1976

Today in History 11/18/17

Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez and his wife, Ambaro, cast their votes in 1977 in the first free elections in Spain (© Saris/AP)(1976) Spain’s parliament approves bill to establish a democracy
A year after the death of Fascist dictator Francisco Franco, Spain’s parliament members essentially vote themselves out of office, approving a bill to transition to democracy by allowing elections and the creation of a two-chamber parliament. The bill will later be approved by public referendum.
The Spanish transition to democracy (Spanish: Transición española a la democracia), or simply the Transition (Spanish: La Transición) was the restoration of democracy in Spain after the death of Francisco Franco in 1975. The transition began shortly after Franco’s death on 20 November 1975, while its completion has been variously said to be marked by the Spanish Constitution of 1978, the failure of an attempted coup on 23 February 1981, or the electoral victory of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) on 28 October 1982. Though faced with political and economic crises at the time, the transition to democracy was one of the factors that allowed Spain to join the European Economic Community and NATO.
Political posters from the 1970s on a simulated street wall in an exhibition celebrating 20 years of the Spanish Constitution of 1978.
Political posters in an exhibition celebrating 20 years of the Spanish Constitution of 1978.

wiki/Spanish_transition_to_democracy
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Today in History 09/17/17

President Lincoln and General McClellan seated inside a tent on the Battlefield of Antietam (Alexander Gardner/Library of Congress)(1862) Sun sets on bloodiest battle in American history
George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac stems the tide of Robert E. Lee’s Confederate advance into Union territory, but the Battle of Antietam near Sharpsburg, Maryland, exacts a terrible toll with 22,000 dead, injured, or missing by the end of the bloodiest day in US military history.
The Battle of Antietam, also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the South, was fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland and Antietam Creek as part of the Maryland Campaign. It was the first field army–level engagement in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War to take place on Union soil and is the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with a combined tally of 22,717 dead, wounded, or missing.
Date: Sep 17, 1862
Maryland Campaign
Maryland Campaign, actions September 3 to 15, 1862 RED – Confederate, BLUE – Union

wiki/Battle_of_Antietam
Star Trek' cast members (from left) Leonard Nimoy, George Takei and DeForest Kelly in front of the unveiling of the Space Shuttle in Palmdale, California, in 1976 (© AP)(1976) NASA unveils a new spaceship in the California desert
NASA’s new reusable orbital space vehicle, the space shuttle, is rolled out for its first public viewing in front of thousands of invited guests in Palmdale, California. It’s christened the ‘Enterprise’ after a write-in campaign by ‘Star Trek fans, and most of the show’s original cast is on hand for the unveiling.
Space Shuttle Enterprise was the first orbiter of the Space Shuttle system. Rolled out on September 17, 1976, it was built for NASA as part of the Space Shuttle program to perform atmospheric test flights after being launched from a modified Boeing 747. It was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield, and was therefore not capable of spaceflight.
Manufacturer: Rockwell International
Space Shuttle Enterprise in launch configuration
Low angle view of gantry and Space Shuttle Enterprise in launch position on the Vandenberg Air Force Base’s Space Launch Complex 6 (commonly known as “SLICK 6”), in California, during the ready-to-launch checks to verify launch procedures.

wiki/Space_Shuttle_Enterprise
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Today in History 07/29/17

Police photo of David Berkowitz, the 'Son of Sam' killer, circa 1977 (© NYPD/AP)(1976) Shootings begin, terrorizing New York City
Just after 1 AM in New York City’s Bronx borough, David Berkowitz approaches a car and shoots two teenage girls, killing one and wounding the other. He will continue his serial shooting spree for a year, killing five and injuring six more, sparking citywide paranoia before he’s arrested.
David Richard Berkowitz, known also as the Son of Sam and the.44 Caliber Killer, is an American serial killer who was convicted of eight separate shooting attacks that began in New York City during the summer of 1976. The crimes were perpetrated with a.44 caliber Bulldog revolver. He killed six people and wounded seven others by July 1977. As the number of victims increased, Berkowitz eluded the biggest police manhunt in the history of New York City while leaving letters that mocked the police and promised further crimes, which were highly publicized by the press. The killing spree terrorized New Yorkers and achieved worldwide notoriety.
Born: Jun 01, 1953 (age 64) · Brooklyn, NY
Height: 5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
Parents: Betty Broder · Joseph Kleinman
David Berkowitz
Highlights
  • 1953: Three years later she became pregnant with a child to whom she chose to give the surname Falco—Richard David Falco was born on June 1, 1953 in Brooklyn, New York.

  • 1977: Not until August 9, 1977, did NYPD detective James Justis telephone Yonkers police to ask them to schedule an interview with Berkowitz.

  • 1978: On June 12, 1978, Berkowitz was sentenced to 25-years-to-life in prison for each murder, to be served consecutively.

  • 2002: Before his first parole hearing in 2002, Berkowitz sent a letter to New York Governor George Pataki asking that it be canceled.

  • 2006: Neysa Moskowitz, who previously had not hidden her hatred of Berkowitz, wrote him a letter shortly before her own death in 2006, forgiving him for killing her daughter, Stacy.

