Darwin set sail on the HMS Beagle (1831), Fossey was killed in Rwanda (1985), Nation trashed her first bar (1900), ether was first used as an anesthetic (1845), the World Bank was founded (1945), USSR occupied Afghanistan (1979), Greater Poland uprising began (1918), West was banned from radio (1937), Indonesia became independent (1949), and the Hagia Sophia was consecrated (537).
Charles Darwin’s ship HMS Beagle left England. (1831) During the two-year voyage that followed, Darwin would go on to study hundreds of new species and formulate his theory of evolution based on natural selection.
Gorilla conservation activist Dian Fossey has been found dead in Rwanda. (1985) Fossey was famous for her efforts to study and save mountain gorillas in Africa. She was killed in her hut in Rwanda with a machete that she had confiscated from a poacher a few months earlier. No charges were made.
Temperance activist Carry Nation trashed her first bar. (1900) Nation had been a member of the Women’s Christian Temperance organization until she got fed up with their non-violent tactics and she set out to destroy the pubs. She became famous for traveling the country giving speeches on the importance of temperance and destroying booze and saloons with her axe.
Ether was first used as an anesthetic for childbirth. (1845) Dr. Crawford W. Long gave his wife ether as an anesthetic while giving birth to their second child. The birth was a success and is considered the beginning of modern anesthetics.
The World Bank is born. (1945) The bank was originally founded to provide funds to help rebuild nations torn apart by World War II. Today, it has several goals, including poverty alleviation, promoting the development of environmentally friendly technologies, and participating in the Clean Air initiative.
USSR forces have occupied Afghanistan to install a new leader. (1979) This was the beginning of nearly 10 years of ongoing fighting between the USSR and Afghan forces. Ultimately, the USSR had to withdraw after losing thousands of soldiers, as well as trade relations with the United States, which did not agree with the USSR’s intervention.
Greater Poland uprising begins. (1918) Initiated by pianist Ignacy Paderewski, the uprising lasted nearly two weeks. The success of the Pole in this uprising played an important role in the creation of a greater Poland.
Mae West performed the skit that got her banned from radio. (1937) West was a popular vaudeville performer known for creating suggestive double entendres. On this day, she performed a skit called “Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden,” which was immediately criticized as obscene and sacrilegious. NBC pulled West from broadcasting and she was unable to perform on radio for another 12 years.
Indonesia became independent. (1949) The country has been a vital part of the Dutch trading empire for centuries and it took four years of war before the Netherlands granted independence to Indonesia. The leader of the revolution, Sukarno, became Indonesia’s first president, but was later forced out of office and held under house arrest until his death.
The Hagia Sophia has been consecrated. (537) Created in just five years, the Hagia Sophia remains a landmark in Istanbul. It was originally connected by a private bridge to the palace of Justinian the Great, the Eastern Roman emperor.
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