History - what happened on today's date

[Eustace]

The idea of this topic came to me after reading an article by a Greek author about the capture of Constantinople by the Knights of the 4th Crusade on 13 April 1204. The theme is open to all amateur historians for important dates in history.
Here is a part of the article, although the author does not hide his antipathy towards the Bulgarians.

The europeans attacked to the sea walls on 8th April 1204. The ships drew near to the city, and a fierce battle began in more than a hundred places. The crusaders were repulsed in that assault, and those who had landed from the galleys were driven back. After the defeat, the Doge of Venice and the other barons were assembled in a church on the other side of the straits and discussed. The Venetians insisted that they should repeat the attacks to the same place, but this time the ships should be bound together in order to reach the high towers. The preparations lasted some days and the final assault was repeated on 13th April 1204. The Greeks defended the towers with success, but suddenly the wind changed and blew from the north. Two ships that were bound together, the Pilgrim and the Paradise, approached so near to a tower, that the ladder of the first vessel joined on to the tower. Immediately a Venetian, and two French knights, whose name was Andrew of Durboise and John Choisy, entered into the tower. This was the beginning of the end. The tower was taken and many other crusaders raised their ladders and conquered many other towers. In vain the emperor Alexius Mourzuphlus tried to encourage his soldiers to counterattack. They fled and Alexius ran to the castle of Bucoleon. He took with him Eufrosine and her daughter Eudokia and left the Byzantine capital through the Golden Gate. The Latins set again fire to the city.

And the city began to take fire, and to burn very direfully; and it burned all that night and all the next day, till vesper-time. And this was the third fire there had been in Constantinople since the Franks arrived in the land; and more houses had been burned in the city than there are houses in any three of the greatest cities in the kingdom of France.
When Alexius V left the City, Constantine Lascaris one of the city's leading defenders, was proclaimed emperor in the Cathedral of St. Sophia. He tried with his brother Theodoros Lascaris to drive the Varagkoi (Vikings mercenaries) against the invaders, but again the attempt had no result and the two brothers fled the city. In Nicaea, Theodoros Lascaris would later create a new Byzantine state, the Empire of Nicaea. One of his successors Michael VIII Paleologus in 1261, would liberate the Greek capital.
The richest city of the world was at the mercy of the Europeans. The barbarians did horrible things that are beyond imagination. They tortured and massacred a large part of the population, destroyed churches, palaces, monasteries and even sculptures made by Phedias and Praxiteles, stole thousands of priceless icons, relics and other things, raped young girls and boys...
https://www.agiasofia.com/emperors/fall1204.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack_of_C ... ple_(1204)
https://www.ancient.eu/article/1188/120 ... antinople/

[Eustace]

Well, something from your new history. 17-18 april 1961 - Bay of Pigs Invasion.
The first part of the plan was to destroy Castro’s tiny air force, making it impossible for his military to resist the invaders. On April 15, 1961, a group of Cuban exiles took off from Nicaragua in a squadron of American B-26 bombers, painted to look like stolen Cuban planes, and conducted a strike against Cuban airfields. However, it turned out that Castro and his advisers knew about the raid and had moved his planes out of harm’s way. Frustrated, Kennedy began to suspect that the plan the CIA had promised would be “both clandestine and successful” might in fact be “too large to be clandestine and too small to be successful.”
But it was too late to apply the brakes. On April 17, the Cuban exile brigade began its invasion at an isolated spot on the island’s southern shore known as the Bay of Pigs. Almost immediately, the invasion was a disaster. The CIA had wanted to keep it a secret for as long as possible, but a radio station on the beach (which the agency’s reconnaissance team had failed to spot) broadcast every detail of the operation to listeners across Cuba. Unexpected coral reefs sank some of the exiles’ ships as they pulled into shore. Backup paratroopers landed in the wrong place. Before long, Castro’s troops had pinned the invaders on the beach, and the exiles surrendered after less than a day of fighting; 114 were killed and over 1,100 were taken prisoner.
According to many historians, the CIA and the Cuban exile brigade believed that President Kennedy would eventually allow the American military to intervene in Cuba on their behalf. However, the president was resolute: As much as he did not want to “abandon Cuba to the communists,” he said, he would not start a fight that might end in World War III. His efforts to overthrow Castro never flagged–in November 1961, he approved Operation Mongoose, an espionage and sabotage campaign–but never went so far as to provoke an outright war. In 1962, the Cuban missile crisis inflamed American-Cuban-Soviet tensions even further.

[doglegg]

Remember it well Eustace. Not well planned or supported and got a bunch of Cuban patriots killed.

[FRJ]

Good post, Eustace.

On this date in 1775, Paul Revere began his famous ride from Charlestown to Lexington, Mass., warning colonists that British Regular troops were approaching.

And:

In 1906, a devastating earthquake struck San Francisco, followed by raging fires.
Estimates of the final death toll range between 3,000 and 6,000.

[Eustace]

World War II - inclusion of the Bulgarian Army into military actions.
On 19 April 1941, called Bulgarian Easter, the Bulgarian troops invaded Yugoslavia and on April 20th in Greece, without having to conduct active fighting. In this way, the Bulgarian government, in coordination with Germany and Italy, sent troops in a number of territories inhabited by Bulgarians. The Bulgarian army is met in most places as a liberator, Tsar Boris III has been declared "Tsar-Unifier" and the government has raised its prestige immensely.
A little later, after further negotiations, Ohrid was also surrendered to the Bulgarians by the Italians on 24 May 1941. As a result, under the Bulgarian administration, the largest part of Vardar Macedonia, the eastern part of Aegean Macedonia, West Thrace, Western Suburbs and Pomoravie at a western border with Serbia under the San Stefano Peace Treaty. Under the so-called Doctor Claudius Agreement, Bulgaria is temporarily committed to replacing German troops on the territory of Macedonia, Moravia and Western Thrace, creating an administration of these areas and preserving various German economic interests there. The Bulgarian army has only security functions in newly-liberated lands. They are given "under temporary Bulgarian rule".

[Eustace]

Elbe Day, April 25, 1945, is the day Soviet and American troops met at the Elbe River, near Torgau in Germany, marking an important step toward the end of World War II in Europe. This contact between the Soviets, advancing from the East, and the Americans, advancing from the West, meant that the two powers had effectively cut Germany in two.
Elbe Day has never been an official holiday in any country, but in the years after 1945 the memory of this friendly encounter gained new significance in the context of the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

[Eustace]

D-Day Invasion of Normandy
On June 6, 1944, Allied troops invade German-occupied France and face near certain death on the beaches of Normandy.

[carrmillus]

.........I remember listening to the coverage of D-day well into the night on this day 75 years ago on the radio with my parents, I was 7 years old!!........... ................

[Eustace]

On 19 June 1862, The US Congress officially forbids the slavery of all current and future US territories, and Abraham Lincoln signs the document that gives his consent to his entry into force.

[dlr110]

On this day in 1953, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviets, were executed at Sing Sing Prison in New York.

On this day in 1944, in what has become known as the “Marianas Turkey Shoot,” U.S. carrier-based fighters decimate the Japanese Fleet with only a minimum of losses in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

The most successful and feared Confederate commerce raider of the war, the CSS Alabama, sinks after a spectacular battle off the coast of France with the USS Kearsarge.

Source: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

[RobesonsRme.com]

On this date in 1952, The United States Army Special Forces were established.

Charlie Noyes

[dlr110]

June 21st:
The U.S. Constitution is ratified and New Hampshire becomes the ninth and last necessary state to ratify the constitution.

[Eustace]

Operation Barbarossa, original name Operation Fritz, during World War II, code name for the German invasion of the Soviet Union, which was launched on June 22, 1941. The failure of German troops to defeat Soviet forces in the campaign signaled a crucial turning point in the war.
We have such an expression in Bulgaria - "Stepping to a hoe"

[dlr110]

June 22: On this day in 1944, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the G.I. Bill, an unprecedented act of legislation designed to compensate returning members of the armed services–known as G.I.s–for their efforts in World War II.

[Eustace]

June 25, 1950 begins the Korean War. For the first time since the Second World War, the great strategists of the Soviet Union and the United States tested their forces, under the pink watercolor sky of Korea.

[Eustace]

