This Week in History

HISTORY, 16 Oct 2017

Satoshi Ashikaga – TRANSCEND Media Service

Oct 16-22, 2017

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have – life itself.”  — Walter Anderson

 

OCTOBER 16

2012  The extrasolar planet Alpha Centauri Bb is discovered.

Alpha Centauri Bb:

2002  Bibliotheca Alexandrina in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, a commemoration of the Library of Alexandria that was lost in antiquity, is officially inaugurated.

Library of Alexandria:

Hypatia of Alexandria:

1998  Former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet is arrested in London on a warrant from Spain requesting his extradition on murder charges.

1996  Eighty-four people are killed and more than 180 injured as 47,000 football fans attempt to squeeze into the 36,000-seat Estadio Mateo Flores in Guatemala City.

1995  The Skye Bridge is opened.

1995  The Million Man March occurs in Washington, D.C.

1993  Anti-Nazism riot breaks out in Welling in Kent, after police stop protesters approaching the British National Party headquarters.

1987  USSR performs nuclear test (underground) at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalatinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1987:

USSR’s Nuclear Tests at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalatinsk:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Underground Nuclear Tests:

Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site:

Health, and Ecological Issues in Kazakhstan/Semipalatinsk:

1986  Reinhold Messner becomes the first person to summit all 14 Eight-thousanders.

1986  US performs nuclear test (underground) at Nevada Test Site.

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1984  Desmond Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Desmond Tutu:

1982  USSR performs underground nuclear test at Astrakhan, Russia.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1982:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Underground Nuclear Tests:

1978  Wanda Rutkiewicz is the first Pole and the first European woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

1978  Karol Wojtyla is elected Pope John Paul II after the October 1978 Papal conclave, the first non-Italian pontiff since 1523.

Karol Wojtyla or Pope John Paul II:

1975  Rahima Banu, a two-year-old girl from the village of Kuralia in Bangladesh, is the last known person to be infected with naturally occurring smallpox.

1975  The Balibo Five, a group of Australian-based television journalists based in the town of Balibo in the then Portuguese Timor (now East Timor), are killed by Indonesian troops.

1973  Henry Kissinger and Lê Đức Thọ are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Henry Kissinger, Lê Đức Thọ and Nobel Peace Prize:

1970  In response to the October Crisis terrorist kidnapping, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau of Canada invokes the War Measures Act.

1968  Yasunari Kawabata becomes the first Japanese person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

1964  Soviet leaders Leonid Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin are inaugurated as General Secretary of the CPSU and Premier, respectively and the collective leadership is established.

1964  China detonates its first nuclear weapon.

China’s Nuclear Weapon Programs:

1958  US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

1951  The first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, is assassinated in Rawalpindi.

1949  The diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic are established.

East Germany and the Soviet Union:

East Germany during the Cold War Era:

1949  Nikolaos Zachariadis, leader of the Communist Party of Greece, announces a “temporary cease-fire”, effectively ending the Greek Civil War.

1946  Nuremberg Trials: Execution of the convicted Nazi leaders of the Main Trial.

Judgements of 1 October 1946:

Nuremberg Military Tribunal:

1945  The Food and Agriculture Organization is founded in Quebec City, Canada.

1943  Holocaust: Raid of the Ghetto of Rome

Jewish People in Rome:

1940  Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto is established.

Warsaw Ghetto:

1939  World War II: First attack on British territory by the German Luftwaffe.

1934  Chinese Communists begin the Long March; it ended a year and four days later, by which time Mao Zedong had regained his title as party chairman.

1923  The Walt Disney Company is founded by Walt Disney and his brother, Roy Disney.

1916  In Brooklyn, New York, Margaret Sanger opens the first family planning clinic in the United States.

1909  William Howard Taft and Porfirio Díaz hold a summit, a first between a US and a Mexican president, and they only narrowly escape assassination.

