First Confidential

THIS DAY IN HISTORY - JULY 6th

Thomas Jefferson, Quote

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

~ Opening statement of The Opening statement of The United States Declaration of Independence of The United States of America, composed primarily by Thomas Jefferson (Third of three from The Declaration of Independence or drafts of it, that were quoted July 4, 5 and 6)

Wikiquote (Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 (April 2, 1743 O.S.) – July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the third President of the United States (1801–1809).)

This Day in History

July 6th, 371 BC

Greece satellite image, credit NASA; Acrocorinth, looking north towards the Gulf of Corinth; Temple of Apollo Ancient Corinth; Early morning lightning illuminates the sky over the 2,500-year-old Ancient Parthenon temple, at the Acropolis hill during a heavy rainfall in Athens

Peloponnesian War:
371 BC - Battle of Leuctra: Epaminondas defeats "Cleombrotus I".

Wikipedia  Image: Greece satellite image, credit NASA; Acrocorinth, looking north towards the Gulf of Corinth; The Acrocorinth in the background, behind the Temple of Apollo; Temple of Apollo Ancient Corinth; Early morning lightning illuminates the sky over the 2,500-year-old Ancient Parthenon temple, at the Acropolis hill during a heavy rainfall in Athens.


July 6th, 1189

Richard I of England

Richard I "the Lionheart" is crowned King of England.

Wikipedia  Image: Richard I of England: The ruins of Château Gaillard. Even a rain of blood – considered a bad omen – did not dissuade Richard from building his vast and expensive fortress in Normandy. ● 19th-century portrait of Richard by Merry-Joseph Blondel ● Richard I being anointed during his coronation in Westminster Abbey, from a 13th-century chronicle ● Effigy (1199) of Richard I at Fontevraud Abbey, Anjou.


July 6th, 1777

American Revolutionary War Collage American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cape Saint Vincent, by Thomas Buttersworth (1768-1842)

American Revolutionary War:
1777 - Siege of Fort Ticonderoga: After a bombardment by British artillery under General John Burgoyne, American forces retreat from Fort Ticonderoga, New York.
1779 - Battle of Grenada: French victory over British naval forces.

Wikipedia  Paintings: Washington Crossing the Delaware, by Emanuel Leutz; Battle of the Chesapeake, French (left) and British (right) lines; Battle of Bunker Hill, The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill by John Trumbull; The Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar, September 13, 1782, by John Singleton Copley; Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau at Yorktown, 1781; "The surrender at Saratoga" shows General Daniel Morgan in front of a French de Vallière 4-pounder; Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown by (John Trumbull, 1797).
Painting: Battle of Cape Saint Vincent, by Thomas Buttersworth (1768-1842).


July 6th, 1801

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:
1801 - Battle of Algeciras: the French navy are defeated by the Royal navy.
1809 - Battle of Wagram: French victory over the Austrianarmy in the largest battle yet of the Napoleonic Wars.

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).


July 6th, 1885

Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies. The patient is Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog

Louis Pasteur declares independence from Spain.

Wikipedia  Painting: Louis Pasteur with Marie Laurent Pasteur in his lab, creidt Robert Trom.


July 6th, 1892

3,800 striking steelworkers engage in a day-long battle with Pinkerton agents during the Homestead Strike, leaving 10 dead and dozens wounded

Homestead Strike: 3,800 striking steelworkers engage in a day-long battle with Pinkerton agents, leaving 10 dead and dozens wounded.

Wikipedia  Image: Homestead Strike; Andrew CarnegieHenry Clay Frick ● Steelworkers confront Pinkerton agents sent to break the strike at Carnegie Mills, Homestead, 1892 ● Harpers Weekly; Pinkerton men leave the barges after their surrender during the Homestead Strike


July 6th, 1939

World War II, The Holocaust Anne Frank: (Annelies 'Anne' Marie Frank, June 12, 1929 – early March 1945) was one of the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. (Her diary has been the basis for several plays and films.)

World War II: Holocaust;
1939 - The last remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany are closed. 1942 - Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the "Secret Annexe" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse.

Wikipedia  Photo: World War II, The Holocaust. Sources: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum USHMM, History 1900s, Internet Masters of Education Technology IMET, Techno Friends, Veterans Today, Concern. Anne Frank; (Annelies 'Anne' Marie Frank, June 12, 1929 – early March 1945) was one of the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. (Her diary has been the basis for several plays and films.)


