Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii
Aerial photograph, looking east, with Hickam Army Air Field in center and Honolulu beyond, 13 October 1941. The Pearl Harbor Navy Yard is in the left-center, and Ford Island is at the far left. Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.


USS Arizona (BB-39) sunk and burning furiously, 7 December 1941. Her forward magazines had exploded when she was hit by a Japanese bomb. At left, men on the stern of USS Tennessee (BB-43) are playing fire hoses on the water to force burning oil away from their ship. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.


Sailors in a motor launch rescue a survivor from the water alongside the sunken USS West Virginia (BB-48) during or shortly after the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor. USS Tennessee (BB-43) is inboard of the sunken battleship. Note extensive distortion of West Virginia's lower midships superstructure, caused by torpedoes that exploded below that location. Also note 5"/25 gun, still partially covered with canvas, boat crane swung outboard and empty boat cradles near the smokestacks, and base of radar antenna atop West Virginia's foremast. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.


USS Maryland (BB-46) alongside the capsized USS Oklahoma (BB-37). USS West Virginia (BB-48) is burning in the background. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.


The forward magazine of USS Shaw (DD-373) explodes during the second Japanese attack wave. To the left of the explosion, Shaw's stern is visible, at the end of floating drydock YFD-2. At right is the bow of USS Nevada (BB-36), with a tug alongside fighting fires. Photographed from Ford Island, with a dredging line in the foreground. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.


The wrecked destroyers USS Downes (DD-375) and USS Cassin (DD-372) in Drydock One at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, soon after the end of the Japanese air attack. Cassin has capsized against Downes. USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) is astern, occupying the rest of the drydock. The torpedo-damaged cruiser USS Helena (CL-50) is in the right distance, beyond the crane. Visible in the center distance is the capsized USS Oklahoma (BB-37), with USS Maryland (BB-46) alongside. Smoke is from the sunken and burning USS Arizona (BB-39), out of view behind Pennsylvania. USS California (BB-44) is partially visible at the extreme left. This image has been attributed to Navy Photographer's Mate Harold Fawcett. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.


PBY patrol bomber burning at Naval Air Station Kaneohe, Oahu, during the Japanese attack. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.


Aerial view of "Battleship Row" moorings on the southern side of Ford Island, 10 December 1941, showing damage from the Japanese raid three days earlier.
In upper left is the sunken USS California (BB-44), with smaller vessels clustered around her.
Diagonally, from left center to lower right are:
USS Maryland (BB-46), lightly damaged, with the capsized USS Oklahoma (BB-37) outboard. A barge is alongside Oklahoma, supporting rescue efforts.
USS Tennessee (BB-43), lightly damaged, with the sunken USS West Virginia (BB-48) outboard.
USS Arizona (BB-39), sunk, with her hull shattered by the explosion of the magazines below the two forward turrets. Note dark oil streaks on the harbor surface, originating from the sunken battleships. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.


"Remember Dec. 7th!"
Poster designed by Allen Sandburg, issued by the Office of War Information, Washington, D.C., in 1942, in remembrance of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. The poster also features a quotation from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: "... we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain ...". Courtesy of the U.S. Navy Art Center. Donation of Dr. Robert L. Scheina, 1970. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Labels: Hickam Field, Pearl Harbor, photos, US Navy, USS Arizona, USS California, USS Cassin, USS Downes, USS Helena, USS Maryland, USS Oklahoma, USS Shaw, USS Tennessee, USS West Virginia

The forward magazines of USS Arizona (BB-39) explode after she was hit by a Japanese bomb, 7 December 1941.Frame clipped from a color motion picture taken from on board USS Solace (AH-5).Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

The United States of America had been very clear on its position regarding Japanese aggression in Manchuria - Get out. Now. The U.S. (with the U.K.) had imposed a boycott of scrap metal and oil on the Japanese, too. Japan saw one method to deal with the issue. Even while they entered into negotiations, they were planning to attack.

That attack came early in the morning on December 7, 1941. Unfortunately, although the attacking planes were spotted on radar, that system was new, and the planes were thought to be a flight of B-17s due in that day. The radar operator reported the contacts, but was told, "Don't worry about it."

