From 2013, Morley Safer's report on the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper's transition to a three-day-a-week publishing schedule in response to competition from the internet. From 2022, Jon Wertheim's report on local newsrooms being gutted by financial firms. From 2021, Scott Pelley's interview with a Facebook whistleblower who said the social media giant was misleading the public on progress against hate speech, violence and misinformation. And from March of this year, Lesley Stahl's report on efforts to combat the spread of misleading information on social media.
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Tuesday Morning in the Blogosphere
Johnathan and Kal
“The death of media is greatly exaggerated” - Media Makers Meet
Today in Labor History April 23, 2024
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Ida Mae Stull
Ida Mae Stull died on this date. She was nationally recognized as the country’s first female coal miner. – 1980
United Farm Workers of America founder Cesar Chavez died in San Luis, Arizona, at the age of 66. – 1993
Important Events From This day in History April 23
1984 USA Marvin Gaye
1984: Singer Marvin Gaye the Motown singer who had numerous hits including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" was shot to death by his father at age 45. His father was suffering from a brain tumor at the time and after pleading guilty to manslaughter was sentenced to six years of probation. Find More What happened in 1984
1985 USA Coca-Cola
1985: The Coca-Cola Company announced it has changed its formula for Coke and will known as New Coke Less than 6 months later they returned to the original formula.
1968 UK Decimalisation
1968: Decimal coins were introduced as part of decimalisation with the new 5p coin replacing 1 shilling (12 old pence) and the new 10p coin replacing 2 shillings Florin (24 old pence). The current system of pounds, shillings and pence will be replaced by Decimal currency on February 15th 1971.
1979 US Oil Company Windfall Profits Tax
1979: Major oil companies have been reporting sharp profit increases in profits , the profits have been made due to the large increases in supply prices and the President Carter is thinking of implementing a windfall profits tax on oil companies excessive profits . In 1980 The United States government did levy the tax on oil companies because of the profits they earned as a result of the sharp increase in oil prices brought about by the Arab oil embargo.
1898 Spain Declares War on United States
1898: Spain declares war on the United States on This Day 1898 after rejecting America's ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba. Following the declaration The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey engaged the Spanish Pacific Squadron under Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón in Manila Bay, the Philippines and decimated the Spanish squadron.
1922 USA Bootlegging
1922: A Bootlegging scheme where liquor was smuggled into the US from Bermuda was broken up today when on former submarine chaser ships with officers wearing the uniform of the United States Navy was broken up today when the ships and crew were seized.
1932 England Royal Shakespeare Theatre
1932: The New Royal Shakespeare Theatre opens in Shakespeare's birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon, it had been rebuilt after a fire destroyed the original Shakespeare Memorial Theatre.
1938 Austria Persecution of Jewish People
1938: Jewish shopkeepers in Vienna were forced to picket their own shops with placards saying don't buy from Jews in 1938, they were forced to do this by members of the Hitler Youth Movement, at the same time the librarian of the national library was given a list of non Arian works to be removed from the library.
1939 Spain Franco Government Recognized
1939: Following the end of the civil war in Spain the United States recognizes the Franco government.
1940 USA Night Club Fire
1940: More than 200 African Americans died today when fire broke out in the Rhythm Night Club in Natchez , Mississippi.
1944 Germany World War II
1944: 2000 bombers and fighters from Britain and another 1000 launched from Italy launched an attack on German Plane Plants in Germany, Bucharest and Ploesti. General MacArthur isolated 100,000 Japanese Troops in New Guinea when beachheads were established at Hollandia and Aitape in New Guinea.
1945 Okinawa World War II
1945: The United States Tenth Army landed yesterday morning on Okinawa, 362 miles from the Japanese mainland. The landings and assault on the Island met with much less resistance than was expected from the Japanese.
1957 Radar Devices Used to Enforce Speed Limits
1957: More police forces throughout the United States are to buy and use a greater number of portable speed radar checking devices to enforce speed limits.
1967 Soviet Cosmonaut Dies in Accident
1967: Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov is killed when his parachute fails to deploy during his Soyuz I spacecraft landing.
1970 USA Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act
1970: President Richard Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act which would ban the advertising of cigarettes on television and radio beginning on January 2nd, 1971.
1979 UK National Front
1979: Thousands of protesters gathered to demonstrate against a National Front campaign meeting in Southall London and one protestor, a teacher, is killed.
1983 USA Renewable Energy
1983: A think tank in Washington predicted by the year 2000 50% of the worlds energy resources will be met from renewable energy sources. In 2004, oil accounted for 37.6%, natural gas for 25.6%, and coal for 23.1%. The total for Non-Renewable Energy Sources was 85.2%, so predictions were somewhat wrong.
