This Week in History

HISTORY, 29 Jun 2015

Satoshi Ashikaga – TRANSCEND Media Service

June 29–July 5

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.” – Flavia Weedn

JUNE 29

2014  The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (= ISIL, aka ISIS) self-declared its caliphate in Syria and northern Iraq.

ISIS and the United States:

Training, Support and Funding:

ISIS and Israel:

Supply of Weapons to ISIS:

How ISIS Uses Oil to Finance Its Terror Operations

Buyers of ISIS Oil:

2006  Hamdan v. Rumsfeld: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that President George W. Bush‘s plan to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in military tribunals violates U.S. and international law.

Guantánamo Bay Prison:

Human Rights at Guantánamo:

Hamdan vs. Rumsfeld

1994  US reopens Guantanamo Naval Base to process refugees.

1984  USSR offers to start talking about banning SDI.

1976  The Conference of Communist and Workers Parties of Europe convenes in East Berlin

1976  The Seychelles become independent from the United Kingdom.

1975  Steve Wozniak tested his first prototype of Apple I computer.

1974  Mikhail Baryshnikov defects from the Soviet Union to Canada while on tour with the Kirov Ballet.

1974  Isabel Perón is sworn in as the first female President of Argentina. Her husband, President Juan Perón, had delegated responsibility due to weak health and died two days later.

1956  The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 is signed, officially creating the United States Interstate Highway System.

1949  South Africa begins implementing apartheid, its racial segregation rules.

1949  US troops withdraw from Korea after WW II.

1945  Carpathian Ruthenia is annexed by the Soviet Union.

1943  FDR writes to Manhattan Project physicist Dr. Robert Oppenheimer.

1932  USSR & China sign non-aggression treaty.

1916  The Irish Nationalist and British diplomat Roger Casement is sentenced to death for his part in the Easter Rising.

1915  The North Saskatchewan River flood of 1915 is the worst flood in Edmonton history.

1914  Jina Guseva attempts to assassinate Grigori Rasputin at his home town in Siberia.

1913  The attack by Bulgarian General Michael Savov on Greek and Serbian positions leads to beginning of the second Balkan War

1895  Doukhobors burn their weapons as a protest against conscription by the Tsarist Russian government.

1888  George Edward Gouraud records Handel‘s Israel in Egypt onto a phonograph cylinder, thought for many years to be the oldest known recording of music.

1881  In Sudan, Muhammad Ahmad declares himself to be the Mahdi, the messianic redeemer of Islam.

1880  France annexes Tahiti.

1874  Greek politician Charilaos Trikoupis publishes a manifesto in the Athens daily Kairoi entitled “Who’s to Blame?” in which he lays out his complaints against King George. He is elected Prime Minister of Greece the next year.

1807  Russo-Turkish War: Admiral Dmitry Senyavin destroys the Ottoman fleet in the Battle of Athos.

 

 

JUNE 30

1997  The United Kingdom transfers sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China.

1990  East Germany and West Germany merge their economies.

1989  Sudan suspends interim constitution following coup.

1985  Thirty-nine American hostages from the hijacked TWA Flight 847 are freed in Beirut after being held for 17 days.

1977  The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.

1972  The first leap second is added to the UTC time system.

1966  The National Organization for Women, the United States’ largest feminist organization, is founded.

1963  Ciaculli massacre: a car bomb, intended for Mafia boss Salvatore Greco, kills seven police officers and military personnel near Palermo.

1960  Congo gains independence from Belgium.

1944  World War II: The Battle of Cherbourg ends with the fall of the strategically valuable port to American forces.

1937  The world’s first emergency telephone number, 999, is introduced in London

1936  Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia appeals for aid to the League of Nations against Italy‘s invasion of his country.

1934  – The Night of the Long Knives, Adolf Hitler‘s violent purge of his political rivals in Germany, takes place.

1922  In Washington D.C., U.S. Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes and Dominican Ambassador Francisco J. Peynado sign the Hughes-Peynado agreement, which ends the United States occupation of the Dominican Republic.

