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  • #31
    18 August 1969: Woodstock music festival ends

    Thousands of young people are heading home after three days and nights of sex, drugs and rock and roll at the Woodstock music festival.
    An estimated 400,000 youngsters turned up to hear big-name bands play in a field near the village of Bethel, New York state in what has become the largest rock concert of the decade.

    About 186,000 tickets were sold so promoters anticipated that around 200,000 would turn up. But on Friday night, the flimsy fences and ticket barriers had come down and organisers announced the concert was free prompting thousands more to head for the concert.

    Traffic jams eight miles long blocked off the area near White Lake, near Bethel, some 50 miles from the town of Woodstock.


    These people are really beautiful


    Dr William Abruzzi, chief medical officer


    Local police estimated a million people were on the road yesterday trying to get to Woodstock. They were overwhelmed by the numbers but were impressed by a good level of behaviour.

    The festival's chief medical officer, Dr William Abruzzi told Rolling Stone magazine: "These people are really beautiful. There has been no violence whatsoever which is really remarkable for a crowd of this size."

    Those who made it to the makeshift venue were treated to performances by Janis Joplin, The Who, Grateful Dead, Canned Heat, Crosby-Stills-Nash & Young, Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez and Ravi Shankar.

    High and naked

    Rainstorms failed to dampen the spirits of the revellers, many high on marijuana, some dancing naked in the now muddy fields.

    The main organiser, 49-year-old dairy farmer Max Yusgur, who provided $50,000 and 600 acres of his land, addressed the crowds on the last day of the event.

    "You have proven something to the world ... that half a million kids can get together for fun and music and have nothing but fun and music."

    There were however two deaths - a teenager was killed by a tractor as he lay in his sleeping bag and another died from a drugs overdose.



    Last edited by Parihaka; 18 Aug 05,, 05:56.
    In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

    Leibniz

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    • #32
      19 Aug 1991: Hardliners stage coup against Gorbachev

      Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has been overthrown after a coup by Communist hardliners.
      Mr Gorbachev is reported to be under house arrest at his holiday home in the Crimea.

      News of the coup was broken in an announcement on state radio earlier on Monday.

      It said Mr Gorbachev was "unable to perform his presidential duty for health reasons".

      Soviet television has since been broadcasting regular condemnations of Mr Gorbachev's policies.

      The new leaders, headed by former vice-president Gennady Yanayev have declared a state of emergency.

      In a televised broadcast, the eight coup plotters, who include the heads of the army, the KGB and the police, said they were saving the country from a "national catastrophe".

      'New reign of terror'

      Tanks are now patrolling the streets of Moscow but in spite of their presence thousands of people have come out to demonstrate against the takeover.

      They included the president of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin.

      Mr Yeltsin climbed on to a tank outside the Russian parliament building to confront the troops and appeal to the army not to turn against the people.

      He said the coup was a "new reign of terror" and called for civil resistance.

      Despite a ban on demonstrations, several hundred demonstrators gathered outside the Kremlin calling for the reinstatement of the legal government.

      Nearby troops made no move to break up the demonstration but the army is reported to have warned hospitals to be ready for "casualties".

      US President George Bush has called the coup a "disturbing development" and cut short his holiday to return to the White House.
      In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

      Leibniz

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      • #33
        19 Aug 1942: Allies launch daring raid on Dieppe

        Allied troops have pulled back after nine hours of heavy fighting on the French coast at Dieppe, northwest of Paris.
        The withdrawal brings to an end the largest operation yet to include the army, navy and air force at the same time.

        Combined Operations Headquarters have issued a statement from London saying the raid had been completed as planned.

        "Vital experience has been gained in the employment of substantial numbers of troops in an assault, and in the transport and use of heavy equipment during combined operations," it said.


        Every tank that landed was lost, and over 65% of the 5,000 Canadians involved were either captured or killed.


        People's War memories »


        The plan, codenamed Operation Jubilee, was to open a front 11 miles (18km) long centred on the port of Dieppe.

        The area was known to be heavily fortified and defended by the Germans, and strong resistance was expected.

        Most of the 6,000-strong force was made up of Canadians, seeing front line action for the first time, as well as British, American and French soldiers.

        The raid began when the troops set off in Royal Navy ships on the perilous journey across the Channel to the coast of occupied France.

        One of the convoys was spotted by German naval convoy and attacked shortly after leaving.

        Anti-aircraft shore batteries and patrol ships opened fire, sinking two German ships.

        The troops arrived, along with the Royal Air Force, just before dawn.

