On this day in 1932, centuries of rule by the Ottoman empire and later the British comes to an end as Iraq gains its independence. The League of Nations had ceded control of the country to Great Britain following World War I. The British would help the Hashim royal family of Jordan establish a new government under Faisal I before ceding control of the country. On this day in 1990, the Federal Republic of (West) Germany and the (East) German Democrat Republic are reunified into one nation, ending the split that began with the Nazi surrender in 1945. On this day in 1995, a Los Angeles jury acquits Orenthal James Simpson of the murder of his estranged wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. After a 252-day trial it took the predominantly African American jury just 4 hours to vote not guilty on both counts. Two years later, a civil jury would order Simpson to pay more than $33 million in damages to the Brown and Goldman families, an order he has managed to avoid paying to this day.
On this day in 1957, the Soviet Union launches Sputnik I, the world's first artificial satellite. Sputnik is essentially a globe 22 inches in diameter and weighing about 185 pounds. For about 3 months it would orbit the earth at 18,000mph transmitting a signal strong enough that even amateur ham radio operators could receive it. The Space Race is on. On this day in 1927, workers begin sculpting the face of George Washington into Mt. Rushmore, in the Black Hills of South Dakota. After 12 years of sculpting, the busts of Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt have been carved out, but the sudden death of chief sculptor Gutzon Borglum halts the project far short of completion. On this day in 1970, Janis Joplin dies in a Los Angeles hotel room of a heroin overdose, just 4 years into a music career later described by one critic as "second only to Bob Dylan in importance as a creator/recorder/embodiment of her generation’s history and mythology."
On this day in 1981, Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, is assassinated while attending a military review in Cairo. It is also eight years to the day that Egypt and Syria attacked Israel in an attempt to regain territory lost in the 1967 Six Days War. Israel successfully repelled the attack, but the incident damaged US-USSR relations when the Soviets threatened to come to the Egyptians' aid. On this day in 1945, Chicago Cubs fan and owner of the Billy Goat Tavern Billy Sianis, attends game 4 of the World Series between the Cubs and the Detroit Tigers. Legend says Sianis arrived with tickets in hand for himself and his tavern mascot and pet goat, Murphy. Either Wrigley Field officials asked Sianis to leave after other fans complained about the smell, or the goat was denied admission outright; versions of the legend differ, but on getting the boot Sianis angrily declares,"Them Cubs, they ain't gonna win no more." The Curse of the Billy Goat is born. Leading the series 2 games to 1 at the time, the Cubs would eventually lose the series 4-3, and not win another World Series for 71 years.
Even before that the Cubs hadn't won since 1908. In the movie Back to the Future II when Marty McFly arrives in 2015 he sees a sign flashing Cubs Win World Series. A year later they did.
On this day in 1913, the Ford Motor Company begins assembling its Model T automobile through a new innovation called a moving assembly line. The car chassis are pulled by a motorized rope past workers who attach individual parts. Overnight, the total time to assemble a Model T is cut from 12 and a half to six hours. Further improvements over the next year will cut assembly time to 93 minutes. On this day in 1985, four members of the Palestine Liberation Front seize control of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, demanding the release of Israeli-held PLO members and safe entry into the nation of Syria. But when the Syrians deny them clearance, the terrorist randomly select Leon Klinghoffer, a 69-year old wheelchair-bound American passenger, for execution. The move backfires, as world outrage causes the PLO to cut ties to the terrorists. They escaped the ship on 10/9 and board a plane to Libya, but US Navy jets intercept the plane and force it down in Italy, taking the hijackers custody. On this day in 2001, the US launches the first counterstrike in the "War on Terror" bombing Taliban-held targets in Afghanistan. A US-led force of troops from 5 nations soon enter the country, forcing the Taliban out of the capitol city of Kabul on November 12.
ON this day in 1871, the Great Chicago Fire begins. The fire starts in the barn of Patrick and Catherine O'Leary, where (legend has it) a cow kicked over a lantern. Over the next two days, between 200 and 300 people die, more than 14,000 structures are destroyed, and $200 million in property damage is incurred. In 1997, the Chicago City Council exonerated Mrs. O'Leary and her cow, citing an alternate theory that the fire was started by men illegally shooting craps in the barn. On this day in 1918, Corporal Alvin C. York of Tennessee earned the Medal of Honor for valor in the Battle of the Argonne Forest. York's citation states he led a squad that killed 20 Germans and captured 132 more from a hilltop stronghold. He was also promoted to sergeant for his actions. On this day in 1956, New York Yankees pitcher Don Larsen pitches the only perfect game in World Series history, beating the Brooklyn Dodgers 2-0 in game 5 of the series. On this day in 1957, Jerry Lee Lewis enters the Sun Records studio in Memphis for a recording session. Lewis had already hit the charts with "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On", but the rowdy spirit of rock and roll was causing him internal conflict with his strict Christian upbringing. After one disappointing take, the tapes continued rolling and recording as Lewis and Sun Records head Sam Phillips argued for nearly an hour over the morality of the music, and whether it could actually be a force for moral good. Phillips eventually settled Lewis down and got him excited enough that the second attempt on the song was printed. The song was "Great Balls of Fire."
