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Post by dreamer on Apr 1, 2012 7:36:15 GMT -5
April 1stAmerican Revolution First U.S. House of Representatives elects speaker, 1789 Automotive The "Polish Prince" killed in plane crash, 1993 Civil War Confederates suffer at Battle of Five Forks, 1865 Cold War Soviets stop U.S. and British military trains, 1948 Crime Weeks' trial sheds light on early procedure, 1800 Beer Hall Putsch secures Hitler's rise to power, 1924 Disaster Alaskan earthquake triggers massive tsunami, 1946 General Interest The Pilgrim-Wampanoag peace treaty, 1621 April Fools tradition popularized, 1700 RAF founded, 1918 Hitler sent to Landsberg jail, 1924 Hollywood Soap operas General Hospital and The Doctors premiere, 1963 Literary Jane Austen declines royal writing advice, 1816 Music Marvin Gaye is shot and killed by his own father, 1984 Old West Discoverer of Tombstone begins prospecting, 1877 Presidential Nixon signs legislation banning cigarette ads on TV and radio, 1970 Sports Villanova beats Georgetown for NCAA basketball championship, 1985 World War I British Royal Air Force is founded, 1918 World War II U.S. troops land on Okinawa, 1945 ******************** 1700: April Fools tradition popularizedOn this day in 1700, English pranksters begin popularizing the annual tradition of April Fools' Day by playing practical jokes on each other. Although the day, also called All Fools' Day, has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, its exact origins remain a mystery. Some historians speculate that April Fools' Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes. These included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as "poisson d'avril" (April fish), said to symbolize a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person. Historians have also linked April Fools' Day to ancient festivals such as Hilaria, which was celebrated in Rome at the end of March and involved people dressing up in disguises. There's also speculation that April Fools' Day was tied to the vernal equinox, or first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, when Mother Nature fooled people with changing, unpredictable weather. April Fools' Day spread throughout Britain during the 18th century. In Scotland, the tradition became a two-day event, starting with "hunting the gowk," in which people were sent on phony errands (gowk is a word for cuckoo bird, a symbol for fool) and followed by Tailie Day, which involved pranks played on people's derrieres, such as pinning fake tails or "kick me" signs on them. In modern times, people have gone to great lengths to create elaborate April Fools' Day hoaxes. Newspapers, radio and TV stations and Web sites have participated in the April 1 tradition of reporting outrageous fictional claims that have fooled their audiences. In 1957, the BBC reported that Swiss farmers were experiencing a record spaghetti crop and showed footage of people harvesting noodles from trees; numerous viewers were fooled. In 1985, Sports Illustrated tricked many of its readers when it ran a made-up article about a rookie pitcher named Sidd Finch who could throw a fastball over 168 miles per hour. In 1996, Taco Bell, the fast-food restaurant chain, duped people when it announced it had agreed to purchase Philadelphia's Liberty Bell and intended to rename it the Taco Liberty Bell. In 1998, after Burger King advertised a "Left-Handed Whopper," scores of clueless customers requested the fake sandwich. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Apr 2, 2012 5:55:40 GMT -5
April 2ndAmerican Revolution Ebenezer Learned is promoted to brigadier general, 1777 Automotive Walter Chrysler born, 1875 Civil War Richmond riots over food shortages, 1863 Union forces capture Petersburg line, 1865 Cold War Gorbachev begins visit to Cuba, 1989 Crime Mob boss John Gotti convicted of murder, 1992 Disaster Anthrax poisoning kills 62 in Russia, 1979 General Interest Ponce de Leon discovers Florida, 1513 Jeannette Rankin assumes office, 1917 Argentina invades Falklands, 1982 Pope John Paul II Dies, 2005 Hollywood Charlie Chaplin prepares for return to United States after two decades, 1972 Literary Hans Christian Andersen is born, 1805 Music The Sting sweeps the Oscars and ragtime composer Scott Joplin gets his due, 1974 Old West First woman judge dies in Wyoming, 1902 Presidential Wilson asks for declaration of war, 1917 Sports Red Rum wins record third Grand National, 1977 Vietnam War North Vietnamese troops capture part of Quang Tri, 1972 South Vietnamese evacuation begins at Qui Nhon., 1975 World War I Woodrow Wilson asks U.S. Congress for declaration of war, 1917 World War II "The Desert Fox" recaptures Libya, 1941 ******************** 2005: Pope John Paul II DiesOn this day in 2005, John Paul II, history's most well-traveled pope and the first non-Italian to hold the position since the 16th century, dies at his home in the Vatican. Six days later, two million people packed Vatican City for his funeral, said to be the biggest funeral in history. John Paul II was born Karol Jozef Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland, 35 miles southwest of Krakow, in 1920. After high school, the future pope enrolled at Krakow's Jagiellonian University, where he studied philosophy and literature and performed in a theater group. During World War II, Nazis occupied Krakow and closed the university, forcing Wojtyla to seek work in a quarry and, later, a chemical factory. By 1941, his mother, father, and only brother had all died, leaving him the sole surviving member of his family. Although Wojtyla had been involved in the church his whole life, it was not until 1942 that he began seminary training. When the war ended, he returned to school at Jagiellonian to study theology, becoming an ordained priest in 1946. He went on to complete two doctorates and became a professor of moral theology and social ethics. On July 4, 1958, at the age of 38, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Krakow by Pope Pius XII. He later became the city s archbishop, where he spoke out for religious freedom while the church began the Second Vatican Council, which would revolutionize Catholicism. He was made a cardinal in 1967, taking on the challenges of living and working as a Catholic priest in communist Eastern Europe. Once asked if he feared retribution from communist leaders, he replied, "I m not afraid of them. They are afraid of me." Wojtyla was quietly and slowly building a reputation as a powerful preacher and a man of both great intellect and charisma. Still, when Pope John Paul I died in 1978 after only a 34-day reign, few suspected Wojtyla would be chosen to replace him. But, after seven rounds of balloting, the Sacred College of Cardinals chose the 58-year-old, and he became the first-ever Slavic pope and the youngest to be chosen in 132 years. A conservative pontiff, John Paul II s papacy was marked by his firm and unwavering opposition to communism and war, as well as abortion, contraception, capital punishment, and homosexual sex. He later came out against euthanasia, human cloning, and stem cell research. He traveled widely as pope, using the eight languages he spoke (Polish, Italian, French, German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin) and his well-known personal charm, to connect with the Catholic faithful, as well as many outside the fold. On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot in St. Peter s Square by a Turkish political extremist, Mehmet Ali Agca. After his release from the hospital, the pope famously visited his would-be assassin in prison, where he had begun serving a life sentence, and personally forgave him for his actions. The next year, another unsuccessful attempt was made on the pope s life, this time by a fanatical priest who opposed the reforms of Vatican II. Although it was not confirmed by the Vatican until 2003, many believe Pope John Paul II began suffering from Parkinson s disease in the early 1990s. He began to develop slurred speech and had difficulty walking, though he continued to keep up a physically demanding travel schedule. In his final years, he was forced to delegate many of his official duties, but still found the strength to speak to the faithful from a window at the Vatican. In February 2005, the pope was hospitalized with complications from the flu. He died two months later. Pope John Paul II is remembered for his successful efforts to end communism, as well as for building bridges with peoples of other faiths, and issuing the Catholic Church s first apology for its actions during World War II. He was succeeded by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI. Benedict XVI began the process to beatify John Paul II in May 2005. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Apr 3, 2012 5:01:01 GMT -5
