This Week in History
HISTORY, 22 Dec 2014
Satoshi Ashikaga – TRANSCEND Media Service
December 22 -28
Quote of the Week
“The pursuit of peace and progress cannot end in a few years in either victory or defeat. The pursuit of peace and progress, with its trials and its errors, its successes and its setbacks, can never be relaxed and never abandoned.”
– Dag Hammarskjöld (Source: http://www.searchquotes.com/Dag_Hammarskjold_/Peace/quotes/ )
December 22
1992 Libyan MIG-23UB attacks Boeing 727 at Souk al-Sabt, 158 die.
1990 Iraq announces it will never give up Kuwait.
1990 Lech Walesa sworn in as Poland’s 1st popularly elected president.
1989 After 23 years of dictatorial rule, Romania ousts Nicolea Ceausescu.
1988 South Africa signs accord granting independence to South West Africa.
1974 2nd cease-fire between IRA and British; lasts until approx April 1975.
1971 U.N. General Assembly ratifies Kurt Waldheim as Secretary-General.
1971 U.S.S.R. performs underground nuclear test.
1964 Lockheed SR-71 spy aircraft reaches 3,530 kph (record for a jet).
1962 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R.
1944 Germans demand surrender of American troops at Bastogne, Belgium.
1942 World War II: Adolf Hitler signs the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon.
1941 Japan’s invasion leader lands on Luzon, Philippines.
1941 Tito establishes 1st Proletarian Brigade in Yugoslavia.
1941 Winston Churchill arrives in Washington for a wartime conference.
1939 Indian Muslims observe a “Day of Deliverance” to celebrate the resignations of members of the Indian National Congress over their not having been consulted over the decision to enter World War II with the United Kingdom.
1808 Ludwig van Beethoven conducts and performs in concert at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, with the premiere of his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto (performed by Beethoven himself) and Choral Fantasy (with Beethoven at the piano).
1769 Sino-Burmese War (1765–1769) ends with an uneasy truce.
December 23
1990 History of Slovenia: In a referendum, 88.5% of Slovenia‘s overall electorate vote for independence from Yugoslavia.
1979 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R.
1970 NY World Trade Center reaches highest point (411 m).
1970 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test.
1943 General Montgomery told he is appointed commandant for D-day.
1941 British troops overrun Benghazi Libya.
1941 Japan begins assault on Rangoon Burma.
1928 NBC sets up a permanent, coast-to-coast radio network.
1922 BBC Radio began daily newscasts.
1894 Debussy’s ballet “L’apres-midi d’un faune,” premieres in Paris.
1893 Opera “Hansel und Gretel” is produced (Weimar).
1715 Russian/Prussian troops occupy Stralsund.
December 24
1989 Charles Taylor enters Liberia to unseat President Samuel K Doe.
1989 Panama’s dictator, Manual Noriega seeks asylum at Vatican embassy.
1986 Iran offensive against Iraqi islands of Shatt al-Arab.
1981 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R.
1967 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor PRC.
1966 Luna 13 lands on Moon.
1963 Greek and Turks riot in Cyprus.
1962 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R.
1951 United Kingdom of Libya gains independence from Italy via United Nations.
1943 Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints General Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces.
1937 Dutch government recognizes Italian King Emanuel III as Emperor of Abyssinia.
1936 1st radioactive isotope medicine administered, Berkeley, California.
1942 Albania becomes a republic.
1914 World War I: The “Christmas truce” begins.
1914 German plane drops bombs on Dover, England.
1904 German SW Africa abolishes slavery of young children.
1865 The Ku Klux Klan is formed.
1818 “Silent Night” composed by Franz Joseph Gruber; 1st sung next day.
1814 The Treaty of Ghent is signed ending the War of 1812.
December 25
1991 Mikhail Gorbachev formally resigned as President of U.S.S.R.
1977 Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meets Egyptian President Sadat in Egypt.
1971 Reverend Jesse Jackson forms Operation P.U.S.H. (People United to Save Humanity) (Visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow/PUSH and http://rainbowpush.org/pages/brief_history ).
