AUG 11 in History: 1934 - Federal prisoners land on Alcatraz

1934: Federal prisoners land on Alcatraz

A group of federal prisoners classified as “most dangerous” arrives at Alcatraz Island, a 22-acre rocky outcrop situated 1.5 miles offshore in San Francisco Bay. The convicts–the first civilian prisoners to be housed in the new high-security penitentiary–joined a few dozen military prisoners left over from the island’s days as a U.S. military prison.

Alcatraz was an uninhabited seabird haven when it was explored by Spanish Lieutenant Juan Manuel de Ayala in 1775. He named it Isla de los Alcatraces, or “Island of the Pelicans.” Fortified by the Spanish, Alcatraz was sold to the United States in 1849. In 1854, it had the distinction of housing the first lighthouse on the coast of California. Beginning in 1859, a U.S. Army detachment was garrisoned there, and from 1868 Alcatraz was used to house military criminals. In addition to recalcitrant U.S. soldiers, prisoners included rebellious Indian scouts, American soldiers fighting in the Philippines who had deserted to the Filipino cause, and Chinese civilians who resisted the U.S. Army during the Boxer Rebellion. In 1907, Alcatraz was designated the Pacific Branch of the United States Military Prison.

In 1934, Alcatraz was fortified into a high-security federal penitentiary designed to hold the most dangerous prisoners in the U.S. penal system, especially those with a penchant for escape attempts. The first shipment of civilian prisoners arrived on August 11, 1934. Later that month, more shiploads arrived, featuring, among other convicts, infamous mobster Al Capone. In September, George “Machine Gun” Kelly, another luminary of organized crime, landed on Alcatraz.

In the 1940s, a famous Alcatraz prisoner was Richard Stroud, the “Birdman of Alcatraz.” A convicted murderer, Stroud wrote an important study on birds while being held in solitary confinement in Leavenworth Prison in Kansas. Regarded as extremely dangerous because of his 1916 murder of a guard at Leavenworth, he was transferred to Alcatraz in 1942. Stroud was not allowed to continue his avian research at Alcatraz.

Although some three dozen attempted, no prisoner was known to have successfully escaped “The Rock.” However, the bodies of several escapees believed drowned in the treacherous waters of San Francisco Bay were never found. The story of the 1962 escape of three of these men, Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin, inspired the 1979 film Escape from Alcatraz. Another prisoner, John Giles, caught a boat ride to the shore in 1945 dressed in an army uniform he had stolen piece by piece, but he was questioned by a suspicious officer after disembarking and sent back to Alcatraz. Only one man, John Paul Scott, was recorded to have reached the mainland by swimming, but he came ashore exhausted and hypothermic at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge. Police found him lying unconscious and in a state of shock.

In 1963, U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy ordered Alcatraz closed, citing the high expense of its maintenance. In its 29-year run, Alcatraz housed more than 1,500 convicts. In March 1964 a group of Sioux Indians briefly occupied the island, citing an 1868 treaty with the Sioux allowing Indians to claim any “unoccupied government land.” In November 1969, a group of nearly 100 Indian students and activists began a more prolonged occupation of the island, remaining there until they were forced off by federal marshals in June 1971.

In 1972, Alcatraz was opened to the public as part of the newly created Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which is maintained by the National Park Service. More than one million tourists visit Alcatraz Island and the former prison annually.

COURTESEY: HISTORY.com

FEB 18 In History: 2003, Arsonist sets fire in South Korean subway

Crime

2003

Arsonist sets fire in South Korean subway

On this day in 2003, a man ignites a gasoline-filled container inside a subway train in Daegu, South Korea. The blaze engulfed the six-car train, before spreading to another train that pulled into station a few minutes later. In all, 198 people were killed and nearly 150 others were injured.

The arsonist was later found to be a 56-year-old unemployed former taxi driver named Kim Dae-han. Kim had been left partially paralyzed after suffering a stroke in November 2001, and is believed to have been mentally unbalanced at the time of the arson. He later told police that he had wanted to commit suicide, and chose a crowded place to do so because he did not want to die alone.

