This date in history

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1945 - British premier Winston Churchill looks over at the Rhine (near Ginsberg).

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1866 - Andrew Rankin patents the urinal.

1941 - Britain leases defense bases in Trinidad to US for 99 years.

1994 - The Eurofighter takes its first flight in Manching, Germany.

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1977: The Tenerife airport disaster was a fatal runway collision between two Boeing 747s on Sunday, March 27, 1977 at Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North Airport) on the Spanish island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. The crash killed 583 people, an inordinate number of them Californians, making it the deadliest aviation accident in history. As a result of the complex interaction of organizational influences, environmental preconditions, and unsafe acts leading up to this aircraft mishap, the disaster at Tenerife has served as a textbook example for reviewing the processes and frameworks used in aviation mishap investigations and accident prevention. [wiki] "
Immediately after lining up, the KLM pilot advanced the throttles and the aircraft started to move forward. The co-pilot advised the captain that ATC clearance had not yet been given, and Captain Veldhuyzen van Zanten responded, "I know that. Go ahead, ask." Meurs then radioed the tower that they were "ready for takeoff" and "waiting for our ATC clearance". The KLM crew then received instructions which specified the route that the aircraft was to follow after takeoff. The instructions used the word "takeoff," but did not include an explicit statement that they were cleared for takeoff.
Meurs read the flight clearance back to the controller, completing the readback with the statement: "We are now at takeoff." Captain Veldhuyzen van Zanten interrupted the co-pilot's read-back with the comment, "We're going."
The controller, who could not see the runway due to the fog, initially responded with "OK" (terminology which is nonstandard), which reinforced the KLM captain's misinterpretation that they had takeoff clearance. The controller's response of "OK" to the co-pilot's nonstandard statement that they were "now at takeoff" was likely due to his misinterpretation that they were in takeoff position and ready to begin the roll when takeoff clearance was received, but not in the process of taking off. The controller then immediately added "stand by for takeoff, I will call you," indicating that he had not intended the clearance to be interpreted as a takeoff clearance.
A simultaneous radio call from the Pan Am crew caused mutual interference on the radio frequency, which was audible in the KLM cockpit as a three-second-long whistling sound (or heterodyne). This caused the KLM crew to miss the crucial latter portion of the tower's response...It appears KLM's co-pilot was not as certain about take-off clearance as the captain. In those days the hierarchy of the cockpit was complete deference to the left-seat's commands. This mindset has been altered since. The cockpit cultures of years past probably have something to do with it. In the decades prior the advent of “cockpit resource management” and all that, the cockpit hierarchy was very rigid and the captain’s authority went unchallenged. Copilots were expected to be subservient and were seldom treated as equals by imperious captains. This culture has not entirely disappeared in some parts of the world. http://www.businessinsider.com/deadliest-plane-crash-in-history-2014-3

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1939 - Spanish Civil War ends, Madrid falls to Francisco Franco.

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1795 - Beethoven (24) debuts as pianist in Vienna.

1827 - 20,000 attend Ludwig von Beethovens burial in Vienna.

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1812: The first White House wedding takes place as Lucy Payne Washington, the sister of First Lady, Dolly Payne Madison, married Supreme court Justice Thomas Todd. I imagine, having 'courted' the widowed lass, he lived in bliss ever after; as long as he never referred to her as a 'Payne in the ...' As for Dolly, she knew how to manage any 'hot time' at the White House...Dolly Madison took responsibility for decorating and furnishing the White House with the enthusiasm and energy she applied to all of her endeavors, entertaining 'in state' graciously and effectively. The enjoyment of the renovations was short-lived. British troops burned the White House on the night of August 24, 1814. Most historical accounts reveal that they took pleasure in setting fire to the structure that represented a former colony and upstart nation. Dolly Madison fled the White House only hours earlier, taking with her state papers, important pieces of silver and the ultimate symbol of the country, the full length portrait of George Washington. She had expected to serve dinner to 40 military and cabinet officers accompanied by her husband. Instead, the British troops consumed the (hot?) meal. They looted the house and then set fire to it. The site of so many happy occasions was in ruins. All that remained were the scorched sandstone walls. Dolly Madison was distraught when she first returned to view the destruction. Although the Madison's would never live in the White House again, they were committed to the reconstruction of the house and to the resurrection of it as a symbol of the republic. 'Buggin out' in style-and knowing what to grab as "the British are coming! the British are coming!" Leave the food out! that'll slow 'em down!> the saved Stewart portrait>
<Dolly Madison: portrait painters...I tell ya! they make ya look good! Dolly in 1848>We owe her one![wiki]

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1867 - US buys Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 (2 cents an acre - Seward's Folly)

