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Today in History 08/03/17

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The nuclear-powered submarine USS Nautilus in August 1958 (© AP)(1958) America’s nuclear sub first to glide under the North Pole
The world’s first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, is now the first seagoing craft to reach the geographic North Pole. The ‘Operation Sunshine’ sub will spend 96 hours traveling nearly 2,000 miles under the Arctic ice and boost US morale a year after the Soviets launched Sputnik.
USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was the world’s first operational nuclear-powered submarine. The vessel was the first submarine to complete a submerged transit of the North Pole on 3 August 1958. Sharing names with Captain Nemo’s fictional submarine in Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and named after another USS Nautilus that served with distinction in World War II, Nautilus was authorized in 1951 and launched in 1954. Because her nuclear propulsion allowed her to remain submerged far longer than diesel-electric submarines, she broke many records in her first years of operation, and traveled to locations previously beyond the limits of submarines. In operation, she revealed a number of limitations in her design and construction. This information was used to improve subsequent submarines.
Keel laid: 14 Jun 1952
Launched: 21 Jan 1954
Builder: General Dynamics Electric Boat

wiki/USS_Nautilus_(SSN-571)
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Today in History 05/25/17

Painting of the signing of the Constitution of the United States at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 (© GraphicaArtis/Getty Images)(1787) Forming a ‘more perfect union’ is debated in Philadelphia
What’s at stake for Philadelphia’s Constitutional Convention is no less than the formulation of a system to lead a newly born nation into a mature, and revolutionary, form of government. George Washington presides over a gathering of eminent minds to hammer out the details.
The Constitutional Convention took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although the Convention was intended to revise the Articles of Confederation, the intention from the outset of many of its proponents, chief among them James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, was to create a new government rather than fix the existing one. The delegates elected George Washington to preside over the Convention. The result of the Convention was the creation of the United States Constitution, placing the Convention among the most significant events in the history of the United States.
Start date: May 25, 1787
End date: Sep 17, 1787
Founder: James Madison

wiki/Constitutional_Convention_(United_States)
Detail of a painting of the first flag of Argentina presented to the revolutionary army by General Belgrano (© Prisma/UIG/Getty Images)(1810) Argentina’s ‘May Revolution’ wrests independence from Spain
Catching wind of chaos in Spain during its Peninsular War, rebels in Argentina form a new government, the Primera Junta, replacing 34 years of Spanish colonial rule. Inspired, in part, by the American and French Revolutions, the May Revolution will lead to the 8-year Argentine War of Independence.
The May Revolution was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and parts of Brazil. The result was the removal of Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros and the establishment of a local government, the Primera Junta, on May 25. It was the first successful revolution in the South American Independence process.
Date: May 18, 1810

wiki/May_Revolution
Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford in the 1977 film 'Star Wars' (© Sunset Boulevard/Corbis/Corbis)(1977) George Lucas’ space opera opens in theaters
Director George Lucas’ newest project hasn’t inspired much confidence at 20th Century Fox. It opens in only 32 theatres, its premiere pushed ahead of other, presumed, sure-fire summer hits. ‘Star Wars’ proves the naysayers wrong, becoming a blockbuster hit and an unstoppable cultural phenomenon.
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire’s world-destroying battle-station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the evil Darth Vader.
IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt0076759
Release date: May 25, 1977 (United States)
Director: George Lucas
Gross revenue: $775.40 million USD
Estimated budget: $11 million USD
Sequel: Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
Prequel: Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

wiki/Star_Wars_(film)
Hands Across America at Battery Park in New York City (© Allan Tannenbaum/Getty Images)(1986) Americans hold Hands Across America
An estimated 5 million people hold hands, forming a human chain across the contiguous United States to raise money and awareness for the charity USA for Africa. While the chain has some breaks, it stretches from New York to Los Angeles. A theme song is played simultaneously on radio stations around the country.
Hands Across America was a benefit event and publicity campaign staged on Sunday, May 25, 1986 in which approximately 6.5 million people held hands in a human chain for fifteen minutes along a path across the contiguous United States. Many participants donated ten dollars to reserve their place in line; the proceeds were donated to local charities to fight hunger and homelessness and help those in poverty.
wiki/Hands_Across_America
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Today in History 04/26/17

