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On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on November 04:
1650 William III of Orange, king of England (1689-1702)
1862 Eden Phillpotts England, novelist/poet/playwright (Red Madymaynes)
1873 GE Moore English philosopher (Ethics)
1876 James Fraser designed buffalo nickel
1879 Will Rogers Oologah Indian Territory (Oklahoma), humorist
1886 Ian Wolfe Canton IL, actor (Diary of a Madman, Wizards & Warriors)
1900 Luigi Lucioni Italian, landscape painter (opera stars)
1906 Bob Considine sports columnist (Bob Feller Story)
1909 Ciro Alegria Peru, novelist (Golden Serpent)
1912 Pauline Trigere fashion designer (Bell Bottoms)
1913 Gig Young St Cloud MN, actor (They Shoot Horses Don't They)
1916 Walter Cronkite St Joseph MO, news anchor (CBS Evening News 1962-81)
1918 Art Carney Mount Vernon NY, actor (Ed Norton-Honeymooners)
1918 Cameron Mitchell Dallastown PA, actor (Buck-High Chaparral)
1919 Martin Balsam NYC, actor (Murray-Archie Bunker's Place, Catch 22)
1929 Jimmy Piersall baseball player (Red Sox, Senators, Indians)
1930 Doris Roberts St Louis MO, actress (Angie, Maggie, Emmy 1983)
1930 Kate Reid London England, actress (Heaven Help Us)
1931 Darla Hood Leedey OK, singer/actress (Little Rascals)
1932 Noam Pitlik Philadelphia PA, actor/director (Sanford & Son, Bob Newhart)
1937 Loretta Swit Passaic NJ, actress (Hotlips Houlihan-M*A*S*H)
1947 Aleksandr Tkachev USSR, parallel bars gymnast (Olympic-gold-1980)
1947 Alexei Ulanov USSR, pairs figure skater (Olympic-gold-1972, 76)
1949 Berlinda Tolbert Charlotte NC, actor (Jenny-Jeffersons)
1950 Markie Post [Marjorie], Palo Alto Cal, actress/serious Babe (Christine-Night Court)
1954 Chris Difford guitarist/vocalist (Squeeze-Tempted)
1955 Peter Boynton Maine, actor (Tonio-As the World Turns)
1962 Ralph Macchio Huntington NY, actor (Karate Kid, 8 is Enough)
1966 Kool Rock [Damon Wimbley], rapper (Fat Boys-Jail House Rock)
1966 Petra Verkaik Los Angeles CA, playmate (Dec, 1989)
1975 Heather Tom actress (Victoria-Young & Restless)
1979 Daisy Eagan Brooklyn NY, actress (Secret Garden)

Deaths which occurred on November 04:
0644 Omar I, Arabic 2nd Calif of Islam, murdered
1702 John Benbow, English vice-admiral (Santa Marta)
1847 Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Germ pianist/composer, dies at 38
1921 Takasji Hara, premier of Japan, murdered
1928 - Arnold Rothstein, US "businessman"/gambler, shot to death at 46
1984 Merie Earle actress (Maude-Waltons), dies of uremic poisoning at 95
1987 Raphael Soyer artist (Depression scenes in NYC), dies at 87
1995 Yitzhak Rabin IDF Chief of Staff, diplomat and the fifth Prime Minister of the State of Israel, dies at 73
1997 H Richard Hornberger, surgeon (inspired M*A*S*H), dies at 73

