Today in History

Today in History June 22nd

1342 Fictional character of "The Hobbit" Bilbo Baggins returns to his home at Bag End, Shire Reckoning

1535 Cardinal John Fisher is beheaded on Tower Hill, London, for refusing to acknowledge Henry VIII as head of the Church of England

1611 Henry Hudson set adrift in Hudson Bay by mutineers on his ship Discovery and never seen again

1807 British board USS Chesapeake, a provocation leading to War of 1812

1910 1st airship with passengers sets afloat-Zeppelin Deutscheland

1932 Congress approves "Lindbergh Act" making kidnapping a federal offense

1934 John Dillinger is informally named America's first Public Enemy Number One

1937 An Alabama sharecropper's son, Joe Louis, knocks out Jim Braddock in the 8th round, becoming the world heavyweight boxing champion.

Note: Joe Louis was the first African American to hold the title since Jack Johnson

Note: Jim Braddock was the first white man in almost 30 years to give an African american a shot at the title.

 

Today in history June 23rd

1683 William Penn signs friendship treaty with Lenni Lenape indians in Pennsylvania

1775 1st regatta held on river Thames, England

1819 First editions of "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent." by Washington Irving released, featuring story "Rip Van Winkle"

1888 Frederick Douglass is 1st African-American to be nominated for US Vice President

1926 The College Board administers the first SAT exam in USA

1940 After conquering France, Adolf Hitler visits Paris and views the Eiffel Tower and the grave of Napoleon Bonaparte

1960 1st contraceptive pill is made available for purchase in the U.S.

1961 The Antarctic Treaty, ensuring that Antarctica is used for peaceful purposes; for international cooperation in scientific research

1972 US President Nixon & his Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman agree to use CIA to cover up Watergate

1983 Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa meets Pope John Paul II during papal visit to Poland

1990 A rally to save Alien Nation from cancellation held at Statue of Liberty

1993 Lorena Bobbitt amputates husband's John Wayne Bobbitt's penis

 

On This Day - 23rd June

1314Preliminary actions began for the Battle of Bannockburn, with the main battle beginning not long after daybreak the following day when the Scots began to move towards the English. It was one of the decisive battles of the First War of Scottish Independence. Robert the Bruce earned a place in Scottish history for his legendary victory over the English at Bannockburn where there is this statue (see picture) of Robert the Bruce.


Allegedly, it was in this cave (see picture) at Cove Manor House (formerly Dunskellie Castle - between Gretna and Lockerbie) that the story of 'Bruce and the spider' originated. Robert the Bruce supposedly gained inspiration to keep going after watching a spider attempting again and again to make its web. The revitalized Bruce gained support and ultimately defeated the English army at Bannockburn the following day. While the legend is strong, the factual basis is weak and inconclusive. as no fewer than 3 other caves claim to have been the location.

 

1661A marriage contract was signed between Charles II of England and Portuguese Catherine of Braganza. Catherine's dowry secured to England Tangier, the Seven islands of Bombay, trading privileges and two million Portuguese crowns (about £300,000).


1683William Penn, the English Quaker, signed a treaty with the Indian chiefs of the Lenni Lenade Tribe in an attempt to ensure peace in his new American colony, Pennsylvania.


1757British troops, commanded by Robert Clive, won the Battle of Plassey in Bengal - laying the foundations of the British Empire in India.


1894Birth of Edward, Duke of Windsor who was King Edward VIII from 20th January to 10th December 1936 before abdicating to marry twice-divorced Mrs. Wallis Warfield Simpson.


1939The Government of Eire declared membership of the IRA (Irish Republican Army) to be illegal.

 

1940The BBC’s Music While You Work programme was first broadcast on radio to brighten up the lives of munitions workers doing boring factory jobs.


1940World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler surveyed newly defeated Paris in German occupied France.


1942Germany's latest fighter, a Focke-Wulf Fw 190, was captured intact when it mistakenly landed at RAF Pembrey in Wales.


1951Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, missing diplomats, fled to the USSR as Russian spies before the British authorities had the opportunity to arrest them for spying. They 'surfaced' in Moscow in 1956.


1985A terrorist bomb aboard Air India flight 182 brought down a Boeing 747 off the coast of Ireland killing all 329 people aboard.


1986Brighton bomber Patrick Magee, found guilty of planting the bomb at the Grand Hotel, Brighton during the Conservative Party Conference in 1983, was jailed for a minimum of 35 years. He was released from prison in 1999 under the terms of the 'Good Friday Agreement', having served only 14 years.


1989The Home secretary announced that the West Midlands Serious Crime Squad had been disbanded in the wake of allegations of malpractice.

 

This was the answer to a Jeopardy clue last night.

 

JUNE 23rd: 2003 - "Wheels"

A man was charged with drunken driving in a motorized wheelchair after being found asleep off of a highway by police in Cairns, Australia. The man's blood alcohol level was six times the legal limit and he had told officers he was out to visit friends.
Officers in a patrol car noticed the man slumped in the stationary chair at about 10am on Friday on an exit lane near the tourist city of Cairns, told regional traffic Inspector Bob Waters. Cars were swerving to get around him, Waters said.
The officers breath-tested the 64-year-old man, who registered a blood alcohol reading of 0.301 - more than six times the legal driving limit. He was charged with operating a vehicle while drunk and ordered to report to court on July 7, where he faces a stiff fine if convicted.
"The vehicles that we normally hear about with drink driving are the family car, the truck, the motorbike," Waters said. "But there are also other classes of vehicles that are subject to drink-driving laws," including horses, bicycles, and motorised wheelchairs.
The man, whose name was not released, told police he was making a nine-mile (14km) trip from his home to a friend's place, Waters said.
"He placed himself in a very dangerous situation," he said.

