On This Day in History

c/o Rutgers University

The first one all year. . .

1777 — Henry Clay was born in Hanover County, Virginia. Both a Senator and three-time Speaker of the House of Representatives, Clay was a strong proponent of the “American System” that benefited industry to a great extent. Styled “The Great Compromiser” and “The Western Star,” a Congressional panel in 1957 named Clay as one of the five all-time greatest Senators (along with John C. Calhoun, Robert La Follette, Robert Taft and Daniel Webster).

He died of tuberculosis in Washington, D.C. in 1852. Clay was 75-years-old. Subsequently he was the first person to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol.

1861 — Beginning at 4:30 a.m., Confederate forces commenced their bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina. Although the Union garrison returned fire, they were significantly outgunned and, after 34 hours, Major Robert Anderson agreed to evacuate.

Amazingly there was no loss of life on either side during the engagement, although a gun explosion during the surrender ceremonies two days later resulted in two Union deaths. The War Between the States had officially begun.

1908 — Robert Lee Scott, Jr. was born in Waynesboro, Georgia. He is best known for his book God is My Co-Pilot, a memoir about his time as a member of the 1st American Volunteer Group (“The Flying Tigers”) during World War II.

Scott shot down down 13 Japanese aircraft en route to becoming one of our earliest fighter aces of the War. He served in the United States Army Air Forces for 25 years and retired a Brigadier General in 1957. He died in his native Georgia in 2006. General Scott was 97-years-old.

1934 — The strongest surface wind gust ever recorded (to that point in history) is measured at 231 mph on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire. The record stood for 62 years until a 253 mph gust was recorded at Australia's Barrow Island during Cyclone Olivia in 1996.

1945 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt died just months after winning an unprecedented fourth term. Our 32nd President, and perhaps the last liberal Democrat for whom I may ever hold a modicum of lasting respect, was a relatively young 63-years-old.

1961 — Russian (Soviet) cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to perform a manned orbital flight. His time in space lasted just under two hours.

1981 — The Space Shuttle Columbia launches in NASA’s first shuttle mission (STS-1) from the Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. The shuttle itself suffered an untimely demise shortly before the conclusion of its 28th mission (STS-107) on February 1, 2003.

1987 — The lovely and vivacious Brooklyn Decker was born in Kettering, Ohio. But the Victoria’s Secret and Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover girl is a Carolina girl at heart.

1989 — Sugar Ray Robinson, the undisputed best pound-for-pound boxer of all-time, died in Culver City, California. He compiled a 173-19-6 (108 KO, 2 NC) record over a career that spanned a quarter-century, including an almost unbelievable tally at one point of 128-1-2. He was 67-years-old.

1999 — President Bill Clinton is cited for contempt of court for giving “intentionally false statements” in a sexual harassment civil lawsuit. Scandalous, impeached, and ultimately disbarred, good ol’ Bill sure was fun.

2002 — Religion of Peace: Just seven months after 9/11, a female suicide bomber from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade detonated a bomb at the entrance to Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda open-air market, killing seven and wounding 104.


Information initially obtained from Wikipedia; confirmed and revised (when necessary) through various sources.

On This Day in History

c/o Library of Congress

AD 37 – Nero, fifth Emperor of the Roman Empire, was born in present-day Anzio, Italy. Known for a reign filled with excessiveness and despotism, Nero is also noted for seemingly countless executions, including those of his mother, his stepbrother, and many of the early Christians against whom he placed blame for the Great Fire of Rome. With assassination all but imminent, Nero committed suicide in AD 68, bringing the 54-year rule of Julio-Claudian dynasty to an end.

1791 – Authored and introduced to the 1st United States Congress by James Madison as the limitations on our government in regard to personal liberties, the first 10 Amendments to the United States Constitution (better known as the Bill of Rights, pictured) became law when ratified by the Virginia General Assembly, providing the three-fourths needed by the States to make it official.

1939 – Gone with the Wind premiered at Loew’s Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. The film earned 10 Academy Awards (a record that stood for 20 years) and is ranked sixth in the American Film Institute’s list of the Top 100 Best American Films of All Time. It was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 1989.

1966 – Walt Disney died in Burbank, California 10 days after his 65th birthday.

1973 – Facing pressure from members of the Gay Liberation Front and psychiatrist/gay rights activist Ronald Bayer, among others, the Board of Trustees of the American Psychiatric Association voted 13-0 to remove homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

The APA, for the record, has been criticized (more than once) for employing an inferior diagnostic process in lieu of a more unempirical structure that elevates the opinions of the prominent few. Author and psychiatrist Dr. William Glasser has referred to the DSM as “phony diagnostic categories,” arguing that “it was developed to help psychiatrists . . . make money.”

2001 – The Leaning Tower of Pisa was reopened to the public after 11 years and $27,000,000 to fortify it, without fixing its famous slant (3.97 degrees, or 3.9 meters). Engineers expect the nearly 700-year-old freestanding bell tower to remain stable for another 200 years.

