Important events in history include President Eisenhower’s speech on the “domino theory,” the founding of the World Health Organization, American troops capturing Baghdad, the invention of friction matches, the sinking of the Japanese warship Yamamoto, John Wayne’s Oscar win, Tito becoming president for life of Yugoslavia, the costly battle of Shiloh, and the birth of WK Kellogg, founder of the Kellogg Cereal Company.
President Eisenhower gave his address on “domino theory.” (1954) The theory that if a country “falls” into communism, the surrounding countries would follow suit like a domino line was an important part of US foreign policy from the 1950s to the 1990s. It is because of the domino theory, among other things, that the United States intervened in Korea and Vietnam, wars that led to the theory’s downfall in the 1980s.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has started operations. (1948) WHO initiated first World Health Day and had huge successes: two decades later, with efforts largely led by WHO, smallpox was eradicated.
American troops have captured Baghdad. (2003) Troops were in Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein’s government; two days after their arrival, Hussein’s regime fell.
Long distance television was demonstrated to the public. (1927) A group in New York City were shown a picture of then Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover in Washington, DC
The first friction matches were sold. (1827) Matches known as “friction lights” were sold by a chemist, John Walker, who had invented them the previous year. He had accidentally discovered the formula for producing frictional flammable matches when mixing chemicals.
The largest warship in the world has been sunk. (1945) The Japanese ship Yamamoto was the largest warship ever built, at over 900 feet (300 meters) long and a displacement of approximately 64,000 tons. She was sunk by American forces while she was en route on a suicide mission.
John Wayne won his first and only Oscar. (1970) Although Wayne was a major Hollywood star for decades, he only won a Best Actor Oscar for his role in True Grit.
Tito became president for life of Yugoslavia. (1963) Josip Broz Tito was known for his repressive communist regime and his tendency to purge his political opponents. He remained in power until his death in 1980.
The battle of Shiloh ended. (1862) This was a major battle in the Civil War, and although it looked promising at first for the Confederates, they were eventually defeated by Union troops. The battle was extremely costly to both sides and was an early indicator that the war would not be over soon.
WK Kellogg was born. (1860) Kellogg is best known as the founder of the Kellogg Cereal Company and one of the inventors of cereal for use as a breakfast food. However, modern cereals are very different from Kellogg’s original versions; he originally intended it to be a health food, so the cereal consisted of plain dry corn wafers.
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