Articles tagged with: news

Today in History, May 19th

Date: May 19, 2013 Author: Today in History Comments: Leave a reply

A few of the great historical events that happened today in history, May 19th!

1535	French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail for North America.
1536	Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England’s King Henry VIII, was beheaded after being convicted of adultery.
1568	Defeated by the Protestants, Mary, Queen of Scots, flees to England where Queen Elizabeth imprisons her.
1588	The Spanish Armada set sail for England.
1608	The Protestant states form the Evangelical Union of Lutherans and Calvinists.
1635	Cardinal Richelieu of France intervenes in the great conflict in Europe by declaring war on the Hapsburgs in Spain. Cardinal Richelieu
1643	The French army defeats a Spanish army at Rocroi, France.
1780	Near total darkness descends on New England at noon. No explanation is found.
1856	Senator Charles Sumner speaks out against slavery.
1858	A pro-slavery band led by Charles Hameton executes unarmed Free State men near Marais des Cygnes on the Kansas-Missouri border.
1864	The Union and Confederate armies launch their last attacks against each other at Spotsylvania, Virginia.
1921	Congress sharply curbs immigration, setting a national quota system.
1935	The National Football League adopts an annual college draft to begin in 1936.
1935	T.E. Lawrence, also known as “Lawrence of Arabia,” died in England from injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash.
1962	Actress Marilyn Monroe performed a sultry rendition of “Happy Birthday” for President John F. Kennedy during a fundraiser at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Marilyn Monroe
1964	U.S. diplomats find at least 40 microphones planted in the American embassy in Moscow.
1967	U.S. planes bomb Hanoi for the first time.
1967	The Soviet Union ratified a treaty with the United States and Britain banning nuclear weapons from outer space.
1992	Mary Jo Buttafuoco was shot and seriously wounded in Massapequa, N.Y., by her husband Joey’s teenage lover, Amy Fisher.
1992	The 27th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits Congress from giving itself midterm pay raises, went into effect.
1994	Former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died in New York at age 64.
2001	Apple, Inc. opened its first retail stores, in Tysons Corner, Va., and Glendale, Calif.
2004	Specialist Jeremy C. Sivits received a year in prison and a bad conduct discharge in the first court-martial stemming from abuse of Iraqis at the Abu Ghraib prison.
2005	“Revenge of the Sith,” the final chapter of the “Star Wars” saga, opened in movie theaters.
2011	Katie Couric, the first regular solo anchorwoman of a network evening newscast, signed off the “CBS Evening News” for the last time after five years. Katie Couric

Today in History facts are from various sites including, but not limited too: the History Channel, The New York Times, WHG Historynet.com, and HistoryOrb.com.

Remembering Memorial Day (Guest Post)

Date: May 14, 2013 Author: James Fuller Comments: 4 Replies

Each Memorial Day thousands of Americans take time from their hectic schedules to have a cold one, grill on the barbeque, enjoy friends and family, and launch the beginning of summer. However, many people are not aware of just what Memorial Day is all about and what is behind this holiday.

A few years after the end of the Civil War, a group called the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) felt that there should be recognition to the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. The group created Decoration Day, where they would decorate the headstones of the fallen soldiers of the Civil War with flowers. It was not until after World War I that all veterans, those which had died in service to their country, were included in the Decoration Day ceremonies. Decoration Day continued as the name of this day of remembrance of those until sometime after World War II when it was renamed to Memorial Day as we know it. Memorial Day was celebrated on May 30th until 1968, when the government passed the Uniform Holiday Bill, which set the day of the holiday as the last Monday in the month of May.

For the last forty-five years, we have taken this day and remembered those that have fallen from the days of the Civil War, both World Wars, the conflicts in Asia, and the modern conflicts of today. However, sadly I feel we have forgotten the true meaning of this day. Even as a member of the military I think, sometimes, we are more concerned about our three-day weekend and often forget about those that have fallen. It is not about the time off, but a time to reflect on those that have gone before us.

One experience of mine that I believe puts Memorial Day truly into perspective was a visit to Normandy, France, with my family. I was given the name of the cemetery caretaker by a friend and was told to look him up when I arrived to the cemetery. Upon my arrival to the cemetery, I located the administration building and the man to whom I was told to meet and introduced myself. He seemed elated that I came by and you could tell by the enthusiasm in his voice and his body language that he enjoyed giving my family and me the history of the cemetery and the area around Normandy. After our conversation, he said he had a request of me and my family and asked if we would accompany him to the front of the cemetery as he played Taps over the loud speakers.

