On This Day
* 1649 – King Charles I of England is beheaded.
* 1661 – Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England is formally executed – after having been dead for two years (it’s never too late for revisionism).
* 1835 – A mentally ill man named Richard Lawrence attempts to assassinate President Andrew Jackson in the United States Capitol — the first assassination attempt against a President. Both of Lawrence’s pistols misfire, and Jackson proceeds to beat his would-be assassin with his cane.
* 1889 – Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, was found dead with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera in Mayerling. How they died remains a mystery.
* 1933 – Adolf Hitler is sworn in as Chancellor of Germany.
* 1948 – Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Gandhi is assassinated by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist.
* 1968 – Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive begins when Viet Cong forces launch series of a surprise attacks in South Vietnam.
* 1969 – The Beatles’ last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police.
* 1972 – Bloody Sunday: United Kingdom British Paratroopers kill fourteen Roman Catholic civil rights /anti internment marchers in Northern Ireland- Bloody Sunday
* 2003 – Belgium legally recognizes same-sex marriage.
* 2005 – Amid violence and threats to boycott the results, Iraq holds an election for its National Assembly, the country’s first free election since 1953.
Births
* 1882 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States
* 1912 – Barbara W. Tuchman, American historian
* 1922 – Dick Martin, American comedian
* 1930 – Samuel J. Byck, American attempted assassin of Richard Nixon
* 1941 – Dick Cheney, oil executive
* 1962 – King Abdullah II of Jordan
* 1962 – Mary Kay Letourneau, American teacher
9 comments
Hmmm…
Mrs. Mary Kay Letourneau
Had a passion hot as Sterno
For a kid who’d gladly learn. Oh
What a lesson she has taught!
For her morals we impeach her…
But the lesson that will reach her?
“If a pupil (bleeps) a teacher,
They had better not get caught.”
– SB the YDD
(I know… I’m so bad.)
I was wondering if anyone would remember Mary Kay.
They aslo strung up Bradshaw the jusdge that presided over the trial of Charles I. A tad futile. But to give Charles II some due.. by the standards of his time he was not after a lot of vengeance. a relatively small number of surviving regicides were executed and that was basically that.
There are times when a Cromwell or Vimes are of service.
Indeed! Oliver Cromwll is probably my favourite historical figure. Not because I think he was a great man (he was) but because he was a very complex and also a very flawed man and he realised that himself. He also deserves to rank alongside the likes of Wellington, Marlborough and Slim as a great military commander..
Cromwell suffered from having a son who was no more suited to command than the Shrubbery. The New Army was a vast improvement over what came before and served Britain well. His government “reform” may have been unwelcome by many, but it was an improvement.
Add to the list – the way-too-early death of Molly Ivins. What a loss.
I was going to say the same thing Andante said. Molly Ivins, RIP.
Damn, just damn.