leedswolf
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December 9 1966… Cream release their debut album Fresh Cream, they were on their way... times of promise long ago ...
On this day in history
- Thread starter darlowolf64
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darlowolf64
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12th December
1988 – The Clapham Junction rail crash kills thirty-five and injures hundreds after two collisions of three commuter trains—one of the worst train crashes in the United Kingdom
. Crash site and clean up . . .... Clapham Junction Memorial
The Clapham Junction rail crash occurred on the morning of 12 December 1988, when a crowded British Rail passenger train crashed into the rear of another train that had stopped at a signal just south of Clapham Junction railway station in London, England, and subsequently sideswiped an empty train travelling in the opposite direction. A total of 35 people died in the collision, while 484 were injured.
The 07:18 from Basingstoke to London Waterloo, a crowded 12-car train made up of four-car 4VEP electric multiple units, was approaching Clapham Junction when the driver saw the signal ahead of him change from green "proceed" to red "stop". Unable to stop at the signal, he stopped his train at the next signal and then reported to the signal box by means of a line-side telephone. He was told there was nothing wrong with the signal. Shortly after 08:10, the following train, the 06:30 from Bournemouth, made up of 4REP unit and 4TC units, collided with the Basingstoke train. A third train, carrying no passengers and comprising 4VEP, was passing on the adjacent line in the other direction and collided with the wreckage immediately after the initial impact. The driver of a fourth train, coasting with no traction current, saw the other trains and managed to come to a stop behind the other two and the signal that should have protected them, which was showing a yellow "proceed with caution" aspect instead of a red "stop" aspect.
As a result of the collisions, 35 people died, and 69 were seriously injured. Another 415 sustained minor injuries. Twenty-two of the people killed were from Dorset and the New Forest, including the train driver John Rolls who was from Bournemouth.
The collision was the result of a signal failure caused by a wiring fault. New wiring had been installed, but the old wiring had been left in place and not adequately secured. An independent inquiry chaired by Anthony Hidden, QC found that the signalling technician responsible had not been told that his working practices were wrong, and his work had not been inspected by an independent person. He had also performed the work during his 13th consecutive seven-day workweek. Hidden was critical of the health and safety culture within British Rail at the time, and his recommendations included ensuring that work was independently inspected and that a senior project manager be made responsible for all aspects of any major, safety-critical project such as re-signalling work.
Testing was mandated on British Rail signalling work and the hours of work of employees involved in safety-critical work was limited. Although British Rail was fined £250,000 for breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, there was no prosecution for manslaughter. In 1996 the collision was one of the events cited by the Law Commission as reason for new law on manslaughter, resulting in the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.
1988 – The Clapham Junction rail crash kills thirty-five and injures hundreds after two collisions of three commuter trains—one of the worst train crashes in the United Kingdom
. Crash site and clean up . . .... Clapham Junction Memorial
The Clapham Junction rail crash occurred on the morning of 12 December 1988, when a crowded British Rail passenger train crashed into the rear of another train that had stopped at a signal just south of Clapham Junction railway station in London, England, and subsequently sideswiped an empty train travelling in the opposite direction. A total of 35 people died in the collision, while 484 were injured.
The 07:18 from Basingstoke to London Waterloo, a crowded 12-car train made up of four-car 4VEP electric multiple units, was approaching Clapham Junction when the driver saw the signal ahead of him change from green "proceed" to red "stop". Unable to stop at the signal, he stopped his train at the next signal and then reported to the signal box by means of a line-side telephone. He was told there was nothing wrong with the signal. Shortly after 08:10, the following train, the 06:30 from Bournemouth, made up of 4REP unit and 4TC units, collided with the Basingstoke train. A third train, carrying no passengers and comprising 4VEP, was passing on the adjacent line in the other direction and collided with the wreckage immediately after the initial impact. The driver of a fourth train, coasting with no traction current, saw the other trains and managed to come to a stop behind the other two and the signal that should have protected them, which was showing a yellow "proceed with caution" aspect instead of a red "stop" aspect.
As a result of the collisions, 35 people died, and 69 were seriously injured. Another 415 sustained minor injuries. Twenty-two of the people killed were from Dorset and the New Forest, including the train driver John Rolls who was from Bournemouth.
The collision was the result of a signal failure caused by a wiring fault. New wiring had been installed, but the old wiring had been left in place and not adequately secured. An independent inquiry chaired by Anthony Hidden, QC found that the signalling technician responsible had not been told that his working practices were wrong, and his work had not been inspected by an independent person. He had also performed the work during his 13th consecutive seven-day workweek. Hidden was critical of the health and safety culture within British Rail at the time, and his recommendations included ensuring that work was independently inspected and that a senior project manager be made responsible for all aspects of any major, safety-critical project such as re-signalling work.
Testing was mandated on British Rail signalling work and the hours of work of employees involved in safety-critical work was limited. Although British Rail was fined £250,000 for breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, there was no prosecution for manslaughter. In 1996 the collision was one of the events cited by the Law Commission as reason for new law on manslaughter, resulting in the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.
darlowolf64
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Also on 12th December...
1787 – Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the US Constitution.
1862 – American Civil War: USS Cairo sinks on the Yazoo River.
1866 – Oaks explosion: The worst mining disaster in England kills 361 miners and rescuers.
1870 – Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the second black U.S. congressman.
1937 – Second Sino-Japanese War: USS Panay incident: Japanese aircraft bomb and sink U.S. gunboat USS Panay on the Yangtze river in China.
1939 – HMS Duchess sinks after a collision with HMS Barham off the coast of Scotland with the loss of 124 men.
1939 – Winter War: The Battle of Tolvajärvi, also known as the first major Finnish victory in the Winter War, begins.
1941 – World War II: Fifty-four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesús Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; César Basa is killed.
1941 – The Holocaust: Adolf Hitler declares the imminent extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery.
1945 – The People's Republic of Korea is outlawed in the South, by order of the United States Army Military Government in Korea.
1946 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 13 relating to acceptance of Siam (now Thailand) to the United Nations is adopted.
1956 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 121 relating to acceptance of Japan to the United Nations is adopted.[18]
1963 – Kenya declares independence from Great Britain.
1969 – The Piazza Fontana bombing; a bomb explodes at the headquarters of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura (the National Agricultural Bank) in Piazza Fontana in Milan, Italy, killing 17 people and wounding 88. The same afternoon, three more bombs are detonated in Rome and Milan, and another is found unexploded.
2000 – The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore. The Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore was among the most controversial in U.S. history, as it allowed the vote certification made by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris to stand, giving Bush Florida's 25 electoral votes. Florida's votes gave Bush, the Republican nominee, 271 electoral votes, one more than the 270 required to win the Electoral College.
2015 – The Paris Agreement relating to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is adopted.
2021 – Dutch Formula One racing driver Max Verstappen wins the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, beating seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton to become the first Formula One World Champion to come from the Netherlands.
1787 – Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the US Constitution.
1862 – American Civil War: USS Cairo sinks on the Yazoo River.
1866 – Oaks explosion: The worst mining disaster in England kills 361 miners and rescuers.
1870 – Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the second black U.S. congressman.
1937 – Second Sino-Japanese War: USS Panay incident: Japanese aircraft bomb and sink U.S. gunboat USS Panay on the Yangtze river in China.
1939 – HMS Duchess sinks after a collision with HMS Barham off the coast of Scotland with the loss of 124 men.
1939 – Winter War: The Battle of Tolvajärvi, also known as the first major Finnish victory in the Winter War, begins.
1941 – World War II: Fifty-four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesús Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; César Basa is killed.
1941 – The Holocaust: Adolf Hitler declares the imminent extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery.
1945 – The People's Republic of Korea is outlawed in the South, by order of the United States Army Military Government in Korea.
1946 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 13 relating to acceptance of Siam (now Thailand) to the United Nations is adopted.
1956 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 121 relating to acceptance of Japan to the United Nations is adopted.[18]
1963 – Kenya declares independence from Great Britain.
1969 – The Piazza Fontana bombing; a bomb explodes at the headquarters of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura (the National Agricultural Bank) in Piazza Fontana in Milan, Italy, killing 17 people and wounding 88. The same afternoon, three more bombs are detonated in Rome and Milan, and another is found unexploded.
