Today in History

[TimSJ]

Got this off of another board that i am on a fair bit. If people are interested i will update each day.

Tim

Dec 5 1484
Innocent VIII orders an Inquisition to uncover and execute witches in Europe. Witchcraft becomes a heresy, and over the next three centuries 200,000 accused witches die under most unpleasant circumstances.

Dec 5 1928
In order to protect United Fruit Company employees from striking banana workers, the government declares martial law in Santa Marta, Colombia. Over the next three weeks, Colombian troops kill between 500 and 600 strikers.

Dec 5 1933
Fourteen years of prohibition end when Utah ratifies the 21st amendment. Let the good times roll.

Dec 5 1991
Richard Speck, murderer who killed 8 nurses, dies of natural causes while incarcerated. Somehow he managed to grow breasts while in prison, which was recorded on a videotape aired five years after his death. Behind bars Speck apparently was a black man's bitch, and he didn't mind sucking a little **** now and then. "If they only knew how much fun I was having, they would turn me loose."

Dec 5 1997
South African serial killer Moses Sithole sentenced to 2,410 years for the serial killing of 38 people in 1994 and 1995, as well as 40 rapes and various lesser offenses.

Dec 5 1997
Fairfield, CA resident Alan Hall is rushed to the NorthBay Medical Center in a vain attempt to reattach his amputated penis. Hall informs police that the assailant, a mysterious woman named Brenda, had sliced it off at the base with an X-Acto knife following sex. Authorities ultimately determine the wound to be self-inflicted.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by TimSJ

Dec 5 1997
Fairfield, CA resident Alan Hall is rushed to the NorthBay Medical Center in a vain attempt to reattach his amputated penis. Hall informs police that the assailant, a mysterious woman named Brenda, had sliced it off at the base with an X-Acto knife following sex. Authorities ultimately determine the wound to be self-inflicted.

Ouch.

You have to be missing some brains to do that.

[Frank the Tank]

Very cool. I love stuff like that list.

[RougeUnderoos]

1924 -- Red Green of the Hamilton Tigers scores five goals in a 10-5 NHL victory over Toronto.

[TimSJ]

Dec 6 1793
Guillotining of Mme. du Barry, mistress of Louis XV. "She screamed, she begged mercy of the horrible crowd that stood around the scaffold, she aroused them to such a point that the executioner grew anxious and hastened to complete his task."

Dec 6 1917
At 9:05 AM, the munitions ship Mont Blanc explodes in Halifax harbor after being struck by another ship. It is the largest explosion before the atomic age. The ship was carrying 200 tons of TNT, 61 tons of gun cotton, 35 tons of Benzyl, and 2,300 tons of picric acid; the explosion destroys 325 acres of the city, leaving 1,900 people dead and injuring over 9,000.

Dec 6 1969
A concert by the Rolling Stones at Altamont ends in the death of a fan at the hands of the Hells Angels, who were hired for security.

Dec 6 1980
Televangelist Jim Bakker of the PTL ministry has a 15 minute quickie in a motel room with Jessica Hahn. The minister uses the line "When you help the shepherd, you're helping the sheep". Baaaa. PTL later pays Hahn hush money, but seven years later the incident becomes public and Bakker resigns in disgrace.

Dec 6 1987
Three teenagers in Missouri beat a friend to death and blame the incident on heavy metal inspired satanism. The jury didn't buy their story, instead finding a pattern of drug use among the youths and evidence of animal torture during childhood by their ringleader.

Dec 6 1989
Marc Lepine kills 14 women at Ecole Polytechnic, University of Montreal, and injures 15 others. It is the worst mass murder in Canadian history. On him is a suicide letter explaining his actions as being specific revenge against 19 "feminists who have ruined my life... I have decided to put an end to those viragos."

[fizzydrink]

History is a huge pile of horrible things perpetuated by human beings against one another. We are all wronged on a daily basis it seems, and some people are just crazy enough to exact revenge. It's frightening how prevalent this behavior is.

[pope04]

Originally Posted by TimSJ

Dec 6 1989
Marc Lepine kills 14 women at Ecole Polytechnic, University of Montreal, and injures 15 others. It is the worst mass murder in Canadian history. On him is a suicide letter explaining his actions as being specific revenge against 19 "feminists who have ruined my life... I have decided to put an end to those viragos."

Wow, many downer anniversaries today, especially the Ecole Polytechnic massacre.

Thanks for posting these, Tim. They're interesting.

[TimSJ]

no problem.. I find them interesting as well.

[@theCBE]

Kind of depressing but still really interesting, I love trivia and stuff like this. Thanks for posting.

[JohnnyFlame]

[

Dec 5 1484
Innocent VIII orders an Inquisition to uncover and execute witches in Europe. Witchcraft becomes a heresy, and over the next three centuries 200,000 accused witches die under most unpleasant circumstances.


