http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Sep 14, 1944: Americans launch Operation Stalemate—at extraordinary cost
On this day in 1944, the U.S. 1st Marine Division lands on the island of Peleliu, one of the Palau Islands in the Pacific, as part of a larger operation to provide support for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who was preparing to invade the Philippines. The cost in American lives would prove historic.
The Palaus, part of the Caroline Islands, were among the mandated islands taken from Germany and given to Japan as one of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles at the close of World War I. The U.S. military lacked familiarity with the islands, and Adm. William Halsey argued against Operation Stalemate, which included the Army invasion of Morotai in the Dutch East Indies, believing that MacArthur would meet minimal resistance in the Philippines, therefore making this operation unnecessary, especially given the risks involved.
Peleliu was subject to pre-invasion bombardment, but it proved of little consequence. The Japanese defenders of the island were buried too deep in the jungle, and the target intelligence given the Americans was faulty. Upon landing, the Marines met little immediate resistance—but that was a ploy. Shortly thereafter, Japanese machine guns opened fire, knocking out more than two dozen landing craft. Japanese tanks and troops followed, as the startled 1st and 5th Marine regiments fought for their lives. Jungle caves disgorged even more Japanese soldiers. Within one week of the invasion, the Marines lost 4,000 men. By the time it was all over, that number would surpass 9,000. The Japanese lost more than 13,000 men. Flamethrowers and bombs finally subdued the island for the Americans—but it all proved pointless. MacArthur invaded the Philippines without need of Army or Marine protection from either Peleliu or Morotai.
Sep 14, 1901: McKinley dies of infection from gunshot wounds
On this day in 1901, U.S. President William McKinley dies after being shot by a deranged anarchist during the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.
McKinley won his first Congressional seat at the age of 34 and spent 14 years in the House, becoming known as the leading Republican expert on tariffs. After losing his seat in 1890, McKinley served two terms as governor of Ohio. By 1896, he had emerged as the leading Republican candidate for president, aided by the support of the wealthy Ohio industrialist Mark Hanna. That fall, McKinley defeated his Democratic rival, William Jennings Bryan, by the largest popular margin since the Civil War.
As president, McKinley became known--controversially--as a protector of big businesses, which enjoyed unprecedented growth during his administration. He advocated the protective tariff as a way of shielding U.S. business and labor from foreign competition, and he successfully argued for using the gold standard of currency.
bove all, however, McKinley's presidency was dominated by his foreign policy. In April 1898, he was pushed by Congress and American public opinion to intervene in Cuba's struggle for independence from Spanish colonial rule. In the first American war against a foreign power since 1812, the United States handily defeated Spain in just three months, freeing Cuba--although the island became a U.S. protectorate--and annexing Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. For the first time, the United States had become a colonialist power.
America's growing interests in the Pacific led McKinley's administration to greatly increase its involvement in Asian politics. In 1900, McKinley sent thousands of U.S. troops to China to help put down the Boxer Rebellion, aimed at driving out foreigners. His aggressive "Open Door" policy declared U.S. support for an independent China and argued that all nations with commercial interests in China should be able to compete on equal footing.
The popular McKinley won a second term by even greater margins over Bryan, who attacked him on his "imperialism" in the Pacific and, domestically, on the growth of illegal monopolies, or trusts. There was little time to see what his second term would bring, however. On September 6, 1901, while standing in a receiving line at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, McKinley was approached by Leon Czolgosz, a Polish-American anarchist carrying a concealed .32 revolver in a handkerchief. Drawing his weapon, Czolgosz shot McKinley twice at close range. One bullet deflected off a suit button, but the other entered his stomach, passed through the kidneys, and lodged in his back. When he was operated on, doctors failed to find the bullet, and gangrene soon spread throughout his body. McKinley died eight days later. Czolgosz was convicted of murder and executed soon after the shooting.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
81 - Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the
death of his brother Titus.
786 - Harun al-Rashid becomes the Abbasid caliph upon the
death of his brother Al-Hadi.
891 - Stephen V ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1163 - Pastor Frederik forms convent at Mariengaarde
Friesland
1180 - Battle of Ishibashiyama in Japan.
1515 - Battle at Marignano ends in French/Venetian victory
1607 - Flight of the Earls from Lough Swilly, Donegal,
Ireland.