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240 BC: First recorded sighting of Halley's comet. Seen and recorded every 75-76 years, the comet is named for the man who recognized it's 'recurring nature', Edmond Halley in 1705. Halley may have been recorded as early as 467 BC, but this is uncertain. A comet was recorded in ancient Greece between 468 and 466 BC; its timing, location, duration, and associated meteor shower all suggest it was Halley. Halley's appearance in 12 BC, only a few years distant from the conventionally assigned date of Christ's birth, has led some theologians and astronomers to suggest that it might explain the biblical story of the Star of Bethlehem [wiki] the 'short-term' comet (with a cycle of less than 200 years) is prominent in English history and depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry in conjunction with the great event in history:The Conquest of William the Conqueror in 1066: depicted upper right as 'fiery star'> Foretelling the deaths of kings (Harold of Wessex and Harold of Norway). The surviving accounts describe it as appearing to be ' four times the size of Venus and shining with a light equal to a quarter of that of the moon; indicating a close approach to earth on that occasion. This appearance of the comet is also noted in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Elmer of Malmesbury may have seen Halley previously in 989, as he wrote of it in 1066: "You've come, have you? ... You've come, you source of tears to many mothers, you evil. I hate you! It is long since I saw you; but as I see you now you are much more terrible, for I see you brandishing the downfall of my country. I hate you!" From the Saxon point of view, he wasn't wrong. My view of it all in 1986-I don't think I'll last as long as Elmer-but things have sure gone downhill since then...

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1979 - The last British soldier leaves the Maltese Islands. Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien).

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1976 - Stephen Wozniak & Steve Jobs found Apple Computer.

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1815: Prussian Statesman Otto von Bismarck is born in Schöenhausen. The unifier of the German state, as long as he ran things for 30 years it all worked. After being relieved of duty by the Kaiser ...it did not. His carefully orchestrated policies:"Bismarck's astute, cautious, and pragmatic foreign policies allowed Germany to peacefully retain the powerful position into which he had brought it; maintaining amiable diplomacy with almost all European nations. France, the main exception, was devastated by Bismarck's wars and his harsh subsequent policies towards it; France became one of Germany's most bitter enemies in Europe. Austria, too, was weakened by the creation of a German Empire, though to a much lesser extent than France. Bismarck believed that as long as Britain, Russia and Italy were assured of the peaceful nature of the German Empire, French belligerency could be contained; his diplomatic feats were undone, however, by Kaiser WilhelmII, whose policies unified other European powers against Germany in time for World War I." [wiki] His haunting observation shortly before his death; "One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans". It did. 1924: Adolf Hitler is sentenced to 5 years in Landsberg Prison for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch. He is released by December 20. While in prison he writes his autobiography Mein Kampf a best seller...a worthy tome it seems, it still sells worldwide. The U.S. government seized the copyright during WWII under the Trading with the Enemy Act and in 1979, Houghton Mifflin, the U.S. publisher of the book, bought the rights from the government. More than 15,000 copies are sold a year in the US. Considering his first career as an artist failed, perhaps he missed his calling. Thanks for all the misery fellas.

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1801 - Napoleonic Wars: naval Battle of Copenhagen - The British led by Horatio Nelson destroy the Danish fleet.

1917 - US President Wilson asks Congress to declare war against Germany.

1982 - Several thousand Argentine troops seize the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands from Great Britain.

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Napoleonic Wars: naval Battle of Copenhagen - The British led by Horatio Nelson destroy the Danish fleet.

1801: It's a great thing to win great battles( Aboukir and Trafalgar) and be accounted the savior of your nation. It's another to have coined an expression of universal usage in the English language. During the battle which initially was not going well bombarding the Danish fortifications, literally 'in a tight strait', Nelson was informed of a recall flag signal from his superior. Several British ships had run aground in the uncharted shallows.
After three and a half hours of firing, the British Admiral, Sir Hyde Parker, offered Nelson an honourable route out of this bloody action. Parker is normally cast as the villain of the piece for foolishly recalling Nelson on the brink of victory, but his motives were good: he feared that Nelson’s attack had stalled and that Nelson would be unable to retreat without an order to do so. He explicitly hoped that his aggressive subordinate, Nelson, would ignore the order if able to do so. The story, if fiction, was related by a third party, Nelson's hatter, with no axe to grind so it rings true: "'He [Nelson] looked at me, and with a broad smile on his face, enquired, 'Shall I tell you about the time I turned a blind eye, Mr Lock?'

I could not resist and he continued thus: 'The incident occurred during the battle of Copenhagen when I was in a strong position and knew I had to continue the attack. My signals officer, Lt Foley, drew my attention to a signal from my Commander in Chief, Sir Hyde Parker, which read, 'discontinue the action.' Well, Lock, would you stop when all the advantages were with you? No, of course not. So I said to my Signal Lieutenant: 'You know, Foley, I have only one eye. I have a right to be blind sometimes'. So I put the telescope to my right eye and said, to him, 'I really do not see the signal'.

We both laughed. I sensed his Lordship wanted to go on, but I hastened to thank him and remind him that his Commander in Chief, Sir Hyde Parker, was a very old and respected customer of mine. He smiled and nodded.' A great hat and a blind eye![wiki]Battle of Copenhagen Nelson was made Commander-in-chief Baltic Sea and Viscount as well as Baron for this action and the battle of the Nile!.

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1077 - The first Parliament of Friuli is created.

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1954 - Elvis Presley records his debut single "That's All Right"

1963 - Beatles receive their 1st silver disc (Please Please Me)