1977

Today in History 12/14 (South Pole Expedition)

Four of the five members of the Roald Amundsen expedition view their conquest at the South Pole, December, 1911 (© Lordprice Collection/Alamy)(1911) Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen reaches South Pole
Amundsen’s five-person team and 16 dogs beat English explorer Robert Scott to the pole by about a month. All of Amundsen’s crew and 11 dogs will return safely to basecamp in mid-January. Scott will be less fortunate. He and his team will die just 11 miles from a resupply camp.
The first expedition to reach the geographic South Pole was led by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. He and four others arrived at the pole on 14 December 1911, five weeks ahead of a British party led by Robert Falcon Scott as part of the Terra Nova Expedition. Amundsen and his team returned safely to their base, and later knew that Scott and his four companions had died on their return journey.
Date: 1910

Members of Roald Amundsen's South Pole expedition 1910-12 at the pole itself, December 1911, (from left to right): Roald Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel and Oscar Wisting
Roald Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel and Oscar Wisting (l–r) at “Polheim”, the tent erected at the South Pole on 16 December 1911. The top flag is the Flag of Norway; the bottom is marked “Fram”. Photograph by Olav Bjaaland.
wiki/Amundsen’s_South_Pole_expedition
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(1911) Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen reaches South Pole.
Also on this day,

1863 | President Abraham Lincoln pardons his sister-in-law
Lincoln pardons his relative, the widow of a Confederate general. When a Union general grouses about her presence at the White House, Lincoln retorts, “My wife and I are in the habit of choosing our own guests. We do not need from our friends either advice or assistance in the matter.”
1977 | ‘Saturday Night Fever’ struts onto the world stage
The John Travolta film premieres in New York to critics’ applause. Critic Gene Siskel will call it his favorite film ever (he’ll watch it 17 times). Travolta will earn a best actor Oscar nomination for the role of a Brooklyn teen with good dancefloor moves, and the soundtrack will turn the disco craze up full blast.
2012 | Gunman kills 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary
In Newtown, Connecticut, Adam Lanza, 20, shoots and kills his mother and then drives to his former school, where he murders 20 first-graders and six staff members. Lanza commits suicide as the police close in. The Sandy Hook tragedy is among the worst mass shootings in US history and sparks new debate about gun laws.

Today in History 12/14/17

Undated photo of Emilie Todd Helm (© Helm and Todd family photographs and papers, 1850-1951, Univ. of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center, http://exploreuk.uky.edu)(1863) President Abraham Lincoln pardons his sister-in-law
Lincoln pardons his relative, the widow of a Confederate general. When a Union general grouses about her presence at the White House, Lincoln retorts, "My wife and I are in the habit of choosing our own guests. We do not need from our friends either advice or assistance in the matter."
Benjamin Hardin HelmBenjamin Hardin Helm was a Kentucky politician, attorney, Confederate brigadier general, and a brother-in-law of Abraham Lincoln. He was also the son of Kentucky Governor John L. Helm. Helm was born in Bardstown, Kentucky. He attended the Kentucky Military Institute and the West Point Military Academy and then went to study law at the University of Louisville and Harvard University. He served as a state legislator and the state's attorney in Kentucky. He also served as the assistant inspector-general for the Kentucky state guard. Helm was offered the position of Union Army paymaster by his brother-in-law, President Abraham Lincoln, a position which he declined. Helm felt it was an honor to serve in the Confederate States Army, where he was initially a colonel and later promoted to brigadier general. Helm commanded the 1st Kentucky Brigade more commonly known as The Orphan Brigade. He died on the battlefield during the Battle of Chickamauga. Helm was married to Emilie Todd, the half-sister of Mary Todd Lincoln.
Born: Jun 02, 1831 · Bardstown, KY
Died: Sep 21, 1863 · Catoosa County, GA
Children: Katherine Helm (Daughter) · Benjamin Hardin Helm, II (Son) · Elodie Lewis
Education: United States Military Academy
Parents: John L. Helm (Father)
Highlights
  • 1831: The son of lawyer and politician John L. Helm and Lucinda Barbour Hardin, Benjamin Hardin Helm was born in Bardstown, Kentucky on June 2, 1831.

  • 1846: In the winter of 1846, at age 15, Helm enrolled at the Kentucky Military Institute, where he remained for three months.

