On This Day in History - December 7 "Day of Infamy" - Pearl Harbor Attacked

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

Dec 7, 1941: "A date which will live in infamy"

On this day, in an early-morning sneak attack, Japanese warplanes bomb the U.S. naval base at Oahu Island's Pearl Harbor—and the United States enters World War II.  

President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull knew a Japanese attack was imminent. Having received intelligence reports of intercepted coded messages from Tokyo to the Japanese ambassador in the United States, the president anticipated Japanese reprisals for his government's refusal to reverse economic sanctions and embargoes against Japan. The Roosevelt administration had remained firm in its demand that the Japanese first withdraw from China and French Indochina, which it had invaded in 1937 and July 1941, respectively, and renounce its alliance with fascist Germany and Italy.  

But Japan refused, demanding that the United States first end the embargo on oil shipments vital for Tokyo's war machine. Although negotiations between the two nations continued up to the very last minute, Roosevelt was aware of a secret November 25 deadline, established by Tokyo, that confirmed military action on the part of the Japanese should they not received satisfaction from the negotiations. While forewarned, Washington could not pinpoint the time or place of an attack.  

Despite initially objecting to war with America, Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto believed that if Prime Minister Hideki Tojo was determined to go to war, it was Japan who had to make a preemptive strike. Yamamoto studied the devastating November 1940 British attack against the Italian fleet at Taranto, and planned and led the sneak attack against the United States. Approximately 360 Japanese warplanes were launched from six aircraft carriers, reinforced by battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. The first dive-bomber was spotted over Pearl Harbor at 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time. It was followed by 200 aircraft, which decimated the American ships anchored there, most of which were only lightly manned because it was Sunday morning. Among the 18 U.S. ships destroyed, sunk, or capsized were the Arizona, Virginia, California, Nevada, and West Virginia. More than 180 planes were destroyed on the ground and another 150 were damaged (leaving but 43 operational). American casualties totaled more than 3,400, with more than 2,400 killed (1,000 on the Arizona alone). The Japanese lost fewer than 100 men.  

In the short term, the Japanese goal of crippling U.S. naval strength in the Pacific, and thereby giving Tokyo free reign to gobble up more of Southeast Asia and the South Pacific in its dream of imperial expansion, was successful. But the war had only just begun.









Dec 7, 1987: Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in United States for summit with Ronald Reagan

Despite protests in Washington concerning Soviet human rights abuses, most Americans get swept up in "Gorbymania" as Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives for his summit with President Ronald Reagan. Gorbachev and his wife, Raisa, charmed the American public and media by praising the United States and calling for closer relations between the Soviet Union and America.  

Aside from the excitement surrounding Gorbachev (whose face was soon plastered on T-shirts, cups, and posters), the summit with Reagan resulted in one of the most significant arms control agreements of the Cold War. Reagan and Gorbachev signed off on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty, which called for the elimination of all ground cruise and ballistic missiles and launchers in Europe with ranges of 320 to 3,400 miles. By June 1991, the United States had eliminated over 800 missiles and the Soviets had eliminated 1,800 such weapons.  

The INF Treaty was the first arms control agreement that eliminated, rather than simply limited, nuclear weapons. The treaty also required on-site inspections to ensure compliance, part of Reagan's famous "trust but verify" credo. Some critics in the United States denounced the treaty, claiming that it would "de-nuke" Europe and leave America's allies at the mercy of the Soviets' massive conventional forces. Most Americans, however, considered it a monumental step toward the reduction of the risk of nuclear war. The treaty was ratified by the Senate and went into effect in June 1988.











Dec 7, 1975: Indonesia invades East Timor

Early in the morning, Indonesian forces launch a massive invasion of the former Portuguese half of the island of Timor, which lies near Australia in the Timor Sea.  

The Portuguese departed East Timor in August 1975, and Indonesian troops soon began infiltrating the border from Indonesian West Timor. On November 28, the democratically elected government of East Timor, fearing an imminent Indonesian invasion, proclaimed the Democratic Republic of East Timor.  

On the morning of December 7, Indonesia responded by initiating a naval bombardment of the city of Dili, followed by landings of paratroopers from the air and of marines on the beaches. On December 10, a second invasion force captured the second largest city, Baucau. Elsewhere, East Timorese resistance continued, but by 1978 the annexation of East Timor by Indonesia was essentially complete.  

During the initial years of the Indonesian invasion and occupation, more than 100,000 East Timorese died as a direct result of the conflict. Most of the dead were civilians killed by the military or starved to death in internment camps or while hiding in the hills from the Indonesian military. Small groups of East Timorese guerrillas continued their resistance for decades. In 1996, Jose Ramos-Horta and Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to win independence for East Timor.  

Indonesian dictator Suharto, who had ordered the 1975 invasion, was ousted from power in 1998, and East Timorese renewed their calls for independence. In 1999, the people of East Timor voted overwhelmingly for independence in a referendum, leading to bloody attacks by Indonesian militia forces. An Australian-led U.N. peacekeeping force was deployed to stop the violence, and in August 2001 East Timor held its first democratic elections to establish an autonomous government.



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

43 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero (b. 106 BC), Roman orator and politician assassinated.

185 - Emperor Lo-Yang, China sees supernova (MSH15-52)

1354 - Margaretha van Bavarian's son earl Willem V signs peace treaty

1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways in the U.S. is completed to Trumbull.

1724 - Tumult of Thorn - religious unrest was followed by the execution of nine Protestant citizens and the mayor of Thorn (Toruń) by Polish authorities.

1732 - The Royal Opera House opens at Covent Garden, London.

1741 - Elisabeth Petrovna becomes tsarina of Russia

1783 - Theatre Royal opens in Covent Garden, London

1783 - William Pitt Jr (24) becomes British Premier

1787 - Delaware becomes 1st state to ratify constitution

1808 - James Madison elected 4th US President and George Clinton Vice-President

1835 - German railway Neurenberg-Furth opens

1836 - Martin Van Buren elected 8th president

1842 - NY Philharmonic's 1st concert

1862 - Battle of Hartsville, TN

1862 - Battle of Prairie Grove, AR

1864 - Skirmish at Ebenezer Creek/Cypress Swamp, Georgia

1868 - Jesse James gang robs bank in Gallatin Missouri, kills 1

1872 - HMS Challenger sets sail on 3½ year world oceanographic cruise

Outlaw Jesse JamesOutlaw Jesse James 1875 - Natives Sons of the West organized

1876 - NY Mutuals & Phila A's expelled from NL for not completing sked

1877 - Thomas A Edison demonstrates the gramophone

1885 - 49th Congress (1885-87) convenes

1889 - Gilbert & Sullivans "Gondoliers" premieres in London

1891 - 52nd Congress (1st to appropriate $1 billion) holds 1st session

1895 - Battle at Amba Alagi: Abyssinians beat Italian armies

1900 - Max Planck, in his house at Grunewald, on the outskirts of Berlin, discovers the law of black body emission.

