Today in History 03/11/17

Portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (© Culture Club/Getty Images)(1818) Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ is published
English author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, just 21 at the time, sees her debut novel, ‘Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus’ unleashed to an unsuspecting public. The work will be considered the first science-fiction novel and spawn countless adaptations.
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel written by English author Mary Shelley that tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a grotesque but sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was 18, and the first edition of the novel was published anonymously in London in 1818, when she was 20. Her name first appeared on the second edition, published in France in 1823.
Authors: Mary Shelley · Henry M. Milner · Mary Lowe-Evans
First published: Mar 11, 1818
ATOS reading level: 4.20
Characters: Frankenstein’s monster · Victor Frankenstein · Elizabeth Lavenza · Dr. Henry Clerval · Captain Robert Walton
Genres: Gothic fiction · Horror · Soft science fiction
Adaptations: Frankenstein (1931) · Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994) · Bride of Frankenstein (1935) · Frankenstein: The True Story (1973) · Victor Frankenstein (2015) · Young Frankenstein (1974)

wiki/Frankenstein
Influenza victims crowd into an emergency hospital near Fort Riley, Kansas, in this 1918 file photo (© National Museum of Health/AP)(1918) Deadliest flu pandemic in recorded history begins
Hundreds of soldiers at Fort Riley, Kansas, are sick with a virulent form of influenza, prompting the first reporting of the epidemic. The flu will go on to infect some 500 million people and kill between 50 million and 100 million, according to most estimates.
The 1918 flu pandemic was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic, the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus. It infected 500 million people across the world, including remote Pacific islands and the Arctic, and resulted in the deaths of 50 to 100 million, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history. Disease had already greatly limited life expectancy in the early 20th century. A considerable spike occurred at the time of the pandemic, specifically the year 1918. Life expectancy dropped by about 12 years.
Fatalities: 50,000,000

wiki/1918_flu_pandemic
Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Russian Communist Party, speaking in 1985 (© Sovfoto/UIG/Getty Images)(1985) Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of USSR
Mikhail Gorbachev is chosen to succeed Konstantin Chernenko as the General Secretary of the Communist Party and de facto leader of the USSR. He will usher in ‘glasnost’ (transparency) and ‘perestroika’ (restructuring), ultimately serving as the Soviet Union’s final leader before its dissolution.
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman. He was the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union, having been General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, when the party was dissolved. He was the country’s head of state from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991.
Website: www.gorby.ru/en
Born: Mar 02, 1931 (age 86) · Privolnoye, Krasnogvardeysky District, Stavropol Krai, Russia
Height: 5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
Spouse: Raisa Gorbacheva (m. 1953 – 1999)
Previous offices: Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (1989 – 1990) · General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1985 – 1991)
Children: Irina Mihailovna Virganskaya (Daughter)
Founded: Union of Social Democrats · Club of Madrid · Social Democratic Party of Russia · The Gorbachev Foundation · Green Cross International · Global Green USA · Kombat Armouring
Highlights
  • 1953: Mikhail Gorbachev married Raisa Gorbacheva on September 25, 1953; their marriage lasted 46 years till September 20, 1999.

  • 1984: Andropov died in 1984, and indicated that he wanted Gorbachev to succeed him as general secretary.

  • 1985: Within three years of the death of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, following the brief “interregna” of Andropov and Chernenko, Gorbachev was elected general secretary by the Politburo in 1985.

  • 1986: Gorbachev initiated his new policy of perestroika (literally “restructuring” in Russian) and its attendant radical reforms in 1986; they were sketched, but not fully spelled out, at the XXVIIth Party Congress in February–March 1986.

  • 1988: In June 1988, at the CPSU’s Party Conference, Gorbachev launched radical reforms meant to reduce party control of the government apparatus.

  • 1990: On 15 March 1990, Gorbachev was elected as the first executive President of the Soviet Union with 59% of the Deputies’ votes.

wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev
This TV publicity image released by Fox shows police officers in Hillsborough, Florida, interrogating occupants of a car for suspicious drug activity in an episode of 'Cops' (© Fox/AP)(1989) ‘Cops’ premiere makes for arresting TV
Responding to a writer’s strike, TV producers look for unscripted fare to fill timeslots, and it pays off as the Fox network debuts ‘Cops.’ Great ratings, and a seemingly unending reality TV craze, will follow.
“Cops” was among the earliest reality-based law enforcement shows, and remains one of the most popular of the genre. Each week, a camera crew followed the activities and daily beats of the officers of a different city’s police department. Incidents ranged from routine traffic stops that evolve into charging the subjects with drug-related offenses; domestic violence; high-speed chases; and stakeouts and raids. The success of “Cops” led to other similar programs, with varying degrees of success.
Website: www.cops.com
First episode: Mar 11, 1989
Episode duration: 30 minutes
Creators: John Langley · Malcolm Barbour
Theme song: Bad Boys
Producers: John Langley · Malcolm Barbour · Paul Stojanovich · Bertram van Munster
Genres: Reality television · Documentary · Action

wiki/Cops_(TV_series)
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