Portrait of Francesco Petrarch (© Stock Montage/Getty Images)(1336) Petrarch climbs Mont Ventoux on cusp of the Renaissance
An Italian poet and scholar ascends more than 6,000 feet to the summit of France’s Mont Ventoux and experiences an epiphany that inspires him to examine the life of the soul. Petrarch will go on to write works that usher in a more modern age, and be called “the father of humanism.”
Francesco Petrarca, commonly anglicized as Petrarch, was a scholar and poet in Renaissance Italy, who was one of the earliest humanists. His rediscovery of Cicero’s letters is often credited with initiating the 14th-century Renaissance. Petrarch is often considered the founder of Humanism. In the 16th century, Pietro Bembo created the model for the modern Italian language based on Petrarch’s works, as well as those of Giovanni Boccaccio, and, to a lesser extent, Dante Alighieri. Petrarch would be later endorsed as a model for Italian style by the Accademia della Crusca. Petrarch’s sonnets were admired and imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance and became a model for lyrical poetry. He is also known for being the first to develop the concept of the “Dark Ages.” This standing back from his time was possible because he straddled two worlds—the classical and his own modern day.
Lived: Jul 20, 1304 – Jul 19, 1374 (age 69)
Children: Giovanni (Son) · Francesca (Daughter)
Parents: Ser Petracco (Father) · Eletta Canigiani (Mother)
Education: University of Bologna (1320 – 1323) · University of Montpellier (1316 – 1320)
First ascent: Mont Ventoux
Siblings: Gherardo Petracco (Brother)
Highlights
  • 1309: He spent much of his early life at Avignon and nearby Carpentras, where his family moved to follow Pope Clement V who moved there in 1309 to begin the Avignon Papacy.

  • 1326: After the death of their parents, Petrarch and his brother Gherardo went back to Avignon in 1326, where he worked in numerous clerical offices.

  • 1341: On April 8, 1341, he became the second poet laureate since antiquity and was crowned by Roman Senatori Giordano Orsini and Orso dell’Anguillara on the holy grounds of Rome’s Capitol.

  • 1345: In 1345 he personally discovered a collection of Cicero’s letters not previously known to have existed, the collection ad Atticum.

  • 1348: Upon her death in 1348, the poet found that his grief was as difficult to live with as was his former despair.

  • 1362: In 1362, shortly after the birth of a daughter, Eletta (the same name as Petrarch’s mother), they joined Petrarch in Venice to flee the plague then ravaging parts of Europe.

wiki/Petrarch
Studio 54 in New York on Nov. 6, 1979. (© AP/Richard Drew)(1977) Studio 54 opens in New York City
Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager open a nightclub, which will become a legendary symbol of the decadent disco era and overindulgent celeb culture. Regulars would include Andy Warhol, Mick and Bianca Jagger, Truman Capote, Elizabeth Taylor, and yes, Donald Trump.
Studio 54 is a former nightclub and currently a Broadway theatre, located at 254 West 54th Street, between Eighth Avenue and Broadway in Manhattan. The building, originally built as the Gallo Opera House, opened in 1927, after which it changed names several times, eventually becoming CBS radio and television Studio 52.
Website: www.roundabouttheatre.org
Address: 254 W 54th St, New York, NY 10019
Phone: (212) 719-1300
Opened: 1977
Closed: 1986
Capacity: 1,006
Architects: Ian Schrager · Eugene De Rosa

wiki/Studio_54
Reactor 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant damaged in the explosion on April 26, 1989 (© Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images)(1986) Explosion rocks the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
An unexpected power surge causes a rupture in Reactor 4 at the Soviet Union’s Chernobyl nuclear plant. The resulting explosion is the world’s worst nuclear accident, sending radioactive contamination drifting over large swathes of the Ukraine, Belarus, and parts of Western Europe.
The Chernobyl disaster, also referred to as the Chernobyl accident, was a catastrophic nuclear accident. It occurred on 26 April 1986 in the No.4 light water graphite moderated reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near Pripyat, in what was then part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union.
Date: Apr 26, 1986
Location of Chernobyl

