This Day in History

[GordMay]

December 14

1911 ~ AMUNDSEN REACHES SOUTH POLE

Norwegian Roald Amundsen becomes the first explorer to reach the South Pole, beating his British rival, Robert Falcon Scott. Amundsen, born in Borge, near
Oslo, in 1872, was one of the great figures in polar exploration. In 1897, he
was first mate on a Belgian expedition that was the first ever to winter in the
Antarctic. In 1903, he guided the 47-ton sloop Gjöa through the Northwest
Passage and around the Canadian coast, the first navigator to accomplish the
treacherous journey. Amundsen planned to be the first man to the North Pole, and
he was about to embark in 1909 when he learned that the American Robert Peary
had achieved the feat.Amundsen completed his preparations and in June 1910
sailed instead for Antarctica, where the English explorer Robert F. Scott was
also headed with the aim of reaching the South Pole. In early 1911, Amundsen
sailed his ship into Antarctica's Bay of Whales and set up base camp 60 miles
closer to the pole than Scott. In October, both explorers set off--Amundsen
using sleigh dogs, and Scott employing Siberian motor sledges, Siberian ponies,
and dogs. On December 14, 1911, Amundsen's expedition won the race to the Pole
and returned safely to base camp in late January. Scott's expedition was less
fortunate. The motor sleds broke down, the ponies had to be shot, and the dog
teams were sent back as Scott and four companions continued on foot. On January
18, 1912, they reached the pole nly to find that Amundsen had preceded them by
over a month. Weather on the return journey was exceptionally bad--two members
perished--and a storm later trapped Scott and the other two survivors in their
tent only 11 miles from their base camp. Scott's frozen body was found later
that year. After his historic Antarctic journey, Amundsen established a
successful shipping business. He later made attempts to become the first
explorer to fly over the North Pole. In 1925, in an airplane, he flew within 150
miles of the goal. In 1926, he passed over the North Pole in a dirigible just
three days after American explorer Richard E. Byrd had apparently done so in an
aircraft. In 1996, a diary that Byrd had kept on the flight was found that
seemed to suggest that the he had turned back 150 miles short of its goal
because of an oil leak, making Amundsen's dirigible expedition the first flight
over the North Pole. In 1928, Amundsen lost his life while trying to rescue a
fellow explorer whose dirigible had crashed at sea near Spitsbergen, Norway.

[BC Mike]

Bit of a mistake in the date.
06 February 1840. Sorry the proof reader missed it.
Michael

[GordMay]

April 15, 1912 ~ TITANIC SINKS

Just prior to midnight on April 14, the British ocean liner RMS Titanic struck an iceberg, and sunk (about 400 miles south of Newfoundland) at about 2:20 a.m. on April 15.
More than 1,500 people went down in the sinking ship or froze to death in the North Atlantic waters. Most of the 700 or so survivors were women and children.

[GordMay]

40 years ago (Nov. 10, 1975) today , the 'Witch of November' sank the Edmund Fitzgerald /w all hands lost.

➥ S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald Online

➥ Edmund Fitzgerald Shipwreck - Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society

➥

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vST6hVRj2A

[HappyMdRSailor]

How have I missed this thread????

Nice posts Gordo... One of my favorite columns in our tiny town rag...

SUBSCRIBED!

[GordMay]

Well, the thread had been inactive (since 2006) for 2 years, prior to your joining the CF; so you can be excused for missing it.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Gord, the El Faro sinking date would be a good one to add to the memorial list.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Steady Hand

Gord, the El Faro sinking date would be a good one to add to the memorial list.

Yes - Perhaps you could remember the El Faro loss, next October 1?

[HappyMdRSailor]

Columbus "discovered" Antigua today in history ... Pretty sure somebody else was already there....

And this thread seriously needs resurrection Gordo... I'm on board!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by HappyMdRSailor

Columbus "discovered" Antigua today in history ... Pretty sure somebody else was already there....

Indeed.
The earliest known date of humankind in Antigua or Barbuda dates to about 3,000 years before the birth of Christ.
➥ Pre-History Of Antigua And Barbuda

Also on November 10:
1775 - U.S. Marine Corps founded.

November 11
1918 - World War I ends (At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month). Happy Remembrance Day.

[HappyMdRSailor]

I thought this one was too important to leave out from yesterday...

11-10-1969... The PBS children’s program Sesame Street debuts.
Even at 5yo, that "Sunny day" song made me feel like Oscar....

