On this day in history.

[J. A.]

April 18, 1971:
David John McDonald, aka David Tennant, was born in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland.

David Tennant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[giradman]

American Revolution Begins on April 19, 1775 at Lexington & Concord!

Sorry, day late again - Susan & I are on a trip to the Georgia Coast and did not post last night!

On April 19, 1775 in Lexington & Concord, Massachusetts, the first armed conflict between the Americans and British occurred w/ the 'shot heard around the world' on Lexington Green - beginning quote below from a Wiki Article - both towns are close to Boston, so an easy visit either by yourself (which I did a number of decades ago) or as part of likely many tours in the area. Pics below from the web - Dave

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War.[9] They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge, near Boston. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen of its colonies on the mainland of British America.

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[LannyC]

Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

Well. Looks like Longfellow somewhat underestimated our collective memory.

 

[giradman]

Hi Lanny - great poem - I was actually going to bring up that Revere ride, but was ready to go to dinner -

Quote below from a beginning Wiki article on him (Source) - yet another amazing fact is that Revere is usually remembered as a silversmith (in addition to the 'midnight ride'), but he had other occupations, including denistry - his friend Dr. Joseph Warran was killed @ Bunker Hill in June of the same year - his body was identified based on dental information before X-rays! See second quote below - Dave

Paul Revere (/rɪˈvɪər/; December 21, 1734 O.S. – May 10, 1818[N 1]) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, and a Patriot in the American Revolution. He is best known for alerting the Colonial militia to the approach of British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "Paul Revere's Ride" (1861).

Revere's friend and compatriot Joseph Warren was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775.[62] Because soldiers killed in battle were often buried in mass graves without ceremony, Warren's grave was unmarked. On March 21, 1776, several days after the British army left Boston, Revere, Warren's brothers, and a few friends went to the battlefield and found a grave containing two bodies.[63] After being buried for nine months, Warren's face was unrecognizable, but Revere was able to identify Warren's body because he had placed a false tooth in Warren's mouth, and recognized the wire he had used for fastening it. Warren was given a proper funeral and reburied in a marked grave.[64]

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[scifan57]

Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

Well. Looks like Longfellow somewhat underestimated our collective memory.

I've been to the Old North Church in Boston, where the signal lamp warning of the British approach was displayed in the steeple, as described in Longfellow's poem.

 

[giradman]

I've been to the Old North Church in Boston, where the signal lamp warning of the British approach was displayed in the steeple, as described in Longfellow's poem.

Yep - one of the MUST visits on a trip to Boston (couple pics below of the Old North Church & steeple location for the lanterns) - tour should still include a visit to the bell tower and the crypt below; and the church is beautiful inside and well preserved - highly recommended. Dave
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[scifan57]

Yep - one of the MUST visits on a trip to Boston (couple pics below of the Old North Church & steeple location for the lanterns) - tour should still include a visit to the bell tower and the crypt below; and the church is beautiful inside and well preserved - highly recommended. Dave
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View attachment 71129 View attachment 71130 View attachment 71131

One change that's been made to the church since the signal was hung in the steeple is that the window in the rear of the church used by the church sexton Robert Newman and Captain John Pulling, the two of whom historian David Hackett Fischer suggests each carried one lantern up to the steeple, to escape from the church has been bricked up. It's still visible from the inside but not in the outer brick wall.

 

[LannyC]

Not to drag this thing out too far, but something compelled me to grab a shot of the flatware we've been using daily since we got it as a wedding gift in 1971. The pattern is "Paul Revere."

Oops, forgot the salad fork.

 

[scifan57]

April 22, 1945;

Adolf Hitler finally admits that Germany has lost the war. Shortly thereafter he commits suicide.

 

[giradman]

April 22, 1945;

Adolf Hitler finally admits that Germany has lost the war. Shortly thereafter he commits suicide.

Well, I'm not lamenting that LOSS to the world!

Wife & I own a lot of the Great Courses and usually purchase the DVD sets - one that I've watched 3-4 times and just finished a month or so ago (kind of a yearly event) is shown below - 30 half-hour episodes which are an excellent introduction to WWW II, covering the European, African, and Pacific fronts - of course, the length could easily be doubled or tripled and still not do justice to the multitudinous aspects of this great conflict - highly recommended for history fans. Dave
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[scifan57]

Well, I'm not lamenting that LOSS to the world!

