History, anything goes, including pictures

19 February 1600 – The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America.

Huaynaputina, meaning “Young Volcano”, is a stratovolcano in a volcanic upland in southern Peru and is part of the Central Volcanic Zone, the segment of the Andes running through Peru and Chile. At 5.00 pm on 19 February 1600, Huaynaputina erupted violently, sending volcanic ash into the atmosphere. The eruption continued with a series of events into March.

The atmospheric spike of acid as a result of the eruption was higher than that of Krakatoa. Regional agricultural economies took 150 years to recover fully.

QjXOywf.jpg


The eruption had significant effects on Earth’s climate, decreasing temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere, causing floods, famines and cold waves in numerous places, and depositing several million tons of acid. The climate disruption caused social upheaval in many countries such as Russia and may have played a role in the onset of the Little Ice Age.
 

mellowyellow said:
February 19
1942
About 150 Japanese warplanes attack the Australian city of Darwin
View attachment 150583
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid his respects at a war memorial in Darwin last year. The city was devastated by Japanese bombing in 1942. It was the first formal visit from a Japanese leader to Darwin since during World War II.
Click to expand...
The Bombing of Darwin on 19 February 1942 was the largest single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. On that day, 242 Japanese aircraft, in two separate raids, attacked the town, ships in Darwin’s harbour and the town’s two airfields. The first air raid lasted 40 minutes, and was followed by a second, higher-altitude attack, in which some 600 bombs were dropped on the Royal Australian Air Force base, lasting 25 minutes.

YPti3hz.jpg


The two Japanese air raids were the first, and largest, of more than 100 air raids against Australia during 1942–43. Darwin was bombed by the Japanese another 63 times in the period up until November 1943. Other towns in northern Australia were also the targeted, including Townsville, Katherine, Wyndham, Derby, Broome and Port Hedland.
 
rover.jpeg
What an historic day February 18 2021
NASA’s Perseverance rover has safely landed on Mars after its 292.5 million mile journey from Earth.

landing1.jpg
 

Attachments

  • landing.jpg
    landing.jpg
    73.9 KB · Views: 0
moths.jpg
Bogong moths were traditionally ground into pastes or cakes. Pictured here are a single moth (left) and thousands of moths resting on a rock (right).

A collaboration between researchers from Monash University and traditional land owners of the Gunaikurnai peope has uncovered tools used to prepare Bogong moths as food in what’s now Victoria, Australia, some 2,000 years ago.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/moths-used-food-australia-2000-years-ago-180977048/
 
20 February 1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland in lieu of a dowry for Margaret of Denmark.

James III and Margaret, whose betrothal led to Orkney and Shetland passing from Norway to Scotland.

m5U7m4j.jpg


In 1468 Orkney and Shetland were pledged by Christian I, in his capacity as King of Norway, as security against the payment of the dowry of his daughter Margaret, betrothed to James III of Scotland. However the money was never paid, and the islands were annexed by the Kingdom of Scotland on 20 February 1472.
 
20 February 1792 – The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by United States President George Washington.

The Post Office Department (1792–1971) was the predecessor of the United States Postal Service. It was headed by the Postmaster General. Mail delivery and an earlier version of the Service had been in place since 1775, when Benjamin Franklin was named as the first postmaster and the Continental Congress paid him a salary of $1,000 a year.

jZ5TRhe.jpg


The act also addressed issues related to commerce and privacy. It ensured newspapers could be sent at low mail rates, which facilitated a free press across the new states. The law protected privacy by making it illegal for postal officials to open mail unless it was undeliverable. Offenders faced up to six months in jail and a $300 fine.
 
20 February 1913 – King O’Malley drives in in the first survey peg to mark the commencement of work on the construction of Canberra as Australia's capital city.

King O’Malley drives the first survey peg at Canberra, 20 February 1913.

1VsHq8C.jpg


After Australia's Federation in 1901, there was considerable debate as to where the national capital should be located. Sydney as the country’s oldest city and Melbourne as the country’s largest city were both strong contenders. The Sydney–Melbourne rivalry was so great that neither city would ever agree to the other one becoming the capital. Eventually, a compromise was reached: Melbourne would be the capital on a temporary basis while a new capital was built somewhere between Sydney and Melbourne. The Australian Capital Territory to house the new capital city, was created on 1 January 1911 when the NSW government ceded 2,360 square kilometres of land between Sydney and Melbourne.
 
Most dramatic art scam of the 20th century

art.jpg
Forgers, by nature, prefer anonymity and therefore are rarely remembered. An exception is Han van Meegeren (1889–1947). Van Meegeren's story is absolutely unique and may be justly considered the most dramatic art scam of the twentieth century.

In May 1945, Van Meegeren was arrested, charged with collaborating with the enemy and imprisoned………http://www.essentialvermeer.com/misc/van_meegeren.html

Video
 
mellowyellow said:
Most dramatic art scam of the 20th century

View attachment 151083
Forgers, by nature, prefer anonymity and therefore are rarely remembered. An exception is Han van Meegeren (1889–1947). Van Meegeren's story is absolutely unique and may be justly considered the most dramatic art scam of the twentieth century.

