Dinge en Goete (Things and Stuff): December 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

This Day in History: Dec 31, 1999: Panama Canal turned over to Panama

On this day in 1999, the United States, in accordance with the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, officially hands over control of the Panama Canal, putting the strategic waterway into Panamanian hands for the first time. Crowds of Panamanians celebrated the transfer of the 50-mile canal, which links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and officially opened when the SS Arcon sailed through on August 15, 1914. Since then, over 922,000 ships have used the canal.

Interest in finding a shortcut from the Atlantic to the Pacific originated with explorers in Central America in the early 1500s. In 1523, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V commissioned a survey of the Isthmus of Panama and several plans for a canal were produced, but none ever implemented. U.S. interest in building a canal was sparked with the expansion of the American West and the California gold rush in 1848. (Today, a ship heading from New York to San Francisco can save about 7,800 miles by taking the Panama Canal rather than sailing around South America.)

In 1880 a French company run by the builder of the Suez Canal started digging a canal across the Isthmus of Panama (then a part of Colombia). More than 22,000 workers died from tropical diseases such as yellow fever during this early phase of construction and the company eventually went bankrupt, selling its project rights to the United States in 1902 for $40 million. President Theodore Roosevelt championed the canal, viewing it as important to America's economic and military interests. In 1903, Panama declared its independence from Colombia in a U.S.-backed revolution and the U.S. and Panama signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, in which the U.S. agreed to pay Panama $10 million for a perpetual lease on land for the canal, plus $250,000 annually in rent.
Over 56,000 people worked on the canal between 1904 and 1913 and over 5,600 lost their lives. When finished, the canal, which cost the U.S. $375 million to build, was considered a great engineering marvel and represented America's emergence as a world power.

In 1977, responding to nearly 20 years of Panamanian protest, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panama's General Omar Torrijos signed two new treaties that replaced the original 1903 agreement and called for a transfer of canal control in 1999. The treaty, narrowly ratified by the U.S. Senate, gave America the ongoing right to defend the canal against any threats to its neutrality. In October 2006, Panamanian voters approved a $5.25 billion plan to double the canal's size by 2015 to better accommodate modern ships.

Ships pay tolls to use the canal, based on each vessel's size and cargo volume. In May 2006, the Maersk Dellys paid a record toll of $249,165. The smallest-ever toll--36 cents--was paid by Richard Halliburton, who swam the canal in 1928.

Also on This Day

Lead Story: Panama Canal turned over to Panama, 1999
American Revolution: Patriots are defeated at Quebec, 1775
Automotive: Henry Ford publishes the last issue of the Dearborn Independent, 1927
Civil War: Confederate General Forrest escapes capture at Parker's Crossroads, 1862
Cold War: United States ends official relations with Nationalist China, 1978
Crime: Subway vigilante turns himself in, 1984
Disaster: Baseball star dies in plane crash, 1972
General Interest: Charter granted to the East India Company, 1600; Patriots defeated at Quebec, 1775; Edison demonstrates incandescent light, 1879; Soviets test supersonic airliner, 1968
Hollywood: Anthony Hopkins born, 1937
Literary: Pete Hamill quits drinking, 1972
Music: Rick Nelson dies in a plane crash, 1985
Old West: John Denver born in New Mexico, 1943
Presidential: Kennedy and Khrushchev exchange holiday greetings, 1961
Sports: Plane carrying Roberto Clemente crashes, 1972
Vietnam War: Bloodiest year of the war ends, 1968; U.S. annual casualty figures down, 1971; U.S. and communist negotiators prepare to return to the Paris talks, 1972
World War I: American general and diplomat George C. Marshall is born, 1880
World War II: Hungary declares war on Germany, 1944

Friday, December 30, 2011

This Day in History: Dec 30, 1922: USSR established

In post-revolutionary Russia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is established, comprising a confederation of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation (divided in 1936 into the Georgian, Azerbaijan, and Armenian republics). Also known as the Soviet Union, the new communist state was the successor to the Russian Empire and the first country in the world to be based on Marxist socialism.