1968 Apollo program: Apollo 8 performs the very first successful Trans-Earth injection (TEI) maneuver, sending the crew and spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit.
1946 The first in Europe artificial, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction is initiated within Soviet nuclear reactor F-1.
1868 President of the United States Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers.
1553 Battle of Tucapel: Mapuche rebels under Lautaro defeat the Spanish conquistadors and executes the governor of Chile, Pedro de Valdivia.
1492 Columbus’ ship Santa Maria docks at Dominican Republic.
1223 St. Francis of Assisi assembles 1st Nativity scene (Greccio, Italy).
December 26
2011 Brazil overtakes the United Kingdom as the world’s sixth largest economy.
2004 Earthquake, greatest in over 40 years, strikes the Pacific Ocean near Sumatra, triggering a massive Indian Ocean tsunami, killing as many as 266,000 in coastal regions of Asia and Africa.
2003 Earthquake kills more than 30,000 in Bam, Iran.
1998 Iraq announces its intention to fire upon U.S. and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern no-fly zones.
1983 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R.
1982 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R.
1944 Battle of Bastogne – U.S. General Patton’s 4th Pantzers repulse Germans.
1944 Budapest surrounded by Soviet army.
1933 Convention on the Rights and Duties of States (aka Montevideo Convention), stipulating basic requirements of the state, was signed. Entered into force: 26 December 1936. Text: 165 LNTS 19 (Visit: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/intam03.asp ).
1898 Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.
1862 American Civil War: The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou begins.
1805 Austria and France sign the Treaty of Pressburg (aka the Fourth Peace of Pressburg), marking the effective end of the Holy Roman Empire.
December 27
2008 Operation Cast Lead: Israel launches 3-week operation on Gaza.
1989 The Romanian Revolution concludes, as the last minor street confrontations and stray shootings abruptly end in the country’s capital, Bucharest.
1987 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R.
1985 Terrorists kill 20 and wound 110 attacking El Al at Rome and Vienna airports, President Reagan blames Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
1981 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R.
1972 Belgium recognizes East Germany.
1960 France performs nuclear test.
1949 United States of Indonesia gains independence from Netherlands.
1945 International Monetary Fund established – World Bank founded.
1939 Between 20,000 and 40,000 die in magnitude 8 quake (Erzincam Turkey).
1939 Earthquake in Turkey, about 50,000 die.
1831 Charles Darwin embarks on his journey aboard the HMS Beagle, during which he will begin to formulate the theory of evolution.
1825 1st public railroad using steam locomotive completed in England.
December 28
2013 A 5.8-magnitude earthquake strikes 50 miles south southwest of Avsallar, Turkey in the Mediterranean Sea.
2011 If Western nations impose more sanctions, Iran threatens to close down the key oil route of the Strait of Hormuz.
2010 In Heuneburg, Germany, scientists discover a late Bronze Age grave of a Celtic princess, containing amber, gold, bronze and coal.
2010 Remains of a human that lived 400,000 years ago are discovered in Israel, challenging the theory that humans originated in Africa.
1988 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R.
1985 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
1984 Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress party wins election in India.
1984 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R.
1983 U.S. says they will leave UNESCO on Dec 31, 1984.
1976 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
1972 Kim Il-sung becomes president of D.P.R.K. (North Korea).
1972 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R.
1968 Israeli assault on Beirut Airport.
1966 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor PRC.
1962 U.N. troops occupy Elizabethstad Katanga.
1957 U.S.S.R. performs atmospheric nuclear test.
1950 Chinese troops cross 38th Parallel, into South Korea.
1948 Israeli Defense Forces crosses Egyptian border.
1908 Earthquake strikes Messina, Italy; 80,000 die.
1895 World’s 1st movie theater opens in Paris.
(Sources and references: http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/december_22 to 28; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_22 to 28; and other relevant documents.)
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Satoshi Ashikaga is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment, originally from Japan.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 22 Dec 2014.
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