Maritime History

[Canibul]

Neil Young is no longer Young eh? Has his voice changed yet?

[GordMay]

Unfortunately, Neil’s singing voice has not yet changed.

[GordMay]

November 13

1985 ~ Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupts in Colombia (25,000 die)
Nevado del Ruiz, the highest active volcano in the Andes Mountains of Colombia, suffers a mild eruption that generates a series of lava flows and surges over the volcano's broad ice-covered summit. Flowing mixtures of water, ice, pumice, and other rock debris poured off the summit and sides of the volcano, forming "lahars" that flooded into the river valleys surrounding Ruiz. The lahars joined normal river channels, and massive flooding and mudslides was exacerbated by heavy rain. Within four hours of the eruption, the lahars traveled over 60 miles, killing more than 23,000 people, injuring over 5,000, and destroying more than 5,000 homes. Hardest hit was the town of Armero, where three quarters of the 28,700 inhabitants died.
The volcano first began showing signs of an imminent eruption a full year before, and most of the river valley's residents would have survived had they have moved to higher ground.

1970 ~ Century’s worst Cyclone at Chittagong Bangladesh
(500,000 - 1,000,000 die)
Tidal waves and storm surges strike the shores of the Ganges Delta, wreaking lethal damage on the people of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). A 100-mph tropical cyclone spurred the deadly flood of ocean water that washed over scores of coastal islands and devastated the densely populated delta region. An estimated 500,000 (or more) people were killed in the 20th century's worst disaster by cyclone.
The Bhola cyclone made landfall on November 12 and raged the strongest on November 13. The resulting storm surge, more than 20 feet high and topped by huge tidal waves, washed over offshore islands and carried ocean water many miles inland. The storm and flood destroyed the entire infrastructure of the country's southern coast and killed an estimated 500,000 people, though some researchers estimate that the death count was more than a million. The failure of the West Pakistani government to respond quickly to the crisis contributed to the political turmoil that produced an independent Bangladesh in 1971.

1941 ~ British aircraft carrier "Ark Royal" torpedoed in Mediterranean
The Ark Royal saw active service from Nov-1938 Nov-1941. She was torpedoed 13 Nov 1941 by the German submarine U81 in the Western Mediterranean, 25nm ESE of Gibraltar and foundered the following day. Only one crewman was lost during the evacuation of the ship.
More: http://www.glue-it.com/boats/general.../ark_royal.htm

1854 ~ "New Era" sinks off New Jersey coast (300 die)
More: http://hometown.aol.com/ufoster442/page20.html

[GordMay]

November 14

1985 ~ Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupts in north-central Colombia (25,000 die)
On the afternoon of November 13, a major eruption occurred. Ash was sent 30 miles into the air, but still, possibly believing they had more time, few residents evacuated. Later that evening into the morning of the November 14, there were several more powerful eruptions. Lava flowed out of the crater, melting the glacial ice surrounding it and causing massive mudslides.
The town of Chinchina was first to be hit. Approximately 1,100 people were killed when a mudslide overwhelmed the village. The worst scene of destruction was the city of Armero. The wave of mud, rock and ice was nearly 100 feet high as it barreled down on the city. Although it could be heard for a full 30 minutes before it struck, there was little the residents could do to avoid it. Further, many radio reports were instructing the residents to stay in their homes. Close to 20,000 people were buried and killed by the slide.
Overall, the best estimate is that 25,000 lives were claimed by the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano.


1972 ~ Dow Jones closes above 1,000 for 1st time (1003.16)

1914 ~ Ottoman Jihad
On November 14, 1914, in Constantinople, capital of the Ottoman Empire, the religious leader Sheikh-ul-Islam declares an Islamic holy war on behalf of the Ottoman government, urging his Muslim followers to take up arms against Britain, France, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro in World War I.[
Though Germany and Turkey secretly concluded a military alliance on August 2, the Turks did not officially take part in World War I until several months later. On October 29, the Ottoman navy--including two German ships, Goeben and Breslau, which famously eluded the British navy in the first week of the war to reach Constantinople--attacked Russian ports in the Black Sea, marking the beginning of Turkey’s participation in the war.
The sheikh’s declaration of a holy war, made two weeks later, urged Muslims all over the world--including in the Allied countries--to rise up and defend the Ottoman Empire, as a protector of Islam, against its enemies. "Of those who go to the Jihad for the sake of happiness and salvation of the believers in God’s victory," the declaration read, "the lot of those who remain alive is felicity, while the rank of those who depart to the next world is martyrdom. In accordance with God’s beautiful promise, those who sacrifice their lives to give life to the truth will have honor in this world, and their latter end is paradise."

