Sunday, July 21, 2013

On this Day in History - July 21

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

July 21, 1861: The First Battle of Bull Run

In the first major land battle of the Civil War, a large Union force under General Irvin McDowell is routed by a Confederate army under General Pierre G.T. Beauregard.  

Three months after the Civil War erupted at Fort Sumter, Union military command still believed that the Confederacy could be crushed quickly and with little loss of life. In July, this overconfidence led to a premature offensive into northern Virginia by General McDowell. Searching out the Confederate forces, McDowell led 34,000 troops--mostly inexperienced and poorly trained militiamen--toward the railroad junction of Manassas, located just 30 miles from Washington, D.C. Alerted to the Union advance, General Beauregard massed some 20,000 troops there and was soon joined by General Joseph Johnston, who brought some 9,000 more troops by railroad.  

On the morning of July 21, hearing of the proximity of the two opposing forces, hundreds of civilians--men, women, and children--turned out to watch the first major battle of the Civil War. The fighting commenced with three Union divisions crossing the Bull Run stream, and the Confederate flank was driven back to Henry House Hill. However, at this strategic location, Beauregard had fashioned a strong defensive line anchored by a brigade of Virginia infantry under General Thomas J. Jackson. Firing from a concealed slope, Jackson's men repulsed a series of Federal charges, winning Jackson his famous nickname "Stonewall."  

Meanwhile, Confederate cavalry under J.E.B. Stuart captured the Union artillery, and Beauregard ordered a counterattack on the exposed Union right flank. The rebels came charging down the hill, yelling furiously, and McDowell's line was broken, forcing his troops in a hasty retreat across Bull Run. The retreat soon became an unorganized flight, and supplies littered the road back to Washington. Union forces endured a loss of 3,000 men killed, wounded, or missing in action while the Confederates suffered 2,000 casualties. The scale of this bloodshed horrified not only the frightened spectators at Bull Run but also the U.S. government in Washington, which was faced with an uncertain military strategy in quelling the "Southern insurrection."



And here is one more thing that occurred on this day in history: Hitler informing the German people that he was still alive, following a close call during an assassination attempt.

July 21, 1944: Hitler to Germany: "I'm still alive." 

On this day in 1944, Adolf Hitler takes to the airwaves to announce that the attempt on his life has failed and that "accounts will be settled."  

Hitler had survived the bomb blast that was meant to take his life. He had suffered punctured eardrums, some burns and minor wounds, but nothing that would keep him from regaining control of the government and finding the rebels. In fact, the coup d'etat that was to accompany the assassination of Hitler was put down in a mere 11 1/2 hours. In Berlin, Army Major Otto Remer, believed to be apolitical by the conspirators and willing to carry out any orders given him, was told that the Fuhrer was dead and that he, Remer, was to arrest Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda. But Goebbels had other news for Remer-Hitler was alive. And he proved it, by getting the leader on the phone (the rebels had forgotten to cut the phone lines). Hitler then gave Remer direct orders to put down any army rebellion and to follow only his orders or those of Goebbels or Himmler. Remer let Goebbels go. The SS then snapped into action, arriving in Berlin, now in chaos, just in time to convince many high German officers to remain loyal to Hitler.  

Arrests, torture sessions, executions, and suicides followed. Count Claus von Stauffenberg, the man who actually planted the explosive in the room with Hitler and who had insisted to his co-conspirators that "the explosion was as if a 15-millimeter shell had hit. No one in that room can still be alive." But it was Stauffenberg who would not be alive for much longer; he was shot dead the very day of the attempt by a pro-Hitler officer. The plot was completely undone.  

Now Hitler had to restore calm and confidence to the German civilian population. At 1 a.m., July 21, Hitler's voice broke through the radio airwaves: "I am unhurt and well.... A very small clique of ambitious, irresponsible...and stupid officers had concocted a plot to eliminate me... It is a gang of criminal elements which will be destroyed without mercy. I therefore give orders now that no military authority...is to obey orders from this crew of usurpers... This time we shall settle account with them in the manner to which we National Socialists are accustomed."