1921  U.S. President Warren G. Harding appoints former President William Howard Taft Chief Justice of the United States.

1917  World War I: Greece declares war on the Central Powers.

1908  The Tunguska event occurs in remote Siberia.

1905  Albert Einstein publishes the article On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, in which he introduces special relativity.

1886  The first transcontinental train trip across Canada departs from Montreal. It arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia on July 4.

1864  U.S. President Abraham Lincoln grants Yosemite Valley to California for “public use, resort and recreation”.

1860  The 1860 Oxford evolution debate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History takes place.

1794  Native American forces under Blue Jacket attack Fort Recovery.

1758  Seven Years’ War: The Battle of Domstadtl takes place.

 

 

JULY 1

2013  Neptune‘s moon S/2004 N 1 is discovered.

2013  The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) begins its operative peacekeeping mandate in Mali.

2013  Croatia becomes the 28th member of the European Union.

2008  Rioting erupts in Mongolia in response to allegations of fraud surrounding the 2008 legislative elections.

2007  Smoking in England is banned in all public indoor spaces.

2007  The Concert for Diana is held at the new Wembley Stadium in London and broadcast in 140 countries.

2006  The first operation of Qinghai–Tibet Railway in China.

2004  Saturn orbit insertion of Cassini–Huygens begins at 01:12 UTC and ends at 02:48 UTC.

2003  Over 500,000 people protest against efforts to pass anti-sedition legislation in Hong Kong.

2002  The International Criminal Court is established to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. (= The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court comes into force.)

Compare the International Criminal Court with other international judicial institutions in international criminal law:

International Military Tribunals in Nüremberg and in Tokyo:

International Criminal Courts for former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda:

Hybrid Courts and Internationalized Domestic Courts and Tribunals:

  1. Serious Panel for Serious Crimes (East Timor) – ibanet.org
  2. Special Panel for Serious Crimes – Timor Leste – Historical benchmark

Pertinent Documents and Lectures on International Criminal Law:

Jurisdiction of the ICC:

United States and the International Criminal Court (ICC):

Arguments on the American Exceptionalism and on the Myth of the American Exceptionalism:

1997  China resumes sovereignty over the city-state of Hong Kong, ending 156 years of British colonial rule.

For democracy of Hong Kong, visit the following websites, among many others:

1991  The Warsaw Pact is officially dissolved at a meeting in Prague.

1990  German reunification: East Germany accepts the Deutsche Mark as its currency, thus uniting the economies of East and West Germany.

1984  The PG-13 rating is introduced by the MPAA.

1979  Sony introduces the Walkman.

1978  The Northern Territory in Australia is granted Self-Government.

1976  Portugal grants autonomy to Madeira.

1970  President General Yahya Khan abolishes One-Unit of West Pakistan restoring the provinces.

1968  The Nuclear non-proliferation treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., London and Moscow by sixty-two countries.

1968 The United States Central Intelligence Agency‘s Phoenix Program is officially established.

1967 The European Community is formally created out of a merger with the Common Market, the European Coal and Steel Community, and the European Atomic Energy Commission.

1963  The British Government admits that former diplomat Kim Philby had worked as a Soviet agent.

1962  Rwanda and Burundi become independent.

1960  Ghana becomes a Republic and Kwame Nkrumah becomes its first President as Queen Elizabeth II ceases to be its Head of state.

1960  The independent Somali Democratic Republic, commonly known as Somalia, is formed out of former British and Italian territories.

1959 Specific values for the international yard, avoirdupois pound and derived units (e.g. inch, mile and ounce) are adopted after agreement between the U.S.A., the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries.

1959  The Party of the African Federation holds its constitutive conference.

1957  The International Geophysical Year begins.

1949  The merger of two princely states of India, Cochin and Travancore, into the state of Thiru-Kochi (later re-organized as Kerala) in the Indian Union ends more than 1,000 years of princely rule by the Cochin Royal Family.

1947  – The Philippine Air Force is established

1942  World War II: First Battle of El Alamein.

1921  The Communist Party of China is founded.

1916  World War I: First day on the Somme: On the first day of the Battle of the Somme 19,000 soldiers of the British Army are killed and 40,000 wounded.