2005 – The parliament of Latvia (northeast Europe) amended its national constitution with Article 110, formally eliminating same-sex couples from being entitled to marry and adopt.

Information initially obtained from Wikipedia; confirmed and revised (when necessary) through various sources.

On This Day in History

c/o MacArthur Memorial, via AltDaily

1803 – The U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase, acquiring 828,000 square miles originally claimed by France for less than three cents per acre (equivalent to 42 cents per acre today).

Ultimately 15 States would be carved from the area. Also of note, Napoleon Bonaparte said of the exchange, "This accession of territory affirms forever the power of the United States, and I have given England a maritime rival who sooner or later will humble her pride."

1818 – The Convention of 1818 was signed between the United States and the United Kingdom. Most importantly, Article II of the agreement established the 49th parallel as the border between the U.S. and Canada. It hasn't moved an inch after 193 years, and unlike our neighbors to the south, Canadians have no problem respecting our mutual border whatsoever.

1944 – General Douglas MacArthur (pictured) fulfilled his "I shall return" promise when the Battle of Leyte commenced in the Philippines. The Allies reclaimed the islands from the Japanese by New Year's Eve, and World War II would be decided nine months later. The good guys won.

1946 – Lewis Grizzard, a distinguished writer and humorist known for his commentary and Southern demeanor, was born in Fort Benning, Georgia. He was inflicted with a congenital heart defect from birth and died from complications of his fourth heart-valve surgery in 1994. "I Haven't Understood Anything Since 1962 and Other Nekkid Truths" is one of my all-time favorites.

1950 – Tom Petty, one of our finest singer-songwriters, was born in Gainesville, Florida. His music, both solo and collaborative, has sold a combined 60 million units worldwide since he debuted (with the Heartbreakers) in 1976.

1967 – A brief motion picture of an unidentified subject purported to be "Bigfoot" was filmed by two men in the Six Rivers National Forest in the northwestern-most corner of California. Known as the Patterson-Gimlin film, its veracity still remains open to debate.

1973 – Designed by acclaimed Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the Sydney Opera House opened to the public for the first time at Bennelong Point in New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007, the SOH remains one of the most distinctive buildings and one of the most famous performing arts centers in the world.

1977 – Just three days after the release of their fifth album, Street Survivors, a plane carrying Lynyrd Skynyrd crashed in Gillsburg, Mississippi, killing lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and backup singer Cassie Gaines, along with three other non-members of the band.

Skynyrd reformed 10 years later for a reunion tour with lead singer Ronnie Van Zant's younger brother as the new frontman, a position Johnny holds to this day. Although lead/rhythm guitarist Gary Rossington is the only founding member who remains with Skynyrd, thousands still show up to see the Kings of Southern Rock every time they play. To date, the band has sold nearly 30 million units in the U.S. alone.

Information initially obtained from Wikipedia; confirmed and revised (when necessary) through various sources.

On This Day in History

 c/o Den of Décor

1189 – European Crusaders launched the Siege of Acre against Saladin's Ayyubid dynasty in present day northern Israel, by which the Christians achieved a conclusive triumph amid the Third Crusade nearly two years later.

Ultimately Richard the Lionheart and his army, which included the Knights Templar, made considerable headway throughout the region, and Saladin himself failed to defeat Richard in any military engagement.

1609 – English maritime explorer Henry Hudson, for lack of a better way of describing it, discovered the Delaware Bay.  Initially selected by the Dutch East India Company to find an easterly passage to Asia, Hudson was unable to complete the predetermined route due to excessive ice blockage.

Hudson redirected while he and his crew were near Norway's North Cape and pointed his ship west to find another passage, this time through North America.  Hudson landed in the Bay some three months later.

1845 – The first issue of Scientific American is published.  After 166 years, the magazine can boast of a circulation that approaches three-quarters of a million.

1862 – Outnumbered by 12,000 troops, Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia engaged U.S. Army Maj. General John Pope and his Army of Virginia at the Second Battle of Bull Run/Second Manassas.  The South earned a decisive victory two days later.

1898 – Though Coca-Cola gets all the press for being a uniquely Southern beverage, a pharmacist named Caleb Bradham developed the recipe for what would become known as Pepsi-Cola at a drug store in New Bern, North Carolina.  PepsiCo was incorporated four years later, which, at present, generates net revenues that exceed $40 billion annually.

1957 – Senator Strom Thurmond (D-SC) began a filibuster to prevent the Senate from voting on Civil Rights Act of 1957.  He stopped speaking 24 hours and 18 minutes later, which remains longest filibuster ever conducted by a single Senator.

1965 – The lovely and vivacious Shania Twain was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

1981 – The Centers for Disease Control revealed a high rate of incidence among gay men for both pneumocystis and Kaposi's sarcoma.  The resulting immune disorder was soon identified as AIDS for the first time.

