July 28th: This Date in History

 

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

The Battle at Aquileja was fought on this day in 388, when Emperor Theodosius defeated Emperor Magnus Maximis. 

On this day in 754, Pope Stephen II, [III] made Pippin de Korte the King of France. Crusaders attacked Damascus on this day in 1148.

The Battle at Ancyra/Angora/Ankara was fought on this day in 1402, when Timur Lenk defeated Sultan Bajezid I. Navigator Gil Eanes left Cape Bojador for Lisbon, Portugal, on this day in 1434. 

On this day in1540, King Henry VIII of England's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, was executed and Henry married his fifth wife, Catherine Howard. 

Cardinal Granvelle returned to Madrid on this day in 1579. 

Sir Thomas Harriot introduced the potato to Britain and Europe from the Americas on this day in 1586. They would arguably become bigger in Europe than in the Americas, being cheap and easy to grow. The Spanish Armada sailed to overthrow England's Queen Elizabeth I on this day in 1588.

On this day in 1609, Admiral George Somers settled in Bermuda.Spanish Marshal Piccolomini conquered Schenkenschans on this day in 1635. 

On this day in 1696, De Croissy succeeded Le Plectia as French Minister of Finance. Monarch Amengkurat II [Sunan Mas] of Mataram gave himself up to VOC on this day in 1708. 

Prussian King Frederik Willem I gave compulsory education to 5-12 year olds on this day in 1717. 

Captain Bering found Mount St Elias in Alaska on this day in 1741. 

In 1742 on this day, Prussia & Austria signed a peace treaty. 

Picture of a bust of composer Johann S Bach

On this day in 1750, the great baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach died after an unsuccessful eye operation. 

Bust of the "Incorruptible" French Revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre

• The Coup of Thermidor and the Fall of Robespierre in Paris came on this day in 1794. Robespierre is largely considered to have been the main architect of "The Terror" during the French Revolution. 

The Terror chapter of the French Revolution ended on this day in 1794 when Robespierre, one of the leading figures of the French Revolution and the man most credit with being behind "The Terror," was himself sent to the guillotine. There were 22 others who were labelled terrorists who also were executed to thunderous cheers. One of those executed was Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just, Robespierre's closest allies and enablers. 

Mahmud II succeeded Mahmud II succeeds Mustafa IV as sultan of Turkey on this day in 1808. Peru declared independence from Spain on this day in 1821 (National Day). 

On this day in 1849, the Memmon becomes the first clipper to reach San Francisco, 120 days out of New York. 

A total solar eclipse was captured on this day in 1851 on a daguerreotype photograph. On this day in 1858, the first use fingerprints as a means of identification was made by Sir William James Herschel of the Indian Civil Service in India. 

Nadar took the first airborne photo (in a balloon) on this day in 1858. 

Confederate forces were defeated at More's Hill, Missouri, on this day in 1862. 

This day in 1864 marked the second day of battle at Deep Bottom Run, Virginia. On that same day in 1864 was the Battle of Atlanta: GA (Ezra Church) - marking the second sortie US700 CS4642. On this day in 1865, the American Dental Association proposed it's first code of ethics. 

• The metric system was legalized by the United States. Congress for the standardization of weights and measures throughout the United States on this day in 1866. 

• The 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which established the citizenship of African Americans and guaranteed due process of law, was ratified on this day in 1868. 

Shocks triggered by volcano Epomeo (Isle of Ischia, Italy) on this day in 1883 destroyed 1,200 houses and killing 2,000  at Casamicciola. English Salisbury government formed on this day in 1886. 

On this day in 1896, the city of Miami was incorporated. 

Spanish troops in Ponce, Puerto Rico, surrendered on this day in 1898. 

• This day in 1898 marked the start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of Retired Colourman."  The hamburger was created on this day in 1900 by Louis Lassing in Connecticut.

• World War I officially began on this date in 1914 when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.. At the time, that was the biggest war in human history, but on that particular date, there were celebrations on the streets from all of the major participants. Everyone expected a quick and decisive victory in their own favor. But they were in for a rude awakening, as the war quickly became a stalemate, with millions of men living under hellish conditions in the trenches on either side of the "No Man's Land" that separated the warring sides. That was surely the biggest event that occurred on this day in history, but it was far from being the only significant event. 

On this day in 1915, 10,000 blacks marched on 5th Ave (NYC) protesting lynchings. US forces invaded Haiti on this day in 1915, and stayed until 1924. On this day in 1917, there was a Silent Parade in NYC to protest murders of blacks in race riots. 

Vrije Vakbewegings Internationale (VVI) formed in Amsterdam on this day in 1919. On this day in 1926, there was would be a US & Panamanian pact about safeguarding the Panama Canal. 

This day in 1928 marked the opening of the IXth Olympic Games open in Amsterdam. 

On this day in 1932, American President Herbert Hoover ordered Douglas MacArthur to evict "Bonus Army" of unemployed World War I veterans who had gathered in Washington. They were demanding money that they were not scheduled to receive until 1945. A battle ensued between the veterans and federal troops, which four ultimately dying. 

Spain officially recognized the USSR on this day in 1933. 

Plans for the Pentagon were approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on this day in 1941..Nazis liquidated 10,000 Jews in the Minsk Ghetto in occupied Belorussia on this day in 1942. 

On that same day in 1942, Zionists partisans ZOB formed in Poland 

• Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini resigned on this day in 1943. 

Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C.