On August 15, 718, the Arabs withdrew from the besieged Constantinople, making huge casualties. As a result of the battle, Byzantium was saved from defeat and Europe was saved from the Arab invasion. The ancient chroniclers recognized the decisive assistance of the Bulgarian army under the leadership of Tsar Tervel.
The siege of Constantinople in 718 was the second large-scale march by the Arabs (after 674) to conquer Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium. At that time, only 95 years after the emergence of Islam, Arab territories spread across three continents - Asia, Africa and Europe. The former Byzantine provinces of Syria, Palestine, Egypt and North Africa were conquered. At the beginning of the 8th century, the Visigothic kingdom in Spain was conquered. The Arabs are already threatening Europe by a second wedge, seizing the Roman capital of Constantinople.
In the fall of 717, a huge Arab army marched to Constantinople and besieged it from all sides. According to various chroniclers, the ground army numbers between 80,000 and 200,000 people, supported by 1,800-5,000 ships. In this situation, the new ruler Leo III Isaver sends envoys to Bulgarian ruler Tervel asking for help.
42-year-old successor of Asparukh exhibits remarkable statesmanship vision. Only 36 years have passed since the expansion of Bulgaria south of the Danube, during which Byzantium and Bulgaria waged continuous wars. Tervel correctly believes that the Arab invasion will not stop with the fall of Constantinople, and this threat is much worse than Byzantium. He therefore accepted Constantinople's request for assistance.
Tervel personally leads the Bulgarian army and reaches near Constantinople. As early as the outbreak of hostilities, the Bulgarians defeated a four-thousand-strong Arab squad, commanded personally by Arab leader Maslama Ibn Abdel-Malis, who barely escaped after the defeat.
Subsequently, by order of Maslama, Arabs from the west coast of the Bosphorus built two defense shafts - one against Constantinople and one west against the Bulgarians, to secure the rear of the army. However, the shafts do not save them from the Bulgarian troops.
Here's how the Byzantine chronicler Mikhail Syrianski describes the situation:
"... The Arabs were attacked by land by the inhabitants of the city, by the Bulgarians, and by sea from the Roman ships, and from the other side of the sea [on the Asia Minor coast] by the Roman front line. Bulgarians attacked the Arabs and slaughtered them; they were more feared by the Bulgarians than by the Romans. Outside, the Arabs were more troubled by the afflictions than the Roma inside. Winter was coming, and the Arabs were afraid to withdraw; first - by their king, second - by the sea and third - by the Bulgarians. The whirlwind of death grabbed them. Maslama lied to them, saying that their king's reinforcements would soon arrive. The Romans were besieged, but the Arabs were no better than them. Hunger pressured them so much that they ate the corpses of the dead and their own impurities. They were forced to destroy each other to feed themselves. A single grain of wheat cost ten denarii. They were looking for small pebbles to quench their hunger. They also ate the waste from their ships. "
Blocked by Bulgarians by land, the Arabs spend an extremely difficult winter, many of them dying of disease and starvation. In the spring of 718, Tervel inflicted yet another defeat on the Arabs. Maslama land army was defeated by the victims of the Arab country under Theophanes Confessor 22 000 and, according to the chronicle of the Belgian monk Sigebert of Gembloux Bulgarians killed 30,000 Saracens.
On August 15, 718 Arabs lift the siege and withdraw from Constantinople. The fleet is overtaken by sea storms and only 5 ships reach Syria.

As a result of the battle Byzantium is saved from defeat, Europe is protected from the invasion of Islam for the next 500 years.
In his work of 1545, the Spanish author Mejia emphasized the significant role of the Bulgarians in defeating the Arabs in the Balkans and in opposing Arab ambitions to clamp down and threaten the whole of Christian Europe.
There are also more skeptical forecasts - English historian Edward Gibbon claims that if the Arabs were able to join forces from the east with their forces in the west in Spain, today in Cambridge and Oxford students would learn the Quran and from the tower in central London instead of the ring of the Big Ben, the voice of the hodja would be heard.

[Eustace]

When we hear about a crisis during the Cold War, most people think of the Caribbean crisis. Few people have heard of the incident that happened on September 26, 1983. The world was literally seconds from nuclear annihilation.
By the mid-1980s, the number of active nuclear warheads in the world had peaked - an astounding 70,300. In comparison, today only 3,500 are active and the total number of warheads has dropped to about 14,000.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Sovi ... m_incident
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-24280831

[cudgee]

On this day in 1908 the first model T ford went on the market. A fairly successful piece of motoring engineering one would have to say. Have a good day everyone.

[zzyzzogeton]

On this day in 1908 the first model T ford went on the market. A fairly successful piece of motoring engineering one would have to say. Have a good day everyone.

And Henry Ford said

"You can have any color you want, as long as you want black."

[cudgee]

On this day in 1908 the first model T ford went on the market. A fairly successful piece of motoring engineering one would have to say. Have a good day everyone.

And Henry Ford said

"You can have any color you want, as long as you want black."

And that was their best seller.

[dlr110]

On this date May 25th, 60 years ago President Kennedy gave a speech before congress challenging America to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade.

Short video.
https://www.google.com/search?q=kennedy ... nCp-M,st:0

[1967redrider]

Thanks for the birthday trivia, David.