On This Day – 26 May 1967
On this day fifty years ago was the release of the Beatles’ eighth studio album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It would go on to win four Grammy Awards the following year, including Album of the Year and was the first rock album to receive this title. Continue reading “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
An accident in 1980 at a missile launch facility in farmland north of Damascus, Arkansas could have led to the detonation of the 9-megaton nuclear warhead, leading to massive destruction across the state as well as radiation fallout there and in neighbouring states. Continue reading “Arkansas Armageddon”
On This Day – 7th/8th May 1942
The Battle of the Coral Sea is fought to stop the Japanese-planned capture of Port Moresby. It is a confused engagement and is the first major naval battle fought without visual contact being made between the surface forces of the opposing fleets. Continue reading “WWII – Battle of the Coral Sea”
April 1942 – British Air Operations in Europe
RAF Bomber Command attacks continue to increase in intensity this month. There are also almost daily offensive fighter sweeps over occupied France. Continue reading “WWII – The 75th Anniversary”
April 1942 – The Eastern Front
In the course of the month, German forces fighting in Russia receive considerable aid from their allies. Continue reading “WWII – The 75th Anniversary”
April 1942 – Battle of the Atlantic
With the USA’s entry into the war, the U-Boat campaign off the American coastline continues to score important successes. Continue reading “WWII – The 75th Anniversary”
Most people don’t realise that the Korean War, which began on the 25th of June 1950 with the invasion of South Korea by Communist North Korea, did not end with the signing of an armistice on the 27th July 1953. The armistice only allowed for a ceasefire, the creation of a Demilitarised Zone, and the return of prisoners of war. So technically North and South Korea have never signed a peace treaty, and are still at war.
On This Day – 23 November 1859
Henry McCarty (17 Sept 1859 – 14 July 1881), better known under the pseudonyms of Billy the Kid and William H. Bonney, was a 19th-century gunman who participated in the Lincoln County War and became a frontier outlaw in the American Old West. Continue reading “1859 – Billy the Kid, American criminal, born (alternative date)”
On This Day – 23 November 1644
Areopagitica; A speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England is a 1644 prose polemical* tract by the English poet, scholar, and polemical author John Milton opposing licensing and censorship. Continue reading “1644 – John Milton publishes Areopagitica, a pamphlet decrying censorship”
On This Day – 22 November 1890
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 Nov 1890 – 9 Nov 1970) was a French general, resistant, writer and statesman. Continue reading “1890 – Charles de Gaulle, French general and politician is born”
19 September
After a siege lasting almost a month the Rashidun Arabs under Khalid ibn al-Walid capture Damascus from the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire). Continue reading “AD 634 – Siege of Damascus”
4 September
After a year long publicity drive the Ford Motor Company introduces the Edsel.
4 September
The last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself “King of Italy”, thus ending the Western Roman Empire.
4 September 1941
During a convoy operation the US destroyer Greer is attacked by a German U-Boat.
Continue reading “WWII – The 75th Anniversary – Battle of the Atlantic”
