Total Number of Ratings: 4
The Week in History (6/13-6/19)
Monday, June 14, 2010 1:36 PM
We go on with our lives every day, not knowing what brought us here. What defining moments helped shape our planet, changed our lives, and will forever be in the history books? Every week I will bring you up to speed on some of the biggest moments from the past and even the present. Even the tiniest moment could bring huge ramifications to our lives today. Remember! What happens today could be history tomorrow!
--------------------------
June 13th
1970AD-Last Beatles recording
It would be redundant to give any information on the Beatles because....Well it's the Beatles! What more can you say about (arguably) the greatest band of all time? This date in particular though is memorible as 'The Long and Winding Road', would be the last song the group would ever record. In fact the tension between the group was so high that when Phil Spector, their producer at the time, made changes to the song Paul McCartney made it offically legal for the group to end. What started off as a strong and promising career for all members involved ended in a sad and bitter breakup. Obviously overtime the group made up and had successful solo careers. Still, it is a shame just how badly this band broke up at the very end.
June 14th
1938AD-Action Comics #1 is released
The comic book boom started here. When two men, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, decided to create the greatest superhero of all time: Superman. A comic that is so revered now that a man was able to snag a copy for over $1.5 million dollars! The cover for this comic is so legendary that it has been parodied and homaged hundreds of times since its publication. What's funny is that Superman didn't even take the full burden of this sixty-four page giant. He's only in the first thirteen pages and then it was shared by other superheroes. (Like Zatara or Tex Thompson) The Action Comics we see today as a full blown Superman title wouldn't happen for a few years later. The title is still going strong today with eight hundred and eighty-nine issues and going! Other titles through out the years have had long publication runs (Batman, Spider-Man) but Action Comics is still the high standard for any comic fans.
June 15th
1752AD-Benjamin Franklin proves lighting is electricity
A man who helped shaped this country like no other, Franklin is one of the greatest Founding Fathers America had. If it wasn't for him, in politics or science, our country may not have been shaped like it is today. With his fascination of electricity, he wanted to prove that bolts of lighting was nothing but that. So we all know the infamous story: He took a key and tied it to a kite. On a stormy day he flew the kite in the air and hoped for lighting to hit it. Eventually it did and he was able to measure that it was indeed electricty. While we all learned this in school, future studies have shown that this test couldn't have been done. For one thing, many researchers found it hard to believe a smart man like Franklin would purposely get electrocuted. Then on the hit show 'Mythbusters' they proved that if Franklin did indeed do the test, he would have been killed instantly because the large amounts of volts coming from a lighting bolt. Franklin himself wrote down that he was insulated for the test and it wasn't exactly just a kite being flown in a storm. Either way though, whether it's a story or it did happen, it did help make the myth of Franklin grow even more to this day.
June 16th
1858AD-Lincoln's 'House Divided' Speech
Lincoln has had a ton of great speeches through out his life. His greatest will always be the Gettysburg Address, but his House Divided speech is also one of his best. Once Lincoln became the nomination for Republicans for Illionis senator, he crafted and presented this speech. It was more so a warning for the continuous fighting over the North and South on the topic of slavery. Although Lincoln lost the election to (ironically) Stephen A. Douglas a few months later, this speech would help the public look at Lincoln more closely and he would soon wind up as President three years later.
June 17th
1972AD-Watergate Scandel
The (HUGE) fall of Richard Nixon started here. One night five men were arrested at Watergate Hotel for breaking and entering. This normally wouldn't sound like much then just another crime, until you think of the big picture. It was the HQ for the Democratic National Committee and the people arrested were trying to wiretap the place. Eventually it all became clear as the infamous tape recorder Nixon had in his office showed that he was fully involved with the wiretapping. In just a few years, Nixon went from leader of the free world to a big disgrace and eventually resigned as President.
June 18th
1815AD-Battle of Waterloo
I had a history teacher in Community College that absolutely loves Napoleon. For this reason only: How much of a brute force are you to A) get exiled, B) gather a small army to invade France, C) Get the entire country back on your side, and D) Try to reclaim everything you lost and then some? The life of this small man was indeed extraordinary. But then it all came back to reality with this fateful battle between his forces and the British army led by the Duke of Wellington. The battle was all too much for Napoleon's ragtag team of fighters and eventually he surrendered. Napoleon would spend the rest of his days in exile (again) and the once mighty ruler of France became an afterthought.
June 19th
1910AD-First Father's Day
Before commercialization of the holiday, yes this was considered an important day for all Fathers, it was birthed in Washington (state) by a woman named Sonora Dodd. She felted that while Mother's were getting their appreciation in May, she wanted to let her father know she cared for him just as much. Unoffically it was a holiday, and it never became official until 56 years later! Because, for some reason, most policitains wouldn't take the idea seriously. Thanks to Lyndon B. Johnson, it officially became a holiday under his watch. Weird how such a small holiday, in ranking it with others to be honest, had such a weird history into becoming one in the first place.
The Beatles bit made me sad. There's an awesome 'What If?' sort of story floating around about the Beatles getting back together later in their careers. really touching.
I'd hardly call Napoleon an afterthough. He set up a schooling system which is still used today and was a brilliant tactical general. Also, unlike Alexander the Great, he was a tremendous administrator. He also wasn't short. He was about average in height at the time. It's just British propaganda that portrays him being short.
This week in Cult movie history: Russ Meyer, sexploitation and big boob aficionado, releases his first major studio picture: Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls, one of the most notable X rated movies in history.
Respond
Before I get into too much of an historial debate I just wanna say great article. I'm loving these.