Most information obtained via Wikipedia; revised (when necessary) and confirmed through various sources.

On This Day in History: A fascinating day

One of my least favorite pictures. Ever.

1527 – In an event generally considered to mark the end of the Roman Renaissance, Rome is sacked by Spanish and German troops aligned with the Holy Roman Empire amid the War of the League of Cognac (1526-1530).  Nearly 150 Swiss Guards died fighting the forces of Emperor Charles V in order to allow Pope Clement VII to escape.  To commemorate the bravery of the Swiss Guards, new recruits are sworn in every year on May 6.

1861 – Arkansas secedes from the Union on the same day Richmond, Virginia is declared the new capital of the Confederate States of America.

1863 – Outnumbered by nearly 73,000 soldiers, General Robert E. Lee and Lt. General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson lead the South to victory over the Army of the Potomac in the final day of the Battle of Chancellorsville in northern Virginia.

1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris.

1937 – The German zeppelin Hindenburg (pictured) catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Manchester Township, New Jersey.  The 12-story blimp was over 800-ft. in length and filled with seven million cubic feet of pure hydrogen.  Thirty-six people were killed in the incident, and why the airship ignited into flames remains a mystery to this day.

1940 – John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Grapes of Wrath.

1941 – Bob Hope performs the first of his nearly 200 USO shows at March Field Army Air Corps base in Riverside, California.

1954 – Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run a sub-four-minute mile at Iffley Road Track in Oxford, England.

1984 – Having suffered religious persecution throughout the 19th century, Pope John Paul II canonized 103 Korean Martyrs in Seoul, South Korea.

2000 – I was 15 minutes late picking up a girl named Sarah for our first date.  Of the girls who have been in and out of my life, this little golden-haired cutie is the one who sticks out in memory the most.  In the end, I was only successful in turning her affection for me inside out because of what I could not do.

As I once wrote, years ago, about our first evening together...

"I knew that look on her old man's face.  Most fathers go through it at least once or twice.  I imagine it's similar to how an accomplished violinist would feel about handing a Stradivarius over to an unruly ape."

I hope Sarah is doing well, wherever she is.

Initially published 5/6/10 and republished with a few minor revisions; most information obtained via Wikipedia and confirmed through various sources.

On This Day in History: A particularly blood-stained date

Pulitzer-winning shot by Charles Porter

1775 – The first engagements of the American Revolution begin at the Battles of Lexington and Concord throughout Middlesex County, Massachusetts.  Colonialists earned victory on this day, but the War itself would not be decided for another eight years.

1861 – One week after the Battle of Fort Sumter, a group of secessionists and Southern sympathizers in Baltimore, Maryland attack the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment as they traveled en route to Washington, DC.  The ensuing riot resulted in 16 deaths, including 12 civilians.

1951 – Eight days after being relieved of command by President Truman, General Douglas MacArthur addressed a joint session of Congress with his famous Old Soldiers Never Die speech.

1961 – In an attempt to overthrow the regime implemented by Fidel Castro, the Bay of Pigs invasion of southern Cuba is quelled in three days.  Fifty years later, Cuba is all but in ruins.

1971 – Charles Manson was sentenced to death for his role in the Tate-LaBianca murders.  The ruling was commuted to life imprisonment a year later when the Supreme Court of California temporarily eliminated the state's death penalty.  Manson is currently incarcerated at Corcoran State Prison in central California.

1987 – The Simpsons premiered as a short cartoon on The Tracy Ullman Show.  I remember like it was yesterday.

1993 – Ending a siege that lasted for over seven weeks, the Mount Carmel Center – home of the Branch Davidian sect near Waco, Texas – burns to the ground, killing all 80 people inside.  Four ATF agents were also killed throughout the incident.

1995 – Said to be seeking vengeance against the federal government for its handling of the siege in Waco, among other raids, Timothy McVeigh carried out the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring 450.  At the time it was the deadliest act of terrorism ever committed on American soil.

Eventually convicted of 11 federal offenses, McVeigh was executed on June 11, 2001 – exactly three months prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

On This Day in History

1860 – A Frenchman named Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville (1817-1879; aka, Leon Scott) used a phonautograph to create what would eventually become recognized as the oldest audible recording of a human voice.

The phonautograph itself, patented by Scott some three years earlier, was intended to transcribe sound into "a visible medium," but the device had no means for playback.  As a result, the transcriptions would not be heard until computer technology essentially created a way in 2008.  The resulting sound was a barely recognizable 10-second recording of the French folk song "Au Clair de la Lune," believed to have been sung by Scott himself.

1865 – Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, effectively ending the War Between the States.

"Governor, if I had foreseen the use those people designed to make of their victory, there would have been no surrender at Appomattox Courthouse; no sir, not by me.  Had I foreseen these results of subjugation, I would have preferred to die at Appomattox with my brave men, my sword in my right hand."

