This Day in History

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Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

How long did it take to put that post together?

Including me learning about shit as I go, a little over an hour.

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Ima go watch Cher sing that song now.

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That was the best 2.5 minutes I'll spend today. Guaranteed.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Including me learning about shit as I go, a little over an hour.

That's what I figured, of course that's barring PC fuck-ups. Almost as much time as the IoTD, but I'm leaning shit too.

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There are also ID-10T errors with which to contend.

Seem to be getting more of those all the time.

[xoxoxoBruce]

To ID-10T error is human. To remain calm is divine.

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April 9

Today is National Former POW Recognition Day in the U.S..

Our friends in Canadia are marking today as Vimy Ridge Day, commemorating the sacrifices of the Canadian Corps during the Battle of Vimy Ridge in WWI.

Events

537 – Siege of Rome: The Byzantine general Belisarius receives his promised reinforcements, 1,600 cavalry, mostly of Hunnic or Slavic origin and expert bowmen. He starts, despite shortages, raids against the Gothic camps, and Vitiges is forced into a stalemate.

1388 – Despite being outnumbered 16 to 1, forces of the Old Swiss Confederacy are victorious over the Archduchy of Austria in the Battle of Näfels.

1413 – Henry V is crowned King of England.

1585 – The expedition organised by Sir Walter Raleigh departs England for Roanoke Island (present day North Carolina) to establish the Roanoke Colony.

1682 – Robert Cavelier de La Salle discovers the mouth of the Mississippi River, claims it for France and names it Louisiana.

1865 – American Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, effectively ending the war.

1916 – World War I: The Battle of Verdun: German forces launch their third offensive of the battle.

1917 – World War I: The Battle of Arras: The battle begins with Canadian Corps executing a massive assault on Vimy Ridge.

1939 – Marian Anderson sings at the Lincoln Memorial, after being denied the right to sing at the Daughters of the American Revolution's Constitution Hall.

1940 – Vidkun Quisling seizes power in Norwegia.

1942 – World War II: The Battle of Bataan/Bataan Death March: United States forces surrender on the Bataan Peninsula. The Japanese Navy launches an air raid on Trincomalee in Ceylon (Sri Lanka); Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and Royal Australian Navy Destroyer HMAS Vampire are sunk off the island's east coast.

1947 – Sixteen white and black men began a two-week journey in the American South, acting in defiance of local laws that enforced segregated seating on public buses. The riders wanted enforcement of the United States Supreme Court's 1946 Irene Morgan decision that banned racial segregation in interstate travel.

1957 – The Suez Canal in Egypt is cleared and opens to shipping.

1959 – Project Mercury: NASA announces the selection of the United States' first seven astronauts, whom the news media quickly dub the "Mercury Seven".

1965 – The Astrodome opens. First indoor baseball game is played.

1967 – The first Boeing 737 (a 100 series) makes its maiden flight.

1969 – The first British-built Concorde, 002, makes its maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford.

1976 – The EMD F40PH diesel locomotive enters revenue service with Amtrak.

1980 – The Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein kills philosopher Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and his sister Bint al-Huda after three days of torture.

1992 – A U.S. Federal Court finds former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega guilty of drug and racketeering charges. He is sentenced to 30 years in prison.

2005 – Charles, Prince of Wales marries Camilla Parker Bowles in a civil ceremony at Windsor's Guildhall. Thankfully, those two horsefaces had no children together.

2014 – A student stabs 20 people at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, Pennsylvania.

Births

1821 – Charles Baudelaire, 1898 – Curly Lambeau (namesake of Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, founded the Packers), 1898 – Paul Robeson♪ ♫, 1903 – Ward Bond, 1926 – Hugh Hefner, 1928 – Tom Lehrer, 1932 – Jim Fowler, 1932 – Carl Perkins♪ ♫, 1933 – Jean-Paul Belmondo, 1933 – Fern Michaels, 1935 – Avery Schreiber, 1937 – Marty Krofft, 1939 – Michael Learned (the mother 'Olivia Walton' on The Waltons), 1942 – Brandon deWilde, 1945 – Steve Gadd(drums on Paul Simon's "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover", drum solo on Steely Dan's "Aja"), 1953 – Hal Ketchum♪ ♫, 1954 – Dennis Quaid, 1957 – Seve Ballesteros, 1963 – Marc Jacobs, 1963 – Joe Scarborough (talking head), 1965 – Jeff Zucker, 1966 – Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City), 1971 – Jacques Villeneuve, 1974 – Jenna Jameson, 1977 – Gerard Way♪ ♫(My Chemical Romance), 1979 – Albert Hammond, Jr.♪ ♫(The Strokes), 1982 – Jay Baruchel, 1990 – Kristen Stewart (non-actress), 1998 – Elle Fanning

