Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: RaderOfTheLostArk Sep 9 2017, 04:33 AM

It seems like there isn't a precedent for a thread such as this in this corner of the Internet, so I thought it would be interesting and fun to make this. Hopefully this is kept going every so often.

What happened on this day in history? Can be just about anything (within the rules and within reason, of course): birthday, deaths, premieres, releases of movies/video games/books/whatever, etc.

I'll start us off. Today in history:

Birthdays:
Richard the Lionheart (1157)
Peter Sellers (1925)
Patsy Cline (1932)

Apparently Star Trek also premiered on NBC in 1966 and Michelangelo debuted his statue of David in Florence in 1504 on this day.

EDIT: information courtesy of http://www.onthisday.com/

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Sep 9 2017, 05:05 AM

Ooh ok! Khajiit will add that, according to http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history site, on this day in 1900 a hurricane devastated Galveston Texas. Thought this was timely given the weather lately.

Posted by: RaderOfTheLostArk Sep 9 2017, 05:32 AM

Oops, meant to add what site I got it from. Information was courtesy of http://www.onthisday.com/

And speaking of hurricanes, good ol' Irma is just about ready to slam into us here in Florida. Going to be a brutal one. I think too many people are either panicking too much (the amount of supplies some people are stocking up on is ridiculous) or not taking this storm seriously enough. I can understand greater apprehension from people in coastal areas, though. But overall I think a balance ought to be struck. Be prepared and be safe, but don't treat it like it is the end of the world.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Sep 9 2017, 05:35 AM

Oh you are in Florida (Khajiit probably should have known that)? Well you be safe! Are you inland or in a coastal area?

Posted by: RaderOfTheLostArk Sep 9 2017, 05:44 AM

Eh, no worries. I've only mentioned it a couple times in passing, so it wasn't like I made a huge deal about it. Come on, Khajiit!

I'm way inland where I am right now, so it likely won't be as bad as it could be. The rest of my family is closer to the coast, but they're not that close to it. They aren't in a mandatory evacuation zone, so that's a plus.

Posted by: Decrepit Sep 11 2017, 09:52 PM

It just now comes to me that this is 9/11. Yes, the day Piedmont, Italy, is annexed by France.

Posted by: Dark Reaper Sep 11 2017, 10:24 PM

9-11 the day that pretty much changed America.

Posted by: RaderOfTheLostArk Sep 12 2017, 03:35 AM

Indeed. May we remember all those who perished.

Posted by: RaderOfTheLostArk Sep 26 2017, 06:12 PM

On this day in 1960, the first-ever televised U.S. presidential debate took place. It was between JFK and Nixon. A common saying regarding it goes, "If you listened to the debate, Nixon won. If you watched the debate, Kennedy won." The make-up done for JFK was a lot better than that for Nixon, and he just looked more comfortable than Nixon did.

Also apparently on this day, in 1580 Francis Drake returned to England after completing his circumnavigation of the globe.

Posted by: Acadian Sep 26 2017, 06:15 PM

Nice history tidbits. Thanks!

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Sep 26 2017, 06:18 PM

Khajiit cares little for presidential debates, but global circumnavigation in an age of sail? That is a story of the triumph of the human spirit if ever there was one! That took cajones back then!

Posted by: RaderOfTheLostArk Dec 4 2017, 08:11 PM

According to onthisday.com, the Native American tribal leader Crazy Horse was born today back in 1840. There is Mt. Rushmore-like monument that has been in the works for a long time in South Dakota, and while it's far from finished it is still a neat place to go visit. I went there back in 2006, IIRC, along with seeing Mt. Rushmore, Deadwood, and The Badlands.

And on this day in 1892, the Spanish dictator and general Francisco Franco was born. His coup in 1936 basically kickstarted the Spanish Civil War. Although he received support from Hitler and Mussolini, Franco never came to an agreement with Hitler regarding World War II and as a result Spain didn't enter that war.

Some other significant events:
1783 - George Washington bid farewell to his officers in the Continental Army, returning to civilian life
1945 - the U.S. Senate approves participation in the United Nations
1997 - for anyone who follows the NBA, Latrell Sprewell was suspended a whole year for choking P. J. Carlesimo

Posted by: ghastley Dec 4 2017, 11:02 PM

This news just in: Generalissimo Franco is still dead.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Dec 4 2017, 11:30 PM

The dead staying dead is certainly good news...

