THIS DAY IN HISTORY
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THIS DAY IN HISTORY
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 Matthew Love  Send message Joined: 26 Sep 99 Posts: 7763 Credit: 879,151 RAC: 0 
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314 Battle at Cibalae: emperor Constantine beats emperor Licinius 1939 NY Yankees sweep Reds in 36th World Series, 4th straight WS win 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers announce move to Los Angeles 1958 Dr Ake Senning installs 1st pacemaker (Stockholm) 1965 Djakarta Moslems set fire to PKI-headquarter 1981 Pres Reagan greeted predecessors Jimmy Carter, Gerald R Ford & Richard Nixon before sending them to Egypt for Anwar Sadat's funeral   LETS BEGIN IN 2010 ID: 938512 ·  |
Dirk Villarreal Wittich  Send message Joined: 25 Apr 00 Posts: 2098 Credit: 434,834 RAC: 0 
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Matthew Love Send message Joined: 26 Sep 99 Posts: 7763 Credit: 879,151 RAC: 0
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Columbus Makes Landfall in the Caribbean (1492) Believing that Asia could be reached by traveling westward, Columbus's three-ship expedition set sail from Palos, Spain, in 1492. After a stop at the Canary Islands, Columbus sailed due west, turning in a more southerly direction after about a month at sea. Shortly thereafter, Columbus quelled a small mutiny, and, on October 12, landed at an island in the Bahamas. Columbus also explored nearby Cuba and Hispaniola before returning to Spain. LETS BEGIN IN 2010 ID: 939518 · |
AndyW   Send message Joined: 23 Oct 02 Posts: 5862 Credit: 10,957,677 RAC: 18 
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1989: Earthquake hits San Francisco A powerful earthquake has rocked San Francisco killing nine people and injuring hundreds. The number of dead is expected to rise significantly. The two-tier Bay Bridge and Nimitz freeway both partially collapsed and rescuers are waiting to recover bodies from cars crushed by the quake. The epicentre of the quake, which measured 6.9 on the Richter scale, is thought to have been Loma Prieta, 10 miles north of Santa Cruz on the San Andreas fault. A massive rescue effort is now underway in what experts believe is the second biggest earthquake ever to hit the United States. Officials have reported "unbelievable damage to infrastructure" with collapsed bridges and freeways, fires, shattered buildings, gaping cracks in roads and land slides. Tremors from the quake, which lasted 15 seconds, were reported 400 miles away in Los Angeles and 200 miles away in Reno, Nevada. The quake struck at 1704 local time (18 October, 0004 GMT), as people were making their way home after work. Traffic was brought to a standstill and many homes left without power. Fans waiting to see the baseball World Series match at Candlestick Park were also caught up in the quake. Supporters ran onto the pitch as the whole stadium swayed. We're getting mainly shock, cuts and shortness of breath Ambulance worker Kimberly Kelly Hospitals have been flooded with injured victims. Ambulance worker Kimberly Kelly said: "We're getting mainly shock, cuts and shortness of breath." Officials are said to be shocked at the amount of damage as freeways and buildings are supposed to be earthquake-proof. The Governor of California, George Deukmajian, said: "I had been under the impression that the highways had been constructed to deal with any severe earthquake and I am very surprised to see what has happened to some of those." "I think we are going to have some kind of inquiry to determine why they did not survive a quake of the severity of this one." http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/17/newsid_2491000/2491211.stm ID: 940720 · |
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Matthew Love Send message Joined: 26 Sep 99 Posts: 7763 Credit: 879,151 RAC: 0
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Taipei 101 Becomes World's Tallest Building (2003) On October 17, 2003, a pinnacle placed atop Taiwan's Taipei 101 allowed it to surpass the height of what had once been the tallest buildings in the world, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, by 188 ft (57.2 m). Designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes, Taipei 101 houses a massive pendulum suspended from the 92nd floor to counteract swaying. Its elevators set a record in 2004 with top ascending speeds of 37.5 mph (63 km/h). LETS BEGIN IN 2010 ID: 940817 · |
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Matthew Love Send message Joined: 26 Sep 99 Posts: 7763 Credit: 879,151 RAC: 0