1909 ~ Us Senator Joseph R. McCarthy born
U.S. senator ® - Wiss.) Joseph Raymond McCarthy dominated the early 1950s with his sensational, but unproved, charges of Communist subversion in high government circles. In 1953, McCarthy announced that he would investigate alleged communist infiltration of the U.S. Army and savaged the Army for "coddling Communists." Forty million viewers watched the Army-McCarthy hearings and the national mood began to turn against the senator when, on June 9, 1954, the audience in the Senate Caucus room applauded army counsel Louis Welch's outburst ("Have you no sense of decency, sir?") after the senator tried to attack Welch's young assistant. Six months later (Dec. 2, 1954), the Senate voted 67-22 to censure McCarthy.
McCarthy ended his career, lonely and out of the political limelight. He died at the Bethesda Naval Hospital May 2, 1957, from complications due to alcoholism and hepatitis.

1908 ~ Albert Einstein presents quantum theory of light
Einstein received the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics, in 1922, for this work on the photoelectric effect.
More: http://www.spaceandmotion.com/albert...um-physics.htm
And: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article...lbert-Einstein

1851 ~ "Moby Dick," by Herman Melville, published
Published by Harper & Brothers (New York) Moby-Dick initially flopped, and it was many years before the book was recognized as an American classic.

1831 ~ German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel born
Hegel published only four books during his life: the Phenomenology of Spirit (or Phenomenology of Phenomenology of Mind), his account of the evolution of consciousness from sense-perception to absolute knowledge, published in 1807; the Science of Logic, the logical and metaphysical core of his philosophy, in three volumes, published in 1811, 1812, and 1816 (revised 1831); Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences, a summary of his entire philosophical system, which was originally published in 1816 and revised in 1827 and 1830; and the Elements of the Philosophy of Right, his political philosophy, published in 1822.
Hegel tried to develop a new form of thinking and logic, which he called "speculative reason" (contradictory argument), and which is today popularly called "dialectic," to try to overcome what he saw as the limitations of both common sense and of traditional philosophy at grasping philosophical problems and the relation between thought and reality. The fundamental rationale for logic (or dialectic) is the hypothesis that argument and debate are part of the learning process (the ability to raise questions enables a person to further the horizons of her/his knowledge).
Hegel's dialectic is most often characterized as a three-step process of "Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis"
ie: a "thesis" (e.g. the French Revolution) would cause its "antithesis" (e.g. the Reign of Terror that followed), and would eventually result in a "synthesis" (e.g. the Constitutional state of free citizens).

1792 ~ Capt George Vancouver enters San Francisco Bay

976 ~ T'ai tsu, emperor of China & founder of Sung-dynasty, dies

[GordMay]

[/u]November 15[/u]

2006 ~ Gord begins 24 Hr drive & flight to James Bay
See you Friday

1960 ~ USS George Washington, 1st sub with nuclear ballistic missiles, launched

1920 ~ League of Nations holds 1st meeting, in Geneva

1887 ~ British SS “Wah Yeung” catches fire on Canton River off Hong Kong

1864 ~ Union Major General Sherman burns Atlanta

1835 ~ Charles Darwin reaches Tahiti aboard HMS “Beagle”

1777 ~ U.S. Articles of Confederation adopted
After 16 months of debate, the Continental Congress, sitting in its temporary capital of York, Pennsylvania, agrees to adopt the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union on this day in 1777. Not until March 1, 1781, would the last of the 13 states, Maryland, ratify the agreement.

1577 ~ Sir Francis Drake, aboard “Pelican”, departs from Chile to Washington

1492 ~ Christopher Columbus logs 1st recorded reference to tobacco

[GordMay]

November 17

1977 ~ Egyptian President Sadat formally accepts invitation to visit Israel

1973 ~ I am not a crook
In the midst of the Watergate scandal that eventually ended his presidency, President Richard Nixon tells a group of newspaper editors gathered at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, that he is "not a crook."
Nixon made the now-famous declaration during a televised question-and-answer session with Associated Press editors. Nixon, who appeared "tense" to a New York Times reporter, was questioned about his role in the Watergate burglary scandal and efforts to cover up the fact that members of his re-election committee had funded the break-in. Nixon replied "people have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got." He did, however, admit that he was at fault for failing to supervise his campaign’s fund-raising activities.
At one point during the discussion, Nixon gave a morbid response to an unrelated question about why he chose not to fly with back-up to Air Force One when traveling, the usual security protocol for presidential flights. He told the crowd that by taking just one aircraft he was saving energy, money and possibly time spent in the impeachment process: "if this one [plane] goes down," he said, "they don’t have to impeach [me]."
Nixon was trying to be funny, but in fact the scandal was taking a toll on his physical and mental health. In Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward’s book All the President’s Men, Nixon is described at this time as being "a prisoner in his own house--secretive, distrustful…combative, sleepless." Nixon’s protestations of innocence with regard to the Watergate cover-up were eventually eroded by a relentless federal investigation. On August 8, 1974, he resigned the following day.

1969 ~ SALT-discussions open in Helsinki Finland
Soviet and U.S. negotiators meet in Helsinki to begin the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT). The meeting was the climax of years of discussions between the two nations concerning the means to curb the Cold War arms race. Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency Gerard Smith was put in charge of the U.S. delegation. At the same time, National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger began negotiations with the Soviet ambassador in America. The negotiations continued for nearly three years, until the signing of the SALT I agreement in May 1972.

1869 ~ Suez Canal (Egypt) opens, links Mediterranean and Red seas
In 1854, Ferdinand de Lesseps, the former French consul to Cairo, secured an agreement with the Ottoman governor of Egypt to build a canal 100 miles across the Isthmus of Suez. An international team of engineers drew up a construction plan, and in 1856 the Suez Canal Company was formed and granted the right to operate the canal for 99 years after completion of the work.
Construction began in April 1859, and at first digging was done by hand with picks and shovels wielded by forced laborers. Later, European workers with dredgers and steam shovels arrived. Labor disputes and a cholera epidemic slowed construction, and the Suez Canal was not completed until 1869--four years behind schedule. On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal was opened to navigation. Ferdinand de Lesseps would later attempt, unsuccessfully, to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama.
When it opened, the Suez Canal was only 25 feet deep, 72 feet wide at the bottom, and 200 to 300 feet wide at the surface. Consequently, fewer than 500 ships navigated it in its first full year of operation. Major improvements began in 1876, however, and the canal soon grew into the one of the world's most heavily traveled shipping lanes. In 1875, Great Britain became the largest shareholder in the Suez Canal Company when it bought up the stock of the new Ottoman governor of Egypt. Seven years later, in 1882, Britain invaded Egypt, beginning a long occupation of the country. The Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936 made Egypt virtually independent, but Britain reserved rights for the protection of the canal.
After World War II, Egypt pressed for evacuation of British troops from the Suez Canal Zone, and in July 1956 Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the canal, hoping to charge tolls that would pay for construction of a massive dam on the Nile River. In response, Israel invaded in late October, and British and French troops landed in early November, occupying the canal zone. Under pressure from the United Nations, Britain and France withdrew in December, and Israeli forces departed in March 1957. That month, Egypt took control of the canal and reopened it to commercial shipping.
Ten years later, Egypt shut down the canal again following the Six Day War and Israel's occupation of the Sinai Peninsula. For the next eight years, the Suez Canal, which separates the Sinai from the rest of Egypt, existed as the front line between the Egyptian and Israeli armies. In 1975, Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat reopened the Suez Canal as a gesture of peace after talks with Israel. Today, an average of 50 ships navigate the canal daily, carrying more than 300 million tons of goods a year.

[GordMay]

November 18
1991 ~ Marlon’s daughter, Cheyenne Brando, deported to Tahiti

1987 ~ Congressional committee reports on Iran-Contra
After nearly a year of hearings, the joint Congressional investigating committee concludes that the scandal* was one in which the Reagan administration exhibited "secrecy, deception, and disdain for the law".
Several members of Ronald Reagan’s administration, including National Security Director John Poindexter, and deceased CIA Director William Casey, were named as having been directly involved in the scheme. The report stated that Reagan must bear "ultimate responsibility".
*A plan whereby some of the funds from secret weapon sales to Iran were used to finance the Contra war against the government of Nicaragua.

