| On The Way To Today... May 8th |
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| ::darkshadows:: (bat@cave.org) |
2009/05/08 01:17 |
Friday, May 08, 2009
Only 237 days until the Year 2010
Today is:
World Red Cross Day
Today In History
On The Way To Today... May 8th
1429 - The siege of Orleans ended when French troops stormed the
English forts in the Hundred Years War.
1541 - Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto encountered the Mississippi
River, which he called Rio de Espiritu Santo (River of the Saint
Spirit). "Mississippi" is a Native American Ojibwa word that means
"big river." The Spanish explorer died on the shores of the
Mississippi the following year. In his exploration of what is today
the United States, Hernando de Soto sought gold and silver.
1559 - In England, the Act of Supremacy was passed by which the new
Queen Elizabeth I became "Supreme Governor" of the Church of England;
the Act of Uniformity was passed and a Common Prayer book was
introduced.
1792 - President George Washington signed an act that authorized the
mint of the first US copper coins. Individuals involved in using coins
other than the legal cents and half-cents would be penalized with a
$10 fine. These coins were the predecessors of today's pennies.
1794 - French chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier was decapitated in
Paris for his former role as tax collector. Lavoisier, who is
generally regarded as the "founder of modern chemistry," demonstrated
the role of oxygen in chemical processes and made key observations
about respiration.
1811 - The British under the Duke of Wellington defeated the French in
Portugal.
1846 - General Zachary Taylor and his American troops heavily defeated
Mexican forces under General Arista at the Battle of Palo Alto.
1847 - Robert W. Thomson of England patented the rubber tire.
1849 - Pearl of Bermuda, beat the U.S. yacht, Brenda, in the first
recognized international yacht race.
1852 - The Treaty of London was signed by Britain, France, Russia,
Prussia, Austria and Sweden, guaranteeing the integrity of Denmark.
1879 - George Selden of Rochester, New York, applied for the first
automobile patent.
Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia. It was originally used for medicinal
purposes. Three years later, Dr. Pemberton figured that his secret
formula had been enough of a success for him to sell out, for $2,300.
Today, that same formula is still used in a product that sells about
350 million cans and bottles a day in nearly nearly 200 countries.
1902 - Mount Pelee on Martinique erupted and destroyed the town of St
Pierre; over 30,000 people died.
1921 - Sweden abolished capital punishment.
1929 - Norway annexed Jan Mayen island.
1939 - Clay Puett invented a device that is still a common sight at
thoroughbred race tracks around the world. The electric starting gate
was used for the first time to start races at Hollywood Park in
trackside automatically opened the gates. It was set on wheels so that
it could be pulled off the race course quickly. A bell sounds... and
1942 - The Battle of the Coral Sea began and introduced a new form of
naval warfare. U.S. and Japanese forces clashed in the Coral Sea but
opposing ships never faced each other directly. They never even saw
each other. The entire battle was waged by aircraft. The U.S. lost one
carrier, a destroyer and a tanker. Japan lost seven warships,
including a carrier. The net result of the battle was that Japanese
expansion in the Pacific was impeded. This was the first serious
setback for Japan since its entry into World War II (December 7,
1941).
1944 - A Czech-Soviet agreement was signed dealing with possible entry
of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia.
1945 - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill broadcast to the
nation as part of V-E (Victory in Europe) Day celebrations; President
Truman broadcast to the American people.
1945 - King Leopold of Belgium was freed by the U.S. 7th Army.
1945 - German forces surrendered to Soviets.
1973 - The siege of Wounded Knee in South Dakota ended peacefully as
militant Indians who occupied a tiny prairie settlement for almost 10
weeks began to file out and surrender to the authorities.
1975 -U.S. President Gerald Ford reaffirmed American military support
of South Korea after the fall of South Vietnam to Communists.
1977 - In Amsterdam, the trial began of Peter Menten, a Dutch art
dealer and Nazi collaborator accused of murdering Polish Jews in order
to obtain their art collections.
1984 - The Thames Barrier in London, constructed to stem the flow of
the tidal river and prevent flooding, was officially opened.
1984 - The Soviet Union announced it would boycott the Los Angeles
Olympic Games.
1985 - The first cans of New Coke rolled out of bottling and canning
plants on this, the 99th anniversary of Coca-Cola. The 7.4 billion
dollar company realized it had made an incredible goof when it
Coca-Cola.
1989 - In London, a judge fined three national newspapers $250,000 for
publishing excerpts of Spycatcher, a banned book by former security
agent Peter Wright, that detailed British intelligence operations.
1995 - Germans and leaders of the main wartime Allies who defeated
them 50 years ago gathered side by side in Berlin to honor the dead of
World War II.
1996 - South Africa's Constitutional Assembly adopted the country's
permanent post-apartheid constitution.
1996 - Former Nazi SS captain Erich Priebke went on trial in Rome. He
was charged with involvement in the killing of 335 men and boys in
Italy's worst World War II atrocity.
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