Climate Update for Friday, July 17, 2026

  

Okay, so it felt like a climate update was overdue, given the reality.

Right now, the air is smoky here in New Jersey. You can actually smell the smoke, as well as see it. Some people are complaining about how it is making their eyes watery, and there are health advisories for poor air quality throughout this region again today. The daylight looked a bit more yellowish than normal. Not as intensely orange as it looked a year or two ago, the last time that we had something similar due to Canadian wildfires. This has lasted a few days now.  

Here's the thing: these kinds of poor air quality days due to Canadian wildfires in the eastern half of this continent is something new. The fires are massive, and so the smoke has been spreading out all across the middle and east of the continent. Detroit was far and away the most polluted city in the world yesterday as a result of the poor air quality. Some other cities that had poor air quality as a result of the wildfires: Toronto, New York, Milwaukee and Minneapolis. Milwaukee reported the worst air quality on record yesterday.

Remember when we thought of massive wildfires as mostly a thing you saw out west? 

Yeah, this appears like it might be the new reality.

Otherwise, the heat has been oppressive in many areas. Throughout much of North America, record heat temperatures have been set from heat waves just in this month of July. That's true from the West Coast to the East Coast. Oh, and Europe just had it's third heat wave since May, which also established new heat records there. 

Traditionally, western Europe was known for having mild summers, which never got too hot. With three intense heat waves already dating back to mid-May, and with such heat waves now seeming to be the new normal in recent years for Europe, this appears to be the new normal. It was so hot that there were also wildfires in regions in western Europe which do not traditionally have problems with wildfires, much like in eastern North America currently. Also, it was so hot that roadways and highways were buckling in places like Germany and Austria which, again, were not traditionally known as places with intense heat. These heat waves have been so intense that they are responsible for thousands of deaths, power disruptions, and again, wildfires. Numerous countries saw the highest temperatures ever recorded, including France, Germany, and Denmark. 

Not that it has been much more comfortable in North America. Heat records were set in Montana, Wyoming, and Utah. The new record of 111°F is four degrees higher than the previous record for Salt Lake City These stats were taken from the Science NASA article (see link below).

Also, last month was the second hottest month of June on record going back to 1850. And it seems like 2026 will predictably be one of the hottest years on record. Here is a snippet from an article by Jeff Masters for the Yale Climate Connection (see link below):

According to NCEI’s statistical analysis, there is about a 95% chance that 2026 will rank among the four warmest years on record. This statistics-based product is not designed to explicitly take El Niño or La Niña events into account, so with a global-atmosphere-warming El Niño event about to unfold, the odds are likely considerably higher.

Not surprisingly, ice levels in the Arctic are lower than they have been, and obviously lower than they should be. None of this should really come as a shock to people anymore, should it?

The recent intense heat waves across continents has even somehow gotten the attention of FO News, who traditionally are not exactly leaders in reporting on climate science. Yet in a recent article published on July 7th, FOX News asked whether 2026 would be the hottest year on record while reporting on record-breaking temperatures across the United States. 

When even FOX News appears to be concerned about the intense heatwaves and wondering whether or not this will be the hottest year on record, maybe it's time to pay attention.

Ironically, the smoke is keeping the temperatures here in New Jersey a little cooler. Yet somehow, this is not a comforting thought, all things considered, when you really think about it. 

Do you think that it's time we stop hugging our security blankets and sucking our thumbs, and wake up to take this threat seriously? I know it's scary and uncomfortable to think about. And I know that there will always be jeering idiots mocking any discussion on climate change, or high-ranking officials  - especially here in the United States - actively trying to shut down debates and silence those who are trying to bring these facts to the public. But is it not getting harder and harder to believe that climate change is merely a hoax? 

US Climate Records Toppled Again; Extreme Heat Spike Intensifies in Several States | Climate Tracker by WION:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIHU-Cw5tNo

US Climate Records Toppled Again; Extreme Heat Spike Intensifies in Several States | Climate Tracker

'Trees vanished in seconds': Canadian wildfires spread as smoke prompts air quality alerts in 18 states Parts of New York City experienced very unhealthy air quality levels Thursday  ByKenton Gewecke, Bill Hutchinson, and Ivan Pereira July 16, 2026, 9:

https://abcnews.com/US/dangerous-wildfire-smoke-continues-air-quality-alerts-17/story?id=134809268

'Trees vanished in seconds': Canadian wildfires spread as smoke prompts air quality alerts in 18 states - ABC News

The mid-July heat wave, in five maps and diagrams by Joelle Gross July 15, 2026:

The second heat wave of the month has brought all-time record temperatures to cities across the country.

https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/second-july-2026-heat-wave-maps-data-rcna587517

The mid-July 2026 heat wave, in maps, charts and diagrams

No relief from the heat as many US cities will see record overnight temperatures by John Seewer, July 13, 2026:

https://apnews.com/article/heat-dome-record-temperatures-fb7664f71743f71beca4ce7447562ca2

Heat dome expected to bring record temperatures across the US | AP News

Heat Dome Broils the Western U.S. by NASA Earth Observatory  Jul 15, 2026:

https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/heat-dome-broils-the-western-u-s/

Heat Dome Broils the Western U.S. - NASA Science

Europe’s heat wave set records for all-time highs By Tik Root | Analysis | July 14, 2026:

https://thebulletin.org/2026/07/europes-heat-wave-set-records-for-all-time-highs/

Europe’s heat wave set records for all-time highs - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

June 2026: Earth’s 2nd-hottest June on record by Jeff Masters July 9, 2026:

An astonishing heat wave in Europe June 22-30 broke 10 all-time national heat records and set 394 all-time heat records at stations with a long-term period of record of at least 40 years. 

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/07/june-2026-earths-2nd-hottest-june-on-record/

June 2026: Earth’s 2nd-hottest June on record » Yale Climate Connections

Will 2026 be the hottest year ever amid record-breaking temperatures across the US? Let's see what the prediction markets, sponsored by Kalshi, are saying about whether or not 2026 will be the hottest year ever. By Raymond Sanchez  Source FOX Weather

foxweather.com/weather-news/2026-hottest-year-ever-amid-record-breaking-temperatures-across-us-kalshi

Could 2026 be the hottest year ever? | Fox Weather

July 17th: 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 180, six inhabitants of Scillium in Northern Africa were executed for being Christians. This is the earliest record of Christianity in that part of the world. In 1203 on this day, Venetians conquered (and inevitably plundered the wealth of) Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, as Emperor Alexius III fled. The Dauphin was crowned King of France on this day in 1429. 

The Champ de Mars massacre took place on this day in 1791 during the French Revolution, as members of the French National Guard, under the command of General Lafayette, opened fire on a crowd of republican protesters at the Champ de Mars in Paris. The estimates of those killed range from 12 to up to 50. The Marquis de Lafayette had previously been a revered and respected figure in France during the Revolution, but his reputation never truly recovered after this event.

Napoleon surrendered to the British at Rochefort. Cecil Rhodes became the premiere of the Cape Colony. The Spaniards surrendered to the United States at Santiago, Cuba. Today marked the first meeting of the Potsdam Conference between Churchill, Stalin and Truman, to discuss post-war plans. Israel got Nazareth. South Korea proclaimed it's new constitution.  Disneyland opened on this date. The Monkeys had a concert in New York, with Jimi Hendrix as their opening act. "Yellow Submarine" premiered in London. There was a military coup in Bolivia. Ronald Reagan formerly accepted the Republican nomination for President in 1980. Foreshadowing Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, Saddam Hussein claimed that Kuwait had stolen oil from his country.

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

• On this day in 180, six inhabitants of Scillium in Northern Africa were executed for being Christians. This is the earliest record of Christianity in that part of the world.