April 3rdAmerican Revolution Congress authorizes privateers to attack British vessels, 1776 Automotive "Fast & Furious" is top opening-day car movie, 2009 Civil War Confederate capital of Richmond is captured, 1865 Cold War Truman signs Foreign Assistance Act, 1948 Crime Jesse James is murdered, 1882 Disaster Series of deadly twisters hits U.S. heartland, 1974 General Interest Jesse James shot in the back, 1882 Pony Express debuts, 1860 Bruno Hauptmann executed, 1936 Truman signs Marshall Plan, 1948 Unabomber arrested, 1996 Ron Brown killed in plane crash, 1996 Hollywood Annie Hall beats out Star Wars for Best Picture, 1978 Literary ACLU says it will contest obscenity of HOWL, 1955 Music The Louisiana Hayride radio program premieres on KWKH-AM Shreveport, 1948 Old West Texas Ranger "Big Foot" Wallace born, 1817 Presidential President Harry Truman signs Marshall Plan, 1945 Sports Lemieux wins NHL scoring title, stops Gretzky streak, 1988 Vietnam War Nixon administration will "Vietnamize" the war, 1969 Nixon orders response to North Vietnamese invasion, 1972 World War I Ferdinand Foch becomes supreme Allied commander, 1918 World War II Japanese launch major offensive against Bataan, 1942 ******************** 1860: Pony Express debutsOn this day in 1860, the first Pony Express mail, traveling by horse and rider relay teams, simultaneously leaves St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California. Ten days later, on April 13, the westbound rider and mail packet completed the approximately 1,800-mile journey and arrived in Sacramento, beating the eastbound packet's arrival in St. Joseph by two days and setting a new standard for speedy mail delivery. Although ultimately short-lived and unprofitable, the Pony Express captivated America's imagination and helped win federal aid for a more economical overland postal system. It also contributed to the economy of the towns on its route and served the mail-service needs of the American West in the days before the telegraph or an efficient transcontinental railroad. The Pony Express debuted at a time before radios and telephones, when California, which achieved statehood in 1850, was still largely cut off from the eastern part of the country. Letters sent from New York to the West Coast traveled by ship, which typically took at least a month, or by stagecoach on the recently established Butterfield Express overland route, which could take from three weeks to many months to arrive. Compared to the snail's pace of the existing delivery methods, the Pony Express' average delivery time of 10 days seemed like lightning speed. The Pony Express Company, the brainchild of William H. Russell, William Bradford Waddell and Alexander Majors, owners of a freight business, was set up over 150 relay stations along a pioneer trail across the present-day states of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California. Riders, who were paid approximately $25 per week and carried loads estimated at up to 20 pounds of mail, were changed every 75 to 100 miles, with horses switched out every 10 to 15 miles. Among the riders was the legendary frontiersman and showman William "Buffalo Bill" Cody (1846-1917), who reportedly signed on with the Pony Express at age 14. The company's riders set their fastest time with Lincoln's inaugural address, which was delivered in just less than eight days. The initial cost of Pony Express delivery was $5 for every half-ounce of mail. The company began as a private enterprise and its owners hoped to gain a profitable delivery contract from the U.S. government, but that never happened. With the advent of the first transcontinental telegraph line in October 1861, the Pony Express ceased operations. However, the legend of the lone Pony Express rider galloping across the Old West frontier to deliver the mail lives on today. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Apr 4, 2012 5:17:42 GMT -5
April 4thAmerican Revolution Washington begins march to New York, 1776 Automotive Man who took NASCAR mainstream is born, 1933 Civil War President Lincoln tours Richmond, 1865 Cold War NATO pact signed, 1949 Crime Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated, 1968 Disaster Dirigible crash kills 73, 1933 General Interest President Harrison dies after one month in office, 1841 Second Battle of the Somme ends, 1918 NATO established, 1949 Dr. King is assassinated, 1968 Hollywood Ben-Hur wins 11 Academy Awards, 1960 Literary Maya Angelou is born, 1928 Music Muddy Waters is born, 1913 Old West Yellowstone photographer William Jackson is born, 1843 Presidential Harrison dies of pneumonia, 1841 Lincoln dreams about a presidential assassination, 1865 Sports Gretzky finishes season with 212 points, 1982 Vietnam War Martin Luther King, Jr., speaks out against the war, 1967 Operation Baby Lift aircraft crashes, 1975 World War I Germans and Allies step up operations near Somme, 1918 World War II Yamamoto Isoroku, Japan's mastermind of the Pearl Harbor attack, is born, 1884 ******************** 1968: Dr. King is assassinatedJust after 6 p.m. on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. is fatally shot while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The civil rights leader was in Memphis to support a sanitation workers' strike and was on his way to dinner when a bullet struck him in the jaw and severed his spinal cord. King was pronounced dead after his arrival at a Memphis hospital. He was 39 years old. In the months before his assassination, Martin Luther King became increasingly concerned with the problem of economic inequality in America. He organized a Poor People's Campaign to focus on the issue, including an interracial poor people's march on Washington, and in March 1968 traveled to Memphis in support of poorly treated African-American sanitation workers. On March 28, a workers' protest march led by King ended in violence and the death of an African-American teenager. King left the city but vowed to return in early April to lead another demonstration. On April 3, back in Memphis, King gave his last sermon, saying, "We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop...And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land." One day after speaking those words, Dr. King was shot and killed by a sniper. As word of the assassination spread, riots broke out in cities all across the United States and National Guard troops were deployed in Memphis and Washington, D.C. On April 9, King was laid to rest in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. Tens of thousands of people lined the streets to pay tribute to King's casket as it passed by in a wooden farm cart drawn by two mules. The evening of King's murder, a Remington .30-06 hunting rifle was found on the sidewalk beside a rooming house one block from the Lorraine Motel. During the next several weeks, the rifle, eyewitness reports, and fingerprints on the weapon all implicated a single suspect: escaped convict James Earl Ray. A two-bit criminal, Ray escaped a Missouri prison in April 1967 while serving a sentence for a holdup. In May 1968, a massive manhunt for Ray began. The FBI eventually determined that he had obtained a Canadian passport under a false identity, which at the time was relatively easy. On June 8, Scotland Yard investigators arrested Ray at a London airport. He was trying to fly to Belgium, with the eventual goal, he later admitted, of reaching Rhodesia. Rhodesia, now called Zimbabwe, was at the time ruled by an oppressive and internationally condemned white minority government. Extradited to the United States, Ray stood before a Memphis judge in March 1969 and pleaded guilty to King's murder in order to avoid the electric chair. He was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Three days later, he attempted to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming he was innocent of King's assassination and had been set up as a patsy in a larger conspiracy. He claimed that in 1967, a mysterious man named "Raoul" had approached him and recruited him into a gunrunning enterprise. On April 4, 1968, he said, he realized that he was to be the fall guy for the King assassination and fled to Canada. Ray's motion was denied, as were his dozens of other requests for a trial during the next 29 years. During the 1990s, the widow and children of Martin Luther King Jr. spoke publicly in support of Ray and his claims, calling him innocent and speculating about an assassination conspiracy involving the U.S. government and military. U.S. authorities were, in conspiracists' minds, implicated circumstantially. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover obsessed over King, who he thought was under communist influence. For the last six years of his life, King underwent constant wiretapping and harassment by the FBI. Before his death, Dr. King was also monitored by U.S. military intelligence, which may have been asked to watch King after he publicly denounced the Vietnam War in 1967. Furthermore, by calling for radical economic reforms in 1968, including guaranteed annual incomes for all, King was making few new friends in the Cold War-era U.S. government. Over the years, the assassination has been reexamined by the House Select Committee on Assassinations, the Shelby County, Tennessee, district attorney's office, and three times by the U.S. Justice Department. The investigations all ended with the same conclusion: James Earl Ray killed Martin Luther King. The House committee acknowledged that a low-level conspiracy might have existed, involving one or more accomplices to Ray, but uncovered no evidence to definitively prove this theory. In addition to the mountain of evidence against him--such as his fingerprints on the murder weapon and his admitted presence at the rooming house on April 4--Ray had a definite motive in assassinating King: hatred. According to his family and friends, he was an outspoken racist who informed them of his intent to kill Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He died in 1998. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Apr 5, 2012 5:51:00 GMT -5