Busy day in history. Herostratus set fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, which was one of the original Seven Wonders of the World. The Russo-Turkish War ended on this date. Napoleon won a battle in Egypt. Belgium gained it's independence from the Netherlands. The first Canadian railroad opened, linking La Prairie to St. John, Quebec. The first major battle of the Civil War - The Battle of Bull's Run at Manassas Junction, fell on this date. The first ever western-style showdown took place in Springfield, Missouri, with Wild Bill Hickok shooting and killing Davis Tutt. The first train robbery took place on this date, with Jesse James and his gang responsible. Spain ceded Guam to the United States. The Soviet Union annexed the three Baltic states - Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Two hundred Jewish Toras are burned in the Ukraine. Von Kluge warned Hitler of the inevitable collapse of the German front in the West. Indonesia got it's first election. The Geneva Convention partitioned North and South Vietnam. It was on this date for much of the world that Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon 2:56:15 AM (GMT).. Nineteen months of Martial Law ended in Poland. Roger Waters did one of the most well-attended concerts of all time, performing "The Wall" in Berlin, on the site where the Berlin Wall had formerly stood. Tony Blair won the Labor Party leadership, which would inevitably boost him to become Prime Minister. Astronaut Alan Shepard died. WorldCom went bankrupt. The White House was briefed by the 9/11 Commission's final report. Four bombs were planted on public transportation sites across London, although they failed to detonate. Suspected war criminal Radovan Karadžić was arrested in Serbia, and indicted by the United Nation's International Court Tribunal.  NASA's space shuttle program ended officially on this date in 2011.

Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:


