This Day in History

[bowlspipe]

On this day in 1947, Howard Hughes piloted the "Spruce Goose" for about a mile.

It is now sitting in the Evergreen Aviation Museum
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/H-4_Hercules_2.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Giant_planes_comparison.svg/429px-Giant_planes_comparison.svg.png
http://www.sprucegoose.org/images/museum_sg.jpg

[sladys]

Hi bowlspipe. Welcome to GEH. :)

Thanks for your information. Here is the museum in our directory, unfortunately in low resolution image.

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile17339/Evergreen-Air-Venture-Museum---Home-of-the-Spruce-Goose.htm

[Captain Hornblower]

Pretty cool idea, that "This day in history" stuff. I am going to pick that up and throw in whenever it's possible. :yep:

[Captain Hornblower]

The Marco Polo Bridge Incident was a battle between the Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army and the Empire of Japan's Imperial Japanese Army, marking the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945).

[sladys]

On this day London was attacked by terrorists (suicide bombers) in 3 subway trains and one double decker bus.
Within 50 seconds 3 train bombs exploded. The bus bomb 1 hour later.

56 people were killed, 700 injured. The bombers were british citicens.

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile76/London-Attacks---7/7/05.htm

[Captain Hornblower]

On July 8, 1947, the Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) issued a press release stating that personnel from the field's 509th Bomb Group had recovered a crashed "flying disc" from a ranch near Roswell, sparking intense media interest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell_UFO_incident

[Captain Hornblower]

On 10.07.1962 the first commercial communication satellite, Telstar, was launched from Cape Canaveral.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telstar

[sladys]

1890: Wyoming becomes 44th. US state.

1920: North Sleswig becomes danish territory again efter 56 years of german territory. King Christian X cross the old border at Christiansfeld on a white horse.

1940: Beginn of The Battle of Britain. At least 70 german bombers attack southern wales docks.

1976: The accident in a Seveso chemical plant, Italy, leading toxic dioxine in the air.

[Captain Hornblower]

The confrontation between the commoners and the ancien régime ultimately led to the people of Paris storming the Bastille on July 14, 1789, following several days of disturbances. At this point, the jail was nearly empty, with only seven inmates: four counterfeiters (who were arrested back the day after), two madmen, and a young aristocrat who had displeased his father. The regular garrison consisted of about 80 invalides (veteran soldiers no longer capable of service in the field) under Governor Bernard-René de Launay. They had however been reinforced by a detachment of 32 grenadiers from one of the Swiss mercenary regiments summoned to Paris by the Monarchy shortly before 14 July.

A crowd of around 1,000 people gathered outside around mid-morning, calling for the surrender of the prison, the removal of the guns and the release of the arms and gunpowder. Two people chosen to represent those gathered were invited into the fortress and slow negotiations began.

In the early afternoon, the crowd broke into the undefended outer courtyard and the chains on the drawbridge to the inner courtyard were cut. A spasmodic exchange of gunfire began; in mid-afternoon the crowd was reinforced by mutinous Gardes Françaises of the Royal Army and two cannons. De Launay ordered a ceasefire; despite his surrender demands being refused, he capitulated and the vainqueurs swept in to liberate the fortress at around 5:30.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastille
http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile7354/Place-de-la-Bastille.htm

[Captain Hornblower]

During Napoleons campaign in Egypt the engineer Bouchard found a Ptolemaic era stele, known as the Rosetta stone named after the port of Rosetta (now Rashid), where it was found. On that stone the same passage was written in two Egyptian language scripts (hieroglyphic and demotic) and in classical Greek. Comparative translation of the stone assisted in understanding many previously undecipherable examples of hieroglyphic writing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone

[Captain Hornblower]

Trinity was the first test of a nuclear weapon. It was conducted by the United States on July 16, 1945 at a location 35 miles (56 km) southeast of Socorro, New Mexico, on what is now White Sands Missile Range, headquartered near Alamogordo. Trinity was a test of an implosion-design plutonium bomb—the same type of weapon dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, a few weeks later. The detonation was equivalent to the explosion of around 20 kilotons of TNT, and is usually considered as the beginning of the Atomic Age.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_test
http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile621/Trinity-Site,-New-Mexico.htm

[Captain Hornblower]

17.07.1932, a bloody sunday in Altona, today one of Hamburgs suburbs. A march of the SA (Sturmabteilung, functioned as a paramilitary organization of the NSDAP — the German Nazi party. It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1930s) through the city of Altona of the Prussian province Schleswig-Holstein became out of control, 18 people were shot.

Shortly before, the administration of Von Papen lifted the ban of the SA and SS (Schutzstaffel, a large security and military organization of the NSDAP in Germany). Fights were predictable as demo of 7,000 uniformed SA-people through the city of Altona, known as "Red Altona" due to the majority of communistically and social democratically electing workership.

The scenery of 1932 has changed a lot caused by sever damage in WW2. The action took place around this placemark. About 800 SA-people passed a crossing at this place, as at 1700 a crowd of communists met the crowd of the SA, who tried to banish the communists successfully. Suddenly shots, and 2 SA people died. The appearing police assumed that the SA was ambushed from roofs and windows and banished the people and shot to real and assumed attackers. 16 uninvolved people died.

It's assumed that both side shot. There are no doubts, that the 2 SA-people were killed by communists. It's never cleared up, who killed the other 16 citizens. After a trial with questionable evidences 4 communists were sentenced to death and on 01.08.1933 executed by hatchet, the first executions in the Third Reich.

[Captain Hornblower]

TWA flight 800 exploded at 00:31 UTC off the coast of Long Island, New York, killing all 230 people on board.

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile7522/Airplanecrash-TWA-Flight-800.htm

[McMaster_de]

1989 - 112 people were killed when a United Airline DC-10 airplane crashed in Sioux City, Iowa. 184 people did survive the accident.

[Captain Hornblower]

The Battle of Halidon Hill was fought during the Second War of Scottish Independence. Scottish forces under Sir Archibald Douglas were heavily defeated on unfavourable terrain while trying to relieve Berwick-upon-Tweed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Halidon_Hill

[SpiderX22]

We learned about this in history class...nice to actually see the battle site in GE. =)

[Captain Hornblower]

July 20, 1944 was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the leader of Germany, in his headquarter Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair) and subsequently take power by means of an altered Operation Walküre plan which was supposed to subdue possible unrest. The key role was played by Wehrmacht officer Claus von Stauffenberg who was in charge of the German Reserve Army's Walküre, a role which allowed him access to Hitler for reports.

Stauffenberg and other directly involved officers were sentenced to death. At 00:10 on 21 July they were shot in the courtyard outside, possibly to prevent them from revealing Fromm's involvement. Others would have been executed as well, but at 00:30 the SS arrived on the scene and further executions were forbidden.

Very few of the plotters tried to escape or to deny their guilt when arrested. Those who survived interrogation were given perfunctory trials before the People’s Court and its judge Roland Freisler. Eventually some 5,000 people were arrested and about 200 were executed – not all of them connected with the July 20 plot, since the Gestapo used the occasion to settle scores with many other people suspected of opposition sympathies. The first trials were held in the People's Court on 7 and 8 August 1944. Hitler had ordered that those found guilty be "hung like cattle". The treatment that had been dealt out to those executed as a result of the Rote Kapelle was that of slow strangulation using suspension from a rope attached to a slaughterhouse meathook. For the July 20 plotters piano wire was used instead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_20_Plot

[Captain Hornblower]

The Battle of Shrewsbury, at what is now Battlefield in Shropshire, was between an army led by the Lancastrian King, Henry IV, and a rebel army led by Henry "Hotspur" Percy from Northumberland.

The battle opened with a massive archery barrage, killing or wounding many of the men before they could meet in the field. Of the two forces, the Percy's Cheshire bowmen proved generally superior. However when the two armies finally met, the greater numbers of the Royal army generally prevailed. The Percys attempted to address this imbalance with a charge, but it was premature and Henry Percy was killed. At this point the rebel forces fled the field, and a rout began. Over 300 knights and another 20,000 men-at-arms fell on the field, and thousands more died of injuries over the next few weeks.

Henry Percy was initially buried at Whitchurch, Shropshire, but rumours soon spread that he was not really dead. In response the King had him disinterred. His body was set up in Shrewsbury impaled on a spear between two millstones, and was later quartered and put on show in the four corners of the country. In November his remains were returned to his widow.

The battle itself and many of the people involved appear in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shrewsbury

[Captain Hornblower]

The Wild Bill Hickok-David Tutt shootout was a gunfight that occurred on July 21, 1865 in the town square of Springfield, Missouri. The later famous Marshal and gunfighter, Wild Bill Hickok, had been engaged in a poker game with a local cowboy named David Tutt. Although they were both gamblers, David Tutt did better that day and won all of Hickok's money. As collateral for a portion of Hickok's gambling debt, Tutt took Hickok's prized gold pocket watch.

Hickok warned Tutt not to wear the watch in public as this was a grave personal insult. Tutt ignored this and wore the watch anyway. Tutt and Hickok walked up to each other in the town square in a manner similar to 1950s cowboy television shows, which actually was unusual in most real gunfights. The fight became famous due to the distance involved. At a distance of at least 75 yards (~70 metres), they both fired one shot. Tutt missed but Hickok's shot found its target in Tutt's chest. Tutt stumbled 20 feet before succumbing to his wound and dying. Although Hickok obviously instigated the gunfight, it was considered a "fair fight", and no charges were ever filed against Hickok.

