I wonder if any 707s are still airworthy?
Also . . . with apologies to my neighbours to the south, GOD SAVE THE QUEEN. Long may she reign.
Also . . . with apologies to my neighbours to the south, GOD SAVE THE QUEEN. Long may she reign.
This Day In History
- Thread starter August West
- Start date
Never knew that Bob Hope was English.
December 21
1620 - The Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock.
1913 - First crossword puzzle is published. It appeared in the New York World.
1937 - Hi Ho. Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated film, premiers.
1620 - The Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock.
1913 - First crossword puzzle is published. It appeared in the New York World.
1937 - Hi Ho. Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated film, premiers.
December 22
1937 - The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York City.
1944 - The Vietnam People's Army is formed to resist Japanese occupation of Indo-China (Vietnam).
1990 - Lech Walesa is elected President of Poland.
Birthdays
1866 - Connie Mack, baseball player and manager.
1912 - Lady Bird Johnson, wife of President Lyndon Johnson.
1917 - Gene Rayburn, game show host.
1946 - Diane Sawyer, journalqist.
.
1937 - The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York City.
1944 - The Vietnam People's Army is formed to resist Japanese occupation of Indo-China (Vietnam).
1990 - Lech Walesa is elected President of Poland.
Birthdays
1866 - Connie Mack, baseball player and manager.
1912 - Lady Bird Johnson, wife of President Lyndon Johnson.
1917 - Gene Rayburn, game show host.
1946 - Diane Sawyer, journalqist.
.
1944 - On December 21, Germans under the command of General Heinrich Von Luttwitz had surrounded the Belgium town of Bastogne, cutting off the 101st Airborne, the 969 Artillery, and Combat Company B, 10th Armor Division. The Allied troops, under the command of General Arthur McAuliffe, had few medical supplies and little food, and were running short of ammunition.
On December 22, Luttwitz sent an ultimatum to McAuliff, demanding surrender or face annihilation. McAulff replied with just one word: Nuts! According to one story, the German who received the message didn't understand the reply and asked the American who delivered it what did it mean. The American told him it meant "Go to ****."
The Allies at Bastogne would hold on, and were relieved by the 3rd Army on December 26, 1944.
On December 22, Luttwitz sent an ultimatum to McAuliff, demanding surrender or face annihilation. McAulff replied with just one word: Nuts! According to one story, the German who received the message didn't understand the reply and asked the American who delivered it what did it mean. The American told him it meant "Go to ****."
The Allies at Bastogne would hold on, and were relieved by the 3rd Army on December 26, 1944.
Kilroy6644
Smoking a corn dog in aviators and a top hat
The military still uses 707 variants, like the E-3 Sentry and KC-135 Stratotanker.
Reading now: "Seven Roads to Hell: A Screaming Eagle at Bastogne."
Recommended.
AA
December 24
1865 - The Ku Klux Klan is formed.
1968 - Astronauts in Apollo 8 enter lunar orbit. They are the first humans to do so.
Birthdays
1807 - Kit Carson, general.
1905 - Howard Hughes, businessman, engineer, and pilot.
1910 - Fritz Leiber, author and poet.
1922 - Ava Gardner, actress.
1865 - The Ku Klux Klan is formed.
1968 - Astronauts in Apollo 8 enter lunar orbit. They are the first humans to do so.
Birthdays
1807 - Kit Carson, general.
1905 - Howard Hughes, businessman, engineer, and pilot.
1910 - Fritz Leiber, author and poet.
1922 - Ava Gardner, actress.
December 26
1898 - Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.
1941 - President Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.
1963 - The Beatles' I Want to Hold Your Hand and I Saw Her Standing There are released in the U.S.
1991 - The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union dissolves the Soviet Union, ending the Cold War.
Birthdays
1791 - Charles Babbage, English mathematician and engineer. He invented the Difference Engine.
en.m.wikipedia.org
1893 - Mao Zedong, Chinese politician and Chairman of the Communist Party of China.
1921 - Steve Allen, talk show host.
1898 - Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.
1941 - President Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.
1963 - The Beatles' I Want to Hold Your Hand and I Saw Her Standing There are released in the U.S.
1991 - The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union dissolves the Soviet Union, ending the Cold War.
Birthdays
1791 - Charles Babbage, English mathematician and engineer. He invented the Difference Engine.
Difference engine - Wikipedia
1893 - Mao Zedong, Chinese politician and Chairman of the Communist Party of China.
