This Week in History

HISTORY, 4 Dec 2017

Satoshi Ashikaga – TRANSCEND Media Service

Dec 4-10, 2017

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing… not healing, not curing… that is a friend who cares.”  – Henri Nouwen

 

DECEMBER 04

2013  Xavier Bettel becomes Luxembourg‘s first openly gay Prime Minister.

2006  Six black youths assault a white teenager in Jena, Louisiana.

2005  Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the government to allow universal and equal suffrage.

1998  The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched.

1993  A truce is concluded between the government of Angola and UNITA rebels.

Angolan Civil War:

UNITA:

History of Angola:

Angola:

Foreign Relations of Angola:

Angola and the United Nations:

Economy of Angola:

1992  Somali Civil War: President George H W Bush orders 28,000 U.S. troops to Somalia in Northeast Africa.

1991  Captain Mark Pyle pilots Clipper Goodwill, a Pan American World Airways Boeing 727-221ADV, to Miami International Airport, ending 64 years of Pan Am operations.

History of the Pan American World Airways/Airlines:

1991  Journalist Terry A. Anderson is released after seven years in captivity as a hostage in Beirut. He is the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon.

1988  USSR performs nuclear test (underground) at Novaya Zemlya USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1988:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Underground Nuclear Tests:

Novaya Zemlya Nuclear Test Site:

1984  Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwait Airlines plane, killing four passengers.

History of Hezbollah:

1984  Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Army soldiers kill 107–150 civilians in Mannar.

Sri Lankan Civil War:

History of the Sri Lankan Civil War:

History of Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka:

Foreign Relations of Sri Lanka:

Economy of Sri Lanka:

1982  The People’s Republic of China adopts its current constitution.

CONSTITUTION OF THE PEOPLE’S REUBLIC OF CHINA:

1981  South Africa grants independence to the Ciskei “homeland” (not recognized by any government outside South Africa).

1978  Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco‘s first female mayor. (She will serve until January 8, 1988.)

1977  Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 is hijacked and crashes in Tanjong Kupang, Johor, killing 100.

1977  Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire.

1975  Suriname joins the United Nations.

1971  “The Troubles“: The Ulster Volunteer Force bombs a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast, killing 15 civilians and wounding 17. It was the city’s highest death toll from a single incident during the conflict.

The Troubles of 1971:

Sinn Féin, IRA and the Catholic Church:

1971  The Montreux Casino in Switzerland is set ablaze by someone wielding a flare gun during a Frank Zappa concert; the incident would be noted in the Deep Purple song “Smoke on the Water“.

1971  The Indian Navy attacks the Pakistan Navy and Karachi.

1971  The United Nations Security Council calls an emergency session to consider the deteriorating situation between India and Pakistan.

1969  Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot and killed in their sleep during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.

Black Panther Party:

1967  Vietnam War: US and South Vietnamese forces engage Viet Cong troops in the Mekong Delta.

Vietnam War in 1967:

1962  US performs nuclear test (atmospheric) at Nevada Test Site.

Atmospheric Nuclear Testing at the Nevada Site:

Atmospheric/High-altitude Nuclear Explosion Testing:

Atmospheric Nuclear Tests of the United States and Radioactive Fallout:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

US Nuclear Tests at Nevada Site:

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

1945  By a vote of 65 to 7, the United States Senate approves United States participation in the United Nations. (The UN had been established on October 24, 1945.)

1943  World War II: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes down the Works Progress Administration, because of the high levels of wartime employment in the United States.

1943  World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.

1942  World War II: Carlson’s patrol during the Guadalcanal Campaign ends.

1939  World War II: HMS Nelson is struck by a mine (laid by U-31) off the Scottish coast and is laid up for repairs until August 1940.

1921  The first Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial against Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle ends in a hung jury.

1918  US President Woodrow Wilson sails for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office.

1893  First Matabele War: A patrol of 34 British South Africa Company soldiers is ambushed and annihilated by more than 3,000 Matabele warriors on the Shangani River in Matabeleland.

