Post by MacBeth on May 22, 2009 8:07:14 GMT -5
In 337, Emperor Constantine dies. Although quite dead, his embalmed corpse continues to act as head of state, receving state dignitaries and daily reports from ministers as if nothing had changed. Constantine's macabre leadership continues through winter.
In 1868, the Great Train Robbery took place near Marshfield, Ind., as seven members of the Reno gang made off with $96,000 in cash, gold and bonds.
In 1939, the foreign ministers of Germany and Italy, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Galeazzo Ciano, signed a "Pact of Steel" committing the two countries to a military alliance.
In 1947, the Truman Doctrine was enacted as Congress appropriated military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey.
In 1968, the nuclear submarine U.S.S. Scorpion sinks to the bottom with all 99 aboard perishing, after it is reassigned to a spy mission and begins to head towards the Canary Islands. Navy Warrant Officer John Walker (a mole) had certainly reported enough to the KGB to allow them to read the Scorpion's encrypted transmissions. For reasons yet unknown, Navy officials of the U.S. and Soviet Union agree not to discuss the circumstances of this incident or the sinking of a Soviet sub the same year. (The remains of the sub were later found on the ocean floor 400 miles southwest of the Azores.)
In 1969, the lunar module of Apollo 10, with Thomas P. Stafford and Eugene Cernan aboard, flew to within nine miles of the moon's surface in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing.
In 1972, President Richard Nixon began a visit to the Soviet Union, during which he and Kremlin leaders signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The island nation of Ceylon became the republic of Sri Lanka with the adoption of a new constitution.
In 1979, Canadians voted in parliamentary elections that put the Progressive Conservatives in power, ending the 11-year tenure of Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
In 1990, North Yemen and South Yemen merged to form the Republic of Yemen.
In 1992, after a reign lasting nearly 30 years, Johnny Carson hosted NBC's "Tonight Show" for the last time.
In 1998, voters in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland cast ballots giving resounding approval to a Northern Ireland peace accord.
In 1999, Columbine High School seniors wearing blue-and-silver gowns marched single file in a graduation ceremony that mixed celebration of the day with sorrow for victims of the recent massacre.
In 2002, a jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicted former Ku Klux Klansman Bobby Frank Cherry of murder in a 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls. (Cherry died in prison in 2004.)
In 2004, in Tunisia, Arab leaders convened their annual summit, but the opening session was overshadowed by the walkout of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who criticized peace efforts. Filmmaker Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," a scathing indictment of Bush White House actions after the Sept. 11 attacks, won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 2008, a Texas appeals court said the state had no right to take more than 400 children from a polygamist sect's ranch. (After the Texas Supreme Court upheld the ruling, the children were returned to their parents.) Britain's Conservative Party won a special election that was viewed as a barometer of the popularity of Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Gordon Brown.
In 1868, the Great Train Robbery took place near Marshfield, Ind., as seven members of the Reno gang made off with $96,000 in cash, gold and bonds.
In 1939, the foreign ministers of Germany and Italy, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Galeazzo Ciano, signed a "Pact of Steel" committing the two countries to a military alliance.
In 1947, the Truman Doctrine was enacted as Congress appropriated military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey.
In 1968, the nuclear submarine U.S.S. Scorpion sinks to the bottom with all 99 aboard perishing, after it is reassigned to a spy mission and begins to head towards the Canary Islands. Navy Warrant Officer John Walker (a mole) had certainly reported enough to the KGB to allow them to read the Scorpion's encrypted transmissions. For reasons yet unknown, Navy officials of the U.S. and Soviet Union agree not to discuss the circumstances of this incident or the sinking of a Soviet sub the same year. (The remains of the sub were later found on the ocean floor 400 miles southwest of the Azores.)
In 1969, the lunar module of Apollo 10, with Thomas P. Stafford and Eugene Cernan aboard, flew to within nine miles of the moon's surface in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing.
In 1972, President Richard Nixon began a visit to the Soviet Union, during which he and Kremlin leaders signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The island nation of Ceylon became the republic of Sri Lanka with the adoption of a new constitution.
In 1979, Canadians voted in parliamentary elections that put the Progressive Conservatives in power, ending the 11-year tenure of Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
In 1990, North Yemen and South Yemen merged to form the Republic of Yemen.
In 1992, after a reign lasting nearly 30 years, Johnny Carson hosted NBC's "Tonight Show" for the last time.
In 1998, voters in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland cast ballots giving resounding approval to a Northern Ireland peace accord.
In 1999, Columbine High School seniors wearing blue-and-silver gowns marched single file in a graduation ceremony that mixed celebration of the day with sorrow for victims of the recent massacre.
In 2002, a jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicted former Ku Klux Klansman Bobby Frank Cherry of murder in a 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls. (Cherry died in prison in 2004.)
In 2004, in Tunisia, Arab leaders convened their annual summit, but the opening session was overshadowed by the walkout of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who criticized peace efforts. Filmmaker Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," a scathing indictment of Bush White House actions after the Sept. 11 attacks, won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 2008, a Texas appeals court said the state had no right to take more than 400 children from a polygamist sect's ranch. (After the Texas Supreme Court upheld the ruling, the children were returned to their parents.) Britain's Conservative Party won a special election that was viewed as a barometer of the popularity of Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Gordon Brown.