1984 USA AIDS
1984: Researchers announced have discovered and isolated a virus they say is likely to be the primary cause of AIDS, the mysterious and deadly disease that destroys the body's protective immune system.
1998 USA James Earl Ray
1998: James Earl Ray, the convicted killer of the black American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, has died from a terminal liver disease while still incarcerated. He protested his innocence to the murder till the end.
2001 Serbia Slobodan Milosevic
2001: Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is arrested on suspicion of corruption, abuse of power, and embezzlement by Serbian authorities at his Belgrade villa.
Monday, April 22, 2024
Monday Morning in the Blogosphere
Community newspapers are still vital, necessary - Hometown Source
Pending legislation could decimate newspapers - Southern Maryland News
Carpenter Media Group to acquire The Daily Iberian - America's Newspapers
Today in Labor History April 22
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Hazel Dickens
The first known slave revolt in America occurred, just eight years after the first slaves were brought from Africa to the Americas. – 1526
One of the worst disasters in Virginia mining history occurred at the Red Jacket Coal Corporation mine near Grundy in Buchanan County. All 45 men in the mine at the time died when coal dust ignited, causing blasts that were felt two miles away.- 1938
The first U.S. atmospheric nuclear bomb test occurred at Yucca Flat, Nevada. The test was observed by U.S. Marines who were used as human guinea pigs to test the effects of radiation on humans. – 1952
50,000 people marched in New York City against the wars in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Another 30,000 marched in San Francisco. – 1972
Songwriter, musician and activist Hazel Dickens dies at age 75. Among her songs: “They’ll Never Keep Us Down” and “Working Girl Blues.” Cultural blogger John Pietaro: “Dickens didn’t just sing the anthems of labor, she lived them. Her place on many a picket line, staring down gunfire and goon squads, embedded her into the cause”. – 2011
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Important Events From This day in History April 22
1964 USA World's Fair
1964: The third major World's Fair to be held in New York City opens (1853 / 1854) (1939 / 1940). It was the largest World's Fair ever held in the United States, occupying nearly a square mile (2.6 km²) of land. More fifty million people attended the Fair.
1889 USA Oklahoma Land Rush
1889: The Oklahoma Land run begins with an estimated 50,000 people lined up at noon hoping to stake a claim for a homestead. The claim could be up to 160 acres in size and it included most of the following Oklahoma Counties, Canadian, Cleveland, Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma, and Payne (in total about 2 million acres). This land had previously been occupied by Native Americans but the Indian Appropriations Bill approved the transfer of two million acres for settlement.
2000 USA Elian Gonzalez
2000: The six year old little boy Elian Gonzalez who survived a shipwreck in which his mother who was trying to enter the US as an illegal immigrant drowned, is taken by a swat team from other Cuban relatives in Miami. Following a number of court battles the little boy is returned to his father in Cuba.
1983 Germany Hitler Diaries
1983: The West German news magazine Stern publish the first of the Hitler Diaries they had discovered which included 60 volumes of personal diaries purportedly written by Adolf Hitler. However soon after publication, they were revealed by scientific testing to be forged.
1915 Belgium Poison Gas
1915: Poison gas is used by the Germans for the first time in World War I with devastating effect.
1928 Greece Major Earthquake
1928: Central Greece is in the grip of a major earthquake the town of Corinth has been virtually destroyed and a number of tremors have been felt in Athens.
1938 Japan Launches Offensive
1938: Japan has launched a second offensive against China in the Shantung offensive.
1943 USA Japanese Prisoners of War
1943: The US War Department has stated publicly that Japanese Prisoners of War will be treated decently.
1952 USA Live Atomic Bomb Test
1952: For the first time in history, viewers witnessed live the detonation of an atomic bomb at the U.S. testing site in Yucca Flat, Nevada on Television, The Atomic bomb tested was larger than those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.
1961 Cuba Bay of Pigs
1961: President Fidel Castro of Cuba will make his first public announcements since the insurgent forces invasion on the bay of Pigs last week on TV and Radio nationwide, also the Russian leader Khrushchev has denounced the invasion and has stated publicly that he holds the United States directly responsible for this gangsterism against Cuba.
1970 USA Earth Day
1970: Earth Day was observed yesterday for the first time coordinated by "Denis Hayes" and 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. To understand the significance of this achievement we must remember that in the 60's cars were getting larger and one of the least important things looked at when buying a car was the MPG, and prior to 1970 environmental issues were discussed very little if at all by most people. But a U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson stated that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on the environment. TV and Newspapers including the influential New York Times started discussing environmental issues and over the next few years from 1971 a realization dawned on ordinary people that what we did affected the Earth environment.
