History

Daily historical topics that remind what binds us, what divides us, what has changed us – for both better and worse – with the hope that lessons of the past will inform our future so we won’t repeat our mistakes.

Today in History 12/31 (Ottawa Named Capital)

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Houses of Parliament in Ottawa, Ontario, pre-1940 (© The Print Collector/Getty Images)(1857) Britain’s Queen Victoria makes Ottawa the capital of Canada
Queen Victoria follows the advice of her advisors and selects a lumber town, called Bytown, to be Canada’s capital. She chooses the outpost that will become Ottawa because its backcountry location will make it easier to defend against an American invasion and because it stands midway between Toronto and Quebec.
The History of Ottawa, capital of Canada, was shaped by events such as the construction of the Rideau Canal, the lumber industry, the choice of Ottawa as the location of Canada’s capital, as well as American and European influences and interactions. By 1914, Ottawa’s population had surpassed 100,000 and today it is the capital of a G7 country whose metropolitan population exceeds one million.
A view of Ottawa, some of Hull and of the Ottawa River circa 1859, including views of the Chaudière Falls and of Parliament Hill (formerly Barrack Hill) prior to the construction of the Parliament Buildings. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Lithograph, hand-coloured, some discolouration, water mark at top left. Crack in paper, upper centre
View of Parliament Hill and Chaudière Falls, Ottawa, ca. 1859. The hill is the second high landmass jutting into the Ottawa River on the right. It still contains barracks here, its last year with them, for construction of the Parliament Builds is about to begin. The Union Bridge is in the foreground, but its main span has been replaced, after many years of ferry service only, with a steel suspension bridge.
wiki/History_of_Ottawa
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(1857) Britain’s Queen Victoria makes Ottawa the capital of Canada.
Also on this day,

1879 | Thomas Edison lights a street with his incandescent bulbs
On New Year’s Eve, American inventor Thomas Edison demonstrates his incandescent light bulbs in Menlo Park, New Jersey, by lighting a street in front of about 3,000 spectators. Edison isn’t the first to design such a light bulb, though his is the first to burn steadily for hours.
1946 | US President Truman officially ends hostilities in World War II
Truman signs the Presidential Proclamation 2714 to officially cease all hostilities in World War II, more than a year after combat ended in Europe and the Pacific. But the state of war against Germany and Japan will continue until 1951 so that Allies can keep troops in these countries.
1985 | Singer Ricky Nelson dies in plane crash
Traveling to Dallas, Texas, to perform in New Year’s Eve concert, the 45-year-old singer, actor, ex-teen idol, and son of Ozzie and Harriet, is on a chartered DC-3 when the cockpit fills with smoke. All seven passengers will die in the emergency landing, though the pilots will survive.

Today in History 12/31/17

President Harry S. Truman in 1946 (© Toronto Star Archives/Toronto Star via Getty Images)(1946) US President Truman officially ends hostilities in World War II
Truman signs the Presidential Proclamation 2714 to officially cease all hostilities in World War II, more than a year after combat ended in Europe and the Pacific. But the state of war against Germany and Japan will continue until 1951 so that Allies can keep troops in these countries.

Presidential Proclamation 2714 was signed by President Harry S. Truman on December 31, 1946, to officially declare the cessation of all hostilities in World War II. Even though the actual combat of the war ended May 8, 1945, in Europe and September 2, 1945, in the Pacific, the state of war was not lifted off of Japan and Germany in order to give a reason for the necessity of occupation troops in these countries. Once the War Crimes Trials were over, the hostilities were seen as over. The signing of Proclamation 2714 is the reason why the U.S. recognizes its World War II veterans as anyone who has served between the dates of December 7, 1941, and December 31, 1946.

The declarations of war against Japan and Germany in 1941 were officially lifted as follows:

  • September 8, 1951: Forty-nine nations sign the Japanese Peace Treaty in San Francisco, officially ending World War II and re-establishing Japanese sovereignty.

  • October 19, 1951: President Truman signs an act formally ending World War II, after having Congress abolish the state of war with Germany (Pub.L. 82–181).


