This Week in History

HISTORY, 13 Mar 2017

Satoshi Ashikaga – TRANSCEND Media Service

Mar 13-19

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer.  Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” – Harriet Tubman

 

MARCH 13

2013  Pope Francis is elected, in the papal conclave, as the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis:

2012  At least 28 people are killed in a bus crash in a motorway tunnel near the town of Sierre in the Swiss canton of Valais.

2008  Gold prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit $1,000 per ounce for the first time.

2003  Human evolution: The journal Nature reports that 350,000-year-old footprints of an upright-walking human had been found in Italy.

1997  The Phoenix Lights are seen over Phoenix, Arizona by hundreds of people, and by millions on television.

1997  India’s Missionaries of Charity chooses Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as its leader.

1996  Dunblane school massacre: in Dunblane, Scotland, 16 primary school children and one teacher are shot dead by spree killer Thomas Watt Hamilton who then commits suicide.

1992  Erzincan earthquake of Mw 6.7 strikes eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). At least 498 were killed in this strike-slip event on the North Anatolian Fault.

1991  The United States Department of Justice announces that Exxon has agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.

1988  The Seikan Tunnel, the longest undersea tunnel in the world, opens between Aomori and Hakodate, Japan.

1979  The New Jewel Movement, headed by Maurice Bishop, ousts Prime Minister Eric Gairy in a nearly bloodless coup d’état in Grenada.

1069  Apollo program: Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module.

1964  American Kitty Genovese is murdered, the media erroneously report that many of the victim’s neighbours witnessed the crime yet failed to help, prompting research into the bystander effect.

1963 Police in Phoenix, Arizona arrest Ernesto Miranda and charge him with kidnap and rape. His conviction is ultimately set aside by the United States Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona

1962  Lyman Lemnitzer, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivers a proposal, called Operation Northwoods, regarding performing terrorist attacks upon Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. The proposal is scrapped and President John F. Kennedy removes Lemnitzer from his position.

1957  Cuban student revolutionaries storm the presidential palace in Havana in a failed attempt on the life of President Fulgencio Batista.

1954  First Indochina War: Viet Minh forces under Võ Nguyên Giáp unleashed a massive artillery barrage on the French to begin the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ, the climactic battle in the First Indochina War.

Battle of Điện Biên Phủ:

First Indochina War:

1943  The Holocaust: German forces liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Kraków.

Jewish ghetto in Kraków:

Liquidation of the Krakow Ghetto:

1940  The Russo-Finnish Winter War ends.

The End of the (Finish) Winter War:

Winter War:

Timelines of the Winter War:

1938  World News Roundup is broadcast for the first time on CBS Radio in the United States.

1933  Great Depression: Banks in the U.S. begin to re-open after President Franklin D. Roosevelt mandates a “bank holiday“.

Bank Holiday:

Great Depression (1929-1939):

1930  The news of the discovery of Pluto is telegraphed to the Harvard College Observatory.

1921  Mongolia is proclaimed an independent monarchy, ruled by Russian military officer Roman von Ungern-Sternberg as a dictator.

History of Mongolia:

Mongolia:

Foreign Relations of Mongolia:

Mongolia and the United Nations:

Economy of Mongolia:

1920  The Kapp Putsch briefly ousts the Weimar Republic government from Berlin.

1900  Second Boer War: British forces occupy Bloemfontein, Orange Free State.

Bloemfontein:

Second Boer War:

First Boer War:

Orange Free State (1854-1902):

Britain’s Invasion of the Orange Free State of 1900:

1884  The Siege of Khartoum, Sudan begins, ending on January 26, 1885.

Siege of Khartoum:

1881  Alexander II of Russia is killed near his palace when a bomb is thrown at him. (Gregorian date: it was March 1 in the Julian calendar then in use in Russia.)

 

 

MARCH 14

2008  A series of riots, protests, and demonstrations erupt in Lhasa and elsewhere in Tibet.

Tibetan Riots of 2008:

Tibetan Uprising of 1959:

Tibetan Issues:

History of Tibet:

Economy of Tibet:

14th Dalai Lama:

2007  The first World Maths Day was celebrated

2007  The Left Front government of West Bengal sends at least 3,000 police to Nandigram in an attempt to break Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee resistance there; the resulting clash leaves 14 dead.

