This Day in History Thread.........

[peruke]

I wonder how many families chipped in to have this done?

All info courtesy of History.com


July 22nd - 1991

Cannibal and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is caught.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, police officers spot Tracy Edwards running down the street in handcuffs, and upon investigation, they find one of the grisliest scenes in modern history-Jeffrey Dahmer's apartment.

Edwards told the police that Dahmer had held him at his apartment and threatened to kill him. Although they initially thought the story was dubious, the officers took Edwards back to Dahmer's apartment. Dahmer calmly explained that the whole matter was simply a misunderstanding and the officers almost believed him. However, they spotted a few Polaroid photos of dismembered bodies, and Dahmer was arrested.

When Dahmer's apartment was fully searched, a house of horrors was revealed. In addition to photo albums full of pictures of body parts, the apartment was littered with human remains: Several heads were in the refrigerator and freezer; two skulls were on top of the computer; and a 57-gallon drum containing several bodies decomposing in chemicals was found in a corner of the bedroom. There was also evidence to suggest that Dahmer had been eating some of his victims.

Neighbors told both detectives and the press that they had noticed an awful smell emanating from the apartment but that Dahmer had explained it away as expired meat. However, the most shocking revelation about how Dahmer had managed to conceal his awful crimes in the middle of a city apartment building would come a few days later.

Apparently, police had been called two months earlier about a naked and bleeding 14-year-old boy being chased down an alley by Dahmer. The responding officers actually returned the boy, who had been drugged, to Dahmer's apartment–where he was promptly killed. The officers, who said that they believed it to be a domestic dispute, were later fired.

A forensic examination of the apartment turned up 11 victims–the first of whom disappeared in March 1989, just two months before Dahmer successfully escaped a prison sentence for child molestation by telling the judge that he was desperately seeking to change his conduct. Dahmer later confessed to 17 murders in all, dating back to his first victim in 1978.

The jury rejected Dahmer's insanity defense, and he was sentenced to 15 life terms. He survived one attempt on his life in July 1994, but was killed by another inmate on November 28, 1994.

[King Shizzo]

Aug 31, 1985

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/los-angeles-mob-attacks-night-stalker


Los Angeles mob attacks Night Stalker



Richard Ramirez, the notorious "Night Stalker," is captured and nearly killed by a mob in East Los Angeles, California, after being recognized from a photograph shown both on television and in newspapers. Recently identified as the serial killer, Ramirez was pulled from the enraged mob by police officers.

During the summer of 1985, the city of Los Angeles was panic-stricken by a killer who crept into his victims' homes at night. The Night Stalker, as the press dubbed the murderer, first turned his attention on the men in the house, usually shot any men in the house with a .22 caliber handgun before raping, stabbing, and mutilating his female victims. He cut out one of his victim's eyes, and sometimes carved satanic pentagrams on the bodies before he left.

By August, the Night Stalker has murdered at least a dozen people, and law enforcement officials were desperate to stop him. One witness, who managed to note the license plate of the car in which Ramirez fled, led police to a single, partial fingerprint left in the vehicle.

Apparently, the task force looking for the Night Stalker had already received information that someone named Ramirez was involved, so only the records for men with that name were checked against the fingerprint. Although the Los Angeles Police Department's new multimillion-dollar computer database of fingerprints only contained the records of criminals born after January 1960, Richard Ramirez, who had a record of petty crimes, had been born in February 1960.

When Ramirez was identified as the chief suspect, authorities debated whether to release his name and picture to the public, fearing that it might give him the chance to escape. Nonetheless, they decided to take the risk, and Ramirez, who was actually traveling back to Los Angeles at the time, arrived to find his face and name on the front of every newspaper.

Ramirez turned his trial into a circus by drawing pentagrams on his palms and making devil's horns with his fingers. When he was convicted, he shouted at the jury, "You make me sick. I will be avenged. Lucifer dwells within all of us." After the judge imposed a death sentence, Ramirez said, "Big deal. Death always went with the territory. See you in Disneyland."
Ramirez married a female admirer and penpal while incarcerated at California's San Quentin Prison in 1996. In 2006, his first appeals were denied and he died in prison on June 7, 2013.

[King Shizzo]

Sep 1, 1981

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/a-teenage-boy-murders-his-father


A teenage boy murders his father
 

Fifteen-year-old Eric Witte shoots his father, 43-year-old volunteer firefighter Paul Witte, in the family's Indiana home. Although Eric admitted to shooting his father, he claimed that the gun had accidentally gone off when he tripped on a rug. The bullet hit his father, who was lying on a couch across the room, in the head. The shooting was ruled an accident, and Eric was released.

