Memorial Day – A Reflection

Memorial Day is a day set aside for reflection, a day meant for us to honor our fallen dead.

The meaning of this day has changed a great deal since it was founded. At its inception, Memorial Day was set aside to honor the African-American soldiers who fought and died in the Civil War, both soldiers who were born-free, as well as those who had been enslaved; men and women, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters who gave everything they had to keep the United States of America whole, and to make it free.

Memorial Day was established to honor those who died for an America which they only dreamed could exist; they died for these United States, our brave soldiers died for a vision of America they could only prayed for, and America that was not yet real. They got something different than they hoped for, they got this reality, an America that is still in a state of becoming, one that is more or less just, depending on where you are born, what color your skin is, what class you belong to…or who is in charge of enforcing the law.

Those men and women died for us, for good or ill, they died for us; they died for promises that went un-realized, they died for a dream deferred, as our poet Langston Hughes wrote of the in his poem Harlem[i]:

What happens to a dream deferred?

 

Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore—

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over—

like a syrupy sweet?

 

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

 

Or does it explode?

 

We have yet to repay those good people, we have yet to fulfill their hopes for the America they dreamt of; America, daughter of liberty, America the true and good, America the arbiter of justice, an America that could be if we only pursued the dream of her and exercise the will to make it so.

Now…we honor our dead on this day; our soldiers and sailors and airmen, our police and firefighters; we honor them.

We are too frequently called upon to honor children, children who stand in the way of gunfire to protect their classmates, who paid for their compassion and bravery with their lives…we honor them and their sacrifice, all of them who died upholding our most cherished values, we honor them in recognition of the fact that we are one people descended from many nationalities and ethnicities, and that we each come into the world with the absolute right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; all other rights are subordinate to these. 

This year we are called upon to honor all citizens who have spent their lives in public service; we honor our teachers and the good works of our ordinary citizens, of our friends and neighbors, we honor the sacrifice of everyone, known and unknown and those yet to come.

On this day of all days, do not make the mistake of thinking that it is our service women and men who keep us free; it has been at least sixty years since America faced an “existential” threat from a foreign power…we are not kept free through armed conflict.

We do not face such an existential threat from beyond our shores and borders right now; not from Iran, not from North Korea, not from Russia, not from China or anywhere. The real threat we face is from ourselves, we face an existential threat brought about by ignorance, short-sightedness and greed…we stand in our own way; we, and we alone can protect us from ourselves. Our apathy and selfishness, our prejudice and hatred, our gluttony and cowardice, these are the most dangerous forces aligned against us, these are the forces that threaten our freedom. They are more deadly than any worldly power, these are the forces which have gone unchecked by our elected representatives, even encouraged by our president and his criminal regime.

It is shameful and terrifying. 

To honor our fallen dead, you must do your part to keep us free. You must participate in our democracy: vote, stay informed, organize, build alliances and collaborate.

Our collective failure as citizens of the Unites States has allowed a criminal, autocratic, demagogue to hold power in the White House, allowed the Supreme Court to state that corporations are to be treated as people, and money regarded as free speech, while those same justices have told ordinary American’s that their right to free speech does not include the right to be heard, and that our right to vote does not include the guarantee that our votes will be counted.

This rank cynicism is more dangerous to our lives and freedom than any rag-tag group of militants half way around the world, more dangerous than immigrants looking for a better life on our side of the border we share, more dangerous than people who are only seeking the same thing as my own forebears did when they came here a little over a hundred years ago….a better life, a chance to lift themselves out of poverty.

Honor our fallen dead. Not with cards and flowers and barbeques (but do those things because they are good), honor them by standing up to racism and bigotry, to religious zealotry and corporate greed, to scientific ignorance and xenophobia, to corruption in our public officials in our highest offices.

Honor them by participating in public discourse. Do not lose heart, and do not give up. Stand up and be counted!

We can rebuild America and reform our institutions, and we must for the sake of all Americans and all future generations humans who may be subject to our power...we must take responsibility for our lives and freedom or we will have nothing to protect.

Honor the fallen, in this way…participate!

Jay P. Botten, Veteran, U.S.N., Hospital Corps, 1990 – 1994

 

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[i] Langston Hughes, "Harlem" from The Collected Works of Langston Hughes. Copyright © 2002 by Langston Hughes. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates, Inc.

Observation - May 11th, 2026, Monday

my shoes are wet

black canvass with rubber soles

 

I stood in the gravel watering shrubs

newly planted with thirsty roots

 

the sound of water

hissing from the hose

counting

one to sixty in my head

waving the nozzle over the garden bed

 

Mary Stewart – Author, Hero

I read my first book by Mary Stewart in the summer between fifth and sixth grade, it was the first book in her Merlin trilogy, The Crystal Cave, and it opened my eyes to many things in the realm of mythology, among them was the notion that there were actual historical antecedents for Camelot and King Arthur, subjects that I had fascinated me for a few years by the time I had turned eleven, but which I thought of as figures of myth and legend, like Hercules, Perseus and Theseus whose adventures were fantastical and magical to the point of being unreal.

Mary Stewart wrote her series of Arthurian romance from the perspective of Merlin; she set the time in the fifth century CE, when Roman influence was waning in the British Isles and the Christians among them were in the minority, her books linked the rise of Arthur to a Roman dynasty about one hundred and fifty years before Patrick, left England for Ireland.

She wrote about the Roman Army in which Arthur’s father Uther, and his uncle Vortigern, bore rank. Through her depiction of the Roman army she introduced me to the mystery cult of Mithras, who was known throughout Gaul as Sol Invictus. She wrote about the Celtic people of Gallia and she wrote about the Druids; she wrote about their myths and peeled away the most fantastical elements, she put human beings at the center of the narrative, and left me to wonder if what was left…even the traces of magic…if it might not be true.

The characters in her chronicle: Vortigern and Uther Pendragon, Merlin, Igraine and Arthur were presented with a kind of grittiness that made me believe in them. They were already mythic figures in my imagination, but through her narrative they became real…I was connected to them.

Through her discussion of Mithraism I came to be interested in the real history of Christianity, ultimately to become a theologian, specializing in the history and philosophy of religion. Long before I began my formal studies in those fields I became a researcher and began to question everything that I had been told was true about the origins of the Church.

I cannot thank Mary Stewart enough for this; if my interest in those subjects had not been peaked by her authorship, I would not be the person I am today, and for that she is a hero of mine.

She had an oversized influence on my life, though I did not read much of her work beyond the Merlin Trilogy. I had begun my reading on Arthur a few years before I read her, but after her I was on a path, I read everything I could get my hands on concerning Arthur, including Mallory’s, Le Morte d’Arthur, and all of the variations of that text which flowed from it.

From Mary Stewart I learned about many other things, I discovered the real presence of Arthurian myth in European culture, how it served as a beacon of hope, providing my ancestors with a set or mores and a code of conduct that instigated and promoted the chivalric ideal, supported the notion of the common-wheel, which is the foundation of the legal system that has done more to set people free from the tyranny of monarchs than any other law code in the history of the world. At the same time I learned how the Arthurian lore becoming a vehicle for subverting the hegemonic authority of the Catholic Church in western Europe, with the Albigensian Heresies, and other counter cultural movements such as the around the turn of the tenth century, such as the Cathars and later the Beghards and Beguines.

Mary Stewart died on this day in 2014, at the age of 97 she ascended into heaven.

