1988

Today in History 09/19 (Radio Free America)

Leave a Comment
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
4.15.A18

(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
4.4.j17


Today in History 08/20 (Yellowstone on Fire)

Leave a Comment
A forest fire blazes out of control in Yellowstone National Park, Montana, Sept 2, 1988 (© Tannen Maury/AP)(1988) Massive fires consume 150,000 acres of Yellowstone
Drought, winds, lightning, and nearly 250 small blazes in just two months all combine to create the largest conflagration in Yellowstone National Park’s recorded history, hitting a peak today on ‘Black Saturday’ with firestorms burning 150,000 acres and smoke so dense that day turns to night.
The Yellowstone fires of 1988 collectively formed the largest wildfire in the recorded history of Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Starting as many smaller individual fires, the flames quickly spread out of control due to drought conditions and increasing winds, combining into one large conflagration which burned for several months. The fires almost destroyed two major visitor destinations and, on September 8, 1988, the entire park closed to all non-emergency personnel for the first time in its history. Only the arrival of cool and moist weather in the late autumn brought the fires to an end. A total of 793,880 acres, or 36 percent of the park was affected by the wildfires.
Date: 1988

Firestorm Mirror Plateu
The Clover Mist fire races north across the Mirror Plateau
wiki/Yellowstone_fires_of_1988
4.15.A18

(1988) Massive fires consume 150,000 acres of Yellowstone.
Also on this day,

636 BCE | Decisive Arab victory at Battle of Yarmouk banishes the Byzantines from Syria
The seesawing power grabs between Arabs and the Byzantine Empire in the Levant comes to a close as Khālid ibn al-Walīd and his 40,000 troops take on Emperor Heraclius’ 150,000-strong force and decisively defeat them. The win will be a springboard for Arab expansion in the region.
1882 | Napoleon’s Russian loss inspires a sonic boom and ‘1812 Overture’ premieres
Listeners gather under a Moscow tent to get the first public earful of Tchaikovsky’s new ‘Festival overture.’ Blasts of cannon fire finish this feisty 70th anniversary tribute to Russia’s rout of Napoleon, and the ‘1812 Overture’ will survive down the ages as everyone’s favorite fireworks soundtrack.
1940 | Former Bolshevist hero Trotsky gets on the wrong side of Stalin and is assassinated
Twice exiled to Siberia for revolutionary acts, then a key player in the Bolshevik Revolution, Leon Trotsky has fallen out of favor with the new Soviet premier, Joseph Stalin, and is living in Mexico City when an assassin’s ice-axe attack fatally wounds him, killing him the next day.

Today in History 08/20/17

Leon Trotsky on Aug 9, 1940, just 11 days before an attack made on him at his home in Mexico City (© AP)(1940) Former Bolshevist hero gets on the wrong side of Stalin
Twice exiled to Siberia for revolutionary acts, then a key player in the Bolshevik Revolution, Leon Trotsky has fallen out of favor with the new Soviet premier, Joseph Stalin, and is living in Mexico City when an assassin's ice-axe attack fatally wounds him, killing him the next day.
Leon Trotsky was a Marxist revolutionary, theorist, and Soviet politician. Initially supporting the Menshevik Internationalists faction within the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, he joined the Bolsheviks just before the 1917 October Revolution, immediately becoming a leader within the Communist Party. He would go on to become one of the seven members of the first Politburo, founded in 1917 to manage the Bolshevik Revolution. During the early days of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Soviet Union, he served first as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs and later as the founder and commander of the Red Army, with the title of People's Commissar of Military and Naval Affairs. He became a major figure in the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War.
Lived: Nov 07, 1879 - Aug 21, 1940 (age 60)
Height: 5' 9" (1.74 m)
Spouse: Natalia Sedova (m. 1903 - 1940) · Aleksandra Sokolovskaya (m. 1899 - 1902)
Children: Zinaida Volkova (Daughter) · Lev Sedov (Son) · Sergei Sedov (Son) · Nina Nevelson (Daughter) · Howard Fung (Son)
Movies: The Assassination of Trotsky
Founded: Red Army · Fourth International · Communist International · Left Opposition · Petrograd Soviet · International Committee of the Fourth International
Highlights
  • 1903: Leon Trotsky married Natalia Sedova in 1903.

  • 1917: He was, alongside Lenin, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Stalin, Sokolnikov and Bubnov, one of the seven members of the first Politburo, founded in 1917 to manage the Bolshevik Revolution.

  • 1920: The Red Army was defeated by Poland and the offensive was turned back during the Battle of Warsaw in August 1920, in part because of Stalin's failure to obey Trotsky's orders in the run-up to the decisive engagements.

