On this day in 1147, we have the first historical record of Moscow.
***
On this day in 1581, Francis Drake is knighted for completing a circumnavigation of the world.
***
On this day in 1721, Sir Robert Walpole takes office as the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom under King George I.
***
On this day in 1768, in London, England, Great Britain, Philip Astley stages the first modern circus.
***
On this day in 1841, President William Henry Harrison succumbs to pneumonia, thus becoming the first President of the United States to die in office. Harrison only served for one month, most of it bed-ridden, and he still managed to leave a greater legacy than Preznit Dubya.
***
Happy Birthday NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), which was signed into existence on this day in 1949.
***
On this day in 1964, The Beatles occupy the TOP FIVE positions on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.
***
On this day in 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" speech in New York City's Riverside Church. One year later, on this day in 1968, at 6:01 in the afternoon, the civil rights activist is leaning over the balcony railing of his second-floor room at the Motel Lorraine to speak to his chauffeur, when a slug from a high-powered rifle smashes through his chest, killing him. James Earl Ray is later arrested based on the testimony of Charles Stephens, who refuses to finger Ray until the FBI pays off his $30,000 bar tab, and who originally told police that the man he saw exiting the boarding house bathroom from whence the killshot had come was "a nigger." Click HERE if you're interested in finding out more well-documented weirdness surrounding the assassination of MLK.
***
On this day in 1969, the most popular show on TV – The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour – is cancelled by CBS for airing political satire of the politically incorrect variety. Among their crimes, the Brothers dared to invite Pete Seeger, who sang an anti-war song on the air, in Prime Time. Adding insult to injury, the network replaced the vibrant, vital show with... Hee-Haw.
***
On this day in 1973, the World Trade Center in New York is officially dedicated.
***
The first entry in Winston Smith's diary as depicted in George Orwell's visionary dystopian novel Nineteen-Eighty Four, is written on this day in... you guessed it... 1984. You can read the entire novel online, for free, here.
***
On this day in 1991, Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and six others are killed when a helicopter collides with their airplane over an elementary school in Merion, Pennsylvania.
No comments:
Post a Comment