The first wave of planes hit at 7:53 a.m., with Japanese midget subs also on the attack. Just a little over an hour later, the second wave of planes hit. And an hour after that, it was over. At least, the immediate attack was over. By the time the Japanese planes were gone, they had left inconceivable death and destruction in their wake, and turned a harbor in paradise into a war zone - literally.

"I was about three quarters of the way to the first platform on the mast when it seemed as though a bomb struck our quarterdeck. I could hear shrapnel or fragments whistling past me. As I reached the first platform, I saw Second Lieutenant Simonson lying on his back with blood on his shirt front. I bent over him and taking him by the shoulders asked if there was anything I could do. He was dead, or so nearly so that speech was impossible. Seeing there was nothing I could do for the Lieutenant, I continued to my battle station." -- Marine Cpl. E.C. Nightingale, aboard the USS Arizona

2,403 were dead. Nearly 200 American planes were destroyed, and 8 battleships were destroyed or damaged. But Japan had missed the opportunity to hit what they wanted to - the aircraft carriers they saw as the U.S.' most dangerous assets. The Lexington, the Saratoga, and the Enterprise were all away when the attack came. And the U.S., largely reluctant to enter into the conflict raging in Europe, knew one thing - we were at war.

The Americans got a few small pieces of luck in the midst of all the chaos. The fuel oil storage, right next to the harbor, was unscathed. This was, in part, due to the fact that in those days, they were painted an aqua color that made them appear to be pools of water from the air. The submarines were also undamaged.

"With a quick glance to the right, I noticed the Arizona was a mass of flames and one of the AA guns was blasting away. Just about that time a plane was passing by very low and close. I saw the pilot looking over the Arizona, and as he pulled up, I noticed the red ball on the wing. Yes, I could have hit it with a stone if I had one to throw." -- Paul P. Urdzik, aboard the USS Vestal

But Japan had also seriously underestimated the Americans. Most of the Japanese command, many of whom had been educated in the States, believed the Americans would be unable to mobilize for a year or two - unable to replace what had been lost - and by then, Japan would have secured its interests in Asia. They believed they had rendered the Americans powerless to stop them.

They were wrong.

There has been a great deal of discussion in the decades since about what contributed to the attack. If the planes hadn't been parked the way they were. If the sailors hadn't been given a day off after the music competition. If we'd recognized the radar blips for what they were... In hindsight, it's easy to criticize, easy to blame, easy to divert attention from what matters - thousands of American heroes died that day, in an attack that shattered American innocence, and reminded them that war wasn't always far away - it could come right into one's front yard. The outrage, the horror, the undeniable need to strike back, would only be rivaled one other time in American history - on a sunny September morning in 2001.

"The first Japanese plane flew over us about 0755 and banked to the right toward Battleship Row. Just prior to this pass, we had heard large explosions coming from Ford Island. We did observe planes in the air, and to a man questioned the Army flying on Sunday. Very unusual to say the least.

By the time a second plane made a pass, we were at General Quarters, and one of our gunners was fortunate enough to get a direct hit off our starboard quarter. The plane went up in one large ball of fire, and immediately dropped into the water." -- Roy Cella, aboard the USS Sumner

One day after the attacks, this is what Americans heard from their President:

Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to the Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. Very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island. This morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation. As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounded determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December seventh, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.

-- President Franklin D. Roosevelt, December 8, 1941

Fifteen ships were named in honor of Sailors, to pay tribute to the heroism they displayed that horrible day.

USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Photographed by Lieutenant Commander Tracy D. Connors, USN (Retired), June 1987.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Links for more information:
VIDEO: Pearl Harbor, as It Was Told 66 Years Ago
Attack At Pearl Harbor, 1941
Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 (U.S. Navy website)
Pearl Harbor: Remembered
Pearl Harbor Attack, 1941
December 7, 1941 - Japanese Bomb Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Remembering Pearl Harbor
FDR's "Day of Infamy" Speech
USS Arizona (BB-39)
Air Raid Pearl Harbor
My Story: Pearl Harbor Battleship Row
Days of Infamy: December 7 and 9/11
USS Utah (BB31/AG16)
Pearl Harbor Attack, 1941
Pearl Harbor Documents
Naval Institute: Pearl Harbor
Ginger's Diary (account of a 17-year-old American girl living at Hickam Field, Hawaii, at the time of the Pearl Harbor bombing)
Pearl Harbor Survivors Association
The Pearl Harbor Attack Hearings
USS West Virginia (BB-48)@
TIME Magazine: The Attack on Pearl Harbor
Naval History Magazine: Pearl Harbor - Attack from Below
Japanese Navy Ships -- Midget Submarines
USS California (BB-44)
National Geographic: Expedition Pearl Harbor
The Day After Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor Operations
USS Oklahoma (BB-37)
What the Chaplains Were Doing at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941
Imperial War Museum: Pearl Harbor
USS Arizona Memorial

I will also be posting pictures from my visit to Pearl Harbor later.