During the Russian Revolution of 1917 and subsequent three-year Russian Civil War, the Bolshevik Party under Vladimir Lenin dominated the soviet forces, a coalition of workers' and soldiers' committees that called for the establishment of a socialist state in the former Russian Empire. In the USSR, all levels of government were controlled by the Communist Party, and the party's politburo, with its increasingly powerful general secretary, effectively ruled the country. Soviet industry was owned and managed by the state, and agricultural land was divided into state-run collective farms.

In the decades after it was established, the Russian-dominated Soviet Union grew into one of the world's most powerful and influential states and eventually encompassed 15 republics--Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belorussia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. In 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved following the collapse of its communist government.

Also on This Day

Lead Story: USSR established, 1922
American Revolution: Francis Lewis dies, 1803
Automotive: Sit-down strike begins in Flint, 1936
Civil War: U.S.S. Monitor sinks, 1862
Cold War: Acheson calls for renewed effort to meet communist threat, 1950
Crime: An anti-abortion activist goes on a murder spree, 1994
Disaster: Fire breaks out in Chicago theater, 1903
General Interest: Southern U.S. border established, 1853; Rasputin murdered, 1916; Marcos inaugurated, 1965
Hollywood: Cheers co-creator and famed TV director James Burrows born, 1940
Literary: Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin wed, 1816
Music: Led Zeppelin captured live for the first time in Spokane gym, 1968
Old West: Former Idaho governor Steunenberg assassinated, 1905
Presidential: Rutherford B. Hayes marries Lucy Webb, 1852
Sports: OSU fires coach Woody Hayes for attacking an opposing player, 1978
Vietnam War: U.S. Navy transfers some responsibility to South Vietnamese, 1970; Negotiations to resume in Paris, 1972
World War I: Rasputin is murdered, 1916
World War II: Tojo is born, 1884

Thursday, December 29, 2011

This Day in History: Dec 29, 1890: U.S. Army massacres Indians at Wounded Knee

Strange how some people point fingers...

On this day in 1890, in the final chapter of America's long Indian wars, the U.S. Cavalry kills 146 Sioux at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.

Throughout 1890, the U.S. government worried about the increasing influence at Pine Ridge of the Ghost Dance spiritual movement, which taught that Indians had been defeated and confined to reservations because they had angered the gods by abandoning their traditional customs. Many Sioux believed that if they practiced the Ghost Dance and rejected the ways of the white man, the gods would create the world anew and destroy all non-believers, including non-Indians. On December 15, 1890, reservation police tried to arrest Sitting Bull, the famous Sioux chief, who they mistakenly believed was a Ghost Dancer, and killed him in the process, increasing the tensions at Pine Ridge.

On December 29, the U.S. Army's 7th cavalry surrounded a band of Ghost Dancers under the Sioux Chief Big Foot near Wounded Knee Creek and demanded they surrender their weapons. As that was happening, a fight broke out between an Indian and a U.S. soldier and a shot was fired, although it's unclear from which side. A brutal massacre followed, in which it's estimated almost 150 Indians were killed (some historians put this number at twice as high), nearly half of them women and children. The cavalry lost 25 men.

The conflict at Wounded Knee was originally referred to as a battle, but in reality it was a tragic and avoidable massacre. Surrounded by heavily armed troops, it's unlikely that Big Foot's band would have intentionally started a fight. Some historians speculate that the soldiers of the 7th Cavalry were deliberately taking revenge for the regiment's defeat at Little Bighorn in 1876. Whatever the motives, the massacre ended the Ghost Dance movement and was the last major confrontation in America's deadly war against the Plains Indians.

Conflict came to Wounded Knee again in February 1973 when it was the site of a 71-day occupation by the activist group AIM (American Indian Movement) and its supporters, who were protesting the U.S. government's mistreatment of Native Americans. During the standoff, two Indians were killed, one federal marshal was seriously wounded and numerous people were arrested.