-- General Robert E. Lee, speaking to former Governor of Texas, Fletcher S. Stockdale, less than one month before Lee's death; as quoted in The Life and Letters of Robert Lewis Dabney

1867 – Passing by a single vote, the U.S. Senate ratified a treaty that allowed for the purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire.  Bought for $7.2 million, the area that would become the 49th State (92 years later) came at less than two cents per acre.

1980 – Saddam Hussein had philosopher Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr executed after three days of torture, essentially for the endorsement of a political philosophy known as Wilayat Al-Umma ("Governance of the people").  Chants of "Long live Mohammed Baqir Sadr!" were chanted by Shi'a guards just prior to Saddam Hussein's execution on December 30, 2006.

1992 – In one of the great political surprises of the 20th century, John Major's Conservative Party won an unprecedented fourth general election victory in the United Kingdom.

2003 – Baghdad fell to Coalition forces amid the American-led invasion of Iraq.  To bloody hell with Saddam Hussein.

Initially published 4/9/10; information obtained via Wikipedia and confirmed through various sources.

On This Day in History

1543 – Outnumbered by nearly two-to-one, Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeated the Adal Sultanate of the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Wayna Daga in northern Ethiopia.  It was the final battle of the 14-year Ethiopian-Adal War, in which a potential Islamic conquest was quelled.  Some historians trace the present and longstanding hostility between Somalia and Ethiopia to this war.

1848 – Featuring a bunch of bad ideas regarding how capitalist societies would be replaced by socialism, and then eventually communism, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published the The Communist Manifesto.

1862 – The Battle of Valverde was fought near Fort Craig in the New Mexico Territory (present-day central New Mexico) between Confederate units from Texas and Arizona, and U.S. Army regulars and Union militia from northern New Mexico.  The South won.

1878 – The first telephone book was issued in New Haven, Connecticut.

1885 – The Washington Monument was dedicated in commemoration of our first President.  It remains both the world's tallest stone structure and the world's tallest obelisk, standing just over 555 feet.

1947 – Edwin Land demonstrates the Polaroid Land Camera, the first "instant camera," to a meeting of the Optical Society of America in New York City.

1948 – The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is founded by William France, Sr.

1952 – The British government, per Winston Churchill, abolished identity cards throughout the United Kingdom to "set the people free."  Remember that when the issue of a nation identity card is brought up by our government.

1953 – Francis Crick and James D. Watson co-discovered the structure of DNA, for which they both received the Nobel Prize nine years later.

1958 – Designed by British artist Gerald Holtom, the Peace Symbol [pictured] was commissioned by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment.

1962 – David Foster Wallace was born in Ithaca, New York.  Once called "one of the most influential and innovative writers of the last 20 years," Wallace was best known for his '96 novel Infinite Jest, which TIME magazine included in its "All-Time 100 Greatest Novels" list (from 1923-2006).  Having suffered from severe depression, he ended his own life in 2008.

1965 – Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little forty years earlier in Omaha, Nebraska) was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City by members of the Nation of Islam.  The movie about his life remains Spike Lee's magnum opus.

1979 – The bubbly and vivacious Jennifer Love Hewitt was born in Waco, Texas.  I think she's wonderful.

On This Day in History

1703 – In what is now Tokyo, Japan, 46 of the legendary Forty-seven Ronin committed ritual suicide (seppuku) as part of the samurai honor code (bushidō) for avenging their master's death.

1789 – George Washington was elected the first President of the United States.

1844 – Discovered by German Biblical scholar Constantin Tischendor, the Codex Sinaiticus -- ancient portions of both the Old and New Testaments -- was uncovered at St. Catherine's Monastery in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

1861 – Delegates from South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana convened in Montgomery, Alabama to form the Confederate States of America.

1902 – Charles Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan.  Having initially risen to prominence with his solo non-stop flight from Roosevelt Field in New York's Long Island to Le Bourget Field in Paris, France (May 20-21, 1927; nearly 3,600 miles), Lindbergh was named TIME magazine's first Man of the Year.  Later in life he also became a prize-winning author, explorer, environmentalist and inventor.  Few have ever accomplished so much in a lifetime.

1906 – Dietrich Bonhoeffer [pictured] was born in Breslau, Germany (present-day Wrocław, Poland).  A master theologian of the Evangelical Lutheran faith, Bonhoeffer became critical of the Church's general insensitivity to the needs of secular society as he witnessed social upheaval, a decline of traditional values and international financial crisis -- much like the events of today.

Opposed to circumventing Christ in "religiosity," Bonhoeffer's time at Abyssinian Baptist Church in the Harlem borough of New York City (where he taught Sunday School) inspired a world view that would ultimately lead him to establish the Confessing Church, which became one of the few opposing voices to the Nazification in Germany.  It also led to Bonhoeffer's two-year incarceration and eventual martyrdom at the Flossenbürg concentration camp, less than a month before the Nazi regime collapsed.

In short, his influence and the example he set by speaking and standing for Truth cannot be overstated.

