July 3rd 1863, Gettysburg, PA. Final day of the battle ends with what is known as Picket's Charge. Approximately 15,000 Confederate soldiers march under fire, over a mile across open fields to assault Fortified Union positions. Although the Confederates reach and in places breach the Union line, heavy losses and Union reserves repel the attack. The South's losses were about 7,500 in that single action. It would be the final invasion of the North and spelled doom for the South even though the war would continue another 2 years.
Speaking of Earhart .... a newly re-discovered foto suggests that she may have died while in the hands of the evil Japanese
On July 5, 1946, French designer Louis Reard unveils a daring two-piece swimsuit at the Piscine Molitor, a popular swimming pool in Paris. Parisian showgirl Micheline Bernardini modeled the new fashion, which Reard dubbed “bikini,” inspired by a news-making U.S. atomic test that took place off the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean earlier that week.
On this day, July 14, in 1789, French revolutionaries stormed the Bastille, a fortress, state prison in Paris and a symbol of oppression by the monarchy, and signalled the start of the French Revolution. An angry and aggressive Revolutionary French mob decided to target the feared Bastille prison, which was a symbol of abuses by the monarchy, not because they wanted to free the prisoners there, (there were about 7 prisoners there at the time) but because it housed gunpowder (about 15 tons) that the French citizens militia were in desperate need of. The storming of the Bastille marks a turning point in the French revolution, it went from being a popular movement to an armed uprising that would eventually remove the French king, abolish the monarchy in France, and replace it with a secular dictatorship. Historians believe that 170,000 - 200,000 who opposed the revolution were murdered by the revolutionary forces.
July 18, 1992 The first picture posted on the internet was taken on July 18, 1992, by Silvano de Gennaro, an IT developer at Cern and was posted by his then colleague, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the British computer scientist who created the World Wide Web. The "promotional" shot, taken at the Hardronic Music Festival – an annual “rock festival” held at a music club within the Geneva-based laboratory – shows the group posing in 1950s style costumes just before they walked out on stage.
July 20, 1944 Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, chief of the army reserve, had been given the task of planting a bomb during a conference, to kill Hitler in a coup to take control of the country. Hitler survived the blast but four others present died from their wounds. The plot was crushed that same day and Col. Stauffenberg and Gen. Olbricht were shot that same day. More than 7,000 Germans would be arrested (including evangelical pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer), and up to 5,000 would wind up dead—either executed or as suicides. The war would continue another nine and a half months.
10 years ago today -- Cramer yelled at Bernanke He also said to buy Bear Stearns -- Stearns later spiraled out out control becoming practically insolvent in about 72 hours. Was Cramer right about one and wrong about the other, or right about both? Wrong about both?
On this day in 1981, President Reagan fired 11,345 air traffic controllers who had gone on strike and refused to return to work.
On this day Walter Becker of Steely Dan passed away... Following is a poem I've written in his memory which is considerable in my life as I am 59 and remember Steely Dan very well... Falling Tiles I wake up in confusion Looking around at the present Having survived the past Panic in the streets And judgment of the innocent I can't stand losing again Not of my own glory But of the friends I know Falling tiles from my roof How they shatter our story Take my hand if you feel it too We will smile for as long as we can take it I wonder if anyone will remember The children play in the park Never knowing I once owned it Where is my purpose I spent so much time laughing Maybe that's all it was A life of raising a glass with friends And remembering in their time of passing
September 11, 1683 -- Poland led the Holy League army to defeat the Turks at Vienna and drive them from Europe After victory, King Sobieski said: "Veni, vidi, Deus vicit"