On this day in History, June 8 ... In Medina, located in present-day Saudi Arabia, Muhammad, one of the most influential religious and political leaders in history, dies in the arms of Aishah, his third and favorite wife on this day in 632. Born in Mecca of humble origins, Muhammad married a wealthy widow at 25 years old and lived the next 15 years as an unremarkable merchant. In 610, in a cave in Mount Hira north of Mecca, he had a vision in which he heard God, speaking through the angel Gabriel, command him to become the Arab prophet of the true religion. Thus began a lifetime of religious revelations, which he and others collected as the Quran. These revelations provided the foundation for the Islamic religion. Muhammad regarded himself as the last prophet of the Judaic-Christian tradition, and he adopted the theology of these older religions while introducing new doctrines. His inspired teachings also brought unity to the Bedouin tribesmen of Arabia, an event that had sweeping consequences for the rest of the world. --- Chief Cochise, one of the great leaders of the Apache Indians in their battles with the Anglo-Americans, dies on the Chiricahua reservation in southeastern Arizona on this day in 1874. Little is known of Cochises early life. By the mid-19th century, he had become a prominent leader of the Chiricahua band of Apache Indians living in southern Arizona and northern Mexico. Like many other Chiricahua Apache, Cochise resented the encroachment of Mexican and American settlers on their traditional lands. Cochise led numerous raids on the settlers living on both sides of the border, and Mexicans and Americans alike began to call for military protection and retribution. --- On this day in 1896, President Grover Cleveland asks leaders of federal departments to investigate how many aliens, or foreign nationals, are currently employed in the federal government, specifically directing his request to the secretaries of state, treasury, war, navy, interior and agriculture, the postmaster general and the attorney general. Cleveland was in his second term in 1896 and was the leader of a Democratic Party that was largely anti-immigrant. The late 19th century had witnessed an unprecedented influx of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, including a large number of Russian Jews. Anti-immigrant sentiment was widespread. In many cases, immigrants were blamed for increases in crime and for driving down wages. Immigrants, especially those from Europe, were also suspected of importing the alien theories that were taking shape in their home countries, such as socialism, anarchism and communism, and of fomenting political unrest. The large numbers of Asian immigrants from Japan and China who came to the West Coast to work on railroad construction and in agriculture often fared even more poorly than Europeans. These non-white Asian immigrants were subject to exclusionary laws and were seen as more resistant to assimilation than white European immigrants. --- On this day in 1945, President Harry Truman issues Executive Order 9568, permitting the release of scientific information from previously top-secret World War II documents. He hoped the information might help stimulate Americas developing industries in the post-World War II economy. --- Hollywood figures, including film stars Frederic March, John Garfield, Paul Muni, and Edward G. Robinson, are named in a FBI report as Communist Party members on this day in 1949. Such reports helped to fuel the anticommunist hysteria in the United States during the late-1940s and 1950s. The FBI report relied largely on accusations made by confidential informants, supplemented with some highly dubious analysis. It began by arguing that the Communist Party in the United States claimed to have been successful in using well-known Hollywood personalities to further Communist Party aims. The report particularly pointed to the actions of the Academy Award-winning actor Frederic March. Suspicions about March were raised by his activities in a group that was critical of Americas growing nuclear arsenal (the group included other well-known radicals such as Helen Keller and Danny Kaye). March had also campaigned for efforts to provide relief to war-devastated Russia. The report went on to name several others who shared Marchs political leanings: Edward G. Robinson, the African-American singer; actor and activist Paul Robeson; the writer Dorothy Parker; and a host of Hollywood actors, writers, and directors. --- On this day in 1966, the rival National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) announce that they will merge. The first Super Bowl between the two leagues took place at the end of the 1966 season, though it took until the 1970 season for the leagues to unite their operations and integrate their regular season schedules. --- During the Six-Day War, Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats attack the USS Liberty in international waters off Egypts Gaza Strip on this day in 1967. The intelligence ship, well-marked as an American vessel and only lightly armed, was attacked first by Israeli aircraft that fired napalm and rockets at the ship. The Liberty attempted to radio for assistance, but the Israeli aircraft blocked the transmissions. Eventually, the ship was able to make contact with the U.S. carrier Saratoga, and 12 fighter jets and four tanker planes were dispatched to defend the Liberty. When word of their deployment reached