1907 - Eugene Corri becomes 1st referee in a boxing ring

1909 - Leo Baekeland, Yonkers, patents 1st thermosetting plastic (Bakelite)

1911 - Leslie J Stuarts musical "Betsy" premieres in NYC

1911 - Natl Hockey Association forms with New Westminster, Vancouver & Victoria

1912 - Bust of Queen Nefertete found in El-Amarna, Egypt

1916 - British government of David Lloyd George forms

1916 - David Lloyd George replaces resigning H H Asquith as British PM

1917 - US becomes 13th country to declare war on Austria during World War I

1920 - NSW make 802 against South Australia, then Mailey takes 8-81

1920 - USPD-KPD parties merge into Vereinigte Communist Party of Germany

1921 - KWG-AM in Stockton CA begins radio transmissions

1924 - German election (Social Democrats win, Nazis & Communists lose)

1925 - Biltmore Theater opens at 261 W 47th St NYC

1925 - Noel Coward's "Easy Virtue" premieres in NYC

1926 - Gas refrigerator patented

1929 - Bradman scores 124 for Woodfull's XI against Ryder's XI 166 mins

1929 - Leo Diegel wins PGA golf tournament

1930 - 13th PGA Championship: Tommy Armour at Fresh Meadows CC Flushing

1931 - Bradman scores 219 NSW v South Africa, 234 mins, 15 fours

1932 - 1st gyro-stabilized vessel to cross Atlantic arrives in NY

1934 - Wiley Post discovers jet stream

1935 - CFL Grey Cup: Winnipeg Blue Bombers beat Ham Tigers, 18-12 at Hamilton

1937 - Dutch Minister Romme proclaims married women are forbidden to work

Baseball Player Ted WilliamsBaseball Player Ted Williams 1937 - Red Sox acquire the contract of 19-year-old Ted Williams

1937 - Russian chess player Alekhine recaptures world title from Max Euwe

1938 - Philip Barry's "Here Come the Clowns" premieres in NYC

1938 - W9XZY broadcasts facsimile of St Louis Post-Dispatch by radio

1939 - Lou Gehrig, 36, is elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame

1939 - William Walton's violinist concert premieres in Cleveland

1940 - 28th CFL Grey Cup (Game 2): Toronto Balmy Beach defeats Ottawa, 12-5

1940 - North Africa: British counter offensive under general O'Connor

1940 - The first prototype Fairey Barracuda flew

1941 - Australian bombers land on Timor/Ambon

1941 - Futshida's air fleet passes coastline of Oahu

1941 - German siege of Tobruk after 8 months ends

1941 - Japanese attack on the US at Pearl Harbour Naval Base, Hawaii

1941 - Nacht & Nebel Erlass, resistance fighter sent to concentration camps

1941 - 1st Japanese midget submarine (No. 20) attacked by a US ship (USS Ward)

1943 - Cairo: president Roosevelt travels back to the US

1944 - Convention on International Civil Aviation drawn up in Chicago

1944 - General Radescu forms Romanian government

1945 - Microwave oven patented

1946 - Fire at Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, kills 119

1949 - 15th Heisman Trophy Award: Leon Hart, Notre Dame (E)

1949 - Chiang Kai-shek flees to Taiwan

1952 - KKTV TV channel 11 in Colorado Spgs-Pueblo, CO (CBS) 1st broadcast

1953 - Israel's PM Ben-Gurion retires

1953 - WCCB TV channel 18 in Charlotte, NC (IND/ABC) begins broadcasting

1954 - Japanese government of Joshida resigns

1954 - KCTS TV channel 9 in Seattle, WA (PBS) begins broadcasting

1956 - Helen O'Connell joins Today Show panel

1957 - Tony Kubek of the Yanks selected as AL Rookie of the Year

1958 - Romulo Betancourt elected pres of Venezuela

1959 - "Saratoga" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 80 performances

1960 - Ivory Coast claims independence from France

1962 - Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1963 - Ian Meckiff no-balled for throwing against the South Africans

1963 - Instant replay is used for the first time in a Army-Navy game.

1964 - George Harrison changes his company's name from Mornyork to Harrisongs

1965 - Pope Paul VI & Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras I simultaneously lift mutual excommunications that led to split of 2 churches in 1054

1966 - A fire at an army barracks in Erzurum, Turkey kills 68 people.

1967 - "How Now, Dow Jones" opens at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC for 220 perfs

1967 - Otis Redding records "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay"

1968 - M Dodd returns a library books his Great grandfather took out in 1923

1968 - Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2 launched into Earth orbit

1968 - Richard Dodd returns a library book his great grandad took out in 1823

1970 - Taizan Maezumi Roshi, head of LA Zen Center, receives dharma

1970 - West Germany & Poland normalize relations

1971 - "Wild & Wonderful" opens/closes at Lyceum Theater NYC

1971 - Wings release their 1st album "Wild Life"

1972 - Apollo 17 (US), final manned lunar landing mission, launched

1972 - Philippine's 1st lady Imelda Marcos stabbed & wounded by an assailant

1973 - Orioles sell pitcher Eddie Watt to the Phillies

1973 - Phillies sell infielder-outfielder Cesar Tovar to the Texas Rangers

1973 - Wings release "Band on the Run"

1975 - 10th Islander shut-out opponent-Glenn Resch 3-0 vs Sabres

1975 - Archbishop Makarios returns Cyprus

1975 - Indonesian army occupies East Timor

1975 - Pat Bradley wins Colgate-Far East Ladies Tournament Golf Tournament

1976 - UN Security Council endorses Kurt Waldheim, sec-gen for 2nd 5 yr term

1977 - Islander Billy Smith's 10th shut-out opponent-Black Hawks 4-0

1978 - Islander's Mike Bossy's 1st career hat trick

1981 - Spain becomes a member of the NATO

1982 - Suriname army under Desi Bouterse fires on radio station building

1982 - In Texas, Charles Brooks, Jr. becomes the first person to be executed by lethal injection in the US.

