This date in history

[Jimbuna]

1964 Cassius Clay converts to Islam, and is renamed Muhammad Ali.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

1964 Cassius Clay converts to Islam, and is renamed Muhammad Ali.

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Most incorrigible

From which we got the expression: Alihu Akbar! The man! surrounded by..."the usual suspects"

[Jimbuna]

[Fubar2Niner]

1587 Mary Queens of Scots is executed on suspiciion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin Queen Elizabeth 1

[Jimbuna]

1807 Battle of Eylau ends inconclusively between Napoleon's forces and Russian Empire - first battle Napoleon isn't victorious.

1906 Without warning, Japanese torpedo boats make a night attack on Russian ships near the naval base at Port Arthur, Manchuria; there is confusion because no deceleration of war was given.

1916 French cruiser "Admiral Charner" torpedoed off Syrian coast, kills 374.

1933 First flight of all-metal Boeing 247.

1943 Red Army recaptures Kursk.

1944 U-762 sunk off Ireland.

1952 Elizabeth II is proclaimed Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.

1960 Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom issued an Order-in-Council, stating that she and her family would be known as the House of Windsor, and that her descendants will take the name "Mountbatten-Windsor".

1984 1st time 8 people in space.

[Jimbuna]

1916 Britain's military service act enforced (conscription).

1944 U-734/U-238 sunk off Ireland.

1945 HMS Venturer sinks U-Boat 864 off the coast of Norway.

[Jimbuna]

1906 British battleship HMS Dreadnought launched after only 100 days, rendering all other capital ships obsolete with its revolutionary design.

1915 US President Wilson warns Germany that the US will hold it 'to a strict accountability' for 'property endangered or lives lost'.

1915 US President Wilson protests to Britain on the use of US flags on British merchant ships to deceive the Germans.

1944 U-666/U-545/U-283 sink off Ireland.

1947 WW II peace treaties signed.

[Jimbuna]

1916 Germany and Austria-Hungary notify the US that they will sink any armed merchant ships starting on 1 March.

1943 US General Eisenhower selected to command the allied armies in Europe; British General Montgomery not best pleased.

1943 Transport #47 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany.

1944 U-424 sunk off Ireland.

1946 World War II: Operation Deadlight ends after scuttling 116 of 156 captured U-boats.

[Jimbuna]

1915 Adolf Hitler receives the relatively common Iron Cross second class for bravery in World War I.

1938 The first 'Kindertransport' carrying Jewish refugee children from Nazi Germany arrives in Britain.

1942 German battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen escape from Brest to Germany in a dash up the English Channel.

1999 US President Bill Clinton acquitted by the Senate in his impeachment trial.

2013 North Korea confirms it has successfully tested a nuclear device that could be weaponized.

[Jimbuna]

1942 Hitler's Operation Sealion, the invasion of England, is cancelled.

1990 US, Britain & France give Germany OK to reunify.

[Jimbuna]

1797 The Battle of Cape St Vincent: British fleet under Admiral Sir John Jervis defeats larger Spanish fleet under Admiral Don José de Córdoba y Ramos near Cape St. Vincent, Portugal. Captain Horatio Nelson distinguishes himself.

1940 British merchant vessel fleet is armed.

1971 Richard Nixon installs secret taping system in White House.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

1797 The Battle of Cape St Vincent: British fleet under Admiral Sir John Jervis defeats larger Spanish fleet under Admiral Don José de Córdoba y Ramos near Cape St. Vincent, Portugal. Captain Horatio Nelson distinguishes himself.

The big star was HMS Victory! Also the 'flagship' on this occasion as at Trafalgar under Nelson.

The Spanish fleet, which had been blown off course by easterly gales, was that night working its way to Cadiz. The darkness and a dense fog meant Nelson was able to pass through the enemy fleet without being spotted and join Jervis on 13 February Jervis, whose fleet had been reinforced on 5 February by five ships from Britain under Rear-Admiral William Parker, now had 15 ships of the line The following morning, having drawn up his fleet into two columns, Jervis impressed upon the officers on Victory's quarterdeck how, "A victory to England is very essential at the moment". Jervis was not aware of the size of the fleet he was facing, but at around 0630 hrs, received word that five Spanish battleships were to the south-east By 0900 hrs. the first enemy ships were visible from Victory's masthead, and at 1100 hrs, Jervis gave the order to form line of battle. As the Spanish ships became visible to him, Calder reported the numbers to Jervis, but when he reached 27, Jervis replied, "Enough Sir. No more of that. The die is cast and if there are 50 sail, I will go through them". @ U-CRANK: Seeing that it would be difficult to disengage, Jervis decided to continue because the situation would only get worse were the Spanish fleet to join up with the French. Meanwhile, the Canadian Captain Hallowell became so excited that he thumped the Admiral on the back, "That's right Sir John, and, by God, we'll give them a damn good licking!" Canadians...always good for morale! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Hallowell_Carew Two signals were hoisted: 11:12 am: Engage the enemy 11:30 am: Admiral intends to pass through enemy lines??!! The Spanish were caught by surprise, sailing in two divisions with a gap that Jervis aimed to exploit. The ship's log records how Victory halted the Spanish division, raking ships both ahead and astern, while Jervis' private memoirs recall how the Victory's broadside so terrified the Principe de Asturias that she "..squared her yards, ran clear out of the battle and did not return". There was one fatality aboard Victory; a cannonball narrowly missed Jervis and decapitated a nearby sailor.