 

Earth Day is my Birthday

All of our eggs are in one basket, I have said it before…we live here, all of us-all-together and we have no place else to go.

The world is a big place and it can take a lot of damage, but the ecosystems we depend on are specialized and fragile. The world itself will survive many things that we as individuals in our microspheres and biomes, collectively cannot.

We are in peril, and it has never been more obvious than right now.

We are responsible for the world’s care; it is a sacred obligation. We have been charged with its care by our holy-books, in sacred-texts throughout the earth, and more importantly, by the aegis of common sense, because we live together on this common-wheel; we are responsible for and to each other and all future generations of humans who may yet come to be.

The care of the world is a categorical-imperative; if we do not fulfill our obligation, Mother-Earth may just shrug us off, or shrug just enough that a calamity will ensue, sufficient to alter our future destiny forever, changing our cultures, our languages, even our DNA.

Listen!

There are natural disasters pending, they are built into the structure of the planet, into the thinness of the mantle, intersecting with heat emanating from deep within our planet’s core. There are massive volcanoes and there is continental drift; the geological forces at work just below our feet could easily destroy us all in the space of a few heart beats…

If we allow it.

There are calamities heading our way from outer-space, there are celestial-bodies soaring through the ether already on a collision course with us. There are asteroids and comments that we will strike the Earth, if we are unable to work together to change their course, these certain eventualities will overwhelm us; they are baked in…these impending disasters are the real existential threats we face as human beings, not the petty wars and disagreements we engage in by choice..

Note well: foreseeable events represent opportunities for the advancement of science and the unification of humanity; given enough time it is possible that we could harness the power of volcanoes and turn their destructive energies to the benefit of humankind, or move the near Earth objects from our path and capture them for their mineral wealth.

We need time, but more than that we need a willingness to understand the challenges we face, if we are to rise to meet them.

We face other threats right now, immediate threats, viral pandemics and the social disasters of our own making.

We are changing the climate, the planet is warming

Our oceans are becoming acidic, we are changing their salinity.

We are filling our atmosphere with toxins.

Our glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising

We are polluting our freshwater lakes, rivers, and streams.

Our topsoil is eroding, our forests are denuded and our coral reefs are bleaching.

We are consuming a diet of plastics.

Our stewardship is failing.

We are divided, against each other…by greed which drives a short sighted political mindset that seeks to and succeeds at turning people against their long-term interests.

Politicians and their wealthy patrons, silence and undermine our scientists, cast doubt on any field of inquiry which might lead to a curtailment of their industrial enterprises, and they do it for short-term profits.

They treat the Earth and all of our resources like a grab-bag full of goodies for them to plunder, like children with a stick whacking at a piñata.

We are failing.

It is Earth Day 2026, and all of our eggs are in one basket, the basket is fragile and there is no other.

Earth Day is re-birthday…let us remember.

 

 

Observation - April 11th, 2026, Saturday

it is gray and raining

the concrete walk smells like spring

 

a long roll of thunder shakes the widows

the bass wave pushes through my chest

 

the flinty scent of weather drifts through the room

electrostatic in the air

It happened on March 31st

On this day in the year 1084 of the common era (CE) the Anti-pope Clement crowns the German king, Hendrik IV, as the holy Roman emperor; sixty-two years later, at the council of Vézelay Bernard of Clairvaux preaches a sermon in a field, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade; Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine were present and heed the call. One hundred and forty-six years after that, in 1492 CE, Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon issue the Alhambra Decree expelling Jews from their kingdoms; three years later, pope Alexander VI forms the anti-French alliance with the League of Venice, who’s members were the archduke of Austria Maximilian I, Ferdinand II of Aragon, Ludovico Sforza the duke of Milan, and the Republic of Venice. Twenty-six years after that, in 1521 CE, the first Mass is held in the Philippines, generally believed to be on the Island of Limasawa in the Archipelago of St Lazarus by Ferdinand Magellan and fifty of his men…they take possession of the island the same day; one hundred and thirty-six years later, the English Parliament presents the Humble Petition and Advice to the lord protector Oliver Cromwell, they performatively offer him the crown and he performatively declines. Twenty-six years after that, in 1683 CE, the so-called holy Roman emperor, Leopold I and king John III Sobieski of Poland sign a covenant against the Turkish Empire and for the so-called Holy League; thirty four years later, Benjamin Hoadly, the Bishop of Bangor, provokes the Bangorian Controversy with his sermon on The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ. One hundred and five years after that, in 1822 CE, the population of the Greek island of Chios are massacred by soldiers of the Ottoman Empire following an attempted rebellion attempt…famously depicted by Eugène Delacroix, oil on canvas; eighty-three years later, emperor Wilhelm II of Germany visits Tangier in Morocco to proclaim Germany's support of Moroccan independence and equal opportunity for all powers to trade there. Two years after that, in 1907 CE, the Romanian Army puts down the Moldavian farmers' revolt; two years later, in a diplomatic note to Austrian-Hungarian empire, Serbia recognizes the Bosnian annexation, and promises to maintain friendly relations.

On this day in the year 1651 CE, the great earthquake at Cuzco, Peru takes place; three hundred and thirty-two years later, the Popayán Earthquake (5.5 Mw Depth) takes place in Colombia, killing two hundred sixty-seven people, injuring some seven thousand five-hundred more. Twenty-nine years after that, in 2012 CE, floods in Fiji kill two people and force thousands to evacuate; one year later, eleven people are killed in flooding at Port Louis, Mauritius. Four years after that, in 2017 CE, mudslides caused by heavy rains sweep through Mocoa, Colombia killing more than two hundred people; six years later, a large storm system crosses the middle of the continental United States (U.S.), from Mississippi and Alabama to Illinois and Wisconsin, unleashing numerous tornadoes, leaving at least thirty two people dead.

On this day in 1736 CE. Bellevue Hospital is founded in a New York City almshouse, becoming the first public hospital in the U.S..

In 1770 CE, Immanuel Kant is appointed Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at the University of Königsberg, Prussia (Kaliningrad in the modern Russian Federation).

In 1796 CE, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's dramatic play "Egmont" premieres in Weimar (Germany); one hundred and ten years later, George Bernard Shaw's 1898 play "Caesar and Cleopatra" premieres in a German version in Berlin, German Empire, twenty-four years after that, in 1930 CE, the Motion Pictures Production Code is instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in film for the next four decades, nine years later, The Hound of Baskervilles, is released, it is the first of fourteen films starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. Six years after that, in 1945 CE Tennessee Williams' stage drama, The Glass Menagerie, premieres in New York, New York; four years later, William Grant Still's opera, Troubled Island with libretto by Langston Hughes and Verna Arvey, premieres at the New York City Opera in New York. It is the first grand opera composed by an African American to be produced by a major company. Eight years later, in 1957 CE, Rodgers & Hammerstein's live television musical Cinderella, starring Julie Andrews, premieres on CBS-TV; three years later, Gore Vidal's play, Best Man, premieres in New York, New York…Melvyn Douglas, wins the Tony award for Best Actor, for his performance. Twenty-one years after that, in 1981 CE, at the 53rd Academy Awards, Ordinary People wins Best Picture; two years later, Monty Python's, The Meaning of Life is released in the U.S.; nine years later, Robert Wilson, Tom Waits and William S. Burroughs' avant garde opera, The Black Rider, premieres at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg, Germany. One year after that, in 1991 CE, former Partridge Family star, Danny Bonaduce attacks a transvestite prostitute in Phoenix, Arizona; eight years later, 10 Things I Hate About You, a modern adaptation of Shakespeare's, The Taming of the Shrew, starring Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger, is released

In 1814 CE, forces allied against Napoleon capture Paris; seventy-five years later, the Eiffel Tower officially opens for dignitaries at an award ceremony in Paris, France, designed by Gustave Eiffel and built for the Exposition Universelle, at 300 meters high it held the record for the tallest man-made structure for the next four decades. Thirty-four years after that, in 1923 CE, occupying French soldiers fire on workers when they are surrounded at the Krupp auto factory in Essen, Germany; six people die and dozens are wounded; one hundred and two years later, France's far-right leader Marine Le Pen is found guilty of the embezzlement of European Union (E.U.) funds; she is barred from running for office for five years.