Labels: Fallen Heroes, Pearl Harbor, US Navy, USS Arizona, USS California, USS Oklahoma, USS Utah, WWII

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Bombers kills 26 in Iraq
Italian Carabinieri Training Iraqi National Police
3-1 Cav. Regt., Concerned Local Citizens Open Headquarters
Anbar Agricultural College Returned to Province, GOI
Gates: Iraq On Right Track
Petraeus: Violence in Iraq Down
Army Air Power Boosts Surge in Iraq
East Baghdad Murders at 2-Year Low

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Syria Blocks Facebook Over Israeli 'Infiltration'
Senator Calls for Probe of Destroyed CIA Tapes - VIDEO

Supporting Our Heroes....Or Not...
Group: NBC Refuses to Air Ads Thanking Troops - VIDEO (No, the media's not biased...)

Other Military News
VIDEO: Pearl Harbor, as It Was Told 66 Years Ago
Back cluster bomb ban or face stigma: activists (GASP! Stigma?! Oh, no.....)

Worldwide Wackos
Cuba apologizes for police raid on Catholic church
Pentagon plans unchanged by Iran report

Homegrown Moonbats
Eva Mendes Stars in 'Fur? I'd Rather Go Naked' Ad for PETA
San Francisco Radio Host Bernie Ward Indicted on Child Porn Charges
More News: Gore calls for climate pact

Politics / Government
Russia Gives RiceThe Silent Treatment - Moscow ignores calls for new Iran sanctions
Gennifer Flowers Among Undecided Voters Considering Voting for Hillary Clinton
Kosovo report says sides didn't cede on sovereignty
Pakistani opposition disagree on election demands
Putin party to name presidential candidate December 17
Senate blocks vote on House energy bill
Ex-Weldon aide pleads guilty to fraud
Huckabee keeps faith views to himself
Democrats cry uncle on taxes, spending
Huckabee rises to 2nd in GOP race

Illegal Immigration / Border Control
Feds Delay Deportation of Immigrant Couple in Marriage Flap
Craigslist Ad: '$300 a Month for Green Card Marriage'

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Mall Shooting 911 Calls: 'A Lot of Blood' - VIDEO - PHOTOS
Police release images of mall gunman
Drew Peterson Whack-a-Mole?
Barry Bonds Pleads Not Guilty - VIDEO
Hamster Horror: Boy Tortured Pet to Death (Guess he wants to be a serial killer when he grows up...sickening)
911 Tapes Illustrate Fear in Nebraska Mall During Gunman's Rampage
Iowa Mom Gets Probation for Attempting to Sell 4-Year-Old Son to Pay for Wedding Dress
Wife of Back-From-Dead Canoeist Begs for Forgiveness
Drew Peterson Complains After Face Appears on Pinata
Natalee Holloway Suspect Released by Judge in Aruba
Omaha massacre unlikely to alter gun laws - Video
Shots fired in Pa. mall parking lot
Ray Liotta pleads no contest in crash

U.N. News
U.N. report raises death toll in Myanmar crackdown
CO2 caps for poor unlikely at U.N. talks

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
'MySpace' Mom Shunned
MySpace Mom Tied to Teen Suicide Being Bullied Herself

Science / Medicine and Health / Technology
German Clinic Mixes Up Newborns, Gives Babies to Wrong Parents
Green tea may protect against colon cancer
Senators ask Bush for greater food safety funding
Nobel winners say science must transcend borders
NASA working to launch shuttle despite problem
JetBlue, Yahoo, Rim plan free in-flight Wi-Fi - Video
New Apple store highlights "geniuses," services
Minn. slaughterhouse workers fall ill

Mother Nature
Evacuations Ordered in Flood, Mudslide Risk Areas of Southern Calif. Ahead of Powerful Pacific Storm
2008 Forecast: Seven Hurricanes, Three 'Major'
Tanker Collision Spills 10,000 Tons of Oil - PHOTOS
U.S. open to all options in climate deal
China: US should take lead on climate (Hey China, you first.)