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Florence Nightingale Sent to Treat War Wounded (1854) Though Nightingale's parents opposed their daughter's pursuit of a career in nursing, she persevered and is now considered the founder of modern nursing. During the Crimean War, she traveled to Turkey to treat the British wounded, earning the nickname "The Lady with the Lamp" for her devotion to the troops' care. Upon her return, she wrote Notes on Nursing, the first nursing textbook, and founded the Nightingale Training School. LETS BEGIN IN 2010 ID: 941848 · |
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Albireo380 Send message Joined: 21 Mar 08 Posts: 119 Credit: 1,570,025 RAC: 0
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September 25th. 1644: Birth of Ole Romer, the Danish Astronomer who was the first to measure the velocity of light (by observations of the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites by the shadow of the planet). He became the Director of the Copenhagen Observatory in 1681. He also invented the transit circle and the meridian circle. He died in 1710. Tom ID: 942810 · |
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Matthew Love Send message Joined: 26 Sep 99 Posts: 7763 Credit: 879,151 RAC: 0
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Dell, Inc. Founded as "PCs Limited" (1984) Using just $1,000, college student Michael Dell founded computer company PCs Limited in 1984, offering custom-assembled computers at prices lower than those of retail brands. Although not the first company to use this business model, PCs Limited became one of the first to succeed with it, grossing more than $73 million in its first year. The company, now called Dell, Inc., ranked 34th on the 2007 Fortune 500 list. LETS BEGIN IN 2010 ID: 945071 · |
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Matthew Love Send message Joined: 26 Sep 99 Posts: 7763 Credit: 879,151 RAC: 0
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President John F. Kennedy Assassinated (1963) The assassination of John F. Kennedy while he was riding in a presidential motorcade in Dallas was a seminal event in American history. Although two official investigations have concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the culprit, the assassination is still the subject of widespread speculation and has spawned a number of conspiracy theories. LETS BEGIN IN 2010 ID: 949125 · |
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Matthew Love Send message Joined: 26 Sep 99 Posts: 7763 Credit: 879,151 RAC: 0
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Japan's Meiji Constitution Goes into Effect (1889) The Imperial, or Meiji, Constitution was the fundamental law of the Empire of Japan from 1890 until 1947. Enacted after the Meiji Restoration, it provided for a form of constitutional monarchy based on the Prussian model. The constitution allowed the active Emperor to wield considerable political power, but the control was to be shared with an elected assembly. LETS BEGIN IN 2010 ID: 950869 · |
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Matthew Love Send message Joined: 26 Sep 99 Posts: 7763 Credit: 879,151 RAC: 0
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President Taft Pardons William H. Van Schaick (1912) Over 1,000 people died when the General Slocum, a passenger steamship, caught fire in New York's East River in 1904. It was the city's worst loss-of-life disaster until the attacks of September 11, 2001. Van Schaick, the ship's captain, was indicted for negligence and failure to maintain fire safety equipment and received a 10-year sentence. He was paroled after serving 3½ years in prison and later pardoned by President Taft. LETS BEGIN IN 2010 ID: 957372 · |
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Matthew Love Send message Joined: 26 Sep 99 Posts: 7763 Credit: 879,151 RAC: 0
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"Trial of the Century" Begins (1935) Bruno Hauptmann, a German immigrant to the US, was convicted and sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murder of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., the young son of famed pilot Charles Lindbergh. In recent years, the case against Hauptmann has come under serious scrutiny, as it has been alleged that some of the evidence used to convict him was planted or doctored and that false testimony was given at the trial. LETS BEGIN IN 2010 ID: 960327 · |
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Matthew Love Send message Joined: 26 Sep 99 Posts: 7763 Credit: 879,151 RAC: 0
