This Day in History

12/21/1988: Pan Am Flight 103 Explores over Scotland​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pan-am-flight-103-explodes-over-scotland

On this day in 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York explodes in midair over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members aboard, as well as 11 Lockerbie residents on the ground. A bomb hidden inside an audio cassette player detonated in the cargo area when the plane was at an altitude of 31,000 feet. The disaster, which became the subject of Britain's largest criminal investigation, was believed to be an attack against the United States. One hundred eighty nine of the victims were American.

Islamic terrorists were accused of planting the bomb on the plane while it was at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany. Authorities suspected the attack was in retaliation for either the 1986 U.S. air strikes against Libya, in which leader Muammar al-Qaddafi's young daughter was killed along with dozens of other people, or a 1988 incident, in which the U.S. mistakenly shot down an Iran Air commercial flight over the Persian Gulf, killing 290 people.

Sixteen days before the explosion over Lockerbie, the U.S. embassy in Helsinki, Finland, received a call warning that a bomb would be placed on a Pan Am flight out of Frankfurt. There is controversy over how seriously the U.S. took the threat and whether travelers should have been alerted, but officials later said that the connection between the call and the bomb was coincidental.

In 1991, following a joint investigation by the British authorities and the F.B.I., Libyan intelligence agents Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah were indicted for murder; however, Libya refused to hand over the suspects to the U.S. Finally, in 1999, in an effort to ease United Nations sanctions against his country, Qaddafi agreed to turn over the two men to Scotland for trial in the Netherlands using Scottish law and prosecutors. In early 2001, al-Megrahi was convicted and sentenced to life in prison and Fhimah was acquitted.

In 2003, Libya accepted responsibility for the bombing, but didn't express remorse. The U.N. and U.S. lifted sanctions against Libya and Libya agreed to pay each victim's family approximately $8 million in restitution. In 2004, Libya's prime minister said that the deal was the "price for peace," implying that his country only took responsibility to get the sanctions lifted, a statement that infuriated the victims' families. Pan Am Airlines, which went bankrupt three years after the bombing, sued Libya and later received a $30 million settlement.

Other Stories​

American Revolution

• Patriot Robert Barnwell is born, 1761

Automotive

• "The Graduate" opens in New York; makes Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider famous, 1967

Civil War

• Trent crisis escalates, 1861

Cold War

• Soviet republics proclaim the Commonwealth of Independent States, 1991

Crime

• Sunny von Bulow is found comatose, 1980
• Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland, 1988

Disaster

• Earthquake sends tsunami toward Japan, 1946

General Interest

• De Gaulle elected, 1958
• Apollo 8 departs for moon's orbit, 1968
• Carlos the Jackal attacks OPEC headquarters, 1975

Hollywood

• Russell Crowe stars in A Beautiful Mind, 2001

Literary

• William Wordsworth moves into Dove Cottage, 1799
• Curious George co-creator Margret Rey dies, 1996

Music

• Harry Chapin earns a #1 hit with "Cat's In The Cradle", 1985

Old West

• Indians massacre Fetterman and eighty soldiers, 1866

Presidential

• Nixon meets Elvis Presley, 1970

Sports

• Hobey Baker killed in plane crash, 1918

Vietnam War

• Thailand announces plans to withdraw troops, 1969
• Defense Department reports eight B-52s lost during Linebacker II, 1972

World War I

• Sir William Robertson is appointed chief of the Imperial General Staff, 1915

World War II

• "Old Blood and Guts" dies, 1945

 

12/22/1956:​

​

First Gorilla Born in Captivity​

On this day in 1956, a baby gorilla named Colo enters the world at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, becoming the first-ever gorilla born in captivity. Weighing in at approximately 4 pounds, Colo, a western lowland gorilla whose name was a combination of Columbus and Ohio, was the daughter of Millie and Mac, two gorillas captured in French Cameroon, Africa, who were brought to the Columbus Zoo in 1951. Before Colo's birth, gorillas found at zoos were caught in the wild, often by brutal means. In order to capture a gorilla when it was young and therefore still small enough to handle, hunters frequently had to kill the gorilla's parents and other family members.

Gorillas are peaceful, intelligent animals, native to Africa, who live in small groups led by one adult male, known as a silverback. There are three subspecies of gorilla: western lowland, eastern lowland and mountain. The subspecies are similar and the majority of gorillas in captivity are western lowland. Gorillas are vegetarians whose only natural enemy is the humans who hunt them. On average, a gorilla lives to 35 years in the wild and 50 years in captivity.