Washington, however, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered them recalled to the carrier, and they never reached the Liberty. The reason for the recall remains unclear. Back in the Mediterranean, the initial air raid against the Liberty was over. Nine of the 294 crewmembers were dead and 60 were wounded. Suddenly, the ship was attacked by Israeli torpedo boats, which launched torpedoes and fired artillery at the ship. Under the command of its wounded captain, William L. McGonagle, the Liberty managed to avert four torpedoes, but one struck the ship at the waterline. Heavily damaged, the ship launched three lifeboats, but these were also attacked--a violation of international law. Failing to sink the Liberty, which displaced 10,000 tons, the Israelis finally desisted. In all, 34 Americans were killed and 171 were wounded in the two-hour attack. In the attacks aftermath, the Liberty managed to limp to a safe port. --- On this day in 1968, James Earl Ray, an escaped American convict, is arrested in London, England, and charged with the assassination of African American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. On April 4, 1968, in Memphis, King was fatally wounded by a snipers bullet while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Motel Lorraine. That evening, a Remington .30-06 hunting rifle was found on the sidewalk beside a rooming house one block from the Lorraine Motel. During the next several weeks, the rifle, eyewitness reports, and fingerprints on the weapon all implicated a single suspect: escaped convict James Earl Ray. A two-bit criminal, Ray escaped a Missouri prison in April 1967 while serving a sentence for a holdup. In May 1968, a massive manhunt for Ray began. The FBI eventually determined that he had obtained a Canadian passport under a false identity, which at the time was relatively easy. --- On this day in 1968 and three days after falling prey to an assassin in California, Senator Robert F. Kennedy is laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, just 30 yards from the grave of his assassinated older brother, President John F. Kennedy. Robert Kennedy, born in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1925, interrupted his studies at Harvard University to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was legal counsel for various Senate subcommittees during the 1950s and in 1960 served as the manager of his brothers successful presidential campaign. Appointed attorney general by President Kennedy, he proved a vigorous member of the cabinet, zealously prosecuting cases relating to civil rights while closely advising the president on domestic and foreign issues. After John F. Kennedys assassination in 1963, Robert joined President Lyndon B. Johnsons administration but resigned in 1964 to run successfully in New York for a Senate seat. He became a leader of liberal Democrats in Congress and voiced criticism of the war in Vietnam. In 1968, he was urged by many of his supporters to run for president as an anti-war and socially progressive Democratic. Hesitant until he saw positive primary returns for fellow anti-war candidate Eugene McCarthy, he announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination on March 16, 1968. Fifteen days later, President Johnson announced that he would not seek re-election, and Vice President Hubert Humphrey became the key Democratic hopeful, with McCarthy and Kennedy trailing closely behind. Kennedy conducted an energetic campaign and on June 4, 1968, won a major victory in the California primary. He had won five out of six primaries and seemed a shoo-in for the Democratic nomination and, some thought, the presidency. --- On this day in 1984, the now-classic comedy Ghostbusters is released in theaters across the United States. Produced and directed by Ivan Reitman, Ghostbusters starred Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis as disgraced parapsychology professors in New York City who turn to “paranormal investigation”--hunting down and capturing ghosts---to make money after Columbia University yanks their research grants. Suddenly overwhelmed by the demand for their services, they hire a fourth team member (Ernie Hudson) who predicts that the increased supernatural activity is building to a catastrophic Judgement Day-like scenario. His fears turn out to be right on target, and all hell breaks loose after a skeptical government official (William Atherton) pulls the plug on the ghostbusters’ containment system. Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis co-starred as Manhattan apartment dwellers possessed by followers of a long-dead deity, Gozer, with whom the ghostbusters must wage a climactic battle. --- On this day in 1999, some 1.3 million copies of Hannibal, the final book in the Hannibal Lecter series by Thomas Harris, arrive at bookstores around the country. Hannibal quickly tops the bestseller charts, despite—or perhaps because of—an intensely gruesome plot. Hannibal Lecter, the brilliant psychiatrist/serial killer with a taste for human flesh, first appeared in Harris 1981 book, Red Dragon, as a minor character. He played a larger role in The Silence of the Lambs (1988), which sold some 10 million copies and was made into an Academy Award-winning movie in 1991, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. Hannibal was made into a film starring Hopkins and Julianne Moore in 2001.
Posted on: Sun, 08 Jun 2014 10:47:18 +0000
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