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The US detonated the first hydrogen bomb in 1952, Puerto Rican nationalists attempted to assassinate President Truman in 1950, and Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling fresco was opened for public exhibition for the first time in 1512. Other events include the Mackinac Bridge opening in 1957 and the world’s largest radio telescope being used for the first time at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico in 1963.
The United States detonated the world’s first hydrogen bomb. (1952) The bomb, named Mike, was the first of a series of two test explosions, called Operation Ivy. Tests were performed in the Pacific Ocean at the Marshall Islands. Mike had a force of over 10 megatons, 500 times more powerful than the nuclear bomb that the United States dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The second bomb, called King, was the largest pure fission bomb in the world and exploded on 16 november .
Puerto Rican nationalists attempted to assassinate US President Truman. (1950) Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola attempted to attack the president as he resided at the Blair House while the White House underwent renovations. The two attackers managed to get close to the front door and open fire. The president and his wife were upstairs and were not injured. Torresola was killed by US Secret Service during the botched attack and Collazo was sentenced to life in prison after President Truman commuted his death sentence.
Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling fresco was opened for public exhibition for the first time. (1512) Michelangelo painted scenes from the Bible’s Genesis on the ceiling of the chapel. Later he also painted an altar wall with The Last Judgment. The works became some of the most influential and best known in the history of Western art. The ceiling alone took him almost four years to finish.
More than 6,000 US soldiers have been unwittingly exposed to radioactive fallout from a series of atomic explosions. (1951) Desert Rock was a series of three atomic blast training missions, which were part of Operation Buster-Jangle. The blast tests were carried out in Nevada, using 6,500 US soldiers.
The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel has been dedicated. (1930) US President Herbert Hoover marked the opening of the tunnel by turning a “golden key” in the White House. The 5,160-foot (about 1,573-meter) tunnel connects Detroit, Michigan to Windsor, Ontario in Canada. It is now the second busiest international border crossing between Canada and the United States.
US President John Adams became the first US leader to live in the White House. (1800) President Adams moved into the Executive Mansion, later called the White House. Construction of the White House began in 1792 and took eight years to complete.
The Maastricht Treaty that creates the European Union enters into force. (1993) The treaty unified European countries not only politically, but also economically. The treaty included plans to create the “euro,” an official currency that would be shared by all member countries. The euro became an official currency for the first time on January 1, 1999.
The United States Coast Guard was placed under peacetime control of the United States Navy. (1941) US President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s reallocation of US Coast Guard forces was a strong indication of US intentions to join World War II. The United States Coast Guard, at that time, reported to the Treasury Department in peacetime and to the United States Navy in wartime. The Coast Guard now reports to the Homeland Security office during peacetime and continues to report to the Navy during times of war.
The United States Meteorological Bureau, now known as the National Weather Service, has provided its first forecast. (1870) Initially, the office reported to the United States Secretary of War, but would later report to the Department of Commerce as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The world’s first female medical school opens. (1848) Boston Female Medical School eventually became part of Boston University School of Medicine. It was the first university in the world to offer formal medical education to women.
The Mackinac Bridge in Northern Michigan opened as the longest suspension bridge in the world. (1957) The bridge, spanning 26,372 feet (about 8,038 meters) was considered the longest “between anchorages” – if measured between towers, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge would still hold the record. Both bridges have long since been surpassed in span length, regardless of how they are measured.
The world’s largest radio telescope was used for the first time at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, which opened on this day. (1963) The telescope is used to collect data from space probes and satellites. The telescope, the largest single-aperture telescope in the world, is operated by Cornell University and the US National Science Foundation.
