TODAY IN HISTORY 1940 - Edsel Ford telephoned William Knudsen of the U.S. Office of Production Management (OPM) to confirm Ford Motor Companys acceptance of Knudsens proposal to manufacture 9,000 Rolls-Royce-designed engines to be used in British and U.S. airplanes. 1942 - Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl living in Amsterdam, received a diary for her 13th birthday. A month later, she and her family went into hiding from the Nazis in rooms behind her fathers office. For two years, the Franks and four other families were hidden, fed and cared for by Gentile friends. The families were discovered by the Gestapo, in 1944. The Franks were taken to Auschwitz, where Annes mother died. Friends in Amsterdam searched the rooms and found Annes diary hidden away. Anne and her sister were transferred to another camp, Bergen-Belsen, where Anne died of typhus a month before the war ended. Annes father survived Auschwitz and published Annes diary in 1947 as The Diary of a Young Girl. The book has been translated into more than 60 languages. 1987 - In one of his most famous Cold War speeches, President Ronald Reagan challenged Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, a symbol of the repressive Communist era in a divided Germany. With the wall as a backdrop, President Reagan declared to a West Berlin crowd in 1987, There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. He then called upon his Soviet counterpart: Secretary General Gorbachev, if you seek peace--if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe--if you seek liberalization: come here, to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. Two years later, on November 9, 1989, joyful East and West Germans did break down the infamous barrier between East and West Berlin. Germany was officially reunited on October 3, 1990. 1994 - Nicole Brown Simpson, famous football player O.J. Simpsons ex-wife, and her friend Ron Goldman were brutally stabbed to death outside Nicoles home in Brentwood, California. With overwhelming evidence against him, including a prior record of domestic violence towards Brown, O.J. Simpson became the chief suspect. The evidence against Simpson was extensive: His blood was found at the murder scene; blood, hair, and fibers from Brown and Goldman were found in Simpsons car and at his home; one of his gloves was also found in Browns home, the other outside his own house; and bloody shoeprints found at the scene matched those of shoes owned by Simpson. Simpsons Dream Team of defense lawyers, including Johnnie Cochran and F. Lee Bailey, claimed before a national television audience that Simpson had been framed by racist police officers. After deliberating for three hours, the jury acquitted Simpson. He vowed to find the real killers, but has yet to turn up any new leads.
Posted on: Thu, 12 Jun 2014 17:00:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015