First Confidential

THIS DAY IN HISTORY - JULY 12th

Samuel Johnson, Quote

“Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those whom we cannot resemble.”

~ Samuel Johnson

Wikiquote (Samuel Johnson (September 18, 1709 - September 7, 1784; He is often referred to as simply Dr. Johnson in the history of literature and is regarded as the greatest man of letters in English history.)

This Day in History

July 12th, 1191

Crusades collage: Crusades were a series of religious expeditionary wars blessed by Pope Urban II and the Catholic Church, with the stated goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem - Jerusalem considered a sacred city and symbol of all three major Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) Third Crusade: Siege of Acre; begins under Guy of Lusignan

Crusades:
1191 - Third Crusade: between Saladin garrison surrenders to Philip Augustus, ending the two-year siege of Acre.

Wikipedia  Image: The Siege of Antioch, from a 15th-century miniature; After the successful siege of Jerusalem in 1099, Godfrey of Bouillon, leader of the First Crusade, became the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem; Baldwin I of Jerusalem; Medieval image of Peter the Hermit, leading knights, soldiers and women toward Jerusalem during the First Crusade; The Battle of Ager Sanguinis, 1337 miniature; Pope Innocent III excommunicating the Albigensians, Massacre against the Albigensians by the crusaders; The capture of Jerusalem marked the First Crusade's success.
Third Crusade; depicting Saladin (1138 - 1193) holding Guy of Lusignan (1150 - 1194) captive in golden chains after the battle of Hattin in 1187. Guy of Lusignan is depicted wearing (Christian) royal red cloathes and Saladin is depicted wearing (Islamic) royal green cloathes, by Jan Lievens (1607-1674).

July 12th, 1493

Hartmann Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle, one of the best-documented early printed books, is published

Hartmann Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle, one of the best-documented early printed books, is published.

Wikipedia  Painting: Friedrich Wanderer, Famous Nuremberg Artists of Dürer’s Time. Painting, 1901, Museen der Stadt Nürnberg ● Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, View of Nuremberg. Woodcut in Hartmann Schedel, Liber Chronicarum (Nuremberg Chronicle) (Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1493), folios 99v-100r. Museen der Stadt Nürnberg (photo: museum), credit Nuremberg and the Topographies of Expectation, by Jeffrey Chipps Smith, Northernrenaissance.org

July 12th, 1543

Henry VIII; Coat of Arms and Seal of Henry VIII of England; Catherine of Aragon as a young widow, by court painter Michael Sittow, 1502; Anne Boleyn, Henry's second queen; a later copy of an original painted 1534; Jane Seymour<, Henry's third wife; Anne of Cleves, Henry's forth wife by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1539; Catherine Howard<, Henry's fifth wife, by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1540; Catherine Parr, Henry's sixth and last wife

King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and last wife, Katherine Parr at Hampton Court Palace.

Wikipedia  Painting: Henry VIII Coat of Arms and Seal of Henry VIII of England; Catherine of Aragon as a young widow, by court painter Michael Sittow, 1502; Anne Boleyn, Henry's second queen; a later copy of an original painted 1534; Jane Seymour, Henry's third wife; Anne of Cleves, Henry's forth wife by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1539; Catherine Howard, Henry's fifth wife, by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1540; Catherine Parr, Henry's sixth and last wife.

July 12th, 1690

Nine Years' War (War of the Grand Alliance, the War of the Palatine Succession, or the War of the League of Augsburg; 1688 – 1697) - was a major war of the late 17th century fought between King Louis XIV of France, and a European-wide coalition, the Grand Alliance, led by the Anglo-Dutch Stadtholder-King William III, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, King Charles II of Spain, Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, and the major and minor princes of the Holy Roman Empire

Nine Years' War: 1690 - Battle of the Boyne: The armies of William III of England defeat those of the former James II of England. 1691 - In a duel in which the Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Hamilton dies a day after being shot.

Wikipedia  Painting: Nine Years' War (War of the Grand Alliance, the War of the Palatine Succession, or the War of the League of Augsburg; 1688 – 1697) - was a major war of the late 17th century fought between King Louis XIV of France, and a European-wide coalition, the Grand Alliance, led by the Anglo-Dutch Stadtholder-King William III, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, King Charles II of Spain, Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, and the major and minor princes of the Holy Roman Empire.

July 12th, 1804

Alexander Hamilton hated Aaron Burr (His attacks on the future Vice-President were relentless for years - During those years Burr seems to have either ignored Hamilton or was simply too busy with his own intrigues to care, but all this changed in 1804 - Burr lost his election for Governor of New York, and Alexander Hamilton was one of the reasons - A letter appeared in the Albany register which proclaimed Burr was “a dangerous man who ought not to be trusted” - Not remarkable for the times until the letter writer declared 'I could detail to you a still more despicable opinion which General Hamilton has expressed of Mr. Burr')

1804 - In a duel in which the Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Hamilton dies a day after being shot.

Wikipedia  Image: Alexander Hamilton hated Aaron Burr (His attacks on the future Vice-President were relentless for years - During those years Burr seems to have either ignored Hamilton or was simply too busy with his own intrigues to care, but all this changed in 1804 - Burr lost his election for Governor of New York, and Alexander Hamilton was one of the reasons - A letter appeared in the Albany register which proclaimed Burr was “a dangerous man who ought not to be trusted” - Not remarkable for the times until the letter writer declared 'I could detail to you a still more despicable opinion which General Hamilton has expressed of Mr. Burr'). Burr called Hamilton out and Hamilton agreed to an “interview” (duel). On the morning of July 11, 1804, the men settled their differences as Vice-President Aaron Burr put a one ounce slug into Alexander Hamilton’s liver. Hamilton died the next day.