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 BRINCKMANN ROBERT E.---NEWARK NJ.
[31 JULY 1989 REMAINS RETURNED]
1966 CONNOLLY VINCENT J.---SAN ANTONIO TX.
[DEAD REMAINS RECOVERED 07/17/84]
1966 HUNT WILLIAM B.---SAND POINT ID.
1966 SCUNGIO VINCENT A.---NEWCASTLE PA.
1969 ALFORD TERRY L.---PASADENA TX.
1969 ANDERSON JOHN STEVEN---WATERLOO IA.
[07/73 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1969 BAUER RICHARD GENE---ANCHORAGE AK.
[07/73 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1969 CASTRO ALFONSO R.---LOS ANGELES CA.
[07/73 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1969 CAVENDER JAMES R.---SANTA PAULA CA.
[REMAINS OF OTHER CREW RECOVERED]
1969 HANLEY LARRY J.---WALLA WALLA WA.
1969 KENNEDY ALAN GORDON---FREMONT CA.
[07/09/73 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1969 KLIMO JAMES R.---MUSKEGON MI.
[REMAINS OF OTHER CREW RECOVERED]
1969 MEDARIS RICK EGGBURTUS---JENISON MI.
[07/09/73 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1969 PAYNE JOHN ALLEN---NEW YORK NY.
[07/73 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1969 ROACH MARION LEE---CENTRAL VALLEY CA.
[07/73 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1969 WARE JOHN A.---HERMISTON OR.
1970 HUMPHREY LARRY D.
[ESCAPED CUSTODY TO JOIN VC COLUMBIA EAGLE MUTINEER USA TODAY STORY 20 FEB 86]
1970 MC KAY CLYDE W.---CA
[ESCAPED CUSTODY TO JOIN VC]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
1520 Danish/Norwegian king Christian II crowned king of Sweden
1529 English cardinal and Lord Chancellor Thomas Wolsey arrested
1576 Spanish defeat Walloons & take Antwerp Belgium
1760 Following the Russian capture of Berlin, Frederick II of Prussia defeats the Austrians at the Battle of Torgau.
1791 General Arthur St. Clair, governor of Northwest Territory, is badly defeated by a large Indian army near Fort Wayne
1798 Congress agrees to pay a yearly tribute to Tripoli, considering it the only way to protect U.S. shipping.
1842 Abraham Lincoln marries Mary Todd in Springfield, Ill
1845 1st nationally observed uniform election day in US
1854 Lighthouse established on Alcatraz Island
1861 University of Washington founded in Seattle
1862 Gatling gun patented (Richard J Gatling)
1863 From the main Confederate Army at Chattanooga, Tennessee, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's troops are sent northeast to besiege Knoxville.
1866 Kingdom of Italy annexes Venetia
1867 90 kegs of powder used to get rock from Telegraph Hill for seawall
1873 Dentist John Beers of San Francisco patents the gold crown
1875 "Pacific" collides with "Orpheus" off Cape Flattery Wash, 236 dies
1879 James & John Ritty patent 1st cash register, to combat stealing by bartenders in their Dayton, Ohio saloon
1884 Grover Cleveland (D) beats James G Blaine (R) for 1st presidential term
1889 Players League begins, declaring independence from baseball's NL
1890 Great Britain proclaims Zanzibar as a protectorate
1904 1st stadium built specifically for football (Harvard Stadium)
1909 The opera "Il Segreto di Susanna" is produced (Munich)
1922 Howard Carter discovers tomb of Tutankhamen in Egypt
1924 California legalizes pro boxing (illegal since 1914)
1924 Nellie Tayloe Ross elected 1st US female gov (Wyoming)
1933 Young Park (1) in the Bronx named in honor of James Young
1934 Pittsburgh ends Detroit Lions' shutout streak at 7 games but loses 40-7
1939 1940 Olympics awarded to Helsinki, Finland
1939 1st air conditioned automobile (Packard) exhibited, Chicago, Ill
1939 US allows "cash & carry" arms sales during WW II
1946 UN Educational, Scientific, & Cultural Organization formed
1949 "One Man's Family" premieres on TV
1951 NY Giants & NY Yanks score back-to-back TDs on kickoff returns
1952 Eisenhower (R) elected 34th President beating Adlai Stevenson (D)
1954 Philadelphia A's move to Kansas City
1956 200,000 Russian troops attack anti-Stalinist revolt in Budapest
1956 Israel captures Straits of Tiran from Egypt
1956 Israeli troops reach Suez Canal
1957 2nd Soviet Earth-satellite launched
1959 Ernie Banks, Cubs shortstop, wins NL MVP
1963 John Lennon utters his infamous "Rattle your jewelry" line at the Royal Command Variety Performance ("The people in the cheaper seats, clap your hands... and if the rest of you would just rattle your jewelry.")
1965 Lee Breedlove sets female land speed record (308.56 MPH)
1966 Flooding of Arno River (Italy) destroys countless art works
1972 Kings score 3 goals within 45 seconds against Islanders
1973 New Orleans Saints 1st shutout victory, 13-0 vs Buffalo Bills
1978 Iranian troops fire on anti-Shah student protesters by Tehran U
1978 Islanders start 15 game undefeated streak (12-0-3)
1979 500 Iranian "students" seize US embassy, take 90 hostages (444 days)
1980 Islanders start 15 game undefeated streak (13-0-2)