Deaths

491 – Zeno, 1626 – Francis Bacon, 1876 – Charles Goodyear, 1926 – Zip the Pinhead, 1959 – Frank Lloyd Wright, 1976 – Phil Ochs♪ ♫, 1980 – Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, 1988 – Brook Benton♪ ♫, 1988 – Dave Prater♪ ♫(Sam & Dave), 1996 – Richard Condon, 1997 – Mae Boren Axton♪ ♫(co-wrote presley hit "Heartbreak Hotel", mother of Hoyt Axton), 2001 – Willie Stargell, 2011 – Sidney Lumet

[xoxoxoBruce]

1959 – Project Mercury: NASA announces the selection of the United States' first seven astronauts, whom the news media quickly dub the "Mercury Seven".

Should have been the Quicksilver Seven.

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The Magnificent Seven was prolly already taken.

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April 10

Today is the 100th day of 2017, there are 265 days remaining in the year.

There are 258 days until Christmas.

Today is internationally observed as Siblings Day.


Events

837 – Halley's Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles).

1815 – The Mount Tambora volcano begins a three-month-long eruption, lasting until July 15. The eruption ultimately kills 71,000 people and affects Earth's climate for the next two years.

1826 – The 10,500 inhabitants of the Greek town of Missolonghi begin leaving the town after a year's siege by Turkish forces. Very few of them survive.

1858 – After the original Big Ben, a 32,000 lb bell for the Palace of Westminster, had cracked during testing, it is recast into the current 13.76 tonnes (30,300 lb) bell by Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

1865 – American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time:

Headquarters, Army of Northern Virginia, 10th April 1865.

General Order
No. 9

After four years of arduous service marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources.

I need not tell the survivors of so many hard fought battles, who have remained steadfast to the last, that I have consented to the result from no distrust of them.

But feeling that valour and devotion could accomplish nothing that could compensate for the loss that must have attended the continuance of the contest, I have determined to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them to their countrymen.

By the terms of the agreement, officers and men can return to their homes and remain until exchanged. You will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed, and I earnestly pray that a merciful God will extend to you his blessing and protection.

With an unceasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your Country, and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous consideration for myself, I bid you an affectionate farewell.

— R. E. Lee, General, General Order No. 9

1872 – The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska.

1912 – RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton, England on her maiden and only voyage.

1916 – The Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA) is created in New York City.

1919 – Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and shot dead by government forces in Morelos.

1925 – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is first published in New York City.

1963 – One hundred twenty-nine American sailors die when the submarine USS Thresher sinks at sea. The loss of the Thresher lead to the implementation of a rigorous submarine safety program known as SUBSAFE.

1967 - Marvin Gaye records his version of 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine'.

1970 – Paul McCartney announces that he is leaving The Beatles for personal and professional reasons.

1972 – Tombs containing bamboo slips, among them Sun Tzu's Art of War and Sun Bin's lost military treatise, are accidentally discovered by construction workers in Shandong.

1972 – Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967, American B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.

1976 - Peter Frampton went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Frampton Comes Alive', one of the biggest selling 'live' albums in rock history. It was the best-selling album of 1976, selling over 6 million copies in the US. Frampton Comes Alive! was voted "Album of the year" in the 1976 Rolling Stone readers poll. It stayed on the chart for 97 weeks.

1979 – Red River Valley tornado outbreak: A tornado (one of 59 in this outbreak) lands on Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people.

1982 - Iron Maiden scored their first UK No.1 album with The Number Of The Beast. The bands third studio album saw the debut of vocalist Bruce Dickinson and the final appearance of the late drummer Clive Burr. This was their first album to reach No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart, and be certified platinum in the US.

2010 – Polish Air Force Tu-154M crashes near Smolensk, Russia, killing 96 people, including Polish President Lech Kaczyński, his wife, and dozens of other senior officials and dignitaries.

2016 – The Paravur temple accident in which a devastating fire caused by the explosion of firecrackers stored for Vishu, kills more than one hundred people out of the thousands gathered for seventh day of Bhadrakali worship.

