Today in History!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anything and everything - The history of all man kind...
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n11pilot
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Re: Today in History!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post by n11pilot » Thu Dec 13, 2018 12:56 pm

1577 - Five ships under the command of Sir Francis Drake left Plymouth, England, to embark on Drake's circumnavigation of the globe. The journey took almost three years.

1636 - All militia regiments were organized by the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This was an attempt to standardize arms, basic equipment, and drill of militia members colony wide. Some historians say that this was the beginning of the National Guard but this is a bit of a disjointed stretch.

1642 - New Zealand was discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman.

1862 - In America, an estimated 11,000 Northern soldiers were killed or wounded when Union forces were defeated by Confederates under General Robert E. Lee, at the Battle of Fredericksburg.

1913 - It was announced by authorities in Florence, Italy, that the "Mona Lisa" had been recovered. The work was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris in 1911.

1913 - In the U.S., the Federal Reserve System was established.

1918 - U.S. President Wilson arrived in France, becoming the first chief executive to visit a European country while holding office.

1920 - League of Nations establishes the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

1921 - Britain, France, Japan and the United States signed the Pacific Treaty.

1937 - Japanese forces took the Chinese city of Nanking (Nanjing). An estimated 200,000 Chinese were killed over the next six weeks. The event became known as the "Rape of Nanking."

1981 - Authorities in Poland imposed martial law in an attempt to crackdown on the Solidarity labor movement. Martial law ended formally in 1983.

1987 - U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz told reporters in Copenhagen, Denmark, that the Reagan administration would begin making funding requests for the proposed Star Wars defense system.

1995 - China's most influential democracy activist, Wei Jingsheng, who already had spent 16 years in prison, was sentenced to 14 more years.

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Re: Today in History!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post by n11pilot » Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:59 pm

644 - Uthman ibn Affan, companion of Muhammad, appointed 3rd Caliph of Islam.

1287 - During St. Lucia's Flood in Northwest Netherlands the Zuiderzee seawall collapses with loss of over 50,000 lives. Fifth largest recorded flood in history.

1542 - Princess Mary Stuart succeeds her father James V and becomes Queen Mary I of Scotland at 6 days old.

1774 - First incident of American Revolution - 400 attack Fort William and Mary, New Hampshire. Predating Lexington and Concord by four months this Patriot action was against the colony's provincial arsenal. The Patriot raiders hauled down the British flag and made off with small arms, 100 barrels of gunpowder and most importantly some 16 pieces of artillery.

1799 - The first president of the United States, George Washington, died at the age 67.

1819 - Alabama joined the Union as the 22nd state.

1900 - Professor Max Planck of Berlin University revealed his revolutionary Quantum Theory.

1903 - Orville Wright made the first attempt at powered flight. The engine stalled during take-off and the plane was damaged in the attempt. Three days later, after repairs were made, the modern aviation age was born when the plane stayed aloft for 12 seconds and flew 102 feet.

1911 - Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the South Pole. He reached the destination 35 days ahead of Captain Robert F. Scott.

1918 - For the first time in Britain women (over 30) voted in a General Election.

1939 - The Soviet Union was dropped from the League of Nations.

1945 - Josef Kramer, known as "the beast of Belsen," and 10 others were executed in Hamelin for the crimes they committed at the Belsen and Auschwitz Nazi concentration camps.

1962 - The U.S. space probe Mariner II approached Venus. It transmitted information about the planet's atmosphere and surface temperature.

1983 - The U.S. battleship New Jersey fired on Syrian positions in Lebanon for the first time after American F-14 reconnaissance flights were fired on.

1986 - The experimental aircraft Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, took off from California on the first non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world. The trip took nine days to complete.

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Re: Today in History!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post by n11pilot » Sat Dec 15, 2018 12:55 pm

533 - Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, under King Gelimer, at the Battle of Ticameron.

1256 - Hulagu Khan captures and destroys Hashshashin stronghold at Alamut, in present-day Iran, part of the Mongol offensive on Islamic southwest Asia.