1980 Ronald Reagan (R) beats President Jimmy Carter (Dim) by a landslide!!!!

1981 Columbia shuttle launch scrubbed with 31 secs remaining
1983 Washington Capitals 1st NHL overtime victory beating Vancouver 5-4
1984 Nicaragua holds 1st free elections in 56 years; Sandinistas win 63%
1986 Democrats gain control over the US Senate
1987 Lisa Steinberg, battered into coma by her adoptive father
1987 NBA announces 4 new franchises; Charlotte & Miami for 1988 & Minneapolis & Orlando for 1989
1989 Orlando Magic's 1st NBA game, loses to Nets, 111-106
1990 Iraq says it is preparing for a "dangerous war"
1990 Secretary of State James Baker visits US troops in Saudi Arabia
1991 Mid East peace conference ends in Madrid Spain

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Italy : Unity Day (1945)/Victory of Vittorio Veneto (1866)
Oklahoma : Will Rogers Day (1879)
Panama, Panama Canal Zone : Flag Day
Tonga : Constitution Day (1970)
Virgin Islands : Liberty Day (Monday)
Liberia : Thanksgiving Day (Thursday)
World : World Community Day (1945) (pray for peace) (Friday)
Denmark : Esbjerg Cup-World's largest ice skating championship (Saturday)

Religious Observances
RC : Memorial of St Charles Borromeo, archbishop of Milan, confessor

Religious History
1646 The Massachusetts Bay Colony passed a law making it a capital offense to deny that the Bible was the Word of God. Any person convicted of the offense was liable to the death penalty.
1740 Birth of Anglican clergyman Augustus M. Toplady. A highly respected evangelical leader, Toplady authored the hymn "Rock of Ages" two years before his premature death at 38 in 1778.
1898 The first church to bear the Pentecostal Holiness name was organized at Goldsboro, NC, under the leadership of Methodist evangelist Ambrose Blackman Crumpler, 35.
1936 Future U.S. Senate Chaplain Rev. Peter Marshall, 34, married Catherine Wood, 22. Following Peter's premature death at age 46, Catherine immortalized his name through her 1951 bestÂselling biography, "A Man Called Peter."
1966 London's "Evening Standard" newspaper published John Lennon's controversial remark stating that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus." The quote touched off a storm of controversy and international protest, resulting in a world_wide boycott of Beatles music.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"To escape criticism - do nothing, say nothing, be nothing."

Question of the day...
If a funeral procession is at night, do you drive with your lights off?

Murphys Law of the day...(Freeman's Law)
Nothing is so simple it cannot be misunderstood.

Astoundingly Amazing fact #74...
Hamsters love to eat crickets.

1970 HUMPHREY LARRY D.
[ESCAPED CUSTODY TO JOIN VC COLUMBIA EAGLE MUTINEER USA TODAY STORY 20 FEB 86]

Well my curiosity was peeked as I'd not heard of anything about this, so...
Page 58 from the BOOK “ My war with The CIA “

two U S sailors 'mutinied' and imprisoned the whole crew. Shades of Captain
Bligh and the Bounol Ostensibly these men were war protestors who sailed the
Columbia Eagle into sihanoukville harbor because they objected to carrying
napalm bombs to Bangkok. It so happened that some French secondary-school
teachers at Sihanoukville took photos of the 'hijacked' ship when it
arrived, and again when it left. They noted that it had been very low in
the water on arrival, and very high on departure.