1906  The Captain of Köpenick fools the city hall of Köpenick and several soldiers by impersonating a Prussian officer.

1905  The Partition of Bengal in India takes place.

1882  The Nickel Plate Railroad opens for business.

1875  Brigham Young University is founded in Provo, Utah.

1869  Girton College, Cambridge is founded, becoming England’s first residential college for women.

1869  The Cardiff Giant, one of the most famous American hoaxes, is “discovered”.

1846  William T. G. Morton first demonstrated ether anesthesia at the Massachusetts General Hospital in the Ether Dome.

1843  Sir William Rowan Hamilton comes up with the idea of quaternions, a non-commutative extension of complex numbers.

1813  The Sixth Coalition attacks Napoleon Bonaparte in the Battle of Leipzig.

1793  The Battle of Wattignies ends in a French victory.

1793  Marie Antoinette, widow of Louis XVI, is guillotined at the height of the French Revolution.

Marie Antoinette:

French Revolution:

A Case Study on Nonviolence: Nonviolence Revolutions vs. the French Revolution:

 

 

OCTOBER 17

2003  The pinnacle is fitted on the roof of Taipei 101, a 101-floor skyscraper in Taipei, allowing it to surpass the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur by 56 meters (184 ft) and become the world’s tallest highrise.

2001  Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze’evi becomes the first Israeli minister to be assassinated in a terrorist attack.

2000  Train crash at Hatfield, north of London, leading to collapse of Railtrack.

1994  Russian journalist Dmitry Kholodov is assassinated while investigating corruption in the armed forces.

1989  1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (7.1 on the Richter scale) hits the San Francisco Bay Area and causes 57 deaths directly (and 6 indirectly).

1982  USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1982:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Novaya Zemlya Nuclear Test Site:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

1979  The Department of Education Organization Act is signed into law creating the US Department of Education and US Department of Health and Human Services.

1979  Mother Teresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Mother Teresa and Her Biography:

Controversies:

1978  USSR performs underground nuclear tests.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1978:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Underground Nuclear Tests:

1977  German Autumn: Four days after it is hijacked, Lufthansa Flight 181 lands in Mogadishu, Somalia, where a team of German GSG 9 commandos later rescues all remaining hostages on board.

1973  OPEC imposes an oil embargo against a number of Western countries, considered to have helped Israel in its war against Egypt and Syria.

OPEC Oil Embargo of 1973:

1970  Montreal: Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labor Pierre Laporte murdered by members of the FLQ terrorist group.

1967  USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalatinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1967:

Soviet Nuclear Tests:

Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site:

Health, and Ecological Issues in Kazakhstan/Semipalatinsk:

1966  Botswana and Lesotho join the United Nations.

Botswana:

Foreign Relations of Botswana:

Botswana and the United Nations:

History of Botswana:

Economy of Botswana:

Lesotho:

Foreign Relations of Lesotho:

Lesotho and the United Nations:

History of Lesotho:

Economy of Lesotho:

1961  Scores of Algerian protesters (some claim up to 400) are massacred by the Paris police at the instigation of former Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, then chief of the Prefecture of Police.

1956  Donald Byrne and Bobby Fischer play a famous chess game called The Game of the Century. Fischer beat Byrne and wins a Brilliancy prize.

1956  The first commercial nuclear power station is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in Sellafield,in Cumbria, England.

1945  Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens becomes Prime Minister of Greece between the pull-out of the German occupation force in 1944 and the return of King Georgios II to Greece.

1945 A massive number of people, headed by CGT, gather in the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, Argentina to demand Juan Perón‘s release. It calls “el día de la lealtad peronista” (peronista loyalty day)

1943  The Holocaust: Sobibór extermination camp is closed.

Sobibór Extermination Camp:

1943  The Burma Railway (Burma–Thailand Railway) is completed.

The Burma Railway or the “Death Railway”:

1941  German troops execute the male population of the villages Kerdyllia in Serres, Greece.

1941  World War II: a German submarine attacks an American ship for the first time in the war.

1940  The body of Communist propagandist Willi Münzenberg found in South France, starting a never-resolved mystery.

1933  Albert Einstein flees Nazi Germany and moves to the United States.

1931  Al Capone is convicted of income tax evasion.

1919  RCA is incorporated as the Radio Corporation of America.

1918  Haitian rebels attack the barracks of the Gendarmerie of Haiti, igniting the Second Caco War

1917  First British bombing of Germany in World War I.

1912  Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia declare war on the Ottoman Empire, joining Montenegro in the First Balkan War.

