First Confidential

THIS DAY IN HISTORY - MAY 21st

Alexander Pope, Quote

“A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.”

“Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.”

~ Alexander Pope

Wikiquote (Alexander Pope (May 21, 1688 – May 30, 1744) was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer.)

This Day in History

May 21st, 293

Roman Empire Decline and Fall of Rome

Roman Empire:
293 - Tetrarchy; Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian appoint Galerius as Caesars to Diocletian, beginning the period of four rulers.

Wikipedia  Image: Relief from a 3rd-century sarcophagus depicting a battle between Romans and Germanic warriors; the central figure is perhaps the emperor Hostilian / Depiction of the Menorah on the Arch of Titus in Rome.

May 21st, 1502

Conquistadors (Spanish 'conquerors') were soldiers, explorers, and adventurers at the service of the Spanish Empire (sailing beyond Europe, conquering territory and opening trade routes, colonizing much of the world for Spain and Portugal in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries)

Conquistador:
1502 - Portuguese explorer João da Nova discovers the island of Saint Helena.

Wikipedia  Image: Conquistadors (Spanish "conquerors") were soldiers, explorers, and adventurers at the service of the Spanish Empire (sailing beyond Europe, conquering territory and opening trade routes, colonizing much of the world for Spain and Portugal in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries)
● Christopher Columbus setting foot in the New World in 1492 ● Conquistadors praying before a battle ● Conquistadors and their Tlaxcalan allies enter Tenochtitlan ● The surrender of Granada in 1492. Muhammad XII before Ferdinand and Isabella ● Detail of Velázquez's Portrait of Juan de Pareja a contemporary morisco Spaniard, slave and afterwards freedman, assistant and trust man of Diego Velazquez ● Conquistador, jQuey-deviantart.

May 21st, 1758

French and Indian War Collage: (1754–1763) is the name for the North American theater of the Seven Years' War Ten-year-old Mary Campbell is abducted in Pennsylvania by Lenape during the French and Indian War. She is returned some six and a half years later on May 21st, 1758.

French and Indian War
1758 - Ten-year-old Mary Campbell is abducted in Pennsylvania by Lenape during the French and Indian War. She is returned some six and a half years later.

Wikipedia  Painting: Major Washington and a wounded General Braddock at the Battle of Monongahela. Lemercier, 1854; Portrait of Washington was painted in 1772 by Charles Willson Peale, and shows Washington in uniform as a colonel of the Virginia Regiment. The original hangs in Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. It is the earliest known depiction of Washington; British troops under Edward Braddock near Fort Duquesne, Pa., during the French and Indian War. Credit: MPI / Hulton Archive / Getty Images; Indian from Death of General Wolfe painting By Benjamin West in 1770; Death of General James Wolfe by stray cannon shot at Battle of Quebec in 1759 Painted by Benjamin West in 1770.
Mary Campbell, credit © Beaded Moccasins: The Story Of Mary Campbell, by Lynda Durrant.

May 21st, 1809

Napoleonic Wars: (1803–15) were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions French Revolutionary Wars, Battle of the Nile (Battle of Aboukir Bay): Battle begins when a British fleet engages the French Revolutionary Navy fleet in an unusual night action

French Revolutionary Wars / Napoleonic Wars:
1809 - Battle of Aspern-Essling; The Austrian army led by Archduke Charles and the French army led by Napoleon I of France sees the French attack across the Danube held.

Wikipedia  Painting: Battle of Trafalgar: The British HMS Sandwich fires to the French flagship Bucentaure (completely dismasted) in the battle of Trafalgar; Napoleon in Berlin (Meynier). After defeating Prussian forces at Jena, the French Army entered Berlin on 27 October 1806; Battle of the Bridge of Arcole Napoleon Bonaparte leading his troops over the bridge of Arcole, by Horace Vernet; Napoleon as King of Italy (Appiani); Napoleon Crossing the Alps (David). In 1800 Bonaparte took the French Army across the Alps, eventually defeating the Austrians at Marengo; Charge of the Russian Imperial Guard cavalry against French cuirassiers at the Battle of Friedland, 14 June 1807; Battle of Borodino as depicted by Louis Lejeune. The battle was the largest and bloodiest single-day action of the Napoleonic Wars; Napoleon's withdrawal from Russia, a painting by Adolph Northen; Wellington at Waterloo by Robert Alexander Hillingford; Napoleon is often represented in his green colonel uniform of the Chasseur à Cheval, with a large bicorne and a hand-in-waistcoat gesture.
Battle of the Nile (Battle of Aboukir Bay).

