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Post by dreamer on Jan 1, 2012 7:38:08 GMT -5
Jan. 1stAmerican Revolution Mutiny of the Pennsylvania Line, 1781 Automotive Edsel Ford succeeds father as president of Ford, 1919 Civil War The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect, 1863 Cold War Cuban dictator Batista falls from power, 1959 Crime The real-life murder behind Looking For Mr. Goodbar, 1973 Disaster Air India jet crashes just after takeoff, 1978 General Interest New Year's Day, 45 B.C. Haitian independence proclaimed, 1803 Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect, 1863 First modern Mummers' Parade, 1876 Batista forced out by Castro-led revolution, 1959 Hollywood Sneak preview of The Birth of a Nation, 1915 Literary E.M. Forster is born, 1879 Music Inmate Merle Haggard hears Johnny Cash play San Quentin State Prison, 1958 Old West A Nebraska farmer files the first homestead claim, 1863 Presidential Lincoln signs Emancipation Proclamation, 1863 Vietnam War 1st Marine Division advance elements arrive, 1966 Operation Sam Houston begins, 1967 World War I British ship Formidable is torpedoed, 1915 World War II United Nations created, 1942 Hidden Japanese surrender after Pacific War has ended, 1946 ******************** 1959: Batista forced out by Castro-led revolutionOn this day in 1959, facing a popular revolution spearheaded by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement, Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista flees the island nation. Amid celebration and chaos in the Cuban capitol of Havana, the U.S. debated how best to deal with the radical Castro and the ominous rumblings of anti-Americanism in Cuba. The U.S. government had supported Batista, a former soldier and Cuban dictator from 1933 to 1944, who seized power for a second time in a 1952 coup. After Castro and a group of followers, including the South American revolutionary Che Guevara (1928-1967), landed in Cuba to unseat the dictator in December 1956, the U.S. continued to back Batista. Suspicious of what they believed to be Castro's leftist ideology and worried that his ultimate goals might include attacks on the U.S.'s significant investments and property in Cuba, American officials were nearly unanimous in opposing his revolutionary movement. Cuban support for Castro's revolution, however, grew in the late 1950s, partially due to his charisma and nationalistic rhetoric, but also because of increasingly rampant corruption, greed, brutality and inefficiency within the Batista government. This reality forced the U.S. to slowly withdraw its support from Batista and begin a search in Cuba for an alternative to both the dictator and Castro; these efforts failed. On January 1, 1959, Batista and a number of his supporters fled Cuba for the Dominican Republic. Tens of thousands of Cubans (and thousands of Cuban Americans in the U.S.) celebrated the end of the dictator's regime. Castro's supporters moved quickly to establish their power. Judge Manuel Urrutia was named as provisional president. Castro and his band of guerrilla fighters triumphantly entered Havana on January 7. The U.S. attitude toward the new revolutionary government soon changed from cautiously suspicious to downright hostile. After Castro nationalized American-owned property, allied himself with the Communist Party and grew friendlier with the Soviet Union, America's Cold War enemy, the U.S severed diplomatic and economic ties with Cuba and enacted a trade and travel embargo that remains in effect today. In April 1961, the U.S. launched the Bay of Pigs invasion, an unsuccessful attempt to remove Castro from power. Subsequent covert operations to overthrow Castro, born August 13, 1926, failed and he went on to become one of the world's longest-ruling heads of state. Fulgencio Batista died in Spain at age 72 on August 6, 1973. In late July 2006, an unwell Fidel Castro temporarily ceded power to his younger brother Raul. Fidel Castro officially stepped down in February 2008. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 2, 2012 5:40:34 GMT -5
Jan. 2nd American Revolution Congress publishes the Tory Act, 1776 Automotive Rare Bugatti found in British garage, 2009 Civil War Yankees are victorious at the Battle of Stones River, 1863 Cold War Carter reacts to Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, 1980 Crime The Yorkshire Ripper is apprehended, 1981 Disaster Football fans crushed in stadium stampede, 1971 General Interest Reconquest of Spain, 1492 Georgia enters the Union, 1788 First censuring of a U.S. senator, 1811 Russian fleet surrenders at Port Arthur, 1905 Callas walks out of performance, 1958 U.S.-Russia detente ends, 1980 Hollywood Sherry Lansing named first female studio production head, 1980 Literary Stephen Crane's boat sinks, 1897 Music Folk group The Weavers are banned by NBC after refusing to sign a loyalty oath, 1962 Old West Secretary Fall resigns in Teapot Dome scandal, 1923 Presidential Harrison welcomes Alice Sanger as first female staffer, 1890 Nixon signs national speed limit into law, 1974 Sports Sooners win 30th game in a row, 1956 Vietnam War Viet Cong are successful at Ap Bac, 1963 U.S. planes down seven enemy planes, 1967 World War I Japanese capture Russian naval base at Port Arthur, 1905 World War II Navy opens a blimp base in New Jersey, 1942 ******************** 1980: U.S.-Russia detente endsOn this day in 1980, in a strong reaction to the December 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, President Jimmy Carter asks the Senate to postpone action on the SALT II nuclear weapons treaty and recalls the U.S. ambassador to Moscow. These actions sent a message that the age of detente and the friendlier diplomatic and economic relations that were established between the United States and Soviet Union during President Richard Nixon's administration (1969-74) had ended. Carter feared that the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, in which an estimated 30,000 combat troops entered that nation and established a puppet government, would threaten the stability of strategic neighboring countries such as Iran and Pakistan and could lead to the USSR gaining control over much of the world's oil supplies. The Soviet actions were labeled "a serious threat to peace" by the White House. Carter asked the Senate to shelve ratification talks on SALT II, the nuclear arms treaty that he and Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev had already signed, and the president called U.S. ambassador to Moscow Thomas J. Watson back to Washington for "consultation," in an effort to let the Kremlin know that military intervention in Afghanistan was unacceptable. When the Soviets refused to withdraw from Afghanistan, America halted certain key exports to the USSR, including grain and high technology, and boycotted the 1980 summer Olympics, which were held in Moscow. The United States also began to covertly subsidize anti-Soviet fighters in Afghanistan. During Ronald Reagan's presidency in the 1980s, the CIA secretly sent billions of dollars to Afghanistan to arm and train the mujahedeen rebel forces that were battling the Soviets. This tactic was successful in helping to drive out the Soviets, but it also gave rise to the oppressive Taliban regime and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist organization. In 1980, Jimmy Carter lost the presidency to Ronald Reagan, who favored a more aggressive anti-Communist foreign policy. Reagan dubbed the USSR the "evil empire" and believed it was America's responsibility to save the world from Soviet repression. He dramatically increased U.S. defense spending and ramped up the nuclear arms race with the Soviets, whose faltering economy ultimately prevented them from keeping pace. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 3, 2012 6:55:43 GMT -5
Jan. 3rd Noriega surrenders to U.S., 1990 American Revolution The Battle of Princeton, 1777 Automotive All-time Formula One champ born, 1969 Civil War Delaware rejects secession, 1861 Cold War United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba, 1961 Crime The husband did it: The controversial Stuart case, 1990 Disaster Great Lakes region digs out from record blizzard, 1999 General Interest Martin Luther excommunicated, 1521 Meiji Restoration in Japan, 1868 King Tut's sarcophagus uncovered, 1924 Alaska admitted into Union, 1959 Jack Ruby dies before second trial, 1967 Hollywood Dragnet TV show debuts, 1952 Literary Herman Melville sails for the South Seas, 1841 Music Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts first woman, 1987 Old West Stephen Austin imprisoned by Mexicans, 1834 Presidential Franklin Roosevelt founds March of Dimes, 1938 Sports Buffalo Bills pull off greatest comeback in NFL history, 1993 Vietnam War Antigovernment demonstrators clash with police, 1965 McCarthy announces his presidential candidacy, 1968 World War I British nurse Marion Rice writes from a hospital on the Western Front, 1917 World War II MacArthur and Nimitz given new commands, 1945 ******************** 1990: Noriega surrenders to U.S.On this day in 1990, Panama's General Manuel Antonio Noriega, after holing up for 10 days at the Vatican embassy in Panama City, surrenders to U.S. military troops to face charges of drug trafficking. Noriega was flown to Miami the following day and crowds of citizens on the streets of Panama City rejoiced. On July 10, 1992, the former dictator was convicted of drug trafficking, money laundering and racketeering and sentenced to 40 years in prison. Noriega, who was born in Panama in 1938, was a loyal soldier to General Omar Torrijos, who seized power in a 1968 coup. Under Torrijos, Noriega headed up the notorious G-2 intelligence service, which harassed and terrorized people who criticized the Torrijos regime. Noriega also became a C.I.A. operative, while at the same time getting rich smuggling drugs. In 1981, Omar Torrijos died in a plane crash and after a two-year power struggle, Noriega emerged as general of Panama's military forces. He became the country's de facto leader, fixing presidential elections so he could install his own puppet officials. Noriega's rule was marked by corruption and violence. He also became a double agent, selling American intelligence secrets to Cuba and Eastern European governments. In 1987, when Panamanians organized protests against Noriega and demanded his ouster, he declared a national emergency, shut down radio stations and newspapers and forced his political enemies into exile. That year the United States cut off aid to Panama and tried to get Noriega to resign; in 1988, the U.S. began considering the use of military action to put an end to his drug trafficking. Noriega voided the May 1989 presidential election, which included a U.S.-backed candidate, and in December of that year he declared his country to be in a state of war with the United States. Shortly afterward, an American marine was killed by Panamanian soldiers. President George H.W. Bush authorized "Operation Just Cause," and on December 20, 1989, 13,000 U.S. troops were sent to occupy Panama City, along with the 12,000 already there, and seize Noriega. During the invasion, 23 U.S. troops were killed in action and over 300 were wounded. Approximately 450 Panamanian troops were killed; estimates for the number of civilians who died range from several hundred to several thousand, with thousands injured. Today, Noriega, derogatorily nicknamed "Pineapple Face" in reference to his pockmarked skin, is serving his sentence at a federal prison in Miami. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 4, 2012 7:19:51 GMT -5
