Today in History

February 6th (1/2)
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1958: Manchester United & Munich Air Disaster
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Date: 6 February 1958
Survivors: 21
Number of deaths: 23
Location: Former Munich-Riem Airport
Injuries: 19
Passengers: 38
Summary: Take-off failure, slush on the runway



Munich air disaster - Wikipedia

 

February 6th (2/2)
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The eight players who perished were:
Geoff Bent (aged 25),
Roger Byrne (28),
Eddie Colman (21),
Mark Jones (24),
David Pegg (22),
Tommy Taylor (26)
Liam Whelan (22).
and
Duncan Edwards (21),
- Edwards was considered by many to be the finest player of his generation, despite early hopes, he died 15 days after the accident from his injuries.


Munich Air Disaster was the darkest day in Manchester United history

 

February 7th:

1882
Last bare knuckle champion John L. Sullivan KOs Paddy Ryan



February 7, 1882: Sullivan vs Ryan (thefightcity.com)

 

February 7th:

1914 Charlie Chaplin debuts silent film character The Tramp



in "Kid Auto Races at Venice"

Kid Auto Races at Venice - Wikipedia

 

February 8th:
1587 Mary, Queen of Scots, is beheaded


Found guilty of treason and was executed on 8 February 1587 at Fotheringhay Castle. The executioner held up her severed head and shouted “God save the Queen”.

Elizabeth had always believed that executing Mary would lead to bigger problems, such as an international backlash, which is why she held off executing her for so long.

When Mary was found guilty of treason, Elizabeth hesitated to sign her death warrant.
When she eventually did sign, she refused to submit it, ---- but her secretary secretly took it.
When Elizabeth found out, she was furious and he was put in the Tower for 18 months.
Elizabeth wrote to King James apologising for the death of his mother, Mary.

As it turned out the consequences were not as serious as Elizabeth had feared:

• France - fearing the might of Spain, they wanted to maintain their alliance with England.
• Spain - were already at war with England due to the action of the ‘Sea Dogs’ and events in the Netherlands.
• Scotland - King James VI was on the throne of Scotland, he was Elizabeth’s heir and so he took no action.
• EnglishCatholics - remained loyal to Elizabeth.

Mary is executed - Challenges to Elizabeth's rule - Edexcel - GCSE History Revision - Edexcel - BBC Bitesize

 

February 9th:

• 1979 "WARRIORS ... come out to play"

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Walter Hill's drama film "The Warriors" is released in the United States, sparking gang violence at many theaters and a halt to the film's marketing campaign

The Warriors (film) - Wikipedia

 

February 10th

• 1535 Anabaptists ran naked through Amsterdam streets

Anabaptists ran naked through the streets of Amsterdam. This non-violent protest came about, it seems, because they were fed up of there being a dominant religion that was in bed with the wealthy and the city government and yet were not caring for the poor in the way the Anabaptists felt the Bible directed Jesus-followers to.
The group taught that all should share, and as unemployment was high and poverty rampant it’s no wonder the poor were interested. The rich were not of course, they were “not amused”, and so it was the lower classes in particular who were attracted to the teachings of the anabaptists.



It was a time when followers of different faiths and doctrines were considered heretics but, as long as they didn’t cause a fuss they were left alone.
However on this day in 1535 forty anabaptists did cause a fuss and in act of non-violent protest ran naked through the streets to the town hall. ‘
A dozen Anabaptists run stark naked through the streets of Amsterdam. Such strange actions, usually by Melchoirite Anabaptists, led to the group's ridicule by Protestants and Catholics alike.

The next day the city officials had them massacred. They were, without exception all killed. Their hearts were cut out of their bodies in the middle of Dam square, their bodies were quartered and hung. Their heads were stuck on poles and placed at the entries to the city gates.

• The message was don’t you dare rise up against catholicism’.

Former Catholic priest Menno Simons (1496-1561) was finally able to bring the group into a nonresistant, discipled, and disciplined vision

 

February 10th

1939 "Stagecoach"
Western film directed by John Ford, starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne, premieres in Miami



Stagecoach (1939 film) - Wikipedia

 

February 10th

• 1962 USSR swaps US Power for Abel

American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers is released by the Soviets in exchange for Soviet Colonel Rudolf Abel, a senior KGB spy who was caught in the United States five years earlier.



Gary Powers: The U-2 spy pilot the US did not love - BBC News

 

February 11th
*
55 Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus,



Heir to the Roman Emperorship, dies under mysterious circumstances in Rome, this clears the way for Nero to become Emperor.
The sudden death of Britannicus shortly before his fourteenth birthday is reported by all extant sources as being the result of poisoning on Nero's orders—as Claudius' natural son, he represented a threat to Nero's claim to the throne

Britannicus - Wikipedia

 

February 11th

• 1929 Vatican City, the world's smallest country, is made an enclave of Rome

. .

.. Vatican City is the home to the seat of authority for the Catholic Church, called the Holy See. It is a monarchy, and the pope, who is the head of the Catholic Church, has complete authority.

 

February 11th
*
YALTA CONFERENCE:
1945 (Dates: 4 Feb 1945 – 11 Feb 1945)
Declaration of Liberated Europe signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin after the Yalta Conference



Yalta Conference - Wikipedia

 

February 11th
*
1990 Nelson Mandela
(OMP SBG SBS CLS DMG MMS MMB)

• Released after 27 years imprisonment in South Africa

Nelson Mandela - Wikipedia

 

Lincoln
president of United States

BORN
February 12, 1809
near Hodgenville, Kentucky

DIED
April 15, 1865 (aged 56)
Washington, D.C., United States

 

February 12th
*
1554 Queen of England for nine days, Lady Jane Grey is executed for treason



Lady Jane Grey - Wikipedia

 

February 13th
*
1917 Dutch exotic dancer Mata Hari



Mata Hari was arrested in her room at the Hotel Elysée Palace on the Champs Elysées in Paris.
She was put on trial on 24 July, accused of spying for Germany, and consequently causing the deaths of at least 50,000 soldiers.

Mata Hari - Wikipedia

 

February 13th:
*
2000 = The last original "Peanuts" comic strip



Schulz's final original Peanuts comic strip appeared in Sunday papers on February 13, 2000.
It featured Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and a message from the man who brought the characters to life for almost 50 years.
******
It appears in newspapers one day after Charles M. Schulz dies

= CartoonistCharles M. Schulz

 

February 15th:
*
399 BC Philosopher Socrates is sentenced to death


*****Judged by the city of Athens for corrupting the minds of the youth of the city and for impiety

Trial of Socrates - Wikipedia

 

February 15th

• 1965 Red Maple Leaf Flag becomes the official flag of Canada

Out of three choices, the maple leaf design by George Stanley, based on the flag of the Royal Military College of Canada, was selected.
The flag made its first official appearance on February 15, 1965; the date is now celebrated annually as National Flag of Canada Day.

 

February 15th

• 1998 The Angel of the North,

a large-scale steel sculpture 20 m (66 ft) tall by Antony Gormley is installed at Gateshead, northern England

It is soon commandeered by Newcastle United F.C. Fans ...