May 21st, 1856

Lincoln Memorial: an American national monument built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln - located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. across from the Washington Monument American Civil War: Battle of Antietam; Stone Bridge at Antietam Battlefield - Sharpsburg, Maryland American Civil War: American Civil War: First Battle Between Ironclads; CSS Virginia/Merrimac (left) vs. USS Monitor, in 1862 at the Battle of Hampton Roads

American Civil War:
1856 - Sacking of Lawrence; Lawrence, Kansas is captured and burned by pro-Slavery forces.
1863 - Battle of Plains Store; The Union Army succeeds in closing off the last escape route from Port Hudson, Louisiana, in preparation for the coming siege of Port Hudson.

Wikipedia  Image: ● Lincoln Memorial; an American national monument built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln - located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. across from the Washington Monument.
● The northern army led by George McClellan and the southern army led by Robert E. Lee met at Antietam Creek, Maryland in September, 1862. It was a bloody battle where 13,000 Confederates and 12,000 Union troops died in just one day. McClellan had hesitated to attack before the battle thus letting the southern troops regroup. Also, he had saved reserves and refused to use them at the end of the battle thinking that Lee was holding reserves for a counterattack, even though those reserves didn't exist. The Union victory stopped Lee's northward advance and was a turning point in the war.
● Battle of Antietam / Stone Bridge at Antietam Battlefield - Sharpsburg, Maryland
● First Battle Between Ironclads: CSS Virginia/Merrimac (left) vs. USS Monitor, in 1862 at the Battle of Hampton Roads.
● Although photography was still in its infancy, war correspondents produced thousands of images, bringing the harsh realities of the frontlines to those on the home front in a new and visceral way. The Atlantic.

May 21st, 1871

French troops invade the Paris Commune and engage its residents in street fighting. By the close of 'Bloody Week', some 20,000 communards have been killed and 38,000 arrested

Paris Commune: Bloody Week; French troops invade the Paris Commune and engage its residents in street fighting (some 20,000 communards have been killed and 38,000 arrested).

Wikipedia Image: Le Père Duchesne ● looking at the statue of Napoleon I on top of the Vendôme column ● Adolphe Thiers charging on the Communards ● Jarosław Dąbrowski caricatured.

May 21st, 1924

University of Chicago students Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr. murder 14-year-old Bobby Franks in a 'thrill killing' on May 21st, 1924.

University of Chicago students Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr. murder 14-year-old Bobby Franks in a "thrill killing".

Wikipedia  Photo: State's Attorney Robert E. Crowe, Richard Loeb, and Nathan Leopold, Jr. "Full-length group portrait of State's Attorney Robert E. Crowe, Richard Loeb, and Nathan Leopold, Jr., sitting in a room in Chicago, Illinois, surrounded by a group of men who are sitting and standing. Text on image reads: Confessing to State's Atty. Crowe. Nathan Leopold, Jr. and Richard Loeb were both sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Bobby Franks." DN-0077998, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society. Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum. credit Darrow.law.umn.edu

May 21st, 1927

Charles Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) (nicknamed 'Slim', 'Lucky Lindy' and 'The Lone Eagle') was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist (Lindbergh emerged suddenly from virtual obscurity to instantaneous world fame as the result of his Orteig Prize-winning solo non-stop flight on May 20–21, 1927, from New York's Long Island to Le Bourget Field in Paris, France, a distance of nearly 3,600 statute miles (5,800 km), in the single-seat, single-engine purpose built Ryan monoplane Spirit of St. Louis)

Charles Lindbergh touches down at Le Bourget Field in Paris, completing the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

Wikipedia  Photo: Charles Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) (nicknamed 'Slim', 'Lucky Lindy' and 'The Lone Eagle') was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist. (Lindbergh emerged suddenly from virtual obscurity to instantaneous world fame as the result of his Orteig Prize-winning solo non-stop flight on May 20–21, 1927, from New York's Long Island to Le Bourget Field in Paris, France, a distance of nearly 3,600 statute miles (5,800 km), in the single-seat, single-engine purpose built Ryan monoplane Spirit of St. Louis.)

May 21st, 1932

Amelia Earhart</a> in 1935; Amelia Earhart appears above in her flight gear in this undated photo, credit Associated Press

Bad weather forces Amelia Earhart to land in a pasture in Derry, Northern Ireland.