April 5thAmerican Revolution Benjamin Franklin publishes "An Open Letter to Lord North", 1774 Automotive NASCAR legend Lee Petty dies, 2000 Civil War Siege of Yorktown begins, 1862 Cold War Rosenbergs sentenced to death for spying, 1951 Crime Kurt Cobain commits suicide, 1994 Disaster Tornadoes devastate Tupelo and Gainesville, 1936 General Interest Pocahontas marries John Rolfe, 1614 Rosenbergs sentenced to die, 1951 Winston Churchill resigns, 1955 Abortion rights advocates march on Washington, 1992 Hollywood Charlton Heston dies, 2008 Literary Darwin sends first three chapters of The Origin of Species to his publisher, 1859 Music James Brown calms Boston following the King assassination, 1968 Old West Howard Hughes dies, 1976 Presidential Washington exercises first presidential veto, 1792 Sports Abdul-Jabbar breaks points record, 1984 Vietnam War Antiwar demonstrations held across United States, 1969 North Vietnamese launch second front of Nguyen Hue Offensive, 1972 World War I First stage of German spring offensive ends, 1918 World War II Tito signs "friendship treaty" with Soviet Union, 1945 ***************** 1614: Pocahontas marries John RolfePocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Powhatan Indian confederacy, marries English tobacco planter John Rolfe in Jamestown, Virginia. The marriage ensured peace between the Jamestown settlers and the Powhatan Indians for several years. In May 1607, about 100 English colonists settled along the James River in Virginia to found Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America. The settlers fared badly because of famine, disease, and Indian attacks, but were aided by 27-year-old English adventurer John Smith, who directed survival efforts and mapped the area. While exploring the Chickahominy River in December 1607, Smith and two colonists were captured by Powhatan warriors. At the time, the Powhatan confederacy consisted of around 30 Tidewater-area tribes led by Chief Wahunsonacock, known as Chief Powhatan to the English. Smith's companions were killed, but he was spared and released, (according to a 1624 account by Smith) because of the dramatic intercession of Pocahontas, Chief Powhatan's 13-year-old daughter. Her real name was Matoaka, and Pocahontas was a pet name that has been translated variously as "playful one" and "my favorite daughter." In 1608, Smith became president of the Jamestown colony, but the settlement continued to suffer. An accidental fire destroyed much of the town, and hunger, disease, and Indian attacks continued. During this time, Pocahontas often came to Jamestown as an emissary of her father, sometimes bearing gifts of food to help the hard-pressed settlers. She befriended the settlers and became acquainted with English ways. In 1609, Smith was injured from a fire in his gunpowder bag and was forced to return to England. After Smith's departure, relations with the Powhatan deteriorated and many settlers died from famine and disease in the winter of 1609-10. Jamestown was about to be abandoned by its inhabitants when Baron De La Warr (also known as Delaware) arrived in June 1610 with new supplies and rebuilt the settlement--the Delaware River and the colony of Delaware were later named after him. John Rolfe also arrived in Jamestown in 1610 and two years later cultivated the first tobacco there, introducing a successful source of livelihood that would have far-reaching importance for Virginia. In the spring of 1613, English Captain Samuel Argall took Pocahontas hostage, hoping to use her to negotiate a permanent peace with her father. Brought to Jamestown, she was put under the custody of Sir Thomas Gates, the marshal of Virginia. Gates treated her as a guest rather than a prisoner and encouraged her to learn English customs. She converted to Christianity and was baptized Lady Rebecca. Powhatan eventually agreed to the terms for her release, but by then she had fallen in love with John Rolfe, who was about 10 years her senior. On April 5, 1614, Pocahontas and John Rolfe married with the blessing of Chief Powhatan and the governor of Virginia. Their marriage brought a peace between the English colonists and the Powhatans, and in 1615 Pocahontas gave birth to their first child, Thomas. In 1616, the couple sailed to England. The so-called Indian Princess proved popular with the English gentry, and she was presented at the court of King James I. In March 1617, Pocahontas and Rolfe prepared to sail back to Virginia. However, the day before they were to leave, Pocahontas died, probably of smallpox, and was buried at the parish church of St. George in Gravesend, England. John Rolfe returned to Virginia and was killed in an Indian massacre in 1622. After an education in England, their son Thomas Rolfe returned to Virginia and became a prominent citizen. John Smith returned to the New World in 1614 to explore the New England coast. On another voyage of exploration in 1614, he was captured by pirates but escaped after three months of captivity. He then returned to England, where he died in 1631. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Apr 6, 2012 6:05:01 GMT -5
April 6th American Revolution Congress opens all U.S. ports to international trade, 1776 Automotive Emil Jellinek-Mercedes born, 1853 Civil War Battle of Shiloh begins, 1862 Cold War U.S. and Soviet negotiators make progress, 1990 Crime Sam Sheppard dies, 1970 Disaster Train falls off bridge in Brazil, 1950 General Interest Mormon Church established, 1830 First modern Olympic Games, 1896 Peary's expedition reaches North Pole?, 1909 America enters World War I, 1917 Hollywood 2001: A Space Odyssey released, 1968 Literary Oscar Wilde arrested, 1895 Music The Eurovision song contest launches a bona fide star, 1974 Old West Black Hawk War begins, 1832 Presidential Tyler is inaugurated as 10th president, 1841 Sports First modern Olympics is held, 1896 Vietnam War U.S. ground combat troops to take offensive measures, 1965 U.S. forces respond to North Vietnamese offensive, 1972 World War I U.S. enters World War I, 1917 World War II Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece, 1941 ******************** 1896: First modern Olympic GamesOn April 6, 1896, the Olympic Games, a long-lost tradition of ancient Greece, are reborn in Athens 1,500 years after being banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I. At the opening of the Athens Games, King Georgios I of Greece and a crowd of 60,000 spectators welcomed athletes from 13 nations to the international competition. The first recorded Olympic Games were held at Olympia in the Greek city-state of Elis in 776 B.C., but it is generally accepted that the Olympics were at least 500 years old at that time. The ancient Olympics, held every four years, occurred during a religious festival honoring the Greek god Zeus. In the eighth century B.C., contestants came from a dozen or more Greek cities, and by the fifth century B.C. from as many as 100 cities from throughout the Greek empire. Initially, Olympic competition was limited to foot races, but later a number of other events were added, including wrestling, boxing, horse and chariot racing, and military competitions. The pentathlon, introduced in 708 B.C., consisted of a foot race, the long jump, discus and javelin throws, and wrestling. With the rise of Rome, the Olympics declined, and in 393 A.D. the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, abolished the Games as part of his efforts to suppress paganism in the Roman Empire. With the Renaissance, Europe began a long fascination with ancient Greek culture, and in the 18th and 19th centuries some nations staged informal sporting and folkloric festivals bearing the name "Olympic Games." However, it was not until 1892 that a young French baron, Pierre de Coubertin, seriously proposed reviving the Olympics as a major international competition that would occur every four years. At a conference on international sport in Paris in June 1894, Coubertin again raised the idea, and the 79 delegates from nine countries unanimously approved his proposal. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was formed, and the first Games were planned for 1896 in Athens, the capital of Greece. In Athens, 280 participants from 13 nations competed in 43 events, covering track-and-field, swimming, gymnastics, cycling, wrestling, weightlifting, fencing, shooting, and tennis. All the competitors were men, and a few of the entrants were tourists who stumbled upon the Games and were allowed to sign up. The track-and-field events were held at the Panathenaic Stadium, which was originally built in 330 B.C. and restored for the 1896 Games. Americans won nine out of 12 of these events. The 1896 Olympics also featured the first marathon competition, which followed the 25-mile route run by a Greek soldier who brought news of a victory over the Persians from Marathon to Athens in 490 B.C. In 1924, the marathon was standardized at 26 miles and 385 yards. Appropriately, a Greek, Spyridon Louis, won the first marathon at the 1896 Athens Games. Pierre de Coubertin became IOC president in 1896 and guided the Olympic Games through its difficult early years, when it lacked much popular support and was overshadowed by world's fairs. In 1924, the first truly successful Olympic Games were held in Paris, involving more than 3,000 athletes, including more than 100 women, from 44 nations. The first Winter Olympic Games were also held that year. In 1925, Coubertin retired. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the foremost international sports competition. At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, more than 10,000 athletes from 200 countries competed, including nearly 4,000 women. In 2004, the Summer Olympics returned to Athens, with more than 11,000 athletes competing from 202 countries. In a proud moment for Greeks and an exciting one for spectators, the shotput competition was held at the site of the classical Games in Olympia. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Apr 7, 2012 4:26:26 GMT -5