Jan. 4th American Revolution Congress accepts Colors of the French Republic, 1796 Automotive GM announces its electric car, 1996 Civil War Confederate General Roger Hanson dies, 1863 Cold War The God That Failed published, 1950 Crime Boston Strangler strikes again, 1964 Disaster Trains collide in Pakistan, 1990 General Interest Utah enters the Union, 1896 President Nixon refuses to hand over tapes, 1974 Segovia begins final U.S. tour, 1987 104th Congress under Republican control, 1995 The euro debuts, 1999 Hollywood National Society of Film Critics honors The Pianist, 2003 Literary Jacob Grimm is born, 1785 Poet T.S. Eliot dies in London, 1965 Music Bobby Vinton tops the pop charts with the last #1 single of the pre-Beatles era, 1964 Old West Colt sells his first revolvers to the U.S. government, 1847 Presidential L.B.J. envisions a Great Society in his State of the Union address, 1965 Sports Vince Young leads Texas over USC in the Rose Bowl, 2006 Vietnam War Johnson reaffirms commitment to South Vietnam, 1965 Thieu announces war has resumed, 1974 World War I Alfred von Schlieffen dies, 1913 World War II United States begins supplying guerrilla forces, 1944 ******************** 1999: The euro debutsOn this day in 1999, for the first time since Charlemagne's reign in the ninth century, Europe is united with a common currency when the "euro" debuts as a financial unit in corporate and investment markets. Eleven European Union (EU) nations (Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain), representing some 290 million people, launched the currency in the hopes of increasing European integration and economic growth. Closing at a robust 1.17 U.S. dollars on its first day, the euro promised to give the dollar a run for its money in the new global economy. Euro cash, decorated with architectural images, symbols of European unity and member-state motifs, went into circulation on January 1, 2002, replacing the Austrian schilling, Belgian franc, Finnish markka, French franc, German mark, Italian lira, Irish punt, Luxembourg franc, Netherlands guilder, Portugal escudo and Spanish peseta. A number of territories and non-EU nations including Monaco and Vatican City also adopted the euro. Conversion to the euro wasn't without controversy. Despite the practical benefits of a common currency that would make it easier to do business and travel throughout Europe, there were concerns that the changeover process would be costly and chaotic, encourage counterfeiting, lead to inflation and cause individual nations to loose control over their economic policies. Great Britain, Sweden and Demark opted not to use the euro. Greece, after initially being excluded for failing to meet all the required conditions, adopted the euro in January 2001, becoming the 12th member of the so-called eurozone. The euro was established by the 1992 Maastricht Treaty on European Union, which spelled out specific economic requirements, including high degree of price stability and low inflation, which countries must meet before they can begin using the new money. The euro consists of 8 coins and 7 paper bills. The Frankfurt-based European Central Bank (ECB) manages the euro and sets interest rates and other monetary policies. In 2004, 10 more countries joined the EU—-Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Several of these countries plan to start using the euro in 2007, with the rest to follow in coming years. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 5, 2012 5:03:31 GMT -5
Jan. 5th American Revolution Benedict Arnold captures and destroys Richmond, 1781 Automotive Construction begins on Golden Gate Bridge, 1933 Civil War Star of the West leaves for Fort Sumter, 1861 Cold War Eisenhower proposes new Middle East policy, 1957 Crime The United Mine Workers Killings, 1970 Disaster Landslides kill 33 in California, 1982 General Interest First divorce in the colonies, 1643 Dreyfus Affair in France, 1895 Golden Gate Bridge is born, 1933 Kamikaze pilots get first order, 1945 Prague Spring begins in Czechoslovakia, 1968 Pol Pot renames Cambodia, 1976 Former Speaker Thomas P. Tip O'Neill dies, 1994 Hollywood Sonny Bono killed in skiing accident, 1998 Literary Alexandre Dumas pere fights a duel, 1825 Music The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" becomes hip-hop's first Top 40 hit, 1980 Old West House resolves to stop sharing Oregon, 1846 Presidential Truman delivers his Fair Deal speech, 1949 Nixon launches the space shuttle program, 1972 Sports New York Yankees announce purchase of Babe Ruth, 1920 Vietnam War Amphibious operations conducted in the Mekong Delta, 1967 Lodge succeeds Harriman as chief negotiator, 1969 World War I First conscription bill is introduced in British parliament, 1916 World War II Soviets recognize pro-Soviet Polish Provisional Government, 1945 ******************** 1933: Golden Gate Bridge is bornOn January 5, 1933, construction begins on the Golden Gate Bridge, as workers began excavating 3.25 million cubic feet of dirt for the structure’s huge anchorages. Following the Gold Rush boom that began in 1849, speculators realized the land north of San Francisco Bay would increase in value in direct proportion to its accessibility to the city. Soon, a plan was hatched to build a bridge that would span the Golden Gate, a narrow, 400-foot deep strait that serves as the mouth of the San Francisco Bay, connecting the San Francisco Peninsula with the southern end of Marin County. Although the idea went back as far as 1869, the proposal took root in 1916. A former engineering student, James Wilkins, working as a journalist with the San Francisco Bulletin, called for a suspension bridge with a center span of 3,000 feet, nearly twice the length of any in existence. Wilkins’ idea was estimated to cost an astounding $100 million. So, San Francisco's city engineer, Michael M. O'Shaughnessy (he’s also credited with coming up with the name Golden Gate Bridge), began asking bridge engineers whether they could do it for less. Engineer and poet Joseph Strauss, a 5-foot tall Cincinnati-born Chicagoan, said he could. Eventually, O'Shaughnessy and Strauss concluded they could build a pure suspension bridge within a practical range of $25-30 million with a main span at least 4,000 feet. The construction plan still faced opposition, including litigation, from many sources. By the time most of the obstacles were cleared, the Great Depression of 1929 had begun, limiting financing options, so officials convinced voters to support $35 million in bonded indebtedness, citing the jobs that would be created for the project. However, the bonds couldn’t be sold until 1932, when San-Francisco based Bank of America agreed to buy the entire project in order to help the local economy. The Golden Gate Bridge officially opened on May 27, 1937, the longest bridge span in the world at the time. The first public crossing had taken place the day before, when 200,000 people walked, ran and even roller skated over the new bridge. With its tall towers and famous red paint job, the bridge quickly became a famous American landmark, and a symbol of San Francisco. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 6, 2012 6:26:40 GMT -5
Jan. 6th American Revolution Washington sets up winter quarters in Morristown, 1777 Automotive Auto industry maverick John DeLorean born, 1925 Civil War Confederate General John Calvin Brown born, 1827 Cold War Soviet Union announces troop reduction, 1958 Crime Skater Nancy Kerrigan attacked, 1994 Disaster Blizzard of 1996 begins, 1996 General Interest Harold II crowned king of England, 1066 Morse demonstrates telegraph, 1838 New Mexico joins the Union, 1912 Nurmi breaks two world records, 1925 Congress certifies Bush winner of 2000 elections, 2001 Hollywood Disney-MGM Studios becomes Disney’s Hollywood Studios, 2008 Literary John Gardner wins National Book Critics Circle Award, 1977 Music Two thousand Led Zeppelin fans trash the Boston Garden, 1975 Old West Mountain man Jedediah Smith is born, 1798 Presidential Two future presidents marry respective sweethearts, 1759 Franklin D. Roosevelt speaks of Four Freedoms, 1941 Sports Nancy Kerrigan attacked, 1994 Vietnam War Army drops charges of My Lai cover-up, 1971 Phuoc Binh falls to the North Vietnamese, 1975 World War I Theodore Roosevelt dies, 1919 World War II Roosevelt commits to biggest arms buildup in U.S. history, 1942 ******************** 1838: Morse demonstrates telegraphOn this day in 1838, Samuel Morse's telegraph system is demonstrated for the first time at the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, New Jersey. The telegraph, a device which used electric impulses to transmit encoded messages over a wire, would eventually revolutionize long-distance communication, reaching the height of its popularity in the 1920s and 1930s. Samuel Finley Breese Morse was born April 27, 1791, in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He attended Yale University, where he was interested in art, as well as electricity, still in its infancy at the time. After college, Morse became a painter. In 1832, while sailing home from Europe, he heard about the newly discovered electromagnet and came up with an idea for an electric telegraph. He had no idea that other inventors were already at work on the concept. Morse spent the next several years developing a prototype and took on two partners, Leonard Gale and Alfred Vail, to help him. In 1838, he demonstrated his invention using Morse code, in which dots and dashes represented letters and numbers. In 1843, Morse finally convinced a skeptical Congress to fund the construction of the first telegraph line in the United States, from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore. In May 1844, Morse sent the first official telegram over the line, with the message: "What hath God wrought!" Over the next few years, private companies, using Morse's patent, set up telegraph lines around the Northeast. In 1851, the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company was founded; it would later change its name to Western Union. In 1861, Western Union finished the first transcontinental line across the United States. Five years later, the first successful permanent line across the Atlantic Ocean was constructed and by the end of the century telegraph systems were in place in Africa, Asia and Australia. Because telegraph companies typically charged by the word, telegrams became known for their succinct prose--whether they contained happy or sad news. The word "stop," which was free, was used in place of a period, for which there was a charge. In 1933, Western Union introduced singing telegrams. During World War II, Americans came to dread the sight of Western Union couriers because the military used telegrams to inform families about soldiers' deaths. Over the course of the 20th century, telegraph messages were largely replaced by cheap long-distance phone service, faxes and email. Western Union delivered its final telegram in January 2006. Samuel Morse died wealthy and famous in New York City on April 2, 1872, at age 80. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 7, 2012 6:45:30 GMT -5