I was honored that he asked this of us. We followed him to the front of the cemetery, however, were not ready for the flood of emotion that was about to occur. We had never visited Normandy so this was the first time we had gazed upon the awe-inspiring site of those that had given the ultimate sacrifice. I have to say, in my career, this is the most surreal event I’ve experienced in my twenty-three years of service. The cold wind whipped at our faces from the English Channel, the notes of taps began to play, and my family and I observed the sea of marble crosses. My mind began to meditate on those that lay before me who had not returned home from the shores where I stood, at attention and saluting. As I looked at my family, I could see that my young son and daughter had placed their hand over their heart, since in their minds when dad saluted this was what they were supposed to do, and tears were running down my wife’s cheek. It was at this point in my life I finally understood the quote “All Gave Some, But Some Gave All”.

Normandy American Cemetery

The song ended and the caretaker asked me to hold on, he wanted to retrieve something for me. As he returned, he had in his hand, an American and French flag. He handed the flags to me and told me that they are normally reserved for distinguished visitors and family members of the fallen; however, he wanted me to have them to remember our trip to Normandy. We exchanged farewells and continued with our tour of the cemetery. I will never forget that day at Normandy. Today those flags continue to travel with my family and I from assignment to assignment in the Air Force. I will always have a deep respect for my brothers and sisters who have lost their lives for freedom when Memorial Day comes around.

Finally, As you go out and enjoy the festivities of this Memorial Day weekend, remember that it is more than just a summer day celebration, but a day to commemorate and remember those that have given the ultimate sacrifice to this country that we call home. If you are interested in more history about Memorial Day, check out the links below!

United States Department of Veterans Affairs – Memorial Day History

TimeandDate.com – Memorial Day in United States

Today in History, May 12th

Date: May 12, 2013 Author: Today in History Comments: Leave a reply

A few of the great historical events that happened today in history, May 12th!

1588	King Henry III flees Paris after Henry of Guise triumphantly enters the city.
1641	The chief advisor to Charles I, Thomas Wentworth, is beheaded in the Tower of London
1780	Charleston, South Carolina falls to British forces.
1820	Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, was born in Florence, Italy.
1851	The Tule River War ends.
1863	With a victory at the Battle of Raymond, Mississippi, Union General Ulysses S. Grant closes in on Vicksburg.
1864	Union General Benjamin Butler attacks Drewry’s Bluff on the James River. General Benjamin Butler
1865	The last land battle of the Civil war occurs at Palmito Ranch, Texas. It is a Confederate victory.
1870	Manitoba entered the confederation as a Canadian province.
1881	Tunisia, in North Africa become a French protectorate.
1885	In the Battle of Batoche, French Canadians rebel against the Canadian government.
1907	Actress Katharine Hepburn was born in Hartford, Conn.
1926	The Airship Norge becomes the first vessel to fly over the North Pole.
1932	The body of the kidnapped son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh was found in a wooded area of Hopewell, N.J.
1935	Alcoholics Anonymous is founded in Akron, Ohio by “Bill W.,” a stockbroker, and “Dr. Bob S.,” a heart surgeon.
1940	The Nazi conquest of France begins with the crossing Muese River.
1942	The Soviet Army launches its first major offensive of the war, taking Kharkov in the eastern Ukraine.
1943	Axis forces in North Africa surrendered during World War II.
1949	The Soviet Union announced an end to the Berlin blockade.
1965	West Germany and Israel established diplomatic relations.
1969	Viet Cong sappers try unsuccessfully to overrun Landing Zone Snoopy in Vietnam.
1970	The Senate voted unanimously to confirm Harry A. Blackmun as a Supreme Court justice. Harry A. Blackmun
1972	The album “Exile on Main St.” by the Rolling Stones was released.
1975	The U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez is seized by Cambodian forces.
1982	Pope John Paul II was assaulted by a knife-wielding Spanish priest while visiting the shrine of Fatima in Portugal. (In 2008, the pope’s longtime private secretary revealed that the pontiff had been lightly wounded.)
2002	Jimmy Carter became the first present or former U.S. president to visit Cuba since Fidel Castro seized power in 1959.
2003	Suicide bombers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killed 26 people, including nine U.S. citizens.
2003	Fifty-nine Texas House Democrats fled to Oklahoma to prevent passage of a congressional redistricting bill.
2008	An earthquake in China’s Sichuan province killed some 70,000 people.
2009	Five Miami men were convicted in a plot to blow up FBI buildings and Chicago’s Sears Tower.
2011	A German court convicted retired U.S. autoworker John Demjanjuk of being an accessory to the murder of tens of thousands of Jews as a Nazi death camp guard. (Demjanjuk, who maintained his innocence, died in 2012.)