• President FDR announced an end to coffee rationing in US on this day in 1943. Operation Gomorrah fell on this day in 1943, when the British bombed Hamburg, causing a firestorm that killed 42,000 German civilians. 

• Hitler routed 4 division of South France to Normandy on this day in 1944. The US 8th Army occupied Coutances, France, on this day in 1944. 

• Japanese Premier Suzuki ignored a US ultimatum to surrender on this day in 1945. On this day in 1945, the US Senate ratified the United Nations Charter by a count of 89-2. 

Some day shots of the Empire State Building in Manhattan (above) and a picture of the iconic landmark lit up at night (below).

• On this day in 1945, a U.S. Army bomber crashed into the 79th floor of New York City's Empire State Building. 

14 people were killed and 26 were injured. Iuliu Maniu's Boer partywas outlawed on this day in 1947 in Romania 

On this day in 1948, an I G Farben chemical plant exploded in Ludwigshafen, Germany, killing 182. 

On this day in 1955, the Union Mundial pro Interlingua is founded at the first Interlingua congress in Tours, France. 

Heavy rains caused a mudslide on this day in 1957 in Isahaya, western Kyūshū, Japan, killing 992. 

Great-Britain started using postal codes on this day in 1959.  

Hawaii's first US election sent the first Asian-Americans to Congress on this day in 1959. 

On this day in 1962, Mariner I that had been launched to Mars fell into the Atlantic Ocean. On this day in 1964, Ranger 7 launched toward the Moon; and sent back 4308 TV pictures. 

Bust of American President Lyndon B. Johnson

American President Lyndon Johnson on this day in 1965 announced that he was increasing the number of American troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000. 

On this day in 1973, Skylab 3's astronauts (Bean, Garriott & Lousma) launched. 

69 people were killed on this day in 19674 when a packed bus struck a heavy truck in Belem, Brazil. 

On this day in 1976, 242,000 people died in Tientsin-Tangshan (China) following an 8.2 magnitude earthquake. On this day in 1978, the price of gold topped $200-an-ounce for the first time. Peru adopted a new constitution on tis day in 1980, and, Fernando Belaúnde Terry became President. The city of San Francisco became the first city in the U.S. to ban handguns on this day in 1982..NASA launched the Telstar-3A on this day in 1983. 

Flag of the Olympics

The XXIII modern Olympic games opened in Los Angeles on this day in 1984. 

On this day in 1985, Alan Garcia was sworn in as president of Peru. 

There was a bomb attack in East Beirut on this day in 1986, with 25 killed as a result.

On this day in 1986, NASA released transcripts from the doomed Challenger, pilot Michael Smith could be heard saying, "Uh-oh!" as spacecraft disintegrated. 

Israeli diplomats arrived in Moscow for their first visit in 21 years on this day in 1988.

Jordan canceled a $1.3 billion development plan in West Bank on this day in 1988. 

Also on this day in 1988, Winnie Mandella's home in Soweto, South Africa was destroyed by arson. 

On this dayin 1989, NASA's Lewis Research Center, in Cleveland, Ohio, announced new high-temperature superconductors were able to operate at 33 to 37 Gigahertz. Alberto Fujimoro was installed as President of Peru on this day in 1990. 

A blackout hit Chicao on this day in 1990. 

Cleveland - Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame

Now we're at the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, Ohio

My son rocking out in front of the Hall!

Straight up night shot of Rock Hall of Fame, Cleveland

Another angle of the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, this one looking out to Lake Erie in the distance, stretching out behind the building.

Pretty cool pic of my son many years ago in front of the Rock Hall of Fame in Cleveland

On this day in 1994, the last steel beam was put into place on Cleveland's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. 

Kennewick Man, the remains of a prehistoric man, was discovered near Kennewick, Washington, on this day in 1996. 

Bell Atlantic and GTE announced a $52 billion deal that created the second-largest phone company on this day in 1998. 

Serbian military forces seized the Kosovo town of Malisevo on this day in 1998. 

Also on this day in 1998, Monica Lewinsky received blanket immunity from prosecution to testify before a grand jury about her relationship with American President Bill Clinton. 

In 2000 on this day, ana US Federal Appeals court granted a last minute stay of an injunction that ordered Napster, Inc., to shut down. The order to stop operations came on July 26, 2000. 

On this day in 2002, nine coal miners who had been trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, are rescued after being trapped for 77 hours underground. 

The Provisional Irish Republican Army called an end to their thirty year long armed campaign in Northern Ireland on this day in 2005. 

A tornado touches down in a residential area in south Birmingham, England, on this day in 2005, and caused £4,000,000 worth of damages, injuring 39 people. 

On this day in 2006, researchers announced that two ancient reptiles had been found off Australia. The Umoonasaurus and Opallionectes were the first of their kind to be found in the period soon after the Jurassic era. The historic Weston-super-Mare Grand Pier burned down for a second time in 80 years on this day in 2008. 18 people are killed and 11 injured in ethnic clashes in Ethiopia on this day in 2012. And on this day to come in 2061, we will get the 31st recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet, assuming we are still around to see it. 

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/jul28.htm

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

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory

Some Provocative Thoughts By the Late Great Carl Sagan

 

Bust of Carl Sagan

For some time now, I have been collecting quotes by noted scientist, author and television personality, the late Carl Sagan.  

Here's the thing: I did not really know what to do with these collected quotes. I mean, they were not just interesting, but fascinating. Extremely thought-provoking, as almost everything that this man said tended to be.

