Sunday, October 5, 2014

On This Day in History - October 5 Washington Talks About Espionage & Both Sides Dig In Their Heels At Stalingrad

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!


Oct 5, 1775: Washington informs Congress of espionage

On this day in 1775, General George Washington writes to the president of the Continental Congress, John Jay, to inform him that a letter from Dr. Benjamin Church, surgeon general of the Continental Army, to Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Gage, British commander in chief for North America, had been intercepted. Washington wrote, "I have now a painful tho' a Necessary Duty to perform respecting Doctor Church, Director General of the Hospital."  

Washington described how a coded letter to a British officer, Major Crane, came into Washington's possession by a convoluted route from "a Woman who was kept by Doctor Church." Washington "immediately secured the Woman, but for a long time she was proof against every threat and perswasion[sic] to discover the Author, however at length she was brought to a confession and named Doctor Church. I then immediately secured him and all his papers."  

The woman Washington interrogated was the mistress of Dr. Benjamin Church, a renowned Boston physician, who was active in the Massachusetts Committee of Safety and served as a member of the Provincial Congress. In July 1775, Washington had named Church the first surgeon general of the Continental Army, only to find out three months later that he had been spying for the British since 1772. Church faced an army court martial on October 4, 1775.  

Despite Church's plea of innocence, and the inconsequential nature of the information he provided to Crane, the contents of the letter included Church's statement of allegiance to the British crown. He was charged with treason, convicted and sentenced to life in prison. After becoming ill while incarcerated, Dr. Church was exiled to the West Indies. The ship in which he traveled is believed to have been lost at sea.  

On November 7, 1775, shortly after the conviction of Dr. Church, the Continental Congress added a mandate for the death penalty as punishment for acts of espionage to the "articles of war."



 














Oct 5, 1942: "Stalingrad must not be taken by the enemy."

On this day in 1942, Joseph Stalin, premier and dictator of the Soviet Union, fires off a telegram to the German and Soviet front at Stalingrad, exhorting his forces to victory. "That part of Stalingrad which has been captured must be liberated."  

Stalingrad was a key to capturing the Soviet Union, in many ways as important as capturing Moscow itself. It stood between the old Russia and the new, a center of both rail and river communications, industry and old-world Russian trade. To preserve Stalingrad's integrity was to preserve Russian civilization past and present. As the Germans reached the Volga, thrust and counterthrust brought the battle to a standstill. Everyone from Russian factory workers to reinforcements of more than 160,000 Soviet soldiers poured into Stalingrad to beat back the German invader. Despite dwindling supplies, such as tanks and troop reserves, Hitler would not relent, convincing himself that the Russians could not hold out for long.  

But Stalin appealed not only to Russian patriotism but also to Allied armaments. Requests to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill for aid had not gone unheeded, as five British merchant ships arrived in northern Russia, loaded with supplies



 














Oct 5, 1947: First presidential speech on TV

On this day in 1947, President Harry Truman (1884-1972) makes the first-ever televised presidential address from the White House, asking Americans to cut back on their use of grain in order to help starving Europeans. At the time of Truman's food-conservation speech, Europe was still recovering from World War II and suffering from famine. Truman, the 33rd commander in chief, worried that if the U.S. didn't provide food aid, his administration's Marshall Plan for European economic recovery would fall apart. He asked farmers and distillers to reduce grain use and requested that the public voluntarily forgo meat on Tuesdays, eggs and poultry on Thursdays and save a slice of bread each day. The food program was short-lived, as ultimately the Marshall Plan succeeded in helping to spur economic revitalization and growth in Europe. In 1947, television was still in its infancy and the number of TV sets in U.S. homes only numbered in the thousands (by the early 1950s, millions of Americans owned TVs); most people listened to the radio for news and entertainment. However, although the majority of Americans missed Truman's TV debut, his speech signaled the start of a powerful and complex relationship between the White House and a medium that would have an enormous impact on the American presidency, from how candidates campaigned for the office to how presidents communicated with their constituents. Each of Truman's subsequent White House speeches, including his 1949 inauguration address, was televised. In 1948, Truman was the first presidential candidate to broadcast a paid political ad. Truman pioneered the White House telecast, but it was President Franklin Roosevelt who was the first president to appear on TV--from the World's Fair in New York City on April 30, 1939. FDR's speech had an extremely limited TV audience, though, airing only on receivers at the fairgrounds and at Radio City in Manhattan.

Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
 
610 - Heraclius' fleet takes Constantinople
869 - 4th Council of Constantinople (8th ecumenical council) opens
1143 - The king Alfonso VII of Leon recognises Portugal as a Kingdom.
1349 - Paris' theologist Jean de Fayt warns against the Flagellants at Avignon
1430 - Duke Philip the Good of Bourgondy visits Brussels
1450 - Jews are expelled from Lower Bavaria by order of Ludwig IX
1465 - French King Louis XI signs peace with Charles the Stout
1511 - Eedgenootschap signs anti-French Saint League
1511 - Pope Julius II/Germany/Ferdinand of Aragon/Venice/Swiss
1550 - Foundation of Concepción, city in Chile.
1568 - Conference of York begins: trial against Mary Stuart
1568 - William of Oranges army occupies Brabant
1572 - Spanish army under Alva's son Don Frederik plunders Mechelen
1582 - Gregorian calendar introduced in Italy, other Catholic countries
1632 - Henry Casimir I appointed viceroy of Groningen
1665 - The University of Kiel is founded.
1693 - Haarlem people's revolution due to food shortages
1750 - Carlo Goldoni's "Il teatro comica," premieres in Venice
1762 - Opera "Orfeo Ed Euridice" is produced (Vienna)
Queen of Scotland Mary StuartQueen of Scotland Mary Stuart 1789 - French Revolution: Women of Paris march to Versailles in the March on Versailles to confront Louis XVI about his refusal to promulgate the decrees on the abolition of feudalism, demand bread, and have the King and his court moved to Paris.
1793 - French Revolution: Christianity is disestablished in France.
1796 - Spain declares war on England
1813 - Battle of Thames in Canada; Americans defeat British
1823 - Weber visits Beethoven
1830 - King Willem I mobilizes Dutch army
1833 - Charles Darwin moves with Parana to Santa Fe Bajada Argentina
1857 - The City of Anaheim was founded.
1862 - Battle of Big Hatchie River, MS
1862 - Federal fleet occupies Galveston, Texas
1863 - Confederate sub David damages Union ship Ironsides
1864 - Battle of Allatoona, 1/3 of Union troops die repulsing South
1864 - Most of Calcutta destroyed by cyclone (approx 60,000 die)
1867 - Last day of Julian calendar in Alaska
1869 - A strong hurricane devastates the Bay of Fundy region of Maritime Canada. The storm had been predicted over a year before by a British naval officer.
Naturalist Charles DarwinNaturalist Charles Darwin 1875 - Palace Hotel on Market Street, SF opens
1877 - Chief Joseph surrenders, ending Nez Perce War
1892 - Dalton Gang ends in shoot-out in Coffeville, Kansas bank holdup
1895 - The first individual time trial for racing cyclists is held on a 50-mile course north of London.
1896 - William Gillette's "Secret Service," premieres in NYC
1897 - Solomon Andrees baloon/polar expedition reaches White Island
1900 - 6th US Golf Open: Harry Vardon shoots a 313 at Chicago GC Ill
1900 - Harry Vardon wins US Open golf tournament
1903 - Sir Samuel Griffith is appointed the first Chief Justice of Australia and Sir Edmund Barton and Richard O'Connor are appointed as foundation justices.
1905 - Orville/Wilbur Wright's "Flyer III" flight 38.5 km in 38.3"
1906 - Henry Mathewson (NY Giants, Christy's brother) walks 14 men
1907 - Interprovincial Rugby Football Union plays 1st game (Mtl 17 Tor 8)
1907 - Phila A's Rube Vickers no-hits Wash Senators, 4-0 in 5 inning game
1908 - Bulgaria declares independence from Turkey, Ferdinand I becomes Tsar
1908 - White Sox Ed Walsh tops Detroit 6-1 for his 40th victory
1910 - Portugal overthrows monarchy, proclaims republic
1911 - Italian troops occupy Tripoli
1912 - Billy Mallett of Hamilton Tigers kicks 9 singles in a game
1912 - Red Sox defeat A's 3-0 for then AL record 105th win
1912 - Yanks win final game at Hilltop stadium
1914 - World War I first aerial combat resulting in a kill.
1915 - Bulgaria enters World War I as one of the Central Powers.
Dictator of Nazi Germany Adolf HitlerDictator of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler 1916 - Soldier Adolf Hitler is injured