1945 – "The Big Three" -- Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin -- open The Yalta Conference at the Livadia Palace in Crimea (present-day southern Ukraine) to discuss Europe's postwar reorganization.

2004 – Mark Zuckerberg launched "Thefacebook," the forerunner to Facebook, from his dorm room at Harvard University.  Seven years later, Facebook.com boasts of 600 million users and only trails Google as the world's most visited website.

On This Day in History: Patriots, et al.

1755 – Alexander Hamilton, once the Commanding General of the United States Army and a Founding Father of our nation, was born in Charlestown, Nevis, British West Indies.

1794 – Chosen by George Washington to serve as the first United States Marshal for the State of Georgia, Scottish-born Robert Forsyth became the first Marshal in American history killed in the line of duty.

1843 – Francis Scott Key, the author of our national anthem -- "The Star-Spangled Banner" -- died in his native Maryland.  An novice poet, Key became inspired to write a prose describing his observation of the British bombardment of Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in September 1814.  "The Defence of Fort McHenry" was published a week later in the Patriot, by which he urged the adoption of "In God is our Trust" as the national motto in the fourth stanza.  Signed into law by President Eisenhower, "In God We Trust" became our national motto nearly a century and a half later in 1956.  Notably, F.S. Key also served as a Vice President of the American Bible Society for 25 years until his death.

1861 – Following South Carolina, Mississippi and Florida, Alabama seceded from the United States to become the fourth member of the Southern Confederacy.  Three more States -- Georgia, Louisiana and Texas -- followed just prior to the first shots fired at Fort Sumter.  The last four States -- Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina -- were not prompted to join until Abraham Lincoln called for Southern civilians to join the Federal cause.

1879 – The Anglo-Zulu War began with the British invasion of the Zulu Kingdom in southern Africa.  The English achieved victory in just under six months.

1935 – Already the first woman to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic, Amelia Earhart (pictured) became the first person to successfully fly solo from Hawaii to California.

1949 – Los Angeles, California experiences its first recorded snowfall.

1964 – U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Luther Leonidas Terry publishes a landmark report saying that "smoking may be hazardous to health."  The worldwide anti-smoking efforts inspired by the report continue to this day.

1990 – Over 300,000 people marched in favor of Lithuanian independence from the USSR, which led to the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania on March 11.  The Soviet Union eventually dissolved over a two-year period, and the United Nations formally recognized Lithuania on September 17, 1991.

1998 – Religion of Peace: The Sidi-Hamed massacre occurs in Algeria on the last day of Ramadan.  According to the BBC, "An estimated fifty gunmen poured in, attacking children and adults alike; they bombed a cafe where films were being watched and a mosque in nearby Haouche Sahraoui, killing those who fled, and stormed houses to slaughter those within.  According to official figures, 103 were killed and seventy injured."  It was the second of five such Islamic-led massacres to have occurred in Algeria during the year.

On This Day in History

1000 – Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I.  Nearly a thousand years after his death, Stephen is still regarded as one of Hungary's most revered saints, and the date of his canonization is celebrated as a state holiday commemorating the foundation of the nation.

1642 – According to the "Old Style" dating system, Isaac Newton, simply one of the most influential people in history, is born in Lincolnshire, England.  (The "New Style" calendar places his birthday on January 4, 1643.)

1776 – George Washington and his army cross the Delaware River to attack Great Britain's Hessian (German) mercenaries.  The Battle of Trenton was won decisively the next day, which boosted the Continental Army's morale and inspired a significant number of re-enlistments.

1818 – Written by Father Joseph Mohr and composed by Franz Xaver Gruber, the first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.

1826 – The result of whiskey smuggling for a Christmas party in the North barracks at the United States Military Academy, the Eggnog Riot concludes after beginning the previous night.  The riot involved more than one-third of the cadets by the time it ceased, 19 of whom were eventually court-martialed.

1868 – President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Confederate soldiers.

1899 – Hailed by the American Film Institute as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema, Humphrey Bogart (his real name) was born in New York City.

1990 – Based upon a proposed hypertext system designed to access the many forms of documentation at, and related to, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the first successful trial run of the system that would become the World Wide Web was conducted by computer scientists Robert Cailliau and, the man credited for "inventing" the Internet, Tim Berners-Lee (and not Al Gore).

2009 – Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian Muslim, unsuccessfully attempted a terrorist attack while on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253 en route to Detroit, as the concealed plastic explosives in his underwear failed to detonate properly.  Abdulmutallab was restrained, arrested, and eventually charged with, among other things, the attempted murder of 289 people.  The would-be "martyr" is currently incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in York Charter Township, Michigan.

Shown above, "Washington Crossing the Delaware" by Emanuel Leutze (1851) is located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

On This Day in History: War, and a bit of education

1636 – Headquartered near Boston, the Massachusetts Bay Colony organized three militia regiments to defend against the Pequot Indians.  This organization is recognized today as the founding of the U.S. National Guard.