2006  Members of the Chadian military fail in an attempted coup d’état.

2006 Chadian coup d’état:

History and Culture of Chad:

1995  Space exploration: Astronaut Norman Thagard becomes the first American astronaut to ride to space on board a Russian launch vehicle.

Norman Thagard:

1994  Timeline of Linux development: Linux kernel version 1.0.0 is released.

History of Linux:

1988  Johnson South Reef Skirmish: Chinese forces defeat Vietnamese forces in Johnson South Reef, disputed Spratly Islands.

Johnson South Reef Skirmish:

1984  Gerry Adams, head of Sinn Féin, is seriously wounded in an assassination attempt in central Belfast.

Gerry Adams Assassination Attempt on March 14, 1984:

Sinn Féin:

History of Sinn Féin:

Irish Republican Army (IRA)/Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA):

History of the IRA:

Sinn Féin, IRA and the Catholic Church:

1980  In Poland, LOT Flight 7 crashes during final approach near Warsaw, killing 87 people, including a 14-man American boxing team.

1979  In China, a Hawker Siddeley Trident crashes into a factory near Beijing, killing at least 200.

1978  The Israel Defense Forces invade and occupies southern Lebanon, in Operation Litani.

Operation Litani (the code name of the 1978 South Lebanon Conflict):

History and Background of Israeli-Lebanese Conflict:

1976  US performs nuclear test (underground) at Nevada Test Site.

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1972  Italian publisher and former partisan Giangiacomo Feltrinelli is killed by an explosion near Segrate.

1967  The body of US President John F. Kennedy is moved to a permanent burial place at Arlington National Cemetery.

1964  A jury in Dallas finds Jack Ruby guilty of killing Lee Harvey Oswald, the assumed assassin of John F. Kennedy.

Assassination of John F Kennedy:

Why JFK Killed? Who Actually Killed JFK? :

1965  Israeli cabinet approves diplomatic relations with West Germany.

Israel-West Germany Relations:

Israel-Germany Relations:

1958  US performs nuclear test (atmospheric) at Nevada Test Site.

Atmospheric Nuclear Testing at the Nevada Site:   

Atmospheric/High-altitude Nuclear Explosion Testing:

Atmospheric Nuclear Tests of the United States and Radioactive Fallout:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1958  USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test, at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

Soviet Nuclear Tests in 1958:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Soviet Atmospheric Nuclear Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site:

Health, and Ecological Issues in Kazakhstan/Semipalatinsk:

1951  Korean War: For the second time, United Nations troops recapture Seoul.

Korean War:

Korean War Timelines:

1945  World War II: The R.A.F.‘s first operational use of the Grand Slam bomb, Bielefeld, Germany.

Grand Slam Bomb:

Bielefeld:

1943  World War II: The Kraków Ghetto is “liquidated”.

Jewish ghetto in Kraków:

Liquidation of the Krakow Ghetto:

1942  Orvan Hess and John Bumstead became the first in the United States successfully to treat a patient, Anne Miller, using penicillin.

1939  Slovakia declares independence under German pressure.

First Slovak Republic:

Slovakia and Nazi Germany

Slovakia and Jews:

History of Slovakia:

Slovakia:

Foreign Relations of Slovakia

Economy of Slovakia:

1936  The first all-sound film version of Show Boat opens at Radio City Music Hall. (There had been a part-talkie, part-silent version of Show Boat in 1929.)

1931  Alam Ara, India’s first talking film, is released.

1926  El Virilla train accident, Costa Rica: A train falls off a bridge over the Río Virilla between Heredia and Tibás. 248 are killed and 93 wounded.

1915  World War I: Cornered off the coast of Chile by the Royal Navy after fleeing the Battle of the Falkland Islands, the German light cruiser SMS Dresden is abandoned and scuttled by her crew.

1910  Lakeview Gusher, the largest U.S. oil well gusher near Bakersfield, California, vents to atmosphere.

1903  The Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge is established by US President Theodore Roosevelt.

Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge:

1903  The Hay–Herrán Treaty, granting the United States the right to build the Panama Canal, is ratified by the United States Senate. The Colombian Senate would later reject the treaty.

Hay-Herrán Treaty:

Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty:

Hay–Pauncefote Treaty:

History of the Panama Canal:

1900  The Gold Standard Act is ratified, placing United States currency on the gold standard.

Gold Standard Act:

1885  The Mikado, a light opera by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, receives its first public performance in London.