Kim started the fire at 9:53 a.m., as train 1079 was entering Daegu’s Jungango Station. He then escaped the burning train, along with some other passengers. Within two minutes, the fire had spread to all six cars of the train. At 9:57, a second train pulled into the station and was also set ablaze. The second train’s driver fled the scene shortly thereafter without opening the train doors; all 79 of the train’s passengers were trapped on board and killed. Meanwhile, the platform–which was not equipped with sprinklers–was filled with toxic smoke and flames, causing delays in the rescue effort. The fire was not extinguished until more than three hours later.

Kim was the not the only person arrested in the wake of the fire: Two subway drivers and and five subway officials were also charged with negligent manslaughter for failing to safely evacuate passengers. Kim Dae-han was sentenced to life in prison on August 6, 2003. The drivers were sentenced to four and five years in jail, while two of the subway officials were given three-year terms. The three other officials received suspended sentences.

Kim Dae-han died in prison in August 2004.

COURTESY: HISTORY.com

FEB 18 In History: 2011, Green River serial killer pleads guilty to 49th murder

Crime

2011

Green River serial killer pleads guilty to 49th murder

On this day in 2011, in a Kent, Washington, courtroom, Gary Leon Ridgway pleads guilty to the 1982 aggravated, first-degree murder of his 49th victim, 20-year-old Rebecca Marrero. Marrero’s remains were found in December 2010, decades after her murder, in a ravine near Auburn, Washington. After entering his guilty plea, the 62-year-old Ridgway received his 49th life sentence without the possibility of parole and returned to the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, where he was already serving 48 consecutive life sentences, one for each of the other women he killed.

In the 1980s, residents of Washington State were terrorized by the so-called Green River Killer, whose first five victims’ bodies were discovered in or near the Green River in King County (whose largest city is Seattle) in the summer of 1982. The strangled bodies of more victims soon appeared around King County; all were women, most of them young and many of them prostitutes, runaways and drug users. Ridgway, a thrice-married truck painter from Auburn, became a suspect after one of the victims was spotted getting into his truck. However, when questioned by police, he denied any knowledge of the slayings and passed a 1984 polygraph test. In 2001, he was finally arrested after DNA evidence (a technology not available when he began committing his crimes) connected him to some of the killings.

In a controversial 2003 plea deal, Ridgway admitted to the murders of 48 women between 1982 and 1998, and prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty against him if he cooperated with police in locating the remains of dozens of his victims. Ridgway reportedly claimed to have murdered more than 60 women in King County, although authorities at the time could only find sufficient evidence to link him to the 48 slayings. (Ridgway’s plea deal was limited to murders in King County; if, in the future, he is linked to unsolved killings in other counties or states, he could be eligible for the death penalty.)

Ridgway told authorities he began to think of murdering prostitutes as his career, and did it “because he hated them, didn’t want to pay them for sex, and because he knew he could kill as many as he wanted without getting caught,” according to The Seattle Times. The serial killer said he picked up women off the street, strangled them in his home or truck, and meticulously hid their bodies near natural landmarks (such as trees or fallen logs) in an attempt to keep track of them.

At the time of his 49th conviction, Ridgway had been linked to more murders than any other convicted serial killer in U.S. history.

COURTESY: HISTORY.com

FEB 18 In History: 2001, "The Intimidator" killed in crash!

Automotive

2001

Dale Earnhardt killed in crash

On this day in 2001, Dale Earnhardt Sr., considered one of the greatest drivers in National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) history, dies at the age of 49 in a last-lap crash at the 43rd Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Earnhardt was driving his famous black No. 3 Chevrolet and vying for third place when he collided with another car, then crashed into a wall. After being cut from his car, Earnhardt, whose tough, aggressive driving style earned him the nickname “The Intimidator,” was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead of head injuries.