200,000 people who all weighed the same as a duck --Amazing.

[Cube Inmate]

nm

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by JohnnyFlame

200,000 people who all weighed the same as a duck --Amazing.

"She turned me into a newt....I got better."

[TimSJ]

Dec 7 1941
Pearl Harbor, located on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, was attacked by nearly 200 Japanese warplanes. The attack resulted in the U.S. entering into World War II.

Dec 7 1982
Texas murderer Charlie Brooks in becomes the first person executed in the United States by that newfangled lethal injection.

Dec 7 1982
Armenian earthquake kills 100,000.

Dec 7 1987
David Burke, a recently fired airline employee, stalks his ex-boss onboard a Pacific Southwest Airline jet. He shoots the man in mid-flight and causes the plane to crash, killing all 43 people on board.

Dec 7 1993
Colin Ferguson opens fire on the Long Island Railroad, killing 6 and injuring 17 others. His attorney William Kunstler tried to use a "black rage" defense, but Ferguson fired him and represented himself. What resulted was a bizarre proceeding of Ferguson claiming innocence and that he was a "patsy" of the government. The trial ended with six consecutive life sentences.

Dec 7 1995
Disgruntled postal employee John Pitney arrives at his Denver workplace in a dress and is placed on administrative leave. Pitney returns later that day in the same dress but sporting a strap-on dildo and gorilla mask. He is arrested. God bless America and God bless the US Postal Service.

[Jayems]

Speaking of the US entering WWII, I love how, when comparing Iraq to WWII, they (CNN) say that "Iraq has lasted almost as long as WWII" and "The USA met the threat of the third reich head on to save the world"

Yeah, they were instrumental, but they only got in because of pearl harbour... they would of sat on the sidelines if they could...

Just funny that they report WWII was 3 years long and only involved the US.

[JohnnyFlame]

Originally Posted by Jayems

Speaking of the US entering WWII, I love how, when comparing Iraq to WWII, they (CNN) say that "Iraq has lasted almost as long as WWII" and "The USA met the threat of the third reich head on to save the world"

Yeah, they were instrumental, but they only got in because of pearl harbour... they would of sat on the sidelines if they could...

Just funny that they report WWII was 3 years long and only involved the US.

Can't help thinking that Churchill on hearing the news of Pearl Harbor must have at least inwardly been happy as all get out.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

I always thought that it was just a matter of time before the United States did become involved in World War II, just by looking at the Land-Lease Program. Were they directly involved in combat - no. Were they playing an integral role in the what the battles shaped up. You bet they were.

[Fireball]

Like it or not, the war was won by the US. We'd all be speaking German, otherwise. I'm not America, but I take pride in knowing what they accomplished to keep us safe. I had a chance to visit Hawaii a few weeks ago, and got to see Pearl Harbor (where, obviously, the war started for the Americans,) and then the USS Missouri afterward, (where the surrender of Japan was signed, bringing an end to WWII.) Most of the flagwaving you hear about is done by the American media. They felt just as much pride for the Allies victories' as they did their own, back then. I couldn't help but feel it for them, either.

--

Here's a few pictures I took, of Pearl Harbor and of the USS Missouri:

The USS Arizona Memorial from a distance:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/PB040014.jpg

The Wall:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/PB040021.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/PB040022.jpg

The USS Missouri, "Mighty Mo" overlooking the USS Arizona Memorial in the back:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/PB040034.jpg

The USS Arizona sank with 1,000,000 gallons of oil in her tank. To this day, droplets of oil seep out and rise to the surface. It is said they are the tears of the men who lay underneath:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/PB040033.jpg

The USS Missouri:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/PB040044.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/PB040045.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/PB040046.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/PB040048.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/PB040051.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/PB040049.jpg

Where it started:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/PB040050.jpg

Where it ended:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...i/PB040072.jpg

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Well, we might not be speaking German, but you can bet that things would have been much different. In fact there's probably a good chance that Russia would have eventually overrun German on it's own (mostly due to attrition). Think what happens then? US never really has a rush to invent the nuclear bomb. Russia ends up with all the good rocket technology from Germany. Seems the Cold war could have been much different with all of Europe under Soviet control and the US far behind the times in terms of miliary equipement.

But who's to say. Either way, it does bug me when people in the US refer to WWII as going from 1941-45. Just because you weren't in it doesn't mean it wasn't happening. Just because you didn't go to the Olympics in 1980 doesn't mean they didn't happen. Same rule applies here.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Fireball

Like it or not, the war was won by the US. We'd all be speaking German, otherwise.

Would you like some Freedom Fries with that?

[Fireball]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Would you like some Freedom Fries with that?

You know what? No. I'm not going to even try and dignify that with an answer.