        Once the landings began on the beaches at Dieppe, troops met fierce resistance.

        There was a constant bombardment from gun emplacements in the cliffs above, and casualties are described as "heavy" on both sides.

        In the air, British pilots had a fierce confrontation with the Luftwaffe.

        Several planes were lost in low-flying attacks on the German gun emplacements, and in all the RAF lost 95 aircraft - the most in a single day's fighting since the war started.

        In a communiqué this evening, Combined Operations Headquarters pointed out that Operation Jubilee was not an invasion attempt - a message it repeated in a broadcast to France in the early hours of this morning.

        The German account of the attack, issued from Hitler's headquarters, called the German defence a "great success", and said, "The enemy has suffered a devastating defeat in this landing attempt, which served only political purposes but defied all military reason."
        In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

        Leibniz

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        • #34
          19 Aug 1960: Moscow jails American U-2 spy pilot

          The United States pilot, Francis Gary Powers, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by a Soviet military court.
          Powers had pleaded guilty to spying for the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) after his plane was shot down on 1 May at an altitude of about 68,000 ft (20,760 m), south of Sverdlovsk, 850 miles (1,368 km) east of Moscow.

          The charge sheet said the route taken by Powers "left no doubt that it was a deliberate intrusion into the air space of the Soviet Union with hostile purposes".

          Powers told the court the U-2 was designed and built for high-altitude flights. He had been told it could fly beyond the reach of anti-aircraft fire.

          Summit called off

          He described the moment the plane was hit: "I felt a hollow-sounding explosion. It was behind and there was a kind of orange flash."

          In the wreckage of the U-2 were found films of Soviet airfields and other important military and industrial targets. A tape recording was found of the signals of certain Soviet radar stations.

          Powers was asked why he made the 1 May flight. He said he assumed he was looking for rocket launching sites.

          The court heard Powers was equipped with emergency gear, including money and gold, and there was a mechanism on the plane for destroying it to avoid capture. He also carried a poisoned pin to enable him to commit suicide in case of torture.

          Powers told the court he was offered a well-paid job with the CIA after leaving the US Air Force.

          He was told his work would involve flying along the borders of the Soviet Union with the purpose of picking up any radio or radar information.

          Powers was asked if he now regretted making his last flight. He replied, "yes, very much".

          He also apologised for the damage to US/Soviet relations. His plane was shot down on the eve of a superpower summit in Paris, which was subsequently called off. A visit by President Dwight Eisenhower to the Soviet Union was also cancelled.

          In his final speech to the court, prosecutor Roman Rudenko outspokenly attacked the United States as inspirers and organisers of what he called "monstrous crimes" against peace.

          He said the US had demonstrated "the real intention of making use of the provocative incursion of the U-2 plane into the Soviet air space as a pretext for wrecking a summit meeting, plunging the world again into the state of cold war, aggravating the tensions in international relations and putting a brake on the Great Powers' talks on disarmament".

          Powers' wife Barbara and parents have been in court since the trial began three days ago. They are hoping to appeal against the sentence.
          In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

          Leibniz

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          • #35
            I saw the Enola Gay the plane that dropped the bomb in the Air & Space Museum not long ago.Despite the act itself, shes really something to behold as far as her size and restoration is concerned talk about blinding wow she looks even better then brand new i felt like a child again looking at the latest military plane which in my days would have been the "Delta darts". I think its also remarkable that we still use the U2 to this day not very often but we do. And you figure that technology is 60's and yet we retired the SR71 Blackbirds in the 90's when they were'nt even used until the mid 70's. Funny how they can still urge the use of the U2 in this day and age over the SR71 and the goverment follows along but yet when it comes to the Iowa class battleships they turn a deaf ear and run for the cover of the DDX programs saying they are to old and costly for service. How ironic.
            Last edited by Dreadnought; 19 Aug 05,, 17:30.
            Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

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            • #36
              1 Sept 1939: Germany invades Poland

              German forces have invaded Poland and its planes have bombed Polish cities, including the capital, Warsaw.
              The attack comes without any warning or declaration of war.

              Britain and France have mobilised their forces and are preparing to wage war on Germany for the second time this century.

              Just before dawn today, German tanks, infantry and cavalry penetrated Polish territory on several fronts with five armies, a total of 1.5 million troops.

              Soon afterwards German planes bombarded the cities. They have been making swift progress in penetrating Polish defences which are heavily outnumbered in artillery, infantry and air power.

              The cities of Katowice, Krakow, Tczew and Tunel were attacked with incendiary bombs. Air raids on Warsaw began at 0900 local time.

