radio preacher
wiki/Carl_McIntire
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(1973) Pirate radio station protests the FCC.
Also on this day,

1893 | New Zealand is first to give women the vote
Following some 20 years of activism and a 32,000-signature petition, Governor Lord Glasgow gives Royal Assent to a bill granting adult women the right to vote, and New Zealand becomes the first country to achieve the milestone. US women will gain voting rights 27 years later.
1970 | Rock music fans converge for the first time at Glastonbury
The bucolic fields of Somerset, England, begin to rock as the Pilton Festival opens at Worthy Farm. Some 1,500 revelers dig glam-rock band T. Rex at Michael Eavis’ open-air music concert that will later be renowned, and attended by hundreds of thousands, as the Glastonbury Festival.
1988 | Diving mishap doesn’t stop Louganis
US Olympic veteran Greg Louganis is competing in the Seoul Olympics springboard diving preliminaries when he slams his head against the board on a reverse pike, resulting in a concussion and a cut requiring five stitches. The next day’s thrilling final will net Louganis the gold medal.

Today in History 09/19/17

New Zealand women participate in an election for the first time at Wellington North (© Hulton Archive/Getty Images)(1893) New Zealand is first to give women the vote
Following some 20 years of activism and a 32,000-signature petition, Governor Lord Glasgow gives Royal Assent to a bill granting adult women the right to vote, and New Zealand becomes the first country to achieve the milestone. US women will gain voting rights 27 years later.

On 19 September 1893 the governor, Lord Glasgow, signed a new Electoral Act into law. As a result of this landmark legislation, New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world in which all women had the right to vote in parliamentary elections.

In most other democracies – including Britain and the United States – women did not win the right to the vote until after the First World War. New Zealand’s world leadership in women’s suffrage became a central part of our image as a trail-blazing ‘social laboratory’.

That achievement was the result of years of effort by suffrage campaigners, led by Kate Sheppard. In 1891, 1892 and 1893 they compiled a series of massive petitions calling on Parliament to grant the vote to women. In recent years Sheppard’s contribution to New Zealand’s history has been acknowledged on the $10 note.

Today, the idea that women could not or should not vote is completely foreign to New Zealanders. Following the 2014 election, 31% of our Members of Parliament were female, compared with 9% in 1981. In the early 21st century women have held each of the country’s key constitutional positions: prime minister, governor-general, speaker of the House of Representatives, attorney-general and chief justice.


Suffrage petition, 1893
Suffrage petition, 1893

wiki/Women's_suffrage_in_New_Zealand
wiki/Women's_suffrage
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Today in History 08/30 (Leona Helmsley)

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Leona Helmsley leaves the New York Federal courthouse in 1989 (© Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage/Getty Images)(1989) The ‘Queen of Mean’ is convicted on tax evasion charges
New York hotel magnate Leona Helmsley, is said to have once proclaimed, “We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes.” This likely didn’t help her case, and neither did testimony regarding her fiery temper, overinflated ego, and dodgy financial dealings, and she’s found guilty of tax evasion.
Leona Mindy Roberts Helmsley was an American businesswoman, known for her flamboyant personality and her reputation for tyrannical behavior, earning her the sobriquet Queen of Mean.
Lived: Jul 04, 1920 – Aug 20, 2007 (age 87)
Nationality: American
Spouse: Harry Helmsley (m. 1972 – 1997)
Children: Jay Panzirer (Son)
Siblings: Sylvia Roman (Sister) · Alvin Rosenthal (Brother)
Parents: Morris Rosenthal (Father) · Ida Rosenthal (Mother)
Highlights
  • 1968: In 1968, while Roberts was working as a condominium broker, she met and began her involvement with the then-married real estate entrepreneur Harry Helmsley.

  • 1972: Leona Helmsley married Harry Helmsley on April 08, 1972; their marriage lasted 25 years till 1997.

  • 1982: On March 31, 1982, Helmsley’s only child, Jay Panzirer, died of a heart attack resulting from arrhythmia.

  • 1989: In 1989, an unauthorized biography titled The Queen of Mean: The Unauthorized Biography of Leona Helmsley was published by Bantam Books (ISBN 978-0553285581).

  • 1989: After allegations of non-payment were made by contractors hired to improve Helmsley’s Connecticut home, she was investigated and convicted of federal income tax evasion and other crimes in 1989.