1919 - Norwegian population agrees to prohibition
1921 - 1st World Series radio broadcast, Yanks beat Giants 3-0
1921 - Present constitution of Liechtenstein comes into effect
1922 - Yanks & Giants play an infamous 3-3 tie World Series game
1923 - Edwin Hubble identifies Cepheid variable star
1924 - 1st Little Orphan Annie-strip appears in NYC Daily News
1925 - WSM-AM in Nashville Tenn begins radio transmissions
1930 - British airship crashes in storm at Beauvais France, 48 die
1931 - 1st nonstop transpacific flight, Japan to Wash (Herndon & Pangborn)
1931 - Paul Green's "House of Connelly," premieres in NYC
1936 - The Jarrow March sets off for London.
1937 - Minister Romme says unemployment is 25% "quarter of Romme"
1941 - Mickey Owens drops a 3rd strike, Tom Hendrick reaches 1st safely - would have been last out, instead Yanks score 4 & win 7-4
1942 - 5,000 Jews of Dubno Russia massacred
Astronomer Edwin HubbleAstronomer Edwin Hubble 1942 - St Louis Cards beat NY Yankees, 4 games to 1, in 39th World Series
1943 - US air raid on Wake
1944 - Harold Arlen/ET Harburgs musical premieres in NYC
1944 - Kerkrade (Neth) liberated
1944 - Suffrage is extended to women in France.
1945 - "Meet the Press" premieres on radio
1945 - Indonesian army forms
1945 - Queen Wilhelmina visits Rotterdam
1945 - Hollywood Black Friday: A six month strike by Hollywood set decorators turns into a bloody riot at the gates of Warner Brothers' studios.
1946 - "Yours Is My Heart" closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 36 perfs
1947 - 1st Presidential address televised from White House- Harry Truman
1947 - Al Gionfriddo makes a great catch off Joe Dimaggio in World Series
1948 - The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake kills 100,000.
1949 - WBNS TV channel 10 in Columbus, OH (CBS) begins broadcasting
1949 - WOR (now WWOR) TV channel 9 in NY-Secaucus, NY (IND) begins
Explorer of the New World Christopher ColumbusExplorer of the New World Christopher Columbus 1950 - "Pardon Our French" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 100 perfs
1952 - 19th congress of Communist Party meets in Moscow
1952 - 6th NHL All-Star Game: 1st Team ties 2nd Team 1-1 at Detroit
1953 - Earl Warren sworn in as 14th chief justice of US
1953 - 50th World Series sees NY Yankees beat Dodgers, 4 games to 2, as NY Billy Martin's 12 hits set record; Yanks win record 5th consec WS
1953 - The first documented recovery meeting of Narcotics Anonymous is held.
1954 - Hurricane Hazel hits Eastern US
1956 - Yogi Berra becomes 4th Yank to hit a World Series grand slam
1957 - 11th NHL All-Star Game: All-Stars beat Montreal 5-3 at Montreal
1957 - 12th Ryder Cup: Britain-Ireland win, 7½-4½ at Lindrick Golf Club (Rotherham, Yorkshire, England)
1957 - Yugoslav dissident Milovan Djilos sentenced to 7 years
1958 - KRTV TV channel 3 in Great Falls, MT (CBS) begins broadcasting
1958 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1958 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1960 - British Labour party demands unilateral nuclear disarmament
1960 - Eastern AL Electra turbo-prop crashed in Boston Harbor (61 die)
1960 - KEYC TV channel 12 in Mankato, MN (CBS) begins broadcasting
1961 - China & Nepal sign treaty
1962 - Beatles release their 1st record "Love Me Do"
1963 - 17th NHL All-Star Game: All-Stars beat Toronto 3-3 at Toronto
1963 - Hyde St Pier re-opens as State Historical Park
1963 - Little Richard joins Everly Brothers Tour
1964 - KIXE TV channel 9 in Redding, CA (PBS) begins broadcasting
1964 - SF Fire Department Museum is dedicated
1965 - Chuck Linster performs 6,006 consecutive push-ups
1965 - Dick McInnes stays aloft almost 12 hours in a kite
1968 - Battles between Catholic demonstrators & police in Londonderry
1968 - KPLM (now KESQ) TV channel 42 in Palm Springs, CA (ABC) begins
1969 - Carol Mann wins LPGA Mickey Wright Golf Invitational
1969 - Monty Python's Flying Circus begins airing on BBC
