Who became the world's youngest ever boxing heavyweight champion?

Mike Tyson becomes the youngest heavyweight champ in history - Nov 22, 1986 - HISTORY.com Mike Tyson becomes the youngest heavyweight champ in history Share this: Mike Tyson becomes the youngest heavyweight champ in history Author Mike Tyson becomes the youngest heavyweight champ in history URL Publisher A+E Networks On November 22, 1986, 20-year-old Mike Tyson knocks out 33-year-old Trevor Berbick in just five minutes and 35 seconds to become the youngest titleholder ever. “I’m the youngest heavyweight boxing champion in history,” Tyson told his manager after the fight, “and I’m going to be the oldest.” Tyson’s bravado wasn’t misplaced: When he walked into the ring to face Berbick, he had won all 27 of the matches he’d fought, knocking out 26 of his opponents. He threw unbelievably hard punches–“pineapples,” trainer Angelo Dundee called them. Ref Mills Lane agreed: “Everything he’s got has ‘good night’ written all over it,” he said. Berbick refused to be intimidated by the younger man’s furious arm and decided–unwisely, it turned out–to stand up to Tyson instead of boxing him. He didn’t bob or weave or even throw punches. He just stood there, wanting to show the world that he could take whatever Tyson was dishing out. “I was trying to prove to myself that I could take his best shot,” Berbick said, but “he punches pretty hard.” Tyson had a plan, too: “I wanted to throw every punch with bad intentions,” he said after the fight. “I was throwing–what can I say–hydrogen bombs.” During the first round, Berbick had fought in such slow motion that he looked like he was underwater; early in the second, Tyson walloped him to the mat with a powerful left hook. The older man bounced up, but Tyson thumped him again. Berbick froze; then his legs buckled and he fell. The ref began to count while the champ struggled to get up. He lifted himself off the mat twice, and twice his legs wobbled so much that he fell again. He finally made it up, but Lane stopped the fight anyway. “Berbick was up,” he said later, “but to allow somebody to get hit in that condition, that’s criminal.” Tyson kept his title for nine more bouts, until Buster Douglas beat him in 1990. After that, his life unraveled. He was sent to prison for three years for rape. Then, five fights into his comeback in 1995, he bit off a part of Evander Holyfield’s ear and was disqualified. He retired for good in 2005. Berbick didn’t fare much better: He, too, spent time in prison for rape, and was found dead (of “chop wounds” to his head, according to the coroner’s report) in a church courtyard in Jamaica in 2006. Related Videos


What was the world's first reusable spacecraft called?

Space Shuttle, the world's first reusable spacecraft email this page to a friend Space Shuttle, the world's first reusable spacecraft The US space shuttle, first launched in 1981, was the world's first reusable spacecraft. NASA ran the programme of 135 manned missions. Mission control was located at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, while the shuttles themselves launched from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. There were originally five orbiter space planes: Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery and Endeavour. Two of these, Challenger and Columbia, were destroyed in tragic accidents. Atlantis flew the last mission of the shuttle programme in July 2011. The space shuttle was initially used to deploy satellites in orbit; to carry scientific experiments such as Spacelab , a modular arrangement of experiments installed in the shuttle's cargo bay; and to carry out military missions. As the program matured, the space shuttle also has been used to service and repair the International Space Station , orbiting satellites and to retrieve and return to the earth previously deployed spacecraft. Of its three components - the orbiter space plane, rocket boosters and external fuel tank - only the fuel tank was not recovered after a mission. Special heat-resistant tiles prevented the orbiter from burning up when it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. The remote manipulator arm in the orbiter's payload bay could put satellites into space, recapture them from space, and act as a stable platform for astronauts working in the bay. The space shuttle carried a wide range of equipment, known as the payload, into space, ranging from communication, military, and astronomical satellites; space experiments for studying the apparent weightlessness (called 'microgravity') experienced aboard a shuttle flight; and human experimental facilities. Often NASA collaborated with other countries by allowing them to use shuttle cargo space for special projects. The space shuttle was designed to leave the earth as a vertically launched rocket weighing up to 2.0 million kg (4.5 million lb.) with 3 million kg (7 million lb.) of thrust from its multiple propulsion systems. The orbiter segment returned from space-withstanding the intense heat when entering the earth's atmosphere. Flown by the shuttle crew much like an aircraft, the shuttle would lands horizontally on a conventional airport runway. The crew of the shuttle was an integral part of the system and was critical to the success of each mission. The flight crew was led by the commander and backed up by the pilot - both were professional astronauts and proven pilots with extensive space systems and operations training. Their primary responsibility was to fly the shuttle as a launch vehicle, spacecraft, and aircraft. The remaining crew members - up to five more people - were responsible for the unique aspects of a particular space mission. The mission specialist was the lead astronaut and ensured that the mission met all the objectives. Payload specialists were experts in that mission's objectives and cargo, which were usually space experiments or artificial satellites. Often the payload specialists were astronauts from other countries on board to help with a project in which their country had an interest. Spacecraft and Supporting Systems The space-shuttle system, called the Space Transportation System (STS), was one of the most technologically advanced and complex machines on earth. It consisted of the orbiter, propulsion systems - two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) and three main engines, and an external fuel tank. Space-Shuttle Orbiter The orbiter was both the brains and heart of the STS, and it contained the latest advances in flight control, thermal protection, and liquid-rocket propulsion. About the same size and weight as a DC-9 aircraft (a fairly small two-engine jet aeroplane), the orbiter was composed of the pressurised crew compartment (which could carry up to seven crew members), the huge cargo bay, and the three main engines mounted on its aft, or rear, end. The crew cabin


What was Patricia Highsmith's first novel?

10 Best Patricia Highsmith Books 10 Best Patricia Highsmith Books By Joan Schenkar         | Aug 29, 2014 Joan Schenkar is the author of the must-read biography The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith , a New York Times Notable Book. With the release of the new movie, The Two Faces of January, based on Highsmith's novel, we asked Schenkar to rank the best of the author's books. "It is impossible," wrote Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995), the Dark Lady of American Letters (and double trouble for a biographer) "for me to live from day to day without putting myself to a judgement…" And so, five to seven sheets of finished fiction rolled from the platen of her coffee-colored Olympia Deluxe portable typewriter every morning; the keys detonating like little pistol shots under her huge hands. She typed each page twice--for neatness, she said (her inner chaos required a Head Librarian's habits)--channeling the news she brought back from the ends of her nerves into the booby-trapped plots, double-gated psychologies, and reflective "realities" of her nearly 30 published volumes of fiction. She produced an iconic character in The Talented Mr. Ripley, but the hundreds of raspingly acute portraits of quietly transgressive acts punctuating her other novels have added a new terror to "mid-century modern." Her great invention was Highsmith Country, the Alternate Earth where all her detail-saturated fictions are set. There, good intentions corrupt naturally; guilt afflicts the innocent; pursuit is everywhere; identities, genders, and genres are undermined; and life is a suffocating trap from which even her most accomplished escape artists cannot find a graceful exit. Filmmakers have been strip-mining her novels for decades, unable except in three or four instances to crack her codes. Even the masterpiece Alfred Hitchcock made of her own masterpiece, Strangers On a Train, couldn't quite face the quintessential Highsmith Situation: two men bound together by a stalker-like fixation which always involves a murderous, implicitly homoerotic fantasy. Hossein Amini's new film of The Two Faces of January is an exception: better than its eponymous novel because it fracks the work (which writhes uncomfortably in over-complicated coils) for a Noir plot, a damaging Highsmithian premise, and some stylish period smoking. But even Pat's excesses compel for their obsessions: murder is always on her mind and she always confuses it with love. Here, in publication order, are some of Pat Highsmith's–and the twentieth century's--most delinquently original novels. They've haunted me for years. 1. Strangers on a Train (1950) - This remarkable debut novel takes Pat's double-indemnifying nugget–strangers who agree to exchange murders and "get away with it"–and settles it on Guy Haines, a brilliant architect whose moody purity invites corruption, and Charles Bruno, a psychopathic, subliterate mastermind who yearns to join him. In their tranced, mutual, psychological seduction, these Terrible Twins vacate their characters, mingle their identities, and misdirect their pursuers in as thorough an anatomy of guilt as can be found in modern literature. 2. The Price of Salt (as Claire Morgan, 1952) - Pat, who died for love a thousand times in life, killed for it in every novel except this one. But murder is in the brilliant metaphors, and the richly-figured language borrows elements from Strangers and subdues them to requited lesbian love--the only "crime" she never wrote about. Salt glows with a luminous halo of incest, a little light pedophilia, and sexual consummations that are spied upon, recorded, and prosecuted. But Carol and Therese, its steely, attractive, successful heroines, get away with their "crime" in a fascinating novel that made its author uneasy all her life. 3. The Blunderer (1954) - With her adept's feel for sado-masochistic relations, Pat focused this unusual work on role reversals. When slim, anglified Walter Stackhouse blunders in on fat, foreign Otto Kimmel's wife-murder and is infected by it, they be


In which war was cowboy star Tom MIx shot in the mouth?