April 7th American Revolution U.S. Navy captures first British warship, 1776 Automotive Auto pioneer Henry Ford dies, 1947 Civil War Battle of Shiloh concludes, 1862 Cold War Eisenhower gives famous "domino theory" speech, 1954 Crime The Rwandan genocide, 1994 Disaster Twin ferry accidents on opposite ends of world, 1990 General Interest Hammarskjold elected U.N. head, 1953 Tito is made president for life, 1963 Civil war erupts in Rwanda, 1994 Hollywood John Wayne wins Best Actor Oscar, 1970 Literary William Wordsworth is born, 1770 Music Indian sitar legend Ravi Shankar is born, 1920 Old West Lewis and Clark depart Fort Mandan, 1805 Presidential JFK lobbies Congress to help save historic sites in Egypt, 1961 Sports John McGraw, second all-time winningest baseball manager, is born, 1873 Vietnam War North Vietnamese forces begin preparations for final offensive, 1975 World War I Winston Churchill urges talks with Russia, 1918 World War II Italy invades Albania, 1939 Japanese battleship Yamato is sunk by Allied forces, 1945 ******************** 1994: Civil war erupts in RwandaOn this day in 1994, Rwandan armed forces kill 10 Belgian peacekeeping officers in a successful effort to discourage international intervention in the genocide that had begun only hours earlier. In approximately three months, the Hutu extremists who controlled Rwanda brutally murdered an estimated 500,000 to 1 million innocent civilian Tutsis and moderate Hutus in the worst episode of ethnic genocide since World War II. The immediate roots of the 1994 genocide dated back to the early 1990s, when President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, began using anti-Tutsi rhetoric to consolidate his power among the Hutus. Beginning in October 1990, there were several massacres of hundreds of Tutsis. Although the two ethnic groups were very similar, sharing the same language and culture for centuries, the law required registration based on ethnicity. The government and army began to assemble the Interahamwe (meaning "those who attack together") and prepared for the elimination of the Tutsis by arming Hutus with guns and machetes. In January 1994, the United Nations forces in Rwanda warned that larger massacres were imminent. On April 6, 1994, President Habyarimana was killed when his plane was shot down. It is not known if the attack was carried out by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Tutsi military organization stationed outside the country at the time, or by Hutu extremists trying to instigate a mass killing. In any event, Hutu extremists in the military, led by Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, immediately went into action, murdering Tutsis and moderate Hutus within hours of the crash. The Belgian peacekeepers were killed the next day, a key factor in the withdrawal of U.N. forces from Rwanda. Soon afterward, the radio stations in Rwanda were broadcasting appeals to the Hutu majority to kill all Tutsis in the country. The army and the national police directed the slaughter, sometimes threatening Hutu civilians when persuasion didn't work. Thousands of innocent people were hacked to death with machetes by their neighbors. Despite the horrific crimes, the international community, including the United States, hesitated to take any action. They wrongly ascribed the genocide to chaos amid tribal war. President Bill Clinton later called America's failure to do anything to stop the genocide "the biggest regret" of his administration. It was left to the RPF, led by Paul Kagame, to begin an ultimately successful military campaign for control of Rwanda. By the summer, the RPF had defeated the Hutu forces and driven them out of the country and into several neighboring nations. However, by that time, an estimated 75 percent of the Tutsis living in Rwanda had been murdered. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Apr 8, 2012 5:10:32 GMT -5
April 8th American Revolution John Adams arrives in Paris to replace Silas Deane, 1778 Automotive Waltrip beats Petty in last-lap thriller, 1979 Civil War Confederates rout Union at Battle of Mansfield, 1864 Cold War McCarthy publicly attacks Owen Lattimore, 1950 Crime Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph agrees to plead guilty, 2005 Disaster California road race kills five, 1916 General Interest Buddhists celebrate birth of Gautama Buddha, 563 B.C. WPA established by Congress, 1935 Kenyatta jailed for Mau Mau uprising, 1953 Aaron sets new home run record, 1974 Hollywood Twin Peaks premieres on ABC, 1990 Literary Barbara Kingsolver is born, 1955 Music Kurt Cobain is found dead, 1994 Old West Elizabeth Bacon Custer is born in Michigan, 1842 Presidential FDR signs Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, 1935 Sports Aaron hits his 715th home run, 1974 Vietnam War North Vietnamese forces open a third front, 1972 Weyand reports to Congress, 1975 World War I Britain and France sign Entente Cordiale, 1904 World War II Russians attack Germans in drive to expel them from Crimea, 1944 Defiant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer is hanged, 1945 Omar Bradley dies, 1981 ******************** 1974: Aaron sets new home run recordOn this day in 1974, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hits his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth's legendary record of 714 homers. A crowd of 53,775 people, the largest in the history of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, was with Aaron that night to cheer when he hit a 4th inning pitch off the Los Angeles Dodgers' Al Downing. However, as Aaron was an African American who had received death threats and racist hate mail during his pursuit of one of baseball's most distinguished records, the achievement was bittersweet. Henry Louis Aaron Jr., born in Mobile, Alabama, on February 5, 1934, made his Major League debut in 1954 with the Milwaukee Braves, just eight years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier and became the first African American to play in the majors. Aaron, known as hard working and quiet, was the last Negro league player to also compete in the Major Leagues. In 1957, with characteristically little fanfare, Aaron, who primarily played right field, was named the National League's Most Valuable Player as the Milwaukee Braves won the pennant. A few weeks later, his three home runs in the World Series helped his team triumph over the heavily favored New York Yankees. Although "Hammerin' Hank" specialized in home runs, he was also an extremely dependable batter, and by the end of his career he held baseball's career record for most runs batted in: 2,297. Aaron's playing career spanned three teams and 23 years. He was with the Milwaukee Braves from 1954 to 1965, the Atlanta Braves from 1966 to 1974 and the Milwaukee Brewers from 1975 to 1976. He hung up his cleats in 1976 with 755 career home runs and went on to become one of baseball's first African-American executives, with the Atlanta Braves, and a leading spokesperson for minority hiring. Hank Aaron was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Apr 9, 2012 6:10:38 GMT -5
April 9th Robert E. Lee surrenders, 1865 American Revolution Jeremiah Wadsworth named commissary general, 1778 Automotive Honda wins World Green Car award, 2009 Civil War Confederate General Lee surrenders, 1865 Cold War George Shultz condemns Soviet spying, 1987 Crime A husband attempts murder for money in England, 1984 Disaster Tornado reduces Oklahoma town to rubble, 1947 General Interest Marian Anderson sings at Lincoln Memorial, 1939 Germany invades Norway, 1940 First astronauts introduced, 1959 Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles wed, 2005 Hollywood Sophia Loren wins Best Actress Oscar for Two Women, 1962 Literary Mark Twain receives steamboat pilot's license, 1859 Music Marian Anderson sings on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, 1939 Old West Billy the Kid convicted of murder, 1881 Presidential Kennedy throws first pitch at new D.C. stadium, 1962 Sports Gervin beats Thompson in NBA scoring title duel, 1978 Vietnam War "Chicago Eight" plead not guilty, 1969 World War I Battle of the Lys begins, 1918 World War II Germany invades Norway and Denmark, 1940 U.S. surrenders in Bataan, 1942 ******************** 1865: Robert E. Lee surrendersAt Appomattox, Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders his 28,000 troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the American Civil War. Forced to abandon the Confederate capital of Richmond, blocked from joining the surviving Confederate force in North Carolina, and harassed constantly by Union cavalry, Lee had no other option. In retreating from the Union army's Appomattox Campaign, the Army of Northern Virginia had stumbled through the Virginia countryside stripped of food and supplies. At one point, Union cavalry forces under General Philip Sheridan had actually outrun Lee's army, blocking their retreat and taking 6,000 prisoners at Sayler's Creek. Desertions were mounting daily, and by April 8 the Confederates were surrounded with no possibility of escape. On April 9, Lee sent a message to Grant announcing his willingness to surrender. The two generals met in the parlor of the Wilmer McLean home at one o'clock in the afternoon. Lee and Grant, both holding the highest rank in their respective armies, had known each other slightly during the Mexican War and exchanged awkward personal inquiries. Characteristically, Grant arrived in his muddy field uniform while Lee had turned out in full dress attire, complete with sash and sword. Lee asked for the terms, and Grant hurriedly wrote them out. All officers and men were to be pardoned, and they would be sent home with their private property--most important, the horses, which could be used for a late spring planting. Officers would keep their side arms, and Lee's starving men would be given Union rations. Shushing a band that had begun to play in celebration, General Grant told his officers, "The war is over. The Rebels are our countrymen again." Although scattered resistance continued for several weeks, for all practical purposes the Civil War had come to an end. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Apr 10, 2012 4:35:17 GMT -5