356 BC - Herostratus sets fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
230 - St Pontianus begins his reign as Catholic Pope
285 - Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar, co-ruler.
365 - Alexandria hit by Earthquake; about 50,000 die
866 - John appointed bishop of the kingdom
905 - Holy Roman Catholic emperor Louis III captured
976 - Emperor Otto II gives earl Leopold I, East Bavaria
1542 - Pope Paul III begins inquisition against Protestants (Sactum Officium)
1545 - The first landing of French troops onto the coast of the Isle of Wight during the French invasion of the Isle of Wight occurs.
1568 - Battle at Jemmingen: Alva's troops beat Dutch rebellion
1579 - Mechelen surrenders to duke of Parma
1588 - English fleet defeats Spanish armada
1595 - Alvara Mendana discovers Marquesas Island
1669 - John Lockes Constitution of English colony Carolina approved
1718 - The Treaty of Passarowitz between the Ottoman Empire, Austria and the Republic of Venice is signed.
1730 - States of Holland put death penalty on "sodomy"
1733 - John Winthrop was granted the first honorary Doctor of Law Degree given by Harvard College in Cambridge, MA
1749 - Pieter Steyn becomes pension advisor of Holland
1773 - Pope Clemens XIV bans Jesuits
1774 - Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774: Russia and the Ottoman Empire sign Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji ending the war.
1798 - Napoleon Bonaparte wins Battle of Pyramids in Egypt
1825 - Java princess Dipo Negoro/Mangkubumi declare war on all non-islamics
1831 - Belgium became independent from the Netherlands, as Leopold I was proclaimed King of the Belgians.
1836 - First Canadian RR opens, between La Prairie and St John, Quebec
1846 - Mormons found 1st English settlement in California (San Joaquin Valley)
1861 - The first major battle of the U.S. Civil War began. It was the Battle of Bull Run at Manassas Junction, VA. The Confederates won the battle.
1865 - In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first true western showdown.
1866 - Cholera epidemic kills hundreds in London
1867 - City Gardens on Folsom opens
1873 - The first train robbery west of the Mississippi was pulled off by Jesse James, James Younger, and their gang (Adair, Iowa).
1877 - -27] US army breaks railroad strike
1880 - Compressed air accident kills 20 workers on Hudson River tunnel, NY
1884 - 1st Test Cricket match played at Lord's
1896 - National Federation of Afro-American Women & Colored Women's
1897 - Tate Gallery opens in England
1898 - Spain cedes Guam to US
1900 - Pope Leo XIII encyclical to Greek-Melkite rite
1904 - After 13 years, the 4,607-mile Trans-Siberian railway is completed
1904 - Camille Jenatzy sets world auto speed record at 65.79 MPH
1918 - U-156 shells Nauset Beach, in Orleans, Massachusetts.
1919 - Anthony Fokker's establishes airplane factory at Hamburg & Amsterdam
1919 - Dirigible crashes through bank skylight killing 13 (Chicago, Ill)
1921 - Indians (9) & Yankees (7) hit a record 16 doubles
1923 - Phillies score 12 in 6th & beat Cubs 17-4
1925 - The so-called "Monkey Trial" ended in Dayton, TN. John T. Scopes was convicted of violating the state law for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution. The conviction was later overturned.
1930 - The Veterans’ Administration of the United States was established.
1930 - 110°F (43°C) at Millsboro, Delaware (state record)
1931 - Reno race track, becomes 1st in US to use daily double wagering
1931 - CBS aired the first regularly scheduled program to be simulcast on radio and television. The show featured singer Kate Smith, composer George Gershwin and New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker.
1931 - The Reno Race Track inaugurated the daily double in the U.S.
1933 - Haifa Harbor in Palestine opens
1934 - 113°F (45°C), near Gallipolis, Ohio (state record)
1938 - Paul Hindemith & Leonide Massines ballet premieres in London
1940 - Soviet Union annexed Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
1940 - VARA-management accepts Rost of Tonningens demands
1940 - Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia were annexed by the Soviet Union.
1941 - 200 Jewish Torahs are burned in Ukraine
1941 - Himmler orders building of Majdanek concentration camp
1942 - 8 die as coal waste heap slides in river valley near Oakwood, Va
1944 - British premier Winston Churchill flies to France, meets Montgomery
1944 - General Koiso becomes premier of Japan
1944 - US forces land on Guam to get rid of Japanese invaders
1944 - Von Kluge warns Hitler of impending collapse of front in Normandy
1945 - Detroit Tigers & Phila A's play 24 inning 1-1 tie
1946 - Jesus T Pinerol becomes 1st native born Puerto Rican governor
1947 - Indonesia begins first political election