Jan. 7thAmerican Revolution Samuel Adams writes that the confederation is not dead, but sleepeth, 1776 Automotive Chrysler is Time magazine's Man of the Year, 1929 Civil War Former Lincoln cabinet member Caleb Smith dies, 1864 Cold War Truman announces U.S. has developed hydrogen bomb, 1953 United States recognizes new Cuban government, 1959 Crime A case of split personality in puzzling Chicago murders, 1946 Disaster Mine explodes in Oklahoma, 1892 General Interest Across the English Channel in a balloon, 1785 First U.S. presidential election, 1789 Pol Pot overthrown, 1979 Emperor Hirohito dies, 1989 Clinton impeachment trial begins, 1999 Hollywood America’s sweetheart Mary Pickford marries Owen Moore, 1911 Literary Zora Neale Hurston is born, 1891 Music "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is the #1 song on the U.S. pop charts, 1947 Old West Cannibal Alfred Packer is paroled, 1901 Presidential Clinton's Senate impeachment trial begins, 1999 Sports Harlem Globetrotters play their first game, 1927 Vietnam War Civilian government is restored in Saigon, 1965 Laird visits Saigon, 1971 World War I Bolshevik envoy approaches German ambassador in Turkey, 1915 World War II Monty holds a press conference, 1945 ******************** 1789: First U.S. presidential electionOn this day in 1789, America's first presidential election is held. Voters cast ballots to choose state electors; only white men who owned property were allowed to vote. As expected, George Washington won the election and was sworn into office on April 30, 1789. As it did in 1789, the United States still uses the Electoral College system, established by the U.S. Constitution, which today gives all American citizens over the age of 18 the right to vote for electors, who in turn vote for the president. The president and vice president are the only elected federal officials chosen by the Electoral College instead of by direct popular vote. Today political parties usually nominate their slate of electors at their state conventions or by a vote of the party's central state committee, with party loyalists often being picked for the job. Members of the U.S. Congress, though, can’t be electors. Each state is allowed to choose as many electors as it has senators and representatives in Congress. The District of Columbia has 3 electors. During a presidential election year, on Election Day (the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November), the electors from the party that gets the most popular votes are elected in a winner-take-all-system, with the exception of Maine and Nebraska, which allocate electors proportionally. In order to win the presidency, a candidate needs a majority of 270 electoral votes out of a possible 538. On the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December of a presidential election year, each state's electors meet, usually in their state capitol, and simultaneously cast their ballots nationwide. This is largely ceremonial: Because electors nearly always vote with their party, presidential elections are essentially decided on Election Day. Although electors aren't constitutionally mandated to vote for the winner of the popular vote in their state, it is demanded by tradition and required by law in 26 states and the District of Columbia (in some states, violating this rule is punishable by $1,000 fine). Historically, over 99 percent of all electors have cast their ballots in line with the voters. On January 6, as a formality, the electoral votes are counted before Congress and on January 20, the commander in chief is sworn into office. Critics of the Electoral College argue that the winner-take-all system makes it possible for a candidate to be elected president even if he gets fewer popular votes than his opponent. This happened in the elections of 1876, 1888 and 2000. However, supporters contend that if the Electoral College were done away with, heavily populated states such as California and Texas might decide every election and issues important to voters in smaller states would be ignored. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 8, 2012 6:55:04 GMT -5
Jan. 8th American Revolution President George Washington delivers first State of the Union, 1790 Automotive Bugatti brother commits suicide, 1916 Civil War Confederate General James Longstreet born, 1821 Cold War Chinese leader Zhou Enlai dies, 1976 Crime Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords injured in shooting rampage, 2011 Disaster Cargo plane crashes into crowded market, 1996 General Interest Astronomer Galileo dies in Italy, 1642 The Battle of New Orleans, 1815 Congress expands suffrage in nation's capital, 1867 Crazy Horse fights last battle, 1877 Allies retreat from Gallipoli, 1916 Wilson announces his 14 Points, 1918 Mona Lisa exhibited in Washington, 1962 Hollywood William Randolph Hearst stops Citizen Kane ads, 1941 Literary Ragtime wins the National Book Critics Circle Award, 1976 Music Elvis Presley receives his first guitar, 1946 Old West Crazy Horse fights his final battle, 1877 Presidential Jackson leads troops to victory at New Orleans, 1815 Wilson delivers Fourteen Points speech, 1918 Sports Music City Miracle, 2000 Vietnam War Operation Cedar Falls is launched, 1967 Peace talks resume in Paris, 1973 World War I Wilson outlines the Fourteen Points, 1917 World War II Mussolini questions Hitler's plans, 1940 ******************** 1877: Crazy Horse fights last battleOn this day in 1877, Crazy Horse and his warriors--outnumbered, low on ammunition and forced to use outdated weapons to defend themselves--fight their final losing battle against the U.S. Cavalry in Montana. Six months earlier, in the Battle of Little Bighorn, Crazy Horse and his ally, Chief Sitting Bull, led their combined forces of Sioux and Cheyenne to a stunning victory over Lieutenant Colonel George Custer (1839-76) and his men. The Indians were resisting the U.S. government's efforts to force them back to their reservations. After Custer and over 200 of his soldiers were killed in the conflict, later dubbed "Custer's Last Stand," the American public wanted revenge. As a result, the U.S. Army launched a winter campaign in 1876-77, led by General Nelson Miles (1839-1925), against the remaining hostile Indians on the Northern Plains. Combining military force with diplomatic overtures, Nelson convinced many Indians to surrender and return to their reservations. Much to Nelson's frustration, though, Sitting Bull refused to give in and fled across the border to Canada, where he and his people remained for four years before finally returning to the U.S. to surrender in 1881. Sitting Bull died in 1890. Meanwhile, Crazy Horse and his band also refused to surrender, even though they were suffering from illness and starvation. On January 8, 1877, General Miles found Crazy Horse's camp along Montana's Tongue River. U.S. soldiers opened fire with their big wagon-mounted guns, driving the Indians from their warm tents out into a raging blizzard. Crazy Horse and his warriors managed to regroup on a ridge and return fire, but most of their ammunition was gone, and they were reduced to fighting with bows and arrows. They managed to hold off the soldiers long enough for the women and children to escape under cover of the blinding blizzard before they turned to follow them. Though he had escaped decisive defeat, Crazy Horse realized that Miles and his well-equipped cavalry troops would eventually hunt down and destroy his cold, hungry followers. On May 6, 1877, Crazy Horse led approximately 1,100 Indians to the Red Cloud reservation near Nebraska's Fort Robinson and surrendered. Five months later, a guard fatally stabbed him after he allegedly resisted imprisonment by Indian policemen. In 1948, American sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski began work on the Crazy Horse Memorial, a massive monument carved into a mountain in South Dakota. Still a work in progress, the monument will stand 641 feet high and 563 feet long when completed. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 9, 2012 6:22:14 GMT -5
Jan. 9thAmerican Revolution Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense, 1776 Automotive Bond movie features Aston Martin, 1965 Civil War Star of the West is fired upon, 1861 Cold War Truman warns of Cold War dangers, 1952 Crime The Hillside Stranglers, 1984 Disaster Fire breaks out on Queen Elizabeth, 1972 General Interest Columbus mistakes manatees for mermaids, 1493 First modern circus is staged, 1768 Nelson buried at St. Paul's Cathedral, 1806 Queen Elizabeth destroyed by fire, 1972 Hollywood Stallone starts filming Rocky, 1976 Literary Virginia Woolf buys a house in Bloomsbury, 1924 Music Pop luminaries gather at the U.N. for the Music for UNICEF concert, 1979 Old West Record cold and snow decimates cattle herds, 1887 Presidential Richard M. Nixon is born, 1913 Sports Laker winning streak comes to an end, 1972 Vietnam War Support is pledged to civilian government, 1965 U.S. officials try to counter claims of Saigon corruption, 1967 World War I Battle of Khadairi Bend begins, 1917 World War II United States invades Luzon in Philippines, 1945 ******************** 1493: Columbus mistakes manatees for mermaidsOn this day in 1493, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, sailing near the Dominican Republic, sees three "mermaids"--in reality manatees--and describes them as "not half as beautiful as they are painted." Six months earlier, Columbus (1451-1506) set off from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean with the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, hoping to find a western trade route to Asia. Instead, his voyage, the first of four he would make, led him to the Americas, or "New World." Mermaids, mythical half-female, half-fish creatures, have existed in seafaring cultures at least since the time of the ancient Greeks. Typically depicted as having a woman's head and torso, a fishtail instead of legs and holding a mirror and comb, mermaids live in the ocean and, according to some legends, can take on a human shape and marry mortal men. Mermaids are closely linked to sirens, another folkloric figure, part-woman, part-bird, who live on islands and sing seductive songs to lure sailors to their deaths. Mermaid sightings by sailors, when they weren't made up, were most likely manatees, dugongs or Steller's sea cows (which became extinct by the 1760s due to over-hunting). Manatees are slow-moving aquatic mammals with human-like eyes, bulbous faces and paddle-like tails. It is likely that manatees evolved from an ancestor they share with the elephant. The three species of manatee (West Indian, West African and Amazonian) and one species of dugong belong to the Sirenia order. As adults, they're typically 10 to 12 feet long and weigh 800 to 1,200 pounds. They're plant-eaters, have a slow metabolism and can only survive in warm water. Manatees live an average of 50 to 60 years in the wild and have no natural predators. However, they are an endangered species. In the U.S., the majority of manatees are found in Florida, where scores of them die or are injured each year due to collisions with boats. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 10, 2012 5:21:02 GMT -5
