On this day in history.

[giradman]

FDR Establishes Modern Thanksgiving Holiday Signing a Bill this Day in 1941!

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill officially establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. The tradition of celebrating the holiday on Thursday dates back to the early history of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies, when post-harvest holidays were celebrated on the weekday regularly set aside as “Lecture Day,” a midweek church meeting where topical sermons were presented. A famous Thanksgiving observance occurred in the autumn of 1621, when Plymouth governor William Bradford invited local Indians to join the Pilgrims in a three-day festival held in gratitude for the bounty of the season (Source).

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[giradman]

Fidel Castro, Cuban Revolutionary, Dies November 25 at 90!

Hard to believe that Fidel Castro came into power in 1959 when I just entered my teen years - that's a LONG time - will in interesting since the USA has 'opened' its doors to Cuba and Fidel's brother, Raul (now 85 y/o) will likely 'retire' soon, what Cuba may become? Dave

Fidel Castro, the fiery apostle of revolution who brought the Cold War to the Western Hemisphere in 1959 and then defied the United States for nearly half a century as Cuba’s maximum leader, bedeviling 11 American presidents and briefly pushing the world to the brink of nuclear war, died Friday. He was 90 (Source).

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[J. A.]

November 27, 1896:

Richard Strauss conducts the first performance of his composition "Also sprach Zarathustra" in Frankfurt, Germany. The beginning of the introduction (Sunrise) was used in Stanley Kubrick's film "2001: A Space Odyssey".
Also sprach Zarathustra (Strauss) - Wikipedia

 

[giradman]

November 27, 1896:

Richard Strauss conducts the first performance of his composition "Also sprach Zarathustra" in Frankfurt, Germany. The beginning of the introduction (Sunrise) was used in Stanley Kubrick's film "2001: A Space Odyssey".
Also sprach Zarathustra (Strauss) - Wikipedia

Well, I've not listened to my Richard Strauss (1864-1949) collection in ages (have only about a dozen discs), but will pull my two versions of the work above (shown below) for a listening today - Dave
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[giradman]

Pope Urban II Orders the First Crusade on this day in 1095

The First Crusade was ordered today in 1095 (see quotes below) - over about 200 hundred years, at least seven if not nine 'major' crusades were undertaken (see list of 9 below - Source) - apparently smaller 'crusades' occurred after that time into the next later centuries, according to several of the links provided. These were brutal encounters and I've often wondered about the 'total death toll' - one estimated range is 1-9 million persons, so correct answer may be 'millions' perished (Source). Dave

On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II makes perhaps the most influential speech of the Middle Ages, giving rise to the Crusades by calling all Christians in Europe to war against Muslims in order to reclaim the Holy Land, with a cry of “Deus vult!” or “God wills it!” Urban died in 1099, two weeks after the fall of Jerusalem but before news of the Christian victory made it back to Europe. His was the first of seven major military campaigns fought over the next two centuries known as the Crusades, the bloody repercussions of which are still felt today (Source).

The Crusades were a series of religious wars sanctioned by the Latin Church between the 11th and 16th centuries, especially the campaigns in the Eastern Mediterranean with the aim of capturing Jerusalem from Islamic rule. Crusades were also fought for many other reasons such as to recapture Christian territory or defend Christians in non-Christian lands, resolve conflict among rival Roman Catholic groups, gain political or territorial advantage, or to combat paganism and heresy. The term crusade itself is modern, and has in more recent times been extended to include religiously motivated Christian military campaigns in the Late Middle Ages (Source).