In 1850 CE the population of the United States reaches 23,191,876, in 2025 the U.S. Census bureau the population is 341,800,000. The black population was 3,638,808, approximately 15.7%, today the black population is roughly 50 million and about 14.4% of the whole…listen folks the population is growing at rate of 0.5%; eighty-three years later.

In 1854 CE the Treaty of Kanagawa is signed when Commodore Perry forces Japan to open its ports to U.S. trade; twenty-three years later, a family with samurai antecedents who responded to the Saigo army in Ōita Nakatsu, rebels.

In 1861 CE the treasonous Confederacy takes over U.C. mint at New Orleans, Louisianna.

In 1870 CE Thomas Mundy Peterson of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, becomes the first African American to vote in the U.S. under provisions of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, casting his vote in a local election concerning the township’s charter.

In 1880 CE the town of Wabash, Indianna becomes the first completely illuminated by electric lighting (Wabash, Indiana); fifty-two years later, Ford publicly unveils its V-8 engine.

In 1900 CE at “Surprise of Sanna’s Post" in the Second Boer War, one hundred and fifty troops under Brigadier General Robert Broadwood are killed.

In 1903 CE Richard Pearse flies a monoplane several hundred yards in New Zealand, months before the Wright brother’s flew at Kitty Hawk; eighteen years later, the Royal Australian Air Force is formed. Three years after that, in 1924 CE, at Croydon Airport, London, the Imperial Airways is established in Britain; forty-two years later, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) launches Luna 10…the first lunar orbiter. Four years after that, in 1970 CE, Explorer 1 re-enters the Earth's atmosphere after 12 years in orbit; eight years later, the U.S.S.R. launches the Kosmos 1000 navigational satellite. Eighteen years after that, in 1996 CE, Space Shuttle STS 76 (Atlantis 16), lands; twenty-nine years later, the SpaceX mission Fram2 launches four people aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, becoming the first crewed spaceflight to enter a polar retrograde orbit.

In 1906 CE the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States is founded to set rules in amateur sports; it will later become the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N.C.A.A.); seventeen years later, the first dance marathon takes place in New York, New York; Alma Cummings sets the record for dancing twenty-seven hours with six different partners.

In 1909 CE, Gustav Mahler conducts the New York Philharmonic for the first time; forty years later, RCA Victor of Camden, New Jersey, introduces the 45 RPM record player, along with the 7-inch single, a vinyl disc more durable than the 78 RPM shellac; the initial releases include: Eddy Arnold's, Texarkana Baby and Spade Cooley's, Spanish Fandango; Arthur Crudup's, Crudup's After Hours and Saul Meisel's, A Klein Melamedl. Twenty-eight years after that, in 1967 CE, Jimi Hendrix burns his guitar (and his fingers) at the Astoria theatre in Finsbury Park, London; two years later, George Harrison and Pattie Boyd are fined £250 each for possession of illegal drugs. Three years after that, in 1972 CE, the Official Beatles Fan Club closes down; six years later, Wings release the album, London Town. Four years after that, in 1982 CE, The Doobie Brothers split up; twenty-seven years later, the single Boom Boom Pow is released by The Black Eyed Peas, it later wins the Grammy Award for Best Music Video, and is named the Billboard Song of the Year. Ten years after that, in 2019 CE, Elton John joins George Clooney's call to boycott hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei after Brunei plans new anti-gay laws to make homosexual sex punishable by death; on that same day, rapper and activist Nipsey Hussle is fatally shot outside his clothing store in Los Angeles, California. Two years after that, in 2021 CE, Paul Simon sells his entire songwriting catalog of over four hundred songs to Sony Music for an undisclosed sum.

In 1909 CE the National Baseball Commission rules that players who jump contracts are to be suspended for five years, and players who join “outlaw” organizations are to be suspended for three years; fifty-nine years later, Seattle's American League (AL) club is dubbed the Pilots. Two years after that, in 1970 CE, a Federal bankruptcy court allows the Seattle Pilots to be sold to Milwaukee; twenty-four years later, the walkway from Cleveland's Tower City to Jacobs Field officially opens. One year after that, in 1995 CE, Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor, while serving as a federal judge on U.S. District Court in New York, New York issues an injunction against Major League Baseball (MLB) owners in a move that effectively ends two hundred and thirty-two day strike; one year later, for the first time in MLB history, the regular season opens in March with the Seattle Mariners beating the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 in twelve innings at the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington. Two years after that, in 1998 CE, the expansion clubs, Tampa Bay and Arizona both suffer losses in their MLB debuts; the Devil Rays lose, 11-6 to the Detroit Tigers and the Diamondbacks fall, 9-2 to the Colorado Rockies; on this same day, Milwaukee Brewers who became the first team since the inception of the AL to switch leagues, and lose their first National League (NL) game, 2-1 to the Braves in Atlanta, Georgia. Five years after that, in 2003 CE, the Cincinnati Reds open their new home, “The Great American Ball Park,” with a 10-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates…former President George H. W. Bush throws the first ceremonial pitch; one year later, with a 12-1 defeat of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in Tokyo, the New York Yankees starter Kevin Brown becomes only the second pitcher in MLB history to have beaten all 30 teams.

In 1916 CE the Dutch government announces its intention to end all military engagements; one year later, the Danish West Indies are officially ceded to the United States for twenty-five million dollars and were subsequently renamed the Virgin Islands. Five years after that, in 1922 CE, prince Hendrik of the Netherlands opens the Trade Fair building in Amsterdam.

In 1918 CE, daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States.

In 1920 CE the British Parliament accepts the Government of Ireland Act, known as the Fourth Home Rule Bill; one year later British coal miners go on strike. Three years after that, in 1924 CE, the London public transport strike ends; forty-four years later, following an Orange Order parade, intense riots erupt on the Springfield Road in Belfast; the violence lasts for three days, and the British Army uses CS gas for the first time against Irish protesters…in large quantities. Eleven years after that, in 1979 CE, the last British soldier leaves the Maltese Islands, while Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien); eleven years later, major riots occur in London and other British towns in protest against the new Community Charge and poll tax laws.

In 1926 CE the German Special Court of Justice for State Security disbands; thirteen years later Britain & France agree to support Poland if the country is invaded by Germany…this did not happen. Four years after that, in 1943 CE, the U.S. errantly bombs Rotterdam, killing three hundred and twenty-six people; one year later, Hungary orders all Jews to wear yellow stars. One year after that, in 1945 CE, the 3rd Algerian division crosses the Rhine; on this same day Sicherheitsdienst murders ten political prisoners in Zutphen. Meanwhile, on this same day in 1945 CE, on the other side of the world, U.S. artillery lands on Keise Shima and begins firing on the Island of Okinawa.

