On December 9, 1968, American engineer and inventor Douglas Englebart gives what is now called "The Mother of All Demos." At the Association of Computer Machinery/Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Convention in San Francisco, Englebart first demonstrates his concept of hardware and software for OnLine Systems (NLS). In 90 minutes, virtually everything we apply to the use of personal computers today is introduced: hypertext, word processing, windows, graphics, efficient navigation and command input and more. Englebart also notes he's using a previously unseen remote device for control, which he calls a "mouse." Englebart's concepts will begin appearing in Xerox computers within a decade, and will be the basis for the rollout of the Apple McIntosh personal computer and Microsoft Windows Operating Systems in the years that followed. On December 9, 1854, Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" is published in London's Examiner. The poem commemorates an ill-fated attack by 600 British cavalrymen against a heavily-fortified Russian position at the Battle of Balaclava six weeks earlier. Tennyson did not witness the charge himself; the poem was written based on two newspaper accounts of the event, and he wrote it "in a few minutes." Wikipedia's page on "The Charge of the Light Brigade (poem)" includes a link to a reading of the poem by Tennyson himself, recorded on Edison's wax cylinder device.
On December 10, 1974, Congressman Wilbur Mills (D-Arkansas) resigns his 16-year chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee in disgrace. Roughly two months before, police had encountered a highly intoxicated Mills with a woman - not his wife - at 2am near the Jefferson Memorial. The woman turned out to be a popular performer on the DC exotic dance club circuit. While the press had historically turned a blind eye to the improprieties of members of Congress before, this time (still feeling the rush of its part in taking down President Nixon, perhaps?) they go wild on Mills, giving America its first major political sex scandal. Mills, elected to his 9th term of office a month before, steps down at the end of the term. (Mills and stripper Fanne Fox) On December 10, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman completes his "March to the Sea", arriving at Savannah, GA. Some weeks earlier, Sherman's army had departed Atlanta and set out for Savannah, planning to "make Georgia howl", as his message to President Lincoln said. Living off the land, Sherman's army destroyed virtually everything it could not carry away with it between the Confederacy's 2nd largest city and one of its last remaining seaports. A force of 10,000 Confederate troops defending Savannah will hold out for 10 days before raising the white flag.
On December 11, 1997, the United Nations adopts the Kyoto Protocol. Named for the Japanese city where the conference developing the plan was held, the Kyoto Protocol held signatory nations to varying degrees of responsibility for reducing the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In fact, some had no official responsibility at all, and the terms allowed more developed nations to "buy" the emission rights of other countries to lessen their own responsibility. Eighty-four member nations signed on; although the U.S. was one of them, President Bill Clinton never pushed Congress to ratify the agreement. The success of the Protocol (a planned second phase to begin in 2012 was never adopted) is debatable. On December 11, 2008, investments trader Bernard Madoff is arrested as mastermind of one of the biggest investment frauds in Wall Street history. Madoff opened his own investment firm in 1960, legitimately building it into one of the nation's most successful stock traders by the early 1990's. It was around that time that he began developing what is called a Ponzi scheme, creating an investment firm within his company, recruiting investors, and paying said investors with funds generated by recruiting new investors, rather than actual profits. By the time of his arrest, some $65 billion was involved. The government already had its eyes on Madoff when he was turned in by one of his sons. Madoff is currently serving a 150 year prison term.
On December 12, 1901, Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of the radio, proves his detractors wrong.....and right. Marconi had been demonstrating the capabilities of his radio for several years, most notably sending a signal across the English Channel. But detractors insisted his invention would only have an effective range of about 200 miles, due to the curvature of the earth. On December 12, Marconi receives a signal - just the Morse Code letter "s" - in Newfoundland, Canada, sent from Cornwall, England, a distance of more than 2,000 miles. It was later determined that the signal was in fact headed into space, not following the earth's curve, but it bounced off the ionosphere and back down to where Marconi could receive it. On December 12, 1963, Kenya declares its independence from Great Britain. The British had been preparing for this day since the Mau Mau Uprising of 1952 made it clear Kenya was no longer satisfied to exist as a colony. The agreement for independence included the formation of a 66-seat ruling council, with half the seats reserved for the new nation's more-than-20 ethnic groups. Jomo Kenyatta (below), who had led the uprising, was installed as Prime Minister. Kenyatta would institute one-party rule in 1969, and Kenya has struggled to be seen as a democratic nation since its inception. On December 12, 1937 on the Yangtze River near Nanking, China, Japanese warplanes sink the gunboat USS Panay. The U.S. was neutral in the Sino-Japanese War of the '30s. The Panay was escorting 3 Standard Oil barges up the river away from Nanking, and was attacked despite all vessels flying all accepted flags of neutrality, and the US delegation having informed the Japanese of the movement. Two sailors and a civilian were killed and 11 wounded. The Japanese, who maintained the attack was an accident, would eventually agree to pay $2 million in damages.
Maybe based on the Panay. "The Sand Pebbles" is set in 1926. The Sand Pebbles Trailer 1966.flv - YouTube
On December 13, 1862, the Rebel army delivers the North a staggering defeat at Fredericksburg, VA. Under newly promoted General Ambrose Burnside, the Army of the Potomac had moved swiftly to meet General Lee's forces, but were delayed at the banks of the Rappahannock River for several days waiting for a pontoon bridge to arrive. The delay allows Lee's forces to dig in at Marye's Heights outside Fredericksburg, establishing a long line of defense on a sunken road behind a stone wall, creating a 600 yard-wide killing field not unlike the ridge they will face 7 months later at Gettysburg. When the Yanks finally cross the river, Ambrose launches 14 charges against the Rebel lines; not a single soldier gets within 50 yards of the stone wall. Many of the wounded freeze to death overnight on the field. Yankee casualties exceed 12,000 dead; the carnage incites Lee's famous quote to General James Longstreet: "It is well that war is so horrible, lest we grown too fond of it." On December 13, 1545, spurred by the Prostestant Reformation, Pope Paul III (below) convenes the Council of Trent. Over the next 22 years, with 3 different popes presiding, the council issues 17 declarations, most noteworthy of which is the affirmation that Christ is "truly, substantially present" in the consecrated forms of the Eucharist. On December 13, 1776, Colonial Army General Charles Lee gets caught thinking with his privates. Lee was considered by the British to be a superior commander to Washington, but he was hot-headed and (most importantly this night) had a taste for prostitutes. Lee leaves his command on the shore of the Delaware River and, with a token security detachment, heads for Widow White's Tavern in nearby Basking Ridge, New Jersey, seeking female companionship. He is still there on the 15th when members of the 16th Queen's Light Dragoon arrive and capture him, leading him through the streets in only his nightdress. In captivity, Lee actually plans an attack on colonial forces for his captors, though they never use the plan. Lee would be released from captivity in May, 1778, and has a series of disagreements with Washington on his return, leading to his dismissal from the army in 1780.