1921 - Steve Allen, talk show host.
December 26
1492 - First Spanish settlement in the New World, La Navidad, is founded by Christopher Columbus (modern Môle-Saint-Nicolas in Haiti)
1776 - At approximately 8 a.m. General George Washington’s Continental Army reaches the outskirts of Trenton, New Jersey, and descends upon the unsuspecting Hessian force guarding the city. Trenton’s 1,400 Hessian defenders were still groggy from the previous evening’s Christmas festivities and had underestimated the Patriot threat after months of decisive British victories throughout New York. The troops of the Continental Army quickly overwhelmed the German defenses, and by 9:30 a.m.Trenton was completely surrounded. This was Washington's first major victory.
1820 - Moses Austin meets with Spanish authorities in San Antonio to ask permission for 300 Anglo-American families to settle in Texas. The task of completing the arrangements for Austin’s Texas colony fell to his son, Stephen Fuller Austin. The younger Austin selected the lower reaches of Colorado River and Brazos River as the site for the colony, and the first colonists began arriving in December 1821. Over the next decade, Stephen Austin and other colonizers brought nearly 25,000 people into Texas.
1492 - First Spanish settlement in the New World, La Navidad, is founded by Christopher Columbus (modern Môle-Saint-Nicolas in Haiti)
1776 - At approximately 8 a.m. General George Washington’s Continental Army reaches the outskirts of Trenton, New Jersey, and descends upon the unsuspecting Hessian force guarding the city. Trenton’s 1,400 Hessian defenders were still groggy from the previous evening’s Christmas festivities and had underestimated the Patriot threat after months of decisive British victories throughout New York. The troops of the Continental Army quickly overwhelmed the German defenses, and by 9:30 a.m.Trenton was completely surrounded. This was Washington's first major victory.
1820 - Moses Austin meets with Spanish authorities in San Antonio to ask permission for 300 Anglo-American families to settle in Texas. The task of completing the arrangements for Austin’s Texas colony fell to his son, Stephen Fuller Austin. The younger Austin selected the lower reaches of Colorado River and Brazos River as the site for the colony, and the first colonists began arriving in December 1821. Over the next decade, Stephen Austin and other colonizers brought nearly 25,000 people into Texas.
December 27
1845. Caroline is in labor, and in pain. Childbirth at the best of times is an ordeal, and hers is no exception. But her husband, a doctor, has developed a new technique. He administers ether.
This isn't the first time Caroline's husband, Crawford Long, has used anesthesia for medical procedures. While a medical student, he saw traveling shows that used laughing gas and/or ether for intoxication, and had seen its effects, particular that those under it seemed to feel no pain. In 1842, he used ether for the first time in his practice, administering it on a cloth to a patient prior to removing a neck tumor.
The story of Crawford Long and anesthesia tends to revolve around the controversy over first use. William Morton demonstrated the use of anesthesia in Massachusetts in 1846, and I think had first published his results. Long didn't publish his results until 1849, after learning of Morton's claim of first use. But his contribution to obstetrics tends to be overlooked, even though it was controversial.
Yes, controversial. There was question of whether women should be administered anesthesia during childbirth. Queen Victoria's use of anesthesia during her eight birth in 1853 is thought to have laid the controversy to rest. Her doctor, John Snow (yes, that was his real name), used chloroform.
When he was a student at the University of Georgia, Crawford Long roomed with a fellow named Alexander Stephens. If the name's familiar, Stephens would become the Vice President of the Confederate State of America. Long also had a cousin named John Henry Holliday, better known by his nick-name Doc. Doc Holliday had a cleft lip, and Long is thought to have been the physician who operated on it.
1845. Caroline is in labor, and in pain. Childbirth at the best of times is an ordeal, and hers is no exception. But her husband, a doctor, has developed a new technique. He administers ether.
This isn't the first time Caroline's husband, Crawford Long, has used anesthesia for medical procedures. While a medical student, he saw traveling shows that used laughing gas and/or ether for intoxication, and had seen its effects, particular that those under it seemed to feel no pain. In 1842, he used ether for the first time in his practice, administering it on a cloth to a patient prior to removing a neck tumor.
The story of Crawford Long and anesthesia tends to revolve around the controversy over first use. William Morton demonstrated the use of anesthesia in Massachusetts in 1846, and I think had first published his results. Long didn't publish his results until 1849, after learning of Morton's claim of first use. But his contribution to obstetrics tends to be overlooked, even though it was controversial.