Also on This Day

Lead Story: U.S. Army massacres Indians at Wounded Knee, 1890
American Revolution: British capture Savannah, Georgia, 1778
Automotive: Actor Christian Slater arrested for drunk driving, 1989
Civil War: Union is thwarted at the Battle of Chickasaw Bluffs, 1862
Cold War: United States prepares new strategic plan for Middle East, 1956
Crime: The "Railway Rapist" commits his first murder, 1985
Disaster: Bridge collapses in Ohio, 1876
General Interest: The making of an English martyr, 1170; Texas enters the Union, 1845; Worst air raid on London, 1940
Hollywood: Cheers star Ted Danson born, 1947
Literary: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is published, 1916
Music: Pat Boone earns second #1 hit with "April Love", 1957
Old West: U.S. Army massacres Sioux at Wounded Knee, 1890
Presidential: Andrew Johnson is born, 1808
Sports: Cuban professional baseball league holds first game, 1878
Vietnam War: Saigon announces success of strategic hamlet program, 1962; Johnson Administration responds to Harrison Salisbury's charges, 1966
World War I: French government gives land for British war cemeteries, 1915
World War II: Germans raid London, 1940

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

This Day in History: Dec 28, 1895: First commercial movie screened

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI63PUXnVMw&list=UUpZBoixWGvA3yM7Cw4nS5jQ&index=7&feature=plcp

On this day in 1895, the world's first commercial movie screening takes place at the Grand Cafe in Paris. The film was made by Louis and Auguste Lumiere, two French brothers who developed a camera-projector called the Cinematographe. The Lumiere brothers unveiled their invention to the public in March 1895 with a brief film showing workers leaving the Lumiere factory. On December 28, the entrepreneurial siblings screened a series of short scenes from everyday French life and charged admission for the first time.

Movie technology has its roots in the early 1830s, when Joseph Plateau of Belgium and Simon Stampfer of Austria simultaneously developed a device called the phenakistoscope, which incorporated a spinning disc with slots through which a series of drawings could be viewed, creating the effect of a single moving image. The phenakistoscope, considered the precursor of modern motion pictures, was followed by decades of advances and in 1890, Thomas Edison and his assistant William Dickson developed the first motion-picture camera, called the Kinetograph. The next year, 1891, Edison invented the Kinetoscope, a machine with a peephole viewer that allowed one person to watch a strip of film as it moved past a light.

In 1894, Antoine Lumiere, the father of Auguste (1862-1954) and Louis (1864-1948), saw a demonstration of Edison's Kinetoscope. The elder Lumiere was impressed, but reportedly told his sons, who ran a successful photographic plate factory in Lyon, France, that they could come up with something better. Louis Lumiere's Cinematographe, which was patented in 1895, was a combination movie camera and projector that could display moving images on a screen for an audience. The Cinematographe was also smaller, lighter and used less film than Edison's technology.

The Lumieres opened theaters (known as cinemas) in 1896 to show their work and sent crews of cameramen around the world to screen films and shoot new material. In America, the film industry quickly took off. In 1896, Vitascope Hall, believed to be the first theater in the U.S. devoted to showing movies, opened in New Orleans. In 1909, The New York Times published its first film review (of D.W. Griffith's "Pippa Passes"), in 1911 the first Hollywood film studio opened and in 1914, Charlie Chaplin made his big-screen debut.

In addition to the Cinematographe, the Lumieres also developed the first practical color photography process, the Autochrome plate, which debuted in 1907.

