Edwin Prescott

Today in History 08/16 (Solar Flares)

Energy leaving the sun's surface photographed at the National Solar Observatory east of Alamogordo in Sunspot, NM (© National Solar Observatory/AP)(1989) Space storms crash a stock market’s computers
All trading is halted on the Toronto Stock Exchange as three disc drives fail and computers crash. Scientists trace the failure to microchip interference from a geomagnetic storm caused by a massive solar flare, even larger than the one that took down Quebec’s power grid months earlier.
A geomagnetic storm is a temporary disturbance of the Earth’s magnetosphere caused by a solar wind shock wave and/or cloud of magnetic field that interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field. The increase in the solar wind pressure initially compresses the magnetosphere. The solar wind’s magnetic field interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field and transfers an increased energy into the magnetosphere.
Magnetosphere rendition
Artist’s depiction of solar wind particles interacting with Earth’s magnetosphere. Sizes are not to scale.
wiki/Geomagnetic_storm
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(1989) Space storms crash a stock market’s computers.
Also on this day,

1812 | The British score an easy win against America
Recognizing that his enemy is massing forces he can’t take on, and fearing for his family, General William Hull surrenders Fort Detroit to the British. The action will result in a death penalty, but Hull’s sentence will be pardoned due to his previous Revolutionary War heroism.
1898 | The vertical loop roller coaster is patented
Edwin Prescott is awarded a patent for an improved roller coaster design using a teardrop-shaped loop. The Loop the Loop will open in Coney Island in 1901, but the trend of looping roller coasters won’t really catch on until decades later.
1974 | Four ‘brothers’ from Queens take the stage in downtown NYC
Johnny, Tommy, Dee Dee, and Joey Ramone play the Bowery’s CBGB club in matching leather jackets, jeans, and attitudes, belting out their set of blistering songs in a style soon to be dubbed ‘punk.’ Rocketing from this first gig, the Ramones will change the course of rock ‘n’ roll.

Today in History 08/16/17

Illustration depicting US General William Hull, surrendering Fort Detroit to British general Sir Isaac Brock during the War of 1812 (© Kean Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)(1812) The British score an easy win against America
Recognizing that his enemy is massing forces he can't take on, and fearing for his family, General William Hull surrenders Fort Detroit to the British. The action will result in a death penalty, but Hull's sentence will be pardoned due to his previous Revolutionary War heroism.
The Siege of Detroit, also known as the Surrender of Detroit, or the Battle of Fort Detroit, was an early engagement in the Anglo-American War of 1812. A British force under Major General Isaac Brock with Native American allies under the Shawnee leader, Tecumseh, used bluff and deception to intimidate the American Brigadier General William Hull into surrendering the fort and town of Detroit, Michigan, and a dispirited army which nevertheless outnumbered the victorious British and Native Americans.
Start date: Aug 15, 1812
End date: Aug 16, 1812
Plan of the Town of Detroit and Fort Lernoult, 1792.
Plan of Detroit and its fort, 1792

wiki/Siege_of_Detroit
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