1769 – Dartmouth College is founded by Protestant minister Eleazar Wheelock on land donated by the British colonial governor of New Hampshire, Sir John Wentworth.

1862 – Outnumbered by 41,500 men, Confederate General Robert Edward Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia put the finishing touches on their convincing victory over Maj. General Ambrose Burnside and his 114,000 Federal soldiers at the Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia.  Notable Southern legends commanding alongside General Lee were Lt. General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Lt. General James Longstreet, Maj. General James E.B. Stuart, Maj. General John Bell Hood, Maj. General Ambrose Powell Hill, and Brig. General Jubal Anderson Early.

2001 – The Parliament of India in New Delhi is attacked by the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists groups, just three months after 9/11.  In all 12 people died.  The attack itself led to a standoff between India and Pakistan that was not diffused until both the United States and Russia intervened.

2003 – Commanded by U.S. Army Colonel James Hickey, the 1st Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division capture former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.  He is found near his hometown of Tikrit, literally hiding in a hole.

On This Day in History: Happy Thanksgiving (again)

749 – Born and raised in the present-day capital of Syria, Saint John of Damascus died.  Having initially served as chief administrator to the Islamic head of state (caliph), John was ordained a priest in 735.  Regarded by Catholics as a Doctor of the Church, St. John was a defender of the Faith whose writings and hymns remain current over 1,200 years after his death.
 

1563 – The Council of Trent holds its final session.  Having convened nearly 18 years to the day earlier, largely in response to Martin Luther's 95 Theses, the council condemned what it defined as Protestant heresies and refined Church teachings in various areas, most of which remain topics of debate among the divisions of Christianity.
 

1619 – Although earlier gatherings are said to have taken place in Florida and even Texas, the first Thanksgiving is generally believed to have occurred when Captain John Woodlief led newly-arrived English colonists to a grassy slope along the James River in Virginia and instructed them to drop to their knees and pray in thanks for a safe arrival to the New World.
 

1674 – Father Jacques Marquette establishes a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan to minister to the Illiniwek tribe.  The mission would later grow to become Chicago, Illinois.
 

1791 – The first edition of The Observer, the world's first Sunday newspaper, is published.  Over 200 years later, the center-left periodical still enjoys a circulation of more than 450,000.
 

1881 – The first edition of the Los Angeles Times is published.  With a circulation that can top one million on Sunday, the Times is the second-largest metropolitan newspaper and the fourth-most widely distributed newspaper in the country.
 

1980 – Led Zeppelin officially disbands following the death of their irreplaceable drummer John Bonham.
 

1984 – Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwait Airlines plane, killing four passengers.  (All in a days work for the terrorists...)
 

1991 – Terry Anderson, a journalist who spent seven years in captivity as a hostage in Beirut, is released.  He was the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon.

On This Day in History: Happy birthday, Mickey

326 – The original St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated.  The one that currently stands in its place was dedicated on this day in 1626, exactly 1,300 years later.

1307 – Arrested for not bowing to an oppressive Austrian overlord, a Swiss man named William Tell is offered to be freed if he successfully shoots an apple from atop his son's head.

The Vogt, as the overlord was also known, noticed that Tell had removed two bolts from his holder before the shot instead of one.  Asked why, Tell replied that if he had killed his son, he would have used the additional bolt on the bailiff himself.  In the end, Tell's defiance sparked a rebellion that eventually led to the formation of a Swiss Confederation that lasted nearly 500 years.  Always the hero, Tell died in 1354 while trying to save a child from drowning in the Schächenbach river in Uri, Switzerland.

1493 – Christopher Columbus becomes the first explorer to spot the island known today as Puerto Rico.  He landed the next day.

1928 – Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, is released by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks.  Consequently, today is also considered Mickey's birthday by the Walt Disney Company.

1978 – Jim Jones, a practitioner of "apostolic socialism," led his Peoples Temple cult to a mass murder-suicide by drinking Kool Aid poisoned with cyanide, among other things, in the South American nation of Guyana that claimed 918 lives, including more than 270 children.  Hours earlier, Congressman Leo J. Ryan (D-CA, 11th district) was murdered by members of the cult.

1988 – President Ronald Reagan signs a bill into law allowing the death penalty for drug traffickers.  Ronnie didn't f--- around.

1999 – A 59-foot structure intended for use in the Aggie Bonfire at Texas A&M, so large that it normally required four weeks to complete, collapses at 2:42 a.m.  Traditionally built in each of the previous 90 years prior to the annual game against their chief rival, the University of Texas, 12 people were killed and 27 were injured.  As a result, bonfire festivities would not resume for three years.

Picture above © The Long Now Foundation

On This Day in History

The guy standing actually lost.

