Thursday, May 29, 2014

On This Day in History - May 29 The End of the Byzantine Empire

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!

Well, here's a biggie: on this day in history, Constantinople fell, not for the first time. But what made this time different was that it marked the end of the Byzantine Empire. It was the beginning of what would become the Ottoman Empire, if memory from my Byzantine history course at Rutgers serves correctly.

Also on this date, South Carolina became an official colony and, quite a few years later, Rhode Island would become the last of the original thirteen states to ratify the Constitution. In between those two dates, Patrick Henry delivered a famous speech on this date, railing against the tyranny of the British and the Stamp Act. Some years later, in 1848, Wisconsin became an official state. A year later, Lincoln would coin that famous phrase that a future President would completely butcher, "You can fool some of the people all of the time, or all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all the people all of the time." Sojourner Truth addressed a conference for all-black women. Emperor Maximillian arrived in Mexico in 1864. The first running of the Indianapolis 55 took place. The US invaded the Dominican Republic, and would stay for the better part of a decade. The flag of the President on the United States was officially adopted and, not much later, a future President, John F. Kennedy, was born in Brookline, MA. Einstein's light-bending theory was confirmed on this day. Ecuador became an independent nation. World War I veterans marched in Washington for benefits payments that would not arrive for another thirteen years. Bing Crosby would record his famous, and hugely popular, "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" on this day in history

(really? In late May?)

Charles de Gaulle formed a new government in France. The United Nations came to an agreement on sanctions to be imposed on Rhodesia (what is Zimbabwe in the present day), which was then ruled by a white-minority government. A little over a decade later, Bishop Abel Muzorewa would become the first black prime minister of that same country (by then known as Zimbabwe). In the meantime, President Nixon had released 1,200 pages for the Watergate investigation. Colonel Oliver North admitted that profits from weapons sold to Iran went to illegally fund the Contras in Nicaragua. President Reagan visited Moscow. Chinese students protesting in Beijing built a statue ("The Goddess of Democracy") that was highly influenced by the Statue of Liberty - a small replica of it still stands in Arlington, Virginia. A year later, Boris Yeltsin was elected President of Russia. Olusegun Obasanjo became the first Nigerian civilian president in over a decade in a half. There was a massacre in Saudi Arabia and, a year later, in an election that I personally would take part in, French voters rejected the European Constitution.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hillary-and-tenzing-reach-everest-summit

May 29, 1953: Hillary and Tenzing reach Everest summit

At 11:30 a.m. on May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa of Nepal, become the first explorers to reach the summit of Mount Everest, which at 29,035 feet above sea level is the highest point on earth. The two, part of a British expedition, made their final assault on the summit after spending a fitful night at 27,900 feet. News of their achievement broke around the world on June 2, the day of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, and Britons hailed it as a good omen for their country's future.  

Mount Everest sits on the crest of the Great Himalayas in Asia, lying on the border between Nepal and Tibet. Called Chomo-Lungma, or "Mother Goddess of the Land," by the Tibetans, the English named the mountain after Sir George Everest, a 19th-century British surveyor of South Asia. The summit of Everest reaches two-thirds of the way through the air of the earth's atmosphere--at about the cruising altitude of jet airliners--and oxygen levels there are very low, temperatures are extremely cold, and weather is unpredictable and dangerous.  

The first recorded attempt to climb Everest was made in 1921 by a British expedition that trekked 400 difficult miles across the Tibetan plateau to the foot of the great mountain. A raging storm forced them to abort their ascent, but the mountaineers, among them George Leigh Mallory, had seen what appeared to be a feasible route up the peak. It was Mallory who quipped when later asked by a journalist why he wanted to climb Everest, "Because it's there."  

A second British expedition, featuring Mallory, returned in 1922, and climbers George Finch and Geoffrey Bruce reached an impressive height of more than 27,000 feet. In another attempt made by Mallory that year, seven Sherpa porters were killed in an avalanche. (The Sherpas, native to the Khumbu region, have long played an essential support role in Himalayan climbs and treks because of their strength and ability to endure the high altitudes.) In 1924, a third Everest expedition was launched by the British, and climber Edward Norton reached an elevation of 28,128 feet, 900 vertical feet short of the summit, without using artificial oxygen. Four days later, Mallory and Andrew Irvine launched a summit assault and were never seen alive again. In 1999, Mallory's largely preserved body was found high on Everest--he had suffered numerous broken bones in a fall. Whether or not he or Irvine reached the summit remains a mystery.  