First Crusade (1096-1099)
Second Crusade (1147-1149)
Third Crusade (1189-1192)
Fourth Crusade (1202-1204)
Fifth Crusade (1217-1221)
Sixth Crusade (1228-1229)
Seventh Crusade (1248-1254)
Eight Crusade (1270)
Ninth Crusade (2171-2172)

 

[giradman]

UN Votes for Partition of Palestine on this day in 1947

And the fighting continues - below a series of maps showing the expansion of Israel since 1947, and also the film Exodus w/ Paul Newman & Eva Marie Saint - I've not seen this picture in ages and do not own a copy - long as I recall (nearly 3 1/2 hrs on the Amazon DVD listing). Dave

Despite strong Arab opposition, the United Nations votes for the partition of Palestine and the creation of an independent Jewish state. The modern conflict between Jews and Arabs in Palestine dates back to the 1910s, when both groups laid claim to the British-controlled territory. The Jews were Zionists, recent emigrants from Europe and Russia who came to the ancient homeland of the Jews to establish a Jewish national state. The native Palestinian Arabs sought to stem Jewish immigration and set up a secular Palestinian state (Source).

Beginning in 1929, Arabs and Jews openly fought in Palestine, and Britain attempted to limit Jewish immigration as a means of appeasing the Arabs. As a result of the Holocaust in Europe, many Jews illegally entered Palestine during World War II. Radical Jewish groups employed terrorism against British forces in Palestine, which they thought had betrayed the Zionist cause. At the end of World War II, in 1945, the United States took up the Zionist cause. Britain, unable to find a practical solution, referred the problem to the United Nations, which on November 29, 1947, voted to partition Palestine (Source).

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[J. A.]

November 29, 1935:

Physicist Erwin Schrödinger published his thought experiment, "Schrödinger's cat".
Schrödinger's cat - Wikipedia

 

[J. A.]

November 3, 1953: Franz Klammer, former alpine ski racer, was born in Mooswald, Carinthia, Austria.

Franz Klammer - Wikipedia

 

[giradman]

The “Million Dollar Quartet” convenes at Sun Studios in Memphis, TN this day in 1956!

For fans of historic Rock & Roll, the chance session in Memphis at the end of 1956 - I've toured the Sun Studios twice (once w/ my son & more recently w/ Susan) - pretty much remains the same appearance as in its hey day - a MUST recommendation if visiting this city on the Mississippi River. Dave

The modest storefront recording studio at 760 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, played an outsize role in rock-and-roll history. And of the many historic moments that occurred there, none is more famous than the impromptu jam session by four young rock-and-roll giants that took place on this day in 1956—a session enshrined in rock-and-roll legend as the one-and-only gathering of the “Million Dollar Quartet.” (Source)

The studio at 760 Union was run by Sam Phillips, the legendary producer whose Sun Records had launched Elvis Presley on his path toward stardom two years earlier with the release of his first single, “It’s Alright Mama” (1954). Phillips’ decision to sell Presley’s contract to RCA Victor in 1955 for only $35,000 is easy to question in retrospect, but it provided Sun Records with the operating capital it needed in order to record and promote the parade of future stars who had descended on Memphis hoping to follow in Elvis’ footsteps (Source).

Among those stars was Carl Perkins, the rockabilly legend who was in the studio on December 4, 1956, to record a follow-up to his smash hit from earlier that year: “Blue Suede Shoes.” Hanging out in the booth was Perkins’ good friend Johnny Cash, already a star in his own right after his breakthrough hits, “Folsom Prison Blues” (1955) and “I Walk The Line” (1956). And playing piano for a $15 session fee was the brash, wild, but not-yet-famous Jerry Lee Lewis, whose career-making Sun single “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” was set for release just a few weeks later. Four songs into Perkins’ session, all work came to an end with the arrival of an unexpected drop-in guest: Elvis Presley himself (Source).

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[scifan57]

December 4, 1945;

By a vote of 65 to 7 the Senate approves full U.S. participation in the United Nations.
United Nations - Wikipedia

 

[giradman]

Washington Monument Completed Today in 1884!

My first trip to Washington, D.C. was in the early 1970s - I've been up the many stairs twice (of course, in my early years). The second pic below w/ the monument between the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol Building emphasizes the fact that George's tribute is and will remain the tallest structure in the city.

