| On June 25, 1610 the explorers reached the Hudson Strait at the northern tip of Labrador. Following the southern coast of the strait, on August 2, the ship entered Hudson Bay. Hudson spent the following months mapping and exploring the eastern shores. In November, however, the ship became trapped in the ice in James Bay, and the crew moved ashore for the winter. When the ice cleared in the spring of 1611, Hudson planned to continue exploring. However, his crew wanted to return home. The crew mutinied setting Hudson, his teenage son John and seven crewmen loyal to Hudson adrift in a small open boat with no food or water. |
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| In 1633, Galileo Galilei was forced by the Inquisition to "abjure, curse, and detest" his Copernican heliocentric views. "I, Galileo...do swear that I have always believed, do now believe and, with God's aid shall believe hereafter, all that which is taught and preached by the ... church. I must wholly forsake the false opinion that the sun is the center of the world and moves not, and that the earth is not the center of the world and moves...." He was then condemned to the "formal prison of the Holy Office" for an undetermined amount of time which would be served at the pleasure of his judges, and required to repeat the seven penitential psalms once a week for three years. The next day the Pope specified the prison sentence should be house arrest. |
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| In 1675, the Royal Greenwich Observatory was created by Royal Warrant in England by Charles II. Building designed by Sir Christopher Wren (who was also a Professor of Astronomy) was commenced August 10, 1675 and finished the following year by John Flamsteed was appointed as the first Astronomer Royal. Its primary uses were in practical astronomy - navigation, timekeeping, determination of star positions. |
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| The bombardment of the USS Chesapeake by the HMS Leopard on June 22, 1807, outraged citizens of the young republic. Not only had three sailors been killed and eighteen more wounded, but the British had forcibly removed four other men that they claimed belonged to them. Angry Americans condemned the incident, demanded satisfaction, and prepared for war. Although the crisis abated, diplomatic negotiations failed to resolve the issue until late 1811, and the surviving sailors were not returned until the start of the War of 1812. |
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| In 1832, a pin manufacturing machine was patented by John Ireland Howe. During the 19th century the American pin industry concentrated in the Naugatuck River Valley because Howe (1793-1876) built a plant in Derby, Connecticut, to make pins with the machine he invented to shape pins in one operation instead of the 18 separate steps required for hand production. He turned for mechanical help to Robert Hoe (who built printing presses.) His first working model of a machine that would make pins, though imperfect, was exhibited that year at the American Institute Fair in New York, where Howe received a silver medal. He improved the machine during the winter of 1832-33. Howe also invented a machine to stick the pins in paper packets. |
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| Before the formation of the Dept. of Justice, the attorney general had represented the government in legal matters and given legal advice to the executive branch under the authority of the Judiciary Act of 1789, but there was no executive department to assist in carrying out the duties of the office. Justice, United States Department of, federal executive department established in 1870 and charged with providing the means for enforcing federal laws, furnishing legal counsel in federal cases, and construing the laws under which other federal executive departments act. The department is headed by the U.S. Attorney General, the chief U.S. law officer and an original cabinet member. |
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| In a slugfest at Philadelphia, Brooklyn scores 7 runs in the top of the 11th to take a 20-13 lead. The Phillies prolong the Brooks' rally, hoping for darkness to cancel out the half inning. They deliberately walk batters and make little effort to put runners out. Umpire Hank O'Day finally calls a halt and awards a forfeit to Brooklyn. |
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| Water skiing was invented in the United States in 1922 when Minnesotan Ralph Samuelson built the first pair of skis and was towed on them behind an outboard-powered boat. What Samuelson originated became an exhibition sport on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1920s and early 1930s. It developed officially into a competitive sport in 1939 when the American Water Ski Association (AWSA) was organized and held the first annual National Water Ski Championships at Jones Beach, Long Island, New York. |