Three years later, Eric's grandmother, Elaine Witte, 74, was killed with a crossbow. A few months after the murder, the entire family was arrested in California for forging Elaine's signature on her Social Security checks. In the subsequent trial, the bizarre story behind the murders came to light.

Eric's mother, Hilma Marie Witte, had tried to kill her husband, Paul, by lacing his food with rat poison and Valium. When this proved unsuccessful, she convinced her son to shoot his father by telling him that Paul was going to divorce her and that they would end up living in the streets. She later persuaded John "Butch" Witte, Eric's younger brother, to kill his grandmother by convincing him that Elaine planned to kick them out of the house. John, who witnessed his father's murder at the age of 11, was 14 when he killed Elaine Witte. At the trial, John stated, "My mom said I could strangle her or use my crossbow. It was up to me."

A few hours after killing his grandmother, John went to court with his mother to inquire about receiving disability benefits from his father's death. When they returned home that night, they began cutting up Elaine's body with a knife and a chainsaw. Marie and her two boys then scattered the dismembered body throughout California.

John and Eric were given 20- and five-year sentences, respectively, and were released in 1996. Hilma Marie Witte received a 90-year sentence.

[Skorp1o]

[King Shizzo]

Whats the point Skorp? Please keep it on topic if you are going to post.

[King Shizzo]

Sep 2, 31 B.C.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-battle-of-actium


The Battle of Actium
 

At the Battle of Actium, off the western coast of Greece, Roman leader Octavian wins a decisive victory against the forces of Roman Mark Antony and Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. Before their forces suffered final defeat, Antony and Cleopatra broke though the enemy lines and fled to Egypt, where they would commit suicide the following year.

With the assassination of Roman dictator Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., Rome fell into civil war. To end the fighting, a coalition--the Second Triumvirate--was formed by three of the strongest belligerents. The triumvirate was made up of Octavian, Caesar's great-nephew and chosen heir; Mark Antony, a powerful general; and Lepidus, a Roman statesman. The empire was divided among the three, and Antony took up the administration of the eastern provinces. Upon arriving in Asia Minor, he summoned Queen Cleopatra to answer charges that she had aided his enemies. Cleopatra, ruler of Egypt since 51 B.C., had once been Julius Caesar's lover and had borne him a child, who she named Caesarion, meaning "little Caesar."

Cleopatra sought to seduce Antony as she had Caesar before him, and in 41 B.C. arrived at Tarsus on a magnificent river barge, dressed as Venus, the Roman goddess of love. Successful in her efforts, Antony returned with her to Alexandria, where they spent the winter in debauchery. In 40 B.C., Antony returned to Rome and married Octavian's sister Octavia in an effort to mend his increasingly strained relationship with Octavian. The triumvirate, however, continued to deteriorate. In 37 B.C. Antony separated from Octavia and traveled to the East, arranging for Cleopatra to join him in Syria. In their time apart, Cleopatra had borne him twins, a son and a daughter. According to Octavian's propagandists, the lovers were then married, which violated the Roman law restricting Romans from marrying foreigners.

Antony's disastrous military campaign against Parthia in 36 B.C. further reduced his prestige, but in 34 B.C. he was more successful against Armenia. To celebrate the victory, he staged a triumphal procession through the streets of Alexandria, in which Antony and Cleopatra sat on golden thrones, and their children were given imposing royal titles. Many in Rome, spurred on by Octavian, interpreted the spectacle as a sign that Antony intended to deliver the Roman Empire into alien hands.

After several more years of tension and propaganda attacks, Octavian declared war against Cleopatra, and therefore Antony, in 31 B.C. Enemies of Octavian rallied to Antony's side, but Octavian's brilliant military commanders gained early successes against his forces. On September 2, 31 B.C., their fleets clashed at Actium in Greece. After heavy fighting, Cleopatra broke from the engagement and set course for Egypt with 60 of her ships. Antony then broke through the enemy line and followed her. The disheartened fleet that remained surrendered to Octavian. One week later, Antony's land forces surrendered.