Silent-film star Tom Mix dies in Arizona car wreck; brained by “Suitcase of Death” - Oct 12, 1940 - HISTORY.com Silent-film star Tom Mix dies in Arizona car wreck; brained by “Suitcase of Death” Share this: Silent-film star Tom Mix dies in Arizona car wreck; brained by “Suitcase of Death” Author Silent-film star Tom Mix dies in Arizona car wreck; brained by “Suitcase of Death” URL Publisher A+E Networks On this day in 1940, cowboy-movie star Tom Mix is killed when he loses control of his speeding Cord Phaeton convertible and rolls into a dry wash (now called the Tom Mix Wash) near Florence, Arizona. He was 60 years old. Today, visitors to the site of the accident can see a 2-foot–tall iron statue of a riderless horse and a somewhat awkwardly written plaque that reads: “In memory of Tom Mix whose spirit left his body on this spot and whose characterization and portrayals in life served to better fix memories of the Old West in the minds of living men.” According to Mix’s press agent, the star was a genuine cowboy and swaggering hero of the Wild West: He was born in Texas; fought in the Spanish-American War, the Boxer Rebellion and the Boer War; and served as a sheriff in Kansas, a U.S. marshal in Oklahoma and a Texas Ranger. In fact, Mix was born in Driftwood, Pennsylvania; deserted the Army in 1902; and was a drum major in the Oklahoma Territorial Cavalry band when he went off to Hollywood in 1909. None of these inconvenient facts prevented Mix from becoming one of the greatest silent-film stars in history, however. Along with his famous horse Tony, Mix made 370 full-length Westerns. At the peak of his fame, he was the highest-paid actor in Hollywood, earning as much as $17,500 a week (about $218,000 today).  Unfortunately, Mix and Tony had a hard time making the transition to talking pictures. Some people say that the actor’s voice was so high-pitched that it undermined his macho cowboy image, but others argue that sound films simply had too much talking for Mix’s taste: He preferred wild action sequences to heartfelt conversation. On the day he died, Mix was driving north from Tucson in his beloved bright-yellow Cord Phaeton sports car. He was driving so fast that he didn’t notice–or failed to heed–signs warning that one of the bridges was out on the road ahead. The Phaeton swung into a gully and Mix was smacked in the back of the head by one of the heavy aluminum suitcases he was carrying in the convertible’s backseat. The impact broke the actor’s neck and he died almost instantly. Today, the dented “Suitcase of Death” is the featured attraction at the Tom Mix Museum in Dewey, Oklahoma. Related Videos


How Many Years Did the Holocaust Last | uk.QACollections.com How Many Years Did the Holocaust Last  How Many Years Did the Holocaust Last? Holocaust refers to the state-sponsored murder of millions of Jews by Nazi Germany. The Holocaust lasted for 12 years; people were imprisoned in camps as early as 1933 and it lasted until the end o... Read More » Related Videos Top Q&A For: How Many Years Did the Holocaust Last How Many Years Did World War 2 Last? World War 2 was a war that involved most of the world's nations that were eventually divided into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. World war 2 lasted for six years; it star... Read More » How Many Years Did Slavery Last? Slavery in America started since 1619 and lasted until 1865. After 246 long years, President Abraham Lincoln put an end to it. How Many Years Did the Vietnam War Last? The Vietnam War was a battle fought by the pro and anti communist groups in the country. The war, which started on September 26, 1959 and ended on April 30, 1975, lasted for exactly fifteen years, ... Read More » How Many Years Does Bankruptcy Last? One way people deal with debts they can't pay is by announcing bankruptcy. Bankruptcy usually lasts for one year. You can find more information here:


"Which soap had people asking. ""Who shot JR?"""

Dallas the official website dedicated to the hit tv series with Larry Hagman Dynasty Introduction to the TV series Dallas It was a Sunday night, April 2nd 1978, that TV history changed forever when a new five part mini series made its debut on CBS. That show was Dallas, created by David Jacobs and went on to become the most sucessful show in the history of television. Dallas was not. however. initially produced as a serial. It was conceived as a noncontinuing drama. "I had hoped we’d be able to serialize after we got a hold." says David jacobs. Dallas’s creator. Indeed,   the show changed to its present serialized form after about ten episodes of its first official season in the fall of 1978. As a result, the early episodes of Dallas presented story lines that had no relationship to   each other - one week Bobby is kidnapped and shot, yet the next   week he has no bandages. "My favorite one of those,” says executive producer Philip Capice. "is the one where suddenly Pam has an ex- husband who just shows up and says, 'Hi, we used to be married', and   then by the end of the show he sort of disappears". Dallas producers assume that their viewer is a regular who has either seen all the episodes or has caught up on   the news through a friend. There is no reviewing of the situation in a   new episode (in syndication a narrator explains the previous episode with one minute of flashbacks). "We move a lot faster than a daytime soap." says Capice. “In the   course of twenty-five or twenty-six shows a season, we did the same   amount of material that a daytime serial does in two hundred and fifty   shows. Now we’re doing thirty or thirty-one shows a season." At the time the show was first broadcast-   five episodes aired in spring 1978 to test the waters—there were no   big, splashy family dramas dealing with larger-than-life “real people. ” One-hour dramas in prime time were primarily doctor shows, detective shows, or family shows in the Eight Is Enough mold. (Family, the one serious family drama of the time, was so serious it was canceled.) Dallas was the first show to combine the scope of a mini-series with   the big ideas of life—themes such as good vs. evil and brother vs.   brother. Set in the big state of Texas—where life is lived in the fast   lane, where everything is bigger and badder than anywhere else—the   breadth of the show made viewers realize that Romeo and Juliet had at long last come to Giant. Victoria Principal credits the 1956 movie Giant as the inspiration for Dallas. “In its form, Dallas is a kind of soap opera" says Larry Hagman,   known the world over as “But let me tell you something. Soap   opera is damn good. I worked almost three years on The Edge of   Night. It was done live and provided marvelous training for actors.   Soap operas provide fine acting performances, and they’re damned   hard too. I consider Dallas drama—turgid drama, sometimes, but it's   always interesting with the major characters bouncing around. The   show’s fine when it revolves around several themes. People say that   it’s sexy and trashy. If you call screwing your wife’s sister sexy, then   perhaps it is. To me, it’s just all in the family" Creator David Jacobs originally created and came up with an idea for the series Knots Landing, but CBS wanted a glitzy "saga-like" show. Jacobs therefore created Dallas, a series about a wealthy family in the oil business. When Dallas proved to be a hit, CBS reconsidered Jacobs' original idea and turned Knots Landing into a spin-off of Dallas in late 1979. Dallas was originally shot entirely on location in Dallas , Texas . Later, most interiors for the show were shot at  the MGM studios in Hollywood . Exteriors  were shot at the Southfork Ranch in Parker, Texas , and other parts of Dallas, until 1989 , when rising production costs led to  all production being located in California. Dallas wasn't an instant hit and gradually picked up an audience. It wasn't until its 1979-1980 season cliffhanger when JR was shot that the show was catapult


Which tennis ace completed his fifth successive Wimbledon singles triumph?

History - 1990s - The Championships, Wimbledon 2017 - Official Site by IBM  READ MORE 1990: A record for Navratilova On a sunny Saturday afternoon, Martina Navratilova produced a near-flawless performance to win her ninth Wimbledon singles title, a record that will take some topping in today's day and age. Competing against fellow American Zina Garrison, Navratilova served and volleyed her way around Centre Court in emphatic fashion, dropping just five games as she took the title 6-1, 6-4. The 33-year-old Navratilova won six consecutive championships from 1982 to 1987 but was made to wait before surpassing Helen Wills Moody's record of eight titles, losing the previous two years in the final to Steffi Graf. But, with Graf disposed of by Garrison in the semi-finals, Navratilova got there eventually, straddling the net to acknowledge her beaten opponent and then, her courtside courtesies complete, sinking down on her knees for an instant of silent communion with the tennis court she loves best. "There were no glitches this time; everything came up nines," she said. "This tops it all, absolutely, because I've worked so hard." 1990: Boris Becker v Stefan Edberg The most defining aspect of the rivalry between Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg was the three successive Wimbledon finals they contested between 1988 and 1990. Having split the titles in '88 and '89, their 1990 encounter was undoubtedly the most riveting.  Edberg, who had been routed by Boris the year before, swept ahead, crunching through the first two sets 6-2, 6-2. But, as was his wont, Becker rallied in typical fashion to win the next two sets 6-3, 6-3, and send the match into a fifth. Becker broke Edberg early in the fifth set, on course for a fourth Wimbledon title, and setting up the possibility of being the first Wimbledon champion to win the last three sets in a five-set match since Henri Cochetin 1927. But, it was not to be. Edberg regained the break and then broke Becker in the ninth game of the set with a topspin lob winner, eventually serving it out for his second Wimbledon title. The Swede went on to win the US Open in 1991 and 1992. 1991: Steffi Graf v Gabriela Sabatini One of SW19's greatest champions arrived at Wimbledon in 1991 having suffered rather a seesaw period, registering one of the worst defeats of her career against Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the French Open semi-finals, losing her first 6-0 set since 1984. But, as is so often the case, the green grass of the All England Club gave the formerly indomitable German a boost, powering her way to the final. Coming up against friend and rival Gabriela Sabatini, the odds on form were in the Argentine's favour, having beaten Graf in four tournaments in the spring. But Graf was always capable of something special at Wimbledon, and so it proved, the German rallying back from dropping the second set, and holding her nerve to win an epic Centre Court final 6-4 3-6 8-6, the longest final for 15 years. 1991: Middle Sunday One of the wettest first weeks in the tournament's history - just 52 out of about 240 matches were completed by Thursday evening - prompted the decision to stage play on the traditional day off, the Middle Sunday. Gabriela Sabatini and Andrea Strnadova emerged from their dressing room on to Centre Court for their third-round noon showdown. They were greeted by a packed stadium, a seemingly unending roar and enough Mexican waves to fill an ocean. The spectators had raced from the gates for prime, £10-a-head unreserved seats. They had formed part of a queue snaking almost two miles that produced an attendance of 24,894. On No.1 Court, John McEnroe, a three-time champion, did not disappoint his adoring fans with a victory against Frenchman Jean-Philippe Fleurian, while victories for eventual Swedish semi-finalist Stefan Edberg and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario warmed up the effervescent crowd on the main court for the top of the bill: Jimmy Connors. Despite thriving on the atmosphere, Connors was eventually upstaged by fellow American Derrick Rostango, but the atmosphere overtook the results that d


Who replaced Erich Honecker as GDR head of state?