Except for a day trip into D.C. recently, we have not made an extended visit in a while, SO next spring we are planning a 4-5 night trip (also invited our son & DIL to fly in) - there have been a number of new museums that have opened that we want to see; plus, the eating is some of the best in the nation. Dave

On this day in 1884, in Washington, D.C., workers place a nine-inch aluminum pyramid atop a tower of white marble, completing the construction of an impressive monument to the city’s namesake and the nation’s first president, George Washington. As early as 1783, the infant U.S. Congress decided that a statue of George Washington, the great Revolutionary War general, should be placed near the site of the new Congressional building, wherever it might be. After then-President Washington asked him to lay out a new federal capital on the Potomac River in 1791, architect Pierre L’Enfant left a place for the statue at the western end of the sweeping National Mall (near the monument’s present location) (Source).

Made of some 36,000 blocks of marble and granite stacked 555 feet in the air, the monument was the tallest structure in the world at the time of its completion in December 1884. In the six months following the dedication ceremony, over 10,000 people climbed the nearly 900 steps to the top of the Washington Monument. Today, an elevator makes the trip far easier, and more than 800,000 people visit the monument each year. A city law passed in 1910 restricted the height of new buildings to ensure that the monument will remain the tallest structure in Washington, D.C.–a fitting tribute to the man known as the “Father of His Country.” (Source)

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[scifan57]

Washington Monument Completed Today in 1884!

My first trip to Washington, D.C. was in the early 1970s - I've been up the many stairs twice (of course, in my early years). The second pic below w/ the monument between the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol Building emphasizes the fact that George's tribute is and will remain the tallest structure in the city.

Except for a day trip into D.C. recently, we have not made an extended visit in a while, SO next spring we are planning a 4-5 night trip (also invited our son & DIL to fly in) - there have been a number of new museums that have opened that we want to see; plus, the eating is some of the best in the nation. Dave




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Sharp eyed viewers will notice that the colour of the stone on the Washington Monument changes about a third of the way to the top. This is the result of a temporary halt in construction and the stone coming from a different quarry after construction resumed.

 

[giradman]

Sharp eyed viewers will notice that the colour of the stone on the Washington Monument changes about a third of the way to the top. This is the result of a temporary halt in construction and the stone coming from a different quarry after construction resumed.

OOPS - forgot to mention that fact - but more recently, the Washington Monument has had some unfortunate events - the 2011 earthquake closed the structure for about 3 years; then the elevator malfunctioned late this year, and the monument has been closed again until 2019 (more details below). Dave

The monument was damaged during the 2011 Virginia earthquake and Hurricane Irene in the same year and remained closed to the public while the structure was assessed and repaired. After 32 months of repairs, the National Park Service and the Trust for the National Mall reopened the Washington Monument to visitors on May 12, 2014.

As of September 2016, the monument has been closed indefinitely due to reliability issues with the current elevator system. On December 2, 2016, the National Park Service announced that the monument would be closed until 2019 in order to modernize the elevator. The $2 to 3 million project will correct the elevator’s ongoing mechanical, electrical and computer issues, which have shuttered the monument since August 17 (Source).

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[giradman]

Pearl Harbor Bombed on this day in 1941!

Well, a BIG event today from 1941 - the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor which brought the United States into WW II - just a couple of pics below - plenty more could be said, so will be interested in the responses. Dave

P.S. Same post that I left a year ago - time flies!

At 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time, a Japanese dive bomber bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan on its wings appears out of the clouds above the island of Oahu. A swarm of 360 Japanese warplanes followed, descending on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in a ferocious assault. The surprise attack struck a critical blow against the U.S. Pacific fleet and drew the United States irrevocably into World War II (Source).

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[scifan57]

Pearl Harbor Bombed on this day in 1941!

Well, a BIG event today from 1941 - the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor which brought the United States into WW II - just a couple of pics below - plenty more could be said, so will be interested in the responses. Dave

P.S. Same post that I left a year ago - time flies!


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Only two of the ships sunk on that day are still at the bottom of Pearl Harbour. The USS Arizona and the USS Utah, an old battleship then being used as a target ship.

The biggest mistakes made by the Japanese in the attack were that they did not destroy the oil tank farm, the sub base, or the dry docks.