News

Men in History Today

1880        Tsar Alexander II of Russia survived an assassination attempt

1883        A. Ashwell patented a free toilet in London

1901        Carles Casagemas Spanish painter and close friend of Picasso, shot himself in front of Germaine Pichot.
1905        Russia’s Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich the brother of Tsar Alexander III, was assassinated by a terrorist bomb at the Kremlin.
1909        Apache chief Geronimo died of pneumonia at age 80, while still in captivity at Fort Sill, Oklahoma
1911        The 1st hydroplane flight to & from a ship was made by Glenn Curtiss in San Diego.

1933        Newsweek magazine was first published by Thomas J.C. Martyn under the title “News-Week.”
1937        Nearly at the end of the four years of construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, 10 construction workers lost their lives when a section of scaffold fell through a safety net. When construction began on the 35-million-dollar bridge spanning the Golden Gate Strait between San Francisco and Marin County, Chief Engineer Joseph B. Strauss was determined to use the most rigorous safety precautions available. Protective hardhats and glare-free goggles were required and special diets were developed to combat dizziness. But it was the safety net strung under the bridge during construction that saved the lives of 19 men who became known as the “Half-Way-to-Hell” Club. Until February 17, 1937, only one life had been lost during construction. The Golden Gate Bridge opened to vehicular traffic on May 28, 1937.

1951       FBI director J. Edgar Hoover initiated a secret nationwide program intended to remove politically suspect employees from their jobs. Congress never authorized the “Responsibilities Program” and over 4 years it provided governors of nearly every state verbal reports on the political backgrounds of 908 employees.

1953       Baseball star and pilot Ted Williams was uninjured as his plane was shot down in Korea.

1960       Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in the Alabama bus boycott

1962       Beach Boys introduced a new musical style with their hit “Surfin.”.

1966       Alfred P. Sloan Jr. former president GM (1923-1956), died. As president of GM he brought in corporate management, introduced the ideas of model changes and offering a car “for every purse and purpose.” In 2002 David Farber authored “Sloan Rules.”

1972       Giulio Andreotti (1919-2013) began serving his first term as the 41st prime minister of Italy.

1990       Former President Reagan spent a second day in a Los Angeles courtroom, giving videotaped testimony about the Iran-Contra affair for the trial of his former national security adviser, John Poindexter.

1992       Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced in Milwaukee to life in prison. He was beaten to death in prison in November 1994.

1995       Colin Ferguson was convicted of six counts of murder in the December 1993 Long Island Rail Road shootings. He was later sentenced to a minimum of 200 years in prison.

1997       Adrian Jacobs, British businessman and writer, died penniless in London. His work included a children’s book titled “The Adventures of Willy the Wizard – No. 1 Livid Land” (1987). In 2009 his estate charged that J.K. Rawlings, author of the popular Harry Potter books, plagiarized his book.

1998       UN Sec. Gen’l. Kofi Annan announced that he would travel to Baghdad to try to resolve the ongoing crises over Saddam Hussein’s refusal to allow unconditional weapons inspections.

1999       Andy Elson (45) and Colin Prescot (48) of England launched a balloon attempt to circle the globe from Almeria in southern Spain.

2000       Russia was accused by human rights groups  and refugees of brutality toward Chechens in camps. Vladimir Putin named Vladimir Kalamanov, the head of the migration service, to look into allegations of torture, rape and executions by Russian soldiers against Chechen civilians. Separately Zhirinovsky was barred by electoral authorities from the presidential ballot.

2001       Khalid Abdul Muhammad (born as Harold Moore), national chairman of the New Black Panther Party and former Nation of Islam official, died at age 53 in Marietta, Ga. He was known for his harsh rhetoric about Jews and whites

2002       Ward Burton took advantage of Sterling Marlin‘s blunder for his first victory in the Daytona 500. Marlin, who appeared in control of the race, was penalized for getting out of his car and pulling briefly on a damaged fender during the stoppage.

2003       Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler died of heatstroke at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., hospital, less than 24 hours after complaining of dizziness during a spring training workout.

|2004      Cameron Todd Willingham (b.1968) was executed in Texas. He had been convicted of murdering his three young children by arson at the family home in Corsicana, Texas on December 23, 1991. An informant who sent him to jail later said he lied in order to get a reduced sentence on pending robbery charges.

2006     Harry Whittington, the lawyer shot by Vice President Dick Cheney while quail hunting, left a Corpus Christi, Texas, hospital, saying “accidents do and will happen.”

2007    President Jacques Chirac awarded the Legion d’Honneur order to actor and director Clint Eastwood (76), calling his latest films lessons in humanity. Chirac said Eastwood’s latest films “Flags of our Fathers” and “Letters from Iwo Jima” showed the impasse that can follow from the blind use of force.

2008       Communist party leader Demetris Christofias led in exit polls after Cyprus elections. It was unclear who he would be competing against in a run-off on Feb 24.

2009        Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc, the casino operator named for Donald Trump, filed for bankruptcy protection as recession and declining gambling revenues battered the company and its rivals.

2010      In Myanmar Gaw Thita, a Buddhist monk, was quietly sentenced to seven years in prison violating immigration laws by taking a trip to Taiwan last year.

2011       In Ohio Frank Spisak (59), who shot three people to death nearly 30 years ago on the campus of Cleveland State University in a shooting rampage that targeted African Americans, was executed. His racially motivated shooting spree took place from February 1982 to August 1982. During his 1983 trial, Spisak grew a Hitler-style mustache, carried a copy of Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf” and gave the Nazi salute to the jury.

2012     Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara was named the new head of West Africa’s regional bloc, outgoing chief Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria announced before the close of the Economic Community of West African States in Abuja.

2013       British actor Richard Briers (79), best known for the 1970s TV sit-com “The Good Life” but also for his Shakespearean roles, died at his London home. His film credits included “A Chorus Of Disapproval” (1989) and “Watership Down” (1978) in which he was the voice of Fiver.

2014       Ethiopian Airlines co-pilot Hailemedehin Abera Tagegn (31) locked his colleague out of the cockpit, hijacked a Rome-bound plane and landed in Geneva, all in an attempt to seek asylum in Switzerland.

 

 

 

 

What is your reaction?

Excited
0
Happy
0
In Love
0
Not Sure
0
Silly
0

You may also like

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in:News