Dave Tutt's body was buried in the City Cemetery and subsequently moved to the Maple Park Cemetery, where his grave is marked with a gravestone showing a carved pocket watch, playing cards and pistols.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Bill_Hickok-David_Tutt_shootout

[Captain Hornblower]

Aswan is a city on the first cataract of the Nile in Egypt. Two dams straddle the river at this point: the newer Aswan High Dam, and the older Aswan Dam or Aswan Low Dam. Without impoundment the River Nile would flood each year during summer, as waters from East Africa flowed down the river. These floods brought nutrients and minerals that made the soil around the Nile fertile and ideal for farming. As the population along the river grew, there came a need to control the flood waters to protect farmland and cotton fields. In a high-water year, the whole crop may be entirely wiped out, while in a low-water year there was widespread drought and famine. The aim of this water project was to prevent the river's flooding, generate electricity and provide water for agriculture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswan_High_Dam
http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile370/Aswan-Dam.htm

[Captain Hornblower]

The first Europeans to settle in the valley were the Latter-day Saints on July 24, 1847. They had traveled beyond the boundaries of the United States seeking an isolated area to practice their religion, away from the hostility they had faced in the East. Upon arrival, President of the Church Brigham Young is recorded as stating, "this is the right place," later abbreviated to simply "this is the place," after reportedly seeing the area in a vision. They found the large valley empty of any human settlement.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_City%2C_Utah

[Captain Hornblower]

Air France Flight 4590 was a Concorde flight from Charles de Gaulle International Airport near Paris, France to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, New York, and operated by Air France. On July 25, 2000 it crashed in Gonesse, France. All 100 passengers and nine crew on board the flight, as well as four people on the ground, were killed.

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile3941/The-Crash-of-the-Concorde.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_4590

[Captain Hornblower]

On 26.07.1932 the German traing sailing vessel NIOBE capsized and sunk. 40 sailors were rescued, 69 men died.

[Appletom]

I sure am enjoying your series of TDIH posts Captain. Thanks for taking the time and effort.

[sladys]

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was founded. Until 1935 it was called "Office of the Chief Examiner".

[Captain Hornblower]

I sure am enjoying your series of TDIH posts Captain. Thanks for taking the time and effort.
Thanks, buddy :givebeer:
But everybody is free to post / add a historical event of the day. :yep:

[Appletom]

But everybody is free to post / add a historical event of the day.

But - as is so often the case - you end up doing most of the work. Face it, GEH is a much better place because you are around!

[Captain Hornblower]

I am just contributing as a part of an awesome community and as a one of some enthusiastical mods... :)

[Captain Hornblower]

The Korean War began as a civil war fought from 1950–1953 on the Korean Peninsula, which had been divided by the post-World War II Soviet and American occupation zones. The civil war began on June 25, 1950, when North Korea attacked South Korea. The civil war was greatly expanded when the United Nations, led by the United States, and later China entered the conflict. The conflict ended when a cease-fire was reached on July 27, 1953.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War

[sladys]

1694: Bank of England was founded.

1839: The Opium War between England and China begin. China confiscate a huge am ount of Opium from the Britons.

1990: The last Citroen 2CV is produced at the factory in Portugal.

1996: The bomb attack at the Olympics in Atlanta. 2 persons were killed and 111 wounded at the Centennial Olympic Park.
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Olympic_Park_bombing

[sladys]

1540: Henry VIII marries his 5th wife, Catherine Howard, she was 19 and Henry 49. 1542 she was executed for adultery. She was a cousin of Henry VIII second wife, Anne Boleyn. She was also executed.

1586: The first potatoes arrives in England from Colombia.

1794: Robespierre and 4 other allied were guillotined.

1858: The first finger print was used as identification. It was invented by William Herschel at the Indian Civil Service, Jungipur, India. He took a print of a Rajyadhar Konai from the back side of a contract.

1914: Austria-Hungary declares Serbia war after the murdering of Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on june 28th. This was the begin of WW I.

1945: An american B52 bomber came out of course because of fog and flew into Empire State Building in New York. 13 people were killed.

[Captain Hornblower]

Pepin the Younger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepin_the_Short) (714 – September 24, 768), known for being the father of Charlemagne or Charles the Great, was crowned in the Saint Denis Basilica (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Denis_Basilica) (near Paris) to king of the Franks.

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile11755/basilique-Saint-Denis.htm

[Captain Hornblower]

Thomas Cromwell (1485 - 28.07.1540), 1st Earl of Essex (C. 1485 – 28 July 1540) and King Henry VIII of England's chief minister 1532–1540, was executed on 28.07.1540 after his downfall as the chief minister of the king.

Cromwell had supported Henry in disposing of Anne Boleyn and replacing her with Jane Seymour. His downfall was the haste with which he encouraged the king to re-marry following Jane's premature death. The marriage to Anne of Cleves, a political alliance which Cromwell had urged on Henry, was a disaster, and this was all the opportunity that Cromwell's conservative opponents, most notably the Duke of Norfolk, needed to press for his arrest. Whilst at a Council meeting on 10 June 1540, Cromwell was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Cromwell was subject to an Act of Attainder and was kept alive by Henry so he could be divorced from Anne.

He was then privately executed at the Tower on 28 July 1540. It is said that Henry intentionally chose an inexperienced executioner -- the teenager made three attempts at chopping Cromwell's head before he succeeded. After execution his head was boiled and then set upon a spike on London Bridge—facing away from the City of London.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cromwell%2C_1st_Earl_of_Essex

[Captain Hornblower]

The large port city of Hamburg was very heavily bombed many times by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. During one of the attacks in July 1943 a firestorm was created that caused tens of thousands of mostly civilian casualties.

In the night of 27/28 July 1943 a large raid by 787 aircraft guided in by Pathfinders using H2S happened, bombing about 2 miles east of city centre. Because of the unseasonally dry conditions, a firestorm was created in the built-up working-class districts of Hammerbrook, Hamm and Borgfelde. The bombing was more concentrated than the RAF was usually able to manage at this stage of the war. In just over half an hour it is estimated that 550-600 bomb loads fell into an area measuring only 2 miles by 1 mile and this gradually spread the fire eastwards. The firestorm lasted for about three hours, consuming approximately 16,000 multi-storyed apartment buildings and killing an estimated 40,000 people, most of them by carbon monoxide poisoning when all the air was drawn out of their basement shelters. Fearing further raids, two-thirds of Hamburg's population, approximately 1,200,000 people, fled the city in the aftermath.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Hamburg_in_World_War_II
http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/hamburg.html

[Captain Hornblower]

The first assault on the Großglockner in 1799 failed. In the summer of 1800 a second expedition was organized by Franz-Xaver Salm-Raifferscheid, Prince-Bishop of Gurk: 62 persons, among them 47 guides, took part. The old Salmhütte, at 2750 m, was specially built to furnish shelter for this undertaking. On 28 July 1800, brothers Martin and Sepp Klotz, along with two other carpenters, and even a clergyman from Dölsach named Horasch, challenged themselves to reach the summit by way of the Hohenwartscharte.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gro%C3%9Fglockner
http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile6682/Grossglockner,-highest-mountain-in-Austria.htm

[sladys]

The 14th Summer Olympic Games were opened at Empire Stadium (Wembley Stadium) by King George VI. It ended om August 14th.

59 nations attended with 4104 athletes (390 women, 3,714 men) in 136 events. Germany and Japan weren't invited to join the games.

http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=1&OLGY=1948

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Summer_Olympics

[Captain Hornblower]

Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor, Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall, married Lady Diana Frances Spencer in St. Pauls Cathedral (http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile6423/St.-Pauls-Cathedral,-London.htm) in London.

[Captain Hornblower]

On 29.07.1947 ENICA (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer), the first large-scale, electronic, digital computer capable of being reprogrammed to solve a full range of computing problems, had been turned on at its home in the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, and would be in continuous operation until 02.10.1955.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENIAC

[sladys]

The 10th Olympic Games in Los Angeles were opened. 37 countries attended with 1332 athletes (126 women, 1,206 men) in 117 events.

Automatic time control and photo finish was introduced.

The famous finnish runner, Paavo Nurmi was not allowed to participate in the Marathon race because he had got more money for running in Germany than the IOC allowed.

The olympic village was introduced.

The games closed august 14th.

http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=1&OLGY=1932

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1932_Summer_Olympics

[sladys]

England became World Champions in football/soccer by 4:2 after extra time against Germany.

Most famous is the goal by Geoff Hurst to a 3:2 lead in the 98th minute when he shot the ball and it hit the crossbar, bounced down into the goalmouth.
The referee Gottfried Dienst of Switzerland okayed the goal after asking linesman Tofik Bakhramov (USSR).

It has been debated ever since whether it did cross the line or not. Especially in Germany.

Researchers from Oxford University in 1995 announced the results of computer video analysis of the television footage, which gave new angles of view, concluded that the shot had not crossed the line, so should not have been allowed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_FIFA_World_Cup_Final

[sladys]

During a poker game in the saloon of the small town Deadwood SD James Butler known as Wild Bill Hickok was shot by a Jack McCall. The day before McCall lost 110 mio $ to Hickock.

On the evening of August 1, 1876, Wild Bill was playing poker with several men, including Jack McCall, who lost horribly. Wild Bill gave Jack money to buy breakfast, and told him not to play poker again until he could cover his losses. The next day, Wild Bill entered the Nuttall & Mann's saloon and took a seat at a poker table with his back facing the door. Wild Bill would normally sit in a seat with his back facing a corner so he was less vulnerable to an attack from behind, but that day Charlie Rich was sitting in his preferred seat. Subsequently Jack McCall entered, shouted, "Take that!", and shot him in the back of the head with a .45 caliber revolver.

Jack McCall was subsequently arrested on August 29 and brought back to Yankton, South Dakota to be arraigned. Jack McCall was found guilty of the murder of Wild Bill Hickok and was subsequently hanged on March 1, 1877. He was buried with the noose around his neck.

It's said that Hickock won with 2 pairs of eights and aces, today called dead mans hand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Bill_Hickok#Death

[Captain Hornblower]

On the evening of 03.08.1492, Columbus (*1451 +20.05.1506) departed from Palos de la Frontera with three ships; one larger carrack, Santa María and two smaller caravels, Pinta and Niña.

In October he discovered the New World, but that's another day in history ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyages_of_Christopher_Columbus#First_voyage

[Captain Hornblower]

On 03.08.1914 the German Reich declared war to France and invaded in Belgium according to the Schlieffen-Plan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlieffen_Plan).

[Captain Hornblower]

USS Nautilus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Nautilus_%28SSN-571%29) (SSN-571) was the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine and the first vessel to complete a submerged transit across the North Pole, which the submarine reached on 03.08.1958.

