Here's something I had wanted to post on the 6th, but I was distracted
by stuff around the house. Not a major item, but here it is anyway....
While on a guided tour of Cape Cod a few years back,I asked the tour guide, a local, if he remembered anything about the Texas Towers,of Cold War fame, getting a blank facial expression and shrug of the shoulders along with his polite "No, I don't."
Well, on August 6, 1964, the last of them was pulled down and removed, off Nantucket, about 100 miles, on Nantucket Shoal, erasing completely traces of a pioneer electronic surveillance system on theU.S. east coast.
Three of five planned towers were built by 1959. One collapsed from storm fatigue in 1961 -- 28 people drowned; the other was dismantled and had sunk during a salvage attempt earlier in 1963.
Does this item register on anyone's memory here? I came close to being stuck on one by virtue of my training.
August 10.
Film star Rhonda Fleming is 83 today. Remember her? (I do.) Coincidentally, Eddie Fisher is 78 (didn't know he was still alive).
In 1821, Missouri became the 24th state of the USA,
The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC was chartered in 1846.
In 1921, on this day Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken with polio (infantile paralysis) while vacationing at the Canadian island of Campobello. It happened to be Herbert C. Hoover's 47th birthday.
[This thread really should be revived on a daily basis.]
Thank you MA for the reminder. It is my responsibility to keep the thread updated. But, I am rarely online nowadays. So, I hope others with chime in too.
August 11
August 11 Events in History
August 11, 1999 Total solar eclipse in India-North -France (2m23s)
August 11, 1997 Benin legalizes Jan 10th as a voodoo holiday
August 11, 1996 "Thousand Clowns," closes at Criterion Theater New York City after 32 performs
August 11, 1996 78th PGA Championship: Mark Brooks shoots a 277 at Vallhalla GC KY
August 11, 1996 Emilee Klein wins LPGA Ping Welch's Golf Championship
August 11, 1994 Joao B "Nino" Vieira elected President of Guinee-Bissau
August 11, 1993 Director Oliver Stone files for divorce from Elizabeth
August 11, 1993 New York Islander Brian Mullen, 31, suffers a mild stroke
August 11, 1993 Pope John Paul II visits Mexico
August 11, 1993 Red Sox Roger Clemens pitches 2,000th strike out, Danny Tartabul-NY
August 11, 1992 Oakland A's rip Jose Canseco for leaving stadium before end of game
August 11, 1991 400,000 demonstrate for democracy in Madagascar, 31 killed
August 11, 1991 73rd PGA Championship: John Daly shoots a 276 at Crooked Stick Ind
August 11, 1991 Melissa Mcnamara wins Stratton Mountain LPGA Golf Classic
August 11, 1991 Shite Moslems release U.S. hostage Edward Tracy
August 11, 1991 Space shuttle STS 43 (Atlantis 9) lands
August 11, 1991 Wilson Alvarez hurls a no-hitter in his 1st big league start
August 11, 1990 Egypt and Morocco troops land in Saudi Arabia to prevent Iraqi invasion
August 11, 1990 New York Yankee Kevin Maas is fastest to get 13 home runs (110 at bats)
August 11, 1989 "Nightmare on Elm Street 5: Dream Child" premieres
August 11, 1989 Geoff Marsh and Mark Taylor complete 329 opening stand vs. England
August 11, 1989 Voyager 2 discovers 2 partial rings of Neptune
August 11, 1988 225 at bats after #299, Met Gary Carter is 59th to hit 300th HR
August 11, 1988 Charlotte Colisieum in Charlotte North Carolina opens
August 11, 1988 Meir Kahane renounced U.S. citizenship to stay in Israeli Parliament
August 11, 1987 France and Great-Britain send minesweepers to Persian Gulf
August 11, 1986 68th PGA Championship: Bob Tway shoots a 276 at Inverness Club Toledo
August 11, 1985 Oakland A's Dave Kingman becomes 21st to hit 400 HR
August 11, 1985 "Tap Dance Kid" closes at Broadhurst Theater New York City after 669 performances
August 11, 1985 67th PGA Championship: Hubert Green shoots 278 at Cherry Hills Denver
August 11, 1985 Challenger flies to Kennedy Space Center via Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz
August 11, 1985 Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Henredon Golf Classic
August 11, 1985 Rudolf Povarnitsin of U.S.S.R. sets new high jump world record (7'10"12)
August 11, 1984 101,799 fans at soccer match Brazilie-France
August 11, 1984 Carl Lewis duplicates Jesse Owens' 1936 feat, wins 4 Olym track golds
August 11, 1984 Cincinnati Reds retire Johnny Bench's #5 uniform
August 11, 1984 During a radio voice test President Reagan joked he "signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in 5 minutes"
August 11, 1984 Men's choir Maranatha Netherlands forms
August 11, 1984 U.S.S.R. performs (underground) nuclear test
August 11, 1982 Twins Terry Felton loses and runs career to 0-14 (en route to 0-16)
August 11, 1982 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
August 11, 1980 Angola revises its constitution
August 11, 1980 Mohammed Ali Radjai appointed premier of Iran
August 11, 1980 Yanks Reggie Jackson hits his 400th HR off Chicago's Britt Burns
August 11, 1979 28 degrees F in Embarrass Minnesota
August 11, 1979 Phillies Tug McGraw gives up record 4th grand slam of year
August 11, 1978 Funeral of Pope Paul VI
August 11, 1978 Legionnaire's disease bacteria isolated in Atlanta
August 11, 1977 Geoff Boycott scores his 100th FC hundred, vs. Aust at Headingley
August 11, 1976 Keith Moon, drummer for Who, collapses and is hospitalized in Miami
August 11, 1976 Race riot in Cape Town, South Africa; 17 die
August 11, 1975 Expos' Jose Mangual struck out 5 times in a game
August 11, 1975 U.S. vetoes proposed admission of North and South Vietnam to U.N.