1971 Haiti Papa Doc
1971: Haiti's dictator, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, has died after 14 years in power.
1972 USA Anti-War Demonstrations
1972: Antiwar demonstrations draw 100,000 demonstrators in cities across America including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago.
1980 Liberia Military Coup
1980: Following a military coup a number of leading officials including former cabinet ministers of the ousted government in Liberia are publicly executed on the orders of the new military regime.
1988 USA Basketball
1988: Two new Florida basketball teams are announced the Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic. .
1992 Mexico Guadalajara Sewer Explosions
1992: A series of sewer explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico caused by a build up of gas after an earlier gas leak, kill more than 200 people and damage 1,000 buildings.
1993 USA Holocaust Memorial Museum
1993: Holocaust Memorial Museum opens in Washington D.C. The Museum is dedicated to documenting, studying, and interpreting the history of the Holocaust and serves as the US official memorial to the millions of Jews and others killed during the Holocaust under directives of Nazi Germany.
1997 Peru Japanese Embassy Siege
1997: After a 126-day siege of the Japanese embassy in Peru, troops storm the embassy and free all but one of 72 hostages held inside, ending a four-month siege of the building by Tupac Amaru rebels.
2005 USA Terrorist Pleads Guilty
2005: Zacarias Moussaoui (a French citizen of Moroccan descent) pleads guilty to conspiring with other al-Qaeda members as part of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He was later sentenced to life in prison and is serving a life sentence at the Federal ADX Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.
2006 Chinese President Hu Jintao Visits Saudi Arabia
2006: The Chinese President Hu Jintao has begun a three-day trip to Saudi Arabia. Aimed at strengthening ties between China and its main oil supplier, he was following this from his visit to the United States. China's need for oil has pushed crude prices to above $75 a barrel in New York for the first time. Saudi Arabia has started to open its economy to the outside world, and is looking at its export opportunities in Asia. The kingdom had joined the World Trade Organization in December, 2005.
Friday, April 19, 2024
Friday Morning in the Blogosphere
A scene from years ago
City’s Student Journalists Press for More School Newspapers - City Limits
Journal & Courier's print edition begins arriving by mail on Monday - Journal & Courier
Newspaper boxes repurposed as 'Save a Life' naloxone dispensaries - Star Tribune
Lessons from Covering the Last Pandemic—and for the Next One - Second Rough Draft
Today in Labor History April 19
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Oklahoma City bombing
More than 6,000 furniture workers went on strike in Grand Rapids, Michigan, over hours, wages, working conditions, and the right to bargain collectively. The strike – which affected nearly all of the 60+ furniture manufacturers in the city – lasted throughout the summer, bringing much of the city to a standstill for four months. A monument, “The Spirit of Solidarity,” was dedicated in 2007 to the striking workers. – 1919
An American domestic terrorist bomb destroyed the Oklahoma City federal building, killing 168 people, 99 of whom were government employees. – 1995
Important Events From This day in History April 19
1995 USA Oklahoma Bombing
1995: A truck full of explosives destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, killing 168 people. In 1997, Timothy McVeigh was convicted of the bombing and on June 11, 2001 he was executed by lethal injection.
1943 Poland Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
1943: On the eve of Passover, April 19, 1943, the police and SS auxiliary forces entered the Ghetto under the command of SS-Oberführer Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg, planning to clean out insurgents who had begun an uprising in January. But Jewish insurgents, who shot and launched Molotov cocktails and hand grenades at them from alleyways forced them to halt the exercise and withdraw. SS-Oberführer Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg was replaced by Brigadeführer Jürgen Stroop who proceeded with a better organized assault that included artillery support and on April 29, 1943, the Jewish resistance was crushed. Following two years of misery for thousands of Jews forced to live in the Warsaw Ghetto by the Nazi's where they had been starved, and living with disease and deportations to concentration camps and extermination camps which had dropped the population of the ghetto from an estimated 450,000 to approximately 71,000. The Nazi's planned effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to the Treblinka extermination camp caused the Jewish people to begin a revolt against the Nazi's beginning on January 18th, 1943.
1993 USA Waco Cult Raid
1993: An assault on the Waco cult headquarters of the Branch Davidian sect near Waco, Texas ends in a deadly fire (believed to have been started by those inside) and ends with the death of 70 cult members including the cults leader Mr Koresh. The buildings have been surrounded since February when four agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) were killed as they attempted to arrest Mr Koresh on firearms charges.