 

DECEMBER 05

2014  The first flight test of NASA‘s Orion spacecraft launches successfully.

2013  Militants attack a Defense Ministry compound in Sana’a, Yemen, killing at least 56 people and injuring 200 others.

2007  Westroads Mall shooting: A gunman opens fire with a semi-automatic rifle at an Omaha, Nebraska, mall, killing eight people before taking his own life.

2006  Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji.

2005  The Lake Tanganyika earthquake causes significant damage, mostly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

2004  The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect in the United Kingdom, and the first civil partnership is registered there.

1995  Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lankan government announces the conquest of the Tamil stronghold of Jaffna.

Sri Lankan Civil War:

History of the Sri Lankan Civil War:

History of Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka:

Foreign Relations of Sri Lanka:

Economy of Sri Lanka:

1993  The mayor of Vienna, Helmut Zilk, is injured by a letter bomb.

1983  Dissolution of the Military Junta in Argentina.

1982  USSR performs nuclear test (underground) at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

USSR nuclear tests in 1982:

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:

1978  The Soviet Union signs a “friendship treaty” with the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

USSR-Afghanistan Friendship Treaty of 1978:

Foreign Relations of Afghanistan:

Foreign Relations of Afghanistan and the Soviet Union:

Afghan War (1978-1992):

Afghanistan:

Afghanistan and the United Nations:

History of Afghanistan:

Economy of Afghanistan:

1977  Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen. The move is in retaliation for the Declaration of Tripoli against Egypt.

1969  The four node ARPANET network is established.

1969  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:

1964  Lloyd J Old discovered the first linkage between the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and disease—mouse leukemia—opening the way for the recognition of the importance of the MHC in the immune response.

1964  Vietnam War: For his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain Roger Donlon is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war.

Vietnam War in 1964:

Viet Nam War and Some Pertinent Events:

1957  Sukarno expels all Dutch people from Indonesia.

1955  E D Nixon and Rosa Parks lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

1955  The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge and form the AFL–CIO.

1952  Great Smog: A cold fog descends upon London, combining with air pollution and killing at least 12,000 in the weeks and months that follow.

1945  Flight 19 is lost in the Bermuda Triangle.

Bermuda Triangle:

1943  World War II: Allied air forces begin attacking Germany’s secret weapons bases in Operation Crossbow.

1941  World War II: Great Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary and Romania.

1941  World War II: In the Battle of Moscow, Georgy Zhukov launches a massive Soviet counter-attack against the German army, with the biggest offensive launched against Army Group Centre.

1936  The Soviet Union adopts a new constitution and the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic is established as a full Union Republic of the USSR.

Soviet Constitution of 1936:

1934  Abyssinia Crisis: Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Abyssinia, taking four days to capture the city.

1933  Prohibition in the United States ends: Utah becomes the 36th U.S. state to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution, thus establishing the required 75% of states needed to enact the amendment. (This overturned the 18th Amendment which had made the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcohol illegal in the United States.)

1932  German-born Swiss physicist Albert Einstein is granted an American visa.

1931  Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow was destroyed by an order of Joseph Stalin.

1920  Dimitrios Rallis forms a government in Greece.

1865  Chincha Islands War: Peru allies with Chile against Spain.

1848  California Gold Rush: In a message to the United States Congress, U.S. President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California.

1831  Former US President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives.

1815  Foundation of Maceió, Brazil.

 

 

DECEMBER 06

2008  The 2008 Greek riots break out upon the killing of a 15-year-old boy, Alexandros Grigoropoulos, by a police officer.

2006  NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars.

2005  An Iranian Air Force C-130 military transport aircraft crashes into a ten-floor apartment building in a residential area of Tehran, killing all 84 on board and 44 more on the ground.

2005  Several villagers are shot dead during protests in Dongzhou, China.

1997  A Russian Antonov An-124 cargo plane crashes into an apartment complex near Irkutsk, Siberia, killing 67.

1992  The Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, India, is demolished, leading to widespread riots causing the death of over 1,500 people.

