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June
21- June 27
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| On June 21 of 1547 a terrible fire gutted the Moscow Kremlin and 25,000
houses around the city killing nearly 2,000 people in a matter of just
six short hours. The royal quarters, the treasury, armory, old books and
icons all perished in the raging flames. In that same year disastrous grain
harvest sent the taxes surging up. The citizens rebelled, the authorities
clamped down hard and scores of people died in the resulting violence.
Prince Mikhail, the first in the Romanov dynasty of Russian Czars ascended
the throne on June 21 of the The outstanding Russian engineer and space exploration theoretician Alexander Shargei, better known as Yuri Kondratyuk, was born on this day in 1897. Kondratyuk devised the plan of a manned flight to the Moon, which the Americans later implemented as part of their Apollo program. On June 21 Columbia Records revolutionized the music industry releasing the first long-playing record that packed 23 minutes of music on each side. Lightweight vinyl discs came in phasing out the single-song heavy and brittle records of old. On this day in 1982 the heir presumptive to the British throne, Prince William was born to Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Prince William may someday ascend the British throne as King William V. June 22… King Charles II of England established the Royal Greenwich Observatory
on this day in 1675. British sailors accepted the meridian running through
the Observatory as the Zero meridian. Before that and even for some time
after, the longitude of a ship’s port of registry or the capital of the
port of call country was chosen as the Zero meridian. It wasn’t until the
late 19th century that the international community officially On this day in 1815 Napoleon I abdicated a second time as emperor of France after a brief 100-day return from Elba and the final debacle at Waterloo. Adolf Hitler broke the anti-aggression pact with Russia on this day in 1941 by invading this country as the Nazi forces crossed the Soviet border in Operation Barbarossa. We are now going to June 23…
The US Secret Service was authorized on this day in 1860 top deal with counterfeiters. After the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, the agency assumed the duty of protecting the President. June 24… The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, one of the oldest Christian orders still in existence today, was established on this day in 1099. Italian-born explorer John Cabot, sailing in the service of England, discovered Canada on June 24, 1497. Born in Genoa as Giovanni Caboto, John Cabot was a sailor and merchant on the lookout for a northwestern route to unknown lands. After all his attempts to get the Spanish and Portuguese monarchs interested fell through, Cabot moved north to Bristol where the local merchants inspired by the news of Christopher Columbus’ discoveries, launched their own expedition led putting John Cabot at the head. Cabot sailed off with 18 crewmembers on a single ship, which on June 24 landed in North America on what is now Newfoundland. On this day in 1894 an international congress convened in Paris by Baron Pierre de Coubertin establishes the International Olympic Committee to hold Olympic Games once every four years. Victory Parade was held on Red Square in Moscow on this day in 1945.
The victorious Soviet soldiers June 25… The outstanding Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi was born on this day in 1852. On this day in 1967 400 million people on all continents had a chance to watch the first-ever global live television broadcast where, in another first, The Beatles premiered their all time hit song All You Need is Love. July 26… July 26 is marked around the world as International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trade. Julian the Apostate, Ancient Rome’s last pagan Emperor and the first to declare confessional freedom died on this day in 363. For some time the pagans and Christians coexisted comparatively peacefully but power spoils even philosophers like Julian. Fancying to excel over Alexander the Great, he proclaimed himself God and declared war on Persia. There were many clandestine Christians in his army though and during one of the battles, one of them put a spear through Julian’s back and killed him. Russia’s first battleship was launched on this day in 1712 at a ceremony attended by Emperor Peter the Great. Built exclusively by Russian craftsmen, the 54-cannon ship was generally hailed as one of the world’s finest ships in his class. The rank of Generalissimo of the Soviet Union was established on this day in 1945. Josef Stalin became the one and only holder of this highest military rank around. And we finally arrive at June 27… The Russian-born aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky patented the world’s first helicopter in the United States on this day in 1931. And world’s first nuclear power station went on-stream at Obninsk, outside Moscow, on this day in 1954. |
year
1613. Soft-spoken, kind and honest, Mikhail Romanov was exactly the kind
of leader the Russian people needed at the time. The Romanovs ruled this
country for more than three centuries until the last Russian Czar Nicholas
II was ousted by the February 1917 revolution.
recognized the Greenwich meridian as the universal point of departure.
threw
hundreds of banners and standards of the vanquished Nazi Germany at the
foot of the Lenin Mausoleum.