• 561 - John III begins his reign as Catholic Pope succeeding Pelagius I

855 - St Leo IV ends his reign as Catholic Pope

• 1054 - Emperor Henry III crowns his son Henry IV king 

1070 - Arnulf III the Hapless becomes earl of Flanders

• In 1203 on this day, Venetians conquered (and inevitably plundered the wealth of) Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, as Emperor Alexius III fled.

1245 - Pope bans emperor Frederik II Hohenstaufen for 3rd time

1393 - Osmanen occupy Turnovo, Bulgaria

Royal France

• The Dauphin was crowned King of France on this day in 1429. 

• 1453 - First battle at Castillon: French beat English troops

1473 - Charles the Stout conquerors Nijmegen

1509 - Venice recaptures Padua

• 1549 - Jews are expelled from Ghent Belgium

1552 - Siena drives Spanish troops out of Verdun

1583 - Spanish and Walloon troops conquer Dunkerk

• 1585 - English secret service discovers Anthony Babingtons murder plot against queen Elizabeth I

1596 - At 10:30AM Dutch explorer Willem Barents arrives at Novaya Zemlya

1603 - Sir Walter Ralegh arrested

1686 - A meeting takes place at Lüneburg between several Protestant powers in order to discuss the formation of an 'evangelical' league of defence, called the 'Confederatio Militiae Evangelicae', against the Catholic League. English Monarch Queen Elizabeth IEnglish Monarch Queen Elizabeth I

1712 - England, Portugal and France sign ceasefire [or 19th]

1727 - Simon van Slingelandt appointed Dutch pension advisor

1740 - Prospero Lambertini chosen Pope Benedictus XIV

1762 - Catherine II becomes tsar of Russia upon the murder of Peter III

• 1774 - Capt Cook arrives at New Hebrides (Vanuata)

1775 - First military hospital approved




Jul 17, 1776: Congress learns of war of words

On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress learns of General George Washington's refusal to accept a dispatch from British General William Howe and his brother, Admiral Richard Viscount Howe, opening peace negotiations, because it failed to use the title "general." In response, Congress proclaimed that the commander in chief acted "with a dignity becoming his station," and directed all American commanders to receive only letters addressed to them "in the characters they respectively sustain."  

The Howe brothers had assembled the largest European force ever to land in the Americas on Staten Island, New York, while Congress was voting their approval of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in early July 1776. The commander in chief of the Continental Army, General George Washington, had spent the spring of 1776 moving his 19,000 men from Boston to New York, where they would confront 30,000 under the charge of the Howe brothers.  

The Howes had the authority to use their overwhelming force to put down the colonial rebellion, but they also had permission to readmit the former colonies to the British empire and pardon those who had led the revolt. Of their two options, the Howes preferred the latter. Thus, the brothers wrote to Washington, inviting him to enter into negotiations with them as representatives of the crown. However, they could not use Washington's title, "general," as to do so would have given legitimacy to the rebel army the British denied had the right to exist. Washington would neither excuse the affront nor open the letter.  

Washington's decision forced the Howes to fight. The British took Long Island, but allowed the Continentals to evacuate to Manhattan following the Battle of Brooklyn Heights on August 27, 1776. Hoping that the Patriots now appreciated their overwhelming strength and charity, the British began informal negotiations with members of Congress on Staten Island. The Patriots, however, withdrew from the talks when the British refused to recognize their independence.

1788 - Russian fleet destroys Swedish

Statue of the Marquis de Lafayette on the exterior of the Louvre on the Rue de Rivoli, Paris

• The Champ de Mars massacre took place on this day in 1791 during the French Revolution, as members of the French National Guard, under the command of General Lafayette, opened fire on a crowd of republican protesters at the Champ de Mars in Paris. The estimates of those killed range from 12 to up to 50. The Marquis de Lafayette had previously been a revered and respected figure in France during the Revolution, but his reputation never truly recovered after this event.

1794 - The African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in Philadelphia, dedicated

1794 - Richard Allen organizes Philadelphia's Bethel African Meth Episcopal Church

1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte surrendered to the British at Rochefort, France. 

1821 - Spain cedes Florida to US

1841 - British humor magazine "Punch" 1st published

1850 - Harvard Observatory takes 1st photograph of a star (Vega)

1856 - The Great Train Wreck of 1856 between Camp Hill and Fort Washington, Pennsylvania kills over 60 people. 

• 1861 - Congress authorizes paper money

1861 - Manassas, VA Gen Beauregard requests reinforcements for his 22,000 men, Gen Johnston is ordered to Manassas

1862 - Naval Engagement at Pascagoula River MS: USS Potomac Expedition

1862 - US army authorized to accept blacks as laborers

1862 - United army officially divides corps

1862 - R John Hunt Morgan:Cynthiana, KY CS24 US17 Skirmish at Columbia, TN

• 1863 - Battle of Honey Springs - largest battle in Indian Territory

1864 - CSA President Davis replaces Gen Joe Johnston with John Bell Hood

1866 - Italian fleet under adm Persano capture Austrian Fort Lissa

1867 - 1st US dental school, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, established

1879 - 1st railroad opens in Hawaii

• 1890 - Cecil Rhodes becomes premier of Cape colony



• 1897 - 1st ship arrives in Seattle carrying gold from Yukon

• 1898 - Spanish American War - Spaniards surrender to US at Santiago Cuba

1911 - Overthrown shah of Persia Mohammed Ali lands on Astrabad with army

1912 - IAF (Intl Amateur Athletic Federation) forms in Sweden

1914 - Giants outfielder Red Murray is knocked unconscious by lightning after catching a flyball, ending 21 inning game, Giants win 3-1

1915 - Italian offensive at Isonzo

1917 - British Royal family changes its name from Hanover to Windsor

July 17, 1917: Fighting in the streets of Petrograd, Russia

On this day in 1917, a three-day stretch of fighting in the streets peaks in Petrograd after the provisional government falls temporarily amid anger and frustration within and outside the army due to the continuing hardships caused by Russia's participation in World War I.

Despite devastating losses on the Eastern Front in 1916, the provisional Russian government–which succeeded to power after the abdication of Czar Nicholas II in March–had rejected all calls for peace. Alexander Kerensky, appointed minister of war in the spring of 1917, was determined to reinvigorate the Russian war effort, installing the victorious General Alexei Brusilov as commander in chief of the Russian forces and making plans to go back on the offensive within months. The disintegration and despair within the army continued, however, as some 30,000 deserters were reported from the front every day. At Kerensky's command, Brusilov launched another major offensive on July 1, the same day a massive peace demonstration was held in Petrograd.

Though the new offensive resulted in heavy losses for the Russians, it was at home where the provisional government received its greatest threat. On July 15, 1917, an uprising in Petrograd encouraged by Leon Trotsky, an official of the Bolshevik Party–the radical socialist movement led by Vladimir Lenin, recently returned from exile due to German help–succeeded in briefly toppling the provisional government. The Bolsheviks saw their opportunity and attempted to seize power in Petrograd, as fighting broke out in the streets. The violence peaked on July 17. The following day, officers loyal to the provisional government destroyed the offices of the Bolshevik newspaper, Pravda. Lenin, sensing the time was not yet ripe for revolution, went into hiding–albeit temporarily–and Kerensky took charge, restoring order and continuing his efforts to salvage the Russian war effort.

Months later, however, Lenin emerged again, as the Bolsheviks succeeded in wresting power in Russia from the army in November amid massive strikes and rebellions in the streets; almost immediately after taking power, the Bolsheviks moved towards an armistice with the Central Powers, ending Russia's involvement in World War I.