1897 USA Boston Marathon
1897: The Worlds oldest annual marathon run in Boston, Massachusetts, United States races for the first time. The Boston Marathon ranks as one of the world's most prestigious road racing events with an average of 20,000 taking part. The marathon is one of five members of the World Marathon Majors which include the cities of Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City.
1927 Mae West Sentenced
1927: Mae West was sentenced for an obscene stage performance to ten days in a work house and fined $500.
1928 China Civil War
1928: The combined nationalist Northern Armies under Chiang continue drive onto Peking as part of the Civil war continuing in China.
1934 USA Shirley Temple
1934: Shirley Temple appears in the American musical movie with many well known actors and actresses steals the show and goes on to appear in 10 movies in 1934 , including 4 starring roles in major feature-length films.
1936 German Military
1936: In the biggest show of military strength since World War I Germany pays homage to Hitler with a show of 300 tanks.
1940 Jimmy Dorsey
1940: Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra record the song "Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga."
1942 France Vichy Government
1942: The New Vichy Government Headed by Pierre Laval at the bidding of his German masters in an attempt to bring the insurgent french people back into line with Nazi ruling by promising to protect the people from the Nazi Regime by gaining concessions.
1945 Popular Musical Carousel
1945: The popular musical "Carousel" opens at the prominent Majestic Theatre in New York City. The production was based on the 1909 play by Ferenc Molnar about a man named Liliom and his lover, Julie.
1956 Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier Honeymoon
1956: Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier start their honeymoon on Deo Javante II 138 ft Yacht but due to heavy seas spent the night in the harbor.
1961 Cuba Bay of Pigs
1961: On April 17th 1,500 CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles invade southern Cuba at the "Bay of Pigs" by the 19th 118 are killed and 1,202 are captured by Cuban forces. President Kennedy inherited the operation from US President Dwight D. Eisenhower and approved the operation but it has to be one of the worst planned and executed covert invasions in modern times poorly thought out, as Cuban and Soviet Forces knew almost to the day where and when the operation would occur.
1969 Students Occupy Willard Straight Hall
1969: Militant black students at Cornell Univ. use force to take over Willard Straight Hall demanding a black studies program, after a deal was reached with the administration the news showed students leaving the hall carrying rifles although they were never used.
1972 Lunar Rover Apollo 16
1972: Apollo 16 the fifth mission to land on the Moon with astronauts John W Young and Charles M Duke are preparing to descend from lunar orbit and land on the moons surface in the Descartes Mountains, When landed they drove an electric powered Lunar Rover to explore fully the Descartes Plateau. Young and Duke spent three days exploring the Descartes highland region and testing the Lunar Rover getting up to a top speed of eleven miles per hour which still stands as the record speed for any wheeled vehicle on the Moon.
1987 USA The Simpsons
1987: The Simpsons which had originally been created as a series of shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show with the first showing on This Day 1987
1989 Central Park Attack on Jogger
1989: On the 19th approximately 30 teenage perpetrators committed several attacks, assaults, and robberies in the northernmost part of New York City's Central Park. Around the same time an attack on Trisha Meili occurred, who was jogging on her own on her usual path in Central Park shortly before 9 pm. She was raped and beaten almost to death, at 1:30 AM she was found naked, gagged, and tied up, covered in mud and blood. Five juveniles (called the "Central Park 5") were interviewed for hours about the crime and intimidated into confessions. Since no DNA evidence tied the suspects to the crime, the prosecution's case rested almost entirely on the confessions. They were all found guilty but the convictions were overturned in 2002 after Matias Reyes, a convicted rapist and murderer, confessed to the crime and was linked to it with DNA evidence. The city was forced to pay out $41 million in damages.
2001 South Africa Aids Drugs Profit Before The Lives Of Millions
2001: The world's biggest pharmaceutical companies bring legal action to fight legislation which would allow generic versions of their patented drugs being made in or imported to South Africa. Following uproar around the world and the pharmaceutical industry accused of putting profit before the lives of millions of people in the developing world, they have backed out of the court battle over cheap, non-branded anti-Aids drugs and also after dropping the case, agree to sell Aids drugs at cost price in developing countries - a discount of up to 90%.
2005 Vatican Pope Benedict XVI
2005: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has been elected as the successor to Pope John Paul II The new Pope has taken the name Pope Benedict XVI and is the head of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics.
