Today in history

[Parihaka]

Thanks. I had to stop by the VFW yesterday as they were raising the colors.
We have several Pearl Harbor Vets that live around us. Very moving when you see these men that are fathers, grandfathers etc cry at the looses they endured while standing and saluting as stiff as a board as the colors are raised as frail as they are and irregardless of weather conditions.

I truelly dont believe the world will ever produce a greater generation then these men and women were. And an even larger shame is the amount of press this very day gets every year by generations who either have forgotten their sacrifice or just dont want to know. We the younger generations could stand to learn alot from these men and women.

On of the things that cheers me up about my country is that every ANZAC day there are sadly fewer and fewer of these old guys, none now from WWI, but every year there are more people, parents bringing their young children at dawn to the cenotaphs. During the seventies there was virtually only the soldiers and their immediate families, now there are 10s of thousands.

[Dreadnought]

On of the things that cheers me up about my country is that every ANZAC day there are sadly fewer and fewer of these old guys, none now from WWI, but every year there are more people, parents bringing their young children at dawn to the cenotaphs. During the seventies there was virtually only the soldiers and their immediate families, now there are 10s of thousands.

:)

[Bulgaroctonus]

December 8: Constitution Day in Romania.

1854 - Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogmatic definition of Immaculate Conception.

1941 - World War II: Takashi Sakai and the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Hong Kong and quickly achieved air superiority by bombing Kai Tak Airport.

1941 - The Holocaust: The Chełmno concentration camp in Poland, the first Nazi extermination camp to use poison gas, began operations.

1980 - Mark David Chapman fatally shot former Beatle John Lennon outside the Dakota apartments in New York City.

1991 - Leaders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine met to dissolve the Soviet Union and establish the Commonwealth of Independent States.

[Parihaka]

1980 - Mark David Chapman fatally shot former Beatle John Lennon outside the Dakota apartments in New York City.
.

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possessions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say Im a dreamer,
but Im not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.


Just thought he deserved his own post

[Parihaka]

9 December 1992: American marines land in Somalia

US troops have arrived in Somalia in a bid to aid thousands of starving locals.

The American marines landed just before dawn.

Their mission is to spearhead the arrival of 35,000 troops from a dozen countries assembled as part of a US led multi-national operation to crack down on looting and extortion that has prevented food getting through.

American forces were expecting to tackle hostile gunmen who have been holding the famine-stricken country to ransom in a conflict which has seen around 300,000 people killed in the last year ever since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted and local warlords took over.

But instead of fierce fighting, the marines were greeted by the world's media.

The first group of six to eight navy frogmen in Operation Restore Hope, came out of the sea on to the beach outside the Somali capital, Mogadishu under a full moon.

Later, three rubber boats came ashore and around 24 troops walked up through the dunes into the glare of television lights.

US Marines in armoured amphibious tractors from the USS Juneau then set about establishing beachheads for further arrivals of around 1,800 troops.

Their mission is to secure Mogadishu's airport and port areas so that food and medicine, which has been blocked by Somali gunmen, can be safely airlifted to thousands of locals dying of starvation.

About an hour after US troops landed, half a dozen unexplained gunshots were fired in a distant Mogadishu suburb.

Despite the attack, most of the city's streets remained relatively deserted.

Earlier in Washington, President-elect Bill Clinton could offer no ''artificial timetable'' for American withdrawal.

He added: "I respect and appreciate President Bush's desire to see the ground forces out of there by sometime in mid-January, and it may work out that that can be done.

"But the issue is whether the United States will have to keep these ground forces there longer than a few weeks. I think that depends on how long it takes to accomplish the mission."

Somalia's two top warlords, General Mohammed Farah Aideed and Ali Mahdi Mohammed, urged their fighters to co-operate with US forces and keep away from the port and airport.

But Robert Oakley, US Special Envoy to Somalia, said he recently met both men and he believes that neither of them have full control over their gunmen.

According to the Pentagon, around 35 countries have offered to help the US operation with military or financial contributions.

Around 2,100 French troops are due to team up with the US forces.

In Context
US troops expected the mission to be over by mid-January but they remained in Somalia until March 1994.

Despite saving hundreds of thousands of lives in the early stages of occupation, their peace mission came to symbolise failure after a heavy firefight in October 1993 left 18 US troops dead and around 90 injured.

Between 350 and 1,000 Somali gunmen and civilians were also believed to have been killed in the attack.

The UN eventually withdrew all its forces in 1995 leaving Somalia with no government to take over.

Somalia still suffers from conflict, famine and economic collapse today.

[Bulgaroctonus]

Just thought he deserved his own post

He does.

[niigata_lin]

And as a first post: I realise that it's still the 20th in the States but here it's the 21st so I get to jump the gun.

1969: America lands man on the Moon
American Neil Armstrong has become the first man to walk on the Moon.
The astronaut stepped onto the Moon's surface, in the Sea of Tranquility, at 0256 GMT, nearly 20 minutes after first opening the hatch on the Eagle landing craft.

His colleague Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin watched from inside the lunar module and spoke the first words of man on the Moon: "Tranquillity base. The Eagle has landed."

As he put his left foot down first Mr Armstrong declared: "That's one small step for man but one giant leap for mankind."

He described the surface as being like powdered charcoal and the landing craft left a crater about a foot deep.

'We came in peace'

The historic moments were captured on television cameras installed on the Eagle and turned on by Armstrong.

Armstrong spent his first few minutes on the moon taking photographs and soil samples in case the mission had to be aborted suddenly.

He was joined by Aldrin at 0315 GMT and the two collected data and performed various exercises - including jumping across the landscape - before planting the Stars and Stripes flag at 0341 GMT.