At the time Colo was born, captive gorillas often never learned parenting skills from their own parents in the wild, so the Columbus Zoo built her a nursery and she was reared by zookeepers. In the years since Colo's arrival, zookeepers have developed habitats that simulate a gorilla's natural environment and many captive-born gorillas are now raised by their mothers. In situations where this doesn't work, zoos have created surrogacy programs, in which the infants are briefly cared for by humans and then handed over to other gorillas to raise.

Colo, who generated enormous public interest and is still alive today, went on to become a mother, grandmother, and in 1996, a great-grandmother to Timu, the first surviving infant gorilla conceived by artificial insemination. Timu gave birth to her first baby in 2003.

Today, there are approximately 750 gorillas in captivity around the world and an estimated 100,000 lowland gorillas (and far fewer mountain gorillas) remaining in the wild. Most zoos are active in captive breeding programs and have agreed not to buy gorillas born in the wild. Since Colo's birth, 30 gorillas have been born at the Columbus Zoo alone.

Other Stories​

American Revolution

• Continental Congress creates a Continental Navy, 1775

Automotive

• First "Mercedes" is delivered to its buyer, 1900

Civil War

• Sherman presents Lincoln with a Christmas gift, 1864

Cold War

• Lech Walesa sworn in as president of Poland, 1990

Crime

• John Wayne Gacy confesses, 1978

Disaster

• Express trains collide in Germany, 1939

General Interest

• Dreyfus affair begins in France, 1894
• Waldheim elected U.N. secretary-general, 1971
• The Bernhard Goetz subway shooting, 1984
• Romanian government falls, 1989

Hollywood

• Hollywood mogul Darryl Zanuck dies, 1979

Literary

• Dostoevsky reprieved at last minute, 1849

Music

• Beethoven's Fifth Symphony given world premiere in Vienna, 1808

Old West

• John Chisum dies in Arkansas, 1884

Presidential

• Julie Nixon marries David Eisenhower, 1968

Sports

• L.A. Lakers break pro sports winning streak record, 1971

Vietnam War

• Soviet Union attacks Chinese policy toward Vietnam, 1971
• Washington announces Linebacker II raids will continue, 1972

World War I

• Russian-German peace talks begin at Brest-Litovsk, 1917

World War II

• Churchill and Roosevelt discuss war and peace, 1941

12/23/1888: Van Gogh Chops Off Ear​

On this day in 1888, Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, suffering from severe depression, cuts off the lower part of his left ear with a razor while staying in Arles, France. He later documented the event in a painting titled Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear. Today, Van Gogh is regarded as an artistic genius and his masterpieces sell for record-breaking prices; however, during his lifetime, he was a poster boy for tortured starving artists and sold only one painting.

Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, in the Netherlands. He had a difficult, nervous personality and worked unsuccessfully at an art gallery and then as a preacher among poor miners in Belgium. In 1880, he decided to become an artist. His work from this period--the most famous of which is The Potato Eaters (1885)--is dark and somber and reflective of the experiences he had among peasants and impoverished miners.

In 1886, Van Gogh moved to Paris where his younger brother Theo, with whom he was close, lived. Theo, an art dealer, supported his brother financially and introduced him to a number of artists, including Paul Gauguin, Camille Pisarro and Georges Seurat. Influenced by these and other painters, Van Gogh's own artistic style lightened up and he began using more color.

In 1888, Van Gogh rented a house in Arles in the south of France, where he hoped to found an artists' colony and be less of a burden to his brother. In Arles, Van Gogh painted vivid scenes from the countryside as well as still-lifes, including his famous sunflower series. Gauguin came to stay with him in Arles and the two men worked together for almost two months. However, tensions developed and on December 23, in a fit of dementia, Van Gogh threatened his friend with a knife before turning it on himself and mutilating his ear lobe. Afterward, he allegedly wrapped up the ear and gave it to a prostitute at a nearby brothel. Following that incident, Van Gogh was hospitalized in Arles and then checked himself into a mental institution in Saint-Remy for a year. During his stay in Saint-Remy, he fluctuated between periods of madness and intense creativity, in which he produced some of his best and most well-known works, including Starry Night and Irises.

In May 1890, Van Gogh moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris, where he continued to be plagued by despair and loneliness. On July 27, 1890, he shot himself and died two days later at age 37.