In 1932 CE, one hundred and fifty wild swans die in Niagara Falls on the border of New York State and the Canadian Province of Ontario.

In 1933 CE, the U.S. Congress authorizes the Civilian Conservation Corps; fifteen years later, the U.S. Congress passes the Marshall Aid Act to rehabilitate war-torn Europe. Five years after that, in 1953 CE, the U.S. Department of Health, Education & Welfare is established.

In 1940 CE, Karelo-Finnlandia becomes the twelfth republic to join the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.); fourteen years later, the U.S.S.R. offers to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (N.A.T.O.), a alliance of democratic nations organized to counter Soviet aggression. Thirty-seven years after that, the Soviet Republic of Georgia votes on whether to remain in the Soviet Union and endorses independence, whereupon the Warsaw Pact, a treaty alliance aimed at countering N.A.T.O. influence, dissolves.

In 1946 CE the first election is held in Greece after World War II.

In 1949 CE, Newfoundland becomes Canada's tenth province; eleven years later, First Nations people are granted the right to vote in Canada, without giving up their Indian status, in repeal of part of Canada Elections Act.

In 1951 CE a column of U.S. tanks exceed the 38^th Latitude, in a United Nations (U.N.) police action, seen as an invasion of People’s Republic of North Korea.

In 1955 a Merger of Chase National Bank, the third largest bank in the world, and Bank of Manhattan, the fifteenth largest bank in the world, forming the Chase Manhattan Bank.

In 1958 CE the U.S. Navy forms its atomic submarine division; fourteen years later marks the final day of the rum-ration in the Royal Canadian Navy.

In 1958 CE the U.S.S.R. suspends nuclear weapons tests, and urges the United States and the United Kingdom to do same; twenty-six years later, the U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

In 1963 CE the city of Los Angeles, California ends its streetcar service after ninety years in operation.

In 1965 CE, an Iberia Airlines Convair 440 crashes into the sea on approach to Tangier killing forty-seven people, leaving four survivors; twenty-one years later, a Mexicana Airlines Boeing 727 crashes, killing one hundred and sixty-seven people. Three years after that, in 1989 CE, future president of the United States, Donald Trump purchases Eastern Airlines' Northeast Shuttle and bankrupts it almost immediately.

In 1966 CE, twenty-five thousand antiwar demonstrators march in New York, New York; two years later, U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson announces in an address to the nation that he will not seek re-election; two years later Johnson authorizes a troop surge in Vietnam, bringing the total number of U.S. soldiers, sailors and Marines deployed in the “conflict” to a peak of 549,500. Three years after that, 1971 CE, William Calley is sentenced to life for his roll in the Mi Lai Massacre, Vietnam.

In 1969 CE the NY Times reviews Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, stating: "you'll either love it, or push it back in the science-fiction corner;" nineteen years later, the Pulitzer Prize is awarded to Toni Morrison for her novel, Beloved.

In 1973 CE, Billie Jean King ends Margaret Court's fifty-seven match winning streak in semi-finals of the WTA event in Indianapolis, Indianna

In 1973 CE Muhammad Ali suffers a broken jaw in a shock split-points decision loss to Ken Norton after twelve rounds in San Diego, California…Ali wins rematch in another controversial split decision; seven years later, in almost concurrent heavyweight boxing championship fights: Larry Holmes defeats Leroy Jones in eight rounds with a technical knock-out, for the World Boxing Council’s title in Las Vegas, Nevada, while Mike Weaver knock’s out John Tate in fifteen rounds for the World Boxing Association’s belt in Knoxville, Tennessee.

In 1980 CE, U.S. president Jimmy Carter deregulates the banking industry; forty-one years later, president Joe Biden overturns his predecessor’s (Donald Trump) restrictions on transgender people serving in the armed forces. On the same day in 2021 CE, Joe Biden unveils the "American Jobs Plan," one of the largest infrastructure plans in United States history, worth two-trillion dollars.

In 1985 CE, El Salvador's president, José Napoleón Duarte's Christian Democratic Party wins election…much suffering ensues.

In 1991 CE the nation of Albania holds its first multi-party election in fifty years.

Also in 1991 CE the establishment of the Islamic Constitutional Movement is marked as beginning in Hadas, Kuwait; one year later, the U.N. Security Council votes to ban flights and arms sales to Libya. Twelve years after that, in 2004 CE, in Fallujah, Iraq, four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA are killed, and their bodies mutilated after being ambushed.

In 1994 CE the Journal Nature reports the finding in Ethiopia of the first complete Australopithecus afarensis skull; twenty-eight years later, the first truly complete sequence of a human genome is published by the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) consortium, after breakthroughs in new technology.

In 2007 CE, in Sydney, Australia, two million, two hundred thousand people take part in the first Earth Hour.

In 2013 CE, two people die from bird-flu (type H7N9) in China.

In 2020 CE British pensioner Robert Weighton becomes the world's oldest man at 112 years of age.

In 2021 CE Alfred Aho and Jeffrey Ullman win the Turing Award for their work inventing computer program compilers; also on this day, French president Emmanuel Macron announces a new pandemic lockdown, closing schools for three weeks with new national restrictions/ And again, on this day in 2021 CE, the State of New York legalizes recreational use of marijuana in legislation signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo…commercial sales not legal for eighteen months.

 

Reference

https://www.onthisday.com/

It happened on March 30th

On this day in the year 240 before the common era (BCE) the first known record of the perihelion-passage of Halley's Comet is made, the perihelion is the transit point at which the comet is nearest in its orbit to Helios, the sun. 

On this day in the year 1422 of the common era (CE) the Zen Buddhist teacher Ketsugan, performs a series of exorcisms to free the Aizōji Temple in Fukushima, Japan…demonstrating that being a Zen Buddhist does not mean you are unwilling to exploit superstition, or succumb to it yourself, because even Zen Buddhists like to believe stupid sh*t.

On this day in the year 1533 CE, Thomas Cranmer becomes the archbishop of Canterbury

On this day in 1603 CE the English army under lord Mountjoy defeats the Irish at the Battle of Mellifont; three hundred and sixty three years later, loyalists bomb water and electricity installations in Northern Ireland in the hope that the attacks would be blamed on the Irish Republican Army and activist elements within the civil rights movement, who were demanding an end to discrimination against Catholics. Three years after that, in 1972 CE, Northern Ireland's government and parliament are dissolved by the British government and direct rule from Westminster is introduced; seven years later, Airey Neave, a British politician, is killed by a car bomb as he exits Westminster Palace, the Irish National Liberation Army claims responsibility.

In 1778 CE the playwright Voltaire is crowned with a laurel wreath; one hundred and sixteen years later, George Bernard Shaw's comedy Candida premieres at the Theatre Royal in South Shields, England. Fifty-seven years after that, in 1951 CE, the first performance of Walter Piston's Fourth Symphony is commissioned to mark the University of Minnesota's centennial, its debut is made by the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, with Antal Doráti conducting; one year later, at the 6th Tony Awards, The King & I win for best musical. Thirty years after that in, 1982 CE, John Pielmeier's play Agnes of God, premieres at the Music Box Theatre in New York, New York; it is about a nun who gives birth and insists it was immaculate conception, it runs for 599 performances.