Mikado, by W S Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan:

1794  Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin.

1782  Battle of Wuchale: Emperor Tekle Giyorgis I pacifies a group of Oromo near Wuchale.

1780  American Revolutionary War: Spanish forces capture Fort Charlotte in Mobile, Alabama, the last British frontier post capable of threatening New Orleans in Spanish Louisiana.

1757  Admiral Sir John Byng is executed by firing squad aboard HMS Monarch for breach of the Articles of War.

1647  Thirty Years’ War: Bavaria, Cologne, France and Sweden sign the Truce of Ulm.

1592  Ultimate Pi Day: the largest correspondence between calendar dates and significant digits of pi since the introduction of the Julian calendar.

 

 

MARCH 15

2011  Beginning of the Syrian Civil War.

Syrian Civil War Timeline:

Syrian Civil War:

1991  The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany comes into effect, granting full sovereignty to the Federal Republic of Germany.

Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany:

German Unification and the Unification Treaty:

German Reunification:

Germany:

Foreign Relations of Germany:

History of Germany:

Economy of Germany:

1990  Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the first President of the Soviet Union.

Mikhail Gorbachev:

1988  NASA reports accelerated breakdown of ozone layer.

Ozone Layer and CFC:

1985  Brazilian military government ends.

Brazilian Military Government:

1985  US performs nuclear test (underground) at Nevada Test Site.

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1985  The first Internet domain name is registered (symbolics.com).

1978  Somalia and Ethiopia signed a truce to end the Ethio-Somali War.

Ethio-Somali War (Ogaden War):

1965  President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to the Selma crisis, tells U.S. Congress “We shall overcome” while advocating the Voting Rights Act.

Selma to Montgomery March of 1965:

Voting Rights Act of 1965:

Bloody Sunday of March 7, 1965:

History of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States – Overview:

Civil Rights Movements of Various Ethnic Minorities in the United States:

1964  USSR performs nuclear test (underground) at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalatinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1964:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Underground Nuclear Tests:

Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site:

Health, and Ecological Issues in Kazakhstan/Semipalatinsk:

1961  South Africa withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations.

1958  USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test, at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

Soviet Nuclear Tests in 1958:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Soviet Atmospheric Nuclear Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site:

Health, and Ecological Issues in Kazakhstan/Semipalatinsk:

1956  My Fair Lady debuts on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre.

1952  In Cilaos, Réunion, 1870 mm (73 inches) of rain falls in a 24-hour period, setting a new world record (March 15 through March 16).

1945  World War II: Soviet forces begin an offensive to push Germans from Upper Silesia.

1943  World War II: Third Battle of Kharkov – the Germans retake the city of Kharkov from the Soviet armies in bitter street fighting.

Third Battle of Kharkov:

1941  Philippine Airlines, the flag carrier of the Philippines takes its first flight between Manila (from Nielson Field) to Baguio City with a Beechcraft Model 18 making the airline the first and oldest commercial airline in Asia operating under its original name.

1939  Carpatho-Ukraine declares itself an independent republic, but is annexed by Hungary the next day.

Carpatho-Ukraine:

History of Ukraine:

1939  World War II: German troops occupy the remaining part of Bohemia and Moravia; Czechoslovakia ceases to exist.

Nazi Germany, Bohemia, Moravia and Czechoslovakia:

History of Bohemia:

History of Moravia:

History of Czechoslovakia:

1935  Percy Shaw founded his company Reflecting Roadstuds Limited to make cat’s eyes.

1933  Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss keeps members of the National Council from convening, starting the Austrofascist dictatorship.

Austrofascism:

1931  SS Viking explodes off Newfoundland, killing 27 of the 147 on board.

1927  The first Women’s Boat Race between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge takes place on The Isis in Oxford.

1926  The dictator Theodoros Pangalos is elected President of Greece without opposition.

1922  After Egypt gains nominal independence from the United Kingdom, Fuad I becomes King of Egypt.

History of (Modern) Egypt:

Egypt:

Foreign Relations of Egypt:

Economy of Egypt:

1921  Talaat Pasha, former Grand Vizir of the Ottoman Empire and chief architect of the Armenian Genocide is assassinated in Berlin by 23-year-old Armenian, Soghomon Tehlirian.

