First Confidential

THIS DAY IN HISTORY - JULY 30th

Charles Babbage, Quote

“On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.”

~ Charles Babbage

Wikiquote (Charles Babbage (FRS (December 26, 1791 – October 18, 1871) was an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a programmable computer. Considered a "father of the computer", Babbage is credited with inventing the first mechanical computer that eventually led to more complex designs.)

This Day in History

July 30th, 762

Baghdad is founded by caliph Al-Mansur

Baghdad is founded by caliph Al-Mansur.

Wikipedia  Photo: Baghdad, Iraq; Hands of Victory monument ● Baghdad skyline ● Monument to the Unknown Soldier ● Ar Rahman Mosque ● Aerial view, Monument to the Unknown Soldier.

July 30th, 1502

Christopher Columbus' fleet of three ships sets sail from Spain in 1492, credit Kean Collection / Hulton Archive / Getty Images

Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras during his fourth voyage.

Wikipedia  Paintings: Christopher Columbus' fleet of three ships sets sail from Spain in 1492. credit Kean Collection / Hulton Archive / Getty Images; Christopher Columbus pointing to land in the New World; Romantic Painting of Christopher Columbus arriving to the Americas Primer desembarco de Cristóbal Colón en América, by Dióscoro Puebla 1862.

July 30th, 1629

An earthquake in Naples, Italy, kills about 10,000 people

Naples, Italy: an earthquake kills about 10,000 people.

Wikipedia  Painting: Catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius, Getty Images

July 30th, 1733

The first Masonic Grand Lodge in the future United States is constituted in Massachusetts

The first Masonic Grand Lodge in the future United States is constituted in Massachusetts.

Wikipedia  Painting: It was through the Grand Lodge of England that Masonry came to the American Colonies about 1733. George Washington became a Master Mason in Fredericksburg Virginia, when it was organized.

July 30th, 1863

American Indians collage Indian Wars: Chief Pocatello of the Shoshone tribe signs the Treaty of Box Elder, agreeing to stop the harassment of emigrant trails in southern Idaho and northern Utah

American Indian Wars:
1863 - Chief Pocatello of the Shoshone tribe signs the Treaty of Box Elder, agreeing to stop the harassment of emigrant trails in southern Idaho and northern Utah.

Wikipedia  Photos: American Indians - Chief Crazy Horse, Tashunca-uitco (1849 - 1877) ● Geronimo Apache Chief (1829 - 1909) ● Indian Chief 'Two Eagles'; Crow Indian Chief ● Snake Cheif ● Band of Chiricahua Apache Indians, followers of legendary renegade Geronimo, attending a peace negotiation after a long struggle against U.S. government attempts to force them onto reservations - Tombstone, Arizona (1886), Life Magazine ● American Horse - Oglala ● Native American Arapaho Indian ● Washakie, Shoshone leader ● Arapaho American Indian Chief. ● Shoshone Chief Pocatello signs the Treaty of Box Elder, bringing peace to the emigrant trails of southern Idaho and northern Utah.

July 30th, 1864

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, Battle of Mobile Bay: at Mobile Bay near Mobile, Alabama, Admiral David Farragut leads a Union flotilla through Confederate defenses and seals one of the last major Southern ports

American Civil War:
1864 - Battle of the Crater; Union forces attempt to break Confederate lines at Petersburg, Virginia.

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
● Battle of Mobile Bay (1890) by Xanthus Russell Smith.
● 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.

July 30th, 1865

The steamboat Brother Jonathan sinks off the coast of Crescent City, California, killing 225 passengers, the deadliest shipwreck on the Pacific Coast of the U.S. at the time

The steamboat Brother Jonathan sinks off the coast of Crescent City, California, killing 225 passengers, the deadliest shipwreck on the Pacific Coast of the U.S. at the time.