1947 - Loren MacIver’s portrait of Emmett Kelly as Willie the Clown appeared on the cover of "LIFE" magazine.
1948 - WSPD TV channel 13 in Toledo, OH (NBC) begins broadcasting
1949 - The U.S. Senate ratifies North Atlantic Treaty by a vote of 82-13 (NATO)
1951 - Dalai Lama returns to Tibet
1952 - 7.8 earthquake shakes Kern County California, 14 killed
1952 - Premier Ghavam es-Sultaneh of Persia, resigns
1954 - The Geneva Conference partitioned Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam.
1955 - 1st sub powered by liquid metal cooled reactor launched-Seawolf
1956 - Cin Red pitcher Brooks Lawrence loses after 13 straight wins
1956 - US performs atmospheric nuclear Test at Enwetak
1957 - 1st black to win a major US tennis tournament (Althea Gibson)
1957 - Althea Gibson became the first black woman to win a major U.S. tennis title when she won the Women’s National clay-court singles competition.
1958 - The last of "Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts" programs aired on CBS-TV.
1959 - A U.S. District Court judge in New York City ruled that "Lady Chatterley’s Lover" was not a dirty book.
1959 - First nuclear powered merchant ship, NS Savannah, christened, Camden NJ
1959 - Red Sox are last team to use a black player (Pumpsie Green)
1960 - Country of Katanga forms in Africa
1960 - In Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) Sirima Bandaranaike is world's 1st woman PM
1960 - Francis Chichester arrive in NY aboard Gypsy Moth II, setting record of 40 days for a solo Atlantic crossing
1961 - Capt. Virgil "Gus" Grissom became the second American to rocket into a sub-orbital pattern around the Earth. He was flying on theLiberty Bell 7.
1961 - Launch of Mercury 4 (Liberty Bell) with Grissom
1962 - 160 civil right activists jailed after demonstration in Albany Ga
1962 - Battles on Chinese & Indies boundary
1963 - 45th PGA Championship: Jack Nicklaus shoots a 279 at Dallas AC Dallas
1964 - Arnold Long takes 11 catches in the match for Surrey v Sussex
1964 - Mildred Simpson runs female world record marathon (3:19:33)
1964 - Neth last whaling ship Willem Barents Sea sold to Japan
1965 - Pakistan, Iran & Turkey sign Regional Co-Operation pact
1966 - Gemini X returns to Earth
1966 - USSR performs nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1968 - 50th PGA Championship: Julius Boros shoots a 281 at Pecan Valley TX
1968 - Carol Mann wins LPGA Buckeye Savings Golf Invitational
1968 - Jan Janssen wins Tour de France: 1st Dutchman
1968 - Arnold Palmer became the first golfer to make a million dollars in career earnings after he tied for second place at the PGA Championship.
1969 - Neil Armstrong steps on Moon at 2:56:15 AM (GMT)
1969 - Russia's Luna 15 impacts moon after 52 lunar orbits
1970 - The enormous Aswan High Dam was opened in Egypt.
1970 - Libya orders confiscation of all Jewish property
1970 - USSR performs nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1970 - Clay Kirby has a no-hitter going for 8 inn, but is lifted for a pinch hitter, Reliever Jack Baldschun gives up 3 hits & Padres lose, 3-0
1971 - US performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site
1972 - 2 passenger trains collide head-on killing 76 (Seville, Spain)
1972 - 27.5 cm rainfall at Fort Ripley, Minnesota (state record)
1972 - Bloody Friday: 22 IRA-bombs explode in Belfast
1972 - Dodgers release & end career of pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm
1972 - In NY, 57 murders occur in 24 hours
1973 - Braves Hank Aaron hits Ken Brett's fastball for his 700th HR
1973 - France performs nuclear Test at Muruora Atoll un the Pacific
1973 - USSR launches Mars 4 for fly-by (2600 km) of red planet
1974 - 29th US Women's Open Golf Championship won by Sandra Haynie
1974 - Eddy Merckx wins his 5th Tour de France
1974 - House Judiciary approves 2 Articles of Impeachment against Pres Nixon
1975 - Billy Martin fired as Texas Rangers manager
1975 - NY Met Félix Millán hits 4 singles; erased by Joe Torres 4 double plays
1976 - "Guys & Dolls" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 239 performances
1976 - 1st outbreak of "Legionnaire's Disease" kills 29 in Phila
1976 - Christopher Ewart-Biggs British ambassador to the Republic of Ireland is assassinated by the Provisional IRA.
1977 - Libyan-Egyptian border fights
1977 - Sri Lanka premier Bandaranaike loses election
1978 - Bolivia milt coup under general Juan Pereda, pres Hugo Banzer flees
1978 - US Postal Service & unions agree on a contract averting mail strike
1978 - World's strongest dog, 80-kg St Bernard, pulls 2909-kg load 27 m
1979 - 108th British Golf Open: Seve Ballesteros shoots a 283 at Royal Lytham
1979 - National Women's Hall of Fame (Seneca Falls, NY) dedicated
1980 - Jean-Claude Droyer climbs Eiffel Tower in 2 hrs 18 mins
