Friday, September 7, 2012

Friday! History, Military, Curiosity and Neil, Quotes, More!


On This Date In 1191 The Battle of Arsuf was fought, a battle of the Third Crusade, in which Richard I of England defeated Saladin at Arsuf. Following a series of harassing attacks by Saladin's forces, Richard's forces resisted attempts to disrupt its cohesion until the Hospitallers broke ranks; he regrouped his forces and led them to victory.
On This Date In 1424 The Hongxi Emperor succeeded his father, the Yongle Emperor, as the fourth emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China. His era name means “Vastly bright”. His reign ended with his death on May 29, 1425.
On This Date In 1533 Anne Boleyn, Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right, gave birth to a baby girl who would later become Queen Elizabeth.
On This Date In 1776 During the Revolutionary War, the American submersible craft Turtle attempted to attach a time bomb to the hull of British Admiral Richard Howe's flagship Eagle in New York Harbor. It was the first use of a submarine in warfare.
On This Date In 1778 Through September 18, the Siege of Boonesborough took place during the American Revolutionary War. The attack on the Kentucky settlement of Boonesborough was led by Chief Blackfish, a Shawnee leader allied to the British. Blackfish's siege was unsuccessful and was lifted after ten days.
On This Date In 1813 The United States got its nickname, Uncle Sam. The name is linked to Samuel Wilson, a meat packer from Troy, New York, who supplied barrels of beef to the United States Army during the War of 1812. Wilson (1766 – 1854) stamped the barrels with “U.S.” for United States, but soldiers began referring to the grub as “Uncle Sam’s.” The local newspaper picked up on the story and Uncle Sam eventually gained widespread acceptance as the nickname for the U.S. federal government.
On This Date In 1863 Through September 9, the Battle of Cumberland Gap was fought, a victory for Union forces under the command of Ambrose Burnside during his campaign for Knoxville during the American Civil War. The bloodless engagement cost the Confederates an army of 2,300 and control of the Cumberland Gap.
On This Date In 1864 During the American Civil War, and in preparation for his march to the sea, Union General William T. Sherman ordered residents of Atlanta, Georgia, to evacuate the city. In November, he embarked on his march to the sea, during which his army destroyed nearly everything that lay in its path.
On This Date In 1876 Attempting a bold daytime robbery of the Northfield Minnesota bank, the James-Younger gang suddenly found itself surrounded by angry townspeople and was nearly wiped out.
On This Date In 1896 An electric car built by the Riker Electric Motor Company won the first auto race in the United States, at the Narragansett Trotting Park - a mile-long dirt oval at the state fairgrounds that was normally used for horse racing - in Cranston, Rhode Island. Automobile companies sponsored the race to show off their newfangled electric-, steam-, and gas-powered vehicles to an awestruck audience. The carmakers' gimmick worked: About 60,000 fairgoers attended the event, and many more people read about it in newspapers and magazines.
On This Date In 1914 Sir John French, commander in chief of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), began his first official dispatch from the Western Front during World War I, summarizing the events of the first several weeks of British operations.
On This Date In 1914 “The Rounders,” a 16 minute silent comedy short starring Charles Chaplin and Roscoe Arbuckle, was released by Keystone Studios. The film was written and directed by Charles Chaplin, and produced by Mack Sennett.
On This Date In 1939 Through September 10, the Battle of Wizna was fought between the forces of Poland and Germany during the initial stages of the Invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II. It was arguably the most heroic battle in the campaign, in which according to latest sources, under 720 Poles defended a fortified line for three days against more than 40,000 Germans.
On This Date In 1939 Through September 16, the Saar Offensive took place, a French operation into Saarland on the German 1st Army defence sector in the early stages of World War II. The purpose of the attack was to assist Poland, which was then under attack. The assault was stopped by the Anglo French Supreme War Council and the French forces withdrew.
On This Date In 1940 Through May 16, 1941, Germany began its Luftwaffe Air Raids on the Port of London. Collectively known as the Blitz, the sustained strategic bombing of Great Britain and Northern Ireland by Germany during World War II were major raids (attacks in which more than 100 tons of high explosives were dropped) on 16 British cities: London was attacked 71 times, Birmingham, Liverpool and Plymouth eight times, Bristol six, Glasgow five, Southampton four, Portsmouth three, and there was also at least one large raid on another eight cities.
On This Date In 1950 Slightly more than two months after the United Nations approved a U.S. resolution calling for the use of force to repel the communist North Korean invasion of South Korea, the Security Council rejected a Soviet resolution that would condemn the American bombing of North Korea. The Security Council action was another victory for the United States in securing U.N. support for the war in Korea.
