Today In History

[Volkonski]

On This Day In History
@onthisday@mastodon.social
Today in 1910, 113 years ago: In the United States, President William Howard Taft begins the tradition of throwing the first ball in a baseball game.

[Volkonski]

On This Day In History
@onthisday@mastodon.social
Today in 1970, 53 years ago: the first Earth Day is celebrated.

I remember this.

[keith]

On This Day In History
@onthisday@mastodon.social
Today in 1970, 53 years ago: the first Earth Day is celebrated.

I remember this.

I still have the tShirt

[Volkonski]

And then 2 weeks later the Kent State shootings upended everything.

[Volkonski]

On This Day In History
@onthisday@mastodon.social
Today in 1909, 114 years ago: in Berlin, Polish scientist Paul Ehrlich announces the success of his syphilis drug.

"Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Ehrli ... gic_Bullet

Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet is a 1940 American biographical film starring Edward G. Robinson and directed by William Dieterle, based on the true story of the German doctor and scientist Dr. Paul Ehrlich. The film was released by Warner Bros., with some controversy over raising the subject of syphilis in a major studio release. It was nominated for an Oscar for its original screenplay (by Norman Burnstine, Heinz Herald and John Huston), but lost to The Great McGinty.

[Reddog]

And then 2 weeks later the Kent State shootings upended everything.

Today 5/4/1970

[RTH10260]

80 years ago - April 6, 1943 - "Le Petit Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry first published

The little Prince

The Little Prince is a French -language work, the best known by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry . Published in 1943 in New York simultaneously with its English translation 1 , it is a poetic and philosophical work under the guise of a children's story.

Translated into five hundred and thirty-five different languages ​​and dialects 2 , The Little Prince is the most translated work in the world after the Bible 3 .

Language, simple and uncluttered, because it is intended to be understood by children, is in reality for the narrator the privileged vehicle of a symbolic conception of life. Each chapter relates a meeting of the little prince which leaves him perplexed, compared to the absurd behavior of "grown up people". These different encounters can be read as an allegory .

The watercolors are part of text 4 and participate in this purity of language: stripping and depth are the main qualities of the work.

We can read there an invitation from the author to find the child in oneself, because “all grown-ups were first children. (But few of them remember.) ". The work is dedicated to Léon Werth , but “when he was a little boy”.


https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Petit_Prince

also, French, https://www.antoinedesaintexupery.com/o ... ince-1943/

[Suranis]

cathedrals.jpg (130.46 KiB) Viewed 5385 times

[John Thomas8]

May 18th, 1980 (the day I graduated high school):

[RTH10260]

80 years ago - May 14, 1943 - WW2 sinking of the Australian hospital ship "Centaur"

The sinking of the Centaur

Karl James
02 May 2023

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the sinking of the 2/3rd Australian Hospital Ship (AHS) Centaur. On 14 May 1943 Centaur was en route from Sydney to Cairns when she was sunk by a Japanese submarine south of Moreton Island, off the Queensland coast. From the 332 people on board, only 64 survived.

https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/th ... he-centaur

[Suranis]

Saw this on facebook.

On this day in 1536, Anne Boleyn was told her execution was being postponed until 19th May.

She had believed she would be taken to the scaffold at around 9 in the morning but when that time came and went she grew understandably anxious, she was later informed by Sir William Kingston that it had been postponed until noon.

Unbeknownst to Anne, Kingston had received orders to empty the Tower of foreigners and Anne's execution was actually being postponed until the day after in order to ensure the Tower was clear and that no hostile or perhaps even sympathetic witnesses would report anything to King Henry VIII's detriment.

When Anne was finally told the truth she appeared downhearted. The Imperial Ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, wrote that “Anne appeared very sorry, praying the Captain of the Tower that for the honor of God he would beg the King that, since she was in good state and disposed for death, she might be dispatched immediately”.

Its hard to imagine Anne's thoughts and feelings at this time, how do you knowingly prepare for your own death? Its one thing to be dying of an illness quite another to walk to your own execution. Anne was a very religious woman and in her final days and hours she would have sought comfort in prayer and perhaps her faith helped her come to terms with what was coming.

It might seem odd to describe Anne as downhearted when her execution was postponed but she would have worked tirelessly and bravely to prepare herself for it, the Tudors believed that you had to make a good end and Anne as Queen would not have wanted to let her enemies see her scared or embarrass herself in her final hours. To be told it wasn't going to happen then might have knocked Anne's control and nerve, she was going to have to prepare herself all over again.
When Kingston had told her it was being postponed until noon, she told him that “I thought to be dead by this time, and past my pain”. She may not have been referring to pain in a physical sense but the emotional and mental suffering she had already endured and would endure further.

Kingston was not a heartless man and to his credit he sought to comfort her as best he could. He did not give her false hope, which would have been another cruelty, but he did tell her that her death would be very quick and the blow from the sword “so subtle”. Anne seemed to recover a bit of her old fire and wit at this time and responded: “I heard say the executioner was very good, and I have a little neck and laughed as she put her hands around her throat”.

