1981

Today in History 07/07 (Sandra Day O’Connor)

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President Ronald Reagan and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor after she was sworn in to the US Supreme Court in 1981 (© AP)(1981) First female Supreme Court justice nominee announced
President Ronald Reagan fulfills a campaign promise and announces the nomination of Arizona judge Sandra Day O’ Connor for a position on the US Supreme Court. O’Connor will be confirmed by the Senate, becoming the first woman on the Court, and will serve for 25 years.
Sandra Day O’Connor is a retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, having served from her appointment in 1981 by Ronald Reagan until 2006. She is the first woman to have served on the Court.
Born: Mar 26, 1930 (age 88) · El Paso, TX
Nationality: American
Spouse: John Jay O’Connor (m. 1952 – 2009)
Children: Scott O’Connor (Son) · Jay O’Connor (Son) · Brian O’Connor (Son)
Successor: John C. Pritzlaff Jr. (Member of Senate)
Education: Stanford University · Stanford Law School · Austin High School
Highlights
  • 1952: On December 20, 1952, six months after graduating from law school, she married John Jay O’Connor III.

  • 1973: By 1973, she became the first woman to serve as Arizona’s or any state’s Majority Leader.

  • 1989: In 1989, O’Connor stated during the deliberations over the Webster case that she would not overrule Roe.

  • 1998: From that time until 1998 O’Connor’s alignment with Rehnquist ranged from 93.4% to 63.2%, hitting above 90% in three of those years.

  • 2000: O’Connor has reflected on her time on the Supreme Court by saying that she regrets the Court hearing the Bush v. Gore case in 2000 because it “stirred up the public” and “gave the Court a less-than-perfect reputation.”

  • 2002: Lazy B written by Sandra Day O’Connor was first published in 2002.

President Reagan and Sandra Day O'Connor
Supreme Court Justice-nominee Sandra Day O’Connor talks with President Ronald Reagan outside the White House, July 15, 1981
wiki/Sandra_Day_O’Connor
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(1981) First female Supreme Court justice nominee announced.
Also on this day,

1928 | Best thing ever, as sliced bread is sold for first time
Missouri’s Chillicothe Baking Company offers up packages of ‘Kleen Maid Sliced Bread,’ thanks to Otto Rohwedder’s invention, a machine that cuts loaves of bread into uniform slices. Hailed as a great advance, sliced bread will be banned for a time in 1943 as a wartime extravagance.
1990 | The Three Tenors perform for the first time
Singers Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, and Luciano Pavarotti perform a charity benefit in Rome the night before the World Cup final. The group will become wildly popular, introducing opera to a broader audience and selling millions of albums over the next decade.
2005 | Suicide bombers detonate explosives on London transport
Three explosions on London’s Underground system and a blast on a double-decker bus injure some 700 and kill 56, including the four suicide bombers responsible for the terrorist attack. The London bombings come a year after train blasts in Madrid and nearly five years past the 9/11 attacks in the US.

Today in History 04/11/18

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 uprising, 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

1981 Brixton Riots
11 April 1981, during the 1981 Brixton riot in London, police with riot shields line up outside the Atlantic Pub, on the corner of Atlantic Road and Coldharbour Lane, Brixton. The photographer wrote: “In April 1981, around lunchtime, I stepped out of a shop in Brixton and a car burst into flames some 20 yards up the street, marking the start of the worst episode of civil disobedience Britain had seen in over 100 years. These are some of the pictures from that day.” “Police with riot shields block the access to the main area of rioting. Up to this point they’d been using dustbin lids, sheets of ply, anything they could lay their hands on for protection. These riot shields had only just arrived.”
wiki/1981_Brixton_riot
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(1981) Brixton riots roil South London.
Also on this day,
1689 | William and Mary crowned
1961 | Nazi fugitive trial
1976 | Apple I released

Today in History 08/12/17

IBM 5150 personal computer (© SSPL/Getty Images)(1981) IBM makes it personal with the 5150 computer
$1,565 will get you 16K of RAM, a 4.77 MHz CPU, and DOS 1.0 on IBM’s new entry into the marketplace, a machine marketed as a personal computer, or ‘PC.’ Open standards mean third parties can write software or build peripherals, which will contribute to the 5150’s huge success.
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981. It was created by a team of engineers and designers under the direction of Don Estridge of the IBM Entry Systems Division in Boca Raton, Florida.
Inventor: Philip Don Estridge
IBM PC Motherboard (1981)
Original IBM Personal Computer motherboard, IBM 5150. It has five 8-bit Industry Standard Architecture slots, and two DIN connectors for keyboard and cassette interface.

wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer
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Today in History 05/13/17