2000 – The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore. The Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore was among the most controversial in U.S. history, as it allowed the vote certification made by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris to stand, giving Bush Florida's 25 electoral votes. Florida's votes gave Bush, the Republican nominee, 271 electoral votes, one more than the 270 required to win the Electoral College.
2015 – The Paris Agreement relating to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is adopted.
2021 – Dutch Formula One racing driver Max Verstappen wins the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, beating seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton to become the first Formula One World Champion to come from the Netherlands.
darlowolf64
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13th December
1939 – The Battle of the River Plate is fought off the coast of Uruguay; the first naval battle of World War II. The Kriegsmarine's pocket battleship, Admiral Graf Spee engages with three Royal Navy cruisers: HMS Ajax, HMNZS Achilles and HMS Exeter.
The Battle of the River Plate was fought in the South Atlantic on 13 December 1939 as the first naval battle of the Second World War. The Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee, commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff, engaged a Royal Navy squadron, commanded by Commodore Henry Harwood, comprising the light cruisers HMS Ajax, HMS Achilles and the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter.
Graf Spee had sailed into the South Atlantic in August 1939, before the war began, and had begun commerce raiding after receiving the appropriate authorisation on 26 September 1939. Harwood's squadron was one of several search groups sent in pursuit by the British Admiralty and sighted Graf Spee off the estuary of the River Plate near the coasts of Argentina and Uruguay.
In the ensuing battle, Exeter was severely damaged and forced to retire, making for the Falklands; Ajax and Achilles suffered moderate damage. Damage to Graf Spee, although not extensive, was critical because her fuel system was crippled. Ajax and Achilles shadowed the German ship until she entered the port of Montevideo, the capital of neutral Uruguay, to effect urgent repairs. Langsdorff was told that his stay could not be extended beyond 72 hours. Believing that the British had gathered a superior force to await his departure, he ordered that the ship to be scuttled on 17th December. Three days later, Langsdorff killed himself.
Also on 13th December...
1577 – Sir Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage.
1623 – The Plymouth Colony establishes the system of trial by 12-men jury in the American colonies.
1636 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians, a date now considered the founding of the National Guard of the United States.
1642 – Abel Tasman is the first recorded European to sight New Zealand.
1643 – English Civil War: The Battle of Alton takes place in Hampshire.
1949 – The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
1960 – While Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Brazil, his Imperial Bodyguard seizes the capital and proclaims him deposed and his son, Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, Emperor.
1972 – Apollo program: Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt begin the third and final extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or "Moonwalk" of Apollo 17. To date they are the last humans to set foot on the Moon.
1974 – Malta becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations.
1974 – In the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese forces launch their 1975 Spring Offensive (to 30 April 1975), which results in the final capitulation of South Vietnam.[
1981 – General Wojciech Jaruzelski declares martial law in Poland, largely due to the actions by Solidarity.
1988 – PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat gives a speech at a UN General Assembly meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, after United States authorities refused to grant him a visa to visit UN headquarters in New York.
1989 – The Troubles: Attack on Derryard checkpoint: The Provisional Irish Republican Army launches an attack on a British Army temporary vehicle checkpoint near Rosslea, Northern Ireland. Two British soldiers are killed and two others are wounded.
2003 – Iraq War: Operation Red Dawn: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit.
1939 – The Battle of the River Plate is fought off the coast of Uruguay; the first naval battle of World War II. The Kriegsmarine's pocket battleship, Admiral Graf Spee engages with three Royal Navy cruisers: HMS Ajax, HMNZS Achilles and HMS Exeter.
The Battle of the River Plate was fought in the South Atlantic on 13 December 1939 as the first naval battle of the Second World War. The Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee, commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff, engaged a Royal Navy squadron, commanded by Commodore Henry Harwood, comprising the light cruisers HMS Ajax, HMS Achilles and the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter.
Graf Spee had sailed into the South Atlantic in August 1939, before the war began, and had begun commerce raiding after receiving the appropriate authorisation on 26 September 1939. Harwood's squadron was one of several search groups sent in pursuit by the British Admiralty and sighted Graf Spee off the estuary of the River Plate near the coasts of Argentina and Uruguay.
In the ensuing battle, Exeter was severely damaged and forced to retire, making for the Falklands; Ajax and Achilles suffered moderate damage. Damage to Graf Spee, although not extensive, was critical because her fuel system was crippled. Ajax and Achilles shadowed the German ship until she entered the port of Montevideo, the capital of neutral Uruguay, to effect urgent repairs. Langsdorff was told that his stay could not be extended beyond 72 hours. Believing that the British had gathered a superior force to await his departure, he ordered that the ship to be scuttled on 17th December. Three days later, Langsdorff killed himself.
Also on 13th December...
1577 – Sir Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage.
1623 – The Plymouth Colony establishes the system of trial by 12-men jury in the American colonies.
1636 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians, a date now considered the founding of the National Guard of the United States.
1642 – Abel Tasman is the first recorded European to sight New Zealand.
1643 – English Civil War: The Battle of Alton takes place in Hampshire.
1949 – The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
1960 – While Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Brazil, his Imperial Bodyguard seizes the capital and proclaims him deposed and his son, Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, Emperor.
1972 – Apollo program: Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt begin the third and final extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or "Moonwalk" of Apollo 17. To date they are the last humans to set foot on the Moon.
1974 – Malta becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations.
1974 – In the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese forces launch their 1975 Spring Offensive (to 30 April 1975), which results in the final capitulation of South Vietnam.[
1981 – General Wojciech Jaruzelski declares martial law in Poland, largely due to the actions by Solidarity.
1988 – PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat gives a speech at a UN General Assembly meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, after United States authorities refused to grant him a visa to visit UN headquarters in New York.
1989 – The Troubles: Attack on Derryard checkpoint: The Provisional Irish Republican Army launches an attack on a British Army temporary vehicle checkpoint near Rosslea, Northern Ireland. Two British soldiers are killed and two others are wounded.
2003 – Iraq War: Operation Red Dawn: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit.
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darlowolf64
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14th December
1812 – The French invasion of Russia comes to an end as the remnants of the Grande Armée are expelled from Russia.
The French invasion of Russia, also known as Russian campaign and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812, was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian Empire to comply with the continental blockade of the United Kingdom. Widely studied, Napoleon's incursion into Russia stands as a focal point in military history, recognized among the most devastating military endeavors globally. In a span of fewer than six months, the campaign exacted a staggering toll, claiming the lives of nearly a million soldiers and civilians.
On 19 October, after five weeks of occupation, the French Army left Moscow. Napoleon forces still numbered 108,000 men, but his cavalry had been nearly destroyed. With horses exhausted or dead, commanders redirected cavalrymen into infantry units, leaving French forces helpless against Cossack fighters intensifying the guerilla warfare. With little direction or supplies, the army turned to leave the region, struggling on toward worse disaster. Napoleon journeyed along the Old Kaluga road, venturing southward in pursuit of untouched, prosperous regions within Galicia. His aim was to steer clear of the devastated path created by his army's eastward march, instead favoring alternative routes, notably the westward path through Medyn. Avoiding Kutuzov became Napoleon's primary objective, yet his progress faced an obstacle at Maloyaroslavets.
In early November 1812, when Napoleon arrived at Dorogobuzh, he learned that General Claude de Malet had attempted a coup d'état in France. Badly weakened by these circumstances, the French military position collapsed. Further, defeats were inflicted on elements of the Grande Armée at Vyazma, Polotsk and Krasny. Napoleon faced dire circumstances when extreme weather trapped his forces, resulting in the loss of a significant portion of his cavalry and artillery amidst the snow. Russian armies captured the French supply depots at Polotsk, Vitebsk and Minsk, inflicting a logistical disaster on Napoleon's fast collapsing Russian operation.
On 3 December Napoleon published the 29th Bulletin in which he informed the outside world for the first time of the catastrophic state of his army. He abandoned the army on 5 December and returned home on a sled, leaving the sick Murat in command. In the following weeks, the Grande Armée shrank further, and on 14 December 1812, it left Russian territory.