1919 - Finland adopts constitution


1922 - Curacao harbor workers begin strike under Felix Chacuto



1925 - Tris Speaker, is 5th to get 3,000 hits

1926 - Paavo Nurmi walks world record 4x1500m (16:11.4)

• 1929 - USSR drops diplomatic relations with China

1933 - After successfully crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the Lithuanian research aircraft Lituanica crashes in Europe under mysterious circumstances.


1935 - Variety's famous headline "Sticks Nix Hick Pix"

1936 - Carl Hubbell begins winning streak, beating Pittsburgh 6-0

1936 - Military uprising under Gen Franco/begins Spanish civil war

1938 - Douglas (Wrong Way) Corrigan leaves NY for LA, wound up in Ireland


1942 - 3' of rain falls on Pennsylvania, flooding kills 15

1942 - Estimated 34.5" (87.5 cm) of rainfall, Smethport, Pa (state record)

1942 - Transport nr 6 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany

1943 - RAF bombs Germany rocket base Peenemunde

1944 - 2 ammunition ships explodes at Port Chicago, California kills 322

1944 - Russian troops cross river Bug/march into Poland

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

Statue of soldier, author and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, London

1945 - Potsdam Conference (FDR, Stalin, Churchill) holds 1st meeting

• 1945 - U.S. President Truman, Soviet leader Josef Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill began meeting at Potsdam in the final Allied summit of World War II. During the meeting Stalin made the comment that "Hitler had escaped."   

July 17, 1945: Potsdam Conference convenes

On this day in 1945, the conference of Allied victors at Potsdam, outside of Berlin, begins, with U.S. President Harry S. Truman, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin in attendance.

The issues at hand for the Big Three and their staffs were the administration of a defeated Germany; the postwar borders of Poland; the occupation of Austria; the Soviet Union's "place" in Eastern Europe; war reparations; and the continuing war in the Pacific. Various disputes broke out almost immediately, especially over the Soviet Union's demand that the western border of Poland extend into German territory, granting Poland a zone of occupation. But the four zones of occupation that had been worked out at the Yalta Conference in February were finally agreed upon, to be created in both Germany and Austria and to be controlled by the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. A council composed of representatives of the four great powers was also established to determine the fate of Germany and Austria as nations. The council was to pursue the Five D's: demilitarization, denazification, decentralization, deindustrialization, and democratization. It was also agreed that unconditional surrender would be demanded of Japan, despite a warning by the Japanese emperor that such a demand would be resisted.

Unlike previous Allied conferences, Potsdam was marked by suspicion and defensiveness on the part of the participants. Now that the war was over in the West, each nation was more concerned with its own long-term interests than that of its partners. Winston Churchill in particular was greatly suspicious of Joseph Stalin's agenda for the Soviet Union's role in Eastern Europe. Stalin refused to negotiate the future of those Eastern European nations now occupied by Soviet forces. When Churchill was informed that an election had ousted his Conservative Party from power, and that Labor's Clement Attlee was now prime minister, he returned to London. With Churchill gone from the final negotiations of the conference, the Iron Curtain could be heard descending across Eastern Europe.

• 1948 - Israeli army captures Nazareth

• 1948 - Proclamation of constitution of Republic of (South) Korea

• 1950 - Indonesian troops land on Buru, South-Molukka

• 1951 - King Leopold III of Belgium gives up throne to son Boudouin I

1951 - Western New England College in Springfield, Massachusetts is chartered.

• 1952 - Shah of Persia named Ghavam Sultaneh premier

1954 - First major league game where majority of team is black (Dodgers)

1954 - Construction begins on Disneyland. . .

1954 - Theodor Heuss re-elected president of West Germany

1955 - Disneyland opens its doors in rural Orange County

1955 - Arco Idaho becomes 1st US city lit by nuclear power

1955 - Disneyland televises its grand opening in Anaheim, California.

• 1958 - King Hussein declares himself head of Jordan/Iraqi federation



1958 - US performs atmospheric nuclear Test at Enwetak

1959 - 2,000 ft long by 1,300 foot wide section of ridge falls into Madis

1959 - Dr Leakey discovers oldest human skull (600,000 years old)

• 1959 - Tibet abolishes serfdom

1959 - River Canyon extending man-made Lake Hebgen by 5 miles. (Montana)



• 1962 - East Berliner Peter Fechter flees over Berlin Wall

1962 - Robert White in X-15 sets altitude record of 108 km (354,300 ft)

1962 - Senate rejects medicare for aged

1962 - US performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site

1963 - Telstar soccer team forms in Ijmuiden

1964 - Don Campbell sets record for turbine vehicle, 690.91 kph (429.31 mph)

1964 - Great Britain performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site



1966 - Pioneer 7 launched

1967 - Monkees perform at Forest Hills NY, Jimi Hendrix is opening act

1967 - Race riots in Cairo Illinois

      

    

• 1968 - Beatle's animated film "Yellow Submarine" premieres in London

1968 - Revolt in Iraq 

1970 - 30,000 attend Randall's Island Rock Festival, NYC

1971 - Kathy Whitworth/Judy Kimball wins LPGA Four-Ball Golf Championship

1972 - 1st 2 women begin training as FBI agents at Quantico

• 1973 - Military coup in Afghanistan; King Mohammad Zahir Shah flees

1974 - 1st quadrophonic studio in UK is open by Moody Blues

1974 - Bob Gibson becomes 2nd pitcher to strike-out 3,000 (Cesar Geronimo)

1974 - France performs nuclear Test at Muruora Island


• 1974 - John Lennon is ordered to leave US in 60 days

1975 - Apollo 18 and Soyuz 19 make 1st US/USSR linkup in space

1975 - Ringo Starr and Maureen Cox divorce

• 1976 - 21st modern Olympic games opens in Montreal

1976 - Indonesian president Suharto annexes East Timor

1976 - The opening of the Summer Olympics is marred by 25 African teams boycotting the New Zealand team.

1978 - NY Yank manager Billy Martin & Reggie Jackson fight in dug out

1978 - Reggie Jackson refusal to bunt causes mgr Billy Martin to suspend him

1979 - 50th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 7-6 at Kingdome, Seattle

1979 - All star MVP: Dave Parker (Pittsburgh Pirates)

1979 - David Gower 200* in England score of 5-633 v India at Edgbaston

• 1979 - Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza flees to Miami



1979 - Simone Veil becomes chairman of European Parliament

• 1980 - Bolivian military coup; general Garcia Meza becomes president

1980 - Ronald Reagan formally accepts Republican nomination for president

1980 - Zenko Suzuki becomes premier of Japan

1981 - "This is Burlesque" closes at Princess Theater NYC after 28 perfs

1981 - Humbar Estuary Bridge, UK, world's longest span (1.4 km), opens

1981 - Israeli bombers destroy PLO/al-Fatah headquarters in Beirut

1981 - Lobby Walkways at KC's Hyatt Regency collapse 114 die, 200 injured

1981 - USSR performs nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

1981 - Fulton County (Atlanta) grand jury indicts Wayne B William 23 year old photographers, for murder of 2 of 28 blacks killed in Atlanta


1983 - Beth Daniel wins LPGA McDonald's Kids Golf Classic

1984 - Pierre Mauroy resigns as premier of France

1984 - Soyuz T-12 carries 3 cosmonauts to space station Salyut 7

1986 - Emmy 13th Daytime Award presentation - Susan Lucci loses for 7th time

1987 - "Les Miserables," opens at Imperial Theatre, Tokyo

1987 - 10 teens die in Guadalupe River flood (Comfort, Tx)

1987 - Don Mattingly is 2nd to hit HRs in 7 straight AL games (en route to 8)