Jan. 10th American Revolution North Carolina governor calls on Loyalists to combat rebels, 1776 Automotive World's cheapest car debuts in India, 2008 Civil War William Seward is named secretary of state, 1861 Cold War Cuban troops begin withdrawal from Angola, 1989 Crime Green Beret indicted for murder, 1994 Disaster Avalanche kills thousands in Peru, 1962 General Interest Gusher signals start of U.S. oil industry, 1901 League of Nations instituted, 1920 Griffith elected president of Irish Free State, 1922 U.S. troops depart Germany, 1923 First meeting of the United Nations, 1946 Hollywood AOL-Time Warner formed, 2000 Literary Dashiell Hammett dies, 1961 Music "Convoy," by C.W. McCall, is the #1 song on the U.S. pop charts, 1976 Old West Outlaw Frank James born in Missouri, 1843 Presidential FDR introduces the lend-lease program, 1941 Johnson asks for more funding for Vietnam War, 1967 Sports Dwight Clark makes The Catch, 1982 Vietnam War Johnson asks for surcharge to pay for the war, 1967 Hubert Humphrey criticizes President Nixon, 1972 World War I Harding orders U.S. troops home from Germany, 1923 World War II Lend-Lease introduced into Congress, 1941 ******************** 1901: Gusher signals start of U.S. oil industryOn this day in 1901, a drilling derrick at Spindletop Hill near Beaumont, Texas, produces an enormous gusher of crude oil, coating the landscape for hundreds of feet and signaling the advent of the American oil industry. The geyser was discovered at a depth of over 1,000 feet, flowed at an initial rate of approximately 100,000 barrels a day and took nine days to cap. Following the discovery, petroleum, which until that time had been used in the U.S. primarily as a lubricant and in kerosene for lamps, would become the main fuel source for new inventions such as cars and airplanes; coal-powered forms of transportation including ships and trains would also convert to the liquid fuel. Crude oil, which became the world's first trillion-dollar industry, is a natural mix of hundreds of different hydrocarbon compounds trapped in underground rock. The hydrocarbons were formed millions of years ago when tiny aquatic plants and animals died and settled on the bottoms of ancient waterways, creating a thick layer of organic material. Sediment later covered this material, putting heat and pressure on it and transforming it into the petroleum that comes out of the ground today. In the early 1890s, Texas businessman and amateur geologist Patillo Higgins became convinced there was a large pool of oil under a salt-dome formation south of Beaumont. He and several partners established the Gladys City Oil, Gas and Manufacturing Company and made several unsuccessful drilling attempts before Higgins left the company. In 1899, Higgins leased a tract of land at Spindletop to mining engineer Anthony Lucas. The Lucas gusher blew on January 10, 1901, and ushered in the liquid fuel age. Unfortunately for Higgins, he'd lost his ownership stake by that point. Beaumont became a "black gold" boomtown, its population tripling in three months. The town filled up with oil workers, investors, merchants and con men (leading some people to dub it "Swindletop"). Within a year, there were more than 285 actives wells at Spindletop and an estimated 500 oil and land companies operating in the area, including some that are major players today: Humble (now Exxon), the Texas Company (Texaco) and Magnolia Petroleum Company (Mobil). Spindletop experienced a second boom starting in the mid-1920s when more oil was discovered at deeper depths. In the 1950s, Spindletop was mined for sulphur. Today, only a few oil wells still operate in the area. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 11, 2012 5:56:20 GMT -5
Jan. 11thAmerican Revolution Jewish Patriot joins Provincial Congress of South Carolina, 1775 Automotive Violence erupts at GM plant strike, 1937 Civil War Yankees capture Rebel stronghold in Arkansas, 1863 Cold War Reagan gives his farewell address, 1989 Crime Nazi enforcers terrorize German POWs in U.S. internment camps, 1944 Disaster Flash flood in Rio, 1966 General Interest Theodore Roosevelt makes Grand Canyon a national monument, 1908 Stalin banishes Trotsky, 1928 Earhart flies from Hawaii to California, 1935 Cornerstone laid at Washington's Islamic Center, 1949 Hollywood Charlie Chaplin’s assets frozen, 1927 Literary Song of Solomon wins National Book Critics Circle Award, 1978 Music Paul Simon returns to Johannesburg, South Africa, with the blessing of the U.N., 1992 Old West Grand Canyon National Monument is created, 1908 Presidential Roosevelt dedicates the Grand Canyon as a national monument, 1908 Sports American League adopts designated hitter rule, 1973 Vietnam War Diem issues Ordinance No. 6, 1956 Demonstrations erupt in Saigon and Hue, 1965 World War I French forces occupy Corfu, 1916 World War II Truce signed in Greek Civil War, 1945 Miep Gies, who hid Anne Frank, dies at 100, 2010 ******************** 1908: Theodore Roosevelt makes Grand Canyon a national monumentOn January 11, 1908, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt declares the massive Grand Canyon in northwestern Arizona a national monument. Though Native Americans lived in the area as early as the 13th century, the first European sighting of the canyon wasn't until 1540, by members of an expedition headed by the Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado. Because of its remote and inaccessible location, several centuries passed before North American settlers really explored the canyon. In 1869, geologist John Wesley Powell led a group of 10 men in the first difficult journey down the rapids of the Colorado River and along the length of the 277-mile gorge in four rowboats. By the end of the 19th century, the Grand Canyon was attracting thousands of tourists each year. One famous visitor was President Theodore Roosevelt, a New Yorker with a particular affection for the American West. After becoming president in 1901 after the assassination of President William McKinley, Roosevelt made environmental conservation a major part of his presidency. After establishing the National Wildlife Refuge to protect the country's animals, fish and birds, Roosevelt turned his attention to federal regulation of public lands. Though a region could be given national park status--indicating that all private development on that land was illegal--only by an act of Congress, Roosevelt cut down on red tape by beginning a new presidential practice of granting a similar "national monument" designation to some of the West's greatest treasures. In January 1908, Roosevelt exercised this right to make more than 800,000 acres of the Grand Canyon area into a national monument. "Let this great wonder of nature remain as it now is," he declared. "You cannot improve on it. But what you can do is keep it for your children, your children’s children, and all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American should see." Congress did not officially outlaw private development in the Grand Canyon until 1919, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Grand Canyon National Park Act. Today, more than 5 million people visit the canyon each year. The canyon floor is accessible by foot, mule or boat, and whitewater rafting, hiking and running in the area are especially popular. Many choose to conserve their energies and simply take in the breathtaking view from the canyon's South Rim--some 7,000 feet above sea level--and marvel at a vista virtually unchanged for over 400 years. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 12, 2012 6:43:05 GMT -5
Jan. 12th American Revolution Hugh Mercer dies from wounds received in Battle of Princeton, 1777 Automotive Henry Ford sets speed record, 1904 Civil War Union General Kilpatrick is promoted, 1865 Cold War Dulles announces policy of "massive retaliation", 1954 Crime Malcolm X's Daughter Arrested, 1995 Disaster Blizzard brings tragedy to Northwest Plains, 1888 Massive earthquake strikes Haiti, 2010 General Interest British-Zulu War begins, 1879 Original Amos n Andy debuts on Chicago radio, 1926 First elected female senator, 1932 Pyramid mystery unearthed, 1984 Hollywood Dynasty premieres on ABC, 1981 Literary Jack London is born, 1876 Music Pianist Vladimir Horowitz makes his American debut at Carnegie Hall, 1928 Old West Joseph Smith abandons Ohio, 1838 Presidential Roosevelt (re)creates the National War Labor Board, 1942 Johnson says U.S. should stay in Vietnam, 1966 Sports Broadway Joe delivers, 1969 Vietnam War Operation Ranch Hand initiated, 1962 "Harrisburg Six" charged with conspiracy, 1971 World War I Leaders of the Big Four nations meet for the first time in Paris, 1919 World War II Soviet forces penetrate the siege of Leningrad, 1943 ******************** 1926: Original Amos n Andy debuts on Chicago radioOn this day in 1926, the two-man comedy series "Sam 'n' Henry" debuts on Chicago's WGN radio station. Two years later, after changing its name to "Amos 'n' Andy," the show became one of the most popular radio programs in American history. Though the creators and the stars of the new radio program, Freeman Gosden and Charles Carrell, were both white, the characters they played were two black men from the Deep South who moved to Chicago to seek their fortunes. By that time, white actors performing in dark stage makeup--or "blackface"--had been a significant tradition in American theater for over 100 years. Gosden and Carrell, both vaudeville performers, were doing a Chicago comedy act in blackface when an employee at the Chicago Tribune suggested they create a radio show. When "Sam 'n' Henry" debuted in January 1926, it became an immediate hit. In 1928, Gosden and Carrell took their act to a rival station, the Chicago Daily News' WMAQ. When they discovered WGN owned the rights to their characters' names, they simply changed them. As their new contract gave Gosden and Carrell the right to syndicate the program, the popularity of "Amos 'n' Andy" soon exploded. Over the next 22 years, the show would become the highest-rated comedy in radio history, attracting more than 40 million listeners. By 1951, when "Amos 'n' Andy" came to television, changing attitudes about race and concerns about racism had virtually wiped out the practice of blackface. With Alvin Childress and Spencer Williams taking over for Gosden and Carrell, the show was the first TV series to feature an all-black cast and the only one of its kind for the next 20 years. This did not stop African-American advocacy groups and eventually the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from criticizing both the radio and TV versions of "Amos 'n' Andy" for promoting racial stereotypes. These protests led to the TV show's cancellation in 1953. The final radio broadcast of "Amos 'n' Andy" aired on November 25, 1960. The following year, Gosden and Carrell created a short-lived TV sequel called "Calvin and the Colonel." This time, they avoided controversy by replacing the human characters with an animated fox and bear. The show was canceled after one season. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 13, 2012 6:54:57 GMT -5
