On This Day in History - March 14 Albert Einstein Born

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

Mar 14, 1879: Albert Einstein born

On March 14, 1879, Albert Einstein is born, the son of a Jewish electrical engineer in Ulm, Germany. Einstein's theories of special and general relativity drastically altered man's view of the universe, and his work in particle and energy theory helped make possible quantum mechanics and, ultimately, the atomic bomb.  

After a childhood in Germany and Italy, Einstein studied physics and mathematics at the Federal Polytechnic Academy in Zurich, Switzerland. He became a Swiss citizen and in 1905 was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Zurich while working at the Swiss patent office in Bern. That year, which historians of Einstein's career call the annus mirabilis--the "miracle year"--he published five theoretical papers that were to have a profound effect on the development of modern physics.  

In the first of these, titled "On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light," Einstein theorized that light is made up of individual quanta (photons) that demonstrate particle-like properties while collectively behaving like a wave. The hypothesis, an important step in the development of quantum theory, was arrived at through Einstein's examination of the photoelectric effect, a phenomenon in which some solids emit electrically charged particles when struck by light. This work would later earn him the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics.  

In the second paper, he devised a new method of counting and determining the size of the atoms and molecules in a given space, and in the third he offered a mathematical explanation for the constant erratic movement of particles suspended in a fluid, known as Brownian motion. These two papers provided indisputable evidence of the existence of atoms, which at the time was still disputed by a few scientists.  

Einstein's fourth groundbreaking scientific work of 1905 addressed what he termed his special theory of relativity. In special relativity, time and space are not absolute, but relative to the motion of the observer. Thus, two observers traveling at great speeds in regard to each other would not necessarily observe simultaneous events in time at the same moment, nor necessarily agree in their measurements of space. In Einstein's theory, the speed of light, which is the limiting speed of any body having mass, is constant in all frames of reference. In the fifth paper that year, an exploration of the mathematics of special relativity, Einstein announced that mass and energy were equivalent and could be calculated with an equation, E=mc2.  

Although the public was not quick to embrace his revolutionary science, Einstein was welcomed into the circle of Europe's most eminent physicists and given professorships in Zýrich, Prague, and Berlin. In 1916, he published "The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity," which proposed that gravity, as well as motion, can affect the intervals of time and of space. According to Einstein, gravitation is not a force, as Isaac Newton had argued, but a curved field in the space-time continuum, created by the presence of mass. An object of very large gravitational mass, such as the sun, would therefore appear to warp space and time around it, which could be demonstrated by observing starlight as it skirted the sun on its way to earth. In 1919, astronomers studying a solar eclipse verified predictions Einstein made in the general theory of relativity, and he became an overnight celebrity. Later, other predictions of general relativity, such as a shift in the orbit of the planet Mercury and the probable existence of black holes, were confirmed by scientists.  

During the next decade, Einstein made continued contributions to quantum theory and began work on a unified field theory, which he hoped would encompass quantum mechanics and his own relativity theory as a grand explanation of the workings of the universe. As a world-renowned public figure, he became increasingly political, taking up the cause of Zionism and speaking out against militarism and rearmament. In his native Germany, this made him an unpopular figure, and after Nazi leader Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933 Einstein renounced his German citizenship and left the country.  

He later settled in the United States, where he accepted a post at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He would remain there for the rest of his life, working on his unified field theory and relaxing by sailing on a local lake or playing his violin. He became an American citizen in 1940.  

In 1939, despite his lifelong pacifist beliefs, he agreed to write to President Franklin D. Roosevelt on behalf of a group of scientists who were concerned with American inaction in the field of atomic-weapons research. Like the other scientists, he feared sole German possession of such a weapon. He played no role, however, in the subsequent Manhattan Project and later deplored the use of atomic bombs against Japan. After the war, he called for the establishment of a world government that would control nuclear technology and prevent future armed conflict.  

In 1950, he published his unified field theory, which was quietly criticized as a failure. A unified explanation of gravitation, subatomic phenomena, and electromagnetism remains elusive today. Albert Einstein, one of the most creative minds in human history, died in Princeton in 1955.














