This Day In History

What's so special about today, anyway? Well let's see…

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Today, on the 20th of September…

Ferdinand Magellan began his journey to become the first man to circumnavigate the globe. -1519

Spain took hold of Ostend, the Netherlands again, after the Dutch had it for the years. -1602

Scientists discovered that DNA contains hereditary details. -1952

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Today, on the 19th of September, 1911, we welcomed William Golding, author of lord of the Flies into the world.

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<p><h1><b>Today is Swiss Federal Fast Day in Switzerland!</b></h></p> This is a day of thanksgiving, repentance, and prayer.

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Today, on the 15th of September, 1978, Muhammad Ali defeated Spinks to win the world heavyweight championship.

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Today is San Jacinto Day in Nicaragua.

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Today, on the 12th of September, 1575, we welcomed English Explorer and Navigator Henry Hudson into the world.

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Photo of the Day:

The St. Petersburg Times’ 11th of September headline declaring America under attack after a number of highjacked planes crashed into numerous locations around the country, most notably the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. This day is remembered annually all across America by survivors, and families and friends of those who didn’t make it. There is still, to this day, much controversy over whether this event was an authentic terrorist attack or an inside job by America’s government. I have no input on the subject.

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Today, on the 10th of September, 1683, we welcomed Maria Theresa of Spain into the world.

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Today, on the 9th of September, 1612, we said goodbye to Nakagawa Hidenari (中川秀成).

Nakagawa Hidenari was a Japanese daimyō in the Azuchi–Momoyama to Edo period and the second son of Nakagawa Kiyohide. In 1582, Kiyohide died in the Battle of Shizugatake leaving Hidenari's brother, Hidemasa to the family headship. However, Hidemasa died young in 1592 and Hidenari stepped up to the house and the domain. Thanks to his service under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he was soon moved to the Oka-han in Bungo Province, with an income raise from 66,000 koku to 74,000 koku. In 1597, Hidenari took part in the invasion of Korea under Tōdō Takatora. In 1600, at the Battle of Sekigahara, he sided with the eastern army, attacking and defeating Ōta Kazuyoshi at Usuki Castle. As a result, Tokugawa Ieyasu let him maintain his domain without being disturbed.

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Today, on the 8th of September…

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1522: Spanish navigator Juan de Elcano made it back to Spain, completing first successful circumnavigation of the globe.

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Although the journey was originally started by Ferdinand Mareham, he was not around to complete it, having died somewhere along the way.

The ship That Elcano was in when he completed his journey first set off with about four others on the 20th of September, 1519. Two years earlier. Of the five ships that started the trip, One of them was lost in an attempted mutiny, another deserted when they were sailing through what is now known as the Strait of Magellan, the crew having lost hope as it took them a month to reach the Pacific Ocean, leaving only three remaining.

After three months of floating around in the Pacific Ocean with no means of resupply, the ships landed in Guam.

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My Apologies (and an update)

As this is meant to be an every day blog, I’d like to apologise for the amount of days that I’ve missed. Especially the two or three that I hadn’t made up.

I’ve decided to take advantage of the queueing system to set up posts in advanced for days when I’m too busy or forgetful to post manually. This should mean more frequent, and hopefully more detailed posts.

I also find it worth mentioning that we’re very quickly nearing 150 followers. As an update to the blog, I’ll start by fully implementing something I was doing when I first started posting and something I did a couple of days ago.

New to the post rotation: Holidays

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Today, on the 7th of September…

1630: Boston, a city in Massachusetts, United States was founded.

1813: The United States was given the Nickname Uncle Sam.

1888: Edith Eleanor McLean was placed in an incubator in New York’s State Emigrant Hospital on Ward Island, becoming the first baby to have done so.

1903: In New York, the Federation of American Motorcyclists was formed.

1913: US Congress passed the Workmen’s Compensation Act.

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Today, on the 6th of September, 1860, we welcomed Jane Addams into the world

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Today, on the 4th of September, we welcomed American poet Phoebe Cary into the world.

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Today, on the 3rd of September…

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1930: A devastating hurricane hit Dominican Republic.

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The unnamed storm (it wasn’t until 1953 that storms in the Atlantic Ocean were given names) was first sighted near the Windward Islands on the 31st of August. The next day it grew even more powerful, with wind gusts of over 200 miles per hour as it made it to Puerto Rico. However, the death toll in Puerto Rico was relatively small. When the hurricane headed for Santo Domingo, the barometer fell at a record pace due to how quickly it was moving with such a small diameter. Over 8 thousand were killed by toppled trees and buildings, in floods caused by torrential rains and in mudslides. Five thousand others were seriously injured.

Altogether, the storm caused about $15 million in damages, having destroyed the majority of the crops on the island as well as key ships in the harbors sank, hampering relief efforts.

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Today, the 2nd of September, is Eid al-Adha.

This holiday, known also as the Sacrifice Feast, Festival of Sacrifice, or Greater Eid feast, is observed all throughout the Muslim population as the second, and holier of the two Eid holidays, the other being Eid al-Fitr.

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Today, on the 1st of September, 1653, we welcomed German composer, Johann Pachelbel into the world.