2012

Today in History 12/14 (South Pole Expedition)

Four of the five members of the Roald Amundsen expedition view their conquest at the South Pole, December, 1911 (© Lordprice Collection/Alamy)(1911) Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen reaches 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.
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 knew that Scott and his four companions had died on their return journey.
Date: 1910

Members of Roald Amundsen's South Pole expedition 1910-12 at the pole itself, December 1911, (from left to right): Roald Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel and Oscar Wisting
Roald Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel and Oscar Wisting (l–r) at “Polheim”, the tent erected at the South Pole on 16 December 1911. The top flag is the Flag of Norway; the bottom is marked “Fram”. Photograph by Olav Bjaaland.
wiki/Amundsen’s_South_Pole_expedition
4.16.n18

(1911) Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen reaches South Pole.
Also on this day,

1863 | President Abraham Lincoln pardons his sister-in-law
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.”
1977 | ‘Saturday Night Fever’ struts onto the world stage
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.
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.

Today in History 12/14/17

Undated photo of Emilie Todd Helm (© Helm and Todd family photographs and papers, 1850-1951, Univ. of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center, http://exploreuk.uky.edu)(1863) President Abraham Lincoln pardons his sister-in-law
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."
Benjamin Hardin HelmBenjamin Hardin Helm was a Kentucky politician, attorney, Confederate brigadier general, and a brother-in-law of Abraham Lincoln. He was also the son of Kentucky Governor John L. Helm. Helm was born in Bardstown, Kentucky. He attended the Kentucky Military Institute and the West Point Military Academy and then went to study law at the University of Louisville and Harvard University. He served as a state legislator and the state's attorney in Kentucky. He also served as the assistant inspector-general for the Kentucky state guard. Helm was offered the position of Union Army paymaster by his brother-in-law, President Abraham Lincoln, a position which he declined. Helm felt it was an honor to serve in the Confederate States Army, where he was initially a colonel and later promoted to brigadier general. Helm commanded the 1st Kentucky Brigade more commonly known as The Orphan Brigade. He died on the battlefield during the Battle of Chickamauga. Helm was married to Emilie Todd, the half-sister of Mary Todd Lincoln.
Born: Jun 02, 1831 · Bardstown, KY
Died: Sep 21, 1863 · Catoosa County, GA
Children: Katherine Helm (Daughter) · Benjamin Hardin Helm, II (Son) · Elodie Lewis
Education: United States Military Academy
Parents: John L. Helm (Father)
Highlights
  • 1831: The son of lawyer and politician John L. Helm and Lucinda Barbour Hardin, Benjamin Hardin Helm was born in Bardstown, Kentucky on June 2, 1831.

  • 1846: In the winter of 1846, at age 15, Helm enrolled at the Kentucky Military Institute, where he remained for three months.

  • 1856: In 1856, Helm married Emilie Todd, a half-sister of Mary Todd Lincoln.

  • 1860: In 1860, he was appointed assistant inspector-general of the Kentucky State Guard, which he was active in organizing.

  • 1861: Helm was commissioned a colonel on October 19, 1861, and served under Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

  • 1862: He was promoted to brigadier general on March 14, 1862 and, three weeks later, received a new assignment to raise the 3rd Kentucky Brigade, in the division of Major General John C. Breckinridge.


Brigadier General Benjamin Hardin Helm (1831-1863)
Brigadier General Benjamin Hardin Helm (1831-1863)

wiki/Benjamin_Hardin_Helm
4.8.d17


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
4.13.j18

(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
4.4.j17