In 1796 CE, Carl Friedrich Gauss, a German mathematician, discovers the construction of the heptadecagon; one hundred and fifty-seven years later, Albert Einstein announces his revised unified field theory…like king Pelinore, it details his never-ending quest for the cosmological-constant, like a beast in the mist that eludes his snares.

In 1814 CE, Joachim Murat issues the Rimini Declaration, which later inspires Italian unification; on this same day, the forces of the Sixth Coalition march into Paris after defeating Napoleon.

In 1822 CE the United States (U.S.) Congress combines East and West Florida into the Florida Territory; forty-eight years later, the Florida territorial government is established.

In 1842 CE, ether is used as an anesthetic for the first time by Dr. Crawford Long in Georgia; sixteen years later, the pencil with attached eraser is patented by Hyman L. Lipman of Philadelphia. Thirty-eight years after that, in 1895 CE. British inventor Birt Acres films Oxford and Cambridge boat race; fifty-five years later, Bell Laboratories announces the invention of the phototransistor in Murray Hill, New Jersey.     

In 1856 CE the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia sign the Treaty of Paris, bringing the Crimean War to end…it did not take; nine years later, Danish prince Wilhelm Georg of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg, takes the name George, and is chosen to  be king of Greece.

In 1867 CE the United States buys Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 (109 million in 2018 dollars), at roughly 2 cents an acre.

In 1870 CE Texas becomes the last of the treasonous confederate states to be readmitted to the Union, on that same day, the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution is adopted, guaranteeing the right to vote regardless of race.

In 1900 the Dutch Second Chamber accepts the Compulsory Education law; ninety-one years later, the last issue of the Dutch Newspaper "Vr˜e Folk" (Free People) is issued.

In 1909 CE, New York's Queensboro Bridge opens, linking Manhattan & Queens; two years later, the Lötschberg tunnel in Switzerland is completed.

In 1910 CE the Mississippi Legislature founds The University of Southern Mississippi.

In 1919 CE Indian civil rights activist Mahatma Gandhi announces a campaign of resistance against Rowlatt Act; forty years later, the Dalai Lama flees Chinese occupied Tibet and is granted political asylum in India.

In 1939 CE, Batman debuts in the twenty-seventh issue of Detective Comics, published by D.C..

In 1942 the first transport of Dutch Jewry from the Reich Security Main Office (R.S.H.A.) in France arrives at camp Birkenau; on this same day, Nazi SS soldiers murder two hundred inmates of the Trawniki concentration camp. One year after that, in 1943 CE, the British 1st Army recaptures Sejenane; one year later, seven hundred and eighty-one British bombers attack Nuremberg. One year after that, in 1945 CE, two hundred and eighty-nine anti-fascists are murdered by Nazis at Romberg Park, in Dortmund, Germany; on this same day, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) forces invade Austria. Also on this day in 1945 CE, a defecting German pilot delivers a Messerschmitt ME 262A-1 to the American forces in Europe.

In 1949 CE, Riots breaks out in Austurvöllur square in Reykjavík, when Iceland joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

In 1955 CE, On the Waterfront with Marlon Brando, win Best Picture and Best Actor at the 27^th Academy Awards; eleven years later, Barbra Streisand's second TV special and the first in color, premieres on CBS, Color Me Barbra. Twenty-one years after, in 1987 CE, at the 59th Academy Awards, Platoon wins Best Picture; five years later, at the 64th Academy Awards, The Silence of the Lambs wins Best Picture, together with the actors in its lead roles, Anthony Hopkins & Jodie Foster. Thirty years after that, in 2022 CE, Bruce Willis announces he is stepping away from acting after a diagnosis of aphasia.

In 1956 CE the U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test; seven years later France performs underground nuclear test at Ecker Algeria. Nine years after that, in 1972 CE, the United States performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site; eleven years later, the U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan.

In 1961 CE a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (N.A.S.A.) civilian pilot, Joseph A. Walker takes the X-15 to 169,600 feet (51,690 meters), becoming the first person to surpass the stratopause, entering the mesosphere; three years later Astronaut John Glenn withdraws from Ohio senate race. Eighteen years after that, in 1982 CE, the third N.A.S.A. Space Shuttle Mission: Columbia 3, lands at White Sands, New Mexico; eighteen years later, Richard Branson is knighted by Charles, Prince of Wales for "services to entrepreneurship" at Buckingham Palace, London. Six years after that, in 2006 CE, Marcos Pontes becomes the first Brazilian astronaut in space.

In 1965 CE, A car bomb explodes in front of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, killing twenty-two people, wounding one hundred and eighty-three more; seven years later, North Vietnam launches a major conventional offensive against South Vietnam. One year after that, in 1973 CE, Ellsworth Bunker resigns as the U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam

In 1967 CE the cover picture of the Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album is photographed by Michael Cooper; three years later, Columbia Records releases jazz artist Miles Davis's influential double album Bitches Brew; it becomes his highest-charting title, wins a Grammy Award and earns Miles Davis his first gold record. Five years after that, in 1975 CE, James Rupert kills eleven members of his family, on Easter Sunday, in Hamilton, Ohio

In 1981 CE, U.S. president Ronald Reagan is shot and wounded in an assassination attempt by John Hinckley, Jr., the former college roommate of George H. W. Bush’s son, the sitting V.P. under Reagan. Three others, including press secretary James Brady, are wounded; forty-two years later, (then) former U.S. president Donald Trump is indicted by a Manhattan Grand Jury on charges over hush payments he paid to actress Stormy Daniels; Trump is the first U.S. president to face criminal charges.

In 1983 CE the New York Mercantile Exchange (N.Y.M.E.X.) begins trading crude oil futures.

In 1984 CE, New York police detective Robert Cunningham offers waitress Phyllis Penzo half of a $1 lottery ticket; the next day, they win $6 million.     

In 1987 CE, Vincent van Gogh's painting, Sunflowers, sells for a record thirty-nine million, seven hundred-thousand dollars.

In 2013 CE North Korea declares it is at a state of war with South Korea; four years later, ex-South Korean president Park Geun-hye is arrested in a corruption investigation.

In 2017 CE the Venezuela Supreme Court takes over legislative powers of the National Assembly, the opposition calls it a coup.

In 2019 CE pope Francis arrives in Rabat, Morocco, on his first-ever visit to the Magreb region of Northern Africa.

In 2019 CE, Zuzana Caputova is elected president of Slovakia, she is the country's first female head of state.

In 2020 CE the International Olympic Committee (I.O.C.) announces the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, stating that they will be held July 23^rd to August 8th in the following year of 2021 CE, due to the COVID-19 pandemic; on this same day, Moscow, in the Russian Federation, begins a city-wide lockdown with four hours notice due to COVID-19. Also on this day in 2020 CE, three out of four Americans are now ordered to stay home due to COVID-19, as the states of Virginia, Maryland, Arizona and Florida issue lockdown orders.

In 2022 CE the Turing Award is won by American programmer Jack Dongarra, whose work paved the way for supercomputers; one year later, key figures in Artificial Intelligence including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak sign an open letter warning the race to develop AI systems is out of control and asking for a suspension of at least six months. 