wiki/Chernobyl_disaster
A person in Dhaka, Bangladesh, sits among the ruins left by a tornado that struck central Bangladesh on April 26, 1989 (© Pavel Rahman/AP)(1989) History’s deadliest tornado strikes Bangladesh
Roughly 1,300 perish, 12,000 are injured, and 80,000 are left homeless after the Daulatpur–Saturia tornado wreaks havoc in the central Dhaka region of Bangladesh. Estimated at a mile wide, and leaving a trail 50 miles long, the storm devastates the South Asian country.
The Daulatpur–Saturia, Bangladesh tornado was an extremely dangerous tornado that occurred in the Manikganj District, Bangladesh on April 26, 1989. It was the costliest and deadliest tornado in Bangladesh’s history. There is great uncertainty about the death toll, but estimates indicate that it killed around 1,300 people, which would make it the deadliest tornado in history. The tornado affected the cities of Daulatpur and Saturia the most, moving east through Daulatpur and eventually northeast and into Saturia. Previously, the area that the tornado hit had been in a state of drought for six months, possibly generating tornadic conditions.
Date: Apr 26, 1989
Bangladesh Tornado Map

wiki/Daulatpur–Saturia_tornado
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Today in History 04/21/17

The bronze sculpture of the Capitoline Wolf with the mythological founders of the city of Rome, Romulus and Remus, displayed at the Campidoglio in central Rome (© Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images)(753 BCE) Rome is founded
According to tradition, orphaned twins Romulus and Remus establish what will become one of the world’s great cities. Legend holds that the twins had been saved from starvation by a she-wolf who’d found them abandoned in a cave on Palatine Hill. This area will eventually become Rome’s center.

The founding of Rome can be investigated through archaeology, but traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth.

The most familiar of these myths, and perhaps the most famous of all Roman myths, is the story of Romulus and Remus, the twins who were suckled by a she-wolf. This story had to be reconciled with a dual tradition, set earlier in time, the one that had the Trojan refugee Aeneas escape to Italy and found the line of Romans through his son Iulus, the namesake of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.


wiki/Founding_of_Rome
The Battle of San Jacinto' 1895 painting by Henry Arthur McArdle (© Universal History Archive/Getty Images)(1836) Texas wins independence at Battle of San Jacinto
The Texas Revolution ends as General Sam Houston and his Texian Army soundly defeat the forces of Mexican General Santa Anna in a surprise attack. The Battle of San Jacinto lasts just 18 minutes, and will lead to the independence of the Republic of Texas.
The Battle of San Jacinto, fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day Harris County, Texas, was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Sam Houston, the Texian Army engaged and defeated General Antonio López de Santa Anna’s Mexican army in a fight that lasted just 18 minutes.
Date: Apr 21, 1836

wiki/Battle_of_San_Jacinto
Manfred von Richthofen, widely known as the Red Baron, in his Albatros aircraft, 1917 (© ullstein bild/Getty Images)(1918) Fabled and feared WWI flying ace ‘The Red Baron’ shot down
Although hit in the chest with a fatal bullet during an aerial dogfight, 25-year-old German fighter pilot Baron Manfred von Richthofen, famed for his unmatched run of 80 combat victories, lands his plane near the French village of Vaux-sur-Somme, and utters “kaputt” before dying in the cockpit.
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen, also widely known as the Red Baron, was a German fighter pilot with the Imperial German Army Air Service during the First World War. He is considered the ace-of-aces of the war, being officially credited with 80 air combat victories.
Born: May 02, 1892 · Wrocław, Poland
Died: Apr 21, 1918 · Vaux-sur-Somme, France
Siblings: Lothar von Richthofen (Brother) · Ilse von Richthofen (Sister) · Bolko von Richthofen (Brother)
Parents: Albrecht Philipp Karl Julius Freiherr von Richthofen (Father) · Kunigunde Hildegard Marie Luise Elisabeth von Schickfus (Mother)
Founded: Jagdgeschwader 1
Highlights
  • 1915: After a chance meeting with the German ace fighter pilot Oswald Boelcke, Richthofen entered training as a pilot in October 1915.

