Thursday, May 9, 2013

On This Day in History - May 9

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/l-ron-hubbard-publishes-dianetics

May 9, 1950: L. Ron Hubbard publishes Dianetics


On this day in 1950, Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (1911-1986) publishes Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. With this book, Hubbard introduced a branch of self-help psychology called Dianetics, which quickly caught fire and, over time, morphed into a belief system boasting millions of subscribers: Scientology.

Hubbard was already a prolific and frequently published writer by the time he penned the book that would change his life. Under several pseudonyms in the 1930s, he published a great amount of pulp fiction, particularly in the science fiction and fantasy genres. In late 1949, having returned from serving in the Navy in World War II, Hubbard began publishing articles in the pages of Astounding Science Fiction, a magazine that published works by the likes of Isaac Asimov and Jack Williamson. Out of these grew the elephantine text known as Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.

In Dianetics, Hubbard explained that phenomena known as "engrams" (i.e. memories) were the cause of all psychological pain, which in turn harmed mental and physical health. He went on to claim that people could become "clear," achieving an exquisite state of clarity and mental liberation, by exorcising their engrams to an "auditor," or a listener acting as therapist.

Though discredited by the medical and scientific establishment, over 100,000 copies of Dianetics were sold in the first two years of publication, and Hubbard soon found himself lecturing across the country. He went on to write six more books in 1951, developing a significant fan base, and establishing the Hubbard Dianetics Research Foundation in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Despite his fast-growing popularity from books and touring, strife within his organization and Hubbard's own personal troubles nearly crippled his success. Several of his research foundations had to be abandoned due to financial troubles and he went through a divorce from his second wife.

By 1953, however, Hubbard was able to rebound from the widespread condemnation beginning to be heaped upon him, and introduced Scientology. Scientology expanded on Dianetics by bringing Hubbard's popular version of psychotherapy into the realm of philosophy, and ultimately, religion. In only a few years, Hubbard found himself at the helm of a movement that captured the popular imagination. As Scientology grew in the 1960s, several national governments became suspicious of Hubbard, accusing him of quackery and brainwashing his followers. Nonetheless, Hubbard built his religion into a multi-million dollar movement that continues to have a considerable presence in the public eye, due in part to its high profile in Hollywood.



1457 BC - Battle of Megiddo (15th century BC) between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Kadesh. It is the first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail.

1012 BC - Solar Eclipse seen at Ugarit, 6:09-6:39 PM.

328 - Athanasius is elected Patriarch bishop of Alexandria.

1092 - Lincoln Cathedral consecrated

1336 - Italian poet Francesco Petrarca climbs Mont Ventoux

1386 - Treaty of Windsor between Portugal-England

1429 - Joan of Arc defeated the besieging English at Orleans.

1450 - 'Abd al-Latif (Timurid monarch) is assassinated.

1460 - Court yard episcopal palace Atrecht has witch burnings

1502 - Columbus left Spain on his fourth and final trip to New World

1519 - Austrian adel/burgerij in uprising against central government

1573 - Polish Parliament selects duke of Anjou as king

1588 - Duke Henri de Guises troops occupy Paris

1671 - Col Thomas "Captain" Blood stole the crown jewels from the Tower of London.

1689 - English King Willem III declares war on France

1726 - Five men arrested during a raid on Mother Clap's molly house in London are executed at Tyburn.

1738 - England routes fleet in Mediterranean Sea & West-Indies

1753 - King Louis XV disbands French parliament

1754 - The first newspaper cartoon in America showed a divided snake "Join or die" in "The Pennsylvania Gazette."

1766 - John Byron back in England after trip around the world

1785 - British inventor Joseph Bramah patented the beer-pump handle

1788 - English parliament accepts abolishing of slave trade

1825 - The Chatham Theatre opened in New York City. It was the first gas-lit theater in America.

1836 - HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin departs Port Louis, Mauritius

1837 - "Sherrod" burns in Mississippi River below Natchez Miss; 175 dies

1846 - Battle of Resaca de la Palma-US sends Mexico back to Rio Grande

1862 - Battle of Farmington, MS

1862 - Battle of Ft Pickens, FL (Pensacola), evacuated by CS

1862 - US Naval Academy relocated from Annapolis MD to Newport, RI

1864 - -20] Skirmish at Ware Bottom Church, Virginia

1864 - Battle of Cloyd's Mt, and Swift Creek, Virginia (Drewery's Bluff, Ft Darling)

1864 - Battle of Dalton, Georgia

1864 - Ship battle at Helgoland, Austria-Denmark

1868 - Anton Bruckner's 1st Symphony in C, premieres

1868 - The city of Reno, Nevada, is founded.