And, after dark on the day when the Columbia Eagle dropped anchor, the
Sihanoukville-Phnom Penh road was suddenly closed to civilian traffic -
something without precedent - and convoys of GM C military trucks from the
Sihanoukville docks passed along the road to Phnom Penh until the next
morning. On the day of the coup, Western correspondents noted that the
troops massed outside the national Assembly were armed with brand-new, Mi6
rifles, weapons our army did not possess. It seems the Columbia Eagle was
one of the C I A's responses to Lon Nol's request, delivered via Son Ngoc
Thanh, to help in case of a'Vietcong' coun ter-attack. What they really
feared was the response of the Cambodian people.

While it is conceivable that Lon Nol and Sirik Matak were too dense to
foresee the dire consequences of their actions (their main concern being to
get their hands on as many dollars as possible), the United States,
consciously and deliberately, exported the war in South Vietnam to
Cambodia. -They made their usual miscalculations, however, as to the
long-term effects.

In March 1970 the SS Columbia Eagle was seized by mutineers, the crew set adrift, and the ship taken into Cambodia. Mellon and Chase resolved the situation, and Chase transported the shipless crew home. The Coast Guard cutters remained in the Gulf of Thailand and gathered considerable knowledge about the area which they passed on to arriving Navy ships. As the cutters normally returned to the area after an R & R port, they frequently took in-country personnel with them on these port visits which proved to be a tremendous morale booster for the in-country troops. Vietnamese naval personnel were also taken along, and on some trips it was standing room only.
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/h_tulichvietnam.html

I've been doing some reading up on the political background to the
Vietnam War, and came across a footnote mention of an American munitions
ship, "Columbia Eagle", which was "hijacked by two American hippies" and
taken to Cambodia (the book is Sideshow, by William Shawcross, if
anyone's interested).
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=Kv9SeMAij8R3EwO9%40rat-cage.demon.co.uk&output=gplain

Gotta love google!

1979 500 Iranian "students" seize US embassy, take 90 hostages (444 days)

Thank you Jimmy Carter for your total incompetence in handling this one.

Here's the Jimmy Carter Library's spin on it.

On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran and took approximately seventy Americans captive. This terrorist act triggered the most profound crisis of the Carter presidency and began a personal ordeal for Jimmy Carter and the American people that lasted 444 days.

President Carter committed himself to the safe return of the hostages while protecting America's interests and prestige. He pursued a policy of restraint that put a higher value on the lives of the hostages than on American retaliatory power or protecting his own political future.

The toll of patient diplomacy was great, but President Carter's actions brought freedom for the hostages with America's honor preserved.

Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, began his reign in 1941, succeeding his father, Reza Khan, to the throne. In a 1953 power struggle with his prime minister, the Shah gained American support to prevent nationalization of Iran's oil industry. In return for assuring the U.S. a steady supply of oil, the Shah received economic and military aid from eight American presidents.

Early in the 1960s, the Shah announced social and economic reforms but refused to grant broad political freedom. Iranian nationalists condemned his U.S. supported regime and his "westernizing" of Iran. During rioting in 1963, the Shah cracked down, suppressing his opposition. Among those arrested and exiled was a popular religious nationalist and bitter foe of the United States, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Between 1963 and 1979, the Shah spent billions of oil dollars on military weapons. The real price of military strength was the loss of popular support. Unable to sustain economic progress and unwilling to expand democratic freedoms, the Shah's regime collapsed in revolution. On January 16, 1979, the Shah fled Iran, never to return.

The exiled Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Tehran in February 1979 and whipped popular discontent into rabid anti-Americanism. When the Shah came to America for cancer treatment in October, the Ayatollah incited Iranian militants to attack the U.S. On November 4, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun and its employees taken captive. The hostage crisis had begun.