Jan. 13thAmerican Revolution British raid Prudence Island in Narragansett Bay, 1776 Automotive Comedian killed in Corvair crash, 1962 Civil War Union General Napoleon Bonaparte Buford is born, 1807 Cold War Soviets boycott United Nations Security Council, 1950 Crime Doc Barker is killed by prison guards as he attempts to escape, 1939 The Manuel Massacres, 1958 Disaster Plane crashes into Potomac, 1982 General Interest Pope recognizes Knights Templar, 1128 Sole British soldier escapes Kabul, 1842 Stephen Foster dies, 1864 James Joyce dies, 1941 Hollywood Golden Globes curtailed due to writers’ strike, 2008 Literary Zola's "J'accuse" letter is printed, 1898 Music Georgia Governor Zell Miller proposes writing "The Mozart effect" into law, 1998 Old West Wyatt Earp dies in Los Angeles, 1929 Presidential Johnson appoints first African-American cabinet member, 1966 Sports Michael Jordan retires for a second time, 1999 Vietnam War First Operation Farm Gate missions flown, 1962 Nixon announces additional troop withdrawals, 1972 World War I Battle of Wadi, 1916 World War II Allies promise prosecution of war criminals, 1942 ********************* 1128: Pope recognizes Knights TemplarOn this day in 1128, Pope Honorius II grants a papal sanction to the military order known as the Knights Templar, declaring it to be an army of God. Led by the Frenchman Hughes de Payens, the Knights Templar organization was founded in 1118. Its self-imposed mission was to protect Christian pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land during the Crusades, the series of military expeditions aimed at defeating Muslims in Palestine. The Templars took their name from the location of their headquarters, at Jerusalem's Temple Mount. For a while, the Templars had only nine members, mostly due to their rigid rules. In addition to having noble birth, the knights were required to take strict vows of poverty, obedience and chastity. In 1127, new promotional efforts convinced many more noblemen to join the order, gradually increasing its size and influence. While the individual knights were not allowed to own property, there was no such restriction on the organization as a whole, and over the years many rich Christians gave gifts of land and other valuables to support the Knights Templar. By the time the Crusades ended unsuccessfully in the early 14th century, the order had grown extremely wealthy, provoking the jealousy of both religious and secular powers. In 1307, King Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V combined to take down the Knights Templar, arresting the grand master, Jacques de Molay, on charges of heresy, sacrilege and Satanism. Under torture, Molay and other leading Templars confessed and were eventually burned at the stake. Clement dissolved the Templars in 1312, assigning their property and monetary assets to a rival order, the Knights Hospitalers. In fact, though, Philip and his English counterpart, King Edward II, claimed most of the wealth after banning the organization from their respective countries. The modern-day Catholic Church has admitted that the persecution of the Knights Templar was unjustified and claimed that Pope Clement was pressured by secular rulers to dissolve the order. Over the centuries, myths and legends about the Templars have grown, including the belief that they may have discovered holy relics at Temple Mount, including the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant or parts of the cross from Christ's crucifixion. The imagined secrets of the Templars have inspired various books and movies, including the blockbuster novel and film The Da Vinci Code. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 14, 2012 6:56:20 GMT -5
Jan. 14th American Revolution Continental Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris, 1784 Automotive Dodge co-founder dies, 1920 Civil War House Committee proposes amendment to protect slavery, 1860 Cold War United Nations vote "deplores" Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, 1980 Crime Benedict Arnold, American traitor, born, 1741 Disaster Explosion rocks USS Enterprise, 1969 General Interest The first colonial constitution, 1639 Albert Schweitzer born, 1875 George Wallace inaugurated as Alabama governor, 1963 Gold prices soar, 1980 Hollywood Marilyn Monroe marries Joe DiMaggio, 1954 Literary Joseph Conrad returns to London, 1894 Music Diana Ross and the Supremes perform their final concert, 1970 Old West General Miles reports on Sioux, 1891 Presidential Adams, Jefferson and Madison help to ratify the Treaty of Paris, 1784 Roosevelt ushers in Japanese-American internment, 1942 FDR becomes first president to travel by airplane on U.S. official business, 1943 Sports Undefeated Dolphins beat Redskins in Super Bowl VII, 1973 Vietnam War Westmoreland appointed as Harkins' deputy, 1964 Operation Niagara launched, 1968 World War I South African troops occupy Swakopmund in German Southwest Africa, 1915 World War II Anglo-American Combined Chiefs of Staff established, 1942 Roosevelt and Churchill begin Casablanca Conference, 1943 ******************** 1875: Albert Schweitzer bornThe theologian, musician, philosopher and Nobel Prize-winning physician Albert Schweitzer is born on this day in 1875 in Upper-Alsace, Germany (now Haut-Rhin, France). The son and grandson of ministers, Schweitzer studied theology and philosophy at the universities of Strasbourg, Paris and Berlin. After working as a pastor, he entered medical school in 1905 with the dream of becoming a missionary in Africa. Schweitzer was also an acclaimed concert organist who played professional engagements to earn money for his education. By the time he received his M.D. in 1913, the overachieving Schweitzer had published several books, including the influential The Quest for the Historical Jesus and a book on the composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Medical degree in hand, Schweitzer and his wife, Helene Bresslau, moved to French Equatorial Africa where he founded a hospital at Lambarene (modern-day Gabon). When World War I broke out, the German-born Schweitzers were sent to a French internment camp as prisoners of war. Released in 1918, they returned to Lambarene in 1924. Over the next three decades, Schweitzer made frequent visits to Europe to lecture on culture and ethics. His philosophy revolved around the concept of what he called "reverence for life"--the idea that all life must be respected and loved, and that humans should enter into a personal, spiritual relationship with the universe and all its creations. This reverence for life, according to Schweitzer, would naturally lead humans to live a life of service to others. Schweitzer won widespread praise for putting his uplifting theory into practice at his hospital in Africa, where he treated many patients with leprosy and the dreaded African sleeping sickness. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1952, Schweitzer used his $33,000 award to start a leprosarium at Lambarene. From the early 1950s until his death in 1965, Schweitzer spoke and wrote tirelessly about his opposition to nuclear tests and nuclear weapons, adding his voice to those of fellow Nobelists Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 15, 2012 7:23:59 GMT -5
Jan. 15th American Revolution New Connecticut (Vermont) declares independence, 1777 Automotive Ford Foundation is born, 1936 Civil War Fort Fisher falls to Union forces, 1865 Cold War Dulles calls for "liberation of captive peoples", 1953 Crime Hill Street Blues begins run, 1981 Disaster Molasses floods Boston streets, 1919 General Interest Elizabeth crowned queen of England, 1559 First appearance of the Democratic donkey, 1870 Martin Luther King Jr. born, 1929 Packers face Chiefs in first Super Bowl, 1967 Biafra surrenders to Nigeria, 1970 Qaddafi becomes premier of Libya, 1970 Sully Sullenberger performs Miracle on the Hudson, 2009 Hollywood Last episode of soap opera Santa Barbara airs, 1993 Literary The Hunchback of Notre Dame is finished, 1831 Music "American Pie" hits #1 on the pop charts, 1972 Old West The utopian Amana colony embraces capitalism, 1933 Presidential Nixon suspends military action in North Vietnam, 1973 Sports Packers beat Chiefs in first Super Bowl, 1967 Vietnam War Kennedy says U.S. troops are not fighting, 1962 Nixon halts military action against North Vietnam, 1973 World War I Rebel leaders are murdered in failed coup in Berlin, 1919 World War II The "Witch of Buchenwald" is sentenced to prison, 1951 ******************** 1967: Packers face Chiefs in first Super BowlOn this day in 1967, at the Los Angeles Coliseum, the Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the first-ever world championship game of American football. In the mid-1960s, the intense competition for players and fans between the National Football League (NFL) and the upstart American Football League (AFL) led to talks of a possible merger. It was decided that the winners of each league's championship would meet each year in a single game to determine the "world champion of football." In that historic first game--played before a non-sell-out crowd of 61,946 people--Green Bay scored three touchdowns in the second half to defeat Kansas City 35-10. Led by MVP quarterback Bart Starr, the Packers benefited from Max McGee's stellar receiving and a key interception by safety Willie Wood. For their win, each member of the Packers collected $15,000: the largest single-game share in the history of team sports. Postseason college games were known as "bowl" games, and AFL founder Lamar Hunt suggested that the new pro championship be called the "Super Bowl." The term was officially introduced in 1969, along with roman numerals to designate the individual games. In 1970, the NFL and AFL merged into one league with two conferences, each with 13 teams. Since then, the Super Bowl has been a face-off between the winners of the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC) for the NFL championship and the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy, named for the legendary Packers coach who guided his team to victory in the first two Super Bowls. Super Bowl Sunday has become an unofficial American holiday, complete with parties, betting pools and excessive consumption of food and drink. On average, 80 to 90 million people are tuned into the game on TV at any given moment, while some 130-140 million watch at least some part of the game. The commercials shown during the game have become an attraction in themselves, with TV networks charging as much as $2.5 million for a 30-second spot and companies making more expensive, high-concept ads each year. The game itself has more than once been upstaged by its elaborate pre-game or halftime entertainment, most recently in 2004 when Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction" resulted in a $225,000 fine for the TV network airing the game, CBS, and tighter controls on televised indecency. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 16, 2012 6:19:36 GMT -5
