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Arizona Daily Wildcat
August 29, 2005
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Today
1949 - At a remote test site at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, the USSR successfully detonates its first atomic bomb, code name "First Lightning." In order to measure the effects of the blast, the Soviet scientists constructed buildings, bridges and other civilian structures in the vicinity of the bomb. They also placed animals in cages nearby so they could test the effects of nuclear radiation on humanlike mammals. The atomic explosion, which at 20 kilotons was roughly equal to "Trinity," the first U.S. atomic explosion, destroyed those structures and incinerated the animals.
1958 - Michael Jackson is born in Gary, Ind.
1962 - Robert Frost leaves for the USSR on this day in 1962. The goodwill tour is sponsored by the U.S. State Department in an effort to thaw Cold War relations. Frost's poetry has established his international reputation as American's unofficial poet laureate. While his best work appeared in earlier decades, he is nevertheless seen as an elder statesman of literature.
Tomorrow
30 B.C. - Cleopatra, queen of Egypt and lover of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, takes her life following the defeat of her forces against Octavian, the future first emperor of Rome.
1989 - After speaking at a factory in Moscow, Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin is shot twice by Fanya Kaplan, a member of the Social Revolutionary party. Lenin was seriously wounded but survived the attack. The assassination attempt set off a wave of reprisals by the Bolsheviks against the Social Revolutionaries and other political opponents. Thousands were executed as Russia fell deeper into civil war.
1945 - Gen. Douglas MacArthur lands in Japan to oversee the formal surrender ceremony and to organize the postwar Japanese government.
1983 - At 2:32 a.m., U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Guion S. Bluford becomes the first black person to travel into space when the space shuttle Challenger lifts off on its third mission.
Wednesday
1997 - Diana, princess of Wales, dies in Paris' Pitie-Saletiere Hospital after suffering massive chest injuries in an early morning car accident. Her companion, Dodi Fayed, was killed instantly in the 12:25 a.m. crash, as was driver Henri Paul, who was drunk and lost control of the Mercedes in a highway underpass. He was driving at excessive speeds in a reckless attempt to escape paparazzi photographers. The death of Diana, beloved by millions for her beauty and good nature, plunged the world into mourning.
1888 - Prostitute Mary Ann Nichols, the first victim of London serial killer "Jack the Ripper," is found murdered and mutilated in Whitechapel's Buck's Row. The East End of London saw four more victims of the murderer during the next few months, but no suspect was ever found.
1864 - In the Battle of Jonesboro, Gen. William T. Sherman launches the attack that finally secures Atlanta for the Union and seals the fate of Confederate Gen. John Bull Hood's army, which is forced to evacuate the area.
Thursday
1939 - At 4:45 a.m., some 1.5 million German troops invade Poland all along its 1,750-mile border with German-controlled territory. Simultaneously, the German Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields, and German warships and U-boats attacked Polish naval forces in the Baltic Sea.
1969 - Muammar al-Qaddafi, a 27-year-old Libyan army captain, leads a successful military coup against King Idris of Libya. Idris was deposed and Qaddafi was named chairman of Libya's new governing body, the Revolutionary Command Council.
1989 - The federal government passed new car safety legislation, requiring all newly manufactured cars to install an air bag on the driver's side.
Friday
1666 - In the early morning hours, the great fire of London breaks out in the house of the baker of King Charles II on Pudding Lane near London Bridge. It soon spread to Thames Street, where warehouses filled with combustibles, and a strong easterly wind, transformed the blaze into an inferno. In four days, four-fifths of London was destroyed, though miraculously, only 16 people were known to have died.
1969 - Science-fiction television series "Star Trek" airs its last episode on this day. Although the show ran for three years and never placed higher than No. 52 in the ratings, the show became a cult classic and spawned four television series and nine movies.
1945 - Aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Japan, formally surrenders to the Allies, bringing an end to World War II.
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