[Captain Hornblower]

The Gulf of Tonkin Incident was an alleged pair of attacks by naval forces of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (commonly referred to as North Vietnam) against two American destroyers, the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy. The attacks were alleged to have occurred on 2 August and 4 August 1964 in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Later research, including a report released in 2005 by the National Security Agency, indicated that the second attack most likely did not occur, but also attempted to dispel the long-standing assumption that members of the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson had knowingly lied about the nature of the incident.

The outcome of the incident was the passage by Congress of the Southeast Asia Resolution (better known as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution), which granted Johnson the authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose government was considered to be jeopardized by "communist aggression". The resolution served as Johnson's legal justification for escalating American involvement in the Vietnam Conflict.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_Incident
http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile24711/USS-Turner-Joy-(DD-951).htm

[Captain Hornblower]

On 04.08.1944, Anne Frank, known for her diary written while hiding during German occupation, and her family were arrested by Germans following a tip-off from an informer who was never identified.

The members of the household were taken to the Gestapo headquarters where they were interrogated and held overnight. On 05.08., they were transferred to the Huis van Bewaring (House of Detention), an overcrowded prison on the Weteringschans. Two days later the eight Jewish prisoners were transported to Westerbork, The Netherlands. Ostensibly a transit camp, by this time more than 100,000 Jews had passed through it. Having been arrested in hiding, they were considered criminals and were sent to the Punishment Barracks for hard labor.

On 03.09., the group was deported on what would be the last transport from Westerbork to the Auschwitz concentration camp. They arrived after a three days' journey, and were separated by gender, with the men and women never to see each other again. Of the 1019 passengers, 549 people-–including all children under the age of fifteen years-–were selected and sent directly to the gas chambers where they were killed. Anne had turned fifteen three months earlier and was spared, and although everyone from the Achterhuis survived this selection, Anne believed her father had been killed.

On 28.10., selections began for women to be relocated to Bergen-Belsen. More than 8,000 women, including Anne and Margot Frank and Auguste van Pels, were transported, but Edith Frank was left behind. Tents were erected to accommodate the influx of prisoners, Anne and Margot among them, and as the population rose, the death toll due to disease increased rapidly. Anne was briefly reunited with two friends, Hanneli Goslar (nicknamed "Lies" in the diary) and Nanette Blitz, both of whom survived the war. Blitz described her as bald, emaciated and shivering. Goslar said that although Anne was ill herself, she told her that she was more concerned about Margot, whose illness seemed to be more severe and who remained in her bunk, too weak to walk. Anne told both her close friends that she believed her parents were dead.

In March 1945, a typhus epidemic spread through the camp killing an estimated 17,000 prisoners. Witnesses later testified that Margot fell from her bunk in her weakened state and was killed by the shock, and that a few days later Anne was dead too, at the age of 15. They estimated that this occurred a few weeks before the camp was liberated by British troops on 15.04.1945, although the exact dates were not recorded. The camp, after liberation, had to be burned due to the epidemic, and Anne and Margot were buried in a mass grave, the exact whereabouts of which are unknown.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Frank
http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile1726/Anne-Frank-house,-Netherlands.htm
http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile21210/Konzentracion-camp-Kamp-Westerbork.htm
http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile17917/Concentration-Camp-Bergen-Belsen-Overlay.htm

[Captain Hornblower]

Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson on 01.06.1926), a Golden Globe Award-winning American actress, singer, model and pop icon, was found dead in her house in Brentwood by her housekeeper. Her death was ruled as an overdose of sleeping pills. Questions remain about the circumstances and timeline of housekeeper Eunice Murray's discovery of Monroe's body. Also, some conspiracy theories involve John and Robert Kennedy. The official cause of her death was "probable suicide".

On 08.08.1962, Marilyn was interred in a crypt at Corridor of Memories, #24, at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Lee Strasberg delivered the eulogy.

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile8374/Marilyn-Monroe-Crypt.htm

[Captain Hornblower]

On 05.08.1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed the area as England's first overseas colony under Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I. At the time, he found 16 English ships with 20 French and Portuguese vessels using the harbour. There was no permanent population, however, and Gilbert was lost at sea during his return voyage, thereby ending any immediate plans of settlement. The Newfoundland National War Memorial is located on the waterfront in St. John's, at the purported site of Gilbert's landing and proclamation. The first permanent European settlers arrived at St. John's in 1605.

[Captain Hornblower]

On 05.08.2003, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the lobby of the JW Marriott Hotel, killing twelve people and injuring 150. All those killed were Indonesian with the exception of one Dutch businessman. The hotel was viewed as a Western symbol, and had been used by the United States embassy for various events. The hotel was closed for five weeks and reopened to the public on 8 September.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Marriott_Hotel_bombing

[McMaster_de]

Following prolonged strategic bombing of Japan during World War II, first combat use of a nuclear weapon was conducted by the United States. A B-29 bomber dropped a single Mk-I "Little Boy" atomic bomb over Hiroshima, estimated population 285,000. The Mk-I was a gun-type nuclear gravity bomb using highly enriched uranium. It detonated 580 meters over central Hiroshima at 8:15 AM local time with a yield estimated at 15 kilotons. The airburst height was selected to maximize the extent of prompt effects and to minimize residual radiation (fallout). Individuals at ground zero received combined gamma and neutron doses of perhaps 80,000 rad, although flash and blast would have been immediately fatal. The thermal flash produced fires which merged into a firestorm, razing much of the city. Flash, blast, and prompt radiation killed most people within 1.5 km of ground zero; immediate fatalities were generally from flash and blast injuries, with many otherwise injured and uninjured dying of fatal prompt radiation doses over the following weeks and months. Small numbers of people were injured by residual radiations (neutron-induced radioactivity and residual material from the weapon).

On the day of the bombing, an estimated 348,000 people were in Hiroshima, including 265,000 Japanese residents, 20,000 Korean residents, 12,000 conscripted Japanese workers, 3,000 conscripted Korean workers, 48,000 Japanese soldiers, and a small number of prisoners of war. Casualty figures are uncertain, despite many surveys (some figures presented here are extrapolated from partial surveys). Among civilians, possibly 44,000 to 59,000 were killed the day of the bombing, with another 17,000 missing. Subsequent deaths include about 25,000 through the end of August 1945, 9,000 in September 1945, 2,000 in October-December 1945, and 2,500 in 1946. Many of these subsequent deaths involved radiation injuries. Deaths among survivors after 1946 include greater fractions from natural causes. Less information is available regarding military fatalites, but at least 9,000 soldiers died through the end of 1946. The estimated 130,000 fatalities to 1950 include about 111,000 Japanese civilians, 12,000 Japanese soldiers, and 6,500 Koreans. After 1950, deaths attributed to radiation include about 60 leukaemia deaths, 300 other cancer deaths, and 145 non-cancer deaths. New cases of leukaemia peaked in 1951.

Those injured in the bombing numbered (through August 1946) 30,500 severely injured and 48,600 slightly injured. These figures do not include a possible 7,000 injuries among military personnel. Of 2,160 medical personnel in Hiroshima at the time of the bombing, 1,980 were killed or injured. Emergency response was supported by the arrival of about 3,270 medical personnel from surrounding areas and other parts of Japan, along with another 2,910 relief workers. An additional 40,000 to 60,000 are registered as having entered Hiroshima shortly after the bombing. Survivor registries include 2,300 individuals exposed in utero. Studies suggest that excess miscarriages and fetal deaths numbered in the dozens, and excess infant deaths (for those exposed in utero) also in the dozens. About 45 cases of microcephaly are known among those exposed in utero, including at least 15 with mental retardation.

Portions of Hiroshima with little or no damage were continuously inhabited, and the city was rebuilt. Hiroshima reattained its pre-attack population by 1954 and had a population of 1,066,000 in 1992.

Consequences: Estimated 130,000 fatalities (of which perhaps 40,000 are related to ionizing radiation injuries) and 86,000 injuries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki

[Captain Hornblower]

On 06.08.1932, the major of the City of Cologne, Konrad Adenauer (later he became the first Bundeskanzler of the Federal Republic of Germany), opended Germanys first Autobahn.

The 18 km long track connects the cities Cologne and Bonn has the number A555. It was built from 1929 till 1932.

[Captain Hornblower]

On August 6, 1890, the first execution by the electric chair was carried out at Auburn Prison. Inmate William Kemmler, sentenced to death for murdering his wife Matilda Ziegler.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auburn%2C_New_York
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auburn_Prison
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kemmler

[Captain Hornblower]

The Corinth Canal is a canal connecting the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. It cuts through the Isthmus of Corinth and separates the Peloponnesian peninsula from the Greek mainland and therefore effectively making the former an island.

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile1134/Corinth-Canal.htm

[Captain Hornblower]

The Assyrian people who resided in Sumail and its neighbouring area were subjected to a massacre on 07.08.1933, implemented by the Iraqi government. The massacre was the first genocide in Iraq's young history after the establishment of the new Iraqi state in 1921. Close to 3,000 Assyrians died during the 1933 massacre, most of them in the village of Sumail. Thousands were forced to flee to Syria where they currently live in 33 villages of the Khabur area, in the Al Jazeera region.

August 7 officially became known as Martyrs Day or National Day of Mourning by the Assyrian community in memory for the Simele massacre, as it was declared so by the Assyrian Universal Alliance in 1970.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1933_Massacre_of_Sumail

[Captain Hornblower]

Love Canal is a neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York, United States of America (USA). It officially covers 36 square blocks in the far southeastern corner of the city, along 99th Street and Read Avenue.

In 1920, Love's land was sold in public auction to the City of Niagara Falls, who used the undeveloped area as a landfill for chemical waste disposal. At the time, the canal was an ideal site for this purpose; the ground was largely impermeable clay, and the surrounding area was sparsely populated.

In 1942, Hooker Chemical and Plastics Corporation (which became a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum in 1968) expanded use of the site, and, by 1947, acquired the land for private use. In the subsequent five year period, the company buried about 22,000 tons of toxic waste in the area. Once the site had been filled to capacity in 1952, Hooker closed the site, back-filled the canal, and covered it over with four feet of clay.