    • wiki/Proclamation_2714
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    Today in History 12/30 (Marcos is President)

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    Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos in 1965 (© AP)(1965) Ferdinand Marcos is inaugurated president of Philippines
    The leader of the Philippine Senate is sworn in as president. During his campaign, Marcos touted his decorated war record, which will later be found to be largely untrue. He will impose martial law in 1972 and his 20 years in power will be known for corruption and brutality.
    Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. was a Filipino politician and kleptocrat who was the tenth President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. A leading member of the far-right New Society Movement, he ruled as a dictator under martial law from 1972 until 1981. His regime was infamous for its corruption, extravagance, and brutality.
    Lived: Sep 11, 1917 – Sep 28, 1989 (age 72)
    Height: 5′ 7″
    Spouse: Imelda Marcos (m. 1954 – 1989)
    Children: Bongbong Marcos (Son) · Imee Marcos (Daughter) · Irene Marcos-Araneta (Daughter) · Aimee Marcos (Daughter)
    Buried: Ferdinand E. Marcos Presidential Center
    Parents: Mariano Marcos (Father) · Josefa Edralin (Mother)
    Highlights
    • 1954: Ferdinand Marcos married Imelda Marcos on May 01, 1954.

    • 1965: Marcos won the presidency in 1965.

    • 1972: Marcos placed the Philippines under martial law on September 23, 1972, during which he revamped the constitution, silenced the media, and used violence and oppression against the political opposition, Muslims, communist rebels, and ordinary citizens.

    • 1978: In 1978, the position returned when Ferdinand Marcos became Prime Minister.

    • 1984: By 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan started distancing himself from the Marcos regime that he and previous American presidents had strongly supported even after Marcos declared martial law.

    • 1989: Marcos and his wife, Imelda, were jointly credited in 1989 by Guinness World Records with the largest-ever theft from a government: an estimated 5 to 10 billion dollars.

    The second inauguration of President Ferdinand Marcos on December 30, 1969
    Ferdinand Marcos takes the Oath of Office for a second term before Chief Justice Roberto Concepcion on December 30, 1969
    wiki/Ferdinand_Marcos
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    (1965) Ferdinand Marcos is inaugurated president of Philippines.
    Also on this day,

    1816 | Mary Godwin now Shelley as Percy Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin marry
    Two years after poet Percy Shelley and then-17-year-old Godwin eloped to France, the couple marries in England after Shelley’s first wife, whom he never divorced, dies. Later, the couple and their friend Lord Byron will challenge each other to write a ghost story. Only Mary Shelley will finish hers.
    1903 | Deadly fire kills 600 at Chicago’s Iroquois Theatre
    The “most beautiful” stage in Chicago, the Iroquois Theatre, turns into a death trap for over 600 people when a fire erupts backstage. Most of the victims die on the balcony level, which lacks fire escapes or ladders to safety. The tragedy will lead to new safety standards for public buildings that will be adopted nationwide.
    1922 | USSR established as the Soviet Union is founded
    The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or Soviet Union, becomes the first Marxist country in the world, following the October Revolution and the grueling Civil War that ended the Russian Empire. The USSR comprises a federation of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation, but will grow larger still.

    Today in History 12/30/17

    Flag of the Soviet Union (© David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters)(1922) The Soviet Union is founded
    The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or Soviet Union, becomes the first Marxist country in the world, following the October Revolution and the grueling Civil War that ended the Russian Empire. The USSR comprises a federation of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation, but will grow larger still.
    The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, abbreviated as USSR, was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. Nominally a union of multiple national Soviet republics, its government and economy were highly centralized. The country was a one-party state, governed by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital in its largest republic, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. The Russian nation had constitutionally equal status among the many nations of the union but exerted de facto dominance in various respects. Other major urban centres were Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Alma-Ata and Novosibirsk. The Soviet Union was one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possessed the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. It was a founding permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, as well as a member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the leading member of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance and the Warsaw Pact.
    Dissolved: Dec 26, 1991
    Population: 293.05 million (1991)
    Official language: Russian
    Area: 8.65 million sq miles (22.40 million km²)
    Calling code: 7
    Capital: Moscow

    Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (orthographic projection)
    Location of the Soviet Union

    wiki/Soviet_Union
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