2010

Today in History 01/12/18

Sherider Anilus and her daughter, Monica, sit on the spot where her home collapsed during the Feb. 12, 2010, 7.0 earthquake in the Fort National neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti (© Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)(2010) A devastating earthquake strikes Haiti
The strongest earthquake to hit Haiti in 200 years strikes with an epicenter only 15 miles from the Caribbean nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince, killing 200,000 and leaving 895,000 homeless.
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicenter near the town of Léogâne, approximately 25 kilometres west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.
Date: Jan 12, 2010
Fatalities: 200,000

Haiti Jan2010 ShakeMap
USGS intensity map
wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake
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Today in History 01/12/17

Soviet soldiers fighting during the Siege of Leningrad in Jan. 1943 (© Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images)(1943) Soviets launch offensive against Germans at Leningrad
Soviet forces pierce through the Nazi encirclement that has left Leningrad citizens cut off from the rest of the world for the previous 18 months, and begin to offer relief to the starving population. The siege will continue for another year before it is finally lifted, resulting in the loss of 650,000 lives.
The Siege of Leningrad, also known as the Leningrad Blockade was a prolonged military blockade undertaken mainly by the German Army Group North against Leningrad, historically and currently known as Saint Petersburg, in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II. The siege started on 8 September 1941, when the last road to the city was severed. Although the Soviets managed to open a narrow land corridor to the city on 18 January 1943, the siege was only lifted on 27 January 1944, 872 days after it began. It was one of the longest and most destructive sieges in history and possibly the costliest in terms of casualties.
Start date: Sep 08, 1941
End date: Jan 27, 1944

wiki/Siege_of_Leningrad
US Military Advisory Group instructs Vietnamese infantrymen on boarding procedures for their airlift aboard the helicopter behind them in March 1962 in Vietnam (© US Army/Getty Images)(1962) First major American combat mission in Vietnam
US Army helicopters and personnel transport over 1,000 South Vietnamese paratroopers to engage enemies west of Saigon in Operation Chopper, America’s first battle mission of the Vietnam War.
Operation Chopper occurred on January 12, 1962 and was the first time US forces participated in major combat in the Vietnam War. In December 1961, the USNS Core docked in Saigon with 82 US Army Piasecki H-21 helicopters. A little more than 12 days later, Operation Chopper commenced.
Date: Jan 12, 1962

wiki/Operation_Chopper_(Vietnam)
HAL 9000, artificial intelligence unit, from '2001: A Space Odyssey' (© DSGpro/Getty Images)(1992) HAL 9000 becomes operational in Urbana, Illinois
In Arthur C. Clarke’s novel ‘2001: A Space Odyssey,’ the fictional HAL Lab debuts the HAL 9000, a supercomputer created to control the Discovery One spacecraft. Although polite, HAL’s operation of the pod bay door will prove to be unreliable.
HAL 9000 is a fictional character and the main antagonist in Arthur C. Clarke’s Space Odyssey series. First appearing in 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL is a sentient computer that controls the systems of the Discovery One spacecraft and interacts with the ship’s astronaut crew. Part of HAL’s hardware is shown towards the end of the film, but he is mostly depicted as a camera lens containing a red dot, instances of which are located throughout the ship. HAL 9000 is voiced by Douglas Rain in the two film adaptations of the Space Odyssey series and a short film voiced by Andrew Stanton. HAL speaks in a soft, calm voice and a conversational manner, in contrast to the crewmen, David Bowman and Frank Poole.
Creators: Arthur C. Clarke · Stanley Kubrick
Related movies: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Appearances: 3001: The Final Odyssey · 2061: Odyssey Three · 2010: Odyssey Two · 2001: A Space Odyssey
Species: Artificial intelligence · Computer
Place of Birth: Urbana
Siblings: SAL 9000

wiki/HAL_9000
Sherider Anilus and her daughter, Monica, sit on the spot where her home collapsed during the Feb. 12, 2010, 7.0 earthquake in the Fort National neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti (© Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)(2010) A devastating earthquake strikes Haiti
The strongest earthquake to hit Haiti in 200 years strikes with an epicenter only 15 miles from the Caribbean nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince, killing 200,000 and leaving 895,000 homeless.
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicenter near the town of Léogâne, approximately 25 kilometres west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.
Date: Jan 12, 2010
Fatalities: 200,000

wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake
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Today in History 01/04/17