1987 - Dow Jones closes above 2,500 (2,510.04) for 1st time

• 1987 - Iran & France breaks diplomatic relations


1988 - 117th British Golf Open: Seve Ballesteros shoots 273 at Royal Lytham

1988 - 4 Billion tv-viewers watch Mandela's 70th Birthday Tribute

1988 - Colleen Walker wins LPGA Boston Five Golf Classic

1988 - Florence Griffith Joyner of USA sets 100m woman's record (10.49)

1988 - Highest temperature ever recorded in San Francisco, 103°F (39°C)

1989 - 1st Test flight of US stealth-bomber

1989 - Paul McCartney releases "This One"

1989 - Reds reliever Kent Tekulve retires after 1,070 appearances

• 1990 - Hussein's Revolutionary Day speech claims Kuwait stole oil from Iraq

1990 - NY Yankee Deion Sanders hits an inside park homer

1990 - Minnesota Twins become 1st team to turn 2 triple plays in a game but lose to Boston Red Sox 1-0

1992 - Slovak parliament asks for self rule

1993 - Graeme Obree bicycles world record time, 51,596 km

Picture of the FIFA World Cup Trophy, which presented to the champions of the World Cup tournament.

On this day in 1994 in the World Cup Final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, Brazil defeated Italy in the penalty shootout following a scoreless game to that point. With the victory, Brazil won their fourth ever World Cup title. 

1994 - French youngster (4) becomes Buddhist Lama Tulkou Kalou Rinpoche

1995 - Forbes Mag announces Bill Gates is the richest man in world ($12.9B) 1996 - 230 people die when TWA 800 crashes outside of NYC

1996 - TWA Flight 800: Off the coast of Long Island, New York, a Paris-bound TWA Boeing 747 explodes, killing all 230 on board.

1997 - STS 94 (Columbia 23), lands

1998 - Russia buries Tsar Nicholas II & family, 80 years after they died

2005 - Tiger Woods wins his 10th major winning The British Open Championship by 5 strokes. Woods becomes only the second golfer, after Jack Nicklaus, to win each major more than once

2007 - TAM Airlines (TAM Linhas Aéreas) Flight 3054 crashes upon landing during rain in São Paulo. This is Brazil's deadliest aviation accident to date with an estimated 199 deaths.

2009 - Jakarta double bombings at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels killed 9 people including 4 foreigners.

2012 - 17 people are wounded in a bar shooting in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

1212 - The Moslems were crushed in the Spanish crusade.   1453 - France defeated England at Castillon, France, which ended the 100 Years' War.   1785 - France limited the importation of goods from Britain.   1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte surrendered to the British at Rochefort, France.   1821 - Spain ceded Florida to the U.S.   1862 - National cemeteries were authorized by the U.S. government.   1866 - Authorization was given to build a tunnel beneath the Chicago River. The three-year project cost $512,709.   1867 - Harvard School of Dental Medicine was established in Boston, MA. It was the first dental school in the U.S.   1898 - U.S. troops under General William R. Shafter took Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War.   1917 - The British royal family adopted the Windsor name.   1920 - Sinclair Lewis finished his novel "Main Street."   1941 - The longest hitting streak in baseball history ended when the Cleveland Indians pitchers held New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio hitless for the first time in 57 games.   1941 - Brigadier General Soervell directed Architect G. Edwin Bergstrom to have basic plans and architectural perspectives for an office building that could house 40,000 War Department employees on his desk by the following Monday morning. The building became known as the Pentagon.   

1945 - U.S. President Truman, Soviet leader Josef Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill began meeting at Potsdam in the final Allied summit of World War II. During the meeting Stalin made the comment that "Hitler had escaped."   

1946 - Chinese communists opened a drive against the Nationalist army on the Yangtze River.   1950 - The television show "The Colgate Comedy Hour" debuted featuring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.   1954 - The Brooklyn Dodgers made history as the first team with a majority of black players.   1955 - Disneyland opened in Anaheim, CA.   1960 - Francis Gary Powers pled guilty to spying charges in a Moscow court after his U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union.   1966 - Ho Chi Minh ordered a partial mobilization of North Vietnam forces to defend against American air strikes.   1975 - An Apollo spaceship docked with a Soyuz spacecraft in orbit. It was the first link up between the U.S. and Soviet Union.   1979 - Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza resigned and fled to Miami in exile. (Florida)   1986 - The largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history took place when LTV Corporation asked for court protection from more than 20,000 creditors. LTV Corp. had debts in excess of $4 billion.   1987 - Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and rear Admiral John Poindexter begin testifying to Congress at the "Iran-Contra" hearings.   1995 - The Nasdaq composite stock index rose above 1,000 for the first time.   1997 - After 117 years, the Woolworth Corp. closed its last 400 stores.   1998 - Biologists reported that they had deciphered the genome (genetic map) of the syphilis bacterium.

1821 Spain ceded Florida to the United States. 1898 Spain surrendered to the United States at Santiago, Cuba, ending the Spanish-American War. 1917 The British royal family changed its name from the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor amid anti-German senitment during World War I. 1938 "Wrong Way Corrigan" took off from New York, purportedly aiming for California and landing in Ireland. 1945 President Harry Truman, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill meet at the opening of the Potsdam Conference. 1955 Disneyland opened in Anaheim, Calif. 1975 The American Apollo and Soviet Soyuz spacecraft linked up for the first time. 1998 The last Russian Czar Nicholas II was buried 80 years after he and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks.

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/jul17.htm

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

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory

A Picture Which Illustrates Why We're Fed Up With the Mindless MAGA Moron Cult

Saw this picture earlier today, which was taken recently in Maine between protesters and counter protesters. It felt like what this guy who posted it (Bill Beecher) said about it was the truth. This picture brilliantly illustrates why so many of us have gotten absolutely fed up with the mindless stupidity of the MAGA Moron Cult.

Take a look at this guy. Probably prides himself on being a "real man." What a guy, getting in the face of a woman protesting a death at the hands of ICE.

Is there an ounce of reason or intelligence that this guy is showing? There he is, so damned star-spangled sure of himself, covering himself in the stars and stripes to make sure that he feels he has a monopoly on patriotism. 

Does he think that this kind of "brave" aggression, showing that he's a real man, actually enhances the validity of his points? Has it never occurred to him that looking and acting like such a mindless moron actually had allowed others to feel increasingly sickened by this moronic cult which has politically taken over this country? That in many ways - more ways than I could possibly begin to get into here and now - he is his own worst enemy?

A picture that encapsulates these sad times that we live in.

Bill Beecher Facebook page, July 15, 2026:

This pic really captures why we are so f*cking sick and tired of the Mindless MAGAts  

Another innocent man was murdered in cold blood by ICE, yet another person randomly killed in their deadly rampage. Another case of mistaken identity, not someone they were seeking with a "warrant"  

The woman on the left is a volunteer providing security at a protest of the man's killing  

The MAGAt "man" on right is... Screaming In Her Face in defense of cold blooded murder of innocent American citizens on our streets?  

She's a better person than I am, because I'd be in jail and on my way to prison See less

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=28377333611858927&set=a.450396384979358

Facebook

Questions Regarding the Rightwing & Their Seeming Indifference Towards Basic Human Rights

“Why aren’t people on the right wing concerned about human rights? They’re human too. Elon Musk says don’t be fooled by the empathy trap. Empathy is not a trap, empathy is a superpower. It’s what makes human beings exceptional, our ability to look outside ourselves.”

~ Actor John C. Reilly 

Ran into this quote by the actor John C. Reilly. It is a question which I have thought about in the past, as well. 

Being humans themselves, why aren't people who tend to identify as conservatives not generally concerned with human rights? 