              Communications to Katowice have been broken but earlier reports said German planes were coming over in squadrons of 50, every half-hour, and there have been many casualties.

              The German Army struck from Slovakia, East Prussia and from Pomerania into the Polish Corridor and the port Danzig, which has declared itself part of the Reich.

              The 4th Army came in from East Prussia at Deutsch-Eylau supported by air raids on cities north of Warsaw. There is heavy fighting reported along the whole of the East Prussian border.

              Poznan was attacked from the main body of the German Reich and border towns occupied.

              The 8th and 10th armies are moving north-east from Silesia towards Warsaw; and the 14th Army struck from Slovakia towards Krakow.

              Warning sent to Germany

              The Times newspaper reports that when the air raid sirens in the capital first sounded at 0600 inhabitants reacted calmly and some even ran out onto the streets to look up at the sky and had be driven back inside by air raid wardens.

              The unprovoked attack follows yesterday's report on German radio that the border town of Gliwice had been raided by a group of Polish soldiers, who had all been shot dead.

              German radio broadcast a list of "demands" never submitted to the Polish Government.

              The Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, held a meeting with King George today in Downing Street.

              Later this evening Mr Chamberlain told a packed House of Commons that British and French Ambassadors in Berlin had given German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop an ultimatum.

              He was to tell Berlin that unless the Nazis withdraw, Britain and France would fulfil its promise of support to Poland.

              Von Ribbentrop said he would refer the message to Adolf Hitler.

              US President Roosevelt of the United States has sent an appeal to the governments of Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Poland urging them to announce publicly their determination not to launch air attacks on civilians.

              In reply the British and French governments say they intend to confine their bombing to military objectives, so long as their opponents do the same.

              In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

              Leibniz

              Comment


              • #37
                2 Sept 1945: Japan signs unconditional surrender

                Japanese officials have signed the act of unconditional surrender, finally bringing to an end six years of world war.
                In the presence of 50 Allied generals and other officials, the Japanese envoys boarded the American battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay to sign the surrender document.

                Within half-an-hour of the signing, a convoy of 42 US ships entered Tokyo Bay and landed 13,000 American troops.

                The Supreme Commander of the Allied powers, US General Douglas MacArthur, briefly addressed the dignitaries on the deck of the battleship urging them to comply with the terms of the surrender "fully, promptly and faithfully".

                He continued: "It is my earnest hope and, indeed, the hope of all mankind, that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past; a world founded upon faith and understanding, a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfilment of his most cherished wish, for freedom, tolerance and justice."

                He also referred to the nuclear bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, saying they had "revised the traditional concept of war". The world had had its last chance, he said, and if it did not devise some greater and more equitable system Armageddon would be at its door.

                Under the terms of the ceasefire, Japan has agreed to end all hostilities, release all prisoners of war, and comply with the terms of the Potsdam declaration, which confines its sovereignty to the four main islands which make up Japan.

                It has also agreed to acknowledge the authority of the US supreme commander. Although Emperor Hirohito will be allowed to remain as a symbolic head of state.

                From today the occupying force will be rapidly increased to about 500,000. British landing forces are expected to be relieved by US Army troops within a few days. Some will return home to Britain, others may be deployed for the reoccupation of surrendered ports.

                The Japanese Prime Minister, Prince Higashi Kuni, broadcast an appeal to his people to obey the terms of the surrender.

                He said the Japanese had to face defeat squarely and "suffer even the insufferable" in seeking to comply with the Emperor's surrender proclamation.

                Marshal Joseph Stalin has welcomed the unconditional surrender of Japan.

                Under the terms of the agreement the disputed southern Sakhalin and the Kurile Islands will pass into Soviet hands. The islands have been occupied by Japan since the Russo-Japanese war of 1904.


                In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

                Leibniz

                Comment


                • #38
                  A huge salute for ALL of our vets! We will never forget your sacrifices! :)
                  Last edited by Dreadnought; 02 Sep 05,, 17:40.
                  Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    09-06-2005

                    1901: Anarchist Leon Czolgosz shoots U.S. president William McKinley at the Pan-American exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley dies eight days later.

                    1926: The Kuomintang Chinese nationalist forces led by Chiang Kai-shek reach Hankou at the confluence of the Han and the Yangtze rivers; Hankou becomes the Kuomintang capital.

                    1941: The Nazi government requires that all Jews in German-occupied territories wear the yellow star of David for identification.