1917  Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates the Russian throne and his brother the Grand Duke becomes Tsar.

1916  United States President Woodrow Wilson sends 4,800 United States troops over the U.S.–Mexico border to pursue Pancho Villa.

1906  Rolls-Royce Limited is incorporated.

1888  Start of the Anglo-Tibetan War of 1888.

1875  Archbishop of New York John McCloskey is named the first cardinal in the United States.

1874  France and Viet Nam sign the Second Treaty of Saigon, further recognizing the full sovereignty of France over Cochinchina.

1848  A revolution breaks out in Hungary. The Habsburg rulers are compelled to meet the demands of the Reform party.

1819  French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel wins a contest at the Academie des Sciences in Paris by proving that light behaves like a wave. The Fresnel integrals, still used to calculate wave patterns, silence skeptics who had backed the particle theory of Isaac Newton.

1783  In an emotional speech in Newburgh, New York, George Washington asks his officers not to support the Newburgh Conspiracy. The plea is successful and the threatened coup d’état never takes place.

1781  American Revolutionary War: Battle of Guilford Court House – Near present-day Greensboro, North Carolina, 1,900 British troops under General Charles Cornwallis defeat an American force numbering 4,400.

1672  Charles II of England issues the Royal Declaration of Indulgence.

1564  Mughal Emperor Akbar abolishes “jizya” (per capita tax).

1493  Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after his first trip to the Americas.

1311  Battle of Halmyros: The Catalan Company defeats Walter V, Count of Brienne to take control of the Duchy of Athens, a Crusader state in Greece.

 

 

MARCH 16

2014  Crimea votes in a controversial referendum to secede from Ukraine to join Russia.

Crimea’s Referendum of 2014:

History of Crimea:

2005  Israel officially hands over Jericho to Palestinian control.

Israel Hands Over Jericho:

History of Jericho:

2003  Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American woman involved with the International Solidarity Movement, is killed trying to prevent a Palestinian home from being destroyed by a bulldozer in Rafah.

Death of Rachel Corrie:

1995  Mississippi formally ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified in 1865.

1989  In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found near the Pyramid of Cheops.

4,400-Year-Old Mummy Found in Egypt:

1988  The Troubles: Ulster loyalist militant Michael Stone attacks a Provisional IRA funeral in Belfast with pistols and grenades. Three people are killed and more than 60 wounded. The attack was filmed by news crews.

The Troubles of 1988:

Ulster Loyalist:

Irish Republican Army (IRA)/Provisional Republican Army (PIRA):

IRA’s Terrorism:

History of the IRA:

Sinn Féin:

History of Sinn Féin:

Sinn Féin, IRA and the Catholic Church:

1988  Halabja chemical attack: The Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraq is attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5000 people and injuring about 10000 people.

Halabja Chemical Attack of 1988:

1988  Iran–Contra affair: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Indictment of Oliver North and John Poindexter:

Iran-Contra Affair:

1984  William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, Lebanon, is kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists and later died in captivity.

1979  Sino-Vietnamese War: The People’s Liberation Army crosses the border back into China, ends the war.

Sino-Vietnam War:

1978  US performs nuclear test (underground) at Nevada Test Site.

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1978  Supertanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two after running aground on the Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany, resulting in the largest oil spill in history at that time.

1977  US president Carter pleads for Palestinian homeland.

Carter and the Arab-Israeli Conflict Peace Process:

1977  Assassination of Kamal Jumblatt, the main leader of the anti-government forces in the Lebanese Civil War.

1969  A Viasa McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crashes in Maracaibo, Venezuela, killing 155.

1968  General Motors produces its 100 millionth automobile, the Oldsmobile Toronado.

1968  Vietnam War: In the My Lai Massacre, between 347 and 500 Vietnamese villagers (men, women, and children) are killed by American troops.

My Lai Massacre:

1966  Launch of Gemini 8, the 12th manned American space flight and first space docking with the Agena target vehicle.

1962  A Flying Tiger Line Super Constellation disappears in the western Pacific Ocean, with all 107 aboard missing and presumed dead.

1958  The Ford Motor Company produces its 50 millionth automobile, the Thunderbird, averaging almost a million cars a year since the company’s founding.

1950  Communist Czechoslovakia‘s ministry of foreign affairs asks nuncios of Vatican to leave the country.

1945 Ninety percent of Würzburg, Germany is destroyed in only 20 minutes by British bombers. 5,000 are killed.

1945 World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ended, but small pockets of Japanese resistance persisted.