1908  SOS is adopted as the international distress signal.

1898  Spanish–American War: The Battle of San Juan Hill is fought in Santiago de Cuba.

1879 Charles Taze Russell publishes the first edition of the religious magazine The Watchtower.

1874  The Sholes and Glidden typewriter, the first commercially successful typewriter, goes on sale.

1870  The United States Department of Justice formally comes into existence.

 

 

JULY 2

2013  The International Astronomical Union names Pluto’s fourth and fifth moons, Kerberos and Styx.

2013  Reports that Pope John Paul II will be canonized are confirmed as his case awaits approval from Pope Francis, and confirmation of an alleged second miracle from the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

2005  The Live 8 benefit concerts takes place in the G8 states and in South Africa, More than 1,000 musicians performed and are broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks.

1986  Rodrigo Rojas and Carmen Gloria Quintana were burnt alive during a street demonstration against the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in Chile.

1976  Fall of the Republic of Vietnam; Communist North Vietnam declares their union to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

1971  USSR performs underground nuclear test.

1966  The French military explodes a nuclear test bomb codenamed Aldébaran in Mururoa, their first nuclear test in the Pacific.

1964  U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 meant to prohibit segregation in public places.

1962  The first Wal-Mart store opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas.

1958  US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Atoll.

1956  US performs nuclear test at Enwetak (atmospheric tests).

1950  The Golden Pavilion at Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto, Japan burns down.

1940  Hitler gave his first tentative orders regarding a possible invasion of Britain.

1940  Indian independence leader Subhas Chandra Bose is arrested and detained in Calcutta.

1937  Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight.

1934  The Night of the Long Knives ends with the death of Ernst Röhm.

1921  World War I: U.S. President Warren G. Harding signs the Knox–Porter Resolution formally ending the war between the United States and Imperial Germany.

1917  The East St. Louis Riots end.

1900  The first Zeppelin flight takes place on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany.

1897  Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi obtains a patent for radio in London.

1890  The U.S. Congress passes the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

1881  Charles J. Guiteau shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President James Garfield, who eventually dies from an infection on September 19.

1871 Victor Emmanuel II of Italy enters Rome after having conquered it from the Papal States.

1853  The Russian Army crossed the Pruth river into the Danubian Principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia—providing the spark that set off the Crimean War.

1839  Abdülmecid I became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.

For discussions on the contemporary situation on the Middle East, Islam and/or democracy, visit the following websites, among many others:

1839  Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 rebelling African slaves led by Joseph Cinqué take over the slave ship Amistad.

1823  Bahia Independence Day: The end of Portuguese rule in Brazil, with the final defeat of the Portuguese crown loyalists in the province of Bahia.

1822  Thirty-five slaves are hanged in South Carolina, including Denmark Vesey, after being accused of organizing a slave rebellion.

 

 

JULY 3

2013  2013 Egyptian coup d’état: President of Egypt Mohamed Morsi is overthrown by the military after four days of protests all over the country calling for Morsi’s resignation, to which he didn’t respond. President of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt Adly Mansour is declared acting president.

1996  Stone of Scone is returned to Scotland.

1988  The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, providing the second connection between the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus.

1988  United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

1979  U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.

1970  The Troubles: The “Falls Curfew” begins in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

1967  The Aden Emergency: The Battle of the Crater in which the British Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders retake the Crater district following the Arab Police Mutiny.

1952  The Constitution of Puerto Rico is approved by the Congress of the United States.

1944  World War II: Minsk is liberated from Nazi control by Soviet troops during Operation Bagration.

1940  World War II: In order to stop the ships from falling into German hands the French fleet of the Atlantic based at Mers El Kébir, is bombarded by the British fleet, coming from Gibraltar, causing the loss of three battleships: Dunkerque, Provence and Bretagne. One thousand two hundred sailors perish.

1938  United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and lights the eternal flame at Gettysburg Battlefield.

1938  World speed record for a steam railway locomotive is set in England, by the Mallard, which reaches a speed of 125.88 miles per hour (202.58 km/h).