Manfred Gerlach: Last head of state of East Germany | The Independent Manfred Gerlach: Last head of state of East Germany   Tuesday 25 October 2011 17:08 BST Click to follow The Independent Online Served the GDR's communist leadership loyally: Gerlach in 1998 AP Manfred Gerlach served from 6 December 1989 until March 1990 as the head of state of East Germany, the German Democratic Republic (GDR). He had replaced the last Communist to hold the post, Egon Krenz, who had only held it from 24 October.  In between, the Berlin Wall had been opened on 9 November and mass demonstrations were taking place all over the GDR. Gerlach was considered acceptable to the reformist wing of the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED). Influenced by Gorbachev in the Soviet Union, and growing discontent in the GDR, Gerlach had caused a stir when, on 13 October 1989, he called into question the leading role of the ruling SED. Few had expected this, because for most of his career he had played a willing part in the pseudo-democracy of Communist-dominated East Germany. He led the so-called Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (LDPD) from 1954 to February 1990. Gerlach was born in Leipzig on 8 May 1928, the son of a skilled engineering worker. After attending local schools he got work as a legal clerk. In 1943, he founded an illegal anti-Nazi youth group. He was subsequently arrested, in March 1944, and was lucky he escaped a death sentence. On his 17th birthday, the Germans signed the unconditional surrender. The Americans had occupied Leipzig in the previous month, remaining until July when the Soviets took over. He was reinstated in his post and became a founding member of the Free German Youth and the LDPD. By 1948 it was clear that the LDPD and the other non-communist parties would be subject to the leading role of the SED. Some of the top members of the LDPD fled to West Germany, but Gerlach stayed on, gaining rapid promotion. When the East German state was established in 1949 he became, aged 21, a member of the Volkskammer, the parliament. From 1951 to 1954 he studied law at the German Academy of State Sciences and Law. In 1964 he was awarded a doctorate. As general secretary of the LDPD, from 1954, Gerlach was de facto party leader. Between 1967 and 1990 he was its chairman. His party was one of four satellite parties – Christian Democrats, the Farmers Party and the National Democrats were the others – “elected” to the GDR parliament in the non-competitive elections. Like the other leaders, he was a member of the Council of State, in theory the collective head of state. Their task internally was to reconcile the remnants of the middle and professional classes and Christians to the regime. Externally, the job was to cultivate relations with non-communist parties in Western countries, including NATO states. Among Gerlach’s targets were the British Liberal Party and the West German Free Democrats. Contacts with Western peace groups and Christians were also sought. Gerlach served the communist leaders Walter Ulbricht and then, from 1971, Erich Honecker loyally, whatever the twists and turns of policy. They in turn implemented the wishes of the men in Moscow – Stalin, Malenkov, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko – in the GDR. The trouble started when Mikhail Gorbachev took over as General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party in 1985 and introduced glasnost and perestroika. Increasingly, East German reformers expected their leaders to follow Gorbachev, but they did not. Gerlach’s questioning of the SED’s leading role was therefore surprising. Before the first free elections of March 1990, in the GDR, Gerlach’s party merged with two others to become the BFD. With a new leader it attracted 5.3 per cent. The Christian Democrats, blessed by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, gained 40.8 per cent, the Social Democrats 21.8 and the renamed Communists 16.4. Christian Democrat Sabine Bergmann-Pohl was elected president of the new Volkskammer and thus replaced Gerlach as head of state. His party fused with the West German Free Democratic Party


Off which pitcher did Babe Ruth smash his 714th and final Major League home run?

The Babe’s Last Game | Philadelphia Athletics Philadelphia Athletics The Babe’s Last Game By Bob Warrington Hollywood has twice portrayed the life of Babe Ruth in major motion pictures. The first, “The Babe Ruth Story,” done in 1948, starred William Bendix as the Bambino. Generally regarded as a terrible film with Bendix horribly miscast in the lead role, the film sugar coated Ruth’s life beyond recognition. Hollywood’s second effort at telling the Babe’s life was filmed in 1992. Called, “The Babe,” it starred John Goodman as the Sultan of the Swat and received more favorable reviews, with Leonard Maltin calling it “agreeably sentimental.” Maltin also notes, however, that “facts are tampered with and often ignored” in both films. That is certainly true in how they overlook reality in depicting Ruth’s last game as a Major Leaguer. A Last Hurrah In 1935, Babe Ruth was forty years old, in poor physical shape, and playing out the string with the Boston Braves. On May 25, 1935, with the team on a road trip and playing at Forbes File in Pittsburgh, Ruth hammered three home runs and a single, driving in six runs. The last, off pitcher Guy Bush, was the 714th of Ruth’s career and the first ball ever to be hit completely over Forbes Field’s right-field roof (added to the ballpark in 1925). Thanks to Hollywood, many people believe that was Ruth’s final Major League game—circling the bases in triumph one last time before going into the dugout, entering the clubhouse, and calling it a career. The scene, undoubtedly, provides a storybook conclusion to a fabled tale. Wouldst that it was true; but regrettably, it is not. Maybe Ruth should have called it a career at that point, but perhaps sensing that the old magic was back, he hung around for one more game.   Final Stop After leaving Pittsburgh, the Braves next stop on their road trip was Philadelphia. There, they would play the Philadelphia Phillies at Baker Bowl. Like Babe Ruth, Baker Bowl’s days of glory had receded to the past. The ballpark, widely ridiculed for its deteriorating condition, was near the end of its life as the home of a Major League baseball team. The Phillies would finally abandon it mid-way through the 1938 season, moving down Lehigh Avenue to become tenants of the Philadelphia Athletics at Shibe Park. But, there was one more moment of drama to be played out at the old place, mixing both acclamation and pathos. Babe Ruth would provide it on May 30, 1935.   The Braves were scheduled to play the Phillies in a Memorial Day doubleheader. Ruth was inserted in the line-up, batting third and playing leftfield. Coming up to bat in the first inning, Ruth faced Phillies’ pitcher Jim Bivin. 1935 was Bivin’s only year in the Major Leagues, and he played the entire season with the Phillies. He compiled an unenviable 2-9 record for a woeful team that would finish the season in seventh place with a 56-93 record. Bivin, nevertheless, would have the singular distinction of being the last pitcher ever to face Babe Ruth in a Major League game.   At the plate, Ruth grounded out softly to Phillies first baseman Dolph Camilli as the Braves went down without scoring any runs in the inning. Ruth took his customary place in the outfield for the bottom half of the inning. Phillies’ second baseman Lou Chiozza hit a soft fly to leftfield. Ruth came in trying to make the catch, but the ball dropped in front of him and rolled past to the wall. A run scored, but Chiozza, trying for an inside-the-park home run, was thrown out at the plate when Braves shortstop Bill Urbanski retrieved the ball and got it back to Braves catcher Al Spohrer in time for the tag out. The Phillies wound up scoring three runs in the inning and would go on to win the game 11-6. Rich Westcott, in his book, “Philadelphia’s Old Ballparks,” describes what happened after the first inning ended:   “As the inning ended, Ruth tucked his glove in his pocket, turned, and ran to the clubhouse in centerfield. The fans, sensing that the end of a glorious career might have arrived, rose and gave Ruth a standing ovation.”   On June 2,


Which US President was linked with the 'Star Wars' policy?

Reagan's Star Wars | Cold War: A Brief History | History of the Atomic Age | atomicarchive.com Cold War: A Brief History Cold War: A Brief History Reagan's Star Wars On March 23, 1983, President Reagan proposed the creation of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), an ambitious project that would construct a space-based anti-missile system. This program was immediately dubbed "Star Wars." An artist's rendering of an X-ray laser hit an incoming missile. The SDI was intended to defend the United States from attack from Soviet ICBMs by intercepting the missiles at various phases of their flight. For the interception, the SDI would require extremely advanced technological systems, yet to be researched and developed. Among the potential components of the defense system were both space- and earth-based laser battle stations, which, by a combination of methods, would direct their killing beams toward moving Soviet targets. Air-based missile platforms and ground-based missiles using other non-nuclear killing mechanisms would constitute the rear echelon of defense and would be concentrated around such major targets as U.S. ICBM silos. The sensors to detect attacks would be based on the ground, in the air, and in space, and would use radar, optical, and infrared threat-detection systems. This system would tip the nuclear balance toward the United States. The Soviets feared that SDI would enable the United States to launch a first-strike against them. Critics pointed to the vast technological uncertainties of the system, in addition to its enormous cost. Although work was begun on the program, the technology proved to be too complex and much of the research was cancelled by later administrations. The idea of missile defense system would resurface later as the National Missile Defense. Page 20 of 27


Where in the Ukraine was there a nuclear explosion in 1986?

Nuclear explosion at Chernobyl - Apr 26, 1986 - HISTORY.com Nuclear explosion at Chernobyl Publisher A+E Networks On this day in 1986, the world’s worst nuclear accident to date occurs at the Chernobyl nuclear plant near Kiev in Ukraine. The full toll from this disaster is still being tallied, but experts believe that thousands of people died and as many as 70,000 suffered severe poisoning. In addition, a large area of land may not be livable for as much as 150 years. The 18-mile radius around Chernobyl was home to almost 150,000 people who had to be permanently relocated. The Soviet Union built the Chernobyl plant, which had four 1,000-megawatt reactors, in the town of Pripyat. At the time of the explosion, it was one of the largest and oldest nuclear power plants in the world. The explosion and subsequent meltdown of one reactor was a catastrophic event that directly affected hundreds of thousands of people. Still, the Soviet government kept its own people and the rest of the world in the dark about the accident until days later. At first, the Soviet government only asked for advice on how to fight graphite fires and acknowledged the death of two people. It soon became apparent, however, that the Soviets were covering up a major accident and had ignored their responsibility to warn both their own people and surrounding nations. Two days after the explosion, Swedish authorities began measuring dangerously high levels of radioactivity in their atmosphere. Years later, the full story was finally released. Workers at the plant were performing tests on the system. They shut off the emergency safety systems and the cooling system, against established regulations, in preparation for the tests. Even when warning signs of dangerous overheating began to appear, the workers failed to stop the test. Xenon gases built up and at 1:23 a.m. the first explosion rocked the reactor. A total of three explosions eventually blew the 1,000-ton steel top right off of the reactor. A huge fireball erupted into the sky. Flames shot 1,000 feet into the air for two days, as the entire reactor began to melt down. Radioactive material was thrown into the air like fireworks. Although firefighting was futile, Pripyat’s 40,000 people were not evacuated until 36 hours after the explosion. Potentially lethal rain fell as the fires continued for eight days. Dikes were built at the Pripyat River to contain damage from contaminated water run-off and the people of Kiev were warned to stay indoors as a radioactive cloud headed their way. On May 9, workers began encasing the reactor in concrete. Later, Hans Blix of the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that approximately 200 people were directly exposed and that 31 had died immediately at Chernobyl. The clean-up effort and the general radioactive exposure in the region, however, would prove to be even more deadly. Some reports estimate that as many as 4,000 clean-up workers died from radiation poisoning. Birth defects among people living in the area have increased dramatically. Thyroid cancer has increased tenfold in Ukraine since the accident. Related Videos


Anwar Sadat was President of which country when he died in 1981?