  • 1924: Shortly after Lenin's death in 1924, the letter was found and publicized by Trotsky's opponents within the Communist Party to portray him as Lenin's enemy.

  • 1926: In early 1926, Zinoviev, Kamenev and their supporters in the "New Opposition" gravitated closer to Trotsky's supporters, and the two groups soon formed an alliance, which also incorporated some smaller opposition groups within the Communist Party.

  • 1940: On Stalin's orders, he was assassinated in Mexico in August 1940 by Ramón Mercader, a Spanish-born Soviet agent.

wiki/Leon_Trotsky
4.4.j17


Today in History 07/16 (East-West Schism)

Leave a Comment
Hagia Sophia in present-day Istanbul, Turkey, site of the first conflict, in 1054, of what would become the East-West Schism (© Moment/Getty Images)(1054) East and West in Constantinople Church clash
The conflict between the Latin West and Greek East divisions of the Christian church heats up when a Papal writ of excommunication is placed by Western Roman legates on the altar of the Hagia Sofia, the holy site of the Christian East. It’s the first major crack that will end in a total break some 100 years later.
The East–West Schism, also called the Great Schism and the Schism of 1054, was the break of communion between what are now the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox churches, which has lasted since the 11th century. The Schism was the culmination of theological and political differences between the Christian East and West which had developed over the preceding centuries, and marked the first time since the Edict of Milan that there was more than one body considered by secular authorities to constitute the Christian Church.
Date: 1053

Symbolum Nicaeno-Constantinopolitanum. Icon depicting the First Council of Nicaea.
Icon depicting the Emperor Constantine (centre) and the bishops of the First Council of Nicaea (325) holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381
wiki/East–West_Schism
4.13.j18

(1054) East and West in Constantinople Church clash.
Also on this day,

1945 | Nuclear age begins in New Mexico with atom bomb test
Architects of the Manhattan Project, including project director J. Robert Oppenheimer, gather in shelters 10,000 yards from ‘The Gadget’s’ detonation site in New Mexico and at 5:29 AM the world’s first nuclear bomb explosion, code-named Trinity, pierces the darkness with 20 kilotons of atomic power.
1951 | Holden Caulfield is done with phonies in Salinger’s new novel, ‘Catcher in the Rye’
A teenager is expelled from school and travels to New York City to spend a few days wandering around. Out of this deceptively simple plotline, J.D. Salinger weaves an archetypal tale of teenage angst in ‘The Catcher in the Rye,’ a novel published today that will be hailed and censored in equal measure.
1988 | Wayne Gretzky weds Hollywood actress
Edmonton gets their own ‘royal wedding’ when The Great One marries American actress Janet Jones. Hockey stars Gordie Howe and Paul Coffey are in attendance, as is Gretzky’s longtime friend, actor Alan Thicke. But Jones’ elaborate wedding dress, reportedly covered in 40,000 crystals, steals the show.

Today in History 07/16/17

This photo made by a US Army automatic newsreel camera, shows the test explosion of the world's first atomic bomb at Alamagordo, NM, on July 16, 1945 (© AP)(1945) Nuclear age begins in New Mexico
Architects of the Manhattan Project, including project director J. Robert Oppenheimer, gather in shelters 10,000 yards from 'The Gadget's' detonation site in New Mexico and at 5:29 AM the world's first nuclear bomb explosion, code-named Trinity, pierces the darkness with 20 kilotons of atomic power.
Trinity was the code name of the first detonation of a nuclear weapon. It was conducted by the United States Army at 5:29 am on July 16, 1945, as part of the Manhattan Project. The test was conducted in the Jornada del Muerto desert about 35 miles southeast of Socorro, New Mexico, on what was then the USAAF Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range. The only structures originally in the vicinity were the McDonald Ranch House and its ancillary buildings, which scientists used as a laboratory for testing bomb components. A base camp was constructed, and there were 425 people present on the weekend of the test.
Date: Jul 16, 1945
Trinity Test Site

wiki/Trinity_(nuclear_test)
4.3.j17


Today in History 05/16/17

President Andrew Johnson (© Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images))(1868) US President Andrew Johnson escapes conviction by one vote
Having impeached Andrew Johnson three months earlier, the US Congress fails to convict the president of ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ stemming from his refusal to go along with Civil War Reconstruction. A Senate trial acquits the first US president ever impeached of all charges.
Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. Johnson became president as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. A Democrat who ran with Lincoln on the National Union ticket, Johnson came to office as the Civil War concluded. The new president favored quick restoration of the seceded states to the Union. His plans did not give protection to the former slaves, and he came into conflict with the Republican-dominated Congress, culminating in his impeachment by the House of Representatives. The first American president to be impeached, he was acquitted in the Senate by one vote.
Lived: Dec 29, 1808 – Jul 31, 1875 (age 66)
Height: 5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
Spouse: Eliza McCardle Johnson (m. 1827 – 1875)
Successor: David M. Key (Senator)
Parties: National Union Party · Republican Party · Democratic Party
Children: Martha Patterson (Daughter) · Mary Stover (Daughter) · Brig. Gen. Robert Johnson (USA) (Son) · Andrew “Frank” Johnson, Jr. (Son) · Charles Johnson, MD, USA (Son)
Highlights
  • 1827: In 1827, at the age of 18, he married 16-year-old Eliza McCardle, the daughter of a local shoemaker.