1939 ~ "Simon Bolivar" sunk by German mine (131 die)
Dutch passenger ship of 8,309 tons built to carry 238 passengers in three classes and sailed the Hamburg-Central America route. (She was named after the South American revolutionary leader 1783-1830.) Owned by the Royal Netherlands Steamship Company, she was en route to Tilbury from Rotterdam, when she struck a magnetic mine at 12.30pm when about twenty-five miles from Harwich. Captain Voorspuity and 130 passengers lost their lives. Passing ships picked up survivors and took them either to Harwich or London.

1909 ~ US invades Nicaragua
In 1909 the United States provided political support to Conservative-led forces rebelling against President Zelaya and intervened militarily, ostensibly to protect American lives and property. With the exception of a 9-month period in 1925-26, the United States maintained troops in Nicaragua from 1912 until 1933.

[GordMay]

November 20

1820 ~Nantucket whaler “Essex” sunk by Sperm whale
The 238-ton American whaler “Essex” was in pursuit of Sperm whales, 2000 miles from the western coast of South America, when an enraged bull whale rammed the ship twice and capsized the vessel. The 20 crew members escaped in three open boats, but only five of the men survived the harrowing 83-day journey to the coastal waters of South America, where they were picked up by other ships.
Most of the crew resorted to cannibalism during the long journey, and at one point men on one of the long boats drew straws to determine which of the men would be shot in order to provide sustenance for the others. Three other men who had been left on a desolate Pacific island were saved later.
The sinking of the Essex was the event that inspired the climactic scene of Herman Melville's “Moby-Dick”.
More: http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=334

[GordMay]

November 21

1989 ~ President Bush signs law banning smoking on most domestic flights
More: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...5AC0A96F948260

1977 ~ First flight of “Concorde” (London to New York)

1975 ~ Congressional report charges U.S. involvement in assassination plots
The Senate Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, chaired by Senator Frank Church, alleged that U.S. officials instigated plots to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Patrice Lumumba of the Congo. In addition, the U.S. officials "encouraged or were privy to" plots that led to the assassinations of Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam, General Rene Schneider of Chile, and Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic. The attempts against Castro failed, but the other four leaders were killed. There was also evidence suggesting U.S. involvement in a number of other assassination plots against foreign leaders.
More: http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/ch...r/contents.htm

1974 ~ U.S. Freedom of Information Act passed by Congress
More: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB142/index.htm
And: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/foia.html

1916 ~ “Britannic” sinks in Aegean Sea (30 die)
The Britannic, sister ship to the Titanic, sinks in the Aegean Sea on this day in 1916, killing 30 people. More than 1,000 others were rescued.
More: http://www.titanic-titanic.com/britannic.shtml

1492 ~ Martin A Pinzon separates “Pinta” from Columbus' fleet

[GordMay]

November 22

1963 ~ U.S. President John F. Kennedy assassinated

1955 ~ Elvis sold
Record company RCA announces that it has purchased the recording contract for Elvis Presley from Sam Philips’ Sun Records. RCA paid $35,000 for the contract; a record sum at the time. Presley also received a $5,000 advance, which he used to buy a pink Cadillac for his mother.

1941 ~ British cruiser “Devonshire” sinks German raider “Atlantis”
More: www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/uk/uksh-d/devnshr7.htm

1935 ~ “China Clipper “ inaugurates first Trans-Pac Airmail
Pan American World Airways fabled China Clipper (Martin M/130 Flying Boat) left Alameda Marina on November 22, 1935. Under the command of Captain Edwin C. Musick, the flight would reach Manila via Honolulu, Midway, Wake, and Guam. The inaugural flight carried 100,000 pieces of mail.

1906 ~ International Radio Telecommunications Com adopts "SOS" as new call for help

1718 ~ Edward Teach (“Blackbeard”) killed off Ocracoke Isle, N.C.
Believed to be a native of England, Edward Teach likely began his pirating career in 1713, when he became a crewman aboard a Caribbean sloop commanded by pirate Benjamin Hornigold. In 1717, after Hornigold accepted an offer of general amnesty by the British crown and retired as a pirate, Teach took over a captured 26-gun French merchantman, increased its armament to 40 guns, and renamed it the “Queen Anne's Revenge”.
During the next six months, the Queen Anne's Revenge served as the flagship of a pirate fleet featuring up to four vessels and more than 200 men. Teach became the most infamous pirate of his day, winning the popular name of Blackbeard for his long, dark beard, which he was said to light on fire during battles to intimidate his enemies. Blackbeard's pirate forces terrorized the Caribbean and the southern coast of North America and were notorious for their cruelty.
In May 1718, the Queen Anne's Revenge and another vessel were shipwrecked, forcing Blackbeard to desert a third ship and most of his men because of a lack of supplies. With the single remaining ship, Blackbeard sailed to Bath in North Carolina and met with Governor Charles Eden. Eden agreed to pardon Blackbeard in exchange for a share of his sizable booty.
At the request of North Carolina planters, Governor Alexander Spotswood of Virginia dispatched a British naval force under Lieutenant Robert Maynard to North Carolina to deal with Blackbeard. On November 22, Blackbeard's forces were defeated and he was killed in a bloody battle of Ocracoke Island. Legend has it that Blackbeard, who captured more than 30 ships in his brief pirating career, received five musket-ball wounds and 20 sword lacerations before dying.

[GordMay]

November 23

1981 ~ Reagan gives CIA authority to establish the Contras
President Ronald Reagan signs off on a top secret document, National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), which gives the Central Intelligence Agency the power to recruit and support a 500-man force of Nicaraguan rebels to conduct covert actions against the leftist Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. A budget of $19 million was established for that purpose. NSDD-17 marked the beginning of official U.S. support for the so-called Contras in their struggle against the Sandinistas. The decision came several months after President Reagan directed the CIA to develop a plan to stop what his administration believed to be a serious flow of arms from Nicaragua to rebels in neighboring El Salvador. The administration also believed that the Sandinista regime was merely a cat's paw for the Soviet Union. CIA officials subsequently set about securing pledges from Honduras to provide training bases and Argentina to give training to about 1,000 rebels (these would be in addition to the 500-man force trained and supplied by the CIA). Beyond the original goal of halting the flow of arms from Nicaragua, the tasks of the rebels were expanded to include spy missions and even paramilitary actions inside Nicaragua. News of the directive leaked out to the press in March 1982, but Reagan administration officials quickly downplayed the significance of the action. They argued that the CIA plan was designed to support Nicaraguan "moderates" who opposed the Sandinista regime, not the disreputable former soldiers and allies of Anastasio Somoza, whom the Sandinista overthrew in 1979. Deputy Director of the CIA Admiral Bobby R. Inman argued that the $19 million allocation provided little buying power for arms and other materials, saying that "Nineteen million or $29 million isn't going to buy you much of any kind these days, and certainly not against that kind of military force." In the years to come, U.S. support of the Contras became a highly charged issue among the American public. Congressional and public criticisms of the program eventually drove the Reagan administration to subvert congressional bans on aid to the Contras. These actions resulted in what came to be known as the Iran-Contra scandal of 1986.
NSDD-17: http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/nsdd/nsdd-017.htm


1955 ~ British transfer Cocos (Keeling) Isl. in Indian Ocean to Australia
The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are an Australian Territory located in the Indian Ocean some 2800 kilometres north-west of Perth. The territory consists of 27 coral islands in two atolls having a total land area of about 14 square kilometres.
The islands became an Australian Territory from 23 November 1955 with the proclamation of the Cocos (Keeling) Island Act 1955. Prior to this time they had been administered as a British possession by the Colony of Singapore and, from the middle of the nineteenth century, had been administered by British Governors in Ceylon or Singapore (the Straits Settlements).

1946 ~ French Navy bombard Haiphong, Vietnam (6,000 die)
The French bombardment of Haiphong left 6,000 civilians dead and effectively marked the beginning of the drawn-out and unsuccessful French struggle to retain control over Indochina (Viet Nam), better known as the First Indochina War. The Viêt Minh retaliated in December, and full-fledged war commenced.

1943 - On Tarawa Atoll, the battle ends by noon
The US marines have suffered 1000 killed and 2000 wounded. The Japanese garrison of 4800 troops has been annihilated. A total of 17 wound Japanese troops and 129 Korean laborers are the only survivors. On Makin Atoll, the battle is also completed. American infantry have suffered about 200 dead and wounded. The Japanese have lost about 600 killed, wounded or captured. Meanwhile, the escort carrier “Liscomb Bay” is sunk offshore by a Japanese resulting in the loss of 600 sailors.