Anwar Sadat, president of Egypt, is assassinated in 1981 - NY Daily News Mohammed Anwar Sadat, president of Egypt, is assassinated in 1981 Anwar Sadat, president of Egypt, is assassinated in 1981 NEW YORK DAILY NEWS In this Oct. 6, 1981 photo, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is seen on the reviewing stand during a military parade just before soldiers opened fire from a truck during the parade killing Sadat. (BILL FOLEY/AP) NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Tuesday, October 6, 2015, 1:43 PM (Originally published by the Daily News on October 7, 1981. This story was written by Charles W. Bell.) Mohammed Anwar Sadat did not come to power as a man of peace, but it was as a peacemaker of unprecedented boldness - and unprecedented courage - that the world will remember him. It was in the cause of peace, and at a grave personal risk that he acknowledged and accepted, that Sadat undertook his breathtaking initiatives to pull Arabs and Jews back from the brink of war that always seems a single bullet away in the Middle East. He managed it partly because, as ruler of Egypt, he also was the unelected but traditional chief spokesman for the world, and partly because of his own enigmatic, pragmatic and visionary policies. In contrast to most Arab rulers, and his own early life, he took a long view of Middle East politics and sensed, better than most, the changes in the winds of international affairs. His life was a drama that took him from a dusty village on the banks of his beloved River Nile to the great halls of international power. As a young man, he preached bloodshed and spent years in prison. By the time of his death, he was wily cosmopolitan who masked his ruthlessness behind an easy smile and puffs of smoke from a favorite briar pipe - and who veered wildly but sincerely between stern paternalism and experiments in democracy. He veered politically, too, turning first West, then East, then West again in his quest for the economic and political help that Egypt needed so desperately. At the end, he was firmly committed to the West. And running through his life was a thread of irony and luck that sometimes seemed the stuff of fiction. The New York Daily News published this article on Oct. 7, 1981. (New York Daily News) The New York Daily News published this article on Oct. 7, 1981. (New York Daily News) The boldest, most risky venture of his life took him to Israel itself in 1977 for the first public, face-to-face meeting between an Israeli and Arab leader. It was a visit that raised peace hopes enormously - and stirred intense hatred toward Sadat by the militants and radicals of the Arab world. At the end of the historic - and for once, the word seemed inadequate - visit, Sadat and Menachem Begin, whose nations had fought four wars in the previous 25 years, including one that had ended only four years earlier, pledged never to war again. It electrified the world and led, two years later, to a historic agreement at Camp David that formally put that pledge in writing. And it led to a Nobel Peace Prize, shared with Begin. It was the ultimate irony of his life because, as a young man, Sadat was an avowed terrorist who fought to drive the British from Egypt and who, in 1973, stood on the banks of the Suez Canal to hurl his armies into battle against Israel. It also was an irony of another sort. Sadat preached revolution but promoted the politics of restraint. And in doing so, he captured the attention and respect of the world in a way that his more flamboyant predecessor, Gamal Abdel Nasser, never achieved. Sadat was a world traveler who dressed in British tailored suits and smoking jackets and usually was pictured puffing away on a pipe - as much of a trademark as jelly beans are for President Reagan. He laughed easily, bantered in a folksy way with TV interrogators and often scooped up children to hug them. (Under Islamic law, he was still married to his first wife, by whom he had three daughters. He also had a son and three daughters by his second wife.) Some critics said it was all part of his image-polishing strategy - and in a way it was - bu


Who released an album called Thriller in 1982?

Steve Lukather Official Website - Thriller Thriller Buy on iTunes In 1982 Michael Jackson released the world's largest selling album of all time, Thriller. This album produced 7 hit singles, breaking yet again more records, and went on to sell over 50 million copies worldwide. Michael was keen to use music video or short films as he called them to promote his singles from the album. He worked with the best directors and producers, using the latest technology and special effects for the hit song Billie Jean. The short film Thriller used the latest make-up artists technolgy combined with fantastic dancing and choreography, to produce a 14 minute video, with a start, a middle and an ending. So successful was this video that The making of Michael Jackson's Thriller became the world's largest selling home video combined with soaring album sales. In 1983 Michael performed the now legendary moonwalk for the first time on the 'Motown 25 years' anniversary show. This performance alone set Michael undoubtable into the realm of a superstar. In 1984 Michael won a record breaking 8 Grammy awards in one night. The awards were for his work on the Thriller album and his work on the narrative for the ET Storybook. Rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen was interviewed by Rolling Stone magazine in 1984. In the interview, he explained why he didn't ask for any royalties over the sales of Beat it, the song on which he plays a guitar solo. "I did it as a favor. I didn't want anything. Maybe Michael will give me dance lessons someday. I was a complete fool, according to the rest of the band [Van Halen], our manager and everybody else. I was not used. I knew what I was doing. I don't do something unless I want to do it." Steve Lukather: "Quincy Jones and Michael took a skeleton version of Beat it up to Eddie Van Halen's place as they wanted him to solo over the verse section. However, he played over a section that had more chord changes. So to fit his solo to where it went in the song, they had to cut the tape which took a lot of time to synchronise together." "After they had managed this, Jeff Porcaro and me were called in to bind Eddie's solo and some haphazard percussion which was a major headache. Initially, we rocked it out as Eddie had played a good solo but Quincy thought it too tough. So I had to reduce the distorted guitar sound and this is what was released. It was a huge R&B/rock success for us all really and helped pave the way for the bands of today that fuse these styles." Steve Lukather in 2004: "I was doing all of Quincy Jones' records back then. I wanted to be a part of this one as Michael was way hot after Off the wall. I remember having a lot of fun and the music was good. Funny story: I was in the house band for the Grammy's "Album of the year" three years in a row. Quincy's The dude record, Toto IV, then Thriller. It was happening big time back then. The last great era of the 'session guy' scene. I had a blast at that time as we were doing almost every record that came out of LA. We took a lot of shit from the press for it; still do, but 28 years later I am still working!!!" Tracklist Wanna be startin' somethin' (Michael Jackson) Baby be mine (Rod Temperton) The girl is mine (duet with Paul McCartney) (Michael Jackson) Thriller (Rod Temperton) Beat it (Luke & Eddie) (Michael Jackson) Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) Human nature (Steve Porcaro & John Bettis) P.Y.T. (Pretty young thing) (James Ingram & Quincy Jones) The lady in my life (Rod Temperton) Thriller special edition bonus material: o Someone In The Dark (Never before available on a Michael Jackson solo album) o Billie Jean (Michael Jackson's original demo recording) o A segment from the Michael Jackson & Vincent Price voice over session from Thriller (including Vincent Price reading the never before heard 2nd verse) o Carousel (outtake from the Thriller sessions) o Interview with Producer Quincy Jones discussing the recording of Thriller o Interview with songwriter Rod Temperton Credits Michael Jackson: guitar, arranger, sound effects, vocals, handclapping, producer, vocal a


Which 80s leader had a wife called Raisa?

Mikhail Gorbachev - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Your continued donations keep Wikipedia running!     Mikhail Gorbachev none (Soviet Union abolished, Boris Yeltsin as President of Russia ) Born ( help · info ) , Mihail Sergeevič Gorbačëv, IPA : [mʲɪxʌˈil sʲɪrˈgʲejɪvʲɪʨ gərbʌˈʨof], commonly written as Mikhail Gorbachev; born March 2 , 1931 ) was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. His attempts at reform helped to end the Cold War , and also ended the political supremacy of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and dissolved the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. Contents [ edit ] Early life Mikhail Gorbachev was born on 2 March 1931 in the village of Privolnoye near Stavropol , the son of a Russian agricultural mechanic Sergey Gorbachyov and Maria Pantelyeva. [1] He faced a tough childhood under the totalitarian leadership of Josef Stalin ; his grandparents were deported for being wealthy farmers known as kulaks [ citation needed ]. He lived through World War II , during which, starting in August 1942, German troops occupied Stavropol . Although they would leave by February 1943, the occupation increased the hardship of the community and left a deep impression on the young Gorbachev. [1] From 1946 through 1950, he worked during the summers as an assistant combine harvester operator at the collective farms in his area. [1] He would take an increasing part in promoting peasant labour, which he describes as "very hard" because of enforced state quotas and taxes on private plots. Furthermore, as peasants were not issued passports, their only opportunity to leave their peasant existence was through enlisting in 'orgnabor' (organised recruitment) labour projects, which prompts Gorbachev to ask "what difference was there between this life and serfdom?". [2] [ edit ] Political career Despite the hardship of his background, Gorbachev excelled in the fields and in the classroom. He was considered the most intelligent in his class [ citation needed ], with a particular interest in history and math. After he left school he helped his father harvest a record crop on his collective farm . So, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour , aged just 16 (1947). It was rare for someone his age to be given such an honour. It was almost certainly this award, coupled with his intelligence that helped secure his place at Moscow University , where he studied law from September 1950. [1] Gorbachev may never have intended to practice law however, but simply have seen it as preparation for working in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). He became a candidate member of the Party that same year. [1] While living in Moscow, he met his future wife, Raisa Maksimovna Titarenko . [1] They married on the 25th September 1953 and moved to Gorbachev's home region of Stavropol in southern Russia when he graduated in June 1955, where he immersed himself in party work. [1] Upon graduating, he briefly worked in the Prokuratura (Soviet State Procuracy) before transferring to the Komsomol , or Communist Union of Youth. He served as First Secretary of the Stavropol City Komsomol Committee from September, 1956, later moving up to the Stavropol Krai (regional) Komsomol Committee, where he worked as Second Secretary from April 1958 and as First Secretary from March 1961. [1] Raisa would give birth to their first child, a daughter, Irina, on 6th January 1957. [2] He attended the important XXIInd CPSU Party Congress in October 1961, where Khrushchev announced a plan to move to a communist society within 20 years and surpass the US in per capita production. Gorbachev was promoted to Head of the Department of Party Organs in the Stavropol Agricultural Kraikom in 1963. [1] By 1966, at age 35, he obtained a correspondence degree as an agronomist-economist from the Agricultural Institute. [1] His career moved forward rapidly - in 1970, he was appointed First Party Secretary of the Stavropol Kraikom, becoming one of the youngest provincial party chief in the Soviet Union. [1] In this position he helped to


In what month in 1990 did Iraq invade Kuwait?