Other Stories​

American Revolution

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Automotive

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Civil War

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Cold War

• Crew of USS Pueblo released by North Korea, 1968

Crime

• Bernhard Goetz goes on the lam, 1984
• "Balloon Boy" parents sentenced in Colorado, 2009

Disaster

• Earthquake rocks Managua, 1972

General Interest

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• Japanese war criminals hanged in Tokyo, 1948
• Voyager completes global flight, 1986

Hollywood

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Literary

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Music

• Chuck Berry is arrested on Mann Act charges in St. Louis, Missouri, 1959

Old West

• Prince Wurttemberg explores the West, 1829

Presidential

• Truman considers amnesty for draft dodgers, 1946

Sports

• Harris makes Immaculate Reception, 1972

Vietnam War

• Francis Cardinal Spellman visits South Vietnam, 1966
• Operation Linebacker II continues, 1972

World War I

• Vera Brittain loses fiance at Western Front, 1915

World War II

• The execution of Eddie Slovik is authorized, 1944

 

12/24/1979: Soviet Tanks Roll into Afghanistan​

On December 24, 1979, the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, under the pretext of upholding the Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaty of 1978.

As midnight approached, the Soviets organized a massive military airlift into Kabul, involving an estimated 280 transport aircraft and three divisions of almost 8,500 men each. Within a few days, the Soviets had secured Kabul, deploying a special assault unit against Tajberg Palace. Elements of the Afghan army loyal to Hafizullah Amin put up a fierce, but brief resistance.

On December 27, Babrak Karmal, exiled leader of the Parcham faction of the Marxist People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), was installed as Afghanistan’s new head of government. And Soviet ground forces entered Afghanistan from the north.

The Soviets, however, were met with fierce resistance when they ventured out of their strongholds into the countryside. Resistance fighters, called mujahidin, saw the Christian or atheist Soviets controlling Afghanistan as a defilement of Islam as well as of their traditional culture. Proclaiming a "jihad"(holy war), they gained the support of the Islamic world.

The mujahidin employed guerrilla tactics against the Soviets. They would attack or raid quickly, then disappear into the mountains, causing great destruction without pitched battles. The fighters used whatever weapons they could grab from the Soviets or were given by the United States.

The tide of the war turned with the 1987 introduction of U.S. shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles. The Stingers allowed the mujahidin to shoot down Soviet planes and helicopters on a regular basis.

New Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev decided it was time to get out. Demoralized and with no victory in sight, Soviet forces started withdrawing in 1988. The last Soviet soldier crossed back across the border on February 15, 1989.

It was the first Soviet military expedition beyond the Eastern bloc since World War II and marked the end of a period of improving relations (known as détente) in the Cold War. Subsequently, the SALT II arms treaty was shelved and the U.S. began to re-arm.

Fifteen thousand Soviet soldiers were killed.

The long-term impact of the invasion and subsequent war was profound. First, the Soviets never recovered from the public relations and financial losses, which significantly contributed to the fall of the Soviet empire in 1991. Secondly, the war created a breeding ground for terrorism and the rise of Osama bin Laden.

Other Stories​

American Revolution

• Benjamin Rush is born, 1745

Automotive

• Richard Trevithick introduces his "Puffing Devil", 1801

Civil War

• Bombardment of Fort Fisher begins, 1864

Cold War

• McCarren-Walter Act goes into effect, 1952

Crime

• Islamic terrorists hijack a French plane, 1994

Disaster

• Volcanic eruption sweeps away train, 1953

General Interest

• War of 1812 ends, 1814
• Fire ravages Library of Congress, 1851
• KKK founded, 1865

Hollywood

• Woody Allen marries Soon-Yi Previn, 1997

Literary

• Stephenie Meyer, best-selling author of vampire novels, is born, 1973

Music

• "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" puts Poison atop the charts, 1988

Old West

• Kit Carson born in Kentucky, 1809

Presidential

• Fire destroys Jefferson library, 1851
• Coolidge lights first national Christmas tree, 1923

Sports

• Curt Flood challenges MLB reserve clause, 1969

Vietnam War

• Viet Cong bomb Brinks Hotel, 1964
• Bob Hope gives his last show in Vietnam, 1972

World War I

• American soldier John Douglas writes home from post-armistice France, 1918

World War II

• French Admiral Jean Darlan is assassinated, 1942

 

12/25/1914: The Christmas Truce​

Just after midnight on Christmas morning, the majority of German troops engaged in World War I cease firing their guns and artillery and commence to sing Christmas carols. At certain points along the eastern and western fronts, the soldiers of Russia, France, and Britain even heard brass bands joining the Germans in their joyous singing.