Although they had suffered a decisive defeat, it was nearly a year before Octavian reached Alexandria and again defeated Antony. In the aftermath of the battle, Cleopatra took refuge in the mausoleum she had had built for herself. Antony, informed that Cleopatra was dead, stabbed himself with his sword. Before he died, another messenger arrived, saying Cleopatra still lived. Antony was carried to Cleopatra's retreat, where he died after bidding her to make her peace with Octavian. When the triumphant Roman arrived, she attempted to seduce him, but he resisted her charms. Rather than fall under Octavian's domination, Cleopatra committed suicide on August 30, 31 B.C., possibly by means of an asp, a poisonous Egyptian serpent and symbol of divine royalty.

Octavian then executed Cleopatra's son, Caesarion, annexed Egypt into the Roman Empire, and used Cleopatra's treasure to pay off his veterans. In 27 B.C., Octavian became Augustus, the first and arguably most successful of all Roman emperors. He ruled a peaceful, prosperous, and expanding Roman Empire until his death in 14 A.D. at the age of 75.

[Skorp1o]

Whats the point Skorp? Please keep it on topic if you are going to post.

Ok:

September 3rd
1855 – in Nebraska, 700 soldiers under United States General William S. Harney avenge the Grattan Massacre by attacking a Sioux village and killing 100 men, women and children.

September 3rd 1965 Charlioe Sheen was born

[King Shizzo]

Ok:

September 3rd
1855 – in Nebraska, 700 soldiers under United States General William S. Harney avenge the Grattan Massacre by attacking a Sioux village and killing 100 men, women and children.

September 3rd 1965 Charlioe Sheen was born

Why don't you give us some U.K. history? If not here, then make a thread on the UK board.

Sounds like a good idea. Many people love world history.

[xxxLinda]

British history?  You could fill a thread daily with all of that...  The other day was the anniversary of Diana's death and it wasn't even mentioned on the BBC news.  At the moment it's all WW1 1914 memories?  That and Syria Iraq Palestine & Russia?  


This day in history it turns out that London is top of the list for the likelihood of terrorism, it's all red alert they say...  I'm not going near public transport or a big shopping centre, especially on a Friday?

Yesterday was the 10th year I remembered the anniversary of my Dad's death, I'm sobbing and I'm still not over it.


madly xLinda
in London


where's that UK board?  gimme strength

[Skorp1o]

Why don't you give us some U.K. history? If not here, then make a thread on the UK board.

Sounds like a good idea. Many people love world history.

UK history is simple and straight forward:

Look at a world map, pick all the countries who barely mastered fire and yet to invent the wheel....go invade them, steal their curry and spices and precious metals. As soon as one of them wakes up, sharpens a mango stone and runs towards you, pack up and leave.

[King Shizzo]

Sep 3, 1855

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-army-avenges-the-grattan-massacre


U.S. Army avenges the Grattan Massacre
   
 

On this day in 1885, General William Harney and 700 soldiers take revenge for the Grattan Massacre with a brutal attack on a Sioux village in Nebraska that left 100 men, women, and children dead.

The path to Harney's bloody revenge began a year before near Fort Laramie, Wyoming, when a brash young lieutenant named John Grattan and 30 of his men were killed while attempting to arrest a Teton Sioux brave accused of shooting a white man's cow. Despite the many eyewitness reports that Lieutenant Grattan had foolishly threatened the Sioux and practically forced them to attack, the incident quickly gained infamy around the nation as the "Grattan Massacre." Americans demanded swift vengeance, and the army turned to the celebrated Indian fighter, General William Harney, to lead a punitive attack against the Sioux. Harney decided an appropriate target for retribution was a village of 250 Sioux led by Chief Little Thunder encamped near Ash Hollow, Nebraska. Refusing to accept Little Thunder's offer of immediate surrender, Harney ordered a full-scale attack that completely destroyed the village and killed more than 100 Sioux.

After later learning more about what had really happened at the Grattan Massacre, Harney softened his attitude toward the Sioux and eventually convened a successful peace council that temporarily calmed tensions. But for the rest of his life the general was plagued with the nickname of "Squaw Killer Harney," while the unfortunate pattern of revenge and punishment his attack began would only grow more vicious on both sides of the conflict. One Sioux boy who witnessed the brutal massacre would never forget or forgive and would take his own revenge 21 years later at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. His name was Crazy Horse.

[King Shizzo]

Sep 4, 1886

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-last-american-indian-warrior-surrenders


The last American Indian warrior surrenders
   
 

For almost 30 years he had fought the whites who invaded his homeland, but Geronimo, the wiliest and most dangerous Apache warrior of his time, finally surrenders in Skeleton Canyon, Arizona, on this day in 1886.

