Hollow Leg Podcast

476 

Romulus Augustulus, last Roman Emperor in the West, abdicates the throne after forces led by Odoacer invade Rome. Flavius Odoacer becomes the first king of Italy after leading a successful rebellion against Western Rome's young emperor. The beginning of his reign will traditionally mark the end of the Ancient Roman epoch and the start of the Middle Ages.

1781

Los Angeles, first an Indian village Yangma, is founded by Spanish decree.

1862

Robert E. Lee's Confederate army invades Maryland, starting the Antietam Campaign. It will eventually result in the Battle of Antietam, 13 days later, the bloodiest battle in history on American soil at that point.

1886

Apache leader Goyalkla, or as he's known to non-Native Americans, Geronimo, formally surrenders after the US Army 4th Cavalry relentlessly pursues him and his band of warriors throughout southern Arizona. For 30 years, the mighty Native American warrior had battled to protect his tribe’s homeland; however, by 1886 the Apaches were exhausted and hopelessly outnumbered. General Nelson Miles accepted Geronimo’s surrender, making him the last Native American warrior to formally give in to U.S. forces and signaling the end of the Indian Wars in the Southwest.

1941

German submarine U-652 fires at the U.S. destroyer Greer patrolling off Iceland. At this point there was no decleration of war between Germany and USA. President Roosevelt would later cite the incident as the catalyst for the "shoot-on-sight" policy US Naval vessels would follow until the formal declaration of war in December, after Pearl Harbor.  It would later be known the the Greer had chased the sub and held contact with the sub for 3 hours and 28 minutes before the sub fired its first torpedo. The definition of "attack" is "an onset, an aggressive initiation of combat, a move which is the antithesis of 'defense.'" In that definition, the USS Greer had attacked the German submarine.

1998

Google is founded. The internet company, now synonymous with the act of finding information on the world wide web was created by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. It started as a research project when Page and Brin were doctoral students at Stanford University.

36 BC 

In the Battle of Naulochus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, admiral of Octavian, defeats Sextus Pompeius, son of Pompey, thus ending Pompeian resistance to the Second Triumvirate.

301 

San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the world's oldest republic still in existence, founded by Saint Marinus.

1189 

Richard the Lionheart is crowned in Westminster, after the death of Henry II. Jewish dignitaries who showed up bearing gifts for the new monarch were stripped, whipped and banished from the court. As they fled, rumors spread in London that the new king detested "infidels" and meant to kill them all, and a pogrom ensued. The Jews of London were plundered and murdered, their houses were burned down and some were baptized against their will. 30 Jews are massacred after the coronation - Richard ordered the perpetrators be executed.

1650

The English under Oliver Cromwell defeat a superior Scottish army under David Leslie at the Battle of Dunbar. The battle is noteworthy for the fact that more Scottish soldiers died from the forced march and imprisonment after being captured, than in the battle itself.

1777

The American flag (stars & stripes), approved by Congress on June 14th, is carried into battle for the first time at a skirmish at Cooch’s Bridge, Delaware. Patriot General William Maxwell ordered the stars and strips banner raised as a detachment of his infantry and cavalry met an advance guard of British and Hessian troops. The rebels were defeated and forced to retreat.

1783

The Treaty of Paris is signed by Great Britain and the new United States, formally bringing the American Revolution to an end.

1914

The French capital is moved from Paris to Bordeaux as the Battle of the Marne begins.

1939

After Germany ignores Great Britain's ultimatum to stop the invasion of Poland, Great Britain declares war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II in Europe.

1969

Ho Chi Minh, the leader of North Vietnam, dies.

1971 

Qatar independence. The Persian Gulf state gained its independence after 55 years of British rule.

70

The Temple of Jerusalem burns after a nine-month Roman siege. In victory, the Romans slaughtered thousands. Of those spared from death, they were enslaved and sent to toil in the mines of Egypt, others were dispersed to arenas throughout the Empire to be butchered for the amusement of the public. The Temple's sacred relics were taken to Rome where they were displayed in celebration of the victory.

1533

Pizarro Executes Last Inca Emperor Atahuallpa. The 13th and last emperor of the Incas, dies by strangulation at the hands of Francisco Pizarro’s Spanish conquistadors. The execution of Atahuallpa, the last free reigning emperor, marked the end of 300 years of Inca civilization.

1786

Farmers rise up in Massachusetts. Protesting high taxes and political corruption, American farmers begin a military standoff that closes the federal court in Springfield. Shays' Rebellion will eventually be defeated by a private militia, but it will sufficiently rattle national leaders to call for a stronger national government to suppress future uprisings.

1831

English chemist and autodidact Michael Faraday publically demonstrates his discovery of electromagnetism, or as he calls it, a 'wave of electricity,' via electromagnetic induction. His discovery of this energy transmission will help generate mankind's electrical revolution.

1862

North and South clash at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Confederate General Robert E. Lee deals a stinging defeat to Union General John Pope at the Second Battle of Bull Run, Virginia—a battle that arose out of the failure of Union General George McClellan’s Peninsular campaign earlier in the summer.