July 12th, 1806

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:
1806 - Sixteen German imperial states leave the Holy Roman Empire and form the Confederation of the Rhine. On 6 August, following an ultimatum by Napoleon, Francis II gave up his title of Emperor and declared the Holy Roman Empire dissolved.

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 12th, 1812

War of 1812 collage

War of 1812: the United States invade Canada at Windsor, Ontario.

Wikipedia  Painting: Damage to the US Capitol after the Burning of Washington; HMS Shannon leading the captured American frigate USS Chesapeake into Halifax, Nova Scotia (1813); USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere; the death of Tecumseh at Moraviantown; Oliver Hazard Perry's message to William Henry Harrison after the Battle of Lake Erie began with what would become one of the most famous sentences in American military history: "We have met the enemy and they are ours; "Andrew Jackson leads the defence of New Orleans; The mortally wounded Isaac Brock spurs troops on at the Queenston Heights.

July 12th, 1862

The Medal of Honor is authorized by the United States Congress

The Medal of Honor is authorized by the United States Congress.

Wikipedia  Photo: Medal of Honor - From left to right, the Army, Navy/Marine Corps/Coast Guard, and Air Force medals

June 12th, 1943

World War II: Second firestorm raid on Germany, the Royal Air Force conducts an air raid on the town of Kassel, killing 10,000 and rendering 150,000 homeless World War II: Battle of Leyte Gulf; Battle of Leyte Gulf; The first kamikaze attack: A Japanese plane carrying a 200-kilogram (440 lb) bomb attacks HMAS Australia off Leyte Island World War II: German V1 flying-bomb and V2 Rockets - Preparations for a Salvo Launch of V-2 Rockets in the Heidelager near Blizna (Poland) (1944) World War II: Eastern Front (World War II); was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945

World War II:
1943 - Eastern Front; Battle of Prokhorovka - German and Soviet forces engage in the largest tank engagement of all time.
Post World War II:
1948 - Arab–Israeli War; Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion orders the explusion of Palestinians from the towns of Lod and Ramla.

Wikipedia  Photo: Bombing of Dresden in World War II; August Schreitmüller's sculpture 'Goodness' surveys Dresden after a firestorm started by Allied bombers in 1945. USS Bunker Hill was hit by kamikazes piloted by Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa and another airman on 11 May 1945. 389 personnel were killed or missing from a crew of 2,600; Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa, who flew his aircraft into the USS Bunker Hill during a Kamikaze mission on 11 May 1945; Kamikaze Missions - Lt Yoshinori Yamaguchi's Yokosuka D4Y3 (Type 33 Suisei) "Judy" in a suicide dive against USS Essex. The dive brakes are extended and the non-self-sealing port wing tank is trailing fuel vapor and/or smoke 25 November 1944.
German V1 flying-bomb and V2 Rockets - Preparations for a Salvo Launch of V-2 Rockets in the Heidelager near Blizna (Poland) (1944), credit German History in Documents and Images GHDI.

Eastern Front (World War II); Germans race towards Stalingrad. August 1942; Soviet children during a German air raid in the first days of the war, June 1941, by RIA Novosti archive; Soviet sniper Roza Shanina in 1944. About 400,000 Soviet women served in front-line duty units Caucasus Mountains, winter 1942/43; Finnish ski patrol: the invisible enemy of the Soviet Army with an unlimited supply of skis; Men of the German Engineers Corps cross a river which is swollen after the first autumn rains, to strengthen bridges linking the German positions on the central front in Russia. by Keystone / Getty Images. October 1942; Russian snipers fighting on the Leningrad front during a blizzard. Photo by Hulton Archive / Getty Images, 1943; German soldiers surrendering to the Russians in Stalingrad, the soldier holding the white flag of surrender is dressed in white so that there could be no doubt of his intentions, a Russian soldier is on the right of the photograph. by Keystone / Getty Images, January 1943.

July 12th, 1961

In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth (This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth)

Cyclone:
1961 - Pune, India: floods due to failure of the Khadakwasla and Panshet dams. Half of Pune is submerged, more than 100,000 families need to be relocated and the death tally exceeds 2,000.

Wikipedia  Image: In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth (This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth) ● Emergency Management, Australian Government. ● Global tropical cyclone tracks. ● Emergency Information, Burdenkin Shire.

July 12th, 2007

Iraq War: The Persian Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991), codenamed Operation Desert Storm (17 January 1991 – 28 February 1991) commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a UN-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait

Gulf War - Iraq War:
2007 - Baghdad airstrike (2007); United States Army Apache helicopters perform airstrikes in Baghdad, Iraq; footage from the cockpit is later leaked to the Internet.

Wikipedia  Photo: USAF F-15Es, F-16s, and a USAF F-15 flying over burning Kuwaiti oil wells; Iraqi Army T-72 main battle tanks. The T-72 tank was a common Iraqi battle tank used in the Gulf War; F-15Es parked during Operation Desert Shield; The oil fires caused were a result of the scorched earth policy of Iraqi military forces retreating from Kuwait; Aerial view of destroyed Iraqi T-72 tank, BMP-1 and Type 63 armored personnel carriers and trucks on Highway 8 in March 1991.

July 12th, 2012

List of modern conflicts in the Middle East

Modern conflicts in the Middle East, social unrest and terrorist attacks:
2012 - Okobie road tanker explosion; A tank truck explosion kills more than 100 people in Okobie, Nigeria.
2012 - Turaymisah massacre; kills 250 people during a Syrian military operation in a village within the Hama Governorate.

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)