Earnhardt had been involved in another crash at the Daytona 500 in 1997, when his car flipped upside down on the backstretch. He managed to escape serious injury and went on to win Daytona in 1998, his first and only victory in that race after 20 years of trying. The 200-lap, 500-mile Daytona 500, which was first run in 1959 at the newly opened Daytona International Speedway, is one of NASCAR’s premiere events as well as its season opener.

Earnhardt, whose father was a race car driver, was born on April 29, 1951, in Kannapolis, North Carolina, and dropped out of high school to pursue his own racing career. He went on to become one of NASCAR’s most successful and respected competitors, winning 76 Winston Cup (now known as the Sprint Cup) races in his career and taking home a record seven Cup championships, a feat achieved by just one other driver in his sport, Richard Petty. In addition to his legendary accomplishments as a driver, Earnhardt was also a successful businessman and NASCAR team owner. The 2001 Daytona race which cost Earnhardt his life was won by Michael Waltrip, who drove for Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI). Earnhardt’s son, Dale Jr., also a DEI driver (until 2008, when he began driving for the Hendrick Motorsports team), took second place in the race.

Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s death in 2001 made him the fourth NASCAR driver to die within a nine-month period and eventually prompted NASCAR officials to implement a series of more stringent safety regulations, including the use of head-and-neck restraints.

COURTESY: HISTORY.com

FEB 17 In History:1951, Joseph Stalin attacks the United Nations

Cold War

1951

Joseph Stalin attacks the United Nations

In a statement focusing on the situation in Korea, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin charges that the United Nations has become “a weapon of aggressive war.” He also suggested that although a world war was not inevitable “at the present time,” “warmongers” in the West might trigger such a conflict.

Stalin’s comments in response to queries from the Soviet newspaper Pravdawere his first public statements about the nearly year-old conflict in Korea, in which the United States, South Korea, and other member nations of the United Nations were arrayed against forces of North Korea and communist China. Coming just over two weeks after the U.N. General Assembly’s resolution condemning China as an aggressor, Stalin’s statement turned the tables by declaring that the United Nations was “burying its moral prestige and dooming itself to disintegration.” He warned that Western “warmongers,” through their aggressive posture in Korea, would “manage to entangle the popular masses in lies, deceive them, and drag them into a new world war.” In any event, he confidently predicted that Chinese forces in Korea would be victorious because the armies opposing them lacked morale and dedication to the war.

Despite the rather blistering tone of Stalin’s words, Western observers were not unduly alarmed. Stalin’s attacks on Western “aggression” were familiar, and some officials in Washington took comfort in the premier’s assertion that a world war was not inevitable “at the present time.” Indeed, there was some feeling that Stalin’s denouncement of the United Nations’ actions was actually a veiled call for negotiations through the auspices of that body. Stalin’s comments, and the intense scrutiny they were subjected to in the West, were more evidence that in the Cold War, the “war of words” was almost as significant as any actual fighting.

COURTESY: HISTORY.com

FEB 17 In History: 1923, Archaeologist opens tomb of King Tut

Lead Story

1923

Archaeologist opens tomb of King Tut

On this day in 1923, in Thebes, Egypt, English archaeologist Howard Carter enters the sealed burial chamber of the ancient Egyptian ruler King Tutankhamen.

Because the ancient Egyptians saw their pharaohs as gods, they carefully preserved their bodies after death, burying them in elaborate tombs containing rich treasures to accompany the rulers into the afterlife. In the 19th century, Archeologists from all over the world flocked to Egypt, where they uncovered a number of these tombs. Many had long ago been broken into by robbers and stripped of their riches.

When Carter arrived in Egypt in 1891, he became convinced there was at least one undiscovered tomb–that of the little known Tutankhamen, or King Tut, who lived around 1400 B.C. and died when he was still a teenager. Backed by a rich Brit, Lord Carnarvon, Carter searched for five years without success. In early 1922, Lord Carnarvon wanted to call off the search, but Carter convinced him to hold on one more year.