1812 – The French invasion of Russia comes to an end as the remnants of the Grande Armée are expelled from Russia.
The French invasion of Russia, also known as Russian campaign and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812, was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian Empire to comply with the continental blockade of the United Kingdom. Widely studied, Napoleon's incursion into Russia stands as a focal point in military history, recognized among the most devastating military endeavors globally. In a span of fewer than six months, the campaign exacted a staggering toll, claiming the lives of nearly a million soldiers and civilians.
On 19 October, after five weeks of occupation, the French Army left Moscow. Napoleon forces still numbered 108,000 men, but his cavalry had been nearly destroyed. With horses exhausted or dead, commanders redirected cavalrymen into infantry units, leaving French forces helpless against Cossack fighters intensifying the guerilla warfare. With little direction or supplies, the army turned to leave the region, struggling on toward worse disaster. Napoleon journeyed along the Old Kaluga road, venturing southward in pursuit of untouched, prosperous regions within Galicia. His aim was to steer clear of the devastated path created by his army's eastward march, instead favoring alternative routes, notably the westward path through Medyn. Avoiding Kutuzov became Napoleon's primary objective, yet his progress faced an obstacle at Maloyaroslavets.
In early November 1812, when Napoleon arrived at Dorogobuzh, he learned that General Claude de Malet had attempted a coup d'état in France. Badly weakened by these circumstances, the French military position collapsed. Further, defeats were inflicted on elements of the Grande Armée at Vyazma, Polotsk and Krasny. Napoleon faced dire circumstances when extreme weather trapped his forces, resulting in the loss of a significant portion of his cavalry and artillery amidst the snow. Russian armies captured the French supply depots at Polotsk, Vitebsk and Minsk, inflicting a logistical disaster on Napoleon's fast collapsing Russian operation.
On 3 December Napoleon published the 29th Bulletin in which he informed the outside world for the first time of the catastrophic state of his army. He abandoned the army on 5 December and returned home on a sled, leaving the sick Murat in command. In the following weeks, the Grande Armée shrank further, and on 14 December 1812, it left Russian territory.
darlowolf64
Supply Teacher & 2020/21 PTG Intertoto Cup winner
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Also on 14th December...
- 1542 – Princess Mary Stuart becomes Queen of Scots at the age of one week on the death of her father, James V of Scotland.
- 1782 – The Montgolfier brothers first test fly an unmanned hot air balloon in France; it floats nearly 2.5 km (1.6 mi).
- 1814 – War of 1812: The Royal Navy seizes control of Lake Borgne, Louisiana.
- 1819 – Alabama becomes the 22nd U.S. state.
- 1836 – The Toledo War unofficially ends as the "Frostbitten Convention" votes to accept Congress' terms for admitting Michigan as a U.S. state.
- 1896 – The Glasgow Underground Railway is opened by the Glasgow District Subway Company.
- 1902 – The Commercial Pacific Cable Company lays the first Pacific telegraph cable, from San Francisco to Honolulu.
- 1903 – The Wright brothers make their first attempt to fly with the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
- 1911 – Roald Amundsen's team, comprising himself, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting, becomes the first to reach the South Pole.
- 1918 – The 1918 United Kingdom general election occurs, the first where women were permitted to vote. In Ireland the Irish republican political party Sinn Féin wins a landslide victory with nearly 47% of the popular vote.
- 1940 – Plutonium (specifically Pu-238) is first isolated at Berkeley, California.
- 1948 – Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann are granted a patent for their cathode-ray tube amusement device, the earliest known interactive electronic game.
- 1955 – Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Ceylon, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, Romania and Spain join the United Nations through United Nations Security Council Resolution 109.
- 1958 – The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first to reach the southern pole of inaccessibility.
- 1963 – The dam containing the Baldwin Hills Reservoir bursts, killing five people and damaging hundreds of homes in Los Angeles, California.
- 1964 – American Civil Rights Movement: Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Congress can use the Constitution's Commerce Clause to fight discrimination.
- 1972 – Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the most recent person to walk on the Moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final extravehicular activity (EVA) of the Apollo 17 mission.
- 1981 – Arab–Israeli conflict: Israel's Knesset ratifies the Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli law to the Golan Heights.
- 1985 – Wilma Mankiller takes office as the first woman elected to serve as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
- 2012 – Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting: Twenty-eight people, including the gunman, are killed in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.
- 2017 – The Walt Disney Company announces that it would acquire 21st Century Fox, including the 20th Century Fox movie studio, for $52.4 billion.
darlowolf64
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15th December
1960 – Richard Pavlick is arrested for plotting to assassinate U.S. President-Elect John F. Kennedy.
Richard Paul Pavlick was a retired postal worker from New Hampshire who stalked Senator and U.S. president-elect John F. Kennedy, with the intent of assassinating him. After serving in the United States Army during World War I, he worked as a postal worker in Boston, Massachusetts, before retiring and relocating to Belmont in the 1950s. Pavlick had no family. He became known at local public meetings for his angry political rants, which included complaints that the American flag was not being displayed appropriately; he also criticized the government and hated Catholics, focusing much of his anger on the Kennedy family and their wealth.
After Kennedy defeated Vice President Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election, 73-year-old Pavlick decided to kill Kennedy. He turned his property over to a local youth camp, loaded his meager possessions into his 1950 Buick, and disappeared. Soon after, Belmont's postmaster began receiving bizarre postcards from Pavlick stating that the town would soon hear from him "in a big way"; noticing that the postmarked dates and locations matched Kennedy's movements, the postmaster contacted the Secret Service; the Secret Service interviewed locals and learned of Pavlick's previous outbursts and that he had recently purchased dynamite. During his travels, Pavlick had visited the Kennedy compound at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, and photographed the Kennedy home while also checking out the compound's security.
Shortly before 10 a.m. on Sunday, December 11, as Kennedy was preparing to leave for Mass at St. Edward Church in Palm Beach, Pavlick waited in his dynamite-laden car hoping to detonate his 1950 Buick to cause a fatal explosion. However, Pavlick changed his mind after seeing Kennedy with his wife, Jacqueline, and the couple's two small children. Pavlick said, "I did not want to harm her or the children." While waiting for another opportunity over the next few days, Pavlick visited the church to learn its interior, but the Secret Service had informed local Palm Beach police to look out for Pavlick's automobile.
Four days later, on December 15, Palm Beach police officer Lester Free spotted Pavlick's vehicle crossing the Royal Poinciana Bridge. After his arrest, Pavlick said, "Kennedy money bought the White House and the Presidency. I had the crazy idea I wanted to stop Kennedy from being President."
On January 27, 1961, Pavlick was committed to the federal medical center in Springfield, Missouri, then was indicted for threatening Kennedy's life seven weeks later. According to Ted Sorensen, Kennedy "was merely bemused" when he found out about Pavlick.
Charges against Pavlick were dropped on December 2, 1963, ten days after Kennedy's assassination in Dallas, Texas. Judge Emett Clay Choate ruled that Pavlick was mentally ill—unable to distinguish between right and wrong in his actions—and ordered that he remain in a psychiatric hospital. The federal government also dropped charges in August 1964, and Pavlick was eventually released from the New Hampshire State Hospital on December 13, 1966.
1960 – Richard Pavlick is arrested for plotting to assassinate U.S. President-Elect John F. Kennedy.
Richard Paul Pavlick was a retired postal worker from New Hampshire who stalked Senator and U.S. president-elect John F. Kennedy, with the intent of assassinating him. After serving in the United States Army during World War I, he worked as a postal worker in Boston, Massachusetts, before retiring and relocating to Belmont in the 1950s. Pavlick had no family. He became known at local public meetings for his angry political rants, which included complaints that the American flag was not being displayed appropriately; he also criticized the government and hated Catholics, focusing much of his anger on the Kennedy family and their wealth.
After Kennedy defeated Vice President Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election, 73-year-old Pavlick decided to kill Kennedy. He turned his property over to a local youth camp, loaded his meager possessions into his 1950 Buick, and disappeared. Soon after, Belmont's postmaster began receiving bizarre postcards from Pavlick stating that the town would soon hear from him "in a big way"; noticing that the postmarked dates and locations matched Kennedy's movements, the postmaster contacted the Secret Service; the Secret Service interviewed locals and learned of Pavlick's previous outbursts and that he had recently purchased dynamite. During his travels, Pavlick had visited the Kennedy compound at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, and photographed the Kennedy home while also checking out the compound's security.
