2000

Today in History 12/22 (Dostoevsky Gets Reprieve)

Fyodor Dostoevsky in 1863 (© Elizaveta Becker/ullstein bild/Getty Images)(1849) Dostoevsky spared at last minute from firing squad
Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky stands before a firing line but as the guns are about to fire gets a reprieve and is sent into exile. A member of an underground intellectual group, he’d been condemned to die for antigovernment activities. He’ll go on to write ‘Crime and Punishment’ and ‘The Brothers Karamazov.’
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, sometimes transliterated Dostoyevsky, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist and philosopher. Dostoevsky’s literary works explore human psychology in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century Russia, and engage with a variety of philosophical and religious themes. His most acclaimed works include Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons and The Brothers Karamazov. Dostoevsky’s oeuvre consists of 11 novels, three novellas, 17 short stories and numerous other works. Many literary critics rate him as one of the greatest psychologists in world literature. His 1864 novella Notes from Underground is considered to be one of the first works of existentialist literature.
Lived: Nov 11, 1821 – Feb 09, 1881 (age 59)
Spouse: Anna Dostoyevskaya (m. 1867 – 1881) · Marya Dimiitryevna Isayeva (m. 1857 – 1864)
Siblings: Andrey Dostoyevsky (Brother) · Mikhail Dostoyevsky (Brother) · Varvara Dostoyevskaya (Sister) · Aleksandra Dostoyevskaya (Sister) · Vera Dostoyevskaya (Sister) · Nikolai Dostoyevsky (Brother) · Lyubov Dostoyevskaya (Sister)
Children: Lyubov Dostoevskaya (Daughter) · Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Son) · Sonya Dostoyevskaya (Daughter) · Alexey Dostoyevsky (Son)
Parents: Maria Nechayeva (Mother) · Mikhail Dostoyevsky (Father)
Education: Military Engineering-Technical University

Dostoevsky in 1876
Dostoevsky in 1876
wiki/Fyodor_Dostoyevsky
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(1849) Dostoevsky spared at last minute from firing squad.
Also on this day,

1956 | Ohio zoo welcomes the first gorilla born in captivity
Colo is born at the Columbus Zoo on this day in 1956. Her parents had been surreptitiously put together at night by a zookeeper going against his boss’s orders to keep them separated. The success of Colo’s birth will spur a captive-breeding program for western lowland gorillas in zoos.
1967 | ‘The Graduate’ seduces movie audiences
Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft star in a new film by Mike Nichols. The story of an aimless recent college graduate resonates with audiences and critics alike. The movie also helps a folk duo from Queens, NY, graduate to superstardom.
2000 | Madonna marries British movie director
The pop star marries Guy Ritchie at a heavily guarded castle in the Scottish Highlands. The wedding is shrouded in so much secrecy that it’s 12 hours before the world’s media can confirm the ceremony has taken place. The couple will divorce in 2008.

Today in History 12/22/17

General William T. Sherman circa 1854-65 (Public domain)(1864) Sherman gives Lincoln the city of Savannah as a Christmas present
Union Gen. William T. Sherman wires President Abraham Lincoln a message: "I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah." The telegraph relieves Lincoln who had not heard from Sherman for weeks on his infamous March to the Sea across the South, but the capture of Savannah demonstrates the campaign's success.
Sherman's March to the Sea, more formally known as the Savannah Campaign, was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 to December 21, 1864 by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army. The campaign began with Sherman's troops leaving the captured city of Atlanta on November 15 and ended with the capture of the port of Savannah on December 21. His forces destroyed military targets as well as industry, infrastructure, and civilian property and disrupted the Confederacy's economy and its transportation networks. The operation broke the back of the Confederacy and helped lead to its eventual surrender. Sherman's bold move of operating deep within enemy territory and without supply lines is considered to be one of the major achievements of the war.
Start date: Nov 15, 1864
End date: Dec 21, 1864