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Today in Labor History April 18, 2024
Clarence Darrow
Clarence Darrow was born. Darrow was the lawyer who defended Eugene V. Debs and the Wobblies, as well as John Scopes, the teacher who was prosecuted for teaching evolution in the famous “Scopes Monkey Trial”. – 1857
Canada’s Prime Minister Sir John Macdonald introduced the Trade Union Act to legalize unions in the country. Two days earlier, leaders of the Toronto Typographical Union, whose members are on strike for a nine-hour workday, were arrested for common conspiracy. – 1872
260 women laborers at Shotwell, Clerihew & Lothman walked out of the clothing factory in downtown Minneapolis to protest a pay cut. They became known as the “striking maidens of 1888”, inspiring women in the cause of social justice. – 1888
The IWW poem, We Have Fed You All For A Thousand Years, was published in the Industrial Union Bulletin. – 1908
We have fed you all for a thousand years
& you hail us still unfed
Though there’s never a dollar of all your wealth
But marks the workers dead
We have yielded our best to give you rest
& you lie on crimson wool
But if blood be the price of all your wealth
Good God we have paid in full…
The National Guard was called out against striking West Virginia coal miners, initiating one of the most violent strikes in the nation’s history. UMWA miners were demanding to be paid the same as other area miners in the area and to have their union recognized. – 1912
After a four-week boycott led by Reverend Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., bus companies in New York City agreed to hire 200 black drivers and mechanics. – 1941
Some 200,000 CWA telephone workers struck the Bell System. The strike ended after 18 days, with workers winning wage and benefit increases totaling nearly 20 percent over three years. – 1968
Members of Columbia’s Graduate Student Employees United and Yale’s Graduate Student Employees and Students Organization begin a five-day strike for union recognition. It was the first multi-university strike by Ivy League graduate students. – 2005
Important Events From This day in History April 18
1956 Grace Kelly Marries Prince Rainier of Monaco
1956: Academy Award winning American film and stage actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco. Find More What happened in 1956
1939 USA Gene Autry
1939: Gene Autry records the popular song "Back in the Saddle Again." Several decades later, the rock band Aerosmith records a song that shares the same title.
1974 Worldwide Recession
1974: The secretary of the United Nations warns the world could be heading for a recession caused by the underlying increase of the price of oil causing trade deficits in the western world.
1906 San Francisco Earthquake
1906: An earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, shook the town of San Francisco , California and Thirty thousand homes were either partially or wholly destroyed and an estimated 3,000 are reported dead. The earthquake set off a series of fires which swept through the city.
1922 USA Moonshine Bust
1922: Federal Prohibition Agents find moonshine made in tea kettles by 2 local farmers and confiscate mash in Wisconsin.
1923 USA Yankee Stadium
1923: The first baseball game is played at Yankee Stadium in New York City, with the Yankees beating the Boston Red Sox 4-1.
1934 USA Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping
1934: Some $5000 dollars from the ransom paid in the Lindbergh kidnapping is recovered out of ($50,000) and a man is in custody with ongoing investigations by federal authorities.
1949 China War
1949: The China Red Ultimatum is about to expire as the armies of Red China and Nanjing face each other across the Yangtze River the government of Nanjing feared this is the last days of independence as the red army will walk in and take power on behalf of Red China.
1955 USA Albert Einstein
1955: Celebrated physicist and Nobel Laureate Albert Einstein died today at the age of 76.
1956 UK Premium Bonds
1956: The British Chancellor Harold Macmillan has unveiled plans for a new state saving scheme (Premium Bonds) offering cash prizes of up to by £1,000 instead of interest. The Bonds are introduced in November and Premium Bond winning numbers were generated by an Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment, a computer otherwise known as Ernie. In Britain over 20 million people own premium bonds with the chance of winning two monthly jackpots of £1m.
1956 Grace Kelly Becomes Princess Grace
1956: The Movie star Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco in a a 16-minute civil ceremony in the Palace Throne Room of Monaco on This Day, 1956, The Napoleonic Code of Monaco and the laws of the Roman Catholic Church necessitated two ceremonies, the first a civil ceremony and on the following day the church ceremony took place at Monaco's Saint Nicholas Cathedral.
1958 Satellite Maps
1958: The US Military hinted that it will be possible with satellites orbiting the earth to pinpoint any place on the earth and make a detailed drawing including unfriendly countries.
1960 UK Ban The Bomb March
1960: Tens of thousands of people joined the Aldermaston "ban the bomb" March organized by Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) that ended with a rally in Trafalgar Square with an estimated 60,000 - 100,000 present.
1968 UK London Bridge / Rennie's Bridge Sold To America
1968: London Bridge is sold for 1 million to an American oil magnate to be reassembled back at Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The bridge was disassembled, and each piece was numbered to aid reassembly.
1978 Panama Canal to be given to Panamanian Control
1978: The US Senate has backed a treaty to transfer the Panama Canal to the control of Panama. The building of the Panama Canal was started by the French in 1880 but in 1904 the US took over the construction of the canal which was completed 10 years later.