August 11, 1974 56th PGA Championship: Lee Trevino shoots a 276 at Tanglewood NC
August 11, 1974 Coup in East-Timor under UDT
August 11, 1974 Head-on collision between two buses kills 21 (Ankara, Turkey)
August 11, 1972 "Cheech and Chong Day" in San Antonio Texas
August 11, 1971 Construction begins on Louisiana Superdome
August 11, 1971 Harmon Killebrew hits home runs #500 and 501
August 11, 1970 Jim Bunning becomes 2nd (Cy Young) to win 100 games in both leagues
August 11, 1970 Tony Perez becomes 1st to hit a HR in red seats at Riverfront
August 11, 1969 Don Drysdale retires because of damage to his right shoulder
August 11, 1969 Pittsburgh Steelers beat New York Giants 17-13 in Montreal (NFL expo)
August 11, 1968 Beatles launch "Apple Records" label
August 11, 1968 Satchel Paige, 62, and needing 158 days on a major league payroll to qualify for a pension, is signed by Braves
August 11, 1967 Al Downing becomes 12th to strike-out side on 9 pitches
August 11, 1966 Last Beatle concert tour of U.S. begins
August 11, 1965 6 day insurrection starts in Watts section of Los Angeles
August 11, 1965 Beatles movie "Help" opens in New York City
August 11, 1965 Watts riots begin in Southeast LA, lasts 6 days
August 11, 1964 Beatles' "A Hard Days Night" opens in New York City
August 11, 1963 Kingston Trio are mystery guest on "What's My Line?"
August 11, 1963 Mickey Wright wins LPGA Waterloo Women's Golf Open Invitational
August 11, 1962 Andrian G Nikolayev, becomes 3rd Russian in space aboard Vostok 3
August 11, 1962 Beach Boys release "Surfin' Safari"
August 11, 1962 Bolotnikov runs world record 10km (28:18.2)
August 11, 1962 Dodgers protest wetting down of Candlestick to slow Maury Wills down
August 11, 1961 Warren Spahn records victory #300, beats Cubs 2-1
August 11, 1960 Chad declares Independence from France
August 11, 1957 Patty Berg wins LPGA All-American Golf Open
August 11, 1957 Paul Hindemith' opera "Harmonie der Welt," premieres in Munich
August 11, 1956 1st flight 4-motor Cessna 620
August 11, 1956 Elvis Presley releases "Don't Be Cruel"
August 11, 1955 Indonesia government of Harahap forms
August 11, 1954 BC Lions plays its 1st CF game, they lose to Montreal Alouettes, 22-0
August 11, 1954 Formal peace takes place, ending 7+ years of fighting in Indochina between French and Communist Vietminh
August 11, 1952 Hussein Ibn Talal I, proclaimed King of Jordan
August 11, 1951 100,000 acres flooded from Mississippi River in Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Illinois
August 11, 1951 1st color baseball game, Braves vs Dodgers, telecast, WCBS-NYC
August 11, 1951 New York Giants (NFL) beat Ottawa Roughriders (CFL) 38-6 in Ottawa
August 11, 1951 New York Giants lose to go 13 games behind Brooklyn Dodgers, later win pennant
August 11, 1950 17th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: All-Stars 17, Philadelphia 7 (88,885)
August 11, 1950 Boston Brave Vern Bickford no-hits Brooklyn Dodger, 7-0
August 11, 1950 Hitting just .279, Yank great Joe DiMaggio is benched for 1st time
August 11, 1950 King Boudouin I takes oath as royal prince of Belgium
August 11, 1949 1st Naples-Capri swim, 17 miles (27 km) (Giovanni Gambi)
August 11, 1949 Gaston Eyskens forms Belgiangovt
August 11, 1948 Summer Olympics opens in London
August 11, 1945 Allies refuse Japan's surrender offer to retain Emperor Hirohito
August 11, 1944 British premier Winston Churchill arrives in Italy
August 11, 1944 French 5th Armour division recaptures Sees
August 11, 1944 Klaus Barbie, Gestapo head of Lyon France leaves for Auschwitz
August 11, 1944 U.S. air raid on Palembang