1942 ~ U.S. Coast Guard Woman's Auxiliary (SPARS) authorized

1942 ~ Steward Poon Lim ~ man on a raft (133 days adrift)
Poon Lim (born 1917, died 1991), a Chinese seaman, held the world’s record as a sea survivor after floating alone on a life raft in the South Atlantic for 133 days. When told of the record, he said, “ I hope no one will ever have to break it.”
More: http://judkins.customer.netspace.net.au/survival.htm

1902 - Dr. Walter Reed (51) died from a ruptured appendix in Washington DC.
Dr. Reid’s experiments in Cuba helped prove that yellow fever was transmitted by a mosquitoes, and that the secret to stopping epidemics of yellow fever is to get rid of the mosquitoes that carry it.

[GordMay]

November 23

1999 : Ferry “Dashun” sinks in Yellow Sea
The “Dashun”, a 9,000-tonne ferry, caught fire, broke up and sank in rough seas and gale-force winds near Yantai (China's northeastern coast) while sailing to Dalian. Only 22 of the 304 passengers & 8 crew survived the shipwreck, which was the country`s worst shipping disaster since the founding of the People`s Republic of China in 1949.
More: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...29/ai_57946999

1971 ~ "DB Cooper” parachutes with $200,000
Cooper commandeered a Northwest AL 727 shortly after takeoff, showing a flight attendant something that looked like a bomb and informing the crew that he wanted $200,000, four parachutes, and "no funny stuff." The plane landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where authorities met Cooper's demands and evacuated most of the passengers. Cooper then demanded that the plane fly toward Mexico at a low altitude and ordered the remaining crew into the cockpit.
At 8:13 p.m., as the plane flew over the Lewis River in southwest Washington, the plane's pressure gauge recorded Cooper's jump from the aircraft. Wearing only wraparound sunglasses, a thin suit, and a raincoat, Cooper parachuted into a thunderstorm with winds in excess of 100 mph and temperatures well below zero at the 10,000-foot altitude where he began his fall. The storm prevented an immediate capture, and most authorities assumed he was killed during his apparently suicidal jump. No trace of Cooper was found during a massive search.
In 1980, an eight-year-old boy uncovered a stack of nearly $5,880 of the ransom money in the sands along the north bank of the Columbia River, five miles from Vancouver, Washington. The fate of Cooper remains a mystery.

1969 ~ Lt William L Calley, charged with massacre of civilians in My Lai Vietnam
In Washington, Army Secretary Stanley Resor and Army Chief of Staff William C. Westmoreland announced the appointment of Lt. Gen. William R. Peers to "explore the nature and scope" of the original investigation of the My Lai slayings in April 1968. The initial probe, conducted by the unit involved in the affair, concluded that no massacre occurred and that no further action was warranted.
The My Lai Massacre took place in March 1968, when between 200 and 500 South Vietnamese civilians were murdered by U.S. soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry, 11th Infantry Brigade of the Americal Division. During a sweep of a cluster of hamlets, the U.S. soldiers, particularly those from Calley's first platoon, indiscriminately shot people as they ran from their huts. They then systematically rounded up the survivors, allegedly leading them to a ditch where Calley gave the order to "finish them off."
After an investigation by the Army Criminal Investigation Division, 14 were charged with crimes. All eventually had their charges dismissed or were acquitted, except Calley, who was found guilty of murdering 22 civilians and sentenced to life imprisonment. His sentence was reduced twice and he was paroled in November 1974.

1963 ~ Jack Ruby shoots Lee Harvey Oswald
At 12:20 p.m., in the basement of the Dallas police station, Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy, is shot to death by Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner (1st live murder on TV).

1947 ~ HUAC finds "Hollywood 10" in contempt
The House of Representatives votes 346 to 17 to approve citations of contempt against 10 Hollywood writers, directors, and producers. These men had refused to cooperate at hearings dealing with communism in the movie industry held by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). The "Hollywood 10," as the men were known, are sentenced to one year in jail. The Supreme Court later upheld the contempt charges.