1983 Lebanon Car Bomb US Embassy
1983: A car bomb is used as a terrorist weapon successfully in an attack on the U.S. embassy complex in Beirut, Lebanon killing 12 people. The terrorist a member of Islamic Jihad drove at high speed up the main drive of the consulate in a truck containing 500 kg of high explosive exploding in front of the U.S. embassy.
1988 Israel Ivan the Terrible Found Guilty
1988: A retired US car worker identified as "Ivan the Terrible" is found guilty of Nazi war crimes in a court in Israel and is sentenced to the death penalty. Ivan the Terrible was a guard at the Treblinka death camp in Poland during World War II. His conviction was quashed in 1993 by the Israeli Supreme Court, after evidence suggested that another Ukrainian was Ivan the Terrible and returned to the US, he was later deported back to Ukraine when a US judge ruled that even if Demjanjuk were not Ivan the Terrible, there was enough evidence to prove he had been a death camp guard.
1994 Rwanda Ethnic Violence
1994: The ethnic violence which started in the Rwandan capital Kigali following the death of Rwanda's president in a plane crash is now spreading throughout the country. Reports have come in that soldiers have been hacking Tutsi civilians to death with machetes in the streets in Kigali.
1996 Egypt Greek Tourists Killed By Gunmen
1996: Egyptian gunmen open fire on a group of tourists outside the Europa Hotel in Cairo, killing Seventeen Greek tourists and an Egyptian tour guide. The terrorist Islamic group, al-Gamaa al-Islamiya, admitted it was behind the attack but thought the tourists were Israelis.
1997 USA Flooding
1997: Major floods in Grand Forks North Dakota caused by the Red River breaching a dike gave way causing flooding in the city and 50,000 residents were forced to leave homes and in some areas only roofs of houses were seen when the river broke it's banks and could not be held up any longer.
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Wednesday Morning in the Blogosphere
Legacy media is fading away
Today in Labor History April 17th
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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a New York maximum hours law for bakery workers was unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. Legislation limiting hours of employment was not passed until the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. – 1905
Important Events From This day in History April 17
1964 USA Ford Mustang Unveiled
1964: The Ford Motor Co. unveiled its new Mustang model at the New York World's Fair on This Day 1964. The Mustang was championed by Ford Division general manager Lee Iacocca, with a suggested retail price of $2,368. The car was a great success and sold over one million cars in its first 18 months. Find More What happened in 1964
1927 Airship Race From New York to Paris
1927: An airship race scheduled today from New York to Paris has been forced to reschedule due to injuries and problems with an engine on one of the airships.
1932 USA Lynching
1932: A mob of western Kansas Farmers today went back to old fashioned justice when they lynched a man who admitted killing an 8 year old girl by overpowering the sheriff and hanging the man from a tree in Kansas.
1940 USA World War II
1940: Anglo-French purchasing mission announced the purchase of huge quantities of the latest aircraft including Douglas Bombers and Curtiss Pursuit Ships from American Companies.
1950 Soviet Union Shoot Down US Plane
1950: America accuses the Reds of shooting down a US Plane over the Baltic Sea in an unprovoked attack.
1951 England Submarine Lost
1951: The crew of the British submarine "Affray" is feared dead after going missing off the south coast of England. Two months later, the Affray was found in 300 ft of water 46 miles south of Portland.
1961 Cuba Bay of Pigs
1961: A group of 1,500 Cuban exiles supported by the US government invaded the Bay of Pigs on the southern coast of Cuba in an attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. The invasion failed miserably and by April 21st all had been killed or captured. One year earlier the CIA had recommended to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Administration to recruit, support, equip and train Cuban exiles for action against the new government of Fidel Castro. Following the change to the new U.S. President John F. Kennedy in February who was also advised the operation would be a success, the operation was continued. Cuba was tipped off by senior KGB agents and intelligence forces arrested more than 100,000 Cubans who they suspected would be allies of the expected invading force, ensuring that the invading forces would be cut off from support.
1962 Worldwide Oral Polio Vaccine
1962: Around the world after the approval by Governments of the Oral Polio Vaccine developed by Albert Sabin. Schools, Health Clinics and Doctors were preparing to administer the Polio Vaccine to children who had not received the injected Salk vaccine . Polio had been increasing at an alarming rate prior to the development of the Salk vaccine and in 1952 alone over 58,000 cases of Polio occurred in the United States.
1969 USA Robert Kennedy Assassin
1969: The assassin of Robert Kennedy Sirhan B. Sirhan was found guilty of first degree murder for assassinating Senator Robert F. Kennedy, the brother of slain President John F. Kennedy.
