Japan Airlines Flight 123 crashed, killing 520 people in 1985. The Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb in 1953. Swiss banks agreed to pay back US$1.25 billion to Holocaust survivors in 1998. Thirteen Jewish poets and intellectuals were executed in the “Night of the Murdered Poets” in 1952. The California Supreme Court annulled 4,000 legal same-sex marriages in 2004. The largest Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found was discovered in 1990. The world’s first balloon satellite was launched by NASA in 1960. The sewing machine patent was awarded to Issac Singer in 1851. John Lennon apologized for declaring the Beatles more popular than Jesus in 1966. Cleopatra committed suicide with a snake in 30 BC.
Japan Airlines Flight 123 crashed, killing 520 people. (1985) Airliner crashed into Mount Otsuka outside Tokyo, Japan, killing 520 – 4 survived. It is the worst single aviation disaster in world history.
The Soviet Union has tested its first atomic bomb. (1953) The Soviets detonated “Joe 4”, the country’s first thermonuclear bomb. The test was performed by physicist Igor Kurchatov as part of the Soviet atomic bomb project. The project began in 1940 in response to the US project to create the atomic bomb.
Banks in Switzerland have agreed to pay back US$1.25 billion to Holocaust survivors. (1998) The World Jewish Congress filed a lawsuit against Swiss banks to recover money and assets in bank accounts that had gone dormant during World War II. There was great political tension around the cause.
Thirteen prominent Jewish poets, writers, and intellectuals were executed in “Night of the Murdered Poets.” (1952) Fifteen Soviet Jews were falsely accused of capital crimes in the Soviet Union. The authorities of Moscow’s Lubyanka prison executed 13 of them on this day.
4,000 legal same-sex marriages in California have been annulled. (2004) The marriages were sanctioned earlier this year in San Francisco by Mayor Gavin Newsom. The California Supreme Court annulled the weddings, saying the mayor had violated state law.
Largest Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found. (1990) Susan Hendrickson discovered the bones while she was fossil hunting near a reef in North Dakota in the United States. Dinosaur bones date back 65 million years.
The world’s first balloon satellite was launched. (1960) NASA launched Echo 1 as a passive communication tool; the signals were bounced off the satellite to help scientists learn more about atmospheric and solar densities and pressures. It was also used to redirect telephone, television and radio signals. It burned up upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere on May 24, 1968.
The sewing machine patent was awarded to Issac Singer. (1851) Singer founded the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Many had patented sewing machines before Singer, but his was more practical and easier to use at home.
John Lennon apologized for declaring Beetles more popular than Jesus. (1966) Lennon’s statement began with an interview with the London Evening Standard in which he made statements comparing rock and roll’s popularity to Christianity. He wasn’t even noticed in Britain, but later that year an American magazine took his line, “We’re more popular than Jesus now,” out of context and made it a cover story.
Cleopatra committed suicide with a snake. (30 BC) Cleopatra caused a cobra, or asp, to bite her once, possibly twice, resulting in her death. Some historians dispute this, claiming that she died from drinking poisons.
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