At the first light of dawn, many of the German soldiers emerged from their trenches and approached the Allied lines across no-man's-land, calling out "Merry Christmas" in their enemies' native tongues. At first, the Allied soldiers feared it was a trick, but seeing the Germans unarmed they climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the enemy soldiers. The men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings and sang carols and songs. There was even a documented case of soldiers from opposing sides playing a good-natured game of soccer.

The so-called Christmas Truce of 1914 came only five months after the outbreak of war in Europe and was one of the last examples of the outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare. In 1915, the bloody conflict of World War I erupted in all its technological fury, and the concept of another Christmas Truce became unthinkable.

Other Stories​

American Revolution

• Washington crosses the Delaware, 1776

Automotive

• Layne Hall is born; will become oldest licensed driver in United States, 1880

Civil War

• Union soldier Elisha Hunt Rhodes writes about Christmas, 1862

Cold War

• Gorbachev resigns as president of the USSR, 1991

Crime

• Young JonBenet Ramsey is murdered, 1996

Disaster

• Christmas party in China turns deadly, 2000

General Interest

• Christ is born?, 6 B.C.

Hollywood

• To Kill a Mockingbird debuts, 1962

Literary

• Jimmy Buffett departs on a cruise that inspires A Pirate Looks at Fifty, 1996

Music

• Bing Crosby introduces "White Christmas" to the world, 1941

Old West

• John Wesley Hardin kills over a card game, 1869

Presidential

• Washington leads troops on raid at Trenton, New Jersey, 1776

Sports

• Katie Hnida is first woman to play in Division I football game, 2002

Vietnam War

• Harrison Salisbury reports on damage caused by U.S. bombing, 1966
• Linebacker II resumes after Christmas pause, 1972

World War I

• Enemies exchange Christmas greetings, 1914

World War II

• British surrender Hong Kong, 1941

 

That was the last time I can recall in history where there was a battle where the men on both sides cared only for peace with their opposition and not their blood.

Chilvary is indeed dead in this time of warfare, the more distance you can put between you and an enemy to kill them, the less we care, the less we see the pain, the death of Chilvary.

 

12/26/1946: Bugsy Siegel Opens Flamingo Hotel​

On December 26, 1946, in Las Vegas, Nevada, mobster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel opens The Pink Flamingo Hotel & Casino at a total cost of $6 million. The 40-acre facility wasn't complete and Siegel was hoping to raise some revenue with the grand opening.

Well-known singer and comedian Jimmy Durante headlined the entertainment, with music by Cuban band leader Xavier Cugat. Some of Siegel's Hollywood friends, including actors George Raft, George Sanders, Sonny Tufts and George Jessel were in attendance.

The grand opening, however, was a flop. Bad weather kept many other Hollywood guests from arriving. And because gamblers had no rooms at the hotel, they took their winnings and gambled elsewhere. The casino lost $300,000 in the first week of operation.

Siegel and his New York "partners" had invested $1 million in a property already under construction by Billy Wilkerson, owner of the Hollywood Reporter as well as some very popular nightclubs in the Sunset Strip. Wilkerson had wanted to recreate the Sunset Strip in Las Vegas, with a European style hotel with luxuious rooms, a spa, health club, showroom, golf course, nightclub and upscale restaurant. But he soon ran out of money due to the high cost of materials immediately after the war.

Siegel, who held a largest interest in the racing publication Trans America Wire, was drawn to Las Vegas in 1945 by his interest in legalized gambling and off-track betting. He purchased The El Cortez hotel for $600,000 and later sold it for a $166,000 profit.

Siegel and his organized crime buddies used the profits to influence Wilkerson to accept new partners. Siegel took over the project and supervised the building, naming it after his girlfriend Virginia Hill, whose nickname was "The Flamingo" because of her red hair and long legs.

Two weeks after the grand opening, the Flamingo closed down. It re-opened March 1, 1947, as The Fabulous Flamingo. Siegel forced Wilkerson out in April, and by May, the resort reported a profit, but it wasn't enough to save Siegel.

Convinced that Siegel wasn't giving them a "square count," it is widely believed that his partners in organized crime had him killed while he was reading the paper June 20, 1947, at Hill's Beverly Hills mansion. Hill was in Paris, having flown the coop after a fight with Siegel 10 days prior. The crime remains unsolved to this day.

Surviving a series of name and ownership changes, the hotel is known today as The Flamingo Las Vegas, owned and operated by Harrah's Entertainment. The property offers 3,626 hotel rooms and a 77,000-square-foot casino.