United Nations soldiers watch flames consume a pontoon bridge across the ice-choked Han River in South Korea on Jan. 4, 1951 during the Korean War (© AP)(1951) Chinese forces capture Seoul
The Third Battle of Seoul sees Chinese forces crossing the 38th parallel, forcing the US Eighth Army to evacuate Seoul, but ultimately drawing the United Nation’s support to South Korea’s side.
The Third Battle of Seoul, also known as the Chinese New Year’s Offensive, the January–Fourth Retreat or the Third Phase Campaign Western Sector, was a battle of the Korean War, which took place from December 31, 1950 to January 7, 1951 around the South Korean capital of Seoul. In the aftermath of the major Chinese victory at the Battle of the Ch’ongch’on River, the United Nations Command started to contemplate the possibility of evacuation from the Korean Peninsula. Upon learning of this development, China’s Chairman Mao Zedong ordered the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army to cross the 38th parallel in an effort to pressure the United Nations forces to withdraw from South Korea.
Start date: Dec 31, 1950
End date: Jan 07, 1951

wiki/Third_Battle_of_Seoul
Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand stands in front of a snow tractor after arriving at the American Scientific Station at the South Pole, Jan. 4, 1958 (© Rennie Taylor/AP)(1958) Edmund Hillary reaches the South Pole
For the first time since 1912, an overland expedition reaches the South Pole, this time headed by New Zealander Edmund Hillary, who is also the first man to have reached the summit of Mt. Everest.
Sir Edmund Percival “Ed” Hillary KG ONZ KBE was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt. TIME magazine named Hillary one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
Hillary became interested in mountaineering while in secondary school. He made his first major climb in 1939, reaching the summit of Mount Ollivier. He served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force as a navigator during World War II. Prior to the 1953 Everest expedition, Hillary had been part of the British reconnaissance expedition to the mountain in 1951 as well as an unsuccessful attempt to climb Cho Oyu in 1952. As part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition he reached the South Pole overland in 1958. He subsequently reached the North Pole, making him the first person to reach both poles and summit Everest.
Following his ascent of Everest, Hillary devoted most of his life to helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust, which he founded. Through his efforts, many schools and hospitals were built in Nepal.
wiki/Edmund_Hillary
President Richard Nixon answers questions about the Watergate scandal in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, Oct. 1973 (© David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)(1974) Nixon refuses order to release Watergate tapes
US President Richard Nixon defies the Senate Watergate Committee’s subpoena to turn over recordings he made of Oval Office conversations, but this doesn’t help his cause and he will resign eight months later.
The Nixon White House tapes are audio recordings of conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and Nixon administration officials, Nixon family members, and White House staff, produced between 1971 and 1973.
In February 1971, a sound-activated taping system was first installed in the Oval Office, using Sony TC-800B open-reel tape recorders to capture audio transmitted by telephone taps and concealed microphones. The system was subsequently expanded to include other rooms within the White House and Camp David. The recording system was turned off on July 18, 1973, two days after they became public knowledge as a result of the Senate Watergate Committee hearings.
Nixon was not the first president to record his White House conversations; the practice was initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940.
The tapes’ existence came to light during the Watergate scandal of 1973 and 1974, when the system was mentioned during the televised testimony of White House aide Alexander Butterfield before the Senate Watergate Committee. Nixon’s refusal of a congressional subpoena to release the tapes constituted an article of impeachment against Nixon, and led to his subsequent resignation on August 9, 1974.
On August 19, 2013, the Nixon Library and the National Archives and Records Administration released the final 340 hours of the tapes that cover the period from April 9 through July 12, 1973.
wiki/Watergate_tapes
Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai (© FUTURE LIGHT/Getty Images)(2010) World’s tallest building opens
The Burj Khalifa officially opens, soaring 2,722 feet over Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. It features the world’s highest restaurant at the 122nd floor and the highest nightclub at the 144th.
The Burj Khalifa, known as the Burj Dubai before its inauguration, is a megatall skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is the tallest structure in the world, standing at 829.8 m.
Address: 1 Emaar Boulevard, Dubai
Opened: Jan 04, 2010
Floors: 163
Height: 2,717 feet (828 m) (Architectural) · 2,722 feet (829.80 m) (Tip)
Architects: Adrian Smith · Marshall Strabala · George J. Efstathiou
Architecture firm: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

wiki/Burj_Khalifa
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