It occurred to me that the best thing to do with these quotes was to share them here. And so that is what I am opting to do. Hopefully from here on out, whenever I come across a really great quote by Sagan, it will be shared here.

At least, that is the goal.

Below are some quotes which I recently came across from Carl Sagan, complete with the original source where they can be found. They include his philosophy on science, dreams, evolution and genetic engineering, and a prediction for the future which, I think we can see now, proved to be eerily accurate regarding our own times. 

Take a look:

“Avoidable human misery is more often caused not so much by stupidity as by ignorance, particularly our ignorance about ourselves. I worry that, especially as the Millennium edges nearer, pseudoscience and superstition will seem year by year more tempting, the siren song of unreason more sonorous and attractive. Where have we heard it before? Whenever our ethnic or national prejudices are aroused, in times of scarcity, during challenges to national self-esteem or nerve, when we agonize about our diminished cosmic place and purpose, or when fanaticism is bubbling up around us—then, habits of thought familiar from ages past reach for the controls. The candle flame gutters. Its little pool of light trembles. Darkness gathers. The demons begin to stir.” 

― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

"Science" is only a Latin word for "knowledge." And it's hard for me to believe that anyone is opposed to knowledge. I think that science works by a careful balance of two apparently contradictory impulses. One, a synthetic, holistic, hypothesis-spinning capability, which some people believe is localized in the right hemisphere of the cerebral cortex, and an analytic, skeptical, scrutinizing capability, which some people believe is localized in the left hemisphere of the cerebral cortex. And it is only the mix of these two, the generating of creative hypotheses and the scrupulous rejection of those that do not correspond to the facts, that permits science or any other human activity, I believe, to make progress." 

~ Carl Sagan ; The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God 

"We are the product of 4.5 billion years of fortuitous, slow, biological evolution. There is no reason to think that the evolutionary process has stopped. Man is a transitional animal. He is not the climax of creation. The Earth and the Sun have life expectancies of many more billions of years. The future development of man will likely be a cooperative arrangement among controlled biological evolution, genetic engineering, and an intimate partnership between organisms and intelligent machines. But no one is in a position to make accurate predictions of this future evolution. All that is clear is that we cannot remain static." 

~ Carl Sagan ; The Cosmic Connection

"In the previous chapter, I proposed that a major aspect of the dream state might be the unleashing, at night, of R-complex processes that had been largely repressed by the neocortex during the day. But I mentioned that the important symbolic content of dreams showed significant neocortical involvement, although the \ frequently reported impairments in reading, writing, arithmetic and verbal recall suffered in dreams were striking. 

"In addition to the symbolic content of dreams, other aspects of dream imagery point to a neocortical presence in the dream process. For example, I have many times experienced dreams in which the denouement or critical "plot surprise" was possible only because of clues-apparently unimportant-inserted much earlier into the dream content. The entire plot development of the dream must have been in my mind at the time the dream began. (Incidentally, the time taken for dream events has been shown by Dement to be approximately equal to the time the same events would have taken in real life.) While the content of many dreams seems haphazard, others are remarkably well structured; these dreams have a remarkable resemblance to drama."

~ Carl Sagan, The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence (1977)

Weekend Humor From a Recent Onion Headline: Department Of Labor Cracks Down On People Getting Paid For Work

Didn't really do the usual, lighthearted humor thing this past weekend, admittedly.

So thought it might be nice for a bit of levity early this Monday morning.

Some of the real headlines these days almost feel like spoof headlines.

And while this particular headline from The Onion is indeed spoof, it is beginning to feel like something which we might actually see in the not so distant future. I still remember when former presidential candidate Scott Walker (that was his name, right?) blasted Americans for being too lazy and actively thought about getting rid of weekends. If I remember, that was even part of the platform that he was running on. 

Glad that he faded away, although what we got instead (King Con Don) is arguably worse still.

Anyway, this headline from the Onion felt worth sharing. Because it's funny in a not so funny kind of way, since it feels like, increasingly, this is bordering on the truth. I would not be surprised if we have somewhat similar headlines (maybe about Americans being paid too much or receiving too generous benefits) in the near future.

Take a look:

Department Of Labor Cracks Down On People Getting Paid For Work  Published by The Onion:  June 4, 2026:

Corruption Charges Levied Against 162 Million Americans Accused Of Accepting Money For Services  

https://theonion.com/department-of-labor-cracks-down-on-people-getting-paid-for-work/?fbclid=IwY2xjawSUiVpleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF3akhmNndCMVpKeE1Zek9Ec3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHmp1SZFOPEJpossEvkOwzuVX5C0hX72UET8d5p1UqYkWKBKVt10lRmULL10c_aem_BXKK6uMM5GAf7x6jAiI-jg

Department Of Labor Cracks Down On People Getting Paid For Work - The Onion

July 27 - This Day in History

 

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

• On this day in 432, St Celestine ended his reign as the Catholic Pope. 

• The first Battle of Bouvines was fought on this day in France, when King Philip Augustus of France defeated John of England and Emperor Otto IV. 

The Treaty of San-Germano between Emperor Frederik II & Pope Gregory IX was signed on this day in 1230. On this day in 1245, Frederick II was deposed by a council at Lyons after they found him guilty of sacrilege. On this day in 1280, Sogen Mugaku, the founder of the Engakuji temple, arrived in Japan from China. On this day in 1298, Albert (Albrecht) I, the son of Rudolf of Habsburg, was crowned King of the Germans. Danish King Waldemar IV destroyed Visby, Gotland, in present day Sweden on this day in 1360. Copernicus was formally installed as Canon of Frauenberg Cathedral on this day in 1501. 

