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| A portrait of King George III |
Today in history was really a historic one, starting with a rejection by King George of Great Britain. On July 5th, 1775, the Olive Branch Petition was created by the Continental Congress of the United States, which was sent to England three days later on July 8th. On this day in 1775, the petition had finally reached its recipient, King George. King George quickly rejected this petition that longed for compromise between the colonies and Great Britain. After the news of its rejection, the colonies quickly began to form the Declaration of Independence to formally declare its independence from King George and Great Britain.
Yesterday in History, I noted the start of the Battle of Jonesboro in the American Civil War. On this day in 1864, the battle continued to rage on, but with the important capture of Atlanta, George by the Union forces, the Union had won this two-day battle. This win for General William T. Sherman virtually secures Abraham Lincoln's reelection later that fall.
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Hitler commands his army to
attack Poland, initiaing WW2 |
Imagine yourself in late 1930s Poland, where life is simple, no technology, but living in a small cottage with not only your immediate family, but also your aunts, uncles, and cousins. Now imagine just sleeping in a hard mat that was your bed, when suddenly in the early morning of September 1st, 1939, over 1.5 million German soldiers invade your homeland. This was true for Polish residents living by the nearby bordered Germany. With Germany's invasion of Poland, World War II had began in the still morning of 4:45am on this day in 1939. Not only invading the borders of Poland, Germany also simultaneously bombed Polish airfields, attacked Polish navel forces in the Baltic Sea, and reeked havoc throughout Poland. Not convinced by German leader Adolf Hitler's excuse of claiming this invasion was a "defensive action," both Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later, adding oil to the fire of World War II.
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A modern image of the wreck
of the RSS Titanic |
If you are a consistent reader of my Today in History post, you know that I am a huge baseball fan. Baseball is not only America's national pastime, but also one of Japan's most popular sports. On this day in 1964, the first Japanese baseball player makes his Major League Baseball debut. Pitcher Masanori Murakami of the San Francisco Giants tosses one scoreless inning in a 1-4 Giants loss versus the New York Mets. Murakami was the only Japanese player to play in the majors even 30 years after his debut until pitcher Hideo Nomo made his debut in 1995. Great Japanese imports to play in the majors include Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, and the recent Yu Darvish.
The
Titanic, a 1997 directed by James Cameron is one of the highest grossing movies of all time, but the story of the real RSS Titanic is truly astonishing. Today in history was an advancement in the Titanic story, as the wreck of the "unsinkable" vessel was found in 1985. A U.S.-French joint expedition locates the sunken ship 400 miles off the shore of Newfoundland. I have more information about the Titanic in one of my first Today in History post
here.