  • 1916: In February 1916 Manfred “rescued” his brother Lothar from the boredom of training new troops in Luben and encouraged him to also transfer to the Fliegertruppe.

  • 1917: He switched to the Albatros D.III in January 1917, scoring two victories before suffering an in-flight crack in the spar of the aircraft’s lower wing on 24 January.

  • 1917: In January 1917, after his 16th confirmed kill, Richthofen received the Pour le Mérite (informally known as “The Blue Max”), the highest military honour in Germany at the time.

  • 1917: He returned to his Albatros D.III on 2 April 1917 and scored 22 victories in it before switching to the Albatros D.V in late June.

  • 1918: Richthofen was shot down and killed near Amiens on 21 April 1918.

wiki/Manfred_von_Richthofen
Andrea McArdle as Annie with costar Sandy in 1977 (© Bettman/Getty Images)​(1977) ‘Annie’ opens on Broadway
The musical version of the newspaper comic strip finds a home in New York’s Alvin Theatre and goes on to win seven Tony Awards. Andrea McArdle stars in the title role, and will later be replaced by Sarah Jessica Parker, Allison Smith and others during the show’s six-year run.
Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years, setting a record for the Alvin Theatre. It spawned numerous productions in many countries, as well as national tours, and won the Tony Award for Best Musical. The musical’s songs “Tomorrow” and “It’s the Hard Knock Life” are among its most popular musical numbers.
Authors: Charles Strouse · Thomas Meehan
First performed: Aug 10, 1976
First published: Nov 14, 2013
Adaptations: Annie (1982) · Annie (2014) · Annie (1999)

wiki/Annie_(musical)
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Today in History 03/27/17

England national rugby union team in 1871 before their game with Scotland (Public domain)(1871) Rugby’s first international match is played
England and Scotland scrum at Edinburgh’s Raeburn Place in the debut rugby football game between two countries. The rough and tumble match is won by Scotland, but England will beat the Scots the next year.
The 1871 rugby union match between Scotland and England was a single international rugby union match played between the Scotland and England national rugby union teams on 27 March 1871. This was the world’s very first international rugby union match, and was played at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh in front of 4,000 spectators. The match was won by Scotland which scored two tries and a goal to England’s single try.
Date: Mar 27, 1871

wiki/1871_Scotland_versus_England_rugby_union_match
Mary Mallon, aka 'Typhoid Mary,' during her first quarantine, 1907-1910 (Public domain)(1915) ‘Typhoid Mary’ is quarantined for life
Irish immigrant Mary Mallon is isolated on North Brother Island in New York’s East River. As an asymptomatic typhus carrier she is believed to have unwittingly infected 51 people and killed three in her role as a family cook. She will spend nearly three decades in isolation before dying of pneumonia.
Mary Mallon, better known as Typhoid Mary, was the first person in the United States identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the pathogen associated with typhoid fever. She was presumed to have infected 22 people, three of whom died, over the course of her career as a cook. She was twice forcibly isolated by public health authorities and died after a total of nearly three decades in isolation.
Born: Sep 23, 1869 · Cookstown, United Kingdom
Died: Nov 11, 1938 · North and South Brother Islands, New York City, NY
Buried: Saint Raymond’s Cemetery
Highlights
  • 1900: In 1900, she worked in Mamaroneck, New York, where, within two weeks of her employment, residents developed typhoid fever.

  • 1901: In 1901, she moved to Manhattan, where members of the family for whom she worked developed fevers and diarrhea, and the laundress died.

  • 1906: In 1906, she took a position in Oyster Bay, Long Island, and within two weeks 10 of the 11 family members were hospitalized with typhoid.