April 10th American Revolution John Paul Jones sets out to raid British ships, 1778 Automotive Hertz rental car founder born, 1879 Civil War General Lee gives final address to troops, 1865 Cold War U.S. table tennis team visits communist China, 1971 Crime A torture chamber is uncovered by arson, 1834 Disaster Atomic submarine sinks in Atlantic, 1963 General Interest ASPCA is founded, 1866 Zapata assassinated in Mexico, 1919 Bataan Death March begins, 1942 Chaplin receives Oscar, 1972 Hollywood First color 3-D film opens, 1953 Literary The Gift of the Magi is published, 1906 Music Paul McCartney announces the breakup of the Beatles, 1970 Old West Civilian Conservation Corps created, 1933 Presidential FDR creates Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933 Sports Tiger Woods wins fourth Masters, 2005 Vietnam War Poll reveals that public approval of Vietnam policy is down, 1970 B-52s begin bombing North Vietnam, 1972 World War I Congress of Oppressed Nationalities closes in Rome, 1918 World War II Croatia declares independence, 1941 ******************** 1866: ASPCA is foundedOn April 10, 1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by philanthropist and diplomat Henry Bergh, 54. In 1863, Bergh had been appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to a diplomatic post at the Russian court of Czar Alexander II. It was there that he was horrified to witness work horses beaten by their peasant drivers. En route back to America, a June 1865 visit to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in London awakened his determination to secure a charter not only to incorporate the ASPCA but to exercise the power to arrest and prosecute violators of the law. Back in New York, Bergh pleaded on behalf of "these mute servants of mankind" at a February 8, 1866, meeting at Clinton Hall. He argued that protecting animals was an issue that crossed party lines and class boundaries. "This is a matter purely of conscience; it has no perplexing side issues," he said. "It is a moral question in all its aspects." The speech prompted a number of dignitaries to sign his "Declaration of the Rights of Animals." Bergh's impassioned accounts of the horrors inflicted on animals convinced the New York State legislature to pass the charter incorporating the ASPCA on April 10, 1866. Nine days later, the first effective anti-cruelty law in the United States was passed, allowing the ASPCA to investigate complaints of animal cruelty and to make arrests. Bergh was a hands-on reformer, becoming a familiar sight on the streets and in the courtrooms of New York. He regularly inspected slaughter houses, worked with police to close down dog- and rat-fighting pits and lectured in schools and to adult societies. In 1867, the ASPCA established and operated the nation's first ambulance for horses. As the pioneer and innovator of the humane movement, the ASPCA quickly became the model for more than 25 other humane organizations in the United States and Canada. And by the time Bergh died in 1888, 37 of the 38 states in the Union had passed anti-cruelty laws. Bergh’s dramatic street rescues of mistreated horses and livestock served as a model for those trying to protect abused children. After Mary Ellen McCormack, 9, was found tied to a bed and brutally beaten by her foster parents in 1874, activists founded the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Bergh served as one of the group’s first vice presidents. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Apr 19, 2012 5:17:13 GMT -5
April 19thAmerican Revolution The American Revolution begins, 1775 Automotive Mario Andretti competes in first Indy car event, 1964 Civil War Baltimoreans attack Union troops, 1861 Cold War Soviet clowns lampoon U.S. foreign policy, 1949 Crime Central Park jogger attack shocks New York City, 1989 Disaster Earthquake rocks Guatemala, 1902 General Interest First blood in the Civil War, 1861 First Boston Marathon held, 1897 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins, 1943 Branch Davidian compound burns, 1993 Truck bomb explodes in Oklahoma City, 1995 Hollywood My Big Fat Greek Wedding released, 2002 Literary Lord Byron dies in Greece, 1824 Music The Captain and Tennille bring wedded bliss to the pop charts with their first hit record, 1975 Old West Wyatt Earp dropped from Wichita police force, 1876 Presidential Jefferson sells servant to Madison, 1809 Sports First Boston Marathon run, 1897 Vietnam War Air Force pilot cited for bravery, 1967 Vietnam Veterans Against the War demonstrate, 1971 World War I Discussion of Italian claims begins at Paris peace conference, 1919 World War II Warsaw ghetto uprising put down, 1943 ******************** 1897: First Boston Marathon heldOn April 19, 1897, John J. McDermott of New York won the first Boston Marathon with a time of 2:55:10. The Boston Marathon was the brainchild of Boston Athletic Association member and inaugural U.S. Olympic team manager John Graham, who was inspired by the marathon at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. With the assistance of Boston businessman Herbert H. Holton, various routes were considered, before a measured distance of 24.5 miles from the Irvington Oval in Boston to Metcalf's Mill in Ashland was eventually selected. Fifteen runners started the race but only 10 made it to the finish line. John J. McDermott, representing the Pastime Athletic Club of New York City, took the lead from Harvard athlete Dick Grant over the hills in Newton. Although he walked several times during the final miles, McDermott still won by a comfortable six-minute, fifty-two-seconds. McDermott had won the only other marathon on U.S. soil the previous October in New York. The marathon's distance was changed in 1908 in accordance with Olympic standards to its current length of 26 miles 385 yards. The Boston Marathon was originally held on Patriot's Day, April 19, a regional holiday that commemorates the beginning of the Revolutionary War. In years when the 19th fell on a Sunday, the race was held the following Monday. In 1969, Patriots Day was officially moved to the third Monday in April and the race has been held on that Monday ever since. Women were not allowed to enter the Boston race officially until 1972, but Roberta "Bobbi" Gibb couldn't wait: In 1966, she became the first woman to run the entire Boston Marathon, but had to hide in the bushes near the start until the race began. In 1967, Kathrine Switzer, who had registered as "K. V. Switzer", was the first woman to run with a race number. Switzer finished even though officials tried to physically remove her from the race after she was identified as a woman. In the fall of 1971, the Amateur Athletics Union permitted its sanctioned marathons (including Boston) to allow female entry. Nina Kuscsik became the first official female participant to win the Boston Marathon in 1972. Seven other women started and finished that race. In 1975, the Boston Marathon became the first major marathon to include a wheelchair division competition. Bob Hall won it in two hours, 58 minutes. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Apr 20, 2012 4:58:24 GMT -5
April 20thAmerican Revolution New York adopts state constitution, 1777 Automotive Danica Patrick becomes first woman to win Indy race, 2008 Civil War Lee resigns from U.S. Army, 1861 Cold War Korean Air Lines jet forced down over Soviet Union, 1978 Crime A massacre at Columbine High School, 1999 Disaster San Francisco firefighters halt massive blaze, 1906 General Interest Siege of Londonderry begins, 1689 Ku Klux Act passed by Congress, 1871 Curies isolate radium, 1902 Castro announces Mariel Boatlift, 1980 Columbine High School massacre, 1999 Hollywood New sound process for films announced, 1926 Literary First detective story is published, 1841 Music "Mambo King" Tito Puente is born, 1923 Old West Militia slaughters strikers at Ludlow, Colorado, 1914 Presidential McKinley asks for declaration of war with Spain, 1898 Sports Jordan scores 63 points in playoff game, 1986 Vietnam War Nixon announces more troop withdrawals, 1970 "Fragging" on the rise in U.S. units, 1971 World War I Nivelle Offensive ends in failure, 1917 World War II Operation Corncob is launched while Hitler celebrates his birthday, 1945 ******************** 1980: Castro announces Mariel BoatliftOn April 20, 1980, the Castro regime announces that all Cubans wishing to emigrate to the U.S. are free to board boats at the port of Mariel west of Havana, launching the Mariel Boatlift. The first of 125,000 Cuban refugees from Mariel reached Florida the next day. The boatlift was precipitated by housing and job shortages caused by the ailing Cuban economy, leading to simmering internal tensions on the island. On April 1, Hector Sanyustiz and four others drove a bus through a fence at the Peruvian embassy and were granted political asylum. Cuban guards on the street opened fire. One guard was killed in the crossfire. The Cuban government demanded the five be returned for trial in the dead guard's death. But when the Peruvian government refused, Castro withdrew his guards from the embassy on Good Friday, April 4. By Easter Sunday, April 6, some 10,000 Cubans crowded into the lushly landscaped gardens at the embassy requesting asylum. Other embassies, including those of Spain and Costa Rica, agreed to take a small number of people. But suddenly, two weeks later, Castro proclaimed that the port of Mariel would be opened to anyone wishing to leave, as long as they had someone to pick them up. Cuban exiles in the United States rushed to hire boats in Miami and Key West and rescue their relatives. In all, 125,000 Cubans fled to U.S. shores in about 1,700 boats, creating large waves of people that overwhelmed the U.S. Coast guard. Cuban guards had packed boat after boat, without considering safety, making some of the overcrowded boats barely seaworthy. Twenty-seven migrants died, including 14 on an overloaded boat that capsized on May 17. The boatlift also began to have negative political implications for U.S. President Jimmy Carter. When it was discovered that a number of the exiles had been released from Cuban jails and mental health facilities, many were placed in refugee camps while others were held in federal prisons to undergo deportation hearings. Of the 125,000 "Marielitos," as the refugees came to be known, who landed in Florida, more than 1,700 were jailed and another 587 were detained until they could find sponsors. The exodus was finally ended by mutual agreement between the U.S. and Cuban governments in October 1980. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Apr 23, 2012 5:50:16 GMT -5