1969 Northern Ireland Bernadette Devlin
1969: Bernadette Devlin, becomes Britain's youngest ever female MP and the third youngest MP ever.
1970 USA Apollo 13
1970: Apollo 13, the U.S. lunar spacecraft that suffered oxygen tank No. 2 blowing up in the spacecraft on its journey to the moon, safely returns to Earth landing in the Pacific Ocean.
1973 Egypt Syria / Israel War
1973: Egypt has warned it may get involved in the Syria Israel War and warned it may fight alongside the Syrians if the Golan Heights becomes threatened.
1984 UK WPC Yvonne Fletcher
1984: WPC Yvonne Fletcher a London police officer is shot and killed while helping control a small demonstration outside the Libyan People's Bureau Embassy in central London. The police can not enter The Libyan building as it has diplomatic immunity but the building is surrounded by armed police officers. Meanwhile Libyan soldiers have now surrounded Britain's embassy in Tripoli trapping the 18 diplomats inside. Following the breakdown of diplomatic relations between the two countries British Diplomats leave Libya and the Libyan diplomats leave England including the person who had killed Yvonne Fletcher. Diplomatic relations with Libya are restored after 15 years in 1999 after the Libyan Government admitted it bore "general responsibility" for WPC Fletcher's death. (It is also believed that when the killer returned to Libya he was immediately executed but this can not be confirmed).
1985 USA Organ Donation
1985: The US Government has announced a campaign to increase awareness of Organ Donation hoping to make the donation of organs as widespread as the giving of blood this follows similar campaigns from other countries around the world as organ transplants become more common.
1986 Lebanon John McCarthy
1986: John McCarthy, a British TV journalist, is abducted on his way to the airport in the war-torn capital of Lebanon, Beirut. On August 8 1991 having spent more than five years held captive by militant group Islamic Jihad, John McCarthy is released making him Britain's longest-held hostage in Lebanon.
1991 USA Dow Jones
1991: The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 3,000 for the first time.
1993 USA Rodney King Beating
1993: Two former police officers are convicted by a federal jury in Los Angeles of violating the civil rights of beaten motorist Rodney King.
1999 England Nail Bomb
1999: A nail bomb outside a busy supermarket in Brixton, south London, has injured dozens. This was the fist in a series of bombs planted by a right-wing extremist David Copeland, 22, who was captured after a nail bomb in a central London pub killed three people.
2006 Israel Suicide Bomber
2006: A Palestinian suicide bomber strikes a Tel Aviv restaurant during Passover, killing nine people.
2007 New Tolkien Book Released
2007: The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien has been released in North America and Europe. The book has been developed by Christopher Tolkien over twelve years, and is taken from the unfinished material written by his father. It includes new color plates and black and white illustrations. Houghton Mifflin has acquired U.S. rights to publish the book, which is Tolkien's first work since 1977's posthumous Silmarillion. HarperCollins U.K. had acquired the project from The Tolkien Estate in a world rights deal. The Children of Húrin was started in 1918.
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Tuesday Morning in the Blogosphere
Newspaper printing press
PressPad, an attempt to bring some class diversity to posh British journalism, is shutting down - NL
Today in Labor History April 16th, 2024
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Jacob Coxey
Jacob Coxey was born on this date in Massillon, Ohio. Coxey, a populist businessman, proposed ending the 1893 depression by issuing Treasury notes to pay for a work-relief program. When Congress refused to pass his bill, Coxey led an “Army of the Poor” from Ohio to Washington, DC, where Coxey and his lieutenants were arrested and 50 of his followers were beaten or trampled. – 1854
25,000 garment workers in New York City were locked out by employers in a dispute over hiring practices. A General Strike was called by the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union that ended in 14 weeks, with the 60,000 striking workers winning union recognition and the contractual right to strike. – 1916
2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate on board a ship docked in the port of Texas City detonated, setting off a chain reaction of explosions and fires on other ships and nearby oil storage facilities. At least 581 people were killed and thousands more were seriously injured in the deadliest industrial disaster in U.S. history. As a result, changes in chemical manufacturing and new regulations for the bagging, handling, and shipping of chemicals were enacted. – 1947
Thousands protested in Washington, D.C. at meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund One against policies that aided corporate profits while increasing poverty and environmental degradation. – 2000
Important Events From This day in History April 16
2007 USA Virginia Tech
2007: Student Cho Seung Hui killed 32 students and injured 17 others before taking his own life at Virginia Tech. What happened in 2007
1964 UK Great Train Robbery
1964: At the old Bailey in London the great train robbers were sentenced to up to 30 years for their part in the Great Train Robbery. Seven of the defendants - Ronald Biggs, Charles Wilson, Douglas Goody, Thomas Wisbey, Robert Welch, James Hussey and Roy James each received sentences of 30 years. The robbery was from a mail train carrying 3.8 million pounds between Glasgow and London when 15 masked robbers stopped the train at by changing the signals to red and boarding the train armed with weapons.