Several more unsuccessful summit attempts were made via Tibet's Northeast Ridge route, and after World War II Tibet was closed to foreigners. In 1949, Nepal opened its door to the outside world, and in 1950 and 1951 British expeditions made exploratory climbs up the Southeast Ridge route. In 1952, a Swiss expedition navigated the treacherous Khumbu Icefall in the first real summit attempt. Two climbers, Raymond Lambert and Tenzing Norgay, reached 28,210 feet, just below the South Summit, but had to turn back for want of supplies.  

Shocked by the near-success of the Swiss expedition, a large British expedition was organized for 1953 under the command of Colonel John Hunt. In addition to the best British climbers and such highly experienced Sherpas as Tenzing Norgay, the expedition enlisted talent from the British Commonwealth, such as New Zealanders George Lowe and Edmund Hillary, the latter of whom worked as a beekeeper when not climbing mountains. Members of the expedition were equipped with specially insulated boots and clothing, portable radio equipment, and open- and closed-circuit oxygen systems.  

Setting up a series of camps, the expedition pushed its way up the mountain in April and May 1953. A new passage was forged through the Khumbu Icefall, and the climbers made their way up the Western Cwm, across the Lhotse Face, and to the South Col, at about 26,000 feet. On May 26, Charles Evans and Tom Bourdillon launched the first assault on the summit and came within 300 feet of the top of Everest before having to turn back because one of their oxygen sets was malfunctioning.  

On May 28, Tenzing and Hillary set out, setting up high camp at 27,900 feet. After a freezing, sleepless night, the pair plodded on, reaching the South Summit by 9 a.m. and a steep rocky step, some 40 feet high, about an hour later. Wedging himself in a crack in the face, Hillary inched himself up what was thereafter known as the Hillary Step. Hillary threw down a rope, and Norgay followed. At about 11:30 a.m., the climbers arrived at the top of the world.  

News of the success was rushed by runner from the expedition's base camp to the radio post at Namche Bazar, and then sent by coded message to London, where Queen Elizabeth II learned of the achievement on June 1, the eve of her coronation. The next day, the news broke around the world. Later that year, Hillary and Hunt were knighted by the queen. Norgay, because he was not a citizen of a Commonwealth nation, received the lesser British Empire Medal.  

In 1960, a Chinese expedition was the first to conquer the mountain from the Tibetan side, and in 1963 James Whittaker became the first American to top Everest. In 1975, Tabei Junko of Japan became the first woman to reach the summit. Three years later, Reinhold Messner of Italy and Peter Habeler of Austria achieved what had been previously thought impossible: climbing to the Everest summit without oxygen. Nearly two hundred climbers have died attempting to summit the mountain. A major tragedy occurred in 1996 when eight climbers from various nations died after being caught in a blizzard high on the slopes.


363 - Roman Emperor Julian defeats the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the Sassanid capital, but is unable to take the city.

757 - St Paul I begins his reign as Catholic Pope

1138 - Anti-Pope Victor IV (Gregorio) overthrows self for Innocentius II

1167 - Battle of Monte Porzio - A Roman army supporting Pope Alexander III is defeated by Christian of Buch and Rainald of Dassel

1176 - Battle at Legnano: Lombard League beats Frederick Barbarossa and the Holy Roman Empire

1414 - Council of Constance deposed Pope John XXIII

1453 - Constantinople fell to Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II (Turks), thus ending the Byzantine Empire.

1453 - French banker Jacques Coeurs possessions confiscated

1576 - Spanish army under Mondragon conquerors Zierik sea

1592 - At the Battle of Sacheon, the Korean navy led by Admiral Yi Sun Shin, repels a Japanese army that outnumbers it nearly 3 to 1.