Oddities
Cremator dumps half-burned bodies to save fuel
Neglect of parents a criminal offence
Suburban sex parties draw complaints

Fox News
FOXBusiness: U.S. Added 94,000 Jobs Last Month
Pop Tarts: Did Scary Make Moves on Her Fellow Spice Girls? (More importantly, why the heck should we care?)
Miss California USA Pageant Officials Crown New Beauty Queen
Britney Spears: No One Wants a 'Piece' of Her

Reuters
Recalling Oscar's past brush with strike
Farmers want Jolie to visit Philippines
Kicking the seat rudest travel behavior
Chinese grannies take to hip-hop
Debunking Christmas - bright stars, donkeys and all
Tate Modern uses cash injection for glass extension
Recalling Oscar's past brush with strike
"Batman" sequel gets an Imax preview
Jobs added but consumers gloomy
Market flat after modest jobs growth data
Oil falls 3 percent to below $88
Papa John's soars after 2008 view
Macrovision to buy Gemstar for $2.8 bln, shares fall
Reuters India Investment Summit
Times changing for women executives
Audio Blog: Summit Notebook
Not betting on a level playing field
Video: Vibrant debt market needed
James Murdoch steps up as News Corp heir apparent
Ex-printing plant worker pleads guilty in trading case
Subprime plan seen reaching 340,000
UAL to give shareholders $250 million special payout
Morgan Stanley to form China broker JV
Billionaire Lewis raises stake in Bear Stearns

AP World News
Stocks waver after latest jobs report
Jobs report sends oil futures lower
Smith says film not yet OK'd in China
No quick fix for subprime mortgages
Backup leads Redskins past Bears 24-16
Signs points to more Chrysler job cuts

CENTCOM: News Releases
COALITION FORCES CAPTURE TERRORISTS INVOLVED IN BAGHDAD CAR-BOMBING OPERATIONS
ANA, ISAF LAUNCH OPERATION MUSA QALA
RECONCILIATION TAKES CENTER STAGE ACROSS MULTI-NATIONAL DIVISION - CENTER
AL-QAEDA NETWORKS DISRUPTED; THREE TERRORISTS KILLED, 19 DETAINED

USJFCOM
Newsmaker Profile: SOCJFCOM Commander Army Col. Wesley Rehorn - podcast
More about SOCJFCOM
Capability development leadership to change
More about Capability Development
USJFCOM readies for Joint Task Force Senior Medical Leadership Seminar - podcast
USJFCOM garners cutting edge technology award - podcast

Multi-National Force-Iraq
Top Marine Explains Cut in Purchase of Mine-Resistant Vehicles
Coalition forces capture terrorists involved in Baghdad car-bombing operations
Iraqi Security Forces kill one terrorist, detain 55 suspects in operations against al-Qaeda
Coalition forces capture Special Groups weapons trainer; two killed, five detained (Baghdad)
Coalition forces detain two suspects, disrupt criminal network (Baghdad)
Anbar Agricultural College returned to province, GOI (Ramadi)
Reconciliation takes center stage across Multi-National Division - Center

DefenseLink
TOP NEWS
Defense Secretary to Seek More Cooperation at Summit
Gates Tours USS Vicksburg in Bahrain

IRAQ NEWS
Iraq Improving From Local Level Up
Army, Civil Affairs Team Hand Out Grants
Coalition Focuses on Sustaining Police
Coalition Forces Detain Dozens of Terrorists

AFGHANISTAN NEWS
Afghan Forces Learn De-Mining Procedures
Coalition, Afghan Forces Defeat Taliban

MILITARY NEWS
Department Works to Keep Homeland Secure
Foreign Area Officers Bridge Cultural Divides
Defense Department Honors Heroic Employees
Sailors, Marines Build Friendships in Cambodia

