Historical Moments On this day

[Chas]

Monday 20 March1995.

Several packages of deadly sarin gas were set off in the Tokyo subway system.
12 people were killed and more than 5000 injured.

Sarin was invented during WW2 by the Nazis and is one of the most lethal nerve gases known to man.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

21 March 1935 Persia becomes Iran
When Persia became Iran

In 1935, the Iranian government requested that all countries with which it had diplomatic relations call the country by its Persian name, Iran. It's thought that it was the Iranian ambassador to Germany who suggested this change.

And on the same day in 2018 Suicide bomber kills 31 in crowd celebrating Persian New Year in Kabul, Afghanistan

 

[Chas]

Sunday 23 March 1919.

Benito Mussolini established the nationalist Fasci di Combattimento named after the 19th century peasant revolutionaries or 'Fighting Bands' commonly known as the Fascist Party, the right wing organisation that advocated Italian nationalism.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

Also 1743 George Frederic Handel's oratorio* Messiah premiers in London,


*
An oratorio is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias.

 

[Chas]

Wednesaday 24 March 1999.

Nato launched air strikes against Yugoslavia with the bombing of Serbian positions in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo. This was in response to a new wave of ethnic cleansing launched by Serbian forces against Kosovar Albanians.

 

[dusaboss]

Wednesaday 24 March 1999.

Nato launched air strikes against Yugoslavia with the bombing of Serbian positions in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo. This was in response to a new wave of ethnic cleansing launched by Serbian forces against Kosovar Albanians.

First bombs actually hit bridges in Serbian towns. Attacks on military position came later.

"Rresponse to a new wave of ethnic cleansing" is not acceptable to me. That black and white picture of evil Serbs and good Albanians simply ain't true. Albanians did ethnic cleansing and many other crime, but nobody talking about that. If same events took place on UK territory they (Albanians) would immediately called terrorists and killed. This way, they became "freedom fighters".

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

I think that you'll find that they first attacked the air fields and the US F15's went into dog fights against the MiG (I'm not sure to be quite honest, I have been writing most of the day about the Tornado - for my mate's web site, which was used mainly by the Italians in the following months Although the Brits had them along with Harriers, but on today's air attack it was the Yanks. Why they attacked is another matter. I'll get back to you tomorrow on the subject of which planes were involved today, tomorrow.

 

[dusaboss]

I think that you'll find that they first attacked the air fields and the US F15's went into dog fights against the MiG (I'm not sure to be quite honest, I have been writing most of the day about the Tornado - for my mate's web site, which was used mainly by the Italians in the following months Although the Brits had them along with Harriers, but on today's air attack it was the Yanks. Why they attacked is another matter. I'll get back to you tomorrow on the subject of which planes were involved today, tomorrow.

I remember like it was yesterday. First there was threat that bombing would happen if Milošević doesn't withdraw its forces from Kosovo. Nobody here took that seriously (don't know if Milošević did), so when the first rockets hit our country, it was shock at first. Pretty sure that the first attacks were made by tomahawk missiles at bridges of city of Novi Sad around 20 o'clock.

There wasn't any “dog fight”. Maybe some “Top guns” wanted to look cool and told that story, but real dog fights didn't happen 99. Yes there were planes fighting each other, but you can not call any modern plane fight a dog fight.

Also "apart from flying over enemy territory" NATO pilots had enormous advantage. I don't want to underestimate anyone, but I think the Yugoslavian pilots were real heroes of that time. Climbing every night on their plane with equipment from 87 or older, fighting against much, much technically superior and numerous enemy. It was not easy for them...

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

I thoroughly agree with you Dusan Boss (because I haven't got time to argue as I have to get ready shortly to go to the immigration.) If I remember, I will get back to you on the subject later.

 

[Chas]

Wednesday 26 March 1941.

The Italian Navy attacked the British Fleet at Souda Bay Crete using detachable warheads to sink a British cruiser. The first time in Naval warfare that manned torpedoes were employed.

Comment Self : Their very brave frogmen set the standard for combat swimmers. We gained much from their expertise.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

On the 27th of March 1915

Typhoid Mary [Mary Mallon] is arrested and returned to quarantine on North Brother Island, New York after spending five years evading health authorities and causing several further outbreaks of typhoid.

She was a cook.

 

[Chas]

On this day in 1854 the Crimean War started against the Russians. Our allies were the French.