1913  Confederate veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913 reenact Pickett’s Charge; upon reaching the high-water mark of the Confederacy they are met by the outstretched hands of friendship from Union survivors.

1898  Spanish–American War: The Spanish fleet, led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, is destroyed by the U.S. Navy in Santiago, Cuba.

1886  The New York Tribune becomes the first newspaper to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting by hand.

1886  Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent Motorwagen – the first purpose-built automobile.

1884  Dow Jones and Company publishes its first stock average.

1866  Austro-Prussian War is decided at the Battle of Königgratz, resulting in Prussia taking over as the prominent German nation from Austria.

1849  The French enter Rome in order to restore Pope Pius IX to power. This would prove a major obstacle to Italian unification.

1848  Slaves are freed in the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands) by Peter von Scholten in the culmination of a year-long plot by enslaved Africans.

1844  The last pair of great auks is killed.

 

 

JULY 4

2014  The European Banking Authority cautions banks against accepting or trading in virtual currencies such as Bitcoin until such transactions can be regulated by the European Commission; regulators cited the risk of fraud and money laundering.

2013  The Death of Hung Chung-chiu: A Republic of China Army corporal dies under suspicious circumstances while serving a detention sentence during his enlisted service.

2012  The discovery of particles consistent with the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider is announced at CERN.

2009  The Statue of Liberty‘s crown reopens to the public after eight years of closure due to security concerns following the September 11 attacks.

2005  The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1.

1994  Rwandan Genocide: Kigali, the Rwandan capital, is captured by the Rwandan Patriotic Front, ending the genocide in the city.

1987  In France, former Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (a.k.a. the “Butcher of Lyon”) is convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment.

1982  Four Iranian diplomats are abducted by Lebanese militia in Lebanon.

1982  USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

1977  The George Jackson Brigade plants a bomb at the main power substation for the Washington state capitol in Olympia, in solidarity with a prison strike at the Walla Walla State Penitentiary Intensive Security Unit

1976  Israeli commandos raid Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing all but four of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by Palestinian terrorists.

1969  USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

1966  U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law. The act went into effect the next year.

1951  A court in Czechoslovakia sentences American journalist William N. Oatis to ten years in prison on charges of espionage.

1950  Radio Free Europe first broadcasts.

1947  The “Indian Independence Bill” is presented before the British House of Commons, proposing the independence of the Provinces of British India into two sovereign countries: India and Pakistan.

1946  After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attains full independence from the United States.

1943  World War II: In Gibraltar, a Royal Air Force B-24 Liberator bomber crashes into the sea in an apparent accident moments after takeoff, killing sixteen passengers on board; only the pilot survives.

1943  World War II: The Battle of Kursk, the largest full-scale battle in history and the world’s largest tank battle, begins in Prokhorovka village.

1942  World War II: the 250 day Siege of Sevastopol in the Crimea ends when the city falls to Axis forces.

1941  World War II, the Burning of the Riga synagogues: the Great Choral Synagogue in German occupied Riga was burned with 300 Jews locked in the basement.

1941 Nazi troops massacre Polish scientists and writers in the captured Ukrainian city of Lviv.

1939  Huỳnh Phú Sổ founds Hòa Hảo Buddhism.

1934  Leo Szilard patented the chain-reaction design for the atomic bomb.

1918  Bolsheviks killed Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family (Julian calendar date).

1918  World War I: The Battle of Hamel, a successful attack by the Australian Corps against German positions near the town of Le Hamel on the Western Front.

1918  Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI ascended to the throne.

1914  The funeral of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie takes place in Vienna, six days after their assassinations in Sarajevo.

1913  President Woodrow Wilson addresses American Civil War veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913.

1903  Dorothy Levitt is reported as the first English woman to compete in a ‘motor race’.

1903  Philippine–American War officially is concluded.

1894  The short-lived Republic of Hawaii is proclaimed by Sanford B. Dole.

1892  Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, so that year it had 367 days, with two occurrences of Monday, July 4.