Jan. 16th American Revolution British demonstrate naval supremacy in The Moonlight Battle, 1780 Automotive Entertainer Bill Cosby's son murdered along CA interstate, 1997 Civil War Crittenden Compromise is killed in Senate, 1861 Cold War Soviets send troops into Azerbaijan, 1990 Crime The Moon Maniac, 1936 Disaster Avalanches bury buses in Kashmir, 1995 General Interest Prohibition takes effect, 1919 Shah flees Iran, 1979 The Persian Gulf War begins, 1991 Hollywood Carole Lombard killed in plane crash, 1942 Literary Susan Sontag is born, 1933 Music Benny Goodman brings jazz to Carnegie Hall, 1938 Old West Fremont appointed Governor of California, 1847 Presidential Bush waits for deadline in Iraq, 1991 Sports Curt Flood files historic lawsuit against Major League Baseball, 1970 Vietnam War Johnson approves Oplan 34A, 1964 Agreement to open peace talks reached, 1969 World War I Montenegro capitulates to Austro-Hungarian forces, 1916 World War II Hitler descends into his bunker, 1945 ******************** 1919: Prohibition takes effectThe 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes," is ratified on this day in 1919 and becomes the law of the land. The movement for the prohibition of alcohol began in the early 19th century, when Americans concerned about the adverse effects of drinking began forming temperance societies. By the late 19th century, these groups had become a powerful political force, campaigning on the state level and calling for total national abstinence. In December 1917, the 18th Amendment, also known as the Prohibition Amendment, was passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification. Prohibition took effect in January 1919. Nine months later, Congress passed the Volstead Act, or National Prohibition Act, over President Woodrow Wilson's veto. The Volstead Act provided for the enforcement of prohibition, including the creation of a special unit of the Treasury Department. Despite a vigorous effort by law-enforcement agencies, the Volstead Act failed to prevent the large-scale distribution of alcoholic beverages, and organized crime flourished in America. In 1933, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution was passed and ratified, repealing prohibition. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 17, 2012 6:28:37 GMT -5
Jan. 17thAmerican Revolution Battle of Cowpens, South Carolina, 1781 Automotive Corvette unveiled at GM Motorama, 1953 Civil War Sherman's army is delayed by rain, 1865 Cold War Eisenhower warns of the "military-industrial complex", 1961 Crime The Great Brinks Robbery, 1950 Disaster Earthquake rocks Los Angeles, 1994 General Interest Americans overthrow Hawaiian monarchy, 1893 Boston thieves pull off historic robbery, 1950 Eisenhower bids farewell, 1961 H-bomb lost in Spain, 1966 The execution of Gary Gilmore, 1977 Hollywood U.S. Supreme Court decides Universal v. Sony, as VCR usage takes off, 1984 Literary Anne Bronte is born, 1820 Music NBC Television greenlights The Monkees, 1966 Old West John Jacob Astor is born, 1763 Presidential Eisenhower warns of military-industrial complex, 1961 Paula Jones accuses Bill Clinton of sexual harassment, 1994 Sports PGA is formed, 1916 Vietnam War South Vietnamese forces raid POW camp, 1971 Nixon threatens President Thieu, 1972 World War I Winston Churchill hears speech on the tragedy of war, 1916 World War II Allies make their move on Cassino, Italy, 1944 Soviets capture Warsaw, 1945 ******************** 1950: Boston thieves pull off historic robberyOn this day in 1950, 11 men steal more than $2 million from the Brinks Armored Car depot in Boston, Massachusetts. It was the perfect crime--almost--as the culprits weren't caught until January 1956, just days before the statute of limitations for the theft expired. The robbery's mastermind was Anthony "Fats" Pino, a career criminal who recruited a group of 10 other men to stake out the depot for 18 months to figure out when it held the most money. Pino's men then managed to steal plans for the depot's alarm system, returning them before anyone noticed they were gone. Wearing navy blue coats and chauffeur's caps--similar to the Brinks employee uniforms--with rubber Halloween masks, the thieves entered the depot with copied keys, surprising and tying up several employees inside the company's counting room. Filling 14 canvas bags with cash, coins, checks and money orders--for a total weight of more than half a ton--the men were out and in their getaway car in about 30 minutes. Their haul? More than $2.7 million--the largest robbery in U.S. history up until that time. No one was hurt in the robbery, and the thieves left virtually no clues, aside from the rope used to tie the employees and one of the chauffeur's caps. The gang promised to stay out of trouble and not touch the money for six years in order for the statute of limitations to run out. They might have made it, but for the fact that one man, Joseph "Specs" O'Keefe, left his share with another member in order to serve a prison sentence for another burglary. While in jail, O'Keefe wrote bitterly to his cohorts demanding money and hinting he might talk. The group sent a hit man to kill O'Keefe, but he was caught before completing his task. The wounded O'Keefe made a deal with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to testify against his fellow robbers. Eight of the Brinks robbers were caught, convicted and given life sentences. Two more died before they could go to trial. Only a small part of the money was ever recovered; the rest is fabled to be hidden in the hills north of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. In 1978, the famous robbery was immortalized on film in The Brinks Job, starring Peter Falk. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 18, 2012 5:28:21 GMT -5
Jan. 18thAmerican Revolution Georgia's royal governor is arrested, 1776 Automotive GM auctions off historic cars, 2009 Civil War Former U.S. president and Confederate congressman-elect John Tyler dies, 1862 Cold War United States walks out of World Court case, 1985 Crime Barry arrested on drug charges, 1990 Disaster Heavy rain leads to landslides in Southern California, 1969 General Interest Cook discovers Hawaii, 1778 Scott reaches the South Pole, 1912 Post-World War I peace conference begins in Paris, 1919 Hollywood Coen brothers release debut film, Blood Simple, 1985 Literary A.A. Milne is born, 1882 Music "Mandy" is Barry Manilow's first #1 pop hit, 1975 Old West Jefferson requests funds for Lewis and Clark, 1803 Presidential Jefferson requests funding for Lewis and Clark expedition, 1803 Wilson attends Paris Peace Conference, 1919 Sports NHL is integrated, 1958 Vietnam War China and Soviet Union recognize Democratic Republic of Vietnam, 1950 McGovern begins his presidential campaign, 1971 World War I Peace conference opens in Paris, 1919 World War II Germans resume deportations from Warsaw to Treblinka, 1943 [c]*****************[/c] 1919: Post-World War I peace conference begins in ParisOn this day in Paris, France, some of the most powerful people in the world meet to begin the long, complicated negotiations that would officially mark the end of the First World War. Leaders of the victorious Allied powers--France, Great Britain, the United States and Italy--would make most of the crucial decisions in Paris over the next six months. For most of the conference, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson struggled to support his idea of a "peace without victory" and make sure that Germany, the leader of the Central Powers and the major loser of the war, was not treated too harshly. On the other hand, Prime Ministers Georges Clemenceau of France and David Lloyd George of Britain argued that punishing Germany adequately and ensuring its weakness was the only way to justify the immense costs of the war. In the end, Wilson compromised on the treatment of Germany in order to push through the creation of his pet project, an international peacekeeping organization called the League of Nations. Representatives from Germany were excluded from the peace conference until May, when they arrived in Paris and were presented with a draft of the Versailles Treaty. Having put great faith in Wilson's promises, the Germans were deeply frustrated and disillusioned by the treaty, which required them to forfeit a great deal of territory and pay reparations. Even worse, the infamous Article 231 forced Germany to accept sole blame for the war. This was a bitter pill many Germans could not swallow. The Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, five years to the day after a Serbian nationalist's bullet ended the life of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and sparked the beginning of World War I. In the decades to come, anger and resentment of the treaty and its authors festered in Germany. Extremists like Adolf Hitler's National Socialist (Nazi) Party capitalized on these emotions to gain power, a process that led almost directly to the exact thing Wilson and the other negotiators in Paris in 1919 had wanted to prevent--a second, equally devastating global war. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 19, 2012 5:45:09 GMT -5
Jan. 19thAmerican Revolution John Wilkes expelled from Parliament, 1764 Automotive First McDonald's drive-through opens in Beijing, 2007 Civil War Robert E. Lee born, 1807 Yankees defeat Rebels at the Battle of Logan's Cross Roads, 1862 Cold War Communist China recognizes North Vietnam, 1950 Crime Man charged in California cyberstalking case, 1999 Disaster Fog leads to deadly collision in North Sea, 1883 General Interest Edgar Allan Poe is born, 1809 Wilkes claims portion of Antarctica for U.S., 1840 Indira Gandhi becomes Indian prime minister, 1966 Butcher of Lyons arrested in Bolivia, 1983 Hollywood Production begins on Toy Story, 1993 Literary Patricia Highsmith is born, 1921 Music Fleetwood Mac reunite to play "Don't Stop" at Bill Clinton's first Inaugural gala, 1993 Old West Mexican rebels kill Charles Bent, 1847 Presidential Ford pardons Tokyo Rose, 1977 Sports Notre Dame beats UCLA to end 88-game winning streak, 1974 Vietnam War Eisenhower cautions successor about Laos, 1961 Operation McLain is launched, 1968 World War I First air raid on Britain, 1915 World War II British attack Italians in Africa, 1941 ******************** 1809: Edgar Allan Poe is bornOn this day in 1809, poet, author and literary critic Edgar Allan Poe is born in Boston, Massachusetts. By the time he was three years old, both of Poe's parents had died, leaving him in the care of his godfather, John Allan, a wealthy tobacco merchant. After attending school in England, Poe entered the University of Virginia (UVA) in 1826. After fighting with Allan over his heavy gambling debts, he was forced to leave UVA after only eight months. Poe then served two years in the U.S. Army and won an appointment to West Point. After another falling-out, Allan cut him off completely and he got himself dismissed from the academy for rules infractions. Dark, handsome and brooding, Poe had published three works of poetry by that time, none of which had received much attention. In 1836, while working as an editor at the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond, Virginia, Poe married his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm. He also completed his first full-length work of fiction, Arthur Gordon Pym, published in 1838. Poe lost his job at the Messenger due to his heavy drinking, and the couple moved to Philadelphia, where Poe worked as an editor at Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and Graham's Magazine. He became known for his direct and incisive criticism, as well as for dark horror stories like "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Tell-Tale Heart." Also around this time, Poe began writing mystery stories, including "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "The Purloined Letter"--works that would earn him a reputation as the father of the modern detective story. In 1844, the Poes moved to New York City. He scored a spectacular success the following year with his poem "The Raven." While Poe was working to launch The Broadway Journal--which soon failed--his wife Virginia fell ill and died of tuberculosis in early 1847. His wife's death drove Poe even deeper into alcoholism and drug abuse. After becoming involved with several women, Poe returned to Richmond in 1849 and got engaged to an old flame. Before the wedding, however, Poe died suddenly. Though circumstances are somewhat unclear, it appeared he began drinking at a party in Baltimore and disappeared, only to be found incoherent in a gutter three days later. Taken to the hospital, he died on October 7, 1849, at age 40. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 20, 2012 7:06:36 GMT -5