Battle of Iwo Jima:

1942  The first V-2 rocket test launch. It exploded at lift-off.

1940  First person killed in a German bombing raid on the UK in World War II during a raid on Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, James Isbister.

1939  Marriage of Princess Fawzia of Egypt to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran.

1939  From Prague Castle, Hitler proclaims Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.

Nazi Germany Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia:

1939  Hungary annexes republic of Karpato-Ukraine.

Hungary’s Annexation of Karpato-Ukraine of 1939:

Carpatho-Ukraine:

History of Ukraine:

1935  Adolf Hitler orders Germany to rearm herself in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Conscription is reintroduced to form the Wehrmacht.

Treaty of Versailles:

Wehrmacht:

Adolf Hitler:

History of Nazi Germany:

1926 History of Rocketry: Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts.

1924  In accordance with the Treaty of Rome, Fiume becomes annexed as part of Italy.

1900  Sir Arthur Evans purchased the land around the ruins of Knossos, the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete.

1894  Jules Massenet‘s opera Thaïs is first performed.

1870  The first version of the overture fantasy Romeo and Juliet by Tchaikovsky receives its première performance.

1818  In the Second Battle of Cancha Rayada, Spanish forces defeated Chileans under José de San Martín.

1815  Prince Willem proclaims himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in the Netherlands.

1812  Siege of Badajoz (March 16 – April 6) – British and Portuguese forces besieged and defeated French garrison during the Peninsular War.

1802  The Army Corps of Engineers is established to found and operate the United States Military Academy at West Point.

1322  The Battle of Boroughbridge take place in the Despenser Wars.

1190  Massacre of Jews at Clifford’s Tower, York.

Clifford Tower Massacre of 1190:

597 BC       Babylonians capture Jerusalem, and replace Jeconiah with Zedekiah as king.

 

 

MARCH 17

2013  The largest meteorite (since NASA started observing the Moon in 2005) hit the Moon.

2004  Unrest in Kosovo: More than 22 are killed and 200 wounded. Thirty-five Serbian Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Belgrade and Niš are destroyed.

Kosovo Conflict:

History of Kosovo:

2003  Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

2000  Five hundred thirty members of the Ugandan cult Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God die in a fire, considered to be a mass murder or suicide orchestrated by leaders of the cult. Elsewhere another 248 members are later found dead.

1992  A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa is passed 68.7% to 31.2%.

1992  Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires: Suicide car bomb attack kills 29 and injures 242.

1988  Eritrean War of Independence: The Nadew Command, an Ethiopian army corps in Eritrea, is attacked on three sides by military units of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front in the opening action of the Battle of Afabet.

1988  A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into a mountainside near the Venezuelan border killing 143.

1976  US performs nuclear test (underground) at Nevada Test Site.

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1973  The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy is taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family, which came to symbolize the end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War.

1970  My Lai Massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident.

My Lai Massacre:

1969  Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.

1968  As a result of nerve gas testing in Skull Valley, Utah, over 6,000 sheep are found dead.

1966  Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the DSV Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.

1963  Mount Agung erupted on Bali killing more than 1,100 people.

1960  U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the National Security Council directive on the anti-Cuban covert action program that will ultimately lead to the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

1959  Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India.

1958  The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.

1957  A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines kills Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others.

1953  US performs nuclear test (atmospheric) at Nevada Test Site.

Operation Upshot and Knothole:

Atmospheric Nuclear Testing at the Nevada Site:

Atmospheric/High-altitude Nuclear Explosion Testing:

Atmospheric Nuclear Tests of the United States and Radioactive Fallout:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1950  Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley announce the creation of element 98, which they name “californium“.

1948  The Benelux, France, and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO.

1947  First flight of the B-45 Tornado strategic bomber.

1945  The Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen, Germany, collapses, ten days after its capture.

1942  Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lvov Ghetto are gassed at the Belzec death camp in what is today eastern Poland.

Belzec Death Camp:

1941  In Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1939  Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and Japan begins.

Battle of Nanchang:

Second Sino-Japanese War:

1921  The Second Polish Republic adopts the March Constitution.

1891  SS Utopia collides with HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar and sinks, killing 562 of the 880 passengers on board.

