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Today in History 12/27 (Darwin Sets Sail)

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Charles Darwin circa 1854 (© Maull & Fox/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)(1831) Charles Darwin departs England aboard the HMS Beagle
Delayed by weather, the Beagle finally sets sail with a 22-year-old Charles Darwin on board, setting out on what will be a five-year journey to explore the far reaches of the southern Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Darwin’s extensive notes during the expedition will later be published as a popular travelogue.
HMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, one of more than 100 ships of this class. The vessel, constructed at a cost of £7,803, was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames. In July of that year she took part in a fleet review celebrating the coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom, and for that occasion is said to have been the first ship to sail completely under the old London Bridge. There was no immediate need for Beagle so she “lay in ordinary”, moored afloat but without masts or rigging. She was then adapted as a survey barque and took part in three survey expeditions.
Keel laid: Jun 1818
Launched: May 11, 1820
Beam: 24′ 6″
Draught: 12′ 6″
Length: 90′ 4″

HMS Beagle longitudinal section as of 1832
Longitudinal section of HMS Beagle as of 1832
wiki/HMS_Beagle
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(1831) Charles Darwin departs England aboard the HMS Beagle.
Also on this day,

1932 | Radio City Music Hall opens in New York City
The huge Art Deco theater is the anchor for John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s 12-acre complex, the Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan. Tonight’s opening is a lavish stage show featuring dance by Martha Graham and vaudeville acts by Ray Bolger and others. It will be the top tourist destination in New York for years to come.
1945 | World Bank and International Monetary Fund created
First conceived at the Bretton Woods Conference in July 1944, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund are formally created to help Europe rebuild after World War II. Over time, their focus will shift to providing loans to address poverty.
1985 | Gorilla expert Dian Fossey is found murdered in Rwanda
The author of the bestselling book ‘Gorillas in the Mist’ is found hacked to death at her isolated research station. Fossey was considered the leading expert on the endangered mountain gorilla, but the reclusive zoologist had made enemies in her campaigns against poachers and wildlife tourism.

Today in History 12/27/17

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim in 2014 (© Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)(1945) The World Bank and International Monetary Fund are created
First conceived at the Bretton Woods Conference in July 1944, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund are formally created to help Europe rebuild after World War II. Over time, their focus will shift to providing loans to address poverty.
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to countries of the world for capital programs. It comprises two institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the International Development Association. The World Bank is a component of the World Bank Group.
Website: www.worldbank.org
Founded: 1944
Headquarters: Washington, D.C., IL
CEO: Kristalina Georgieva (Since 2017)
Founders: John Maynard Keynes · Harry Dexter White
Subsidiaries: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development · International Development Association · Energy Sector Management Assistance Program · World Bank office, Chennai
Phone number: +1 2024731000

World Bank building at Washington
The World Bank Group headquarters bldg. in Washington, D.C.; Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox.

wiki/World_Bank
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Today in History 12/10 (Queen of England, Catherine Howard)

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Catherine Howard, fifth wife and Queen of Henry VIII (© The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)(1541) Two men are executed for affairs with Henry VIII’s wife
Thomas Culpeper, a friend of the king, and Francis Dereham are executed after confessing, under torture, to affairs with the Queen of England Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII. Catherine will meet a hard end, too — she will be beheaded within months.
Francis DerehamFrancis Dereham was a Tudor courtier whose involvement with Henry VIII’s fifth Queen, Catherine Howard, in her youth, was a principal cause of the Queen’s execution.
Died: Dec 10, 1541
Parents: John ( Thomas ) Derham · John Paynell

wiki/Francis_Dereham
Thomas CulpeperThomas Culpeper was a courtier and close friend of Henry VIII, and related to two of his queens, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. He is known to have had many private meetings with Catherine after her marriage, though these may have involved political intrigue. A letter was found written by Queen Catherine and she signed it, “yours as long as life endures.” He blamed the queen, saying he tried to end it, but she was, “dying of love for him”. Under torture, he confessed to adultery, and both were beheaded for treason.
Born: 1514
Died: Dec 10, 1541 · Tyburn
Buried: St Sepulchre
Parents: Sir Alexander Culpeper (Father) · Constance Harper (Mother)
Siblings: Thomas Culpeper (Brother)

wiki/Thomas_Culpeper
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(1541) Two men are executed for affairs with Henry VIII’s wife.
Also on this day,

1884 | Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ is published in England
In colloquial language, Mark Twain’s novel tells the story of its narrator, Huck Finn, and Jim, a runaway slave. The book, which condemns racism, will stir controversy: It’s called “rough, coarse, and inelegant” and “more suited to the slums,” which Twain jokes will spur sales.
1901 | The first Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden
Inventor of dynamite and manufacturer of weapons, Alfred Nobel didn’t want to be remembered as a “merchant of death,” and so willed that his fortune should fund annual awards to celebrate work that “shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.” Today, on the fifth anniversary of his death, the first prizes are conferred.
1967 | Singer Otis Redding dies at 26 in plane crash
Otis Redding’s private plane plummets into a lake just short of the runway in Madison, Wisconsin, killing Redding and six other passengers. Just the day before, the soul singer recorded ‘The Dock of the Bay,’ which will become the first posthumous No. 1 hit.

Today in History 12/10/17

Alfred Nobel, Swedish chemist and inventor whose fortune funded the Nobel Prizes (© Oxford Science Archive/Print Collector/Getty Images)(1901) The first Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden
Inventor of dynamite and manufacturer of weapons, Alfred Nobel didn't want to be remembered as a "merchant of death," and so willed that his fortune should fund annual awards to celebrate work that "shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind." Today, on the fifth anniversary of his death, the first prizes are conferred.
The Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards bestowed in several categories by Swedish and Norwegian institutions in recognition of academic, cultural or scientific advances.
Nobel Prize
A golden medallion with an embossed image of Alfred Nobel facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "MDCCCXXXIII" above, followed by (smaller) "OB•" then "MDCCCXCVI" below.

wiki/Nobel_Prize
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