On this day in 1886, Apache leader Goyalkla, or as he's known to non-Native Americans, Geronimo, formally surrenders after the US Army 4th Cavalry relentlessly pursues him and his band of warriors throughout southern Arizona. Geronimo will be the last Native American war chief to officially lay down arms. On this day in 1957, Ford Motor Company capped off weeks of public relations hype by rolling out its newest model, the Edsel. But the car was such a flop due to poor design and mechanical issues that the name has become a catchphrase for colossal failure. On this day in 1972, 22-year old American swimmer Mark Spitz scored his 7th gold medal of the Summer Olympics in Munich.
On this day in 1793, Maximillien Robispierre is appointed director of the Committee for Public Safety by the post-Revolution First French Republic. Instead of making the public safe, Robispierre launches the Reign of Terror. More than 16,000 would die over the next 11 months, many by guillotine. On this day in 1957, On The Road, a semiautobiographical work by Jack Kerouac, is published. Its considered by many to be the defining literary work of the post-WWII counterculture. On this day in 1972, 8 members of the Palestinian Black September terrorist movement infiltrate the resident village at the Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, killing two members of the Israeli team and taking 9 more hostage. They demand the release of 234 Palestinians held captive in Israel. They also demand air transportation to Cairo. The West German authorities agree to the demand, but it is a ruse. They are planning to overpower the hostages at the airport by force, but the handpicked rescue team is not trained for such operations. More to follow....
Shortly after midnight on this day in 1972, Palestinian terrorists kill their 9 hostages, member of the Israeli Olympics team, at a NATO airbase near Munich, West Germany. The 8 terrorists are killed as well over the next hour and a half. ABC Network was covering the Games, and studio host Jim McKay had been pressed into service reporting on the 39 hour crisis for the news division. His final report is the stuff of legends in journalism:
On this day in 1522, the nao Victoria sails into Seville harbor, Spain. with 18 aboard. She's the last of Ferdinand Magellan's five-ship expedition, and the only one to complete the 42,000 mile circumnavigation of the globe. It took 3 years and 2 months; Magellan himself was killed in the Philippines. On this day in 1901, while visiting the Pan American Expedition in Buffalo, President William McKinley is shot twice by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. McKinley initially survived the shooting but died of gangrene 8 days later. On this day in 1995, the Baltimore Orioles' Cal Ripken Jr breaks Lou Gehrig's "ironman" record by starting his 2131st consecutive game. The streak began on July 1, 1982, and would continue until Ripken voluntarily benched himself for a game on Sept. 20, 1998 after 2632 games.
i really liked that movie, "munich" i read a book about it, and i cant remember either the book or movie well enough to point out the made up parts of the movie, but i think its fairly faithful to the real story. the israelis are not afraid to fuck shit up. i have read other books about various shit in the middle east, and there will be example of when, for example, the CIA has a connection with a valuable asset that works inside hamas or hezbollah or whatever, and the israelis will plan a bombing or some shit, and the americans will be like "hey dont blow up that base or whatever, our asset will be there, it will fuck up our spy network" and the israelis tell the americans to kick rocks and just kill em anyways. the israelis dont give a fuck. and they snipe iranian nuclear scientists in the brain like its their job.