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| V-Mail used a special paper for letter writing during WWII. It was designed to reduce cargo space taken up by mail sent to and from members of the armed services. The letters written on this special paper were opened at the post office, censored and reduced in size by photography. One roll of film contained 1600 letters. |
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| The G. I. Bill of Rights or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 provided for college or vocational education for returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as GIs or G. I.s) as well as one year of unemployment compensation. It also provided loans for returning veterans to buy homes and start businesses. |
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| Holt has the distinction of holding the record for the fastest accumulation of rainfall. On June 22, 1947, Holt had 12 inches of rain in 42 minutes. Did you know that it takes about one million cloud droplets to provide enough water for one raindrop? |
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| American chemist Irvine W. Grote, head of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, invented Rolaids antacid (name derived from original packaging that came in foil roll). |
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| Pat Boone had a smooth style, a clean-cut image, and of course, his white bucks. He appeared in 15 films, including Bernardine, April Love, and State Fair. From 1957 to 1960 he hosted his own television series The Pat Boone/Chevy Showroom. He somehow managed to finish his degree, graduating from Columbia University in New York City in 1958. And all the while, the hits kept coming: Why Baby Why, Love Letters In The Sand, which held the number one spot for seven weeks, and April Love [number one for six weeks] were huge hits in 1957. |
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| Eddie Lubanski rolled 24 consecutive strikes -- two back-to-back perfect games -- in a bowling tournament in Miami, FL. He was in the Guinness book of World Records. He had the highest lifetime average of 204 for over 25 years. |
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| "The Battle of New Orleans" was written by Jimmy Driftwood, an Arkansas high school principal and history teacher who loved singing and writing songs. He often wrote songs to help students learn about historical events like this battle. This won the 1959 Grammys for Song of the Year (for composer Jimmy Driftwood) and Best Country and Western Performance for Johnny Horton. |
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| "Sukiyaki" is the only song by a Japanese artist to hit #1 in the US.The lyrics are in Japanese. It's Japanese title is "Ue O Muite Aruko," which means "I look up when I walk." It became an international hit when an English Record Company executive heard it in Japan. He renamed it "Sukiyaki," after a Japanese food he enjoyed, and had an artist on his label record it. |
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| Alpert sang this to his first wife in a 1968 TV special called Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. The sequence was taped on the beach in Malibu. The song was not intended to be released, but after it was used in the TV special, thousands of telephone calls to CBS asking about it convinced label owner Alpert to release it as a single 2 days after the show aired. Alpert was a trumpet player and bandleader who started a record label with Jerry Moss in 1962. They named it A&M Records, after their last names. This was the first #1 hit for both Alpert and the record label. |
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| The Twenty-sixth Amendment was proposed on March 23, 1971, and ratified on July 1, 1971. The ratification period of 107 days was the shortest in U.S. history. The amendment, which lowered the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen, was passed quickly to avert potential problems in the 1972 elections. The drive for lowering the voting age began with young people who had been drawn into the political arena by the Vietnam War. Proponents argued that if eighteen-year-olds were old enough to be drafted into military service and sent into combat, they were also old enough to vote. |
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| "Billy Don't Be a Hero" is a 1974 anti-war pop song by Paper Lace and was also recorded by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods. The song is usually interpreted as being set somewhere in the North during the American Civil War. Although, because the song was released in 1974, it is also associated with the Vietnam War. A young woman is distraught that her fiance chooses to leave the area with a Union Army contingent passing through the town, and go with them to fight. |
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| An urgent note in a bottle from a kidnapped orphan girl leads two adventuresome mice on a "wild albatross chase" to Devil's Bayou and a madcap encounter with the villainous Madame Medusa. Bob Newhart, Eva Gabor and Geraldine Page lend their voices. |