  • 2007: Leona Helmsley died of congestive heart failure at the age of 87, on August 20, 2007, at Dunnellen Hall, her summer home in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Mug shot of Leona Helmsley
wiki/Leona_Helmsley
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(1989) The ‘Queen of Mean’ is convicted on tax evasion charges.
Also on this day,

1797 | The creator of a monster, Mary Shelley, is created
Marry Wollstonecraft Shelley (nee Godwin) is born in northwest London. She’ll go on to write biographies, travel books, and novels, most notably ‘Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus’ at age 20.
1967 | Justice Marshall, a slave’s grandson makes history at US Supreme Court
Thirteen years after he successfully argued in front of the US Supreme Court against racial segregation in the landmark case ‘Brown v. Board of Education,’ Thurgood Marshall is confirmed by the Senate to become the first African American justice on that very same court.
1970 | Isle of Wight fest tops Woodstock as more than half a million rock
Some 600,000 people crowd an English island as a five-day rock music concert comes to a close. Europe’s answer to 1969’s epoch-making Woodstock gathering, the Isle of Wight festival features headliner Jimi Hendrix in one of his last performances before his death less than a month later.

Today in History 08/30/17

Justice Thurgood Marshall stands outside the Supreme Court building in Washington DC, after being sworn in as the first African American justice to serve on the high court (© AP)(1967) A slave's grandson makes history at US Supreme Court
Thirteen years after he successfully argued in front of the US Supreme Court against racial segregation in the landmark case 'Brown v. Board of Education,' Thurgood Marshall is confirmed by the Senate to become the first African American justice on that very same court.
Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving from October 1967 until October 1991. Marshall was the Court's 96th justice and its first African-American justice.
Lived: Jul 02, 1908 - Jan 24, 1993 (age 84)
Spouse: Cecilia Suyat (m. 1955 - 1993) · Vivian Burey (m. 1929 - 1955)
Education: Howard University School of Law · Lincoln University · Howard University · Frederick Douglass High School
Children: Thurgood Marshall, Jr. (Son)
Founded: NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Parents: Norma Africa Marshall (Mother) · William Marshall (Father)
Highlights
  • 1934: He began his 25-year affiliation with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1934 by representing the organization in the law school discrimination suit Murray v. Pearson.

  • 1936: In 1936, Marshall became part of the national staff of the NAACP.

  • 1955: After her death in February 1955, Marshall married Cecilia Suyat in December of that year.

  • 1955: Thurgood Marshall married Cecilia Suyat on December 01, 1955.

  • 1965: Marshall remained on that court until 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to be the United States Solicitor General, the first African American to hold the office.

  • 1993: Marshall died of heart failure at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, at 2:58 pm on January 24, 1993, at the age of 84.

wiki/Thurgood_Marshall
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Today in History 03/05/18

Foreign Secretary Michael Stewart (left) and American Ambassador Walter Annenberg at the signing of the Non-Proliferation Treaty at Lancaster House in London, March 5, 1970 (© Central Press/Getty Images)(1970) Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty goes into effect
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) goes into force as an effort to slow the ever-quickening pace of countries becoming armed with nuclear weapons. It’s feared that without it, there will be upwards of 30 more nations with “The Bomb” within 20 years.
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.
NPT parties
Participation in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.   Recognized nuclear weapon state ratifiers   Recognized nuclear weapon state acceders   Other ratifiers   Other acceders or succeeders   Withdrawn   Non-signatory   Unrecognized state, abiding by acceders
wiki/Treaty_on_the_Non-Proliferation_of_Nuclear_Weapons
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Today in History 06/21/17