1629 - Spanish garrison surrenders to prince Frederik Henry
1662 - Netherlands & England sign peace treaty
1682 - Bishop Gore School, one of the oldest schools in
Wales, founded.
1716 - 1st lighthouse in US lit (Boston Harbor)
1741 - George Frederick Handel finishes "Messiah"
oratorio, after working on it non-stop for 23 days
1752 - Britain (and American colonies) adopt Gregorian
calendar (no Sept 3-Sept 13th)
1759 - Austrian troops occupy Dresden
1807 - Aaron Burr acquitted of a misdemeanor charge
1812 - Napoleon occupies Moscow & fires start (fire
extinguished on the 19th)
1814 - Francis Scott Key inspired to write
"Star-Spangled Banner"
1829 - Peace of Adrianopel: ends Russian-Turkish war
1834 - Charles Darwins company passes Tagua-tagua-more Chile
Naturalist Charles DarwinNaturalist Charles Darwin 1847 - US
Marines under General Scott enter Mexico City (halls of Montezuma)
1848 - Alexander Stewart opens 1st US dept store
1852 - 18th Postmaster General: Samuel D Hubbard of Conn
takes office
1854 - Allied armies, including those of Britain &
France, land in Crimea
1856 - Battle of San Jacinto, Nicaragua defeats invaders
1862 - Battle at Crampton's Gap: Union troops chases away
Confederates
1862 - Battle at South Mountain: Union troops chases away
Confederates
1862 - Battle of Munfordsville KY
1862 - Federal troops escape from beleaguered Harpers Ferry
West Virginia
1862 - Skirmish at Fox's Gap, US Civil War
1868 - Golf's 1st recorded hole-in-one (Tom Morris at
Prestwick's 8th hole)
1872 - Britain pays US$15½m for damages during Civil War
1876 - Henry Morton Stanley's expedition leaves Rwanda
1876 - Leopold II closes Congo-conference
1882 - British General Wolseley reaches Cairo
1886 - George K Anderson of Memphis, Tennessee patents
typewriter ribbon
1891 - "Empire State Express" train goes from NYC
to East Buffalo, a distance of 436 miles, in a record 7H6M
1894 - Hottentotten uprising in Southwest-Africa fails
1899 - Henry Bliss becomes 1st automobile fatality in the US
(NY)
1903 - NY Giant Red Ames no-hits St Louis, 5-0 in a 5 inning
game
1905 - Albert Cuypstrat street market in Amsterdam
inaugurated
1905 - Dutch AR-politician AWF Idenburg named governor of
Suriname
1905 - RAC Tourist Trophy, 1st run, on Isle of Man
1913 - 27th US Womens Tennis: Mary K Browne beats Dorothy
Green (62 75)
1913 - Cubs Larry Cheney hurls record 14-hit shutout against
Giants (7-0)
1914 - German staff-chief von Moltke replaces von Falkenhayn
1914 - German troops withdraw from Aisne/invent trenches
1916 - Christy Mathewson pitches & wins his final game
1917 - Kerenski regime declares Russian republic
1917 - Provisional government of Russia forms, Republic
proclaimed
1919 - British regime forbids Sinn Fein Dáil
Heavyweight Boxing Champion Jack DempseyHeavyweight Boxing
Champion Jack Dempsey 1923 - Jack Dempsey KOs Luis Firpo in 2 for heavyweight
boxing title
1923 - Miguel Primo de Rivera becomes dictator of Spain
1923 - Red Sox 1st baseman George Burns pulls off an
unassisted triple play
1924 - Walter Johnson elected AL MVP
1926 - Guido Companions birthplace as a museum opens
1929 - 49th US Mens Tennis: Bill Tilden beats Francis Hunter
(36 63 46 62 64)
1929 - A's clinch AL pennant with a 5-0 win over White Sox
1930 - Detroit Lions (as Portsmouth Spartans) play 1st NFL
game, win 13-6
1930 - Nazis gain 107 seats in German election
1932 - Military coup in Chile under Arturo Alessandri
1933 - 2 billion board feet of lumber destroyed in Tillamook
Oregon fire
1933 - Schaduwproces-Rijksdagbrand opens in London
1936 - Paul Waner ties Rogers Hornsby's NL record of 200
hits for 7 times
1938 - Graf Zeppelin II, world's largest airship, makes
maiden flight
1939 - British fleet attacks German U-39 boat
Soldier, author, journalist, politician Winston
ChurchillSoldier, author, journalist, politician Winston Churchill 1939 -
Minister Winston Churchill visits Scapa Flow