1991  In Croatia, forces of the Yugoslav People’s Army bombard Dubrovnik after laying siege to the city since May.

Siege of Dubrovnik of 1991:

1989  The École Polytechnique massacre (or Montreal Massacre): Marc Lépine, an anti-feminist gunman, murders 14 young women at the École Polytechnique in Montreal.

1988  The Australian Capital Territory is granted self-government.

Australian Capital Territory:

1982  The Troubles: The Irish National Liberation Army bombed a pub frequented by British soldiers in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland. It killed eleven soldiers and six civilians.

1978  Spain approves its latest constitution in a referendum.

1977  South Africa grants independence to Bophuthatswana, although it is not recognized by any other country.

1975  The Troubles: Fleeing from the police, a Provisional IRA unit takes a couple hostage in Balcombe Street, London, beginning a six-day siege.

1973  The Twenty-fifth Amendment: The United States House of Representatives votes 387 to 35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States. (On November 27, the Senate confirmed him 92 to 3.)

1971  Pakistan severs diplomatic relations with India following New Delhi’s recognition of Bangladesh.

1969  USSR performs underground nuclear test at Mangystau, Kazakhstan.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1969:

Mangystau:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Underground Nuclear Tests:

1967  Adrian Kantrowitz performs the first human heart transplant in the United States.

1967  USSR performs nuclear test at Sary-Shagan, USSR.

Soviet Nuclear Tests in 1967:

Soviet Nuclear Tests:

Sary-Shagan Test Site:

1957  Project Vanguard: A launchpad explosion of Vanguard TV3 thwarts the first United States attempt to launch a satellite into Earth orbit.

1947  The Everglades National Park in Florida is dedicated.

1941  World War II: The United Kingdom and Canada declare war on Finland in support of the Soviet Union during the Continuation War.

1933  US federal judge John M. Woolsey rules that James Joyce‘s novel Ulysses is not obscene.

1928  The government of Colombia sends military forces to suppress a month-long strike by United Fruit Company workers, resulting in an unknown number of deaths.

1922  One year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Irish Free State comes into existence.

1921  The Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed in London by British and Irish representatives.

1917  World War I: USS Jacob Jones is the first American destroyer to be sunk by enemy action when it is torpedoed by German submarine SM U-53.

1917  Halifax Explosion: A munitions explosion near Halifax, Nova Scotia kills more than 1,900 people in the largest artificial explosion up to that time.

1917  Finland declares independence from Russia.

1916  World War I: The Central Powers capture Bucharest.

1907  A coal mine explosion at Monongah, West Virginia, kills 362 workers.

1904  Theodore Roosevelt articulated his “Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the U.S. would intervene in the Western Hemisphere should Latin American governments prove incapable or unstable.

1897  London becomes the world’s first city to host licensed taxicabs.

1884  The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., is completed.

1877  The first edition of The Washington Post is published.

1865  The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, banning slavery.

1768  The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published.

1745  Charles Edward Stuart‘s army begins retreat during the second Jacobite Rising.

1704  Battle of Chamkaur: During the Mughal-Sikh Wars, an outnumbered Sikh Khalsa defeats a Mughal army.

 

 

DECEMBER 07

2005  Ante Gotovina, a Croatian army general accused of war crimes but later acquitted, is captured in the Playa de las Américas, Tenerife, by Spanish police.

1995  The Galileo spacecraft arrives at Jupiter, a little more than six years after it was launched by Space Shuttle Atlantis during Mission STS-34.

1993  The Long Island Rail Road massacre: Passenger Colin Ferguson murders six people and injures 19 others on the LIRR in Nassau County, New York.

1988  Yasser Arafat recognizes the right of Israel to exist.

PLO’s Recognition of Israel:

Israeli-Palestine Conflict:

Timeline of Israel-Palestine Conflict:

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO):

History of the PLO:

Timeline of the Arab-Israeli War of 1948:

Israel:

Foreign Relations of Israel:

Israel’s Nuclear Capability:

History of Israel:

Zionism Movement:

History of Zionism:

Economy of Israel:

1988  Spitak earthquake: In Armenia an earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale kills more than 25,000, injures 30,000 and leaves 500,000 homeless out of a population of 3,500,000.

