1988

Today in History 12/07 (Long Island Massacre)

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Colin Ferguson (center) is led by Nassau County detectives to his arraignment December 8, 1993 (© Mike Albans/AP)(1993) Gunman opens fire on commuter train, killing six
Colin Ferguson pulls out a gun aboard a Long Island commuter train and begins shooting passengers as he walks down the aisle, killing six and injuring 19. Ferguson, who will represent himself at a bizarre trial, will be sentenced to six life terms without parole.
On December 7, 1993, a Long Island Rail Road train pulled into the Merillon Avenue station in Garden City, New York, when passenger Colin Ferguson pulled out a 9mm pistol and started firing at other passengers. He murdered 6 people and wounded 19 others before being stopped by other passengers. Ferguson’s trial was notable for a number of unusual developments, including his firing his defense counsel and insisting on representing himself and questioning his own victims on the stand.
Born: Jan 14, 1958 (age 60) · Kingston, Jamaica
Nationality: American
Spouse: Audrey Warren (m. 1986 – 1988)
Parents: May Ferguson (Mother) · Von Herman Ferguson (Father)
Education: Adelphi University · Nassau Community College · Calabar High School
Date: Dec 07, 1993

Mug shot of Colin Ferguson. by New York State Department of Correctional Services
Mug shot of Colin Ferguson. by New York State Department of Correctional Services
wiki/Long_Island_Rail_Road_massacre
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(1993) Gunman opens fire on commuter train, killing six.
Also on this day,

1941 | Pearl Harbor bombed as Japanese warplanes attack Pearl Harbor in Hawaii
In a surprise, early-morning attack, 360 Japanese warplanes bomb the US Pacific naval fleet and in a two-hour assault kill about 2,400 Americans — almost half the casualties are aboard the battleship USS Arizona. The US will declare war on Japan the following day.
1963 | Sports fans watch it all over again for the first time as instant replay debuts
In the Army-Navy football game, TV viewers get something they’ve never seen before: an instant replay of the Army quarterback’s touchdown. Worried this programming innovation will confuse viewers, the announcer explains, “Ladies and gentlemen, Army has not scored again.”
1988 | Massive earthquake wipes out parts of Armenia
An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale devastates the Republic of Armenia in the USSR. Spitak, a town with about 25,000 residents, is flattened beyond repair, and the death toll throughout Armenia will reach about 45,000 people. The tragedy hits as the Soviet Union is suffering an economic decline, so aid and recovery will be slow.

Today in History 12/07/17

Smoke rises from the battleship USS Arizona as it sinks during a Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (© AP)(1941) Japanese warplanes attack Pearl Harbor in Hawaii
In a surprise, early-morning attack, 360 Japanese warplanes bomb the US Pacific naval fleet and in a two-hour assault kill about 2,400 Americans — almost half the casualties are aboard the battleship USS Arizona. The US will declare war on Japan the following day.
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack, also known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor, led to the United States' entry into World War II. The Japanese military leadership referred to the attack as the Hawaii Operation and Operation AI, and as Operation Z during its planning.
Date: Dec 07, 1941

Attack on Pearl Harbor Japanese planes view
Photograph taken from a Japanese plane during the torpedo attack on ships moored on both sides of Ford Island shortly after the beginning of the Pearl Harbor attack. View looks about east, with the supply depot, submarine base and fuel tank farm in the right center distance. A torpedo has just hit USS West Virginia on the far side of Ford Island (center). Other battleships moored nearby are (from left): Nevada, Arizona, Tennessee (inboard of West Virginia), Oklahoma (torpedoed and listing) alongside Maryland, and California. On the near side of Ford Island, to the left, are light cruisers Detroit and Raleigh, target and training ship Utah and seaplane tender Tangier. Raleigh and Utah have been torpedoed, and Utah is listing sharply to port. Japanese planes are visible in the right center (over Ford Island) and over the Navy Yard at right. U.S. Navy planes on the seaplane ramp are on fire. Japanese writing in the lower right states that the photograph was reproduced by authorization of the Navy Ministry.
wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor
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Today in History 09/19 (Radio Free America)

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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