This day in history - August 19

[seamusTX]

1812 - The USS Constitution, under the command of Capt. Isaac Hull, captured the larger and better-armed HMS Guerriere off the coast of Newfoundland.

British casualties were more than five times those of the Americans, and Guerriere was beyond saving. Her surviving crewmen were taken off the next day, she was set afire and soon blew up. Constitition then returned to Boston with her prisoners,...

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/even ... n-guer.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

1909 - The first motor vehicle races were held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The winner of the first race covered five miles at the blazing speed of 57 MPH.

1960 - Sputnik 5 was launched with two dogs, 40 mice, and 2 rats on board. The animals landed and were recovered alive the next day. They were the first animals to return from space.

One of the dogs later gave birth to a puppy that was given to Caroline Kennedy.

Until the Soviets launched animals into orbit, scientiest were unsure that animals or humans could survive in space. The magnitude of cosmic radiation outside the atmosphere was unknown.

1979 - Cosmonauts Vladimir Lyakhov and Valery Ryumin returned to earth after 175 days aboard the Salyut 6 space station. (And you think that's a long time to wait for a CHL. How about going 175 days without seeing your wife? )

1991 - Would-be coup leaders in Moscow announced that they had overthrown President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev.

Mr. Gorbachev, who was on vacation in the Crimea, begged to differ.

If ya weren't around then, it's difficult to understand the significance of the collapse of the once-mighty and feared Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact.

- Jim

[seamusTX]

1812 - The USS Constitution, under the command of Capt. Isaac Hull, captured and destroyed HMS Guerriere off the coast of Newfoundland.

This was one of the most startling American victories in early history, and undoubtedly caused quite a bit of agonizing among the British admiralty. It is now nearly forgotten.

She defeated four British ships during the War of 1812 and later sailed around the world.

The USS Constitution was the subject of the poem "Old Ironsides" by Oliver Wendell Holmes when it was considered for decommissioning. The ship is now moored in Charleston, Massachusetts, as a museum.

http://www.legallanguage.com/resources/ ... ironsides/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.ussconstitutionmuseum.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

[Oldgringo]

seamusTX wrote:

1991 - Would-be coup leaders in Moscow announced that they had overthrown President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev.

Mr. Gorbachev, who was on vacation in the Crimea, begged to differ.

If ya weren't around then, it's difficult to understand the significance of the collapse of the once-mighty and feared Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact.

Do you reckon that the USSR's long and fruitless war in Afghanistan had anything to do with the bankruptcy and ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union?

Hmmm, is it true that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat history....?

[seamusTX]

Do you reckon that the USSR's long and fruitless war in Afghanistan had anything to do with the bankruptcy and ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union?

It didn't do them any good.

However, the whole communist system was hollowed out and bankrupt by that time, and even the "leaders" were sick of it.

It's ironic that the "domino effect" was supposed to refer to the spread of communism, but it went in the other direction when one country after another in eastern Europe fell to a peaceful coup (for the most part).

- Jim

[USA1]