This Day in History

[Gravdigr]

I thought maybe it was too much. Too many links?

But, .

Also, I don't know a lot of 'foreign' history, and may not see the significance of some people or happenings that affect(ed)/effect(ed) other countries.

At least someone reads it.

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by Gravdigr

I thought maybe it was too much. Too many links?

But, .

Also, I don't know a lot of 'foreign' history, and may not see the significance of some people or happenings that affect(ed)/effect(ed) other countries.

At least someone reads it.

I don't think it's too many links. I only click on the ones that are of particular interest to me - I expect others would find different things of interest, and those are the ones they'll click on.

I think you have a decent range of events covered.

[xoxoxoBruce]

it's a buffet, choose what you want to consume.

[Gravdigr]

Onward then...



May 8, 1794 - French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, branded a traitor, is tried, convicted, and guillotined all on the same day.

1861 - Richmond, Virginia is named capital of The Confederate States of America.

1877 - The first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is held at Gilmore's Gardens, in New York, New York.

1886 – Pharmacist John Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named "Coca-Cola" as a patent medicine.

1902 – In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts, destroying the town of Saint-Pierre and killing over 30,000 people. Only a handful of residents survive the blast.

1912 – Paramount Pictures is founded.

1919 – Edward George Honey proposes the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate the Armistice of 11 November 1918 which ended World War I.

1927 – Attempting to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, French war heroes Charles Nungesser and François Coli disappear after taking off aboard The White Bird biplane.

1933 – Mohandas Gandhi begins a 21-day fast.

1941 – The German Luftwaffe launches a bombing raid on Nottingham and Derby.

1945 - Victory In Europe Day (V-E Day) combat ends in Europe.

Thousands of civilians and servicemen rampage through Halifax, Nova Scotia.

1973 – A 71-day standoff between federal authorities and the American Indian Movement members occupying the Pine Ridge Reservation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota ends with the surrender of the militants.

1976 – The rollercoaster The New Revolution, the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

1978 – The first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler.

1980 – The World Health Organization confirms the eradication of smallpox.

1984 – The Soviet Union announces that it will boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

The Thames Barrier is officially opened.

Births

1720 – William Cavendish; 1847 – Oscar Hammerstein I; 1884 – Harry S. Truman; 1895 – Fulton J. Sheen; 1906 – Roberto Rossellini; 1911 – Robert Johnson; 1919 – Lex Barker; 1926 – David Attenborough, Don Rickles; 1937 – Thomas Pynchon; 1940 – Peter Benchley, Ricky Nelson, Toni Tennille (Capt & Tennille); 1941 – James Traficant; 1943 – Paul Samwell-Smith; 1944 – Gary Glitter, Bill Legend; 1950 – Robert Mugge; 1953 – Billy Burnette, Alex Van Halen; 1955 – Stephen Furst ('Flounder' from "Animal House"); 1956 – Jeff Wincott; 1957 – Bill Cowher; 1958 – Lovie Smith; 1960 – Eric Brittingham; 1961 – Bill de Blasio; 1964 – Bobby Labonte; 1973 – Marcus Brigstocke; 1975 – Enrique Iglesias; 1977 – Joe Bonamassa

Deaths

1794 – Antoine Lavoisier; 1880 – Gustave Flaubert; 1903 – Paul Gauguin; 1947 – Harry Gordon Selfridge; 1982 – Neil Bogart, Gilles Villeneuve; 1984 – Lila Bell Wallace (co-founded Reader's Digest); 1985 – Karl Marx; 1988 – Robert A. Heinlein; 1994 – George Peppard; 1999 – Dirk Bogarde; 1999 – Dana Plato ("Diff'rent Strokes"); 2008 – Eddy Arnold; 2012 – Maurice Sendak; 2013 – Jeanne Cooper (Katherine Chancellor on "The Young and the Restless"); 2014 – Roger L. Easton (co-inventor of GPS)