Today in History ^12/17/16

Since 1899, Wilbur and Orville Wright had been scientifically experimenting with the concepts of flight. They labored in relative obscurity, while the experiments of Samuel Langley of the Smithsonian were followed in the press and underwritten by the War Department. Yet Langley, as others before him, had failed to achieve powered flight. They relied on brute power to keep their theoretically stable machines aloft, sending along a hapless passenger and hoping for the best. It was the Wrights’ genius and vision to see that humans would have to fly their machines, that the problems of flight could not be solved from the ground. In Wilbur’s words, “It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill.” With over a thousand glides from atop Big Kill Devil Hill, the Wrights made themselves the first true pilots. These flying skills were a crucial component of their invention. Before they ever attempted powered flight, the Wright brothers were masters of the air.

Their glider experiments on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, though frustrating at times, had led them down the path of discovery. Through those experiments, they had solved the problem of sustained lift and more importantly they could now control an aircraft while in flight. The brothers felt they were now ready to truly fly. But first, the Wrights had to power their aircraft. Gasoline engine technology had recently advanced to where its use in airplanes was feasible. Unable to find a suitable lightweight commercial engine, the brothers designed their own. It was cruder and less powerful than Samuel Langley’s, but the Wrights understood that relatively little power was needed with efficient lifting surfaces and propellers. Such propellers were not available, however. Scant relevant data could be derived from marine propeller theory. Using their air tunnel data, they designed the first efficient airplane propeller, one of their most original and purely scientific achievements. Returning to their camp at the Kill Devil Hills, they mounted the engine on the new 40-foot, 605-pound Flyer with double tails and elevators. The engine drove two pusher propellers with chains, one crossed to make the props rotate in opposite directions to counteract a twisting tendency in flight. A balky engine and broken propeller shaft slowed them, until they were finally ready on December 14th. In order to decide who would fly first, the brother tossed a coin. Wilbur won the coin toss, but lost his chance to be the first to fly when he oversteered with the elevator after leaving the launching rail. The flyer, climbed too steeply, stalled, and dove into the sand. The first flight would have to wait on repairs.

— Source: www.nps.gov/wrbr/learn/historyculture/thefirstflight.htm

Harold Edward Holt, CH, was an Australian politician and the 17th Prime Minister of Australia from 1966 to 1967. He was born in Stanmore, New South Wales and won a scholarship to study law at the University of Melbourne. Holt went into business as a solicitor, during which time he joined the United Australia Party. In 1935, aged just 27, he was elected for Fawkner. Holt spent 32 years in Parliament, including many years as a senior Cabinet Minister, but was Prime Minister for only 22 months before he disappeared in December 1967 while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria, and was presumed drowned.

Lived: Aug 05, 1908 – Dec 17, 1967 (age 59)
Height: 5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
Spouse: Zara Bate (m. 1946 – 1967)
Parties: Liberal Party of Australia · United Australia Party
Previous offices: Prime Minister of Australia (1966 – 1967) · Treasurer of Australia (1958 – 1966) · Member of the Australian Parliament Division of Higgins (1949 – 1967)
Children: Nicholas Holt (Son) · Sam Holt (Son) · Andrew Holt (Son)

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Highlights

• 1935: In 1935, aged just 27, he was elected for Fawkner.


• 1935: Holt stood again for the federal House of Representatives on 17 August 1935, at a by-election for the marginally conservative seat of Fawkner, this time successfully.


• 1946: Zara and Fell subsequently divorced, and she married Holt in 1946.


• 1956: In 1956, he was elected Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and became Leader of the House, and from this point on, he was generally acknowledged as Menzies’ heir apparent.


• 1967: In 1967 the Holt government made the historic decision not to depreciate the Australian dollar in line with Britain’s depreciation of the pound sterling, a break with previous policy, which was strongly opposed by Country Party leader John McEwen.


• 1967: Holt spent 32 years in Parliament, including many years as a senior Cabinet Minister, but was Prime Minister for only 22 months before he disappeared in December 1967 while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria, and was presumed drowned.

— Source: wiki/Harold_Holt

The Simpsons are a very politically incorrect family. Homer works with pride in a nuclear power plant run with more regard for profit that safety. His wife is Marge, a kind of supermom. They have three kids: Bart, an underachiever (“and proud of it”), Lisa (who is as serious and responsible as Bart isn’t), and Maggie.

Website: www.thesimpsons.com
First episode: Dec 17, 1989
Number of episodes: 605
Creator: Matt Groening
Quotes: D’oh!
Theme song: The Simpsons Theme
Producers: Matt Groening · Sam Simon · James L. Brooks · FOX · Al Jean · Gracie Films · 20th Century Fox Television · David Silverman · Kevin Curran · John Swartzwelder · David X. Cohen

— Source: wiki/The_Simpsons
— IMDB: imdb.com/title/tt0096697

Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was a Soviet and Russian politician and the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999. Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev’s most powerful political opponents. During the late 1980s, Yeltsin had been a member of the Politburo, and in late 1987 tendered a letter of resignation in protest. No one had resigned from the Politburo before. This act branded Yeltsin as a rebel and led to his rise in popularity as an anti-establishment figure.

Lived: Feb 01, 1931 – Apr 23, 2007 (age 76)
Height: 6′ 2″ (1.87 m)
Spouse: Naina Yeltsina (m. 1956 – 2007)
Previous offices: President of Russia (1991 – 1999) · Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR (1990 – 1991)
Children: Tatyana Yumasheva (Daughter) · Elena Borisovna Okulova (Daughter)
Buried: Novodevichy Cemetery

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Highlights

• 1956: Boris Yeltsin married Naina Yeltsina on September 28, 1956.


• 1990: On 4 March 1990, Yeltsin was elected to the Congress of People’s Deputies of Russia representing Sverdlovsk with 72% of the vote.


• 1990: On 29 May 1990, he was elected chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), in spite of the fact that Gorbachev personally pleaded with the Russian deputies not to select Yeltsin.


• 1991: On 12 June 1991 he was elected by popular vote to the newly created post of President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), at that time one of the 15 constituent republics of the Soviet Union.


• 1993: Ongoing confrontations with the Supreme Soviet climaxed in the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis in which Yeltsin illegally ordered the dissolution of the Supreme Soviet parliament, which as a result attempted to remove him from office.


• 1996: In mid-1996, Chubais and Yeltsin recruited a team of a handful of financial and media oligarchs to bankroll the Yeltsin campaign and guaranteed favorable media coverage the president on national television and in leading newspapers.

— Source: wiki/Boris_Yeltsin