Known to the Apache as Goyalkla, or "One Who Yawns," most non-Indians knew him by his Spanish nickname, Geronimo. When he was a young man, Mexican soldiers had murdered his wife and children during a brutal attack on his village in Chihuahua, Mexico. Though Geronimo later remarried and fathered other children, the scars of that early tragedy left him with an abiding hatred for Mexicans.

Operating in the border region around Mexico's Sierra Madre and southern Arizona and New Mexico, Geronimo and his band of 50 Apache warriors succeeded in keeping white settlers off Apache lands for decades. Geronimo never learned to use a gun, yet he armed his men with the best modern rifles he could obtain and even used field glasses to aid reconnaissance during his campaigns. He was a brilliant strategist who used the Apache knowledge of the arid desert environment to his advantage, and for years Geronimo and his men successfully evaded two of the U.S. Army's most talented Indian fighters, General George Crook and General Nelson A. Miles. But by 1886, the great Apache warrior had grown tired of fighting and further resistance seemed increasingly pointless: there were just too many whites and too few Apaches. On September 4, 1886, Geronimo turned himself over to Miles, becoming the last American Indian warrior in history to formally surrender to the United States.

After several years of imprisonment, Geronimo was given his freedom, and he moved to Oklahoma where he converted to Christianity and became a successful farmer. He even occasionally worked as a scout and adviser for the U.S. army. Transformed into a safe and romantic symbol of the already vanishing era of the Wild West, he became a popular celebrity at world's fairs and expositions and even rode in President Theodore Roosevelt's inaugural parade in 1905. He died at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in 1909, still on the federal payroll as an army scout.

[King Shizzo]

Sep 5, 1666

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/londoners-desperately-attempt-to-halt-fire


Londoners desperately attempt to halt fire
 

Firefighters in London begin blowing up homes in a desperate attempt to halt the spread of a great fire through the city on this day in 1666. All other attempts to stop the progress of the flames over the previous three days had failed. By the time the fire was finally snuffed out the following day, more than 100,000 people had been left homeless.

London in the 17th century was no stranger to large fires. In one incident, a gunpowder fire killed 27 people and, in another, the homes on London Bridge were consumed in a blaze. Just outside of London, hundreds of houses burned in Oxford, Marlborough, Southwold and Newport in the years leading up to 1666. Still, the city had not established an official fire department.

In 1666, London was one of the largest cities in the world, with 400,000 residents spread out over 458 acres within the city's walls. At about 2 a.m. on Sunday, September 2, a fire broke out in the home of Thomas Farynor, one of the king's bakers. Most of Farynor's family escaped the flames by climbing out a window and onto a neighbor's roof. However, a servant in the house did not use this exit because he was afraid of heights; he died in the fire.

The tightly packed houses on London's narrow streets were susceptible to fire because of their wood frames. Also, most homes contained supplies of flammable materials such as oils, tallow and resin. A strong westerly wind toward the city center helped to fan the flames. At 3 a.m., the mayor was awakened to alert him of the spreading blaze, but he determined that the fire was not seriously threatening and did not take action.

Despite his optimism, the fire continued to spread during the day on Sunday, outpaced only by the rumors that it had been set by foreigners. Mobs began assaulting immigrants throughout the city. King Charles II showed up and directly supervised the firefighting efforts. Meanwhile, looting was rampant and entrepreneurs from outside the city took the opportunity to charge residents outrageous prices to haul their belongings out of the fire's range. By Sunday night, the fire had advanced more than a half mile west.

On Monday, the king took steps to restore civil order to the city and brought in the militia. The militia, however, was powerless to stop the fire from destroying the high-end business section of the city. The Royal Exchange, where commodities were traded, was consumed, but Leadenhall, a large marketplace to the north, was saved. On Tuesday, September 4, the fire picked up strength. The residents of Oxford, 60 miles away, could see and smell the smoke. St. Paul's Cathedral, the most prominent building in the city, burned, along with the thousands of valuable books stored inside. The Tower of London was spared only because the surrounding buildings were demolished and torn down to prevent them from burning. The fire even managed to jump the city's walls and spread to the suburbs.

Finally, on September 5, weakening winds allowed the fire to be contained, although it was not fully brought under control until the morning of Thursday, September 6. Remarkably, although a good portion of the city had been devastated, only eight people lost their lives to the blaze. The ground remained too hot to walk on for a day and ash clogged the streets. King Charles II ordered that bread be brought to the city to feed the displaced people. He also addressed the refugees and told them that it was not the French or Dutch who were responsible for the fire but, instead, that it was God's will. His words did not stop his citizens from hanging a French watchmaker who had been coerced into confessing.