At the time of the closure, Niagara Falls' population had begun to expand. The local school board was desperate for land, and attempted to purchase an area of expensive property from Hooker Chemical that had not yet been used to bury toxic waste. The corporation refused to sell on the grounds of safety, and took members of the school board to the canal and drilled several bore holes through the clay, showing that there were toxic chemicals below the surface, however the board refused to capitulate. Eventually, faced with the property being condemned and/or expropriated, Hooker Chemical agreed to sell on the condition that the board buy the entire property for a dollar.

Shortly thereafter, the board began construction on the 99th Street School in its originally intended location. However, the building site was forced to relocate when contractors unearthed two pits filled with chemicals. The new location was directly on top of the former landfill, and during construction, contractors broke through the clay seal that Hooker had installed to contain the chemical waste.

In 1957, the City of Niagara Falls constructed sewers for a mixture of low-income and single family residences to be built on lands adjacent to the landfill site. During construction of the gravel sewer beds, the clay seal was broken again, the walls of the canal were breached, and chemicals seeped from the canal. The construction of the LaSalle Expressway restricted groundwater from flowing to the Niagara River. Following the wet winter and spring of 1977, the elevated expressway turned the breached canal into an overflowing pool.

In 1978, Lois Gibbs, a local mother and president of the Love Canal Homeowners' Association, began to wonder if her children's recurring epilepsy, asthma, and urinary tract infections[4] were connected to their exposure to leaking chemical waste. Gibbs later discovered that her neighborhood sat on top of 21,000 tons of buried chemical waste, the now infamous Love Canal.

In the following years, Gibbs led an effort to investigate community concerns about the health of its residents; she and other residents made repeated complaints of strange odors and "substances" that surfaced in their yards. City officials were brought to investigate the area, but did not act to solve the problem.

The lack of public interest in Love Canal made matters worse for the homeowners' association, which now battled two organizations spending vast amounts of money to disprove negligence. Initially, members of the organization had been frustrated by the lack of a public entity that could advise and defend them. Gibbs met with considerable public resistance to attempts to organize the community, and the mostly middle-class families did not have the resources to protect themselves, and many did not see any alternative other than abandoning their homes at a loss.

By 1978, Love Canal had become a national media event with articles referring to the neighborhood as "a public health time bomb," and "one of the most appalling environmental tragedies in American history."

On August 7, 1978, United States President Jimmy Carter declared a federal emergency at Love Canal, and those living closest to the site were relocated.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Canal

[sladys]

The first british Grand Prix was held at Brooklands Airfield. It was opened on june 7. 1907 and the races stopped after WW II because the cars were too fast for this track.

This first British Grand Prix was won by Louis Wagner and Robert Senechal driving a Delage 155B.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklands

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delage

[sladys]

Queen Victoria declares Ottawa as canadian capital. Became Capital of the new Dominion of Canada in 1867. Designated 1976.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa

[sladys]

Jacques Balmat and doctor Michel Paccard were the first who succeded to climb up the Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in western Europe and the Alps on the border of France and Italy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Blanc

[sladys]

In 1900 Dwight Davis, then a fourth-year student of nearby Harvard University, arranged for a British team visit Longwood and compete for what became the first Davis Cup tie, branded the International Lawn Tennis Challenge. The Davis-captained Americans won the inaugural contest 3-0.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longwood_Cricket_Club

http://www.daviscup.com/

[sladys]

President Nixon announced in a live broadcast that he resign as Presiden of the USA after the Watergate Scandal. Gerald Ford took over office as new US President.

On June 17, 1972, Frank Wills, a security guard at the Watergate Complex, noticed tape covering the locks on several doors in the complex. He called the police and within minutes, five men were arrested inside the Democratic National Committee's office. The five men were Virgilio González, Bernard Barker, James W. McCord, Jr., Eugenio Martínez and Frank Sturgis. The five were charged with attempted burglary and attempted interception of telephone and other communications. On September 15, a grand jury indicted them and two other men for conspiracy, burglary and violation of federal wiretapping laws. The two others were: E. Howard Hunt, Jr. and Gordon Liddy. In March 1973, James McCord wrote a letter to Judge John J. Sirica charging a massive cover up of the burglary. His letter transformed the affair into a political scandal of unprecedented magnitude.

The connection between the break-in and the President's re-election campaign fundraising committee was highlighted by its media coverage. In particular, investigative coverage by The Washington Post and The New York Times fueled focus on the event. The coverage dramatically increased the profile of the crime and consequent political stakes. Fed tips by an anonymous source (W. Mark Felt) they would later identify only by the code name "Deep Throat," Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncovered information suggesting that knowledge of the break-in and attempts to cover it up led deep into the Justice Department, the FBI, the CIA, and even the White House itself. Rather than ending with the trial and conviction of the burglars, the investigations grew broader; a Senate committee chaired by Senator Sam Ervin was set up to examine Watergate and started to subpoena White House staff.

On April 30, 1973, Nixon was forced to ask for the resignation of two of his most influential aides, H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, both of whom would soon be indicted and ultimately go to prison. He also fired White House Counsel John Dean, who had just testified before the Senate and would go on to become the key witness against the President.

On the same day, Nixon appointed a new Attorney General, Elliot Richardson, and gave him authority to designate, for the growing Watergate inquiry, a special counsel who would be independent of the regular Justice Department hierarchy, to preserve his independence. On May 19, 1973, Richardson named Archibald Cox to the position. Televised hearings had begun two days before.

1976 the famous movie "All the President's Men" starring Robert Redford as Woodward and Dustin Hoffman as Bernstein was made telling the story of this case.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal

[Captain Hornblower]

The Great Train Robbery is the name given to a £2.6 million train robbery committed on 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England. The bulk of the stolen money was not recovered. This was probably the largest value, in comparison, robbery in British history - until the Securitas depot robbery of 2006 in Kent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Train_Robbery_of_1963
http://www.trainrobbery.de/en/index.html

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile26414/Bridego-Railway-Bridge.htm

[McMaster_de]

At 11:02 a.m., August 9, 1945 an atomic bomb exploded 500 meters above this spot. The black stone monolith marks the hypocenter.
The fierce blast wind, heat rays reaching several thousand degrees, and deadly radiation generated by the explosion crushed, burned and killed everything in sight and reduced this entire area to a barren field of rubble.
About one-third of Nagasaki City was destroyed and 150,000 people killed or injured, and it was said at the time that this area would be devoid of vegetation for 75 years. Now, the hypocenter remains as an international peace park and a symbol of the aspiration for world harmony.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki

Let us pray, that these events will never come again.

[Captain Hornblower]

The Sistine Chapel (Italian: Cappella Sistina) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope, in the Vatican City. Its fame rests on its architecture, which evokes Solomon's Temple of the Old Testament, its decoration, frescoed throughout by the greatest Renaissance artists, including Michelangelo whose ceiling is legendary, and its purpose, as a site of papal religious and functionary activity, notably the conclave, at which a new Pope is selected.
The first mass in the Sistine Chapel was celebrated on August 9, 1483, the Feast of the Assumption, at which ceremony the chapel was consecrated and dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistine_Chapel

[Captain Hornblower]

The Battle of Cedar Mountain, also known as Slaughter's Mountain or Cedar Run, took place on August 9, 1862, in Culpeper County, Virginia, as part of the Northern Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cedar_Mountain

[Captain Hornblower]

As a direct result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office. His Vice President, Gerald Ford, becomes president.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal
http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile4795/The-Watergate.htm

[Captain Hornblower]

The Hoddle Street massacre is the name given to a mass murder that occurred on the evening of Sunday, August 9, 1987 in Hoddle Street, Clifton Hill, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The shootings resulted in the deaths of 7 people, and serious injury to 19 others.

After a police chase lasting more than 30 minutes, 19 year old former Australian Army officer-cadet Julian Knight was caught in nearby Fitzroy North and arrested for the shootings. Knight was later sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 27 years for the bloodiest massacre in Australian history since the Sydney Milperra massacre in September 1984, where six men and a 17-year-old youth were killed. Knight couldn't receive a life sentence without parole because at the time Victoria did not have such a sentence also as he was between 18-21 he was classed as a young offender under Victorian law. This required for him to have a chance at rehabilitation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoddle_Street_Massacre

[Captain Hornblower]

Diogo Dias, also known as Diogo Gomes, was a 15th century Portuguese explorer. He discovered some of the Cape Verde islands together with António Noli. Accompanied Pedro Álvares Cabral in the discovery of Brazil, being one of the captains of the fleet. On August 10, 1500, his ship, separated by weather, discovered an island they named after St Lawrence after the saint on whose feast day they had first sighted the island later known as Madagascar. He then returned to Portugal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogo_Dias

[Captain Hornblower]

Originally part of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, Missouri was admitted as a state on 10.08.1821 as part of the Missouri Compromise. It earned the nickname "Gateway to the West" because it served as a departure point for settlers heading to the west. It was the starting point and the return destination of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri

[Captain Hornblower]

Vasa (or Wasa[2]) is a 64-gun warship, built for Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden 1626-1628. She foundered after sailing only a mile into her maiden voyage on 10 August 1628. After years of searching and preparation from 1956, Vasa was salvaged with a largely intact hull on 24 April 1961. She was housed in a temporary museum called Wasavarvet ("The Wasa Shipyard") until 1987, and was then moved to the Vasa Museum in Stockholm. The ship is one Sweden's most popular tourist attractions and has so far attracted over 25 million visitors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_%28ship%29

[sladys]

After WW I and the resign of the german Emperor Wilhelm II and he went to exile in the Netherlands, the new Weimar Republic or Deutsches Reich was established.

The republic was named after the german city of Weimar where a national assembly convened to predict a new constitution.