General Zachary Taylor leading American troops into battle at Palo Alto during the Mexican-American War (© Nathaniel Currier)(1846) US declares war on its neighbor
The US annexation of Texas the previous year lit the tinder between neighboring nations, and now the conflict explodes into the Mexican-American War as the US Congress votes in favor of President Polk’s request for military action. The two-year conflict will end in Mexico’s defeat and the loss of about half its national territory.
The Mexican–American War, also known as the Mexican War, the U.S.–Mexican War, the U.S.–Mexico War or the Invasion of Mexico, was an armed conflict between the United States of America and the United Mexican States from 1846 to 1848. It followed in the wake of the 1845 U.S. annexation of Texas, which Mexico considered part of its territory in spite of its de facto secession in the 1836 Texas Revolution.
Start date: Apr 25, 1846
End date: Feb 03, 1848
Mexican–American War (without Scott's Campaign)

wiki/Mexican–American_War
Pope John Paul II lies wounded after being shot in St. Peter's Square Wednesday, May 13, 1981, by Turkish terrorist Mehmet Ali Agca (© AP)(1981) Pope John Paul II shot in assassination attempt
Four bullets hit Pope John Paul II as he enters Rome’s St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. While the Pope is rushed to the hospital, police capture Mehmet Ali Ağca, of Turkey. The Pope will later forgive his would-be assassin, asking for his crime to be pardoned, and meeting with him in prison.
The first attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II took place on Wednesday, 13 May 1981, in St. Peter’s Square at Vatican City. The Pope was shot and wounded by Mehmet Ali Ağca while he was entering the square. The Pope was struck four times, and suffered severe blood loss. Ağca was apprehended immediately, and later sentenced to life in prison by an Italian court. The Pope later forgave Ağca for the assassination attempt. He was pardoned by Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi at the Pope’s request and was deported to Turkey in June 2000.
Date: May 13, 1981

wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II_assassination_attempt
File photo of British mountaineer Alison Hargreaves in 1993 (Chris Bacon/AP)(1995) Everest summited by unassisted female climber
Accomplished mountaineer, and 33-year-old mother of two, Alison Hargreaves makes history as the first woman to conquer Mt. Everest without the help of Sherpa guides or bottled oxygen. Sadly, she will perish after summiting another Himalayan giant, K2, exactly three months later.
Alison Jane Hargreaves was a British mountain climber. Her accomplishments included scaling Mount Everest alone, without supplementary oxygen or support from a Sherpa team, in 1995. She soloed all the great north faces of the Alps in a single season—a first for any climber. This feat included climbing the difficult north face of the Eiger in the Alps, in 1988. Hargreaves also climbed 6,812-metre Ama Dablam in Nepal.
Born: Feb 17, 1962 · Derbyshire, England
Died: Aug 13, 1995 · K2, Pakistan

wiki/Alison_Hargreaves
Louis Armstrong playing the trumpet (© Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)(1938) Armstrong records ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’
Jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong records the traditional gospel hymn in a Dixieland-jazz style. Though it isn’t the first jazz version of the song, Armstrong’s recording will turn it into a jazz standard that will be covered by hundreds of artists and find a place in pop culture and sports.
“When the Saints Go Marching In”, often referred to as “The Saints”, is an American gospel hymn. Though it originated as a Christian hymn, it is often played by jazz bands. This song was famously recorded on May 13, 1938 by Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra. The song is sometimes confused with a similarly titled composition “When the Saints are Marching In” from 1896 by Katharine Purvis and James Milton Black.
Album: Hello Louis – The Hit Years (1963-1969)
Artists: Louis Armstrong · Fats Domino · Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra · Louis Armstrong & His All-Stars
Release year: 1939
Duration: 2:45
Genre: Jazz, Contemporary Jazz

wiki/When_the_Saints_Go_Marching_In
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Today in History 05/11/17

The Prajna paramita, also called the Diamond Sutra (© Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)(868) Book printed in China
Pre-dating the Gutenberg Bible by almost six centuries, a copy of the Buddhist ‘Diamond Sutra’ is created by woodblock printing on a 16-foot-long scroll and affixed with an exact date. The work will survive to become the oldest known printed and dated text in existence.
The Diamond Sūtra is a Mahāyāna sūtra from the Prajñāpāramitā, or “Perfection of Wisdom” genre, and emphasizes the practice of non-abiding and non-attachment. The Diamond sutra is one of the most influential Mahayana sutras in East Asia, and is a key object of devotion and study in Zen Buddhism.
Jingangjing