FRONTLINE/WORLD . Iraq - Saddam's Road to Hell - A journey into the killing fields . PBS AlSadr Killings In the early hours of August 2, 1990,  more than 100,000 Iraqi troops moved tanks, helicopters and trucks across  the border into Kuwait. Iraq maintained the worlds fourthlargest military  and had mobilized an overwhelming invading force. Within an hour, they  reached Kuwait City, and by daybreak, Iraqi tanks were attacking Dasman  Palace, the royal residence. The emir had already fled into the Saudi  desert, but his private guard and his younger halfbrother, Sheik Faud  alAhmad alSabah, had stayed behind to defend their home. The sheik  was shot and killed, and according to an Iraqi soldier who deserted  after the assault, his body was placed in front of a tank and run over. It was Saddams idea alone  to invade Kuwait.  He had gambled that he could get away with seizing the tiny oilrich  nation to help pay off debts. But his gamble did not pay off  he had  misread the interests of the international community and the United  States in a stable Middle East. After the invasion,  Saddam defied orders to retreat and the U.N.  imposed sanctions. After months of deliberations and with U.N. support,  the United States and international Coalition forces launched a fullscale  air and missile attack on Iraq on January 16, 1991. A ground assault followed  a month later, and Saddams troops were quickly forced out of Kuwait.  The United Nations declared an end to the war on April 11, 1991. Charges and evidence The Iraqi military allegedly  committed crimes while in Kuwait. Evidence suggests that it tortured  and killed hundreds of Kuwaiti nationals and people from other nations.  Foreign hostages were taken, Kuwaiti properties were looted, and Iraqi  forces set fire to more than 700 Kuwaiti oil wells and opened pipelines  to let oil pour into the Gulf. In addition to these crimes, Saddam may  be tried for the crime of aggression. An Iraqi law dating  back to the 1950s prohibits the act of aggressive war against other Arab  countries.


Who won the ladies singles most times at Wimbledon in the 80s?

Live Blog - The Championships, Wimbledon 2017 - Official Site by IBM — Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) July 11, 2015 Trophy time 21:26 Hingis and Mirza's faces must be aching, their smiles are so wide. A very healthy crowd - no doubt giddy on a sensational day's tennis (and Pimm's) - stick around to cheer our new ladies' doubles champions, who collect their trophies from the Royal Box. 21:24 #Wimbledon champs today: Serena Williams, 33 Tecau, 30/Jean-Julien Roger 33 Hingis, 34/Mirza, 28 That's 158 years of epic #tennis , y'all! — Nick McCarvel (@NickMcCarvel) July 11, 2015 21:22 Winning a @Wimbledon title 17 years after winning your last is pretty incredible! Amazing from @mhingis !  #Wimbledon — Siobhan Chamberlain (@Sio_Chamberlain) July 11, 2015 HINGIS AND MIRZA WIN! 21:19 Vesnina wallops one over the baseline, Hingis is fist-pumping. It's TRIPLE MATCH POINT. Amid one of the best atmospheres we've witnessed this fortnight, Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza seal the title! They are Wimbledon champions: Mirza for the first time, Hingis for the first time in 17 years. Wow. Stand by 21:17 Martina Hingis is serving for her first Wimbledon title since 1998 - which is literally ages ago. Hingis/Mirza *5-7 7-6 6-5 Makarova/Vesnina 21:13 Yes, Sarah Holt has left The Bunker. Apparently, nine hours of live blogging is enough. I don't know, they don't make live bloggers like they used to... So, it's me, Caroline Cheese, to take you through the rest of this doubles dramarama on a lidded Centre Court. Maybe not for much longer though, a hugely pumped-up Mirza and Hingis - roared on by the crowd - have just broken in the first game after the delay. 21:12 And they're back... 21:08 As darkness falls outside, the roof wends its away across Centre Court and as promised, the players are back out and warming up. When we go again, Vesnina will serve with the scores locked at 5-5 in the third. Play suspended while the roof is closed 20:53 And the voice of Wimbledon announces that play on Centre Court will be suspended while the roof is closed. When the lid is in place we will be able to turn on the lights for the late evening play. We will now have a break of about 10 minutes. Stand by. Hingis/Mirza 5-7 7-6 5-5* Makarova/Vesnina 20:51 Another tense game on Centre Court with the momentum see-sawing both ways. Sania Mirza holds with a sensational cross-court fizzer to level the third set at 5-5.  20:47 Sania Mirza is serving to level the third set and to keep her title hopes alive. Ekaterina Makarova sends a volley across court at 15-15. Martina Hingis reaches for an intercept at 30-15 but Mirza pumps long at 40-30 and then nets for deuce. Hold on....  Hingis and Mirza break back 20:41 What nerves from Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina - but what steel from Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis. From 0-40 the Russian pairing recover to deuce when Mirza goes long with the forehand and responds with a sigh of despair. The Indian whips over a fizzing return for another break chance and this time Martina Hingis pounces on a volley to break back.  Hingis holds but Makarova will serve for the title 20:38 Martina Hingis holds at 5-3 but the Russians will now serve for the Championship. Hingis/Mirza 5-7 2-5* Makarova/Vesnina 20:34 Did you think the intensity had dropped on Centre Court? How wrong you were. Sania Mirza digs out three break points at 0-40. Ekaterina Makarova pounces at the net to save two of them and Hingis nets for deuce. Mirza swings long to bring up game point and Makarova puts the volley away to hold. That's big - and the Russians are a game away from the doubles titles. 20:32 Sania Mirza holds onto her serve to close the gap to 4-2 in the gloaming.  Vivacious Vesnina 20:27 Ekaterina Makarova sets up a classic one-two punch for Elena Vesnina at 30-15, and there is more good work at the net from the world No.89 as the Russian duo hold and consolidate the break. They lead 4-1.  Makarova/Vesnina break 20:24 Yikes! Over on Centre Court we have our first break in the deciding set. Elena Vesnina is in fiery form as she seals the break to 15. The R


Which island was the home of Bob Marley, who died in 1981?

Bob Marley dies - May 11, 1981 - HISTORY.com Bob Marley dies Publisher A+E Networks In what would prove to be the next to the last concert of his tragically short life, Bob Marley shared the bill at Madison Square Garden with the hugely popular American funk band The Commodores. With no costumes, no choreography and no set design to speak of, “The reggae star had the majority of his listeners on their feet and in the palm of his hand,” according to New York Times critic Robert Palmer. “After this show of strength, and Mr. Marley’s intense singing and electric stage presence, the Commodores were a letdown.” Only days after his triumphant shows in New York City, Bob Marley collapsed while jogging in Central Park and later received a grim diagnosis: a cancerous growth on an old soccer injury on his big toe had metastasized and spread to Marley’s brain, liver and lungs. Less than eight months later, on May 11, 1981, Bob Marley, the soul and international face of reggae music, died in a Miami, Florida, hospital. He was only 36 years old. Nesta Robert Marley was born on February 6, 1945, in rural St. Ann Parish, Jamaica, the son of a middle-aged white Jamaican Marine officer and an 18-year-old black Jamaican girl. At the age of nine, Marley moved to Trench Town, a tough West Kingston ghetto where he would meet and befriend Neville “Bunny” Livingston (later Bunny Wailer) and Peter McIntosh (later Peter Tosh) and drop out of school at age 14 to make music. Jamaica at the time was entering a period of incredible musical creativity. As transistor radios became available on an island then served only by a staid, BBC-style national radio station, the music of America suddenly became accessible via stateside radio stations. From a mix of New Orleans-style rhythm and blues and indigenous, African-influenced musical traditions arose first ska, then rock steady—precursor styles to reggae, which did not take shape as a recognizable style of its own until the late 1960s. Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer performed together as The Wailers throughout this period, coming into their own as a group just as reggae became the dominant sound in Jamaica. Thanks to the international reach of Island Records, the Wailers came to the world’s attention in the early 1970s via their albums Catch a Fire (1972) and Burnin’ (1973). Eric Clapton spread the group’s name even wider by recording a pop-friendly version of “I Shot The Sheriff” from the latter album. With the departure of Tosh and Wailer in 1974, Marley took center stage in the group, and by the late 70s he had turned out a string of albums— Exodus (1977), featuring “Jamming,” “Waiting In Vain” and “One Love/People Get Ready;” Kaya (1978), featuring “Is This Love” and “Sun Is Shining”; and Uprising (1980), featuring “Could You Be Loved” and “Redemption Song.” While none of the aforementioned songs was anything approaching a hit in the United States during Bob Marley’s lifetime, they constitute a legacy that has only increased his fame in the years since his death on this day in 1981. Related Videos


Which John portrayed The Elephant Man on film?