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| In 1978, evidence of the first moon of Pluto was discovered by astronomer James W. Christy of the Naval Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ. when he obtained a photograph of Pluto that showed the orb to be distinctly elongated.. Furthermore, the elongations appeared to change position with respect to the stars over time. After eliminating the possibility that the elongations were produced by plate defects and background stars, the only plausible explanation was that they were caused by a previously unknown moon orbiting Pluto at a distance of about 19,600 kilometers (12,100 miles) with a period of 6.4 days. The moon was named Charon, after the boatman in Greek mythology who took the souls of the dead across the River Styx to Pluto's underworld. |
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| Pete Rose doubled off John Stuper in the 3rd inning of a 3-2 loss to the Cardinals for his 3,772nd career hit, moving him past Hank Aaron into 2nd place on baseball's all-time list. Rose was 41 years old at the time. Three years later he surpassed Cobb's mark. |
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| Adams' fourth album Reckless was released on his 25th birthday, November 5, 1984, and was preceded by the single "Run to You", which reached the Top Ten. It was followed by no less than five Top 20 singles drawn from the album: "Somebody", "Heaven" (which hit number one), "Summer of '69" (Top Ten), "One Night Love Affair", and a duet with Tina Turner, "It's Only Love". |
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| The first recorded eruption of Didicas was in 1773. An earlier cone of fragmental material reached a height of 213 m in 1860, after a four-year-long eruption, but soon was eroded beneath the sea. Three rock masses were left after an eruption in 1900. |
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| The bluesy "Give Me One Reason" was pulled as the first single, and it slowly became a hit, sending the album into the U.S. Top Ten in early 1996. It was a quiet, successful comeback from an artist most observers had already consigned to forever languish in cult status. Telling Stories followed in early 2000. "Let It Rain" followed two years later. |
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| In 1999, the first demonstration of brain signals from live rat directly controlling a robot arm was published by Nature Neuroscience. The research was hailed as a breakthrough by other scientists working to combine computing with biology. Researchers from MCP Hahnemann University medical school and Duke University taught laboratory rats to operate a water-dispensing robot by thought alone. Their aim is to restore movement to patients who are paralyzed or have had limbs amputated. At first, the robot was controlled by the rat pressing a lever and researchers identified the corresponding brain activity. Then the robot was linked to a computer interpreting the rats' brain signals. The rats gained water merely by thinking about pawing the lever. |
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1611 Henry Hudson & son set
adrift in Hudson Bay by mutineers
More ...
1633 Galileo Galilei forced by
Inquisition to reject his Copernican heliocentric
views
More ...
1675 Royal Greenwich Observatory established in
England by Charles II
More ...
1807 British board USS Chesapeake, a provocation
leading to War of 1812
More ...
1832 J.I. Howe patented the pin machine, better
known as a pinmaker
More ...
1870 Congress created the Department of Justice.
More ...
1900 Dodgers score 7 in top of 11th to go ahead
of Phillies, 20-13 - Phillies stall
More ...
1926 State record high temperature of 108°
in Troy, NY
1939 The first U.S. water-ski tournament was held
at Jones Beach, on Long Island, New York
More ...
1942 V-Mail, or Victory-Mail, was sent for the
first time
More ...
1944 FDR signs "GI Bill of Rights" (Servicemen's
Readjustment Act)
More ...
1947 12" rain in 42 mins (Holt, MO)
More ...
1954 Rolaids was trademark registered
More ...
1957 "Love Letters in the Sand" by Pat
Boone topped the charts
More ...
1958 Game in KC between A's & Red Sox delayed
29 minutes due to tornado
1959 Eddie Lubanski bowls 2 consecutive perfect
games
More ...
1959 "The Battle of New Orleans", by
Johnny Horton, started week at number four
More ...
1963 "Sukiyaki" by Kyu Sakamoto topped
the charts
More ...
1968 "This Guy's in Love with You" by
Herb Alpert topped the charts
More ...
1970 President Nixon signs 26th amendment (voting
age lowered to 18)
More ...
1974 "Billy, Don't Be a Hero" by Bo
Donaldson & the Heywoods topped the charts
More ...
1977 Walt Disney's "The Rescuers" is
released
More ...
1978 Pluto's moon Charon discovered by James Christy
More ...
1979 Pro Football Researchers Association founded
at Canton, Ohio
1982 Pete Rose of the Philadelphia Phillies connected
for hit #3,786
More ...
1985 "Heaven" by Bryan Adams topped
the charts
More ...
1991 Underwater volcano, Mount Didicas, erupts
in Phillipines
More ...
1996 "Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman
topped the charts
More ...
1999 Robot controlled by the brain
More ...