1488 - Bartolomeu Dias returns to Portugal after becoming 1st known European to sail round the Cape of Good Hope.

1612 - German Astronomer Simon Marius is 1st to observe Andromeda galaxy through a telescope.

1654 - A meteorological office established in Tuscany began recording daily temperature readings.

1791 - In the U.S., the first ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, went into effect following ratification by the state of Virginia.

1840 - Napoleon Bonaparte receives a French state funeral in Paris 19 years after his death.

1890 - American Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull and 11 other tribe members were killed in Grand River, SD, during an incident with Indian police working for the U.S. government.

1938 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt presided over the ground-breaking ceremonies for the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC.

1944 - A single-engine plane carrying U.S. Army Major Glenn Miller disappeared in thick fog over the English Channel while en route to Paris.

1944 - American forces invaded Mindoro Island in the Philippines.

1961 - Former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death in Jerusalem by an Israeli court. He had been tried on charges for organizing the deportation of Jews to concentration camps.

1961 - The U.N. General Assembly voted against a Soviet proposal to admit Communist China as a member.

1965 - Two U.S. manned spacecraft, Gemini 6 and Gemini 7, maneuvered within 10 feet of each other while in orbit around the Earth.

1978 - U.S. President Carter announced he would grant diplomatic recognition to Communist China on New Year's Day and sever official relations with Taiwan.

1983 - The last 80 U.S. combat soldiers in Grenada withdrew. It was just over seven weeks after the U.S.-led invasion of the Caribbean island.

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Re: Today in History!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post by n11pilot » Sun Dec 16, 2018 1:12 pm

755 - An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion during Chinese Tang Dynasty. Those wacky darn Tangs.

1598 - Seven Year War: Battle of Noryang Point - in the final battle of the war Korean navy decisively defeats the Japanese. The "Turtle boats" of Admiral Yi played a decisive role in this victory. The boats were coastal defensive galleys that were decked over in such a way to protect the crews. The decking resembled the shell of a turtle and was augmented with iron spikes and plates. These spikes made the usual Japanese tactic of boarding an enemy ship and using samurai to run through the enemy crew like a Cuisine Art ineffective. The boarders either slipped off the decking and drowned in the sea or ended up impaled on the spikes. Excellent example of a passive defensive measure.

1653 - Oliver Cromwell became lord protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. Cromwell was something of a killjoy, he hated Christmas or at least Christmas fun.

1773 - Nearly 350 chests of tea were dumped into Boston Harbor off of British ships by Colonial patriots. The patriots were disguised as Indians. The act was to protest taxation without representation and the monopoly the government granted to the East India Company. Coffee rocks anyway.

1809 - Napoleon Bonaparte was divorced from the Empress Josephine by an act of the French Senate.

1903 - Women ushers were employed for the first time at the Majestic Theater in New York City.

1912 - The first postage stamp to depict an airplane was issued was a 20-cent parcel-post stamp.

1944 - Nazi Germany launches a counteroffensive against the Allies in the Ardennes region of Belgium, beginning the Battle of the Bulge. "Nuts".

1950 - U.S. President Truman proclaimed a national state of emergency in order to fight "Communist imperialism."

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Re: Today in History!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post by n11pilot » Mon Dec 17, 2018 12:23 pm

1398 - Timur (Tamerlane) captures and sacks Delhi, defeating Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud's armies by setting camels loaded with hay alight and charging them at the Sultans armored elephants.

1777 - France recognized American independence.

1788 0 Russian army of Grigory Potemkin occupies Ocharov.

1895 - George L. Brownell received a patent for his paper-twine machine.

1903 - The first successful gasoline-powered airplane flight took place near Kitty Hawk, NC. Orville was the brother at the stick on this flight.

1925 - Col. William "Billy" Mitchell was convicted of insubordination at his court-martial. Historically ironic timing.

1939 - The German pocket battleship Graf Spee was scuttled by its crew, bringing the World War II Battle of the Rio de la Plata off Uruguay to an end.

1944 - The U.S. Army announced the end of its policy of excluding Japanese-Americans from the West Coast which ensured that Japanese-Americans were released from detention camps.