Today in History, May 11th

Date: May 11, 2013 Author: Today in History Comments: Leave a reply

A few of the great historical events that happened today in history, May 11th!

1573	Henry of Anjou becomes the first elected king of Poland. Henry of Anjou
1689	French and English navies battle at Bantry Bay.
1690	In the first major engagement of King William’s War, British troops from Massachusetts seize Port Royal in Acadia (Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) from the French.
1745	French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army at Fontenoy.
1792	The Columbia River is discovered by Captain Robert Gray.
1812	British prime Minster Spencer Perceval is shot by a bankrupt banker in the lobby of the House of Commons.
1857	Indian mutineers seize Delhi.
1858	Minnesota is admitted as the 32nd U.S. state.
1860	Giuseppe Garibaldi lands at Marsala, Sicily. Giuseppe Garibaldi
1862	Confederates scuttle the CSS Virginia off Norfolk, Virginia.
1864	Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart is mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern.
1894	Workers at the Pullman Palace Car Co. in Illinois went on strike. (The job action spread and crippled railroad service nationwide before the federal government intervened to end the strike in July.)
1904	Artist Salvador Dali was born in Figueras, Spain.
1910	Glacier National Park in Montana was established.
1947	The B.F. Goodrich Co. of Akron, Ohio, announced the development of a tubeless tire.
1949	Israel was admitted to the United Nations.
1949	Siam changed its named to Thailand.
1960	Israeli soldiers capture Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires.
1967	The siege of Khe Sanh ends, the base is still in American hands.
1981	Reggae musician Bob Marley died of cancer at age 36.
1996	A ValuJet DC-9 caught fire shortly after takeoff from Miami and crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 people on board
1997	The Deep Blue IBM computer defeated Garry Kasparov to win a six-game chess match between man and machine in New York. Deep Blue IBM vs Garry Kasparov
1998	India set off three underground atomic blasts, its first nuclear tests in 24 years.
1998	A French mint produced the first coins of Europe’s single currency, the euro.
2010	British Prime Minister Gordon Brown resigned, ending 13 years of the Labour Party government. (He was succeeded by Conservative David Cameron.

Today in History, May 5th

Date: May 5, 2013 Author: Today in History Comments: Leave a reply

1818	Political philosopher Karl Marx was born in Prussia.
1821	Napoleon Bonaparte dies in exile on the island of St. Helena. Napoleon Bonaparte
1834	The first mainland railway line opens in Belgium.
1862	Union and Confederate forces clash at the Battle of Williamsburg, part of the Peninsula Campaign.Eyewitness to War
1862	Mexican forces loyal to Benito Juarez defeat troops sent by Napoleon III in the Battle of Puebla.
1865	The 13th Amendment is ratified, abolishing slavery.
1886	A bomb explodes on the fourth day of a workers’ strike in Chicago.
1891	Carnegie Hall (then named Music Hall) opened in New York City.
1892	Congress extended the Chinese Exclusion Act for 10 years.
1893	Panic hit the New York Stock Exchange; by year’s end, the country was in the throes of a severe depression.
1904	Cy Young of the Boston Americans pitched the first perfect game in modern major league baseball history in a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics.
1912	Soviet Communist Party newspaper Pravda begins publishing.
1916	U.S. Marines invade the Dominican Republic.
1917	Eugene Jacques Bullard becomes the first African-American aviator when he earns a flying certificate with the French Air Service. Eugene Jacques Bullard
1920	Anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Visetti are arrested for murder.
1925	John T. Scopes was arrested in Tennessee for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution.
1935	American Jesse Owens sets the long jump record.
1942	General Joseph Stilwell learns that the Japanese have cut his railway out of China and is forced to lead his troops into India.
1945	Holland and Denmark are liberated from Nazi control.
1955	West Germany became a sovereign state.
1961	Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space.
1968	U.S. Air Force planes hit Nhi Ha, South Vietnam in support of attacking infantrymen.
1981	Irish Republican Army hunger-striker Bobby Sands died in prison in Northern Ireland on his 66th day without food.
1985	President Ronald Reagan attended a wreath-laying ceremony at a military cemetery in Bitburg, West Germany. The visit drew worldwide condemnation because 49 members of the Waffen SS were buried there.
2002	French President Jacques Chirac was re-elected in a landslide victory over extreme-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.
2010	Preliminary plans for a mosque and cultural center near ground zero in New York were unveiled, setting off a national debate over whether the project was disrespectful to 9/11 victims and whether opposition to it exposed anti-Muslim biases.