1873 - Der Krach: Vienna stock market crash heralds the Long Depression.

1874 - Victoria Embankment, in London opens

1874 - The first horse-drawn bus makes its début in the city of Mumbai, plying two routes.

1877 - Mihail Kogălniceanu reads, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. This day became the Independence Day of Romania.

1882 - Telegraph Hill RR Co organized

1887 - Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show opens in London.

1889 - 15th Kentucky Derby: Thomas Kiley aboard Spokane wins in 2:34.50

1896 - First horseless carriage show in London (featured 10 models)

1899 - Lawn mower patented

1901 - In Australia, the Duke of Cornwall and York declared the First Commonwealth Parliament open in Melbourne

1901 - Cleve's Earl Moore no-hits Chic White Sox 9 inn but loses in 10th 4-2

1904 - The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine to exceed 100mph.

1908 - Dirk Fock becomes governor of Suriname

1911 - Fire breaks out at Empire Theater in Edinburgh Scotland

1913 - 17th amendment provides for election of senators by popular vote

1914 - 40th Kentucky Derby: John McCabe aboard Old Rosebud wins in 2:03.4

1914 - American President Wilson proclaims Mother's Day an official holiday.

1914 - J.T. Hearne becomes the first bowler to take 3000 first-class wickets.

1915 - German and French fought Battle of Artois

1916 - British-France Sykes-Picot meet over division of Turkey

1925 - Cornerstone for Hebrew University, Jerusalem laid

1926 - Americans Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett became the first men to fly an airplane over the North Pole.

1927 - 53rd Preakness: Whitey Abel aboard Bostonian wins in 2:01.6

1927 - Canberra replaces Melbourne as the capital of Australia

1927 - The Australian Parliament first convenes in Canberra.

1929 - NY Giant Carl Hubbell no-hits Pittsburgh Pirates

1929 - WJW-AM in Cleveland Ohio begins radio transmissions

1930 - A starting gate was used to start a Triple Crown race for the first time.

1930 - 56th Preakness: Earl Sande aboard Gallant Fox wins in 2:00.6

1931 - 57th Preakness: George Ellis aboard Mate wins in 1:59

1932 - 58th Preakness: Eugene James aboard Burgoo King wins in 1:59.8

1932 - Piccadilly Circus, 1st lit by electricity

1932 - WOC-AM in Davenport Iowa merges with WHO to become WHO-WOC

1933 - Spanish anarchists call for general strike

1934 - Bradman out for a Cricket duck against Cambridge University

1936 - The first sheet of postage stamps of more than one variety went on sale in New York City.

1936 - 1st KLM airplane to land on Bonaire

1936 - Italy takes Addis Abba, and annexed Absynnia (Ethiopia)

1937 - Reds beat Phillies 21-10 (Ernie Lombardi goes 6 for 6)

1939 - Catholic church beatified the first Native American, Kateri Tekakwitha

1940 - Vivien Leigh debuted in America on stage in "Romeo and Juliet" with Lawrence Olivier.

1941 - English Army breaks German spy codes

1941 - The German submarine U-110 was captured at sea by Britain's Royal navy.

1942 - 68th Preakness: Basil James aboard Alsab wins in 1:57

1943 - 5th German Pantser army surrenders in Tunisia

1943 - Rotschild-Haddassh University Hospital opens

1944 - First eye bank opens in New York

1944 - Country singer Jimmie Davis becomes governor of Louisiana

1944 - Dutch resistance fighter Gerard Musch arrested

1944 - Joe McCarthy returns as Yankee manager after an illness

1944 - Russians recapture Crimea by taking Sevastopol

1945 - Czechoslovakia liberated from Nazi occupation (Natl Day)

1945 - Jersey liberated from Nazis

1945 - Nazi propagandist Max Blokzijl arrested

1945 - New balata ball used in baseball, 50% livilier

1945 - Norwegian Nazi collaborators Vidkun Quisling arrested

1945 - Victory celebration at Red Square

1945 - World War II: Partisans liberate Ljubljana.