1861  The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed.

1860  The First Taranaki War begins in Taranaki, New Zealand, a major phase of the New Zealand land wars.

1842  The Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is formed;

1805  The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King.

1677  The Siege of Valenciennes, during the Franco-Dutch War, ends with France’s taking of the city.

 

 

MARCH 18

2014  The parliaments of Russia and Crimea sign an accession treaty.

1994  Bosnia‘s Bosniaks and Croats sign the Washington Agreement, ending war between the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and establishing the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

1990  In a national referendum white South Africans vote overwhelmingly in favour of ending apartheid.

1990  In the largest art theft in US history, 12 paintings, collectively worth around $300 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

1990  Germans in the German Democratic Republic vote in the first democratic elections in the former communist dictatorship.

1987  US performs nuclear test (underground) at Nevada Test Site.

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1974  Oil embargo crisis: Most OPEC nations end a five-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan.

1971  In Peru a landslide crashes into Yanawayin Lake, killing 200 people at the mining camp of Chungar.

1970  The US postal strike of 1970 begins, one of the largest wildcat strikes in US history.

1970  Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.

1969  The United States begins secretly bombing the Sihanouk Trail in Cambodia, used by communist forces to infiltrate South Vietnam.

1968 Gold standard: The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency.

1965  Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.

1962  The Évian Accords end the Algerian War of Independence, which had begun in 1954.

1959  President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law allowing for Hawaiian statehood, which would become official on August 21.

1953  An earthquake hits western Turkey, killing 265 people.

1948  Soviet consultants leave Yugoslavia in the first sign of the Tito–Stalin split.

1946  Diplomatic relations between Switzerland and the Soviet Union are established.

1942  The War Relocation Authority is established in the United States to take Japanese Americans into custody.

1940  World War II: Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.

Adolf Hitler:

Benito Mussolini:

Mussolini’s Doctrine:

Timeline – Mussolini:

1938  Mexico nationalizes all foreign-owned oil properties within its borders.

1937  A human-powered aircraft, Pedaliante, flies 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) outside Milan, Italy.

1937  Spanish Civil War: Spanish Republican forces defeat the Italians at the Battle of Guadalajara.

Battle of Guadalajara:

Spanish Civil War:

1922  In India, Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience, of which he serves only two.

1921  The second Peace of Riga is signed between Poland and the Soviet Union.

1915  World War I: During the Battle of Gallipoli, three battleships are sunk during a failed British and French naval attack on the Dardanelles.

1913  King George I of Greece is assassinated in the recently liberated city of Thessaloniki.

1906  Traian Vuia flies a heavier-than-air aircraft for 11 meters at an altitude of one meter.

1874  Hawaii signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trade rights.

1871  Declaration of the Paris Commune; President of the French Republic, Adolphe Thiers, orders the evacuation of Paris.

1850  American Express is founded by Henry Wells and William Fargo.

1848  March Revolution: In Berlin there is a struggle between citizens and military, costing about 300 lives.

1834  Six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset, England are sentenced to be transported to Australia for forming a trade union.

1793  The first republic in Germany, the Republic of Mainz, is declared by Andreas Joseph Hofmann.

 

 

MARCH 19

2013  A series of bombings and shootings kills at least 98 people and injures 240 others across Iraq.

2011  Libyan Civil War: After the failure of Muammar Gaddafi‘s forces to take Benghazi, French Air Force launches Opération Harmattan, beginning foreign military intervention in Libya.

Libyan Civil War:

2008  GRB 080319B: A cosmic burst that is the farthest object visible to the naked eye is briefly observed.

2004  3-19 shooting incident: Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian is shot just before the country’s presidential election on March 20.

2004  A Swedish DC-3 shot down by a Russian MiG-15 in 1952 over the Baltic Sea is finally recovered after years of work. The remains of the three crewmen are left in place, pending further investigations.

2002  Zimbabwe is suspended from the Commonwealth on charges of human rights abuses and of electoral fraud, following a turbulent presidential election.

1990  The ethnic clashes of Târgu Mureș begin four days after the anniversary of the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire.

1989  The Egyptian Flag is raised on Taba, Egypt announcing the end of the Israeli occupation after the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and the peace negotiations in 1979.

1982  Falklands/Malvinas War: Argentinian forces land on South Georgia Island, precipitating war with the United Kingdom.