  • 1915: In 1915, Mallon started another major outbreak, this time at Sloane Hospital for Women in New York City.

  • 1915: After arresting her, public health authorities returned her to quarantine on North Brother Island on March 27, 1915.

  • 1938: On November 11, 1938, she died of pneumonia at age 69.

wiki/Mary_Mallon
Street damaged by an earthquake in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 27, 1964 (U.S. Army)(1964) Strongest quake in US history slams Alaska
The afternoon calm of Good Friday is shattered as a massively powerful 9.2 magnitude megathrust earthquake hits 78 miles east of Anchorage, Alaska. Fifteen people are killed by the earthquake itself, but tsunamis triggered by the quake will claim 124 additional victims, some as far away as California.
The 1964 Alaskan earthquake, also known as the Great Alaskan earthquake and Good Friday earthquake, occurred at 5:36 P.M. AST on Good Friday, March 27. Across south-central Alaska, ground fissures, collapsing structures, and tsunamis resulting from the earthquake caused about 139 deaths.
Date: Mar 27, 1964

wiki/1964_Alaska_earthquake
The remains of a KLM jumbo jet sits in ruins at Los Rodeos airport, Tenerife, on March 27, 1977 (© AP)(1977) 583 die on Tenerife airport runway
Two airliners slam into each other during takeoff in foggy weather on Tenerife, an island off the coast of Spain. Only 61 of the 644 passengers and crew survive the fireball, making this history’s worst aviation disaster.

On March 27, 1977, two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North Airport), on the Spanish island of Tenerife, Canary Islands. The crash killed 583 people, making it the deadliest accident in aviation history. As a result of the complex interaction of organizational influences, environmental conditions, and unsafe acts leading up to this aircraft mishap, the disaster at Tenerife has served as a textbook example for reviewing the processes and frameworks used in aviation mishap investigations and accident prevention.

A bomb explosion at Gran Canaria Airport, and the threat of a second bomb, caused many aircraft to be diverted to Los Rodeos Airport. Among them were KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736 – the two aircraft involved in the accident. At Los Rodeos Airport, air traffic controllers were forced to park many of the airplanes on the taxiway, thereby blocking it. While authorities waited to reopen Gran Canaria, a dense fog had developed at Tenerife, which greatly reduced visibility and further complicated the situation.

When Gran Canaria reopened, the parked aircraft blocking the taxiway at Tenerife required both of the 747s to taxi on the only runway in order to get in position for takeoff. The fog was so thick that neither aircraft could be seen from the other, and the controller in the tower could not see the runway or the two 747s on it. As the airport did not have ground radar, the controller could only find where each airplane was by voice reports over the radio.

The disaster occurred in Spanish territory, making Spain responsible for investigating the accident. The crash involved aircraft from the United States and the Netherlands, and both of those countries appointed representatives to the investigation. The investigations revealed that the primary cause of the accident was the captain of the KLM flight taking off without clearance from air traffic control (ATC). The investigation specified that the captain did not intentionally take off without clearance; rather he fully believed he had clearance to take off due to misunderstandings between his flight crew and ATC. Dutch investigators placed a greater emphasis on this than their American and Spanish counterparts, but ultimately KLM admitted their crew was responsible for the accident, and the airline financially compensated the victims’ relatives.

The accident had a lasting influence on the industry, particularly in the area of communication. An increased emphasis was placed on using standardized phraseology in ATC communication by controllers and pilots alike, thereby reducing the chance for misunderstandings. As part of these changes, the word “takeoff” was removed from general usage, and is only spoken by ATC when clearing an aircraft to take off or when cancelling that same clearance. Less experienced flight crew members were encouraged to challenge their captains when they believed something was not correct, and captains were instructed to listen to their crew and evaluate all decisions in light of crew concerns. This concept was later expanded into what is known today as crew resource management (CRM), in which training is now mandatory for all airline pilots.


Date: Mar 27, 1977
Fatalities: 583

wiki/Tenerife_airport_disaster
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