  • 1829: Johnson helped organize a mechanics’ (working men’s) ticket in the 1829 Greeneville municipal election.

  • 1865: Johnson traveled to Washington to be sworn in, although according to Gordon-Reed, “in light of what happened on March 4, 1865, it might have been better if Johnson had stayed in Nashville.”

  • 1868: In January 1868, the Senate disapproved of his action, and reinstated Stanton, contending the President had violated the Tenure of Office Act.

  • 1868: Stanton refused to leave his office, and on February 24, 1868, the House impeached the President for intentionally violating the Tenure of Office Act, by a vote of 128 to 47.

  • 1875: Returning to Tennessee after his presidency, Johnson sought political vindication, and gained it in his eyes when he was elected to the Senate again in 1875 (the only former president to serve there), just months before his death.

wiki/Andrew_Johnson
Mao Zedong, chairman of the communist party of China, 1966 (© Probst/ullstein bild via Getty Images)(1966) Cultural Revolution begins in China
Mao Zedong, China’s Communist Party chairman, issues his ‘May 16 Notice’ condemning the growing influence of capitalist elements in the government, and he calls for a purge. The resulting ‘Cultural Revolution’ will lead to the destruction of important landmarks, torture, and murder.
The Cultural Revolution, formally the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement that took place in China from 1966 until 1976. Set into motion by Mao Zedong, then Chairman of the Communist Party of China, its stated goal was to preserve ‘true’ Communist ideology in the country by purging remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society, and to re-impose Maoist thought as the dominant ideology within the Party. The Revolution marked the return of Mao Zedong to a position of power after the Great Leap Forward. The movement paralyzed China politically and negatively affected the country’s economy and society to a significant degree.
Start date: 1966
End date: 1976
Cultural Revolution Poster

wiki/Cultural_Revolution
The Beach Boys pose in July 1967 in Los Angeles © Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images(1966) Beach Boys release landmark album
The Beach Boys release ‘Pet Sounds,’ which showcases Brian Wilson’s elaborate production and personal approach to songwriting. The album is not an instant smash in the U.S., but will go on to influence the experimental sounds of the psychedelic-rock era and generations of musicians to come.
Pet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966. It initially met with a lukewarm critical and commercial response in the United States, peaking at number 10 in the Billboard 200, a significantly lower placement than the band’s preceding albums. In the United Kingdom, the album was hailed by its music press and was an immediate commercial success, peaking at number 2 in the UK Top 40 Albums Chart and remaining among the top ten positions for six months. Pet Sounds has subsequently gathered worldwide acclaim from critics and musicians alike, and is widely considered to be one of the most influential albums in music history.
Release year: 1966
Genre: Pop music, Contemporary Pop
Label: Capitol Records
Artist: The Beach Boys

wiki/Pet_Sounds
Surgeon General C. Everett Koop fields questions during his news conference, Monday, May 16, 1988, in Washington, where he released a report on smoking (AP Photo/Barry Thumma) (© Barry Thumma/AP)(1988) C. Everett Koop warns of nicotine’s addictive power
US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop reports on the addictive properties of nicotine, described as on par with cocaine and heroin. A dedicated campaigner against smoking, his public advocacy will be credited with helping spur declines in cigarette use during his tenure and beyond.

Charles Everett Koop, MD (October 14, 1916 – February 25, 2013) was an American pediatric surgeon and public health administrator. He was a vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and served as the 13th Surgeon General of the United States under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1989. According to the Associated Press, “Koop was the only surgeon general to become a household name.”