Births

1794 – Matthew C. Perry, 1827 – Lew Wallace, 1829 – William Booth (founded The Salvation Army), 1847 – Joseph Pulitzer (yeah, that one), 1911 – Martin Denny, 1915 – Harry Morgan ('Col. Henry Potter' on M*A*S*H (series)), 1921 – Chuck Connors (The Rifleman), 1921 – Sheb Wooley♪ ♫(sang "The Purple People Eater", was also in High Noon, The Outlaw Josey Wales, & Rawhide), 1925 – Angelo Poffo (father of 'Leaping' Lanny Poffo & Randy 'Macho Man' Savage), 1926 – Junior Samples (HeeHaw), 1929 – Liz Sheridan (Jerry's mother on Seinfeld), 1929 – Max von Sydow, 1932 – Omar Sharif, 1934 – David Halberstam, 1936 – John Madden, 1938 – Dandy Don Meredith, 1941 – Paul Theroux, 1947 – Bunny Wailer(Bob Marley & The Wailers), 1950 – Ken Griffey, Sr., 1952 – Steven Seagal, 1954 – Paul Bearer (wrestling manager), 1954 – Peter MacNicol, 1957 – Steve Gustafson(10,000 Maniacs), 1959 – Brian Setzer(Stray Cats, Brian Setzer Orchestra), 1961 – Joe Cole (roadie for Rollins Band, Black Flag, Hole), 1963 – Warren DeMartini(Ratt), 1965 – Tim Alexander(Primus), 1968 – Orlando Jones, 1972 – Priit Kasesalu (co-created Skype), 1975 – Chris Carrabba♪ ♫(Dashboard Confessional), 1980 – Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), 1980 – Kasey Kahne, 1984 – Mandy Moore, 1992 – Daisy Ridley

Deaths

879 – Louis the Stammerer, 1919 – Emiliano Zapata, 1954 – Auguste Lumière, 1962 – Stuart Sutcliffe, 1966 – Evelyn Waugh, 1969 – Harley Earl (head of design for General Motors), 1975 – Marjorie Main (Ma Kettle), 1986 – Linda Creed♪ ♫(co-wrote "The Rubberband Man"), 1991 – Kevin Peter Hall ('The Predator' in Predator, 'Harry' in Harry & The Hendersons), 1991 – Natalie Schafer ("Mrs. Howell' on Gilligan's Island), 1992 – Sam Kinison, 1994 – Sam B. Hall, Jr. ("...and I hate you, one and all, damn yer eyes!"), 2000 – Larry Linville ('Major Frank Burns' on M*A*S*H (series)), 2003 – Little Eva♪ ♫, 2010 – Dixie Carter (Designing Women), 2012 – Barbara Buchholz♪ ♫(Theremin player), 2016 – Howard Marks (Welsh cannabis smuggler)

[xoxoxoBruce]

1976 - Peter Frampton went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Frampton Comes Alive', one of the biggest selling 'live' albums in rock history. It was the best-selling album of 1976, selling over 6 million copies in the US. Frampton Comes Alive! was voted "Album of the year" in the 1976 Rolling Stone readers poll. It stayed on the chart for 97 weeks.

Saw him at the Spectrum in Philly, but I can't remember who was with him. Maybe Jo Jo Gunne, but probably not.

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April 11

Believe it or don't, but, today is International Louie Louie Day. Yeah, no, what the, I don't even.

Also observed worldwide today is World Parkinson's Day. Paralysis agitans was first described by James Parkinson 200 years ago, in 1817.


Events

1689 – William III and Mary II are crowned as joint sovereigns of Great Britain. Was Britain just plain short on names back in those days, or what?

1727 – Premiere of Johann Sebastian Bach's St Matthew Passion BWV 244b at the St. Thomas Church, in Leipzig.

1868 – Former Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu surrenders Edo Castle to Imperial forces, marking the end of the Tokugawa shogunate.

1876 – The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is organized.

1881 – Spelman College is founded in Atlanta, Georgia as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, an institute of higher education for African-American women.

1909 – The city of Tel Aviv is founded.

1913 – The Nevill Ground pavilion is destroyed in a suffragette arson attack becoming the only cricket ground to be attacked by suffragettes.

1951 – Korean War: President Harry Truman relieves General of the Army Douglas MacArthur of overall command in Korea.

