Today In History September 22

September 22 is the 265th day of the year. There are 100 days remaining until the end of the year.

Iranian soldier with gas mask in the battlefield

 Today Highlight In History  1980 – Iraq invades Iran.

The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Persian Gulf War, was an armed conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Iraq lasting from September 1980 to August 1988, making it the 20th century's longest conventional war.

The Iran–Iraq War began when Iraq invaded Iran via air and land on 22 September 1980,after a long history of border disputes. The war was motivated by fears that the Iranian Revolution in 1979 would inspire insurgency among Iraq's long-suppressed Shia majority as well as Iraq's desire to replace Iran as the dominant Persian Gulf state. Although Iraq hoped to take advantage of Iran's revolutionary chaos and attacked without formal warning, they made only limited progress into Iran and were quickly repelled; Iran regained virtually all lost territory by June 1982. For the next six years, Iran was on the offensive.

Despite calls for a ceasefire by the United Nations Security Council, hostilities continued until 20 August 1988. The war finally ended with Resolution 598, a U.N.-brokered ceasefire which was accepted by both sides.

 WORLD EVENTS

1789 – The office of United States Postmaster General is established.

1862 – Slavery in the United States: a preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation is released.

1888 – The first issue of National Geographic Magazine is published.

1896 – Queen Victoria surpasses her grandfather King George III as the longest reigning monarch in British history.

1908 – The Bulgarian Declaration of Independence is proclaimed.

1910 – The Duke of York's Picture House opens in Brighton, now the oldest continually operating cinema in Britain.

1919 – The steel strike of 1919, led by the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, begins in Pennsylvania before spreading across the United States.

1934 – An explosion takes place at Gresford Colliery in Wales, leading to the deaths of 266 miners and rescuers.

1941 – World War II: On Jewish New Year Day, the German SS murder 6,000 Jews in Vinnytsya, Ukraine. Those are the survivors of the previous killings that took place a few days earlier in which about 24,000 Jews were executed.

1955 – In the United Kingdom, the television channel ITV goes live for the first time.

1960 – The Sudanese Republic is renamed Mali after the withdrawal of Senegal from the Mali Federation.

1980 – Iraq invades Iran.

1991 – The Dead Sea Scrolls are made available to the public for the first time by the Huntington Library.

1995 – Nagerkovil school bombing, is carried out by Sri Lankan Air Force in which at least 34 die, most of them ethnic Tamil school children.

2013 – At least 75 people are killed in a suicide bombing at a church in Peshawar, Pakistan.
         

                                          Today In African History

In 1828, the Zulu Chief Shaka, founder of the Zulu empire, was assassinated by his two half-brothers Dingane and Mhlanga

In 1861 Chief Sekhukhune became king of the Marota (or baPedi), stretching across what is now Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and G

In 1952 twenty black leaders were put on trial on charges under the Suppression of Communism Act. The accused included D

In 1968 a report was published by the Commission of the South African Council of Churches, condemning apartheid as a fal

In 1972 Idi Amin gave Uganda's 8 000 Asians 48 hours to leave the country.

2008 President Thabo Mbeki handed in his resignation, singling out the fight against crime as being a big challenge remaining for South Africa.

Today In History September 21

September 21 is the 264th day of the year. There are 101 days remaining until the end of the year.

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

 Today's Highlight In History  1981 – Sandra Day O'Connor is unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate as the first female Supreme Court justice. Appointed by Ronald Reagan

 Before her appointment, she was an elected official and judge in Arizona serving as the first female Majority Leader in the United States as the Republican leader in the Arizona Senate. On July 1, 2005, she announced her intention to retire effective upon the confirmation of a successor. Samuel Alito was nominated to take her seat in October 2005, and joined the Court on January 31, 2006.

 Her unanimous confirmation by the Senate in 1981 was supported by most conservatives, led by Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, and liberals, including Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy and women's rights groups like the National Organization for Women.

Sandra Day O'Connor was Chancellor of The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and currently serves on the board of trustees of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Several publications have named O'Connor among the most powerful women in the world. On August 12, 2009, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor of the United States, by President Barack Obama.

 WORLD EVENTS

1792 – The National Convention declares France a republic and abolishes the monarchy.

1860 – In the Second Opium War, an Anglo-French force defeats Chinese troops at the Battle of Palikao.

1896 – British force under Horatio Kitchener takes Dongola in the Sudan.

1897 – The "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" editorial is published in the New York Sun.

1898 – Empress Dowager Cixi seizes power and ends the Hundred Days' Reform in China.

1942 – On the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, Nazis send over 1,000 Jews of Pidhaytsi (west Ukraine) to Belzec extermination camp.

1942 – In Poland, at the end of Yom Kippur, Germans order Jews to permanently evacuate Konstantynów and move to the Ghetto in Biała Podlaska, established to assemble Jews from seven nearby towns, including Janów Podlaski, Rossosz and Terespol.

1942 – In Dunaivtsi, Ukraine, Nazis murder 2,588 Jews.

1942 – The B-29 Superfortress makes its maiden flight.

 1964 – Malta becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

1965 – Gambia, Maldives and Singapore are admitted as members of the United Nations.

1971 – Bahrain, Bhutan and Qatar join the United Nations.

1972 – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos signs Proclamation № 1081, placing the entire country under martial law and marking the beginning of his authoritarian rule.

1976 – Seychelles joins the United Nations.

1977 – A nuclear non-proliferation pact is signed by 15 countries, including the United States and the Soviet Union.

1981 – Belize is granted full independence from the United Kingdom.

1981 – Sandra Day O'Connor is unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate as the first female Supreme Court justice.

1984 – Brunei joins the United Nations.

1991 – Armenia is granted independence from Soviet Union.

1993 – Russian President Boris Yeltsin suspends parliament and scraps the then-functioning constitution, thus triggering the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993.

1999 – Chi-Chi earthquake occurs in central Taiwan, leaving about 2,400 people dead.

2001 – America: A Tribute to Heroes is broadcast by over 35 network and cable channels, raising over

$200 million for the victims of the September 11 attacks.

2003 – Galileo mission is terminated by sending the probe into Jupiter's atmosphere, where it is crushed by the pressure at the lower altitudes.

2005 – Hurricane Rita becomes the third most intense hurricane(dropped to 4th in October 19, 2005)

2013 – al-Shabaab Islamic militants attack the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, killing at least 67 people.

Today In Hisytory September 20

 

Charles Duryea (left) with J.Frank Duryea

September 20 is the 263rd day of the year. There are 102 days remaining until the end of the year.




Today's  Highlight In History  1893 – Charles Duryea and his brother road-test the first American-made gasoline-powered automobile.


Charles Edgar Duryea (December 15, 1861 – September 28, 1938) was the engineer of the first-ever working American gasoline-powered car and co-founder of Duryea Motor Wagon Company. He was born near Canton, Illinois, the son of George Washington Duryea and Louisa Melvina Turner and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but spent most of his life working in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was in Springfield that Charles and his brother, Frank, produced and road-tested America's first gasoline-powered car.

1835 – Ragamuffin rebels capture Porto Alegre, then capital of the Brazilian imperial province of Rio Grande do Sul, triggering the start of ten-year-long Ragamuffin War.

1848 – The American Association for the Advancement of Science is created.
1857 – The Indian Rebellion of 1857 ends with the recapture of Delhi by troops loyal to the East India Company.

1881 – Chester A. Arthur is inaugurated as the 21st President of the United States following the assassination of James Garfield.
 
1893 – Charles Duryea and his brother road-test the first American-made gasoline-powered automobile.

1909 – The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the South Africa Act 1909, creating the Union of South Africa from the British Colonies of the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Orange River Colony, and the Transvaal Colony.

1942 – Holocaust in Letychiv, Ukraine. In the course of two days the German SS murders at least 3,000 Jews].

1977 – The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is admitted to the United Nations.

1979 – A coup d'état in the Central African Empire overthrows Emperor Bokasa I.

2001 – In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, U.S. President George W. Bush declares a "War on Terror".

2007 – Between 15,000 and 20,000 protesters marched on Jena, Louisiana, in support of six black youths who had been convicted of assaulting a white classmate.

2011 – The United States ends its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, allowing gay men and women to serve openly for the first time.

Dentists Warn Against Micro-beads In Crest Toothpaste

Small plastic beads are common in many of the leading brands of toothpaste, however, dentists are alarmed that these small plastic beads are actually hurting patient's dental hygiene as opposed to helping it.  And so many dentists are warning their patients against toothpaste that contains the beads.

They are concerned with the fact that these beads do not disintegrate and they are not biodegradable. This makes it easy for small beads to get stuck in between teeth and even become embedded in a person's gums.