Anyway, very interesting tidbits Rader.

Posted by: ghastley Dec 5 2017, 12:40 AM

Khajiit is not familiar with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalissimo_Francisco_Franco_is_still_dead?

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Dec 5 2017, 12:48 AM

No Khajiit has never seen that. Sorry.

Posted by: RaderOfTheLostArk Dec 5 2017, 03:11 AM

Thank you, Khajiit. If I remember to post, there are some very interesting birthdays tomorrow.



Lol, I had never heard of that one before. Thanks for the link. You could easily make a similar gag regarding some celebrities, etc. these days too.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Dec 5 2017, 03:33 AM

Should be some good stuff coming up on the 7th too!

Posted by: RaderOfTheLostArk Dec 5 2017, 08:21 PM

Today we have several big-name birthdays in history (and some that perhaps wouldn't be considered big names anymore).

1782 - Martin Van Buren - 8th President of the United States (1837-1841)
1839 - George Custer - Yes, the Custer most famous for "Custer's Last Stand," that, as you would imagine from the name, didn't go so well for him
1901 - Walt Disney - Don't think a quick explanation of who he was is necessary
1947 - Jim Plunkett - Former NFL quarterback, Oakland Raiders

Other important events from history:
771 - Charlemagne became the sole King of the Franks after his brother Carloman I died
1849 - Then-U.S. President James Polk triggered the Gold Rush of 1849 by confirming the discovery of gold in them hills in California
1933 - 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified, which repealed the 18th Amendment (Prohibition)
1955 - The beginning of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, started in the wake of the arrest of Rosa Parks
1974 - Final episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus aired on BBC (great show, for anyone who hasn't seen it)

Posted by: RaderOfTheLostArk Apr 23 2018, 08:55 PM

Didn't realize it had been that long since there was a post in this thread.

Birthdays on this day in history:
1564 - William Shakespeare - Little known playwright who you have probably never heard of
1791 - James Buchanan - 15th President of the U.S. (1857-1861), preceded Abraham Lincoln, a large amount of blame is often put on him by historians for the U.S. Civil War
1858 - Max Planck - German physicist and father of quantum physics
1928 - Shirley Temple - child actress who later became a U.S. ambassador and first female Chief of Protocol of the U.S.

Major events in history:
1014 - King Brian Boru of Ireland defeats Viking forces at the Battle of Clontarf, freeing Ireland from their control
1661 - Charles II crowned the king of England
1861 - Robert E. Lee named the commander of Virginia Confederate forces in the U.S. Civil War
1945 - The Flossenburg concentration camp is liberated
1954 - Hank Aaron, MLB Hall of Famer, hits his 1st home run of career total 755 (Barry Bonds will is not the home run king)
2009 - Gamma ray burst (GRB) 090423 observed for 10 seconds; it is the most distant object of any kind, and also the oldest known object in the universe

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Apr 23 2018, 09:18 PM

Woot!!

Posted by: RaderOfTheLostArk Aug 5 2018, 04:17 AM

Wow, been quite some time since I last posted on this thread. A bunch of stuff incoming.

Today's birthdays in history:
1521 - Pope Urban VII - shortest papacy in history due to dying of malaria a mere 12 days into his tenure
1821 - Louis Vuitton - founder of the Louis Vuitton brand of leather goods
1821 - James Springer White - co-founder of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church
1900 - Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother - unexpectedly became queen of England upon Edward VIII's abdication of the throne (also lived to be 101 years old)
1901 - Louis Armstrong - jazz musician (cue "What a Wonderful World")
1921 - Maurice "Rocket" Richard - Canadian hockey player and NHL Hall of Famer
1955 - Billy Bob Thornton - actor
1961 - Barack Obama - 44th President of the United States
1981 - Meghan Markle - now Duchess of Sussex

Major events on this day in history
1735 - John Peter Zenger, a journalist in New York City, is accused of libel when he printed his disagreements with the colonial governor of New York. The jury acquitted him, and the case is seen as an early victory for freedom of the press.
1789 - During the French Revolution, the National Constituent Assembly meets and issues the first decrees that abolish centuries of feudalism in France.
1821 - A Russian Antarctic expedition returns after becoming the first to circumnavigate Antarctica.
1873 - Lt. Col. George Custer and his U.S. 7th Cavalry clash with the Sioux for the first time.
1892 - The murderer Lizzie Borden is arrested.
1914 - During World I, Germany declares war on Belgium and Britain declares war on Germany.
1944 - Anne Frank is arrested by German Security Police following a tip-off from an informer who was never identified.
1956 - Elvis Presley releases the song "Hound Dog."
1962 - Nelson Mandela is captured by South African police.
1964 - The Gulf of Tonkin incident occurs.

