Official "This Day In History" thread

[Dr Sardonicus]

April 20

On this day...

In 1898, the United States moved closer to war with Spain as President William McKinley signed a congressional resolution passed the day before recognizing Cuban independence and authorizing U.S. military intervention to achieve that goal.

The Spanish-American War gave rise to the best-known (but almost certainly apocryphal) quotation from William Randolph Hearst, in (an almost certainly fictitious) exchange of telegrams:

W. R. Hearst, New York Journal, N.Y.: "Everything is quiet. There is no trouble here. There will be no war. I wish to return. "Remington."

"Remington, Havana: "Please remain. You furnish the pictures, and I'll furnish the war. "W. R. Hearst."

After the war's end, Rudyard Kipling's poem The White Man's Burden was published in The Times of London on February 4, 1899.

On February 7, 1899, Senator Benjamin Tillman read portions of the poem aloud during Senate deliberations on the treaty ending the war. He argued against our annexing the Philippines:

Those [Filipino] peoples are not suited to our institutions. They are not ready for liberty as we understand it. Why are we bent on forcing upon them a civilization not suited to them, and which only means, in their view, degradation and a loss of self-respect, which is worse than the loss of life itself?

On April 19, 1899, the San Francisco Call published an article quoting Major General William Rufus Shafter as follows:

The Filipino is a suspicious fellow, just like the Cuban. He can't see the good intentions of this Government and he never will until we subjugate him with powder and ball.

I have said before that it may be necessary to kill half the population of the islands in order that the remaining half may be lifted from their semi-barbarity to the civilization we are ready to give them.

Also on this day...

In 1914, the Ludlow Massacre took place when the Colorado National Guard opened fire on a tent colony of striking miners; about 20 (accounts vary) strikers, women and children died.

The Wikipedia page says

The Ludlow Massacre emanated from a labor conflict: the Colorado National Guard and Colorado Fuel and Iron Company guards attacked a tent colony of 1,200 striking coal miners and their families at Ludlow, Colorado, on April 20, 1914, with the National Guard using machine guns to fire into the colony. Approximately twenty-one people, including miners' wives and children, were killed. The chief owner of the mine, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., was widely excoriated for having orchestrated the massacre.

The massacre, the seminal event in the Colorado Coal Wars resulted in the deaths of an estimated twenty-one people; accounts vary. Ludlow was the deadliest single incident in the southern Colorado Coal Strike, which lasted from September 1913 through December 1914. The strike was organized by the miners against coal mining companies in Colorado. The three largest companies involved were Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, owned by the powerful Rockefeller family; Rocky Mountain Fuel Company, and Victor-American Fuel Company.

In retaliation for the massacre at Ludlow, the miners armed themselves and attacked dozens of anti-union establishments over the next ten days, destroying property and engaging in several skirmishes with the Colorado National Guard along a 40-mile front from Trinidad to Walsenburg.[3] An estimated 69 to 199 deaths occurred during the entire strike. Thomas G. Andrews described it as the "deadliest strike in the history of the United States", and it is commonly referred to as the Colorado Coalfield War.

The Ludlow Massacre was a watershed moment in American labor relations. Historian Howard Zinn described this as "the culminating act of perhaps the most violent struggle between corporate power and laboring men in American history". Congress responded to public outrage by directing the House Committee on Mines and Mining to investigate the events.[8] Its report, published in 1915, was influential in promoting child labor laws and an eight-hour work day.
<snip>
Over time, Ludlow has assumed "a striking centrality in the interpretation of the nation's history developed by several of the most important left-leaning thinkers of the twentieth century." Historian Howard Zinn wrote his master's thesis and several book chapters on Ludlow. While in graduate school, George McGovern (1922-2012) wrote his doctoral dissertation on the subject, later published in book form as The Great Coalfield War. He was a historian, former United States Senator and Democratic presidential nominee.

A United States Commission on Industrial Relations (CIR), headed by labor lawyer Frank Walsh, conducted hearings in Washington, DC, collecting information and taking testimony from all the principals, including John D. Rockefeller, Sr. He testified that, even after knowing that guards in his pay had committed atrocities against the strikers, he "would have taken no action" to prevent his hirelings from attacking them. The commission's report suggested many reforms sought by the unions, and provided support for bills establishing a national eight-hour workday and a ban on child labor.