1969 - Tom Dempsey of New Orleans Saints kicks 55-yard field goal
1970 - John Creach, joins Jefferson Airplane
1970 - PBS becomes a network
1970 - Quebec separatists kidnap British trade commissioner James Cross
1970 - PBS became a television network.
1972 - Herbert Mullin 1st kills, to prevent earthquakes
1973 - Signature of the European Patent Convention.
1974 - Guildford pub bombing by the IRA leaves 5 dead and 65 injured.
1975 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1976 - Seattle & Toronto picks 30 unprotected players on other AL rosters Ruppert Jones (Seattle) & Bob Bailor (Toronto) are picked 1st
1977 - "Hair" opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 43 performances
1978 - Isaac Bashevis Singer wins Nobel Prize for literature
1978 - Sweden's Fälldin government falls
1978 - Over 30 major nations ratify the Environmental Modification Convention which prohibits environmental modification techniques
1980 - Formal opening of meditation hall of Zenshin Temple in Riverdale Bronx
1980 - Kathy Whitworth/Donna Caponi Young win Portland Ping Team Golf Champ
1980 - Yanks set AL attendance mark at 2,627,417
1981 - Dutch guilder/Deutsche mark revalued up 5.5%
1981 - Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg becomes an honarary American
1982 - 1st NJ Devils game, tie the Pitts Penguins 3-3 at the Meadowlands
1982 - China PR performs nuclear test at Lop Nor PRC
1982 - Hernan Siles Zuazo appointed president of Bolivia
1982 - Unmanned rocket sled reaches 9,851 kph at White Sands, NM
1983 - Lech Walesa wins Nobel Peace Prize
1984 - 13th Space Shuttle Mission (41-G)-Challenger 6-launched
1985 - Grambling's Eddie Robinson wins record 324th football game
1986 - London Sunday Times reports Israel is stocking nuclear arms
1988 - Brazil adopts its Constitution
1988 - Chilean population agrees at referendum against Pinochet regime
1988 - Israel bans Meir Kahane's Kach Party on grounds of racism
1990 - Cincinnati jury acquits art gallery of obsentity (Mappelthorpe photos)
1991 - Military transport plane crashes at Djakarta, 133 dies
1991 - NJ Devils begin their 10th Anniversary with a 7-2 win over the Blues
1991 - USSR reduces nuclear weapons arsenal
1991 - Carlos Huerta's NCAA record streak of successful points after a touchdown ends at 157
1991 - Fresno State ties NCAA record with 49 points in a quarter, as they route New Mexico 94-17
1991 - The first official version of the Linux kernel, version 0.02, is released.
US President George H. W. BushUS President George H. W. Bush 1992 - 1st overturn of a George Bush veto (cable bill)
1992 - NY senator Alphonse D'Mato fillerbusters for 15 hours 20 mins
1992 - US Air goes on strike
1993 - China PR performs nuclear test at Lop Nor PRC
1993 - Last honor guard at Lenin's mausoleum
1993 - Pope John Paul II publishes encyclical Veritatis splendor
1994 - 28th Country Music Association Award
1994 - 52 members of Zonnetempel, murdered
1995 - "Company" opens at Criterion Theater NYC for 68 performances
1996 - Caroline Pierce wins LPGA JAL Big Apple Golf Classic
1996 - Cleve Indians strike out 23 Balt Orioles in 12 inn playoff game
1996 - NY Yankee Bernie Williams switch hits HRs in a post season game
1997 - 35th Tennis Fed Cup: France beats Netherlands in Den Bosch Neth (4-1)
1997 - Annika Sorenstam wins LPGA CoreStates Betsy King Classic
1997 - Davis Love III wins golf's Buick challenge, shooting a 267
264th Pope John Paul II264th Pope John Paul II 1997 - STS 86 (Atlantis 20) lands
1997 - Vantage Senior Golf Championship
1999 - The Ladbroke Grove rail crash in west London kills 31 people.
2000 - Mass demonstrations in Belgrade lead to resignation of Serbian strongman Slobodan Milošević. These demonstrations are often called the Bulldozer Revolution.
2001 - Robert Stevens becomes the first victim in the 2001 anthrax attacks.
2001 - Tom Ridge resigns as Governor of Pennsylvania to become President Bush's Homeland Security Advisor.