                    1954 : ground breaking took place at Shippingport, Pennsylvania, for the first U.S. full-scale atomic electricity generating station devoted exclusively to peaceful uses. Televised from Denver, Colorado, President Eisenhower remotely signalled a radio-controlled bulldozer. On 2 Dec 1957, the reactor reached critical power. It produced its full rated net capacity of 60 megawatts about 3 weeks later on 23 Dec. This would be sufficient to supply a city of 250,000 homes. The plant consisted of a single pressurized water-type reactor which heated steam to drive an electrical turbine-generator. The plant was formally dedicated by the same president on 25 May 1958, by remote control from Washington, D.C.* It operated until 1982.

                    1947: the airplane carrier Midway became the first U.S. vessel from which a long-range rocket was launched. A captured German V-2 rocket was fired from the flight deck from a position at sea several hundred miles of the east coast of the U.S. the rocket travelled about 6 miles. The Midway was commanded by Captain Albert Kellogg Morehouse, and was the flagship of the task group commanded by Rear Admiral John Jennings Ballentine.*
                    A grain of wheat eclipsed the sun of Adam !!

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                    • #40
                      1972:September 6: Olympic hostages killed in gun battle

                      All nine of the Israeli athletes kidnapped on Tuesday from the Olympic Village in Munich have been killed in a gun battle at a nearby airport.
                      What's the difference between people who pray in church and those who pray in casinos?
                      The ones in the casinos are serious.

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                      • #41
                        The beginning of The Blitz

                        September 7,1940: London blitzed by German bombers
                        The German air force has unleashed a wave of heavy bombing raids on London, killing hundreds of civilians and injuring many more.
                        The Ministry of Home Security said the scale of the attacks was the largest the Germans had yet attempted.

                        "Our defences have actively engaged the enemy at all points," said a communiqué issued this evening.

                        "The civil defence services are responding admirably to all calls that are being made upon them."

                        The first raids came towards the end of the afternoon, and were concentrated on the densely populated East End, along the river by London's docks.

                        About 300 bombers attacked the city for over an hour and a half. The entire docklands area seemed to be ablaze as hundreds of fires lit up the sky.

                        Once darkness fell, the fires could be seen more than 10 miles away, and it is believed that the light guided a second wave of German bombers which began coming over at about 2030 BST (1930 GMT).

                        The night bombing lasted over eight hours, shaking the city with the deafening noise of hundreds of bombs falling so close together there was hardly a pause between them.

                        One bomb exploded on a crowded air raid shelter in an East London district.

                        In what was described as "a million to one chance", the bomb fell directly on the 3ft (90cm) by 1ft (30cm) ventilation shaft - the only vulnerable place in a strongly-protected underground shelter which could accommodate over 1,000 people.

                        About 14 people are believed to have been killed and 40 injured, including children.

                        Civil defence workers worked through the night, often in the face of heavy bombing, to take people out of the range of fire and find them temporary shelter and food.

                        An official paid tribute to staff at one London hospital which was hit, saying, "They showed marvellous bravery, keeping on until bomb detonations and gunfire made it absolutely impossible."

                        In the air, a series of ferocious dogfights developed as the German aircraft flew up the Thames Estuary.

                        The Air Ministry says at least 15 enemy aircraft crashed into the estuary, and in all, the Ministry said, 88 German aircraft were shot down, against 22 RAF planes lost.
                        Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          11th September 2001

                          US rocked by day of terror
                          The United States is in a state of shock after a day of attacks which have left thousands dead and New York's World Trade Center destroyed.
                          The Pentagon was also severely damaged by one of the three civilian airliners which hijackers turned into flying bombs. A fourth plane crashed in a field near Pittsburgh.

                          A state of emergency has been declared in Washington D.C. and the US has closed its airspace and its borders with Mexico and Canada.

                          American forces are on one of their highest states of alert and the Pentagon has deployed a naval battle group off the country's east coast to bolster air defences.


                          American Airlines Flight 11 was hijacked at 0825 Eastern Daylight Time (1225 GMT) and 18 minutes later crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.

                          United Airlines Flight 175 - which had been hijacked within minutes of the first plane - was flown into the south tower at 0903 EDT (1303 GMT) causing another devastating explosion.

                          The second crash was captured live on news cameras trained on the burning north tower.

                          At 0940 EDT (1340 GMT) a third hijacked airliner - American Airlines Flight 77 - was flown into the side of the Pentagon in Washington.

                          An hour after the Boeing 767 slammed into the south tower of the World Trade Center the 110-storey building collapsed.

                          The north tower followed minutes later, compounding the destruction and loss of life.