Illustration of a meeting of 'Molly Maguire' men during a strike at a coal mine circa 1870 (© Kean Collection/Getty Images)(1877) Irish immigrant activists executed in Pennsylvania
Ten men are executed for murder in two separate Pennsylvania hangings, but the guilty verdicts against the ‘Molly Maguires,’ a group of Irish immigrant coal miners, will remain controversial, as many believe they were made martyrs for attempting to unionize fellow workers.
The Molly Maguires was an Irish 19th-century secret society active in Ireland, Liverpool and parts of the eastern United States, best known for their activism among Irish-American and Irish immigrant coal miners in Pennsylvania. After a series of often violent conflicts, twenty suspected members of the Molly Maguires were convicted of murder and other crimes and were executed by hanging in 1877 and 1878. This history remains part of local Pennsylvania lore.
wiki/Molly_Maguires
1964 FBI poster seeking information as to the whereabouts of Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney and Michael Henry Schwerner, civil rights campaigners who went missing in Mississippi. (© MPI/Getty Images)(1964) Three civil rights workers disappear in Mississippi
Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Mickey Schwerner are in Mississippi to register black voters, and after being arrested and released by the local sheriff, are never seen alive again. Eighteen people will be charged with their deaths in what becomes known as the ‘Mississippi Burning’ murders.
In June 1964 in Neshoba County, Mississippi, three civil rights workers were abducted and murdered in an act of racial violence. The victims were Andrew Goodman and Michael “Mickey” Schwerner from New York City, and James Chaney from Meridian, Mississippi. All three were associated with the Council of Federated Organizations and its member organization the Congress of Racial Equality. They had been working with the “Freedom Summer” campaign by attempting to register African Americans in the southern states to vote. This registration effort was a part of contesting over 70 years of laws and practices that supported a systematic policy of disenfranchisement of potential black voters by several southern states that began in 1890.
Date: Jun 21, 1964

wiki/Mississippi_civil_rights_workers’_murders
Pelé celebrates scoring for Brazil against Italy in the World Cup final on June 21, 1970 (© Varley/Colosport/Rex Features)(1970) Pelé and Brazil win World Cup in legendary final
Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium is filled to the brim as Brazil and Italy meet in football’s World Cup final. The game will pass into legend, in part for superstar Pelé’s magnificent athleticism, and team captain Carlos Alberto’s final goal, considered by many the greatest of all time.
The 1970 FIFA World Cup Final was held on Sunday, 21 June, in the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, to determine the winner of the 1970 FIFA World Cup. This final, between Brazil and Italy, marked the first time that two former world champions met in a final; Italy had previously won the World Cup in 1934 and 1938, while Brazil won in 1958 and 1962.
Date: Jun 21, 1970
Champion: Brazil national football team

wiki/1970_FIFA_World_Cup_Final
US Marshalls escort John Hinckley Jr. as he returns to a marine base via helicopter in Quantico, Virginia, on Aug 8, 1981 (© Barry Thumma/AP)(1982) Would-be presidential assassin is found legally insane
Having shot six times at President Ronald Reagan in an assassination attempt, John Hinckley, Jr. is found not guilty by reason of insanity. The verdict will spur much argument, leading states to change or even abolish laws allowing the admissibility of the insanity defense in US courts.
John Warnock Hinckley Jr. is an American citizen who, on March 30, 1981, attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C. Hinckley wounded Reagan with a bullet that ricocheted and hit him in the chest. Hinckley also wounded police officer Thomas Delahanty and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy, and critically wounded Press Secretary James Brady. All of the shooting victims survived, although Brady’s 2014 death was later ruled a homicide 33 years after he was shot.
Born: May 29, 1955 (age 62) · Ardmore, OK
Parents: Jo Ann Moore · John Warnock Hinckley Sr.
Siblings: Scott · Diane
Education: Yale University · Texas Tech University · Highland Park High School
Highlights
  • 1955: John Warnock Hinckley Jr. was born on May 29, 1955 in Ardmore, Oklahoma, and moved with his wealthy family to Dallas, Texas, at the age of 4.

  • 1981: On March 30, 1981, at 2:27 p.m. local time, Hinckley shot a .22 caliber Röhm RG-14 revolver six times at Reagan as he left the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., after the president addressed an AFL–CIO conference.

  • 1982: At his trial in 1982, in Washington, D.C., having been charged with 13 offenses, Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity on June 21.

  • 2005: On December 30, 2005, a federal judge ruled that Hinckley would be allowed visits, supervised by his parents, to their home in Williamsburg, Virginia.

  • 2011: On March 29, 2011, the day before the 30th anniversary of the assassination attempt, Hinckley’s attorney filed a court petition requesting more freedom for his client, including additional unsupervised visits to the Virginia home of Hinckley’s mother, Joanne.

  • 2016: Hinckley was released from institutional psychiatric care on September 10, 2016, and will live full-time at his mother’s home.

wiki/John_Hinckley_Jr.
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