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Joan of Arc Goes on Trial (1431) Joan of Arc was a French military leader and heroine who was canonized as a saint in 1920, nearly 500 years after she was burned at the stake. Claiming to be inspired by religious visions, she organized the French resistance that forced the English to end their siege of Orléans in 1429 and led an army to Reims, where she had the dauphin, Charles VII, crowned king. Captured and sold to the English by the Burgundians, she was later tried for heresy and executed. LETS BEGIN IN 2010 ID: 962307 · |
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Matthew Love Send message Joined: 26 Sep 99 Posts: 7763 Credit: 879,151 RAC: 0
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ATF Raids Branch Davidian Compound (1993) After investigating charges of child abuse and the illegal stockpiling of weapons at the Texas ranch of the Branch Davidian religious sect, US ATF agents raided the compound. The confrontation turned violent, and 10 people were killed in the firefight. A siege of the compound ended 51 days later, when the complex was engulfed in flames. Seventy-nine people, including 21 children and Davidian leader David Koresh, died in the incident. LETS BEGIN IN 2010 ID: 974892 · |
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Matthew Love Send message Joined: 26 Sep 99 Posts: 7763 Credit: 879,151 RAC: 0
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Salem Witch Trials Begin (1692) Viewed by many to be the result of a period of factional infighting and religious hysteria, the witch trials of Puritanical Salem Village, Massachusetts, led to the executions of 20 people—15 women and five men—and the imprisonment of approximately 150 accused witches. Even after the trials ended, people who had previously been found not guilty of witchcraft remained in prison, held until they paid their jail fees. LETS BEGIN IN 2010 ID: 975129 · |
Julie  Send message Joined: 28 Oct 09 Posts: 34067 Credit: 18,883,157 RAC: 18 
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Matthew Love Send message Joined: 26 Sep 99 Posts: 7763 Credit: 879,151 RAC: 0
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Bulgaria Regains Independence from Ottoman Empire (1878) Though the April Uprising of 1876, a Bulgarian revolt against the perceived Ottoman oppression, failed as a revolution, it succeeded in raising international support for the Bulgarian plight. News of atrocities committed by Ottoman troops suppressing the uprising quickly spread to the international community, and Russia soon declared war on the Ottomans. The subsequent Treaty of San Stefano created a large autonomous Bulgaria within the Ottoman Empire LETS BEGIN IN 2010 ID: 975609 · |
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Matthew Love Send message Joined: 26 Sep 99 Posts: 7763 Credit: 879,151 RAC: 0
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Gallaudet University Students Demand Deaf President (1988) When their existing president resigned in 1987, students at Gallaudet University, a liberal arts university for the deaf in Washington, DC, began campaigning for a deaf successor to the post, which had never been held by a deaf person. When the school's board selected a hearing candidate on March 6, 1988, students began to protest and issued four demands, including the immediate naming of a new deaf president and the resignation of the chair of the board. LETS BEGIN IN 2010 ID: 976217 · |
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Matthew Love Send message Joined: 26 Sep 99 Posts: 7763 Credit: 879,151 RAC: 0
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Rubber Band Patented (1845) In 1845, Stephen Perry, a British inventor and businessman, patented what is now a staple office supply—the rubber band. While their intended function is to hold items together, rubber bands have been used in a number of other capacities; they can be wrapped around one another to form a bouncy ball or used as "ammunition" in rubber band guns. Though many modern rubber products are commonly made with synthetic rubber, rubber bands are still primarily manufactured using natural rubber LETS BEGIN IN 2010 ID: 980245 · |
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Matthew Love Send message Joined: 26 Sep 99 Posts: 7763 Credit: 879,151 RAC: 0
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The Subway Sarin Incident (1995) On March 20, 1995, members of the Japanese religious sect Aum Shinrikyo released sarin gas, a nerve agent, on several lines of the Tokyo Metro system in five coordinated attacks, killing 12 and injuring thousands. Carrying homemade liquid sarin packaged in plastic bags, the perpetrators boarded the trains, punctured the packets, and left them to vaporize on the car floors. More than 10 Aum members were sentenced to death for their involvement in the incident LETS BEGIN IN 2010 ID: 981611 · |
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