Reference

https://www.onthisday.com/

It happened on March 29th

On this day in the year 502 of the common era (CE), king Gundobar of Burgundy, and a member of the Patrician class of the western Roman Empire, delegates royal power in his submission to Clovis I, king of the Franks, a migrating tribe of Germans who gave their name to France; three hundred and forty-three years later, Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok (The Vikings), who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.

On this day in the year 1461 CE at the battle of Towton, duke Edward of York defeats the Lancastrian army, deposes King Henry VI and Queen Margaret of Anjou and proclaims himself as King Edward IV; one hundred and seventy-one years later, the treaty of Saint-Germain is signed, returning Quebec to French control after the English seized it in 1629. Thirty-nine years after that, in 1673 CE, the English king Charles II accepts the Test Act, which excludes Roman Catholics from public functions; one hundred and ninety-one years later, great Britain gives the Ionian Islands back to Greece. Forty years after that, in 1867 CE the British North America Act (also known as the Canadian constitution) is granted Royal Assent; one hundred and fifty-six years later, king Charles III of the United Kingdom, makes his first state visit abroad to Germany, arriving in Berlin.

On this day in 1549 CE the city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is founded.

In 1638 CE, Fort Christina (now Wilmington is founded by Swedish Lutheran, Peter Munit, it the first permanent European settlement in the Swedish colony of New Sweden, on the Delaware Peninsula; one hundred and fifty-four years later, 1792 king Gustav III of Sweden dies after being shot in the back at a midnight masquerade ball at Stockholm's Royal Opera just thirteen days earlier. He he is succeeded by Gustav IV Adolf, who seventeen years after that, in 1809 CE abdicates after a coup d'état, at the Diet of Porvoo, in which Finland's four estates pledge allegiance to Alexander I of Russia, commencing the secession of the Grand Duchy of Finland from Sweden.

In 1795 CE Ludwig van Beethoven (age 24) has his debut performance as a pianist at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria; on this same day, thirty-two years later, twenty-thousand people attend.

In 1798 CE the Republic of Switzerland forms.

In 1799 CE the State of New York passes a “gradual-abolition” law: stating that children of enslaved mothers are born free but still owe free service to their parent’s owners until they are age 25 if female and 28 if male…should they live so long.

In 1804 CE thousands of European slave holders are massacred in Haiti for plotting to undo the slave revolt that had taken place in Haiti over the preceding decade.

In 1806 CE construction is authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, becoming the first United States (U.S.) federal highway; sixty-one years later, the U.S. Congress approves building the Lincoln Memorial. One hundred and twenty-one years after that, in 1988 CE, the U.S. Congress discontinues aid to the Nicaraguan contras.

In 1831 CE the Bosnians rebel against the Ottoman Empire in the Great Bosnian uprising.

In 1847 CE, twelve thousand U.S. troops capture Vera Cruz, Mexico; eighty-two years later, U.S. president Herbert Hoover has the first telephone installed on the desk at the White house, in the Oval Office.

In 1848 CE, Niagara Falls stops flowing for 30 hours due to an ice jam in the river upstream, the flow of water stops completely over both of Niagara's two falls due to an ice jam in the upper river.

In 1852 CE the State of Ohio makes it illegal for children under eighteen and women to work more than ten hours a day.

In 1871 CE the Royal Albert Hall is opened by Queen Victoria in London, England.

In 1882 CE the Knights of Columbus are chartered, an organization of Catholic men opposed to the influence of Freemasonry.

In 1897 CE Japan adopts the Gold Standard.

In 1901 CE Edmund Barton is elected prime minister in Australia's first federal election, with the Federal Labor Party MPs elected to the majority in the Australian House of Representatives and Senate.

In 1928 CE, Yeshiva College (now Yeshiva University) is chartered, in New York, New Yor

In 1930 CE, Heinrich Brüning is appointed German Chancellor; four years later, the Bank of Travail in Belgium, belonging to the socialist workers' movement, goes bankrupt. Two years after that, in 1936 CE, Nazi propaganda claims 99% of Germans voted for Nazi candidates; seven years later, meat, butter and cheese are rationed in United States for the duration of World War II. Two years after that, in 1945 CE, Hollywood movie star James Stewart is promoted to full colonel, one of the few Americans to rise from private to colonel in four years; on this same day, the last day of the V-1 flying bomb attacks is launched against England.

In 1940 CE American boxer Joe Louis knocks out Johnny Paycheck in 2 rounds to retain possession of the heavyweight championship boxing title; twenty-six years later Muhammad Ali beats George Chuvalo in fifteen rounds for the heavyweight championship boxing title.

In 1948 CE the New York Yankees & Boston Red Sox tie at 2-2 in seventeen innings, during a spring training game; seventy-seven years after that , the New York Yankees Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, and Aaron Judge hit home runs on the first three pitches from Milwaukee Brewers Nester Cortes, the start of franchise record nine homers in 20-9 win at Yankee Stadium.

In 1949 CE Turkey recognizes the nation of Israel.

In 1951 CE American citizens Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted and sentenced to death for conspiracy to commit espionage for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.).Roy Cohen was the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted them, he also served as general counsel to Joe McCarthy’s Committee on Un-American Activities in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as Donald J. Trump’s personal attorney, before he entered politics…many believed he manufactured the evidence against them.

In 1968 CE students seize the Bowie building at the State College, Maryland; eight years later, a group of eight Ohio National Guardsmen are indicted for shooting four students who were peacefully protesting at Kent State University in 1970.

In 1968 CE Teri Garr guest stars in Assignment: Earth, an episode of the original Star Trek Television series with William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk; eight years later, at the 48th Academy Awards: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, wins Best Picture, Director Milos Forman wins Best Director, stars Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher win awards for Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actress. Two years after that, in 1978 CE, The Carol Burnett Show airs its last episode on CBS, having won twenty-five Emmy Awards; fifteen years later, Unforgiven, directed by Clint Eastwood, wins Best Picture at the 63^rd Academy Awards.

In 1969 CE the Communist New People's Army is founded in the Philippines; two years later, Chilean president Allende nationalizes the country’s banks and copper mines.

In 1971 CE, 1st Lieutenant William L Calley Jr. is found guilty for war crimes committed during the My Lai massacre, during the war in Vietnam; two years later, U.S. troops leave Vietnam, nine years after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which committed the U.S. to a massive force build-up in the war after, and was predicated on a false flag operation intended to drum up public support for increased military action.

In 1971 CE the serum for a hepatitis vaccine specifically designed for children is announced.

In 1974 CE, Chinese farmers discover the Terracotta Army near Xi'an, 8,000 clay warrior statues buried to guard the tomb of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang.

Also on this day in 1974 CE, the Mariner 10's, first fly-by of Mercury takes place and returns photos to mission control on earth; fifteen years later, the first U.S. private commercial rocket makes suborbital test flight at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Twenty-four years after that, in 2013 CE, the Soyuz TMA-08M sets a new record of 6 hours in orbit before docking with the International Space Station

In 1975 CE, Lady Marmalade by Labelle reaches number one on Billboard singles chart; eleven years later, records by The Beatles officially go on sale in Russia more than two decades after their release in the West. Twenty-one years after that, in 2007 CE, Rihanna releases her hit single Umbrella, featuring Jay-Z, it goes to number one on U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for and stays there for seven weeks; twelve years later, The Cure, Roxy Music and The Zombies are inducted into the 34th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Also on this day in 2019 CE, American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish (age 17) releases her debut studio album: When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

In 1981 CE the U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan; three years later, they do it again.