On This Date In 1953 Californian tennis star Maureen Connolly defeated Doris Hart of Florida to win the U.S. Open 6-2, 6-4 and became the first woman ever to win the “Grand Slam” of tennis, capturing all four major championships in the same year.
On This Date In 1963 The Pro Football Hall of Fame opened in Canton, Ohio, with 17 charter enshrinees. With emphasis on the National Football League (NFL), the hall inducted the most recent six honorees in February 2012, and there are a total of 267 members. The Pro Football Hall of Fame is unique among North American major league sports halls of fame in that officials are not inducted.
On This Date In 1965 During the Vietnam War, U.S. Marines and South Vietnamese forces launched Operation Pirahna on the Batangan Peninsula, 23 miles south of the Marine base at Chu Lai. This was a follow-up to Operation Starlight, which had been conducted in August. During the course of the operation, the Allied forces stormed a stronghold of the Viet Cong 1st Regiment, claiming 200 enemy dead after intense fighting.
On This Date In 1967 During the Vietnam War, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced plans to build an electronic anti-infiltration barrier to block communist flow of arms and troops into South Vietnam from the north at the eastern end of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The “McNamra Line,” as it became known, would employ state-of-the-art, high-tech listening devices to alert U.S. forces when North Vietnamese troops and supplies were moving south so that air and artillery strikes could be brought to bear on them. It was estimated that the cost of completing and maintaining the project would be more than $800 million per year. Construction on the barrier line, initially code named “Practice Nine” and later changed to “Dye Marker,” began almost at once. But in the end, the concept proved impractical as the North Vietnamese just shifted their infiltration routes to other areas.
On This Date In 1973 “Over-Nite Sensation,” the seventeenth studio album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, was released on Zappa's DiscReet label. It was subsequently followed by Zappa's solo album, Apostrophe ('), which is derived from the same recording sessions.
On This Date In 1976 On the fortieth anniversary of musician Buddy Holly's birth, English musician, singer, songwriter and composer Sir James Paul McCartney inaugurated the annual “Buddy Holly Week” in England. The festival has included guest performances by famous musicians, songwriting competitions, drawing contests and other special events. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/06/arts/review-pop-buddy-holly-s-legacy-by-way-of-mccartney.html
On This Date In 1977 President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian Chief of Government Omar Torrijos signed the Panama Canal Treaty and Neutrality Treaty. Also known as the Carter-Torrijos Treaty, this agreement relinquished American control over the canal and transferred authority to the Panama Canal Authority on December 31, 1999. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/sep07.html
On This Date In 1978 Keith John Moon (August 23, 1946 – September 7, 1978), English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who, died of an overdose. Moon was cremated on September 13 at Golders Green Crematorium in London, and his ashes were scattered in its Gardens of Remembrance.
On This Date In 1979 Woodstock Reunion 1979 was held, a concert at Parr Meadows racetrack in the hamlet of Yaphank in the town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. It had an audience of about 40,000 and was organized for the 10th anniversary of the original Woodstock Festival. Performers included Paul Butterfield and Rick Danko, Canned Heat, Richie Havens, Jorma Kaukonen, Country Joe McDonald, John Sebastian, Michael Shrieve, Stephen Stills, and Johnny Winter.
On This Date In 1984 “The Warning,” the first full-length album by the American heavy metal band Queensrÿche, was released. The original tracklisting for the album was changed by mix engineer Val Garay under orders from EMI America against the wishes of the band. The album was re-released on May 6, 2003, this time containing three bonus tracks.
On This Date In 1986 Bishop Desmond Tutu became the archbishop of Cape Town, two years after winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent opposition to apartheid in South Africa. As archbishop, he was the first black to head South Africa's Anglican church.
On This Date In 1999 The 1999 Athens earthquake occurred, registering a moment magnitude of 6.0. The tremor was epicentered approximately 17 km to the northwest of the city center. Overall, 143 people lost their lives and more than 2,000 were treated for injuries in what eventually became Greece's deadliest natural disaster in almost half a century.
On This Date In 1999 “The Ultra Zone.” the fifth full-length album from guitarist Steve Vai, was released. The Ultra Zone is notable for its tributes to two legendary guitarists: Frank Zappa (on the track “Frank”), and Stevie Ray Vaughan (on the track “Jibboom”). Also notable is the fact that this was Vai's last studio album of original material until 2005's Real Illusions: Reflections; in the years in between, he released several compilations of his material, as well as a live album.
On This Date In 2010 “Seeing Eye Dog,” the seventh studio album by American rock band Helmet, was released via Work Song, the label imprint shared by singer/songwriter Joe Henry and Helmet mainman Page Hamilton's manager. It was their first album in four years since the release of Monochrome in 2006.



