Today in History

[fashion frank]

Today in 1945, the USA dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

In my home State of Rhode Island we are the only state left that still celebrates V.J. Day ( victory over Japan) or "peace Day " as some P.C. people like to say .
It is always celebrated on the second Monday of August.

A good buddy of mine who's father fought in the pacific to this day hate's the Japanese with a passion.

He was telling us how they would just shoot any "jap" as he call's them because if taken prisoner they would pull out a grenade and blow themselves up and anyone near them.

He said when they were ordered not to shoot any surrendering Japanese ( and he said they were very few) they would make them strip down to nakedness so as to not be able to hide anything.
Then he said something that made me laugh , he said " hell they are still bombing us to this day only now it's with Toyota's" .

All the best ,Fashion Frank

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Today in 1945 the US dripped the second, & to date last atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. This act essentially brought to an end to Japanese hostilities.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

99 years ago today WWI officially began although countries had been taking sides & declaring war for the past couple weeks.

 

[dhermann1]

Today in 2003 the US experienced a massive cascading blackout across the entire Northeast. I started a "Where were you when the lights went out?" thread, if you'd like to share your recollections of that day.

 

[gtdean48]

Whiffle Ball invented in 1953

 

[Bruce Wayne]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/03/us/october-3-day-in-history/index.html?c=us

 

[Bruce Wayne]

About a mile from me 80 years ago today.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1933_United_Airlines_Boeing_247_mid-air_explosion

 

[Warden]

Sadly not on this day, a few days ago on the 8th October 1941, private radio ownership is banned in Norway- Nazi occupiers have confiscated 300,000+, at threat of imprisonment pic.twitter.com/ksOHNaFvI9

Norway's stolen radios are distributed in Germany, to give Nazi propaganda a wider audience (fixed to only state channels). pic.twitter.com/QNPe0mORrG

 

[GHT]

On this day Casimir Pulaski died.
Kazimierz Michał Wacław Wiktor Pułaski of Ślepowron coat of arms (Polish pronunciation: [kaʑiˈmʲɛʂ puˈwaski] ( listen); English: Casimir Pulaski; March 6, 1745[1] – October 11, 1779) was a Polish nobleman, soldier and military commander who has been called "the father of the American cavalry". Born in Warsaw and following in his father's footsteps he became interested in politics at an early age and soon became involved in the military and the revolutionary affairs in Poland at that time. He never married, and has no descendants. Despite his fame, there have been uncertainties and controversies surrounding both his place and date of birth and burial until recently.

Pulaski was one of the leading military commanders for the Bar Confederation and fought against Russian domination of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. When this uprising failed, he was driven into exile. Following a recommendation by Benjamin Franklin, Pulaski emigrated to North America to help in the cause of the American Revolutionary War. He distinguished himself throughout the revolution, most notably when he saved the life of George Washington. Pulaski became a general in the Continental Army, and created the Pulaski Cavalry Legion and reformed the American cavalry as a whole. At the Battle of Savannah, while leading a daring charge against British forces, he was wounded, and died shortly thereafter.

He has been remembered as a hero who fought for independence and freedom both in Poland and in the United States. Numerous places and events are named in his honor, and he is commemorated by many works of art. Pulaski is one of only seven people to be awarded honorary United States citizenship.

Makes you wonder, how, having fought so many bloody battles for independence, America's founding fathers, chose english as their language.

 

[Stray Cat]

On this day, today:

May 23rd 1934.
The American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed by police and killed in Black Lake, Louisiana.

The couple appeared in daylight in an automobile and were shot by a posse of four Texas officers (Frank Hamer, B.M. "Manny" Gault, Bob Alcorn and Ted Hinton) and two Louisiana officers (Henderson Jordan and Prentiss Morel Oakley).
The posse was led by Hamer who had begun tracking the pair on February 12, 1934. He studied the gang's movements and found they swung in a circle skirting the edges of five midwestern states, exploiting the "state line" rule that prevented officers from one jurisdiction from pursuing a fugitive into another. Barrow was a master of that pre-FBI rule, but consistent in his movements, so the experienced Hamer charted his path and predicted where he would go. The gang's itinerary centered on family visits, and they were due to see Methvin's family in Louisiana. Hamer expected this, and had obtained a quantity of civilian Browning Automatic Rifles and 20-round magazines with armor-piercing rounds.