Wikipedia  Photo: Amelia Earhart in 1935; Amelia Earhart appears above in her flight gear in this undated photo, credit Associated Press; Amelia Earhart and her mother in Boston, when 300,000 turned out to cheer the three flyers who made the non-stop flight across the Atlantic, July 1928; Amelia Earhart sitting on her plane, ca. 1935. George Palmer Putnam Collection of Amelia Earhart Papers, Courtesy of Purdue University Libraries, Karnes Archives and Special Collections; Amelia Earhart and Harpo Marx, dressed as a dog catcher, ca. 1932. George Palmer Putnam Collection of Amelia Earhart Papers, Courtesy of Purdue University Libraries, Karnes Archives and Special Collections; Amelia Earhart standing in front of the propellers on her plane, ca. 1935. George Palmer Putnam Collection of Amelia Earhart Papers, Courtesy of Purdue University Libraries, Karnes Archives and Special Collections; Amelia Earhart with arms spread in front of her plane, ca. February 12, 1937. George Palmer Putnam Collection of Amelia Earhart Papers, Courtesy of Purdue University Libraries, Karnes Archives and Special Collections.

May 21st, 1991

List of modern conflicts in the Middle East

Modern conflicts in the Middle East, social unrest and terrorist attacks:
1991 - Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by a female suicide bomber near Madras.
1991 - Ethiopian Civil War; Mengistu Haile Mariam, president of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, flees Ethiopia, effectively bringing the Ethiopian Civil War to an end.
1996 - Algerian Civil War; The Trappist Martyrs of Atlas, kidnapped and held for two months, are found dead.
1998 - In Miami, Florida, five abortion clinics are hit by a butyric acid attacker.
2012 - Sana'a bombing; A suicide bombing kills more than 120 people in Sana'a, Yemen.

Wikipedia  Photo: Middle East satellite image, NASA. ● Camels are seen early morning on a beach in the Marina area of Dubai October 16, 2008. (Steve Crisp, Reuters) ● A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad burns during clashes between rebels and Syrian troops in Selehattin, near Aleppo, on July 23, 2012. (Bulent Kilic, AFP / GettyImages) ● Egyptians gather in their thousands in Tahrir Square to mark the one year anniversary of the revolution on Jan. 25, 2012 in Cairo Egypt. Tens of thousands have gathered in the square on the first anniversary of the Arab uprising which toppled President Hosni Mubarak. (Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images) ● Black smoke rises above the Tehran skyline as supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi burn tires and other material in the streets as they fight running battles with police to protest the declared results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009. (Ben Curtis, AP) ● The Iron Dome defense system fires to interecpt incoming missiles from Gaza in the port town of Ashdod, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. (Tsafrir Abayov, AP)

May 21st, 1996

Lake Victoria: Satellite image of Lake Victoria, the largest Lake in Africa and the second largest freshwater Lake in the world.

The ferry MV Bukoba sinks in Tanzanian waters on Lake Victoria, killing nearly 1,000.

Wikipedia  Photo: Lake Victoria: Satellite image of Lake Victoria, the largest Lake in Africa and the second largest freshwater Lake in the world.

May 21st, 2003

Global Earthquake epicenters

Earthquake:
2003 - An earthquake hits northern Algeria killing more than 2,000 people.

Wikipedia  Image: Preliminary Determination of Epicenters / Aleppo Syria; Anchorage, Alaska - March 28, 1964 Prince William Sound USA earthquake and tsunami; 8.9 Mega Earthquake Strikes Japan; Tsunami Swirls Japan's Ibaraki Prefecture March 12 2011. credit NOAA / NGDC, NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, USGS, National Geographics.

May 21st, 2012

List of modern conflicts in the Middle East

Modern conflicts in the Middle East, social unrest and terrorist attacks:
2012 - Sana'a bombing; A suicide bombing kills more than 120 people in Sana'a, Yemen.

Wikipedia  Photo: Middle East satellite image, NASA. ● Camels are seen early morning on a beach in the Marina area of Dubai October 16, 2008. (Steve Crisp, Reuters) ● A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad burns during clashes between rebels and Syrian troops in Selehattin, near Aleppo, on July 23, 2012. (Bulent Kilic, AFP / GettyImages) ● Egyptians gather in their thousands in Tahrir Square to mark the one year anniversary of the revolution on Jan. 25, 2012 in Cairo Egypt. Tens of thousands have gathered in the square on the first anniversary of the Arab uprising which toppled President Hosni Mubarak. (Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images) ● Black smoke rises above the Tehran skyline as supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi burn tires and other material in the streets as they fight running battles with police to protest the declared results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009. (Ben Curtis, AP) ● The Iron Dome defense system fires to interecpt incoming missiles from Gaza in the port town of Ashdod, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. (Tsafrir Abayov, AP)