1871 ~ National Rifle Association organized in New York City

1859 ~ Charles Darwin publishes "On the Origin of Species"
Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life” immediately sold out its initial print run, and by 1872, the book had run through six editions, and become one of the most influential books of modern times.
This site contains Darwin's complete publications and many of his handwritten manuscripts: http://darwin-online.org.uk/
More: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/origin.html

1642 ~ Abel Janzoon Tasman discovers Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)
More: http://history-nz.org/discovery1.html

[GordMay]

November 25

1963 ~ John F. Kennedy laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery
Three days after his assassination in Dallas, Texas, John F. Kennedy is laid to rest Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of Washington, and millions of television viewers worldwide, watched a horse-drawn caisson bear Kennedy's body from the Capitol Rotunda to St. Matthew's Catholic Cathedral for a requiem Mass. The solemn procession then continued on to Arlington National Cemetery, where leaders of 99 nations gathered for the state funeral. Kennedy was buried with full military honors on a slope below Arlington House, where an eternal flame was lit by his widow to forever mark the grave.

1950 ~ Appalachian Storm hits eastern U.S. (160 die)

1940 ~ “Patria”, carrying illegal immigrants, sinks in port of Haifa (267 die)
http://www.zionism-israel.com/dic/Patria.htm

1876 ~ U.S. Army retaliates for the Little Bighorn defeat
Although the Sioux and Cheyenne won one of their greatest victories at Little Bighorn, the battle actually marked the beginning of the end of their ability to resist the U.S. government. News of the massacre of Custer and his men reached the East Coast in the midst of nationwide centennial celebrations on July 4, 1876. Outraged at the killing of one of their most popular Civil War heroes, many Americans demanded an intensified military campaign against the offending Indians.
The government responded by sending one of its most successful Indian fighters to the region, at the headwaters of the Powder River, General Ranald Mackenzie, who had previously been the scourge of Commanche and Kiowa Indians in Texas. Mackenzie led an expeditionary force up the Powder River in central Wyoming, where he located a village of Cheyenne living with Chief Dull Knife. Although Dull Knife himself does not appear to have been involved in the battle at Little Bighorn, there is no question that many of his people were, including one of his sons.
At dawn, Mackenzie and over 1,000 soldiers and 400 Indian scouts opened fire on the sleeping village, killing many Indians within the first few minutes. Some of the Cheyenne, though, managed to run into the surrounding hills. They watched as the soldiers burned more than 200 lodges-containing all their winter food and clothing-and then cut the throats of their ponies. When the soldiers found souvenirs taken by the Cheyenne from soldiers they had killed at Little Bighorn, the assailants felt justified in their attack.
The surviving Cheyenne, many of them half-naked, began an 11-day walk north to the Tongue River where Crazy Horse's camp of Oglalas took them in. However, many of the small children and old people did not survive the frigid journey. Devastated by his losses, the next spring Dull Knife convinced the remaining Cheyenne to surrender. The army sent them South to Indian Territory, where other defeated survivors of the final years of the Plains Indian wars soon joined them.

1120 ~ English royal yacht "White Ship" sinks in storm (1 survivor)
William Adelin, son of king Henry I of England, drowned in the Channel on in the wreck of the “White Ship”.
More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Ship

[GordMay]

November 26

1941 ~1St Air Fleet (Japan) departs for Pearl Harbor (USA)
On this day in 1941, Adm. Chuichi Nagumo leads the Japanese First Air Fleet, an aircraft carrier strike force, toward Pearl Harbor, with the understanding that should "negotiations with the United States reach a successful conclusion, the task force will immediately put about and return to the homeland."
Japanese orders: http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/myths/jm-097.html

1922 ~ Carter enters tomb of King Tut
In Egypt's Valley of the Kings, British archaeologists Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first souls to enter King Tutankhamen's tomb in more than 3,000 years. Tutankhamen's sealed burial chambers were miraculously intact, and inside was a collection of several thousand priceless objects, including a gold coffin containing the mummy of the teenage king.

1914 ~ Battleship HMS “Bulwark” explodes (748 die)
Whilst loading ammunition at Sheerness, HMS “Bulwark” was destroyed by a huge explosion, thought to have been caused by the mishandling of black gun powder. Only 12 from her company of 750 survived.

1898 ~ SS “Portland” leaves for Cape Cod - Lost (157 die)
more: http://www.l-3klein.com/image_galler.../portland.html

1778 ~ Capt. Cook “discovers” Maui
Captain James Cook became the first European explorer to discover Maui (Sandwich Islands - now Hawaii). Cook never set foot on the island because he was unable to find a suitable landing. The first European to visit Maui was the French admiral Jean François de Galaup de La Pérouse, who landed on the shores of what is now known as La Perouse Bay on May 29, 1786.