Jan. 20th American Revolution Battle of Millstone, New Jersey, 1777 Automotive GM takes an interest in Oakland Motor Car Corp., 1909 Civil War Union General Burnside's troops get bogged down in mud, 1863 Cold War Truman announces Point Four program, 1949 Crime Football player-turned-murderer born, 1974 Disaster Bullfight spectators die when bleachers collapse, 1980 General Interest Hong Kong ceded to the British, 1841 FDR inaugurated to fourth term, 1945 John F. Kennedy inaugurated, 1961 Iran Hostage Crisis ends, 1981 Terry Waite disappears, 1987 Arafat elected leader of Palestine, 1996 Hollywood Actress Audrey Hepburn dies, 1993 Literary Robert Frost reads at JFK's inauguration, 1961 Music Country star Jerry Lee Lewis rocks the Grand Ole Opry, 1973 Old West Ronald Reagan becomes president, 1981 Presidential Franklin Delano Roosevelt is sworn in as president, 1937 Sports President Carter calls for Olympics to be moved from Moscow, 1980 Vietnam War Richard Nixon takes office, 1969 New communist offensive anticipated, 1972 World War I Goeben and Breslau battle the Allies in the Aegean, 1918 World War II The Wannsee Conference, 1942 ******************** 1981: Iran Hostage Crisis endsMinutes after Ronald Reagan's inauguration as the 40th president of the United States, the 52 U.S. captives held at the U.S. embassy in Teheran, Iran, are released, ending the 444-day Iran Hostage Crisis. On November 4, 1979, the crisis began when militant Iranian students, outraged that the U.S. government had allowed the ousted shah of Iran to travel to New York City for medical treatment, seized the U.S. embassy in Teheran. The Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran's political and religious leader, took over the hostage situation, refusing all appeals to release the hostages, even after the U.N. Security Council demanded an end to the crisis in an unanimous vote. However, two weeks after the storming of the embassy, the Ayatollah began to release all non-U.S. captives, and all female and minority Americans, citing these groups as among the people oppressed by the government of the United States. The remaining 52 captives remained at the mercy of the Ayatollah for the next 14 months. President Jimmy Carter was unable to diplomatically resolve the crisis, and on April 24, 1980, he ordered a disastrous rescue mission in which eight U.S. military personnel were killed and no hostages rescued. Three months later, the former shah died of cancer in Egypt, but the crisis continued. In November 1980, Carter lost the presidential election to Republican Ronald Reagan. Soon after, with the assistance of Algerian intermediaries, successful negotiations began between the United States and Iran. On the day of Reagan's inauguration, the United States freed almost $8 billion in frozen Iranian assets, and the hostages were released after 444 days. The next day, Jimmy Carter flew to West Germany to greet the Americans on their way home. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 21, 2012 6:28:40 GMT -5
Jan. 21st American Revolution Ethan Allen is born, 1738 Automotive Toyota officially passes GM as planet's biggest car maker, 2009 Civil War Rebels recapture Sabine Pass, 1863 Cold War Alger Hiss convicted of perjury, 1950 Crime Switzer of Our Gang murdered, 1959 Disaster Ferry sinks off Indonesian coast, 1996 General Interest King Louis XVI executed, 1793 Vladimir Lenin dies, 1924 Concorde takes off, 1976 President Carter pardons draft dodgers, 1977 Hollywood Hilary Swank moves on, 1998 Literary Don DeLillo's White Noise wins the American Book Award, 1985 Music Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts introduce America to Patsy Cline, 1957 Old West Gun designer John Browning is born, 1855 Presidential Carter pardons draft dodgers, 1977 Sports John McEnroe disqualified from the Australian Open, 1990 Vietnam War Battle for Khe Sanh begins, 1968 World War I Vladimir Ilyich Lenin dies, 1924 World War II General Weygand is born, 1867 ******************** 1977: President Carter pardons draft dodgersOn this day in 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter grants an unconditional pardon to hundreds of thousands of men who evaded the draft during the Vietnam War. In total, some 100,000 young Americans went abroad in the late 1960s and early 70s to avoid serving in the war. Ninety percent went to Canada, where after some initial controversy they were eventually welcomed as immigrants. Still others hid inside the United States. In addition to those who avoided the draft, a relatively small number--about 1,000--of deserters from the U.S. armed forces also headed to Canada. While the Canadian government technically reserved the right to prosecute deserters, in practice they left them alone, even instructing border guards not to ask too many questions. For its part, the U.S. government continued to prosecute draft evaders after the Vietnam War ended. A total of 209,517 men were formally accused of violating draft laws, while government officials estimate another 360,000 were never formally accused. If they returned home, those living in Canada or elsewhere faced prison sentences or forced military service. During his 1976 presidential campaign, Jimmy Carter promised to pardon draft dodgers as a way of putting the war and the bitter divisions it caused firmly in the past. After winning the election, Carter wasted no time in making good on his word. Though many transplanted Americans returned home, an estimated 50,000 settled permanently in Canada, greatly expanding the country's arts and academic scenes and pushing Canadian politics decidedly to the left. Back in the U.S., Carter's decision generated a good deal of controversy. Heavily criticized by veterans' groups and others for allowing unpatriotic lawbreakers to get off scot-free, the pardon and companion relief plan came under fire from amnesty groups for not addressing deserters, soldiers who were dishonorably discharged or civilian anti-war demonstrators who had been prosecuted for their resistance. Years later, Vietnam-era draft evasion still carries a powerful stigma. Though no prominent political figures have been found to have broken any draft laws, Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and Vice-Presidents Dan Quayle and Dick Cheney--none of whom saw combat in Vietnam--have all been accused of being draft dodgers at one time or another. Although there is not currently a draft in the U.S., desertion and conscientious objection have remained pressing issues among the armed forces during the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 22, 2012 6:51:05 GMT -5
Jan. 22nd American Revolution Claudius Smith, "Cowboy of the Ramapos,"hangs, 1779 Automotive "Gran Torino" opens Down Under, 2009 Civil War Rebel General John McCausland dies, 1927 Cold War Reagan links arms talks with Soviets to oppression in Poland, 1982 Crime Roe v. Wade, 1973 Disaster Plane crashes at Nigerian airport, 1973 General Interest British colonists reach New Zealand, 1840 Queen Victoria dies, 1901 First Russian Revolution begins, 1905 Supreme Court legalizes abortion, 1973 Sakharov arrested in Moscow, 1980 Ted Kaczynski pleads guilty to bombings, 1998 Hollywood Heath Ledger dies of accidental prescription drug overdose, 2008 Conan O'Brien makes final appearance as Tonight Show host, 2010 Literary George Gordon, Lord Byron, is born, 1788 Music Final portrait of John and Yoko is on the cover of Rolling Stone, 1981 Old West Chief Dull Knife makes last fight for freedom, 1879 Presidential Lyndon Baines Johnson dies in Texas, 1973 Sports Foreman beats Frazier to win heavyweight title in Jamaica, 1973 Vietnam War U.S. Joint Chiefs foresee larger U.S. commitment, 1964 Operations Jeb Stuart and Pershing II kick off, 1968 World War I Bloody Sunday Massacre in Russia, 1905 World War II Brits and Australians take Tobruk, 1941 ******************** 1879: Chief Dull Knife makes last fight for freedomOn this day, pursuing American soldiers badly beat Cheyenne Chief Dull Knife and his people as they make a desperate bid for freedom. In doing so, the soldiers effectively crushed the so-called Dull Knife Outbreak. A leading chief of the Northern Cheyenne, Dull Knife (sometimes called Morning Star) had long urged peace with the powerful Anglo-Americans invading his homeland in the Powder River country of modern-day Wyoming and Montana. However, the 1864 massacre of more than 200 peaceful Cheyenne Indians by Colorado militiamen at Sand Creek, Colorado, led Dull Knife to question whether the Anglo-Americans could ever be trusted. He reluctantly led his people into a war he suspected they could never win. In 1876, many of Dull Knife's people fought along side Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull at their victorious battle at Little Bighorn, though the chief himself apparently did not participate. During the winter after Little Bighorn, Dull Knife and his people camped along the headwaters of the Powder River in Wyoming, where they fell victim to the army's winter campaign for revenge. In November, General Ranald Mackenzie's expeditionary force discovered the village and attacked. Dull Knife lost many of his people, and along with several other Indian leaders, reluctantly surrendered the following spring. In 1877, the military relocated Dull Knife and his followers far away from their Wyoming homeland to the large Indian Territory on the southern plains (in present-day Kansas and Oklahoma). No longer able to practice their traditional hunts, the band was largely dependent on meager government provisions. Beset by hunger, homesickness, and disease, Dull Knife and his people rebelled after one year. In September 1878, they joined another band to make an epic march back to their Wyoming homeland. Although Dull Knife publicly announced his peaceful intentions, the government regarded the fleeing Indians as renegades, and soldiers from bases scattered throughout the Plains attacked the Indians in an unsuccessful effort to turn them back. Arriving at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, near their Wyoming homeland, Dull Knife and his people surrendered to the government in the hopes they would be allowed to stay in the territory. To their dismay, administrators instead threatened to hold the band captive at Fort Robinson until they would agree to return south to the Indian Territory. Unwilling to give up when his goal was so close, in early January, Dull Knife led about 100 of his people in one final desperate break for freedom. Soldiers from Fort Robinson chased after the already weak and starving band of men, women, and children, and on January 22, they attacked and killed at least 30 people, including several in the immediate family of Dull Knife. Badly bloodied, most of the survivors returned to Fort Robinson and accepted their fate. Dull Knife managed to escape, and he eventually found shelter with Chief Red Cloud on the Sioux reservation in Nebraska. Permitted to remain on the reservation, Dull Knife died four years later, deeply bitter towards the Anglo-Americans he had once hoped to live with peacefully. The same year, the government finally allowed the Northern Cheyenne to move to a permanent reservation on the Tongue River in Montana near their traditional homeland. At last, Dull Knife's people had come home, but their great chief had not lived to join them. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 23, 2012 5:40:53 GMT -5
