A Focus on History – August 27 through September 2

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August 27

The most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history occurs on Krakatau, called Krakatoa, a small, uninhabited volcanic island west of Sumatra in Indonesia. Heard 3,000 miles away, the explosions throw five cubic miles of earth 50 miles into the air, create 120-foot tsunamis, and kill 36,000 humans. Fine dust from the explosion drifted around the earth and caused spectacular sunsets and forms an atmospheric veil that lowered temperatures worldwide by several degrees. – 1883.

U.S. president Harry Truman orders the U.S. Army to seize all of the Nation’s railroads to prevent a general strike. The railroads were not returned to their owners until two years later. – 1950.

August 28

More than 23,000 Hungarian Jews are murdered by the Gestapo in German-occupied Ukraine. – 1941.

The march for jobs and freedom, the Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have A Dream” speech march, is held in Washington, D.C. with 250,000 participating. – 1963.

At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters battle police in the streets, while the Democratic Party falls apart over an internal disagreement concerning its stance on Vietnam. – 1968.

August 29

At a remote test site at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, the USSR successfully detonates its first atomic bomb, code name “First Lightning.” – 1949.

Hurricane Katrina makes landfall near New Orleans, La., as a Category 4 hurricane. It is believed that the hurricane caused more than 1,300 deaths and up to $150 Billion in damages along the coasts of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. – 2005.

August 30

After speaking at a factory in Moscow, Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin is shot twice by a member of the Social Revolutionary Party. Lenin was seriously wounded, but survived the attack. – 1918.

U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt’s Wealth Tax Act increases taxes on rich citizens and big business and lowers taxes for small businesses. – 1935.

Thurgood Marshall becomes the first African American to be confirmed as a U.S. Supreme Court justice. He remained on the Supreme Court for 24 years before retiring for health reasons. He left a legacy of upholding the rights of the individual as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. – 1967.

August 31

More than 325,000 unionists gather in Washington, D.C. for a Solidarity Day march and rally for work-place fairness and health care reform. – 1991.

September 1

At 4:45 a.m., 1.5 Million German troops invade Poland all along its 1,750-mile border with German-controlled territory. Simultaneously, the German Luftwaffe bombs Polish airfields, and German warships and U-boats attack Polish naval forces. – 1939.

Muammar al-Gaddafi, a 27-year-old Libyan army captain, leads a successful military coup against King Idris I of Libya. Idris was deposed and Gaddafi was named chairman of Libya’s new governing body, the Revolutionary Command Council. – 1969.

September 2

The Great Fire of London breaks out in the house of King Charles II’s baker on Pudding Lane near London Bridge. When the Great Fire finally was extinguished September 6, more than 80% of London was destroyed. Only 16 persons were known to have died. – 1666.

Aftershocks from an earthquake start out-of-control fires in Tokyo, Japan, and the surrounding area. In total, 143,000 persons die in the disaster, which is known both as the Great Kwanto Earthquake and the Great Tokyo Fire. Eighty percent of the nearby city of Yokohama was destroyed, as well as approximately 60% of Tokyo. – 1923.

Sixty-four-year-old Diana Nyad becomes the first person to swim the 110-miles from Cuba to Florida without the use of a shark cage for protection. – 2013.

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