The Elephant Man (1980) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous facade, there is revealed a person of intelligence and sensitivity. Director: From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC a list of 23 titles created 18 Mar 2012 a list of 27 titles created 20 May 2012 a list of 32 titles created 24 Feb 2013 a list of 39 titles created 06 Mar 2015 a list of 22 titles created 05 Dec 2015 Title: The Elephant Man (1980) 8.2/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Nominated for     8     Oscars. Another    10 wins & 14 nominations. See more awards  » Photos The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child. Director: David Lynch Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child. Director: David Lynch After a bizarre encounter at a party, a jazz saxophonist is framed for the murder of his wife and sent to prison, where he inexplicably morphs into a young mechanic and begins leading a new life. Director: David Lynch After a car wreck on the winding Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a perky Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality. Director: David Lynch As an actress starts to adopt the persona of her character in a film, her world starts to become nightmarish and surreal. Director: David Lynch Young lovers Sailor and Lula run from the variety of weirdos that Lula's mom has hired to kill Sailor. Director: David Lynch An old man makes a long journey by lawn-mover tractor to mend his relationship with an ill brother. Director: David Lynch A young FBI agent disappears while investigating a murder miles from Twin Peaks that may be related to the future murder of Laura Palmer; the last week of the life of Laura Palmer is chronicled. Director: David Lynch An emotionally self-destructive boxer's journey through life, as the violence and temper that leads him to the top in the ring destroys his life outside it. Director: Martin Scorsese An in-depth examination of the ways in which the U.S. Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of people in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania. Director: Michael Cimino A man seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague. Director: Ingmar Bergman A criminal pleads insanity after getting into trouble again and once in the mental institution rebels against the oppressive nurse and rallies up the scared patients. Director: Milos Forman Edit Storyline John Merrick (whose real name was Joseph, as this is based on a true story) is an intelligent and friendly man, but he is hated by his Victorian-era English society because he is severely deformed. Once he is discovered by a doctor, however, he is saved from his life in a freak show and he is treated like the human being that he really is. Written by Sam Cibula I am not an animal! I am a human being! I...am...a man! Genres: 10 October 1980 (USA) See more  » Also Known As: El hombre elefante See more  » Filming Locations: Did You Know? Trivia Second consecutive black-and-white film for director David Lynch whose previous film was the b/w Eraserhead (1977). See more » Goofs Bytes threw Merrick's mask out of the caravan. The mask then fell under the caravan's stair. But when Bytes' boy picked Merrick's cloth, we can see the mask (white one) is among the clothes. See more » Quotes Skeleton Man : Get rid of them! I don't want to se


Which city was devastated by an earthquake in 1985 and then hosted the World Cup in 1986?

Mexico City History | Culture | Religion | MexicoCity.com Blog Mexico History The land of Mexico City has been inhabitated for over 7000 years with the first tribes travelling from Central Europe around 5000 to 300 B.C. Some of the tribes in Mexico City settled around the slopes of mount Benacantil on which today stands the castle of Santa Barbara. The highlight of this mountain was that it wos close to the sea, but yet offered securoty from invaders due to its height. According to some historians, the Iberians (native Spanish) secured the hilltop by fortifying it. The Nahua Aztec or Mexica tribe established Mexico City on 18th March 1325 and it became the capital of a sophisticated growing empire. It was originally located on a small island but because of its rapid growth, the city was forced to build artificial islands and a series of canals to absorb the growth of the metropolis. Rulers like Izcoatl, Moctezuma I, Axayacatl, Tizoc, Ahyuizotl, and Moctezuma II and their groups of eagle-warriors and jaguar-warriors led the city successfully with a pre-Colombian civilization. In 1519, the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes entered the area. He acquired the city on 13th August 1521 and in 1524, it was rebuilt as the capital of the viceroyalty of New Spain. It was the political and cultural centre of Mexico and the administration of Guatemala, Yucatan, Cuba, Florida and Philippines was carried out from the city. The baroque Metropolitan Cathedral and the Basilica of Guadalupe were built during this period. The area was under the Spanish rule and when Napoleon acquired Spain in 1808, the people of Mexico started to act for the self-rule under a Catholic priest named Father Miguel de Hidalgo Y Costilla. He led an armed revolution in 1810. This war of independence ended as Mexico became the host of the first ruler of the Mexican Empire, Agustin de Iturbide and the nation became a republic in March 1823. Then in 1824, the new government was established, the Mexican Federal District by the signing of their new constitution. The two-year war with the United States ended in 1848, after losing half of the country to the United States. Benito Juarez led the War of Reform which lasted from 1858 to 1861 and he captured the city in 1867. However, in 1871, Porfirio Diaz succeeded to overthrow the government and then the city was under the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz for three decades. During this period the French influence was forced out of Mexico City. The gold Angel of Independence was built under his administration to celebrate the first centenary of the beginning of the War of Independence. In February 1913, Mexico City suffered from the Decena Tragica, a battle between Francisco I. Madero's forces and Felix Diaz's, which destroyed many parts of the city. The post-revolutionary government reinforced the importance of the city. In the late 20th century, Mexico City experienced most of its growth in population. In 1950, the city had a population of around 3 million. Mexico City was the host for the Olympic Games in 1968 and FIFA World Cup in 1970. The city was hit by an earthquake of magnitude 8.1 on the Richter scale on 19th September 1985 at 07.19 am. It resulted in the deaths of around 5,000 people leaving around 90,000 people homeless. Mexico city again experienced an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 after 36 hours. However, it hosted the FIFA World Cup again in 1986 showing a rapid recovery. The city continued its recovery and growth during the 1990s. Today, Mexico City has a remodeled World Trade Center Mexico, a skyscraper like Torre Mayor, the tallest building in Latin America. The city is ranked 8th among North America’s Top Ten Major Cities. It is one of the major economic and cultural centers with an international importance ranking 4th in Economic Potential and 4th as the Most Cost Effective city. Recommended Activities


Hahnium was so named by US scientists in honor of Otto Hahn; what was its original name?

Compound Interest -  A Periodic Table of Rejected Element Names A Periodic Table of Rejected Element Names Click to enlarge Extremium, catium, cyclonium and pandemonium: elements that you won’t find in the periodic table in classrooms and laboratories. However, they’re all names that have been suggested but rejected for elements in years gone by. This table takes a look at some of the different names that have been suggested or used in the past for various elements; below, we examine their origins, and the reasons for their rejection. The research for this post was primarily done using “The Lost Elements: The Periodic Table’s Shadow Side” , which details the history of erroneous element discoveries and naming controversies. It’s well worth checking out for a lot more detail on the history of some of the names featured here, as well as that of many more. Element 4: Glucinium (Beryllium) The French chemist, Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, examined both emerald and beryl and correctly reported that they contained a new element in 1798. He named this element glucine, with the symbol Gl, but as this name was very similar to that of the amino acid glycine it was criticised. When the first samples of the element were later isolated in 1828, the acceptance of the name beryllium, suggested by another chemist, Martin Henrich Klaproth, became more widespread. However, it wasn’t until 1949 that IUPAC ruled the element should be exclusively called beryllium. Element 5: Boracium (Boron) Boron was isolated at the same time by the French chemists Louis-Joseph Gay-Lussac and Louis-Jacques Thénard, as well as the English chemist Sir Humphrey Davy, in 1808. Davy proposed the name of boracium for the element, which was eventually modified to boron. Element 7: Azote (Nitrogen) Antoine Lavoisier discovered element 7 in 1776, and later proposed the name azote. Other chemists weren’t enamoured with this name, however, and it eventually became nitrogen. Element 9: Fluore (Fluorine) Though chemists didn’t isolate fluorine until 1886, in 1816 André-Marie Ampère proposed that hydrofluoric acid, like hydrochloric acid, was a binary compound consisting of hydrogen and another element. He proposed the name of fluor or phtore for this element, but left the choice to the English chemist Sir Humphrey Davy, with whom he had corresponded on the subject. This eventually became the element’s current name, fluorine. Element 10: Novum (Neon) Neon was discovered by the Scottish scientist Sir William Ramsay, who also discovered all of the other elements in group 18 of the periodic table (bar the recently discovered element 118). He discovered neon in 1898, and decided to use as the element’s name the suggestion of his 13 year old son, ‘novum’. However, Ramsay wanted the name to be derived from Greek, like the other noble gases he had discovered, so he made the slight modification to the element’s current name, neon. Element 12: Magnium (Magnesium) Sir Humphrey Davy isolated magnesium in 1808, and called it magnium. He named it this, rather than magnesium after the oxide from which it had been obtained (magnesia alba), because he didn’t want the name to be confused with that of another element, manganese. However, the name magnesium persisted, though magnium is still used in some countries. Talcinium was another suggested name, which came later in 1828, though this wasn’t a suggestion that was given serious credence. Element 21: Gadenium (Scandium) In 1886, a Scotsman, Alexander Pringle, claimed to have discovered four new elements, named polymnestum, erebodium, gadenium and hesperisium. Unfortunately for Pringle, his determination of the atomic weights of these elements was pretty poor, and additionally he’d failed to describe any new elements. It’s most likely that gadenium was actually the already discovered scandium, perhaps also contaminated with iron. The other ‘new’ elements were similarly simply incorrect deductions by Pringle, and were most likely mixtures of elements already in existence. Element 22: Menachite (Titanium) Englishman William Gregor discovered t


Which movement was thought to be responsible for the kidnapping of Western hostages in Lebanon in the 890s?