In November 1922, the wait paid off, when Carter’s team found steps hidden in the debris near the entrance of another tomb. The steps led to an ancient sealed doorway bearing the name Tutankhamen. When Carter and Lord Carnarvon entered the tomb’s interior chambers on November 26, they were thrilled to find it virtually intact, with its treasures untouched after more than 3,000 years. The men began exploring the four rooms of the tomb, and on February 16, 1923, under the watchful eyes of a number of important officials, Carter opened the door to the last chamber.

Inside lay a sarcophagus with three coffins nested inside one another. The last coffin, made of solid gold, contained the mummified body of King Tut. Among the riches found in the tomb–golden shrines, jewelry, statues, a chariot, weapons, clothing–the perfectly preserved mummy was the most valuable, as it was the first one ever to be discovered. Despite rumors that a curse would befall anyone who disturbed the tomb, its treasures were carefully catalogued, removed and included in a famous traveling exhibition called the “Treasures of Tutankhamen.” The exhibition’s permanent home is the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

COURTESY: HISTORY.com

FEB 13 In History: 1983, Cinema burns in Turin

Disaster

1983

Cinema burns in Turin

On this day in 1983, 74 people are killed when a fire blazes through a cinema in Turin, Italy.

The Statuto Cinema in Turin had a capacity of just over 1,000 people on two levels, though the show on Sunday, February 13, was not nearly full. A fire began on the ground floor and quickly set several seats ablaze. To make matters worse, the seats had plastic covers that produced toxic smoke when they caught fire. The crowd panicked and ran toward the exits, causing a stampede in which several people were crushed to death.

Firefighters responded quickly to the theater but found that the rear emergency exits were locked. They were forced to break through them with axes and immediately found the bodies of several people who had died while trying in vain to escape. The firefighters were able to get the fire under control before it spread to the upper floor and balcony. On the first level, they found 37 people who had been killed by burns, smoke inhalation or injuries from the stampede. The firefighters, keeping on their masks to protect them from the toxic smoke, then proceeded up to the second floor. There, they found another 37 people, many in a bathroom, who had perished from smoke inhalation. Virtually everyone who was on the second floor when the fire started died.

A subsequent investigation found a few possible causes for the fire: a cigarette, faulty electrical wiring or a firecracker. (Fireworks were a common way to celebrate the approaching Shrove Tuesday holiday at the time.) The investigation also revealed that the cinema managers had locked the rear doors to prevent people from sneaking in without paying.

Laws were subsequently passed banning the use of plastic seat covers that produce toxic smoke.

COURTESY: HISTORY.com

FEB 13In History: 1982, Serial killer strikes in Colorado

Crime

1982

Serial killer strikes in Colorado

A 21-year-old woman named Mary accepts a ride from a man in the ski town of Breckenridge, Colorado, and is raped and severely beaten with a claw hammer. The attacker, Tom Luther, was traced through his truck and apprehended.

Luther told a psychiatrist that Mary reminded him of his mother. The psychiatrist concluded that the attacks might have resulted from his mother’s physical and extreme verbal abuse. Whatever the cause, Luther reportedly told an inmate at the time that “the next girl won’t live. They’ll never find her body.”

Sure enough, within months of Luther’s release in 1993, a 20-year-old woman, Cher Elder, disappeared after being last seen leaving a Central City casino with Luther. At around the same time, another young woman was the victim of a brutal knife attack. An unidentified man had responded to her advertisement for a used car and then stabbed her multiple times as she showed him the car.

Luther, the obvious suspect in Elder’s disappearance, fled east. In West Virginia, Luther raped and beat a hitchhiker in 1994. He was caught and convicted for that attack and then returned to Colorado. Cher Elder’s body was finally found in 1995. She had been shot three times in the back of the head, but her body was so decomposed by the time it was found that evidence of sexual assault or other trauma could not be determined.