Savannah Campaign
Savannah Campaign (Sherman's March to the Sea).

wiki/Sherman's_March_to_the_Sea
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Today in History 12/13 (George W Bush)

President-elect George W. Bush gives his acceptance speech to become the 43rd president of the United States, December 13, 2000 (© Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)(2000) Gore concedes and Bush wins closest presidential race in US history
After a protracted recount of votes in Florida and a US Supreme Court decision the previous day validating Florida’s declaration of George Bush the winner there, Bush becomes president-elect as Al Gore concedes. In Gore’s televised speech, he jokes that he promised Bush he wouldn’t call him back after changing his mind.
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. is an American politician and environmentalist who served as the 45th Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Gore was Bill Clinton’s running mate in their successful campaign in 1992, and the pair was re-elected in 1996. Near the end of Clinton’s second term, Gore was selected as the Democratic nominee for the 2000 presidential election but lost the election in a very close race after a Florida recount. After his term as vice-president ended in 2001, Gore remained prominent as an author and environmental activist, whose work in climate change activism earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
Born: Mar 31, 1948 (age 70) · Washington, D.C., United States
Height: 6′ 1″
Spouse: Tipper Gore (m. 1970 – 2010)
Children: Kristin Gore (Daughter) · Karenna Gore (Daughter) · Albert Gore III (Son) · Sarah Gore (Daughter)
Founded: The Climate Reality Project · Current TV · Generation Investment Management · Chicago Climate Exchange · The Climate Project
Education: Harvard University · Harvard College · Vanderbilt University · St. Albans School

Florida Supreme Court Building, Tallahassee, Florida
Florida Supreme Court
wiki/Al_Gore
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(2000) Gore concedes and Bush wins closest presidential race in US history.
Also on this day,

1937 | Rape of Nanjing as Japanese forces massacre thousands
During the Sino-Japanese War, Japan overtakes the capital of China and Gen. Matsui Iwane orders the city destroyed. His troops will butcher about 150,000 Chinese men and rape 20,000 women and girls, most of whom will be killed afterward. Iwane will later be hanged for war crimes.
1989 | South African President de Klerk meets Nelson Mandela
South Africa’s President F.W. de Klerk holds his first meeting with imprisoned African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela at his office in Cape Town. In the coming months, de Klerk will call for a “new South Africa,” lift the ban on the ANC and other groups, and release Mandala from prison after 26 years.
2002 | Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is captured
After nine months on the run, Saddam Hussein is found hiding in a “spider hole” 6-8 feet underground near his hometown of Tikrit. He offers no resistance to US troops and looks like a different man than during his 24-year reign: Saddam is filthy, with a bushy, unkempt beard.

Today in History 12/13/17

Saddam Hussein is seen on television on December 14, 2003 soon after his capture near Tiktit, Iraq (© US Military via APTN/AP)(2003) Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is captured
After nine months on the run, Saddam Hussein is found hiding in a "spider hole" 6-8 feet underground near his hometown of Tikrit. He offers no resistance to US troops and looks like a different man than during his 24-year reign: Saddam is filthy, with a bushy, unkempt beard.
Operation Red Dawn was an American military operation conducted on 13 December 2003 in the town of ad-Dawr, Iraq, near Tikrit, that led to the capture of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. The operation was named after the 1984 film Red Dawn. The mission was assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno and led by Col. James Hickey of the 4th Infantry Division, with joint operations Task Force 121—an elite and covert joint special operations team.
Date: Dec 13, 2003

Saddam Spider Hole
Iraqi-American, Samir, 34, pinning deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to the ground during his capture in Tikrit, on Saturday, December 13, 2003. Samir was the translator for the U.S. Special Forces that helped find Hussein and pull him from his hiding place on December 13, 2003. Samir later met with U.S. President Bush and thanked him for liberating Iraq.
wiki/Operation_Red_Dawn
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