FACE OF DEFENSE
Nigerian Serves With Pride

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Vets Move to Civilian Life

WHY WE SERVE
Desert Changes Marine

Weather
Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Germany
Ansbach Aschaffenburg Berlin Berlin-Tempelhof Berlin/Schonefeld Bremerhaven
Darmstadt Frankfurt Frankfurt/Main Freiburg/Breisgau Garmisch
Garmisch-Partenkirchen Geilenkirchen Gelnhausen Giessen Kitzingen
Hanau Am Main Heidelberg Mainz Mannheim Nurnberg Stuttgart Trier
Wiesbaden Wurzburg

Gitmo

Guam
Agana Agana Heights Agat Andersen AFB Asan Barrigada

Iraq
Al Azamiyah Al Basrah Al Hillah Al Karkh Al Kazimiyah Al Kut
An Nasiriyah Baghdad Baqubah Mosul Najaf Nineveh Tall Kayf

Japan
Kadena Air Base Okinawa Tokyo Yokohama

Today in History
36 BC - Earliest known Mayan inscription, Stela 2 at Chiapa de Corzo.
43 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman writer, gets his head and right hand chopped off by Mark Antony's soldiers.
0185 - Emperor Lo-Yang of China sees a supernova (MSH15-52?).
1741 - Elisabeth Petrovna becomes tsarina of Russia.
1783 - William Pitt, Jr. (24) becomes British premier.
1787 - Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the Constitution.
1808 - James Madison is elected as U.S. President
1836 - Martin Van Buren is elected as the 8th U.S. President.
1842 - The New York Philharmonic gives its first concert.
1862 - Battle of Hartsville, TN; Battle of Prairie Grove, AR.
1864 - Skirmish at Ebenezer Creek/Cypress Swamp, GA.
1868 - The Jesse James gang robs a bank in Gallatin MO, killing 1.
1872 - HMS Challenger sets sail on a 3½-year world oceanographic cruise.
1877 - Thomas A. Edison demonstrates the gramophone.
1885 - The 49th U.S. Congress (1885-87) convenes.
1891 - The 52nd U.S. Congress (the first to appropriate $1 billion) holds its first session.
1895 - In the Battle at Amba Alagi, the Abyssinians beat the Italian armies.
1907 - Eugene Corri becomes the first referee in a boxing ring.
1912 - A bust of Queen Nefertiti found in El-Amarna, Egypt
1916 - David Lloyd George replaces resigning H.H. Asquith as British PM.
1917 - The U.S. becomes the 13th country to declare war on Austria (WWI)
1924 - In the German election, the Social Democrats win defeat the Nazis and Communists.
1925 - In NYC, the Biltmore Theater opens at 261 W. 47th ST.
1926 - The gas refrigerator is patented.
1932 - The first gyro-stabilized vessel to cross the Atlantic arrives in New York.
1934 - Wiley Post discovers the jet stream.
1937 - Dutch Minister Romme proclaims married women are forbidden to work.
1940 - In North Africa, General O'Connor leads a British counter offensive.
1941 - The Japanese attack Pearl Harbor; the USS Ward becomes the first U.S. ship to sink a Japanese submarine; Australian bombers land on Timor/Ambon; the German siege of Tobruk ends after 8 months; Nacht and Nebel Erlass, resistance fighters, are sent to German concentration camps.
1944 - The Convention on International Civil Aviation is drawn up in Chicago; General Radescu forms the Romanian government.
1945 - The microwave oven is patented.
1946 - A fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, kills 119.
1949 - Chiang Kai-shek flees to Taiwan.
1953 - Israel's PM Ben-Gureon retires.
1954 - The Japanese government of Joshida resigns.
1955 - Clement Attlee resigns as chairman of England's Labour Party.
1958 - Rómulo Bétancourt is elected President of Venezuela.
1960 - The Ivory Coast claims independence from France.
1965 - Pope Paul VI and Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras I simultaneously lift the mutual excommunications that led to the split of the two churches in 1054.
1968 - The Orbiting Astronomical Observatory-2 is launched into Earth orbit; Richard Dodd returns a library book his great grandfather borrowed in 1823 to the University of Cincinatti; the $22,646 fine goes unpaid.
1970 - West Germany and Poland normalize relations.
1972 - Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos is stabbed and wounded by an assailant; Apollo-17, the final U.S. manned lunar landing mission (last of the Apollo Moon series) is launched.
1976 - The U.N. Security Council endorses Kurt Waldheim, Secretary-General, for a second five-year term.
1981 - Spain becomes a member of the NATO.
1983 - At the Madrid Airport, two jets collide, killing 93.
1985 - Atlantis returns to Kennedy Space Center via Kelly AFB.
1986 - President Jean-Claude Duvalier flees Haïti.
1987 - 43 die in Pa acific Southwest Airline crash in California, after a man shoots the pilots.
1988 - At the U.N., Mikhail Gorbachev announces 10% unilateral Soviet troop reductions; Yasser Arafat recognizes the existence of Israel; a 6.9 earthquake in Armenia kills more than 100,000, and leaves 5,000,000 homeless.
1990 - The Iraqi parliament endorses Saddam's decision to free hostages.
1992 - The Galileo spacecraft passes the North Pole of Moon (Peary Crater).
1993 - Henri Konan Bédié names himself President of the Ivory Coast.
1994 - Radio personality Howard Stern talks a man out of attempting suicide.
1995 - The U.S. space probe Galileo begins orbiting Jupiter.
1996 - The Space Shuttle STS-80 (Columbia 21) lands.