Yes, controversial. There was question of whether women should be administered anesthesia during childbirth. Queen Victoria's use of anesthesia during her eight birth in 1853 is thought to have laid the controversy to rest. Her doctor, John Snow (yes, that was his real name), used chloroform.
When he was a student at the University of Georgia, Crawford Long roomed with a fellow named Alexander Stephens. If the name's familiar, Stephens would become the Vice President of the Confederate State of America. Long also had a cousin named John Henry Holliday, better known by his nick-name Doc. Doc Holliday had a cleft lip, and Long is thought to have been the physician who operated on it.
December 28
169 B.C. - The menorah is lit in the Holy Temple of Jerusalem and burns for eight days without sufficient fuel to do so. It is the origin of Hanukkah.
en.m.wikipedia.org
Birthdays
1818 - Carl Fresenius, German analytical chemist.
1856 - Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the U.S.
1882 - Arthur Eddington, English astronomer, physicist and mathematician.
1903 - Earl Hines, pianist and bandleader.
1903 - John von Neumann, Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist.
en.m.wikipedia.org
1922 - Stan Lee, comic book writer and publisher.
1954 - Denzel Washington, actor.
169 B.C. - The menorah is lit in the Holy Temple of Jerusalem and burns for eight days without sufficient fuel to do so. It is the origin of Hanukkah.
Hanukkah - Wikipedia
Birthdays
1818 - Carl Fresenius, German analytical chemist.
1856 - Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the U.S.
1882 - Arthur Eddington, English astronomer, physicist and mathematician.
1903 - Earl Hines, pianist and bandleader.
1903 - John von Neumann, Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist.
John von Neumann - Wikipedia
1922 - Stan Lee, comic book writer and publisher.
1954 - Denzel Washington, actor.
December 30
1922 - The Union of Soviet Socialist Repuplics (USSR) is formed.
1936 - The United Auto Workers Union stages its first sitdown strike at several General Motors plants.
Birthdays
1914 - Bert Parks, actor, singer, TV personality, and Miss America beauty pageant host.
1928 - Bo Diddley, singer-songwriter and guitarist.
1931 - Skeeter Davis, singer-songwriter.
1934 - Del Shannon, singer-songwriter and guitarist.
1935 - Sandy Koufax, baseball pitcher.
1945 - Davy Jones, English singer-songwriter. One of the Monkees.
1957 - Matt Lauer, TV journalist and anchor.
1961 - Sean Hannity, radio and TV host.
1965 - Heidi Fleiss, madam and TV personality.
1975 - Tiger Woods, golfer.
.
1922 - The Union of Soviet Socialist Repuplics (USSR) is formed.
1936 - The United Auto Workers Union stages its first sitdown strike at several General Motors plants.
Birthdays
1914 - Bert Parks, actor, singer, TV personality, and Miss America beauty pageant host.
1928 - Bo Diddley, singer-songwriter and guitarist.
1931 - Skeeter Davis, singer-songwriter.
1934 - Del Shannon, singer-songwriter and guitarist.
1935 - Sandy Koufax, baseball pitcher.
1945 - Davy Jones, English singer-songwriter. One of the Monkees.
1957 - Matt Lauer, TV journalist and anchor.
1961 - Sean Hannity, radio and TV host.
1965 - Heidi Fleiss, madam and TV personality.
1975 - Tiger Woods, golfer.
.
December 31
1600 - Queen Elizabeth I of England grants a formal charter to the London merchants trading to the East Indies, hoping to break the Dutch monopoly of the spice trade in what is now Indonesia.
1775 - Patriot forces under Colonel Benedict Arnold and General Richard Montgomery attempt to capture the city of Quebec under cover of darkness and snowfall. They fail, and the effort costs Montgomery his life.
1972 - Roberto Clemente, future Hall of Fame baseball player, is killed along with four others when the cargo plane in which he is traveling crashes off the coast of Puerto Rico. Clemente was on his way to deliver relief supplies to Nicaragua following a devastating earthquake there a week earlier.
1985 - Former teen idol Rick Nelson dies in plane crash in De Kalb, Texas. He boarded a chartered DC-3 in Guntersville, Alabama, bound for a New Year’s Eve appearance in Dallas. Shortly before reaching Dallas, however, the cabin of Nelson’s plane apparently filled with smoke due to a fire of undetermined origin. While the two pilots of the plane would survive their attempted emergency landing in a field outside De Kalb, Texas, all seven passengers on board were killed.