July 6th, 1944

World Series, featuring the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, is televised for the first time

Jackie Robinson refuses to move to the back of a bus, leading to a court martial.

Wikipedia  Photo: The 1947 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers,: Jackie Robinson knocks Phil Rizzuto into the air; Cookie Lavagetto is carried on the shoulders of his teammates after Game Four of the World Series, Ebbets Field, October 3, 1947 Bill Meurer/New York Daily News; Heroes and Bums: Hugh Casey, Pee Wee Reese, Joe Hatten, Eddie Stanky, and (seated) Dixie Walker. (National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY); On April 10, after he signed a contract to become a member of the Dodgers, Robinson played one more game with the minor-league Montreal Royals. Here, after the game, he posed for photographers as if entering the Dodger clubhouse for the first time. He was still five days away from his big-league debut, but by now the season's storyline was set. (National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY).


July 6th, 1944

The Hartford Circus Fire, one of America's worst fire disasters, kills 168 people and injures over 700 in Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford Circus Fire: one of America's worst fire disasters, kills 168 people and injures over 700 in Hartford, Connecticut.

Wikipedia  Photo: Hartford Circus Fire, Flames shoot from the top of the main tent of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus during performance in Hartford on July 6, 1944. Shortly after, the tent collapsed, trapping many of the patrons, who were still in the arena. credit Associated Press / New Haven Register.


July 6th, 1988

The Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires

The Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires. 167 oil workers are killed, making it the world's worst offshore oil disaster in terms of direct loss of life.

Wikipedia  Photo: Piper Alpha Disaster Piper Alpha Memorial, credit © Paul Mackie.


July 6th, 1989

List of modern conflicts in the Middle East

Modern conflicts in the Middle East, social unrest and terrorist attacks:
1989 - Israeli 405 Bus slaughter; in which 14 bus passengers are killed when an Arab assaulted the bus driver as the bus is driving by the edge of a cliff.

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)


July 6th, 1995

Kingdom of Yugoslavia: (Serbo-Croatian: Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија) was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941 1995 NATO bombing campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina / Aug. 30, 1995 by Oleg Stjepanovic (AP) ● Smoke rises from an ammunition depot in Bosnian Serb stronghold Pale near Sarajevo after NATO air strikes ● CK building in the moments after bombing ● Serbia marks the 10th anniversary of the Nato-led bombing campaign ● U.S. F-117 Nighthawk taxis to the runway before taking off from Aviano Air Base, Italy, on March 24, 1999

Yugoslav Wars:
1995 - Bosnian war; Srebrenica Massacre - under the command of General Ratko Mladić, Serbia begins its attack on the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, and kills more than 8000 Bosniaks, in what then - UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali called "the worst crime on European soil since the Second World War".

Wikipedia  Map: Kingdom of Yugoslavia; Belgrade, Yugoslavia; A twilight moon rises above the Kamniske mountains and Slovenia’s Sava River Valley, Slovenia, credit National Geographic; Yugoslavia, November 1977, credit National Geographic.
Photo: 1995 NATO bombing campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina / Aug. 30, 1995 by Oleg Stjepanovic (AP) ● Smoke rises from an ammunition depot in Bosnian Serb stronghold Pale near Sarajevo after NATO air strikes ● CK building in the moments after bombing ● Serbia marks the 10th anniversary of the Nato-led bombing campaign ● U.S. F-117 Nighthawk taxis to the runway before taking off from Aviano Air Base, Italy, on March 24, 1999.


July 6th, 2013

Airliners Crash: ● Pan AM 747 ● U.S. Airways flight 1549 also known as the 'Miracle on the Hudson' navigates an exit ramp near Burlington, New Jersey, June 5, 2011 ● Passengers stand on the wings of a U.S. Airways plane as a ferry pulls up to it after it landed in the Hudson River in New York, Reuters ● US Airways plane crashes into New York Hudson River, Photo: AP

Aviation accidents and incidents:
2013 - A Boeing 777 operating as Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashes at San Francisco International Airport, killing 3 and injuring 181 of the 307 people on board.

Wikipedia  Photo: ● Pan AM 747 ● U.S. Airways flight 1549 also known as the "Miracle on the Hudson" navigates an exit ramp near Burlington, New Jersey, June 5, 2011 ● Passengers stand on the wings of a U.S. Airways plane as a ferry pulls up to it after it landed in the Hudson River in New York, Reuters ● US Airways plane crashes into New York Hudson River, Photo: AP