1983 - 2 jets collided at Madrid Airport killing 93

1983 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island

1984 - Allan Border's 1st Test Cricket match as captain (v WI Adelaide)

1985 - 51st Heisman Trophy Award: Bo Jackson, Auburn (RB)

1985 - Atlantis returns to Kennedy Space Center via Kelly AFB

1986 - Juli Inkster/Tom Purtzer wins LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic

1986 - Pres Jean-Claude Duvalier flees Haiti

1987 - 43 die in Pacific Southwest Airline crash in California (man shot pilots)

1987 - Gorbachev arrives in US for a summit meeting

1987 - Palestinian uprising against Israel in West Bank

1988 - 6.9 earthquake in Spitak, Armenia (>25,000 killed, 5,000,000 homeless)

1988 - Gorbachev announces 10% unilateral Soviet troop reductions at UN

General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail GorbachevGeneral Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev 1988 - Mikhail Gorbachev cheered by Wall St crowds upon arrival in NYC

1988 - NY Islanders fire Simpson, Arbour new coach

1988 - Rangers sign free-agent pitcher Nolan Ryan to a one-year contract

1989 - C Coleman & D Zippel's musical "City of Angels" premieres in NYC

1990 - Iraqi parliment endorses Saddam Hussein's decision to free hostages

1990 - Ted Turner & Jane Fonda announce their engagement

1991 - A J Kitt, US, wins World Skiing Cup

1992 - Galileo spacecraft passes North Pole of Moon (Peary Crater)

1993 - Henri Konan Bedie names himself President of Ivory coast

1993 - Robert Goulet undergoes prostate cancer surgery

1993 - The Long Island Rail Road massacre: Passenger Colin Ferguson murders six people and injures 19 others on the LIRR in Nassau County, New York.

1994 - 5th Billboard Music Awards

1994 - Radio personality Howard Stern talks a man out of attempting suicide

1995 - NBA settles strike of referees, refs to return on Dec 12

1995 - US space probe Galileo begins orbiting Jupiter

Radio shock jock Howard SternRadio shock jock Howard Stern 1996 - Space Shuttle STS 80 (Columbia 21), lands

1997 - Amy Fruhwirth & Clarence Rose win LPGA J C Penney Classic

1999 - The RIAA files a lawsuit against the Napster file-sharing client, on charges of copyright infringement.

2003 - The Conservative Party of Canada is officially recognized after the merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.

2005 - Rigoberto Alpizar, a passenger on American Airlines Flight 924 who allegedly claimed to have a bomb, is shot and killed by a team of US federal air marshals at Miami International Airport.

2006 - A tornado struck Kensal Green, North West London, seriously damaging around 150 properties.

2007 - The Hebei Spirit oil spill began in South Korea after a crane barge being towed by tug collided with the very large crude carrier, Hebei Spirit.

1431 - In Paris, Henry VI of England was crowned King of France.   1732 - The original Covent Garden Theatre Royal (now the Royal Opera House) was opened.   1787 - Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. constitution becoming the first of the United States.   1796 - John Adams was elected to be the second president of the United States.   1836 - Martin Van Buren was elected the eighth president of the United States.   1889 - The first of 554 performances of "The Gondoliers" took place.   1907 - At London's National Sporting Club, Eugene Corri became the first referee to officiate from inside a boxing ring.   1925 - Swimmer Johnny Weissmuller set a world record in the 150-yard freestyle with a time of 1 minute, 25 and 2/5 seconds. He went on to play "Tarzan" in several movies.   1926 - The gas operated refrigerator was patented by The Electrolux Servel Corporation.   1941 - Pearl Harbor, located on the Hawaiian island of Oahu was attacked by nearly 200 Japanese warplanes. The attack resulted in the U.S. entering into World War II.   1946 - A fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta killed 119 people. It was America's worst hotel fire disaster. The hotel founder, W. Frank Winecoff, was also killed in the fire.   1971 - Libya announced the nationalization of British Petroleum's assets.   1972 - Apollo 17 was launched at Cape Canaveral. It was the last U.S. moon mission.   1972 - Imelda Marcos, wife of Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos, was stabbed and seriously wounded by an assailant. The man was then shot and killed by her bodyguards.   1974 - President Makarios returned to Cyprus after five months in exile.   1980 - General Antonio Ramlho Eanes was reelected president of Portugal. His right-wing opposition was thrown into disarray by the death of Premier Francisco Sa Carneiro in a plane crash.   1982 - Charlie Brooks Junior, a convicted murderer, became the first prisoner in the U.S. to be executed by injection, at a prison in Huntsville, TX.   1983 - Madrid, Spain, an Aviaco DC-9 collided on a runway with an Iberia Air Lines Boeing 727 that was accelerating for takeoff. The collision resulted in the death of all 42 people aboard the DC-9 and 51 on the Iberia jet.   1987 - Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev set foot on American soil for the first time. He had come to the U.S. for a Washington summit with U.S. President Reagan.   1987 - 43 people were killed when a gunman opened fire on a fellow passenger and the two pilots aboard a Pacific Southwest Airlines jetliner.   1988 - An estimated 25,000 people were killed when a major earthquake hit northern Armenia in the Soviet Union. The quake measured 6.9 on the Richter Scale.   1988 - Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev announced the reduction of the number of Soviet military troops by half a million.   1989 - East Germany's Communist Party agreed to cooperate with the plan for free elections and a revised constitution.   1992 - The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a Mississippi abortion law which, required women to get counseling and then wait 24 hours before terminating their pregnancies.   1993 - Six people were killed and 17 were injured when a gunman opened fire on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train.   1993 - Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary revealed that the U.S. government had conducted more than 200 nuclear weapons tests in secret at its Nevada test site.   1993 - Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders suggested that the U.S. government study the impact of drug legalization.   1995 - A probe sent from the Galileo spacecraft entered into Jupiter's atmosphere. The probe sent back data to the mothership before it was presumably destroyed.   1996 - The space shuttle Columbia returned from the longest-ever shuttle flight of 17 days, 15 hours and 54 minutes.   1998 - The U.N. evacuated 14 peacekeepers that were trapped by fighting between army and rebel forces in central Angola.   1998 - U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno declined to seek an independent counsel investigation of President Clinton over 1996 campaign financing.   1999 - A U.S. federal grand jury indicted a former convict in the 1995 disappearance of atheist leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair.   2002 - In Amsterdam, Netherlands, two Van Gogh paintings were stolen from the Van Gogh Museum. The two works were "View of the Sea st Scheveningen" and "Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen." On July 26, 2004, two men were convicted for the crime and were sentenced to at least four years in prison each.   2002 - In Mymensingh, Bangladesh, four movies theaters were bombed within 30 minutes of each other. At least 15 people were killed and over 200 were injured.   2003 - A 12-inch by 26-inch painting of a river landscape and sailing vessel by Martin Johnson Heade was sold at auction for $1 million. The painting was found in the attic of a suburban Boston home where it had been stored for more than 60 years.