April 23rd American Revolution John Paul Jones burns Whitehaven, England, 1778 Automotive Chrysler buys luxury automaker Lamborghini, 1987 Civil War "Panic has seized the country," writes Davis, 1865 Cold War Truman confronts Molotov, 1945 Crime Sirhan Sirhan receives death penalty, 1969 Disaster Soviet cosmonaut is killed, 1967 General Interest King Brian of Ireland murdered by Vikings, 1014 William Shakespeare born, 1564 Hollywood Otto Preminger dies, 1986 Literary Birth and death of William Shakespeare celebrated, 1564 Music Judy Garland plays Carnegie Hall, 1961 Old West Byers publishes first Denver newspaper, 1859 Presidential James Buchanan is born, 1791 Sports Hank Aaron hits first home run of his MLB career, 1954 Vietnam War Ford says that war is finished for America, 1975 World War I Poet-soldier Rupert Brooke dies in Greece, 1915 World War II Germans begin "Baedeker Raids" on England, 1942 ******************** 1564: William Shakespeare bornAccording to tradition, the great English dramatist and poet William Shakespeare is born in Stratford-on-Avon on April 23, 1564. It is impossible to be certain the exact day on which he was born, but church records show that he was baptized on April 26, and three days was a customary amount of time to wait before baptizing a newborn. Shakespeare's date of death is conclusively known, however: it was April 23, 1616. He was 52 years old and had retired to Stratford three years before. Although few plays have been performed or analyzed as extensively as the 38 plays ascribed to William Shakespeare, there are few surviving details about the playwright's life. This dearth of biographical information is due primarily to his station in life; he was not a noble, but the son of John Shakespeare, a leather trader and the town bailiff. The events of William Shakespeare's early life can only be gleaned from official records, such as baptism and marriage records. He probably attended the grammar school in Stratford, where he would have studied Latin and read classical literature. He did not go to university but at age 18 married Anne Hathaway, who was eight years his senior and pregnant at the time of the marriage. Their first daughter, Susanna, was born six months later, and in 1585 William and Anne had twins, Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet, Shakespeare's only son, died 11 years later, and Anne Shakespeare outlived her husband, dying in 1623. Nothing is known of the period between the birth of the twins and Shakespeare's emergence as a playwright in London in the early 1590s, but unfounded stories have him stealing deer, joining a group of traveling players, becoming a schoolteacher, or serving as a soldier in the Low Countries. The first reference to Shakespeare as a London playwright came in 1592, when a fellow dramatist, Robert Greene, wrote derogatorily of him on his deathbed. It is believed that Shakespeare had written the three parts of Henry VI by that point. In 1593, Venus and Adonis was Shakespeare's first published poem, and he dedicated it to the young Henry Wriothesley, the 3rd earl of Southampton. In 1594, having probably composed, among other plays, Richard III, The Comedy of Errors, and The Taming of the Shrew, he became an actor and playwright for the Lord Chamberlain's Men, which became the King's Men after James I's ascension in 1603. The company grew into England's finest, in no small part because of Shakespeare, who was its principal dramatist. It also had the finest actor of the day, Richard Burbage, and the best theater, the Globe, which was located on the Thames' south bank. Shakespeare stayed with the King's Men until his retirement and often acted in small parts. By 1596, the company had performed the classic Shakespeare plays Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. That year, John Shakespeare was granted a coat of arms, a testament to his son's growing wealth and fame. In 1597, William Shakespeare bought a large house in Stratford. In 1599, after producing his great historical series, the first and second part of Henry IV and Henry V, he became a partner in the ownership of the Globe Theatre. The beginning of the 17th century saw the performance of the first of his great tragedies, Hamlet. The next play, The Merry Wives of Windsor, was written at the request of Queen Elizabeth I, who wanted to see another play that included the popular character Falstaff. During the next decade, Shakespeare produced such masterpieces as Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, and The Tempest. In 1609, his sonnets, probably written during the 1590s, were published. The 154 sonnets are marked by the recurring themes of the mutability of beauty and the transcendent power of love and art. Shakespeare died in Stratford-on-Avon on April 23, 1616. Today, nearly 400 years later, his plays are performed and read more often and in more nations than ever before. In a million words written over 20 years, he captured the full range of human emotions and conflicts with a precision that remains sharp today. As his great contemporary the poet and dramatist Ben Jonson said, "He was not of an age, but for all time." www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Apr 25, 2012 5:51:02 GMT -5
April 25thAmerican Revolution Cornwallis retreats from Guilford Courthouse, 1781 Automotive Italian Formula One driver dies in crash, 2001 Civil War Confederates overwhelm Union at Marks' Mills, 1864 Cold War Andropov writes to an American fifth-grader, 1983 Crime A father is exonerated after 21 years, 1989 Disaster Air tragedy hits Canary Islands, 1980 General Interest Ground broken for Suez Canal, 1859 Andropov writes to U.S. student, 1983 Space telescope in orbit, 1990 Hollywood Ginger Rogers dies, 1995 Literary Robinson Crusoe is published, 1719 Music Ella Fitzgerald is born, 1917 Old West A play lionizing Davy Crockett opens, 1831 Presidential Truman inaugurates White House bowling alley, 1947 Sports Maple Leafs win third Stanley Cup in a row, 1964 Vietnam War Johnson announces appointment of Westmoreland, 1964 North Vietnamese Army close to cutting South Vietnam in two, 1972 World War I Allies begin invasion of Gallipoli, 1915 World War II Americans and Russians link up, cut Germany in two, 1945 ******************** 1859: Ground broken for Suez CanalAt Port Said, Egypt, ground is broken for the Suez Canal, an artificial waterway intended to stretch 101 miles across the isthmus of Suez and connect the Mediterranean and the Red seas. Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French diplomat who organized the colossal undertaking, delivered the pickax blow that inaugurated construction. Artificial canals have been built on the Suez region, which connects the continents of Asia and Africa, since ancient times. Under the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt, a channel connected the Bitter Lakes to the Red Sea, and a canal reached northward from Lake Timsah as far as the Nile River. These canals fell into disrepair or were intentionally destroyed for military reasons. As early as the 15th century, Europeans speculated about building a canal across the Suez, which would allow traders to sail from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea, rather than having to sail the great distance around Africa's Cape of Good Hope. The first serious survey of the isthmus occurred during the French occupation of Egypt at the end of the 18th century, and General Napoleon Bonaparte personally inspected the remains of an ancient canal. France made further studies for a canal, and in 1854 Ferdinand de Lesseps, the former French consul to Cairo, secured an agreement with the Ottoman governor of Egypt to build a canal. An international team of engineers drew up a construction plan, and in 1856 the Suez Canal Company was formed and granted the right to operate the canal for 99 years after completion of the work. Construction began in April 1859, and at first digging was done by hand with picks and shovels wielded by forced laborers. Later, European workers with dredgers and steam shovels arrived. Labor disputes and a cholera epidemic slowed construction, and the Suez Canal was not completed until 1869--four years behind schedule. On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal was officially inaugurated in an elaborate ceremony attended by French Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III. Ferdinand de Lesseps would later