Mar 14, 1990: Gorbachev elected president of the Soviet Union

The Congress of People's Deputies elects General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev as the new president of the Soviet Union. While the election was a victory for Gorbachev, it also revealed serious weaknesses in his power base that would eventually lead to the collapse of his presidency in December 1991.  

Gorbachev's election in 1990 was far different from other "elections" previously held in the Soviet Union. Since coming to power in 1985, Gorbachev had worked hard to open up the political process in the Soviet Union, pushing through legislation that eliminated the Communist Party's monopoly on power and establishing the Congress of People's Deputies. The public at large elected the Congress by secret ballot. By 1990, however, Gorbachev was facing criticism from both reformers and communist hard-liners. The reformers, such as Boris Yeltsin, criticized Gorbachev for the slow pace of his reform agenda. Communist hard-liners, on the other hand, were appalled by what they saw as Gorbachev's retreat from Marxist principles. In an attempt to push forward his reform program, Gorbachev led a movement that amended the Soviet constitution, including writing a section establishing a new and more powerful presidency, a position that had previously been largely symbolic.  

On March 14, 1990, the Congress of People's Deputies elected Gorbachev to a five-year term as president. While this was certainly a victory for Gorbachev, the election also vividly demonstrated the problems he faced in trying to formulate a domestic consensus supporting his political reform program. Gorbachev had worked assiduously to make sure that the Congress gave him the necessary two-thirds majority, including making repeated threats to resign if the majority was not achieved. Had he not received the necessary votes, he would have had to campaign in a general election against other candidates. Gorbachev believed that a general election would result in chaos in an already unsteady Russia; others in the Soviet Union attributed his actions to fear that he might lose such an election. The final vote in the Congress was extremely close, and Gorbachev achieved his two-thirds majority by a slim 46 votes.  

Gorbachev won the presidency, but by 1991 his domestic critics were pillorying him for the nation's terrible economic performance and faltering control over the Soviet empire. In December 1991 he resigned as president, and the Soviet Union dissolved. Despite the criticism he received, Gorbachev is credited for instituting a dizzying number of reforms that loosened the tight grip of communism on the Soviet people.  

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

1489 - The Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, sells her kingdom to Venice.

1558 - Ferdinand I appointed Holy Roman emperor

1559 - Storm floods ravage Gorinchem, Dordrecht & Woudrichem, Neth

1590 - Battle at Ivry: French King Henri IV beats Catholic League

1629 - England granted a royal charter to Massachusetts Bay Colony

1644 - England grants patent for Providence Plantations (now Rhode Island)

1647 - Thirty Years' War: Bavaria, Cologne, France and Sweden sign the Truce of Ulm.

1653 - Johan van Galen beats English fleet at Livorno

1689 - Scotland dismisses Willem III & Mary Stuart as king & queen

1743 - 1st American town meeting (Boston's Faneuil Hall)

1757 - On-board the HMS Monarch, English Admiral John Byng is executed by firing squad for neglecting his duty.

1794 - Eli Whitney patents cotton gin

1800 - Luigi Chiaramonti crowned Pope Pius VII

1812 - Congress authorizes war bonds to finance War of 1812

1821 - African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church founded (NY)

1826 - General Congress of South American States assembles at Panama

1836 - HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin leaves Australia

1840 - Jose Zorilla's "El Zapatero y el Rey," premieres in Madrid

1843 - Boston conducts its 1st town meeting (Faneuil Hall)

Naturalist Charles DarwinNaturalist Charles Darwin 1845 - -5.3°F (-20.7°C) in Groningen

1862 - Battle of New Bern NC: General Burnside conquers New Bern

1864 - Rossini's "Petite Messe Solennelle," premieres in Paris

1864 - Union troops occupy Fort de Russy, Louisiana

1869 - Defeat of Titokowaru.