Also on This Day

Lead Story: First commercial movie screened, 1895
American Revolution: British post troops on John's Island, 1781
Automotive: Silent-film star and inventor of mechanical turn signal dies, 1938
Civil War: Confederate General William Booth Taliaferro is born, 1822
Cold War: Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago published, 1973
Crime: An American hero is arrested in France, 1793
Disaster: Earthquake rocks Sicily, 1908
General Interest: Calhoun resigns vice presidency, 1832; America's first Labor Day, 1869; Worst European earthquake, 1908; Dubcek returns to public office, 1989
Hollywood: Denzel Washington born, 1954
Literary: Argentine novelist Manuel Puig is born, 1932
Music: Nine killed in a stampede outside a hip-hop celebrity basketball game, 1991
Old West: Carry Nation attacks a Kansas saloon, 1900
Presidential: Woodrow Wilson born in Staunton, Virginia, 1856
Sports: Central Red Army defeats New York Rangers at MSG, 1975
Vietnam War: South Vietnamese win costly battle at Binh Gia, 1964; Hanoi announces return to the Paris peace talks, 1972
World War I: Woodrow Wilson is born, 1856
World War II: Request made for creation of construction battalions, 1941

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

This Day in History: Dec 27, 1895: The legend of "Stagger Lee" is born

Murder and mayhem have been the subject of many popular songs over the years, though more often than not, the tales around which such songs revolve tend to be wholly fictional. Johnny Cash never shot a man in Reno, and the events related in such famous story songs as "El Paso" and "I Shot The Sheriff" never actually took place. The same cannot be said, however, about "Stagger Lee"—a song that has drifted from the facts somewhat over the course of its many lives in the last 100-plus years, but a song inspired by an actual murder that took place on this day in 1895, in a St. Louis, Missouri, barroom argument involving a man named Billy and another named "Stag" Lee.

Under the headline "Shot in Curtis's Place," the story that ran in the next day's edition of the St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat began, "William Lyons, 25, colored, a levee hand... was shot in the abdomen yesterday evening at 10 o'clock in the saloon of Bill Curtis... by Lee Sheldon, also colored." According to the Globe-Democrat's account, Billy Lyons and "Stag" Lee Sheldon "had been drinking and were in exuberant spirits" when an argument over "politics" boiled over, and Lyons "snatched Sheldon's hat from his head." While subsequent musical renditions of this story would depict the dispute as one over gambling, they would preserve the key detail of "Stag" Lee Sheldon's headwear and of his matter-of-fact response to losing it: "Sheldon drew his revolver and shot Lyons in the abdomen... When his victim fell to the floor Sheldon took his hat from the hand of the wounded man and coolly walked away."

In his 2003 book Stagolee Shot Billy, based on his earlier doctoral dissertation on the subject, scholar Cecil Brown recounts the story of how the real "Stag" Lee became an iconic figure in African-American folklore and how his story became the subject of various musical renderings "from the [age of the] steamboat to the electronic age in the American 21st century." The most famous of those musical renditions were 1928's "Stack O' Lee Blues" by Mississippi John Hurt and 1959's "Stagger Lee," an unlikely #1 pop hit for Lloyd Price. Versions of the story have also appeared, however, in songs by artists as wide-ranging as Woody Guthrie, Duke Ellington, Bob Dylan, James Brown, The Clash, the Grateful Dead and Nick Cave.

Also on This Day

Lead Story: Radio City Music Hall opens, 1932
American Revolution: Americans raid Hammonds Store, 1780
Automotive: Office of Price Administration begins to ration automobile tires, 1941
Civil War: Confederate General Hood's army crosses the Tennessee River, 1864
Cold War: Soviets take over in Afghanistan, 1979
Crime: Carry Nation smashes bar, 1900
Disaster: Coal mine explodes in India, 1975
General Interest: HMS Beagle departs England, 1831; Apollo 8 returns to Earth, 1968; Spanish king ratifies democratic constitution, 1978; Pakistani politician Benazir Bhutto assassinated, 2007
Hollywood: Agnes Nixon, “Queen of Modern Soap Opera,” born, 1927
Literary: Peter Pan, by James Barrie, opens in London, 1904
Music: The legend of "Stagger Lee" is born, 1895
Old West: Doniphan's Thousand takes El Paso, 1846
Presidential: FDR seizes control of Montgomery Ward, 1944
Sports: Peyton Manning breaks single-season touchdown pass record, 2004
Vietnam War: U.S. and South Vietnamese troops attack Viet Cong stronghold, 1966; U.S. and North Vietnamese forces battle near Loc Ninh., 1969
World War I: Poles take up arms against German troops in Poznan, 1918
World War II: Germans form the Smolensk Committee to enlist Soviet soldiers, 1942

