Official "This Day In History" thread

[Dr Sardonicus]

June 6

1939 The ship MS St. Louis, carrying 907 Jewish refugees from Europe, begins sailing back to the continent after it was refused entry into America. Approximately a quarter of those on board would perish in the Holocaust.

For thoughts on another event that occurred on June 6 (in 1944) see this post and this post.

[tServo]

57 years ago, the supreme court ruled 7-2 striking down a Connecticut law restricting access to contraceptives.

Do you think the anti-abortion people are going to just declare victory, pack up their tents, and go home once Roe v Wade is struck down?
Think again.
Then it will be on to making contraception illegal because they believe the only reason for relations between a man & woman is procreation.
Think I am alarmist?
Read about the recent anti-abortion law that Oklahoma passed that makes it a crime to abort a fertilized cell from day 1. This would include many types of contraception.
Onward Christian Solders !


https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/19/u...abortions.html

[Dr Sardonicus]

June 9

68 AD Roman Emperor Nero (15 Dec 37 - 09 June 68), Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus before becoming Emperor, then Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, "commits suicide" at age 30 after the Roman Senate declared him hostis publicus (public enemy, or enemy of the people). The declaration revoked his Roman citizenship and gave anyone the right to kill him with impunity. It is said that, rather than taking his own life, Nero had his secretary slit his throat.

Nero was infamous in his own day for having had his mother Agrippina killed. He first had the barge she was on sunk, but she was able to swim to safety. Then, he sent soldiers to kill her for supposedly plotting against him. Agrippina had had Emperor Claudius killed to get Nero on the throne, so few believed she was plotting against him.

After the Great Fire of Rome, Nero did provide relief for suddenly-homeless people, and for cleanup and body-recovery efforts. There is no real evidence that he caused the fire, but he later took advantage of the destruction by having his Golden Palace built. He did not as legend has it "fiddle while Rome burned" since nothing like the violin would exist for centuries, but it is said that he sang during the fire.

He resorted to raising taxes and devaluing the Roman currency to pay for rebuilding residential areas - in brick rather than wood, with wider spacing.

Nero blamed the Christians for starting the Great Fire of Rome. He had them tortured, crucified, or torn apart by wild beasts, as public entertainment.

Some scholars believe that Nero is the "Beast" in the Book of Revelation. From Revelation 16:

17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

In both Greek and Hebrew, numerical values were assigned to letters, and the "number of a name" was the sum of the numerical values assigned to letters in that name. In most versions of the Bible, the number is 666. And that is the number of Nero's name (transliterated as) "Kaiser Neron." However, in at least one manuscript, Nero's name is "Kaiser Nero" (no final "n"), and in that version, the number is 616. And the numerical value of the "missing n" is 50.

I know, Nero was dead before Revelation was written. But at the time, it was thought possible that he could somehow return, so one had to be circumspect...

[Dr Sardonicus]

June 10

(See this post and the discussion which ensued in subsequent posts for more on the first two items.)

1942 Destruction of the villages of Lidice and Ležáky in reprisal for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, Nazi controller of Bohemia and Moravia, to "teach the Czechs a final lesson of subservience and humility."

1944 Nazi forces descend on the French village of Oradour-sur-Glane, massacre almost all its inhabitants, and burn the buildings. The ruins of the village were left as a memorial to the victims.

1964 Southern filibuster on civil rights bill ends; cloture invoked

[Uncwilly]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

1964 Southern filibuster on civil rights bill ends; cloture invoked

If you read Robert Caro's work "The Passage of Power", you will find out that the work by LBJ to get that bill passed started on November 23, 1963 (if not in the evening of Nov. 22). There were things done in the week that followed that were time critical to pave the way for that bill to be able to reach the floor. I have read/listened to 2 of the other 3 books in that series. The book Master of the Senate is so large that audio book is broken into 3 separate purchases on Audible and runs over 56 hours.

[tServo]

On June 17, 1972 police arrested 5 "burglars" who had broken into the Democratic National Committee Headquarters in the Watergate building. Investigators were able to connect the cash found on the burglars to the Committee to Re-elect the president ( CREEP ). Eventually, the whole sordid mess led to the oval office and Nixon's resignation.

[tServo]

July 11

50 years ago, Bobby Fischer from the USA and Boris Spassky from the Soviet Union started their
matches to determine the World Chess Champion. Wunderkind Fischer aimed to break the 24 year hold
on the title that the Soviets had. The Soviets had bragged that their dominance was due to the superior Soviet
system. Remember, the cold war was prominent then and colored all interactions between the West and the
USSR. Suddenly, Fischer became a household name as the matches were broadcast on live TV and radio and was in the
headlines of most major newspapers. The NY Times square ticker displayed the moves.
When he won, he became a superstar with crowds greeting his appearances
as he did the TV talk-show circuit. Chess in the USA enjoyed an immense increase in popularity.
Fisches was getting mega-million dollar endorsement deals but then ..... he disappeared.

[xilman]

This one for Ernst

17 July 1952 David Hasselhoff born.

[PhilF]

Originally Posted by xilman

This one for Ernst

17 July 1952 David Hasselhoff born.

Interesting! That explains a few things...

[Xyzzy]

2432902008176640000

[Uncwilly]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

2432902008176640000