Spitak Earthquake:

1983  France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island.

Muruora:

France’s Nuclear Tests:

1982  In Texas, Charles Brooks, Jr., becomes the first person to be executed by lethal injection in the United States.

1975  Indonesian invasion of East Timor: The invasion begins.

Indonesian Invasion of East Timor:

US Approval of Indonesia’s Invasion of East Timor in 1975:

Behind the Invasion: Australia’s Tacit Approval and the UK’s Support:

History of East Timor:

East Timor:

Human Rights of East Timor:

1975  Warschauer Kniefall – German Chancellor Willy Brandt makes a gesture of humility towards the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Willy Brandt:

Willy Brandt’s Apologetic Gesture at Warsaw:

Warsaw Ghetto:

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising:

Willy Brandt, Israel, and the PLO:

Political Apology:

Apologies and Politicians:

1972  Apollo 17, the last Apollo moon mission, is launched. The crew takes the photograph known as The Blue Marble as they leave the Earth.

1972  Imelda Marcos survives an assassination attempt using a bolo knife against her.

1971  Pakistan President Yahya Khan announces the formation of a coalition government with Nurul Amin as Prime Minister and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as Deputy Prime Minister.

1965  Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I simultaneously revoke mutual excommunications that had been in place since 1054.

1949  Prince Rainier III of Monaco revises the principality‘s constitution, devolving some of his power to advisory and legislative councils.

1949  Chinese Civil War: The Government of the Republic of China moves from Nanking to Taipei, Taiwan.

1941  World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor – The Imperial Japanese Navy carries out a surprise attack on the United States Pacific Fleet and its defending Army and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. (For Japan’s near-simultaneous attacks on Eastern Hemisphere targets, see December 8.)

Japan’s Attack on Pearl Harbor:

Declarations of War:

Why Did Japan Attack Pearl Harbor? :

The Path to the War between the United States and Japan in 1941:

Dolus Eventualis (Conscious Negligence) by Churchill and FDR? :

Pertinent YouTube Videos:

1917  World War I: The United States declares war on Austria-Hungary.

United States Declares War on Austro-Hungarian Empire:

World War I:

Causes of World War I:

Austro-Hungarian (Hapsburg) Empire:

History of the Austro-Hungarian (Hapsburg) Empire:

1724  Tumult of Thorn: Religious unrest is followed by the execution of nine Protestant citizens and the mayor of Thorn (Toruń) by Polish authorities.

 

 

DECEMBER 08

2013  Riots break out in Singapore after a fatal accident in Little India.

2009  Bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, kill 127 and injure 448.

2007  Three unidentified gunmen storm an office of Benazir Bhutto‘s Pakistan Peoples Party in Balochistan. Three PPP supporters are killed.

2004  The Cusco Declaration is signed in Cusco, Peru, establishing the South American Community of Nations.

1998  Eighty-one people are killed by armed groups in Algeria.

1991  The Romanian Constitution is adopted in a referendum.

1988  The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine sign an agreement dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States.

1987  An Israeli army tank transporter kills four Palestinian refugees and injures seven others during a traffic accident at the Erez Crossing on the Israel–Gaza Strip border, sparking the First Intifada.

1987  The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed.

Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987:

1982  In Suriname, several opponents of the military government are killed.

History of Suriname:

Suriname:

Foreign Relations of Suriname:

Economy of Suriname:

1980  John Lennon is murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of The Dakota in New York City.

John Lennon:

1976  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:

1974  A plebiscite results in the abolition of monarchy in Greece.

Modern History of Greece:

Abolition of the Greek Monarchy:

1971  Indo-Pakistani War: The Indian Navy launches an attack on West Pakistan‘s port city of Karachi.

Indo-Pakistan War of 1971:

History of the India-Pakistan Wars:

1953  US President Dwight D Eisenhower delivers his “Atoms for Peace” speech, which leads to an American program to supply equipment and information on nuclear power to schools, hospitals, and research institutions around the world.

