First Confidential

THIS DAY IN HISTORY - AUGUST 1st

Herman Melville, Quote

“In this world of lies, Truth is forced to fly like a sacred white doe in the woodlands; and only by cunning glimpses will she reveal herself, as in Shakespeare and other masters of the great Art of Telling the Truth, — even though it be covertly, and by snatches.”

~ Herman Melville

Wikiquote (Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick.)

This Day in History

August 1st, 30 BC

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that began growing on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world Roman Empire Decline and Fall of Rome

Roman Empire:
30 BC - Octavian (later known as Augustus) enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Republic.
69 - Batavian rebellion; The Batavians in Germania Inferior (Netherlands) revolt under the leadership of Gaius Julius Civilis.

Wikipedia  Photo: ● Ancient roman statue ● Detail of Head from Roman Statue of Antinous, credit Corbis ● Statue of Neptune, Trevi Fountain, Rome ● International Sand Sculpture Festival, FIESA 7 ancient Rome.
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.

August 1st, 527

Justinian I becomes the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire (East Roman Empire):
527 - Justinian I becomes the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire.
902 - Taormina, the last Byzantine stronghold in Sicily, is captured by the Aghlabids army.

Wikipedia  Image: The Baptism of Constantine painted by Raphael's pupils (1520–1524, fresco, Vatican City, Apostolic Palace); Mural of Saints Cyril and Methodius, 19th century, Troyan Monastery, Bulgaria; Justinian I depicted on one of the famous mosaics of the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna; The Greek fire was first used by the Byzantine Navy during the Byzantine-Arab Wars (from the Madrid Skylitzes, Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid); Alexios I, founder of the Komnenos dynasty.

August 1st, 1192

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) Richard I of England

Crusades:
1192 - Richard the Lionheart landed on Jaffa and defeated the army of Saladin.
1203 - Fourth Crusade; Isaac II Angelos, restored Eastern Roman Emperor, declares his son Alexios IV Angelos co-emperor after pressure from the forces of the Fourth Crusade.

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.
● 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.

August 1st, 1291

Battle of Grandson; the Swiss confederacy decisively defeats the crack forces of Duke Charles ‘the Bold’ of Burgundy, and later in the same year they repeated the feat at Morat

The Old Swiss Confederacy is formed with the signature of the Federal Charter.

Wikipedia  Painting: Battle of Grandson; the Swiss confederacy decisively defeats the crack forces of Duke Charles ‘the Bold’ of Burgundy, and later in the same year they repeated the feat at Morat.

August 1st, 1664

Byzantine Empire Collage

Ottoman Empire (Turkish Empire or Turkey):
Battle of Saint Gotthard: the Ottoman Empire is defeated by an Austrian led by Raimondo Montecuccoli, resulting in the Peace of Vasvár.

Wikipedia  Image: Ottoman Empire Maximal extent with the vassal states of the Ottoman Empire in AD 1590s; Battle of Kosovo (1389); Fall of Constantinople (1453); Sultan Mehmed I Ottoman miniature, 1413-1421; Fall of Constantinople (1453); Siege of Rhodes (1522); Battle of Kosovo (1389); Battle of Mohács (1526).

August 1st, 1759

Seven Years' War: was a world war that took place between 1756 and 1763. It involved most of the great powers of the time and affected Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines. Seven Year's War: Battle of Lagos; Naval battle between Britain and France

Seven Years' War:
1759 - Battle of Minden; an allied Anglo-German army victory over the French. In Britain this was one of a number of events that constituted the Annus Mirabilis of 1759.

Wikipedia  Painting: The Death of General Wolfe (1771) by Benjamin West, depicting the Battle of the Plains of Abraham; Battle of Hochkirch; Battle of Minorca of May 20, 1756, shortly after the French landing on Minorca; Siege of Kolberg (1761); Leibgarde battalion at Kolin, 1757; Battle of Zorndorf in August 1758 where Russian and Prussian armies suffered heavy casualties and both claimed a victory. Battle of Lagos, by Théodore Gudin.

August 1st, 1801

The First Barbary War (1801–1805): also known as the Tripolitan War or the Barbary Coast War, was the first of two wars fought between the United States and the Northwest African Berber Muslim states known collectively as the Barbary States

First Barbary War:
1801 - The American schooner USS Enterprise captures the Tripolitan polacca Tripoli in a single-ship action off the coast of Libya.

Wikipedia  Painting: First Barbary War; "The most bold and daring act of the age." - Horatio Nelson ● Preble's squadron during the afternoon of August 3, 1804, Michele Felice Cornè (1752–1845) ● "Barbary Pirates" by John Bentham-Dinsdale ● USS Constellation, the first U.S. Navy vessel to put to sea ● Decatur Boarding the Tripolitan Gunboat, by Dennis M. Carter.

August 1st, 1876

Colorado is admitted as the 38th U.S. state

Colorado is admitted as the 38th U.S. state.

Wikipedia  Photo: Colorado Rockies

August 1st, 1894

First Sino-Japanese War Collage: (August 1, 1894 – April, 17 1895) was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea

First Sino-Japanese War:
1894 - War erupts between Japan and China over Korea.

Wikipedia  Image: Map: South China Sea, credit Middlebury.edu; Japanese troops during the Sino-Japanese war, credit Cultural-China History.

August 1st, 1914

World War I: Collage

World War I:
1914 - Germany declares war on Russia.

Wikipedia  Photo: Trenches on the Western Front; a British Mark IV Tank crossing a trench; Royal Navy battleship HMS Irresistible sinking after striking a mine at the Battle of the Dardanelles; a Vickers machine gun crew with gas masks, and German Albatros D.III biplanes. National Archives and Records Administration.

August 1st, 1966

Purges of intellectuals and imperialists becomes official People's Republic of China policy at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution

Cultural Revolution: Purges of intellectuals and imperialists becomes official People's Republic of China policy at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.

Wikipedia  Photo: Cultural Revolution cookbook. First published on 27 Dec 2011

August 1st, 2001

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has a Ten Commandments monument installed in the judiciary building, leading to a lawsuit to have it removed and his own removal from office

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has a Ten Commandments monument installed in the judiciary building, leading to a lawsuit to have it removed and his own removal from office.

Wikipedia  Photo: Ten Commandments monument, Donald Stout, Times-Picayune archive

August 1st, 2017

List of modern conflicts in the Middle East

Modern conflicts in the Middle East, social unrest and terrorist attacks:
2017 - Suicide attack; A suicide attack on a mosque in Heart, Afghanistan kills 20 people.

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)