August 11, 1943 Red Army recaptures Tchukujev, at Kharkov
August 11, 1943 Richard Strauss' 2nd Horn Concert, premieres
August 11, 1943 U.S. amphibians land at Brolo on north coast of Sicily
August 11, 1942 999 Jews are taken from Mechelen transit camp in Belgium
August 11, 1942 British aircraft carrier Eagle torpedoed and sinks
August 11, 1942 Lt-gen Montgomery makes landing on Gibraltar
August 11, 1941 FRD and PM Winston Churchill sign Atlantic Charter
August 11, 1940 38 German aircrafts shot down above England
August 11, 1940 German air raid on British harbors Portland/Weymouth
August 11, 1939 Sergei Rachmaninovs last appearance in Europe
August 11, 1936 Chaing Kai-shek's troops conquers Kanton
August 11, 1935 Nazi mass demonstration against German Jews
August 11, 1934 1st federal prisoners arrive at Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay
August 11, 1933 Temp reaches 136 degrees F (57.8 degrees C) at San Luis Potosi, Mex (world record)
August 11, 1929 Babe Ruth becomes 1st to hit 500 homers (off Willis Hudlin of Cleve)
August 11, 1929 Persia and Iraq sign friendship treaty
August 11, 1929 Russian-Chinese border fights
August 11, 1928 Carl Hubbell's 1st major league victory is a 4-0 shutout of Phils
August 11, 1928 Georges Ronsse becomes world champion cyclists
August 11, 1926 Cleveland Indian Tris Speaker hits his 700th double
August 11, 1924 1st newsreel pictures of presidential candidates were taken
August 11, 1923 Dutch Premier de Geer resigns
August 11, 1920 1st peace of Riga-Soviet Union recognizes Independence of Latvia
August 11, 1919 Weimar Republic begins in Germany
August 11, 1918 Battle of Amiens ends in WW I, Allieds beat Germans
August 11, 1914 France declares war on Austria-Hungary
August 11, 1914 Jews are expelled from Mitchenick Poland
August 11, 1914 John Wray patents animation
August 11, 1909 Liner "Arapahoe" is 1st ship to use SOS distress call
August 11, 1909 SOS 1st used by an American ship, Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, NC
August 11, 1909 Warren Bardsley (136 and 130) 1st to get twin tons in a Test
August 11, 1907 St. Louis Card Ed Karger pitches perfect game vs Braves, 4-0 in 7 inn
August 11, 1904 German-ltalian General Von Trotha defeats Herero in SW Africa
August 11, 1896 Harvey Hubbell patents electric light bulb socket with a pull chain
August 11, 1885 $100,000 raised in U.S. for pedestal for Statue of Liberty
August 11, 1884 1st double-century stand in Test cricket, McDonnell/Murdoch 207 Aust
August 11, 1877 Asaph Hall discovers Mars's moon Deimos
August 11, 1874 Harry S. Parmelee patents sprinkler head
August 11, 1863 Cambodia becomes French protectorate
August 11, 1860 Nation's 1st successful silver mill, Virginia City, Nevada
August 11, 1835 George B Airy begins 46-year reign as England's Astronomer Royal
August 11, 1780 Barbados hurricane begins
August 11, 1772 Explosive eruption blows 4,000' off Papandayan Java, kills 3,000
August 11, 1718 Battle at Cape Passaro: English fleet destroys Spanish
August 11, 1695 English and Dutch fleet capture Dunkerk
August 11, 1674 1st Battle of at Seneffe (Louis II Conde vs Willem III)
August 11, 1611 Emperor Rudolf forces out king of Bohemia
August 11, 1597 Germany throws out English sales people
August 11, 1522 Uprising of adel/burgerij in Austria fails
August 11, 1492 Rodrigo de Borja becomes Pope Alexander VI
August 11, 1304 Sea battle of Zierikzee
August 11, 1253 Clara van Assisi leads rules of life in order of Clarissen
August 11, 117 Hadrianus hears of death of emperor Trajanus of Antioch
August 15, 1947 India is liberated.