It's a good question. Certainly, I don't have a good answer.

Perhaps the real question is whether or not they have a good answer for their seeming lack of concern or care about human rights. 

Why do they feel so exempt from the consequences of supporting human rights abuses?

Terrence K Williams's Facebook post   28 June, 2026:

Actor John C. Reilly asked : “Why aren’t people on the right wing concerned about human rights? They’re human too. Elon Musk says don’t be fooled by the empathy trap. Empathy is not a trap, empathy is a superpower. It’s what makes human beings exceptional, our ability to look outside ourself”

https://www.facebook.com/terrencekwilliams/posts/actor-john-c-reilly-asked-why-arent-people-on-the-right-wing-concerned-about-hum/1755956352556762/

Actor John C. Reilly asked : “Why aren’t... - Terrence K Williams | Facebook

President Trump's Obsession With Acquiring Greenland Could Likely Prove Costly to Americans For Decades to Come

Aerial picture which I took of the mountains of Greenland when we flew over it on our way back to Newark from Iceland

Flag of Greenland

It's funny, because I recently published a blog entry with scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson discussing how time seems to go more quickly the older we get. 

There are exceptions to that. In terms of political realities in the modern day United States, it feels that time has been going excruciatingly slowly under the Trump presidency. Even though it was just a few months ago the last time that Trump made one of his threats about militarily taking over Greenland, it already feels like years ago, based on all of the stupid shit which he has said and done since.

But it's not ancient history. And even though it is not dominating news headlines or causing obvious tensions like it did then, my suspicion was always that this was not over. That in fact, it was only a temporary reprieve. Trump will inevitably turn his poisonous gaze on Greenland again at some point. That is something that I would be willing to bet money on, sadly. 

Really, the question is why? Why is Trump so obsessed with gaining Greenland? Is he so determined to acquire Greenland that he would risk the United States becoming a pariah state far more isolated than it even is right now under Trump. 

Frankly, the answer to that last question is likely yes. Trump does not care if it hurts the United States, so long as he can regard himself as a conqueror. His 19th century mindset of territorial expansion as some kind of a measure for success as a leader feels, frankly, vile and antiquated. Even most Americans are opposed to Trump taking over Greenland. Polls have shown that a vast majority of Americans are opposed to Trump taking over in Greenland, and those numbers spike even higher when the question of acquiring Greenland by military force was asked.

As for why he would do it, it seems quite simple to me. He wants to do it because, in his mind, it would make him look good. Simple as that. No complicated explanations necessary. Trump clearly thinks that expanding the boundaries of the United States under his watch would immortalize him in the history books. And it very likely would, although not likely in the grandiose way that he has in mind.

In fact, if he goes ahead with a military takeover, I think that almost all doubts of whether or not Trump is a power-hungry dictator would pretty much go away. And yes, the United States would find itself even more isolated, and more hated around the world, than it currently is. 

Greenland

An inside look at President Trump's campaign to acquire Greenland by Dave Davies, June 17, 2026:

https://www.npr.org/2026/06/17/nx-s1-5860861/an-inside-look-at-president-trumps-campaign-to-acquire-greenland

A inside look at Donald Trump’s campaign to acquire Greenland : NPR

July 16th: 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 

Some pretty interesting things occurred on this date throughout history. Today is the "Origin of Islamic Era" (Muharram 1, 1 AH), when Mohammad began his flight from Mecca to Medina (Hejira). This day in 1054 is recognized as the date of the de facto split between Eastern and Western churches during the days of the Byzantine Empire. Michael Caerularius was excommunicated from Constantinople. Three Roman legates fracture relations between Western and Eastern Christian churches by placing invalid Papal Bull of Excommunication on altar of Hagia Sophia during Saturday afternoon divine liturgy. Often seen as the date when the East-West Schism started. On this day in 1099 during the First Crusade, Jews were rounded up and taken into a synagogue, which was then set on fire. The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, known in Islamic history as the Battle of Al-Uqab, was fought on this day in 1212. This battle marked a significant decline in power for the Magreb, and strengthened the resolve of Christians to fully take over Spain. It was on this day in 1429 that Joan of Arc led the French army entered Reims. It was on this date in 1519 that there was a public debate between Martin Luther and theologist Jonh Eck. Paper banknotes serving as currency (issued by the Bank of Stockholm) were introduced to Europe on this day in 1661 in Sweden. Mozart's opera "Das Entfuhrung aus dem Serail" premiered in Vienna on this day in 1782. The American Congress established Washington, the District of Columbia, as the permanent capital of the United States Government on this day in 1790. The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declared its independence from Spanish Crown on this day in 1809 and formed the Junta Tuitiva, the first independent government in Spanish America, led by Pedro Domingo Murillo. The Battle of Bull Run, the first major battle of the American Civil War, was fought on this day in 1861. On this day in 1880, Dr. Emily Stowe became the first woman licenced to practice medicine in Canada. Russia's Czar Nicolas II and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks on this day in 1918 during the Russian Revolution. 

China joined the League of Nations, which as it turned out, would not help it at all when it began to be invaded by the Japanese some years later. In 1942, French police arrested well over 13,000 Jews in Paris while, on this same date, Jews were sent from the Netherlands to a German extermination camp. 

On this day in 1945 for the first time, scientists of the "Manhattan Project" in the United States successfully detonated the first atomic bomb in a test at Trinity Site, Alamogordo, New Mexico. In 1950 on this day, the fourth ever football/ soccer's 4th World Cup Final for football/soccer took place before what was the largest crowd in sporting history was 199,854 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.. The home crowd watched their team lose to Uruguay, 2-1, who hoisted the World Cup trophy as champions for the second time. It remains the largest crowd for a sporting event in history to this day. J.D. Salinger's novel "The Catcher in the Rye" was first published on this day in 1951.  JFK, Jr. and his wife and sister-in-law were killed in a mysterious plane crash off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. Millenium Park in Chicago opened.

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

• 463 - Start of Lunar Cycle of Hilarius

• Today is the "Origin of Islamic Era" (Muharram 1, 1 AH), when Mohammad began his flight from Mecca to Medina (Hejira). 

• This day in 1054 is recognized as the date of the de facto split between Eastern and Western churches during the days of the Byzantine Empire. Michael Caerularius was excommunicated from Constantinople. Three Roman legates fracture relations between Western and Eastern Christian churches by placing invalid Papal Bull of Excommunication on altar of Hagia Sophia during Saturday afternoon divine liturgy. Often seen as the date when the East-West Schism started.

• On this day in 1099 during the First Crusade, Jews were rounded up and taken into a synagogue, which was then set on fire.


• The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, known in Islamic history as the Battle of Al-Uqab, was fought on this day in 1212. This battle marked a significant decline in power for the Magreb, and strengthened the resolve of Christians to fully take over Spain.

1251 - The Virgin Mary gives Simon Stock a Brown Scapular (legend)

1338 - German monarch signs Treaty of Rense

The Statue of Jeanne d'Arc at the Place des Pyramides in Paris, nearby the Louvre Museum and the Tuileries Gardens

• It was on this day in 1429 that Joan of Arc led the French army as it entered Reims.

1439 - Kissing is banned in England (to stop germs from spreading) 

1465 - Battle at Montlhéry

German Priest & Theologian Martin Luther

• It was on this date in 1519 that there was a public debate between Martin Luther and theologist John Eck. 

• 1548 - La Paz, Bolivia is founded

1573 - Alva demands submission of Zealand/Holland

1618 - Capt John Gilbert patents 1st dredger in Britain

• Paper banknotes serving as currency (issued by the Bank of Stockholm) were introduced to Europe on this day in 1661 in Sweden.

