This Day in History

[Amnorix]

Today...

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

1958. A Soviet team reaches the Southern Pole of Relative Inaccessability

I knew a girl like that in high school.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

I'd like to publicly applaud the work of our official thread photographer, Patteeu. Rep.

The pictures bring history to life for me.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by D2112

That was also a spectacular night launch of the gigantic Saturn 5 rocket.

One of the things on my theoretical bucket list is to see a night launch of NASA's.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Donger

I knew a girl like that in high school.

I think I might know who you're talking about. Was she also a big Sprite drinker?

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by patteeu

I think I might know who you're talking about. Was she also a big Sprite drinker?

Well, it took longer than normal for a ChiefsPlanet thread, but I suppose something like this was inevitable....

[Amnorix]

December 15

1256. The Mongols under Hulagu Khan (grandson of Genghis) capture and destroy the stronghold of Alamut, which is located in present-day Iran. Alamut was the then-fabled headquarters of the Hashshanin, built on a mountain top. The Hashshashin, from which the word "assassin" is derived, were a group of fabled killers whose shadowy tendrils held the extended Muslim world in thrall and terror. Alamut was believed to be impregnable, but the Mongols were far more than just the "hordes of cavalry" that western-centric history has tried to paint them as. Ultimately, the sect surrendered their fortress without a fight, after seeing what may well have been the largest army of the Middle Ages. This army, sent by Great Khan Mongke, commanded by Hulagu, was ordered to contain 2 of every 10 fighting men in the Mongol Empire, which at this point was already massive.

Interestingly, the name Hashshanin may be related to the word Hashish, as it was commonly believed that the Hashshanins used hash before going on missions.

The capture of Alamut was but a step in the Mongol invasion of the now thoroughly Muslim dominated southwest Asia.

Hulagu Khan would go on to crush Baghdad and Damascus, ending the dynasties that had ruled those states, and shifting the center of Muslim power to the Mamluk Dynasty in Egypt. He was headed to crush Egypt when the Great Khan, Mongke, died, forcing Hulagu to return to Mongolia to select Mongke's successor, leaving a token force behind, which eventually was routed. The Mongols were never able to retake some of the territory they lost, and the Ilkhanate established under the Mongols saw its borders remain on the Tigris River for the remainder of Hulagu's rule.

Hulagu's attempts to ally with European states for joint attack on the Islamic world never amounted to much, but the diplomatic exchanges themselves are worthy of note.

1864. At the Battle of Nashville, the Union forces of General Thomas (the Rock of Chickamuaga) annihilate the forces of Confederate General Hood (attack, always!), basically eliminating them from the war.

1917. The new Bolshevik government agrees to an Armistice with the Central Powers.

1933. The 21st Amendment to the Constitution becomes effective, once again legalizing alcohol.

1973. The American Psychiatric Association votes unanimously to remove homosexuality from its list of official psychiatric disorders

[Amnorix]

Here's a map of the Ilkhanate.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

December 15

1933. The 21st Amendment to the Constitution becomes effective, once again legalizing alcohol.

[Amnorix]

[Donger]

Surely if we can repeal such a mistake as the 18th Amendment, we can repeal the even bigger mistake of the 19th?

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Donger

Surely if we can repeal such a mistake as the 18th Amendment, we can repeal the even bigger mistake of the 19th?

[Amnorix]

December 16

1431. Highlighting the issues that caused the two nations to be at war on and off for the better part of a millenium, King Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Despite this seeming success, Henry's many limitations (including mental instability) will lead to the collapse of the House of Lancaster and the rise of the House of York.

1653. Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector during the English Interregnum.

1773. The Boston Tea Party is held when the Sons of Liberty, disguised as Mohawks, dump crates of tea into Boston Harbor in protest of English taxes.

1812. The first of the New Madrid Quake (megaquakes) is recorded). Named after New Madrid, Missouri, some of the quakes were felt strongly over an area of 50,000
square miles, and moderately across nearly 3 million square miles. Residents as far away as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvnia, and Norfolk, Virginia were awakened by the shaking. They are estimated to have been at 7.5 to 8.0 on the Richter scale.

1907. President Theodore Roosevelt's "Great White Fleet" begins its circumnavigation of the globe. A fleet of modern warships, the fleet was designed to show that American power was rising.

1944. The Battle of the Bulge begins when three German armies launch a surprise assault through the Ardennes forest into a relative weak spot in Allied lines. Those of you who have seen the movie Patton and may remember the scene where Patton predicted that this attack might occur at this timeframe and in this location should be advised that there is little/no evidence in support of that. What is not total bs was the quick response by allied troops, including those under Patton certainly, in reacting to contain the German offensive.

1985. On the orders of John Gotti, Mafia kingpin "Big Paul" Castellano is shot dead, leaving Gotti in charge of the Gambino crime family.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

December 16

1812. The first of the New Madrid Quake (megaquakes) is recorded). Named after New Madrid, Missouri, some of the quakes were felt strongly over an area of 50,000
square miles, and moderately across nearly 3 million square miles. Residents as far away as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvnia, and Norfolk, Virginia were awakened by the shaking. They are estimated to have been at 7.5 to 8.0 on the Richter scale.

The original New Madrid townsite now lies under the Mississippi River which has obviously changed course. They say that the quakes made the river run backward for a while. Here is the town as it appears today. It's a pretty typical small town Missouri look for those not familiar with the area:

[Amnorix]

The Great White Fleet -- which I remember reading about some time ago and hearing a former seaman say that it was ridiculous how often they had to keep repainting the ships to keep them white. As anyone's mother will tell you -- white stains, and ships at sea, especially ships with very dirty smokestacks -- didn't stay clean very well. So they're on this diplomatic thing going around the world, painting and painting and painting...

This is the Battleship USS Kentucky:






Big Paul Costellano





And new Don John Gotti, the "Teflon Don" for his sharp suits and slippery ability to avoid going to prison, though eventually the feds got him.

[Amnorix]

December 17

1398. Timur, sometimes known as Tamerlane, crushes the Sultan's armies outside Delhi. The conqueror will enter the city and his armies will rampage for eight days, killing 100,000.

1777. France formally recognizes the USA.

1862. US General Ulysses S. Grant issues the infamous General Order No 11, expelling all Jews from his military districts, which were then comprised of Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky. The order was predicated on an effort to stop a black market around cotton smuggling, which was used to financially support the South, and which Grant believed was mostly being carried out by those of Jewish origin. President Lincoln would soon revoke the order, and Grant would claim (dubiously) that it had been drafted by a subordinate and that he has signed it without reading it.

1903. Having effected repairs to their plane after the failed effort of a few days ago, the Wright Brothers successfully test their heavier-than-air flying machine.

1944. Elements of the SS Sixth German Panzer Army, under Sepp Dietrich, massacre captured US soldiers. The massacre will become part of the Dachau Trials of 1946, and Dietrich will admit that Hitler had ordered that under the Third Reich's dire circumstances, the far more brutal "tactics" of the Eastern Front were to be used in the West to hopefully terrorize the Allied forces. Dietrich will be sentenced to 25 years, serving 10, for these acts, and then retried and serve some additional time for other crimes committed during the Nazi years.

1989. First episode of the Simpsons airs in the US.