In 1916, the United Mine Workers of America bought the site of the Ludlow tent colony. Two years later, they erected the Ludlow Monument to commemorate those who had died during the strike. The monument was damaged in May 2003 by unknown vandals. The repaired monument was unveiled on June 5, 2005, with slightly altered faces on the statues. On January 16, 2009, the Ludlow tent colony site was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark. The citation describes the Ludlow Massacre as "a pivotal event in American history" and notes that its site is the first of its kind to be investigated by archeologists.

[ewmayer]

Oddly, the onthisday.com entry for 20 Apr omits mention of Hitler being 130 years ago today in 1889. While it might not be a pleasant anniversary to contemplate, it is undoubtedly historic. Maybe some weird form of "we don't want to encourage the crazies" self-censorship. News flash: the crazies probably don't need your site to tell them what Hitler's birthday is. Lots of entries on baseball and the Boston marathon, though!

Also, the Halley's comet close-approach entry I gave yesterday is by no means the closest approach to earth of said comet - that appears to have been in 837, to within 0.03 AU, roughly 13 times the earth/moon distance. Wikipedia:

In 837, Halley's Comet may have passed as close as 0.03 AU (3.2 million miles; 5.1 million kilometres) from Earth, by far its closest approach.[62] Its tail may have stretched 60 degrees across the sky. It was recorded by astronomers in China, Japan, Germany, the Byzantine Empire, and the Middle East.[10] In 912, Halley is recorded in the Annals of Ulster, which state "A dark and rainy year. A comet appeared."

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

Oddly, the onthisday.com entry for 20 Apr omits mention of Hitler being 130 years ago today in 1889. While it might not be a pleasant anniversary to contemplate, it is undoubtedly historic. Maybe some weird form of "we don't want to encourage the crazies" self-censorship. News flash: the crazies probably don't need your site to tell them what Hitler's birthday is.

It is also possible that they wish to avoid being pestered by people accusing them of encouraging the crazies...

[Dr Sardonicus]

April 21

Happy easter!

On this day...

In 1509, England's King Henry VII died; he was succeeded by his 17-year-old son, Henry VIII.

The reign of Henry VIII is well-known enough, I feel no need to elaborate much on it. His marriage to Anne Boleyn had important consequences. First, it resulted in the break with the Catholic Church, and second, it resulted in the birth of a daughter, who became Queen Elizabeth (now known as Elizabeth I).

In 1836, an army of Texans led by Sam Houston defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto, assuring Texas independence.

Thanks in no small part to Santa Anna. According to the Wikipedia page on the battle,

Over the protests of several of his officers, Santa Anna chose to make camp in a vulnerable location, a plain near the San Jacinto River, bordered by woods on one side, marsh and lake on another. The two camps were approximately 500 yards (460 m) apart, separated by a grassy area with a slight rise in the middle. Colonel Pedro Delgado later wrote that "the camping ground of His Excellency's selection was in all respects, against military rules. Any youngster would have done better."

In addition to "Remember the Alamo!" the Texans cried "Remember Goliad!" The Alamo was captured on March 6, 1836. Two weeks later, on March 20, James Fannin and his men surrendered at the Battle of Coleto. They were taken to Goliad. A week later, March 27 (Palm Sunday) almost all of them were killed, on Santa Anna's orders.

In 1926, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II was born in Mayfair, London; she was the first child of The Duke and Duchess of York, who later became King George VI and the Queen Mother.

On her 21st birthday she made the following speech.

On my twenty-first birthday I welcome the opportunity to speak to all the peoples of the British Commonwealth and Empire, wherever they live, whatever race they come from, and whatever language they speak.

Let me begin by saying 'thank you' to all the thousands of kind people who have sent me messages of good will. This is a happy day for me; but it is also one that brings serious thoughts, thoughts of life looming ahead with all its challenges and with all its opportunity.

At such a time it is a great help to know that there are multitudes of friends all round the world who are thinking of me and who wish me well. I am grateful and I am deeply moved.

As I speak to you today from Cape Town I am six thousand miles from the country where I was born. But I am certainly not six thousand miles from home. Everywhere I have travelled in these lovely lands of South Africa and Rhodesia my parents, my sister and I have been taken to the heart of their people and made to feel that we are just as much at home here as if we had lived among them all our lives.

