This Day in History

[Amnorix]

Today...

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Brewers fan, eh?

Took long enough.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

1942. The quality of the human race is greatly improved when Reinhard Heydrich is assassinated near Prague, Czechoslovakia, though it will take nearly a week for him to die from his injuries.

Heydrich was a neat character. Started out in the navy but got booted for banging someone else's chick. A great fencer and violinist, too.

Oh, and bat-shit crazy and evil for icing on the proverbial cake.

He didn't believe that "his Czechs" would hurt him so he rode around in a convertible the same route each day. A couple of British-trained Czech chaps threw a bomb into his car. And, he died of septic shock when bits of the car seats embedded in his body. (that's all from memory, might have gotten some things wrong).

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Donger

Heydrich was a neat character. Started out in the navy but got booted for banging someone else's chick. A great fencer and violinist, too.

Oh, and bat-shit crazy and evil for icing on the proverbial cake.

He didn't believe that "his Czechs" would hurt him so he rode around in a convertible the same route each day. A couple of British-trained Czech chaps threw a bomb into his car. And, he died of septic shock when bits of the car seats embedded in his body. (that's all from memory, might have gotten some things wrong).

Yes. I remember the dishonorable discharge from the Navy. He wasn't overfond of the Navy High Command after that, as I recall.

Teh assassination attempt was interesting, IIRC. The two assassins botched the attempt. Think a gun jammed or something. Then they started to run and Heydrich decided to chase them, and then one turned and shot him or somesuch. It was basically one of the oddest successful assassination attempts ever.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

Yes. I remember the dishonorable discharge from the Navy. He wasn't overfond of the Navy High Command after that, as I recall.

Teh assassination attempt was interesting, IIRC. The two assassins botched the attempt. Think a gun jammed or something. Then they started to run and Heydrich decided to chase them, and then one turned and shot him or somesuch. It was basically one of the oddest successful assassination attempts ever.

I don't think he was shot.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Donger

I don't think he was shot.

Right. I looked it up and I just missed on the mode of death.


On that date, Heydrich was ambushed while he rode in his open car in the Prague suburb of Libeň. As the car slowed to take the hairpin bend in the road, Gabčík took aim with a Sten sub-machine gun, but it jammed and failed to fire. At that very moment, instead of ordering his driver to speed away, Heydrich called his car to a halt in an attempt to take on the two attackers. Kubiš then immediately threw a bomb (a converted anti-tank mine) at the rear of the car. The explosion wounded Heydrich and also Kubiš himself.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

Right. I looked it up and I just missed on the mode of death.


On that date, Heydrich was ambushed while he rode in his open car in the Prague suburb of Libeň. As the car slowed to take the hairpin bend in the road, Gabčík took aim with a Sten sub-machine gun, but it jammed and failed to fire. At that very moment, instead of ordering his driver to speed away, Heydrich called his car to a halt in an attempt to take on the two attackers. Kubiš then immediately threw a bomb (a converted anti-tank mine) at the rear of the car. The explosion wounded Heydrich and also Kubiš himself.

Yeah, that's it. Oh and as usual, damn you, Amno.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Donger

Yeah, that's it. Oh and as usual, damn you, Amno.

I should've remembered it was a bomb. I've seen that blown up car picture more than a few times.



Oh, and "made you look" (again). Ha ha.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

I should've remembered it was a bomb. I've seen that blown up car picture more than a few times.



Oh, and "made you look" (again). Ha ha.

A little nasty irony that he died from festering pieces of upholstery.

[Amnorix]

May 28.

585 BC. A solar eclipse occurs. Normally, this isn't such a big deal, but it had two very interesting effects, one of which was local, short term and not significant in the larger historical sense, and the other of which wasn't perceived for many centuries, but is much more crucial to historians. The solar eclipse occurs during the Battle of Halys, which was the last battle in a five year war between the Medes and the Lydians. The Medes lived in what is now northwestern Iran, while the Lydians were from Anatolia. The two people see the eclipse as an omen that the Gods wanted the fighting to stop, so they did. The battle is more popularly known as the Battle of the Eclipse.

More significantly, because the eclipse can be dated precisely, the Battle of the Eclipse is one of the earliest dates of an historical event that can be identified precisely, and thus is a cardinal date from which other dates for historical events can be calculated.