wiki/Diamond_Sutra
Portrait of Peter Stuyvesant (Stapleton Collection/Corbis)(1647) Stuyvesant arrives to run North American Dutch settlement
Peter Stuyvesant, of The Dutch West India Company, arrives in the New Netherland colony to take up his position as Director-General. He will head projects that include precursors to Wall Street and Broadway before turning over the colony to the English in 1664, who then rename the colony ‘New York.’
Peter Stuyvesant served as the last Dutch director-general of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York. He was a major figure in the early history of New York City and his name has been given to various landmarks and points of interest throughout the city.
Lived: 1612 – Aug 1672
Spouse: Judith Bayard (m. 1645 – 1672)
Education: University of Franeker
Children: Nicolas William Stuyvesant (Son) · Balthazar Lazarus Stuyvesant (Son)
Parents: Margaretha Hardenstein (Mother) · Balthazar Johannes Stuyvesant, ds. (Father) · Styntie (Steintje) Pieters (Mother) · Rev. Balthazar Johannes Stuyvesant (Father) · Margarethe Stuyvesant (Mother)
Previous office: Director of New Netherland (1647 – 1664)
Highlights
  • 1645: In 1645, Stuyvesant married Judith Bayard (c. 1610–1687) of the Bayard family.

  • 1645: A year later, in May 1645, Stuyvesant was selected by the Dutch West India Company to replace Willem Kieft as Director-General of the New Netherland colony, in present-day New York.

  • 1647: In September 1647, he appointed an advisory council of nine men as representatives of the colonists on New Netherland.

  • 1648: In 1648, a conflict started between him and Brant Aertzsz van Slechtenhorst, the commissary of the patroonship Rensselaerwijck, which surrounded Fort Orange (present-day Albany).

  • 1649: In 1649, Stuyvesant marched to Fort Orange with a military escort and ordered bordering settlement houses to be razed to permit a better defense of the fort in case of an attack from the Native Americans.

  • 1672: He died in August 1672 and his body was entombed in the east wall of St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, which sits on the site of Stuyvesant’s family chapel.

wiki/Peter_Stuyvesant
British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval (© Hulton Archive/Getty Images)(1812) British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval assassinated
Spencer Perceval’s meteoric rise in politics ends as a lone gunman, angry over perceived governmental injustices, enters the British House of Commons lobby and kills the prime minister with a single shot to the chest. The assassin, John Bellingham, will be hanged a week later.
Spencer Perceval, KC, PC was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 4 October 1809 until his death on 11 May 1812. He is the only British prime minister to have been assassinated. He is also the only solicitor general or attorney general to have been prime minister, and the only prime minister until recent years whose entire lifetime was spent in the reign of the sovereign under which he held office, George III.
Lived: Nov 01, 1762 – May 11, 1812 (age 49)
Romance: Jane Perceval
Children: John Thomas Perceval (Son) · Spencer Perceval (Son)
Successor: Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (Prime Minister)
Party: Tories
Previous offices: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1809 – 1812) · Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1809 – 1812) · First Lord of the Treasury (1809 – 1812) · Leader of the House of Commons (1809 – 1812) · Chancellor of the Exchequer (1807 – 1812) · Chancellor of the Exchequer (1807 – 1812) · Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1807 – 1812) · Attorney General for England and Wales
Highlights
  • 1782: After five years at Harrow he followed his older brother Charles to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he won the declamation prize in English and graduated in 1782.

  • 1783: Perceval’s mother had died in 1783, and Perceval and his brother Charles, now Lord Arden, rented a house in Charlton, where they fell in love with two sisters who were living in the Percevals’ old childhood home.

  • 1790: When Jane reached 21, in 1790, Perceval’s career was still not prospering, and Sir Thomas still opposed the marriage, so the couple eloped and married by special licence in East Grinstead.

  • 1796: He studied law at Lincoln’s Inn, practised as a barrister on the Midland circuit and in 1796 became a King’s Counsel before entering politics at the age of 33 as a Member of Parliament for Northampton.

  • 1801: He was appointed solicitor general in 1801 and attorney general the following year.

  • 1804: He kept the position of attorney general when Addington resigned and Pitt formed his second ministry in 1804.

wiki/Spencer_Perceval
'Cats' marquee over New York's Winter Garden theater in 2000. (© Mitsu Yasukawa/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)(1981) ‘Cats’ begins its memorable run
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical debuts in London, where it will run for 8,949 performances over 21 years. The following year it will open in New York, where it will win seven Tony Awards and become the longest-running Broadway show until 2006, when its record will be broken.
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot, and produced by Cameron Mackintosh. The musical tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and the night they make what is known as “the Jellicle choice” and decide which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life. Cats introduced the song standard “Memory”. The first performance of Cats was in 1981.
Author: Andrew Lloyd Webber
First performed: 1980
Adaptations: Cats (1998)

wiki/Cats_(musical)
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