1945 - World War II: Hermann Göring is captured by the United States Army.

1945 - World War II: The Soviet Union marks Victory Day.

1945 - World War II: The Channel Islands are formally liberated by the British.

1945 - U.S. officials announced that the midnight entertainment curfew was being lifted immediately.

1946 - King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy abdicated and was replaced by Umberto.

1946 - First variety show on TV "NBC's Hour Glass," premieres. It is also the first hour long entertainment TV show in history.

1949 - Britain's 1st launderette opens in Queensway London

1949 - Prince Rainier III becomes leader of Monaco

1950 - French Foreign min Robert Schuman calls for European community EGKS

1950 - Norman Dello Joco's premieres in Bronxville

1951 - Air raid on Chinese positions at Yalu River

1955 - German Federal Republic joins NATO

1956 - First ascent of Manaslu, the world's eighth-highest mountain.

1958 - Botvinnik recaptures world chess championship

1958 - Richard Burton made his network television debut in the presentation of "Wuthering Heights" on CBS-TV.

1959 - Dorothy Rigney, husband John, & Hank Greenberg resign from White Sox

1960 - Nigeria becomes a member of British Commonwealth

1960 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for sale an oral birth-control pill for the first time. The US is first country to use the birth control pill legally

1960 - US send U-2 over USSR

1961 - Jim Gentile (9 RBI's) of the Baltimore Orioles set a major league baseball record when he hit a grand slam home run in two consecutive innings. The game was against the Minnesota Twins

1961 - FCC Chairman Newton N Minow criticizes TV as a "vast wasteland"

1961 - Jim Gentile is 4th to hit grand slams in consecutive innings

1962 - The Beatles signed their first recording contract with EMI Parlophone, and hired George Martin to be their producer.

1962 - Laser beam successfully bounced off Moon for first time

1962 - US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island

1963 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1964 - Khrushchev visits Egypt

1964 - Peter & Gordon release "World Without Love"

1965 - Beatles attend a Bob Dylan concert

1965 - Luna 5 launched (USSR) 1st attempt to soft land on Moon (fails)

1966 - First black member of Federal Reserve Board (A F Brimmer)

1966 - China PR performs nuclear test at Lop Nor PRC

1967 - First flight of Fokker F-28 Fellowship

1967 - Gijsbert van Hall resigns as mayor of Amsterdam

1969 - BPAA All-Star Bowling Tournament won by Billy Hardwick

1970 - 100,000s demonstrate against Vietnam War

1971 - 23rd Emmy Awards: All in the Family, Jack Klugman & Jean Stapleton

1971 - Elizabeth Bonner runs female world record marathon (3:01:42)

1971 - Friends of Earth return 1500 non-returnable bottles to Schweppes

1971 - Largest walk in crowd (31,626) in Balt Oriole history

1973 - For second time, Johnny Bench hits 3 HRs in a game

1974 - House Judiciary Committee begin formal hearings on Nixon impeachment

1975 - Brian Oldfield shot puts 22.86 m (world record)

1976 - "So Long 174th St" closes at Harkness Theater NYC after 16 perfs

1977 - Hotel Poland in Amsterdam destroyed by fire, 33 killed

1977 - Mabel Murphy Smythe confirmed as ambassador to Rep of Cameroon

1977 - Patty Hearst let out of jail

1978 - "Ain't Misbehavin'" opens at Longacre Theater NYC for 1604 perfs

1978 - The bullet-riddled body of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro was found in an automobile in the center of Rome. The Red Brigades had abducted him.

1978 - Fee Waybill of Tubes breaks a leg falling off stage

1978 - Musical "Ain't Misbehavin'," premieres in NYC

1978 - PSV beats Bastica, 3-0, to win UEFA Cup in Eindhoven Neth

1980 - A Liberian freighter hit the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay in Florida. 35 motorists were killed and a 1,400-foot section of the bridge collapsed.