INDEPENDENCE DAY
Well, thank you, Ellinas. But, what is a nameday, sorry?
spidergal wrote:Well, thank you, Ellinas. But, what is a nameday, sorry?
In Orthodoxy, every day of the year is dedicated to a Saint, usually a martyr saint. Everyone who has a name related to this Saint, celebrates his nameday this day. In our case, 15th of August is dedicated to the mother of Jesus (Panagia in Greek which means all-holy).
In Greece we usually celebrate namedays, not birthdays.
Every 15th of August, the people who have these names are celebrating their namedays:
Male: Panos, Panagiotis, Panagios, Marios
Female: Panagiota, Giota, Maria, Despina
(Panagiotis and the others are related with the word Panagia. Maria and Despina were two other names of the mother of Jesus).
The celebration of name days is not exclusive to Orthodox Christianity. In the Christian calendars of both the Eastern and Western churches each day is a feast day of some saint. So, if your names is Martin, for example, Nov. 11 is your name day because that is the Feast of St. Martin or Martinmass as the English call it. In many countries the celebration of name days has fallen out of use. But it is still practiced in a number of other countries, including some which are laregely Protestant. In my native country of Latvia, for example, secular names unrelated to any saint have been added to the calendar just so that everyone can have a name day, even someone whose given name is not strictly Christian. So, unless your name is highly original or unusual, every Latvian has a name day. And they celebrate both birthdays and name days!
Merry Andrew wrote:The celebration of name days is not exclusive to Orthodox Christianity. In the Christian calendars of both the Eastern and Western churches each day is a feast day of some saint. So, if your names is Martin, for example, Nov. 11 is your name day because that is the Feast of St. Martin or Martinmass as the English call it. In many countries the celebration of name days has fallen out of use. But it is still practiced in a number of other countries, including some which are laregely Protestant. In my native country of Latvia, for example, secular names unrelated to any saint have been added to the calendar just so that everyone can have a name day, even someone whose given name is not strictly Christian. So, unless your name is highly original or unusual, every Latvian has a name day. And they celebrate both birthdays and name days!
I know many Catholic and some Protestant countries still celebrate namedays, but not with the significance they have in Orthodoxy.
I appreciate your effort, Spideman
btw, I think of Thok.
Where IS him actually?
Friday, Aug. 18
In 1227, Genghis Khan died. Among non-Mongols he is mostly remembered as a ruthless conqueror of most of Asia and parts of eastern Europe. Among the Mongols, however, he is remembered as the man who first united the disparate Mongol tribes into a nation. Name at birth: Temujin.
In 1587, Virginia Dare was born on what is now Roanoke Island, North Carolina. She is generally believed to be the first child of Ebglish parents born in the New World.
In 1846, during the US-Mexican War, US forces captured Santa Fe, New Mexico.
In 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, which gave women the right to vote in Federal elections. (In several states they had had the right to vote in local elections already.)
In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting the United States and Canada.
In 1963, James Meredith became the first black student to graduate from the University of Mississippi.
In 1983, Hurricane Alicia slammed into the Texas coast, leaving 22 people dead and causing over $1 billion damage.
Former First Lady Rosalyn Carter turns 79 today. Film director Roman Polanski is 73 today, actor Robert Redford 69.
It's interesting tradition. Temujin (铁木真) was a name of Ghengis Khan's father's adversary who was captured and executed by his father at Ghengis Khan's birth.
Last desperate attempt to maintain the Soviet Union
spidergal wrote:Lets update this thread day by day with important events that have happened on that particular day in the history
...
I am now a rare visitor to this forum, unfortunately, but on Friday I was browsing through A2K with a smartphone in a Metro train on my way home from work, came across this thread and thought I could contribute. Now I am at my "normal" desktop and here I am...
The "full report" of the events, which eventually resulted in the collapse of the Soviet Union (regrettably in my opinion), can be found here:
Three days that shook the world
or here:
Soviet coup attempt of 1991
I would only like to share my own memories. This day fifteen years ago I was 21, a university student on vacation. My grandma, who is not with us for already eight years, awoke me saying that president Gorbachev had been deposed and vice-president Yanayev was nominated the head of state. I immediately switched on the TV, each channel kept broadcasting the same record of Swan Lake ballet sometimes interrupted by the statement on behalf of some State Emergency Committee, which consisted of vice-president Yanayev, KGB (committee for state security) chairman Kruchkov, interior minister Pugo, defence minister Yazov and some other people.