Whew, there is a lot more that could be added here, but I have too much already. I'll have to cap each section at, like, 5 entries in the future.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Aug 5 2018, 02:22 PM

Is it safe to assume God didn’t approve of the appointment?


Take that Flat Earth people!

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 5 2018, 04:49 PM

Eratosthenes figured out the Earth was round 2200 years ago, and measured the Earth's circumference with just a pair of sticks.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Aug 5 2018, 04:50 PM

Tell that to the Flat Earth people

Posted by: Kane Aug 6 2018, 01:58 PM

Don't get me started on flat earthers.

Posted by: ghastley Aug 6 2018, 02:43 PM

Eratosthenes made the assumption that the sun was infinitely far away, and so the rays from it would be parallel. He could equally have used the same numbers to determine the distance of the sun from a flat earth.

And then there's the assumption that light travels in straight lines. What if the luminiferous ether is curved? Or the atmosphere is acting like a lens, if you don't want to go that far. That would make both conclusions dubious.

You can probably fit any individual observation to a flat earth theory, but putting them all together gets tricky fast.

Posted by: Kane Aug 7 2018, 02:48 PM

Gesundheit.

Posted by: mirocu Dec 1 2018, 08:48 AM

300 years ago yesterday our greatest king, Karl XII, died in wartime against the Norwegians. He was right at the front and when turning to his men, he took a projectile on the side of his head. His death marked the end of that war and the end of Sweden's great time of power.


His final words were "Do not be afraid"

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Dec 1 2018, 03:59 PM

Well, [censored]. Khajiit is guessing there was plenty of reason to be afraid.

Posted by: mirocu Dec 1 2018, 04:23 PM

He was a great king, military strategist and leader and thus knew how to inspire his men

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Dec 1 2018, 04:33 PM

You said his death marked the end of the war, but did his troops actually fight the battle or did they immediately surrender?

Posted by: mirocu Dec 1 2018, 04:49 PM

From what I understand, without their prime commander they wouldn't fight on and returned home. Different times and all that. Unsure what happened immediately after that but we didn't get Norway that's for sure

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Dec 1 2018, 05:15 PM

So don’t mess with Norway, ey?

Posted by: mirocu Dec 1 2018, 07:30 PM

We never not mess with them

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Dec 1 2018, 08:14 PM

Well no wonder they hate you

Posted by: RaderOfTheLostArk Aug 15 2019, 03:19 PM

Well, here's something we haven't done in a while. Let's see some of the things that happened on this day, August 15th, in history. Lots of interesting things happened, but the list will have to be whittled down.

Events:
1457 - Earliest dated book, "Mainz Psalter," completed
1548 - Mary Queen of Scotland arrives in France, aged 6
1620 - Mayflower sets sail from Southampton, England, with 102 Pilgrims
1900 - The Boxer Rebellion
1918 - 1st full length cartoon (Sinking of Lusitania)
1939 - "The Wizard of Oz", American musical fantasy film directed by Victor Fleming and King Vidor, premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood
1945 - Victory over Japan Day, when Japan surrendered to end WWII (due to time zones 14th Aug in the Americas)
1947 - India gains independence from Great Britain
1969 - Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in New York State on Max Yasgur's Dairy Farm
1971 - Bahrain gains independence from Britain
1979 - "Apocalypse Now" is released in theaters
1993 - Nolan Ryan, 324th & final victory, Rangers 4, Indians 1 (he was a pitcher in the MLB in the U.S.)

Births:
1769 - Napolean Bonaparte
1890 - Elizabeth Bolden, American Supercentenarian (she was the oldest verified person in the world at the time of her death in 2006)
1912 - Julia Child
1964 - Melinda Gates


Well, this still turned out to be a long list, but whatever.

Source: https://www.onthisday.com/today/events.php