Shortly before 10 a.m. on Sunday, December 11, as Kennedy was preparing to leave for Mass at St. Edward Church in Palm Beach, Pavlick waited in his dynamite-laden car hoping to detonate his 1950 Buick to cause a fatal explosion. However, Pavlick changed his mind after seeing Kennedy with his wife, Jacqueline, and the couple's two small children. Pavlick said, "I did not want to harm her or the children." While waiting for another opportunity over the next few days, Pavlick visited the church to learn its interior, but the Secret Service had informed local Palm Beach police to look out for Pavlick's automobile.
Four days later, on December 15, Palm Beach police officer Lester Free spotted Pavlick's vehicle crossing the Royal Poinciana Bridge. After his arrest, Pavlick said, "Kennedy money bought the White House and the Presidency. I had the crazy idea I wanted to stop Kennedy from being President."
On January 27, 1961, Pavlick was committed to the federal medical center in Springfield, Missouri, then was indicted for threatening Kennedy's life seven weeks later. According to Ted Sorensen, Kennedy "was merely bemused" when he found out about Pavlick.
Charges against Pavlick were dropped on December 2, 1963, ten days after Kennedy's assassination in Dallas, Texas. Judge Emett Clay Choate ruled that Pavlick was mentally ill—unable to distinguish between right and wrong in his actions—and ordered that he remain in a psychiatric hospital. The federal government also dropped charges in August 1964, and Pavlick was eventually released from the New Hampshire State Hospital on December 13, 1966.
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darlowolf64
Supply Teacher & 2020/21 PTG Intertoto Cup winner
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Also on 15th December...
- 1161 – Jin–Song wars: Military officers conspire against the emperor Wanyan Liang of the Jin dynasty after a military defeat at the Battle of Caishi, and assassinate the emperor at his camp.
- 1651 – Castle Cornet in Guernsey, the last stronghold which had supported King Charles I in the Third English Civil War, surrenders.
- 1778 – American Revolutionary War: British and French fleets clash in the Battle of St. Lucia.
- 1791 – The United States Bill of Rights becomes law when ratified by the Virginia General Assembly.
- 1836 – The U.S. Patent Office building in Washington, D.C., nearly burns to the ground, destroying all 9,957 patents issued by the federal government to that date, as well as 7,000 related patent models.
- 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Nashville begins at Nashville, Tennessee, and ends the following day with the destruction of the Confederate Army of Tennessee as a fighting force by the Union Army of the Cumberland.
- 1899 – British Army forces are defeated at the Battle of Colenso in Natal, South Africa, the third and final battle fought during the Black Week of the Second Boer War.
- 1903 – Italian American food cart vendor Italo Marchiony receives a U.S. patent for inventing a machine that makes ice cream cones.
- 1905 – The Pushkin House is established in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to preserve the cultural heritage of Alexander Pushkin.
- 1906 – The London Underground's Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway opens.
- 1914 – A gas explosion at Mitsubishi Hōjō coal mine, in Kyushu, Japan, kills 687.
- 1917 – World War I: An armistice between Russia and the Central Powers is signed.
- 1939 – Gone with the Wind (highest inflation adjusted grossing film) receives its premiere at Loew's Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
- 1944 – World War II: a single-engine UC-64A Norseman aeroplane carrying United States Army Air Forces Major Glenn Miller is lost in a flight over the English Channel.
- 1945 – Occupation of Japan/Shinto Directive: General Douglas MacArthur orders that Shinto be abolished as the state religion of Japan.
- 1961 – Eichmann trial: Adolf Eichmann is sentenced to death after being found guilty by an Israeli court of 15 criminal charges, including charges of crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people, and membership of an outlawed organization.
- 1965 – Project Gemini: Gemini 6A, crewed by Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford, is launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida. Four orbits later, it achieves the first space rendezvous, with Gemini 7.
- 1970 – Soviet spacecraft Venera 7 successfully lands on Venus. It is the first successful soft landing on another planet.
- 1973 – John Paul Getty III, grandson of American billionaire J. Paul Getty, is found alive near Naples, Italy, after being kidnapped by an Italian gang on July 10.
- 1978 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will recognize the People's Republic of China and sever diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan).
- 1993 – The Troubles: The Downing Street Declaration is issued by British Prime Minister John Major and Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds.
- 2000 – The third reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is shut down.
- 2001 – The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after 11 years and $27,000,000 spent to stabilize it, without fixing its famous lean.
- 2005 – Introduction of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor into USAF active service.
darlowolf64
Supply Teacher & 2020/21 PTG Intertoto Cup winner
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2010
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- 30,328
- Reaction score
- 3,111
Been a while... Time for a catch-up
darlowolf64
Supply Teacher & 2020/21 PTG Intertoto Cup winner
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2010
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- 30,328
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- 3,111
16th December
1773 – American Revolution: Boston Tea Party: Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians dump hundreds of crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.
The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest on December 16, 1773, by the Sons of Liberty in Boston in colonial Massachusetts. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea from China in American colonies without paying taxes apart from those imposed by the Townshend Acts. The Sons of Liberty strongly opposed the taxes in the Townshend Act as a violation of their rights. In response, the Sons of Liberty, some disguised as Native Americans, destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent by the East India Company.
The demonstrators boarded the ships and threw the chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. The British government considered the protest an act of treason and responded harshly. Days later the Philadelphia Tea Party, instead of destroying a shipment of tea, sent the ship back to England without unloading. The episodes escalated into the American Revolution, and the Boston Tea Party became an iconic event of American history. Since then other political protests such as the Tea Party movement have referred to themselves as historical successors to the Boston protest of 1773.
Also on 6th December...
1431 – Hundred Years' War: Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris.
1497 – Vasco da Gama passes the Great Fish River at the southern tip of Africa, where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.
1653 – English Interregnum: The Protectorate: Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1777 – Virginia becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
1863 – American Civil War: Joseph E. Johnston replaces Braxton Bragg as commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Nashville: The Union's Army of the Cumberland routs and destroys the Confederacy's Army of Tennessee, ending its effectiveness as a combat unit.
1880 – Outbreak of the First Boer War between the Boer South African Republic and the British Empire.
1882 – Wales and England contest the first Home Nations (now Six Nations) rugby union match.
1905 – In Rugby Union, The "Match of the Century" is played between Wales and New Zealand at Cardiff Arms Park.
1914 – World War I: Admiral Franz von Hipper commands a raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby.
1944 – World War II: The Battle of the Bulge begins with the surprise offensive of three German armies through the Ardennes forest.
1773 – American Revolution: Boston Tea Party: Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians dump hundreds of crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.
The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest on December 16, 1773, by the Sons of Liberty in Boston in colonial Massachusetts. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea from China in American colonies without paying taxes apart from those imposed by the Townshend Acts. The Sons of Liberty strongly opposed the taxes in the Townshend Act as a violation of their rights. In response, the Sons of Liberty, some disguised as Native Americans, destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent by the East India Company.
The demonstrators boarded the ships and threw the chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. The British government considered the protest an act of treason and responded harshly. Days later the Philadelphia Tea Party, instead of destroying a shipment of tea, sent the ship back to England without unloading. The episodes escalated into the American Revolution, and the Boston Tea Party became an iconic event of American history. Since then other political protests such as the Tea Party movement have referred to themselves as historical successors to the Boston protest of 1773.
Also on 6th December...
1431 – Hundred Years' War: Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris.
1497 – Vasco da Gama passes the Great Fish River at the southern tip of Africa, where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.
1653 – English Interregnum: The Protectorate: Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1777 – Virginia becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
1863 – American Civil War: Joseph E. Johnston replaces Braxton Bragg as commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Nashville: The Union's Army of the Cumberland routs and destroys the Confederacy's Army of Tennessee, ending its effectiveness as a combat unit.
1880 – Outbreak of the First Boer War between the Boer South African Republic and the British Empire.