1870 - California legislature approves act making Golden Gate Park possible

1875 - Smetana's "Vysehrad," premieres

1885 - Gilbert & Sullivan's comic opera "Mikado," premieres in London

1888 - 2nd largest snowfall in NYC history (21")

1889 - August Strindberg's "Froken Julie," premieres in Copenhagen

1889 - German Ferdinand von Zeppelin patents his "Navigable Balloon"

1896 - Sutro Baths (SF) opens by Cliff House (closed Sept 1, 1952)

1899 - Stanley Cup: Montreal Shamrocks beat Winnipeg Victorias, 6-2

1900 - Hugo de Vries rediscovers Mendel's laws of genetics

1900 - US currency goes on gold standard

Inventor Ferdinand von ZeppelinInventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin 1901 - 1st performance of Anton Bruckner's 6th Symphony in A

1903 - 1st national bird reservation established in Sebastian, FL

1903 - Stanley Cup: Ottawa Silver 7 sweep Rat Portage Thisles in 2 games

1903 - WB Yeats & Lady Gregory's "Hour-glass," premieres in Dublin

1906 - Calgary City Rugby Foot-ball Club forms

1908 - Stanley Cup: Mont Wanderers beat Toronto Trolley Leaguers, 6-4

1909 - Amsterdam Social-Democratic Party (SDP) forms

1910 - Lakeview Gusher, the largest U.S. oil well gusher near Bakersfield, California, vented to atmosphere.

1912 - King Vittorio Emanuel III of Rome injured during assassination attempt

1913 - John D Rockefeller gives $100 million to Rockefeller Foundation

1914 - Serbia & Turkey sign peace treaty

1915 - German cruiser Dresden blows itself up near coast of Chile

1916 - Battle of Verdun - German attack on Mort-Homme ridge, West of Verdun

1918 - 1st concrete ship to cross the Atlantic (Faith) is launched, SF

1922 - KGU-AM in Honolulu HI begins radio transmissions

Oil Industrialist John D. RockefellerOil Industrialist John D. Rockefeller 1922 - KSD-AM in Saint Louis MO begins radio transmissions

1922 - WGR-AM in Buffalo NY begins radio transmissions

1923 - Allies accepts Vilnus taking East-Galicia in Poland

1923 - German Supreme Court prohibits NSDAP

1923 - Pres Warren G Harding becomes 1st pres to pay taxes

1926 - A train in Costa Rica falls into the Río Virilla, killing 248 and injuring 93.

1931 - 1st theater built for rear movie projection (NYC)

1933 - Civilian Conservation Corp, begins tree conservation

1935 - 36-Folsom becomes 1st line to use 1-man streetcars

1936 - Federal Register, 1st magazine of the US government, publishes 1st issue

1937 - Battle of the Century: Fred Allen & Jack Benny meet on radio

1937 - Pope Pius XI publishes anti-nazi-encyclical Mit brennender Sorge

1939 - England draw with South Africa at Durban on the 10th day

1939 - Nazi Germany dissolves Republic of Czechoslovakia

1940 - 27 killed, 15 injured when truck full of migrant workers collides with a train outside McAllen, Texas

1941 - Nazi occupiers of Holland forbid Jewish owned companies

1941 - Xavier Cugat & orchestra record "Babalu"

1943 - World War II - The Kraków Ghetto is 'liquidated'.

1945 - RAF bomb cuts railway link Hannover-Hamm

1946 - Belgian government of Spaak, forms

1948 - Freedom Train arrives in SF

1950 - FBI's "10 Most Wanted Fugitives" program begins

1951 - During Korean War, US/UN forces recapture Seoul

1951 - Earthquake at Euskirchen, Germany

1953 - KOLR TV channel 10 in Springfield, MO (CBS) begins broadcasting

1954 - Braves Henry Aaron homers in his 1st exhibition game

1954 - KDAL (now KDLH) TV channel 3 in Duluth-Superior, MN (CBS) begins

1954 - Louise Suggs wins LPGA Titleholders Golf Championship

1954 - NBA Baltimore Bullets end a 32 game road losing streak

1955 - Prince Mahemdra becomes king of Nepal

1956 - Satchel Paige signs with the Birmingham Black Barons (Negro League)

