On this day in the year
70 AD, Jerusalem’s
Second Temple, located on the Temple Mount (aka Mount Zion) is destroyed by Roman occupiers. The Second Temple had been built 586 years earlier to replace
King Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed by neo-Babylonian
King Nebuchadnezzar II upon his siege of Jerusalem and subsequent enslavement of the Jewish people in 587 BC. Jewish eschatology holds that, before the Messiah can appear on Earth, a Third Temple must be built. Various messianic groups have attempted to get this project started up, but that particular piece of real estate is one of the most hotly contested spots on the face of the Earth... if not MOST hotly contested
***
On this day in
1693, a Frenchman by the name of
Dom Perignon allegedly invents the sparkling wine commonly referred to as
Champagne. This is a traditional belief, however, for which there is no evidence or proof.
***
On this day in
1892, the father and stepmother of
Lizzie Borden are found murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts home. Borden’s subsequent trial and acquittal gave rise to the popular rhyme: “Lizzie Borden took an axe. Gave her father forty whacks. When she saw what she had done… Gave her mother forty-one!”
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On this day in
1944, a tip from a Dutch informer leads the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse, where they find and arrest Jewish diarist
Anne Frank, her family, and four others.
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On this day in
1964, civil rights workers
Michael Schwerner,
Andrew Goodman and
James Chaney are found dead in Mississippi after disappearing on June 21. The film
Mississippi Burning is based on these events.
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On this day in
1964, the destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy report coming under attack in the Gulf of Tonkin, near Vietnam. This led to an escalation of American intervention in the region – and the number of deaths on all sides – despite the fact that the events most likely
never took place.It was, in many ways, the lie that launched America's war against Vietnam.
***
On this day in
1987, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rescinds the
Fairness Doctrine, which had required radio and television stations to present controversial issues fairly, giving equal time to both sides of an issue.
Rush Limbaugh ensues.
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