2012 - Anglo Platinum Limited fires 12,000 striking workers in South Africa





1813 - Chief Tecumseh of the Shawnee Indians was killed at the Battle of Thames when American forced defeated the British and the allied Indian warriors.   1877 - Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Indians surrendered to the U.S. Army after a 1,000-mile retreat towards the Canadian border.   1919 - Enzo Ferrari debuted in his first race. He later founded the Auto Avio Construzioni Ferrari, an independent manufacturing company.   1921 - The World Series was broadcast on the radio for the first time. The game was between the New York Giants and the New York Yankees.   1930 - Laura Ingalls became the first woman to make a transcontinental airplane flight.   1930 - "The Fighting Priest" began airing on CBS radio.   1931 - Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon landed in Washington after flying non-stop across the Pacific Ocean. The flight originated in Japan and took about 41 hours.   1934 - "Hollywood Hotel" became the first major network radio to originate from Hollywood, CA.   1937 - U.S. President Roosevelt called for a "quarantine" of aggressor nations.   1947 - U.S. President Harry S Truman held the first televised presidential address from the White House. The subject was the current international food crisis.   1952 - "Inner Sanctum" was heard for the last time on ABC radio.   1955 - The play "The Diary of Anne Frank" opened at the Cort Theatre in New York.   1969 - A Cuban defector landed a Soviet-made MiG-17 at Homestead Air Force Base in Florida. The plane entered U.S. air space and landed without being detected.   1969 - "Monty Python's Flying Circus" debuted on BBC television.   1970 - Anwar Sadat took office as President of Egypt replacing Gamal Abdel Nassar. Sadat was assassinated in 1981.   1974 - American David Kunst completed the first journey around the world on foot. It took four years and 21 pairs of shoes. He crossed four continents and walked 14,450 miles.   1985 - An Egyptian policeman went on a shooting rampage at a Sinai beach. Seven Israeli tourists were killed. The policeman died in prison the following January of an apparent suicide.   1986 - "Business World" began airing on ABC-TV.   1986 - Sandinista soldiers captured American Eugene Hasenfus after shooting him down over southern Nicaragua.   1988 - In a debate between candidates for vice president of the U.S., Democratic Lloyd Bentsen told Republican Dan Quayle, "You're no Jack Kennedy."   1989 - The Dalai Lama (Lhama Dhondrub, Tenzin Gyatso) was named the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent campaign to end the Chinese domination of Tibet. Gyatso was the 15th Dalai Lama.   1990 - The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall opened.   1991 - Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev announced that his country would cut its nuclear arsenal in response to the arms reduction that was initiated by U.S. President George Bush.   1993 - China set off an underground nuclear explosion.   1995 - A 60-day cease-fire was agreed upon by Bonsian combatants. The civil war had lasted 3 1/2.   1997 - In London, the Express Newspapers printed an article claiming that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were homosexual and that their marriage was a sham to cover the truth. The paper paid damages in a settlement on October 29, 1998.   1998 - The U.S. paid $60 million for Russia's research time on the international space station to keep the cash-strapped Russian space agency afloat.   1999 - Kevin Spacey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.   1999 - MCI Worldcom Inc. and Sprint Corp. announced plans to merge.   2006 - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. rolled out its $4 generic drug program to the entire state of Florida after a successful test in the Tampa area.



1877 Chief Joseph surrendered to the U.S. Army. 1910 King Manuel II was overnthrown in a revolution and Portugal became a republic. 1921 The World Series was broadcast on the radio for the first time. 1947 In the first televised White House address, President Truman urged Americans to refrain from eating meat on Tuesdays and poultry on Sundays to help starving people in other countries. 1953 Earl Warren was sworn in as the 14th Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. 1962 The Beatles released their first hit, "Love Me Do," in Britain. 1990 Cincinnati's Contemporary Arts Center and its director were acquitted of obscenity charges resulting from an exhibit of Robert Mapplethorpe's photographs. 2001 Barry Bonds broke Mark McGwire's record of 71 home runs in one season when he hit his 71st and 72nd homers.

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