1940 - Congress passes 1st peace-time conscription bill
(draft law)
1940 - German bomb hits shelter in Chelsea; 100s die
1942 - Battle of Edson's Ridge (Japanese assault) at
Guadalcanal
1942 - German troops occupy train station Stalingrad-1
1942 - Yanks clinch pennant #13
1943 - Yanks clinch pennant #14
1944 - 6,500 Dutch/Indonesian captives sent to Junyo Maru
1944 - Gulpen, Meerssen & Maastricht freed
1944 - Hurricane hits New England: 389 die
1944 - US 28th Infantry division occupies 1.5 km of Roscheid
1944 - US 4th Ivy League Inf division pushes through
Westwall
1947 - 61st US Womens Tennis: A Louise Brough beats M O
duPont (86 46 61)
1947 - 67th US Mens Tennis: Jack Kramer beats Frank A Parker
(46 26 61 60 63)
1948 - Gerald Ford upsets Rep Bartel J Jonkman in Mich 5th
Dist Rep primary
1948 - Ground breaking ceremony for UN world headquarters
1948 - Milton Berle starts his TV career on Texaco Star
Theater
1950 - Western allies rearm West Germany
1951 - Giant's Bob Niemans homers on his 1st 2 at bats
First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Nikita KhrushchevFirst Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Nikita Khrushchev 1953 - Nikita Khrushchev appointed First Secretary of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
1953 - Yanks clinch 5th straight pennant with 8-5 win over
Indians
1954 - Benjamin Britten's opera "Turn of the
Screw," premieres in Venice
1954 - Giants' Willie Mays gets 82nd extra-base hit, breaks
Mel Ott's record
1954 - Hurricane Edna (2nd of 1954) hits NYC, $50 million
damage
1954 - USSR performs nuclear test
1955 - Herb Score sets rookie record of 235 strikeouts (en
route 245)
1956 - 1st prefrontal lobotomy performed, Washington DC
1957 - Great Britain performs nuclear test at Maralinga,
Australia
1957 - UN resolution deplores & condemns USSR invasion
of Hungary
1957 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1958 - Jackie Pung wins LPGA Jackson Golf Open
1958 - WTAE TV channel 4 in Pittsburgh, PA (ABC) begins
broadcasting
1958 - Yankees win 24th pennant, & 9th under Casey
Stengel
1958 - Two rockets designed by the German engineer Ernst
Mohr, the first German post-war rockets, reach the upper atmosphere.
1959 - Soviet Union's Luna-2 is 1st spacecraft to land on
the Moon
1959 - WQEX TV channel 16 in Pittsburgh, PA (PBS) begins
broadcasting
1960 - Chubby Checker's "Twist" hits #1
1960 - Coup under Col Joseph-Desire Mobutu in Congo
1960 - Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi-Arabia & Venezuela form
OPEC
1960 - KERA TV channel 13 in Dallas, TX (PBS) begins
broadcasting
1960 - Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
forms
1961 - Dmitri Shostakovitch becomes member of CP of USSR
1961 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1962 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1963 - Mary Ann Fischer, Aberdeen, SD, gave birth to
America's 1st surviving quintuplets, 4 girls & a boy
1964 - WCVE TV channel 23 in Richmond, VA (PBS) begins
broadcasting
Animator Walt DisneyAnimator Walt Disney 1964 - Walt Disney
awarded Medal of Freedom at White House
1965 - "F-Troop" premieres
1965 - 4th meeting of 2nd Vatican council opened
1967 - Melville Abrams Ball Field in Bronx named
1967 - Thomas Pell Wildlife Refuge & Sanctuary opens in
Bronx
1968 - Jimmy Ellis beats Floyd Patterson in 15 for
heavyweight boxing title
1968 - 1st broadcast of "60 Minutes" on CBS-TV
1968 - Detroit Tigers' Denny McLain's 30th victory of season
1968 - Dmitri Shostakovitch' 12th string quartet, premieres
in Moscow
1968 - USSR's Zond 5 is launched on 1st circumlunar flight
1969 - Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Wendell-West Golf Open
1969 - Males of Swiss kanton Schaffhausen rejects female
suffrage
1971 - Cleve Indians & Wash Senators, play 20 innings
1972 - "Waltons" TV program premieres
1972 - Jason Miller's "That Championship Season,"
premieres in NYC