1630 - Gov John Winthrop begins "History of New England"

1652 - English Admiral Robert Blake drives out Dutch fleet under lt-adm Tromp

1660 - Charles II was restored to the English throne after Puritan Commonwealth

1677 - Treaty of Middle Plantation establishes peace between the Virginia colonists and the local Indians.

1692 - Battle at La Hogue: English and Dutch fleet defeat France

1692 - Royal Hospital Founders Day first celebrated

1721 - South Carolina was formally incorporated as a royal colony

1727 - Peter II (11) becomes Tsar of Russia

1733 - The right of Canadians to keep Indian slaves is upheld at Quebec City.

1753 - Joseph Haydns "Krumme Teufel," premieres

1765 - Patrick Henry historic speech against the Stamp Act, answering a cry of "Treason!" with, "If this be treason, make the most of it!" He denounced the Stamp Act before Virginia's House of Burgesses.

1780 - Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton massacres Colonel Abraham Buford's continentals allegedly after the continentals surrender. 113 Americans are killed.

1787 - "Virginia Plan" proposed

1790 - Rhode Island becomes last of original 13 colonies ratifying Constitution

1827 - The first nautical school opened in Nantucket, MA, under the name Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin’s Lancasterian School.

1848 - Wisconsin became the 30th state to join the United States.

1848 - Battle at Curtazone: Austrians beat Sardinia-Piemonte

1849 - Lincoln says "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."

1849 - A patent for lifting vessels was granted to Abraham Lincoln.

1851 - Sojourner Truth addresses first Black Women's Rights Convention (Akron)

1861 - Dorothea Dix offers help in setting up hospitals for Union Army

1864 - Mexican Emperor Maximilian arrives at Vera Cruz

1868 - The assassination of Michael Obrenovich III, Prince of Serbia, in Belgrade.

1874 - Present constitution of Switzerland takes effect

1884 - First steam cable trams start in highgate

1889 - August Strindberg's "Hemsoborna," premieres in Copenhagen

1897 - 31st Belmont: J Scherrer aboard Scottish Cheiftain wins in 2:23.25

1900 - 25th Preakness: H Spencer aboard Hindus wins in 1:48.4

1900 - Trademark "Escalator" registered by Otis Elevator Co

1902 - Dutch State Mine law forms

1903 - May coup d'etat: Alexander Obrenovich, King of Serbia, and Queen Draga, are assassinated in Belgrade by the Black Hand (Crna Ruka) organization.

1905 - Pogrom against Jewish community in Brisk Lithuania

1909 - Frank "Home Run" Baker's 1st career home run.

1910 - Pope's encyclical on Editae Saepe, against church reformers

1910 - An airplane raced a train from Albany, NY, to New York City. The airplane pilot Glenn Curtiss won the $10,000 prize.

1911 - The first running of the Indianapolis 500 took place.

1912 - Fifteen women were dismissed from their jobs at the Curtis Publishing Company in Philadelphia, PA, for dancing the "Turkey Trot" while on the job.

1913 - Igor Stravinsky's ballet score The Rite of Spring is premiered in Paris, provoking a riot.

1914 - Ship rams Canadian ship Empress of Ireland on St Lawrence R; 1024 die

1916 - NY Giants win 17th consecutive road game

1916 - The official flag of the president of the United States was adopted.

1916 - U.S. forces invaded Dominican Republic and remained until 1924.

1917 - John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Mass.

1919 - Charles Strite files patent for the pop-up toaster

1919 - Einstein's light-bending prediction confirmed by Arthur Eddington

1919 - The Republic of Prekmurje founded

1922 - Ecuador became independent.

1922 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that organized baseball was a sport, and thus not subject to antitrust laws.

1924 - AEK Athens FC is established on the anniversary of the siege of Constantinople by the Turks.

1928 - Fritz von Opel reaches 200 kph in experimental rocket car

1932 - World War I veterans began arriving in Washington, DC. to demand cash bonuses they were not scheduled to receive for another 13 years.

1935 - Hague local museum opens

1940 - Adolf Kiefer swims world record 100 yards backstroke (58.8 sec)

1940 - Arthur Seyss-Inquart installed as Reich commissar of Hague Netherlands.