They also unveiled a plaque bearing President Nixon's signature and an inscription reading: "Here men from the planet earth first set foot upon the Moon July 1969 AD. We came in peace for all mankind."

After filming their experience with a portable television camera the astronauts received a message from the US President.

President Nixon, in the White House, spoke of the pride of the American people and said: "This certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made."

Many other nations - including the UK - sent messages of congratulation.

Moscow Radio announced the news solemnly in its 1030 GMT broadcast.

As Aldrin and Armstrong collected samples, Michael Collins told mission control in Houston he had successfully orbited the Moon in the mother ship Columbia, and take-off was on schedule for 1750 GMT this evening.

let me ask you this question--'did man really land on the moon' during that time..? fyi russia is claiming that the us had faked the 'landing on the moon' and frankly enough to tell you the truth, they have total and scientifically supported basis of facts. here are the ff:

basis #1: the supposed astronauts's suit is consist of only a few layers of 'aluminum foil'--
literally. why the russians thought the landing didn't happen? well, it's really
simple--outside the earth's atmosphere, the sun's rays--specifically the ultaviolet
rays--is a 'very' dangerous environment to behold for anyone who would strive
to separate himself from the safe haven of protection the earth's atmosphere
provides--and aluminum foil is out of the rate of 10 of comparing to the
atmosphere--is zero.

if anyone wants more basis, just e-mail me or post the question for me to see.

[Officer of Engineers]

Oh, freaking bs.

Check the film of the dust.

1) They're in a vacum
2) They're falling at the rate of the gravity on the moon - IMPOSSIBLE to duplicate on Earth.

[TopHatter]

let me ask you this question--'did man really land on the moon' during that time..? fyi russia is claiming that the us had faked the 'landing on the moon' and frankly enough to tell you the truth, they have total and scientifically supported basis of facts.

Nonsense. I don't care what the Russians are saying in 2005.
The Soviets in 1969 knew darn good and well that the United States had beat them to the moon, fair and square. If there was even a hint of foul play, the Soviets would have screamed bloody murder.

They didn't say a thing...except that they never really intended to go to the moon

[Confed999]

let me ask you this question--'did man really land on the moon' during that time..?

ROTFL! What next?

[TopHatter]

ROTFL! What next?

My Midway thread maybe?

[Dreadnought]

I was never a big fan of John Lennon. However I did respect the man for some of the breakthroughs the Beatles made.

On another note I do remember the Moon landing and what an amazment that stirred.

[Parihaka]

let me ask you this question--'did man really land on the moon' during that time..

Yes I am quite sure, and am happy to answer your questions, but please not on this thread, by all means start another in the science forum, I'll keep an eye out.

[THL]

December 11

1620 103 Mayflower pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock
1816 Indiana becomes 19th state
1844 1st dental use of nitrous oxide, Hartford CT
1909 Colored moving pictures demonstrated at Madison Square Garden, New York NY
1951 Joe Dimaggio announces his baseball retirement
1961 Adolf Eichmann is found guilty of war crimes, in Israel
1961 Elvis Presley's "Blue Hawaii" album goes to #1 & stays #1 for 20 weeks
1961 JFK provides US military helicopters & crews to South Vietnam
1961 "Please, Mr. Postman" by Marvelettes, released
1967 6.5 earthquake in West India, 170 killed
1973 West German chancellor Willy Brandt normalizes trade with Czechoslovakia
1975 1st class postage rises from 10˘ to 13˘
1978 6 masked men bound 10 employees at Lufthansa cargo area at New York Kennedy Airport & made off with $5.8 million in cash & jewelry
1990 13 die in 83 vehicle accident in Chattanooga TN (I-75), due to fog
1990 US 69th manned space mission STS 35 (Columbia 11) returns from space
1991 William Kennedy Smith found not guilty of rape
1992 Nor'easter storm hits New York, doing $650 million+ worth of damage
1997 Federal judge orders Microsoft not to bundle IE4 in Windows

[Parihaka]

14 December 1995: Bosnia peace accord ends three-year war

Leaders of Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia have signed the Dayton Accord in Paris to end three-and-a-half years of war in the Balkans.

Under the deal Bosnia is preserved as a single state but it is divided into two parts.

It will be made up of a Muslim-Croat federation representing 51% of the country's territory and a Serb republic holding the remaining 49%.

Sarajevo will become a unified city with Serbs giving up some suburbs which they currently control.

The so-called "safe-enclave" of Gorazde will remain under Muslim control but it will be linked by a land corridor to Sarajevo.

The three leaders signed the deal surrounded by European heads of state in a Parisian palace before 50 world leaders and international organisation chiefs.

'Closer ties'

Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic said the country had been an outcast for too long.

He said: "As to the implementation of the peace agreement and the role of the international peace force, the key of the success of its mission is even-handedness, just as partiality is the key of failure."

Croatia's Franjo Tudjman spoke of his aim for closer ties between his people and the European Union.

And Bosnia's Alija Izetbegovic, referring to his dream of a multi-ethnic Bosnia said he felt he was "drinking a bitter but useful medicine".

The deal was driven by President Clinton's team and Nato will move into protect the area - with overriding power - as a temporary measure.

The success of maintaining the deal will determine aid for the war-torn country where at least 200,000 people have died in the bloodiest conflict seen in Europe since World War II.

Several million people have been left homeless - some the result of so-called ethnic cleansing operations. Many other refugees fled the country rather than get caught up in the fighting.

The American president told the summit that it was up to the three leaders and their people to ensure peace.

"No one outside can guarantee that Muslims, Croats and Serbs in Bosnia can come together and stay together as free citizens in a united country sharing a common destiny," President Clinton said.

"Only the Bosnian people can do that."