1972 - West Germany & Poland establish diplomatic
relations
1973 - Indianapolis is awarded a WHA franchise
1973 - Israel shoots down 13 Syrian MIG-21s
1973 - Pres Nixon signed into law a measure lifting pro
football's blackout
1974 - Charles Kowal discovers Leda, 13th satellite of
Jupiter
1975 - Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Southgate Golf Open
1st American-born Saint Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton1st American-born
Saint Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton 1975 - Mother Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton
canonized as 1st US-born saint by Pope Paul VI
1975 - Rembrandts "Nightwatch" slashed &
damaged in Amsterdam
1975 - Robin Yount breaks Mel Ott's record, playing in 242
games as a teen
1977 - Christmas Tinto sentenced to 7 years in Robben
Island, South Africa
1978 - Braves' Jim Bouton, 38, beats Giants, his 1st win
since 1970
1978 - Portugal government of Da Costa falls
1979 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk
USSR
1979 - Theodore Coombs completes 5,193 mile roller skate
from LA to NYC & back to Yates Center, Ks
1980 - "Charlie & Algernon" opens at Helen
Hayes Theater NYC for 17 perfs
1980 - Donna Caponi Young wins LPGA United Virginia Bank
Golf Classic
1980 - Dwight Clark begins NFL streak of 105 consecutive
game receptions
1981 - Entertainment Tonight premieres on TV
1982 - 36" snow (Red Lodge, MT)
1982 - Cindy Nicholas of Canada makes her 19th swim of
English Channel
1982 - Trevor Baxter sets skateboard high jump record of 5'
5.7"
1983 - US House of Representatives votes, 416 to 0, in favor
of a resolution condemning Russia for shooting down a Korean jetliner
Actress/Singer Bette MidlerActress/Singer Bette Midler 1984
- 1st MTV awards-Bette Midler & Dan Aykroyd host
1985 - Susan Akin (Miss), 21, crowned 59th Miss America 1986
1986 - Bo Jackson's 1st HR-a 475-foot blast (longest at
Royal Stadium)
1986 - Bomb attack in Paris, 2 killed
1986 - Bomb explosion on airport Kimpo at Seoul, 5 killed
1986 - Judy Dickinson wins LPGA SAFECO Golf Classic
1986 - Saskatchewan & Hamilton play 1st CFL
regular-season overtime game
1987 - "Les Miserables" opens at Rock Theatre,
Vigzinhaz Budapest
1987 - 107th US Mens Tennis: Ivan Lendl beats Mats Wilander
(67 60 76 64)
1987 - Cal Ripken's streak of 8,243 consecutive innings (908
games) is broken
1987 - Toronto Blue Jays hit a record 10 HRs vs Baltimore
Orioles
1988 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk
USSR
1989 - Calgary Flames become 1st NHL team to play in USSR,
win 4-2
1989 - Jeff Reardon is 1st to record 30 saves in 5
consecutive seasons
1989 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1990 - Ken Griffey, Sr & Jr, hit back-to-back HRs in 1st
inning
1991 - Carolyn Suzanne Sapp (Hawaii), 24, crowned 65th Miss
America 1992
1991 - Freshman Marshall Faulk of San Diego State rushed for
NCAA record
1991 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1991 - 386 yards & scored 7 touchdowns as the Aztecs
beat Pacific 55-34
1992 - 1st subway car completed to be exported from US (to
Taiwan)
1994 - All 28 baseball owners vote to cancel rest of 1994
season
1995 - Body Worlds opens in Tokyo, Japan
1996 - A's Mark McGwire is 13th player to hit 50-HRs in a
season
1996 - Dean Headley takes 3rd cricket hat-trick of season,
Kent v Hampshire
1996 - NY Met Todd Huntley sets record of 41 HRs by a
catcher
1996 - Tara Dawn Holland (Kansas), 23, crowned 70th Miss
America 1997
1997 - 49th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards
1997 - Bank One Senior Golf Classic
1997 - Chicago Whites Sox retire Carlton Fisk's #72
1997 - Karrie Webb wins LPGA SAFECO Classic
1997 - Loren Roberts wins CVS Charity Golf Classic with a
266
1998 - Week of Fed Cup
1998 - Telecommunications companies MCI Communications and
WorldCom complete their $37 billion merger to form MCI WorldCom.