On May 21, 1934, the four posse members from Texas were in Shreveport when they learned that Barrow and Parker were to go to Bienville Parish that evening with Methvin. Barrow had designated the residence of Methvin's parents as a rendezvous in case they were separated, and Methvin did get separated from the pair in Shreveport. The full posse, consisting of Captain Hamer, Dallas County Sheriff's Deputies Alcorn and Ted Hinton (both of whom knew Barrow and Parker by sight), former Texas Ranger B.M. "Manny" Gault, Bienville Parish Sheriff Henderson Jordan and his deputy Prentiss Oakley, set up an ambush at the rendezvous point along Louisiana State Highway 154 south of Gibsland toward Sailes. Hinton recounted that their group was in place by 9:00 pm on the 21st and waited through the whole next day (May 22) with no sign of the outlaw couple.

At approximately 9:15 a.m. on May 23, the posse, concealed in the bushes and almost ready to concede defeat, heard Barrow's stolen Ford V8 approaching at a high speed. The posse's official report had Barrow stopping to speak with Methvin's father, who had been planted there with his truck that morning to distract Barrow and force him into the lane closer to the posse. The lawmen opened fire, killing Barrow and Parker while shooting a combined total of about 130 rounds. Oakley fired first, probably before any order to do so.
Barrow was killed instantly by Oakley's initial head shot, but Hinton reported hearing Parker scream as she realized Barrow was dead, before the shooting at her fully began.

Any one of the many wounds suffered by Bonnie and Clyde would have been fatal.

Hm.. I haven't even had the idea. I was looking for something else...

 

[Renault]

Oops! I posted similar post up in golden era thread! My adopted grandpa Marvin was a close friend of Frank Hamer. Here is one of my favorite photos on Hamer.

 

[Stray Cat]

On this day - June 20th 1909. Errol Flynn was born.

 

[Peacoat]

On this date, June 24, 1948, the Berlin wall went up. West Germany had to be supplied by air. A sad day.

 

[DNO]

August 4th 2014 is the 100th anniversary of Canada’s entry in the First World War. Canada had a population of roughly 8 million people. About 630,000 of them served in the war. This also included a modest number of foreigners, particularly Americans, who joined the Canadian services when their own countries remained neutral. 60,661 were killed. It turned out not to be the ‘War to End All Wars’.

 

[Peacoat]

34 years today, John Lennon was shot and killed in Manhattan by Mark David Chapman. What a loss.

 

[1mach1]

Indiana became the 19th state today in 1816.

 

[Renault]

This week in history. 1947.

http://www.texascity-library.org/disaster/first.php

 

[Trapped in T-wilight Zone]

A bit before the golden era, but April 14 and 15 150 years ago, Abraham Lincoln was shot and died. General Lee had surrendered a few days earlier, and the Civil War (an oxymoron if ever I heard one) was all but over.
It should not be forgotten.

 

[GHT]

On this day in 1938, in Basel, Switzerland, Albert Hoffman, a Swiss chemist working at the Sandoz pharmaceutical research laboratory, accidentally consumes LSD-25, a synthetic drug he had created in 1938 as part of his research into the medicinal value of lysergic acid compounds. After taking the drug, formally known as lysergic acid diethylamide, Dr. Hoffman was disturbed by unusual sensations and hallucinations.

 

[GHT]

Happy birthday, Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin.

On April 16, 1889, future Hollywood legend Charlie Chaplin is born Charles Spencer Chaplin in London, England. Chaplin, one of the most financially successful stars of early Hollywood, was introduced to the stage when he was just five-years-old.

Charlie Chaplin went on to be one of the greatest, and best known Hollywood stars, ever. Did you know that Chaplin founded United Artists Corporation in 1919 with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and director D.W. Griffith? Charlie Chaplin.