Harry Truman

Today in History 11/02 (Hughes H-4 Hercules)

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Howard Hughes' flying boat, nicknamed the 'Spruce Goose,' glides over the water on November 2, 1947, in Long Beach, California (© AP)(1947) Howard Hughes flies the ‘Spruce Goose’
Howard Hughes pilots his huge, multimillion dollar wooden plane, the ‘Spruce Goose,’ in California. Designed to transport troops during WWII, the aircraft is completed two years late, after the war has ended. This short test flight is the only time the Goose will fly.
The Hughes H-4 Hercules is a prototype strategic airlift flying boat designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft Company. Intended as a transatlantic flight transport for use during World War II, it was not completed in time to be used in the war. The aircraft made only one brief flight on November 2, 1947, and the project never advanced beyond the single example produced. Built from wood because of wartime restrictions on the use of aluminum and concerns about weight, it was nicknamed by critics the Spruce Goose, although it was made almost entirely of birch. The Hercules is the largest flying boat ever built, and it has the largest wingspan of any aircraft that has ever flown. The aircraft remains in good condition. After being displayed to the public for almost 11 years in Long Beach, California from 1980 to 1991, it is now displayed at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, United States.
Range: 2,983 miles
Maiden flight: Nov 02, 1947
Length: 219 feet
Wingspan: 320 feet
Passengers: 3
Retired: Apr 05, 1976

H-4 Hercules
H-4 Hercules “Spruce Goose”
wiki/Hughes_H-4_Hercules
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(1947) Howard Hughes flies the ‘Spruce Goose’.
Also on this day,

1948 | President Harry Truman defeats Thomas Dewey
By a narrow margin, President Harry Truman wins an upset victory over Republican challenger Thomas Dewey, the governor of New York in the race for the US presidency. Truman’s win will be considered the greatest upset in the history of US presidential elections.
1959 | Quiz show scandal as Charles Van Doren admits role in TV quiz show scandal
American intellectual Charles Van Doren confesses to a US House subcommittee that he’d been given answers prior to his appearances on TV’s game show ‘Twenty-One.’ During Van Doren’s so-called winning streak, he’d found fame, fortune, and made the cover of ‘Time.’
1963 | Coup in Vietnam as a presidential assassination sends Vietnam into chaos
Ngo Dinh Diem had been president of South Vietnam since 1955 and enjoyed US support until his strong-armed tactics, particularly against Buddhists, soured the relationship, and now a US-backed coup has brought him down. Vietnam will erupt into civil war following his assassination.

Today in History 11/02/17

President Ngo Dinh Diem (© AP)(1963) A presidential assassination sends Vietnam into chaos
Ngo Dinh Diem had been president of South Vietnam since 1955 and enjoyed US support until his strong-armed tactics, particularly against Buddhists, soured the relationship, and now a US-backed coup has brought him down. Vietnam will erupt into civil war following his assassination.
The arrest and assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm, the president of South Vietnam, marked the culmination of a successful CIA-backed coup d'état led by General Dương Văn Minh in November 1963. On 2 November 1963, Diệm and his adviser, his younger brother Ngô Đình Nhu, were arrested after the Army of the Republic of Vietnam had been successful in a bloody overnight siege on Gia Long Palace in Saigon. The coup was the culmination of nine years of autocratic and nepotistic family rule in South Vietnam. Discontent with the Diệm regime had been simmering below the surface, and exploded with mass Buddhist protests against long-standing religious discrimination after the government shooting of protesters who defied a ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag.
Corpse of Ngô Đình Diệm in the 1963 coup
The corpse of Ngô Đình Diệm in the back of the APC, having been executed on the way to military headquarters

wiki/Arrest_and_assassination_of_Ngo_Dinh_Diem
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Today in History 08/14 (Cologne Cathedral)

Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany (© nevereverro/Getty Images)(1880) Cologne’s colossal cathedral is finally finished
Its foundation stone laid almost exactly 632 years before, a soaring masterpiece of Gothic architecture gets its final touches and the Cologne Cathedral is officially completed. The mostly medieval structure will withstand two world wars and the foot traffic of tourists by the millions.
Cologne Cathedral is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, Northrhine-Westfalia, Germany. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is a renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996. It is Germany’s most visited landmark, attracting an average of 20,000 people a day, and currently the tallest twin-spired church at 157 m tall.
Address: Margarethenkloster 5, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia 50667
Phone: 0221 16420
Opened: 1880
Height: 516 feet (Architectural)
Denomination: Catholic
Architectural style: Gothic architecture

Gothic Cologne Cathedral
Photos of Cologne Cathedral. From top-left going clockwise: bird’s-eye view facing west, side view facing northwest, bird’s-eye view facing northeast with the Rhine in the background, and the chancel of the cathedral.
wiki/Cologne_Cathedral
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(1880) Cologne’s colossal cathedral is finally finished.
Also on this day,

1040 | A tragedy of Shakespearean proportions in Scotland
Scotland’s king, Duncan I, is slain as he leads an expedition into his rival’s land. That rival is also his cousin, Macbeth, and when Duncan dies Macbeth takes the throne. Centuries later, this will inspire an English writer to pen an exaggerated tale, and those battling Scots will not be forgotten.
1945 | Truman announces Japan’s unconditional surrender
President Harry Truman announces Japan’s acceptance of Allied surrender terms, and celebrations erupt across the US and around the world, including in Manhattan’s Times Square where a photographer captures one very pucker-happy sailor and a nurse clad all in white.
1975 | Frank N. Furter and friends hit the silver screen
A low-budget homage to the kitschy charms of B-grade sci-fi and horror movies premieres in London, and will have its US debut a month later, but it won’t make much of a splash either critically or commercially at first. Nevertheless, ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show won’t remain obscure for long, becoming a cult classic and midnight-movie mainstay.

Today in History 08/14/17

A sailor blows a horn during the V-J Day celebrations in Times Square, New York, on Aug 14, 1945 (© Hulton Archive/Getty Images)(1945) Truman announces Japan's unconditional surrender
President Harry Truman announces Japan's acceptance of Allied surrender terms, and celebrations erupt across the US and around the world, including in Manhattan's Times Square where a photographer captures one very pucker-happy sailor and a nurse clad all in white.
Victory over Japan Day is the day on which the Empire of Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect ending the war. The term has been applied to both of the days on which the initial announcement of Japan's surrender was made – to the afternoon of August 15, 1945, in Japan, and, because of time zone differences, to August 14, 1945 – as well as to September 2, 1945, when the signing of the surrender document occurred, officially ending World War II.
Surrender of Japan - USS Missouri
Surrender of Japan, Tokyo Bay, 2 September 1945: Japanese representatives on board USS Missouri (BB-63) during the surrender ceremonies. Standing in front are: Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu (wearing top hat) and General Yoshijiro Umezu, Chief of the Army General Staff. Behind them are three representatives each of the Foreign Ministry, the Army and the Navy. They include, in middle row, left to right: Major General Yatsuji Nagai, Army; Katsuo Okazaki, Foreign Ministry; Rear Admiral Tadatoshi Tomioka, Navy; Toshikazu Kase, Foreign Ministry, and Lieutenant General Suichi Miyakazi, Army. In the back row, left to right (not all are visible): Rear Admiral Ichiro Yokoyama, Navy; Saburo Ota, Foreign Ministry; Katsuo Shiba, Navy, and Kaziyi Sugita, Army. (Identities those in second and third rows are from an annotated photograph in Naval Historical Center files.)

wiki/Victory_over_Japan_Day
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