Monday, December 26, 2011

This Day in History: Dec 26, 2004: Tsunami devastates Indian Ocean coast

A powerful earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, on this day in 2004 sets off a tsunami that wreaks death and devastation across the Indian Ocean coastline. The quake was the second strongest ever recorded and the estimated 230,000 dead made this disaster one of the 10 worst of all time.

It was 7:58 a.m. when the tremendous quake struck beneath the Indian Ocean 160 miles west of Sumatra. Not only did it register at approximately a 9.3 magnitude (only the 1960 Chile earthquake measured higher at 9.5, though there may have been stronger tremors prior to the invention of seismographic equipment) and last nearly 10 minutes, the quake moved a full 750 miles of underwater fault line earth up to 40 feet. The movement of the earth--there is evidence that huge boulders weighing thousands of tons were pushed several miles along the ocean floor--caused a massive displacement of water. It is estimated that the resulting tsunami had two times the energy of all the bombs used during World War II.

Within 15 minutes, tsunami waves were crashing the coast of Sumatra. At the north end of the island was a heavily populated region known as Aceh. There, waves reached 80 feet high over large stretches of the coast and up to 100 feet in some places. Entire communities were simply swept away by the water in a matter of minutes. The death toll in Indonesia is estimated at between 130,000 and 160,000 people, with an additional 500,000 people left homeless. About a third of the victims were children.
The huge waves missed the coast of Indonesia on the north side and went on to Thailand, where between 5,000 and 8,000 people died. The tsunami also moved east across the Indian Ocean. In Sri Lanka, the tsunami came ashore about 90 minutes after the earthquake. Although the waves were not as high as in Aceh, they still brought disaster. Approximately 35,000 people lost their lives and half a million others lost their homes. In addition, about 15,000 people died in India. The killer waves even reached 5,000 miles away in South Africa, where two people perished.

In total, about 190,000 people are confirmed dead with another 40,000 to 45,000 missing and presumed dead. Although billions of dollars of humanitarian aid poured in to the affected region in the aftermath of the disaster--an estimated $7 billion within the first 18 months—some areas are still suffering from the massive devastation.

One year prior to this earthquake and tsunami, almost to the hour, a 6.6-magnitude quake rocked Bam, Iran, killing 30,000 people.

Also on This Day

Lead Story: Bugsy Siegel opens Flamingo Hotel, 1946
American Revolution: Washington wins first major U.S. victory at Trenton, 1776
Automotive: Carmaker Preston Tucker dies, 1956
Civil War: Possible war between U.S. and Britain is averted, 1861
Cold War: Porgy and Bess opens in Leningrad, 1955
Crime: Bathory's torturous escapades are exposed, 1610
Disaster: Tsunami devastates Indian Ocean coast, 2004
General Interest: Jack Johnson wins heavyweight title, 1908; Churchill addresses Congress, 1941; The first Kwanzaa, 1966; Tsunami wreaks havoc on Southeast Asia, 2004
Hollywood: The Exorcist opens, 1973
Literary: King Lear performed at Court, 1606
Music: Jimi Hendrix writes "Purple Haze", 1966
Old West: Moses Austin asks Spanish for Texas colony, 1820
Presidential: Truman dies, 1972
Sports: Jack Johnson wins heavyweight boxing title, 1908
Vietnam War: Laos says communists launched an offensive, 1967; U.S. jets strike North Vietnam, 1971
World War I: U.S. government takes over control of nation's railroads, 1917
World War II: Britain surprises German attacker in the Arctic, 1943; Patton relieves Bastogne, 1944

Sunday, December 25, 2011

This Day in History: Dec 25, 1914: The Christmas Truce

Just after midnight on Christmas morning, the majority of German troops engaged in World War I cease firing their guns and artillery and commence to sing Christmas carols. At certain points along the eastern and western fronts, the soldiers of Russia, France, and Britain even heard brass bands joining the Germans in their joyous singing.