Jan. 23rdAmerican Revolution London merchants petition for reconciliation with America, 1775 Automotive "Who Killed the Electric Car?" debuts, 2006 Civil War Confederate General Hood removed from command, 1865 Cold War North Korea seizes U.S. ship Pueblo, 1968 Crime Videotaped murder leads to convictions in Texas, 1991 Disaster Deadliest earthquake in history rocks China, 1556 General Interest First woman M.D., 1849 Insulin injection aids diabetic patient, 1922 Toy company Wham-O produces first Frisbees, 1957 USS Pueblo captured, 1968 Albright sworn in as secretary of state, 1997 Hollywood The A-Team debuts on NBC, 1983 Literary Derek Walcott is born, 1930 Music Singer, actor, athlete, activist Paul Robeson dies, 1976 Old West Soldiers massacre the wrong camp of Indians, 1870 Presidential FDR writes letter to Baseball Writer's Association, 1937 Bush Sr. honors Women's World Cup soccer champions, 1992 Sports Hulk Hogan beats Iron Sheik to win first WWF title, 1984 Vietnam War Nixon announces peace settlement reached in Paris, 1973 World War I Netherlands refuses to extradite Kaiser Wilhelm to the Allies, 1920 World War II Lindbergh to Congress: Negotiate with Hitler, 1941 ******************** 1957: Toy company Wham-O produces first FrisbeesOn this day in 1957, machines at the Wham-O toy company roll out the first batch of their aerodynamic plastic discs--now known to millions of fans all over the world as Frisbees. The story of the Frisbee began in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where William Frisbie opened the Frisbie Pie Company in 1871. Students from nearby universities would throw the empty pie tins to each other, yelling "Frisbie!" as they let go. In 1948, Walter Frederick Morrison and his partner Warren Franscioni invented a plastic version of the disc called the "Flying Saucer" that could fly further and more accurately than the tin pie plates. After splitting with Franscioni, Morrison made an improved model in 1955 and sold it to the new toy company Wham-O as the "Pluto Platter"--an attempt to cash in on the public craze over space and Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). In 1958, a year after the toy's first release, Wham-O--the company behind such top-sellers as the Hula-Hoop, the Super Ball and the Water Wiggle--changed its name to the Frisbee disc, misspelling the name of the historic pie company. A company designer, Ed Headrick, patented the design for the modern Frisbee in December 1967, adding a band of raised ridges on the disc's surface--called the Rings--to stabilize flight. By aggressively marketing Frisbee-playing as a new sport, Wham-O sold over 100 million units of its famous toy by 1977. High school students in Maplewood, New Jersey, invented Ultimate Frisbee, a cross between football, soccer and basketball, in 1967. In the 1970s, Headrick himself invented Frisbee Golf, in which discs are tossed into metal baskets; there are now hundreds of courses in the U.S., with millions of devotees. There is also Freestyle Frisbee, with choreographed routines set to music and multiple discs in play, and various Frisbee competitions for both humans and dogs--the best natural Frisbee players. Today, at least 60 manufacturers produce the flying discs--generally made out of plastic and measuring roughly 20-25 centimeters (8-10 inches) in diameter with a curved lip. The official Frisbee is owned by Mattel Toy Manufacturers, who bought the toy from Wham-O in 1994. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 24, 2012 5:25:17 GMT -5
Jan. 24thAmerican Revolution Light Horse and Swamp Fox raid Georgetown, South Carolina, 1781 Automotive Albert Erskine, Studebaker chief, is born, 1871 Civil War Confederate Congress agrees to resume prisoner exchanges, 1865 Cold War U.S. announces military equipment sales to China, 1980 Crime Emmett Till murderers make magazine confession, 1956 Disaster Chile suffers killer quake, 1939 General Interest Boy Scouts movement begins, 1908 First canned beer goes on sale, 1935 Winston Churchill dies, 1965 Japanese soldier found hiding on Guam, 1972 Hollywood Walt Disney announces $7.4 billion purchase of Pixar, 2006 Literary Edith Wharton is born, 1862 Music Aretha Franklin's career is reborn, 1967 Old West Gold discovered at Sutter's Creek, 1848 Presidential Nixon honors Eugene Ormandy, 1970 Sports Mike Bossy scores 50th goal in 50 NHL games, 1981 Vietnam War Operation Masher/White Wing/Thang Phong II launched, 1966 Truce is expected in Laos and Cambodia, 1973 World War I British and German navies battle at the Dogger Bank, 1915 World War II Von Paulus to Hitler: Let us surrender!, 1943 ******************** 1935: First canned beer goes on saleCanned beer makes its debut on this day in 1935. In partnership with the American Can Company, the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company delivered 2,000 cans of Krueger's Finest Beer and Krueger's Cream Ale to faithful Krueger drinkers in Richmond, Virginia. Ninety-one percent of the drinkers approved of the canned beer, driving Krueger to give the green light to further production. By the late 19th century, cans were instrumental in the mass distribution of foodstuffs, but it wasn't until 1909 that the American Can Company made its first attempt to can beer. This was unsuccessful, and the American Can Company would have to wait for the end of Prohibition in the United States before it tried again. Finally in 1933, after two years of research, American Can developed a can that was pressurized and had a special coating to prevent the fizzy beer from chemically reacting with the tin. The concept of canned beer proved to be a hard sell, but Krueger's overcame its initial reservations and became the first brewer to sell canned beer in the United States. The response was overwhelming. Within three months, over 80 percent of distributors were handling Krueger's canned beer, and Krueger's was eating into the market share of the "big three" national brewers--Anheuser-Busch, Pabst and Schlitz. Competitors soon followed suit, and by the end of 1935, over 200 million cans had been produced and sold. The purchase of cans, unlike bottles, did not require the consumer to pay a deposit. Cans were also easier to stack, more durable and took less time to chill. As a result, their popularity continued to grow throughout the 1930s, and then exploded during World War II, when U.S. brewers shipped millions of cans of beer to soldiers overseas. After the war, national brewing companies began to take advantage of the mass distribution that cans made possible, and were able to consolidate their power over the once-dominant local breweries, which could not control costs and operations as efficiently as their national counterparts. Today, canned beer accounts for approximately half of the $20 billion U.S. beer industry. Not all of this comes from the big national brewers: Recently, there has been renewed interest in canning from microbrewers and high-end beer-sellers, who are realizing that cans guarantee purity and taste by preventing light damage and oxidation. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Jan 25, 2012 6:22:54 GMT -5
Jan. 25thAmerican Revolution First national memorial is ordered by Congress, 1776 Automotive Italian auto baron Gianni Agnelli dies, 2003 Civil War Union General Burnside relieved of command, 1863 Cold War Khrushchev declares that Eisenhower is "striving for peace", 1956 Crime BTK killer sends message, 2005 Disaster Israeli sub vanishes, 1968 General Interest World's largest diamond found, 1905 First Winter Olympics, 1924 Manson and followers convicted, 1971 Mao's widow sentenced to death, 1981 Near launching of Russian nukes, 1995 Hollywood Inaugural Emmy awards ceremony, 1949 Literary Robert Burns' birthday, 1759 Music Paul McCartney is released from a Tokyo jail and deported from Japan, 1980 Old West Pat Garrett leaves Louisiana, 1869 Presidential Kennedy holds first live television news conference, 1961 Sports First Winter Olympics begin in Chamonix, France, 1924 Vietnam War First plenary session of the formal Paris Peace talks is held, 1969 Nixon reveals information about secret negotiations, 1972 World War I Formal commission is established on the League of Nations, 1919 World War II Thailand declares war on the United States and England, 1942 ******************** 1905: World's largest diamond foundOn January 25, 1905, at the Premier Mine in Pretoria, South Africa, a 3,106-carat diamond is discovered during a routine inspection by the mine's superintendent. Weighing 1.33 pounds, and christened the "Cullinan," it was the largest diamond ever found. Frederick Wells was 18 feet below the earth's surface when he spotted a flash of starlight embedded in the wall just above him. His discovery was presented that same afternoon to Sir Thomas Cullinan, who owned the mine. Cullinan then sold the diamond to the Transvaal provincial government, which presented the stone to Britain's King Edward VII as a birthday gift. Worried that the diamond might be stolen in transit from Africa to London, Edward arranged to send a phony diamond aboard a steamer ship loaded with detectives as a diversionary tactic. While the decoy slowly made its way from Africa on the ship, the Cullinan was sent to England in a plain box. Edward entrusted the cutting of the Cullinan to Joseph Asscher, head of the Asscher Diamond Company of Amsterdam. Asscher, who had cut the famous Excelsior Diamond, a 971-carat diamond found in 1893, studied the stone for six months before attempting the cut. On his first attempt, the steel blade broke, with no effect on the diamond. On the second attempt, the diamond shattered exactly as planned; Asscher then fainted from nervous exhaustion. The Cullinan was later cut into nine large stones and about 100 smaller ones, valued at millions of dollars all told. The largest stone is called the "Star of Africa I," or "Cullinan I," and at 530 carats, it is the largest-cut fine-quality colorless diamond in the world. The second largest stone, the "Star of Africa II" or "Cullinan II," is 317 carats. Both of these stones, as well as the "Cullinan III," are on display in the Tower of London with Britain's other crown jewels; the Cullinan I is mounted in the British Sovereign's Royal Scepter, while the Cullinan II sits in the Imperial State Crown. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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