1887  The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, joins Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam, Karachi.

1886  The people of France offer the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States.

1881  In Alabama, the Tuskegee Institute opens.

1879  Anglo-Zulu War: The Zululand capital of Ulundi is captured by British troops and burned to the ground, ending the war and forcing King Cetshwayo to flee.

1776  American Revolution: The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress.

 

 

JULY 5

2009  The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered, consisting of more than 1,500 items, is found near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, in Staffordshire, England.

2009  A series of violent riots break out in Ürümqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People’s Republic of China.

2006  North Korea tests four short-range missiles, one medium-range missile and a long-range Taepodong-2. The long-range Taepodong-2 reportedly failed in mid-air over the Sea of Japan.

2004  The first Indonesian presidential election is held.

1999  U.S. President Bill Clinton imposes trade and economic sanctions against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

1996  Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.

1995  The Republic of Armenia adopts its constitution, four years after its independence from the Soviet Union.

1989  Iran–Contra affair: Oliver North is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines and 1,200 hours community service. His convictions were later overturned.

1987  The LTTE uses suicide attacks on the Sri Lankan Army for the first time. The Black Tigers were born and, in the following years, continued to kill with the tactic.

1977  Military coup in Pakistan: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, is overthrown.

1975  Cape Verde gains its independence from Portugal.

1975  Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles title.

1962  Algeria becomes independent from France.

1950  Zionism: The Knesset passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel.

1950  Korean War: Task Force Smith: American and North Korean forces first clash, in the Battle of Osan.

1945  World War II: The liberation of the Philippines is declared.

1943  World War II: German forces begin a massive offensive against the Soviet Union at the Battle of Kursk, also known as Operation Citadel.

1941  World War II: Operation Barbarossa: German troops reach the Dnieper River.

1940  World War II: The United Kingdom and the Vichy France government break off diplomatic relations.

1935  The National Labor Relations Act, which governs labor relations in the United States, is signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1884  Germany takes possession of Cameroon.

1878  The coat of arms of the Baku Governorate is established.

1841  Thomas Cook organises the first package excursion, from Leicester to Loughborough

1833  Admiral Charles Napier vanquishes the navy of the Portuguese usurper Dom Miguel at the third Battle of Cape St. Vincent.

1833  Lê Văn Khôi along with 27 soldiers stage a mutiny taking over the Phiên An citadel, developing into the Lê Văn Khôi revolt against Emperor Minh Mạng.

1814  War of 1812: Battle of Chippawa – American Major General Jacob Brown defeats British General Phineas Riall at Chippawa, Ontario.

1813  War of 1812: Three weeks of British raids on Fort Schlosser, Black Rock and Plattsburgh, New York commence.

1811  Venezuela declares independence from Spain.

1809  The largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Wagram is fought between the French and Austrian Empires.

1803  The Convention of Artlenburg is signed, leading to the French occupation of Hanover (which had been ruled by the British king).

 

______________________________

Satoshi Ashikaga is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment.

(Sources and references: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_29 to July_5; http://www.historyorb.com/events/june/29 to july/5; http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/june_29.html to july_5.html; and other pertinent web sites and/or documents, mentioned above.)

  1. The views expressed in the cited or quoted websites and/or documents in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the author of this article. These websites and/or documents are cited or quoted for academic or educational purposes. Neither the author of this article nor the Transcend Media Service (TMS) is responsible for the contents, information, or whatsoever contained in these websites and/or documents.
  2. One of the primary purposes of this article is to provide the readers with opportunities to think about “peace”, including positive peace and negative peace as well as external/outer peace and internal/inner peace, and more, directly or indirectly, from various angles and/or in the broadest sense, through historical events. It is because this article is prepared specifically for the TMS whose main objective is to address “peace” through peace journalism.

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 29 Jun 2015.

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One Response to “This Week in History”

  1. TRANSCEND MEDIA SERVICE » This Week in History says:
    13 Jul 2015 at 12:05

    […] visit This Week in History: July 1, 2002    The International Criminal Court is established to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes […]

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