1907  Guglielmo Marconi‘s company begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service between Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada and Clifden, Ireland.

1905  The October Manifesto issued by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.

1888  Thomas Edison files a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie).

1861  Nineteen people are killed in the Cullin-La-Ringo massacre, the deadliest massacre of Europeans by aborigines in Australian history.

1806  Former leader of the Haitian Revolution, Emperor Jacques I of Haiti is assassinated after an oppressive rule.

1800  Britain takes control of the Dutch colony of Curaçao.

1660  Nine regicides, the men who signed the death warrant of Charles I, are hanged, drawn and quartered.

1604  Kepler’s Supernova: German astronomer Johannes Kepler observes a supernova in the constellation Ophiuchus.

 

 

OCTOBER 18

2007  Karachi bombing: A suicide attack on a motorcade carrying former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto kills 139 and wounds 450 more. Bhutto herself is uninjured.

2004  Myanmar prime minister Khin Nyunt is ousted and placed under house arrest by the State Peace and Development Council on charges of corruption.

2003  Bolivian gas conflict: Bolivian President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, is forced to resign and leave Bolivia.

1991  The Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopts a declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.

Azerbaijan:

Foreign Relations of Azerbaijan:

History of Azerbaijan:

Economy of Azerbaijan:

1989  Peaceful Revolution: Erich Honecker resigns as General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany.

1988  USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalatinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1988:

Soviet Nuclear Tests:

Semipalatinsk Test Site:

1984  USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1984:

1979  USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1979:

1979  USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1979:

Novaya Zemlya Test Site:

1977  German Autumn: a set of events revolving around the kidnapping of Hanns Martin Schleyer and the hijacking of a Lufthansa flight by the Red Army Faction (RAF) comes to an end when Schleyer is murdered and various RAF members allegedly commit suicide.

1975  USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1975:

1968  The US Olympic Committee suspends Tommie Smith and John Carlos for giving a “Black Power” salute during a victory ceremony at the Mexico City games.

1967  The Soviet probe Venera 4 reaches Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet.

1962  US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Johnston Island.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1962:

Nuclear Tests by the United States:

Atmospheric/High-altitude Nuclear Explosion Testing:

Johnston Atoll:

Various Weapons Tests and Storage at Johnston Atoll, and Permanent Contamination:

Atmospheric Nuclear Tests of the United States and Radioactive Fallout:

1954  Texas Instruments announces the first Transistor radio.

1945  A group of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, led by Mario Vargas, Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, stages a coup d’état against president Isaías Medina Angarita, who is overthrown by the end of the day.

1945  The USSR‘s nuclear program receives plans for the United States plutonium bomb from Klaus Fuchs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Atomic Intelligence Incident at Los Alamos:

1944  World War II: Soviet Union begins the liberation of Czechoslovakia from Nazi Germany.

Liberation of Czechoslovakia of 1944:

1929  The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council overrules the Supreme Court of Canada in Edwards v. Canada when it declares that women are considered “Persons” under Canadian law.

1922  The British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) is founded by a consortium, to establish a nationwide network of radio transmitters to provide a national broadcasting service.

1921  The Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic is formed as part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

History of Crimea:

Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and Autonomous Republic of Crimea:

1914  The Schoenstatt Movement is founded in Germany.

1912  First Balkan War: King Peter I of Serbia issues a declaration “To the Serbian People”, as his country joins the war.

First Balkan War:

1898  The United States takes possession of Puerto Rico from Spain.

Puerto Rico:

History of Puerto Rico:

1867  United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day.

Alaska:

History of Alaska:

1860  The Second Opium War finally ends at the Convention of Peking with the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, an unequal treaty.

Opium Wars:

Second Opium War:

1797  Treaty of Campo Formio is signed between France and Austria

 

 

OCTOBER 19

2014  Oort cloud Comet Siding Spring makes a close fly-by the planet Mars passing within 140,000 kilometers.

Comet Siding Spring of 2014:

2007  Philippines: A bomb explosion rocked Glorietta 2, a shopping mall in Makati. The blast killed 11 and injured more than 100 people.

