On January 17, 1947, the United Nations Security Council meets in London for the first time. Established a year earlier, the UNSC consists of the world's five chief powers following WWII: the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, France and China. In addition, 6 nations from the UN's general membership serve as non-permanent members on a 2-year rotating basis (the number was increased to 10 in 1965). The Security Council's principle role is to investigate any matter in the world that can potentially threaten the collective peace, and determine the UN's response to the matter, including the authorization of the use of the membership's collective military might to maintain the peace. At first, the Chinese representation on the UNSC was the Republic of China's Nationalist government on the island of Taiwan, until the UN voted to recognize the People's Republic of China on the mainland in 1971. When the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, its seat on the Council was forwarded to the Russian Federation. On January 17, 1899, the USS Bennington lands on Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean and claims the small atoll for the U.S. British captain Samuel Wake named the atoll after himself in 1796, though there were recorded European sightings more than 200 years earlier. The U.S. saw it as a prime location for a telegraph station connecting Hawaii and Guam. Pan American Airways established a refueling station for its "China Clipper" flying boats in 1935, and the strategic military value of the atoll quickly became apparent. An airfield was constructed, which was attacked and captured by the Japanese on December 8, 1941; they garrisoned and held the atoll until the end of the war. Today, Wake Island is administered by the U.S. Air Force, and is home to the longest strategic runway in the Pacific. On January 17, 1966, an American B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 tanker during an aerial refueling over the Mediterranean Sea off Palomares, Spain. Both planes break up and the fuel in the tanker ignites, killing 7 of the combined 11 crew members of the two craft. The B-52 was carrying four modified hydrogen bombs, one of which fell in the sea and was recovered after a 3 month search. The other three fell to earth in and around Palomares, two of which exploded without detonating their nuclear packages, what would be termed as "dirty explosions." A two kilometer area around the town was contaminate with plutonium. Although the American government executed clean up procedures, traces of the contamination still exist to this day. (photo shows barrels of contaminated soil awaiting removal to America for disposal)
The Mississippi River flood of 1927 changed the government response to disasters in America forever. And therefore changed how Americans viewed the relationship between themselves and their government. And it wasn't just in Louisiana and Mississippi, much of America drained by Missouri and Ohio rivers was flooded from Pittsburg to Iowa. According to the book 'Rising Tide' the river between Louisiana and Mississippi at one point was 60 miles wide. The flood was massive and lasted a long time. Prior to this event no one expected the Federal Government to step in and help people who lost everything in these events. This was the first time the government did in a big way and the bureaucracies gained power. That flood changed America in ways that still resonate. I highly recommend you read Rising Tide by John Barry
On January 18, 1485 King Henry VII of England unites the Houses of Lancaster and York with his marriage to his third cousin, Elizabeth of York. The Lancasters and Yorks were "cadet branches" (male lineages) of the ruling House of Plantaganet. The Hundred Years War had left the Lancasters in control of the throne, but Henry VI was mentally infirm and sparked Richard of York to make a move on the throne in 1455. Thirty years of civil war followed - The Wars of the Roses - until Henry VII assumed the thrown and made good on his vow to marry Elizabeth. Ironically, this left neither the Lancasters nor the Yorks on the throne. Though Henry's mother was a Lancaster, his father was a Tudor. The Tudors would hold the English throne for the next 118 years. On January 18, 1967, Albert DeSalvo, an inmate of the Massachusetts mental health system, is convicted of sexual assault charges and sentenced to life in prison. Authorities believe DeSalvo to be "The Boston Strangler", a perp believed to have sexually assaulted and then killed by strangulation as many as 13 single women over a 19-month period. The women ranged in age between 19 and 85 years old; most were strangled with their own nylon stockings. Despite DeSalvo's confession, doubt existed for years as to whether he had committed any of the killings; it was not until 2013 that DNA evidence conclusively tied him to even one of the murders. DeSalvo died in prison November 25, 1973. On January 18, 2005, Airbus SE, a multinational European aerospace conglomerate, unveils the A380 in Toulouse, France. Although electrical issues with the design delayed its delivery for service for another two years, Airbus had accomplished what numerous other aerospace companies had tried and failed - to deliver a long-range carrier larger than Boeing's venerable 747. The A380's wingspan is 15 meters longer than the 747, and it outweighs the older jumbo jet by 50%. This is mainly because Airbus gave the 380 a double-decker passenger configuration that runs the length of the cabin; the 747's upper deck is only the length of its famous dorsal bulge near the front of the plane. This allows the A380 to carry 33% more passengers than the 747. There are about 250 A380's in service (most with British Airways, Qantas and Emirates Air); Airbus ceased production of any more last year, while Boeing will close its 747 production line this year after delivering the 4 aircraft currently in production. (An AirFrance A380 and a China Air 747 side by side at an unidentified airport)
Since there's nothing worth watching on TV tonight. I'm watching an event I recorded in July 2020. The Eagles live in concert which was recorded in September 2018 and aired on ESPN in July 2020. TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT!!
On January 19, 1920, a group of lawyers and activists found the American Civil Liberties Union. The formation is in response to the Palmer Raids, a DOJ sweep that saw hundreds of European immigrants (suspected socialists, communists or anarchists) arrested and deported, many in violation of their civil rights. The ACLU's stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." Current membership includes about 300 paid attorneys and thousands more who serve voluntarily, either through direct representation of clients in the courts to the filing of briefs on their behalf. On January 19, 2004, an overdose of enthusiasm derails a presidential campaign. Democrat Howard Dean, governor of Vermont was campaigning in Iowa, where he was running third in the polls. Dean was considered a front runner by many in the party, but Republicans were portraying him as a bit of a loose cannon, and this night, Dean gives them ammunition. He started somewhat low key, but then launched into a listing of states where he hoped to win, his enthusiasm and volume rising with each word. Dean finished with '....and then we're going to Washington, D.C. to take back the White House! Yeah!!" - his voice cracking as he delivered the "yeah" in a frenzied falsetto. Though few in the auditorium noticed it, the "Dean scream" came over loud and clear on TV, and was quickly mocked and parodied throughout news and social media. Dean's momentum hit a wall, and he lost the nomination to Senator John Kerry. On January 19, 1977, President Gerald Ford pardons Japanese-American citizen Iva Toguri, long accused of being "Tokyo Rose." The name actually applied to a number of Japanese radio announcers - all female - who broadcast Japanese propaganda to American troops in the Pacific during WWII. Toguri was born in Los Angeles but had traveled to Tokyo without a passport in mid-1941 to care for a sick relative. After Pearl Harbor she was denied re-entry into the country without proof of citizenship. She found work on Japanese radio but refused to participate in anti-American programming. That didn't stop her from being arrested after the war and spending several years in prison before being deported in 1956. She fought a 30-year battle in international courts for pardon, finally being granted after Ford saw her featured on 60 Minutes. Toguri died in 2006.
The ALCU while controversial focused on individual right rather political position. This is reflected in their defense of Nazis in Skokie to communists. Recently they have become partisan in their positions and very left wing. Their definition of rights is skewed significantly away from the original charter.
