Tag: today in history


Today in History, July 31: 1976 – The Big Thompson Canyon Flood. While Colorado was celebrating its Centennial, a highly unusual thunderstorm broke out high in the mountains, near the source of the Big Thompson Canyon in northern Colorado. The storm deluged the canyon with the equivalent of 3/4’s of the area’s annual rainfall in a matter of hours. It sent a wall of water 20 feet high racing down the canyon, filled with deadly debris.

Residents and tourists miles away from the storm near the mouth of the canyon had no idea there was a storm higher up, much less a torrent of flood water headed their way. 144 died. 

Colorado State Trooper Sgt. W. Hugh Purdy and Estes Park Officer Michel O. Conley were advised of the approaching flood. Remember that this before cell phones and other mass media, most of which wouldn’t have worked in the canyon anyway. These men drove their patrol cars up the canyon, telling people to flee using their public address systems, with full knowledge of what they were doing….until they met the water and were killed. 

The Arch de Triomphe


Today in History, July 29: 1836 – Originally designed in 1806, the Arch de Triomphe in Paris, France is inaugurated on this date in 1836 to commemorate French victories, mostly during the French Revolution and by Napoleon Bonaparte. 

 Intended for French armies to march through after military victories, it has since been used also by foreign armies celebrating their conquest of France. The Germans marched through (or around) the arch twice, the French have taken the march also, as have American and British forces liberating France after it’s conquest. 

 After WWI, the French tomb of the unknown soldier was entombed beneath the arch; as a sign of respect, armies have since marched around rather than through the Arch, including Hitler’s armies in 1940. 

 After WWI in 1919, Charles Godefroy flew his French Nieuport biplane through the Arch, giving us an idea of it’s size.

Tragedy on the 79th Floor 


Today in History, July 28: 1945 – A US Army Air Corps B-25 “Mitchell” bomber, lost in the fog over Manhattan, crashes into the Empire State Building. The same type aircraft had been utilized in the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo in 1942. The airplane had missed the Chrysler Building, but in diverting from impact with that skyscraper, turned into the Empire State Building, then the tallest building in the country. The aircraft’s high octane fuel severely damaged the structure, several of her parts landed on or in nearby buildings, and one of her engines caused an elevator to fall. the safety features in the elevator stopped it’s free-fall, and the woman occupying it was saved just before the engine landed upon it. All three crew members and 11 workers in the building were killed.  

Retreat and Die….

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Today in History, July 27: 1943 – Cowardice outlawed. As the German Wehrmacht overtook Stalingrad, Josef Stalin issued Order 227, “Panic makers and cowards must be liquidated on the spot. Not one step backward without orders from higher headquarters! Commanders…who abandon a position without an order from higher headquarters are traitors to the Fatherland.” or, “Not one step backward”. The order created “barrier detachments”, units that would position themselves behind the units at the front…and if any of the troops retreated, if they ran, the barrier detachments would shoot them down on the spot. In addition to this, soldiers with no weapons were expected to join the charge and simply pick up the weapons of the dead. The History channel tells us that the order was not necessary because of the inherent patriotism of the Russians. How silly. It was however, short lived, because the Russian commanders realized the waste of having entire units positioned to kill their own men.

Death in the Twilight Zone

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Today in History, July 23: 1982 – Twilight Zone: The Movie met with success, including the “Nightmare at 20,000 ft” segment which included a terrific performance by John Lithgow, but it came at a terrific price. On this date in 1982, on the last date of filming, veteran actor Vic Morrow (Combat!) and two small children were running from a Vietnam era helicopter shooting a scene. Special effects explosives caused the pilot to lose control, and the aircraft crashed into the actors, killing them. It would be the first time movie producers were charged with negligent homicide, a charge they would defeat. However the producers, including Steven Spielberg, settled for an undisclosed amount in the civil suits. I couldn’t find any photos of the child actors, but their loss (Renee Shinn Chen and Myca Dinh Le) was not less than that of Vic Morrow,

Wiley Post and Winnie Mae


Today in History, July 22: 1933 – After a 7 day, 18 hour, 49 minute flight, Wiley Post completes the first SOLO around the world flight in his already famous Lockheed Vega, Winnie Mae, greeted by a crowd of 50,000 at New York’s Floyd Bennett Field. He beat his own time from an earlier non-solo around the world flight in the same airplane. He was honored with his second New York ticker tape parade. 

Post also used Winnie Mae to set high altitude flight records, designing a pressurized flight suit to do so. He also made use of the Jet Stream in his flight tests. 

 In 1935 he and another of Oklahoma’s favorite sons, Will Rogers, would die together in a plane crash at Point Barrow, Alaska. 

Winnie Mae can be visited at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

Fame at Any Cost…


Today in History, July 21: 356 – “Fame at any cost”. The Ephesians had built the Temple of Artemis (Diana in Greek) to honor the goddess. It made it’s home of Epheus (in modern day Turkey) famous, being one of the 7 wonders of the world. It would be destroyed and rebuilt at least 3 times, first by flood, then by arson, and then by war. The second time, it had just been rebuilt when an arsonist set fire to the timbers supporting it’s roof, destroying it again. When captured, the arsonist admitted openly that he had committed the act to secure his name in history. It was ruled that he would be put to death, his name was not to be spoken on pain of death, and his name was removed from all records. He got his wish, however, when the historian Theopompus recorded his name in the next century. Thus we have the term Herostratic Fame…fame at any cost.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Today in History, July 20: 1969 – The day the Earth stood still. Over a billion people world wide stopped what they were doing to watch in awe as Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon. It had been a decade long odyssey, begun with JFK’s comments that it should be done before the end of the 60’s decade. So much has been gained from America’s space exploration. I was a seven year old boy laying in the living room floor, allowed to stay up late and watch this happen on our black and white TV. First “The Eagle has landed”, then….

I’m Your Huckleberry…

Today in History, July 19: 1879 – “I’m your Huckleberry..” John Henry “Doc” Holliday kills his first man. Holliday was a former dentist, a gambler, a heavy drinker, and was slowly dying of Tuberculosis. He was co-owner of a saloon in Las Vegas, New Mexico when a former army scout tried talking one of the “girls” working in the saloon into running off with him. When he was rebuffed, he became angry and began firing into the saloon from the street. Doc calmly stood, walked out onto the porch, and shot Mike Gordon down with one shot before Gordon could get off a second shot. While Doc was involved in many gunfights, including the OK Corral, he only killed two men. An aside—was not a big fan of Val Kilmer, until Tombstone.

By the way.  “I’m your Huckleberry” simply means, I’m your man; I’m the right person for the job.  I’m willing, let’s go.

 

I’m your huckleberry Tombstone scene
Classic scene from Tombstone movie. (1993) **SPOILER**

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