1957 - Indonesian government of Sastroamidjojo resigns

1958 - RIAA certifies 1st gold record (Perry Como's Catch A Falling Star)

1958 - Recording Industry Association of American created

1958 - South Africa government disallows ANC

1958 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1958 - USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test

1960 - 14 die in a train crash in Bakersfield Calif

1960 - Wilt Chamberlain (Phila) sets NBA playoff record of 53 points

1961 - George Weiss becomes pres of NY Mets

1962 - Disarmament conference opens in Geneva without France

1962 - Gordie Howe (Det Red Wings) is 2nd NHLer to score 500 goals

1963 - SF Guy Rogers ties NBA record with 28 assists

1964 - "Girl Who Came to Supper" closes at Broadway NYC after 112 perfs

Night club operator Jack RubyNight club operator Jack Ruby 1964 - Dallas jury sentences Jack Ruby to death in Lee Harvey Oswald murder

1965 - Israeli cabinet approves diplomatic relations with West Germany

1967 - 1st NFL-AFL common draft, Balt Colts pick Bubba Smith

1967 - JFK's body moved from temporary grave to a permanent memorial

1968 - POM performs atmospheric nuclear test at Maralinga Australia

1968 - CBS TV suspends Radio Free Europe free advertising because RFE doesn't make it clear it is sponsored by the CIA

1969 - Barbara Jo Rubin becomes 1st woman jockey to win at Aqueduct

1969 - Seymour Nurse scores 258 in his last Test Cricket innings, WI v NZ

1971 - Barbra Streisand appears on "The Burt Bacharach Special" on CBS TV

1971 - Rolling Stones left England for France to escape taxes

1971 - South Vietnamese troops flee Laos

1971 - The Rolling Stones leave England for France to escape taxes

1972 - NBA's Cincinnati Royals announce they are moving to KC

1973 - Liam Cosgrave appointed president of Ireland

1976 - Jockey Bill Shoemaker wins his 7,000th race

Singer-songwriter & Actress Barbra StreisandSinger-songwriter & Actress Barbra Streisand 1976 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1978 - Marines terminate Molukse action in Province house (1 dead)

1978 - NFL permanently adds 7th official (side judge)

1979 - In China, a Hawker Siddeley Trident crashes into a factory near Beijing, killing at least 200.

1980 - 3rd Emmy Sports Award presentation

1980 - Ice Dance Championship at Dortmund West Germany won by Regoczy & Sallay

1980 - Ice Pairs Championship at Dortmund won by Cherkasova & Shakhrai (USSR)

1980 - Polish airliner crash kills all 87 aboard (22 are US amateur boxers)

1980 - Worlds Ladies Figure Skating Champ in Dortmund won by Anett Potzsch

1982 - Sally Little wins LPGA Olympia Gold Golf Classic

1982 - Sidath Wettimuny scores Sri Lanka's 1st Test Cricket century

1983 - OPEC cut oil prices for 1st time in 23 years

1984 - Challenger moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating of STS 41-C mission

1984 - Gerry Adams, head of Sinn Féin, is seriously wounded in an assassination attempt in central Belfast.

1985 - 11th People's Choice Awards: Bill Cosby wins 4 awards

Actor/Comedian Bill CosbyActor/Comedian Bill Cosby 1985 - Michael Secrest (US) completes 24-hr ride of 516 miles, 427 yards

1986 - European Space Agency's Giotto flies by Halley's Comet (605 km)

1987 - Providence, with Billy Donovan's 25 points, beats Austin Peay 90-87

1987 - Skier Piotr Fijas jumps record 194m

1987 - Worlds Ladies Figure Skating Champ in Cincinnati won by Katarina Witt

1987 - NY Met Darryl Strawberry charges Red Sox pitcher Al Nipper during spring training exhibition game, causes bench clearing brawl