1944 - The Malmedy Massacre was committed in Belgium. American POWs many from the 285TH FA Observation BN were murdered by troops of the SS 1ST Panzer Division operating under the orders of Joachim Peiper. This and other atrocities were conducted by NAZI troops against allied soldiers and civilians during the Battle of the Bulge. The rational behind the crimes was that the advancing German Army didn't have the time or provision for prisoners and to demoralize resistance. The effect was directly opposite of what Peiper expected.

1957 - The United States successfully test-fired the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time.

1969 - The U.S. Air Force closed its Project "Blue Book" by concluding that there was no evidence of extraterrestrial spaceships behind thousands of UFO sightings.

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Re: Today in History!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post by n11pilot » Tue Dec 18, 2018 12:53 pm

218 BC - Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia - Hannibal's Carthaginian army heavily defeat Roman forces on Italian soil. This incident gave impetus for the Romans to develop what most consider the World's first modern model army eventually leading to standardized recruiting, training, equipment, and weapons.

1271 - Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" (元 yuán), marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of China.

1603 - First fleet of the Dutch East India Company under Admiral Steven van der Haghen departs for the East-Indies.

1787 - New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1865 - U.S. Secretary of State William Seward issued a statement verifying the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment abolished slavery with the declaration: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

1903 - The Panama Canal Zone was acquired 'in perpetuity' by the U.S. for an annual rent.

1916 - During World War I, after 10 months of fighting the French defeated the Germans in the Battle of Verdun.

1917 - The Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by the U.S. Senate and then officially proposed the states. Prohibition, government intrusion at it's worst.

1940 - Adolf Hitler signed a secret directive ordering preparations for a Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Operation "Barbarossa" was launched in June 1941.

1950 - NATO foreign ministers approved plans to defend Western Europe, including the use of nuclear weapons, if necessary.

1956 - Japan was admitted to the United Nations.

1972 - The United States began the heaviest bombing of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The attack ended 12 days later.

1998 - The U.S. House of Representatives began the debate on the four articles of impeachment concerning U.S. President Bill Clinton. It was only the second time in U.S. history that process had begun.

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Re: Today in History!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post by n11pilot » Wed Dec 19, 2018 1:00 pm

1154 - Henry II became King of England.

1562 - The Battle of Dreux was fought between the Huguenots and the Catholics, beginning the French Wars of Religion.

1732 - Benjamin Franklin began publishing "Poor Richard's Almanac."

1776 Thomas Paine publishes his 1st "American Crisis" essay beginning"These are the times that try men's souls". This date is a matter of some debate among historians but it is the most widely accepted one.

1777 - General George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, PA, to camp for the winter.

1842 - Hawaii's independence was recognized by the U.S.

1903 - The Williamsburg Bridge opened in New York City. It opened as the largest suspension bridge on Earth and remained the largest until 1924. It was also the first major suspension bridge to use steel towers to support the main cable.

1932 - British Broadcasting Corp begins transmitting overseas. A few years later in WWII this capability became very important to the Allied war effort by broadcasting news, information, and coded messages to SOE, OSS agents and members of the underground in occupied countries. Probably the most famous messages sent this way was,"The long sobs of autumn's violins wound my heart with a monotonous languor." This line of poetry from Verlaine's "Chanson d' Automne" was the signal to the French Underground to begin preparations for D-Day.

1950 - Tibet's Dalai Lama flees Chinese invasion.

1972 - Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, ending the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.

1958 - 1st radio voice broadcast from space, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower Christmas message "to all mankind, America's wish for peace on Earth and goodwill to men everywhere".

1984 - Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sign the Sino-British Joint Declaration to transfer Hong Kong back to China in 1997.

1989 - U.S. troops invaded Panama to overthrow the regime of General Noriega.

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Re: Today in History!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post by n11pilot » Thu Dec 20, 2018 12:57 pm

1522 - Suleiman the Magnificent accepts surrender of the surviving Knights of Rhodes, who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually settle in Malta and become known as the Knights of Malta.