The following week, a royal proclamation mandated that any rebuilding of the city be done with brick and stone and that any land that was not rebuilt within three years of the fire would be seized by the government. The first major set of building codes was established and a special court was charged with the resolution of all disputes involving the fire. Possibly because of these new regulations, London did not replace all the homes lost in the blaze until nearly 30 years had passed. Other reforms that came out of the Great Fire were the advent of fire insurance and the formation of dedicated firefighting squads.

[King Shizzo]

Sep 6, 1997

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/some-25-billion-tv-viewers-watch-princess-dianas-funeral


Some 2.5 billion TV viewers watch Princess Diana’s funeral
 

On this day in 1997, an estimated 2.5 billion people around the globe tune in to television broadcasts of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, who died at the age of 36 in a car crash in Paris the week before. During her 15-year marriage to Prince Charles, the son of Queen Elizabeth II and the heir to the British throne, Diana became one of the most famous, most photographed people on the planet. Her life story was fodder for numerous books, television programs and movies and her image appeared on countless magazine covers, including those of People and Vanity Fair. After her death, she remained an iconic figure and a continual source of fascination to the media and entertainment world.

Diana Spencer was born on July 1, 1961, in Norfolk, England. On July 29, 1981, at the age of 20, “Shy Di”--as the voracious British media dubbed her--married Prince Charles at London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral, in a ceremony that was watched by hundreds of millions of TV viewers around the world. On June 21, 1982, Diana gave birth to Prince William. A second son, Prince Harry, was born September 15, 1984. Charles and Diana separated in 1992, amidst allegations of infidelities on both sides, and the couple was officially divorced on August 28, 1996. After her divorce, Diana continued the humanitarian work she’d begun as a member of the royal family, campaigning to raise awareness of the deadly AIDS epidemic and to ban the use of landmines, or explosive devices planted on or in the ground that often cause death or injury to civilians.

In the early morning hours of August 31, 1997, the driver of Diana’s car lost control of the vehicle while trying to elude paparazzi and crashed in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris. Diana’s companion, Dodi al-Fayed, was also killed in the crash, as was the driver, Henri Paul, who was later determined to be speeding and under the influence of alcohol.

England experienced an unprecedented outpouring of public grief over Diana’s death. On September 6, 1997, hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of London to watch the former princess’s coffin being transported to Westminster Abbey, where politicians, celebrities and royalty gathered for her funeral. Elton John performed a re-worked version of his song “Candle in the Wind,” which he and Bernie Taupin had originally written about Marilyn Monroe. Diana’s brother, Lord Spencer, spoke at the funeral and blamed the media for his sister’s death, calling her the “most hunted person of the modern age.” Diana was buried at Althorp, her family’s estate in Northamptonshire, England.

[King Shizzo]

Sep 7, 1776

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/worlds-first-submarine-attack


World's first submarine attack



On this day in 1776, during the Revolutionary War, the American submersible craft Turtle attempts to attach a time bomb to the hull of British Admiral Richard Howe's flagship Eagle in New York Harbor. It was the first use of a submarine in warfare.

Submarines were first built by Dutch inventor Cornelius van Drebel in the early 17th century, but it was not until 150 years later that they were first used in naval combat. David Bushnell, an American inventor, began building underwater mines while a student at Yale University. Deciding that a submarine would be the best means of delivering his mines in warfare, he built an eight-foot-long wooden submersible that was christened the Turtle for its shape. Large enough to accommodate one operator, the submarine was entirely hand-powered. Lead ballast kept the craft balanced.

Donated to the Patriot cause after the outbreak of war with Britain in 1775, Ezra Lee piloted the craft unnoticed out to the 64-gun HMS Eagle in New York Harbor on September 7, 1776. As Lee worked to anchor a time bomb to the hull, he could see British seamen on the deck above, but they failed to notice the strange craft below the surface. Lee had almost secured the bomb when his boring tools failed to penetrate a layer of iron sheathing. He retreated, and the bomb exploded nearby, causing no harm to either the Eagle or the Turtle.

During the next week, the Turtle made several more attempts to sink British ships on the Hudson River, but each time it failed, owing to the operator's lack of skill. Only Bushnell was really able to competently execute the submarine's complicated functions, but because of his physical frailty he was unable to pilot the Turtle in any of its combat missions. During the Battle of Fort Lee, the Turtle was lost when the American sloop transporting it was sunk by the British.