1600 - Queen Elizabeth I of England grants a formal charter to the London merchants trading to the East Indies, hoping to break the Dutch monopoly of the spice trade in what is now Indonesia.
1775 - Patriot forces under Colonel Benedict Arnold and General Richard Montgomery attempt to capture the city of Quebec under cover of darkness and snowfall. They fail, and the effort costs Montgomery his life.
1972 - Roberto Clemente, future Hall of Fame baseball player, is killed along with four others when the cargo plane in which he is traveling crashes off the coast of Puerto Rico. Clemente was on his way to deliver relief supplies to Nicaragua following a devastating earthquake there a week earlier.
1985 - Former teen idol Rick Nelson dies in plane crash in De Kalb, Texas. He boarded a chartered DC-3 in Guntersville, Alabama, bound for a New Year’s Eve appearance in Dallas. Shortly before reaching Dallas, however, the cabin of Nelson’s plane apparently filled with smoke due to a fire of undetermined origin. While the two pilots of the plane would survive their attempted emergency landing in a field outside De Kalb, Texas, all seven passengers on board were killed.
January 1
2000 - Was tired after coming in late. No, it wasn't from a party, and no, alcohol wasn't involved. I had watched the new year come in at work, along with most of the other employees. The company had canceled all leave, and for once no majors storms were involved.
The reason was Y2K. By that point it had turned into hysteria. Yes, the computer programming shorthand of only using two digits for the year was an issue, but only where the calendar day was an issue. So that was a concern with things like billing software, and we had a time of use meter, which recorded usage based on date and time. Worries there were completely legitimate. But concern over Y2K crossed over into hysteria when it moved beyond date dependent functions. Marketing departments were quick to pick up on this, and so it was there was at least one surge surpressor advertised as Y2K Ready.
I ran into this headlong with the handheld meter reading system we had at the time. The company wouldn't certify it as Y2K Ready, but would be oh so happy to upgrade us to a new system that was. Being familiar with the data format, I kept asking what part was not compliant. After much hemming and hawing, the salesman admitted it was the third party communication program used to upload the readings to our billing system. The company that made it no longer supported that version, and thus it wasn't Y2K certified. I realized simple communication programs like that didn't give a hoot about the date. I advised the company to hold off until we really needed an upgrade, and the company agreed.
That was early in 1999. As January 1, 2000 drew closer, some in the company started to get nervous. "Are you sure this will work on January 1?" I was asked more than once. Yes, I was, and I had another third party program that would work if that one didn't. I wasn't worried. But things had started getting crazy. An electric power group started worrying that our vehicles wouldn't start after the year rolled over because the latest ones had computer modules. Never mind the modules didn't care about the date. Some began worrying about our line equipment, which operated based on load and none had so much as a microprocessor, anyway. It didn't help that nobody would guarantee that there would not be an interruption in power because there are all sorts of things not related to Y2K that could do that.
So it was we were at work, just in case. I was at the office because of the equipment there. We had people at our substations. And while I wasn't worried about the meter reading system, two or three were, because around October or November they had decided that maybe we should upgrade, only to find out there was so many utilities on the list that we couldn't before January. I didn't think my job was on the line, but got the impression they did.
In those days, The Weather Channel was actually devoted to weather and not reality shows, and so we had a TV in Operations for major weather events. On December 31, 1999, we had it tuned to live news (can't remember which news outlet). The minutes ticked down, then the seconds. The clock rolled over to January 1, 2000 - and nothing happened. Not even a flicker in the lights.
Those of us who tended to internal computer equipment started checking things.
"How about the meter reading system?" one of the Powers that Be said to me. So, with some of the Powers that Be looking over my shoulder, I checked out the meter reading system. I generated a file, loaded the communications program, and started to upload it.
It worked, of course. Almost everything was good. We did have an old DEC with softwear that wasn't Y2K compliant, and I set the year to January 1, 1972, and it was good to go (the day of the week was the critical thing there, not the year). 2000 was a leap year starting on Saturday, and so was 1972.
At that point we were sitting on our hands. We remained there as New Year's Day arrived for the rest of the continental US. Maybe a half hour after New Year's rang in on the West Coast, it sank in that no, technology wasn't going to come crashing down, and we could all go home. To date it was the easiest overtime I've ever made in my life.
Today is the 20th anniversary of the day the world didn't end, and already it's almost forgotten.
