Herman Melville

Today in History 11/14 (Around the World in 72 Days)

Nellie Bly circa 1890 (Public domain)(1889) Journalist Nellie Bly sets out for around-the-world trip
A reporter ahead of her time, Nellie Bly begins what will be a successful attempt to travel around the world in less than 80 days, putting Jules Verne’s fictional story ‘Around the World in 80 days’ to a real-life test. Bly will complete the journey in 72 days, travelling alone for bulk of it.
Around the World in Seventy-Two Days is an 1890 book by journalist Elizabeth Jane Cochrane, writing under her pseudonym, Nellie Bly. The chronicle details her 72-day trip around the world, which was inspired by the book, Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. She carried out the journey for Joseph Pulitzer’s tabloid newspaper, the New York World.
Author: Nellie Bly
First published: 1890
Number of pages: 331
Genre: Non-fiction
Original language: English

American journalist Nellie Bly, in a publicity photo for her around-the-world voyage. Caption on the original photo reads:
A publicity photograph taken by the New York World newspaper to promote Bly’s around-the-world voyage
wiki/Around_the_World_in_Seventy-Two_Days
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(1889) Journalist Nellie Bly sets out for around-the-world trip.
Also on this day,

1840 | Monet’s birthday as Impressionist painting pioneer is born
Oscar-Claude Monet is born in Paris. He will show an interest in art at a young age, enrolling in Le Havre secondary school of the arts at age 10. Monet will go on to become one of the creators of impressionism, and some of his works will sell posthumously for tens of millions of dollars.
1851 | ‘Moby Dick’ in US as Herman Melville’s story of the white whale is published in the US
‘Call me Ishmael’ first appears in print in the United States, the opening line of a new novel by a former sailor. An earlier version of ‘Moby-Dick,’ entitled ‘The Whale,’ had been published in England. The novel will flop on both sides of the Atlantic, but long after Melville’s death, it will be hailed as a classic.
1969 | Rocket lifts off in second manned mission to moon as Apollo 12 blasts off
Apollo 12 takes off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida with three astronauts aboard: Charles Conrad, Jr.; Richard Gordon, Jr.; and Alan Bean. A few days later, Conrad and Bean will become the third and fourth persons to walk on the moon’s surface.

Today in History 11/14/17

Apollo 12 being launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on November 14, 1969 (© NASA)(1969) Rocket lifts off in second manned mission to moon
Apollo 12 takes off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida with three astronauts aboard: Charles Conrad, Jr.; Richard Gordon, Jr.; and Alan Bean. A few days later, Conrad and Bean will become the third and fourth persons to walk on the moon's surface.
Apollo 12 was the sixth manned flight in the United States Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon. It was launched on November 14, 1969, from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, four months after Apollo 11. Mission commander Charles "Pete" Conrad and Lunar Module Pilot Alan L. Bean performed just over one day and seven hours of lunar surface activity while Command Module Pilot Richard F. Gordon remained in lunar orbit. The landing site for the mission was located in the southeastern portion of the Ocean of Storms.
Mission start: Nov 14, 1969
Mission end: Nov 24, 1969
Space program: Apollo program
Astronauts: Alan Bean · Pete Conrad · Richard Gordon
Destination: Moon

Surveyor 3 - Apollo 12
Charles Conrad Jr., Apollo 12 Commander, examines the unmanned Surveyor III spacecraft during the second extravehicular activity (EVA-2). The Lunar Module (LM) "Intrepid" is in the right background. This picture was taken by astronaut Alan L. Bean, Lunar Module pilot. The "Intrepid" landed on the Moon's Ocean of Storms only 600 feet from Surveyor III. The television camera and several other components were taken from Surveyor III and brought back to earth for scientific analysis. Surveyor III soft-landed on the Moon on April 19, 1967.

wiki/Apollo_12
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Today in History 10/18 (BBC Founded)

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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