Originally Posted by Herodotus

In the sixth year a battle took place in which it happened, when the fight had begun, that suddenly the day became night. And this change of the day Thales the Milesian had foretold to the Ionians laying down as a limit this very year in which the change took place. The Lydians however and the Medes, when they saw that it had become night instead of day, ceased from their fighting and were much more eager both of them that peace should be made between them.

1588. The Spanish Armada, 151 ships and 30,000 men strong, sets sail from Lisbon headed for the English Channel. The Armada planned to pick up an addition 30,000 men in the Spanish Netherlands and invade England.

1774. The First Continental Congress convenes.

1905. The Battle of Tsushima ends. Fought between the navies of Tsarist Russia and Imperial Japan, it represents the only truly decisive sea battle fought between modern battleships. The battle is a crushing defeat for the Russian navy, who had seen their fleet sail 18,000 miles only to have 2/3rds of it destroyed while sinking only three Japanese torpedo boats.

The battle was the first victory of an Asian nation over a Western power in the modern age, and was a severe blow to the prestige of Russian's ruling Romanov family. The battle also seemingly confirmed the need for modern battleships, and in a few short months the British would authorize laying the keel of the HMS Dreadnought, which more or less rendered all other warships afloat (incluidng the entire British navy at the time) obsolete and kicked off the dreadnought arms race.

1940. Belgium surrenders to Germany, which among other consequences leaves a 20 mile gap in the Dunkirk defenses. Confused battles occur all along the Dunkirk perimeter, with the British having command and control issues. The British are slowly driven inward toward Dunkirk. Evacuation operations are ongoing, as the Luftwaffe and RAF fight to control the skies over Dunkirk and the Channel.

1942. In retaliation for the assassination of Richard Heydrich, Nazis kill over 1,800 Czecholosvakians.

1982. The British win the Battle of Goose Green in the Falklands War. I mainly include this to laugh at both the name of the battle and at the war in general.

Originally Posted by Eddie Izzard

"England -- what's that behind your back?"

"Oh, err.....India and a number of other countries."

"Well, put them back"

"Oh, all right..... Here, and here, and there...."

"What's that still behind your back."

"errr...the Falkland Islands, which we need to keep for....err....strategic sheep purposes."

[Amnorix]

May 29

(need to get a bit ahead of the game here -- this weekend is going to be busy)

1453. On this date, 1453, the Ottoman armies of Sultan Mehmet II ("the Conqueror") finally captured Constantinople after a siege lasting two months, extinguishing the last remnants of the Byzantine Empire which was the last vestige of the Roman Empire. Although by this time the Empire was a pathetic shell of its former self, controlling barely more than the territory beyond its famed Theodosian Walls and some isolated territories along the Aegean Coast, the fall of the fabled city sent shock waves through Europe, which long had ignored the desperate pleas of their fellow Christian state to assist them in holding off the Muslims.

The last emperor died heroically at the walls defending his beloved city. Although Mehmet (who was quite young at this point) would become reknowned for his religious tolerance, he gave over the city to the traditional three days of sacking following its capture, and the Ottoman army fell on the city, raping and pillaging.


Mehmet the Conqueror.

Originally Posted by They Might be Giants

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

1867. The Austrian-Hungarian Compromise is signed into law, giving birth to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which will last only until the end of World War I.

1953. Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

1953. Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Big deal. Now, 13 year old, one-legged, blind midgets climb it.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Donger

Big deal. Now, 13 year old, one-legged, blind midgets climb it.

True. I did it while sleep walking a few months ago myself...

[Amnorix]

May 30

1431. Joan of Arc is burned at the stake in Rouen, France.

1536. The ever busy Henry VIII marries Jane Seymour, who was a lady in waiting to each of his first two wives. She, too, will die soon, though at least she wasn't beheaded like her predecessor. She instead will die of postnatal complications only a year after being married.

1806. Future President Andrew Jackson kills a man in a duel. The man had accused Jackson's wife of bigamy, which was technically true as Jackson and his wife had wed thinking that her divorce had been finalized. It was the first ever in the history of Kentucky, however, and had not quite been completed. They retook their vows after the divorce was fully completed, however. The bigamy charge will rear its ugly head again in the exceedingly nasty John Quincy Adams - Andrew Jackson election contests 20 years later.

