[Although it was to be the first of America's nuclear submarines, the then-ultra modern (not to mention ironically monikered) USS Nautilus launched on this day in 1954 was actually the sixth vessel of the US Navy to be named for the cephalopod which has remained so unchanged for millions of years it is known as a living fossil. There's a joke in there somewhere about the Eisenhowers, I'm sure, but try as I might I can't quite find it...]
1118 - Pope Paschal II died; he was succeeded by Gelasius II three days later.
1525 - Switzerland's Anabaptist Movement was born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptized each other in the Zürich home of Manz's mother, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.
1643 - Dutchman Abel Tasman became the first European to visit Tonga.
1749 - The Verona Philharmonic Theatre was destroyed by fire; it was rebuilt in 1754 and had to be rebuilt again after being destroyed by Allied bombers in February 1945.
1793 - Having been found guilty of treason by the French Convention, France's deposed King Louis XVI went to the guillotine as 'Citizen Louis Capet'.
1861 - Jefferson Davis resigned from the US Senate.
1864 - The Tauranga Campaign started during New Zealand's Maori Wars.
1893 - The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, was formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate which is now Botswana.
1908 - New York City passed the Sullivan Ordinance, which prohibited women from smoking in public; it was later vetoed by the mayor.
1915 - Kiwanis International was founded in Detroit, Michigan.
1919 - Korea's Emperor Gojong of Joseon died; he was succeeded by his son, Sunjong.
1924 - Russian leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin died.
1948 - The Flag of Quebec was adopted and flown for the first time, over the National Assembly; the day is marked annually there as Flag Day.
1950 - Alger Hiss was convicted of perjury.
1954 - First Lady Mamie Eisenhower launched USS Nautilus - the world's first nuclear-powered submarine - at Groton, Connecticut.
1968 - A B-52 bomber crashed near Thule Air Base in Greenland, contaminating the area after its nuclear payload ruptured; one of the four bombs remained unaccounted for after the cleanup operation was complete.
1977 - President Jimmy Carter pardoned Vietnam War draft dodgers.
2002 - The Canadian dollar set an all-time low of 61.79 cents against the US dollar; good times...
2004 - The residence of reporter Juliet O'Neill was searched by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) investigating leaks concerning the ongoing travesty surrounding the unlawful and groundless deportation of Maher Arar to Syria, which resulted in his torture.
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an all-time low of 61.79
ReplyDeleteThey were good times in a way. Domestically-oriented Canadians weren't impacted severely by it, and it made us United Statesians able to spend, spend, spend on our Canadian friends and lovers. I don't think we'll see another time like that one any time soon.