1787 Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. 1917 The U.S. declared war on Austria-Hungary in World War I. 1941 The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. 1972 America's final moon mission, Apollo 17, blasted off from Cape Canaveral. 1975 Indonesia invaded East Timor, leading to a 25-year occupation. 1988 A 6.9 magnitude earthquake hit Armenia, killing 25,000. 2001 Taliban forces fled from Kandahar, their last stronghold in Afghanistan. 2002 Iraq formally declared to the UN that it had no weapons of mass destruction. 2004 Hamid Karzai was sworn in as Afghanistan's first popularly elected 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/dec07.htm

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

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory

On This Day in History - December 6 Austria Introduces System of State Education

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


Dec 6, 1917: The Great Halifax Explosion

At 9:05 a.m., in the harbor of Halifax in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, the most devastating manmade explosion in the pre-atomic age occurs when the Mont Blanc, a French munitions ship, explodes 20 minutes after colliding with another vessel.  

As World War I raged in Europe, the port city of Halifax bustled with ships carrying troops, relief supplies, and munitions across the Atlantic Ocean. On the morning of December 6, the Norwegian vessel Imo left its mooring in Halifax harbor for New York City. At the same time, the French freighter Mont Blanc, its cargo hold packed with highly explosive munitions--2,300 tons of picric acid, 200 tons of TNT, 35 tons of high-octane gasoline, and 10 tons of gun cotton--was forging through the harbor's narrows to join a military convoy that would escort it across the Atlantic.  

At approximately 8:45 a.m., the two ships collided, setting the picric acid ablaze. The Mont Blanc was propelled toward the shore by its collision with the Imo, and the crew rapidly abandoned the ship, attempting without success to alert the harbor of the peril of the burning ship. Spectators gathered along the waterfront to witness the spectacle of the blazing ship, and minutes later it brushed by a harbor pier, setting it ablaze. The Halifax Fire Department responded quickly and was positioning its engine next to the nearest hydrant when the Mont Blanc exploded at 9:05 a.m. in a blinding white flash.  The massive explosion killed more than 1,800 people, injured another 9,000--including blinding 200--and destroyed almost the entire north end of the city of Halifax, including more than 1,600 homes. The resulting shock wave shattered windows 50 miles away, and the sound of the explosion could be heard hundreds of miles away.










Dec 6, 1941: Roosevelt to Japanese emperor: "Prevent further death and destruction"

On this day, President Roosevelt—convinced on the basis of intelligence reports that the Japanese fleet is headed for Thailand, not the United States—telegrams Emperor Hirohito with the request that "for the sake of humanity," the emperor intervene "to prevent further death and destruction in the world."  

The Royal Australian Air Force had sighted Japanese escorts, cruisers, and destroyers on patrol near the Malayan coast, south of Cape Cambodia. An Aussie pilot managed to radio that it looked as if the Japanese warships were headed for Thailand—just before he was shot down by the Japanese. Back in England, Prime Minister Churchill called a meeting of his chiefs of staff to discuss the crisis. While reports were coming in describing Thailand as the Japanese destination, they began to question whether it could have been a diversion. British intelligence had intercepted the Japanese code "Raffles," a warning to the Japanese fleet to be on alert—but for what?  

Britain was already preparing Operation Matador, the launching of their 11th Indian Division into Thailand to meet the presumed Japanese invasion force. But at the last minute, Air Marshall Brooke-Popham received word not to cross the Thai border for fear that it would provoke a Japanese attack if, in fact, the warship movement was merely a bluff.  

Meanwhile, 600 miles northwest of Hawaii, Admiral Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese fleet, announced to his men: "The rise or fall of the empire depends upon this battle. Everyone will do his duty with utmost efforts." Thailand was, in fact, a bluff. Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii was confirmed for Yamamoto as the Japanese target, after the Japanese consul in Hawaii had reported to Tokyo that a significant portion of the U.S. Pacific fleet would be anchored in the harbor—sitting ducks. The following morning, Sunday, December 7, was a good day to begin a raid.  

"The son of man has just sent his final message to the son of God," FDR joked to Eleanor after sending off his telegram to Hirohito, who in the Shinto tradition of Japan was deemed a god. As he enjoyed his stamp collection and chatted with Harry Hopkins, his personal adviser, news reached him of Japan's formal rejection of America's 10-point proposals for peace and an end to economic sanctions and the oil embargo placed on the Axis power. "This means war," the president declared. Hopkins recommended an American first strike. "No, we can't do that," Roosevelt countered. "We are a democracy and a peaceful people."











Dec 6, 1987: Protests against Soviet treatment of Jews take place in Washington and Moscow

On the eve of Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev's arrival in the United States for a summit meeting with President Ronald Reagan, more than 200,000 protesters in Washington, and a much smaller number in Moscow, protest Soviet policies concerning Russian Jews. The protests succeeded in focusing public attention on human rights abuses in Russia but had little impact on the summit.  

The agenda for the Gorbachev-Reagan summit largely focused on weapons control issues, particularly the elimination of intermediate-range nuclear missiles from Europe. The Soviet presence in Afghanistan and support of the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua were also topics for discussion. Over 200,000 protesters in Washington attempted to shift the focus to another issue-the Soviet government's treatment of Russian Jews. In particular, they called on the Soviets to allow Jewish emigration from Russia and for an end to Soviet oppression of Jewish dissidents and critics of the Soviet government. In a letter that was read to appease the protesters, President Reagan stated that he would "not be satisfied with less" than the "release of all refuseniks [jailed dissidents] and for complete freedom of religious and cultural expression." A demonstration set to coincide with the protests in Washington was roughly disrupted by Soviet plainclothes police in Moscow. The few dozen protesters had their signs and banners seized and destroyed and some were physically assaulted.  

Despite the protests and Reagan's rhetoric, the issue of Soviet human rights abuses played almost no role at the summit. The Soviets insisted that the protesters be ignored and U.S. officials, anxious to get an arms control agreement out of the summit, essentially complied with the Russian requests. A major arms agreement was, in fact, signed during the meeting.








Dec 6, 1884: Washington Monument completed

On this day in 1884, in Washington, D.C., workers place a nine-inch aluminum pyramid atop a tower of white marble, completing the construction of an impressive monument to the city's namesake and the nation's first president, George Washington.  As early as 1783, the infant U.S. Congress decided that a statue of George Washington, the great Revolutionary War general, should be placed near the site of the new Congressional building, wherever it might be. After then-President Washington asked him to lay out a new federal capital on the Potomac River in 1791, architect Pierre L'Enfant left a place for the statue at the western end of the sweeping National Mall (near the monument's present location).  