Other Stories​

American Revolution

• Washington wins first major U.S. victory at Trenton, 1776

Automotive

• Carmaker Preston Tucker dies, 1956

Civil War

• Possible war between U.S. and Britain is averted, 1861

Cold War

• Porgy and Bess opens in Leningrad, 1955

Crime

• Bathory's torturous escapades are exposed, 1610

Disaster

• Tsunami devastates Indian Ocean coast, 2004

General Interest

• Jack Johnson wins heavyweight title, 1908
• Churchill addresses Congress, 1941
• The first Kwanzaa, 1966
• Tsunami wreaks havoc on Southeast Asia, 2004

Hollywood

• The Exorcist opens, 1973

Literary

• King Lear performed at Court, 1606

Music

• Jimi Hendrix writes "Purple Haze", 1966

Old West

• Moses Austin asks Spanish for Texas colony, 1820

Presidential

• Truman dies, 1972

Sports

• Jack Johnson wins heavyweight boxing title, 1908

Vietnam War

• Laos says communists launched an offensive, 1967
• U.S. jets strike North Vietnam, 1971

World War I

• U.S. government takes over control of nation's railroads, 1917

World War II

• Britain surprises German attacker in the Arctic, 1943
• Patton relieves Bastogne, 1944

12/27/1932: Radio City Music Hall Opens​

At the height of the Great Depression, thousands turn out for the opening of Radio City Music Hall, a magnificent Art Deco theater in New York City. Radio City Music Hall was designed as a palace for the people, a place of beauty where ordinary people could see high-quality entertainment. Since its 1932 opening, more than 300 million people have gone to Radio City to enjoy movies, stage shows, concerts, and special events.

Radio City Music Hall was the brainchild of the billionaire John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who decided to make the theater the cornerstone of the Rockefeller Complex he was building in a formerly derelict neighborhood in midtown Manhattan. The theater was built in partnership with the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and designed by Donald Deskey. The result was an Art Deco masterpiece of elegance and grace constructed out of a diverse variety of materials, including aluminum, gold foil, marble, permatex, glass, and cork. Geometric ornamentation is found throughout the theater, as is Deskey's central theme of the "Progress of Man." The famous Great Stage, measuring 60 feet wide and 100 feet long, resembles a setting sun. Its sophisticated system of hydraulic-powered elevators allowed spectacular effects in staging, and many of its original mechanisms are still in use today.

In its first four decades, Radio City Music Hall alternated as a first-run movie theater and a site for gala stage shows. More than 700 films have premiered at Radio City Music Hall since 1933. In the late 1970s, the theater changed its format and began staging concerts by popular music artists. The Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular, which debuted in 1933, draws more than a million people annually. The show features the high-kicking Rockettes, a precision dance troupe that has been a staple at Radio City since the 1930s.

In 1999, the Hall underwent a seven-month, $70 million restoration. Today, Radio City Music Hall remains the largest indoor theater in the world.

Other Stories​

American Revolution

• Americans raid Hammonds Store, 1780

Automotive

• Office of Price Administration begins to ration automobile tires, 1941

Civil War

• Confederate General Hood's army crosses the Tennessee River, 1864

Cold War

• Soviets take over in Afghanistan, 1979

Crime

• Carry Nation smashes bar, 1900

Disaster

• Coal mine explodes in India, 1975

General Interest

• HMS Beagle departs England, 1831
• Apollo 8 returns to Earth, 1968
• Spanish king ratifies democratic constitution, 1978
• Pakistani politician Benazir Bhutto assassinated, 2007

Hollywood

• Agnes Nixon, “Queen of Modern Soap Opera,†born, 1927

Literary

• Peter Pan, by James Barrie, opens in London, 1904

Music

• The legend of "Stagger Lee" is born, 1895

Old West

• Doniphan's Thousand takes El Paso, 1846

Presidential

• FDR seizes control of Montgomery Ward, 1944

Sports

• Peyton Manning breaks single-season touchdown pass record, 2004

Vietnam War

• U.S. and South Vietnamese troops attack Viet Cong stronghold, 1966
• U.S. and North Vietnamese forces battle near Loc Ninh., 1969

World War I

• Poles take up arms against German troops in Poznan, 1918

World War II

• Germans form the Smolensk Committee to enlist Soviet soldiers, 1942

 

12/28/1895: First Commercial Movie Screened​

On this day in 1895, the world's first commercial movie screening takes place at the Grand Cafe in Paris. The film was made by Louis and Auguste Lumiere, two French brothers who developed a camera-projector called the Cinematographe. The Lumiere brothers unveiled their invention to the public in March 1895 with a brief film showing workers leaving the Lumiere factory. On December 28, the entrepreneurial siblings screened a series of short scenes from everyday French life and charged admission for the first time.