• The Jesuit priest Francis Xavier's ship reached Japan on this day in 1549. On this day in 1563, the French army recaptured Le Havre from the English. Here's a little historical fact with dire health implications: it was on this day in 1586 that Sir Walter Raleigh brought the first tobacco to England from Virginia. Prince Frederik Henry captured the castle of Gennep on this day in 1641. On this day in 1643, Oliver Cromwell defeated Royalist forces at the Battle of Gainsborough. On this day in 1655,  Jews of New Amsterdam (modern day New York) petitioned for a Jewish cemetery. The Netherlands & Brandenburg signed a military treaty on this day in 1655. 

• Parliament confirmed the Navigation Act on this day in 1661. The British Parliament passed a second Navigation Act, which required all goods bound for the colonies be sent in British ships from British ports. On this day in 1689, Battle of Killicrankie was fought, when Jacobite Scottish Highlanders under Viscount Dundee defeated the royal government forces under General MacKay. 

• On this day in 1694, the Bank of England received a royal charter as a commercial institution. 

• Russia & the Ottoman Empire signed a peace treaty on this day in 1713. 

• The Russians defeated the Swedish fleet in the Battle at Hango (Hangut) on this day in 1714. On this day in 1714, English Queen Anne fired premier Robert Haley. The second important victory of the Russian Navy came on this day in 1720 during the Battle of Grengam. On this day in 1775, Benjamin Rush began his service as the first Surgeon General of the Continental Army. The Marquis de Lafayette arrived in New England to help the rebellious American colonists fight the British on this day in 1777. 

• In 1784 on this day, "Courier De L’Amerique" became the first French newspaper to be published in the United States. It was printed in Philadelphia, PA. 

On this day in 1778, the British and French fleets fought to a standoff in the first Battle of Ushant. On this day in 1789, Congress established the Department of Foreign Affairs, which later came to be known as the State Department. 

Bust of the "Incorruptible" French Revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre

• The Coup of Thermidor and the Fall of Robespierre in Paris came on this day in 1794. Robespierre is largely considered to have been the main architect of "The Terror" during the French Revolution. 

One year later on this day in 1795, Spain & France signed a peace treaty. On this day in 1804, the 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. With this amendment Electors were directed to vote for a President and for a Vice-President rather than for two choices for President. 

French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte

The Battle at Talavera was fought on this day in 1809, with the British and Spanish armies fighting against the French army of Napoleon. 

On this day in 1816, US troops destroyed Fort Apalachicola, a Seminole fort, to punish Indians for harboring runaway slaves. 

Le Drapeau Tricolore (Tricour Flag) which was a product of the French Revolution, and which remains the national flag of France to this day.

• On this day in 1830, another Revolution broke out in Paris, opposing the laws of Charles X. 

• The city of Adelaide, South Australia, was founded on this day in 1836. The US Mint opened on this day in 1837 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Chartist riots broke out in Birmingham England, on this day in 1839. A fire destroyed the US mint at Charlotte, North Carolina on this day in 1844. The Battle of Mathias Point, Virginia was fought on this day in 1861, resulting in Rebel forces repelling a Federal landing. The Battle of St Augustine Springs, in the New Mexico Territory, was fought on this day in 1861, and Confederate troops occupied Fort Fillmore, New Mexico, on that day. Union General George McClellan took command of the Army of the Potomac from McDowell on this day in 1861. 

A massive hurricane hit Canton, China, and caused massive destruction, killing 40,000 on this day in 1862. 

The Steamer "Golden Gate" burned & sank off the west coast of Mexico on this day in 1862. 

The Battle of Darbytown, Virginia, was fought on this day in 1864 (Deep Bottom, Newmarket Road) (Strawberry Plains). On this day in 1865, Welsh settlers arrived at Chubut in Argentina. On this day in 1866, 1866 - Cyrus Field successfully completed the Atlantic Cable. It was an underwater telegraph from North America to Europe (it was 1,686 miles long). A P Abourne patented a process for refining coconut oil on this day in 1880. 

The Battle of Maiwand, at which Dr Watson was wounded, broke out on this day in 1880. Philip Pratt unveiled the first electric automobile on this day in 1888. 

Titus van Wyck succeeded M de Savornin Lohman as Governor of Suriname on this day in 1891. The Dutch government of Pierson/Goeman Borgesius resigned on this day in 1897. The Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of Dancing Men" was supposed to have begun on this day in 1898. 

On this day in 1909, aviator Orville Wright set a record for the longest airplane flight. He was testing the first Army airplane and kept it in the air for 1 hour 12 minutes and 40 seconds. 

On this day in 1914. British troops invaded Dublin, Ireland, and began to disarm Irish rebels on this day in 1914. Felix Manalo registered the Iglesia ni Cristo with the Filipino government. 

The Allies reached the Yser Canal at the Battle of Passchendaele on this day in 1917. On this day in 1918, the Socony 200 was launched. It was the first concrete barge in the United States (New York) and was used to carry oil. There was a race riot in Chicago on this day in 1919, with 15 whites & 23 blacks killed, and 500 injured. In 1920 on this day, a radio compass used for the first time for aircraft navigation. On this day in 1921, Canadian biochemist Frederick Banting, Charles Best, and associates announced the discovery of the hormone insulin at the University of Toronto. On this day in 1922, the International Geographical Union formed in Brussels. The VIIIth Olympic games closed in Paris on this day in 1924. On this day in 1931, Chilean President Carlos Ibáñez was forced out. In 1931 on tis day, grasshoppers in Iowa, Nebraska & South Dakota destroyed thousands of acres of crops. On tuis day in 1932,  Paul Gorgoulov, the assassin of French president Doumer, was sentenced to death. The French Socialist/Communist Party of People's Front formed on this day in 1934. 