1990 - 4th Soul Train Music Awards: Soul II Soul, Janet Jackson

1990 - Mikhail S Gorbachev becomes president of the Soviet Congress

1991 - Emir of Kuwait returns to Kuwait City, after the Iraqis leave

1991 - Ice Dance Championship at Munich won by Isabel & Phil Duchesnay (FRA)

1991 - Ice Pairs Championship at Munich won by N Mishkutenok & A Dmitriev

1991 - Men's Figure Skating Championship in Munich won by Kurt Browning (CAN)

1991 - British Court of Appeal frees "Birmingham 6" who had been unjustly sentenced in August 1975 to life imprisonment

1992 - Farm Aid V

1992 - NY Met Daryl Boston, Vince Coleman & Dwight Gooden accused of rape

Singer Janet JacksonSinger Janet Jackson 1992 - Soviet newspaper "Pravda" suspends publication

1993 - "Conversations with My Father" closes at Royale NYC after 462 perfs

1993 - "Face Value" closes at Cort Theater NYC after * performances

1993 - "Saint Joan" closes at Lyceum Theater NYC after 49 performances

1993 - 3,000th performance of "Nunsense"

1993 - Johan Koss skates world record 5km (6:36.57)

1993 - Meg Mallon wins LPGA Ping/Welch's Golf Championship

1993 - Ricky Ponting hits twin tons for Tasmania aged 18 years 84 days

1993 - Worlds Ladies Figure Skating Champ in Prague won by Oksana Baiul (UKR)

1994 - Mexican banker/billionaire Alfredo Harp Helu kidnapped

1994 - Soyuz TM-21 launches with V Dezyurov, G Strekalov & N Thagard

1994 - Timeline of Linux development: Linux kernel version 1.0.0 is released.

1995 - 1st time 13 people in space

1996 - Australia beat West Indies by 5 runs in amazing cricket World Cup semi

1996 - Crufts show at NEC Birmingham, (1995 winner, Joshua, an Irish setter)

1997 - 68 year old Gordie Howe signs AHL contract with Syracuse Crunch

1997 - Iranian military plane crashes, killing 80

1997 - Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson wins 67th James E Sullivan Award

42nd US President Bill Clinton42nd US President Bill Clinton 1997 - President Clinton trips & tears up his knee requiring surgery

1997 - The Chinese city of Chongqing (formerly Chunking) is upgraded to a centrally administered municipality.

1998 - An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale hits southeastern Iran.

2003 - Start of weekend of protests against war in Iraq that are attended by millions

2005 - Cedar Revolution, where over one and a million Lebanese went into the streets of Beirut to demonstrate against the Syrian military presence in Lebanon, and against the government, following the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

2013 - 25 people are killed and 50 are wounded by a series of car bombings in Baghdad, Iraq

2013 - 7 people are killed after gunmen storm a bar in Cancun, Mexico

2013 - Xi Jinping is named as the new President of the People's Republic of China