[GordMay]

January 15, 2009 - “Miracle on the Hudson” - US Airways flight 1549
Ten years to the day after the “Miracle on the Hudson”, when Sully landed that plane on the river... about 50 miles north of the city, the old Tappan Zee Bridge is being destroyed.

➥ https://abc7ny.com/miracle-on-the-hu...lness/5075469/

TODAY: Tuesday, January 15 at 10:00 a.m. ET
A major span of the Tappan Zee Bridge is finally coming down, and it's going to be something of a show, as controlled demolitions collapse the bridge into the waters of the Hudson River below.

Already, people are queuing up to watch the final moments of the eastern span of the long-standing commuter bridge across the Hudson, which was officially replaced by a newer bridge and renamed the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge in 2018.

The explosions will last approximately 30 seconds, so if you want to watch, make sure you're paying attention a bit early so you don't miss it.

Tappan Zee Constructors have an updating webcam featuring still images of the bridge on their website, NewNYBridge.com. It shows the view above, and several other perspectives. The camera will switch to a live stream on Tuesday morning, and site visitors will be able to watch the full live demolition.

➥ http://www.newnybridge.com/.

[GordMay]

July, 1969 Apollo 11

Neil Armstrong:
"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC
"One small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” July 21, 1969 at 02:56:15 UTC

Fifty years ago, astronauts walked on the moon for the first time. Apollo 11’s success came just 66 years after the Wright brothers’ first flight.

The Apollo 11 spacecraft was launched from Cape Kennedy at 13:32:00 UT on July 16, 1969.

Eagle landed on the Moon 102 hr, 45 min and 40 sec after launch.
Immediately after landing on the Moon, Armstrong and Aldrin prepared the LM for liftoff as a contingency measure. Following the meal, a scheduled sleep period was postponed at the astronauts' request, and the astronauts began preparations for descent to the lunar surface.

Astronaut Neil Armstrong emerged from the spacecraft first, at 109:24:19 GET.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin subsequently (19 min. later) descended to the lunar surface.

[GordMay]

November 10, 1975 - "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"
The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter, and was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes, when it launched on June 7, 1958. For 17 years, Edmund Fitzgerald carried taconite iron ore from mines near Duluth, Minn., to iron works in Detroit, Mi., Toledo, Ohio and other Great Lakes' ports.
On Nov. 9, 1975, it was carrying a full cargo of ore pellets to embark on what would be its ill-fated voyage from Superior, Wis., near Duluth, en route to a steel mill near Detroit. Along the way it joined a second freighter, SS Arthur M. Anderson.
The next day, on Nov. 10, the two ships were caught in a severe storm on Lake Superior, with near hurricane-force winds and waves up to 35 feet (11 metres) high. Shortly after 7:10 p.m., Edmund Fitzgerald suddenly sank in Canadian (Ontario) waters 530 feet (160 metres) deep, about 17 miles (27 kilometres) from Whitefish Bay near the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan and Ontario.

Canadian singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot recorded "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" on his 1976 album Summertime Dream. The single hit No. 1 in Canada and reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States.

[GordMay]

Cyclone Bhola
On November 12, we mark the 50th anniversary of Cyclone Bhola, and the associated storm surge that killed an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 people, in 1970. It was the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded, and one of the deadliest natural disasters.
The devastating effects of this disaster, and the slow response of the government, precipitated a series of events that eventually led to the Bangladesh war of independence, and to Bangladesh gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971.
➥ https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJourn...e1ca8c76bc6a92

The WMO’s 2020 “State of Climate Services” report* stresses the need for small island nations to adopt impact-based forecasting – a move away from “what the weather will be” towards “what the weather will do”.
For example, a traditional forecast might state that winds of 130 kilometres per hour (80.7 miles per hour) is expected, whereas an impact-based forecast would explain that wind is expected that can damage buildings and blow down trees, causing power outages.
Researchers found that, although the Pakistani meteorological service had issued a warning for Cyclone Bhola, few coastal residents responded by moving to shelters. While only a small number understood the risks presented by the storm, for many there was simply no means of reaching adequate shelters in time.
The introduction of impact-based forecasting will enable countries to improve the way they prepare and respond to a new normal of climate-fuelled, extreme weather patterns.
* ➥ https://library.wmo.int/doc_num.php?explnum_id=10385