1940 - In World War II, Germans capture Ostend and Ypres in Belgium & Lille in France

1942 - Bing Crosby records "White Christmas". It became the greatest selling record to date, as it would go on to sell over 30 million copies.

1943 - Confederacy of Algiers (Churchill-Marshall-Eisenhower)

1943 - Meat and cheese rationed in US

1944 - British troops occupy Aprilia Italy

1945 - US First Marine division conquerors Shuri-castle Okinawa

1946 - KVP wins Provincial National election in Netherlands

1949 - Candid Camera, TV comedy Variety, moves to NBC

1951 - C.F. Blair became the first man to fly over the North Pole in single engine plane.

1952 - 2nd Round Conference between Dutch Antilles & Suriname ends

1953 - Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became first men to reach the top of Mount Everest.

1954 - Pope Pius X issues holy declaration

1954 - First of the annual Bilderberg conferences.

1955 - Jordan government of Tewfik Abdul Huda resigns

1956 - Arnold Schoenberg's "Modern Psalm," premieres

1956 - WESH TV channel 2 in Daytona Beach-Orlando, FL (NBC) 1st broadcast

1957 - Algerian rebels kill 336 collaborators

1957 - Laos government of prince Suvanna Phuma resigns

1957 - NYC Mayor Robert Wagner says he plans to confer with the Giants & Dodgers about the proposed move to the west coast

1958 - Real Madrid wins 3rd Europe Cup 1 in Brussels

1959 - Charles de Gaulle formed French government

1960 - Everly Brothers "Cathy's Clown" hits #1

1962 - Barbra Streisand appears on "Garry Moore Show"

1962 - Buck (John) O’Neil became the first black coach in major league baseball when he accepted the job with the Chicago Cubs.

1965 - Ralph Boston set a world record in the broad jump at 27-feet, 4-3/4 inches, at a meet held in Modesto, CA.

1965 - Phillies Dick Allen hits 529' HR out of Connie Mack Stadium

1967 - Australian Paul McManus water skis barefoot for 1:30:19

1967 - Pope Paul VI names 27 new cardinals, including Karol Wojtyla, archbishop of Krakow, who later became Pope John Paul II

1968 - Manchester United wins 13rd Europe Cup 1 in London

1968 - Truth in Lending Act signed into law

1968 - UN resolved sanctions on white-minority-ruled Rhodesia

1969 - Britain's Trans-Arctic expedition makes first crossing of Arctic Sea ice

1969 - General strike in Cordoba, Argentina, leading to the Cordobazo civil unrest.

1970 - USSR performs nuclear test (underground)

1971 - Court Room by Clarence Carter hits #61

1973 - Columbia Records fires president Clive Davis for misappropriating $100,000 in funds, Davis will start Arista records

1973 - Tom Bradley was elected the first black mayor of Los Angeles.

1974 - U.S. President Nixon agreed to turn over 1,200 pages of edited Watergate transcripts.

1974 - Northern Ireland is brought under direct rule from Westminster

1976 - "One Piece At A Time" by Johnny Cash hits #29

1976 - Only HR of Joe Niekro's 22-year career, comes off brother Phil

1977 - A J Foyt wins Indianapolis 500 for a record 4th time

1977 - NBC News and Information Service (24 hr news) ends on radio

1977 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

1977 - Janet Guthrie becomes 1st woman to drive in Indy 500

1978 - First class postage now 15 cents (13 cents for 3 years)

1978 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

1979 - Bishop Abel Muzorewa is sworn in as Zimbabwe's first black PM

1979 - Radio's 1st rock network "Source" premieres

1980 - "Billy Bishop Goes to War" opens at Morosco Theater NYC for 12 perfs

1980 - 53rd National Spelling Bee: Jacques Bailly wins spelling elucubrate

1980 - Attempted assassination on Vernon Jordan Jr National Urban League pres

1980 - J Turners "Juliet & Her Nurse" sold for $6,400,000 in NYC

1980 - Larry Bird beats out Magic Johnson for NBA rookie of year

1981 - US performed nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1982 - "I Know What Boys Like," by The Waitresses hits #62

1982 - First papal visit to Britain since 1531

1982 - Pentagon plans first strategy to fight a nuclear war

1983 - Yuri Dumchev of USSR throws discus a record 71.86 m

1984 - Boston Red Sox retires #9 (Ted Williams) & #4 (Joe Cronin)

1985 - Juventus wins 30th Europe Cup 1 in Brussels, 39 die in riot

1985 - Amputee Steve Fonyo completes cross-Canada marathon at Victoria, British Columbia, after 14 months.