Tanks on Red Square
A couple of hours later I had to go out shopping (shopping in the Soviet Union in late 80's and early 90's was a precious adventure but this is another story). Instead of a shop, where I actually went was the so-called "White House", i.e. the building of the Supreme Council (parliament) of Russia (then one of 15 republics of the Soviet Union). The Russian parliament was then controlled by anti-communist forces and I guessed that if something was going to happen it would be there. Despite the coup d'état the city lived its normal life and I got to the place by public transport as if nothing was happening.
Troops in Moscow streets
There were relatively few people around the parliament on August 19. In 1991 the building was not fenced and people came under the windows and if somebody appeared there asked them about the latest developments. Those in the building answered that Yeltsin who had been recently elected Russian president, Russian vice-president Rutskoy (Yanayev was the Soviet vice-president just like Gorbachev was the president of the Soviet Union) and the parliamentary speaker Khasbulatov were all in and they had all communications operational except the direct government line. They were trying to contact governments of the other Soviet republics and got to Georgia: all was quiet there. People said a few hours ago an armoured column had passed by, then stopped, and Yeltsin got on a tank and denounced the State emergency Committee as plotters. After that the tanks went in an unknown direction.
Battle tanks near the "Russian White House"
It was getting dark and people started building barricades, straining wire between trees and making other obstacles. Everybody expected that riot police would attack us that night. Unarmed people stood in rows and hoped that in this manner they could protect the parliament. There were several army officers in dress uniforms who tried to instruct us what we had to do if the police or some special forces approach. It was clear that we were unable to stop any real offensive but could exert pressure on the attackers' morals crying "Shame!" or "Russians beat Russians!" - this was the general guideline. The military men argued where we had to retreat if attacked.
The building of the Russian parliament (the so-called "White House") surrounded by protesters
The more time passed the more people gathered around. All ways to the building were blocked with trucks and trolleybuses. There even emerged four battle tanks (if I still remember their number correctly) whose commander, a major (if I am not mistaken, his name was Yevdokimov), almost "hijacked" them from his military base without consent of the senior officer. The tanks had no ammo though.
Tanks defending the "White House"
At night some organized airborne detachment with dozens of armoured personnel carriers under the command of general Lebed came. The crew members of the APC's said they had been put on "alarm for instruction" and ordered t march to Moscow; they knew practically nothing about what was happening. Their order was to "secure the Russian Supreme Soviet" and they interpreted it as "take the building under protection". The next day they received another order and left.
Tank crew
I finally managed to find a functioning telephone booth to call home and say that I was OK (mobile phones still were an extremely expensive oddity at that time). My family were already alarmed at my absence and gave calls to the police that I was missing. The police gave them a strange and even more alarming answer that I must have been at the "White House" and would be "punished proportionally to the offence". I was also told that the State Emergency Committee had given a televised press conference where vice-president Yanayev could hardly control his unsteady hands answering catchy questions. Official TV kept showing "The Swan Lake", international news and street interviews with people supporting the Emergency Committee; a picture from the parliament building appeared on TV screen only once. Quite a lot of people around the "Russian White House" had portable radios and listened to western stations and the local "Echo of Moscow" who informed about the events. I decided to go home and take my own radio. Then with this radio I went to a busy street at the neighbourhood, found the "Echo of Moscow", amplified the sound and even gathered a dozen of people around my radio
. Nobody tried to prevent this. On Moscow streets there were no police at all. There I learnt about a clash where three people died
(they appeared to have been killed accidentally but it became known only much later).
I rushed back to the White House expecting to see devastating results of the attack but people there were mostly unaware of the night incident. Unlike the darkness of the 19-th August on the 21-st everything was illuminated. Soon there started an improvised concert with the participation of many popular musicians and singers who had come to the building of the parliament. Masses of people crowded all the surroundings. My call home revealed that the TV already showed the debates in the Russian Supreme Council and president Gorbachev was on his way to Moscow. The game was over.
Flower in cannon
15 years have passed since then. Today's opinion polls show that a great proportion of people forgot both the events and the names of the coup-makers. Many of those who do remember have a different outlook on this now. I myself have more respect for the 1991 plotters than Boris Yeltsin. But again it is a different story.
This is very interesting, thanks Serso. Cпасибо
.
Yes, Serso, it's always good to remember what really happened. Спасибо.
I like your contribution too.
but, er, I don't know that Russian word.
.