The first President was Friedrich Ebert until 1925 followed by Paul van Hindenburg until 1933 when Hitler took over and ended the Weimar Republik and the Third Reich began.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_Republic

[Gandolf]

1934 Alcatraz, in San Francisco Bay, received its first federal prisoners.

[Gandolf]

1966 Chevy Camero is introduced Selling price $2633.00 USD

[sladys]

In July of 1980, IBM representatives met for the first time with Microsoft's Bill Gates to talk about writing an operating system for IBM's new hush-hush "personal" computer. IBM had been observing the growing personal computer market for some time. They had already made one dismal attempt to crack the market with their IBM 5100. At one point, IBM considered buying the fledgling game company Atari to commandeer Atari's early line of personal computers. However, IBM decided to stick with making their own personal computer line and developed a brand new operating system to go with. The secret plans were referred to as "Project Chess". The code name for the new computer was "Acorn". Twelve engineers, led by William C. Lowe, assembled in Boca Raton, Florida, to design and build the "Acorn". On August 12, 1981, IBM released their new computer, re-named the IBM PC. The "PC" stood for "personal computer" making IBM responsible for popularizing the term "PC".

The first IBM PC ran on a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 microprocessor. The PC came equipped with 16 kilobytes of memory, expandable to 256k. The PC came with one or two 160k floppy disk drives and an optional color monitor. The price tag started at $1,565, which would be nearly $4,000 today. What really made the IBM PC different from previous IBM computers was that it was the first one built from off the shelf parts (called open architecture) and marketed by outside distributors (Sears & Roebucks and Computerland). The Intel chip was chosen because IBM had already obtained the rights to manufacture the Intel chips. IBM had used the Intel 8086 for use in its Displaywriter Intelligent Typewriter in exchange for giving Intel the rights to IBM's bubble memory technology.

Less than four months after IBM introduced the PC, Time Magazine named the computer "man of the year"

http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa031599.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PC

[sladys]

On June 15, 1961, two months before the construction of the Berlin Wall started, Walter Ulbricht stated in an international press conference, "Niemand hat die Absicht, eine Mauer zu errichten!" (No one has the intention to set up a wall). It was the first time the colloquial term Mauer (wall) had been used in this context.

The night of August 12, 1961, the leaders of East Germany attended a garden party at Döllnsee, formerly the hunting grounds of Hermann Göring. Construction of 45 km (28 miles) around the three western sectors began early on Sunday, August 13, 1961 in East Berlin. The zonal boundary had been sealed that morning by East German troops. The barrier was built by East German troops and workers, not directly involving the Soviets. It was built slightly inside East German territory to ensure that it did not encroach on West Berlin at any point; if one stood next to the West Berlin side of the barrier (and later the Wall), one was actually standing on East Berlin soil. Some streets running alongside the barrier were torn up to make them impassable to most vehicles, and a barbed-wire fence was erected, which was later built up into the full-scale Wall. It physically divided the city and completely surrounded West Berlin. During the construction of the Wall, NVA and KdA soldiers stood in front of it with orders to shoot anyone who attempted to defect. Additionally, the whole length of the border between East and West Germany was closed with chain fences, walls, minefields, and other installations (see GDR border system).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile5078/Berlin-Wall-(photo-overlay).htm

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile2816/Berlin-Wall.htm

[sladys]

The Northeast Blackout of 2003 was a massive power outage that occurred throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, and Ontario, Canada on Thursday, August 14, 2003. Although not affecting as many people as the later 2003 Italy blackout, it was the largest blackout in North American history. It affected an estimated 10 million people in the province of Ontario (about one-third of the population of Canada), and 40 million people in eight U.S. states (about one-seventh of the population of the U.S.). Outage-related financial losses were estimated at $6 billion USD ($6.8 billion CDN).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_North_America_blackout

[sladys]

On August 14, the shipyard workers began their strike, organized by the Free Trade Unions of the Coast (Wolne Związki Zawodowe Wybrzeża). The workers were led by electrician Lech Wałęsa, a former shipyard worker who had been dismissed in 1976, and who arrived at the shipyard late in the morning of August 14. The strike committee demanded the rehiring of Walentynowicz and Wałęsa, as well as the according of respect to workers' rights and other social concerns. In addition, they called for the raising of a monument to the shipyard workers who had been killed in 1970 and for the legalization of independent trade unions.

The Polish government enforced censorship, and official media said little about the "sporadic labor disturbances in Gdańsk"; as a further precaution, all phone connections between the coast and the rest of Poland were soon cut. Nonetheless, the government failed to contain the information: a spreading wave of samizdats (Polish: bibuła), including Robotnik (The Worker), and grapevine gossip, along with Radio Free Europe broadcasts that penetrated the Iron Curtain, ensured that the ideas of the emerging Solidarity movement quickly spread.

Finally the Solidarnosc was founded in september 1980.

This was the beginning of the fall of the communist regimes in Europe which happened 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Solidarity#Early_strikes_.281980.E2.80. 9381.29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidarity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Solidarity


http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile15005/Lenin-shipyard.htm

[sladys]

On this day 30 years ago the King of Rock 'n roll, Elvis Presley, was found dead in his Memphis home, Graceland.

He was born january 8th. 1935 in Tupelo MS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley
http://www.elvis.com/

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile376/Graceland.htm
http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile21505/Graceland---3D.htm

[SSSALVI]

On this day in 1987 Northwest Flight 255 ( McDonnell Douglas MD-82 aircraft ) that took off from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Michigan near Detroit, crashed immediately after take off as the aircraft was not properly configured for takeoff and the pilot did not get the info due to Electrical system failure.
Miraculously a 4 yr old girl was the only survivor. 148 passengers plus a crew of 6 and 2 on ground died.

Wikimapia link : http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=42.241767&lon=-83.327329&z=18&l=0&m=a&v=2

==========
S^3

[SSSALVI]

USAF ( Not NASA, NASA was formed in October of 1958 ) attempted to send 1st lunar probe 'PIONEER-0' using a Thor-Able Launch Vehicle from Cape Canaveral site. Pioneer weighed 38 kg (83 lb). But due to the explosion of 1st stage the rocket disintegrated 77 seconds after liftoff.

http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=28.466329&lon=-80.536201&z=17&l=0&m=a&v=2
http://www.astronautix.com/project/pioneer.htm

[sladys]

On this day the first CD recordings rolled off the assembly line. They were reaching the market in late 1982 in Asia, and early the following year in the United States and other markets. The first CDs available were 16 Japanese-made titles from CBS/Sony.
This event is often seen as the "Big Bang" of the digital audio revolution. The new audio disc was enthusiastically received, especially in the early-adopting classical music and audiophile communities and its handling quality received particular praise. As the price of players sank rapidly, the CD began to gain popularity in the larger popular and rock music markets.

The new thing in this idea was, you don't have to turn your record on the other side whe one side was done. You play the whole record at one time. And the quality was much better than the old known LP.

The record was read by a laser device instead of the usual diamond needle.

The first release was ABBA's The Visitors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Disc

[Jrod]

On this day in in 1969 Jimi Hendrix plays the last day of woodstock.

[sladys]

Virginia Dare became the first child to be born on American soil of English parents. The colony that is now Roanoke Island, NC, mysteriously vanished.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Dare

[sladys]

James Meredith graduated from the University of Mississippi. He was the first black man to accomplish this feat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Meredith

[SSSALVI]

1934 : Adolf Hitler was given the sole executive power and was designated as Fuhrer.

1960 : Soviet spaceship,Sputnik 5, carried aboard 2 dogsand 3 mice into orbit which were later recovered alive.

==========
S^3

[sladys]

Collapse of the Soviet Union: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev placed under house arrest while on holiday in the town of Foros, Crimea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_coup_attempt_of_1991#August_19

[sladys]

In Moscow, downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the Soviet Union for espionage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Gary_Powers

[sladys]

Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be the first non-communist Prime Minister in 42 years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Mazowiecki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wojciech_Jaruzelski

[SSSALVI]

This day appears to be the day of Firsts.

1896 .. Telephone with a dial wheel was patented
1913 P Adolph becomes the 1st pilot to parachute from an aircraft
1920 Detroit, 8MK (WWJ), becomes the 1st radio station to broadcasting daily commercial programs
1947 Turner Caldwell in D-558-I sets aircraft speed record of 1131 kph.
1957 USAF ballon climbs to 102,000' (310,896 m) to break an altitude record.
1975 Viking 1 launched toward Mars for a soft landing on the surface.
1977 NASA launches Voyager 2 towards Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus & Neptune ( It continues to explore to this day, and is now more than 7 billion miles from Earth.)

============
S^3

[Captain Hornblower]

1957 USAF ballon climbs to 102,000' (310,896 m) to break an altitude record.

Make it 31,089 m ;)

[sladys]

200,000 Warsaw Pact troops and 5,000 tanks invade Czechoslovakia to end the "Prague Spring" of political liberalization. Next day it was over with the czech dreams of freedom after they began their revolution on january 5th 1968.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Spring

[SSSALVI]

1864, Aug 22nd :

12 nations meeting in Geneva adopted resolution for the formation of a neutral body of medical personnel to take care of Wounded and Sick of Armies in the Field.

Proposal was put forth by Jean-Henri Dunant a Swiss humanitarian. In honor of Dunant's nationality, a red cross on a white background--the Swiss flag in reverse--was chosen. Later he was awarded the first Nobel Peace Prize.

http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5282

==========

S^3

[sladys]

Mount Vesuvius erupts. The cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae are buried in volcanic ash.

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile15041/Vesuvio-79AD.htm

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile11564/Pompeii-Ruins-Overlay.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Vesuvius

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herculaneum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabiae

[sladys]

The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible or the Mazarin Bible) is a printed version of the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible that was printed by Johannes Gutenberg, in Mainz, Germany in the fifteenth century. Although it is not, as often thought, the first book to be printed by Gutenberg's new movable type system, it is his major work, and has iconic status as the start of the "Gutenberg Revolution" and the "Age of the Printed Book".

