2012

Today in History 08/06 (Voting Rights Act)

President Lyndon B. Johnson moves to shake hands with Dr. Martin Luther King while others look on after the signing of the Voting Rights Act on Aug 6, 1965 (© LBJ Library/Yoichi Okamoto)(1965) Protections for minority voting rights signed into US law
President Lyndon Johnson signs the US Voting Rights Act of 1965, making it illegal to bar African Americans and other minorities from voting. Part of a sweep of civil rights legislation, the law is needed to enforce what had already been ratified in 1868 as the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the Civil Rights Movement on August 6, 1965, and Congress later amended the Act five times to expand its protections. Designed to enforce the voting rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, the Act secured the right to vote for racial minorities throughout the country, especially in the South. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Act is considered to be the most effective piece of federal civil rights legislation ever enacted in the country.
Lyndon Johnson and Martin Luther King, Jr. - Voting Rights Act
President Lyndon B. Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rosa Parks at the signing of the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965
wiki/Voting_Rights_Act_of_1965
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(1965) Protections for minority voting rights signed into US law.
Also on this day,

1945 | Hiroshima destroyed by American atomic bomb
At 8:15 AM, a US B-29 drops a single bomb over Hiroshima, and the first atomic weapon used in warfare detonates with a 13-kiloton blast, destroying nearly 5 square miles of the Japanese city. Upwards of 70,000 die instantly, and tens of thousands will later perish from injury and sickness.
1962 | Jamaica becomes independent from the UK
British flags are replaced with the new Jamaican flag, the first Jamaica Independence Festival is held, and Alexander Bustamante becomes the country’s first prime minister. After decades of protest and debate, British Parliament passed the Jamaican Independence Act on July 19, 1962, setting August 6 as the date of freedom.
2012 | Curiosity rover lands on Mars
NASA lands the robotic rover on the Red Planet to examine the climate and conditions, and determine if Mars had ever been able to support microbial life. It will quickly find hints of an ancient streambed and evidence that the area called Yellowknife Bay may have been habitable in the past.

Today in History 08/06/17

Aerial photograph of Hiroshima, Japan, shortly after the 'Little Boy' atomic bomb was dropped on Aug 8, 1945 (© Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images)(1945) Hiroshima destroyed by American atomic bomb
At 8:15 AM, a US B-29 drops a single bomb over Hiroshima, and the first atomic weapon used in warfare detonates with a 13-kiloton blast, destroying nearly 5 square miles of the Japanese city. Upwards of 70,000 die instantly, and tens of thousands will later perish from injury and sickness.
During the final stage of World War II, the United States dropped nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively. The United States had dropped the bombs with the consent of the United Kingdom as outlined in the Quebec Agreement. The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history.
Start date: Aug 06, 1945
End date: Aug 09, 1945
Atomic bombing of Japan
Left picture : At the time this photo was made, smoke billowed 20,000 feet above Hiroshima while smoke from the burst of the first atomic bomb had spread over 10,000 feet on the target at the base of the rising column. Six planes of the 509th Composite Group participated in this mission: one to carry the bomb (Enola Gay), one to take scientific measurements of the blast (The Great Artiste), the third to take photographs (Necessary Evil), while the others flew approximately an hour ahead to act as weather scouts (08/06/1945). Bad weather would disqualify a target as the scientists insisted on a visual delivery. The primary target was Hiroshima, the secondary was Kokura, and the tertiary was Nagasaki. Right picture : Atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, taken by Charles Levy.

wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki
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Today in History 12/14/16

Today in History
(1863) President Abraham Lincoln pardons his sister-in-law
1863 Lincoln pardons his relative, the widow of a Confederate general. When a Union general grouses about her presence at the White House, Lincoln retorts, “My wife and I are in the habit of choosing our own guests. We do not need from our friends either advice or assistance in the matter.”.

On this day in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln announces a grant of amnesty forEmilie Todd Helm, his wife Mary Lincoln’s half sister and the widow of a Confederate general. The pardon was one of the first under Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, which he had announced less than a week before. The plan was the president’s blueprint for the reintegration of the South into the Union. Part of the plan allowed for former Confederates to be granted amnesty if they took an oath to the United States. The option was open to all but the highest officials of the Confederacy.

Emilie Todd Helm was the wife of Benjamin Helm, who, like the Lincolns, was a Kentucky native.The presidentwas said to be an admirer of Helm, a West Point and Harvard graduate. Lincoln had offered Helm a position in the U.S. Army, but Helm opted to join the Confederates instead. Helm led a group of Kentuckians known as the Orphan Brigade, since they could not return to their Union-held native state during the war. Helm was killed at the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863.

After her husband’s death, Helm made her way through Union lines to Washington, D.C. She stayed in the White House and the Lincolns tried to keep her visit a secret. General Daniel Sickles, who had been wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania,five months prior, told Lincoln that he should not have a Rebel in his house. Lincoln replied, “General Sickles, my wife and I are in the habit of choosing our own guests. We do not need from our friends either advice or assistance in the matter.” After Lincoln granted her pardon, Emilie Helm returned to Kentucky.

— Source: www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lincoln-pardons-his-sister-in-law
(1911) Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen reaches the South Pole
Amundsen’s five-person team and 16 dogs beat English explorer Robert Scott to the pole by about a month. All of Amundsen’s crew and 11 dogs will return safely to basecamp in mid-January. Scott will be less fortunate. He and his team will die just 11 miles from a resupply camp. 1911

The first expedition to reach the geographic South Pole was led by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. He and four others arrived at the pole on 14 December 1911, five weeks ahead of a British party led by Robert Falcon Scott as part of the Terra Nova Expedition. Amundsen and his team returned safely to their base, and later learned that Scott and his four companions had died on their return journey.

Date: 1910

— Source: wiki/Amundsen’s_South_Pole_expedition
(1977) ‘Saturday Night Fever’ struts onto the world stage
1977 The John Travolta film premieres in New York to critics’ applause. Critic Gene Siskel will call it his favorite film ever (he’ll watch it 17 times). Travolta will earn a best actor Oscar nomination for the role of a Brooklyn teen with good dancefloor moves, and the soundtrack will turn the disco craze up full blast.

A Brooklyn teenager feels his only chance to succeed is as the king of the disco floor. His carefree youth and weekend dancing help him to forget the reality of his bleak life.

Release date: Dec 16, 1977 (United States)
Director: John Badham
Gross revenue: $237.10 million USD
Sequel: Staying Alive
Music by: Barry Gibb · Robin Gibb · Maurice Gibb · David Shire
Screenwriter: Norman Wexler

— Source: wiki/Saturday_Night_Fever
— IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt0076666/
(2012) Gunman kills 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary
In Newtown, Connecticut, Adam Lanza, 20, shoots and kills his mother and then drives to his former school, where he murders 20 first-graders and six staff members. Lanza commits suicide as the police close in. The Sandy Hook tragedy is among the worst mass shootings in US history and sparks new debate about gun laws. 2012

The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children between 6 and 7 years old, as well as six adult staff members. Prior to driving to the school, Lanza shot and killed his mother at their Newtown home. As first responders arrived at the scene, Lanza committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.

Date: Dec 14, 2012
Fatalities: 28

— Source: wiki/Sandy_Hook_Elementary_School_shooting
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