Content by F T.Bear
Good morning! Rise and shine!
Today in history is a place for you early risers to exercise your brains as you wait for the day to begin. Please, by all means, bring your own bits of history to the comments section and add your memories of what YOU did on this day however many years ago.
The beauty of an early morning historical post is that the date can mean the event happened today “our time” or today “other side of the world” time.
From the life and death of Plato through to the latest most recent history as it happens, we intend on bringing you stimulating and educational historical knowledge.
July 30
1979, Carless days are introduced in New Zealand. Carless days for
motor vehicles were designed to combat the fuel shortages that had
been caused by the second “oil shock” in the 70s. Other measures
included cutting the open road speed limit to 80kph and reducing the
hours which petrol stations could sell petrol. The scheme did little
to reduce consumption and was scraped in 1980.
1945, The USS Indianapolis is sunk by a Japanese submarine. The ship
had just delivered parts for the atomic bomb that would be dropped on
Hiroshima. 300 men were trapped in the wreck and 900 went into the
water , where only 317 would survive the four days before they are
rescued. The ships commander Captain Charles McVay was made the
scapegoat and court-martialed for failing to sail a zig-zag course, he
would commit suicide in 1968.
1976, Bruce Jenner wins the decathlon at the Montreal Olympics. His
8617 points set a new world record for the event. He was voted the
1976 AP Male Athlete of the Year.
1967, General William Westmoreland claims that he is winning the war
in Vietnam, but he needs more men.
1419, First defenestration of Prague. Anti-catholic Hussite’s,
followers of executed reformer Jan Hus, storm the Prague town hall
and throw the judge, mayor, and several city councilors out the
windows. They die in the fall or are killed by the crowd below.
“Defenestration” = the action of throwing someone out a window.