It wasn't until 1832, however--33 years after Washington's death--that anyone really did anything about the monument. That year, a private Washington National Monument Society was formed. After holding a design competition and choosing an elaborate Greek temple-like design by architect Robert Mills, the society began a fundraising drive to raise money for the statue's construction. These efforts--including appeals to the nation's schoolchildren--raised some $230,000, far short of the $1 million needed. Construction began anyway, on July 4, 1848, as representatives of the society laid the cornerstone of the monument: a 24,500-pound block of pure white marble.  

Six years later, with funds running low, construction was halted. Around the time the Civil War began in 1861, author Mark Twain described the unfinished monument as looking like a "hollow, oversized chimney." No further progress was made until 1876--the centennial of American independence--when President Ulysses S. Grant authorized construction to be completed.  

Made of some 36,000 blocks of marble and granite stacked 555 feet in the air, the monument was the tallest structure in the world at the time of its completion in December 1884. In the six months following the dedication ceremony, over 10,000 people climbed the nearly 900 steps to the top of the Washington Monument. Today, an elevator makes the trip far easier, and more than 800,000 people visit the monument each year. A city law passed in 1910 restricted the height of new buildings to ensure that the monument will remain the tallest structure in Washington, D.C.--a fitting tribute to the man known as the "Father of His Country." 


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

963 - Leo VIII elected Pope

1060 - Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary

1160 - Jean Bodels "Jeu de St Nicholas" premieres in Arras

1196 - Northern Dutch coast flooded, "Saint-Nicolas Flood"

1240 - Mongols under Batu Khan occupy & destroy Kiev

1424 - Don Alfonso V of Aragon grants Barcelona the right to exclude Jews

1527 - Pope Clemens VII fleas to Orvieto

1534 - Quito, Ecuador, founded by Spanish

1631 - 1st predicted transit of Venus (Kepler) is observed

1641 - Don Francisco de Mello appointed land guardian of South Netherlands

1648 - Pride's Purge: Thomas Pride prevents 96 presbyterians from sitting in English parliament

1723 - Emperor Karel VI's Pragmatic Sanctie declares Constitution

1732 - 1st play in American colonies acted by professional players, NYC

1745 - Bonnie Prince Charlies army retreats to Scotland

1756 - British troops under Robert Clive occupy Fulta India

1768 - 1st edition of "Encyclopedia Brittanica" published (Scotland)

1787 - Laurens Pieter van de Speigel appointed Dutch pension advisor

1790 - The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1820 - US president James Monroe re-elected

1822 - Veterinary school in Utrecht opens

1825 - Pres John Adams suggests establishment of a US observatory

Naturalist Charles DarwinNaturalist Charles Darwin 1833 - HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin departs Rio de la Plata

1841 - Robert Schumann's 4th Symphony in D premieres

1843 - Amsterdam-Utrecht railway opens

1845 - Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity is founded at Yale College.

1846 - Opera "La Damnation de Faust" is produced (Paris)

1849 - Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery in Maryland for the 2nd and final time

1862 - Pres Lincoln orders hanging of 39 Santee Sioux indians

1864 - Battle of Deveaux's Neck, SC

1865 - 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution is ratified, abolishing slavery

1866 - Chicago water supply tunnel 3,227 m into Lake Michigan completed

1870 - Joseph H Rainey, 1st black in House of Reps (SC)

1873 - 1st international football game in US: Yale 2, Eton (England) 1

1875 - 44th Congress (1875-77) convenes

1876 - 1st crematorium in US begins operation, Washington, Penn

1876 - City of Anaheim incorporated for 2nd time

Abolitionist Harriet TubmanAbolitionist Harriet Tubman 1876 - US Electorial College picks Rep Hayes as pres (although Tilden won)

1877 - 1st sound recording made (Thomas Edison)

1877 - Washington Post publishes 1st edition

1882 - Atmosphere of Venus detected during transit

1884 - Aluminum capstone set atop Washington Monument, Wash, DC

1896 - D T Suzuki found the awakening at Engakuji temple, in Kamakura

1897 - London becomes the world's first city to host licenced taxicabs.

1903 - Sumatra Atjehs guerilla leader Panglima Polim surrenders

1904 - Theodore Roosevelt confirms Monroe-doctrine (Roosevelt Corollary)

1907 - Coal mine explosions in Monongah, WV, kills 361

1912 - China votes for universal human rights

1913 - White Sox beat Giants 9-4 in exhibition game in Tokyo

1914 - German troops over run Lodz

1916 - German army under Gen Mackensen occupies Bucharest

1916 - World War I: The Central Powers capture Bucharest.

26th US President Theodore Roosevelt26th US President Theodore Roosevelt 1917 - Finland declares independence from Russia (National Day)

1917 - French munition ship "Mont Blanc" explodes in Halifax, kills 1,700

1921 - Anglo-Irish Treaty signed; Ireland receives dominion status; partition creates Northern Ireland

1922 - 1st constitution of Irish Free State comes into operation

1922 - 1st electric power line commercial carrier in US, Utica, NY

1923 - 1st US Presidential address broadcast on radio by President Calvin Coolidge

1925 - Italy, Britain & Egypt sign Jaghbub accord (Italy)

1925 - Record 73,000 pay to watch Chic Bears beat NY Giants 19-7

1929 - Turkey introduces female suffrage

1930 - 18th CFL Grey Cup: Toronto Balmy Beach defeat Regina Roughriders, 11-6

1933 - Ban on James Joyce' "Ulysses" in US lifted

1938 - 117 Spanish knights under capt Piet Laros return to Netherlands

1938 - French/German non-attack treaty drawn (Ribbentrop-Bonnet Pact)

1939 - 5th Heisman Trophy Award: Nile Kinnick, Iowa (HB)

1939 - Cole Porter's musical "Du Barry was a Lady" premieres in NYC

Novelist & Poet James JoyceNovelist & Poet James Joyce 1940 - Gestapo arrest German resistance fighter/poster artist Helen Ernst

1940 - Pietro Badoglio resigns as viceroy of Ethiopia

1941 - Dutch & British pilots see Japanese invasion fleet at Singapore

1941 - NYC Council agrees to build Idlewild (Kennedy) Airport in Queens

1942 - Queen Wilhelmina announces Dutch Commonwealth

1942 - RAF bombs Philips factory (150 die)

1944 - US 95th Infantry division reaches Westwall

1947 - The Everglades National Park in Florida is dedicated.