1683 - Turkish troops under Kara Mustafa attain Vienna

• 1683 - Manchu/Chinese Qing Dynasty naval forces under commander Shi Lang defeat the Kingdom of Tungning in the Battle of Penghu near the Pescadores Islands.

Picture of a bust of John Adams

• 1755 - John Adams graduates Harvard

1765 - Prime Minister of England Lord Greenville resigned and was replaced by Lord Rockingham.

1769 - Father Junipero Serra founds Mission San Diego, 1st mission in Calif

1774 - Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed the treaty of Kuchuk-Kainardji, ending their six-year war.

• 1779 - American troops under General Anthony Wayne captured Stony Point, NY.

Bust of Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

• Mozart's opera "Das Entfuhrung aus dem Serail" premiered in Vienna on this day in 1782.

• The American Congress established Washington, the District of Columbia, as the permanent capital of the United States Governmenton this day in 1790.

• 1791 - Louis XVI was suspended from office until he agreed to ratify the constitution.

1798 - US Public Health Service formed andUS Marine Hospital authorized

1801 - Pope Pius VII and first consul Napoleon sign concord

• The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declared its independence from Spanish Crown on this day in 1809 and formed the Junta Tuitiva, the first independent government in Spanish America, led by Pedro Domingo Murillo.

1845 - The New York Yacht Club hosted the first American boating regatta.  

1856 - Statue of Laurens Jansz Coster unveiled in Haarlem

1857 - Sir Henry Havelock arrives at Battle of Cawnpore

A statue in Flemington, New Jersey, honoring veterans of the American Civil War.

• The Battle of Bull Run, the first major battle of the American Civil War, was fought on this day in 1861.

1861 - Manassas Campaign [->JUL 22]

1862 - David G. Farragut became the first rear admiral in the U.S. Navy.

1863 - Utrecht-Swells railway opens US Civil War Admiral David Farragut

1867 - Amstel Hotel, "the dignified old lady" opens in Amsterdam

1867 - D R Averill patents ready-mixed paint

1867 - Joseph Monier patents reinforced concrete

• 1875 - The new French constitution was finalized.

• On this day in 1880, Dr. Emily Stowe became the first woman licenced to practice medicine in Canada.

• 1894 - Many negro miners in Alabama killed by striking white miners

1894 - Treaty of Aoki-Kimberley signed between Japan & England

1904 - Islands of Manu'a group (Samoa) ceded to US by their chiefs

1912 - Naval torpedo launched from an airplane patents by B A Fiske

1912 - Bradley A. Fiske patented the airplane torpedo.      

1914 - Socialist conference in Brussel (Kautsky, Trotski & Rosa Luxemburg)

• Russia's Czar Nicolas II and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks on this day in 1918 during the Russian Revolution. 

Jul 16, 1918: Romanov family executed

In Yekaterinburg, Russia, Czar Nicholas II and his family are executed by the Bolsheviks, bringing an end to the three-century-old Romanov dynasty.  

Crowned in 1896, Nicholas was neither trained nor inclined to rule, which did not help the autocracy he sought to preserve among a people desperate for change. The disastrous outcome of the Russo-Japanese War led to the Russian Revolution of 1905, which ended only after Nicholas approved a representative assembly--the Duma--and promised constitutional reforms. The czar soon retracted these concessions and repeatedly dissolved the Duma when it opposed him, contributing to the growing public support for the Bolsheviks and other revolutionary groups. In 1914, Nicholas led his country into another costly war--World War I--that Russia was ill-prepared to win. Discontent grew as food became scarce, soldiers became war weary and devastating defeats at the hands of Germany demonstrated the ineffectiveness of Russia under Nicholas.  

In March 1917, revolution broke out on the streets of Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) and Nicholas was forced to abdicate his throne later that month. That November, the radical socialist Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, seized power in Russia from the provisional government, sued for peace with the Central Powers and set about establishing the world's first communist state. Civil war broke out in Russia in June 1918, and in July the anti-Bolshevik "White" Russian forces advanced on Yekaterinburg, where Nicholas and his family were located, during a campaign against the Bolshevik forces. Local authorities were ordered to prevent a rescue of the Romanovs, and after a secret meeting of the Yekaterinburg Soviet, a death sentence was passed on the imperial family.  

Late on the night of July 16, Nicholas, Alexandra, their five children and four servants were ordered to dress quickly and go down to the cellar of the house in which they were being held. There, the family and servants were arranged in two rows for a photograph they were told was being taken to quell rumors that they had escaped. Suddenly, a dozen armed men burst into the room and gunned down the imperial family in a hail of gunfire. Those who were still breathing when the smoked cleared were stabbed to death.  

The remains of Nicholas, Alexandra and three of their children were excavated in a forest near Yekaterinburg in 1991 and positively identified two years later using DNA fingerprinting. The Crown Prince Alexei and one Romanov daughter were not accounted for, fueling the persistent legend that Anastasia, the youngest Romanov daughter, had survived the execution of her family. Of the several "Anastasias" that surfaced in Europe in the decade after the Russian Revolution, Anna Anderson, who died in the United States in 1984, was the most convincing. In 1994, however, scientists used DNA to prove that Anna Anderson was not the czar's daughter but a Polish woman named Franziska Schanzkowska.

1920 - 15th Davis Cup: USA beats Australasia in Auckland (5-0)

• 1920 - China joined the League of Nations

1920 - Gen Amos Fries appointed 1st US army chemical warfare chief

1920 - Ruth sets season home run record with 30 en route to 54

1924 - Conference over German recovery payments begins in London

1926 - Jaspar government asks authority to save Belgian franc

1926 - The first underwater color photographs appeared in "National Geographic" magazine. The pictures had been taken near the Florida Keys.

1927 - Augusto Sandino begins 5½ year war against US occupation of Nicaragua

1934 - Bradman scores 140 Aust v Yorkshire, 120 mins, 22 fours 2 sixes

1935 - 1st automatic parking meter in US installed (Oklahoma City, Ok)

1936 - 1st x-ray photo of arterial circulation, Rochester, NY

1936 - NY Giants are 10½ games back in NL, & go on to win pennant

1938 - 21st PGA Championship: Paul Runyan at Shawnee CC Shawnee-on-Del Pa

• 1940 - Adolf Hitler ordered the preparations to begin on the invasion of England, known as Operation Sea Lion.

1940 - NSB'er Woudenberg appointed as NVV-trustee

1941 - 100°F (38°C) highest temperature ever recorded in Seattle Wash

1942 - French police arrest 13,152 Jews in Paris, and held them in the Winter Velodrome. The round-up was part of an agreement between Pierre Laval and the Nazis. Germany had agreed to not deport French Jews if France arrested foreign Jews.

1942 - Jews transported from Holland to extermination camp

The flag of the USSR (Soviet Union)

• On this day in 1944 during World War II, Soviet troops occupied Vilna, Lithuania, in their drive toward Germany.

• On this day in 1945 for the first time, scientists of the "Manhattan Project" in the United States successfully detonated the first atomic bomb in a test at Trinity Site, Alamogordo, New Mexico.

July 16, 1945: Atom bomb successfully tested

On this day in 1945, at 5:29:45 a.m., the Manhattan Project comes to an explosive end as the first atom bomb is successfully tested in Alamogordo, New Mexico.  

Plans for the creation of a uranium bomb by the Allies were established as early as 1939, when Italian emigre physicist Enrico Fermi met with U.S. Navy department officials at Columbia University to discuss the use of fissionable materials for military purposes. That same year, Albert Einstein wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt supporting the theory that an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction had great potential as a basis for a weapon of mass destruction. In February 1940, the federal government granted a total of $6,000 for research. But in early 1942, with the United States now at war with the Axis powers, and fear mounting that Germany was working on its own uranium bomb, the War Department took a more active interest, and limits on resources for the project were removed.  