The victim of the 1993 knife attack saw Luther’s picture in the newspaper which later resulted in his conviction for that crime. While in prison, Luther wrote to his former girlfriend, “Strange, isn’t it, that I am what I detest in a human being. It wasn’t sex at all. It was assault and anger, pure meanest [sic] from a subconscious level. I can’t deal with the lack of self-control I have. I guess I really am dangerous if I can hurt people like this.”

Still, the judge refused to allow the jury to consider these statements, or his previous rape convictions, at the Cher Elder murder trial. This set off an uproar when a lone juror refused to vote for first-degree murder. Luther received a 48-year sentence for second-degree murder. Elder’s family and the other 11 jurors began to lobby to change one of the fundamental precepts of American criminal justice–the unanimous verdict.

COURTESY: HISTORY.com

FEB 11 In History: 2008 Tolkien heirs file Lord of the Rings lawsuit

Hollywood

2008

Tolkien heirs file Lord of the Rings lawsuit

In the latest of a series of legal battles involving J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved trilogy The Lord of the Rings and film adaptations made of the books, several of Tolkien’s heirs join a group of publishers in filing a $150 million lawsuit against New Line Cinema on February 11, 2008, in Los Angeles Superior Court.

New Line, an independent movie studio owned by Time Warner since 1996, earned critical acclaim (and struck box-office gold) with three Lord of the Rings films directed by Peter Jackson: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003). According to the lawsuit, the three films together grossed more than $6 billion internationally. They were also nominated for a total of 30 Academy Awards. At the 2004 Oscars, The Return of the King won in all 11 categories it was nominated in, tying Ben-Hur and Titanic for the most Academy Awards ever.

Behind the film trilogy’s phenomenal success, however, was a tangled web of legal conflict, as recounted in a February 2008 New York Times article on the most recent lawsuit. Film rights to Tolkien’s books were acquired in 1969 by United Artists, who in turn sold them to the Saul Zaentz Company in 1976. Miramax, then owned by Harvey and Bob Weinstein, licensed the rights in 1997 and sold them to New Line the following year. The Saul Zaentz Company had already filed charges against New Line for preventing it from auditing the accounting for the movies. For its part, Miramax had also sued New Line, alleging that the other studio defrauded it of $20 million in foreign revenue from the Lord of the Rings films. (That lawsuit was settled after a counter-suit from New Line.) Finally, in the Tolkien lawsuit, the holders of a trust for J.R.R. Tolkien, who died in 1973, stated that they had failed to receive any money from the films. According to the literary-rights agreement signed in 1969, they said, the trust was entitled to 7.5 percent of the gross revenue from any film adaptation of Tolkien’s novels.

New Line’s troubles didn’t stop there: A group of supporting actors native to New Zealand (where the films were shot) had previously filed a lawsuit accusing the company of failing to pay them a share of an estimated $100 million profit made from film-related merchandise. Finally, Jackson himself settled a bitter and lengthy lawsuit against New Line in December 2007. The director, who also co-wrote and co-produced the Lord of the Rings films, had accused New Line of cheating him out of tens of millions of dollar after they sold subsidiary rights for books, DVDs and merchandise to other Time Warner companies for less than market value.

For Tolkien fans, the settlement of Jackson’s suit was good news, as it meant he could move ahead with his involvement in New Line’s long-anticipated film version of Tolkien’s other classic novel, The Hobbit. It was announced that Jackson would co-write and co-produce the film, but that Guillermo del Toro, the Mexican director of the acclaimed fantasy film Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), would direct. Meanwhile, New Line’s other legal troubles wore on, a complicated legacy of Tolkien’s novels, Jackson’s films and the passion they inspired.

COURTESY: HISTORY.com

FEB 11 In History: 2012 Pop superstar Whitney Houston dies at age 48

Music

2012

Pop superstar Whitney Houston dies at age 48

On this day in 2012, Whitney Houston, one of the world’s top-selling singers from the mid-1980s to late 1990s, is found dead in the bathtub of her suite at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Houston’s death was the result of accidental drowning; heart disease and cocaine, which was found in her system, were determined to be contributing factors. The 48-year-old pop diva, known for her soaring voice and beauty, won a total of six Grammy Awards and 22 American Music Awards (more than any other female), and was credited with influencing several generations of singers, from Mariah Carey to Jennifer Hudson.

Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born on August 9, 1963, in Newark, New Jersey, to John Houston, a theatrical manager, and Cissy Houston, a singer who backed up a variety of artists, including Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley. Growing up, the younger Houston sang in her church’s gospel choir. In high school, she performed background vocals on songs for Chaka Khan and others, and modeled, becoming one of the first African-American women to appear on the cover of Seventeen magazine.

In 1983, music producer Clive Davis heard Houston perform at a New York City nightclub and signed her to a recording deal. Her self-titled debut album, released in 1985, sold more than 25 million copies around the world and featured the hit singles “Saving All My Love for You,” “How Will I Know,” “You Give Good Love” and “The Greatest Love of All.” Her next album, 1987’s “Whitney,” was also a top-seller and included the hits “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” and “So Emotional.” Her third album, 1990’s “I’m Your Baby Tonight,” was another big commercial success.

In 1992, the songstress made her movie debut, starring opposite Kevin Costner in the blockbuster “The Bodyguard.” The film’s soundtrack featured Houston’s recording of the ballad “I Will Always Love You,” which became the best-selling single by a female artist in music history. She went on to co-star in “Waiting to Exhale” (1995) and “The Preacher’s Wife” (1996), and also performed on the hit soundtracks for both movies.

In 1992, Houston married singer Bobby Brown, whose bad boy reputation was a contrast to her then-wholesome public image. The couple had a daughter in 1993. Houston and Brown’s relationship was tumultuous and became frequent tabloid fodder. They divorced in 2007.

In 1998, Houston released “My Love is Your Love,” which, like her previous albums, sold millions of copies. However, over the next decade, her career was marred by substance abuse and erratic public behavior and she spent time in rehab facilities. In 2009, Houston released what would be her final album, “I Look to You.” In 2010, she embarked on her first world tour in more than 10 years, with concerts in Asia, Australia and Europe. However, these shows received mixed reviews, with some critics and fans complaining Houston’s voice sounded strained. In 2011, she entered rehab again for drug and alcohol treatment.

On the afternoon of February 11, 2012, Houston died at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where she was expected to perform that night at a pre-Grammy Awards party hosted by Clive Davis. A week later, on February 18, her televised funeral was held at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, and featured musical tributes by such performers as Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys and the gospel singers BeBe and CeCe Winans. Tyler Perry, Kevin Costner and Houston’s cousin, Dionne Warwick, were among those who spoke at the service. The following day, Houston was buried next to her father at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, New Jersey.

COURTESY: HISTORY.com

FEB 11 In History: 1990, Nelson Mandela released from prison

Lead Story

1990

Nelson Mandela released from prison

Nelson Mandela, leader of the movement to end South African apartheid, is released from prison after 27 years on February 11, 1990.

In 1944, Mandela, a lawyer, joined the African National Congress (ANC), the oldest black political organization in South Africa, where he became a leader of Johannesburg’s youth wing of the ANC. In 1952, he became deputy national president of the ANC, advocating nonviolent resistance to apartheid–South Africa’s institutionalized system of white supremacy and racial segregation. However, after the massacre of peaceful black demonstrators at Sharpeville in 1960, Nelson helped organize a paramilitary branch of the ANC to engage in guerrilla warfare against the white minority government.

In 1961, he was arrested for treason, and although acquitted he was arrested again in 1962 for illegally leaving the country. Convicted and sentenced to five years at Robben Island Prison, he was put on trial again in 1964 on charges of sabotage. In June 1964, he was convicted along with several other ANC leaders and sentenced to life in prison.