In 1989 CE, I. M. Pei's pyramidal entrance to the renovated Louvre Museum opens in Paris, France.

In 1998 CE the Vasco da Gama Road bridge opens in Lisbon, Portugal, it is then the longest bridge in Europe.

In 1999 CE the Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 10,000 for the first time ever; today the Dow was 45,156.51.

In 2004 CE the nations of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia all join NATO as full members.

In 2004 CE The Republic of Ireland becomes the first country in the world to ban smoking in all workplaces, including bars and restaurants.

In 2005 CE the Walt Disney Company announces they will not renew the management agreement with Miramax Films, founded by Harvey and Bob Weinstein when it expires.

In 2010 CE the Archaeological site of the Mayan city of Chichen Itza is purchased by the Mexican state of Yucatán from a private landowner.

In 2014 CE the first same-sex couples marry in the United Kingdom (U.K) as a result of the passing of The Marriage Act of 2013; three years later, U.K. prime minister Theresa May sends a letter to the European Union (E.U.) invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, formally triggering their exit from the E.U., otherwise known as Brexit…it didn’t work out so well for her or the people of the U.K..

In 2020 CE, Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari orders a lockdown in the cities of Lagos and Abuja after the country records 97 COVID-19 cases and one death; on this same day, U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci warns America may see between 100,000 - 200,000 deaths from COVID-19, the actual number turns out to be over one million  two hundred thousand. Two years after that, in 2022 CE, the BA.2 version of Omicron is becomes the dominant form of COVID-19 in America according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention; on this same day, U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorizes a second Pfizer or Moderna booster shot for people over 50 or who are immunocompromised.

In 2021 CE the Megaship Ever Given is freed after nearly a week stuck in, and blocking the Suez Canal, with at least three hundred and sixty-nine vessels waiting to pass though.

Also on this day in 2021 CE, the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin begins in Minneapolis, for the murder of George Floyd.

In 2022 CE, in a major victory for Ukraine, the Russian Federation announces it is withdrawing its badly mauled forces from around Ukraine's capital, Kyiv.

Also on this day in 2022 CE, a new study of Pluto from NASA's New Horizons footage 2015, finds evidence of cryovolcanoes and ice lava.

And also on this very same day in 2022 CE, U.S. president Joe Biden signs the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act into law, making lynching a federal hate crime after over 200 attempts to pass similar legislation since 1900.

In 2023 CE, researchers warn that crucial, deep Antarctic ocean currents could collapse by 42% by the year 2050 CE, stopping nutrient-dense water from flowing north, accelerating ice melt and further warming the world's oceans...

 

Reference

https://www.onthisday.com/

It happened on March 28th

On this day in the year 37 of the common era (CE) the Roman emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, better known as Caligula, meaning little “soldier's” boots, accepts the titles of the principate (1^st Citizen), entitled to him by the Senate and the people of Rome; one hundred and fifty-four years later, the Roman emperor Pertinax is assassinated by his Praetorian Guard, who then sell the curial-chair (throne) in an auction to Didius Julianus. One hundred and eighty-one years after that, in 364 CE, the Roman emperor Valentinian I appoints his brother Flavius Valens as co-emperor.

On this day in the year 519 CE, pope Hormisdas reunites the Eastern and Western church, ending the Acacian schism at a ceremony held in the cathedral of Constantinople, the Hagia Sophia; one thousand and sixteen years later, the Bloemkamp Abbey (Oldeklooster) is attacked & destroyed in Friesland. Thirty-one years after that, in 1566 CE, the foundation stone is laid by the Knights Hospitaller Grand Master, Jean de Valette for the new city of La Valletta, Malta; three hundred and ninety-four years later, pope John XXIII appoints the first Japanese, African & Filipino cardinals. Fifty-three years after that, in 2013 CE, pope Francis becomes the first pope to wash the feet of women in the Maundy Thursday service.

On this day in 1556 CE, Philip II of Spain is formally crowned king of Spain; two hundred and twenty years later, Juan Bautista de Anza finds the site for the Presidio of San Francisco. One hundred and sixty-three years after that, in 1939 CE, the Spanish Civil War ends as Madrid falls to the Nationalists headed by Francisco Franco.

In 1738 CE the English Parliament sends an address to the king requesting that he demand redress from Spain for the “War of Jenkin's Ear;” thirty six years later, Parliament passes the Coercive Act against the interests of colonial Massachusetts. Eighty years after that, in 1854 CE, Great Britain and France declare war on Russia, expanding the Crimean War.

In 1794 CE, an alliance of forces under the prince of Coburg, defeat the French forces at Le Cateau; on this same day the Louvre opens to the public (although officially opened since August). Fifteen years after that, in 1809 CE, French forces under Marshal Claude Victor defeat the Spanish under General Gregorio Garcia de la Cuesta, killing or wounding eight thousand Spanish soldiers and opening the way to Southern Spain; one hundred and eighty years later, the Louvre Pyramid designed by I. M. Pei is inaugurated by French president François Mitterrand in Paris. Seventeen years after that,  in 2006 CE, at least one million union members, students and unemployed take to the streets in France in protest of the government's proposed First Employment Contract law.

In 1795 CE the Duchy of Courland, a northern fief of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, ceases to exist, it is annexed and becomes part of Imperial Russia during a period known as the “Partitions of Poland.”

In 1796 CE the Bethel African Methodist Church of Philadelphia becomes the first African church in the United States (U.S.); eight years later, the state of Ohio passes laws restricting the movement of black people.

In 1797 CE Nathaniel Briggs of New Hampshire patents a washing machine; one hundred and twenty-five years later, the first microfilm device is introduced.

In 1802 CE Wilhelm Olbers discovers 2 Pallas, the second known asteroid; one hundred and forty-seven years later, the English astronomer Fred Hoyle coins the term "Big Bang" in a BBC radio talk while actually arguing for the alternative "steady-state" theory concerning the structure and origin of the material universe. Thirty-six years after that, in 1985 CE, the International Cometary Explorer measures the solar wind ahead of Halley’s comet; eight years later, a Type II supernova is detected in galaxy M81 (NGC 3031).

In 1830 CE the Javanese Prince Diponegoro, leader of resistance against Dutch colonial rule is arrested by Dutch authorities during peace negotiations…because there is no honor among thieves; four years later, the U.S. US Senate censures president Andrew Jackson for taking federal deposits from the Bank of United States.

In 1866 CE the first ambulance goes into service.

In 1871 CE the San Francisco Art Association holds an open reception at 430 Pine.

In 1881 CE the "Greatest Show on Earth" is formed by P. T. Barnum and James Anthony Bailey.

In 1885 CE the Salvation Army officially organized in the United States

In 1891 CE the first World Weightlifting Championship is won by Edward Lawrence in London, England.

In 1910 CE the first seaplane takes off from water under its own power, piloted by Henri Fabre from the Étang de Berre lagoon in Martigues, France; twenty-five years later, Robert Goddard uses gyroscopes to control a rocket. Fifty years after that, in 1985 CE, the STS 51-D vehicle moves to launch it’s pad; two years later, the stacking of Discovery's solid fuel rocket boosters (SRBs) gets underway.