1947 USA Freighter Blast
1947: A French freighter "Grandcamp," loaded with ammonium nitrate (fertilizer), exploded at a port in Texas. The blast caused other explosions at a nearby chemical plant, spreading fires across oil refineries along the port. An estimated 500 People were killed by the blast and the ensuing fires which swept the port and the surrounding town.
1922 USA Prohibition
1922: The Prohibition Department is to enforce the law making it illegal to manufacture beer or wine in the home for home use, this follows the supreme court that home brewing is illegal.
1935 USA Work Fund to Create Jobs
1935: President Roosevelt unveils plans to allocate a work fund and more than $900,000,000 in funds for work based projects has been received so far , this will help with the mass unemployment and misery caused by the severe depression.
1943 Switzerland LSD
1943: Albert Hoffman, a Swiss chemist accidentally consumes LSD-25. After taking the drug, formally known as lysergic acid diethylamide, Dr. Hoffman was disturbed by unusual sensations and hallucinations.
1944 World War II
1944: Allied Bombers hit Budapest and Belgrade as continued attacks on enemies lines of communications and Rail Lines were carried out overnight.
1953 UK Royal Yacht Britannia
1953: The Queen launches the Royal Yacht Britannia in at a ceremony at the Clydebank yard of John Brown and Co. The Royal Yacht had a 250 strong crew who ensure Britannia is always immaculate for its foreign trips. The Royal Yacht Britannia after travelling more than one million miles is decommissioned in 1997 and is now a tourist attraction at the port of Leith, in Edinburgh.
1963 USA Birmingham, Alabama
1963: Police break up walk to city hall to register to vote in Birmingham Alabama and arrested the first 15 Negroes in the walk to the county courthouse.
1964 UK The Rolling Stones
1964: The Rolling Stones band's debut album, "The Rolling Stones" issued in the US as "England's Newest Hit Makers" was released. The band consisted of Jagger, Jones, Richards, Wyman, and Watts.
1970 Northern Ireland Reverend Ian Paisley
1970: The Protestant hard liner the Reverend Ian Paisley has won a seat in parliament. The Reverend Ian Paisley is opposed any form of power sharing in Northern Ireland.
1972 USA Apollo 16
1972: NASA launched the Apollo 16 spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1974 Israel Golan Heights
1974: Israeli and Syrian troops continue fighting along the Golan Heights and Mt Herman for 37th consecutive day of fighting in the middle east.
1983 Vietnam / China Conflict
1983: China and Vietnam continue fighting on the border over the killing of farmers and other Chinese civilians working near the border.
1987 UK MP Harvey Proctor
1987: The British Conservative MP Harvey Proctor has appeared in court and is accused of committing acts of gross indecency with two male teenagers.
1993 Bosnia Muslim Enclave
1993: The United Nations stepped in today to protect Srebrenica in Bosnia that is a haven for Muslim civilians from a Bosnian Serb onslaught.
2003 USA Michael Jordan
2003: Michael Jordan played his last NBA game for the Washington Wizards.
2006 Pope Calls for Iranian Nuclear Issues Solution
2006: Pope Benedict XVI calls for a negotiated solution to the Iran nuclear crisis in his Easter message in St Peter's Square. "May an honorable solution be found for all parties, through honest and serious negotiations," he said, whilst affirming Israel's "right to exist in peace." He also calls for the international community to help the Palestinians achieve statehood. This is Pope Benedict's first Easter as pontiff, and "Urbi et Orbi" is broadcast to more than fifty countries. About one hundred thousand people are said to have gathered in the square.
2007 Wal-Mart First Place in Fortune 500
2007: Wal-Mart is awarded the first place in sales and company size in this year's Fortune 500, with revenues of $351,139,000,000, profits of 11,284,000,000, assets of 151,193,000, 000, and a stockholder equity of 198,107,900,000 for the year-ending 2006. It narrowly beat Exxon Mobil to first place.
2008 US Supreme Court Upholds Lethal Injection
2008: The Supreme Court has rejected a challenge on the use of lethal injections as a means of execution. The Court rejected the case that was made by two death row inmates in the state of Kentucky. They have already sued the state, and said that the commonly used combination of three chemical injections violated the Constitution's ban on cruel punishment. Executions nationwide have been on hold since September 2006, and Virginia has just said that it was lifting its moratorium on it.
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