attempt, unsuccessfully, to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. He died in 1894. When it opened, the Suez Canal was only 25 feet deep, 72 feet wide at the bottom, and 200 to 300 feet wide at the surface. Consequently, fewer than 500 ships navigated it in its first full year of operation. Major improvements began in 1876, however, and the canal soon grew into the one of the world's most heavily traveled shipping lanes. In 1875, Great Britain became the largest shareholder in the Suez Canal Company when it bought up the stock of the new Ottoman governor of Egypt. Seven years later, in 1882, Britain invaded Egypt, beginning a long occupation of the country. The Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936 made Egypt virtually independent, but Britain reserved rights for the protection of the canal. After World War II, Egypt pressed for evacuation of British troops from the Suez Canal Zone, and in July 1956 Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the canal, hoping to charge tolls that would pay for construction of a massive dam on the Nile River. In response, Israel invaded in late October, and British and French troops landed in early November, occupying the canal zone. Under pressure from the United Nations, Britain and France withdrew in December, and Israeli forces departed in March 1957. That month, Egypt took control of the canal and reopened it to commercial shipping. Ten years later, Egypt shut down the canal again following the Six Day War and Israel's occupation of the Sinai peninsula. For the next eight years, the Suez Canal, which separates the Sinai from the rest of Egypt, existed as the front line between the Egyptian and Israeli armies. In 1975, Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat reopened the Suez Canal as a gesture of peace after talks with Israel. Today, an average of 50 ships navigate the canal daily, carrying more than 300 million tons of goods a year. www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ground-broken-for-suez-canal
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Post by dreamer on Apr 26, 2012 4:48:02 GMT -5
April 26thAmerican Revolution David Hume is born, 1711 Automotive Chrysler and autoworkers' union agree to a deal, 2009 Civil War Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth dies, 1865 Cold War Geneva Conference begins, 1954 Crime Girl murdered in pencil factory, 1913 Disaster Nuclear explosion at Chernobyl, 1986 General Interest Nazis test Luftwaffe on Guernica, 1937 Polio vaccine trials begin, 1954 Nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, 1986 Hollywood Maria Shriver marries Arnold Schwarzenegger, 1986 Literary Anita Loos is born, 1888 Music Studio 54 opens, 1977 Old West James Beckwourth is born, 1798 Presidential Reagan visits China, 1984 Sports Olympic track star Fanny Blankers-Koen is born, 1918 Vietnam War U.S. troop strength in South Vietnam at five-year low, 1971 Nixon announces additional troop withdrawals, 1972 World War I Allies sign Treaty of London, 1915 World War II Rudolf Hess is born, 1894 ******************** 1954: Polio vaccine trials beginOn this day in 1954, the Salk polio vaccine field trials, involving 1.8 million children, begin at the Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia. Children in the United States, Canada and Finland participated in the trials, which used for the first time the now-standard double-blind method, whereby neither the patient nor attending doctor knew if the inoculation was the vaccine or a placebo. On April 12, 1955, researchers announced the vaccine was safe and effective and it quickly became a standard part of childhood immunizations in America. In the ensuing decades, polio vaccines would all but wipe out the highly contagious disease in the Western Hemisphere. Polio, known officially as poliomyelitis, is an infectious disease that has existed since ancient times and is caused by a virus. It occurs most commonly in children and can result in paralysis. The disease reached epidemic proportions throughout the first half of the 20th century. During the 1940s and 1950s, polio was associated with the iron lung, a large metal tank designed to help polio victims suffering from respiratory paralysis breathe. President Franklin Roosevelt was diagnosed with polio in 1921 at the age of 39 and was left paralyzed from the waist down and forced to use leg braces and a wheelchair for the rest of his life. In 1938, Roosevelt helped found the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, later renamed the March of Dimes. The organization was responsible for funding much of the research concerning the disease, including the Salk vaccine trials. The man behind the original vaccine was New York-born physician and epidemiologist Jonas Salk (1914-95). Salk's work on an anti-influenza vaccine in the 1940s, while at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, led him, in 1952 at the University of Pittsburgh, to develop the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), based on a killed-virus strain of the disease. The 1954 field trials that followed, the largest in U.S. history at the time, were led by Salk's former University of Michigan colleague, Dr. Thomas Francis, Jr. In the late 1950s, Polish-born physician and virologist Albert Sabin (1906-1993) tested an oral polio vaccine (OPV) he had created from a weakened live virus. The vaccine, easier to administer and cheaper to produce than Salk's, became available for use in America in the early 1960s and eventually replaced Salk's as the vaccine of choice in most countries. Today, polio has been eliminated throughout much of the world due to the vaccine; however, there is still no cure for the disease and it persists in a small number of countries in Africa and Asia. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Apr 27, 2012 5:26:34 GMT -5
April 27th American Revolution Parliament passes the Tea Act, 1773 Automotive GM announces plans to phase out Pontiac, 2009 Civil War Union soldiers die in steamship explosion, 1865 Cold War Afghan president is overthrown and murdered, 1978 Crime Cunanan begins his killing spree, 1997 Disaster Civil War vets are caught in steamboat explosion, 1865 General Interest Universe is created, according to Kepler, 4977 B.C. Magellan killed in the Philippines, 1521 To the shores of Tripoli, 1805 Tragedy on the Mississippi, 1865 South Africa holds first multiracial elections, 1994 Hollywood D.A. announces negligence caused Brandon Lee’s death, 1993 Literary John Milton sells the copyright to Paradise Lost, 1667 Music High school freshman Little Peggy March earns a #1 hit with "I Will Follow Him", 1963 Old West Explorer Zebulon Pike dies, 1813 Presidential President Grant is born, 1822 Sports Rocky Marciano retires as world heavyweight champion, 1956 Vietnam War Humphrey announces his candidacy, 1968 North Vietnamese attack outskirts of Quang Tri, 1972 World War I British attempt to bargain with Turks over Kut, 1916 World War II German forces enter Athens, 1941 ******************** 4977 B.C.: Universe is created, according to KeplerOn this day in 4977 B.C., the universe is created, according to German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler, considered a founder of modern science. Kepler is best known for his theories explaining the motion of planets. Kepler was born on December 27, 1571, in Weil der Stadt, Germany. As a university student, he studied the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus' theories of planetary ordering. Copernicus (1473-1543) believed that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the solar system, a theory that contradicted the prevailing view of the era that the sun revolved around the earth. In 1600, Kepler went to Prague to work for Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, the imperial mathematician to Rudolf II, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Kepler's main project was to investigate the orbit of Mars. When Brahe died the following year, Kepler took over his job and inherited Brahe's extensive collection of astronomy data, which had been painstakingly observed by the naked eye. Over the next decade, Kepler learned about the work of Italian physicist and astronomer Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), who had invented a telescope with which he discovered lunar mountains and craters, the largest four satellites of Jupiter and the phases of Venus, among other things. Kepler corresponded with Galileo and eventually obtained a telescope of his own and improved upon the design. In 1609, Kepler published the first two of his three laws of planetary motion, which held that planets move around the sun in ellipses, not circles (as had been widely believed up to that time), and that planets speed up as they approach the sun and slow down as they move away. In 1619, he produced his third law, which used mathematic principles to relate the time a planet takes to orbit the sun to the average distance of the planet from the sun. Kepler's research was slow to gain widespread traction during his lifetime, but it later served as a key influence on the English mathematician Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) and his law of gravitational force. Additionally, Kepler did important work in the fields of optics, including demonstrating how the human eye works, and math. He died on November 15, 1630, in Regensberg, Germany. As for Kepler's calculation about the universe's birthday, scientists in the 20th century developed the Big Bang theory, which showed that his calculations were off by about 13.7 billion years. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Apr 28, 2012 3:05:35 GMT -5