Despite the failures of the Turtle, General George Washington gave Bushnell a commission as an Army engineer, and the drifting mines he constructed destroyed the British frigate Cereberus and wreaked havoc against other British ships. After the war, he became commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stationed at West Point.

[The Ugly]

September 7, 1963

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League (NFL). Opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter enshrinees,.[3] The Pro Football Hall of Fame is unique among North American major league sports halls of fame in that officials are not inducted. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Hockey Hall of Fame have each inducted game officials.

Canton, Ohio was selected as the location for the Hall of Fame for three reasons: First, the NFL was founded in Canton in 1920 (at that time it was known as the American Professional Football Association); second, the now-defunct Canton Bulldogs were a successful NFL team based in Canton during the first few years of the league; and finally, the community of Canton successfully lobbied the NFL to have the Hall built in their city.[3] Groundbreaking for the building was held on August 11, 1962. The original building contained just two rooms, and 19,000 square feet (1,800 m2) of interior space.[3]

The Hall is made up of several sections, at heart is the display of inductees.
In April 1970, ground was broken for the first of many expansions. This first expansion cost $620,000, and was completed in May 1971. The size was increased to 34,000 square feet (3,200 m2) by adding another room. The pro shop opened with this expansion. This was also an important milestone for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as yearly attendance passed the 200,000 mark for the first time. This was at least in some part due to the increase in popularity of professional football caused by the advent of the American Football League and its success in the final two AFL-NFL World Championship games.[3]

By the way, chaos thinks this thread sucks, bro.

[King Shizzo]

Nice addition Ugly. I like how you bolded the date, it makes it look better.

Could you provide a link to your post sir?

The mods said that we should provide links to the content.

[The Ugly]

Nice addition Ugly. I like how you bolded the date, it makes it look better.

Could you provide a link to your post sir?

The mods said that we should provide links to the content.

Wikipedia, bro. My work is done.

[King Shizzo]

Sep 8, 2003

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/riaa-begins-suing-individual-sharers-of-copyrighted-mp3-files


RIAA begins suing individual sharers of copyrighted mp3 files
 

"Nobody likes playing the heavy and having to resort to litigation," said Cary Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on this day in 2003, "but when your product is being regularly stolen, there comes a time when you have to take appropriate action." The product in question was music—music in the form of digital mp3 files being transmitted among users of Internet file-sharing applications in violation of copyright laws. And while the RIAA's idea of "appropriate action" in response to digital music piracy had previously meant efforts to shut down the operators of Internet file-sharing systems, the industry group announced a new and controversial strategy on September 8, 2003: the filing of lawsuits against individual users of those systems, some of them children.

"We've been telling people for a long time that file-sharing copyrighted music is illegal, that you are not anonymous when you do it, and that engaging in it can have real consequences," said Mr. Sherman in announcing the RIAA's new enforcement strategy. By September 2003, having undertaken a massive anti-piracy public-education campaign in the months since Napster was shut down by court order in 2001, and while still pursuing a case against the Dutch operators of a "peer-to-peer" (P2P) file-sharing system called Grokster, the RIAA had decided to back up its public threats with direct legal action against individuals.

The RIAA's announcement of their first lawsuits against individuals was accompanied by statements of support from music-industry players large and small, including legendary Motown songwriter Lamond Dozier, whose plea to end digital piracy asked those who engaged in illegal file-sharing to "step into the shoes of [music professionals] who have families and children." But in fact, some of the 261 defendants sued in the first round of RIAA lawsuits were families with children—in many cases, minor children whose parents had no idea about their kids' music-downloading habits.

Federal law allowed the RIAA to seek damages as high as $150,000 per illegally shared song per defendant, but in practice the RIAA offered defendants the option of establishing a "Clean Slate" by destroying all of their illegally acquired files and paying a settlement of approximately $3 per illegal song. A little more than three weeks after announcing its new legal strategy on this day in 2003, the RIAA announced that 52 of the 261 individuals named in the initial round of lawsuits had reached such cash settlements. Within the next 20 months, the RIAA sued a further 11,195 individuals, reaching financial settlements with 2,484. None of the RIAA's cases against individual file-sharers has yet gone to trial.

[King Shizzo]

Sep 9, 1971

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/riot-at-attica-prison


Riot at Attica prison
 

Prisoners riot and seize control of the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility near Buffalo, New York. Later that day, state police retook most of the prison, but 1,281 convicts occupied an exercise field called D Yard, where they held 39 prison guards and employees hostage for four days. After negotiations stalled, state police and prison officers launched a disastrous raid on September 13, in which 10 hostages and 29 inmates were killed in an indiscriminate hail of gunfire. Eighty-nine others were seriously injured.