1776 – Nathan Hale, a soldier for the Continental Army during the American Revolution who was captured by the British during an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City, is hanged for espionage.  Officially designated as the state hero of Connecticut in 1985, Hale -- a true patriot -- is best remembered for his last words before being hanged: "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

1823 – Joseph Smith is supposedly directed by an angel called Moroni to Cumorah Hill near his home in Manchester, New York where the "golden plates" Smith are said to have used to translate the Book of Mormon were buried.  Nonsense.
 

1888 – The first issue of National Geographic magazine is published.  It remains possibly the most important American periodical ever. 

1896 – Queen Victoria surpasses her grandfather, King George III, as the longest reigning monarch in British history.  Her reign lasted nearly 64 years.  Provided she survives, Victoria's great-great-granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II, will surpass Victoria on September 10, 2015.

1927 – Jack "The Manassa Mauler" Dempsey (pictured above, standing) loses his world heavyweight title rematch to Gene "The Fighting Marine" Tunney in front of 104,000 people at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois.  A comprehensive account of what became known as "The Long Count Fight" can be found here.  On a side note, the $2,658,660 gate was the first in history surpass the million-dollar mark.

1980 – The Iraqi air force attacks ten airfields inside Iran, beginning the Iran-Iraq War.  The conflict was declared a stalemate after nearly eight years of fighting.  

1991 – Discovered in 11 different caves throughout the ruins of Khirbet Qumran in Israel's West Bank between 1947-1956, the Dead Sea Scrolls are made available to the public for the first time by the Huntington Library in San Marino, California.

2006 – The F-14 Tomcat is retired from the United States Navy.  Initially deployed aboard the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) in 1974, the F-14 served with distinction as the Navy's primary maritime air superiority fighter and fleet defense interceptor for over 30 years.  Believe me, the Tomcat kicked a lot of ass on behalf of this nation.

On This Day in History

70 AD – Climaxing the First Jewish-Roman War, forces under Roman Emperor Titus sack Jerusalem.  Judea would remain under Roman control for over 550 years until Jerusalem was captured by the Islamic Rashidun Caliphate in 637.

1504 – Michelangelo's 17-foot sculpture of David is unveiled outside the Palazzo della Signoria in Florence, Italy.  It has been located at the Accademia Gallery, also in Florence, since 1873.

1565 – Outnumbered by as much as five-to-one, the Knights Hospitaller -- a Christian military order similar to the Templars -- turned back the Islamic Ottoman Empire's attempted siege on Malta in southern Europe.

1863 – At the mouth of the Sabine River on the Texas-Louisiana border, a small Confederate force thwarted the Federal invasion of Texas at the Second Battle of Sabine Pass.

1892 – The original Pledge of Allegiance is first published in The Youth's Companion as part of the celebration of Columbus Day: "I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all."  The Pledge would be revised four times until finally settled upon by President Eisenhower in 1954.

1968 – The Beatles perform "Hey Jude" (pictured above) on The David Frost Show for their final performance on live television.

1975 – U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant [E-6] Leonard Matlovich appeared in uniform on the cover of Time magazine with the headline, "I Am A Homosexual."  Matlovich was later given a general discharge for his cover story.  He died of complications from HIV/AIDS on June 22, 1988.

On This Day in History: With a certain English flavor

Diana was the world's princess.

1422 – Upon the death of his father, Henry VI ascended to the throne and became the King of England at nine months of age.  Possibly the youngest monarch in history, a regency council was established to govern in Henry's place until he came of age in 1437.  Although generally ill prepared to be King, Henry's legacy is largely defined by the establishment of Eton College (described as the most famous public school in the world) in 1440 and King's College, Cambridge the year after.

1803 – Meriwether Lewis and William Clark leave Pittsburgh, PA and begin their expedition to the west.  Having not achieved their primary objective of finding the "Northwest Passage," Lewis and Clark are nonetheless responsible for production of the first accurate maps of the west and a better understanding of the region's natural resources.  They also established friendly relations with some of the indigenous tribes, without whom the explorers (33 in all) would have starved to death and/or become hopelessly lost in the Rocky Mountains.

1864 – Union forces, led by Maj. General William T. Sherman, launch a final assault on Atlanta, Georgia.  The following November, Sherman ordered that all military and government buildings in the area to be burned, although many private homes and shops were also torched.  I guess if Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston, who initially led the opposition against Sherman's Atlanta Campaign and later served as a pallbearer at his funeral, would not speak ill of the Ohio native, then neither will I.

1888 – A woman named Mary Ann Nichols is found murdered in the Whitechapel district of London.  She later becomes known as the first victim of Jack the Ripper.

1897 – Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector.

1943 – The first United States Navy ship to be named after a Black person, the USS Harmon (DE-678), is commissioned.  This ship was named for mess attendant Leonard Roy Harmon, who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism aboard the USS San Francisco (CA-38) during the Battle of Guadalcanal at the Solomon Islands.

1948 – Robert Mitchum is arrested in a Hollywood drug raid.  He would later be found guilty of criminal conspiracy to possess marijuana and sentenced to 60 days in prison.  Today he is a stoner icon.