In 1913 CE, Guatemala becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

In 1916 CE the first performance of Hubert Parry's setting, of Wiliam Blake's poem "Jerusalem", is performed by the City of London School choir at a “Fight for Right” meeting at the Queen’s Hall in London, England; forty-eight years later, the first true pirate radio station, England's Radio Caroline, begins regular transmission at noon from the MV Caroline off the coast of Suffolk. On that same day in 1964 CE, Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London unveils figures of The Beatles; the waxworks later appear on the Sgt. Pepper’s album cover; eight years later, Elvis Presley records his final Top Ten hit, a cover of "Burning Love", a song written by Dennis Linde, and first recorded by Arthur Alexander. Twenty-two years after that, in 1994 CE, the BBC Radio Five Live broadcasts for first time in United Kingdom (U.K.)

In 1927 CE the Majestic Theater opens at 245 W 44th St, NYC; designed with a modern Spanish exterior and French revival style interior by architect Herbert J. Krapp, it is largest of a theater and hotel development complex by Irving Chanin; forty-four years later, the last original edition of The Ed Sullivan Show is broadcast on CBS-TV. Six years after that, in 1977 CE, Rocky wins Best Picture at the 49^th  Academy Awards; eight years later, Neil Simon's play "Biloxi Blues" premieres in New York, New York. Thirty-seven years after that, in 2022 CE, Actor Will Smith issues an apology on Instagram to Chris Rock for slapping the Academy Awards host in the face, live on stage during the Awards ceremony.

In 1929 CE a Democratic constitution goes into effect in Ecuador; fifty-three years later, J.N. Duartes' Christian Democrats win elections in El Salvador.

In 1930 CE the Turkish cities of Constantinople and Angora change their names to Istanbul and Ankara; thirty-nine years later, the Greek poet and Nobel Prize laureate Giorgos Seferis makes a famous statement on the BBC World Service opposing the junta in Greece. Forty-four years after that, in 2013 CE, Banks in Cyprus re-open after having been closed for two weeks, when the government agrees to a ten-billion euro bailout deal with the European Union (E.U.) and the International Monetary Fund (I.M.F.)

In 1935 CE the Influential Nazi Propaganda film, Triumph of the Will, commissioned by Adolf Hitler and directed by Leni Riefenstahl, is released and shown at Nuremberg rallies.

In 1940 CE, two Dutch Fokker fighter plane crews shoot down a British RAF bomber near Rotterdam; one year later, during a sea battle at Cape Matapan, the British fleet under Cunningham defeats Italy. One year after that, in 1942 CE, two hundred and thirty-four RAF bombers begin a two-day attack of the city Lübeck, Germany; on this same day, Operation Chariot begins when the obsolete British destroyer HMS Campbeltown, rigged with explosives and flying German flags, rams the gates of the German occupied St Nazaire port in France, and self detonates; the explosion kills three hundred and sixty Germans, and disables the dry dock for duration of the war. Three years after that, in 1945 CE, the last German V-1 (buzz bomb) attack on London, England takes place.

In 1946 CE the U.S. State Department releases the Acheson-Lilienthal Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power; twenty-six years later, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan. Seven years after that, in 1979 CE, a partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in the United States results in the release of radioactive gas and iodine into the atmosphere…there were no immediate deaths caused by the incident; two years later, France performs nuclear test.

In 1957 CE the first National Curling Championship is held.

In 1959 CE, eleven days after the Tibet uprising, China dissolves Tibet's government and installs the Panchen Lama.

In 1960 CE a whisky distillery catches fire and then explodes in Glasgow, Scotland killing twenty fire-fighters and burying them in the debris; ten years later one thousand and eighty-six people die when a 7.4 earthquake destroys two hundred and fifty-four villages in Gediz Turkey. Thirty years after that, in 2000 CE, in Murray County, Georgia, a school bus is hit by a CSX freight train…killing three children; eighteen years later, at least sixty-eight people die and scores are injured in a fire caused by a riot in the holding-cells at the Carabobo state police headquarters in Valencia, Venezuela. Six years after that, in 2024 CE, a bus crash kills forty-five Easter pilgrims from Botswana in South Africa, with one child surviving a 50 meter drop off the Mmamatlakala bridge, near Mokopane.

In 1962 CE during a Military coup in Syria, President Nazim al-Kudsi flees the country; fifty-one years later, fifteen students are killed and seven  injured after a mortar strikes Damascus University.

In 1964 my sister Raney Jill was born.

Also on this day in 1964, the Epstein-Barr virus is discovered, it is the first human tumor virus, identified by pathologists English Anthony Epstein and Yvonne Barr, their findings are published in The Lancet.

In 1967 CE the United Nations Secretary General, U Thant, makes public proposals for peace in Vietnam.

In 1972 CE, Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain plays his last professional basketball game.

In 1990 CE, U.S. President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.

In 1991 CE, Mike Tyson admits paternity in Manhattan Family Court to Kimberly Scarborough's infant daughter.

In 1994 CE, armed Zulus demonstrate in Johannesburg, over fifty-three people are killed; on this same day, Italy's right-wing alliance under Silvio Berlusconi wins election.

In 1995 CE the World's largest bank - Japan's Mitsubishi Bank and the Bank of Tokyo merge.

In 2003 CE, during a "friendly fire" incident, two U.S. A-10 Thunderbolt IIs from the 190th Fighter Squadron, attack British tanks participating in the invasion of Iraq, killing British soldier Matty Hull; fourteen years later, the United States confirms that it is responsible for the air strike in Mosul, Iraq, which led to collapse of a building that killed more than one-hundred civilians.

In 2005 CE, an earthquake in Sumatran rocks Indonesia, at a magnitude of 8.7 it is the second strongest earthquake since 1960; twenty years later, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake, followed by a 6.4 magnitude aftershock, strikes central Myanmar, causing devastating damage across Southeast Asia, leaving more than four thousand four hundred people dead and at least seven thousand injured, with hundreds more gone missing.

In 2009 CE the first cases of H1N1 swine flu in the United States occurs in two human being in California, five years later, two cases of Ebola are reported in Liberia among people who have travelled to Guinea.

In 2014 CE the Russian Federation increases the price of gas to Ukraine by 80%.

In 2017 CE, U.S. president Donald Trump signs an “Energy Independence” executive order undoing Obama climate-control measures; also on this day, the world's largest dinosaur footprint, measuring 1.7 meters, is found in Kimberley, Western Australia.

In 2018 CE, North Korea's Kim Jong-un meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, China. It is his first trip outside of North Korea since coming to power in 2011.

In 2019 CE, a study of a seventy-one-year-old British woman who has never felt pain, reveals for the first time that her condition is due to a genetic mutation; the findings are published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia.

In 2020 CE, U.S. president Donald Trump makes a projection that two hundred and forty thousand American could die from COVID-19, even with restrictions in place…the actual death toll in the United States grows to 1,235,000; two years later, Mexico revises its COVID-19 death toll up by 60% to more than 321,000, giving it the second highest COVID death toll in the world at that time.

In 2022 CE, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signs the so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill limiting classroom instruction and library access to materials relating to LGBTQ identities, social structures and intersectionality.

In 2023 CE, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, herself of West African descent, via the Caribbean Islands, visits the former slave port at Cape Coast Castle in Ghana as part of her tour of Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia.

In 2024 CE Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX exchange, is sentenced to twenty-five years in prison after being convicted of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering.

 

Reference

https://www.onthisday.com/