1945

U.S. airborne troops are landed in transport planes at Atsugi airfield, southwest of Tokyo, beginning the post-war occupation of Japan.

1949

USSR successfully detonates their first nucular bomb. Twenty kilotons of nuclear fission flatten a purpose-built 'town' in a remote part of the USSR's Kazakh Republic, and the Soviet Union is now on par with the US as the only other nuclear power on the globe. Called 'First Lightning,' the Soviet's atom bomb is born of espionage and scientific brilliance.

2005

Once roiling with Category 5 strength over the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Katrina has weakened, but it's still packing ferocious winds, as it makes landfall near New Orleans, Louisiana. A massive storm surge will breach levies, devastating that city as Katrina becomes one of the worst natural disasters in US history.

1609 

English explorer Henry Hudson, discovers and explores Delaware Bay. He will go on to claim it for the Dutch East India Company.

1898

Pharmacist Caleb Bradham has developed a digestion aid at his North Carolina drug store concocted with sugar, water, caramel, lemon, nutmeg, and what he terms 'rare oils.' Today he names it 'Pepsi-Cola,' a play on the word 'dyspepsia,' the ailment that the drink purports to soothe.

1937 

Toyota Motor Corporation is formed. The car company was first founded in 1933 as a subsidiary of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd. The division was headed by Kiichiro Toyoda, the son of the Toyota founder, Sakichi Toyoda.

1941

Mass slaughter in the Ukraine. Hungarian Jews are murdered by the Gestapo in occupied Ukraine. SS General Franz Jaeckeln marched more than 23,000 Hungarian Jews to bomb craters at Kamenets Podolsk, ordered them to undress, and riddled them with machine-gun fire.

1944

German forces in Toulon and Marseilles, France, surrender to the Allies.

1963

One of the largest demonstrations in the history of the United States, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, takes place and reaches its climax at the base of the Lincoln Memorial when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I have a dream" speech. The historic speech was a call to end racism in the United States and is one of the most recognizable speeches in recorded history.

2005

Hurricane Katrina reaches Category 5 strength; Louisiana Superdome is opened as a "refuge of last resort" in New Orleans.

1776

The Battle of Brooklyn. During the American Revolution, British forces under General William Howe defeat Patriot forces under General George Washington at the Battle of Brooklyn in New York. George Washington and his 10,000 Continental Army troops battle General William Howe's 20,000-strong British force at Gowanus Pass in Brooklyn Heights to control New York City's strategic port.

1916

Romania enters World War I. On August 27, 1916, after Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary, formally entering World War I, Romanian troops cross the border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire into the much-contested province of Transylvania.

1991

Moldavia declares independence from USSR. The Eastern European country was part of the Soviet Union since August 2, 1940, from parts of Romania and parts of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1991, after the dissolution of the USSR, the country gained its independence.

2003

World’s Biggest Battery is Plugged in. The battery, which takes up about 2,000 square metres of space and weighs about 1,300 tonnes is set up to provide emergency electricity to the residents of Fairbanks in Alaska, for about 7 minutes.

1071

Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine army under Emperor Romanus IV at Manzikert, Eastern Turkey. The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army and the capture of the Emperor Romanos IV played an important role in undermining Byzantine authority in Anatolia and Armenia.

1346 

Battle of Crécy, south of Calais in northern France; Edward III's English longbows defeat Philip VI's army, cannons used for first time in battle. French forces vastly outnumbered the troops of England's Edward III. But the English army makes pioneering use of the longbow rather than the more cumbersome and less effective crossbow used by the French and most other European infantries. Edward's English forces also surprise their enemy by introducing the cannon as a battlefield weapon. This combined-arms approach secures a surprise victory against the much larger French army.

1883

The Indonesian island of Krakatoa erupts in the largest explosion recorded in history, heard 2,200 miles away in Madagascar. The resulting destruction sends volcanic ash up 50 miles into the atmosphere and kills almost 36,000 people--both on the island itself and from the resulting 131-foot tidal waves that obliterate 163 villages on the shores of nearby Java and Sumatra.

1920

The 19th Amendment to the Constitution is officially ratified, giving women the right to vote. The amendment extended universal suffrage to women in the United States. Before this, women in some states could vote in local and state elections. The Amendment was first introduced in Congress 42 years ago in 1878 by Senator Aaron A. Sargent. In 1919, the Congress approved the amendment and sent it to the states to be ratified.

1305

Scottish patriot William Wallace is hanged, drawn, beheaded, and quartered in London. 

1754

Louis XVI, King of France during the French Revolution, is born. Louis XVI is the king who met his fate at the guillotine.

1900

Booker T. Washington forms the National Negro Business League in Boston, Massachusetts, which would later go on to be renamed the National Business League in 1966.

1914

Battle of Mons begins. In their first confrontation on European soil since the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, four divisions of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), commanded by Sir John French, struggle with the German 1st Army over the 60-foot-wide Mons Canal in Belgium, near the French frontier.

