In a BBC interview before the Hale 200-inch reflecting telescope was completed at Mount Palomar, Edwin Hubble was asked, "What do you expect to find with the 200-inch?" Hubble replied, "We hope to find something we hadn't expected." Because of a design error in the Hubble Space Telescope, his name is more widely known to the general public than perhaps any other 20th-century astronomer, in the astronomical community his name is attached to a long string of significant discoveries: The Hubble zone of avoidance, the Hubble luminosity profile, the Hubble constant, and many others. By discovering galaxies and learning of the expansion of the universe based on the Doppler effect shift of the light as seen from earth, Hubble began the science of cosmology.
The rest of the events of the day all seem to involve terrestrial conflict. Today marks the anniversary of the 1910 revolution in Mexico in the Holiday section, it was the first use of tanks in combat in World War I, and the start of the trial of the Nazi leaders at the end of World War II. A fateful Vietnamese village was occupied by the French, and the Cuban Missile Crisis came to an end. Finally, the Indians of All Tribes occupied Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.
1917 - British forces including 376 Mark IV tanks supported by 14 squadrons of the Royal Flying Corps broke through the German lines at the Battle of Cambrai. Due to lack of support the ground gained was mostly lost by the first week of December, but it was the first use of tanks in battle and the combined use of tanks with air cover would become the basis of the Blitzkrieg in World War II.
1945 - The first major trial of Nazi leaders on charges of crimes against peace, humanity, and the laws of war opened at Nuremberg, the site of many of the most important Nazi ceremonies during World War II. Twenty two Nazi leaders were on trial (Martin Bormann was not in custody and was tried in absentia). Judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys were drawn from the best legal talent of the US, France, England, and Russia.
1953 - As part of Henri Navarre's plan to isolate the Viet Minh, the village of Dien Bien Phu in northwestern Vietnam was captured by six battalions of the French Corps expéditionnaire. The location would allow the French to block Viet Minh incursions into Laos, it took on more historical significance when the French Foreign Legion lost it the following Spring.
1962 - Soviet Premier Khrushchev formally agrees to dismantle and remove the IL-28 light bombers from Cuba within 30 days, US Strategic Air Command stands down from DEFCON 2 to DEFCON 4, and President Kennedy orders the end of the naval blockade of Cuba. Fidel Castro was quite put out over the agreements about which he claims to have not been consulted.
1969 - Some 90 Indians organized by Richard Oakes, a Mohawk, occupied Alcatraz Island, claiming it "by right of discovery." Although the 19-month occupation failed (the Indians of All Tribes wanted title to the island to build a university and cultural center) it was the first significant action taken by members of multiple tribes in dealing with the US.
Día de la Revolución Mexicana, Mexico - Celebrates the anniversary of the revolution led by Francisco Madero in 1910 to 1917 which overthrew the dictatorship of General Porfiorio Diaz.
1889
- Edwin Powell Hubble, US astronomer - Born at Marshfield, Missouri,
raised in the Chicago suburb of Wheaton, Illinois. Active in football
and track, awarded scholarship to University of Chicago. The scholarship
was accidentally awarded twice, he had to work to make up the shortage
when the funds were split, lettered in track, boxing, and basketball,
studied under the astronomer George E. Hale and received his B.S. in math
and astronomy in 1910. Rhodes Scholar, read Roman and Latin law at Queen's
College, Oxford, returned to US in 1913 and passed the bar on 2 September
that year. Practiced law "halfheartedly" for a year in Louisville, Kentucky,
gave it up for astronomy and returned to U of Chicago and its Yerkes Observatory
in Wisconsin. Offered staff position at Mount Wilson Observatory, finished
his Ph.D. thesis and exams in April 1917 and declined the job offer to
enlist in the army. Commissioned an infantry captain, advanced to major,
mustered out in San Francisco in 1919 and immediately went to Mount Wilson.
From 1922 to 1924 discovered that several nebulae were 100,000 times more
distant than nearby stars in the Milky Way, determined that they were
separate galaxies. Married Grace Burke in 1924. In 1926 he categorized
the known galaxies by shape and spectral characteristics, the next year
he found that they were all moving away from us and each other based on
the "redshift" in the light received on earth, indicating that the source
of light was moving away from the observer, and that the further from
earth each was the faster it was receding. In 1929 found a direct relationship
between the redshift and their distance, known as the Hubble constant,
although it had to be corrected by later observers. Worked on the war
effort at Aberdeen Proving Ground from 1942 to the end of the war, otherwise
spent his career at Mount Wilson and Mount Palomar until his death from
a cerebral thromboss at San Marino, California on 28 September 1953.
Our sun is one of 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy is one
of the billions of galaxies populating the universe. It would be the height
of presumption to think that we are the only living things within that
enormous immensity.
- Werner von Braun
When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.
- Charles A. Beard
When you reach for the stars you may not quite get one, but you won't
come up with a handful of mud either.
- Leo Burnett
The universe has fascinated mankind for many, many years, dating back
to the very earliest episodes of Star Trek, when the brave crew of the
Enterprise set out, wearing pajamas, to explore the boundless voids of
space, which turned out to be as densely populated as Queens, New York.
Virtually every planet they found was inhabited, usually by evil beings
with cheap costumes and Russian accents, so finally the brave crew of
the Enterprise returned to Earth to gain weight and make movies.
- Dave Barry
Twisted History is sent daily, absolutely free, to our subscribers who understand that the events of the past centuries have shaped our lives today - and are probably less depressing than the events on today's TV news. Both an HTML version (which looks just like this) and a text version that is compatible with all mail clients are available.
Manage (or start) your subscription
Tell a friend
about Twisted History
Leave
Feedback
Make a contribution to support Twisted History
Copyright 2000 G. Armour Van Horn, all rights reserved. This document may be distributed freely. Please forward the complete message including this copyright notice.