Orson Welles’ radio broadcast of War of the Worlds caused panic in 1938. The Soviet Union detonated the largest nuclear weapon in 1961. Rosa Parks was honored in the US Capitol in 2005. The World Trade Organization was founded in 1947. The Perfect Storm hit the Atlantic in 1991. The first kidney transplant in England occurred in 1960. The Ottoman Empire signed a ceasefire agreement in 1918. The US approved a $1 billion loan to the Soviet Union in 1941. Nolan Ryan threw the fastest pitch in Major League Baseball in 1974.
Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds was played on the radio, causing some listeners to panic. (1938) Fictional story of a Martian invasion told using fake news. Amidst the tension of an impending World War II, some listeners believed the story to be true.
The Soviet Union detonated the largest nuclear weapon in world history. (1961) Nuclear test took place on the islands of Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic Ocean. The bomb was 4,000 times stronger than the atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Hiroshima.
US President Dwight Eisenhower has approved secret documents to expand the US arsenal of nuclear weapons. (1953) National Security Council Document No. 162/2 (NSC 162/2) stated that to stay abreast of communist threats, the United States must make nuclear weapons as available as any other type of military weapon in use.
Rosa Parks became the first woman to be honored by being laid in the United States Capitol rotunda. (2005) Parks, who died on October 24, was honored for her commitment to the civil rights movement. In particular, she has challenged racial segregation — she became famous for refusing to give her seat on a bus to a white man, though she wasn’t the first to do so. She was also known for her contributions that propelled Martin Luther King Jr. and his work in the civil rights movement into the national spotlight.
The precursor institution of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is founded. (1947) The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was established after countries around the world failed to successfully negotiate the International Trade Organization (ITO). It was replaced by the WTO in 1995, with the same basic purpose: to establish international trade rules and supervise the international trade market.
The “Perfect Storm” hit the Atlantic Ocean. (1991) The storm started out as a regular, but powerful, non-Easter storm, but then absorbed a hurricane. A low pressure system moved into the storm area at the same time as a high pressure system moved from another direction. The collision of two pressure systems along with the force of Hurricane nor’easter created very rare weather conditions that produced waves up to 100 feet (about 30 meters) – larger than most tsunami waves, which are typically caused from earthquakes. The storm famously sank the 72-foot (about 22 meters) commercial fishing vessel Andrea Gail; the vessel and her crew of six were never seen again. The book The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger is based on this incident.
The first kidney transplant in England occurred. (1960) English surgeon Michael Woodruff transplanted a kidney from an identical twin at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. The first kidney transplant in the United States occurred in 1950.
The Ottoman Empire signed a ceasefire agreement with the allies in World War I. (1918) Agreement ended the Ottoman Empire’s participation in World War I and effectively ended the Empire as well.
US President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved a $1 billion US dollar loan to the Soviet Union to aid their military forces during World War II. (1941) The loan, called “Lend-Lease Aid,” was an ongoing attempt to keep the United States out of World War II. The loan carried no interest and was not to be repaid until five years after the end of the war.
The fastest ballpark in Major League Baseball has been thrown. (1974) Nolan Ryan, playing for the California Angels, threw the pitch, which was clocked at 100.9 miles per hour (about 162 kilometers per hour). The record has been documented in the Guinness Book of Records and has stood for more than 36 years.
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