Movie technology has its roots in the early 1830s, when Joseph Plateau of Belgium and Simon Stampfer of Austria simultaneously developed a device called the phenakistoscope, which incorporated a spinning disc with slots through which a series of drawings could be viewed, creating the effect of a single moving image. The phenakistoscope, considered the precursor of modern motion pictures, was followed by decades of advances and in 1890, Thomas Edison and his assistant William Dickson developed the first motion-picture camera, called the Kinetograph. The next year, 1891, Edison invented the Kinetoscope, a machine with a peephole viewer that allowed one person to watch a strip of film as it moved past a light.

In 1894, Antoine Lumiere, the father of Auguste (1862-1954) and Louis (1864-1948), saw a demonstration of Edison's Kinetoscope. The elder Lumiere was impressed, but reportedly told his sons, who ran a successful photographic plate factory in Lyon, France, that they could come up with something better. Louis Lumiere's Cinematographe, which was patented in 1895, was a combination movie camera and projector that could display moving images on a screen for an audience. The Cinematographe was also smaller, lighter and used less film than Edison's technology.

The Lumieres opened theaters (known as cinemas) in 1896 to show their work and sent crews of cameramen around the world to screen films and shoot new material. In America, the film industry quickly took off. In 1896, Vitascope Hall, believed to be the first theater in the U.S. devoted to showing movies, opened in New Orleans. In 1909, The New York Times published its first film review (of D.W. Griffith's "Pippa Passes"), in 1911 the first Hollywood film studio opened and in 1914, Charlie Chaplin made his big-screen debut.

In addition to the Cinematographe, the Lumieres also developed the first practical color photography process, the Autochrome plate, which debuted in 1907.

Other Stories​

American Revolution

• British post troops on John's Island, 1781

Automotive

• Silent-film star and inventor of mechanical turn signal dies, 1938

Civil War

• Confederate General William Booth Taliaferro is born, 1822

Cold War

• Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago published, 1973

Crime

• An American hero is arrested in France, 1793

Disaster

• Earthquake rocks Sicily, 1908

General Interest

• Calhoun resigns vice presidency, 1832
• America's first Labor Day, 1869
• Worst European earthquake, 1908
• Dubcek returns to public office, 1989

Hollywood

• Denzel Washington born, 1954

Literary

• Argentine novelist Manuel Puig is born, 1932

Music

• Nine killed in a stampede outside a hip-hop celebrity basketball game, 1991

Old West

• Carry Nation attacks a Kansas saloon, 1900

Presidential

• Woodrow Wilson born in Staunton, Virginia, 1856

Sports

• Central Red Army defeats New York Rangers at MSG, 1975

Vietnam War

• South Vietnamese win costly battle at Binh Gia, 1964
• Hanoi announces return to the Paris peace talks, 1972

World War I

• Woodrow Wilson is born, 1856

World War II

• Request made for creation of construction battalions, 1941

12/29/1890: U.S. Army Massacres Indians at Wounded Knee​

On this day in 1890, in the final chapter of America's long Indian wars, the U.S. Cavalry kills 146 Sioux at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.

Throughout 1890, the U.S. government worried about the increasing influence at Pine Ridge of the Ghost Dance spiritual movement, which taught that Indians had been defeated and confined to reservations because they had angered the gods by abandoning their traditional customs. Many Sioux believed that if they practiced the Ghost Dance and rejected the ways of the white man, the gods would create the world anew and destroy all non-believers, including non-Indians. On December 15, 1890, reservation police tried to arrest Sitting Bull, the famous Sioux chief, who they mistakenly believed was a Ghost Dancer, and killed him in the process, increasing the tensions at Pine Ridge.

On December 29, the U.S. Army's 7th cavalry surrounded a band of Ghost Dancers under the Sioux Chief Big Foot near Wounded Knee Creek and demanded they surrender their weapons. As that was happening, a fight broke out between an Indian and a U.S. soldier and a shot was fired, although it's unclear from which side. A brutal massacre followed, in which it's estimated almost 150 Indians were killed (some historians put this number at twice as high), nearly half of them women and children. The cavalry lost 25 men.