1882 – Wales and England contest the first Home Nations (now Six Nations) rugby union match.
1905 – In Rugby Union, The "Match of the Century" is played between Wales and New Zealand at Cardiff Arms Park.
1914 – World War I: Admiral Franz von Hipper commands a raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby.
1944 – World War II: The Battle of the Bulge begins with the surprise offensive of three German armies through the Ardennes forest.
darlowolf64
Supply Teacher & 2020/21 PTG Intertoto Cup winner
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2010
- Messages
- 30,328
- Reaction score
- 3,111
17th December
1903 – The Wright brothers make the first controlled powered, heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
The Wright Flyer, also known as the Kitty Hawk, Flyer I or the 1903 Flyer, made the first sustained flight by a manned heavier-than-air powered and controlled aircraft—an airplane—on December 17, 1903. Invented and flown by brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright, it marked the beginning of the pioneer era of aviation.
The aircraft is a single-place biplane design with anhedral wings, front double elevator and rear double rudder. It used a 12 horsepower gasoline engine powering two pusher propellers. Employing 'wing warping' it was relatively unstable and very difficult to fly.
The Wright brothers flew it four times in a location now part of the town of Kill Devil Hills, about 4 miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The airplane flew 852 ft on its fourth and final flight, but was damaged on landing, and minutes later powerful gusts blew it over, wrecking it.
The aircraft never flew again but was shipped home and subsequently restored by Orville. The aircraft was initially displayed in a place of honor at the London Science Museum until 1948 when the resolution of an acrimonious priority dispute finally allowed it to be displayed in the Smithsonian. It is now exhibited in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Also on 17th December...
1538 – Pope Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII of England.
1718 – War of the Quadruple Alliance: Great Britain declares war on Spain.
1777 – American Revolution: France formally recognizes the United States.
1790 – The Aztec calendar stone is discovered at El Zócalo, Mexico City.
1807 – Napoleonic Wars: France issues the Milan Decree, which confirms the Continental System.
1835 – The second Great Fire of New York destroys 53,000 square metres of New York City's Financial District.
1862 – American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from parts of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.
1865 – First performance of the Unfinished Symphony by Franz Schubert.
1892 – First issue of Vogue is published.
1927 – Indian revolutionary Rajendra Lahiri is hanged in Gonda jail, Uttar Pradesh, India, two days before the scheduled date.
1928 – Indian revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru assassinate British police officer James Saunders in Lahore, Punjab, to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai at the hands of the police. The three were executed in 1931.
1933 – The first NFL Championship Game is played at Wrigley Field in Chicago between the New York Giants and Chicago Bears. The Bears won 23–21
1935 – First flight of the Douglas DC-3.
1938 – Otto Hahn discovers the nuclear fission of the heavy element uranium, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy.
1939 – World War II: Battle of the River Plate: The Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo.
1944 – World War II: Battle of the Bulge: Malmedy massacre: American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion POWs are shot on the orders of Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Joachim Peiper.
1960 – Troops loyal to Emperor Haile Selassie in Ethiopia crush the coup that began December 13, returning power to their leader upon his return from Brazil. Haile Selassie absolves his son of any guilt.
1967 – Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia, disappears while swimming near Portsea, Victoria, and is presumed drowned.
1981 – American Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigades in Verona, Italy.
1983 – Provisional IRA members detonate a car bomb at Harrods Department Store in London. Three police officers and three civilians are killed.
1989 – The Simpsons premieres on television with the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".
1903 – The Wright brothers make the first controlled powered, heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
The Wright Flyer, also known as the Kitty Hawk, Flyer I or the 1903 Flyer, made the first sustained flight by a manned heavier-than-air powered and controlled aircraft—an airplane—on December 17, 1903. Invented and flown by brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright, it marked the beginning of the pioneer era of aviation.
The aircraft is a single-place biplane design with anhedral wings, front double elevator and rear double rudder. It used a 12 horsepower gasoline engine powering two pusher propellers. Employing 'wing warping' it was relatively unstable and very difficult to fly.
The Wright brothers flew it four times in a location now part of the town of Kill Devil Hills, about 4 miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The airplane flew 852 ft on its fourth and final flight, but was damaged on landing, and minutes later powerful gusts blew it over, wrecking it.
The aircraft never flew again but was shipped home and subsequently restored by Orville. The aircraft was initially displayed in a place of honor at the London Science Museum until 1948 when the resolution of an acrimonious priority dispute finally allowed it to be displayed in the Smithsonian. It is now exhibited in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Also on 17th December...
1538 – Pope Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII of England.
1718 – War of the Quadruple Alliance: Great Britain declares war on Spain.
1777 – American Revolution: France formally recognizes the United States.
1790 – The Aztec calendar stone is discovered at El Zócalo, Mexico City.
1807 – Napoleonic Wars: France issues the Milan Decree, which confirms the Continental System.
1835 – The second Great Fire of New York destroys 53,000 square metres of New York City's Financial District.
1862 – American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from parts of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.
1865 – First performance of the Unfinished Symphony by Franz Schubert.
1892 – First issue of Vogue is published.
1927 – Indian revolutionary Rajendra Lahiri is hanged in Gonda jail, Uttar Pradesh, India, two days before the scheduled date.
1928 – Indian revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru assassinate British police officer James Saunders in Lahore, Punjab, to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai at the hands of the police. The three were executed in 1931.
1933 – The first NFL Championship Game is played at Wrigley Field in Chicago between the New York Giants and Chicago Bears. The Bears won 23–21
1935 – First flight of the Douglas DC-3.
1938 – Otto Hahn discovers the nuclear fission of the heavy element uranium, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy.
1939 – World War II: Battle of the River Plate: The Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo.
1944 – World War II: Battle of the Bulge: Malmedy massacre: American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion POWs are shot on the orders of Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Joachim Peiper.
1960 – Troops loyal to Emperor Haile Selassie in Ethiopia crush the coup that began December 13, returning power to their leader upon his return from Brazil. Haile Selassie absolves his son of any guilt.
1967 – Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia, disappears while swimming near Portsea, Victoria, and is presumed drowned.
1981 – American Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigades in Verona, Italy.
1983 – Provisional IRA members detonate a car bomb at Harrods Department Store in London. Three police officers and three civilians are killed.
1989 – The Simpsons premieres on television with the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".
darlowolf64
Supply Teacher & 2020/21 PTG Intertoto Cup winner
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2010
- Messages
- 30,328
- Reaction score
- 3,111
18th December
1932 – The Chicago Bears defeat the Portsmouth Spartans in the first NFL playoff game to win the NFL Championship.
The 1932 NFL Playoff Game was an extra game held to break a tie in the 1932 season's final standings in the National Football League (NFL); it matched the host Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans (who became the Detroit Lions). Because of snowfall and anticipated extremely cold temperatures in Chicago, Illinois, it was moved indoors and played at the three-year-old Chicago Stadium on December 18 on a reduced-size field on Sunday night.
Since the NFL's first season in 1920, the league title had been awarded to the team with the best regular season record based on winning percentage with ties excluded.
While four of the first six championships were disputed, only once, in 1921, did two teams finish tied for first place in the standings: the Chicago Staleys, who became the Bears the following year, and the Buffalo All-Americans finished with identical 9-1 records, and had split a two-game series with each other, but league officials used a tiebreaker to controversially give the Staleys the title over the All-Americans.
In 1932, the Spartans and the Bears tied for first place with 6–1 records.
Under the rules at the time, standings were based on winning percentage with ties excluded from the calculation: thus, the Spartans and Bears each finished the regular season with identical .857 winning percentages, ahead of the defending champion Green Bay Packers' .769 (10 wins, 3 losses) winning percentage.
Also on 18th December...
1655 – The Whitehall Conference ends with the determination that there was no law preventing Jews from re-entering England after the Edict of Expulsion of 1290.
1777 – The United States celebrates its first Thanksgiving, marking the recent victory by the American rebels over British General John Burgoyne at Saratoga in October.
1787 – New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1865 – US Secretary of State William Seward proclaims the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, prohibiting slavery throughout the United States.