1606 - The "Susan Constant," "Godspeed" and "Discovery" set sail from London. Their landing at Jamestown, VA, was the start of the first permanent English settlement in America.

1699 - Peter the Great ordered that the Russian New Year be changed from September 1 to January 1.

1803 - French flag lowered in New Orleans to mark the formal transfer of the Louisiana Purchase from France to USA for $27M.

1860 - South Carolina became the first state to secede from the American Union.

1864 - Confederate forces evacuated Savannah, GA as Union Gen. William T. Sherman continued his "March to the Sea."

1880 - New York's Broadway became known as the "Great White Way" when it was lighted by electricity.

1917 - Cheka formed - Soviet state security force and forerunner to the KGB, under Felix Dzerzhinsky after decree by Lenin. CHEKA is short for "All Russian Emergency Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage". It was police, judge, jury, and executioner and basically functioned as Lenin's thugs.

1938 - Vladimir Kosma Zworykin patented the iconoscope television system.

1946 - In Indochina (Vietnam), full-scale guerrilla warfare between Vietnam partisans and French troops began.

1973 - The Spanish premier Carrero Blanco was assassinated in Madrid.

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Re: Today in History!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post by n11pilot » Fri Dec 21, 2018 12:21 pm

1620 - The "Mayflower", and its passengers, pilgrims from England, landed at Plymouth Rock, MA.

1898 - French Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discover radium.

1909 - McKinley and Washington schools of Berkeley, CA, became the first authorized, junior-high schools in the U.S.

1913 - Arthur Wynne published a new "word-cross" puzzle in the "New York World" in England. The name was later changed to "crossword."

1925 - Eisenstein's film "Battleship Potemkin" was first shown in Moscow. Not to be mistaken for an ad for Carnival Cruise Lines, although the confusion is understandable.

1937 - Walt Disney debuted the first, full-length, animated feature in Hollywood, CA. The movie was "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

1945 - U.S. Gen. George S. Patton died in Heidelberg, Germany, of injuries from a car accident.

1948 - The state of Eire (formerly the Irish Free State) declared its independence.

1958 - Charles de Gaulle was elected to a seven-year term as the first president of the Fifth Republic of France.

1968 - Apollo 8 was launched on a mission to orbit the moon. The craft landed safely in the Pacific Ocean on December 27.

1988 - 270 people were killed when Pan Am Boeing 747 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, due to a terrorist attack.

1991 - Soviet Union formally dissolves as 11 of 12 republics sign treaty forming Commonwealth of Independent States.

1998 - A Chinese court sentenced two dissidents to long prison terms for attempting to organize an opposition party. A third man was sentenced to 12 years in prison on December 22, 1998.

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Re: Today in History!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post by n11pilot » Sat Dec 22, 2018 1:00 pm

1715 - James Stuart, the "Old Pretender", landed at Petershead after his exile in France.

1775 - A Continental naval fleet was organized in the rebellious American colonies under the command of Ezek Hopkins.

1790 - Supposedly impenetrable Turkish fortress of Izmail stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies during the Russo-Turkish War (1787–92).

1807 - The U.S. Congress passed the Embargo Act, designed to force peace between Britain and France by cutting off all trade with Europe.

1864 - During the American Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman sent a message to U.S. President Lincoln from Georgia. The message read, "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah."

1894 - French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial that triggered worldwide charges of Antisemitism. Dreyfus was eventually vindicated.

1895 - German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen made the first X-ray, of his wife's hand.

1939 - Gloria Jacobs became the first girl to hold a world pistol record when she shot 299 out of a possible 300 points. She was 17 years old at the time.

1941 - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrived in Washington for a wartime conference with U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt.

1956 - The last British and French forces evacuated Egypt.

1961 - James Davis became the first U.S. soldier to die in Vietnam, while U.S. involvement was still limited to the provision of military advisers.

1990 - Lech Walesa was sworn in as Poland's first popularly elected president.

1991 - The body of Lt. Col. William R. Higgins, an American hostage murdered by his captors, was found along a highway in Lebanon.

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