Poor Admiral Don José de Córdoba y Ramos was dismissed from the Spanish navy and forbidden from appearing at court.
Jervis resumed his blockade of the Spanish fleet in Cadiz. The continuation of the blockade for most of the following three years, largely curtailed the operations of the Spanish fleet until the Peace of Amiens in 1802.
The containment of the Spanish threat, and the further reinforcement of his command, enabled Jervis to send a squadron under Nelson back into the Mediterranean the following year; re-established British command of the Mediterranean setting up the climatic Nelson victory at the 1798 Battle of the Nile...at which the French would B a-Nile-hilated? Battles in war are a like a string of pearls;one good day's work entails the next day's greater achievements. Jervis does not get his due imho: Jervis' entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography by P. K. Crimmin describes his contribution to history: "His importance lies in his being the organiser of victories; the creator of well-equipped, highly efficient fleets; and in training a school of officers (Nelson's legendary 'Band of Brothers') as professional, energetic, and devoted to the service as himself...among them his subordinate: Vice ADM Horatio Nelson. Indeed his all-seeing leniency & wisdom toward what was technically a violation of battle orders was notable:

Sir John did not mention Nelson's achievement in his initial dispatch to the Admiralty despite Nelson's obvious contribution to the success of the battle. In later dispatches Jervis did mention Nelson. In one anecdote, when discussing the battle with his flag-captain, Sir Robert, who had been mentioned in the dispatch and had been awarded a knighthood for his services, brought up the issue of Nelson's disobedience of the admiral's orders for having worn out of the line of battle in order to engage the enemy. Jervis silenced him by saying: "It certainly was so, and if you ever commit such a breach of your orders, I will forgive you also.

The man could do it ALL!WIKI et al

[Jimbuna]

1933 President-elect Franklin Roosevelt survives assassination attempt.

1936 Hitler announce building of Volkswagens (the People's Car, aka the Kaefer/beetle).

1939 German battleship Bismarck was launched.

1942 German U-boat shells Antillian oil refinery.

1942 WWII: British ruled Singapore surrenders to the Japanese.

1944 Attack begins at Monte Cassino monastery, Italy.

1971 After 1,200 years Great Britain abandons pence & shilling system for decimal currency.

[Aktungbby]

1898: USS Maine (ACR-1) is sunk by explosion in Havana Harbor, CUBA during the Cuban Revolt against Spain.
Two officers and 251 sailors and marines either killed by the explosion or drowned
Seven others were rescued but soon died of their injuries
One officer later died of "cerebral affection" (shock)
Of the 94 survivors, 16 were uninjured. The 'yellow Press' incident was blown into an "attack by mines" and in the ensuing war with Spain, America enhanced it's 'manifest destiny' by the acquisition of Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines creating a century of discord, expense, and general misery still ongoing today...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Maine_(ACR-1)

[Jimbuna]

1804 US Navy Lt Stephen Decatur raids Tripoli Harbor & burns Navy frigate "Philadelphia" after pirates seized it.

1878 Silver dollar became US legal tender.

1916 The US rejects the right of Germany and Austria-Hungary to sink armed merchant ships.

1916 The German ambassador in Washington announces that Germany will pay an indemnity for American lives lost on the Lusitania.

1923 Howard Carter opens the inner burial chamber of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb and finds the sarcophagus.

1940 British search plane finds German supply ship Altmark, used to accommodate aliied sailors from vessles sunk by the Graf Spee, off Norway.

1942 Bangka Island massacre: Japanese soldiers machine-gun 22 Australian Army nurses and 60 Australian and British soldiers and crew members from two sunken ships. Only one nurse and two soldiers survive.

1960 US nuclear submarine USS Triton set off on underwater round-world trip.