This date in history

[Jimbuna]

1783 Britain evacuates New York city, its last military position in United States.

1940 First flights of the de Havilland Mosquito and Martin B-26 Marauder.

1943 U-600 sinks in Atlantic Ocean.

1944 A German V-2 rocket hits a Woolworth's store in Deptford, United Kingdom, killing 160 shoppers.

1948 16-inch coastal guns removed from Fort Funston, San Francisco.

1983 World's greatest robbery; 26 million pounds (sterling) worth of gold, diamonds and cash stolen from Brink's-Mat warehouse at Heathrow Airport, England.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

1943 U-600 sinks in Atlantic Ocean.

Was Sunk! https://uboat.net/men/commanders/1410.html

[Jimbuna]

1778 British explorer Captain James Cook discovers Maui in the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii).

1898 SS Portland “The Titanic of New England” leaves for Cape Cod, shipwrecked off Cape Ann, all 192 on board killed.

1914 Battleship HMS Bulwark explodes at Sheerness Harbour, England, 788 die.

1922 English archaeologist Howard Carter opens Tutankhamun's virtually intact tomb in Egypt.

1941 Japanese naval carrier force left its base & moves east toward Pearl Harbour.

1944 Himmler orders destruction of Auschwitz & Birkenau crematoria.

1950 China enters Korean conflict, sends troops across Yalu River.

1962 Fab Four have their first recording session under name The Beatles.

[Jimbuna]

1942 French navy at Toulon scuttles ships and subs so Germans cannot seize them.

1945 Trial against NSB-leader Mussert begins.

1945 Dutch resistance fighter Hannie Schaft re-buried in presence of Queen Wilhelmina.

1951 First rocket to intercept an airplane, White Sands, NM.

1951 Cease-fire and demarcation zone accord signed in Panmunjon, Korea.

[Jimbuna]

1717 Blackbeard attacks a French merchant vessel called "La Concorde", which he would capture and rename as the "Queen Anne's Revenge"

1922 Captain Cyril Turner (RAF) gives first skywriting exhibition (NYC) Turner spelled out "Hello USA. Call Vanderbilt 7200." 47,000 called.

1946 Dutch Nazi Anton Mussert sentenced to death.

1974 John Lennon's last concert appearance (Elton John concert in Madison Square Garden NYC).

[Aktungbby]

1804: Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor.

At the moment of the crowning when the Pope said, "Receive the imperial crown...", Napoleon turned and removed his laurel wreath ( certainly a clear case of not resting on one's laurels??!!) and crowned himself and then crowned the kneeling Joséphine with a small crown surmounted by a cross, which he had first placed on his own head. "Napoleon's detractors like to say that he snatched the crown from the Pope, or that this was an act of unbelievable arrogance, but neither of those charges holds water. Napoleon was simply symbolizing that he was becoming emperor based on his own merits and the will of the people, not because of some religious consecration.

ie absolute power corrupts...absolutely Old 'Boney', who's love letters suggest less than confidence in the boudoir with his vastly experienced wife, was so worn out from the day's proceedings and his weighty crown that he begged off using the famous expression: "Not tonight Josephine" with his newly-minted Empress.....

[Jimbuna]

1917 The Supreme Allied War Council, meeting at Versailles to define war aim, fails to reach an agreement.

1943 Battle of Monte Cassino, Italy begins.

1944 Britain's Home Guard ('Dad's Army') is officially stood down at a special farewell parade in Hyde Park, London.

1967 First human heart transplant performed by Dr Christian Barnard in South Africa.

1989 Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and US President George H. W. Bush, declare the Cold War over.

[Jimbuna]

1619 38 colonists from Berkeley Parish, England disembark in Virginia and give thanks to God. Considered by many the first Thanksgiving in the Americas.

1829 Britain outlaws "suttee" in India (widow burning herself to death on her husband's funeral pyre).

1872 Ship the Mary Celeste is discovered mysteriously abandoned by her crew in the Atlantic Ocean.

1915 F F Fletcher is first US admiral to receive Congressional Medal of Honor.

1918 US President Woodrow Wilson sails for Versailles Peace Conference in France, first President to travel outside US while in office.

1948 SS Kiangya hits mine in Whangpoo River, China, sinks killing 2,750.

1978 Dutch war criminal Pieter Menten freed.

[Jimbuna]

1717 English pirate Blackbeard ransacks the merchant sloop "Margaret" and keeps her captain, Henry Bostock prisoner for 8 hours before releasing him. Bostock later provides first record of Blackbeard's appearance, and the source for his name.

1941 US aircraft carrier Lexington and 5 heavy cruisers leave Pearl Harbor.

1945 Flight 19 the "Lost Squadron" of 5 torpedo bombers and 14 airmen is lost east of Florida in the supposed Bermuda Triangle.