Brigadier-General Leslie R. Groves, himself an engineer, was now in complete charge of a project to assemble the greatest minds in science and discover how to harness the power of the atom as a means of bringing the war to a decisive end. The Manhattan Project (so-called because of where the research began) would wind its way through many locations during the early period of theoretical exploration, most importantly, the University of Chicago, where Enrico Fermi successfully set off the first fission chain reaction. But the Project took final form in the desert of New Mexico, where, in 1943, Robert J. Oppenheimer began directing Project Y at a laboratory at Los Alamos, along with such minds as Hans Bethe, Edward Teller, and Fermi. Here theory and practice came together, as the problems of achieving critical mass-a nuclear explosion-and the construction of a deliverable bomb were worked out.  

Finally, on the morning of July 16, in the New Mexico desert 120 miles south of Santa Fe, the first atomic bomb was detonated. The scientists and a few dignitaries had removed themselves 10,000 yards away to observe as the first mushroom cloud of searing light stretched 40,000 feet into the air and generated the destructive power of 15,000 to 20,000 tons of TNT. The tower on which the bomb sat when detonated was vaporized.  

The question now became-on whom was the bomb to be dropped? Germany was the original target, but the Germans had already surrendered. The only belligerent remaining was Japan.  

A footnote: The original $6,000 budget for the Manhattan Project finally ballooned to a total cost of $2 billion.

1945 - Cruiser Indianapolis leaves SF with atom bomb

1946 - Attempt made to recall Mayor Lapham (1st time in SF history)

1946 - US court martials 46 SS to death (Battle of Bulge crimes) in Dachau

1947 - Bobo Newsom wins 200th game, 1st as a Yankee & Yanks 18th straight In nightcap Vic Rashi extends streak to 19

1948 - Eddie Sawyer replaces Ben Chapman in Phila, NY Giants Leo Durocher replaces Mel Ott & Burt Shotton replaces Durocher as Dodger manager

1950 - Single day 16 team HR record set at 37 (NL-25, AL-12)

Picture of the FIFA World Cup Trophy, which presented to the champions of the World Cup tournament.

• In 1950 on this day, the fourth ever football/ soccer's 4th World Cup Final for football/soccer took place before what was the largest crowd in sporting history was 199,854 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.. The home crowd watched their team lose to Uruguay, 2-1, who hoisted the World Cup trophy as champions for the second time. It remains the largest crowd for a sporting event in history to this day. 

•  J.D. Salinger's novel "The Catcher in the Rye" was first published on this day in 1951.  

Jul 16, 1951: Catcher in the Rye is published

J.D. Salinger's only novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is published by Little, Brown on this day in 1951. The book, about a confused teenager disillusioned by the adult world, is an instant hit and will be taught in high schools for half a century.  

The 31-year-old Salinger had worked on the novel for a decade. His stories had already started appearing in the 1940s, many in the New Yorker.  

The book took the country by storm, selling out and becoming a Book of the Month Club selection. Fame did not agree with Salinger, who retreated to a hilltop cabin in Cornish, New York, but he continued to publish stories in the New Yorker periodically. He published Franny and Zooey in 1963, based on two combined New Yorker stories.  

Salinger stopped publishing work in 1965, the same year he divorced his wife of 12 years, whom he had married when he was 32. In 1999, journalist Joyce Maynard published a book about her affair with Salinger, which had taken place more than two decades earlier. Notoriously reclusive, Salinger died at his home in New Hampsire on Jan. 27, 2010. He was 91 years old.  

1951 - First Dutchman to win Tour de France (Wim Van Est)

• 1951 - King Leopold III, of Belgium, abdicates 

1951 - Len Hutton scores his 100th 100, Yorks v Surrey at The Oval







1956 - Karelo-Finnish SSR becomes part of Russian SFSR

1956 - King Faisal of Iraq begins visit to England

1956 - Last Ringling Bros, Barnum & Bailey Circus under a canvas tent

1957 - Marine Maj John Glenn sets transcontinental speed record (03:28:08)

1957 - Marine Major John Glenn set a transcontinental speed record when he flew a jet from California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8 seconds.

1960 - George Crowe sets record of 12 pinch hit HRs with a runner on

1961 - Ralph Boston of US, sets then long jump record at 27' 2"

1962 - NASA civilian Test pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 32,600 m

1963 - Amazon river carries 190,000 m3/sec of water (record)

1964 - Republicans convention selects Barry Goldwater as pres candidate

1964 - Little League Baseball Incorporated was granted a Federal Charter unanimously by the United States Senate and House of Representatives.

• 1965 - Mount Blanc Road tunnel between France & Italy opens

1966 - "Half a Sixpence" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 512 perfs

1967 - Prison brawl ignites barracks, killing 37 (Jay, Florida)

Believe it or not, I took this picture of the famous photograph of Neil Armstrong on the moon at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg.

1969 - Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Kennedy, FL, and began the first manned mission to land on the moon. The crew would be the first to walk on the moon.

Jul 16, 1969: Apollo 11 departs Earth

At 9:32 a.m. EDT, Apollo 11, the first U.S. lunar landing mission, is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a historic journey to the surface of the moon. After traveling 240,000 miles in 76 hours, Apollo 11 entered into a lunar orbit on July 19.  

The next day, at 1:46 p.m., the lunar module Eagle, manned by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, separated from the command module, where a third astronaut, Michael Collins, remained. Two hours later, the Eagle began its descent to the lunar surface, and at 4:18 p.m. the craft touched down on the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquility. Armstrong immediately radioed to Mission Control in Houston a famous message, "The Eagle has landed." At 10:39 p.m., five hours ahead of the original schedule, Armstrong opened the hatch of the lunar module. Seventeen minutes later, at 10:56 p.m., Armstrong spoke the following words to millions listening at home: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." A moment later, he stepped off the lunar module's ladder, becoming the first human to walk on the surface of the moon.  

Aldrin joined him on the moon's surface at 11:11 p.m., and together they took photographs of the terrain, planted a U.S. flag, ran a few simple scientific tests, and spoke with President Richard M. Nixon via Houston. By 1:11 a.m. on July 21, both astronauts were back in the lunar module, and the hatch was closed. The two men slept that night on the surface of the moon, and at 1:54 p.m. the Eagle began its ascent back to the command module. Among the items left on the surface of the moon was a plaque that read: "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot on the moon--July 1969 A.D.--We came in peace for all mankind." At 5:35 p.m., Armstrong and Aldrin successfully docked and rejoined Collins, and at 12:56 a.m. on July 22 Apollo 11 began its journey home, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean at 12:51 p.m. on July 24.  

There would be five more successful lunar landing missions, and one unplanned lunar swing-by, Apollo 13. The last men to walk on the moon, astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of the Apollo 17 mission, left the lunar surface on December 14, 1972. The Apollo program was a costly and labor intensive endeavor, involving an estimated 400,000 engineers, technicians, and scientists, and costing $24 billion (close to $100 billion in today's dollars). The expense was justified by President John F. Kennedy's 1961 mandate to beat the Soviets to the moon, and after the feat was accomplished, ongoing missions lost their viability.

1970 - Iraq's constitution goes into effect


1971 - Franco points prince Juan Carlos as deputy in Spain

1972 - Dimitrios Papadopoulos becomes 269th patriarch of Constantinople

1972 - Smokey Robinson & Miracles final live performance

• 1973 - During Watergate hearings, Butterfield reveals existence of tapes

1973 - Alexander P. Butterfield informed the Senate committee investigating the Watergate affair of the existence of recorded tapes.