The detailed format of printed bible is a possible imitation of a Mainz illuminated manuscript, the so called Giant Bible of Mainz (Biblia latina), whose 1300 pages were written between 1452 and 1453.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutenberg_Bible

[sladys]

The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy in French) was a wave of Catholic mob violence against the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants), traditionally believed to have been instigated by Catherine de' Medici, the mother of Charles IX. Starting on August 24, 1572, with the murder of a prominent Huguenot, Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, the massacres spread throughout Paris, and later to other cities and the countryside, lasting for several months. The exact number of fatalities is not known, but it is estimated that several thousand or possibly tens of thousands of Huguenots died in the violence. Though by no means unique, "it was the worst of the century's religious massacres." [1] The massacres marked a turning-point in the French Wars of Religion by radicalising the Huguenot faction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Bartholomews_Day_Massacre

[sladys]

It is believed that the original potato chip recipe was created by Native American/African American chef George Crum, at Moon's Lake House near Saratoga Springs, New York, on August 24, 1853. He was fed up with a customer — by some accounts Cornelius Vanderbilt (although this has been called into question) — who continued to send his fried potatoes back, because he thought they were too thick and soggy. Crum decided to slice the potatoes so thin that they couldn't be eaten with a fork, nor fried normally in a pan, so he decided to stir-fry the potato slices. Against Crum's expectation, the guest was ecstatic about the new chips. They became a regular item on the lodge's menu under the name "Saratoga Chips." They soon became popular throughout New England. Eventually, potato chips spread beyond chef-cooked restaurant fare and began to be mass produced for home consumption; Dayton, Ohio-based Mike-sell's Potato Chip Company, founded in 1910, calls itself the "oldest potato chip company in the United States".

Before the airtight sealed bag was developed, chips were stored in barrels or tins. The chips at the bottom were often stale and damp. Then Laura Scudder invented the bag by ironing together two pieces of waxed paper, thereby creating an airtight seal and keeping the chips fresh until opened. In 1934 Akron, Ohio, potato chip maker K.T. Salem was the first to distribute chips in glassine waxed paper bags. Today, chips are packaged in plastic bags, with nitrogen gas blown in prior to sealing to lengthen shelf life, and provide protection against crushing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato_chips

[sladys]

The Panic of 1857 was a sudden downturn in the economy of the United States that occurred in 1857. The downturn was brief and the recovery strong, so that the impact was small. Over 5,000 businesses failed within a year. Unemployment was accompanied by protest meetings in urban areas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1857

[sladys]

Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products. During development it was referred to as Windows 4.0 or by the internal codename Chicago.

Windows 95 was intended to integrate Microsoft's formerly separate MS-DOS and Windows products and includes an enhanced version of DOS, often referred to as MS-DOS 7.0. It features significant improvements over the popular Windows 3.1, most visibly the graphical user interface (GUI) whose basic format and structure is still used in later versions such as Windows Vista. There were also large changes made to the underlying workings, including support for 255-character mixed-case long filenames and preemptively multitasked protected-mode 32-bit applications. Whereas its predecessors are optional "operating environments" requiring the MS-DOS operating system (usually available separately), Windows 95 is a consolidated operating system, which was a significant marketing change.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_95

[Captain Hornblower]

On 25.08.1718 French emigrants founded the city of New Orleans.

[Captain Hornblower]

The Treaty of Peace with Germany is often used to describe the separate post-World War I peace accord of August 25, 1921 between the United States and Germany following the U.S. Senate's rejection of parts of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles and Warren G. Harding's defeat of League of Nations advocate James M. Cox in the 1920 presidential election.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Berlin_%281921%29

[Captain Hornblower]

On July 2, 1839, Africans being carried aboard La Amistad from Havana were led by fellow captive Joseph Cinqué in a revolt against their captors. Their transport from Africa to the Americas was illegal, and they were fraudulently described as having been born in Cuba. After the revolt, the Africans demanded to be returned home, but the ship’s navigator deceived them about their course, and sailed them north along the North American coast to Long Island, New York. The schooner was subsequently taken into custody by the United States Navy; and the Africans, who were deemed salvage from the vessel, were taken to Connecticut to be sold as slaves. There ensued a widely publicized court case about the ship and the legal status of the African captives. This incident figured prominently in abolitionism in the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Amistad

[Captain Hornblower]

The 19th amendment was specifically intended to extend suffrage to women. It was proposed on June 4, 1919 and ratified on August 18, 1920.

The amendment was the culmination of the work of many activists in favor of women's suffrage. One such group called the Silent Sentinels protested in front of the White House for 18 months starting in 1917 to raise awareness of the issue.

On January 9, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson announced his support of the amendment. The next day, the House of Representatives narrowly passed the amendment but the Senate refused to even debate it until October. When the Senate voted on the amendment in October, it failed by three votes.

In response, the National Woman's Party urged citizens to vote against anti-suffrage senators up for election in the fall of 1918. After the 1918 election, most members of Congress were pro-suffrage. On May 21, 1919, the House of Representatives passed the amendment by a vote of 304 to 89, and 2 weeks later on June 4, the Senate finally followed, where the amendment passed by a vote of 56 to 25.

It was ratified on August 18, 1920, upon its ratification by Tennessee, the thirty-sixth state to do so. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the ratification on August 26, 1920.

[Captain Hornblower]

Sigmund Jähn became first German cosmonaut. In 1976 he was selected together with his later backup Eberhard Köllner to train as the first cosmonaut in the Intercosmos program. He trained in Star City near Moscow for the next two years, and finally flew on board Soyuz 31 to the Soviet space station Salyut 6, and returned with Soyuz 29. For this flight, he was celebrated as the first German cosmonaut, which is remarkable as in those days, both East and West Germany normally stressed that people who achieved similar deeds were citizens of their respective states. He spent 7 days, 20 hours, and 49 minutes in space.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_J%C3%A4hn

[Captain Hornblower]

The Anglo-Zanzibar War was fought between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar on 27 August 1896. With a duration of only 45 minutes (09:00 - 09:45), it holds the record of being the shortest war in recorded history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Zanzibar_War

[Captain Hornblower]

The Heinkel He 178 was the world's first aircraft to fly under turbojet power, and the first practical jet plane, the pioneering example of this type of aircraft. It was a private venture by the German Heinkel company in accordance with director Ernst Heinkel's emphasis on developing technology for high-speed flight and first flew on August 27, 1939 piloted by Erich Warsitz. This had been preceded by a short hop three days earlier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinkel_He_178

[SpiderX22]

On this day, August 27th, in 1883 the eruption of Krakatau ended with one final explosion.

The 1883 eruption ejected more than 25 cubic kilometres of rock, ash, and pumice, and generated the loudest sound historically reported: the cataclysmic explosion was distinctly heard as far away as Perth in Australia approx. 1,930 miles (3,110 km), and the island of Rodrigues near Mauritius approx. 3,000 miles (5,000 km). Near Krakatoa, according to official records, 165 villages and towns were destroyed and 132 seriously damaged, at least 36,417 (official toll) people died, and many thousands were injured by the eruption, mostly from the tsunamis which followed the explosion.

The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa is among the most violent volcanic events in modern times (a VEI of 6, equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT — about 13,000 times the yield of the Little Boy bomb which devastated Hiroshima, Japan). Concussive air waves from the explosions traveled seven times around the world, and were detectable for five days. The sky was darkened for days afterwards. Sea waves caused by the eruption were recorded as far away as the English Channel. The explosion is considered to be among the loudest noises ever heard by humans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakatoa

[Captain Hornblower]

St. Augustine was founded by the Spanish in 1565. In all the territory under the jurisdiction of the United States, only settlements in Puerto Rico are older than St. Augustine, with the oldest being San Juan, founded in 1512.

[Captain Hornblower]

The 19-year-old Jim Casey founded the American Messenger Company in Seattle, Washington with $100 borrowed from a friend. The first main service was the delivery of opium, which was fully legal in the country at that time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Parcel_Service

[Captain Hornblower]

"I Have a Dream" is the popular name given to the historic public speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., when he spoke of his desire for a future where blacks and whites would coexist harmoniously as equals. King's delivery of the speech on August 28, 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement. Delivered to over 200,000 civil rights supporters, the speech is often considered to be one of the greatest and most notable speeches in history and was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century by a 1999 poll of scholars of public address.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_have_a_dream

[Captain Hornblower]

The inspiration for arguably the first motorcycle was designed and built by the German inventors Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Bad Cannstatt (since 1905 a city district of Stuttgart) in 1885. The first petroleum-powered vehicle, it was essentially a motorised bicycle, although the inventors called their invention the Reitwagen ("riding car").

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle

[Captain Hornblower]

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling. Today it is the third largest tire company in the world after Bridgestone and Michelin. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, race cars, airplanes, and heavy machinery. In addition it makes rubber hoses, shoe soles, and parts for electric printers. The company has also been extensively involved in the aerospace, military, and hardware technology industries.

Although the company was not connected with him, it was named in honor of Charles Goodyear. Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber in 1839. The first Goodyear Tires became popular because they were easily detachable and low maintenance.

Goodyear is famous throughout the world because of the Goodyear blimp. The blimp came from Goodyear's attempts to enter the Aircraft and Aerospace industries after World War II. Today it is one of the most recognizable advertising icons in America.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodyear_Tire_and_Rubber_Company

[Captain Hornblower]

Joe-1 (or Joe One; USSR version РДС-1, RDS-1) was the American codename for the first Soviet nuclear weapon test, in reference to Joseph Stalin, the Soviet leader. The bomb was tested on August 29, 1949 at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan.

The yield was 22 kilotons of TNT, similar to the United States' "Gadget" and "Fat Man" bombs. At Lavrenty Beria's insistence, it was similar to the design of the American "Fat Man", which had been dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. It was called First Lightning (Первая молния, Pervaya molniya) by the Soviets. Its development was years ahead of American military-intelligence projections and came as quite a shock to the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Lightning

[Captain Hornblower]

The premiere of the three-movement 4′33″ was given by David Tudor on August 29, 1952, at Woodstock, New York as part of a recital of contemporary piano music. The audience saw him sit at the piano and, to mark the beginning of the piece, close the keyboard lid. Some time later he opened it briefly, to mark the end of the first movement. This process was repeated for the second and third movements. The piece had passed without a note being played—in fact without Tudor (or anyone else) having made any deliberate sound as part of the piece. Tudor timed the three movements with a stopwatch while turning the pages of the score.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4%E2%80%B233%E2%80%B3

[Captain Hornblower]

Hong Kong is liberated from Japan by British Armed Forces.

As part of its military campaign in World War II, the Empire of Japan invaded Hong Kong on December 8, 1941. The Battle of Hong Kong ended with British and Canadian defenders surrendering control of the colony to Japan on December 25. During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, civilians suffered from widespread food shortages caused by imposed rations, and hyper-inflation due to forced exchange of currency for military notes. Hong Kong's population declined from 1.6 million before the invasion to about 600,000 in 1945, when the United Kingdom resumed control of the colony following Japan's defeat in the war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong

[Captain Hornblower]

Space Shuttle Discovery (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-103) is one of three spacecraft in the Space Shuttle fleet belonging to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), along with Atlantis and Endeavour. First flown in 1984, Discovery is the third operational Space Shuttle and the oldest shuttle in service. Discovery has performed both research and International Space Station (ISS) assembly missions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Discovery

[sladys]

On 31 August 1997, Diana died after a high speed car accident in the Pont d'Alma road tunnel in Paris along with Dodi Al-Fayed and the Acting Security Manager of the Hôtel Ritz Paris, Henri Paul, who was instructed to drive the hired Mercedes-Benz through Paris secretly eluding the paparazzi.[13] Blood analysis showed that Henri Paul was illegally intoxicated with alcohol whilst driving.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana,_Princess_of_Wales

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile8306/Princess-Dianas-grave,-Althorp.htm

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile21537/Princess-Diana-Memorial-Fountain.htm

[sladys]

The Gleiwitz incident was a staged attack on 31 August 1939 against the German radio station Sender Gleiwitz in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, Germany (since 1945: Gliwice, Republic of Poland) on the eve of World War II in Europe.

This provocation was one of several actions in Operation Himmler, a Nazi Germany project to create the appearance of Polish aggression against Germany, which would be used to justify the subsequent invasion of Poland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleiwitz_incident

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile1184/Radiostation-in-Gliwice,-Poland.htm

[sladys]

The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) is a revolutionary work of musical theatre, by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann, adapted from an 18th century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera. Premiering on August 31, 1928, at Berlin's Schiffbauerdamm Theatre, Die Dreigroschenoper offers a socialist critique of the capitalist world.

The most famous is Mackie Messer or in English Mack the Knife

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Threepenny_Opera

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mack_the_Knife

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile20786/Berliner-Ensemble---Berthold-Brechts-theater..htm

[Captain Hornblower]

Following a German-staged "Polish attack" on August 31, 1939, on September 1, German forces invaded Poland from the north, south, and west. Spread thin defending their long borders, the Polish armies were soon forced to withdraw east. After the mid-September Polish defeat in the Battle of the Bzura, the Germans gained an undisputed advantage. Polish forces then began a withdrawal southeast, following a plan that called for a long defense in the Romanian bridgehead area where the Polish forces were to await an expected Allied counter-attack and relief.

The invasion of Poland marked the start of World War II in Europe as Poland's western allies, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, declared war on Germany on September 3, soon followed by France, South Africa and Canada, among others. The invasion of Poland began September 1, 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and ended October 6, 1939, with Germany and the Soviet Union occupying the entirety of Poland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Poland_%281939%29

[Captain Hornblower]

The SR-71 set a new record for flying from New York to London: 1 hour 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds. This is only Mach 2.68, well below the declassified figure of 3.2+. (For comparison, commercial Concorde flights took around 3 hours 23 minutes, and the Boeing 747 averages 6 hours 15 minutes.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SR-71_Blackbird#Records

[Gandolf]

The SR-71 set a new record for flying from New York to London: 1 hour 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds. This is only Mach 2.68, well below the declassified figure of 3.2+. (For comparison, commercial Concorde flights took around 3 hours 23 minutes, and the Boeing 747 averages 6 hours 15 minutes.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SR-71_Blackbird#Records


SR71 Picture taken over snow capped Sierra Nevada mountains from a refueling aircraft.

[Captain Hornblower]

The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of London, England, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall. It threatened, but did not reach, the aristocratic district of Westminster (the modern West End), Charles II's Palace of Whitehall, and most of the suburban slums. It consumed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St. Paul's Cathedral, and most of the buildings of the City authorities. It is estimated that it destroyed the homes of 70,000 of the City's ca. 80,000 inhabitants. The death toll from the fire is unknown and is traditionally thought to have been small, as only a few verified deaths were recorded. This reasoning has recently been challenged on the grounds that the deaths of poor and middle-class people were not recorded anywhere, and that the heat of the fire may have cremated many victims, leaving no recognisable remains.

The fire started at the bakery of Thomas Farriner (or Farynor) in Pudding Lane shortly after midnight on Sunday, 2 September, and spread rapidly. The use of the major firefighting technique of the time, the creation of firebreaks by means of demolition, was critically delayed due to the indecisiveness of the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Thomas Bloodworth. By the time large-scale demolitions were ordered on Sunday night, the wind had already fanned the bakery fire into a firestorm which defeated such measures. The fire pushed north on Monday into the heart of the City. Order in the streets broke down as rumours arose of suspicious foreigners setting fires. The fears of the homeless focused on the French and Dutch, England's enemies in the ongoing Second Anglo-Dutch War; these substantial immigrant groups became victims of lynchings and street violence. On Tuesday, the fire spread over most of the City, destroying St. Paul's Cathedral and leaping the River Fleet to threaten Charles II's court at Whitehall, while coordinated firefighting efforts were simultaneously mobilising. The battle to quench the fire is considered to have been won by two factors: the strong east winds died down, and the Tower of London garrison used gunpowder to create effective firebreaks to halt further spread eastward.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_London

[Captain Hornblower]

The Japanese Instrument of Surrender was the written agreement that established the armistice ending the Pacific War and with it World War II. It was signed by representatives from the Empire of Japan, the United States of America, the Republic of China, the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of Canada, the Provisional Government of the French Republic, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the Dominion of New Zealand on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. The date is sometimes known as Victory over Japan Day, although that designation is more frequently used to refer to the date of Emperor Hirohito's announcement of the acceptance of the terms of the Potsdam Declaration on August 15.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Instrument_of_Surrender

[sladys]

The Battle of Marathon, Greek Μάχη τοῡ Μαραθῶνος (Mache tou Marathonos), took place in 490 BC and was the culmination of King Darius I of Persia's first full scale attempt to conquer the remainder of Greece and incorporate it into the Persian Empire, to secure the weakest portion of his western border. Most of what is known of this battle comes from Herodotus.

Darius first sent Mardonius, in 492 BC, via a land route to Europe to strengthen Persia's hold of Thrace and Macedon, which had been weakened by the Ionian Revolt. Although successful, most of this force perished in a storm off Mount Athos, and the remainder was forced to return to Asia, losing men along the way.[1] In 490 BC, Datis and Artaphernes were sent in a maritime operation to subjugate the Cyclades islands in the central Aegean and punish Eretria and Athens for their assistance in the Ionian revolt. Eretria was besieged and fell; then the fleet landed in Marathon bay. There they were defeated by a small force of Athenian and Plataean hoplites, despite their numerical advantage. The long run of the messenger who conveyed news of the victory to Athens became the inspiration for the marathon race, which was first staged at the 1896 Olympic Games.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marathon

[Captain Hornblower]

The Munich massacre occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September, a group with ties to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah organization.

By the end of the ordeal, the group had murdered eleven Israeli athletes and one German police officer. Five of the eight terrorists were killed by police officers during an aborted rescue attempt. The three surviving terrorists were captured, and were later released by Germany following the hijacking of a Lufthansa airliner.

Israel responded to the massacre with Operation Wrath of God and Operation Spring of Youth, a series of Israeli air strikes and assassinations of the principal terrorist planners.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Massacre

[Captain Hornblower]

The Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar Al Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David. The two agreements were signed at the White House, and were witnessed by United States President Jimmy Carter. The Accords led directly to the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_David_Accords

[Captain Hornblower]

The St. Gotthard Tunnel in Switzerland is the third longest road tunnel in the world (the longest is Lærdalstunnelen, which is 24.6 km (15.3 miles), and the second longest is the Zhongnanshan Tunnel). It runs from Göschenen in the north to Airolo in the south, and is just under 16.4 kilometres (10.5 miles) in length below the St. Gotthard Pass. It links two Swiss cantons: Uri to the north and Ticino to the south.

This road forms part of the shortest road link from Hamburg, Germany to Sicily in Italy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotthard_Road_Tunnel

[sladys]

The Opium Wars (Simplified Chinese: 鸦片战争; Traditional Chinese: 鴉片戰爭; Pinyin: Yāpiàn Zhànzhēng), or the Anglo-Chinese Wars were two wars fought around the middle of the 19th century (1839-1842 and 1856-1860 respectively)[1] that were the climax of a long dispute between China and Britain. In the second war, France fought alongside Britain. Britain was smuggling opium from British India into China, and when China attempted to enforce her laws against the trade, the conflict erupted.

China succumbed in both wars and was forced to tolerate the opium trade and sign Unequal Treaties opening several ports to foreign trade and yielding Hong Kong to Britain. Several countries followed Britain and forced unequal terms of trade onto China. This humiliation at the hand of foreign powers contributed to the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864), to the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901) and to the eventual downfall of the Qing Dynasty (1911).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars

[Captain Hornblower]

The Mayflower was the famous ship that transported the Pilgrims from Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts (which would become the capital of Plymouth Colony) in 1620. The vessel left England on September 6, and after a gruelling journey marked by disease, the ship dropped anchor inside the hook tip of Cape Cod (Provincetown Harbor) on November 11 (dates in Old Style, Julian Calendar). The Mayflower originally was destined for the Hudson River, north of the 1607 Jamestown Settlement. However, the Mayflower went severely off-course as the winter approached and remained in Cape Cod Bay (mapped in 1602 by Gosnold).

On March 21, 1621, all surviving passengers, who had inhabited the ship during the winter, moved ashore as Plymouth Colony, and on April 5, the Mayflower, a privately commissioned vessel, returned to England (details below).

