#today's smile
Text
History
New Year's Day - The most celebrated holiday around the world.
January 1, 1502 - Portuguese explorers landed at Guanabara Bay on the coast of South America and named it Rio de Janeiro (River of January). Rio de Janeiro is currently Brazil's second largest city.
January 1, 1660 - Samuel Pepys began his famous diary in which he chronicled life in London including the Great Plague of 1664-65 and the Great Fire of 1666.
January 1, 1776 - During the American Revolution, George Washington unveiled the Grand Union Flag, the first national flag in America.
January 1, 1801 - Ireland was added to Great Britain by an Act of Union thus creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
January 1, 1863 - The Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves in the states rebelling against the Union.
January 1, 1877 - Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India.
January 1, 1892 - Ellis Island in New York Harbor opened. Over 20 million new arrivals to America were processed until its closing in 1954.
January 1, 1901 - The Commonwealth of Australia was founded as six former British colonies became six states with Edmund Barton as the first prime minister.
January 1, 1915 - During World War I, the British Battleship Formidable was hit by a torpedo in the English Channel, killing 547 crewmen.
January 1, 1942 - Twenty six countries signed the Declaration of the United Nations, in Washington, D.C., reaffirming their opposition to the Axis powers and confirming that no single nation would make a separate peace.
January 1, 1958 - The EEC (European Economic Community) known as the Common Market was formed by Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and The Netherlands in order to remove trade barriers and coordinate trade policies.
January 1, 1959 - Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba after leading a revolution that drove out Dictator Fulgencio Batista. Castro then established a Communist dictatorship.
January 1, 1973 - Britain, Ireland and Denmark became members of the Common Market (EEC).
January 1, 1975 - During the Watergate scandal, former top aides to President Nixon including former Attorney General John Mitchell, Domestic Affairs Advisor John Ehrlichman and Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman, were found guilty of obstruction of justice.
January 1, 1979 - China and the U.S. established diplomatic relations, 30 years after the foundation of the People's Republic.
January 1, 1993 - Czechoslovakia broke into separate Czech and Slovak republics.
January 1, 1999 - Eleven European nations began using a new single European currency, the Euro, for electronic financial and business transactions. Participating countries included; Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.
Birthday - American Patriot Paul Revere (1735-1818) was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Best known for his ride on the night of April 18, 1775, warning Americans of British plans to raid Lexington and Concord.
Birthday - Betsy Ross (1752-1836) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was a seamstress credited with helping to originate and sew the Stars and Stripes flag of America in 1776.
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
History
November 15, 1777 - The Articles of Confederation were adopted by Continental Congress.
November 15, 1864 - During the American Civil War, Union troops under General William T. Sherman burned Atlanta.
November 15, 1881 - The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada was formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Five years later the organization was renamed the American Federation of Labor (AFL).
November 15, 1889 - Brazil became a republic.
November 15, 1943 - During the Holocaust, Heinrich Himmler ordered Gypsies and part-Gypsies to be sent to concentration camps. The number of Gypsies killed by Nazis is estimated up to 500,000.
November 15, 1969 - The largest antiwar rally in U.S. History occurred as 250,000 persons gathered in Washington, D.C., to protest the Vietnam War.
November 15, 1980 - Pope John Paul II visited West Germany, the first papal visit to Germany in 200 years.
Birthday - American artist Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) was born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. She painted desert landscapes and flower studies and was the subject of more than 500 photographs taken by her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz.
Birthday - German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) was born at Heidenheim, in Wurttemberg, Germany. During World War II, he led the 7th Panzer Division to victory in the Battle of France. His early victories in North Africa earned him the nickname, "Desert Fox." However, in 1943, he was defeated at El Alamein by the British under General Montgomery. Rommel was implicated in the July 1944 failed assassination of Hitler. He was then forced to commit suicide and died at age 52 on October 14, 1944, near Ulm, Germany.
10 notes
·
View notes
Text
History
January 27, 1943 - The U.S. 8th Air Force conducted the first all-American bombing raid on Germany as 55 bombers targeted Wilhelmshaven, losing three planes while claiming to have shot down 22 German fighters. The success of this first mission encouraged U.S. military planners to begin regular daylight bombing raids, which eventually resulted in high casualty rates for the American crewmen involved.
January 27, 1944 - Russian Army General Govorov announced the lifting of the Nazi blockade of Leningrad. During the 900-day siege, an estimated one million Russian civilians inside the city died of disease, starvation and relentless German shelling.
January 27, 1945 - The Russian Army liberated Auschwitz death camp near Krakow in Poland, where the Nazis had systematically murdered an estimated 2,000,000 persons, including 1,500,000 Jews.
January 27, 1967 - Three American astronauts were killed as a fire erupted inside Apollo 1 during a launch simulation test at Cape Kennedy, Florida.
January 27, 1973 - U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ended as North Vietnamese and American representatives signed an agreement in Paris. The U.S. agreed to remove all remaining troops within 60 days thus ending the longest war in American history. Over 58,000 Americans had been killed, 300,000 wounded and 2,500 declared missing. A total of 566 prisoners-of-war had been held by the North Vietnamese during the war, with 55 reported deaths.
Birthday - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was born in Salzburg, Austria. From the age of five, through his untimely death at age 35, this musical genius created over 600 compositions including 16 operas, 41 symphonies, 27 piano and five violin concerti, 25 string quartets, 19 masses, and many other works.
Birthday - British novelist Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) was born in Daresbury, Cheshire, England (as Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). Best known for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. He also lectured in mathematics and was a pioneering photographer.
Birthday - Labor leader Samuel Gompers (1850-1924) was born in London. He emigrated to America at age 13, worked in a cigar factory, eventually becoming head of the Cigar Workers' Union. He later brought together several national unions under the name American Federation of Labor and became its first president.
Birthday - German Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941) was born. He was a grandson of England's Queen Victoria and ruled Germany from 1888 through World War I. Although he had military training, he left conduct of the war mainly in the hands of Generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich von Ludendorff. In 1918, amid the defeat of Germany, he abdicated and fled to the Netherlands where he lived in seclusion until his death. He was given a military funeral by Hitler
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Quotes
If you keep lookin' back, you gon' trip going forward.
— Radric Delantic Davis, aka Gucci Mane
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Quotes
That's the very reason they put rubbers on the end of pencils… because people make mistakes.
— Phoebe Waller-Bridge
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Quotes
I never made a mistake in my life. I thought I did once, but I was wrong.
— Charles M. Schulz
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Quotes
A step backward, after making a wrong turn, is a step in the right direction.
— Kurt Vonnegut
2 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
doctoremerysnightmares
Doctor Emery's Nightmares
bebruta
ANGEL CLASS
memecage
MEMECAGE
ervin505
Sin título
doctoremerysnightmares
Doctor Emery's Nightmares