Friday, December 02, 2005

Today in History

1620 – In Amsterdam, the English language newspaper "Namloos" begins publishing.
1682 – The English Earl of Shaftesbury flees to Amsterdam.
1763 - Touro shul of Newport, RI (the oldest existing U.S. synagogue) is dedicated.
1777 - British General Howe plots an attack on Washington's army for December 4.
1790 – The Austrian army occupies Brussels.
1802 – The English sell Suriname to the Dutch.
1804 – In Paris, Pope Pius VII crowns Napoleon Bonaparte the first emperor of France.
1805 - Napoleon defeats the Russians and Austrians at Austerlitz.
1812 - James Madison is re-elected President of the U.S.
1816 - The first savings bank in the U.S. opens (Philadelphia Savings Fund Society).
1822 - In San Salvador, a congress proposes incorporation into the U.S.
1823 - President James Monroe declares his "Monroe Doctrine."
1840 - William H. Harrison is elected President of the U.S.
1848 - Franz Josef I becomes emperor of Austria and King of Hungary.
1852 – The second French empire is established; Louis Napoleon becomes emperor.
1864 - Skirmish at Rocky Creek Church, GA.
1868 – The first British government of Disraeli resigns.
1887 - French President Grévy resigns.
1891 – The 52nd Congress (1891-93) convenes.
1895 – The 54th Congress (1895-97) convenes.
1899 – The U.S. and Germany agree to divide Samoa between them.
1901 - King Camp Gillette begins selling safety razor blades.
1908 – At age 3, Pu Yi (Hsuan-T'ung) becomes China's Last Emperor.
1914 - The Austrian army occupies Belgrade, Serbia.
1924 – A British-German trade agreement is signed.
1927 – The first Model A Fords are sold, for $385 each.
1939 – British Imperial Airways and British Airways merge to form BOAC; New York's La Guardia Airport begins operations as an airliner from Chicago lands, 1 minute after midnight.
1941 – Naval Intelligence ceases bugging Japanese consul; Yamamoto sends his fleet to Pearl Harbor.
1942 – The first controlled nuclear chain reaction occurs under the supervision of Enrico Fermi at the University of Chicago.
1943 – The first RSHA transport out of Vienna reaches the Birkenau camp.
1944 - General De Gaulle arrives in Moscow; German troops seize the Betuwse dikes, the U.S. 95th Infantry Division occupies the bridge at Saar.
1952 – For the first time, a human birth is publicly televised (KOA-TV, Denver, CO).
1954 – The U.S. Senate censures Joe McCarthy (Senator-WI) for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."
1956 - Fidel Castro lands with "Granma" on the coast of Cuba.
1957 – The first U.S. full-scale atomic electric power plant starts generating power at Shippingport, PA.
1958 – The Benelux treaty is signed by Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
1959 – In France, the Malpasset dam collapses, destroying the Riviera town of Frejus.
1961 - Fidel Castro declares he's a Marxist and will lead Cuba to Communism.
1963 – The first Dutch rocket is launched; it reaches a height of 10 km.
1968 - President Nixon names Henry Kissinger as security advisor.
1969 – the Boeing 747 jumbo jet is first previewed to the public (Seattle WA to New York NY).
1970 – The Environmental Protection Agency begins (Director: William Ruckelshaus).
1971 - Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujeira, Sharjah and Umm ak Qiwain form the United Arab Emirates; Abu Dhabi’s Zayid bin Sultan Al Nuhayyah becomes President; the U.S.S.R.’s Mars-3 is the first to soft-land on the red planet.
1972 – The "December Giant" - largest sinkhole in the U.S. - collapses (Alabama).
1974 - Soyuz-16 is launched into Earth orbit for 6 days.
1975- Laos falls to communist forces; King Sisavang Vatthana resigns, the Lao People's Democratic Republic is proclaimed.
1975 - 7 South Moluccans hijack a train at Wijster Drente, killing 3.
1978 - Chanting "Allah is great,” anti-Shah protesters pour through Tehran.
1979 - Crowds attack the U.S. embassy in Tripoli, Libya.
1980 - 4 American Maryknoll nuns are killed by death squads in El Salvador.
1981 – The Spanish government requests membership in NATO.
1982 – At the University of Utah, the first permanent artificial heart (the Jarvic-7) is successfully implanted in retired dentist Barney Clark; he lives 112 days.
1985 - Philipine Chief of staff General Fabian speaks of B. Aquino's murder.
1988 - 5 gunmen who hijacked a Soviet Aeroflot jet surrender in Israel; the STS-27 (Atlantis) is launched on a secret military mission; the U.N. votes to move the PLO debate to Geneva (151-2; the U.S. and Israel voted no, Britain abstains).
1989 - Vishwanath Pratap Singh is sworn in as President of India.
1990 – The first parliamentary election is held in newly reunified Germany; the U.S.’ 69th manned space mission (STS-35 - Columbia 11) launches into orbit.
1991 – Shiite Muslims release American Joseph Cicippio, held hostage in Lebanon.
1993 – The Space Shuttle STS-61 (Endeavor-5) launches.
1994 – The former Achille Lauro, now the Willem Ruys, sinks off the coast of Somalia; a jury finds Heidi Fleiss guilty of running a call girl ring.