Mandela spent the first 18 of his 27 years in jail at the brutal Robben Island Prison. Confined to a small cell without a bed or plumbing, he was forced to do hard labor in a quarry. He could write and receive a letter once every six months, and once a year he was allowed to meet with a visitor for 30 minutes. However, Mandela’s resolve remained unbroken, and while remaining the symbolic leader of the anti-apartheid movement, he led a movement of civil disobedience at the prison that coerced South African officials into drastically improving conditions on Robben Island. He was later moved to another location, where he lived under house arrest.

In 1989, F.W. de Klerk became South African president and set about dismantling apartheid. De Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC, suspended executions, and in February 1990 ordered the release of Nelson Mandela.

Mandela subsequently led the ANC in its negotiations with the minority government for an end to apartheid and the establishment of a multiracial government. In 1993, Mandela and de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. One year later, the ANC won an electoral majority in the country’s first free elections, and Mandela was elected South Africa’s president.

Mandela retired from politics in 1999, but remained a global advocate for peace and social justice until his death in December 2013.

COURTESY: HISTORY.com

FEB 8 In History: 1943, Americans secure Guadalcanal

WORLD WAR II

1943

Americans secure Guadalcanal

On this day in 1943, Japanese troops evacuated Guadalcanal, leaving the island in Allied possession after a prolonged campaign. The American victory paved the way for other Allied wins in the Solomon Islands.

Guadalcanal is the largest of the Solomons, a group of 992 islands and atolls, 347 of which are inhabited, in the South Pacific Ocean. The Solomons, which are located northeast of Australia and have 87 indigenous languages, were discovered in 1568 by the Spanish navigator Alvaro de Mendana de Neyra (1541-95). In 1893, the British annexed Guadalcanal, along with the other central and southern Solomons. The Germans took control of the northern Solomons in 1885, but transferred these islands, except for Bougainville and Buka (which eventually went to the Australians) to the British in 1900.

The Japanese invaded the Solomons in 1942 during World War II and began building a strategic airfield on Guadalcanal. On August 7 of that year, U.S. Marines landed on the island, signaling the Allies’ first major offensive against Japanese-held positions in the Pacific. The Japanese responded quickly with sea and air attacks. A series of bloody battles ensued in the debilitating tropical heat as Marines sparred with Japanese troops on land, while in the waters surrounding Guadalcanal, the U.S. Navy fought six major engagements with the Japanese between August 24 and November 30. In mid-November 1942, the five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa, died together when the Japanese sunk their ship, the USS Juneau.

Both sides suffered heavy losses of men, warships and planes in the battle for Guadalcanal. An estimated 1,600 U.S. troops were killed, over 4,000 were wounded and several thousand more died from disease. The Japanese lost 24,000 soldiers. On December 31, 1942, Emperor Hirohito told Japanese troops they could withdraw from the area; the Americans secured Guadalcanal about five weeks later.

The Solomons gained their independence from Britain in 1978. In the late 1990s, fighting broke out between rival ethnic groups on Guadalcanal and continued until an Australian-led international peacekeeping mission restored order in 2003. Today, with a population of over half a million people, the Solomons are known as a scuba diver and fisherman’s paradise.

Courtesy: HISTORY.com

FEB 8 In History: 1924 First execution by lethal gas

General Interest

1924

First execution by lethal gas

The first execution by lethal gas in American history is carried out in Carson City, Nevada. The executed man was Tong Lee, a member of a Chinese gang who was convicted of murdering a rival gang member. Lethal gas was adopted by Nevada in 1921 as a more humane method of carrying out its death sentences, as opposed to the traditional techniques of execution by hanging, firing squad, or electrocution.

During a lethal gas execution, the prisoner is sealed in an airtight chamber and either potassium cyanide or sodium cyanide is dropped into a pan of hydrochloric acid. This produces hydrocyanic gas, which destroys a human body’s ability to process blood hemoglobin. The prisoner falls unconscious within seconds and chokes to death, unless he or she holds his or her breath, in which case the prisoner often suffers violent convulsions for up to a minute before dying.

Lethal gas as a method of carrying out capital punishment was largely replaced by lethal injection in the late 20th century.

Courtesy: HISTORY.com