By the summer of 1971, the state prison in Attica, New York, was ready to explode. Inmates were frustrated with chronic overcrowding, censorship of letters, and living conditions that limited them to one shower per week and one roll of toilet paper each month. Some Attica prisoners, adopting the radical spirit of the times, began to perceive themselves as political prisoners rather than convicted criminals.

On the morning of September 9, the eruption came when inmates on the way to breakfast overpowered their guards and stormed down a prison gallery in a spontaneous riot. They broke through a faulty gate and into a central area known as Times Square, which gave them access to all the cellblocks. Many of the prison's 2,200 inmates then joined in the rioting, and prisoners rampaged through the facility beating guards, acquiring makeshift weapons, and burning down the prison chapel. One guard, William Quinn, was severely beaten and thrown out a second-story window. Two days later, he died in a hospital from his injuries.

Using tear gas and submachine guns, state police regained control of three of the four cellblocks held by the rioters without loss of life. By 10:30 a.m., the inmates were only in control of D Yard, a large, open exercise field surrounded by 35-foot walls and overlooked by gun towers. Thirty-nine hostages, mostly guards and a few other prison employees, were blindfolded and held in a tight circle. Inmates armed with clubs and knives guarded the hostages closely.

Riot leaders put together a list of demands, including improved living conditions, more religious freedom, an end to mail censorship, and expanded phone privileges. They also called for specific individuals, such as U.S. Representative Herman Badillo and New York Times columnist Tom Wicker, to serve as negotiators and civilian observers. Meanwhile, hundreds of state troopers arrived at Attica, and New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller called in the National Guard.

In tense negotiations, New York Correction Commissioner Russell Oswald agreed to honor the inmates' demands for improved living conditions. However, talks bogged down when the prisoners called for amnesty for everyone in D Yard, along with safe passage to a "non-imperialist country" for anyone who desired it. Observers pleaded with Governor Rockefeller to come to Attica as a show of good faith, but he refused and instead ordered the prison to be retaken by force.

On the rainy Monday morning of September 13, an ultimatum was read to the inmates, calling on them to surrender. They responded by putting knives against the hostages' throats. At 9:46 a.m., helicopters flew over the yard, dropping tear gas as state police and correction officers stormed in with guns blazing. The police fired 3,000 rounds into the tear gas haze, killing 29 inmates and 10 of the hostages and wounding 89. Most were shot in the initial indiscriminate barrage of gunfire, but other prisoners were shot or killed after they surrendered. An emergency medical technician recalled seeing a wounded prisoner, lying on the ground, shot several times in the head by a state trooper. Another prisoner was shot seven times and then ordered to crawl along the ground. When he didn't move fast enough, an officer kicked him. Many others were savagely beaten.

In the aftermath of the bloody raid, authorities said the inmates had killed the slain hostages by slitting their throats. One hostage was said to have been castrated. However, autopsies showed that these charges were false and that all 10 hostages had been shot to death by police. The attempted cover-up increased public condemnation of the raid and prompted a Congressional investigation.

The Attica riot was the worst prison riot in U.S. history. A total of 43 people were killed, including the 39 killed in the raid, guard William Quinn, and three inmates killed by other prisoners early in the riot. In the week after its conclusion, police engaged in brutal reprisals against the prisoners, forcing them to run a gauntlet of nightsticks and crawl naked across broken glass, among other tortures. The many injured inmates received substandard medical treatment, if any.

In 1974, lawyers representing the 1,281 inmates filed a $2.8 billion class-action lawsuit against prison and state officials. It took 18 years before the suit came to trial, and five more years to reach the damages phase, delays that were the fault of a lower-court judge opposed to the case. In January 2000, New York State and the former and current inmates settled for $8 million, which was divided unevenly among about 500 inmates, depending on the severity of their suffering during the raid and the weeks following.

Families of the slain correction officers lost their right to sue by accepting the modest death-benefit checks sent to them by the state. The hostages who survived likewise lost their right to sue by cashing their paychecks. Both groups attest that no state officials apprised them of their legal rights, and they were denied compensation that New York should have paid to them.

[King Shizzo]

Sep 10, 1977

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-guillotine-falls-silent


The guillotine falls silent
   
 

At Baumetes Prison in Marseille, France, Hamida Djandoubi, a Tunisian immigrant convicted of murder, becomes the last person executed by guillotine.