At the first light of dawn, many of the German soldiers emerged from their trenches and approached the Allied lines across no-man's-land, calling out "Merry Christmas" in their enemies' native tongues. At first, the Allied soldiers feared it was a trick, but seeing the Germans unarmed they climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the enemy soldiers. The men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings and sang carols and songs. There was even a documented case of soldiers from opposing sides playing a good-natured game of soccer.

The so-called Christmas Truce of 1914 came only five months after the outbreak of war in Europe and was one of the last examples of the outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare. In 1915, the bloody conflict of World War I erupted in all its technological fury, and the concept of another Christmas Truce became unthinkable.

Also on This Day

Lead Story: The Christmas Truce, 1914
American Revolution: Washington crosses the Delaware, 1776
Automotive: Layne Hall is born; will become oldest licensed driver in United States, 1880
Civil War: Union soldier Elisha Hunt Rhodes writes about Christmas, 1862
Cold War: Gorbachev resigns as president of the USSR, 1991
Crime: Young JonBenet Ramsey is murdered, 1996
Disaster: Christmas party in China turns deadly, 2000
General Interest: Christ is born?, 6 B.C.
Hollywood: To Kill a Mockingbird debuts, 1962
Literary: Jimmy Buffett departs on a cruise that inspires A Pirate Looks at Fifty, 1996
Music: Bing Crosby introduces "White Christmas" to the world, 1941
Old West: John Wesley Hardin kills over a card game, 1869
Presidential: Washington leads troops on raid at Trenton, New Jersey, 1776
Sports: Katie Hnida is first woman to play in Division I football game, 2002
Vietnam War: Harrison Salisbury reports on damage caused by U.S. bombing, 1966; Linebacker II resumes after Christmas pause, 1972
World War I: Enemies exchange Christmas greetings, 1914
World War II: British surrender Hong Kong, 1941

Saturday, December 24, 2011

This Day in History: Dec 24, 1979: Soviet tanks roll into Afghanistan

On December 24, 1979, the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, under the pretext of upholding the Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaty of 1978.

As midnight approached, the Soviets organized a massive military airlift into Kabul, involving an estimated 280 transport aircraft and three divisions of almost 8,500 men each. Within a few days, the Soviets had secured Kabul, deploying a special assault unit against Tajberg Palace. Elements of the Afghan army loyal to Hafizullah Amin put up a fierce, but brief resistance.

On December 27, Babrak Karmal, exiled leader of the Parcham faction of the Marxist People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), was installed as Afghanistan’s new head of government. And Soviet ground forces entered Afghanistan from the north.

The Soviets, however, were met with fierce resistance when they ventured out of their strongholds into the countryside. Resistance fighters, called mujahidin, saw the Christian or atheist Soviets controlling Afghanistan as a defilement of Islam as well as of their traditional culture. Proclaiming a "jihad"(holy war), they gained the support of the Islamic world.

The mujahidin employed guerrilla tactics against the Soviets. They would attack or raid quickly, then disappear into the mountains, causing great destruction without pitched battles. The fighters used whatever weapons they could grab from the Soviets or were given by the United States.

The tide of the war turned with the 1987 introduction of U.S. shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles. The Stingers allowed the mujahidin to shoot down Soviet planes and helicopters on a regular basis.
New Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev decided it was time to get out. Demoralized and with no victory in sight, Soviet forces started withdrawing in 1988. The last Soviet soldier crossed back across the border on February 15, 1989.