In 1623, a year after the death of captain Christopher Jones, the Mayflower was most likely dismantled for scrap lumber in Rotherhithe, London, England.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower
http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile12556/Plymouth-Rock,-Massachusetts.htm

[Captain Hornblower]

Viktor Ivanovich Belenko was a pilot with the 513th Fighter Regiment of the Soviet Anti-Air Defense based in Chuguyevka, Primorsky Krai. His name became known worldwide on September 6th, 1976 when he successfully defected to the West, flying his Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 to Hakodate, Japan. This was the first time that Western experts were able to get a close look at the aircraft, and it revealed many secrets and surprises.

Belenko was granted asylum by then US President Gerald Ford, and a trust fund was set up for him, granting him a very comfortable living in later years. The US interrogated and debriefed him for 5 months after his defection, and employed him as a consultant for several years thereafter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Belenko

[sladys]

Korean Air Lines Flight 007, also known as KAL 007 or KE007, was a Korean Air Lines civilian airliner shot down by Soviet jet interceptors on September 1, 1983 just west of Sakhalin island. 269 passengers and crew, including US congressman Lawrence McDonald, were aboard KAL 007; there were no survivors.

The Soviet Union stated it did not know the aircraft was civilian and suggested it had entered Soviet airspace as a deliberate provocation by the United States, the purpose being to test its military response capabilities, repeating the provocation of Korean Air Flight 902, also shot down by Soviet aircraft over the Kola Peninsula in 1978. The incident attracted a storm of protest from across the world, particularly from the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Flight_KAL-007

[sladys]

On September 6, 1982 a frigate, the HDMS Peder Skram, accidentally fired a Harpoon missile during maneuvers in the Kattegat. The missile traveled 34 kilometers at low level, severing several power lines before striking some trees after which it exploded. The fireball and subsequent shock wave destroyed four unoccupied summer cottages, while damaging a further 130 buildings in the immediate vicinity. No human injury was reported. This incident was also called HOVSA, in english Oooops.

Because no one were hurt or killed it was a big laughter in Denmark. That's why :D

http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile24573/Missile-away-towards-summer-cottage-area.htm

[sladys]

Because of a computer error 41.000 people in Paris, France got a letter from the authorities accusing them for murder and/or prostitution insted of a message about a fine for traffic violation.

[Captain Hornblower]

On September 6, 1982 a frigate, the HDMS Peder Skram, accidentally fired a Harpoon missile during maneuvers in the Kattegat.
It must be a popular "joke" in the Danish Navy, that accidentally Harpoon (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-84_Harpoon) firing. :D
I know about an incident, where a Danish Willemoes (http://www.navalhistory.dk/English/TheShips/VW/Willemoes(1977).htm) boat accidentally fired a Harpoon which landed smoothly on an unoccupied beach without detonating.

[sladys]

I have never heard about this incident. I also didn't find anything on the Net.

The only thing I know about is an incident by a MTB that grounded during an naval exercise at the beach of Scroby Sands in England on dec. 2. 1952. It was the motor torpedo boat Havørnen.

Do you have more informations about it? :)

[Captain Hornblower]

Yep ;)

[Captain Hornblower]

On September 7, 1776, Turtle, the world's first submarine used in battle, under the guidance of Army volunteer Sergeant Ezra Lee, attacked HMS Eagle, which was moored off what is today called Liberty Island, but it could not manage to bore through the hull. When he attempted another spot in the hull, he lost the ship, and eventually abandoned the attempt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_%28submarine%29

[Captain Hornblower]

Eugene Lefebvre (1878-1909), while test piloting a new French-built Wright biplane, crashes at Juvisy France when his controls jam. Lefebvre dies, becoming the first 'pilot' in the world to lose his life in a powered-heavier-than-air-craft.

[Captain Hornblower]

Lusitania was owned by the Cunard Steamship Line Shipping Company, built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland, and launched on Thursday, June 7, 1906. Lusitania sailed on her maiden voyage to New York City on September 7, 1907 arriving on September 13, 1907, taking back the Blue Riband in 1907 and she and the Mauretania were the fastest liners of their day.

On April 17, 1915, Lusitania left Liverpool on her 201st transatlantic voyage, arriving in New York on April 24. A group of German–Americans, hoping to avoid controversy if Lusitania were attacked by a U-boat, discussed their concerns with a representative of the German embassy. The embassy decided to warn passengers not to sail aboard Lusitania before her next crossing.

Lusitania was making for the port of Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland, 70 kilometers from the Old Head of Kinsale when the liner crossed in front of U-20 at 2:10 p.m. Schwieger gave the order to fire, but his quartermaster, Charles Voegele, would not take part in an attack on women and children, and refused to pass on the order to the torpedo room — a decision for which he was court-martialed and served three years in prison at Kiel. Another crewman took over, and a single torpedo was launched. It hit under the bridge, and was followed by a much larger secondary explosion in the starboard bow. Schwieger's own log entries attest he only fired one torpedo. Some doubt the validity of this claim, contending the German government subsequently doctored Schwieger's log[citation needed], but accounts from other U-20 crew members confirm it. The torpedo struck just forward of the bridge, sending a plume of debris, steel plating and water upward and knocking Lifeboat #5 off its davits. Lusitania's wireless operator sent out an immediate SOS and Captain Turner gave the order to abandon ship.

Lusitania sank in 18 minutes, 8 miles (13 km) off of the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland. 1,198 people died with her, including almost a hundred children. The bodies of many of the victims were buried at either Lusitania's destination, Queenstown, or the Church of St. Multose in Kinsale. However, the bodies of many other victims were never recovered and remain entombed inside the wreck of the ship.

Of the 197 Americans on board, 128 lost their lives. There was massive outrage in Britain and America. The British felt the Americans had to declare war on Germany. US Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, fearing the US would declare war, resigned from the Cabinet in protest; however, President Woodrow Wilson still did not want the country to get involved in a European dispute because the American population (many of whom were German‐American) did not want to be involved in a war. Instead of declaring war, he sent a formal protest to Germany. Wilson was bitterly criticised in Britain as a coward.

Wilson's restraint now seems remarkable under the circumstances, since there was a wave of American anger over the sinking of Lusitania. Although unrestricted submarine warfare continued at a varying pace into the summer, on August 19 U-24 sank the White Star liner Arabic, with the loss of 44 passengers and crew. Three of the dead were Americans, and President Wilson angrily protested through German diplomatic channels.

On August 27, the Kaiser imposed severe restrictions on U‐boats attacks against large passenger vessels. On September 18, 1915, he called off unrestricted submarine warfare completely.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lusitania

[Captain Hornblower]

, sculpted from 1501 to 1504, is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture and one of Michelangelo's two greatest works of sculpture, along with the Pietà. It is the David alone that almost certainly holds the title of the most recognizable statue in the history of art. It has become regarded as a symbol both of strength and youthful human beauty. The 5.17 meter (17 ft) marble statue portrays the Biblical King David at the moment that he decides to do battle with Goliath. It came to symbolise the Florentine Republic, an independent city state threatened on all sides by more powerful rival states. This interpretation was also encouraged by the original setting of the sculpture outside the Palazzo della Signoria, the seat of civic government in Florence. The completed sculpture was unveiled on 8 September 1504.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo%27s_David

[Captain Hornblower]

After four years of debate, The Football Association finally legalised professionalism on 20 July 1885. Before that date many clubs made illegal payments to "professional" players to boost the competitiveness of their teams, arousing the contempt of those clubs abiding by the laws of the amateur Football Association code. As more and more clubs became professional the ad-hoc fixture list of FA Cup, inter-county, and 'friendly' matches was seen by many as an unreliable stream of revenue, and ways were considered of ensuring a consistent income.

A Scottish draper and director of Aston Villa, William McGregor, was the first to set out to bring some order to a chaotic world where clubs arranged their own fixtures. On 2 March 1888, he wrote to the Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End, West Bromwich Albion and to the secretary of Aston Villa about the formation of a football league.

The first meeting was held at Anderson's Hotel in London on 23 March 1888 on the eve of the FA Cup Final with the name of the Football League being settled at a further meeting on 17 April at Manchester's Royal Hotel. The first season of the Football League began a few months later on 8 September with 12 member clubs.

Each club played the other twice, once at home and once away, and two points were awarded for a win and one for a draw. This points system was not agreed upon until after the season had started; the alternative proposal was one point for a win only. Preston won the first league title without losing a game, and completed the first league-cup double by also taking the FA Cup.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_League#History

[Captain Hornblower]

The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 made landfall on the city of Galveston, Texas on September 8, 1900. It had estimated winds of 135 miles per hour (215 km/h) at landfall, making it a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.

The hurricane caused great loss of life. The death toll has been estimated to be between 6,000 and 12,000 individuals, depending on whether one counts casualties from the city of Galveston itself, the larger island, or the region as a whole. The number most cited in official reports is 8,000, giving the storm the third-highest number of casualties of any Atlantic hurricane, after the Great Hurricane of 1780 and 1998’s Hurricane Mitch. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 is to date the deadliest natural disaster ever to strike the United States. By contrast, the second-deadliest storm to strike the United States, the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane, caused approximately 2,500 deaths, and the deadliest storm of recent times, Hurricane Katrina, has caused approximately 1,600 deaths.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galveston_Hurricane_of_1900

[Captain Hornblower]

Private Thomas James Highgate was an English soldier during the early days of the First World War, and the first British soldier to be convicted of desertion and executed during that war. Posthumous pardons for over 300 such soldiers were announced in August 2006, including Highgate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Highgate

[Captain Hornblower]

The V-2 Rocket (German: Vergeltungswaffe 2) was the first ballistic missile and first man-made object launched into space, the progenitor of all modern rockets and a direct predecessor of the Saturn V moon rocket.

The first unit to reach operational status was Batterie 444. On September 2, 1944 they formed up to launch attacks on Paris, recently liberated, and eventually set up near Houffalize in Belgium. The next day the 485th moved to The Hague for operations against London. Several launch attempts over the next few days failed, but on 8 September both groups fired successfully.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V2_rocket

[Captain Hornblower]

The Treaty of San Francisco or San Francisco Peace Treaty between the All