1975 - Commissioner Bowie Kuhn is reelected for a 7-year term

1976 - Rock duo Loggins & Messina break-up after 6 years

• 1979 - Saddam Hussein became president of Iraq after forcing Hasan al-Bakr to resign.

1980 - Polish railway workers block railway to Russia

1980 - Ronald Reagan nominated for Pres by Republicans in Detroit

1981 - India performs nuclear Test

1981 - Shukuni Sasaki spins 72 plates simultaneously

1981 - After 23 years with the name Datsun, executives of Nissan changed the name of their cars to Nissan.

1982 - George P Shultz sworn in as minister of Foreign affairs

1982 - NASA launches Landsat 4 to thematic map the Earth

1982 - Sun Myung Moon sentenced to 18 months for tax fraud

1983 - 20 killed in Britain's worst helicopter accident

1983 - Sikorsky S-61 disaster: A helicopter crashes off the Isles of Scilly, causing 20 fatalities.

1985 - The 56th All-Star Game, televised on NBC-TV, was the first program broadcast in stereo by a TV network. The National League wins 6-1 at the Hubert Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota

1985 - All star MVP: LaMarr Hoyt (SD Padres)

1985 - Bill to abolish Greater London Council receives royal assent

1985 - F-86 Sabre sets world aircraft speed record of 1152 kph (716 mph)

1987 - Great Britain performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site

1987 - Said Aouita runs world record 2000m (4:50.81)

1987 - Don Mattingly hits his 4th grand slam of season & ties AL record of homers in 6 straight games (on way to tie major league record of 8)

1988 - Carl Lewis runs a wind-assisted 100 m in 9.78 sec

1988 - Florence Joyner runs 100 m in women's world record 10.49 seconds

1988 - Jackie Joyner-Kersee sets women's heptathlete record of 7,215 pts





1990 - Civil trial by parents of Suicide victims against Judas Priest begins

1990 - NYC's Empire State Building catches fire-No fatalities

1990 - Rick Dee's "Into the Night," premieres on ABC-TV

• 1993 - President Lissouba calls emergency rule in Congo-Brazzaville

1993 - S van Ruysdael's "Winter Landscape" sold for £705,500 in London


1994 - 1st parts of Comet Shoemaker-Levy hits Jupiter (until July 22nd)

On this day in 1994 during the first World Cup hosted by the United States, the 3 Tenors (Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, and Jose Carreras) performed a concert in Los Angeles.

1994 - Baseball Night in America premieres (no Saturday day games)

1994 - Comet Shoemaker-Levy collides with Jupiter



1994 - Spanish fishing boats sink a French fishing boat over fishing rights

1994 - Sweden shuts out Bulgaria 4-0, to finish 3rd in the World Cup

1995 - "Buttons on Broadway" closes at Ambassador Theater NYC after 40 perfs

1995 - "Chronicles of a Death Foretold" closes at Plymouth NYC after 55 perfs

1997 - Jerold Mackenzie awarded $266M for being fired from Miller Brewing for sexual harrassment for relaying a Seinfeld episode to a co worker

• 1999 - John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette are killed in a plane crash off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. The Piper Saratoga aircraft was piloted by Kennedy.

Jul 16, 1999: JFK Jr. killed in plane crash

On July 16, 1999, John F. Kennedy, Jr.; his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy; and her sister, Lauren Bessette, die when the single-engine plane that Kennedy was piloting crashes into the Atlantic Ocean near Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.  

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr., was born on November 25, 1960, just a few weeks after his father and namesake was elected the 35th president of the United States. On his third birthday, "John-John" attended the funeral of his assassinated father and was photographed saluting his father's coffin in a famous and searing image. Along with his sister, Caroline, he was raised in Manhattan by his mother, Jacqueline. After graduating from Brown University and a very brief acting stint, he attended New York University Law School. He passed the bar on his third try and worked in New York as an assistant district attorney, winning all six of his cases. In 1995, he founded the political magazine George, which grew to have a circulation of more than 400,000. Unlike many others in his famous family, he never sought public office himself.  

Always in the media spotlight, he was celebrated for the good looks that he inherited from his parents. In 1988, he was named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by People magazine. He was linked romantically with several celebrities, including the actress Daryl Hannah, whom he dated for five years. In September 1996, he married girlfriend Carolyn Bessette, a fashion publicist. The two shared an apartment in New York City, where Kennedy was often seen inline skating in public. Known for his adventurous nature, he nonetheless took pains to separate himself from the more self-destructive behavior of some of the other men in the Kennedy clan.  

On July 16, 1999, however, with about 300 hours of flying experience, Kennedy took off from Essex County airport in New Jersey and flew his single-engine plane into a hazy, moonless night. He had turned down an offer by one of his flight instructors to accompany him, saying he "wanted to do it alone." To reach his destination of Martha's Vineyard, he would have to fly 200 miles--the final phase over a dark, hazy ocean--and inexperienced pilots can lose sight of the horizon under such conditions. Unable to see shore lights or other landmarks, Kennedy would have to depend on his instruments, but he had not qualified for a license to fly with instruments only. In addition, he was recovering from a broken ankle, which might have affected his ability to pilot his plane.  

At Martha's Vineyard, Kennedy was to drop off his sister-in-law Lauren Bessette, one of his two passengers. From there, Kennedy and his wife, Carolyn, were to fly on to the Kennedy compound on Cape Cod's Hyannis Port for the marriage of Rory Kennedy, the youngest child of the late Robert F. Kennedy. The Piper Saratoga aircraft never made it to Martha's Vineyard. Radar data examined later showed the plane plummeting from 2,200 feet to 1,100 feet in a span of 14 seconds, a rate far beyond the aircraft's safe maximum. It then disappeared from the radar screen.  

Kennedy's plane was reported missing by friends and family members, and an intensive rescue operation was launched by the Coast Guard, the navy, the air force, and civilians. After two days of searching, the thousands of people involved gave up hope of finding survivors and turned their efforts to recovering the wreckage of the aircraft and the bodies. Americans mourned the loss of the "crown prince" of one of the country's most admired families, a sadness that was especially poignant given the relentless string of tragedies that have haunted the Kennedy family over the years.  

On July 21, navy divers recovered the bodies of JFK Jr., his wife, and sister-in-law from the wreckage of the plane, which was lying under 116 feet of water about eight miles off the Vineyard's shores. The next day, the cremated remains of the three were buried at sea during a ceremony on the USS Briscoe, a navy destroyer. A private mass for JFK Jr. and Carolyn was held on July 23 at the Church of St. Thomas More in Manhattan, where the late Jackie Kennedy Onassis worshipped. President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, were among the 300 invited guests. The Kennedy family's surviving patriarch, Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, delivered a moving eulogy: "From the first day of his life, John seemed to belong not only to our family, but to the American family. He had a legacy, and he learned to treasure it. He was part of a legend, and he learned to live with it."  

Investigators studying the wreckage of the Piper Saratoga found no problems with its mechanical or navigational systems. In their final report released in 2000, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the crash was caused by an inexperienced pilot who became disoriented in the dark and lost control.

• 2004 - Millennium Park, considered the first and most ambitious architectural project in the early 21st century for Chicago, is opened to the public by Mayor Richard M. Daley.

• 2005 - J.K. Rowling's book "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was released. It was the sixth in the Harry Potter series. The book sold 6.9 million copies on its first day of release.

• 2007 - An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 and aftershock of 6.6 occurs off the Niigata coast, Japan, killing 8 people with at least 800 injured and damaging a nuclear power plant.







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/jul16.htm

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

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory