Today In History

[DrMotorcity]

Re: Today's date in history...

"You're right someone was killed today. The fact that after everything was said and done he was found to be unarmed does not change what the intentions of those two officers were. In that split second their intention was to save lives, not take it..." as said by the Colonel.

For many reasons, most notably due to the influence of a ravenous media, we maintain persistent adherence to the philosophy known as "what if?" Had it been that this person was in fact in possession of an explosive device and so did utilize it accordingly, resulting tremendous loss of life, both onboard that plane and where ever it just so happened to land in various pieces, the one question that would be on everyone's mind--and the first one spewed by the reporter who makes his living glibly traipsing about the smoke-cleared aftermath of someone else's misfortune--is where were the air marshals?

Since neither I, nor many other people, came home yesterday to find chunks of an airplane and unindentifyable portions of human remains scattered across my front yard, I must say that the Air Marshal served those they were sworn to protect quite admirably.

"So then why," we may have asked sixty years ago as yet another wave of young men are rustled from their homes by the call to arms and then shipped to the other side of the earth, which for so many, would be their final voyage, "doesn't Harry just give the OK to drop a couple bombs and get this thing over with?"

What if?

 

[calpoon]

Re: Today's date in history...

yeah that's a good question, what if? what if we live in a society that thinks perpetrating real violence is a good solution to opposing theoretical ones,will it stop people from getting killed? obviously not. people are still getting killed. there's no way anyone could have known the outcome of that war, here's a good what if.. what if the united states had signed up with the allies as soon as hitler had invaded poland, instead of saying Not our probelm, then maybe 500,000 deaths in the pacifc would have seemed like a pretty small casualty compared to the millions lost in the war. the point is and always will be that specualtion about an uncertain future is not grounds to abandon the present reality.

 

[calpoon]

Re: Today's date in history...

PS. Dr. Motor City, that is an excellent point about present day Japan. it's is no doubt that it's because of it's involvement with America that Japan has become what it is today. for a time I justified the bomb with that in mind, but now I just can't see barbecuing women and children as ever being worth what goodwill and peaceable diplomacy could have brought. maybe sixty years ago it was a good time to look past isolationism. maybe today is a good time.

 

[DrMotorcity]

Re: Today's date in history...

PS. Dr. Motor City, that is an excellent point about present day Japan. it's is no doubt that it's because of it's involvement with America that Japan has become what it is today. for a time I justified the bomb with that in mind, but now I just can't see barbecuing women and children as ever being worth what goodwill and peaceable diplomacy could have brought. maybe sixty years ago it was a good time to look past isolationism. maybe today is a good time.

Prime Minister Chamberlain went to great lengths to "appeal" to Hitler--coincidently, just about the time her ordered the invasion of Poland; however his successor quite contrastingly held the sound belief that "an appeaser is one who feeds an aligator in the hopes that he eats him last."

 

[The Captain]

94 Years ago today (April 15th 1912) the R.M.S. Sank after her collision with an iceberg, Please take a moment to remember the 1,523 men, woman, and children who lost there lives, and the 705 survivors who’s lives were forever shattered that day.

 

[The Captain]

94 Years ago today (April 15th 1912) the R.M.S. Titanic Sank after her collision with an iceberg, Please take a moment to remember the 1,523 men, woman, and children who lost there lives, and the 705 survivors who’s lives were forever shattered that day.

 

[DrMotorcity]

Re: Today's date in history...

April 18, 1942: The Doolittle Raid

 

[Montrealman]

Re: Today's date in history...

10 years ago today, KISS officially announced the Reunion Tour of the four original members and subsequent Alive Worldwide Tour, on
the aircraft carrier USS Intrerpid in New York City.

 

[DrMotorcity]

Re: Today's date in history...

The Eagle has landed.

 

[member006]

Re: Today's date in history...

QUSAY AND UDAY HUSSEIN KILLED:
July 22, 2003

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s sons, Qusay and Uday Hussein, are killed after a three-hour firefight with U.S. forces in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. It is widely believed that the two men were even more cruel and ruthless than their notorious father, and their death was celebrated among many Iraqis. Uday and Qusay were 39 and 37 years old, respectively, when they died. Both are said to have amassed considerable fortunes through their participation in illegal oil smuggling.
Uday Hussein, as Saddam’s first-born son, was the natural choice to succeed the feared despot. But even the seemingly amoral Saddam took issue with Uday’s extravagant lifestyle—he is said to have personally owned hundreds of cars—and lack of personal discipline. After Uday bludgeoned and stabbed one of Saddam’s favorite attendants to death at a 1988 party, Saddam briefly had him imprisoned and beaten.

While Saddam began to favor his second son Qusay, Uday continued to make a name for himself among the Iraqi people for his sadism and cruelty. Prone to beating and torturing his servants and anyone else who displeased him, he was known to spend time studying new torture devices and methods to improve his technique. He even treated his so-called friends poorly—in one report, he forced some to drink dangerous amounts of alcohol purely for his amusement. Uday was also a man of unrestrained sexual appetites, sleeping with several women per night up to five nights a week. He was known for raping young women--some as young as 12--whom he found attractive, threatening their and their families’ lives if they complained or spoke out against the crime. He would sometimes torture and kill his victims after sex.

Uday held several jobs during his father’s regime, most notably publishing the most widely read newspaper in the country and heading Iraq’s Olympic Committee. In that position, he is known to have beaten athletes whom he felt did not perform up to expectations. He was also the head of the Fedayeen Saddam, one of his father’s security groups. In 1996, Uday was shot while driving in his car. Though never proven, it has been speculated that his brother Qusay may have been behind the assassination attempt. The incident caused him to suffer a stroke and, despite surgery, left a bullet lodged in his spine. Although he recovered most function, it is said that Uday lived with considerable pain for the rest of his life, which may have exacerbated his sadistic tendencies. The weakness he experienced after the shooting may also have contributed to his father’s growing doubts about his suitability as a successor.

At the same time, Qusay was earning Saddam’s trust. Married with four children, Qusay was said to be less sadistic than his brother, but was still a cold and ruthless killer who was much feared throughout the country. While Uday often bragged about his excesses and violent exploits, Qusay was known to intentionally keep a much lower profile. He worshipped his father and worked hard to impress him. After he proved himself by brutally repressing the Shi’ite uprisings that occurred after the 1991 Gulf War—even doing some of the killing himself—Saddam rewarded Qusay with a series of more responsible posts, including command of Iraq’s elite fighting force, the Republican Guard, and the Special Security Organization, Iraq’s secret police. By that time, it had become clear that Qusay had replaced his brother as Saddam’s likely heir.

Despite Qusay’s superior reputation, observers noted with interest that Uday’s Fedayeen Saddam actually outperformed the Qusay-led Republican Guard during the United States’ 2003 invasion of Iraq. Qusay proved to be an ineffective leader, showing fear and often second-guessing his own decisions. After the invasion, both brothers went into hiding and the U.S. government posted a $15 million reward for information leading to the discovery of either man’s location. Though it was widely speculated that they would not be found together because of their mutual enmity, an informant’s tip led U.S. Special Forces to a house in which they were both staying on July 22, 2003. After drawing fire, the soldiers withdrew, until receiving backup in the form of 100 troops from the 101st Airborne division, Apache helicopters, and an A-10 gunship. A battle ensued, after which Americans entered the house and found the bodies of the two brothers, as well as that of Qusay’s 14- year-old son. They were buried in a cemetery near the city of Tikrit, their father’s birthplace.

In the wake of their deaths, the American government drew criticism for releasing pictures of Uday’s and Qusay’s lifeless bodies, but insisted the move was necessary to convince the skeptical Iraqi people that the long-feared brothers were truly dead. About five months later, on December 13, 2003, their father, who also went into hiding after the U.S. invasion, was found and captured alive by American forces. His trial by special tribunal for multiple crimes committed during his reign began in October 2005.

 

[member006]

Re: Today's date in history...

July 22 1991

Cannibal and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is caught


Milwaukee, Wisconsin, police officers spot Tracy Edwards running down the street in handcuffs, and upon investigation, they find one of the grisliest scenes in modern history-Jeffrey Dahmer's apartment.

Edwards told the police that Dahmer had held him at his apartment and threatened to kill him. Although they initially thought the story was dubious, the officers took Edwards back to Dahmer's apartment. Dahmer calmly explained that the whole matter was simply a misunderstanding and the officers almost believed him. However, they spotted a few Polaroid photos of dismembered bodies, and Dahmer was arrested.

When Dahmer's apartment was fully searched, a house of horrors was revealed. In addition to photo albums full of pictures of body parts, the apartment was littered with human remains: Several heads were in the refrigerator and freezer; two skulls were on top of the computer; and a 57-gallon drum containing several bodies decomposing in chemicals was found in a corner of the bedroom. There was also evidence to suggest that Dahmer had been eating some of his victims.

Neighbors told both detectives and the press that they had noticed an awful smell emanating from the apartment but that Dahmer had explained it away as expired meat. However, the most shocking revelation about how Dahmer had managed to conceal his awful crimes in the middle of a city apartment building would come a few days later.