1980 - Draft registration began in the United States for 19 and 20-year-old men.
1981 - Australia set 130 to win, all out 111 at Headingley Willis 8-43
1982 - France performs nuclear Test at Muruora Island
1983 - Polish government ends 19 months of martial law
1983 - Storm cuts short Diana Ross' free concert in NY's Central Park
1983 - US announces Lebanon freed American hostage David Dodge
1984 - 1st documented case of a robot killing a human in US
1984 - Marita Koch of E Germany sets world women's mark for 200m, 21.71s
1984 - USSR performs underground nuclear Test
1985 - "Leader of the Pack" closes at Ambassador Theater NYC after 120 perfs
1985 - 114th British Golf Open: Sandy Lyle shoots a 282 at Royal St George
1985 - Amina Fakir (Detroit), 23, crowned 18th Miss Black America
1985 - Bernard Hinault wins his 5th & last Tour de France
1985 - Judy Clark wins LPGA Boston Five Golf Classic
1986 - Barbara Palacios Teyde, 22, of Venezuela, crowned 35th Miss Universe
1986 - Pleasure Island plans unveiled
1987 - Kristi Addis, of Mississippi, crowned 5th Miss Teen USA
1987 - Mary Hart, of "Entertainment Tonight", had her legs insured by Lloyd’s of London for $2 million.
1988 - ESA's Ariane-3 launches 2 communications satellites (1 Indian)
1988 - Mass Gov Michael Dukakis accepts Democratic nomination for president
1989 - Eastern Airlines submits a reorganization plan to creditors
1989 - Greg LeMond (US) wins Tour de France in fastest time
1989 - Mike Tyson KOs Carl Williams in 1:33 for heavyweight boxing title
1990 - Goodwill Games opens in Seattle Wash
1990 - Pink Floyds' "Wall" is performed where Berlin Wall once stood
1991 - 120th British Golf Open: Ian Baker-Finch shoots 272 at Royal Birkdale
1991 - Betsy King wins LPGA JAL Big Apple Golf Classic
1991 - Sharmell Sullivan (Gary Indiana), 20, crowned 23rd Miss Black America
1991 - Ferguson Jenkins, Gaylord Perry, Rod Carew, Tony Lazzeri, & Bill Veeck are elected into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY
1993 - Angela Kennedy swims world record 50 m butterfly stroke (26.93)
1994 - Tony Blair is declared the winner of the leadership election of the British Labour Party, paving the way for him to become Prime Minister in 1997.
1995 - Brian Lara completes a pair for West Indians v Kent
1995 - KC Royals set club-record of 22 singles in 15 innings
1996 - 125th British Golf Open: Tom Lehman shoots a 271 at Royal Lytham
1996 - Dottie Pepper wins LPGA Friendly's Golf Classic
1996 - Wayne Gretzky signs a 2 year deal with NY Rangers
1997 - 200-year-old USS Constitution sails under its own power
1997 - NY Yank Mike Whiton held in Milwaukee on charges of sexual assault
1997 - The fully restored USS Constitution (aka "Old Ironsides") celebrates her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years. It had defended the United States during the War of 1812.
1998 - Chinese gymnast Sang Lan, 17, was paralyzed after a fall while practicing for the women's vault competition at the Goodwill Games in New York. Spinal surgery 4 days later failed to restore sensation below her upper chest.
1998 - Astronaut Alan Shepard died.
2000 - NBC announced that they had found nearly all of Milton Berle's kinescopes. The filmed recordings of Berle's early TV shows had been the subject of a $30 million lawsuit filed by Berle the previous May.
2002 - Telecom giant WorldCom Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. At the time it was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
2004 - The United Kingdom government publishes Delivering Security in a Changing World, a paper detailing wide-ranging reform of the country's armed forces.
2004 - White House officials were briefed on the September 11 commission's final report. The 575-page report concluded that hijackers exploited "deep institutional failings within our government." The report was released to the public the next day.
2005 - Four terrorist bombings, occurring exactly two weeks after the similar July 7 bombings, target London's public transportation system. All four bombs fail to detonate and all four suspected suicide bombers are captured and later convicted and imprisoned for long terms.
2007 - The seventh and last book of the Harry Potter series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," was released.
2008 - Bosnian-Serb war criminal Radovan Karadžić is arrested in Serbia and is indicted by the UN's ICTY tribunal.
2011 - NASA's Space Shuttle program ends with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on mission STS-135.




The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/jul21.htm

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

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory

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