1967 The Beatles' clothing store "Apple" opens at 94 Baker Street, London.

[Aktungbby]

1952:
The Great Smog, which blanketed the British capital for five days in December 1952, is estimated by some experts to have killed more than 12,000 people and hospitalized 150,000. Thousands of animals also died.
During a cold snap on Dec. 5 that year, sulphur particles mixed with fumes from burning coal and made the yellow fog smell like rotten eggs. Some Londoners reported being unable to see their feet, and transportation was canceled with the exception of the London Underground. Birds flew into buildings, and robberies increased as thieves were able to make an easy getaway.
The smog eventually lifted on Dec. 9, after cold winds swept the fumes out to the North Sea. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/12/13/scientists-say-theyve-solved-mystery-1952-london-killer-fog/95375738/

[Jimbuna]

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

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

1957 1st US attempt to launch a satellite fails-Vanguard rocket blows up.

1962 US abandons Skybolt ballistic missile program.

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

[Rockstar]

Not only did Mont Blanc explode but its been said U.S. Canadian relations warmed and we became relatively good friends because of that incident

Prior to that we were not on the best terms with Canada. Since we fought them in 1776, 1812 and in the American Civil War by proxy.

[Mr Quatro]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

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

1962 US abandons Skybolt ballistic missile program.

Perhaps we should reintroduce the Skybolt missile program ... you know just in case there really is going to be a war someday. Lord only knows we've been getting ready for one since 1945 ... we could send thousands of drones to defeat the ground to air missiles they would encounter.

Here's what happen to the Skybolt in the US and the UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAM-87_Skybolt

The Douglas GAM-87 Skybolt (AGM-48 under the 1962 Tri-service system) was an air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) developed by the United States during the late 1950s. The basic concept was to allow US strategic bombers to launch their weapons from well outside the range of Soviet defenses, as much as 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from their targets. To do this in an air-launched form, a lightweight thermonuclear warhead was needed, initially selecting the W47 from the Polaris missile, but later moving to the W59 from the Minuteman missile.
The UK joined the Skybolt program in 1960, intending to use it on their V bomber force. When the design added a star tracker in addition to its inertial navigation system (INS) this meant that it could only be carried externally (where the tracker could see the sky) and the requirement for adequate ground clearance on takeoff limited it to the Avro Vulcan bomber. A number of design decisions in the W47 led the RAF to question its safety, so they intended to use their own Red Snow warheads. This was a heavier warhead and would reduce the range to about 600 miles (970 km), meaning the bombers would have to cross the Soviet coastline to attack Moscow.
Testing began in 1962 and was initially marked by a string of failures. These failures, along with a lack of mission after the successful development of submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), led to its cancellation in December 1962.[1] The UK had decided to base its entire 1960s deterrent force on Skybolt, and its cancellation led to a major disagreement between the UK and US, known today as the "Skybolt Crisis". This was resolved by a series of meetings that led to the Royal Navy gaining the UGM-27 Polaris missile and construction of the Resolution-class submarines to launch them.

The Avro Vulcan (later Hawker Siddeley Vulcan[2] from July 1963)[3] is a jet-powered tailless delta wing high-altitude strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984.

Originally Posted by Rockstar

Not only did Mont Blanc explode but its been said U.S. Canadian relations warmed and we became relatively good friends because of that incident

Prior to that we were not on the best terms with Canada. Since we fought them in 1776, 1812 and in the American Civil War by proxy.

Back to not on so good terms with Canada canceling the F-18 super hornet contract: http://thehill.com/policy/defense/36...-canada-report

Canada was in the midst of negotiations to buy the Boeing-made F/A-18s for an estimated $5.15 billion, but the country put talks on hold after the defense contractor in April filed a complaint with the U.S. Commerce Department against Canadian company Bombardier.

Boeing argued that Bombardier -- which sold its new C-series commercial jets to American company Delta Air Lines -- was given a competitive advantage against other companies by receiving Canadian government subsidies. The funding allowed Bombardier to significantly lower the cost per aircraft, Boeing argued.

[Jimbuna]

1917 The USA's 42nd 'Rainbow' Division arrives in France (with Colonel Douglass MacArthur among its ranks).

1941 Futshida's air fleet passes coastline of Oahu.

1941 Imperial Japanese Navy with 353 planes attack US fleet at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii, killing 2,403 people.

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

1988 PLO delegation lead by Yasir Arafat proclaims the State of Palestine, recognizing the existence of the State of Israel for the first time.

[Aktungbby]

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

At 6:45, the captain ordered to “commence firing!” Gun 1, Which was composed of a gun crew of Minnesota Reservists who were not Minnesota Nice and fired the first shot. They were with a crew filled out mostly by 84 naval reservists from St. Paul. Their seamanship had been acquired training on the Mississippi and Lake Superior. That shot 'barely missed' but the second gun, #3 didn't.....and sank the first enemy ship of the war for the US... before it had fired its own two torpedos!

As Ward pounded past at 25 knots, number three gun atop the galley deckhouse amidships commenced fire, its round passed squarely through the submersible's conning tower. As the Japanese midget wallowed lower in the water and started to sink, the destroyer swiftly dropped four depth charges, signalled by four blasts on the ship's whistle. Black water gushed upwards in the ship's boiling wake as the charges went off, sealing the submarine's doom.

What a four inch shell hole looks like on the Jap mini sub rediscovered on 2002-fulfilling the Ward's claim of a sinking: http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/HURL/gallery/archaeology/midget.html#images The actual gun that fired the first shot now is a memorial upon the Minnesota Capitol Mall> (click to enlarge)