Apparently, police had been called two months earlier about a naked and bleeding 14-year-old boy being chased down an alley by Dahmer. The responding officers actually returned the boy, who had been drugged, to Dahmer's apartment-where he was promptly killed. The officers, who said that they believed it to be a domestic dispute, were later fired.

A forensic examination of the apartment turned up 11 victims-the first of whom disappeared in March 1989, just two months before Dahmer successfully escaped a prison sentence for child molestation by telling the judge that he was desperately seeking to change his conduct. Dahmer later confessed to 17 murders in all, dating back to his first victim in 1978.

The jury rejected Dahmer's insanity defense, and he was sentenced to 15 life terms. He survived one attempt on his life in July 1994, but was killed by another inmate on November 28, 1994.

 

[sammy402002]

Re: Today's date in history...

An interesting website that allows You to explore the prices,music,news,sports,etc. of days gone past.I found it fascinating.I hope some of You like it too.http://dmarie.com/timecap

 

[member006]

Re: Today's date in history...

An interesting website that allows You to explore the prices,music,news,sports,etc. of days gone past.I found it fascinating.I hope some of You like it too.http://dmarie.com/timecap

Thank you,cool site. I went there and it is fun. Look up when your parents/grandparents were born etc. it can be very interesting if you love trivia.

:glugglug:

 

[Iamforever]

Re: Today's date in history...

it is now after midnight. officially its my wedding anniversary. yea me, 3 years now. :glugglug:

 

[Irony]

Re: Today's date in history...

Congratulations mate, good for you

 

[member006]

Re: Today's date in history...

Very interesting I think.

SHIP COLLISION OFF NANTUCKET:
July 25, 1956

At 11:10 p.m., 45 miles south of Nantucket Island, the Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria and the Swedish ocean liner Stockholm collide in a heavy Atlantic fog. Fifty-one passengers and crew were killed in the collision, which ripped a great hole in the broad side of the Italian vessel. Miraculously, all 1,660 survivors on the Andrea Doria were rescued from the severely listing ship before it sunk late the next morning. Both ships were equipped with sophisticated radar systems, and authorities were puzzled as to the cause of the accident.

In the mid-1950s, more than 50 passenger liners steamed between Europe and America, exploiting a postwar boom in transatlantic ocean travel. The lavishly appointed Andrea Doria, put to sea in 1953, was the pride of the Italian line. It was built for luxury, not speed, and boasted extensive safety precautions, such as state-of-the-art radar systems and 11 watertight compartments in its hull. The Stockholm, which went into service in 1948, was a more modest ocean liner, less than half the tonnage and carrying 747 passengers and crew on its fateful voyage. The Andrea Doria held 1,706 passengers and crew in its final journey.

On the night of July 25, 1956, the Stockholm was just beginning its journey home to Sweden from New York, while the Andrea Doria was steaming in the opposite direction. The Italian liner had been in an intermittent fog since midafternoon, but Captain Piero Calami only slightly reduced his speed, relying on his ship's radar to get him to his destination safely and on schedule. The Stockholm, meanwhile, was directed north of its recommended route by Captain H. Gunnar Nordenson, who risked encountering westbound vessels in the name of reducing travel time. The Stockholm also had radar and expected no difficulty in navigating past approaching vessels. It failed to anticipate, however, that a ship like the Andrea Doria could be hidden until the last few minutes by a fogbank.

At 10:45 p.m., the Stockholm showed up on the Doria's radar screens, at a distance of about 17 nautical miles. Soon after, the Italian ship showed up on the Stockholm's radar, about 12 miles away. What happened next has been subject to dispute, but it's likely that the crews of both ships misread their radar sets. Captain Calami then exacerbated a dangerous situation by making a turn to port for an unconventional starboard-to-starboard passing, which he wrongly thought the other ship was attempting. About two miles away from each other, the ship's lights came into view of each other. Third Officer Johan-Ernst Bogislaus Carstens, commanding the bridge of the Stockholm, then made a conventional turn to starboard.

Less than a mile away, Captain Calami realized he was on a collision course with the Stockholm and turned hard to the left, hoping to race past the bow of the Swedish ship. Both ships were too large and moving too fast to make a quick turn. At 11:10 p.m., the Stockholm's sharply angled bow, reinforced for breaking ice, smashed 30 feet into the starboard side of the Andrea Doria. For a moment, the smaller ship was lodged there like a cork in a bottle, but then the opposite momentum of the two ships pulled them apart, and the Stockholm's smashed bow screeched down the side of the Doria, showering sparks into the air.

Five crewmen of the Stockholm were killed in the collision. On the Andrea Doria, the carnage was much worse. The bow of the Swedish ship crashed through passenger cabins, and 46 passengers and crew were killed. One man watched as his wife was dragged away forever by the retreating bow of the Stockholm. Fourteen-year-old Linda Morgan was asleep on the Doria when the impact somehow catapulted her out of bed and onto the Stockholm's crushed bow. She was later dubbed "the miracle girl" by the press.

