“Not on my watch nor the watch that follows me
for I will ensure they are properly trained.”
for I will ensure they are properly trained.”
Today in History
The Marine Corps History Items are taken from the Annual USMC History Calendar published by the Marine Corps Association and Foundation.
The other history items are key portions of selected historical events from www.HistoryChannel.com. For more information on these events and to see the other events which occurred on this day in history, follow this link: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
The “Today in History” page is updated daily; 7 days a week.
21 November 2014
1783
Aviation
French physician Jean-Franois Pilatre de Rozier and Franois Laurent, the marquis d' Arlandes, make the first untethered hot-air balloon flight, flying 5.5 miles over Paris in about 25 minutes. Their cloth balloon was crafted by French papermaking brothers Jacques-tienne and Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, inventors of the world's first successful hot-air balloons.
1836
USMC
Marines and Soldiers took action against the Seminole Indians at Wahoo Swamp, FL.
1864
Civil War
Legend holds that President Abraham Lincoln composes a letter to Lydia Bixby, a widow and mother of five men who had been killed in the Civil War. A copy of the letter was then published in the Boston Evening Transcript on November 25 and signed "Abraham Lincoln." The original letter has never been found. The letter expressed condolences to Mrs. Bixby on the death of her five sons, who had fought to preserve the Union in the Civil War. Scholars continue to debate the authorship of the letter, and the authenticity of copies printed between 1864 and 1891. At the time, copies of presidential messages were often published and sold as souvenirs. Many historians and archivists agree that the original letter was probably written by Lincoln's secretary, John Hay. As to Mrs. Bixby's loss, scholars have discovered that only two of her sons actually died fighting during the Civil War. A third was honorably discharged and a fourth was dishonorably thrown out of the Army. The fifth son's fate is unknown, but it is assumed that he deserted or died in a Confederate prison camp. Despite its dubious origins, the letter's text became even more famous when it was quoted in Steven Spielberg's World War II film epic Saving Private Ryan (1998).
1877
Inventions
Thomas Edison stumbled on his first and one of his great inventions--the phonograph--while working on a way to record telephone communication at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
1916
World War I
The Britannic, sister ship to the Titanic, sinks in the Aegean Sea on this day in 1916, killing 30 people. More than 1,000 others were rescued. During World War I, the Britannic brought wounded British troops back to England from various ports around the world. It is believed, but not confirmed to have hit a mine.
1970
Vietnam War
A combined U.S. Air Force and Army team of 40 Americans--led by Army Colonel "Bull" Simons--conducts a raid on the Son Tay prison camp, 23 miles west of Hanoi, in an attempt to free between 70 and 100 Americans suspected of being held there. Unfortunately, the Green Berets could not locate any prisoners in the huts. After a sharp firefight with the North Vietnamese troops in the area, the order was given to withdraw--27 minutes after the raid began, the force was in the air headed back to Thailand. The raid was accomplished in a superb manner and all Americans returned safely, but it was learned later that the prisoners had been moved elsewhere in July. Stunned by the raid, high Hanoi officials ordered all U.S. POWs moved to several central prison complexes. This was actually a welcome change--the move afforded the prisoners more contact with each other and boosted their morale.
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