The conflict at Wounded Knee was originally referred to as a battle, but in reality it was a tragic and avoidable massacre. Surrounded by heavily armed troops, it's unlikely that Big Foot's band would have intentionally started a fight. Some historians speculate that the soldiers of the 7th Cavalry were deliberately taking revenge for the regiment's defeat at Little Bighorn in 1876. Whatever the motives, the massacre ended the Ghost Dance movement and was the last major confrontation in America's deadly war against the Plains Indians.

Conflict came to Wounded Knee again in February 1973 when it was the site of a 71-day occupation by the activist group AIM (American Indian Movement) and its supporters, who were protesting the U.S. government's mistreatment of Native Americans. During the standoff, two Indians were killed, one federal marshal was seriously wounded and numerous people were arrested.

Other Stories​

American Revolution

• British capture Savannah, Georgia, 1778

Automotive

• Actor Christian Slater arrested for drunk driving, 1989

Civil War

• Union is thwarted at the Battle of Chickasaw Bluffs, 1862

Cold War

• United States prepares new strategic plan for Middle East, 1956

Crime

• The "Railway Rapist" commits his first murder, 1985

Disaster

• Bridge collapses in Ohio, 1876

General Interest

• The making of an English martyr, 1170
• Texas enters the Union, 1845
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Hollywood

• Cheers star Ted Danson born, 1947

Literary

• Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is published, 1916

Music

• Pat Boone earns second #1 hit with "April Love", 1957

Old West

• U.S. Army massacres Sioux at Wounded Knee, 1890

Presidential

• Andrew Johnson is born, 1808

Sports

• Cuban professional baseball league holds first game, 1878

Vietnam War

• Saigon announces success of strategic hamlet program, 1962
• Johnson Administration responds to Harrison Salisbury's charges, 1966

World War I

• French government gives land for British war cemeteries, 1915

World War II

• Germans raid London, 1940

 

12/30/1922: USSR Established​

In post-revolutionary Russia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is established, comprising a confederation of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation (divided in 1936 into the Georgian, Azerbaijan, and Armenian republics). Also known as the Soviet Union, the new communist state was the successor to the Russian Empire and the first country in the world to be based on Marxist socialism.

During the Russian Revolution of 1917 and subsequent three-year Russian Civil War, the Bolshevik Party under Vladimir Lenin dominated the soviet forces, a coalition of workers' and soldiers' committees that called for the establishment of a socialist state in the former Russian Empire. In the USSR, all levels of government were controlled by the Communist Party, and the party's politburo, with its increasingly powerful general secretary, effectively ruled the country. Soviet industry was owned and managed by the state, and agricultural land was divided into state-run collective farms.

In the decades after it was established, the Russian-dominated Soviet Union grew into one of the world's most powerful and influential states and eventually encompassed 15 republics--Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belorussia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. In 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved following the collapse of its communist government.

Other Stories​

American Revolution

• Francis Lewis dies, 1803

Automotive

• Sit-down strike begins in Flint, 1936

Civil War

• U.S.S. Monitor sinks, 1862

Cold War

• Acheson calls for renewed effort to meet communist threat, 1950

Crime

• An anti-abortion activist goes on a murder spree, 1994

Disaster

• Fire breaks out in Chicago theater, 1903

General Interest

• Southern U.S. border established, 1853
• Rasputin murdered, 1916
• Marcos inaugurated, 1965

Hollywood

• Cheers co-creator and famed TV director James Burrows born, 1940

Literary

• Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin wed, 1816

Music

• Led Zeppelin captured live for the first time in Spokane gym, 1968

Old West

• Former Idaho governor Steunenberg assassinated, 1905

Presidential

• Rutherford B. Hayes marries Lucy Webb, 1852

Sports

• OSU fires coach Woody Hayes for attacking an opposing player, 1978

Vietnam War

• U.S. Navy transfers some responsibility to South Vietnamese, 1970
• Negotiations to resume in Paris, 1972

World War I

• Rasputin is murdered, 1916

World War II

• Tojo is born, 1884

 

12/31/1999: Panama Canal Turned over to Panama​

On this day in 1999, the United States, in accordance with the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, officially hands over control of the Panama Canal, putting the strategic waterway into Panamanian hands for the first time. Crowds of Panamanians celebrated the transfer of the 50-mile canal, which links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and officially opened when the SS Arcon sailed through on August 15, 1914. Since then, over 922,000 ships have used the canal.

Interest in finding a shortcut from the Atlantic to the Pacific originated with explorers in Central America in the early 1500s. In 1523, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V commissioned a survey of the Isthmus of Panama and several plans for a canal were produced, but none ever implemented. U.S. interest in building a canal was sparked with the expansion of the American West and the California gold rush in 1848. (Today, a ship heading from New York to San Francisco can save about 7,800 miles by taking the Panama Canal rather than sailing around South America.)