That is the great privilege belonging to our place in the world-wide commonwealth - that there are homes ready to welcome us in every continent of the earth. Before I am much older I hope I shall come to know many of them.

Although there is none of my father's subjects from the oldest to the youngest whom I do not wish to greet, I am thinking especially today of all the young men and women who were born about the same time as myself and have grown up like me in terrible and glorious years of the second world war.

Will you, the youth of the British family of nations, let me speak on my birthday as your representative? Now that we are coming to manhood and womanhood it is surely a great joy to us all to think that we shall be able to take some of the burden off the shoulders of our elders who have fought and worked and suffered to protect our childhood.

We must not be daunted by the anxieties and hardships that the war has left behind for every nation of our commonwealth. We know that these things are the price we cheerfully undertook to pay for the high honour of standing alone, seven years ago, in defence of the liberty of the world. Let us say with Rupert Brooke: "Now God be thanked who has matched us with this hour".

I am sure that you will see our difficulties, in the light that I see them, as the great opportunity for you and me. Most of you have read in the history books the proud saying of William Pitt that England had saved herself by her exertions and would save Europe by her example. But in our time we may say that the British Empire has saved the world first, and has now to save itself after the battle is won.

I think that is an even finer thing than was done in the days of Pitt; and it is for us, who have grown up in these years of danger and glory, to see that it is accomplished in the long years of peace that we all hope stretch ahead.

If we all go forward together with an unwavering faith, a high courage, and a quiet heart, we shall be able to make of this ancient commonwealth, which we all love so dearly, an even grander thing - more free, more prosperous, more happy and a more powerful influence for good in the world - than it has been in the greatest days of our forefathers.

To accomplish that we must give nothing less than the whole of ourselves. There is a motto which has been borne by many of my ancestors - a noble motto, "I serve". Those words were an inspiration to many bygone heirs to the Throne when they made their knightly dedication as they came to manhood. I cannot do quite as they did.

But through the inventions of science I can do what was not possible for any of them. I can make my solemn act of dedication with a whole Empire listening. I should like to make that dedication now. It is very simple.

I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.

But I shall not have strength to carry out this resolution alone unless you join in it with me, as I now invite you to do: I know that your support will be unfailingly given. God help me to make good my vow, and God bless all of you who are willing to share in it.

Happy Birthday, Your Majesty!

[ewmayer]

A few notable events of 22 April:

1056 Supernova Crab nebula last seen by the naked eye

1145 19th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet

1500 Portuguese "discover" what is now known as Brazil

1838 English steamship "Sirius" docks in NYC after crossing the Atlantic, first transatlantic steam passenger service

1884 US recognizes King Leopold II's Congo Free State -- Let the colonial slaughter begin!

1898 1st Spanish-American War action: USS Nashville, takes enemy ship -- The selling of that war to the U.S. populace and government war is a notable historical example of successful propaganda, complete with a false-flag incident based on the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine. Before there was the Tonkin Guld incident, and the "strictly passenger carrying" Lusitania, and Saddam's WMDs, and Assad's poison-gassing (on multiple occasions in the presence of the White Helmets documtarists, no less!) his own people, and Venezuelan dictator-for-life Maduro's storm troopers blowing up aid convoys, there was the Maine.

1970 First Earth Day. Since that day Earth's human population has more than doubled, though the rate of growth has nearly halved.

1991 Intel releases 486SX chip

[kladner]

1991 Intel releases 486SX chi

The first computer in this household ran a 486DX33. It seemed incredibly fast, compared to a friend's 386 machine, and I guess it was, running MSDOS 5.0 and Win 3.1.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_..._i386_and_i486

[masser]

Originally Posted by kladner

The first computer in this household ran a 486DX33. It seemed incredibly fast, compared to a friend's 386 machine, and I guess it was, running MSDOS 5.0 and Win 3.1.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_..._i386_and_i486

The first computer I bought new was a Leading Edge with a 486DX33. Betrayal at Krondor and Win 3.0 seemed so modern.

[Dr Sardonicus]

April 23

On this day...

In 1898, Spain declared war on the United States, which responded in kind two days later.