Massive floods at Yangtzee Jiang & Hoangh, killed 145,000 on this day in 1935. Billboard magazine started publishing bestseller charts on this day in 1940

Also on this day in 1940, Bugs Bunny made his official debut in the Warner Brothers animated cartoon "A Wild Hare." 

The German army entered Ukraine on this day in 1941. 

Japanese forces landed in Indo-China on this day in 1941. 772 British bombers attacked Hamburg on this day in 1943. On this day in 1944, the first British jet fighter was used in combat (Gloster Meteor). 

The Soviet Army freed Majdanek concentration camp on this day in 1944. 

American forces liberated Guam from the Japanese in 1944. On that same day, American troops occupied Le Mesnil-Herman/Hill 183 Normandy. On this day in 1947, the World Water Ski Organization was founded in Geneva, Switzerland. Otto Skorzeny escaped an anti-Nazi camp at Darmstadt on this day in 1948. The first jet-propelled airline (De Havilland Comet) flew on this day in 1949. 

Bust of American President Harry Truman

• On this day in 1950, President Harry Truman promised aid to Taiwan. 

It was on this day in 1953 that North Korea & the United Nations signed an armistice agreement that ended the Korean War. It was signed at Panmunjon, Korea. On this day in 1953, the Vatican disallowed priest holiday work in factories. An armistice was signed on this day in 1954, dividing Vietnam into two countries, North Vietnam and South Vietnam. 

The Allied occupation (four countries) of Austria ended on this day in 1955. 

On this day in 1955, an Israeli passenger plane was shot down above Bulgaria, with 58 killed. 

On this day in 1962, the Mariner 2 was launched to Venus on a flyby mission. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC (picture taken during visit in 2013)

Statue of Martin Luther King Jr in Denver, Colorado

• On this day in 1962, clergyman and civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. was jailed in Albany Georgia. 

General Amin al-Hafez became the President of Syria on this day in 1963. The conflict in Southeast Asia escalated when President Lyndon Johnson sent an additional 5,000 advisers to South Vietnam on this day in 1964. On this day in 1965 in the United States, the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act was signed into law by President Johnson. The law required health warnings on all cigarette packages about the effects of smoking. Also on this day in 1965, Pierre Harmel formed a govrnment in Belgium. On this day in 1967, President Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission to study the causes of the urban violence in the wake of recent rioting. Also on this day in 1967,  Arabs Federation Premier Hoesein Al Bayoomi resigned. There was a race riot on this day in 1968. Pioneer 10 was launched on this day in 1969. On this day in 1974, the U.S. Congress by a vote of 27-11 voted for impeachment procedures for obstruction of justice against President Nixon. 

On this day in 1976, an 8.2 Tangshan earthquake in China killed an estimated 240,000 people. 

On this day in 1976, Japanese ex-Premier Tanaka was arrested (Lockheed Affair). 

 Ran into this image of John Lennon, and just thought it was cool, as well as appropriate for the day, given that Paul McCartney was in town. 

• John Lennon was granted a green card for permanent residence in the United States on this day in 1977. 

On this day in 1980, the deposed Shah of Iran, Muhammad Riza Pahlavi, died in a hospital near Cairo, Egypt. Also on this day in 1980, a Palestinian terrorist threw a hand grenade at Jewish children in Antwerp, killing one person. 

In 1982 on this day, Indian Prime Mnister Indira Gandhi had the first visit to the United States in almost 11 years. On this day in 1987, John Demjanjuk, the accused Nazi "Ivan the Terrible," testified in Israel. 

The first expedited salvaging of the wreckage of the Titanic was begun by RMS Titanic, Inc. On this day in 1988, General Sein Lwin succeeded Ne Win as President of Burma. 

In 1993 on this day, the Mafia bombed historical buildings in Rome, Milan, and Vatican City, killing five. 

On this day in 1995, the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in Washington, DC, by President Bill Clinton and South Korean President Kim Young-sam. It was on this day in 1996 that a bomb exploded at the Atlanta Olympic Park, killing one person and injuring 110 people. 

The Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria occurred on this day in 1997,  with about 50 people killed. In 1999 on this day, Space Shuttle Discovery completed a five-day mission commanded by Air Force Col. Eileen Collins. It was the first shuttle mission to be commanded by a woman. 

In 2002 on this day,  a Sukhoi Su-27 fighter crashed during an air show at Lviv, Ukraine killing 85 and injuring more than 100 others. It was the largest air show disaster in history. On this day in 2003, it was reported by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corp.) that there was no monster in Loch Ness. The investigation used 600 separate sonar beams and satellite navigation technology to trawl the loch. Reports of sightings of the "Loch Ness Monster" began in the 6th century. 

In 2005 on this day, STS-114: NASA grounded the Space shuttle, pending an investigation of the external tank's continued foam-shedding problem. During ascent, the external tank of the Space Shuttle Discovery shed a piece of foam slightly smaller than the piece that caused the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster; this foam did not strike the spacecraft. On this day in 2006, the Federal Republic of Germany was deemed guilty in the loss of Bashkirian 2937 and DHL Flight 611, because it was illegal to outsource flight surveillance.Finally, on this day in 2007, two news helicopters from Phoenix, Arizona television stations KNXV and KTVK collided over Steele Indian School Park in central Phoenix while covering a police chase. There were no survivors. It was the first known incidence of two news helicopters colliding in mid-air, and the worst civil aviation incident in Phoenix history.   