1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales is killed in a car crash in Paris, just one year (and three days to be exact) after her divorce from Prince Charles was finalized.  To this day she is more revered in America than most of those who served as President, and for good reason.

On This Day in History

The Scots are a proud people.

1305 – William Wallace, Commander of the Army of the Kingdom of Scotland amid the Wars of Scottish Independence, was captured by the English near Glasgow and transported to London, where he was put on trial and executed 18 days later.  Scotland would win its independence in 1328.

1583 – Sir Humphrey Gilbert establishes the first English colony in North America at what is now St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, located along the eastern tip of Canada.

1620 – The Mayflower departed from Southampton, England on its first attempt to reach North America.  Because its sister ship, the Speedwell, developed a purported leak (later disproved) and was docked as a result, the Mayflower would not reach Provincetown, Massachusetts until the following November.

1884 – The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island (now Liberty Island) in New York Harbor.  Having been constructed in France, the statue was shipped in crates, assembled on the completed pedestal, and officially opened to the public by President Grover Cleveland on October 28, 1886.

1930 – Neil Armstrong, the first person to set foot on the Moon, was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio.

1944 – Polish insurgents liberated a German labor camp in Warsaw, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners.  Although the Germans would eventually quell the two-month Warsaw Uprising, the Nazi regime would be defeated by the Allies eight months later, ending World War II.

1952 – The show that would become American Bandstand debuted on the ABC television network and would remain on-air for 47 years.

1962 – Marilyn Monroe, the Lindsay Lohan of her day, died of a "probable suicide" from "acute barbiturate poisoning."  In other words, the Kennedys probably did it.

1981 – President Ronald Reagan fired 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.

On This Day In History: How 'bout some war...

1775 – Having been unanimously voted commander-in-chief of the Continental army by Congress several weeks prior, George Washington arrives in Cambridge, Massachusetts to take command of the army he would lead to victory eight grueling years later.

1778 – British and Iroquois forces kill 360 people in the Wyoming Valley massacre amid the American Revolution.  Some of the raiders hunted the fleeing Patriots before torturing to death upwards of forty who had already surrendered.

1863 – The final day of the Battle of Gettysburg during the War Between the States culminates with Pickett's Charge.  That didn't go well.

1898 – Amid the waining days of the Spanish-American War, the Spanish fleet is destroyed by the United States Navy in Santiago, Cuba.  Victory would be secured the next month.

1913 – Confederate veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913 reenact Pickett's Charge.  Upon reaching the High Watermark of the Confederacy, the Southerners were met by the outstretched hands of friendship from their northern counterparts.  I've seen footage from the event, and it's very touching.

On This Day in History: June 17

1631 – Mumtaz Mahal (born Arjumand Banu Bob) dies while giving birth to her fourteenth child.  Her husband, Emperor Shah Jahan I of the Mughal Empire, spends the next 23 years building a sarcophagus to commemorate his love for her in Agra, India.  The end result became known as the Taj Mahal.

1775 – Three months into the American Revolution, the Battle of Bunker Hill takes place in the Charlestown area of Boston, MA between the British Army and colonial militias from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.  Considered a Pyrrhic victory for England, a British officer after the battle was quoted, "We have ... learned one melancholy truth, which is, that the Americans, if they were equally well commanded, are full as good soldiers as ours."  The war itself would not be decided for eight years.

1885 – Given to the United States to represent the friendship established between America and France during the American Revolution, the Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor.

1963 – The United States Supreme Court rules, 8-1, in Abington School District v. Schempp (consolidated with Murray v. Curlett), 374 U.S. 203 (1963), against allowing the recital of Bible verses and the Lord's Prayer in public schools.  It's been downhill ever since.

1972 – Five Republican White House operatives -- Virgilio González, Bernard Barker, James W. McCord, Jr., Eugenio Martínez, and Frank Sturgis -- are arrested for burglary in an attempt to illegally wiretap the offices of the Democratic National Committee.  The ensuing Watergate scandal ultimately resulted in President Richard Nixon's resignation two years later.

1994 – Following a nationally televised low-speed highway chase, O.J. Simpson (pictured) is arrested for the murders of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.  The resulting trial, often referred to as "the trial of the century," ended on October 3, 1995 with a not guilty verdict that was watched by over half the American populace.

A year and four months later, Simpson was found liable for the wrongful death of Ronald Goldman, and battery against Nicole Brown Simpson.  Although only a small portion of the $33.5 million judgment was ever collected, O.J. ended up in prison, nevertheless, for criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, assault, robbery, and using a deadly weapon in Las Vegas.  Found guilty exactly 13 years after his infamous not guilty verdict, Simpson was sentenced to 33 years in prison (with the possibility of parole in about nine years) and is now serving his sentence as inmate #1027820 at the Lovelock Correctional Center in Pershing County, Nevada.