1950 - Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Mirabile illud

1952 - Czech government tells Israeli ambassador, he's persona non grata

1953 - Brown's Lou "Toe" Groza kicks 8 PATs, beating Giants 62-14

1954 - Simone de Beauvoir receives Prix Goncourt

1955 - NY psychologist Joyce Brothers won "$64,000 Question" on boxing

1956 - "Happy Hunting" opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 413 performances

1956 - Nelson Mandela & 156 others arrested for political activities in S Africa

Anti-apartheid activist and South African President Nelson MandelaAnti-apartheid activist and South African President Nelson Mandela 1957 - 1st US attempt to launch a satellite fails-Vanguard rocket blows up

1957 - AFL-CIO votes to expel Teamsters (readmitted in October 1987)

1957 - Indonesia begins nationalizing Dutch possessions

1958 - US lunar probe Pioneer 3 reaches 107,269 km, falls back

1960 - AL grants Gene Autry a franchise, LA Angels

1961 - 27th Heisman Trophy Award: Ernie Davis, Syracuse (HB)

1962 - US abandons Skybolt balistic missile program

1963 - Beatles begin a tradition of releasing a Christmas record for fans

1963 - Test Cricket debut of Graeme Pollock at the Gabba

1964 - "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" 1st airs on TV

1964 - KTVR TV channel 13 in La Grande, OR (PBS) begins broadcasting

1964 - President Segni of Italy resigns

1965 - 2 trucks crashed into a crowd of dancers (Sotouboua Togo) kills 125

1965 - Pakistan's Islamic Ideology Advisory Committee recommends that Islamic Studies be made a compulsory subject for Muslim students from primary to graduate level.

1966 - Polio vaccination becomes obligatory in Belgium

1967 - USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR

1968 - Baseball dismisses Commissioner William Eckert after 3 years

1968 - PBA National Championship won by Wayne Zahn

1968 - WKID (WSCV) TV channel 51 in Fort Lauderdale, FL (IND) 1st broadcast

1969 - "Buck White" closes at George Abbott Theater NYC after 7 performances

1969 - 300,000 attend Altamont California, rock concert feature Rolling Stones

1969 - USSR performs nuclear test

1970 - Cleveland Cavaliers 1st NBA home victory, beating Buffalo Braves 108-106

1971 - Lewis Franklin Powell confirmed as Supreme Court justice

1973 - Bahrain's constitution goes into effect

38th US President Gerald Ford38th US President Gerald Ford 1973 - Gerald Ford sworn-in as 1st unelected VP, succeeds Spiro T Agnew

1973 - NL votes to move San Diego Padres to Washington DC (doesn't happen)

1974 - George Harrison releases "Ding Dong, Ding Dong"

1975 - 41st Heisman Trophy Award: Archie Griffin, Ohio State (RB)

1975 - Balcombe Street Siege: An IRA Active Service Unit takes a couple hostage in Balcombe Street, London.

1976 - War criminal Pieter Menten arrested in Zurich

1977 - South Africa grants Bophuthatswana independence

1978 - Spain adopts constitution

1980 - Jim Bakker rapes Jessica Hahn

1980 - NASA launches Intelsat V satellite, no. 502

1981 - Rob de Castella of Australia sets Marathon record at 2:08:18

1982 - Sen Ted & Joan Kennedy divorce

1982 - 11 soldiers & 6 civilians die by bomb planted by Irish National Liberation Army exploded in a pub in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland

1983 - A bomb planted on a bus in Jerusalem explodes, kills 6 Israelis

1984 - France performs nuclear test

1984 - Hijackers aboard Kuwaiti jetliner kill 2nd hostage

1986 - 52nd Heisman Trophy Award: Vinny Testaverde, Miami Fla (QB)

1986 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island

1987 - 3 satanist Missouri teenagers bludgeon comrade to death for "fun"

1987 - Christa Rothenburger skates female world record 500m (39.39 sec)

1987 - Jane Crafter/Steve Jones wins LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic

1988 - Arafat meets prominent American Jews in Stockholm, Sweden

1988 - Carlos Andres Perez re-elected president of Venezuela

1988 - Merv Hughes takes 13 wickets v WI at the WACA but Australia lose

1988 - Milwaukee Bucks win their 1,000th NBA game (2nd fastest)

1988 - Nelson Mandela is transferred to Victor Vester Prison, Capetown

1988 - STS-27 Atlantis lands in California after secret mission

1988 - Agnes Neil Williams purchases Baltimore Orioles for $70 million Eli Jacobs becomes CEO of Balt Orioles

1989 - Mafia drug kingpin bombs security force at Bogota, kills 52

1989 - Worst Canadian mass murder: Marc Lepine kills 14 women at U Montreal

1990 - NHL grants conditional membership to Tampa Bay Lightning

1990 - Saddam anounces release of all foriegn hostages

1990 - Shoeless Joe Jackson's signature is sold for $23,100

1991 - "Les Miserables" opens at Circustheater, Scheveningen

1991 - "Star Trek VI-Undiscovered Country" premieres

1992 - 300,000 hindus destroy mosque of Babri India, 4 die

1992 - 81st Davis Cup: USA beats Switzerland in Fort Worth (3-1)

1992 - Dottie Mochrie/Dan Forsmann wins LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic

1992 - SF 49er Jerry Rice catches NFL record 101st touchdown

1992 - SF Giants renig on $43 million pact with Barry Bonds

1993 - Gunda Niemann skates ladies world record 5 km 7:13.29

1994 - Maltese Falcon auctioned for $398,590

1994 - Orange County California files for bankruptcy

1994 - Warner Brothers announces a 5th TV network to begin on Jan 11, 1995

1995 - 6th Billboard Music Awards

King of Pop Michael JacksonKing of Pop Michael Jackson 1995 - Michael Jackson collapses while rehearsing for an HBO special

1996 - Mashonaland defeat England in first-class tour match

1998 - JC Penney Golf Classic

1998 - Hugo Chávez Frías, Venezuelan military and politician, is elected President of Venezuela.

2001 - The Canadian province of Newfoundland is renamed Newfoundland and Labrador.

2005 - Several villagers are shot dead during protests in Dongzhou, China.

2006 - NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars.