  • 1856: In 1856, Helm married Emilie Todd, a half-sister of Mary Todd Lincoln.

  • 1860: In 1860, he was appointed assistant inspector-general of the Kentucky State Guard, which he was active in organizing.

  • 1861: Helm was commissioned a colonel on October 19, 1861, and served under Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

  • 1862: He was promoted to brigadier general on March 14, 1862 and, three weeks later, received a new assignment to raise the 3rd Kentucky Brigade, in the division of Major General John C. Breckinridge.


Brigadier General Benjamin Hardin Helm (1831-1863)
Brigadier General Benjamin Hardin Helm (1831-1863)

wiki/Benjamin_Hardin_Helm
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Today in History 10/20 (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

The wreckage of a Convair 240 plane near McComb, Miss. Six were killed in the crash, including three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd. (© AP Photo)(1977) Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane goes down, killing six
The band’s chartered plane runs out of fuel due to a faulty engine and crashes in Mississippi. Singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines are killed, along with three crew members. Lynyrd Skynyrd would disband after the accident, with the remaining members reuniting a decade later.
Lynyrd Skynyrd, is an American rock band best known for popularizing the Southern rock genre during the 1970s. With roots tracing to the formation of My Backyard in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964, the band was also known by names such as The Noble Five and One Percent, before finally deciding on “Lynyrd Skynyrd” in 1969. The band gained worldwide recognition for its live performances and signature songs “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Free Bird”. At the peak of their success, band members Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines, died in an airplane crash in 1977, putting an abrupt end to the 1970s era of the band.
Movies: Freebird… The Movie
Lead singers: Ronnie Van Zant (1964 – 1977) · Johnny Van Zant (Since 1987)
Tours: One More from the Road Tour · Rock N Rebels Tour II
Awards: Grammy Hall of Fame (2009, 2008)

Trade ad for Lynyrd Skynyrd's single
Trade ad for Lynyrd Skynyrd’s single “Gimme Three Steps”.
wiki/Lynyrd_Skynyrd
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(1977) Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane goes down, killing six.
Also on this day,

1720 | Calico Jack protects the rum while Anne and Mary fight
Crossed swords and a grinning skull distinguish Calico Jack Rackham’s flag, and that’s just what pirate hunters find while prowling Jamaican waters. When they attack Pirate Jack’s ship, his female crew, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, return the fight while the men, drunk on rum, wait it out in the hold.
1947 | Hollywood’s ‘Red Scare’ as Cold War paranoia breeds hysteria
In Washington, DC, the House Un-American Activities Committee holds its first hearings into possible Communist infiltration of the US film industry. Soon after, a career-killing blacklist will be drawn up with the help of famous informants, and Hollywood will be held in the jaws of the ‘Red Scare.’
1973 | Sydney Opera House opens as an architectural wonder graces Australia
Queen Elizabeth II and Ben Blakeney, a Bennelong Aborigine descendant, help mark the official opening of a new and spectacular performance space seemingly caught in full sail at the tip of a Sydney Harbor peninsula. The breathtaking Sydney Opera House will become an Australian icon.

Today in History 10/20/17

Actor Robert Montgomery tells House investigators of Hollywood "reds" in Washington, October 23, 1947 (© Byron Rollins/AP)(1947) Cold War paranoia breeds Hollywood hysteria
In Washington, DC, the House Un-American Activities Committee holds its first hearings into possible Communist infiltration of the US film industry. Soon after, a career-killing blacklist will be drawn up with the help of famous informants, and Hollywood will be held in the jaws of the 'Red Scare.'
A "Red Scare" is promotion, real and imagined, of widespread fear by a society or state about a potential rise of communism, anarchism, or radical leftism. The term is most often used to refer to two periods in the history of the United States with this name. The First Red Scare, which occurred immediately after World War I, revolved around a threat from the American labor movement, anarchist revolution and political radicalism. The Second Red Scare, which occurred immediately after World War II, was preoccupied with national or foreign communists infiltrating or subverting U.S. society or the federal government.
First occurred: 1917
1919 Political Cartoon
Political cartoon from 1919 depicting the Russian revolution's impact on the Paris peace talks

wiki/Red_Scare
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