Today is Wednesday January 8, 2014 the 8th day and 2st week of 2014, there 357 days and 50 weeks left in the year. Highlights of today in history
1790 President George Washington delivers first State of the Union
On this day in 1790, President George Washingtondelivers the first State of the Union address to the assembled Congress in New York City.
Washington began by congratulating you on the present favourable prospects of our public affairs, most notable of which was North Carolina’s recent decision to join the federal republic. North Carolina had rejected the Constitution in July 1788 because it lacked a bill of rights. Under the terms of the Constitution, the new government acceded to power after only 11 of the 13 states accepted the document. By the time North Carolina ratified in November 1789, the first Congress had met, written the Bill of Rights and dispatched them for review by the states. When Washington spoke in January, it seemed likely the people of the United Stateswould stand behind Washington’s government and enjoy the concord, peace, and plenty he saw as symbols of the nation’s good fortune.
Washington’s address gave a brief, but excellent, outline of his administration’s policies as designed by Alexander Hamilton. The former commander in chief of the Continental Army argued in favour of securing the common defence [sic], as he believed preparedness for war to be one of the most effectual means of preserving peace. Washington’s guarded language allowed him to hint at his support for the controversial idea of creating a standing army without making an overt request.
1969 Nigeria: Nigeria rejects C?Wealth move
Nigeria rejected suggestions that a mission to seek an end to the Nigerian civil war should be formed at the Commonwealth conference.
Several governments , including Britain, are believed to support the idea of a Commonwealth mission. But Nigeria?s chief delegate, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, told reporters that it was unacceptable to Federal Government. Nigeria preferred to have what it regarded as an African problem handled through the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).
Chief Awolowo, vice-Chairman, vice-Chairman of Nigeria?s Executive Council and a former regional premier, had private out-of-conference talks with a number of other government leaders including Mr. Harold Wilson of Britain, but objects to any formal conferences debate on civil war.
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1916 Bugatti brother commits suicide
On this day in 1916 Rembrandt Bugatti, a sculptor and younger brother of Italian auto designer and manufacturer Ettore Bugatti, commits suicide at the age of 31.
The Bugatti brothers were born in Milan, Italy; Ettore in 1881 and Rembrandt in 1884. They came from a creative family that included artists and architects. Their father, Carlo Bugatti, was a successful furniture and jewelry designer. In 1909, Ettore founded the Bugatti car company in present-day Molsheim, France; the business became known for its stylish, high-performance automobiles. During the 1920sand 1930s, Bugatti made a name for itself in the racing world, taking first place at the inaugural French Grand Prix at Monaco in 1926 (and going on to win a number of later Grand Prix races) and claiming victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1937 and 1939.
Ettore Bugatti’s son, Jean, was a talented car designer who worked with his father. He died in 1939 at the age of 30 while testing a Type 57 car. Ettore Bugatti died on August 21, 1947, and was buried in the Bugatti family plot in Dorlisheim, France, near his brother Rembrandt and his son Jean. The Bugatti company had experienced difficulties during World War IIand after Ettore’s death, the business went into decline and was sold. In the late 1990s, Volkswagen purchased the Bugatti name and incorporated Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S., basing the new company once again in Molsheim. In 2004, the company began production of the Bugatti Veyron, a super sports car that carried a price tag of over $1 million and was capable of reaching speeds of around 250 miles per hour, making it one of the world’s fastest production cars.
1976 Chinese leader Zhou Enlai dies
Zhou Enlai, premier of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since 1949, died of cancer at age 77. Zhou was second to Mao Zedong, the leader of the revolution that brought a communist regime to China, in terms of importance in the PRC. Beyond his significance as a leader of communist China, Zhou was instrumental in the negotiations that resulted in the U.S. recognition of the PRC in 1979.
Zhou was born in 1898, and he was heavily involved in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by the 1920s. He rose quickly through the party ranks and became one of Mao Zedong’s most trusted advisors, particularly valued for his skill at negotiations and diplomacy. These skills were crucial during the 1930s, when the CCP found it necessary to collaborate with its enemy, the Chinese Nationalists, to oppose Japanese aggression. In 1949, the CCP was victorious in its civil waragainst the Nationalists and Zhou was appointed premier and foreign minister of the new government.
During the 1950s, he represented China at various diplomatic gatherings, including the 1954 Geneva Conference and the 1955 Asian-African Conference in Bandung. He was also a stabilizing force inside China during the tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolutionand its resultant political tensions.
In the early 1970s, Zhou embarked on a program to rebuild relations with the United States, which had refused to recognize the Chinese communist government. In 1972, he and President Richard Nixonshocked the world by meeting and agreeing to work for closer political and economic relations between the two nations. These talks eventually did bear fruit in 1979, when the United States formally recognized the PRC.
1996 Cargo plane crashes into crowded market
On this day in 1996, a cargo plane crashes in Kishasa, Zaire, (modern day Democratic Republic of the Congo) killing somewhere between 225 and 350 people and injuring another 500.
Africa Air was a private freight company that operated on the margins of legality. They were well-known for sometimes ignoring safety regulations, and enforcement of the rules was lax in Zaire. On January 8, the company went even further, sending its Russian Antonov AN-32B into the sky from N’Dolo Airport in Kishasa even though its certification for flying had been revoked. Making matters worse, the Russian crew members had loaded the plane with freight beyond its capacity. The plane was allegedly on its way to bring supplies to Jonas Savimbi’s notorious rebels in Angola.
As the plane barreled down a runway on the sunny afternoon, the its engines smoked and then burst into flames. The plane could not attain any altitude and simply ran off the end of the runway, toward a marketplace filled with wooden and iron shacks. The plane crashed into the crowded market and exploded. Fires broke out everywhere and would-be rescuers were driven back by the intense heat and smoke.
In all, estimates of the death toll ranged from 225 to 350 people killed and approximately 500 seriously injured. Of the six crew members on board, four survived
1941 William Randolph Hearst stops Citizen Kane ads
One of Hollywood?s most famous clashes of the titans–an upstart ?boy genius? filmmaker versus a furious 76-year-old newspaper tycoon–heats up on this day in 1941, when William Randolph Hearst forbids any of his newspapers to run advertisements for Orson Welles? Citizen Kane.
Though Welles was only 24 years old when he began working in Hollywood, he had already made a name for himself on the New Yorktheatre scene and particularly with his controversial radio adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds in 1938. After scoring a lucrative contract with the struggling RKO studio, he was searching for an appropriately incendiary topic for his first film when his friend, the writer Herman Mankiewicz, suggested basing it on the life of William Randolph Hearst. Hearst was a notoriously innovative, often tyrannical businessman who had built his own nationwide newspaper empire and owned eight homes, the most notable of which was San Simeon, his sprawling castle on a hill on the Central Californiacoast.
After catching a preview screening of the unfinished Citizen Kane on January 3, 1941, the influential gossip columnist Hedda Hopper wasted no time in passing along the news to Hearst and his associates. Her rival and Hearst?s chief movie columnist, Louella Parsons, was incensed about the film and its portrait of Charles Foster Kane, the Hearst-like character embodied in typically grandiose style by Welles himself. Even more loathsome to Hearst and his allies was the portrayal of Kane?s second wife, a young alcoholic singer with strong parallels to Hearst?s mistress, the showgirl-turned-actress Marion Davies. Hearst was said to have reacted to this aspect of the film more strongly than any other, and Welles himself later called the Davies-based character a ?dirty trick? that he expected would provoke the mogul?s anger.