According to dentist Justin Phillip  "They'll trap bacteria in the gums which leads to gingivitis, and over time that infection moves from the gum into the bone that holds your teeth, and that becomes periodontal disease," 
 

Procter & Gamble, makers of Crest, say  the beads are only put in the toothpaste to add color, and have been FDA approved, and that  the ingredient is completely safe. Though, according to them the majority of Crest toothpaste will be microbead-free in about six months and the beads will be completely gone by 2016.

Apple CEO Tim Cook poses with Apple enthusiasts Fans Waiting in Line for iPhone 6

 

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The Apple CEO, Tim Cook, surprised iPhone enthusiasts who lined up outside an Apple store today in Palo Alto, California, waiting to buy the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Cook posed for selfies with Apple enthusiasts and cheered alongside them when it came time to open the doors at 8 a.m.

The phones, which were unveiled at a Sept. 9 media event in Cupertino, California, are already shaping up to be one of Apple’s biggest successes to date. Pre-orders for the smartphones have broken all previous benchmarks, according to the tech giant.

Cook has called the plus-sized devices the best phones Apple has ever produced.

Today In History, September 19

September 19 is the 262nd day of the year. There are 103 days remaining until the end of the year.

Monument of Kostas Georgakis in Corfu

Kostas Georgakis

 Today's Highlight In History-  1970 – Kostas Georgakis, a Greek student of geology, sets himself ablaze in Matteotti Square in Genoa, Italy, as a protest against the dictatorial regime of Georgios Papadopoulos.

 by 1.00am on 19 September 1970  Kostas Georgakis,,  drove his Fiat 500 to Matteoti square and there set himself ablaze. According to eyewitness accounts by street cleaners who were working around the Palazzo Ducale there was a sudden bright flash of light in the area at around 3.00am At first they did not realize the flame was a burning man. when they approached closer they saw Georgakis burning and running ablaze, shouting "Long Live Greece", "Down with the tyrants", "Down with the fascist colonels" and "I did it for my Greece."


1676 – Jamestown is burned to the ground by the forces of Nathaniel Bacon during Bacon's Rebellion.

1778 – The Continental Congress passes the first United States federal budget.

1796 – George Washington's Farewell Address is printed across America as an open letter to the public.

1799 – French Revolutionary Wars: French-Dutch victory against the Russians and British in the Battle of Bergen.

1846 – Two French shepherd children, Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, experience a Marian apparition on a mountaintop near La Salette, France, now known as Our Lady of La Salette.

1881 – U.S. President James A. Garfield dies of wounds suffered in a July 2 shooting.

1893 – Women's suffrage: in New Zealand, the Electoral Act of 1893 is consented to by the governor giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote.

1946 – The Council of Europe is founded following a speech by Winston Churchill at the University of Zurich.

1952 – The United States bars Charlie Chaplin from re-entering the country after a trip to England.

1957 – First American underground nuclear bomb test (part of Operation Plumbbob).

1970 – Kostas Georgakis, a Greek student of geology, sets himself ablaze in Matteotti Square in Genoa, Italy, as a protest against the dictatorial regime of Georgios Papadopoulos.

1972 – A parcel bomb sent to Israeli Embassy in London kills one diplomat.

1985 – A strong earthquake kills thousands and destroys about 400 buildings in Mexico City.

1989 – A terrorist bomb explodes UTA Flight 772 in mid-air above the Tùnùrù Desert, Niger, killing 171.

1991 – Ötzi the Iceman is discovered by German tourists.

1995 – The Washington Post and The New York Times publish the Unabomber's manifesto.

2011 – Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees surpasses Trevor Hoffman to become Major League Baseball's all time saves leader with 602.

The Husband and Wife Who Look Like Identical Twins

Davis carries her bride, Brux. They managed to tie the knot despite protestations from a Russian registry office (Picture: CEN)

Alison Brooks (on the left), married Alina Davis (right). in Russia, a country where same-sex weddings are banned, violence against homosexuals is on the rise.

23-year-old Alina was born a man named Dmitry Kozhukhov. She labels herself as “androgyne,” which means she doesn’t fit neatly into one gender identity, goes around wearing women’s clothes every day, but because her birth certificate lists her as a man, the Russian authorities couldn’t refuse them their marriage certificate or their right to marry.
 Both Brooks and Davis wore white wedding dresses. While the two were refused entry through the front door they  had to enter through the rear entrance to get married. Davis thinks this is a big moment for couples in Russia. “We are not alone in having such problems,” she says. “I have written to couples who are planning similar marriages and are afraid of failures with registration. Be aware – you cannot be refused.”