2005  Saddam Hussein goes on trial in Baghdad for crimes against humanity.

Saddam Hussein:

Saddam Hussein’s Trial:

2004  Care International aid worker Margaret Hassan is kidnapped in Iraq.

2003  Mother Teresa is beatified by Pope John Paul II.

Mother Teresa and Her Biography:

Controversies:

Miracles and Mother Teresa:

2001  SIEV X, an Indonesian fishing boat en route to Christmas Island, carrying over 400 asylum seekers, sinks in international waters with the loss of 353 people.

1989  The convictions of the Guildford Four are quashed by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, after they had spent 15 years in prison.

1989  USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1989:

USSR Nuclear Tests:

Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site:

Health, and Ecological Issues in Kazakhstan/Semipalatinsk:

1988  The British government imposes a broadcasting ban on television and radio interviews with members of Sinn Féin and eleven Irish republican and Ulster loyalist paramilitary groups.

1987  Black Monday – the Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 22%, 508 points.

Black Monday of October 1987:

Analysis of and Lessons from the 1987 Black Monday Stock Market Crash:

1987  The United States Navy conducts Operation Nimble Archer, an attack on two Iranian oil platforms in the Persian Gulf.

1986  Samora Machel, President of Mozambique and a prominent leader of FRELIMO, and 33 others die when their Tupolev Tu-134 plane crashes into the Lebombo Mountains.

1984  Roman Catholic priest from Poland, Jerzy Popiełuszko, associated with the Solidarity union, was murdered by three agents of the Polish communist internal intelligence agency.

1976  Battle of Aishiya in Lebanon.

Lebanese Civil War:

Special Tribunal for Lebanon:

Lebanon:

Foreign Relations of Lebanon:

History of Lebanon:

Economy of Lebanon:

1974  Niue becomes a self-governing colony of New Zealand.

Niue:

Foreign Relations of Niue:

History and Culture of Niue:

Economy of Niue:

1973  President Richard Nixon rejects an Appeals Court decision that he turn over the Watergate tapes.

Watergate Scandal:

Watergate Tapes:

1969  The first Prime Minister of Tunisia in twelve years, Bahi Ladgham, is appointed by President Habib Bourguiba.

1966  USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1966:

1960  Cold War: The United States government imposes a near-total trade embargo against Cuba, which remains in effect today.

Trade Embargo against Cuba:

1958  US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

United States Nuclear Tests:

Nevada Test Site:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

1956  The Soviet Union and Japan sign a Joint Declaration, officially ending the state of war between the two countries that had existed since August 1945.

“Potsdam Declaration of July 26, 1945”, and the “San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951”:

Soviet-Japan Joint Declaration of 1956:

Soviet/Russia- Japan Relations:

Territorial Disputes:

1954  First ascent of Cho Oyu.

1950  Iran becomes the first country to accept technical assistance from the United States under the Point Four Program.

1950  The People’s Republic of China joins the Korean War by sending thousands of troops across the Yalu River to fight United Nations forces.

1950  The People’s Liberation Army takes control of the town of Chamdo; this is sometimes called the “Invasion of Tibet”.

Invasion of Tibet by PLA in 1950:

1943  Streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis, is isolated by researchers at Rutgers University.

1943  The cargo vessel Sinfra is attacked by Allied aircraft at Souda Bay, Crete, and sunk. 2,098 Italian prisoners of war drown with it.

1935  The League of Nations places economic sanctions on fascist Italy for its invasion of Ethiopia.

1922  British Conservative MPs meeting at the Carlton Club vote to break off the Coalition Government with David Lloyd George of the Liberal Party.

1921  Portuguese Prime Minister António Granjo and other politicians are murdered in a Lisbon coup.

1917  The Love Field in Dallas is opened.

1914  The First Battle of Ypres begins.

1912  Italy takes possession of Tripoli, Libya from the Ottoman Empire.

1904  Polytechnic University of the Philippines founded as Manila Business School through the superintendence of the American C.A. O’Reilley.

1900  Max Planck, in his house at Grunewald, on the outskirts of Berlin, discovers the law of black-body radiation (Planck’s law).

1866  Venice – Annexion of Veneto and Mantua to Italy – At Hotel Europa, Austria hands over Veneto to France, which hands it immediately over to Italy.

1864  St Albans Raid – Confederate raiders launch an attack on Saint Albans, Vermont from Canada.

1864  Battle of Cedar Creek – Union Army under Philip Sheridan destroys a Confederate Army under Jubal Early.

1822  In Parnaíba; Simplício Dias da Silva, João Cândido de Deus e Silva and Domingos Dias declare the independent state of Piauí.

1813  The Battle of Leipzig concludes, giving Napoleon Bonaparte one of his worst defeats.

1812  Napoleon Bonaparte retreats from Moscow.

1805  Napoleonic Wars: Austrian General Mack surrenders his army to the Grande Armée of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Ulm. 30,000 prisoners are captured and 10,000 casualties inflicted on the losers.

1512  Martin Luther becomes a doctor of theology (Doctor in Biblia).

1466  The Thirteen Years’ War ends with the Second Treaty of Thorn.

 

 

OCTOBER 20

Today is the WORLD OSTEOPOROSIS DAY:

Today is the WORLD STATISTICS DAY:

2011  Libyan Civil War: National Transitional Council rebel forces capture ousted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in his hometown of Sirte and kill him shortly thereafter.

Libyan Civil War of 2011:

Muammar Gaddafi:

History of Libya under Gaddafi:

History of Libya:

Libya and Oil:

1991  “1991 Ueattarkashi earthquake” strikes the Uttarkashi region of India, killing more than 1,000 people.

1983  IBM-PC DOS Version 2.1 released.

IBM Personal Computer DOS Version 2.1:

1982  Nobel prize for economy awarded to George Stigler.

1981  Two police officers and an armored car guard are killed during an armed robbery in Rockland County, New York, carried out by members of the Black Liberation Army and Weather Underground.

1973  “Saturday Night Massacre“: United States President Richard Nixon fires US Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who is finally fired by Robert Bork.

Saturday Night Massacre:

Watergate Scandal:

1973  The Sydney Opera House opens.

1970  Siad Barre declares Somalia a socialist state.

Somalia:

Foreign Relations of Somalia:

History of Somalia:

Economy of Somalia:

1968 Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.

1965  Mass arrests of communists and mass killings in Indonesia.

Mass Purge of Communists and Killings of 1965-1966 in Indonesia:

Indonesia:

Foreign Relations of Indonesia:

Indonesia and the United Nations:

History of Indonesia:

Economy of Indonesia:

1962  People’s Republic of China launches simultaneous offensives in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line, igniting the Sino-Indian War.

Sino-Indian War of 1962:

Causes of the Sino-Indian War of 1962:

1962  US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Johnston Island.

Nuclear Tests by the United States:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Atmospheric/High-altitude Nuclear Explosion Testing:

Johnston Atoll:

Various Weapons Tests and Storage at Johnston Atoll, and Permanent Contamination:

Atmospheric Nuclear Tests of the United States and Radioactive Fallout:

1961  The Soviet Union performs the first armed test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, launching an R-13 from a Golf-class submarine.

First Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile of the Soviet Union:

1952  Governor Evelyn Baring declares a state of emergency in Kenya and begins arresting hundreds of suspected leaders of the Mau Mau Uprising, including Jomo Kenyatta, the future first President of Kenya.

1951  The “Johnny Bright incident” occurs in Stillwater, Oklahoma

1947  United States of America and Islamic Republic of Pakistan establish diplomatic relations for the first time.

United State-Pakistan Relations:

Foreign Relations of Pakistan:

Pakistan:

History of Pakistan:

Economy of Pakistan:

1947  The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of Hollywood, resulting in a blacklist that prevents some from working in the industry for years.

1946  Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam decides that October 20 is Vietnam Women’s Day.

Women in Vietnam:

Women and the Vietnam War:

Women’s Status in Vietnam:

1944 United States 6th Army land on the eastern Philippine island of Leyte.   A few hours later, American general Douglas MacArthur land at Palo, Leyte, to fulfill his promise to return to the Philippines when he commands an Allied assault on the islands, reclaiming them from the Japanese during the Second World War.

Philippines during World War II:

Timelines of the Philippines in World War II:

History of the Philippines:

Philippines:

Foreign Relations of the Philippines:

Economy of the Philippines:

1944  Liquid natural gas leaks from storage tanks in Cleveland, then explodes; the explosion and resulting fire level 30 blocks and kill 130.

1944  The Soviet Army and Yugoslav Partisans liberate Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia

1941  World War II: Thousands of civilians in Kragujevac in German-occupied Serbia are murdered in the Kragujevac massacre.

See also “OCTOBER 21, 1941 World War II: In Kragujevac, Serbia, German Wehrmacht soldiers butcher about 7,000 citizens, including schoolchildren and professors.”

Kragujevac Massacre of 1941:

1939  Pope Pius XII publishes his first major encyclical entitled Summi Pontificatus.

1935  The Long March, a mammoth retreat undertaken by the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party a year prior, ends.

1904  Chile and Bolivia sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, delimiting the border between the two countries.

1883  Peru and Chile sign the Treaty of Ancón, by which the Tarapacá province is ceded to the latter, bringing an end to Peru’s involvement in the War of the Pacific.

1827  Battle of Navarino: a combined Turkish and Egyptian armada is defeated by British, French, and Russian naval force in the port of Navarino in Pylos, Greece.

1818  The Convention of 1818 signed between the United States and the United Kingdom which, among other things, settles the Canada–United States border on the 49th parallel for most of its length.

Convention of 1818:

1805  General Mack‘s army surrender to Napoleon I at Ulm after a few skirmishes.

1740  Maria Theresa takes the throne of Austria. France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony refuse to honor the Pragmatic Sanction and the War of the Austrian Succession begins.

 

 

OCTOBER 21

2013  Record smog closes schools, roadways, and the airport in Harbin, China.

China Smog Emergency:

2005  Images of the dwarf planet Eris are taken and subsequently used in documenting its discovery by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz.

Dwarf Planet Eris:

1994  North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea and the United States sign an agreement that requires North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons program and agree to inspections.

Agreed Framework between the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea of October 21, 1994:

1987  Jaffna hospital massacre is carried out by Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 70 ethnic Tamil patients, doctors and nurses.

Jaffna Hospital Massacre:

1986  In Lebanon, pro-Iran kidnappers claim to have abducted American writer Edward Tracy (he is released in August 1991).

1983  The metre is defined at the seventeenth General Conference on Weights and Measures as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.

1981  Andreas Papandreou becomes Prime Minister of Greece, ending an almost 50-year-long system of power dominated by conservative forces.

1979  Moshe Dayan resigns from the Israeli government because of strong disagreements with Prime Minister Menachem Begin over policy towards the Arabs.

Moshe Dayan:

1978  Australian civilian pilot Frederick Valentich vanishes in a Cessna 182 over the Bass Strait south of Melbourne, after reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft.

1977  The European Patent Institute is founded.

1975  USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1975:

Novaya Zemlya Test Site:

1973  John Paul Getty III‘s ear is cut off by his kidnappers and sent to a newspaper in Rome; it doesn’t arrive until November 8.

1971  USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Test in 1971:

Soviet Nuclear Tests:

Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site:

Health, and Ecological Issues in Kazakhstan/Semipalatinsk:

1970  Nobel prize of peace awarded to Norman E Borlaugh.

1969  A coup d’état in Somalia brings Siad Barre to power and establishes a socialist republic in Somalia.

1967  Vietnam War: More than 100,000 war protesters gather in Washington, D C. A peaceful rally at the Lincoln Memorial is followed by a march to The Pentagon and clashes with soldiers and United States Marshals protecting the facility. Similar demonstrations occurred simultaneously in Japan and Western Europe.

Vietnam War in 1967:

Anti-Viet Nam War Movement or Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War:

1966  Aberfan disaster: A slag heap collapses on the village of Aberfan in Wales, killing 144 people, mostly schoolchildren.

1965  Nobel prize for chemistry awarded to Robert B Woodward.

1965  Comet Ikeya-Seki approaches perihelion, passing 450,000 kilometers (279,617 miles) from the sun.

1961  USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan, USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1961:

Soviet Nuclear Tests:

1959  US President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order transferring Wernher von Braun and other German scientists from the United States Army to NASA.

Nazi Engineer Wernher von Braun:

1959  In New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, opens to the public.

1956 Mau Mau Uprising: Kenyan rebel leader Dedan Kimathi is captured by the British Army, signalling the ultimate defeat of the rebellion, and essentially ending the British military campaign.

1950  Korean War: Heavy fighting begins between British and Australian forces from the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade and the North Korean 239th Regiment during the Battle of Yongju.

Korean War Timelines:

1945  Women’s suffrage: Women are allowed to vote in France for the first time.

French Women’s Rights:

Women’s Suffrage:

1944  World War II: Battle of Aachen — The city of Aachen falls to American forces after three weeks of fighting, making it the first German city to fall to the Allies.

1944  World War II: Nemmersdorf massacre against the German civilians takes place.

Nemmersdorf Massacre:

1943 The Provisional Government of Free India is formally declared by Subhas Chandra Bose.

Declaration of the Provisional Government of Free India:

1941  World War II: In Kragujevac, Serbia, German Wehrmacht soldiers butcher about 7,000 citizens, including schoolchildren and professors.

Kragojevac Massacre of 1941:

1940  The first edition of the Ernest Hemingway novel For Whom the Bell Tolls is published.

1931  The Sakurakai, a secret society in the Imperial Japanese Army, launches an abortive coup d’état attempt.

1921  President Warren G. Harding delivers the first speech by a sitting U.S. President against lynching in the deep South.

1912  First Balkan War: Kardzhali is liberated by Bulgarian forces.

Kardzhali:

Balkan Wars:

First Balkan War:

1895  The Republic of Formosa (Taiwan) collapses as Japanese forces invade.

Japanese Invasion of Taiwan:

Taiwan (Formosa) or the “Republic of China”:

History of Taiwan:

Foreign Relations of Taiwan:

Economy of Taiwan:

1888  Foundation of the Swiss Social Democratic Party.

1879  Thomas Edison invents a workable electric light bulb at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J. which was tested the next day and lasted 13.5 hours. This would be the invention of the first commercially practical incandescent light. Popular belief is that he invented the first light bulb, which he did not.

1867  Manifest Destiny: Medicine Lodge Treaty – Near Medicine Lodge, Kansas a landmark treaty is signed by southern Great Plains Indian leaders. The treaty requires Native American Plains tribes to relocate to a reservation in western Oklahoma.

1854  Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses are sent to the Crimean War.

Florence Nightingale:

1816  The Penang Free School is founded in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, by the Rev Hutchings, the oldest English-language school in Southeast Asia. The Penang Free School is founded in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, by the Rev Hutchings, the oldest English-language school in Southeast Asia.

1805  Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Trafalgar: A British fleet led by Vice Admiral Lord Nelson defeats a combined French and Spanish fleet off the coast of Spain under Admiral Villeneuve, signaling almost the end of French maritime power and leaves Britain’s navy unchallenged until the 20th century.

 

 

OCTOBER 22

Today is the INTERNATIONAL STUTTERING AWARENESS DAY:

2013  The Australian Capital Territory becomes the first Australian jurisdiction to legalize same-sex marriage with the Marriage Equality (Same Sex) Act 2013

2008  India launches its first unmanned lunar mission Chandrayaan-1.

2007  Raid on Anuradhapura Air Force Base is carried out by 21 Tamil Tiger commandos. All except one died in this attack. Eight Sri Lanka Air Force planes are destroyed and 10 damaged.

2006  A Panama Canal expansion proposal is approved by 77.8% of voters in a National referendum held in Panama.

1999  Maurice Papon, an official in the Vichy France government during World War II, is jailed for crimes against humanity.

1987  US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

United States Nuclear Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1981  The United States Federal Labor Relations Authority votes to decertify the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization for its strike the previous August.

1978  Papal inauguration of Pope John Paul II.

Papal Inauguration of Pope John Paul II:

Karol Wojtyla or Pope John Paul II:

1976  Red Dye No. 4 is banned by the US Food and Drug Administration after it is discovered that it causes tumors in the bladders of dogs. The dye is still used in Canada.

1975  The Soviet unmanned space mission Venera 9 lands on Venus.

1972  Vietnam War: In Saigon, Henry Kissinger and South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu meet to discuss a proposed cease-fire that had been worked out between Americans and North Vietnamese in Paris.

Vietnam War in 1972:

Peace Negotiations for the Vietnam War:

1968  Apollo program: Apollo 7 safely splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean after orbiting the Earth 163 times.

1966  The Soviet Union launches Luna 12.

1964  Jean-Paul Sartre is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, but turns down the honor.

Jean-Paul Sartre’s Refusal of the Nobel Prize in Literature:

1962  Cuban Missile Crisis: US President John F Kennedy, after internal counsel from Dwight D. Eisenhower, announces that American reconnaissance planes have discovered Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba, and that he has ordered a naval “quarantine” of the Communist nation.

Cuban Missile Crisis:

Timeline of the Cuban Missile Crisis:

1957  Vietnam War: First United States casualties in Vietnam.

Vietnam War Timelines:

1946  Soviet Operation Osoaviakhim takes place, recruiting of thousands of military-related technical specialists from the Soviet occupation zone of post-World-War-II Germany for employment in the Soviet Union.

1943  World War II: in the Second firestorm raid on Germany, the Royal Air Force conducts an air raid on the town of Kassel, killing 10,000 and rendering 150,000 homeless.

1942  Allies confer secretly about Operation Torch.

1941  World War II: French resistance member Guy Môquet and 29 other hostages are executed by the Germans in retaliation for the death of a German officer.

Guy Môquet:

1928  Phi Sigma Alpha fraternity is founded at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus.

1927  Nikola Tesla introduces six new inventions including a motor with single-phase electricity

Nikola Tesla:

1924  Toastmasters International is founded.

1923  The royalist Leonardopoulos–Gargalidis coup d’état attempt fails in Greece, discrediting the monarchy and paving the way for the establishment of the Second Hellenic Republic.

1907  Panic of 1907: A run on the stock of the Knickerbocker Trust Company sets events in motion that will lead to a depression.

1879  Using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric incandescent light bulb (it lasted 13½ hours before burning out).

1875  First telegraphic connection in Argentina.

1866  A plebiscite ratifies the annexion of Veneto and Mantua to Italy, occurred three days before, on October 19.

1859  Spain declares war on Morocco.

Hispano-Moroccan War:

History of Morocco:

1797  André-Jacques Garnerin makes the first recorded parachute jump from one thousand meters (3,200 feet) above Paris.

First Parachutist:

1790  Warriors of the Miami tribe under Chief Little Turtle defeat United States troops under General Josiah Harmar at the site of present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the Northwest Indian War.

________________________________________

(Sources and references: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/october16    to_october_22; http://www.onthisday.com/events/october/16     to october/22;   http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/october_16.html.   to october_22.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”.

Satoshi Ashikaga, having worked as researcher, development program/project officer, legal protection/humanitarian assistance officer, human rights monitor-negotiator, managing-editor, and more, prefers a peaceful and prudent life, especially that in communion with nature.  His previous work experiences, including those in war zones and war-torn zones, remind him of the invaluableness of peace.  His interest and/or expertise includes international affairs, international law, jurisprudence, economic and business affairs, project/operations or organizational management, geography, history, the environmental/ecological issues, science and technology, visual/audio documentation of nature and culture, and more. Being a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment, he is currently compiling This Week in History on TMS.

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 16 Oct 2017.

Anticopyright: Editorials and articles originated on TMS may be freely reprinted, disseminated, translated and used as background material, provided an acknowledgement and link to the source, TMS: This Week in History, is included. Thank you.

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