1951 – The Stone of Scone, the stone upon which Scottish monarchs were traditionally crowned, is found on the site of the altar of Arbroath Abbey. It had been taken by Scottish nationalist students from its place in Westminster Abbey.

1961 – The trial of Adolf Eichmann begins in Jerusalem.

1965 – The Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965: Fifty-one tornadoes hit in six Midwestern states, killing 256 people.

1966 - Buffalo Springfield made their live debut at The Troubadour in Hollywood, California.

1968 – President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing.

1970 – Apollo 13 is launched.

1976 – The Apple I is created.

1977 - Alice Cooper played to an audience of 40,000 in Sydney, Australia, the largest crowd to attend a rock concert in the country's history. After the show Cooper was placed under house arrest at his hotel until he posted a bond for $59,632. That amount was the sum that a promoter claimed to have paid Cooper for a 1975 Australia tour he never made. The two settled when it was found that the promoter did not fulfill his part of the agreement either.

1979 – Ugandan dictator Idi Amin is deposed.

1981 - Eddie Van Halen married actress Valerie Bertinelli, co-star of the 1980's television hit, One Day at a Time. The two had met eight months earlier when Bertinelli's brother took her to a Van Halen concert in Shreveport, Louisiana.

1981 – A massive riot in Brixton, south London, results in almost 300 police injuries and 65 serious civilian injuries.

1986 – FBI Miami Shootout: A gun battle in broad daylight in Dade County, Florida between two bank/armored car robbers and pursuing FBI agents. During the firefight, FBI agents Jerry L. Dove and Benjamin P. Grogan were killed, while five other agents were wounded. As a result, the now popular .40 S&W cartridge was developed.

1987 – The London Agreement is secretly signed between Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres and King Hussein of Jordan.

1990 – Customs officers in Middlesbrough, England, say they have seized what they believe to be the barrel of a massive gun on a ship bound for Iraq.

1993 – Four hundred fifty prisoners rioted at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, and continued to do so for ten days, citing grievances related to prison conditions, as well as the forced vaccination of Nation of Islam prisoners (for tuberculosis) against their religious beliefs.

2001 – The detained crew of a United States EP-3E aircraft that landed in Hainan, China after a collision with a J-8 fighter, is released.

2002 – Over two hundred thousand people march in Caracas towards the Presidential palace to demand the resignation of president Hugo Chávez. Nineteen protesters are killed.

Births

145 – Septimius Severus, 1374 – Roger Mortimer, 1755 – James Parkinson (Parkinson's Disease), 1893 – Dean Acheson, 1913 – Oleg Cassini, 1917 – David Westheimer (wrote the novel Von Ryan's Express), 1928 – Ethel Kennedy, 1930 – Anton LaVey, 1932 – Joel Grey, 1935 – Richard Berry♪ ♫(wrote Louie, Louie), 1939 – Louise Lasser (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman), 1943 – Harley Race (pro wrestler), 1944 – John Milius, 1947 – Peter Riegert, 1960 – Jeremy Clarkson (Top Gear, The Grand Tour), 1961 – Vincent Gallo, 1961 – Doug Hopkins♪ ♫(The Gin Blossoms), 1973 – Jennifer Esposito, 1987 – Joss Stone♪ ♫

Deaths

1890 – Joseph Merrick ('the elephant man'), 1926 – Luther Burbank, 1983 – Dolores del Río, 1987 – Erskine Caldwell (author Tobacco Road and God's Little Acre), 1992 – James Brown (not the Godfather of Soul, this one starred in The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin), 1999 – William H. Armstrong (author of Sounder), 2003 – Cecil Howard Green (founded Texas Instruments), 2006 – June Pointer♪ ♫(youngest of The Pointer Sisters), 2007 – Roscoe Lee Browne, 2007 – Kurt Vonnegut, 2013 – Jonathan Winters, 2014 – Jesse Winchester♪ ♫, 2016 – Ed Snider (Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Eagles)

[xoxoxoBruce]

1689 – William III and Mary II are crowned as joint sovereigns of Great Britain. Was Britain just plain short on names back in those days, or what?

If I get crowned and sing all night long it's a family tradition.
In British history there have only been a handful of families to occupy the throne, I guess the rest shit in the woods. The crown would be handed down in the family until somebody kicked their ass out. The family in charge would choose a name that let people know which family to suck up to.

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See, that's confusing, that's why I call them all Nigel.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Except Nigel XII, you must call him your majesty.