April 28th American Revolution Colonel McIntosh writes to Washington, 1776 Automotive Ferruccio Lamborghini born, 1916 Civil War Union general who advocated for black troops is born, 1810 Cold War U.S. troops land in the Dominican Republic, 1965 Crime Jaycee Dugard's kidnappers plead guilty, 2011 Disaster Gas pipe explodes in South Korea, 1995 General Interest Mutiny on the HMS Bounty, 1789 Benito Mussolini executed, 1945 De Gaulle resigns as leader of France, 1969 Red Army Faction trial ends, 1977 Port Arthur Massacre in Australia, 1996 Hollywood Comcast abandons bid to buy Disney, 2004 Literary T.S. Eliot accepts a job at Faber and Faber publishers, 1925 Music My Name is Barbra is Barbra Streisand's debut television special, 1965 Old West Chickasaw and Choctaw abandon communal lands, 1897 Presidential President Monroe is born, 1758 Sports Muhammad Ali refuses Army induction, 1967 Vietnam War Nixon approves Cambodian incursion, 1970 North Vietnamese press South Vietnamese at Hue and Kontum, 1972 World War I International Congress of Women opens at The Hague, 1915 World War II Mussolini is executed, 1945 ******************** 1945: Benito Mussolini executedOn this day in 1945, "Il Duce," Benito Mussolini, and his mistress, Clara Petacci, are shot by Italian partisans who had captured the couple as they attempted to flee to Switzerland. The 61-year-old deposed former dictator of Italy was established by his German allies as the figurehead of a puppet government in northern Italy during the German occupation toward the close of the war. As the Allies fought their way up the Italian peninsula, defeat of the Axis powers all but certain, Mussolini considered his options. Not wanting to fall into the hands of either the British or the Americans, and knowing that the communist partisans, who had been fighting the remnants of roving Italian fascist soldiers and thugs in the north, would try him as a war criminal, he settled on escape to a neutral country. He and his mistress made it to the Swiss border, only to discover that the guards had crossed over to the partisan side. Knowing they would not let him pass, he disguised himself in a Luftwaffe coat and helmet, hoping to slip into Austria with some German soldiers. His subterfuge proved incompetent, and he and Petacci were discovered by partisans and shot, their bodies then transported by truck to Milan, where they were hung upside down and displayed publicly for revilement by the masses. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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Post by dreamer on Apr 29, 2012 6:53:48 GMT -5
April 29thAmerican Revolution Nathanael Greene takes command of Long Island, 1776 Automotive The end of the road for Oldsmobile, 2004 Civil War Union captures New Orleans, 1862 Cold War American statesmen deny Lattimore's influence, 1950 Crime Rodney King trial verdict announced, 1992 Disaster Cyclone kills 135,000 in Bangladesh, 1991 General Interest Joan of Arc relieves Orleans, 1429 First African-American college chartered, 1854 Dachau liberated, 1945 Riots erupt in Los Angeles, 1992 World War II monument opens in Washington, D.C., 2004 Britain's Prince William weds Kate Middleton, 2011 Hollywood Daniel Day-Lewis born, 1957 Literary Henry James' Transatlantic Sketches is published, 1875 Music Hair premieres on Broadway, 1968 Old West William Randolph Hearst is born, 1863 Presidential Nixon announces release of White House Watergate tapes, 1974 Sports Roger Clemens strikes out 20 batters in single game, 1986 Vietnam War U.S.-South Vietnamese forces launch Cambodian "incursion", 1970 New casualty figures released., 1971 Operation Frequent Wind begins, 1975 World War I British forces surrender at Kut, Mesopotamia, 1916 World War II Adolf and Eva marry, 1945 International Military Tribunal indicts Hideki, 1946 ******************** 1968: Hair premieres on BroadwayIn a year marked by as much social and cultural upheaval as 1968, it was understandable that the New York Times review of a controversial musical newly arrived on Broadway would describe the show in political terms. "You probably don't have to be a supporter of Eugene McCarthy to love it," wrote critic Clive Barnes, "but I wouldn't give it much chance among the adherents of Governor Reagan." The show in question was Hair, the now-famous "tribal love-rock musical" that introduced the era-defining song "Aquarius" and gave New York theatergoers a full-frontal glimpse of the burgeoning 60s-counterculture esthetic. Hair premiered on Broadway on April 29, 1968. Hair was not a brand-new show when it opened at the Biltmore Theater on this night in 1968. It began its run 40 blocks to the south, in the East Village, as the inaugural production of Joseph Papp's Public Theater. Despite mediocre reviews, Hair was a big enough hit with audiences during its six-week run at the Public to win financial backing for a proposed move to Broadway. While this kind of move would later become more common, it was exceedingly rare for a musical at the time, and it was a particularly bold move for a musical with a nontraditional score. Hair, after all, was the first rock musical to make a play for mainstream success on the Great White Way. But the novelty of the show didn't stop with its music or references to sex and drugs. Hair also featured a much-talked-about scene at the end of its first act in which the cast appeared completely nude on the dimly lit stage. It turned out that these potentially shocking breaks from Broadway tradition turned didn't turn off Broadway audiences at all. Hair quickly became not just a smash-hit show, but a genuine cultural phenomenon that spawned a million-selling original cast recording and a #1 song on the pop charts for the Fifth Dimension. Forty years after its initial downtown opening, Charles Isherwood, writing for the New York Times, placed Hair in its proper historical context: "For darker, knottier and more richly textured sonic experiences of the times, you turn to the Doors or Bob Dylan or Joni Mitchell or Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin. Or all of them. For an escapist dose of the sweet sound of youth brimming with hope that the world is going to change tomorrow, you listen to Hair and let the sunshine in." www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hair-premieres-on-broadway
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Post by dreamer on Apr 30, 2012 3:59:56 GMT -5
April 30thAmerican Revolution Samuel Adams writes of hope for more battles, 1776 Automotive Original Land Rover debuts at auto show, 1948 Civil War Confederates attack Union troops at Jenkins' Ferry, 1864 Cold War Organization of American States established, 1948 Crime The first federal prison for women opens, 1927 Disaster Orange-sized hail reported in India, 1888 General Interest The first presidential inauguration, 1789 Louisiana Purchase concluded, 1803 New York World's Fair opens, 1939 Adolf Hitler commits suicide, 1945 Hollywood “Coming out” episode of Ellen, 1997 Literary Annie Dillard is born, 1945 Music Willie Nelson is born, 1933 Old West Arizona Ranger Burton Mossman is born, 1867 Presidential George Washington gives first presidential inaugural address, 1789 Sports Tennis star Monica Seles stabbed, 1993 Vietnam War South Vietnam surrenders, 1975 World War I Battle of the Boot, 1917 World War II Adolf Hitler commits suicide in his underground bunker, 1945 ******************** 1945: Adolf Hitler commits suicideOn this day in 1945, holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. Soon after, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces, ending Hitler's dreams of a "1,000-year" Reich. Since at least 1943, it was becoming increasingly clear that Germany would fold under the pressure of the Allied forces. In February of that year, the German 6th Army, lured deep into the Soviet Union, was annihilated at the Battle of Stalingrad, and German hopes for a sustained offensive on both fronts evaporated. Then, in June 1944, the Western Allied armies landed at Normandy, France, and began systematically to push the Germans back toward Berlin. By July 1944, several German military commanders acknowledged their imminent defeat and plotted to remove Hitler from power so as to negotiate a more favorable peace. Their attempts to assassinate Hitler failed, however, and in his reprisals, Hitler executed over 4,000 fellow countrymen. In January 1945, facing a siege of Berlin by the Soviets, Hitler withdrew to his bunker to live out his final days. Located 55 feet under the chancellery, the shelter contained 18 rooms and was fully self-sufficient, with its own water and electrical supply. Though he was growing increasingly mad, Hitler continued to give orders and meet with such close subordinates as Hermann Goering, Heinrich Himmler and Josef Goebbels. He also married his long-time mistress Eva Braun just two days before his suicide. In his last will and testament, Hitler appointed Admiral Karl Donitz as head of state and Goebbels as chancellor. He then retired to his private quarters with Braun, where he and Braun poisoned themselves and their dogs, before Hitler then also shot himself with his service pistol. Hitler and Braun's bodies were hastily cremated in the chancellery garden, as Soviet forces closed in on the building. When the Soviets reached the chancellery, they removed Hitler's ashes, continually changing their location so as to prevent Hitler devotees from creating a memorial at his final resting place. Only eight days later, on May 8, 1945, the German forces issued an unconditional surrender, leaving Germany to be carved up by the four Allied powers. www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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