Cpl. Prettyjohns R.M. won the first VC for the Corps.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

On this day Sunday 31st of March 1889 Eiffel Tower officially opens in Paris.

(of course I could have just posted a photo of the tower and left it at that.)
(BTW spare a thought for the Romanian pickpockets who are on chomage technique now that there are no visitors to rob.)



Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was born on 15th Dec 1832. He became a civil engineer responsible for the tower that bears his name and which became the iconic symbol of Paris – and, indeed, France itself. But he also played an important role in building the equally iconic symbol of the United States – the Statue of Liberty.

The Eiffel Tower was built as the main exhibit of the 1889 Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair), held to commemorate the centennial of the French Revolution. Eiffel designed and oversaw construction of the project, which was completed on 31 March, 1889.

The tower remained the world’s tallest man-made structure for 41 years until the completion of the Chrysler Building in New York in 1930.
The original plan was that it would be dismantled after 20 years but it was saved because of its use as a wireless telegraph transmitter.

It also went on to become a growingly popular attraction despite fears by critics at the start that it would be an ugly structure dominating the Paris skyline.

Such was its status in 1940 that it was one of the first locations where Adolf Hitler (see photo above) chose to be photographed after he invaded France in 1940.

Interestingly, though the French could do nothing about Hitler's presence, Resistance fighters were determined that the Fuhrer would not have the satisfaction of ascending the structure – so the lift cables were cut before the Germans got there. Reaching the top then meant a climb of 1,665 steps.

Nazi soldiers were nevertheless ordered to climb to the summit and hoist the swastika – which they managed to do. But the flag was so large it blew away after a few hours and had to be replaced by a smaller one. Hitler's reaction is not recorded.

Early in his career, Eiffel had built a number of bridges for the French railway network and had developed a reputation as a man who knew a thing or two about wind resistance. Just the man to tackle the problems posed by a giant statue designed to stand in New York Harbor.

The Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and built by Eiffel. It was dedicated in 1886.

To make the edifice stable, Eiffel came up with a four-legged pylon structure which would support the copper sheeting that made up the body of the statue. The entire structure was assembled at his works in Paris, then dismantled and shipped to the United States in crates.

But he will probably be best remembered for the Eiffel Tower – a structure that was lucky to survive the Second World War. In August 1944, Allied troops were advancing towards Paris and it became obvious that the Germans would soon be driven out.

A furious Hitler sent orders to General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, to turn the city into rubble – including the Eiffel Tower. Thankfully, Choltitz did not carry out the command.

The much-loved tower is 324 metres tall (including antennas) and weighs 10,100 tonnes.

The French car manufacturer Citroen treated it as a giant billboard between 1925 and 1934 using a quarter of a million light bulbs to emblazon their name on the structure. The Guinness Book of Records recorded it as the world’s biggest advertisement.

But perhaps the most bizarre incident involving the tower came in 2008. A woman with an objects fetish "married" the Eiffel Tower, changing her name to Erika La Tour Eiffel in honour of her "partner". The "bride," who was at one time a US soldier, was obviously attracted by strong, silent types.

There's no telling what Gustave Eiffel would have made of it all. He died in 1923, aged 91.

It was the tallest structure in the world until the Chrysler Building was built in New York in 1930. Today it is the most visited paid-for monument in the world with over 6 million making the journey to one of it's three viewing levels.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

On this day 07 April 88 Russia announces it's withdrawal from Afghanistan.

And also in 1992 Republika Srpska (aka the Bosnian Serb Republic) announces its independence.

Not to forget (how could we?) that it was on this day it '66 that the US recovered their missing H-Bomb No seriously.
I've put the link below, but for those who cannot be bothered, I've condensed it for you

President Truman Announces Development of H-bomb

U.S. President Harry S. Truman publicly announces his decision to support the development of the hydrogen bomb.

www.history.com

Palomares is at the bottom right.

The disaster over Spain had its roots in Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. For several years leading up to 1966, the Air Force’s Strategic Air Command had been constantly flying bombers to the fringe of the Iron Curtain as part of “Operation Chrome Dome,” a scheme to give the United States first strike and retaliation capabilities in the event of a nuclear shootout with the Russians. At least a dozen B-52s were patrolling the skies over the Atlantic and Europe around the clock, each with a payload of hydrogen bombsnestled in its belly.