It was the first Soviet military expedition beyond the Eastern bloc since World War II and marked the end of a period of improving relations (known as détente) in the Cold War. Subsequently, the SALT II arms treaty was shelved and the U.S. began to re-arm.

Fifteen thousand Soviet soldiers were killed.

The long-term impact of the invasion and subsequent war was profound. First, the Soviets never recovered from the public relations and financial losses, which significantly contributed to the fall of the Soviet empire in 1991. Secondly, the war created a breeding ground for terrorism and the rise of Osama bin Laden.

Also on This Day

Lead Story: Soviet tanks roll into Afghanistan, 1979
American Revolution: Benjamin Rush is born, 1745
Automotive: Richard Trevithick introduces his "Puffing Devil", 1801
Civil War: Bombardment of Fort Fisher begins, 1864
Cold War: McCarren-Walter Act goes into effect, 1952
Crime: Islamic terrorists hijack a French plane, 1994
Disaster: Volcanic eruption sweeps away train, 1953
General Interest: War of 1812 ends, 1814; Fire ravages Library of Congress, 1851; KKK founded, 1865
Hollywood: Woody Allen marries Soon-Yi Previn, 1997
Literary: Stephenie Meyer, best-selling author of vampire novels, is born, 1973
Music: "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" puts Poison atop the charts, 1988
Old West: Kit Carson born in Kentucky, 1809
Presidential: Fire destroys Jefferson library, 1851; Coolidge lights first national Christmas tree, 1923
Sports: Curt Flood challenges MLB reserve clause, 1969
Vietnam War: Viet Cong bomb Brinks Hotel, 1964; Bob Hope gives his last show in Vietnam, 1972
World War I: American soldier John Douglas writes home from post-armistice France, 1918
World War II: French Admiral Jean Darlan is assassinated, 1942

Friday, December 23, 2011

This Day in History: Dec 23, 1888: Van Gogh chops off ear

On this day in 1888, Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, suffering from severe depression, cuts off the lower part of his left ear with a razor while staying in Arles, France. He later documented the event in a painting titled Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear. Today, Van Gogh is regarded as an artistic genius and his masterpieces sell for record-breaking prices; however, during his lifetime, he was a poster boy for tortured starving artists and sold only one painting.
Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, in the Netherlands. He had a difficult, nervous personality and worked unsuccessfully at an art gallery and then as a preacher among poor miners in Belgium. In 1880, he decided to become an artist. His work from this period--the most famous of which is The Potato Eaters (1885)--is dark and somber and reflective of the experiences he had among peasants and impoverished miners.

In 1886, Van Gogh moved to Paris where his younger brother Theo, with whom he was close, lived. Theo, an art dealer, supported his brother financially and introduced him to a number of artists, including Paul Gauguin, Camille Pisarro and Georges Seurat. Influenced by these and other painters, Van Gogh's own artistic style lightened up and he began using more color.

In 1888, Van Gogh rented a house in Arles in the south of France, where he hoped to found an artists' colony and be less of a burden to his brother. In Arles, Van Gogh painted vivid scenes from the countryside as well as still-lifes, including his famous sunflower series. Gauguin came to stay with him in Arles and the two men worked together for almost two months. However, tensions developed and on December 23, in a fit of dementia, Van Gogh threatened his friend with a knife before turning it on himself and mutilating his ear lobe. Afterward, he allegedly wrapped up the ear and gave it to a prostitute at a nearby brothel. Following that incident, Van Gogh was hospitalized in Arles and then checked himself into a mental institution in Saint-Remy for a year. During his stay in Saint-Remy, he fluctuated between periods of madness and intense creativity, in which he produced some of his best and most well-known works, including Starry Night and Irises.

In May 1890, Van Gogh moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris, where he continued to be plagued by despair and loneliness. On July 27, 1890, he shot himself and died two days later at age 37.