Twenty years after he was freed, Terry Waite makes his peace with Hezbollah | The Independent Twenty years after he was freed, Terry Waite makes his peace with Hezbollah Former hostage meets captors during return to Lebanon Sunday 9 December 2012 21:15 BST Click to follow The Independent Online Terry Waite today was on captivity in Lebanon for years PA For a man used to spending time in solitary confinement, Terry Waite could be forgiven for feeling very alone as he was shuttled to a secret location in Beirut for talks with the group thought to be responsible for his kidnapping 25 years ago. When the author and humanitarian last visited the city's southern suburbs he was forced to spend 1,760 days locked in a cramped cell, being subjected to mock executions and beatings while chained to a radiator. But under the cover of darkness on Monday last week, he returned to Lebanon offering forgiveness and reconciliation to his captors, a quarter of a century after he was kidnapped and tortured by associates of the militant group Hezbollah. Mr Waite, now 73, held talks with Ammar Moussawi, Hezbollah's senior foreign affairs official. It was his first time in the area since 1991. At about 10pm he was taken to a secret location in the city's suburbs, with the meeting held at about 11pm. He said the rendezvous had been confirmed only at the last moment, which was "often how Hezbollah works". "My first reason for the visit is to say the past is the past," Mr Waite told Mr Moussawi, surrounded by Hezbollah flags. He added: "Let us leave it." During the meeting Mr Moussawi denied Hezbollah was responsible for his kidnapping. Mr Waite travelled to Lebanon in 1987 as the special envoy of the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, hoping to secure the release of the British journalist John McCarthy and other Western captives. But he was accused of being an agent acting for the CIA and was himself kidnapped. In the first year of his captivity Mr Waite was kept in solitary confinement, chained to a radiator for 23 hours a day. He communicated with other hostages in the cell next door by tapping on the wall using a rudimentary code. Mr Waite conceded that last week's meeting was not without "a degree of risk", but that he had to "trust" in Hezbollah. The powerful political and military Shia Muslim part of Lebanon's government is regarded by some in the West as a terrorist group. The US has claimed its political wing is a terrorist organisation as well as its military arm. Speaking about his latest visit, which was first reported by the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Waite said there would be accusations that he was consorting with terrorists. "I would remind such accusers that Hezbollah has grown into a fully-fledged political party with seats in Lebanon's parliament and is now in a unique position to work for peace in the region," he said. "I met with them quite prepared to put my own sufferings in the past. The only way forward is by the pathway of forgiveness, which is a difficult and dangerous road." His reconciliation was an attempt to highlight the plight of Christians who have been forced to flee their homeland by the civil war in Syria. Hezbollah has forged an unlikely alliance with the Free Patriotic Movement, Lebanon's largest Christian party. Mr Waite asked Hezbollah to provide assistance and aid to Christian refugees in the weeks before Christmas. He said: "It is my view that Hezbollah can do itself a great deal of good at Christmas, the Christian festival, by perhaps doing something to give some support to the refugees who are in this country." More about:


Who was Franklin ?D Roosevelt's secretary of state from 1933 to 1944?

Cordell Hull - People - Department History - Office of the Historian Cordell Hull - People - Department History Biographies of the Secretaries of State: Cordell Hull (1871–1955) Introduction Cordell Hull was appointed Secretary of State by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 4, 1933, and served until           November 20, 1944. Hull holds the distinction of being the longest-serving U.S.           Secretary of State. Cordell Hull, 47th Secretary of State Rise to Prominence Hull was born on October 2, 1871, near Byrdstown, Tennessee. Although Hull gained           admission to the Tennessee bar in 1892 and was appointed a circuit judge in           1903, his great passion was politics. Following service on his county’s Democratic Party Executive Committee and in the Tennessee State legislature, Hull was elected to the U.S. House of           Representatives in 1906. Hull’s career was nearly derailed when he lost his           congressional seat during the Republican Party landslide of 1920. Nevertheless,           Hull remained at the center of national politics by becoming Chairman of the           Democratic National Committee in 1921 and returned to Congress after a two-year           absence. In 1928, Hull sought the Democratic Party’s Vice Presidential nomination.           Although his bid was unsuccessful, he did secure the support of the Democratic           nominee for the governorship of New York, Franklin Delano           Roosevelt. Four years later, as a U.S. Senator, Hull repaid the favor when Roosevelt sought           the Presidential nomination. In return for his backing and in order to firm up           his support amongst Southern Democrats, President Roosevelt appointed Hull as           his Secretary of State. Influence on American Diplomacy As Secretary of State, Hull’s role in U.S. foreign policymaking was greatly           circumscribed by President Roosevelt. Hull nonetheless achieved prominence as an           advocate of trade liberalization, closer relations with Latin America, and a           postwar multinational institution to promote peace and security. Although President Roosevelt typically represented the United States at the major           conferences with Allied leaders during the Second World War, Hull took the lead           in attempting to delay war with Japan following its           invasion of China. He was also a strong supporter of           President Roosevelt’s “Good             Neighbor” policy and became the first sitting Secretary of State to           attend the International Conference of American States (precursor to the           Organization of American States). At the December 1933 meeting in Montevideo, Uruguay, he announced that the U.S.           Government would henceforth observe a policy of “non-intervention” in the           affairs of its neighbors in the Western Hemisphere. His greatest contribution to the postwar world came within the realm of           international trade. As a firm believer in Woodrow Wilson’s           vision of liberal internationalism, Hull believed that free trade promoted           international peace and prosperity. He considered high tariff barriers a           pressing issue that had contributed to the economic decline leading to the Great           Depression and the rise of fascism. In 1934, Hull helped secure the passage of the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act           (RTAA), which gave the President the authority to personally negotiate bilateral           tariff reductions. Hull also championed the creation of the United Nations. For his efforts in           creating the United Nations, Hull was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in           1945. Cordell Hull res


The increasing scarcity of elephants and rhinos led ot a 1989 ban on which substance?

Do you know...? Do you know...? 1. Over which country did Pan Am flight 103 crash in December 88? 2. Who sang about his Prerogative in the 1980s? 3. Which all-girl group had 80s No 1s with Walk Like An Egyptian and Eternal Flame? 4. Which sitcom, premiered in 1988, featured Dr. Harry Weston? 5. The 1980 Olympics were boycotted because of the USSR's invasion of which country? 6. What kind of Boys had an 80s No 1 with West End Girls? 7. Anwar Sadat was President of which country when he died in 1981? 8. What kind of disaster claimed some 100,000 lives in Armenia in 1988? 9. Where in the Ukraine was there a nuclear explosion in 1986? 10. Which President of the Philippines was deposed in 1986? 11. The increasing scarcity of elephants and rhinos led to a 1989 ban on which substance? I'll post the answers on Friday..... shockhazard Over which country did Pan Am flight 103 crash in December 88? A: Scotland. Who sang about his Prerogative in the 1980s? A: Bobby Brown. Which all-girl group had 80s No 1s with Walk Like An Egyptian and Eternal Flame? A: Bangles. Which sitcom, premiered in 1988, featured Dr. Harry Weston? A: Empty Nest. The 1980 Olympics were boycotted because of the USSR's invasion of which country? A: Afghanistan. What kind of Boys had an 80s No 1 with West End Girls? A: Pet Shop Boys. Anwar Sadat was President of which country when he died in 1981? A: Egypt. What kind of disaster claimed some 100,000 lives in Armenia in 1988? A: Earthquake. Where in the Ukraine was there a nuclear explosion in 1986? A: Chernobyl. Which President of the Philippines was deposed in 1986? A: Marcos. The increasing scarcity of elephants and rhinos led to a 1989 ban on which substance? A: Ivory. Where ever you go, there you are.


Sarah Ferguson - Duchess - Biography.com Sarah Ferguson Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson is the ex-wife of Britain's Prince Andrew and is also a children's book author and film producer. IN THESE GROUPS Sarah Ferguson - Royal Wedding (TV-14; 0:27) An inside look at the royal wedding between Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew. Synopsis Born on October 15, 1959 in London, England, Sarah Ferguson married Britain’s Prince Andrew in 1986. The couple divorced ten years later amidst much media tumult. Ferguson has since written children’s books, served as a Weight Watchers representative and done film production work. She has continued to be the object of media scrutiny, having been taped allegedly selling access to her ex-husband. Early Years Duchess Sarah Margaret Ferguson was born on October 15, 1959, in London, England. The second daughter of Major Ronald Ivor Ferguson, Sarah had a privileged English upbringing, attending private boarding school and becoming an accomplished horseback rider. Her father worked as manager of the Prince of Wales' polo team, so Sarah was acquainted with members of the Royal Family from a young age. Her parents divorced when she was 13 and after graduating from secretarial college, Sarah worked for a public relations firm, an art gallery and a publishing company. Duchess of York In 1985, Sarah met Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. The couple married the following year in Westminster Abbey and had two children, Beatrice and Eugenie. Dubbed "Fergie" by the press, Sarah was often criticized for her extravagant lifestyle and outspoken manner. Marriage trouble began to plague the couple, which is often attributed to Prince Andrew's long trips away while serving in the Royal Navy. In 1992, the couple separated, eventually divorcing in 1996 but continuing to live together in separate living quarters. The Duchess of York hosted her own short-lived talk show and appeared in a string of commercials during the 1990s for Weight Watchers. She is the author of an autobiography, some dieting guides and several children's books. Fact Check We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us ! Citation Information


Tiananmen Square was a scene of conflict in which country?

Tiananmen Square massacre takes place - Jun 04, 1989 - HISTORY.com Tiananmen Square massacre takes place Share this: Tiananmen Square massacre takes place Author Tiananmen Square massacre takes place URL Publisher A+E Networks Chinese troops storm through Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing, killing and arresting thousands of pro-democracy protesters. The brutal Chinese government assault on the protesters shocked the West and brought denunciations and sanctions from the United States. In May 1989, nearly a million Chinese, mostly young students, crowded into central Beijing to protest for greater democracy and call for the resignations of Chinese Communist Party leaders deemed too repressive. For nearly three weeks, the protesters kept up daily vigils, and marched and chanted. Western reporters captured much of the drama for television and newspaper audiences in the United States and Europe. On June 4, 1989, however, Chinese troops and security police stormed through Tiananmen Square, firing indiscriminately into the crowds of protesters. Turmoil ensued, as tens of thousands of the young students tried to escape the rampaging Chinese forces. Other protesters fought back, stoning the attacking troops and overturning and setting fire to military vehicles. Reporters and Western diplomats on the scene estimated that at least 300, and perhaps thousands, of the protesters had been killed and as many as 10,000 were arrested. The savagery of the Chinese government’s attack shocked both its allies and Cold War enemies. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev declared that he was saddened by the events in China. He said he hoped that the government would adopt his own domestic reform program and begin to democratize the Chinese political system. In the United States, editorialists and members of Congress denounced the Tiananmen Square massacre and pressed for President George Bush to punish the Chinese government. A little more than three weeks later, the U.S. Congress voted to impose economic sanctions against the People’s Republic of China in response to the brutal violation of human rights. Related Videos


Which hospital was Princess Diana taken to after her tragic car accident?