2012 - 7 people are killed and 770 injured during Egyptian protests

2012 - Typhoon Bopha’s death toll rise to 418 with 318 missing and 179,000 displaced

2012 - A 243 million year old Nyasasaurus fossil is discovered in Tanzania

1774 - Austria became the first nation to introduce a state education system.   1790 - The U.S. Congress moved from New York to Philadelphia.   1865 - The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. The amendment abolished slavery in the U.S.   1876 - The city of Anaheim was incorporated for a second time.   1877 - Thomas Edison demonstrated the first gramophone, with a recording of himself reciting Mary Had a Little Lamb.   1883 - "Ladies' Home Journal" was published for the first time.   1884 - The construction of the Washington Monument was completed by Army engineers. The project took 34 years.   1889 - Jefferson Davis died in New Orleans. He was the first and only president of the Confederate States of America.   1907 - In Monongah, WV, 361 people were killed in America's worst mine disaster.   1917 - More than 1,600 people died when two munitions ships collided in the harbor at Halifax, Nova Scotia.   1917 - Finland proclaimed independence from Russia.   1921 - The Catholic Irish Free State was created as a self-governing dominion of Britain when an Anglo-Irish treaty was signed.   1923 - U.S. President Calvin Coolidge became the first president to give a presidential address that was broadcast on radio.   1926 - In Italy, Benito Mussolini introduced a tax on bachelors.   1947 - Everglades National Park in Florida was dedicated by U.S. President Truman.   1957 - AFL-CIO members voted to expel the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The Teamsters were readmitted in 1987.   1957 - America's first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit failed when the satellite blew up on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, FL.   1960 - Gene Autry and Bob Reynolds were granted the Los Angeles Angels baseball franchise by the American League.   1973 - Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the vice-president of the United States after vice-president Spiro Agnew resigned.   1982 - 11 soldiers and 6 civilians were killed when a bomb exploded in a pub in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland. The Irish National Liberation Army was responsible for planting the bomb.   1983 - In Jerusalem, a bomb planted on a bus exploded killing six Israelis and wounding 44.   1985 - Congressional negotiators reached an agreement on a deficit-cutting proposal that later became the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings law.   1989 - The worst mass shooting in Canadian history occurred when a man gunned down 14 women at the University of Montreal's school of engineering. The man then killed himself.   1989 - Egon Krenz resigned as leader of East Germany.   1990 - Iraq announced that it would release all its 2,000 foreign hostages.   1990 - U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle was enshrined in the Little League Museum's Hall of Excellence.   1992 - Germany's primary political parties agreed to tighten postwar asylum laws.   1992 - In India, thousands of Hindu extremists destroyed a mosque. The following two months of Hindu-Muslim rioting resulted in at least 2,000 people being killed.   1993 - Former priest James R. Porter was sentenced to 18 to 20 years in prison. Porter had admitted molesting 28 children in the 1960s.   1994 - Orange County, CA, filed for bankruptcy protection due to investment losses of about $2 billion. The county is one of the richest in the U.S. and became to largest municipality to file for bankruptcy.   1997 - A Russian Antonov 124 military transport crashed into a residential area in Irkutsk, Russia, shortly after takeoff. 70 people were killed.  1998 - In Venezuela, former Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chavez was elected president. He had staged a bloody coup attempt against the government six years earlier.   1998 - Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Endeavour connected the first two building blocks of the international space station in the shuttle cargo bay.   2002 - Winona Ryder was sentenced to 36 months of probation and 480 hours of community service stemming from her conviction for shoplifting from Saks Fifth Avenue. She was also ordered to pay $10,000 in fines and restitution.   2002 - Officials released the detailed plans for a $4.7 million memorial commemorating Princess Diana. The large oval fountain was planned to be constructed in London's Hyde Park.

1884 Construction of the Washington Monument was completed. 1889 Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, died in New Orleans. 1923 A presidential address was broadcast on the radio for the first time when Calvin Coolidge spoke before Congress. 1926 French impressionist painter Claude Monet died at age 86. 1973 Gerald Ford was sworn in as vice president, replacing Spiro T. Agnew. 1992 The destruction of a mosque in India by Hindu extremists set off two months of Muslim-Hindu fighting that claimed at least 2,000 lives. 1998 Hugo Chavez elected president of Venezuela.

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/dec06.htm

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

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory

RIP - Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013

Today, there really is only one topic to talk about.

Nelson Mandela.

This was a man who personified the endurance of degradation and persecution by a white, minority regime, and not only survived, but thrived through it all, and led his nation to a new destiny free from the scourge of official, state-sanctioned racism, and into the modern era.

His death was hardly shocking. He was very old, and ailing. You could see it coming for some time now.

And yes, he will certainly be missed, and it is a great loss.

Yet, I think that I will focus more on celebrating his life instead.

I could go on and on about specifics of what he did, and what he said. Perhaps even i will in a future blog entry.

But right now, I want to share a personal story about him instead.

No, I never met the man, if that is what you are wondering. But I did see him, in a way.

You see, although I was a terrible student academically in high school, I was not dumb. A lot of people, classmates and faculty alike, assumed that I was, because that is what I showed them. Not proud to say that, but I can hardly say otherwise.

For whatever the reason, I was afraid to show my real intelligence, as well as intellectual curiosity, which was actually quite extensive. Still is, I'm proud to say. I'm, not trying to brag, but the fact that my childlike curiosity about the world never really was extinguished is probably the single biggest thing that I'm most proud of, other than being a father.

One of the things that always fascinated me through much of my junior high school and high school years was South Africa. It's hard for people who were not old enough (or even around yet) to imagine what the eighties were like, because it really was so radically different than the way things are now. It sounds cliche, but they really were simpler times, on many levels. And things were seen in black and white. The United States were, according to my 8th grade history teacher, "the good guys in the white hats", while the Soviet Union, according to President Reagan, were the "Evil Empire".

Americans believed this, for the most part. I didn't, but that's another story.

The point is, that the world seemed far more clear cut. There was good, and there was bad, and that was that. That overly simplistic viewpoint was already on it's way out, most likely. Yet, that way of thinking still permeated in the eighties.

In some cases, it looked true, even. That was perhaps one of the things that fascinated me about South Africa, back during those days when apartheid was not merely a part of history of South African legacy, but the real, every day reality of the nation at the time, as well as in the occupied territory of South West Africa, which South Africa had ruled illegally, essentially, for decades. It imposed apartheid there, as well.

Now, apartheid had existed in South Africa for many decades. Officially, apartheid became official state policy with the victory of the Nationalist Party in 1948. Realistically speaking, it was in effect for much, much longer than that, dating back to the days of British rule. In fact, on many levels, it has existed in much of what we call South Africa today as far back as the 1600's, when the first Dutch settlers segregated themselves from the natives. It was called "baaskap" back then. It came to be known as apartheid. But there was little to choose between the mindset behind either one. Apartheid was simply a more modern version of "baaskap", and the state went much, much further than it ever had before (and arguably, further than any other government ever had before) to put laws in the books to specify the nature of the state sanctioned racism.

