On this day in 1965, the Watts Riots erupted in Los Angeles. Over the next 6 days, 34 people were killed and more than $40 million in property damage was inflicted. The riots were sparked when LA police allegedly roughed up a black woman (out on parole for robbery) during a reckless driving arrest. On this day in 1929, Babe Ruth hit his 500th career home run.
On this day in 1981, IBM introduced the Personal Computer. The Model 5150 had a 4.77MHz CPU and came with 16k of RAM, for a recommended price tag of about $1550.
On this day - actually this night - in 1961, East German soldiers hastily erected a barbed-wire barrier along the political boundary separating East and West Berlin. The Berlin Wall would later be upgraded to a concrete barrier, separating the city until it was torn down over a 3-year period beginning in 1989. On this day in 1521, Tenochtitlan, capital city of the Aztec Empire, falls following 2 months of siege by Hernando Cortez and his conquistadors.
Buried somewhere, I have a picture of me standing on the wall roughly a month before daddy Bush kindly asked Gorbie to tear down the wall. What a great time in history. In all my years in Germany, I crossed checkpoint Charlie 12 times. Walking from one world through another. Good times
Think Bush said it as well, right? ETA: I can't find anywhere where Bush said it, so I stand corrected, I think
On this day in 1918, Opha Mae Johnson became the first enlisted female US Marine. A total of 305 women would join the Marine Corps Reserve before the end of WWI.