Also, something more of a pleasant memory to me than anything else, it was on this day in history, back in 1990, that the last ever Citroen 2CV, one of my personal favorite cars of all time, rolled off a factory line in Portugal. This car was France's answer to the Volkswagon Beetle, and has a funny history in it's own right (perhaps I will get more into that in some future blog entry). It is an oddly charming looking car, with a distinctive shape. It looked old, even antique. The main idea was that it was a small, affordable car, and it had some really cool advantages. In particular, it was simple (which is what helped to make it financially viable), and so easy to fix as a result. As the name suggests, it only had two horsepower, but it was a car, and it had the advantage of being easily converted into a makeshift convertible. These cars used to be all over the place in France, among other places - as common as the Volkswagon Beetle. But all good things come to an end, and the last one was made in Portugal in 1990.

A picture of a Citroen 2CV driving on the streets of Paris.

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/jul27.htm

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

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory

Trump (Jokingly?) Announces His 2028 Re-Election Campaign

This is a picture of a magnet that was being sold at Strand's Book Store in New York City a few years ago. No, I did not buy it, but I liked it and took a picture, which I am sharing here now. 

Sometimes, it seems funny to me how people interpret things. Let me start off illustrating this point on a light not. I am a Giants fan, as far as the NFL is concerned. But I am also a realist. Not all fans are. Not even close. And some fans will take it as you hating the team if you do not systematically predict that your favorite team is going all the way this year. "How can you call yourself a fan?"

Well, gee, I hope that they win. But they can't win every year, right? And maybe right now, I am enough of a realist to recognize that they need some real work to improve the lineup. Then they have to take real steps towards that goal. Like, say, qualifying for the playoffs. Maybe then we can start talking about what their actual chances are of winning it all will be.

That seems to me to be a new thing. Not even sure when it really happened, but it did happen. We mistook what we wanted to happen for what surely, inevitably would happen. Even when the reality will not nearly be so kind, and harsh reality will often slap us awake. At least until we get back to some comfortable sleep, which we collectively seem to have a remarkable capacity to return to, over and over again.

Somehow, I found the same thing was true in politics. Back in 2004, it seemed pretty obvious to me that the United States was going to re-elect George W. Bush. I thought it was just being a realist. Certainly, it was not what I wanted to happen, but it nevertheless seemed inevitable.

Yet, some people who, like me, did not like Bush were stupefied. 

"Wait. I thought you didn't like Bush? I thought you were opposed to the war in Iraq, and all of that?"

It dumbfounded me. 

"I am," I would say, then reminded them that it was not because I did not want something to happen that it necessarily meant that it was not going to happen. It's called having a grip on reality. After all, despite the utter nonsense that the Bush administration had done, and despite his approval ratings going significantly down, they never dipped down low enough that it seemed to me that he actually would not win the next election. It almost seemed like the nation hesitated to commit to admitting that this guy really had not been good for the country, and that it was time for a new direction, for near leadership. 

That largely fell on deaf ears. Nobody outright said this, but it sure appeared to me like these people seemed dubious that I could simultaneously dislike everything that George W. Bush stood for while also predicting that he would win the 2004 election. 

Perhaps I was conditioned that way. After all, I had grown up in a fairly liberal household while living in a very conservative suburban town during the Reagan/Bush years, seeing the damage that trickle-down economics and union-bashing and excessive military industrial complex spending and staggering corporate scandals was doing to the country, yet seeing election after election still somehow going their way. Usually with landslide wins, for that matter.

So I half-expected someone like Trump to come along and win the White House. 

Don't get me wrong: I didn't actually expect it to be Donald Trump. Hell, he was such a useless, worse than worthless, narcissistic and transparently greedy and decadent scam artist that I had assumed everyone could and would see through him. No, I expected someone more like the fictional Greg Stillson, or something more like that. Certainly, Americans had not plummeted to such depths that they would actually put an imbecile, a clown like Donald Trump into the Oval Office.

Well, I was wrong about that one, obviously. 

However, once we did elect him, it seemed to me more important than ever to have a clear head about these things. To recognize the danger that this man truly poses to our democracy, and to meet it head on. Not to veer off into wishful thinking or denial about what his ascension to power actually means or actually might bring to this country. So I never had a problem seeing that Trump was the kind of guy who would not easily ever give up power once he was given it. That meant that we might never really get rid of him, that he would just somehow stick around.

Yet, it seemed frankly astonishing to me how many people resisted this fairly obvious truth. 

People made faces, dismissing the idea. Nobody really accused me of secretly supporting Trump, as they did in 2004 when I kept saying that I thought Bush would win. However, they also clearly did not take my opinion that he would run again and again - and win again and again, one way or another, fairly or not - seriously at all. Most people dismissed it as if I had made all of this up. As if Trump's naked ambition and lack of limits was all in my head. 

Still, I never questioned that this is exactly what he would do for a moment. It seemed clear as day to me that this was what was going to happen. Other people said that the American people would never go for it. Most people - including supposed experts and pundits - seemed to suggest that it was unlikely that Trump would actually ever get back into the White House after Biden won the 2020 election, even though it seemed equally obvious to me that he actually likely would by blaming Biden for the inevitable inflation and gas price hikes following the end of the pandemic shutdown. 