Happy Birthday Donald Henderson (1928), Bruce Gray (1936), June Harding (1940), Joe Klein (1946), Susan Blakely (1948), Gloria Gaynor (1949), Peggy Noonan (1950), Chrissie Hynde (1951), Corbin Bernsen (1954), Michael Emerson (1954), Mira Furlan (1955), Diane Warren (1956), Toby Jones (1966), Angie Everhart (1969), Diane Farr (1971), Shane Mosley (1971), Shannon Elizabeth (1973), Tara Slone (1973), Oliver Hudson (1976), Devon Sawa (1978), Alyssa Diaz (1985), and Evan Rachel Wood (1987).

RIP Queen Elizabeth I (1533 – 1603), Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses (1860 – 1961), Edith Sitwell (1887 – 1964), Merna Kennedy (1908 – 1944), Elia Kazan (1909 – 2003), Seymour Durst (1913 – 1995), Jacob Lawrence (1917 – 2000), James Van Allen (1919 – 2006), Peter Lawford (1923 – 1984), Don Messick (1926 – 1997), Charles Hardin “Buddy” Holley (1936 – 1959), Jermaine Stewart (1957 – 1997), and LeRoi Moore (1961 – 2008).


Quotes

There are stars whose light only reaches the earth long after they have fallen apart. There are people whose remembrance gives light in this world, long after they have passed away. This light shines in our darkest nights on the road we must follow. The Talmud

Always remember to slow down in life; live, breathe, and learn; take a look around you whenever you have time and never forget everything and every person that has the least place within your heart. Jeremy Irons

I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search. Psalm 77:6

When virtue is lost, benevolence appears, when benevolence is lost right conduct appears, when right conduct is lost, expedience appears. Expediency is the mere shadow of right and truth; it is the beginning of disorder. Lao Tzu

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. Adam Smith

The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant. – “Leadership Is an Art.” Max De Pree


Courtesy You Tube et al

History will remember Neil Armstrong, foremost, as the first human to step foot on another heavenly body. But his NASA family and many admirers worldwide will forever appreciate him for more than just that one, albeit world-changing, accomplishment.

In late 2012, a team of British scientists will use a hot-water drill to bore through nearly 2 miles of ice to reach Lake Ellsworth in West Antarctica. An animation shows how the team will reach the buried lake, and fetch its waters for analysis.

The Mars Science Laboratory took in samples of the Martian atmosphere, started driving towards its first target site (Glenelg) and will park to test all the functions of its arm carrying scientific remote sensing intruments.

Topics: Democrat National Convention-Invisible President-Elizabeth Warren-Michael Nutter-John Edwards-Dying Broke-Twitter-Worst drivers in America. Starring: Jodi Miller; Production: Dialog New Media

Everyone can make a difference in the life of a Veteran, whether it's sticking by a loved one when times get tough, asking the right questions to make sure a Veteran is doing alright, or reaching out for support if you're concerned about a Veteran you know. It's OK to not understand what Veterans go through during their service, or when they come back. No matter what's going on, support is available. The Veterans Crisis Line (1-800-273-8255 and Press 1, chat online at http://www.VeteransCrisisLine.net, or text to 838255) is a free, confidential resource for Veterans and Service members, as well as their families and friends, in times of crisis. The Veterans Crisis Line connects Veterans and their loved ones with qualified, caring Department of Veterans Affairs responders 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.


The frustrated follow a leader less because of their faith that he is leading them to a promised land than because of their immediate feeling that he is leading them away from their unwanted selves. Surrender to a leader is not a means to an end but a fulfillment. Whither they are led is of secondary importance. Eric Hoffer

A good leader inspires others with confidence in him; a great leader inspires them with confidence in themselves. Unknown

To lead people, walk beside them... As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence. The next best, the people honor and praise. The next, the people fear; and the next, the people hate... When the best leader's work is done the people say, ‘We did it ourselves!’ Lao Tzu



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