A shocked and perhaps horrified Kingston later wrote to Thomas Cromwell telling him that “this lady has much joy and pleasure in death”.

It is recorded that Anne also told her ladies that no one would struggle to come up with a name for her when she was gone, she would be known as “la Royne Anne Sans Tete” or ‘Queen Anne Lackhead’.

Anne's bravery and inner steel really show through in her final days and is hard not to admire her bravery, resilience and character during this very difficult day.

Picture: Anne de Boleyn à la Tour de Londres, dans les premiers moments de son arrestation or Anne Boleyn at the Tower of London, in the first moments of her arrest by Édouard Cibot c.1835

https://www.facebook.com/JaneSeymourHen ... %2CO%2CP-R

Anne Boylen.jpg (46.45 KiB) Viewed 5325 times

[pipistrelle]

I've read similar about Mary, Queen of Scots.

[Volkonski]

Should mention that today is the anniversary of D-Day.

My father was in the Pacific, Iwo Jima. My step father was in D-Day. He drove a tank. Lied about his age to get into the Army. He was already a Navy veteran when the war started so he couldn't go there since the Navy knew his real age.

In those days before computer data systems he got away with it.

[RTH10260]

10 years ago - June 9 2013 - Edward Snowden leaks secret NSA documents

Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations

The 29-year-old source behind the biggest intelligence leak in the NSA’s history explains his motives, his uncertain future and why he never intended on hiding in the shadows

Q&A with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden: ‘I do not expect to see home again’

Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill and Laura Poitras in Hong Kong
Tue 11 Jun 2013 14.00 BST

The individual responsible for one of the most significant leaks in US political history is Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former technical assistant for the CIA and current employee of the defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Snowden has been working at the National Security Agency for the last four years as an employee of various outside contractors, including Booz Allen and Dell.

The Guardian, after several days of interviews, is revealing his identity at his request. From the moment he decided to disclose numerous top-secret documents to the public, he was determined not to opt for the protection of anonymity. “I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong,” he said.

Snowden will go down in history as one of America’s most consequential whistleblowers, alongside Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning. He is responsible for handing over material from one of the world’s most secretive organisations – the NSA.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/ ... rveillance

[Volkonski]

On This Day In History
@onthisday@mastodon.social
Today in 1775, 248 years ago: in the framework of the American Revolution, British General Thomas Gage declares martial law in Massachusetts. The British offer forgiveness to all settlers who abandon their weapons. He indicated only two exceptions: Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who would be hanged if captured.

So General Gage, how did that work out for you?

Just a little over a year later John Hancock would be the first to sign the Declaration of Independence. He signed his signature very large so King George could read it without his glasses.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%2 ... ration_Act

Women's Armed Services Integration Act

Women's Armed Services Integration Act (Pub. L. 80–625, 62 Stat. 356, enacted June 12, 1948) is a United States law that enabled women to serve as permanent, regular members of the armed forces in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and the recently formed Air Force. Prior to this act, women, with the exception of nurses, served in the military only in times of war. During World War II, over 150,000 women had served in the WAVES (the Navy) and the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps and were still serving when the act was enacted.[1] Women also took part in the SPARS, which was created by the Coast Guard, and the Marine Corps Women's Reserve, during the war.[2] In total, 350,000 American women joined and served during World War II.[3] Section 502 of the act limited service of women by excluding them from aircraft and vessels of the Navy that might engage in combat.

[Volkonski]

Today in 1914, 109 years ago: in the framework of the First World War, a squadron of German aircraft bombed London and caused more than 500 civilian casualties.

#OnThisDay

: roll:

So much wrong with this.

WW I began on July 28, 1914 when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

Germany had no bomber airplanes in the modern sense of that term in 1914.

Germany first bombed London using Zeppelin airships and only later airplane bombers. I ignore a few insignificant bombings by seaplanes at the start of the war.

In the 51 airship German bombing raids on Britain in WW I a total of 557 people were killed. In 52 airplane bombing raids 857 people were killed. No single bombing event killed anywhere near 500 people.

[RTH10260]

Today in 1914, 109 years ago: in the framework of the First World War, a squadron of German aircraft bombed London and caused more than 500 civilian casualties.

#OnThisDay

The year was actually 1917!

They did not initiate the event in clairvoiance of the upcoming murder of the Kaiser.

The Gotha Air Raid on London – 13 June 1917

also too

German bombing of Britain, 1914–1918

The best-known German air campaign of the First World War was carried out against Britain. After several attacks by seaplanes, the main campaign began in January 1915 with airships. Until the Armistice the Marine-Fliegerabteilung (Navy Aviation Department) and Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches (Imperial German Flying Corps) mounted over fifty bombing raids. The raids were generally referred to in Britain as Zeppelin raids but Schütte-Lanz airships were also used. The Zeppelin Company was much better known and was responsible for producing the majority of the airships.