Birthdays
1728 - Ferdinando Galiani, Italian economist/philosopher/diplomat
1802 - Melancthon Smith Wade, Union Brigadier-General
1821 - Rufus Barringer, Confederate Brigadier-General
1825 - Pedro II van Alcantara, Emperor of Brazil (1831-89)
1837 - Charles Garrison Harker, Union Brigadier-General
1846 - Pierre M Waldeck-Rousseau, French Minister of Foreign affairs / premier
1885 - George Minot, American physician, worked on anemia (Nobel 1934); Níkos Kazantazakís, writer (Zorba, Last Temptation of Christ)
1902 - Horace A. Hildreth. (Gov-ME, 1945-49)
1906 - Peter Carl Goldmark, developed color TV and LP records
1908 - Robert F Simon, actor (Custer, MASH)
1915 - Randolph Hearst, newspaper publisher
1924 - Alexander Haig, Jr., U.S. Secretary of State (1981-82) / general
1929 - Jaap Boersma, Dutch Minister for Social Affairs (ARP)
1931 - Edwin Meese III, U.S. Attorney General (1985-88)
1946 - Gianni Versace, fashion designer (Versace)
1954 - Stone Phillips, news host (NBC Dateline)
1981 - Britney Jean Spears, singer (Oops I Did It Again)

Passings
0537 – Sylvester, Italian Pope (536-37)
1463 - Albrecht VI, archduke of Habsburg, dies
1515 - Gonzalo de Córdoba, Spanish general/strategist/viceroy of Naples
1592 - Alexander Farnese, land guardian of Netherlands (1579-92)
1723 – Philip, French duke of Orléans /regent (1715-23) / PM (1723)
1814 - Marquis de Sade, writer
1859 - John Brown, U.S. abolitionist, hanged in Charles Town, WV
1864 - Archibald Gracie, Jr., Confederate Brigadier-General, in battle at age 31
1919 - Henry Clay Frick, builder of the largest coke and steel operation
1935 - Albert Kessel, first to die in the California gas chamber
1944 – J.W. Ummels, Dutch resistance fighter (House of Saxon-Nazi)
1967 - Cardinal Francis Spellman, archbishop of New York
1969 - Kliment J Voroshilov, President of U.S.S.R. (1953-60)
1972 - Friedrich Christian Christiansen, German Luftwaffe General
1981 - Nicolaas "Cola" Debrot, Governor of Dutch Antilles (1962-70); Wallace K. Harrison, U.S. architect (U.N.)
1982 - Marty Feldman, comedic actor (Young Frankenstein), of a heart attack at age 49
1986 - Desi Arnaz, actor (Ricky Ricardo-I Love Lucy), of lung cancer
1990 - Aaron Copland, composer (Fanfare for the Common Man)

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Austin, Carl Benjamin, USN (OR); F4B shot down (pilot), KIA, body not recovered

Logan, Jacob Drummond, USN (WA); F4B shot down (aircrew); KIA, body not recovered

Roberts, Gerald Ray, USN (TX); A1H shot down, KIA, remains returned 1993 – 1994, ID’d October, 1996

1966
The following personnel reported MIA in one incident – two from a SF team, and two during an extraction attempt when their UH1H was shot down:

Bott, Russell P., US Army SF (MA)

Dyer, Irby III, US Army SF (TX); KIA in the UH1D (medic)

Stark, Willie E., US Army SF (NE)

Sulander, Daniel A., US Army (MN); KIA in the UH1D (crew)

Also reported MIA this day in 1966:
Berger, James R., USAF (OH); F4C shot down, released by DRV February, 1973 – retired as a Lt. Colonel - alive as of 1998

Burns, Donald R., USAF (TX); F4C shot down (weapons/systems officer, w/Ducat), released by DRV March, 1973 – retired as a Colonel – deceased April, 1996

Cordier, Kenneth W., USAF (OH); F4C shot down (pilot, w/ Lane), released by DRV March, 1973 – retired as a Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

Ducat, Bruce C., USAF (MD); F4C shot down (pilot, w/Burns), SRV returned remains to PCOM March, 1977

Gregory, Robert R., USAF (MO); RF4C shot down, remains returned March, 1988 – ID’d June, 1988

Lane, Michael C., USAF (FL); F4C shot down (weapons/systems officer, w/Cordier), released by DRV February, 1973 – alive and well as of 1998

McRae, David Edward, USN (GA); F4B shot down (pilot, w/ Rehman), likely KIA

Moorberg, Monte Larue, USAF (NE); F105D shot down, KIA, remains returned August, 1985

Nystrom, Bruce A., USN (OH); A4C shot down (in same incident w/Worrell), likely KIA

Rehmann, David G., USN (CA); F4B shot down (w/McRae), released by DRV February, 1973 – retired as a Lieutenant - alive and well as of 1998

Stutz, Leroy W., USAF (KS); RF4C shot down (w/Gregory), released by DRV March, 1973 – retired as a Colonel alive and well as of 1998

Worrell, Paul L., USN (PA); A4C shot down (in same incident w/Nystrom), remains returned August, 1965

1967
The following US Army personnel reported MIA when their UH1D was shot down:
Crosby, Richard A., (WA); door gunner

Leeper, Wallace W., (CO); aircraft commander

Moreida, Manuel J., (TX); crewchief

Strange, Floyd W., (CA); co-pilot

1969
The following US Army personnel reported MIA when their UH1B was shot down:

Dunlap, William C., (AZ); pilot, remains ID’d February, 1990

Sanderlin, William D., (TX); crewchief, remains ID’d February, 1990

Shanley, Michael H., Jr., (CA); gunner, remains returned March, 1990; mother did not accept ID
Vanden Eykel, Martin D. II, (IL); aircraft commander, ID’d February, 1990 (disputed)

1972
Shine, Anthony C., USAF (NY); A7D shot down, remains returned September, 1996

posted by Pam @ 1:47 PM |

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