Nazis, tornados, and Dali: This Day In History!

Fenris

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Tue May-11-04 11:15 AM
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Nazis, tornados, and Dali: This Day In History!

THIS DAY IN HISTORY FOR MAY 11TH

In 330 CE, Byzantium was renamed Constantinople with a dedication ceremony. The city was renamed by Constantine the Great, who re-founded the city after a prophetic dream gave him the location of the city. It was renamed Istanbul in 1930 CE.

In 1745 CE, during the War of Austrian Succession, French forces under Hermann Maurice, Count de Saxe (the Maréchal of Saxe, an illegitimate son of King Frederick Augustus I of Poland) defeated an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army under the Duke of Cumberland, in what came to be known as the Battle of Fontenoy, named after an Austrian Dutch town. The French lost 5000 men, while the British lost 9000 men.

In 1847 CE, Indian rebels seize Delhi from the British in the Sepoy Mutiny. They killed five British - including a British officer and two women - and demanded Bahadur Shah Zafar II to reclaim his throne. He reluctantly agreed and became the nominal leader of the rebellion. The sepoys proceeded to kill every European and Christian in the city.

In 1864 CE, Confederate General JEB Stuart is mortally wounded at the Battle of Yellow Tavern on the outskirts of Richmond. A Union sharpshooter (at a distance of thirty feet) shot him; he died the next day in the rebel capital. He is buried in Hollywood Cemetery there.

In 1894 CE, three thousand Pullman Palace Car Company workers go on a "wildcat" (without Union approval) strike in Illinois. The strike effectively shut down production in the Pullman factories and led to a lockout. Many supply routes were cut off when railroad workers blocked Pullman cars from moving in the ensuing nationwide sympathy strike. The strike was eventually broken up by over 12,000 federal troops sent in by President Grover Cleveland with the excuse that the strike interfered with the delivery of U.S. Mail. By the end of the strike 13 strikers were killed and 57 were wounded. An estimated $80 million worth of property was damaged.

In 1927 CE, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded.

In 1928 CE, the first analog TV service was inaugurated by WGY in Schenectady, New York.

In 1943 CE, American forces invade Attu in the Aleutian Islands in an attempt to expel the occupying Japanese.

In 1953 CE, a category F5 tornado hit downtown Waco, Texas, killing 114.

In 1960 CE, Mossad (Israeli secret service) agents abducted Adolf Eichmann, head of Nazi Gestapo Department IV B 4, which was responsible for all the logistics relating to the extermination of the Jews, in Buenos Aires. Eichmann had been living under the name "Ricardo Klement". He was flown to Israel as part of a covert operation, and he faced trial in front of an Israeli court in Jerusalem starting on February 11, 1961. He was indicted on 15 criminal charges, including charges of crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people, and membership in an outlaw organization. Convicted on all counts, Eichmann was sentenced to death (the only civil death penalty ever carried out in Israel) on December 2, 1961 and was hanged a few minutes after midnight on June 1, 1962 at Ramla prison.

In 1987 CE, Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon, France, for war crimes committed during World War II. During the occupation of France, he earned the sobriquet "Butcher of Lyon" as head of the local Gestapo. He was accused of a number of crimes, including the capture and deportation of forty-four Jewish children hidden in the village of Izieu and the torturing to death of Jean Moulin, the highest ranking member of the French Resistance ever captured. All told, the deportation of 7,500 people, 4,342 murders, and the arrest and torture of 14,311 resistance fighters were in some way attributed to his actions or commands. On July 4, 1987, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity and later died in prison of cancer.

In 1995 CE, in New York City, more than 170 countries decide to extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty indefinitely and without conditions.

In 1996 CE, after taking-off from Miami, a fire started by improperly-handled oxygen canisters in the cargo hold of Atlanta-bound ValuJet Flight 592 caused the Douglas DC-9 to crash in the Florida Everglades killing all 110 on board.

In 1997 CE, IBM's Deep Blue chess-playing supercomputer defeats Garry Kasparov becoming the first computer to beat a world-champion chess player.

BORN ON MAY 11TH

1888 - Irving Berlin, composer

1895 - Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher

1933 - Louis Farrakhan, Black Muslim leader

DIED ON MAY 11TH

1812 - Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (assassination)

1987 - Peter Tosh, musician

1981 - Bob Marley, Jamaican roots rock reggae singer and musician

2001 - Douglas Adams, science fiction author

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Today marks the 100th birthday of Catalan surrealist Salvador Dali. In honor of his centennial, please tell what your favorite Dali work is.