 

JUNE 23rd: 1961 - "Antarctic Treaty System, comes into effect"
The Antarctic Treaty System comes into force to regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, "all land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude parallel". Antarctica is the Earth's only continent without a native human population.
The Antarctic Treaty consists of a number of articles agree by the 12 original signatories Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the USSR, the United Kingdom and the United States.

There are a number of other articles but those above are the most important combined with the mission statement "The main objective of the "Antarctic Treaty System" ATS is to ensure in the interests of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord."

 

JUNE 23rd: 1975 - "Alice falls"

During his 'Welcome To My Nightmare' tour in Vancouver, Canada, Alice Cooper fell from the stage and broke six ribs.
He received 15 stitches to his head, but only after returning to the stage swathed in bandages.
“I put my hand on my head and it felt like a baseball,” he told Associated Press, adding it was “such a silly thing.

 

Today in History June 24


1374 Dancing Plague In the German town of Aix-la-Chapelle, people suddenly began dancing, jumping, twirling, twitching, and hallucinating, all of it seemingly out of their control to stop, and some "dance" until they drop. The so-called "dancing plague" will spread to other cities and later be blamed on mass hysteria or bacterial infections.

Note: during the height of the plague 50 people a day died from dancing until they collapsed

1947 Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting. Kenneth spotted nine, shiny unidentified flying objects flying past Mount Rainier at speeds that he estimated at a minimum of 1,200 miles an hour

Note: Two weeks later on July 7, 1947 there was the famous UFO crash at Roswell New Mexico. leading to speculation that one of the saucers spotted by Arnold may crashed in the New Mexico Desert.

 

I admire and respect Alice Cooper for this display of perseverance and professionalism, but maybe it would've been wise for him to sit out after something that involved stitches and broken bones. I wouldn't have thought any less of him if he did.

 

JUNE 24th: 1965 - "A Scouse Spaniard "

John Lennon's second book of poetry and drawings, 'A Spaniard In The Works', was published.
The book consisted of nonsensical stories and drawings similar to the style of his 1964 book 'In His Own Write'.
A Spaniard in the Works - Wikipedia

 

JUNE 24th: 1997 - "Roswell Report "


June 24, 1997: US Air Forces releases 'Roswell Incident' report, debunking UFO theories Video - ABC News (go.com)
The United States Air Force released a report on the 1947 'Roswell Incident,' in which a flying disc had reportedly crashed near Roswell, New Mexico.
The report, in response to witnesses that claimed to see the military recovering alien bodies, stated that the bodies were actually life-sized dummies.
Roswell incident - Wikipedia

 

JUNE 24th: 2010 - "Prime Sheila"
Australia Gets First Female Prime Minister

Julia Gillard became Australia's first female prime minister after she replaced Kevin Rudd when he was removed in a surprising leadership vote in the Labor Party. Rudd had declined to be on the ballot after he suspected an embarrassing defeat would ensue.
Gillard vowed to revive the Labor Party and bring direction to a government she suspected had lost direction.
Julia Gillard - Wikipedia

 

JUNE 24th: 1901 - "Pablo's Premier Painting Performance"

The first major exhibition of Pablo Picasso's artwork opens at a gallery on Paris' rue Lafitte, a street known for its prestigious art galleries.
This week in art history: Picasso’s first major exhibition | by Thomas Stimson | Feral Horses | Blog | Medium

 

JUNE 24th: 1957 - "U.S.A Obscenity Ruling"

Lower courts in the U.S. had used the Hicklin standard sporadically since 1868, it was not until 1879, when prominent federal judge Samuel Blatchford upheld the obscenity conviction of D. M. Bennett using the Hicklin test, that the constitutionality of the Comstock Law became firmly established
However.
In 1957 The United States Supreme Court ruled (in Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476) that the Hicklin test was inappropriate.
Instead, the new Roth test for obscenity was: whether to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest - That obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees free speech and freedom of the press.
whether to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest

 

Boo!

 

JUNE 25th: 1876 - "Custer's Last Stand"

During the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Six hundred men of The U.S. Seventh Cavalry led by George Armstrong Custer, were caught off-guard by 3,000 native American Indians consisting mostly of Sioux and Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse, overseen by the Great 'Indian' (Native American) Chief 'Sitting Bull
The story has since been the subject of many Books, Films, disputed claims and strategic analysis - 'the legend lives on'.

Battle of the Little Bighorn - Wikipedia

 

JUNE 25th: 1950 - "Crossing the 38th Parallel"

The North Korean army attacked South Korea, crossing the 38th Parallel
Armed forces from communist North Korea smash into South Korea, setting off the Korean War which lasted until 1953.
The US becomes involved as part of the United Nations effort to help South Korea repel the invasion from the North and pushes back to North Korea beyond 38th parallel into North Korean territory and following US involvement China become involved on behalf of North Korea
The North Korean invaders hoped to take Seoul, the South Korean capital, as quickly as possible.
The majority of ROK forces were routed by North Korean troops.
Only one ROK division, the 6th, held its ground.

 

JUNE 25th: 1967 - "Beatles Worldwide Love"

200 million people saw The Beatles perform 'All You Need Is Love', live via satellite as part of the TV global link- up, 'Our World'.
Mick Jagger Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Graham Nash, Keith Moon and Gary Leeds provided backing vocals.
BBC World Service - Witness History, The Beatles and All You Need Is Love
When the Beatles Debuted ‘All You Need Is Love’ to the World (ultimateclassicrock.com)