In May 1945, Van Meegeren was arrested, charged with collaborating with the enemy and imprisoned………http://www.essentialvermeer.com/misc/van_meegeren.html

Video
Click to expand...
Read more about Han van Meegeren ... what an interesting story thanks Mellowyellow.
 
21 February 1613 – Mikhail I is unanimously elected Tsar by a national assembly, beginning the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia.

Michael I of Russia (1596–1645) became the first Russian Tsar of the House of Romanov after a national assembly of the Russian parliament of 1613 elected him to rule the Tsardom of Russia on 21 February 1613. The Romanov dynasty continued to rule Russia until 1917.

Sixteen-year-old Michael being offered the Monomakh’s Cap, symbol crown of the Russian autocracy, at the Ipatiev Monastery in 1613. Painting by Grigory Ugryumov. Tsar Mikhail wearing Monomakh’s Cap, 1613.

0XQeAum.jpg
 
21 February 2021

Italy will challenge New Zealand for the 36th America's Cup from 6-15 March 2021 in Auckland after winning the final against the UK Ineos Team contender. A great win after the UK team went into the finals as out-and-out favourites after comprehensively beating the US team earlier on.

OPY4uwf.jpg


Such amazing hi-tech boats, their hulls don't even enter the water most of the time.
 
22 February 1797 – The last invasion of Britain begins in the Battle of Fishguard, Wales.

The Battle of Fishguard was a military invasion of Great Britain by Revolutionary France during the War of the First Coalition. The brief campaign, on 22–24 February 1797, is the most recent landing on British soil by a hostile foreign force, and thus is often referred to as the “last invasion of Britain”.

French forces landing at Carregwastad in Wales on 22 February 1797. From a lithograph first published in May 1797 and later coloured.

40353776822_6b2f57f084_o.jpg


After brief clashes with hastily assembled British forces and the local civilian population, the invading force’s commander, Colonel William Tate, was forced into unconditional surrender on 24 February. In a related naval action, the British captured two of the expedition’s vessels, a frigate and a corvette.
 
22 February 1997 – In Roslin, Midlothian, British scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly has been successfully cloned.

On 22 February 1997, scientists in Scotland announced the birth of the world’s first successfully cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep. Dolly was cloned by Keith Campbell, Ian Wilmut and colleagues at the Roslin Institute, part of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. She has been called “the world’s most famous sheep” by sources including BBC News and Scientific American.

Ian Wilmut and Dolly the sheep.

25527315097_d6c9269876_o.jpg


Dolly lived her entire life at the Roslin Institute. There she was bred with a Welsh Mountain ram and produced six lambs in total. On 14 February 2003, Dolly was euthanised because she had a progressive lung disease and severe arthritis. Roslin scientists stated that they did not think there was a connection with Dolly being a clone, and that other sheep in the same flock had died of the same disease. A Finn Dorset such as Dolly has a life expectancy of around 11 to 12 years, Dolly lived 6.5 years.
 
Tuesday 22 February 2011 – A magnitude 6.2 earthquake occurs in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The earthquake caused widespread damage across Christchurch, killing 185 people in the nation's fifth-deadliest disaster. Christchurch's central city and eastern suburbs were badly affected, with damage to buildings and infrastructure. Significant liquefaction affected the eastern suburbs, producing around 400,000 tonnes of silt.

Christchurch Cathedral showing the effects of the 2011 earthquake.

2560px-Cathedral_Square_2402.jpg


The February 22 quake is also notable for its long – and continuing - aftershock sequence, mainly due to the strong and dense crust beneath Canterbury. Many buildings in central Christchurch sit derelict and unoccupied a decade after event.
 
buzz.jpg
Buzz Aldrin, right, with Neil Armstrong, left and Michael Collins. Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to the surface of the moon. Photograph: AP

Legendary Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin 91, on Saturday hailed "all the folks" at NASA and its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on the successful landing of the Perseverance rover on the surface of Mars.

He has long been an advocate of efforts by the U.S. space program to explore Mars, the next planet after Earth in the direction away from the Sun.

Other planned missions to Mars include the landing of a smaller rover by China, scheduled for late spring, and a spacecraft from the United Arab Emirates that went into Martian orbit last week, the AP reported.
 
Last edited:
eve.jpg
‘It’s going to be a bumpy night’ … (from left) Anne Baxter as Eve, Bette Davis as Margo, Marilyn Monroe as Miss Caswell and George Sanders as DeWitt in All About Eve. Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext/20 Century Fox

February 22
1951 - 4th British Film and Television Awards (BAFTAS): "All About Eve" Best Film

Boy oh boy I loved this movie, they don't make em like this anymore.
 
meteorite.jpg
Moody Jacobs shows a giant bruise on the side and hip of his patient, Ann Hodges, in 1954, after she was struck by a meteorite.
PHOTOGRAPH BY JAY LEVITON, TIME & LIFE PICTURES/GETTY IMAGES

The only human hit by a meteorite: Ann Elizabeth Hodges, 30 November 1954 at 6:46 pm (she survived).

On a clear afternoon in Sylacauga, Alabama in 1954, Ann was napping on her couch, covered by quilts, when a softball-size hunk of black rock broke through the ceiling, bounced off a radio, and hit her in the thigh, leaving a pineapple-shaped bruise.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top