CNN - Princess Diana dead after Paris car crash - August 30, 1997 Princess Diana dead after Paris car crash Companion Dodi Fayed, chauffeur also killed August 31, 1997 Web posted at: 6:24 a.m. EDT (1024 GMT) In this story: Related stories and sites PARIS (CNN) -- Britain's Princess Diana died early Sunday at a Paris hospital after suffering massive internal injuries in a high-speed car crash. She was 36. Her companion, Harrod's heir Dodi Fayed , and their chauffeur died at the crash scene. Diana, Princess of Wales, died at 4 a.m. after going into cardiac arrest, doctors told a news conference at Paris' Hospital de la Pitie Salpetriere. The death was announced at 6 a.m. by Dr. Alain Pavie, head of the cardiology department. Prince Charles will fly from Scotland to Paris Sunday to accompany the body of his former wife on its return to Britain. Diana and Charles' two sons, Princes William, 15, and Harry, 12, were vacationing with Charles at the royal family's Scottish home at Balmoral. Buckingham Palace said Charles had been notified of the accident and had told the children. "The death of the Princess of Wales fills us all with shock and deep grief," said British ambassador Michael Jay, who was at the hospital. The princess' death came after she suffered massive internal injuries, including lung damage, Christopher Dickey, Newsweek's Paris bureau chief, told CNN. Diana also suffered severe head injuries, hospital officials told CNN. Ambulance workers managed to revive her at the crash scene, but her heart stopped beating on arrival at the hospital, said Dr. Bruno Riou, head of the hospital's intensive care unit. Surgeons opened Diana's injured chest, closed a wound in her heart and massaged the heart for two hours in a vain battle to save her life, he said. "We could not revive her," Riou said. Sir Michael Jay, Britain's ambassador to France, expresses his sympathy 352 K/29 sec. AIFF or WAV sound A fourth person in the car, one of the princess' bodyguards, was seriously injured in the wreck, police said. The high-speed crash occurred shortly after midnight in a tunnel along the Seine River at the Pont de l'Alma bridge less than half a mile from the Eiffel Tower, while paparazzi -- the commercial photographers who constantly tailed Diana -- were following her car on motorcycles, police said. Diana's car was traveling at 80 mph through the narrow tunnel, a French official said. The driver apparently lost control of the car, according to French radio, which quoted witnesses as saying the car slammed into a concrete support post, then bounced into a wall. Eyewitnesses describe the crash scene Tom Richardson 192 K/15 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Mike Walker 256 K/18 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Several motorcyclists were detained for questioning after the crash, police said. A badly damaged motorcycle was taken from the scene of the accident by police. Seven photographers were in custody, police said. At least some of the photographers took pictures before help arrived, French radio said, adding that one of the photographers was beaten at the scene by outraged witnesses. Dickey said police were expected to press the investigation. "This kind of pursuit of celebrities here in Paris is something I think the French government has never been terribly happy about," Dickey said. "I think they'll pursue this very, very actively indeed." Witnesses heard crash An American witness, Mike Walker, told CNN the car in which Diana was traveling "looked like it hit the wall." Two other Americans visiting Paris heard the crash and ran to the scene. Joanna Luz and Tom Richardson, both of San Diego, told CNN they were walking along the Seine when they heard a bang and squealing tires under the bridge. They described the car as a dark blue Mercedes, with the passenger side airbag deployed, facing oncoming traffic. They also said they believed at least one cameraman was following the car, saying that what appeared to be a professional photographer was on the scene less than 15 seconds after the crash. "His equipment was very professi


Elected in 1913, how long was Pedro Mascurain president of Mexico?

Today in Mexican history: the shortest presidency ever (1913) | and that's the way it was and that's the way it was Today in Mexican history: the shortest presidency ever (1913) Posted on by DWD I’ve been doing this blog for a while now, so it should be pretty clear that Mexican history is not my area. But some stories are too absurd to pass up. To wit, everybody meet Pedro Lascuráin: Hi, Pedro! Pedro Lascuráin is, to my knowledge, not a household name in the US. He’s probably not even a household name in Mexico, although I have no was of actually knowing that. But my point is that he should be. In this electoral season, when we’re deciding who will spend at least the next four years–ideally–in the White House, when there are presidents in other parts of the world working the system to give themselves a third, fourth, or even fifth term in office, Pedro Lascuráin has the distinction of heading the shortest-lived presidential administration in history. Ever. Anywhere. His entire term lasted somewhere between 15 and 55 minutes. If you don’t know anything about Lascuráin, your first instinct is probably that the guy died or something, but I wouldn’t be making such light of his sub-one hour term if there were a death involved. Then you might be thinking, “man, what did this guy do in those ~30 minutes in office to get himself tossed out so fast?” But it’s not like that either. Lascuráin’s short term was arranged that way. This all happened within the context of the 1910-1920 Mexican Revolution, which began as a rebellion against the never-ending presidency of Porfirio Diaz (d. 1915) in November 1910. Diaz was forced to abdicate in May 1911 (forgive me for going light on the details, but again, Mexican history is not my thing) and was replaced by revolutionary leader Francisco Madero (d. 1913) in an election that was held in October. Madero governed the country for a bit over 2 years, which was just long enough for him to alienate pretty much everybody. He tried to chart a moderate political course, which in that polarized environment meant that he was too revolutionary for the Mexican establishment and not revolutionary enough for his former fellow revolutionaries. Madero increasingly turned to the conservative establishment, particularly the military, to help him fend off a series of local rebellions by various revolutionary leaders. He made the special mistake of turning to General Victoriano Huerta (d. 1916), who was happy to put down revolutionaries for Madero but really had no loyalty to Madero himself. On February 9, Madero ordered Huerta to put down a revolt in Mexico City itself, led by a couple of Huerta’s fellow generals, and Huerta accepted his mission but eventually turned on Madero and joined the rebels. In a deal brokered by US Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson, who was deeply sympathetic (to say the least) to Huerta and the rebels, Madero agreed to resign the presidency in favor of Huerta and go into exile. In this case, it was a very distant exile, because after he stepped down Huerta had him murdered. The presidency was now Huerta’s, but for some reason at this point, after having led a successful coup d’etat, he decided to stick to the rule of law under the terms of Mexico’s constitution. The line of succession was supposed to run from the vice president to the attorney general (who had also resigned with Madero) to the foreign minister to the interior minister. Enter Lascuráin, who happened to be Madero’s foreign minister. He was advanced to the presidency and was allowed to hold the office just long enough to make Huerta his interior minister. Then he too resigned, and Huerta legally became president. I’d like to imagine that Huerta let him give an order or two, or let him sit in the president’s chair for a couple of minutes, or something, but probably not. Lascuráin’s reward for cooperation was that he was allowed to stay alive, which is more than Madero and his VP had gotten–both of them were killed on Huerta’s orders. Huerta even offered him a role in the new government, but Lascuráin wisely declined. He li


Who was NATO commander between 1974 and 1979?

SHAPE HC | 1967-1979: NATO's Readiness Increases 1967-1979: NATO's Readiness Increases Home   /   History of SHAPE   /  1967-1979: NATO's Readiness Increases 1967-1979: NATO's Readiness Increases  Although no longer part of the integrated command structure, France was still a member of the Alliance itself, so one of the first major tasks of SHAPE after the move to Belgium was to negotiate arrangements with the French authorities to co-ordinate France's military role and contribution to NATO in the event of a Warsaw Pact attack. After NATO adopted the new military strategy of "Flexible Response” in December 1967, SHAPE began a major review of its plans and forces to bring them into line with the new strategy.   In 1968 the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia and overthrew the reformist government of Alexander Dubcek. SHAPE monitored this crisis closely and advised NATO Headquarters about the military implications of the Soviet invasion, which increased the number of combat ready Red Army units deployed very close to the Federal Republic of Germany. During the tenure of the sixth SACEUR, General Andrew J. Goodpaster, SHAPE's activities were influenced by a number of important international developments: the shifting strategic balance in favour of the USSR, efforts to achieve East-West Détente, the increasing involvement of the United States in the Vietnam war, the Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur War, the subsequent oil crisis of 1973 and the 1974 Cyprus Crisis, which resulted in Greece's withdrawal of her forces from the NATO command structure. SHAPE analysed the impact for NATO of the on-going negotiations over "mutual and balanced force reductions” between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, and SHAPE also attempted to minimise the adverse effects of the desires of several allies (Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States) to reduce their forces stationed in continental Europe. In 1970 SHAPE produced a major study of alliance's defence problems in the 1970's, which influenced the alliance's strategic planning during the next decade. The study addressed force reductions and recommended numerous improvements in ACE's conventional and nuclear forces and procedures. The next SACEUR, U.S. Army General Alexander M. Haig, placed great emphasis on improving the "Three Rs” - Readiness, Rationalisation and Reinforcement - in order to counter-balance the growing military capabilities of the Warsaw Pact. One of SHAPE's major tasks during this period was to study how to improve the command and control and flexibility of NATO forces in Europe.   SHAPE played a major role in planning and implementing the NATO Long Term Defence Improvement Programme, which profoundly changed NATO forces in the 1980s and beyond. One of the most important innovations was NATO's decision to establish the NATO Airborne Early Warning Force, which was strongly supported by SHAPE. Improvements were also made in the quality and integration of communications and Command and Control systems, in particular the NATO Air Defence Ground Environment for coordination of air defence. In 1975 Gen. Haig also introduced a major new NATO exercise programme called Autumn Forge, whose best known element was the REFORGER (Return of Forces to Germany) series. These exercises brought together national and NATO exercises, improved their training value and annually tested the ability of the Alliance's North American members to reinforce Europe rapidly. SACEUR Haig implemented a long overdue realignment of the command structure in South Eastern Europe and he also made a significant change in the senior leadership of SHAPE in order to reflect Germany's increasing contribution to Allied Command Europe. In 1978 Gen. Gerd Schmueckle became the first German Deputy SACEUR after a second such position was created alongside the British DSACEUR. General Haig's high profile attracted both positive and negative attention, with the latter taking the form of an attempt by left-wing German terrorists to assassinate him near SHAPE in 1979 shortly before he was due to leave SHAPE.