With seven of its 10 decks open to the Atlantic waters, the Andrea Doria listed more than 20 degrees to port in minutes, and its watertight compartments were compromised. A lifeboat evacuation began on the doomed ship. The evacuation initially went far from smoothly. The port side could not be used because the ship was listing too much, which left 1,044 lifeboat seats for the 1,706 on board. Passengers in the lower cabins fought their way through darkened hallways filling up with ocean water and leaking oil. The first lifeboat was not deployed until an hour after the collision, and it held more crew than passengers.

Fortunately, the Stockholm, which had suffered a nonfatal blow, was able to lend its lifeboats to the evacuation effort. Several ships heard the Doria's mayday and came to assist. At 2:00 a.m. on July 26, the Ile de France, another great ocean liner, arrived and took charge of the rescue effort. It was the greatest civilian maritime rescue in history, and 1,660 lives were saved. The Stockholm limped back to New York.

At 10:09 a.m. on July 26, the Andrea Doria sank into the Atlantic. Almost immediately, the wreck, located at a depth of 240 feet of water, became a popular scuba diving destination. However, because of the extreme depth, the presence of sharks, and unpredictable currents, the Doria is known as the "Mount Everest" of diving locations.

 

[member006]

Re: Today's date in history...

Another music milestone.

July 25, 1965
Bob Dylan's first electrified performance


On this day, folk legend Bob Dylan performs for the first time with electric instruments. His fans, who were used to hearing him play folk songs on an acoustic guitar, were so disappointed that they booed him off the stage.

Dylan, born Robert Zimmerman in 1941, formed his first band in high school in Minnesota, playing rock and roll. At the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, he became a devotee of wandering folk singer Woody Guthrie, emulating the singer's sound, politics, and roving lifestyle. In the late 1950s, Guthrie and other folk singers had inspired a folk revival among intellectuals who believed the simple-sounding music was a powerful vehicle for social change. Dylan moved to New York City in 1961, where he haunted Greenwich Village, writing ballads and political songs. By 1963, his song "Blowin' in the Wind" had been recorded by folk group Peter, Paul, and Mary and had become a hit. Dylan became a celebrity when he sang the song in 1963 in the March on Washington, the famous civil rights demonstration led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

While driving around the country after the demonstration, Dylan first heard the Beatles and returned to his early interest in rock and roll. By 1964, he was writing rock and roll songs, and in the spring of that year he gave a series of rock concerts in England that were smashing successes. That year, he released Another Side of Bob Dylan, which included rock songs, and in May 1965 he released Bringing It All Back Home, which included electric guitars. The record was a hit in England but not in the United States. Later that year, he released his breakthrough rock and roll album in the United States, Like a Rolling Stone. However, he was still known primarily as a folk singer, and at the annual Newport Folk Festival, organizers expected him to continue his powerful solo folk performances.

On July 25, 1965, Dylan surprised the audience and organizers when he came onstage with musicians--including an electric bassist and electric guitarist--and launched into "Maggie's Farm." The crowd erupted in catcalls, calling him a sellout, and organizers like Pete Seeger fumed. After three songs, Dylan left the stage, later returning to sing two folk songs.

Undaunted, Dylan continued to reinvent himself as a rock musician and his defiant attitude and quest for artistic integrity influenced later rock bands. After a meeting with Dylan in August 1965, the Beatles left their early, innocent sound and began exploring more experimental styles.


:glugglug:

 

[DrMotorcity]

Re: Today's date in history...

August 14, 2003

August 14, 2003

How many of those affected actually remember the date?

And remarkably, there has been no re-occurrence of this phenomena since at any comparable level (September 12, 2005). Amazing? More like American ingenuity at work.

So many of us in the free world complain when something goes wrong, and are more than eager to place the blame upon persons and or agencies whether they are truly the offending party or not, but far too often we really don't appreciate how well-off we are, especially when one takes in to account the misery and hardship that for so many others across the globe is merely the only way of life they have ever known, and one that has persisted for generations.


DrMotorcity

 

[DrMotorcity]

Re: Today's date in history...

August 14, 2003

August 14, 2003

How many of those affected actually remember the date?

And remarkably, there has been no re-occurrence of this phenomena since at any comparable level (September 12, 2005). Amazing? ...

Amazing is right! He actually got the date right! :o :1orglaugh :ban:

 

[Legzman]

Re: Today's date in history...

http://www.scopesys.com/today/
http://www.on-this-day.com/
couple of sites I found for stuff that happened on whatever day you pick!