1892 – Premiere performance of The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
1939 – World War II: The Battle of the Heligoland Bight, the first major air battle of the war, takes place.
1944 – The Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in Korematsu v. United States supporting Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 which cleared the way for the incarceration of nearly all 120,000 Japanese Americans, two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens, born and raised in the United States.
2006 – United Arab Emirates holds its first-ever elections.
2015 – Kellingley Colliery, the last deep coal mine in Great Britain, closes.
1932 – The Chicago Bears defeat the Portsmouth Spartans in the first NFL playoff game to win the NFL Championship.
The 1932 NFL Playoff Game was an extra game held to break a tie in the 1932 season's final standings in the National Football League (NFL); it matched the host Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans (who became the Detroit Lions). Because of snowfall and anticipated extremely cold temperatures in Chicago, Illinois, it was moved indoors and played at the three-year-old Chicago Stadium on December 18 on a reduced-size field on Sunday night.
Since the NFL's first season in 1920, the league title had been awarded to the team with the best regular season record based on winning percentage with ties excluded.
While four of the first six championships were disputed, only once, in 1921, did two teams finish tied for first place in the standings: the Chicago Staleys, who became the Bears the following year, and the Buffalo All-Americans finished with identical 9-1 records, and had split a two-game series with each other, but league officials used a tiebreaker to controversially give the Staleys the title over the All-Americans.
In 1932, the Spartans and the Bears tied for first place with 6–1 records.
Under the rules at the time, standings were based on winning percentage with ties excluded from the calculation: thus, the Spartans and Bears each finished the regular season with identical .857 winning percentages, ahead of the defending champion Green Bay Packers' .769 (10 wins, 3 losses) winning percentage.
Also on 18th December...
1655 – The Whitehall Conference ends with the determination that there was no law preventing Jews from re-entering England after the Edict of Expulsion of 1290.
1777 – The United States celebrates its first Thanksgiving, marking the recent victory by the American rebels over British General John Burgoyne at Saratoga in October.
1787 – New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1865 – US Secretary of State William Seward proclaims the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, prohibiting slavery throughout the United States.
1892 – Premiere performance of The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
1939 – World War II: The Battle of the Heligoland Bight, the first major air battle of the war, takes place.
1944 – The Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in Korematsu v. United States supporting Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 which cleared the way for the incarceration of nearly all 120,000 Japanese Americans, two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens, born and raised in the United States.
2006 – United Arab Emirates holds its first-ever elections.
2015 – Kellingley Colliery, the last deep coal mine in Great Britain, closes.
darlowolf64
Supply Teacher & 2020/21 PTG Intertoto Cup winner
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2010
- Messages
- 30,328
- Reaction score
- 3,111
19th December
1945 – John Amery, British Fascist, is executed at the age of 33 by the British Government for treason.
The British officer, right of picture is Alan Whicker
John Amery was a British fascist and Nazi collaborator during World War II. He was the originator of the British Free Corps, a volunteer Waffen-SS unit composed of former British and Dominion prisoners-of-war. He left Britain permanently to live in France after being declared bankrupt in 1936.
Amery remained in France following the German invasion in June 1940. Amery resided in the territory belonging to the collaborationist Vichy government led by Marshal Philippe Pétain. However, his personality soon antagonised the Vichy Regime so he made several attempts to leave but was not allowed. In September 1942, Hauptmann Werner Plack gained Amery the French travel permit he needed, and in October Plack and Amery travelled to Berlin to speak to the German English Committee. It was at this time that Amery suggested that the Germans consider forming a British anti-Bolshevik legion. Adolf Hitler was impressed by Amery and allowed him to remain in Germany as a guest. During this period, Amery made a series of pro-German propaganda radio broadcasts, attempting to appeal to the British people to join the war on communism.
The idea of a British force to fight the communists languished until Amery encountered Jacques Doriot during a visit to France in January 1943. Doriot was part of the LVF (Légion des Volontaires Français), a French volunteer force fighting alongside the Germans on the eastern front.
Amery rekindled his idea of a British unit and aimed to recruit 50 to 100 men for propaganda purposes and to establish a core of men with which to attract additional members from British prisoners of war. He also suggested that such a unit could provide more recruits for the other military units made up of foreign nationals.
Amery's first recruiting drive for what was initially to be called the British Legion of St George took him to the Saint-Denis POW camp outside Paris. Amery addressed between 40 and 50 inmates from British Commonwealth countries and handed out recruiting material. This first effort at recruitment was a complete failure, but he persisted.
Amery's drive for recruits found two men, of whom only one, Kenneth Berry, joined what was later called the BFC. Amery's link to the unit ended in October 1943, when the Waffen SS decided his services were no longer needed, and it was officially renamed the British Free Corps.
Amery continued to broadcast and write propaganda in Berlin until late 1944 when he travelled to Northern Italy to lend support to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's Salò Republic. On 25 April 1945, Amery was captured along with his French mistress Michelle Thomas by Italian partisans from the Garibaldi Brigade near Como. Amery and Thomas were initially to be executed, but both of them were eventually sent to Milan, where they were handed over to Allied authorities. Amery was wearing the uniform of the "Muti Legion", a fascist paramilitary organisation. The British army officer who took him into custody was Captain Alan Whicker, later known as a broadcaster.
1945 – John Amery, British Fascist, is executed at the age of 33 by the British Government for treason.
The British officer, right of picture is Alan WhickerJohn Amery was a British fascist and Nazi collaborator during World War II. He was the originator of the British Free Corps, a volunteer Waffen-SS unit composed of former British and Dominion prisoners-of-war. He left Britain permanently to live in France after being declared bankrupt in 1936.
Amery remained in France following the German invasion in June 1940. Amery resided in the territory belonging to the collaborationist Vichy government led by Marshal Philippe Pétain. However, his personality soon antagonised the Vichy Regime so he made several attempts to leave but was not allowed. In September 1942, Hauptmann Werner Plack gained Amery the French travel permit he needed, and in October Plack and Amery travelled to Berlin to speak to the German English Committee. It was at this time that Amery suggested that the Germans consider forming a British anti-Bolshevik legion. Adolf Hitler was impressed by Amery and allowed him to remain in Germany as a guest. During this period, Amery made a series of pro-German propaganda radio broadcasts, attempting to appeal to the British people to join the war on communism.
The idea of a British force to fight the communists languished until Amery encountered Jacques Doriot during a visit to France in January 1943. Doriot was part of the LVF (Légion des Volontaires Français), a French volunteer force fighting alongside the Germans on the eastern front.
Amery rekindled his idea of a British unit and aimed to recruit 50 to 100 men for propaganda purposes and to establish a core of men with which to attract additional members from British prisoners of war. He also suggested that such a unit could provide more recruits for the other military units made up of foreign nationals.
Amery's first recruiting drive for what was initially to be called the British Legion of St George took him to the Saint-Denis POW camp outside Paris. Amery addressed between 40 and 50 inmates from British Commonwealth countries and handed out recruiting material. This first effort at recruitment was a complete failure, but he persisted.
Amery's drive for recruits found two men, of whom only one, Kenneth Berry, joined what was later called the BFC. Amery's link to the unit ended in October 1943, when the Waffen SS decided his services were no longer needed, and it was officially renamed the British Free Corps.
Amery continued to broadcast and write propaganda in Berlin until late 1944 when he travelled to Northern Italy to lend support to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's Salò Republic. On 25 April 1945, Amery was captured along with his French mistress Michelle Thomas by Italian partisans from the Garibaldi Brigade near Como. Amery and Thomas were initially to be executed, but both of them were eventually sent to Milan, where they were handed over to Allied authorities. Amery was wearing the uniform of the "Muti Legion", a fascist paramilitary organisation. The British army officer who took him into custody was Captain Alan Whicker, later known as a broadcaster.
darlowolf64
Supply Teacher & 2020/21 PTG Intertoto Cup winner
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2010
- Messages
- 30,328
- Reaction score
- 3,111
Also on 19th December...
1606 – The ships Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery depart England carrying settlers who founded, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.
1776 – Thomas Paine publishes one of a series of pamphlets in The Pennsylvania Journal entitled "The American Crisis".
1777 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington's Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
1783 – William Pitt the Younger becomes the youngest Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at 24.