For reasons that are still not entirely clear, the B-52 came in too hot and collided with the KC-135 [refueling plane], drenching both planes in fuel and triggering an explosion. Wreckage from the B-52 and KC-135 soon rained down on Palomares, a seaside farming community whose 2,000 residents were known for cultivating tomatoes.

What the villagers didn’t immediately know was that the falling debris had included the B-52’s payload of four Mark 28 thermonuclear weapons—hydrogen bombs with 70 times the destructive power of the device dropped on Hiroshima. One of the weapons parachuted into the Mediterranean a few miles off the coast, while the other three came down in Palomares. None of the bombs produced a nuclear blast, but the conventional explosives on two of them detonated upon impact, dispersing radioactive plutonium dust across the countryside.

Word of the “broken arrows”—the U.S. military’s term for lost nuclear weapons—caused a small army of American servicemen to descend on Palomares. Despite early reports in the media that a nuclear device had been lost, the U.S. military and the regime of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco remained tightlipped about the operations taking place in Palomares.

The Soviets’ Radio Moscow broadcasted that the entire area was drenched in “lethal radioactivity. Even as they [The US government] officially denied reports of a broken arrow to the press, the U.S. military was engaged in a massive search and recovery operation.

Acting on a tip from Spanish fisherman, who claimed to have seen the fourth nuke plunge into the Mediterranean, the Navy began trawling the waters off the coast of Palomares with an armada of ships and two state-of-the-art submarines.

Finally, on April 7, 1966—nearly three months after the B-52 crash—the waterlogged nuke was successfully winched from the depths and brought aboard the Navy ship USS Petrel.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

Well If losing a Nuke in the Med. off of Spain isn't to your liking, it was also on this that day in 1739 that they hanged Dick Turpin.

Turpin's involvement in the crime with which he is most closely associated—highway robbery—followed the arrest of the other members of his gang in 1735. ... On 22 March 1739, Turpin was found guilty on two charges of horse theft and sentenced to death; he was executed on 7 April 1739.




Remember that Kro has been around since 1664

 

[Chas]

RM vintage October 1664 they should have captured the Kro.

 

[Chas]

7 April, 451 AD.

Atila the Hun captured and pillaged the Roman stronghold of Divodurum in Eastern Gaul now France.
Now it is known as Metz. He massacred some 40,000 citizens.

 

[Chas]

Monday 9 April 1483.

12 year old Edward V,succeeds his father Edward 1V as king of England. He is incarcerated in the Tower of London with his younger brother Richard.

They are never seen again and presumed murdered. History refers to them as ; The Princes in the Tower.

 

[jonny]

9 April 1940

On Hitler’s order, the German Wehrmacht under the command of General Von Falkenhorst launched a surprise attack on the two neutral Nordic nations of Denmark and Norway, mainly for strategic reasons, and in particular to secure German control of the ice free harbour of Narvik in northern Norway. This would then become the transhipment hub for iron ore from Kiruna in collabourating Sweden to enable Germany to produce all the armament and ammunition they needed for the following five years of war.

Denmark surrendered on 9 April but the Norwegians, including many voluntary ablebodied civilians, continued fighting the invading German forces on land sea and air. Later In April, the United Kingdom and France came to Norway's aid with an expeditionary force. Despite some moderate success in the northern parts of Norway, the Allies were eventually compelled to withdraw by Germany's invasion of France in May, and the Norwegian king and government sought exile in London. The campaign ended with the occupation of Norway by Germany, and the continued fighting by exiled Norwegian forces from abroad. The 62 days of fighting made Norway the nation that withstood a German land invasion for the second longest period of time, after the Soviet Union.

The Foreign Legion’s 13th Demi Brigade, under the command of General Charles De Gaulle participated heroically in a major Allied effort to drive the German troops out of Narvik and surrounding areas of northern Norway. Some legionnaires that had distinguished themselves during this campgne were subsequently awarded the Medaille Militaire by De Gaulle in London.

The attach photo is of happy German troops marching from the Fornebu airport to Oslo.

 

[jonny]

On this Friday Easter morning, Jesus was nailed on the cross by the Romans. I’m reflecting on the pain this poor man suffered on this day. Some of you might perhaps do that as well. And I’m not even all that religious, mind you. But I do admire this man. He changed the world for the better. Just one man did all that, by his life, by his teachings, his sufferings, and his death.

Puts all that Covi angst into perspective, somehow.




BUT APART FROM ALL THAT ::HAPPY EASTER EVERYBODY