2000 - Was tired after coming in late. No, it wasn't from a party, and no, alcohol wasn't involved. I had watched the new year come in at work, along with most of the other employees. The company had canceled all leave, and for once no majors storms were involved.
The reason was Y2K. By that point it had turned into hysteria. Yes, the computer programming shorthand of only using two digits for the year was an issue, but only where the calendar day was an issue. So that was a concern with things like billing software, and we had a time of use meter, which recorded usage based on date and time. Worries there were completely legitimate. But concern over Y2K crossed over into hysteria when it moved beyond date dependent functions. Marketing departments were quick to pick up on this, and so it was there was at least one surge surpressor advertised as Y2K Ready.
I ran into this headlong with the handheld meter reading system we had at the time. The company wouldn't certify it as Y2K Ready, but would be oh so happy to upgrade us to a new system that was. Being familiar with the data format, I kept asking what part was not compliant. After much hemming and hawing, the salesman admitted it was the third party communication program used to upload the readings to our billing system. The company that made it no longer supported that version, and thus it wasn't Y2K certified. I realized simple communication programs like that didn't give a hoot about the date. I advised the company to hold off until we really needed an upgrade, and the company agreed.
That was early in 1999. As January 1, 2000 drew closer, some in the company started to get nervous. "Are you sure this will work on January 1?" I was asked more than once. Yes, I was, and I had another third party program that would work if that one didn't. I wasn't worried. But things had started getting crazy. An electric power group started worrying that our vehicles wouldn't start after the year rolled over because the latest ones had computer modules. Never mind the modules didn't care about the date. Some began worrying about our line equipment, which operated based on load and none had so much as a microprocessor, anyway. It didn't help that nobody would guarantee that there would not be an interruption in power because there are all sorts of things not related to Y2K that could do that.
So it was we were at work, just in case. I was at the office because of the equipment there. We had people at our substations. And while I wasn't worried about the meter reading system, two or three were, because around October or November they had decided that maybe we should upgrade, only to find out there was so many utilities on the list that we couldn't before January. I didn't think my job was on the line, but got the impression they did.
In those days, The Weather Channel was actually devoted to weather and not reality shows, and so we had a TV in Operations for major weather events. On December 31, 1999, we had it tuned to live news (can't remember which news outlet). The minutes ticked down, then the seconds. The clock rolled over to January 1, 2000 - and nothing happened. Not even a flicker in the lights.
Those of us who tended to internal computer equipment started checking things.
"How about the meter reading system?" one of the Powers that Be said to me. So, with some of the Powers that Be looking over my shoulder, I checked out the meter reading system. I generated a file, loaded the communications program, and started to upload it.
It worked, of course. Almost everything was good. We did have an old DEC with softwear that wasn't Y2K compliant, and I set the year to January 1, 1972, and it was good to go (the day of the week was the critical thing there, not the year). 2000 was a leap year starting on Saturday, and so was 1972.
At that point we were sitting on our hands. We remained there as New Year's Day arrived for the rest of the continental US. Maybe a half hour after New Year's rang in on the West Coast, it sank in that no, technology wasn't going to come crashing down, and we could all go home. To date it was the easiest overtime I've ever made in my life.
Today is the 20th anniversary of the day the world didn't end, and already it's almost forgotten.
We in the technical staff were sure our flight simulators would be good, but management wasn’t. For me, it was the easiest double time and a half, plus a $300 bonus, I ever made.
January 2
1959 - The Soviet Union launches Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the moon and orbit the Sun.
1967 - Ronald Reagan is sworn in as the Governor of California.
1974 - President Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum US speed limit to 55 mph to conserve gasoline.
Birthdays
1940 - Jim Bakker, televangelist.
1968 - Cuba Gooding, Jr., actor and producer.
1968 - Christy Turlington, model.
1959 - The Soviet Union launches Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the moon and orbit the Sun.
1967 - Ronald Reagan is sworn in as the Governor of California.
1974 - President Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum US speed limit to 55 mph to conserve gasoline.
Birthdays
1940 - Jim Bakker, televangelist.
1968 - Cuba Gooding, Jr., actor and producer.
1968 - Christy Turlington, model.
January 2
1492 - The kingdom of Granada falls to the Christian forces of King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella I, and the Moors lose their last foothold in Spain. Muhammad XII, the last Emir of Granada, surrenders his city ending both the Reconquista and centuries of Muslim rule in the Iberian peninsula
1788 - Georgia votes to ratify the U.S. Constitution, becoming the fourth state in the modern United States.