In 1880 a French company run by the builder of the Suez Canal started digging a canal across the Isthmus of Panama (then a part of Colombia). More than 22,000 workers died from tropical diseases such as yellow fever during this early phase of construction and the company eventually went bankrupt, selling its project rights to the United States in 1902 for $40 million. President Theodore Roosevelt championed the canal, viewing it as important to America's economic and military interests. In 1903, Panama declared its independence from Colombia in a U.S.-backed revolution and the U.S. and Panama signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, in which the U.S. agreed to pay Panama $10 million for a perpetual lease on land for the canal, plus $250,000 annually in rent.

Over 56,000 people worked on the canal between 1904 and 1913 and over 5,600 lost their lives. When finished, the canal, which cost the U.S. $375 million to build, was considered a great engineering marvel and represented America's emergence as a world power.

In 1977, responding to nearly 20 years of Panamanian protest, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panama's General Omar Torrijos signed two new treaties that replaced the original 1903 agreement and called for a transfer of canal control in 1999. The treaty, narrowly ratified by the U.S. Senate, gave America the ongoing right to defend the canal against any threats to its neutrality. In October 2006, Panamanian voters approved a $5.25 billion plan to double the canal's size by 2015 to better accommodate modern ships.

Ships pay tolls to use the canal, based on each vessel's size and cargo volume. In May 2006, the Maersk Dellys paid a record toll of $249,165. The smallest-ever toll--36 cents--was paid by Richard Halliburton, who swam the canal in 1928.

Other Stories​

American Revolution

• Patriots are defeated at Quebec, 1775

Automotive

• Henry Ford publishes the last issue of the Dearborn Independent, 1927

Civil War

• Confederate General Forrest escapes capture at Parker's Crossroads, 1862

Cold War

• United States ends official relations with Nationalist China, 1978

Crime

• Subway vigilante turns himself in, 1984

Disaster

• Baseball star dies in plane crash, 1972

General Interest

• Charter granted to the East India Company, 1600
• Patriots defeated at Quebec, 1775
• Edison demonstrates incandescent light, 1879
• Soviets test supersonic airliner, 1968

Hollywood

• Anthony Hopkins born, 1937

Literary

• Pete Hamill quits drinking, 1972

Music

• Rick Nelson dies in a plane crash, 1985

Old West

• John Denver born in New Mexico, 1943

Presidential

• Kennedy and Khrushchev exchange holiday greetings, 1961

Sports

• Plane carrying Roberto Clemente crashes, 1972

Vietnam War

• Bloodiest year of the war ends, 1968
• U.S. annual casualty figures down, 1971
• U.S. and communist negotiators prepare to return to the Paris talks, 1972

World War I

• American general and diplomat George C. Marshall is born, 1880

World War II

• Hungary declares war on Germany, 1944

1/1/1959: Batista Forced out by Castro-Led Revolution​

On 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.

Other Stories​

American 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

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

 

1/2/1980: U.S. / Russia Detente Ends​

On 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.

Other Stories​

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

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

 

1/3/1990: 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.

Other Stories​

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

 

1/4/1999: The Euro Debuts​

On 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.

Other Stories​

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

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

 

1/5/1933: Golden Gate Bridge Is Born​

On 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.

Other Stories​

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
• 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

1/6/1838: Morse Demonstrates Telegraph​

On 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.

Other Stories​

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
• 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

 

1/7/1789: First U.S. Presidential Election​

On 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.

Other Stories​

American 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
• 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

1/8/1877: Crazy Horse Fights Last Battle​

On 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.

Other Stories​

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
• 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

• Cray 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

 

1/9/1493: Columbus Mistakes Manatees for Mermaids​

On 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.

Other Stories​

American 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

• 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

 

1/10/1901: Gusher Signals Start of U.S. Oil Industry​

On 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.

Other Stories​

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

• 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

 

1/12/1926: Original Amos 'n' Andy Debuts on Chicago Radio​

On 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.

Other Stories​

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
• 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

1/13/1128: Pope Recognizes Knights Templar​

On 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.

Other Stories​

American 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

• 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

 

1/14/1875: Albert Schweitzer Born​

The 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.

Other Stories​

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
• 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

 

1/15/1967: Packers Face Chiefs in First Super Bowl​

On 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.

Other Stories​

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
• 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

1/16/1919: Prohibition Takes Effect​

The 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.

Other Stories​

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

• 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