Then just days ago, it seemed to me that Trump finally revealed to one and all his naked ambition. He donned a "Trump 2028" MAGA hat. Once again, he said in a seemingly half-joking manner that he would be running for the White House yet again.

I say half-joking, because with Trump, he always makes things sound like a joke. Until they no longer are jokes. Remember how he also "joked" about being "president for life?" How he claimed everyone knew that he was joking when he said that it was a good idea, one which this country might do well to look into? 

Now let's be frank: it also seems clear as day to me that he is not joking. That people slapping the "joke" label on this are either fooling themselves, or trying to comfort others, or both. Or perhaps, in some cases, they are Trump supporters and secretly want to see him win again. But this is one of those cases where, frankly, I feel like saying what I have been wanting to say for a long time.

Hate to say I told you so, but, well....

He is not joking. Not in the slightest. He admitted as much before. And while the White House Correspondent's Dinner is usually a time of relative levity for presidents regardless of party affiliation, this is one "joke" which this president is dead serious about. 

Believe it. He will be running again in 2028. And let's be clear on another point: he has a very good chance of winning. I don't care what the poll numbers show right now, or how headlines scream that they are in the toilet. Didn't he already tell everyone, plain as day, that they will never have to vote again? I believed immediately after the 2024 election that he had won, fair and square. Didn't like it, but that was how I felt. Now, both Elon Musk and Trump himself have made suggestions and comments that cast doubt on that. But it won't change a thing. It doesn't matter. It's like Trump's seemingly obvious guilt regarding the Epstein List, which he clearly is on. Spoiler alert: it won't catch up with him. If ever there was one man who was a clear example of being above the law, this is the man. 

While his many detractors and political opponents are gearing up for what they feel is his inevitable fall from power, he is now openly talking about running again in 2028. And I myself should make it clear that I am not kidding that he will have a real chance at winning. In fact, the Democrats would have to hope that his poll numbers really are in the tank by that point to have a real chance at taking back the White House, because that is what it would take. 

Now, he is basically saying as much, in ways that we all fully understand what he is saying. That much he made clear just a few nights ago.

No, I am not going to bother rehashing Trump's White House Correspondent's Dinner speech, or dissect it, or anything like that.

In fact, I literally heard not one word of it. That was because it was on when I arrived at work, but the volume was turned almost all the way down, as it normally is. Truth be told, frankly, when it comes to Trump, that's generally the way that I prefer it. Better than hearing all of his nonsensical lies and propaganda, which I feel have done staggering damage to the country and, indeed, the entire world by this point.

However, there was one thing that Trump did which caught my attention. Right at the end, he donned a "Trump 2028" hat.

And yeah, I know that this is a night which is supposed to be about joking. So it can be allegedly taken with a grain of salt.

But I have said here repeatedly that I think Trump is serious about running again in 2028. Frankly, not only do I think he will, I don't think Trump's own ego - or his own narrow selfish interests - will allow himself not to run.

He will find some MAGA moron in Congress to endorse the idea, and the Congress will likely debate it. And for now, the Republicans are still in the majority.

No, I don't think that this is all a joke by Trump. If it is, it is a joke in the same way that him joking about being "president for life" or becoming a dictator is a joke. He will pass it off as a joke as a backup plan, and to deflect criticism. In fact, I suspect that he is deadly serious about running again. That is why he cannot bring himself to endorse a successor. In his mind's eye, I don't think that he can accept anyone running things after him. Period.

And it's not like he has not been pretty clear about his ambitions to be president for life in the past or somehow remained quiet about his intention to run for yet another term. Here is documentation from Newsweek about just how often he has made mention of it. This should serve as proof that he is dead serious about this. Take a look (see link below to see the Newsweek article for yourself):

May 18th 2024 - First mention of it at an NRA convention, even before he had officially won a second term.

November 13, 2024 He "joked" about this before House Republicans just days after the 2024 election.

January 25, 2025 - "Three times or four times" he would serve, he declared at a Las Vegas rally.

January 27, 2025 - Said it during a Republican retreat in Miami.

February 6, 2025 - Talked about how "they claim I can't run again." When have you ever know this man to follow any kinds of laws or rules? He clearly believes that he is above the law, or at least an exception to it. 

February 20, 2025 - Black History Month event, asked "Should I run again?" which prompted the assembled crowd to chant "four more years."

March 30, 2025 - During an NBC interview, Trump made clear that he was not joking about running for another term, claiming that there were certain methods that could be followed which would allow him to run again.

March 30, 2025 - Follow up on Air Force One. He said that he did not want to focus on a third term, but then suggested that "many people" were urging him to run again. 

April 28, 2025 - The Atlantic asked him about serving beyond two terms, to which he responded: "Maybe I'm just trying to shatter."

August 18, 2025 - Trump met with the Ukrainian President and joked that a future war would mean "no more elections."

October 27, 2025 - Again aboard Air Force One, Trump claimed that he would "love" to serve yet another term.

February 6, 2026 - Said "I don't know. That would be interesting" after being asked by NBA News about serving a possible third term. 

May 4, 2026 - During a White House Small Business Summit, Trump "joked" about finally leaving the White House "eight or nine years from now"

May 21, 2026 - Addressing the Coast Guard Academy while discussing ice breaker ships, Trump quipped that "maybe I'll be here in '32. I don't know."