1999 - Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga join the United Nations.
2001 - Historic National Prayer Service held at Washington
National Cathedral for victims of the September 11 attacks. A similar service
is held in Canada on Parliament Hill, the largest vigil ever held in the
nation's capital.
2003 - In a referendum Sweden rejects adopting the euro.
2003 - Estonia approves joining the European Union in a
referendum.
265th Pope Benedict
XVI265th Pope Benedict XVI 2007 - Restrictions on the traditional Latin Mass
are officially removed in the Roman Catholic Church as Pope Benedict XVI's motu
proprio Summorum Pontificum takes effect.
2012 - 21 people are killed after a ferry sank in Indonesia
1807 - Former U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr was acquitted of a misdemeanor charge. Two weeks earlier Burr had been found innocent of treason. 1812 - Moscow was set on fire by Russians after Napoleon Bonaparte's troops invaded. 1814 - Francis Scott Key wrote the "Star-Spangled Banner," a poem originally known as "Defense of Fort McHenry," after witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry, MD, during the War of 1812. The song became the official U.S. national anthem on March 3, 1931. 1847 - U.S. forces took control of Mexico City under the leadership of General Winfield Scott. 1866 - George K. Anderson patented the typewriter ribbon. 1899 - In New York City, Henry Bliss became the first automobile fatality. 1901 - U.S. President William McKinley died of gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt, at age 42, succeeded him. 1915 - Carl G. Muench received a patent for Insulit, the first sound-absorbing material to be used in buildings. 1938 - The VS-300 made its first flight. The craft was based on the helicopter technology patented by Igor Sikorsky. 1940 - The Selective Service Act was passed by the U.S. Congress providing the first peacetime draft in the United States. 1948 - In New York, a groundbreaking ceremony took place at the site of the United Nations' world headquarters. 1959 - Luna II, a Soviet space probe, became the first man-made object on the moon when it crashed on the surface. 1960 - The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded. The core members were Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. 1963 - Mary Ann Fischer gave birth to America's first surviving quintuplets. 1965 - "My Mother The Car" premiered on NBC TV. The series was canceled after only a few weeks after the debut. 1972 - "The Waltons" premiered on CBS-TV. 1975 - Pope Paul VI declared Mother Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton the first U.S.-born saint. 1978 - "Mork & Mindy" premiered on ABC-TV. 1983 - The U.S. House of Representatives voted 416-0 in a resolution condemning the Soviet Union for the shooting down of a Korean jet on September 1. 1984 - Joe Kittinger became the first person to fly a balloon solo across the Atlantic Ocean. 1987 - Tony Magnuson cleared 9.5 feet above the top of the U-ramp and set a new skateboard high jump record. 1989 - Joseph T. Wesbecker shot and killed eight people and wounded twelve others at a printing plant in Louisville, KY. Wesbecker, 47 years old, was on disability for mental illness. He took his own life after the incident. 1994 - It was announced that the season was over for the National Baseball League on the 34th day of the players strike. The final days of the regular season were canceled. 1998 - Jaime Jarrin received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 1998 - Israel announced that they had successfully tested its Arrow-2 missile defense system. The system successfully destroyed a simulated target. 1999 - Disney World closed down for the first time in its 28-year history. The closure was due to Hurricane Floyd heading for Florida. Disney movies, music and books 1999 - It was announced that "US" magazine would change from monthly to weekly and change its name to "USWeekly." 2001 - Nintendo released the GameCube home video game console in Japan. 2001 - The FBI released the names of the 19 suspected hijackers that had taken part in the September 11 terror attacks on the U.S. 2009 - Greyhound UK began operations as an hourly service between London and Portsmouth or Southampton.
1814 Francis Scott Key composed the lyrics to The Star Spangled Banner. 1901 President McKinley died of gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeded him. 1927 Modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan died in Nice, France. 1940 Congress passed the Selective Service Act, providing for the first peacetime draft in U.S. history. 1959 The Soviet space probe Luna 2 became the first man-made object to reach the Moon when it crashed onto the lunar surface. 1982 Princess Grace of Monaco died from injuries sustained in a car crash the previous day. 1994 Acting commissioner Bud Selig announced the cancellation of the 1994 baseball season on the 34th day of a strike by players.
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/sep14.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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