Atoms for Peace:

1949  The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is established to provide aid to Palestinian refugees who left their homes during the 1948 Palestinian exodus.

1941  World War II: Japanese forces simultaneously invade Shanghai International Settlement, Malaya, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies. (See December 7 for the concurrent attack on Pearl Harbor in the Western Hemisphere.)

1941  World War II: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares December 7 to be “a date which will live in infamy“, after which the U.S. declares war on Japan.

Declarations of War:

Dolus Eventualis (Conscious Negligence) by Churchill and FDR? :

1927  The Brookings Institution, one of the United States’ oldest think tanks, is founded through the merger of three organizations that had been created by philanthropist Robert S. Brookings.

1922  Northern Ireland ceases to be part of the Irish Free State.

1914  World War I: A squadron of Britain’s Royal Navy defeats an inferior squadron of the Imperial German High Seas Fleet in the Battle of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.

1912  Leaders of the German Empire hold an Imperial War Council to discuss the possibility that war might break out.

1854  In his Apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogmatic definition of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Virgin Mary was conceived free of original sin.

1813  Premier of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.

Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony:

 

 

DECEMBER 09

2003  A blast (2003 Red Square Bombing) in the center of Moscow kills six people and wounds several more.

1987  Israeli–Palestinian conflict: The First Intifada begins in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

The First Intifada:

1983  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:

1979  The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first and to date only human disease driven to extinction.

1973  British and Irish authorities sign the Sunningdale Agreement in an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland.

1971  Indo-Pakistani War: The Indian Air Force executes an airdrop of Indian Army units, bypassing Pakistani defense.

History of the India-Pakistan Wars:

1971  The United Arab Emirates join the United Nations.

1969  US Secretary of State William P Rogers proposes his plan for a ceasefire in the War of Attrition; Egypt and Jordan accept it over the objections of the PLO, which leads to civil war in Jordan in September 1970.

1968  Douglas Engelbart gave what became known as “The Mother of All Demos“, publicly debuting the computer mouse, hypertext, and the bit-mapped graphical user interface using the oN-Line System (NLS).

1966  Barbados joins the United Nations.

1965  A Charlie Brown Christmas, first in a series of Peanuts television specials, debuts on CBS.

1965  Kecksburg UFO incident: A fireball is seen from Michigan to Pennsylvania; witnesses report something crashing in the woods near Pittsburgh. In 2005 NASA admits that it examined the object.

1962  The Petrified Forest National Park is established in Arizona.

1961  Tanganyika becomes independent from Britain.

1960  The first episode of Coronation Street, the world’s longest-running television soap opera, is broadcast in the United Kingdom.

1958  The John Birch Society is founded in the United States.

1956  Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, a Canadair North Star, crashes near Hope, British Columbia, Canada, killing all 62 people on board.

1953  Red Scare: General Electric announces that all communist employees will be discharged from the company.

1950  Cold War: Harry Gold is sentenced to 30 years in jail for helping Klaus Fuchs pass information about the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union. His testimony is later instrumental in the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

1948  Genocide Convention is adopted at the UN General Assembly.

Genocide Convention of 1948:

Genocide and International Law:

1946  The Constituent Assembly of India meets for the first time to write the Constitution of India.

1946  The “Subsequent Nuremberg trials” begin with the “Doctors’ trial“, prosecuting physicians and officers alleged to be involved in Nazi human experimentation and mass murder under the guise of euthanasia.

1941  World War II: The American 19th Bombardment Group attacks Japanese ships off the coast of Vigan, Luzon.

1941  World War II: The Republic of China, Cuba, Guatemala, and the Philippine Commonwealth, declare war on Germany and Japan.

1940  World War II: Operation Compass – British and Indian troops under the command of Major-General Richard O’Connor attack Italian forces near Sidi Barrani in Egypt.