Birthdays
0967 - Abu Sa'id ibn Aboa al-Chair, Persian mystic
1542 - Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots (1560-1587)
1754 - Jack Jouett, American patriot
1761 - Madame (Marie Grosholtz) Tussaud, created wax museum
1808 - Hugh McCulloch, U.S. Secretary of Treasury
1810 - Theodor Schwann, German co-originator of cell theory
1847 - Solomon Schechter, American Talmudic scholar / Jewish leader
1888 - Matthew Heywood Campbell Broun, first president of the American Newspaper Guild; Hamilton Fish, U.S. Congressional leader / isolationist
1901 - A.F. (Tony) Pugsley, British rear-admiral (Walcheren attack - 1944)
1905 - Gerard Kuiper Dutch/US astronomer (discovered moons of Uranus, Neptune)
1915 - Eli Wallach, actor (Magnificent 7, Misfits, People Next Door)
1924 - Mário Soares (Socialist), premier of Portugal (1976-78, 1983- )
1926 - Victor Kermit Kiam II, CEO (Remington shavers) / NFL owner (Patriots)
1928 - Noam Chomsky, linguist (founded transformational grammar)
1936 - Martha Layne Collins, (Governor-KY)
1937 - Thad Cochran (Senator-MS)
1942 - Harry Chapin, folk/rock singer / songwriter (Taxi, Cat's in the Craddle)
1956 - Larry Bird, basketball star (Boston Celtics)

Passings
0983 - Otto II, the Red German king/emperor (973-83)
1254 - Innocent IV (Sinibaldo dei Fieschi), Pope (1243-54)
1383 - Wenceslaus, duke of Brabant
1815 - Michel Ney, French marshal (Waterloo), murdered
1817 - William Bligh, British naval officer of "Bounty" fame
1862 - Sylvester Churchill, Union Brigadier-General
1894 - Ferdinand de Lesseps, French engineer/diplomat/earl
1902 - Thomas Nast, political cartoonist
1912 - George Darwin, theorized Moon was pulled out of Pacific Ocean
1941 - Iida, Japanese pilot/lieutenant, in battle
1970 - Rube Goldberg, American cartoonist (Mike & Ike, Pulitzer 1948)
1979 - Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, first woman full professor at Harvard University; Prince Chahryar Shafik Shah of Iran's nephew, murdered in Paris
1982 - Charlie Brooks, Jr., convicted murderer, first U.S. prisoner to be executed by lethal injection
1983 - Edgar Graham, member of Northern Ireland Assembly, shot dead by the IRA
1985 - Potter Stewart, 94th Supreme Court Justice (1958-81)
1988 - Andrei P. Ershov, Russian computer pioneer
1993 - Félix Houphouet-Boigny, President of the Ivory Coast (1960-93)

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Dunn, John Howard, USMC (MT); F4B shot down (pilot, w/Frederick), released by DRV February, 1973 - deceased, January 1998

Frederick, John William, Jr., USMC (IL); F4B shot down (w/Dunn) - remains returned March, 1974

1966
Carlson, John Werner, USAF (IL); F5C shot down, KIA, body not recovered

Labels: Headlines, History