1814. Napoleon is exiled to the island of Elba.

1854. The Kansas-Nebraska Act becomes law, repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820, opening the door to Bleeding Kansas by virtue of the popular sovereignty clauses in the law regarding slavery, and setting the stage for the Civil War.

1859. Big Ben rings for the first time.

1869. Decoration Day, the predecessor to Memorial Day, is celebrated for the first time by order of the Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic (a fraternal organization of Civil War veterans).

1911. The first Indianapolis 500 is run, with Ray Harroun winning in his Marmon Wasp.



1922. The Lincoln Memorial is dedicated.

[Amnorix]

May 31. Warning -- do not do anything special this day. You won't make the list. Seriously, if you aren't finding the cure for cancer, you won't even sniff the list.

1279 BC. Rameses II, the Great, becomes Pharoah of Egypt. Generally regarded as the greatest emperor of Ancient Egypt, he holds the throne for over 66 years, dying when he was 90 (or 99, accounts differ) years old. His mummified body was discovered in a royal tomb (to which it had been moved long after his death to preserve it against grave robbers) in 1881, and is now at the Cairo Museum. His wife was the almost equally famed Nefertari.

Although he was indeed great, as greatness is measured in those times -- conquering new lands, etc. -- his empire was under constant attack following his death, and within 150 years the New Kingdom of Egypt, which represented the zenith of Ancient Egyptian glory and power, would come to an end.

Among other things, Rameses II was famed for his many sons by his wives and concubines, and the funerary complex he built for his sons (many of whom he outlived) is the largest funerary complex of Ancient Egypt yet discovered.




1678. The procession of Lady Godiva is honored at the Great Fair in Coventry, England. A tradition that continues to this day and is known as the Godiva Procession during the Godiva Festival. (please ignore the fact that it is almost certain that the whole thing is just a legend and no noblewoman ever rode naked to get anyone a concession on taxes).

1864. The Battle of Cold Harbor begins. Ulysses S. Grant makes what is likely his worst mistake as a general, charging fortified Confederate lines and decimating his troops.

Originally Posted by Ulysses S. Grant

"I have always regretted that the last assault at Cold Harbor was ever made. I might say the same thing of the assault of the 22d of May, 1863, at Vicksburg. At Cold Harbor no advantage whatever was gained to compensate for the heavy loss we sustained."

1911. RMS Titanic is launched.

1916. The Battle of Jutland begins, the largest naval combat of WWI and the last major engagement of traditional surface fleets the world will see before the advent of aircraft carriers changes naval warfare forever. The result of the battle is inconclusive, but Germany's navy is penned back into its docks for the rest of the war.

1927. The last Model T rolls off the assembly line, after a production run of 19 years and slightly over 15 million vehicles. The first vehicle to be mass produced, it was initially sold at a price of $850 per vehicle (roughly the equivalent of $20,000 in today's money) when other vehicles sold at the equivalent of $50,000 in today's money. By the 1920s, the price had fallen to under $300 due to increasing efficiencies, making it extremely affordable to middle class workers.

1962. Adolf Eichmann gets his neck stretched in Israel.

[Amnorix]

June 1

987. Hugh Capet is elected King of France, beginning the Capetian Dynasty which lasted until 1328 directly, and until the end of the French monarchy when collateral branches are included. As of 2009, Capetians are still the heads of state of Spain (King Juan Carlos I, a Bourbon, which is a branch of Capetians) and Luxembourg (Grand Duke Henri, House of Bourbon-Parma). Hugh Capet is also generally considered the founder of "Modern" France, as he moved his seat of governance to Paris and exerted control from there, which all subsequent French kings would do as well.

1215. Genghis Khan captures Beijing.

1495. Friar John Cor is recorded as the first known distiller of Scotch Whisky. The word Whisky is the English derivative of the Gaelic word "usquebaugh", which was shortened to "usky" over time. What does "usquebaugh" mean in Gaelic? Why "Water of Life" of course...

1812. President James Madison asks Congress to declare war on the United Kingdomm, beginning the ill-fated and utterly moronic War of 1812.

1974. The Heimlich Manuever is published in the journal Emergency Medicine. Which mostly gives me the chance to post this link (Eddie Izzard):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MnurooA2tw

1980. Cable News Network (CNN) begins broadcasting.