Wikipedia  Photo: Brother Jonathan Captain's Wheel

July 30th, 1866

New Orleans's Democratic government orders police to raid an integrated Republican Party meeting, killing 40 people and injuring 150

New Orleans's Democratic government orders police to raid an integrated Republican Party meeting, killing 40 people and injuring 150.

Wikipedia  Engraving: This 1867 engraving depicts freed African American men voting in New Orleans just after the Civil War.

July 30th, 1962

The Trans-Canada Highway, the largest national highway in the world, is officially opened

Trans-Canada Highway the largest national highway in the world, is officially opened.

Wikipedia  Photo: Trans-Canada Highway, with an overpass for wildlife crossings

July 30th, 1971

Apollo Program: Apollo 11 first manned Moon landing and the first walk on the surface on the moon. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks on the surface of the moon near the leg of the lunar module Eagle. Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong took this photograph with a 70mm lunar surface camera. Armstrong and Aldrin explored the Sea of Tranquility for two and a half hours while crewmate Michael Collins orbited above in the command module Columbia. The Blue Marble is a famous photograph of the Earth, taken on December 7, 1972, by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft, at a distance of about 45,000 kilometres (28,000 mi)

Apollo program, Apollo 15: the David Scott and James Irwin on the Apollo Lunar Module Falcon land on the Moon with the first Lunar Rover.

Wikipedia  Photo: Apollo Program: Apollo 11 first manned Moon landing and the first walk on the surface on the moon. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks on the surface of the moon near the leg of the lunar module Eagle. Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong took this photograph with a 70mm lunar surface camera. Armstrong and Aldrin explored the Sea of Tranquility for two and a half hours while crewmate Michael Collins orbited above in the command module Columbia.
The Blue Marble is a famous photograph of the Earth, taken on December 7, 1972, by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft, at a distance of about 45,000 kilometres (28,000 mi).

July 30th, 1974

Watergate Scandal: was a political scandal that occurred in the United States in the 1970s as a result of the June 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement

Watergate Scandal: President Richard Nixon releases subpoenaed White House recordings after being ordered to do so by the United States Supreme Court.

Wikipedia  Photo: Watergate Scandal: was a political scandal that occurred in the United States in the 1970s as a result of the June 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement.
Watergate Complex Washington, DC, credit Watergate Notes; President Richard M. Nixon defended himself against many allegations, National Archives; Oliver F. Atkins' photo of Nixon leaving the White House shortly before his resignation became effective, August 9, 1974.

July 30th, 1975

Jimmy Hoffa disappears from the parking lot restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He is never seen or heard from again, and will be declared legally dead on this date in 1982.

Jimmy Hoffa disappears from the parking lot restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He is never seen or heard from again, and will be declared legally dead on this date in 1982.

Wikipedia  Photo: Jimmy Hoffa, Campaigns, Teamsters, Detroit, 1959. Photographer: Tony Spina

July 30th, 2003

Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model-T

In Mexico, the Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the assembly line.

Wikipedia  Photo: Volkswagen Beetle, officially called the Volkswagen Type 1 (informally the Volkswagen Bug), is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen (VW) from 1938 until 2003.

July 30th, 2006

Middle East satellite image; World satellite image

2006 - Lebanon War: Qana airstrike; At least 28 civilians, including 16 children are killed by the Israeli Air Force in what Lebanese call the Second Qana massacre and what Israel considers to be an attempt to stop rockets' being fired, from Lebanon, at Israeli civilian targets.

Wikipedia  Image: Middle East satellite image; World satellite image.

July 30th, 2012

2012 India blackouts: India’s northwestern boundary with neighboring Pakistan is so brightly lit that the thin orange line tracing its path can be seen from space. NASA/EO

2012 - India blackouts (2012): A power grid failure leaves seven states in northern India without power, affecting 360 million people.

Wikipedia  Image: India’s northwestern boundary with neighboring Pakistan is so brightly lit that the thin orange line tracing its path can be seen from space. Photo: NASA/EO.