July 24, 2026 - During the rescheduled White House Correspondent's Dinner following the fake assassination attem.....errr, um, the attempted assassination the first time around, Trump announced his intention to run for a "fourth term"

For a very long time now, many people - both on the left and on the right - have wondered why Trump seems not to be willing to openly endorse either Vance or Rubio or someone else for the 2028 election. They really seemed to wonder why he was so reluctant. How it could be that Trump just will not show which of these men he feels can carry on his legacy.

And it made me want to take a pillow and scream into it. After all, the real reason is, to me, so damn obvious and right in front of their faces, but they refuse to see it. Or perhaps to face the reality of it, because then you have to face the actual real danger of it. The real reason that he did not endorse either man was because he saw no need to. After all, he fully intends to run again in 2028. Why endorse someone else, or even pay them serious compliments, when that might detract from your own intentions of running again? After all, he already made clear that he is not joking about running again. 

So that's why he refuses to really assign anyone else to a clear-cut position of leadership right behind him. In his mind's eye, I am sure that absolutely nobody is worthy of leading except for him. That is why he intends to grace us all with his eternally great and wonderful and divine presence in the White House for yet another four years, and another four years after that, and another four years.....

You see where I'm going? For as long as he survives, he intends to be the sitting President of the United States. President for life, literally.

Still don't believe me?

Fine. Just don't say that you weren't warned.

It's kind of funny. When he first won the Republican nomination, I wondered how the Republicans could ruin their chances in the election with such a clown. But a part of me was worried that he had a real chance. Much like the 2004 election, when everyone hemmed and hawed and remained on the fence about Bush's failed leadership, everyone seemed hesitant to fully rule Trump out. Eventually, he won. I knew he was going to win starting on Halloween of that year, when I saw Trump bumper stickers and flags everywhere in my old hometown.

Then I wondered what it was that people saw in this man. He seemed such an odd fit, such an obvious clown. 

In time, it came to me. In fact, he is in some ways the perfect man for these times. The perfect figure for what this country has allowed itself to become. Quite literally, he is the face and voice of the Ugly American, and all of his disgustingly xenophobic and blindly nationalist and blatantly self-interested mannerisms. This is who we are now, collectively. This is what we have become. This is who represents us on the international stage. 

We fool ourselves into believing that it's not as bad as it actually is. Trump opponents fool themselves with believing that he will lose the upcoming election, or that he will surely go to jail, or that his health is about to fail him, or that he will somehow be ousted. And Trump supporters fool themselves by believing that he actually cares about them, or that he truly has wonderful and inspired leadership. They trick themselves into believing that he means says what he means and means what he says, and does what he promises. Meanwhile, the national debt keeps growing. In just six years (not even), Trump now accounts for well over 25% of that national debt which, by the way, he promised to fully pay off in eight years. We have overextended ourselves militarily all around the world, and under Trump, we now have lost alliances and trust and respect. 

In short, we are a nation quite clearly in decline. At least if you look at the facts, look at the reality of where we are. Where we have collectively put ourselves. For a nation to put it's collective trust in a man like Trump is a reflection of our decline. Not only is this man not an answer, he has no real answers for any of our actual problems. In fact, he is actively making them worse. 

Now, I have come to accept the reality that Trump is likely our national downfall. To me, he is like one of the decadent emperors of ancient Rome, once it becomes clear that it was spiraling downward, heading towards collapse. That is where we are headed. And it feels like there is no stopping it now. So of course Trump will likely be the one to see us buried under his naked ambition and greed and blatant corruption. Could it have been anybody else, other than this pathetic, needy, small man? Who else could have managed to somehow cast his own shadow over an entire nation of well over 340 million people? Who else could make us collectively seem a reflection of him, narrow and self-obsessed and helplessly, drunkenly heading towards our own downfall? 

Yes, it took me a while to catch on. But now I see it. It could only have been Donald Trump. Who else? Is there another man who could have led us so effortlessly from an admittedly flawed democracy to a dictatorship? Who else could have taken the virtues of American liberty and relative freedom and turned it into an oligarchy, bloated and corrupt and swaggering drunkenly on it's own power before the entire rest of the world?

And so long as we are losing our democracy, who else but Trump could possibly decide that the term limits simply do not apply to him? That he will be the exception, as he has been throughout his entire, pathetic, ultra-privileged and whiny little life?

Maybe I myself have fallen into despair about the state of the country. But I will admit that if there's an end to all of this that does not inevitably lead to disaster, I just don't see it. Long have I believed that things in this country will not improve until we are seriously hurting and no longer have the luxury of indulging in celebrity worship and frivolities. And yes, I now believe that Trump was inevitable. That it was his destiny - remains his destiny - to bring us there as a nation. To that end, he remains very committed. And this fate now feels inescapable.

Here is my prediction: Trump will run again in 2028, and he will win. And this country will continue to fall, continue to fail spectacularly in almost every way with Trump cashing in - literally - the entire time. For now, enough Americans feel that this all still falls under the realm of relative normality. Many still feel that Trump is some sort of an aberration, that the United States will return back to normal once he is inevitably gone.

For me, it seems the opposite is true. Trump was the inevitable outcome of our collective choices going back many decades now. And he is as inescapable as the outcome of those choices have always been. Hell, he is the outcome of those choices and will remain such for the foreseeable future. 

Just don't say you weren't warned.

List of Times Trump Has Joked About Running in 2028 by Sam Stevenson Associate News Editor, July 25, 2026:

https://www.newsweek.com/list-donald-trump-joke-running-2028-12243915

List of Times Trump Has Joked About Running in 2028 - Newsweek