1939

Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact, stunning the world, given their diametrically opposed ideologies. But the dictators were, despite appearances, both playing to their own political needs.

1942

German forces begin an assault on the major Soviet industrial city of Stalingrad. The Battle of Stalingrad will go on to become the bloodiest battle in human history.

1989

Pete Rose gets banned from baseball, as punishment for betting on baseball; Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose accepts a settlement that includes a lifetime ban from the game.

1990 

Armenia Declares Independence From the Soviet Union. The Western Asian country had been part of the USSR since 1922. The country declared itself independent of the USSR on the 23rd of August, 1990, and finally achieved independence a year later on September 21, 1991.

1138 

English defeat the Scottish at Cowton Moor, Yorkshire. Banners of various saints carried into battle - led to the name Battle of the Standard. The Scottish forces would lose 3/4 of their troops in the battle.

1485

Henry Tudor defeats Richard III at Bosworth Field. The York white rose and the Lancaster red rose meet at the battle, where England's King Richard III is killed by blows to his crown-encircled head. This victory establishes the Tudor dynasty in England and ends the War of the Roses.

1851

U.S. wins first America’s Cup. The U.S.-built schooner America bests a fleet of Britain’s finest ships in a race around England’s Isle of Wight.

1864

International Red Cross founded. The Geneva Convention of 1864 for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick of Armies in the Field is adopted by 12 nations meeting in Geneva.

1902

Cadillac Autos Founded. Named for the man who founded Detroit in 1801, Antoine Laumet de La Mothe Cadillac, Michigan's newest car company launches. The Cadillac Automobile Company rises from the ashes of the Henry Ford Company, after Ford leaves his company over a squabble with investors.

1942

Brazil declares war on the Axis powers. She is the only South American country to send combat troops into Europe.

1944

Romania captured by the Soviet Union. Soviet forces break through to Jassy, in northeastern Romania, convincing Romania’s King Michael to sign an armistice with the Allies and concede control of his country to the USSR.

1945

Conflict in Vietnam begins when a group of Free French parachute into southern Indochina, in response to a successful coup by communist guerilla Ho Chi Minh.

1989

Nolan Ryan registers 5,000th strikeout. He becomes the first pitcher in major league history to register 5,000 career strikeouts. Ryan would go on to rack up a total of 5,714 strikeouts, over 1,500 more than his closest competition.

636

Battle of Yarmouk. The result of the battle was a complete Muslim victory which ended Roman rule in Syria. The Battle of Yarmouk is regarded as one of the most decisive battles in military history and it marked the first great wave of early Muslim conquests after the death of Muhammad, heralding the rapid advance of Islam into the then Christian Levant.

1000 

The foundation of the Hungarian state, Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary.

1667

John Milton publishes Paradise Lost, an epic poem about the fall of Adam and Eve.

1794

American General "Mad Anthony" Wayne defeats the Ohio Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in the Northwest territory, ending Indian resistance in the area.

1940 

Russian revolutionary and founder of the Red Army, Leon Trotsky was attacked in his home by an undercover agent of the Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs or N.K.V.D. He died a day later due to the injuries sustained during the attack.

1988 

The Iran-Iraq War comes to an end after 7 years. The deadly conventional war between the two Middle Eastern countries began when Iraq invaded Iran on September 22, 1980.

1988

Drought, winds, lightning, and nearly 250 small blazes in just two months all combine to create the largest conflagration in Yellowstone National Park's recorded history, hitting a peak today on 'Black Saturday' with firestorms burning 150,000 acres and smoke so dense that day turns to night.

1998

The Supreme Court of Canada rules Quebec cannot legally secede from Canada without the federal government's approval.

1274 

Edward I is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey after returning from the Ninth Crusade.

1692

Five women are hanged in Salem, Massachusetts after being convicted of the crime of witchcraft. Fourteen more people are executed that year and 150 others are imprisoned.

1779

Americans under Major Henry Lee take the British garrison at Paulus Hook, New Jersey.

Nighttime raid of the fort yielded 158 prisoners and greatly reduced British power in New Jersey

1919 Afghanistan Gains Independence From the United Kingdom

The Central Asian country came under British control in 1859, The country was considered to be a buffer for the British trade in opium and as a frontier to protect their interests in India. Despite trying several times to consolidate their rule over Afghanistan, the Afghan people remained hostile to British control and in 1919, King Amanullah declared Afghanistan to be independent from Britain’s protection. The declaration launched a war called the Third Anglo-Afghan War, which ended with the signing of the Rawalpindi Treaty on this day. The treaty granted Afghanistan independence from the British.

1934

38 million Germans vote to make Adolf Hitler the official successor to President von Hindenburg.  Adolf Hitler, already chancellor, is also elected president of Germany in an unprecedented consolidation of power in the short history of the republic.

1950

Edith Sampson becomes the first African-American representative to the United Nations.

2010

Operation Iraqi Freedom ends; the last US combat brigade, 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, leaves the country. Six brigades remain to train Iraqi troops.