1489 - Catherine Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus, sold her kingdom to Venice. She was the last of the Lusignan dynasty.   1629 - A Royal charter was granted to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.   1647 - During the Thirty Years War, France, Sweden, Bavaria and Cologne signed a Treaty of Neutrality.   1743 - First American town meeting was held at Boston's Faneuil Hall.   1757 - British Admiral John Byng was executed by a firing squad on board HMS Monarch for neglect of duty.   1794 - Eli Whitney received a patent for his cotton gin.   1864 - Samuel Baker discovered another source of the Nile in East Africa. He named it Lake Albert Nyanza.   1891 - The submarine Monarch laid telephone cable along the bottom of the English Channel to prepare for the first telephone links across the Channel.   1900 - U.S. currency went on the gold standard with the ratification of the Gold Standard Act.   1900 - In Holland, Botanist Hugo de Vries rediscovered Mendel's laws of heredity.   1901 - Utah Governor Heber M. Wells vetoed a bill that would have relaxed restrictions on polygamy.   1903 - The U.S. Senate ratified the Hay-Herran Treaty that guaranteed the U.S. the right to build a canal at Panama. The Columbian Senate rejected the treaty.   1904 - The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the governments claim that the Northern Securities Company was an illegal merger between the Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railway companies.   1905 - French bankers refused to lend money to Russia until after their war.   1905 - The British House of Commons cited a need to compete with Germany in naval strength.   1906 - The island of Ustica was devastated by an earthquake.   1912 - An anarchist named Antonio Dalba unsuccessfully attempted to kill Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III in Rome.   1914 - Henry Ford announced the new continuous motion method to assemble cars. The process decreased the time to make a car from 12½ hours to 93 minutes.   1915 - The British Navy sank the German battleship Dresden off the Chilean coast.   1918 - An all-Russian Congress of Soviets ratified a peace treaty with the Central Powers.   1923 - President Harding became the first U.S. President to file an income tax report.   1932 - George Eastman, the founder of the Kodak company, committed suicide.   1936 - Adolf Hitler told a crowd of 300,000 that Germany's only judge is God and itself.   1939 - Hungary occupied the Carpatho-Ukraine. Slovakia declared its independence.   1943 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first U.S. President to fly in an airplane while in office.   1945 - In Germany, a 22,000 pound "Grand Slam" bomb was dropped by the Royal Air Force Dumbuster Squad on the Beilefeld railway viaduct. It was the heaviest bomb used during World War II.   1947 - The U.S. signed a 99-year lease on naval bases in the Philippines.   1947 - Moscow announced that 890,532 German POWs were held in the U.S.S.R.   1951 - U.N. forces recaptured Seoul for the second time during the Korean War.   1954 - The Viet Minh launched an assault on Dien Bien Phu in Saigon.   1958 - The U.S. government suspended arms shipments to the Batista government of Cuba.   1964 - A Dallas jury found Jack Ruby guilty of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald.   1967 - John F. Kennedy's body was moved from a temporary grave to a permanent one.   1976 - Egypt formally abrogated the 1971 Treaty Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet Union.   1978 - An Israeli force of 22,000 invaded south Lebanon. The PLO bases were hit.   1979 - The Census Bureau reported that 95% of all Americans were married or would get married.   1979 - Near Peking, China, at least 200 people died when a Trident aircraft crashed into a factory.   1980 - A Polish airliner crashed while making an emergency landing near Warsaw. 87 people were killed. A 14-man U.S. boxing team was aboard the plane.   1981 - Three Pakistani airline hijackers surrendered in Syria after they had exchanged 100 passengers and crewmen for 54 Pakistani prisoners.   1983 - OPEC agreed to cut its oil prices by 15% for the first time in its 23-year history.     1989 - Imported assault guns were banned in the U.S. under President George H.W. Bush.   1991 - The "Birmingham Six," imprisoned for 16 years for their alleged part in an IRA pub bombing, were set free after a court agreed that the police fabricated evidence.   1991 - Bolivian interior minister Guillermo Capobianco resigned after U.S. officials accused him of receiving money from drug traffickers.   1995 - American astronaut Norman Thagard became the first American to enter space aboard a Russian rocket.   1996 - U.S. President Bill Clinton committed $100 million for an anti-terrorism pact with Israel to track down and root out Islamic militants.   1998 - An earthquake left 10,000 homeless in southeastern Iran.   2002 - A Scottish appeals court upheld the conviction of a Libyan intelligence agent for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. A five-judge court ruled unanimously that Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi was guilty of bringing down the plane over Lockerbie, Scotland.   2003 - Robert Blake was released from jail on $1.5 million bail. Blake had been jailed for the murder of his wife Bonny Lee Bakley.

1743 The first town meeting was held in Boston, Massachusetts, at Faneuil Hall. 1794 The cotton gin was patented by Eli Whitney. 1939 The Republic of Czechoslovakia was dissolved, soon to be occupied by the Nazis. 1950 The FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list made its debut. 1958 Perry Como's single "Catch a Falling Star" became the first RIAA gold record. 1964 Jack Ruby was found guilty of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy. 1990 The Soviet Congress voted Mikhail Gorbachev into the newly-created and powerful position of president.

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/mar14.htm

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

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory