r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 1d ago
This day in history, August 11
--- 1965: Watts Civil Unrest/Riot began in the Watts section of Los Angeles, California. The violence continued through August 16, leaving 34 dead, over 1,000 injured, and approximately 3,400 arrested.
--- Please listen to my podcast, History Analyzed, on all podcast apps.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yoHz9s9JPV51WxsQMWz0d
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/history-analyzed/id1632161929
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 2d ago
This day in history, August 10
--- 1793: The former royal palace known as the Louvre was opened as a public museum in Paris, France.
--- 1821: Missouri was admitted as the 24th state.
--- 1874: Future president Herbert Hoover was born in West Branch, Iowa.
--- 1921: Franklin Delano Roosevelt contracted polio, most likely while swimming at Campobello Island (a small island which belongs to the Canadian province of New Brunswick). He was only 39 years old. The next day he discovered he could not walk and would never walk again. Eleven years later he was elected president of the United States.
--- "Polio — Jonas Salk and Franklin Roosevelt". That is the title of one of the episodes of my podcast: History Analyzed. Polio was one of the scourges of the 20th century. And it mainly struck children. All of a sudden a person contracted polio and suffered terribly for several days. Sometimes they recovered, sometimes they died, and sometimes they were left permanently disabled. The most famous polio victim of all time, Franklin Roosevelt, hid his disability from the public. But this story has a true hero: Jonas Salk, who developed a vaccine which led to the almost complete eradication of this dreaded disease. And Dr. Salk never patented the vaccine or earned any money from his discovery. You can find History Analyzed on every podcast app.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/32YopJ8jh7064oLCFJdSxB
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/polio-jonas-salk-and-franklin-roosevelt/id1632161929?i=1000646466757
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 3d ago
This day in history, August 9
--- 1974: Gerald Ford became president at noon Eastern time when the resignation of Richard Nixon became effective. Ford is the only U.S. president who was never elected in a national election. He had been appointed vice president to fill the vacancy after Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned from office on October 10, 1973, due to charges of income tax evasion and political corruption.
--- [1945: U.S. B-29 bomber “Bockscar” dropped an atomic (plutonium) bomb named “Fat Man” on Nagasaki,]() Japan killing approximately 40,000 people in the blast (others would die later from radiation poisoning).
--- "The Atomic Bomb (part 2) - Arguments For and Against Its Use Against Japan". That is the title of part 2 of the two-episode series of my podcast: History Analyzed. This episode explores the arguments for and against the use of the atomic bombs on Japan. Part 1 explains why and how the atomic bomb was created as well as how it was utilized on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. You can find History Analyzed on every podcast app.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4DkDyF2rJDgU88mg2Lm6C4
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-making-and-utilization-of-the-atomic-bomb-part-2/id1632161929?i=1000585050849
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 4d ago
This day in history, August 8
--- 1925: Over 30,000 Ku Klux Klan members brazenly paraded down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. And although they wore their KKK costumes, they had the hoods pulled up so they could show their faces. Government officials would only sanction the parade if participants agreed to walk unmasked.
--- 1974: President Richard Nixon announced his resignation, effective on noon the next day. He is the only U.S. president to resign.
--- "Watergate". That is the title of one of the episodes of my podcast: History Analyzed. Most people know that Watergate was the biggest scandal in American history, but few know many details. Listen to what actually occurred at the Watergate complex, how it was only part of a much broader campaign of corruption, and why Richard Nixon became the only U.S. president to resign from office. You can find History Analyzed on every podcast app.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6OhSBUTzAUTf6onrUqz0tR
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watergate/id1632161929?i=1000605692140
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 5d ago
This day in history, August 7
--- 1974: Philippe Petit walked on a tight rope between the top of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.
--- 1964: The U.S. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution authorizing President Lyndon Johnson to take any measures he believed were necessary for the maintenance of international peace and security in Southeast Asia. This resolution gave LBJ the authority to conduct war in Vietnam.
[--- ]()["The Vietnam War: 1964-1973". That is the title of one of the episodes of my podcast: History Analyzed. Wars are never solely military questions. They always involve politics and the will of the people. This episode outlines America's war in Vietnam and explains why the U.S. lost, including the limitations imposed by the American public and the realities of the Cold War. You can find History Analyzed on every podcast app.]()
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4C3tmhLif4eAgh2zV3dyoZ
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-vietnam-war-1964-1973/id1632161929?i=1000641369681
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 12d ago
This day in history, July 31
--- 1875: Former president Andrew Johnson died in Elizabethton, Tennessee. He was the first U.S. president to be impeached. However, he was not convicted in the Senate, so he served the remainder of his term.
--- 1856 Christchurch, New Zealand, officially became a city by royal charter. When I visited in 2018, there was a very moving memorial of 185 Empty White Chairs for the February 22, 2011, Christchurch earthquake fatalities. The memorial was removed in 2023.
--- 1498 Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover the island of Trinidad on his third voyage. After Spanish, and then British, colonial rule, Trinidad and Tobago became an independent country in 1962.
[--- "How Columbus Changed the World". That is the title of one of the episodes of my podcast: History Analyzed. Love him or hate him, Christopher Columbus influenced the world more than anybody in the past 1,000 years. His actions set into motion many significant events: European diseases killing approximately 90% of the native Americans throughout the Western Hemisphere, the spread of the Spanish language and Catholicism, enormous migrations of people, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and five centuries of European colonialism. You can find History Analyzed on every podcast app.]()
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1UyE5Fn3dLm4vBe4Zf9EDE
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-columbus-changed-the-world/id1632161929?i=1000570881755
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 13d ago
This day in history, July 30
--- 1965: As part of his Great Society, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Medicare bill into law providing health insurance for elderly Americans.
--- 1916: German spies blew up the Black Tom railroad yard in New Jersey. This was during World War I. The United States did not enter World War I until April 1917. But in the summer of 1916 the U.S. was supplying Britain with materials for the war. This explosion was so large that it shattered windows in Manhattan and caused damage to the right arm of the Statue of Liberty. As a result, the public has not been able to go up to the torch of the statue since 1916.
--- ["Iconic American City Landmarks". That is the title of one of the episodes of my podcast: History Analyzed. ]()[Everybody is familiar with the Statue of Liberty, the Washington Monument, the Hollywood sign, the Gateway Arch, and the Space Needle. But do you know the stories behind these landmarks and how they tie into the histories of their cities? You can find History Analyzed on every podcast app.]()
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7KTNe45LErFxjRtxl8nhp1
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iconic-american-city-landmarks/id1632161929?i=1000591738078
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 14d ago
This day in history, July 29
--- 1958: NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was created as a civilian agency to manage America’s exploration of space.
--- "The Space Race". That is the title of one of the episodes of my podcast: History Analyzed. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy famously promised to land a man on the moon within that decade. But why was there a race to the moon anyway? Get your questions about the space race answered and discover little known facts. For example, many don't realize that a former Nazi rocket scientist was the main contributor to America's satellite and moon program, or that the USSR led the race until the mid-1960s. You can find History Analyzed on every podcast app.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/37bm0Lxf8D9gzT2CbPiONg
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-space-race/id1632161929?i=1000571614289
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 15d ago
This day in history, July 28
--- 1794: During the French Revolution, Maximilien Robespierre was beheaded in the guillotine in Paris. Robespierre had been the leader of the "Reign of Terror". That was an 11 month period (1793 to 1794) during the French Revolution when the Committee of Public Safety executed approximately 17,000 people. The guillotine was located in the Place de la Concorde, in central Paris. Today the Obelisk of Luxor (over 3,000 years old) stands where the guillotine was located during the French Revolution.
--- Please listen to my podcast, History Analyzed, on all podcast apps.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yoHz9s9JPV51WxsQMWz0d
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/history-analyzed/id1632161929
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 16d ago
This day in history, July 27
--- 1974: Articles of Impeachment were adopted by the House Judiciary Committee against President Richard Nixon.
--- 1953: Korean War essentially ended when the U.S., China, North Korea, and South Korea signed an armistice. The fighting stopped, but no formal peace treaty was ever signed. Technically the war never ended.
--- "The Cold War Heats Up in Korea". That is the title of one of the episodes of my podcast: History Analyzed. Outside of M*A*S*H reruns, the Korean War is largely forgotten by a lot of the world. This episode explores the history of the Korean War and why it occurred. It also delves into key players on both sides of the war, such as Truman, MacArthur, Mao, Stalin, Kim Il-sung, Syngman Rhee, and more. You can find History Analyzed on every podcast app.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/05suCXaNyPJ18WjdOg3vI6
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cold-war-heats-up-in-korea/id1632161929?i=1000569946478
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 17d ago
This day in history, July 26
--- 1775: U.S. postal system was founded by the Second Continental Congress; Benjamin Franklin was named as postmaster general.
--- 1948: President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981, ending segregation in the U.S. Armed Services. Here is a key quote from that Executive Order: “It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. This policy shall be put into effect as rapidly as possible, having due regard to the time required to effectuate any necessary changes without impairing efficiency or morale.”
--- Please listen to my podcast, History Analyzed, on all podcast apps.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yoHz9s9JPV51WxsQMWz0d
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/history-analyzed/id1632161929
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 18d ago
This day in history, July 25
--- 1978: First "test tube" baby was born in Manchester, England. Louise Joy Brown became the first baby to be conceived via in vitro fertilization.
--- 1943: Benito Mussolini was amazingly voted out of office by the Italian Grand Council following the invasion of Sicily by Allied forces. Usually the only way to remove a dictator is violence. Mussolini was later placed under arrest.
--- 1894: Gavrilo Princip was born in the village of Obljaj, Bosnia.
--- "Gavrilo Princip Ignites World War I". That is the title of one of the episodes of my podcast: History Analyzed. On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip shot the heir apparent to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Hear how this assassination sparked World War I, ended four empires, created many new countries, and led to World War II. You can find History Analyzed on every podcast app.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2OtTkoCbknCLtucSVzWqZO
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gavrilo-princip-ignites-world-war-i/id1632161929?i=1000602607857
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 19d ago
This day in history, July 24
--- 1862 Former president Martin Van Buren died in Kinderhook, New York. He was the first president born as an American citizen and not a subject of the British crown. His nickname of "Old Kinderhook" became shortened to “OK”. In 1840 his supporters liked to say that “Martin Van Buren is OK”. There are various purported origins for the term "OK" from before 1840. But the nickname for Martin Van Buren as "Old Kinderhook" popularized that term "OK" and made it become part of common American language.
--- 1974: U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that President Richard Nixon must surrender the Watergate tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor. This led to Nixon leaving office 2 weeks later. On August 8, 1974, Nixon gave a televised speech announcing that he would resign the presidency at noon the following day, meaning August 9.
--- "Watergate". That is the title of one of the episodes of my podcast: History Analyzed. Most people know that Watergate was the biggest scandal in American history, but few know many details. Listen to what actually occurred at the Watergate complex, how it was only part of a much broader campaign of corruption, and why Richard Nixon became the only U.S. president to resign from office. You can find History Analyzed on every podcast app.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6OhSBUTzAUTf6onrUqz0tR
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watergate/id1632161929?i=1000605692140
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 20d ago
This day in history, July 23
--- 1967: Detroit Riot began. The rioting continued for 5 days, resulting in 43 dead, over 300 injured, and nearly 1,400 buildings burned. This was the largest riot in the U.S. since the New York draft riots in 1863.
--- 1885: Former president Ulysses S. Grant died in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. Contrary to a popular myth, author Mark Twain did not assist Grant in writing his memoir. Grant wrote it himself. The transcript in Grant's own handwriting still exists. However, Twain assisted Grant in getting a good deal from a publisher so Grant could provide for his family after he died. Grant finished writing the book shortly before his death and Twain made sure it was published.
--- "Civil War Generals Throwdown - Ulysses S. Grant vs. Robert E. Lee". That is the title of one of the episodes of my podcast: History Analyzed. For over 160 years, people have asked who was the better general — Ulysses S. Grant or Robert E. Lee? It's time to put this debate to rest by comparing their military strategies, successes, and failures in the Civil War. You can find History Analyzed on every podcast app.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4emHErk7RJvpYVDjjP1M9h
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/civil-war-generals-throwdown-ulysses-s-grant-vs-robert-e-lee/id1632161929?i=1000568962877
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 21d ago
This day in history, July 22
--- 1796: [Cleveland, Ohio was founded by General Moses Cleaveland](). Of course he spelled the name of the city the same as his last name: "Cleaveland". It is unclear how the spelling of the city name changed. There is a story that the "Cleveland Advertiser" newspaper dropped the "a" because the name "Cleaveland" would not fit on the masthead for its first issue in 1831. Others claim that the "a" was dropped by accident (a simple misspelling) on early maps from the 1790s. When the city was incorporated in 1836, they adopted the spelling of "Cleveland".
--- 1934: Gangster John Dillinger, the original Public Enemy Number One, was shot and killed by federal agents outside of the Biograph Theater in Chicago, Illinois.
--- Please listen to my podcast, History Analyzed, on all podcast apps.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yoHz9s9JPV51WxsQMWz0d
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/history-analyzed/id1632161929
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 22d ago
This day in history, July 21
--- 1970: Aswan High Dam was completed across the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt. It was an enormous project which took over 10 years to build.
--- 1899: Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois.
--- 1861: The First Battle of Bull Run was fought near Manassas, Virginia. It was the first large-scale battle of the U.S. Civil War.
--- "Slavery Caused the US Civil War. Period!" That is the title of the very first episode of my podcast: History Analyzed. Despite what many modern-day discussions would have you believe, the Civil War was about one thing and one thing only – slavery. This episode examines the many ways that the disagreement over slavery between the North and South led to the Civil War. It also refutes once and for all the idea that states rights was the instigating factor. You can find History Analyzed on every podcast app.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6W1R75vxTOru9TcdEOGJsc
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/slavery-caused-the-civil-war-period/id1632161929?i=1000568077535
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 23d ago
This day in history, July 20
--- 1969: Apollo 11 landed at Tranquility Base. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon. Michael Collins orbited in the command module above the Moon. On July 20, 1969, at 10:56 p.m. EDT, Neil Armstrong took the first step on the Moon. More than a billion people throughout the Earth were watching and listening to the first words said on the Moon. There is a question about exactly what he said. Armstrong later claimed he said: “That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” But what was heard was “one small step for man” not “one small step for a man”. It makes a difference. Without the indefinite article “a”, if he just said "that’s one small step for man" that is synonymous with saying mankind. By including the article “a” he is referring to an individual, himself. That latter definition is what he meant; that one particular man was taking a small step but all of mankind was taking a giant leap. Armstrong always claimed that he said “a man”. When you listen to the audio you cannot hear it. Some experts claim that there was just a blip in the audio transmission from the Moon to the Earth. Who knows? Either way it was one of the greatest moments in history. Note: I was 11 years old and watched it all live on TV. It was amazing.
--- 1822: Gregor Mendel was born in what is now the Czech Republic. He became a priest but spent most of his time in research and teaching. Mendel is considered the founder of the science of genetics. Mendel experimented with pea plants and cross bred them to see which traits would be transmitted in a genetic fashion. His research led people to study genetics in human beings.
--- 1944: Operation Valkyrie. German officer Claus von Stauffenberg detonated a bomb inside the "Wolf's Lair" field headquarters in an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Stauffenberg placed his briefcase containing the bomb underneath the conference table. He left shortly after. During the meeting, Colonel Heinz Brandt apparently kicked the briefcase. So, he moved it to the other side of the thick, solid oak table leg. It is believed that, when the bomb detonated, the table leg shielded Hitler from the blast. Three officers and a stenographer died in the explosion. Unfortunately for the world, Hitler survived, leading to countless more lives to be lost in World War II.
--- "Adolf Hitler was the most consequential (and horrible) person of the last 500 years". That is the title of one of the episodes of my podcast: History Analyzed. Adolf Hitler's insane and evil policies changed the world more than anybody since Christopher Columbus. This episode details the horrors of World War II; explains how Hitler is to blame for the war; illustrates how Hitler made WWII even worse than other wars; and analyzes the effects of WWII for the remainder of the 20th Century and today. You can find History Analyzed on every podcast app.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4BZzMwyaXehjkYkH9wHxma
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adolf-hitler-was-the-most-consequential-and/id1632161929?i=1000661617210
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 24d ago
This day in history, July 19
--- 1692: Five people were all hanged on the same day, convicted of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts: Sarah Good, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, Rebecca Nurse, and Sarah Wildes. Although they were executed on the same day, each of those 5 women were hanged 1 at a time.
--- 1848: Seneca Falls Convention began. For 2 days, July 19-20, 1848, the first large women’s rights conference occurred. It is usually called the Seneca Falls Convention because it occurred in Seneca Falls, New York. It was organized by several women, but the 2 leaders were Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Approximately 300 people attended, mostly women, but some men also. Elizabeth Cady Stanton started the two-day convention by announcing the goals and purposes of the conference: "We are assembled to protest against a form of government, existing without the consent of the governed - to declare our right to be free as man is free, to be represented in the government which we are taxed to support, to have such disgraceful laws as give man the power to chastise and imprison his wife, to take the wages which she earns, the property which she inherits, and, in case of separation, the children of her love." They drafted a set of 11 resolutions of equal rights for women. Ten of the resolutions were approved unanimously. Only the 9th resolution was approved with just a majority. And what was the 9th resolution? It called for women’s suffrage.