Weather and night flying made airship navigation and accurate bombing difficult. Bombs were often dropped miles off target (a raid on London hit Hull) and hitting military installations was a matter of luck. Civilian casualties made the Zeppelins an object of hatred. British defensive measures made airship raids much riskier and in 1917 they were largely replaced by aeroplanes. The military effect of the raids was small but they caused much alarm, some disruption to industrial production and the diversion of substantial resources from the Western Front. Concern about the conduct of the defence against the raids, the responsibility for which was divided between the Admiralty and the War Office, led to a parliamentary inquiry under Jan Smuts and the creation of the Royal Air Force (RAF) on 1 April 1918.[1]

Airships made 51 bombing raids on Britain during the war in which 557 people were killed and 1,358 injured. The airships dropped 5,806 bombs, causing damage worth £1,527,585.[2] Eighty-four airships took part, of which 30 were either shot down or lost in accidents.[3] Aeroplanes carried out 52 raids, dropping 2,772 bombs of 73.5 long tons (74.7 t) weight for the loss of 62 aircraft, killing 857 people, injuring 2,058 injured and causing £1,434,526 of damage.[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_bo ... %80%931918

[RTH10260]

10 years ago

Here’s why Arizona’s deadly 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire won’t be forgotten

Jun 30, 2023, 10:02 AM
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

It was one of the deadliest wildland fires ever in the U.S., killing 19 members of an elite central Arizona firefighting crew in 2013 after flames trapped them in a brush-choked canyon.

The city of Prescott and the neighboring town of Yarnell are expected to honor the fallen Granite Mountain Hotshots on Friday with public events. Lew Theokas, who lost his grandson, 27-year-old Garret Zuppiger, said it’s still tough for him to talk about the Yarnell Hill Fire a decade later.

“He was my only grandson and only grandchild,” said Theokas, who was with his wife in Oklahoma the day he lost his grandson. “We were on an RV trip and were going to be back in town in two days. I talked to Garret that morning.”

How did the Yarnell Hill Fire start?

When the fire started, dry lightning had struck a patch of vegetation in steep, mountainous terrain and ignited the fire high on a ridge west of Yarnell, which hadn’t experienced a wildfire in more than 45 years.

10 years after deadly Yarnell Hill Fire, events to honor Granite Mountain Hotshots
Two days later, the Hotshots were battling the wildfire in a box canyon when the winds suddenly shifted and the flames rapidly raced toward them. The 19 men tried to deploy emergency shelters: tent-like structures meant to shield firefighters from the flames and heat.

The gusty, hot winds caused the fire to intensify to more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,093 degrees Celsius) and cut off the firefighters’ escape route, killing the men, authorities said.

The only surviving crew member, Brendan McDonough, was posted away from the group as a lookout when the flames overtook the other Hotshots. McDonough is set to read the same prayer he recited at the memorial service for the Hotspots that drew people from around the world, including then-Vice President Joe Biden.

[raison de arizona]

10 years later, we gather to honor the memory, bravery and sacrifice of the #GraniteMountainHotshots.

#YarnellHillFire

[raison de arizona]

54 years ago today, July 20th, 1969.

Neil Armstrong

[RTH10260]

160 years ago - July 1863 - the Battle of Shimonoseki Straits Japan

USS Wyoming and the Battle of Shimonoseki Straits

The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered
5 Jul2023

July of 1863 represented a significant turning point in the American Civil War. The capture of Vicksburg represented final victory in the campaign in the west, cementing Union control of the Mississippi river, while victory at Gettysburg shifted the momentum of the war in the east. Given the importance, and staggering costs, of these battles, it should be no surprise that the nation has largely forgotten a much smaller, yet still important battle the same month, nearly seven thousand miles away from the US capitol.

[raison de arizona]

50 years ago today, The New York Dolls' self-titled album was released and is still the essence of classic rock 'n' roll. From gritty vocals to raw energy, these glam-punk pioneers continue to inspire generations of musicians.

[RTH10260]

25 years ago - September 2, 1998 - Swissair flight 111 crashes near Halifax

Swissair Flight 111 (SR111/SWR111) was a scheduled international passenger flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, United States, to Cointrin Airport in Geneva, Switzerland. The flight was also a codeshare flight with Delta Air Lines.[1] On 2 September 1998, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 performing this flight, registration HB-IWF, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Halifax Stanfield International Airport at the entrance to St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia.

All 229 passengers and crew on board the MD-11 were killed, making the crash the deadliest accident in the history of Swissair and the deadliest accident involving the McDonnell Douglas MD-11.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swissair_Flight_111

[Suranis]

Today Septenmer 3rd,

Labor Day was celebrated as a legal holiday in the United States for the first time, in 1894.

The Treaty of Paris (part of the Peace of Paris) was signed between Britain and the United States, in 1783.

English navigator Henry Hudson, in a quest for a passage to India on behalf of the Dutch East India Company, sailed into the harbour of present-day New York City and up the river that now bears his name, in 1609.

Oliver Cromwell died in London, probably from complications from Malaria he contracted in Ireland. (1658)

Finally, in 1976, after a nearly yearlong journey, NASA's robotic spacecraft Viking 2 landed on Mars and began relaying information about the planet's atmosphere and soil as well as colour photographs of the rocky surface.