Some great things were created on this day in history, starting with the public debut of the ceiling of the Sistene Chapel in 1512 which required that Michaelangelo laid on his back for much of four years, and ending with the opening of the longest bridge in the world in 1957. That took more years and a lot more workers, and is the theme for today's quotes. Two nations were created on this date from the end of the Habsburg Empire.
There was also a bit of destruction on this day, the first time that thermonuclear fusion took place on Planet Earth. "Mike" was built in a large lab building, at the end of the day there was no building, and no ground under it. There was also first general strike to reduce labor's burden to ten hours a day, and the final passage of the first civil rights bill in the US - the president had vetoed it the first time.
1512 - Italian Renaissance artist Michaelangelo Buonarroti, age 37, unveiled his 5,808-square-foot masterpiece on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. He had been commissioned in 1508 by Pope Julius II to do a work depicting the whole story of the Bible. Buonarroti wasn't entirely happy with the commission - he was a sculptor and greatly preferred to carve marble.
1835 - A general strike demanding a 10-hour day was called in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, led by Irish coal heavers. The banners read, "From 6 to 6 - 10 hours of work and 2 for meals." The strikers prevailed with many local employers, the Navy shipyards adopted the ten-hour day in 1837, all federal contracts required it in 1840.
1866 - Congress overrode Andrew Johnson's veto of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which included these words, "all persons shall have the same rights ... to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws."
1918 - The new republics of Austria and Hungary are proclaimed in Vienna and Budapest respectively, after the 27 October abdication of Karl and Zita Habsburg, Emperor and Empress of Austria, King and Queen of Hungary. The Habsburg dynasty had ruled large parts of central Europe since 1526, but had been in decline since about 1815. The emperor's son, Archduke Otto von Habsburg, has been active in European politics, renouncing his claim to the thrones of Austria and Hungary in 1961.
1952 - A thermonuclear device called "Mike," a five and a half foot cylinder about 22 feet long, weighing 21 tons and containing a fission bomb and a large quantity of liquid deuterium, was detonated on Elugelab Atoll in the Eniwetok Proving Ground in the Marshall Islands. This first "hydrogen bomb" yielded the explosive force of 10.4 million tons of TNT - the building and the atoll both disappeared, the mushroom cloud was 60 miles across and reached 120,000 feet.
1957 - The Mackinac Bridge opened to traffic, connecting the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan over the five-mile-wide Straits of Mackinac, where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron meet. The total length of the steel structure, 19,243 feet, appears to make it the longest steel bridge in the world, although several bridges have longer suspension spans than the 3,800 feet of "Mighty Mac."
Anniversary of the Revolution, Algeria - Commemorates the 1954 beginning of the revolution against French colonial rule led by the National Liberation Front.
All Saints Day, Earlier the "Feast of All Hallows," the eve of which we are all familiar with, before that it was the first day of the Celtic year. Commemorates all Christians who died in the faith, not only the canonized and beatified but also ordinary members who serve as examples. Observations on the first Sunday following All Saints often include additional candles and prayers in specific thanks for the lives of members of that congregation who died in the previous year.
Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over
to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly
know everything there is to be known.
- Alan Alexander Milne
Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.
- Jim Rohn
The statesman's duty is to bridge the gap between his nation's experience
and his vision.
- Robert F. Kennedy
The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor
to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.
- Anatole France
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Copyright 2000 G. Armour Van Horn, all rights reserved. This document may be distributed freely. Please forward the complete message including this copyright notice.