1985 - Juventus wins 30th Europe Cup 1 in Brussels, Belgium - 39 die in riot.

1986 - Colonel Oliver North told National Security Advisor William McFarlane that profits from weapons sold to Iran were being diverted to the Contras.

1987 - "Twilight Zone" director John Landis found innocent in death of actor

1987 - Michael Jackson attempts to buy Elephant Man's remains

1988 - Graeme Hick scores his 1,000th run of 1st-class cricket season

1988 - President Zia ul-Haq fires government/disbands parliament in Pakistan

1988 - U.S. President Reagan began his first visit to the Soviet Union in Moscow.

1988 - NBC aired "To Heal A Nation," the story of Jan Scruggs' effort to build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

1989 - Student protesters in China construct a replica of Statue of Liberty

1990 - An earthquake hit Peru, killing 56

1990 - Boris Yeltsin was elected president of the Russian republic by the Russian parliament.

1990 - Dow Jones avg hits a record 2,870.49

1990 - Rickey Henderson steals record 893rd base, breaking Ty Cobb's record

1991 - "Les Miserables," opens at ACTEA Theatre, Auckland NZ

1991 - Crevena Zvezda wins 36th Europe Cup I

1992 - White Sox Tim Raines swipes his 700th career base

1993 - Nazi's kill 5 Turkish women in Solingen Germany

1993 - Texas Ranger Jose Canseco pitches 8th inning in 15-1 loss to Red Sox, he gives up 3 runs on 2 hits & 3 walks, he damages his arm

1994 - "Joseph & the Amazing" closes at Minskoff Theater NYC after 223 perfs

1994 - "Picnic" closes at Criterion Theater NYC after 45 performances

1994 - Al Unser Jr wins 78th Indianapolis 500 in 3:06:29.006 (255.89 kph)

1994 - Great comet-iceball seen above North Sea

1994 - Hungary's Socialist Party wins parliamentary election

1996 - Space Shuttle STS 77 Endeavour 11), lands

1997 - 70th National Spelling Bee: Rebecca Sealfon wins spelling euonym

1997 - Jesse Timmedequas, found guilty of rape/murder of Megan Kanka, 7

1997 - Span scientists announce new human species in 780,000 year old fossil

1997 - The ruling party in Indonesia, Golkar, won the Parliament election by a record margin. There was a boycott movement and rioting that killed 200 people.

1999 - Space shuttle Discovery completed the first docking with the International Space Station.

1999 - Olusegun Obasanjo takes office as President of Nigeria, the first elected and civilian head of state in Nigeria after 16 years of military rule.

2000 - Fiji's military took control of the nation and declared martial law following a coup attempt by indigenous Fijians in mid-May.

2001 - In New York, four followers of Osama bin Laden were convicted of a global conspiracy to murder Americans. The crimes included the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people.

2001 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that disabled golfer Casey Martin could use a cart to ride in tournaments.

2001 - International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers inaugurated.

2004 - The World War II Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.

2004 - The Al-Khobar massacres in Saudi Arabia kill 22.

2005 - France resoundingly rejected the European Constitution.

2012 - Thousands march in protest in Johannesburg against Brett Murray's controversial painting The Spear

2012 - Facebook's problematic public listing could cost those involved $115 million from technical glitches

2012 - A 5.9 magnitude earthquake kills 24 people near Bologna, northern Italy

2012 - Indonesian police make the biggest drug bust in ten years after seizing over a million ecstasy pills valued at $45 million




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

http://www.historyorb.com/day/may/29

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hillary-and-tenzing-reach-everest-summit

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/may29.htm

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory/May-29

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