This date in history

[Jimbuna]

362 - Emperor Julianus of Constantinople ends education laws

[Aktungbby]

1914: The first continental phone service between New York and San Francisco begins. I can talk to family in the 'Big Apple' AND... The Cape Cod Canal opens; 162 miles of the world's largest manmade waterway w/o locks-been on the cruise thru there!1030: THE BIG DAY imho! Olaf Haraldsson falls in battle at Stiklstad, clearing the way for England's greatest king, Canute. Made a saint for beheading so many pagans, Olaf becomes the patron saint of Norway-leading to..."St Olaf College (Lutheran) founded by Norwegian immigrant Bernt Julius Muus (practically a saint thereabouts) in Northfield, Minnesota, in 1874. In 1973, AktungBBY graduates from St Olaf College and writes this post 984 years later! Clearly the man (Olaf, not me) left his stamp on history; at least in the Faeros!? 1588: The English, under the banner of St George, defeat the Spanish Armada with ships named for and flags of every saint imaginable at Gravelines: hence this post is written in English-not Spanish: Protestants 1; Catholics 0 In honor of the day; a Bloody Mary with a Hamm's chaser BBY

[BossMark]

1945 - The USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. The ship had just delivered key components of the Hiroshima atomic bomb to the Pacific island of Tinian. Only 316 out of 1,196 men aboard survived the attack.

[Jimbuna]

579 - Benedict I ends his reign as Catholic Pope

[Aktungbby]

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Joyce Kilmer

Sergeant Joyce Kilmer: 69th "Fighting Irish"; KIA 1918, Second Battle of the Marne-Croix de Guerre

[Jimbuna]

432 - St Sixtus III begins his reign as Catholic Pope

[BossMark]

1834 - Slavery was outlawed in the British empire with an emancipation bill.

1907 - The U.S. Army established an aeronautical division that later became the U.S. Air Force.

[Jimbuna]

527 - Justinian I becomes the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire

[Wolferz]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

527 - Justinian I becomes the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire

He was a well heeled fellow?

[ExFishermanBob]

1922 Alexander Graham Bell dies

[Jimbuna]

257 - St Stephen I ends his reign as Catholic Pope

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Wolferz

He was a well heeled fellow?

Oh yeah! he was well heeled alright! as in a post above 'it's good to have a woman on the ticket': I give you one of history's greater Ass-kickers: Theodora; "Theodora, empress of the Roman (Byzantine) Empire and the wife of Emperor Justinian I. She was one of the more influential and powerful empresses of Rome. Some sources mention her as empress regnant with Justinian I as her co-regent." During a rebellion known as the Nika Riot she held her ground when Justinian would have booked it..."Unable to control the mob, Justinian and his officials prepared to flee. At a meeting of the government council, Theodora spoke out against leaving the palace and underlined the significance of someone who died as a ruler instead of living as an exile or in hiding, saying, "royal purple is the noblest shroud" Her determined speech convinced them all, including Justinian himself, who had been preparing to run. Justinian never forgot the debt to his wife!....She barked-he heeled<better half of the power couple imho

Originally Posted by ExFishermanBob

1922 Alexander Graham Bell dies

With apologies to Samuel Morse: I imagine he found out first hand: "what hath God wrought" I still prefer the old rotary phones to these 'smart phones'!

1980: AktungBBY marries his better half (^oddly with a degree in communication)...and has been well-heeled ever since.

[Aktungbby]

1776: members of the Continental Congress begin affixing their signatures to the Declaration of Independence. I have yet to sign my AktungBBY...Its always my> He made it extra large so's Georgie III couldn't miss it! 1873: Andrew S. Hallidie successfully tests a cable car for the City of San Francisco-just rode one III days ago at Post and Powell ! 1876: One of the III big dates in the history of the West (besides the Little Big Horn-the month before-and The OK Corrral): Wild Bill Hickock is shot dead in Deadwood South Dakota. To this day I never sit with my back to the door on duty, and I throw away all aces (I's) and eights (VIII's), ie the deadman's hand...Occasionally I practice with my brace (that's II) of 1851 Navy Colts...1964: The USS Maddox suffers light damage (allegedly) with a N. Vietnamese torpedo boat in the Gulf of Tonkin-resulting the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: a long War and my very low draft (XIV) number...I Resolutely stayed in college, earning a 'gentleman's C'...staus II-S but updated to II-D (air cadet) like that other rascal: George W. Bush II so I'd look good if I ever ran for dog catcher-never sit with your back to the US government either! ...USS Maddox DD731, the ship of fools that changed my life....somehow

[Aktungbby]

1939: History's other important signature: Albert Einstein signs the letter to FDR and atomic research ie the Manhattan Project is begun...I've been prepared to 'kiss my ass goodbye' ever since...< the true nature of the beast?! imho

[Aktungbby]

1492: Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sets sail in command of three ships: Santa Maria, Pinta, and Nina—on a voyage to find a western sea route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia. 1958: the U.S. nuclear submarine Nautilus accomplishes the first undersea voyage to the geographic North Pole. The world's first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, dived at Point Barrow, Alaska, and traveled nearly 1,000 miles under the Arctic ice cap to reach the top of the world. It then steamed on to Iceland, pioneering a new and shorter route from the Pacific to the Atlantic and Europe...the fabled Northwest Passage! 1988: Soviet authorities free Mathias Rust, the daring young West German pilot who landed a rented Cessna on Moscow's Red Square in 1987. With 50 hours total flight time experience, the 18 year old set the route and helped end the Cold War! "Rust said he wanted to create an "imaginary bridge" to the East, and he has claimed that his flight was intended to reduce tension and suspicion between the two Cold War sides. Rust's final 556 mile leg through a supposedly impregnable air defense system had great effect on the Soviet military and led to the dismissal of many senior officers, initiating the biggest military purge since the Stalin era. The incident aided Soviet leader Gorbachev in the implementation of his reforms, by allowing him to dismiss numerous military officials opposed to him, thus helping bring an end to the Cold War." Mission Accomplished BBY! And for die-hards in their mancaves: "Shortly after the incident, SubLogic, the original publishers of the Flight Simulator franchise, issued a scenery disk that expanded the original program's coverage area to include the Eastern Bloc. A challenge in the expansion pack was to land in Red Square as Rust had just done."Map: the entire flight-over 2500+ miles-mostly water by the intrepid young man! the Cessna, today, in the Deutsches Technikmuseum, Berlin, as of 2008.