Yes, apartheid officially became policy in 1948, but it really began to be ruthlessly implemented in the 1960's, under Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd. This was an educated man, yet he was a raving racist, with a vision of "grand apartheid" that would effectively give whites total control over the nation of South Africa, and it's resources.

During this time, there were effectively at least two nations in South Africa. One was white, and owned most of the nation's resources and, of course, wealth. Whites in South Africa during this period were the first people to actually surpass Americans in terms of wealth and standard of living. Suburbs of Johannesburg has lush, sculpted lawns and gardens, and many had aqua colored swimming pools sparkling in the African sun.

In the meantime, blacks were relegated to second class status. By matter of policy, they were prevented from having decent quality jobs and lives, with inferior education and opportunities. Few nations have ever had such glaring inequality as a product of official domestic policy.

Mandela became the most prominent figure of the apartheid repression. He famously remained in jail for 27 years, officially dubbed a "terrorist" by the South African government (and many prominent American politicians, Dick Cheney included, agreed with this label).

But to most of the world, Mandela was a political prisoner, a man that could help guide the nation to a peaceful resolution of the crisis that it was constantly under with apartheid. By the eighties, it was clear that apartheid was on it's last legs, and the government secretly tried to make deals with Mandela, offering him conditional release, if he met their conditions. Mandela insisted on unconditional release. He was not a criminal, and although he had been forced to live so much of his life under the thumb of the government, he would not allow them to dictate the terms of his release and freedom. He waited behind bars.

The white minority government was desperate to cling to power, to find a way to stay relevant, to keep some share of it's power. They tried numerous "solutions", but Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) insisted on unconditional equality. "One man, one vote", they kept saying.

Eventually, the government relented, albeit by phases. First, DeKlerk announced in February of 1990 that apartheid had failed, that political parties and organizations that had long been outlawed would be legalized again, and political prisoners would be released. This, of course, included Nelson Mandela.

Not much later, Mandela was indeed released, and on his own terms. From that point onward, the world watched this man.

Mandela worked in a tense relation with FW DeKlerk and the white government to bring about a transitional phase in South Africa, but apartheid refused to die quietly, as stubborn elements of apartheid continued through the years of the transition.

Nonetheless, the inevitable came to pass. In 1994, a multiracial election, indeed with "one man, one vote" came to pass, and Mandela's ANC swept to power. Mandela was inaugurated as the nation's first black President, elected by true majority rule. A new day had dawned.

The fact that South Africa remained a relatively peaceful nation (albeit one with plenty of problems still) was not lost on the world, and Mandela is rightly credited for largely being instrumental in bringing this about. He did not want vengeance, and understood that this bloodthirsty desire by many blacks needed to be kept in check, for the interest of keeping the country as a regional superpower.

He advocated moderation throughout, and this helped the transition run much more smoothly than many cynics expected. To that end, Mandela tried to set the precedent by accepting only one term as President, and not running again. He wanted to help usher in a tradition of peaceful transition of power in government through democratic means.

And at this point I realize that I have come dangerously close to doing exactly what I said I would not do, which is summarizing the man's accomplishments.

So, let me get back to the story that I originally was mentioning in the first place:

The situation in South Africa was one of those things that piqued my intellectual curiosity, and I began to follow it closely. I hardly ever shared this with anyone else, other than my immediate family (I don't recall at the time ever having spoken about it with any of my peers, my brother excepted). But follow it I did, and much more closely than most people realized.

My mom supported me in this, to the point that she even allowed me at some point to go with her in new York City to go see Nelson Mandela in person. She was working, so she could not go. But allowing me to go with her to the city that day allowed me to walk over to the United Nations, and wait for his arrival.

I remember the day well. It was a beautiful day, and the city is an exciting place. Back then, I always loved being by the United Nations, and believed in what it was doing. My faith in it has been shaken a bit since, because frankly, it does not work anywhere near as well as it should, although the idea of it is still something that people should aspire to.

In any case, it was an exciting day. There was a pleasant feeling, and the weather helped this along. Times were a-changin', as Bob Dylan once suggested. Eastern Europe had freed itself from the Soviet grip, and now, South Africa was on it's way towards greater freedom. These were inspiring times, and it was one of the few times when the world outlook did not seem transparently bleak. Change seemed possible. And everyone that was there that day seemed to be enjoying themselves.

It was exciting, in a strange way. Mostly, I jsut stood around, part of the gather crowd, and waited. I did see Don King and Mike Tyson walk up the road, on their way to meet Mandela, who used to be a boxer, and remained a fan of the sport all of his life. I also saw Winnie Mandela, as she came out of the UN and walked right down the street, which seemed surprising, since she was a dignitary, and probably could have had a limousine.

Mandela did have a limousine, and this is what we saw. I saw his car, and his shadow within. Very quick. Sneeze, and you miss it.

Still, I was there. It might not have been much, but I was there, and felt a part of something far bigger than myself.

One of my mom's coworkers was impressed that a white male teenager from suburban New Jersey would make such a point of coming into the city (it may even have been a school day that my mom allowed me to take off from, although I cannot be too sure about that anymore) to see Mandela. Truth be told, I am proud to have been a small part of that event.

Since then, of course, I continued to follow South Africa in general, and Nelson Mandela in particular. There have been numerous movies and documentaries. I read books about him, as well as his autobiography, "Long Walk to Freedom". I even attended the star-studded "24446" concert in New York City's Radio City Music Hall in Mandela's honor, with my brother and my girlfriend at the time.

But ultimately, I remember that one day back in 1990, and feeling the mounting excitement, the build up, as Mandela's arrival drew near. I remember listening to his address on a poor radio that one of those in attendance had brought. There was a sense of community on that day, and everything felt....well, bright.

Of course, I was younger back then. The world also felt younger, and everything felt more full of possibilities.

The world today is not the same place. I do not remember feeling that way about an active player in world events since, with maybe the exception of seeing President Jimmy Carter a few times for booksignings. Both Mandela and Carter are official "Elders". They share a similar viewpoint and wisdom, as well as general and genuine good-nature.

Yes, that day lives on in my memory. There are small reminders every now and then, whenever I see images of Mandela, particularly of those times, back in 1990, when South Africa was just beginning the transition out of apartheid. When i am in the area of the United Nations, I remember that day. Hell, even when I see Mike Tyson, I am reminded of that day!

Ultimately, though, it was studying Mandela, particularly his stirring words, and knowing his actions always somehow managed even to outdo his words, and the inspiration that his example has proven, that keeps so many, certainly myself included, so interested in this man.

He will be missed.