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Today in History 10/18 (BBC Founded)

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An early BBC broadcasting station at Savoy Hill in London in 1924 (© Central Press/Getty Images)(1922) The ‘Beeb’ begins its broadcasting reign
After two years of government and military control over a new innovation, radio broadcasting, the British public wants entertainment over their airwaves, and following hundreds of license requests and thousands of petition signatures, the British Broadcasting Company, or BBC, is founded.
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters are at Broadcasting House in Westminster, London and it is the world’s oldest national broadcasting organisation and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees. It employs over 20,950 staff in total, 16,672 of whom are in public sector broadcasting. The total number of staff is 35,402 when part-time, flexible, and fixed-contract staff are included.
Website: www.bbc.co.uk
Customer service: +44 370 410 1060
Founded: Oct 18, 1922 · London, England
Revenue: £4.95 billion GBP
Headquarters: London, England
Founder: John Reith, 1st Baron Reith
Subsidiaries: BBC Worldwide · BBC Symphony Orchestra · BBC Philharmonic · BBC Sport · BBC One · BBC National Orchestra of Wales · BBC Two · BBC News · BBC World News · BBC Three · BBC Concert Orchestra · BBC Four · BBC Films · CBeebies · BBC HD

King George V making his annual Christmas Broadcast to the nation 1934.
King George V giving the 1934 Royal Christmas Message on BBC Radio. The annual message typically chronicles the year’s major events.
wiki/BBC
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(1922) The ‘Beeb’ begins its broadcasting reign.
Also on this day,

1851 | Tale of a white whale surfaces in England as ‘Moby-Dick’ published
A London publisher releases a 927-page epic sea yarn, ‘The Whale,’ by American author Herman Melville. The US edition will be published a month later, almost 300 pages shorter, and re-titled ‘Moby-Dick.’ What will later be hailed as one of the greatest novels ever written will initially sell poorly.
1945 | Argentina’s future president marries Evita as Juan and Eva marry
Actress Maria Eva Duarte stands with Colonel Juan Perón as they exchange wedding vows. Less than a year later Perón will be Argentina’s president and his wife First Lady, where she will rise to prominence on the world stage known better by her affectionate nickname, Evita.
1968 | Olympic athletes ousted as ‘Black Power’ salutes lead to Olympic suspensions
Two days after sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood atop the Olympic medal stand and raised their fists in a ‘Black Power’ salute, they are suspended from the US team and banned from Mexico City’s Olympic village. Their civil rights protest draws both criticism and praise.

Today in History 10/18/17

US athletes Tommie Smith, center, and John Carlos extend gloved hands skyward in racial protest during the medal ceremony at the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City (© AP)(1968) 'Black Power' salutes lead to Olympic suspensions
Two days after sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood atop the Olympic medal stand and raised their fists in a 'Black Power' salute, they are suspended from the US team and banned from Mexico City's Olympic village. Their civil rights protest draws both criticism and praise.
The 1968 Olympics Black Power salute was a political demonstration conducted by African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos during their medal ceremony at the 1968 Summer Olympics in the Olympic Stadium in Mexico City. After having won gold and bronze medals, respectively, in the 200-meter running event, they turned on the podium to face their flags, and to hear the American national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner". Each athlete raised a black-gloved fist, and kept them raised until the anthem had finished. In addition, Smith, Carlos, and Australian silver medalist Peter Norman all wore human rights badges on their jackets. In his autobiography, Silent Gesture, Smith stated that the gesture was not a "Black Power" salute, but a "human rights salute". The event is regarded as one of the most overtly political statements in the history of the modern Olympic Games.
Date: Oct 16, 1968
John Carlos, Tommie Smith, Peter Norman 1968
Gold medalist Tommie Smith (center) and bronze medalist John Carlos (right) showing the raised fist on the podium after the 200 m race at the 1968 Summer Olympics; both wear Olympic Project for Human Rights badges. Peter Norman (silver medalist, left) from Australia also wears an OPHR badge in solidarity with Smith and Carlos.

wiki/1968_Olympics_Black_Power_salute
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Daily Pic 10/13/18 (Greenwich)

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Norah Saudan/Getty Images

Hello from zero degrees longitude

This laser projected from the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, in London, England, marks the prime meridian, dividing Earth’s Eastern and Western Hemispheres and helping travelers to chart their courses by establishing a universally adopted zero degrees longitude. The meridian itself is essentially an imaginary line, arbitrarily placed. By the early 19th century, most maritime countries had established their own prime meridians to aid in navigation. But on this date in 1884, delegates from 25 nations met at a conference in Washington, DC, where they established Greenwich as the international standard for mapping and timekeeping. The decision made sense, as the Greenwich meridian was already widely used. But there was one holdout: France abstained from the vote and used its own Paris meridian for several decades before eventually joining other countries in recognizing the Greenwich meridian.

Daily Pic 10/13/17

© Sandra Bartocha/Minden Pictures

‘Ghost Wood,’ Nienhagen, Germany



Today in History 10/10 (Windscale Fire)

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Calder Hall and Windscale (now known as Sellafield) power stations in Cumbria, England, October 1957 (© Harold Clements/Express/Getty Images)(1957) Fire at England’s Windscale nuclear reactor
A fuel cartridge has burst in one of the channels of England’s Windscale nuclear weapons facility and catches fire, sending iodine-131 radioactive contamination into the air. Eleven tons of uranium will be ablaze before the world’s first known nuclear accident is contained two days later.
The Windscale fire of 10 October 1957 was the worst nuclear accident in Great Britain’s history, ranked in severity at level 5 out of a possible 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale. The fire took place in Unit 1 of the two-pile Windscale facility on the northwest coast of England in Cumberland. The two graphite-moderated reactors, referred to at the time as “piles”, had been built as part of the British atomic bomb project. Windscale Pile No. 1 was operational in October 1950 followed by Pile No. 2 in June 1951.
Date: Oct 10, 1957
Location: Windscale, Seascale, Cumbria (now Sellafield)
Non-fatal injuries: Estimated 240 additional cases of thyroid cancer
Outcome: INES Level 5 (accident with wider consequences)

Windscale Schematic
Cutaway diagram of Windscale reactor
wiki/Windscale_fire
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(1957) Fire at England’s Windscale nuclear reactor.
Also on this day,

1845 | US Navy’s officer’s training school opens at Chesapeake Bay
Seven professors will teach 50 midshipmen in Annapolis, Maryland, as the Naval School, later known as the United States Naval Academy, begins its first term. Commodore Matthew Perry has helped plan the five-year curriculum, with the first and last year taught on land, and the middle three at sea.
1911 | Chinese Revolution begins as 2,000 years of imperial rule crumbles in China
The building of railways by foreign powers in China stokes nationalistic fervor, and unfair financial gain for those same foreign powers leads to violent protests. Today’s Wuchang Uprising will start the Xinhai Revolution, the overthrow of more than 2 millennia of imperial rule.
1956 | James Dean’s final film debuts posthumously ‘Giant’ premieres
The drama starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean debuts, telling the tumultuous story of a Texas ranching family. It marks Dean’s third and final big-screen role, as he had died in a car accident a year earlier after completing work on the film.

Today in History 10/10/17

The Imperial army in white uniforms marching in single file in front of a Pagoda during the Chinese Revolution, October 1911 (© Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)(1911) 2,000 years of imperial rule begins to crumble in China
The building of railways by foreign powers in China stokes nationalistic fervor, and unfair financial gain for those same foreign powers leads to violent protests. Today's Wuchang Uprising will start the Xinhai Revolution, the overthrow of more than 2 millennia of imperial rule.
The Xinhai Revolution, also known as the Chinese Revolution or the Revolution of 1911, was a revolution that overthrew China's last imperial dynasty and established the Republic of China. The revolution was named Xinhai because it occurred in 1911, the year of the Xinhai stem-branch in the sexagenary cycle of the Chinese calendar.
Start date: Oct 10, 1911
End date: Feb 12, 1912
Xinhai Revolution (Chinese characters)
Xinhai Revolution in Chinese characters

wiki/Xinhai_Revolution
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Today in History 09/27 (Stockton & Darlington Railway)

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Opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825 in England (© Universal History Archive/Getty Images)(1825) Northeast England’s coal boom leads to a railway first
Hauling coal from the mines to boats is the real motivation behind the creation of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, but passengers may find a seat inside one of the specially kitted-out coal wagons for the official opening of the world’s first public steam-locomotive railway.
The Stockton and Darlington Railway was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world’s first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected collieries near Shildon with Stockton-on-Tees and Darlington, and was officially opened on 27 September 1825. The movement of coal to ships rapidly became a lucrative business, and the line was soon extended to a new port and town at Middlesbrough. While coal waggons were hauled by steam locomotives from the start, passengers were carried in coaches drawn by horses until carriages hauled by steam locomotives were introduced in 1833.
Opened: 1825
Length: 24.90 miles

within 1821 Stockton and Darlington Railway report
Map by unsigned cartographer within 1821 Stockton and Darlington Railway report. A short pamphlet plus fold-out maps. The original from which this has been scanned is in the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers. It is reference Tracts vol 57 p252. The scan and the upload to Wiki Commons have been made with the permission and direction of their librarian Jennifer Kelly.
wiki/Stockton_and_Darlington_Railway
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(1825) Northeast England’s coal boom leads to a railway first.
Also on this day,

1540 | Ignatius of Loyola and his ‘soldiers’ form the Jesuits
Ignatius of Loyola’s Society of Jesus becomes an official part of the Catholic Church. Known as the Jesuits, or ‘God’s Soldiers,’ the order will send missionaries throughout the world to evangelize their faith, and in 2013 Jorge Bergoglio will become the first Jesuit Pope, as Pope Francis.
1954 | ‘Tonight Show’ staring Steve Allen is king of late night
Comedian Steve Allen hosts the launch of TV’s first late-night talk show, ‘Tonight Starring Steve Allen.’ The innovative NBC program will go on to pioneer many late-night talk show traditions, and morph into the world’s longest-running talk fest, ‘The Tonight Show.’
1964 | The official word on JFK’s assassination is released as Warren Report published
The President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy release their final conclusions to the public. The Associated Press publishes the book containing the Warren Commission’s conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone when he killed President John F. Kennedy.

Today in History 09/27/17

Chief Justice Earl Warren presenting the report of the Warren Commission to President Lyndon Johnson (© Jim McNamara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)(1964) The official word on JFK's assassination is released
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy release their final conclusions to the public. The Associated Press publishes the book containing the Warren Commission's conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone when he killed President John F. Kennedy.

The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through Executive Order 11130 on November 29, 1963 to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy that had taken place on November 22, 1963. The U.S. Congress passed Senate Joint Resolution 137 authorizing the Presidential appointed Commission to report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, mandating the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of evidence. Its 888-page final report was presented to President Johnson on September 24, 1964 and made public three days later. It concluded that President Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald and that Oswald acted entirely alone. It also concluded that Jack Ruby also acted alone when he killed Oswald two days later. The Commission's findings have proven controversial and have been both challenged and supported by later studies.

The Commission took its unofficial name—the Warren Commission—from its chairman, Chief Justice Earl Warren. According to published transcripts of Johnson's presidential phone conversations, some major officials were opposed to forming such a commission and several commission members took part only reluctantly. One of their chief reservations was that a commission would ultimately create more controversy than consensus.


Warren commission cover
Final report cover

wiki/Warren_Commission
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Daily Pic 09/20/18 (Blackpool Tower Ballroom)

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Dosfotos/Getty Images

May we have this dance?

Dancers have been waltzing across the mahogany floors at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom, in Lancashire, England, for more than a century. For those on this side of the pond, Blackpool is a popular seaside resort in the UK, home to the 518-foot-tall Blackpool Tower, a tourist destination built in 1894 and inspired by the Eiffel Tower. These days, when people talk about the tower, they may be referring to the building’s many associated venues–a circus, theater, and the ornate ballroom shown here.

Daily Pic 09/20/17

© Werner Dieterich/plainpicture

Vineyards in Baden-Württemberg, Germany