Wife & I own a lot of the Great Courses and usually purchase the DVD sets - one that I've watched 3-4 times and just finished a month or so ago (kind of a yearly event) is shown below - 30 half-hour episodes which are an excellent introduction to WWW II, covering the European, African, and Pacific fronts - of course, the length could easily be doubled or tripled and still not do justice to the multitudinous aspects of this great conflict - highly recommended for history fans. Dave
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View attachment 71142

You might like this iTunes U collection of WWII newsreels. World War II in the News - Free Podcast by National Archives and Records Administration on iTunes

 

[scifan57]

April 24, 1800;

President John Adams approves the spending of $5,000.00 to purchase such books as may be needed by Congress, thus establishing the Library of Congress which is now the largest library in the world by collection size, with over 17 million books. Library of Congress - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[scifan57]

April 24, 2015;

The Apple Watch is released and the first customers take delivery.

 

[giradman]

April 24, 1800;

President John Adams approves the spending of $5,000.00 to purchase such books as may be needed by Congress, thus establishing the Library of Congress which is now the largest library in the world by collection size, with over 17 million books. Library of Congress - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For those touring Washington, D.C., a visit to the Library of Congress is worth a trip - a beautiful building w/ plenty to see, including some historic musical instruments. I've been there a few times - as a former academic radiologist, I helped to edit a number of books and out of curiosity went to their Online Catalog to search my own name - about a half dozen of the 12 or so texts that I've been a part of producing were listed (see quote below) - my last editing effort was the book shown published in 2010, a year before I retired - this is a basic text on radiologic imaging for medical students, but still popular - just received a modest royalty check a few weeks ago - won't 'break the bank' but pays for a couple of nights at some of the places we visit in my travelogues - Dave

Meschan, Isidore. Introduction to diagnostic imaging - Isadore Meschan & David J. XXX - 1984

Donald O. Castell, Wallace C. Wu, & David J. XXX - Gastroesophageal relfux disease: pathogenesis, diagnosis, & therapy - 1985

XXX, David J. & Wallace C. Wu. Polypoid disease of the colon : emphasis on radiologic evaluation - 1986

XXX, David J. Hysterosalpingography: a text & atlas/ David J. XXX & Jamil A. Fayez - 1990

XXX, David J. Manual of gastrointestinal fluoroscopy: performance of procedures by David J. XXX, David W. Gelfand, & Michael YM Chen - 1996

XXX, David J. Hysterosalpingography: a text & atlas (2nd ed) - David J. XXX, Jamil A. Fayez, & Ronald J. Zagoria - 1998

Michael YM Chen, Thomas L. Pope, & David J. XXX. Basic radiology: Lange medical book - 2004

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[giradman]

Nepal Earthquake on April 25, 2015 - First Year Anniversary

Today, there has been a lot on PBS and in the newspapers I read - just one story from USA Today - thousands still living in makeshift shacks and little money spent from the billions provided internationally. Dave

The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed over 8,000 people and injured more than 21,000. It occurred at 11:56 Nepal Standard Time on 25 April, with a magnitude of 7.8Mw[1] or 8.1Ms[9] and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of IX (Violent). Its epicenter was east of Lamjung District at Barpak, Gorkha, and its hypocenter was at a depth of approximately 8.2 km (5.1 mi).[1] It was the worst natural disaster to strike Nepal since the 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake. The earthquake triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, killing 21, making April 25, 2015 the deadliest day on the mountain in history. The earthquake triggered another huge avalanche in the Langtang valley, where 250 people were reported missing.

Hundreds of thousands of people were made homeless with entire villages flattened, across many districts of the country. Centuries-old buildings were destroyed at UNESCO World Heritage sites in the Kathmandu Valley, including some at the Kathmandu Durbar Square, the Patan Durbar Square, the Bhaktapur Durbar Square, the Changu Narayan Temple, the Boudhanath stupa and the Swayambhunath Stupa. Geophysicists and other experts had warned for decades that Nepal was vulnerable to a deadly earthquake, particularly because of its geology, urbanization, and architecture (Source).

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