1793 – War of the First Coalition: The Siege of Toulon ends when Napoleon's French artillery forces the British to abandon the city, securing southern France from invasion.
1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Two British frigates under Commodore Horatio Nelson and two Spanish frigates under Commodore Don Jacobo Stuart engage in battle off the coast of Murcia.
1924 – The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is sold in London, England.
1924 – German serial killer Fritz Haarmann is sentenced to death for a series of murders.
1932 – BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service.
1956 – Irish-born physician John Bodkin Adams is arrested in connection with the suspicious deaths of more than 160 patients. Eventually he is convicted only of minor charges.
1967 – Harold Holt, the Prime Minister of Australia, is officially presumed dead.
1972 – Apollo program: The last crewed lunar flight, Apollo 17, carrying Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.
1983 – The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
1998 – President Bill Clinton is impeached by the United States House of Representatives, becoming the second president of the United States to be impeached.
1606 – The ships Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery depart England carrying settlers who founded, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.
1776 – Thomas Paine publishes one of a series of pamphlets in The Pennsylvania Journal entitled "The American Crisis".
1777 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington's Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
1783 – William Pitt the Younger becomes the youngest Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at 24.
1793 – War of the First Coalition: The Siege of Toulon ends when Napoleon's French artillery forces the British to abandon the city, securing southern France from invasion.
1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Two British frigates under Commodore Horatio Nelson and two Spanish frigates under Commodore Don Jacobo Stuart engage in battle off the coast of Murcia.
1924 – The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is sold in London, England.
1924 – German serial killer Fritz Haarmann is sentenced to death for a series of murders.
1932 – BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service.
1956 – Irish-born physician John Bodkin Adams is arrested in connection with the suspicious deaths of more than 160 patients. Eventually he is convicted only of minor charges.
1967 – Harold Holt, the Prime Minister of Australia, is officially presumed dead.
1972 – Apollo program: The last crewed lunar flight, Apollo 17, carrying Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.
1983 – The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
1998 – President Bill Clinton is impeached by the United States House of Representatives, becoming the second president of the United States to be impeached.
darlowolf64
Supply Teacher & 2020/21 PTG Intertoto Cup winner
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2010
- Messages
- 30,328
- Reaction score
- 3,111
20th December
1984 – The Summit Tunnel fire, one of the largest transportation tunnel fires in history, burns after a freight train carrying over one million liters of gasoline derails near the town of Todmorden, England, in the Pennines.
The Summit Tunnel fire occurred on 20 December 1984, when a dangerous goods train caught fire while passing through the Summit Tunnel on the railway line between Littleborough and Todmorden on the Greater Manchester/West Yorkshire border, England.
The train involved was the 01:40 freight train from Haverton Hill, Teesside to Glazebrook oil distribution terminal near Warrington. It was formed by class 47 diesel locomotive 47 125 and thirteen tankers.
At 05:50 on 20 December 1984, the train, carrying more than 1,000,000 litres of four-star petrol in thirteen tankers, entered the tunnel on the Yorkshire side traveling at 40 miles per hour. One-third of the way through the tunnel, a defective axle bearing derailed the fourth tanker, which caused the derailment of those behind. Only the locomotive and the first three tankers remained on the rails. One of the derailed tankers fell on its side and began to leak petrol into the tunnel. Vapour from the leaking petrol was probably ignited by the damaged axle box.
The three train crew members could see fire spreading through the ballast beneath the other track in the tunnel, so they left the train and ran the remaining mile to the south portal, where they knew there was a direct telephone connection to the signaller, to raise the alarm.
Crews from Greater Manchester Fire Brigade and West Yorkshire Fire Brigade quickly attended the scene. Co-ordination between the brigades appears to have worked well, perhaps because they had both participated in an emergency exercise in the tunnel a month before.
The train crew were persuaded to return to the train, where they uncoupled the three tankers still on the rails and used the locomotive to drive them out. Greater Manchester fire brigade then loaded firefighting equipment onto track trolleys and sent a crew with breathing apparatus in to begin their firefighting operation at the south end of the train. They also lowered hose lines down one of the ventilation shafts to provide a water supply. At the same time, crews from West Yorkshire fire brigade entered the tunnel and began fighting fires in the ballast at the north end of the train.
However, at 9.40 a.m., the pressure in one of the heated tankers rose high enough to open its pressure relief valves. The vented vapour caught fire and blew flames onto the tunnel wall. The wall deflected the flames both ways along the tunnel, and the bricks in the tunnel wall began to spall and melt in the flames. The BA crews from both brigades decided to evacuate. They managed to leave just before the first explosion rocked the tunnel. The firefighters were saved because blast relief shafts 8 and 9 acted as flame vents, a function their designer never envisaged.
Left to itself, the fire burned as hot as it could. As the walls warmed up and the air temperature in the tunnel rose, all 10 tankers discharged petrol vapour from their pressure relief valves. Two tankers melted and discharged their remaining loads.
The fuel supply to the fire was so rich that some of the combustibles were unable to find oxygen inside the tunnel with which to burn; they were instead ejected from vent shafts 8 and 9 as fuel-rich gases that burst into flame when they encountered oxygen in the air outside. At the height of the fire, pillars of flame approximately 150 metres high rose from the shaft outlets on the hillside above.
The brigades continued to fight the fire for another two days, until West Yorkshire Fire Brigade issued the stop message just after 6:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Fire crews remained at the site until 7 January 1985
1984 – The Summit Tunnel fire, one of the largest transportation tunnel fires in history, burns after a freight train carrying over one million liters of gasoline derails near the town of Todmorden, England, in the Pennines.
The Summit Tunnel fire occurred on 20 December 1984, when a dangerous goods train caught fire while passing through the Summit Tunnel on the railway line between Littleborough and Todmorden on the Greater Manchester/West Yorkshire border, England.
The train involved was the 01:40 freight train from Haverton Hill, Teesside to Glazebrook oil distribution terminal near Warrington. It was formed by class 47 diesel locomotive 47 125 and thirteen tankers.
At 05:50 on 20 December 1984, the train, carrying more than 1,000,000 litres of four-star petrol in thirteen tankers, entered the tunnel on the Yorkshire side traveling at 40 miles per hour. One-third of the way through the tunnel, a defective axle bearing derailed the fourth tanker, which caused the derailment of those behind. Only the locomotive and the first three tankers remained on the rails. One of the derailed tankers fell on its side and began to leak petrol into the tunnel. Vapour from the leaking petrol was probably ignited by the damaged axle box.
The three train crew members could see fire spreading through the ballast beneath the other track in the tunnel, so they left the train and ran the remaining mile to the south portal, where they knew there was a direct telephone connection to the signaller, to raise the alarm.
Crews from Greater Manchester Fire Brigade and West Yorkshire Fire Brigade quickly attended the scene. Co-ordination between the brigades appears to have worked well, perhaps because they had both participated in an emergency exercise in the tunnel a month before.
The train crew were persuaded to return to the train, where they uncoupled the three tankers still on the rails and used the locomotive to drive them out. Greater Manchester fire brigade then loaded firefighting equipment onto track trolleys and sent a crew with breathing apparatus in to begin their firefighting operation at the south end of the train. They also lowered hose lines down one of the ventilation shafts to provide a water supply. At the same time, crews from West Yorkshire fire brigade entered the tunnel and began fighting fires in the ballast at the north end of the train.
However, at 9.40 a.m., the pressure in one of the heated tankers rose high enough to open its pressure relief valves. The vented vapour caught fire and blew flames onto the tunnel wall. The wall deflected the flames both ways along the tunnel, and the bricks in the tunnel wall began to spall and melt in the flames. The BA crews from both brigades decided to evacuate. They managed to leave just before the first explosion rocked the tunnel. The firefighters were saved because blast relief shafts 8 and 9 acted as flame vents, a function their designer never envisaged.
Left to itself, the fire burned as hot as it could. As the walls warmed up and the air temperature in the tunnel rose, all 10 tankers discharged petrol vapour from their pressure relief valves. Two tankers melted and discharged their remaining loads.