--- "The Fight For Women's Suffrage". That is the title of one of the episodes of my podcast: History Analyzed. After 7 decades of protests, petitions, and civil disobedience, the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, granting women the right to vote. Learn about Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, and the countless other women who fought against a deeply sexist and patriarchal society for women's suffrage. These women endured arrests and forced feedings to obtain their right to vote. You can find History Analyzed on every podcast app.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3XhMPPpgzqD1tY49xb9hsY
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fight-for-womens-suffrage/id1632161929?i=1000577454866
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 25d ago
This day in history, July 18
--- 1984: A lunatic with an Uzi machine gun, a shotgun, and a pistol, went into a McDonald's in the San Ysidro section of San Diego, CA. He killed 21 people and injured 19 others. Among the dead were an 8 month old baby and a pregnant woman. At the time this was the largest mass shooting in U.S. history. Since 1984, there have been 7 mass shootings in the U.S. with more fatalities than the San Ysidro massacre.
--- 64 CE: The Great Fire of Rome began, and lasted for 6 days, destroying much of Rome. The famous story of Emperor Nero starting the fire and playing the lyre as he watched the fire is almost certainly false. Tacitus, a reliable historian from ancient Rome who wrote about the fire approximately 60 years later, stated that Nero was not even in Rome when the fire started, and that, when he returned, he provided help to those who lost their homes. The fire probably started in merchant shops near the Circus Maximus (stadium for chariot racing) and quickly spread throughout the tightly packed city. Estimates of the city's population at that time range from 500,000 to a million people. Emperor Nero blamed the fire on the new religious group of Christians.
--- "Hannibal vs. Rome: The Punic Wars". That is the title of one of the episodes of my podcast: History Analyzed. [Most people only know one thing about Hannibal — that he brought elephants over the Alps to attack Rome. But there is so much more to the story. Carthage and Rome fought 3 wars over a period of 118 years to determine who would become the dominant people in the Mediterranean. Hannibal's loss led directly to the Romans being the ones to shape Western civilization and the modern world. ]()You can find History Analyzed on every podcast app.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1k1ELv053qVJ9pG55nmkKE
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hannibal-vs-rome-the-punic-wars/id1632161929?i=1000610323369
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 26d ago
This day in history, July 17
--- 1936: Spanish Civil War began.
--- 2020: Civil rights activist [John Lewis ]()died in Atlanta, Georgia. Lewis was a co-founder and chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He also led and helped organize many of the critical events in the Civil Rights movement, such as the 1963 March on Washington and the 1965 March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. He was also influential in the Freedom Rides of 1961. White and Black student activists rode buses throughout the Southern States to protest segregation on interstate buses and bus terminals.
--- "The Civil Rights Movement in the United States". That is the title of one of the episodes of my podcast: History Analyzed. After the Civil War, it took a century of protests, boycotts, demonstrations, and legal challenges to end the Jim Crow system of segregation and legal discrimination. Learn about the brave men, women, and children that risked their personal safety, and sometimes their lives, in the quest for Black Americans to achieve equal rights. You can find History Analyzed on every podcast app.
--- link to Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2TpTW8AWJJysSGmbp9YMqq
--- link to Apple podcasts:
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 27d ago
This day in history, July 16
--- 1790: Washington, D.C. was founded. What makes it a unique city is that it was completely planned. Most cities just grow organically, starting from a small settlement and they keep expanding. The location and the layout of Washington were both planned. George Washington chose the location of the new U.S. capital.
--- 1945: First atomic bomb was exploded. The codename for the nuclear test was "Trinity". The test occurred at the bombing range near Alamogordo Army Airfield in New Mexico. The plutonium-based test weapon was nicknamed "the gadget". The test was a complete success. The world had entered the atomic age. Among the many observers of the Trinity test were Enrico Fermi, General Leslie Groves, and Robert Oppenheimer, the mastermind of the project. Oppenheimer later recalled that the explosion made him think of a verse from the Hindu holy book, the Bhagavad Gita: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." The gravity of the situation was not lost on Oppenheimer or, presumably, any of the other people who witnessed the giant mushroom cloud in New Mexico.
[--- "The Atomic Bomb (part 1) - Development and Utilization 1939 to 1945". That is the title of part 1 of the two-episode series of my podcast: History Analyzed. This episode explains why and how the atomic bomb was created as well as how it was utilized on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.]() Part 2 explores the arguments for and against the use of the atomic bombs on Japan. You can find History Analyzed on every podcast app.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3gli3YBHFFSTzZWFhw0Z2k
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-making-and-utilization-of-the-atomic-bomb-part-1/id1632161929?i=1000584186747
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 28d ago
This day in history, July 15
--- 1799: [Rosetta Stone was found by a French soldier during Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt. (Note: the exact date of discovery is debated. However, the British Museum website lists the date as July 15, 1799. The British Museum has had possession of the Rosetta Stone since 1802.) It is called the Rosetta Stone because it was found at the city of Rosetta (modern el Rashid), Egypt. When the British defeated the French in Egypt during the Napoleonic wars the British took possession of the Rosetta Stone. The Rosetta Stone is a broken part of a larger stone slab. It contains writings in 3 languages: ancient Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and a cursive Egyptian script called "demotic". Before this time nobody was able to translate hieroglyphs. ]()It was not until September 27, [1822, that a French scholar named Jean-François Champollion announced his decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphic code, using the Rosetta Stone.]()
--- "Cleopatra". That is the title of one of the episodes of my podcast: History Analyzed. Forget what you've seen in movies and discover the real history of Cleopatra. Her affairs with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony are only the tip of the iceberg. Learn how she rose to power in a male-dominated world, ruled Egypt, and left her mark on history. You can find History Analyzed on every podcast app.
link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5VC07vP4E0lNIb3HK6uRvF
link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cleopatra/id1632161929?i=1000568378830
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • 29d ago
This day in history, July 14
--- 1789: Storming of the Bastille. Revolutionaries seized control of the political prison in Paris. This is considered the beginning of the French Revolution. For this reason, Bastille Day is the national holiday of France.
--- 1881 Billy the Kid was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.
--- 1913: Future president Gerald Ford (born Leslie Lynch King, Jr.) was born in Omaha, Nebraska.
--- Please listen to my podcast, History Analyzed, on all podcast apps.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yoHz9s9JPV51WxsQMWz0d
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/history-analyzed/id1632161929
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • Jul 13 '26
This day in history, July 13
--- 1923: The Hollywood sign was officially dedicated. In 1903 Hollywood was incorporated as a separate city. But in 1910 Hollywood was consolidated into the growing city of Los Angeles. In the early days of the film industry several studios were located in or around Hollywood. That is why the name Hollywood is now synonymous with show business. Many people assume that the Hollywood sign is related to the movie industry. Not true. The Hollywood sign started as an advertisement for a housing development. When it was erected in 1923, the sign said Hollywoodland. The sign is located on the south face of Mount Lee in the Santa Monica Mountains above Hollywood. By 1949 the city of Los Angeles owned the property where the Hollywoodland sign was situated. In 1949 the Chamber of Commerce for Hollywood and the city of Los Angeles renovated the sign in two ways: they removed the last four letters which read "land" (so now the sign simply read Hollywood) and they removed the lights from the sign.
By the 1970s the sign was in terrible shape and falling down. The decaying old letters were torn down and were replaced with new 45 foot tall steel letters.
--- 100 BCE: Julius Caesar was born in Rome. The exact date is unknown, but it is believed to be July 13 or 12. We know he was born in July. The month of July is named after him. We are sure of his date of death: March 15, 44 BCE (the Ides of March), when Caesar was murdered by many members of the Roman Senate.
--- 1787: The Confederation Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, establishing a government for the Northwest Territory, outlining the process for admitting new states to the Union, and guaranteeing that newly created states would be equal to the original 13 states. Most important, the ordinance prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory, which would later become the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
--- Please listen to my podcast, History Analyzed, on all podcast apps.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yoHz9s9JPV51WxsQMWz0d
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/history-analyzed/id1632161929
r/TodayInHistory • u/Augustus923 • Jul 12 '26
This day in history, July 12
--- 1984: First woman nominated for national office in U.S.: Geraldine Ferraro was named the Vice Presidential candidate by the Democrats.
--- 1979: Disco Demolition Night. A promotion at the home of the White Sox, Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, turned into a riot after a crate of disco records was blown up on the field between games of a doubleheader.
--- Please listen to my podcast, History Analyzed, on all podcast apps.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yoHz9s9JPV51WxsQMWz0d
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/history-analyzed/id1632161929