Hardtack: Tough Through the Ages Warning! Automatic download!

By the way, hardtack made in 1865 too late to be issued to the Union Army was properly stored and issued in 1898 during the Spanish American War.

In 1971, hundreds of Vietnam War veterans opposed to the conflict protested by tossing their medals and ribbons over a wire fence in front of the U.S. Capitol.

Video here.

[Dr Sardonicus]

April 24

On this day...

In 1915, in what's considered the start of the Armenian genocide, the Ottoman Empire began rounding up Armenian political and cultural leaders in Constantinople.

From Frequently Asked Questions about the Armenian Genocide

Why is the Armenian Genocide commemorated on April 24?

On the night of April 24, 1915, the Turkish government placed under arrest over 200 Armenian community leaders in Constantinople. Hundreds more were apprehended soon after. They were all sent to prison in the interior of Anatolia, where most were summarily executed. The Young Turk regime had long been planning the Armenian Genocide and reports of atrocities being committed against the Armenians in the eastern war zones had been filtering in during the first months of 1915. The Ministry of War had already acted on the government's plan by disarming the Armenian recruits in the Ottoman Army, reducing them to labor battalions and working them under conditions equaling slavery. The incapacitation and methodic reduction of the Armenian male population, as well as the summary arrest and execution of the Armenian leadership marked the earliest stages of the Armenian Genocide. These acts were committed under the cover of a news blackout on account of the war and the government proceeded to implement its plans to liquidate the Armenian population with secrecy. Therefore, the Young Turks regime's true intentions went undetected until the arrests of April 24. As the persons seized that night included the most prominent public figures of the Armenian community in the capital city of the Ottoman Empire, everyone was alerted about the dimensions of the policies being entertained and implemented by the Turkish government. Their death presaged the murder of an ancient civilization. April 24 is, therefore, commemorated as the date of the unfolding of the Armenian Genocide.

Curiously, Israel refrains from calling it "genocide".

In his Obersalzberg Speech, Der Fuehrer is supposed to have said (translated, my emphasis)

Our strength consists in our speed and in our brutality. Genghis Khan led millions of women and children to slaughter – with premeditation and a happy heart. History sees in him solely the founder of a state. It's a matter of indifference to me what a weak western European civilization will say about me. I have issued the command – and I'll have anybody who utters but one word of criticism executed by a firing squad – that our war aim does not consist in reaching certain lines, but in the physical destruction of the enemy. Accordingly, I have placed my death-head formation in readiness – for the present only in the East – with orders to them to send to death mercilessly and without compassion, men, women, and children of Polish derivation and language. Only thus shall we gain the living space (Lebensraum) which we need. Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

Curiously, Israel refrains from calling it "genocide".

Not curious at all - by reserving the words "genocide" and "holocaust" to refer strictly to that of the Nazis against European Jewry, the Israeli leadership and the broader Zionist movement are declaring themselves as a singular special class of victim, as in, "our victimization is incomparable to all the others." In the kinds of massive irony history is replete with, modern-day Israel has become a de facto fascist, apartheid regime whose deliberate slow-motion genocide of the Palestinians has more than a little bit in common with the Nazi persecution of the Jews. But there is a rigid taboo against daring mention such things in U.S. politics or the MSM.

======================

A few other notable events of this day:

o 1916 Easter Rising of Irish republicans against British occupation begins in Dublin

o 1921 Under Allies supervision, a plebiscite in the Tyrol favors merging with Germany; unhappy with the outcome, Allies give the area to Italy. [Western democratic values in action!]

o 1932 German national election (NSDAP 36.3% in Prussia)

o 1989 10s of thousands of student strikes in Beijing, China

[Dr Sardonicus]

April 25

On this day...

In 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway opened to shipping.

The Seaway is not responsible for the introduction of the sea lamprey (which got in to Lake Ontario via the Erie Canal, then further via the Welland Canal), but it did allow in alewives, which died by the billions along, e.g. Chicago's shoreline in 1967, causing an appalling stink.

The Seaway, however, has led to the introduction of other invasive species from the discharge of ship ballast. These include zebra and quagga mussels, the spiny waterflea (Bythotrephes longimanus; formerly identified as Bythotrephes cederstroemi), and the river ruffe.