1703 ~ Bristol England damaged by hurricane, Royal Navy loses 15 warships

1598 ~ Jacob of Necks merchant fleet reaches Bantam West-Java
As commercial representative of the Verre Company, van Neck is accompanied by Vice Admiral Jacob van Heemskerck. Van Houtman establishes trade with Madagascar before proceeding to the East Indies. The Dutch establish cordial relations with the sultan of Bantam, who sees them as potential allies against the hated Portuguese, who enslave his people, and gives them a warm welcome.

[GordMay]

November 27

1962 ~ 1st test flight of the Boeing 727
More: http://www.boeing.com/commercial/727family/index.html

1942 ~ French fleet scuttled
French Admiral Jean de Laborde sinks the French fleet anchored in Toulon harbor, off the southern coast of France, in order to keep it out of German hands.
In June 1940, after the German invasion of France and the establishment of an unoccupied zone in the southeast, led by Gen. Philippe Petain, Adm. Jean Darlan was committed to keeping the French fleet out of German control. At the same time, as a minister in the government that had signed an armistice with the Germans, one that promised a relative "autonomy" to Vichy France, Darlan was prohibited from sailing that fleet to British or neutral waters. But a German-commandeered fleet in southern France, so close to British-controlled regions in North Africa, could prove disastrous to the Brits, who decided to take matters into their own hands by launching Operation Catapult: the attempt by a British naval force to persuade the French naval commander at Oran to either break the armistice and sail the French fleet out of the Germans' grasp-or to scuttle it. And if the French wouldn't, the Brits would.
And the British tried. In a five-minute missile bombardment, they managed to sink one French cruiser and two old battleships. They also killed 1,250 French sailors. This would be the genesis of much bad blood between France and England throughout the war. General Petain broke off diplomatic relations with Great Britain.
But two years later, with the Germans now in Vichy and the armistice already violated, Admiral Laborde finished the job the British had started. As the Germans launched Operation Lila, the attempt to commandeer the French fleet, Laborde ordered the sinking of 2 battle cruisers, 4 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, 1 aircraft transport, 30 destroyers, and 16 submarines. Three French subs managed to escape the Germans and make it to Algiers, Allied territory. Only one sub fell into German hands. The marine equivalent of a scorched-earth policy had succeeded.

1868 ~Massacre at Washita
Without bothering to identify the village or do any reconnaissance, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer leads an early morning attack on Chief Black Kettle’s band of peaceful Cheyenne.
Convicted of desertion and mistreatment of soldiers earlier that year in a military court, the government had suspended Custer from rank and command for one year. Ten months into his punishment, in September 1868, General Philip Sheridan reinstated Custer to lead a campaign against Cheyenne Indians who had been making raids in Kansas and Oklahoma that summer. Sheridan was frustrated by the inability of his other officers to find and engage the enemy, and despite his poor record and unpopularity with the men of the 7th Cavalry, Custer was a good fighter.
Sheridan determined that a campaign in winter might prove more effective, since the Indians could be caught off guard while in their permanent camps. On November 26, Custer located a large village of Cheyenne encamped near the Washita River, just outside of present-day Cheyenne, Oklahoma. Custer did not attempt to identify which group of Cheyenne was in the village, or to make even a cursory reconnaissance of the situation. Had he done so, Custer would have discovered that they were peaceful people and the village was on reservation soil, where the commander of Fort Cobb had guaranteed them safety. There was even a white flag flying from one of the main dwellings, indicating that the tribe was actively avoiding conflict.
Having surrounded the village the night before, at dawn Custer called for the regimental band to play "Garry Owen," which signaled for four columns of soldiers to charge into the sleeping village. Outnumbered and caught unaware, scores of Cheyenne were killed in the first 15 minutes of the "battle," though a small number of the warriors managed to escape to the trees and return fire. Within a few hours, the village was destroyed--the soldiers had killed 103 Cheyenne, including the peaceful Black Kettle and many women and children.
Hailed as the first substantial American victory in the Indian wars, the Battle of the Washita helped to restore Custer's reputation and succeeded in persuading many Cheyenne to move to the reservation. However, Custer's habit of boldly charging Indian encampments of unknown strength would eventually lead him to his death at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.