The fuel supply to the fire was so rich that some of the combustibles were unable to find oxygen inside the tunnel with which to burn; they were instead ejected from vent shafts 8 and 9 as fuel-rich gases that burst into flame when they encountered oxygen in the air outside. At the height of the fire, pillars of flame approximately 150 metres high rose from the shaft outlets on the hillside above.
The brigades continued to fight the fire for another two days, until West Yorkshire Fire Brigade issued the stop message just after 6:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Fire crews remained at the site until 7 January 1985
darlowolf64
Supply Teacher & 2020/21 PTG Intertoto Cup winner
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Also on 20th December...
1192 – Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after the Third Crusade.
1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.
1832 – HMS Clio under the command of Captain Onslow arrives at Port Egmont under orders to take possession of the Falkland Islands.
1924 – Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison.
1940 – Captain America Comics #1, containing the first appearance of the superhero Captain America, is published.
1946 – It's a Wonderful Life premieres at the Globe Theatre in New York to mixed reviews.
1955 – Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.
1957 – The initial production version of the Boeing 707 makes its first flight.
1968 – The Zodiac Killer murders his first two officially confirmed victims, David Arthur Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, on Lake Herman Road in Benicia, California.
1973 – Assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco: A car bomb planted by ETA in Madrid kills three people, including the Prime Minister of Spain, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco.
1984 – Disappearance of Jonelle Matthews from Greeley, Colorado. Her remains were discovered on July 23, 2019, located about 15 miles southeast of Jonelle's home. The cause of death "was a gunshot wound to the head." On September 13, 2019, the Greeley Police Department announced that Steven Dana Pankey, a former Greeley resident who ran for governor in Idaho in 2014 and 2018 and for lieutenant governor in 2010, was a person of interest in Jonelle Matthews' abduction and death. He was found guilty of the kidnapping and murder of Jonelle by a Weld County jury on October 31, 2022.
2007 – Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch in the history of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years and 243 days.
1192 – Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after the Third Crusade.
1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.
1832 – HMS Clio under the command of Captain Onslow arrives at Port Egmont under orders to take possession of the Falkland Islands.
1924 – Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison.
1940 – Captain America Comics #1, containing the first appearance of the superhero Captain America, is published.
1946 – It's a Wonderful Life premieres at the Globe Theatre in New York to mixed reviews.
1955 – Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.
1957 – The initial production version of the Boeing 707 makes its first flight.
1968 – The Zodiac Killer murders his first two officially confirmed victims, David Arthur Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, on Lake Herman Road in Benicia, California.
1973 – Assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco: A car bomb planted by ETA in Madrid kills three people, including the Prime Minister of Spain, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco.
1984 – Disappearance of Jonelle Matthews from Greeley, Colorado. Her remains were discovered on July 23, 2019, located about 15 miles southeast of Jonelle's home. The cause of death "was a gunshot wound to the head." On September 13, 2019, the Greeley Police Department announced that Steven Dana Pankey, a former Greeley resident who ran for governor in Idaho in 2014 and 2018 and for lieutenant governor in 2010, was a person of interest in Jonelle Matthews' abduction and death. He was found guilty of the kidnapping and murder of Jonelle by a Weld County jury on October 31, 2022.
2007 – Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch in the history of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years and 243 days.
Last edited:
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Also on 20th December
2023 - A couple of northern fuckers parked by Darlo's car despite there being a thousand spaces elsewhere. History will judge you for this, you pair of cnuts
(moved from above as not to make Darlo's timeline look out)
2023 - A couple of northern fuckers parked by Darlo's car despite there being a thousand spaces elsewhere. History will judge you for this, you pair of cnuts
(moved from above as not to make Darlo's timeline look out)
darlowolf64
Supply Teacher & 2020/21 PTG Intertoto Cup winner
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21st December
1988 – A bomb explodes on board Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, killing 270. This is to date the deadliest air disaster to occur on British soil.
Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by Clipper Maid of the Seas, a Boeing 747 registered N739PA. Shortly after 19:00 on 21 December 1988, while the aircraft was in flight over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, it was destroyed by a bomb, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew in what became known as the Lockerbie bombing. Large sections of the aircraft crashed in a residential street in Lockerbie, killing 11 residents. With a total of 270 fatalities, it is the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of the United Kingdom.
Following a three-year joint investigation by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the US FBI, arrest warrants were issued for two Libyan nationals in November 1991. In 1999, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi handed over the two men for trial at Camp Zeist, the Netherlands, after protracted negotiations and UN sanctions. In 2001, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer, was jailed for life after being found guilty of 270 counts of murder in connection with the bombing. In August 2009, he was released by the Scottish government on compassionate grounds after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. He died in May 2012 as the only person to be convicted for the attack.
Also on 21st December...
AD 69 – The Roman Senate declares Vespasian emperor of Rome, the last in the Year of the Four Emperors.
1620 – Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land near what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
1826 – American settlers in Nacogdoches, Mexican Texas, declare their independence, starting the Fredonian Rebellion.
1832 – Egyptian–Ottoman War: Egyptian forces decisively defeat Ottoman troops at the Battle of Konya.
1844 – The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers commences business at its cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement.
1861 – Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.
1910 – An underground explosion at the Hulton Bank Colliery No. 3 Pit in Over Hulton, Westhoughton, England, kills 344 miners.
1913 – Arthur Wynne's "word-cross", the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World.
1936 – First flight of the Junkers Ju 88 multi-role combat aircraft.
1937 – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world's first full-length animated feature, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre.
1963 – "Bloody Christmas" begins in Cyprus, ultimately resulting in the displacement of 25,000–30,000 Turkish Cypriots and destruction of more than 100 villages.
1968 – Apollo program: Apollo 8 is launched from the Kennedy Space Center, placing its crew on a lunar trajectory for the first visit to another celestial body by humans.
1970 – First flight of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat multi-role combat aircraft.
2020 – A great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs, with the two planets separated in the sky by 0.1 degrees. This is the closest conjunction between the two planets since 1623.
1988 – A bomb explodes on board Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, killing 270. This is to date the deadliest air disaster to occur on British soil.
Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by Clipper Maid of the Seas, a Boeing 747 registered N739PA. Shortly after 19:00 on 21 December 1988, while the aircraft was in flight over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, it was destroyed by a bomb, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew in what became known as the Lockerbie bombing. Large sections of the aircraft crashed in a residential street in Lockerbie, killing 11 residents. With a total of 270 fatalities, it is the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of the United Kingdom.
Following a three-year joint investigation by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the US FBI, arrest warrants were issued for two Libyan nationals in November 1991. In 1999, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi handed over the two men for trial at Camp Zeist, the Netherlands, after protracted negotiations and UN sanctions. In 2001, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer, was jailed for life after being found guilty of 270 counts of murder in connection with the bombing. In August 2009, he was released by the Scottish government on compassionate grounds after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. He died in May 2012 as the only person to be convicted for the attack.
Also on 21st December...
AD 69 – The Roman Senate declares Vespasian emperor of Rome, the last in the Year of the Four Emperors.
1620 – Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land near what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
1826 – American settlers in Nacogdoches, Mexican Texas, declare their independence, starting the Fredonian Rebellion.
1832 – Egyptian–Ottoman War: Egyptian forces decisively defeat Ottoman troops at the Battle of Konya.
1844 – The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers commences business at its cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement.
1861 – Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.
1910 – An underground explosion at the Hulton Bank Colliery No. 3 Pit in Over Hulton, Westhoughton, England, kills 344 miners.
1913 – Arthur Wynne's "word-cross", the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World.
1936 – First flight of the Junkers Ju 88 multi-role combat aircraft.
1937 – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world's first full-length animated feature, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre.
1963 – "Bloody Christmas" begins in Cyprus, ultimately resulting in the displacement of 25,000–30,000 Turkish Cypriots and destruction of more than 100 villages.
1968 – Apollo program: Apollo 8 is launched from the Kennedy Space Center, placing its crew on a lunar trajectory for the first visit to another celestial body by humans.
1970 – First flight of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat multi-role combat aircraft.
2020 – A great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs, with the two planets separated in the sky by 0.1 degrees. This is the closest conjunction between the two planets since 1623.
Wolf Hunting
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Brilliant stuff Mick. You're working hard at all of this stuff.
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