1492 - The kingdom of Granada falls to the Christian forces of King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella I, and the Moors lose their last foothold in Spain. Muhammad XII, the last Emir of Granada, surrenders his city ending both the Reconquista and centuries of Muslim rule in the Iberian peninsula
1788 - Georgia votes to ratify the U.S. Constitution, becoming the fourth state in the modern United States.
January 3
1431 - Less than two years after upending the English at Orleans and leading the French to a string of victories, the young warrior Joan of Arc — aged just 19, according to her testimony — was turned over to Bishop Pierre Cauchon. Days later, she would be put on trial for heresy. On May 30, 1431, she would be burned at the stake in the center of Rouen. Charred and disfigured, the English revealed her body to bystanders to prevent the spread of rumors Joan had survived, then set it alight twice more in order to cremate her remains. (As a heretic, the ashes would not be permitted in a cemetery, so they were eventually spread over the River Seine in Paris.)
1521 - Martin Luther is excommunicated by Pope Leo X from the Roman Catholic Church for failing to recant parts of his Ninety-five Theses which started the Protestant Reformation.
1868 - In an event that heralds the birth of modern Japan, patriotic samurai from Japan’s outlying domains join with anti-shogunate nobles in restoring the emperor to power after 700 years. The impetus for the coup was a fear by many Japanese that the nation’s feudal leaders were ill equipped to resist the threat of foreign domination. Soon after seizing power, the young Emperor Meiji and his ministers moved the royal court from Kyoto to Tokyo, dismantled feudalism, and enacted widespread reforms along Western models. The newly unified Japanese government also set off on a path of rapid industrialization and militarization, building Japan into a major world power by the early 20th century.
1924 - Two years after British archaeologist Howard Carter and his workmen discovered the tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen near Luxor, Egypt, they uncover the greatest treasure of the tomb – a stone sarcophagus containing a solid gold coffin that holds the mummy of Tutankhamen.
1431 - Less than two years after upending the English at Orleans and leading the French to a string of victories, the young warrior Joan of Arc — aged just 19, according to her testimony — was turned over to Bishop Pierre Cauchon. Days later, she would be put on trial for heresy. On May 30, 1431, she would be burned at the stake in the center of Rouen. Charred and disfigured, the English revealed her body to bystanders to prevent the spread of rumors Joan had survived, then set it alight twice more in order to cremate her remains. (As a heretic, the ashes would not be permitted in a cemetery, so they were eventually spread over the River Seine in Paris.)
1521 - Martin Luther is excommunicated by Pope Leo X from the Roman Catholic Church for failing to recant parts of his Ninety-five Theses which started the Protestant Reformation.
1868 - In an event that heralds the birth of modern Japan, patriotic samurai from Japan’s outlying domains join with anti-shogunate nobles in restoring the emperor to power after 700 years. The impetus for the coup was a fear by many Japanese that the nation’s feudal leaders were ill equipped to resist the threat of foreign domination. Soon after seizing power, the young Emperor Meiji and his ministers moved the royal court from Kyoto to Tokyo, dismantled feudalism, and enacted widespread reforms along Western models. The newly unified Japanese government also set off on a path of rapid industrialization and militarization, building Japan into a major world power by the early 20th century.
1924 - Two years after British archaeologist Howard Carter and his workmen discovered the tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen near Luxor, Egypt, they uncover the greatest treasure of the tomb – a stone sarcophagus containing a solid gold coffin that holds the mummy of Tutankhamen.
January 4
1884 - The Fabian Society is founded in London.
en.m.wikipedia.org
1912 - The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the Brtiish Empire by royal charter.
1958 - Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite launched by the Soviet Union, falls to Earth.
2009 - Spirit, a NASA Mars rover, lands on Mars.
Birthdays
1643 - Issac Newton, English mathematician and physicist.
1785 - Jacob Grimm, German physiologist and mythologist.
1935 - Floyd Patterson, boxer.
1884 - The Fabian Society is founded in London.
Fabian Society - Wikipedia
1912 - The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the Brtiish Empire by royal charter.
1958 - Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite launched by the Soviet Union, falls to Earth.
2009 - Spirit, a NASA Mars rover, lands on Mars.
Birthdays
1643 - Issac Newton, English mathematician and physicist.
1785 - Jacob Grimm, German physiologist and mythologist.
1935 - Floyd Patterson, boxer.