1940  Illegal Jewish immigrants to Haifa are deported to Mauritius.

History of Jewish People in Mauritius:

1940  British assault on Banghazi, Libya: first major allied offensive in North Africa.

Libya in World War II:

History of Libya:

1937  Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanking – Japanese troops under the command of Lt. Gen. Asaka Yasuhiko launch an assault on the Chinese city of Nanjing (Nanking).

1931  The Constituent Cortes approves a constitution which establishes the Second Spanish Republic.

1892  Gabriel Narutowicz is elected the first president of Poland.

1917  World War I: Field Marshal Allenby captures Jerusalem, Palestine.

1905  In France, the law separating church and state is passed.

1897  Activist Marguerite Durand founds the feminist daily newspaper La Fronde in Paris.

1888  Statistician Herman Hollerith installs his computing device at the United States War Department.

1875  The Massachusetts Rifle Association, “America’s Oldest Active Gun Club”, is founded.

1856  The Iranian city of Bushehr surrenders to occupying British forces.

 

 

DECEMBER 10

1994  Rwandan Genocide: Maurice Baril, military advisor to the UN Secretary-General and head of the Military Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, recommends that UNAMIR stand down.

Rwandan Genocide:

Discussions on the Rwandan Genocide:

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda:

Genocide Convention of 1948:

1994  Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat.

1993  The last shift leaves Wearmouth Colliery in Sunderland. The closure of the 156-year-old pit marks the end of the old County Durham coalfield, which had been in operation since the Middle Ages.

1990  Mongolian Revolution: At the country’s first open pro-democracy public demonstration, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announces the establishment of the Mongolian Democratic Union.

Mongolian Revolution of 1990:

1983  Democracy is restored in Argentina with the inauguration of President Raúl Alfonsín.

1980  USSR performs underground nuclear test at Khanty-Mansi, Russia.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1980:

Underground Nuclear Tests:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

1979  Kaohsiung Incident: Taiwanese pro-democracy demonstrations are suppressed by the KMT dictatorship, and organizers are arrested.

1978  Arab–Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1976  The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques.

1972  USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalatinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1972:

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:

1968  Japan’s biggest heist, the still-unsolved “300 million yen robbery“, is carried out in Tokyo.

1964  Nobel Peace Prize presented to Dr Martin Luther King Jr. in Oslo.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Awarded Nobel Peace Prize:

1963  Zanzibar gains independence from the United Kingdom as a constitutional monarchy, under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah.

Zanzibar (a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania in East Africa.):

History of Zanzibar:

Economy of Zanzibar:

1961  US performs underground nuclear test at Carlsbad New Mexico (underground).

Project Gnome:

Radiation Leak and Carlsbad:

1949  Chinese Civil War: The People’s Liberation Army begins its siege of Chengdu, the last Kuomintang-held city in mainland China, forcing President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek and his government to retreat to Taiwan.

1948  The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948:

Some Pertinent Resources and/or Information on Human Rights by UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):

History of Human Rights:

Philosophy of Human Rights:

1941  World War II: Battle of the Philippines – Imperial Japanese forces under the command of General Masaharu Homma land on Luzon.

1941  World War II: The Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers near Malaya.

1932  Thailand becomes a constitutional monarchy.

1927  The phrase “Grand Ole Opry” is used for the first time on-air.

1920  US President Woodrow Wilson awarded Nobel Peace Prize.

1909  Selma Lagerlöf becomes the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature

1907  The worst night of the Brown Dog riots in London, when 1,000 medical students clash with 400 police officers over the existence of a memorial for animals that have been vivisected.

1906  US President Theodore Roosevelt wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the mediation of the Russo-Japanese War, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize.

1901  The first Nobel Prizes are awarded.

First Nobel Prizes:

1868  The first traffic lights are installed, outside the Palace of Westminster in London. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps.

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(Sources and references: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/december4 to   december_10; http://www.onthisday.com/events/december/04  to december/10;   http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/december_4.html.   to december_10.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 4 Dec 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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