                          Witnesses reported seeing people jumping from the towers just before they collapsed.


                          President Bush was reading to pupils at a Florida school when his chief of staff whispered news of the attacks to him.

                          He was flown to the US Strategic Command Centre at Nebraska - where the country's nuclear weapons are controlled - but is now on his way back to Washington.

                          He is expected to address the nation later this evening.

                          New York mayor Rudy Giuliani said the final number of dead may be "more than any of us can bear".

                          In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

                          Leibniz

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                          • #43
                            1973: Arab states launch war on Israeli forces

                            Heavy fighting has erupted between Arab and Israeli forces along two fronts.

                            To the south, Egyptian armoured forces have broken the Israeli line on the eastern bank of the Suez Canal.

                            In the north, Syrian troops and tanks are battling with Israeli defences along the Golan Heights seized by Israel from Syria in 1967.

                            Both sides have accused each other of firing the first shots, but UN observers have reported seeing Egyptian and Syrian troops crossing into Israeli-held territory.

                            Israeli defence minister, General Moshe Dayan has told the nation in a televised address: "We must realise this is war. We are engaged in heavy battles on both fronts against numerically superior forces."

                            Yom Kippur

                            The attacks have come on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, and the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

                            Most Jews had been observing strict religious rules of fasting and prayer, but with the outbreak of fighting, Israel's civilian reserve force is now rushing to mobilise.

                            The heaviest fighting has been reported along the Suez Canal and the adjoining Sinai peninsula, seized by the Israelis from Egypt in 1967.

                            Israel's Prime Minister, Mrs. Golda Meir, claimed in a radio address that heavy losses have been inflicted on both Egypt and Syria.

                            But an Egyptian military communiqué has stated the Canal is now almost entirely under their control.

                            Damascus radio said Syrian forces on the northern frontier have captured Israeli positions on the Golan Heights, notably Mount Hermon.

                            But the claims are being countered by the Israelis, who say the situation in the border region remains "adequate".

                            Israel is outnumbered three to two in immediately available man-power, three to two in tanks and two to one in combat aircraft against the combined forces of Egypt and Syria.

                            British Foreign Office officials say there is a risk neighbouring countries may become involved.

                            Algeria, Libya, Kuwait, Jordan and the Lebanon have all pledged their support for the Arab offensive.
                            -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            In Context

                            Early in the conflict, Egyptian and Syrian forces retook key positions lost in the 1967 'Six Day' war.

                            Many Arab states contributed troops and financial support, and the USSR also provided assistance.

                            But ultimately the Arabs buckled under a sustained Israeli counter-attack strengthened by US airlifts.

                            Saudi Arabia then orchestrated an Arab oil embargo which threatened to extend the conflict into a full-scale superpower confrontation.

                            Most hostilities ended on 22 October. Both sides suffered heavy losses. An estimated 8,500 Syrian and Egyptian soldiers died, while Israel lost about 6,000.

                            In 1974 agreements negotiated by then US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger gave Egypt control of the Suez Canal. Syria regained some of its pre-1967 territory.

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                            • #44
                              476 A.D. - Western Rome falls
                              632 A.D. - Muhammad dies, Arab armies sweep out of Arabia
                              1969 A.D. - Led Zeppelin forms.

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                              • #45
                                12 October 2000: Suicide bombers attack USS Cole

                                At least six American sailors have been killed in what is thought to have been a suicide bomb attack on a US Navy destroyer in the Yemeni port of Aden.
                                Eleven others are missing and at least 36 wounded after a massive explosion left the USS Cole badly gashed along one side.

                                US President Bill Clinton said if the explosion was an act of terrorism it was "despicable and cowardly".

                                "We will find out who was responsible and hold them accountable," he told reporters.

                                Buildings shook

                                Witnesses to the explosion described it as being so powerful that buildings near the port shook.

                                It is thought an inflatable raft, packed with high explosives, rammed the USS Cole as it was apparently helping to moor the warship to a buoy.

                                The explosion left a gash up to 40 feet (12 metres) long in the left side of the destroyer, which is now listing badly.

                                No-one has claimed responsibility, however, and the Yemeni authorities say the explosion was not deliberate.

                                The attack on the USS Cole is the worst on an American target since the bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania two years ago, in which 224 people died.

                                Analysts believe the man believed to be behind those attacks, Saudi-born Osama Bin Laden, could also be behind the bombing of the warship.

                                The ship was heading to the Gulf to join the US-led maritime interception operations in support of UN sanctions against Iraq.
                                In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

                                Leibniz

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