Koop was known for his work to prevent tobacco use, AIDS, and abortion, and for his support of the rights of disabled children.


wiki/C._Everett_Koop
4.1.m17

Today in History 01/26/17

Portrait of Vicente Yáñez Pinzón (© De Agostini Picture Library/G. Dagli Orti/Getty Images)(1500) Spain’s Pinzón is first European to land in Brazil
Captain of the ‘Nina’ during Columbus’ first New World voyage, Vicente Yáñez Pinzón’s current sail takes him to Brazil’s northeastern coast and a short exploration of the mouth of the Amazon River.
Vicente Yáñez Pinzón was a Spanish navigator, explorer, and conquistador, the youngest of the Pinzón brothers. Along with his older brother, Martín Alonso Pinzón, who captained the Pinta, he sailed with Christopher Columbus on the first voyage to the New World, in 1492, as captain of the Niña.
Born: 1462 · Palos de la Frontera, Spain
Died: 1514 · Triana, Seville, Spain
Spouse: Ana Núñez de Trujillo (m. 1509) · Teresa Rodríguez
Siblings: Martín Alonso Pinzón (Brother)
Children: Ana Rodríguez (Daughter) · Juana González (Daughter)
Parents: Martín Pinzón (Father) · Mayor Vicente (Mother)

wiki/Vicente_Yáñez_Pinzón
President Rajendra Prasad prepares to take part in the first Republic Day parade in Rajpath, New Delhi, in 1950 (Via Wikimedia Commons)(1950) India becomes a republic
After thousands of years of monarchy, centuries of British rule, and much religious and social strife leading up to it, India adopts a constitution and becomes the world’s most populous democracy.
Republic Day honors the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect on 26 January 1950 replacing the Government of India Act as the governing document of India. The Constitution was adopted by the Indian Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, and came into effect on 26 January 1950 with a democratic government system, completing the country’s transition towards becoming an independent republic. 26 January was chosen as the Republic day because it was on this day in 1930 when Declaration of Indian Independence was proclaimed by the Indian National Congress as opposed to the Dominion status offered by British Regime.
wiki/Republic_Day_(India)
The Majestic Theatre in New York showing 'The Phantom of the Opera,' circa 1980s (© Tom Wargacki/WireImage/Getty Images)(1988) ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ opens on Broadway
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit West End musical transfers to Broadway. It will go on to be Broadway’s longest-running show and cited as the most financially successful event in entertainment history.
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Charles Hart with additions from Richard Stilgoe. Lloyd Webber and Stilgoe also wrote the musical’s book together. Based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l’Opéra by Gaston Leroux, its central plot revolves around a beautiful soprano, Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, disfigured musical genius.
Authors: Andrew Lloyd Webber · Richard Stilgoe
First performed: Oct 09, 1986
Adaptations: The Phantom of the Opera (2004) · The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall (2011)

wiki/The_Phantom_of_the_Opera_(1986_musical)
President Bill Clinton denying improper behavior with Monica Lewinsky during a press conference on Jan. 26, 1998 (© Harry Hamburg/NY Daily News via Getty Images)(1998) Clinton “did not have sexual relations” with Lewinsky
Under fire from accusations he had an affair with a White House intern, President Bill Clinton issues a strong denial during a televised press conference. Just seven months later he will admit involvement.
The Lewinsky scandal was an American political sex scandal that involved 49-year-old President Bill Clinton and a 22-year-old White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. The sexual relationship took place between 1995 and 1996 and came to light in 1998. Clinton ended a televised speech with the statement that he did not have sexual relations with Lewinsky. Further investigation led to charges of perjury and led to the impeachment of President Clinton in 1998 by the U.S. House of Representatives and his subsequent acquittal on all impeachment charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in a 21-day Senate trial. Clinton was held in civil contempt of court by Judge Susan Webber Wright for giving misleading testimony in the Paula Jones case regarding Lewinsky, and was also fined $90,000 by Wright. His license to practice law was suspended in Arkansas for five years and later by the United States Supreme Court.
During Clinton’s first term in 1995, Lewinsky—a graduate of Lewis & Clark College—was hired to work as an intern at the White House and was later an employee of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. While Lewinsky worked at the White House, Clinton began a personal relationship with her, the details of which she later confided to Linda Tripp, her Defense Department co-worker who secretly recorded their telephone conversations.
In January 1998, Tripp discovered that Lewinsky had sworn an affidavit in the Paula Jones case, denying a relationship with Clinton. She delivered the tapes to Kenneth Starr, the Independent Counsel who was investigating Clinton on other matters, including the Whitewater scandal, the White House FBI files controversy, and the White House travel office controversy. During the grand jury testimony Clinton’s responses were carefully worded, and he argued, “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is,” with regard to the truthfulness of his statement that “there is not a sexual relationship, an improper sexual relationship or any other kind of improper relationship.”
The wide reporting of the scandal led to criticism of the press for over-coverage. The scandal is sometimes referred to as Monicagate, “Lewinskygate,” “Tailgate,” “Sexgate,” and “Zippergate,” following the “-gate” nickname construction that has been popular since the Watergate scandal.
The improper relationship between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky was confirmed, but Clinton’s marriage with his wife, Hillary Clinton, survived the scandal.
wiki/I_did_not_have_sexual_relations_with_that_woman
3.2.j17