  • 2006: In October 2006, Berkowitz and Harmatz settled out of court, with Harmatz agreeing to return the disputed items and to donate part of his book profits to the New York State Crime Victims Board.

wiki/David_Berkowitz
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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
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Today in History 04/11/17

William III Of Orange (1650 - 1702) King of Great Britain from 1688, with his wife Mary II, circa 1690 (© Hulton Archive/Getty Images)(1689) Coronation of William and Mary as co-regents
Husband and wife, as well as first cousins, William III and Mary II are crowned King and Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland. They will reign together as co-rulers until Mary dies of smallpox at the age of 32.
William and Mary were the co-regnants over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, namely the Dutch Prince of Orange King William III and his spouse Queen Mary II. Their joint reign began in February 1689 after they were offered the throne by the Convention Parliament irregularly summoned by William after his victorious invasion of England in November 1688, the Glorious Revolution. They replaced James II, Mary’s father, who fled the country. Parliament offered William and Mary a co-regency, at the couple’s behest. After Mary died in 1694, William ruled alone until his death in 1702. William and Mary were childless and were ultimately succeeded by Mary’s younger sister, Anne.
wiki/William_and_Mary
Adolf Eichmann at his trial in Jerusalem in 1961 (© AP)(1961) Holocaust criminal Adolf Eichmann stands trial in Israel
Following his capture in Argentina by Israeli Mossad agents, Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi fugitive and one of the main organizers of Hitler’s Final Solution, is put on trial for war crimes including the extermination of six million Jews.
Otto Adolf Eichmann was a German Nazi SS-Obersturmbannführer and one of the major organisers of the Holocaust. Eichmann was tasked by SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich with facilitating and managing the logistics of mass deportation of Jews to ghettos and extermination camps in German-occupied Eastern Europe during World War II. In 1960, Eichmann was captured in Argentina by Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service. Following a widely publicised trial in Israel, he was found guilty of war crimes and hanged in 1962.
Lived: Mar 19, 1906 – May 31, 1962 (age 56)
Height: 5′ 9″ (1.76 m)
Spouse: Veronika Liebl (m. 1935 – 1962)
Movies: The Eichmann Show
Children: Ricardo Francisco Eichmann (Son) · Dieter Helmut Eichmann (Son) · Horst Adolf Eichmann (Son) · Klaus Eichmann (Son)
Parents: Adolf Karl Eichmann (Father) · Maria Eichmann (Mother)
Highlights
  • 1933: After returning to Germany in 1933, he joined the Sicherheitsdienst (SD; Security Service), where he was appointed head of the department responsible for Jewish affairs—especially emigration, which the Nazis encouraged through violence and economic pressure.

  • 1935: On 21 March 1935 Eichmann married Veronika (Vera) Liebl (1909–93).

  • 1939: On 19 December 1939, Eichmann was assigned to head RSHA Referat IV B4 (RSHA Sub-Department IV-B4), tasked with overseeing Jewish affairs and evacuation.

  • 1948: In 1948 Eichmann obtained a landing permit for Argentina and false identification under the name of “Ricardo Klement” through an organisation directed by Bishop Alois Hudal, an Austrian cleric then residing in Italy with known Nazi sympathies.

  • 1960: In 1960, Eichmann was captured in Argentina by Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service.

  • 1960: When Eichmann’s father died in 1960, Wiesenthal made arrangements for private detectives to surreptitiously photograph members of the family, as Eichmann’s brother Otto was said to bear a strong family resemblance and there were no current photos of the fugitive.

wiki/Adolf_Eichmann
Apple computers founders Steve Wozniak (left) and Steve Jobs in 1976 (© DB Apple/dpa/Corbis)(1976) Steve Wozniak releases the Apple I
Just days after forming Apple Computer Company (now Apple Inc.) with his friend Steve Jobs, computer hobbyist Steve Wozniak hand-builds and offers to the public a new machine boasting a 1MHz CPU and 4KB standard memory, dubbing it the Apple I.
Apple Computer 1, also known later as the Apple I, or Apple-1, is a desktop computer released by the Apple Computer Company in 1976. It was designed and hand-built by Steve Wozniak. Wozniak’s friend Steve Jobs had the idea of selling the computer. The Apple I was Apple’s first product, and to finance its creation, Jobs sold his only motorized means of transportation, a VW Microbus, for a few hundred dollars, and Wozniak sold his HP-65 calculator for $500; however, Wozniak said that Jobs planned to use his bicycle if necessary. It was demonstrated in July 1976 at the Homebrew Computer Club in Palo Alto, California.
Designer: Steve Wozniak
Apple I Computer

wiki/Apple_I
The police help an injured man during the Brixton riot of April 11, 1981 (© John Downing/Getty Images)(1981) Brixton riots roil South London
Months of simmering tensions between police and the largely Afro-Caribbean residents of London’s Brixton district come to a head with the widespread (but erroneous) belief that police had the night before unjustifiably arrested a young black man. The riots will later be dubbed Bloody Saturday.
The 1981 Brixton riot, or Brixton Rising, was a confrontation between the Metropolitan Police and protesters in Lambeth, South London, England, between 10 and 12 April 1981. The main riot on 11 April, dubbed “Bloody Saturday” by Time magazine, resulted in almost 280 injuries to police and 45 injuries to members of the public; over a hundred vehicles were burned, including 56 police vehicles; and almost 150 buildings were damaged, with thirty burned. There were 82 arrests. Reports suggested that up to 5,000 people were involved.
Date: Apr 11, 1981

wiki/1981_Brixton_riot
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