Falklands/Malvinas War:

Timelines of Falklands/Malvinas War:

1979  The United States House of Representatives begins broadcasting its day-to-day business via the cable television network C-SPAN.

1965  The wreck of the SS Georgiana, valued at over $50,000,000 and said to have been the most powerful Confederate cruiser, is discovered by teenage diver and pioneer underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence, exactly 102 years after its destruction.

1962  The Algerian War of Independence against the French ends.

Algerian War of Independence:

Algeria:

History of Algeria:

Economy of Algeria:

Foreign Relations of Algeria:

Algeria and the United Nations:

French Nuclear Tests in Reggane, Algeria:

Radiation Contaminations in Reggane:

Some Pertinent YouTube Videos:

1954  Willie Mosconi sets a world record by running 526 consecutive balls without a miss during a straight pool exhibition at East High Billiard Club in Springfield, Ohio. The record still stands today.

1954  Joey Giardello knocks out Willie Tory in round seven at Madison Square Garden in the first televised prize boxing fight shown in colour.

1946  French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion become overseas départements of France.

1945  World War II: Adolf Hitler issues his “Nero Decree” ordering all industries, military installations, shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germany to be destroyed.

1945  World War II: Off the coast of Japan, a dive bomber hits the aircraft carrier USS Franklin, killing 724 of her crew. Badly damaged, the ship is able to return to the U.S. under her own power.

1944  World War II: Nazi forces occupy Hungary.

Nazi German Occupation of Hungary of 1944:

Holocaust in Hungary:

1943  Frank Nitti, the Chicago Outfit Boss after Al Capone, commits suicide at the Chicago Central Railyard.

1941  World War II: The 99th Pursuit Squadron also known as the Tuskegee Airmen, the first all-black unit of the US Army Air Corps, is activated.

1931  Gambling is legalized in Nevada.

1921  Irish War of Independence: One of the biggest engagements of the war takes place at Crossbarry, County Cork. About 100 Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteers escape an attempt by over 1,300 British forces to encircle them.

Crossbarry Ambush:

Irish War of Independence:

History of Ireland:

Irish Republican Army (IRA)/Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA):

History of the IRA:

IRA’s Terrorism:

Sinn Féin:

History of Sinn Féin:

Sinn Féin, IRA and the Catholic Church:

1920  The United States Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles for the second time (the first time was on November 19, 1919).

US Senate’s Rejection of the Treaty of Versailles:

Treaty of Versailles:

The End of the World War I:

Aftermath of World War I:

1918  The US Congress establishes time zones and approves daylight saving time.

1895  Auguste and Louis Lumière record their first footage using their newly patented cinematograph.

1885  Louis Riel declares a provisional government in Saskatchewan, beginning the North-West Rebellion.

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(Sources and references: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/march_13   to march_19; http://www.onthisday.com/events/march/13   to march/19;   http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/march_13.html.   to march_19.html; and other pertinent web sites and/or documents, mentioned above.)

  1. The views expressed in the cited or quoted websites and/or documents in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the author of this article. These websites and/or documents are cited or quoted for academic or educational purposes. Neither the author of this article nor the Transcend Media Service (TMS) is responsible for the contents, information, or whatsoever contained in these websites and/or documents.
  2. One of the primary purposes of this article is to provide the readers with opportunities to think about “peace”, including positive peace and negative peace as well as external/outer peace and internal/inner peace, and more, directly or indirectly, from various angles and/or in the broadest sense, through historical events. It is because this article is prepared specifically for the TMS whose main objective is to address “peace”.

Satoshi Ashikaga, having worked as researcher, development program/project officer, legal protection/humanitarian assistance officer, human rights monitor-negotiator, managing-editor, and more, prefers a peaceful and prudent life, especially that in communion with nature.  His previous work experiences, including those in war zones and war-torn zones, remind him of the invaluableness of peace.  His interest and/or expertise includes international affairs, international law, jurisprudence, economic and business affairs, project/operations or organizational management, geography, history, the environmental/ecological issues, science and technology, visual/audio documentation of nature and culture, and more. Being a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment, he is currently compiling This Week in History

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 13 Mar 2017.

Anticopyright: Editorials and articles originated on TMS may be freely reprinted, disseminated, translated and used as background material, provided an acknowledgement and link to the source, TMS: This Week in History, is included. Thank you.

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