On this day in 1962, President Kennedy addresses the nation, announcing the government has photographic evidence that the Soviets are constructing missile bases in Cuba, capable of striking several major American cities. He announces that the US Navy has been ordered to establish a "quarantine" of Cuba to prevent further supplies from entering the island, and declares that America will not tolerate the presence of these bases. On this day in 1934, FBI agents shoot and kill Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, one of the most notorious criminals of the Depression Era. Floyd had been staying one step ahead of the law for four years while committing a string of bank robberies. He's also suspected of having a hand in the Kansas City Massacre more than a year earlier, when four law officers were killed. With his dying breath, which came in an Ohio cornfield, Floyd denied involvement in the massacre. On this day in 2012, Union Cycliste Internationale, the governing body of competitive cycling, announcing it is stripping Lance Armstrong of his 7 Tour de France title, and banning him from the sport for life. The native Texas won the event every year from 1999 to 2005, the first win coming less than 3 years after being diagnosed with testicular cancer. But in June, 2012 the US Anti-Doping Administration accused Armstrong of using performance-enhancing drugs while competing. Armstrong fought the charge for 2 months, but stopped fighting in August, saying the battle was taking its toll on him, his family and his LiveStrong organization. The USADA banned him from competitive cycling the next day, and the UCI upheld the ban on Oct. 23, saying Armstrong "deserves to be forgotten in cycling."
On this day in 42 BC, Marcus Junius Brutus kills himself after his forces were routed at the 2nd Battle of Phillipi. Two years earlier, the murder of Julius Caesar, in which Brutus was a co-conspirator, plunged the Roman Empire into a series of civil wars. Brutus' defeat at Philippi removes those favoring a Roman Republic from influence. On this day in 1983, Muslim terrorists drive a truck loaded with 2,000 pounds of explosives into the USMC barracks at Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 US servicemen, including 220 Marines. Moments later, a 2nd suicide bomber drives into the French barracks in the city, killing 58. Less than 4 months later, President Reagan draws all US troops out of Lebanon.
On this day in 1962, the Joint Chiefs of Staff orders Strategic Air Command to DEFCON 2 (all forces ready to deploy and engage in 6 hours), the highest state of readiness ordered since the end of WWII. At this point, the US Navy - which is at DEFCON 3 - has been turning back Soviet ships en route to Cuba for 2 days. The Secretary-General of the UN also directly contacts both President Kennedy and Premier Kruschev, urging them not to take any action that might aggravate the situation and increase the risk of war. On this day in 1861, workers for Western Union Telegraph Company link the company's western US and eastern US telegraph line networks at Salt Lake City. Stephen Field, chief justice of California, sends the first cross country telegraph message from San Francisco to President Lincoln in Washington, saying he hopes the western states will remain loyal to the Union if civil war breaks out. On this day in 1962, James Brown performs at the Apollo Theatre in NYC. Brown wanted his record label, King Records, to record and release the performance, but the company refused, so he financed the project himself. Released the following May, Live At The Apollo will spend 66 weeks on the Billboard charts, and provide Brown his first real exposure to white audiences.
This might have been his first exposure to white audiences, Ed Sullivan would be kicked off the air if he said this today.
This day in 1962 is the third day of the US blockade of Cuba over the location of Soviet missiles on the island. Up to this point, ships have been reversing course before encountering the US Navy, but today, the Soviet tanker Bucharest maintains course and crosses the quarantine line. Two Navy ships approach the Bucharest, but decide to let it continue when they see it is clearly a tanker and not likely to be carrying weapons. On this day in 1944 at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the US escort carrier St. Lo is attacked by a Japanese plane that, rather than dropping a bomb or torpedo, intentionally crashes into the ship, which sinks an hour later. Japanese pilots have on several occasions crashed their damaged planes into their target, but this is the first planned suicide dive of Japan's new strategy, which they call kamikaze (divine wind). An estimated 5,000 kamikaze missions will fly before the end of the war, about 1,300 of which end in a successful hit on American and British vessels. On this day in 1854, a suicide mission of a different sort.....at the Battle of Balaclava (Crimean War), a communications error leads British Lord James Cardigan to lead his cavalry, called the Light Brigade, in an unnecessary charge into a well-fortified Russian artillery position. The attack fails, and the Light Brigade suffers 40% casualties.