1981 - Kazimiroff Blvd in Bronx named for a Bronx historian

1982 - "9" opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 739 performances

1982 - Arthur Kopit's musical "Nine," premieres in NYC

1983 - 18th Academy of Country Music Awards: Alabama & Willie Nelson

1984 - Alexander Calder's "Big Crinkly" sells for $852,000

1984 - It took the Chicago White Sox 25 innings, eight hours, and six minutes, over two days, to finally defeat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6. It was the longest game (in elapsed time) in major-league history.

1984 - White Sox & Brewers play 8:06, game, longest timed baseball game

1987 - 183 die aboard a Polish jetliner that crashes in Warsaw

1987 - Oriole Eddie Murray is 1st to switch hit HRs in 2 consecutive games

1988 - Belgium: 8th government of Martens forms

1988 - The new Australian Parliament House opened in Canberra by Queen Elizabeth.

1989 - "Saratina!" closes at Cort Theater NYC after 597 performances

1989 - Journalist petition Chinese government for freedom of press

1989 - NY Mets Kevin Elster, errors after 88 errorless games at shortstop

1989 - NY Mets Rick Cerone, errors after 159 errorless games as catcher

1989 - VP Quayle say in United Negro College Fund speech: "What a waste it is to lose one's mind" instead of "a mind is terrible thing to waste"

1990 - NY Newsday reporter Jimmy Breslin suspended for a racial slur

1990 - Sampdoria wins 30th Europe Cup II

1991 - Italian actress Laura Antonelli found guilty of cocaine possession

1991 - Michael Landon appears on Tonight Show to talk about his cancer

1992 - America Cup finals begin in San Diego

1992 - Final episode of "Golden Girls" airs on NBC-TV

1992 - Michelle McLean, 19, of Namibia, crowned 41st Miss Universe

1992 - Armenian forces capture Shusha, marking a major turning point in the Karabakh War.

1993 - "Ain't Broadway Grand" closes at Lunt-Fontanne NYC after 25 perfs

1993 - "Song of Jacob Zulu" closes at Plymouth Theater NYC after 53 perfs

1993 - Landslide in Nambija Ecuador, kills 300

1993 - Mustapha Matura's "Playboy of West Indies," premieres in NYC

1993 - Paraguay holds its first pres & parliamentary elections in 50 years

1994 - The South African parliament chose Nelson Mandela to be the first black president.of the country.

1994 - "Passion" opens at Plymouth Theater NYC for 280 performances

1994 - Mass murderer Joel Rifkind found guilty in NY

1995 - Cleveland Indians tie record of scoring 8 runs before making an out, they beat Twins 10-0

1995 - Kinshasa, Zaire under quarantine after an outbreak of Ebola virus

1996 - In video testimony to a courtroom in Little Rock, Arkansas, American. President Clinton insisted that he had nothing to do with a $300,000 loan in the criminal case against his former Whitewater partners.

1997 - First US ambassador since Saigon fell arrives in Vietnam

1997 - San Diego Padres retire #35 worn by pitcher Randy Jones

2001 - In Ghana 129 football fans die in what became known as the Accra Sports Stadium Disaster. The deaths were caused by a stampede (caused by the firing of teargas by police personnel at the stadium)that followed a controversial decision by the referee handling a crucial match between arch-rivals Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko.

2002 - The 38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem came to an end when the Palestinians inside agree to have thirteen suspected militants among them deported to several different countries. The standoff had begun on April 2, 2002.

2002 - In Kaspiysk, Russia, a remote-controlled bomb explodes during a holiday parade killing 43 and injuring at least 130.

2004 - Chechen Moscow-backed President Akhmad Kadyrov was killed in a remote-controlled land mine bomb blast under a VIP stage during a World War II memorial victory parade in Grozny, Chechnya. Six others were killed and another 60 wounded.

2002 - In Bahrain, people were allowed to vote for representatives for the first time in nearly 30 years. Women were allowed to vote for the first time in the country's history.

2005 - Liberal commentary website The Huffington Post is launched

2006 - Estonia ratifies the European Constitution.

2006 - George Preca is canonised as the first Maltese saint in history.

2012 - Mark Rothko's "Orange, Red, Yellow" becomes the most expensive contemporary art piece to be sold at auction for $86.9 million dollars

2012 - A Russian passenger jet disappears with 45 people on board

2012 - United States President, Barack Obama, officially states his support for same sex marriage


The following are the websites that I primarily used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/may09.htm

http://www.historyorb.com/day/may/9

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory/May-9

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