The guillotine first gained fame during the French Revolution when physician and revolutionary Joseph-Ignace Guillotin won passage of a law requiring all death sentences to be carried out by "means of a machine." Decapitating machines had been used earlier in Ireland and England, and Guillotin and his supporters viewed these devices as more humane than other execution techniques, such as hanging or firing squad. A French decapitating machine was built and tested on cadavers, and on April 25, 1792, a highwayman became the first person in Revolutionary France to be executed by this method.

The device soon became known as the "guillotine" after its advocate, and more than 10,000 people lost their heads by guillotine during the Revolution, including Louis XVI and Mary Antoinette, the former king and queen of France.

Use of the guillotine continued in France in the 19th and 20th centuries, and the last execution by guillotine occurred in 1977. In September 1981, France outlawed capital punishment altogether, thus abandoning the guillotine forever. There is a museum dedicated to the guillotine in Liden, Sweden.

[King Shizzo]

Sep 11, 1985

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pete-rose-hits-into-the-record-books


Pete Rose hits into the record books
 

On this day in 1985, Cincinnati Reds player-manager Pete Rose gets the 4,192nd hit of his career, breaking Ty Cobb’s major league record for career hits. Rose was a folk hero in Cincinnati, a homegrown talent known as "Charlie Hustle" for his relentless work ethic.

Pete Rose was just 5 feet 10 inches tall and 140 pounds when he graduated from Cincinnati’s Western Hills High School. Despite his slight build, the switch-hitter was drafted by the Reds in 1960. Determined to improve after an unremarkable debut season in the minors, Rose committed to an intense weight-lifting regimen, long before such training became de rigueur in baseball. By the time he reached the majors, Rose was 5’ 11" and 205 pounds of muscle, with 27-inch thighs. In 1963, he hit .273 and scored 101 runs and was named Rookie of the Year. Rose went on to hit .312 in 1965, and then over .300 in 15 of the next 17 seasons, leading the National League in hitting three times. On "The Big Red Machine," as the impressive Reds teams of the 1970s were called, Rose was the spark plug, leading the team to back-to-back World Series victories in 1975 and 1976. Rose signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as a free agent in 1979, then led the Phillies to the first World Series championship in their 97-year history in 1980. On August 10, 1981, Rose broke Stan Musial’s career record for hits as a National Leaguer when he collected his 3,631st hit.

In 1984, Rose returned to the Reds after a stint with the Montreal Expos. On September 8, 1985, he tied Cobb’s 57-year-old record for career hits (4,191) with two hits against the Chicago Cubs. Three days later on September 11, Rose came to the plate in the first inning of a game against the San Diego Padres in front of a home crowd at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium. Rose watched the first pitch to gauge pitcher Eric Show’s speed, fouled off the second pitch and then laid off the third pitch. With the count at 2-1, Rose lined a hanging slider into left-center field for a single. The Reds rushed out of the dugout to surround the new hits king and Rose’s longtime teammate Tony Perez lifted him in the air in celebration. The Cincinnati crowd of 47,237 stood and applauded for a full seven minutes as their hometown hero wiped tears from his eyes. (Show started to take warm-up tosses with the catcher during the tribute, and then sat down on the mound to wait, a move many in baseball found in appropriate.)

Pete Rose retired as a player during the 1986 season, but remained in his position as Reds manager until August 24, 1989, when he was banned from baseball for life for gambling on Reds games.

[gym**rat]

Sep 11, 1985

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pete-rose-hits-into-the-record-books


Pete Rose hits into the record books
 

On this day in 1985, Cincinnati Reds player-manager Pete Rose gets the 4,192nd hit of his career, breaking Ty Cobb’s major league record for career hits. Rose was a folk hero in Cincinnati, a homegrown talent known as "Charlie Hustle" for his relentless work ethic.

Pete Rose was just 5 feet 10 inches tall and 140 pounds when he graduated from Cincinnati’s Western Hills High School. Despite his slight build, the switch-hitter was drafted by the Reds in 1960. Determined to improve after an unremarkable debut season in the minors, Rose committed to an intense weight-lifting regimen, long before such training became de rigueur in baseball. By the time he reached the majors, Rose was 5’ 11" and 205 pounds of muscle, with 27-inch thighs. In 1963, he hit .273 and scored 101 runs and was named Rookie of the Year. Rose went on to hit .312 in 1965, and then over .300 in 15 of the next 17 seasons, leading the National League in hitting three times. On "The Big Red Machine," as the impressive Reds teams of the 1970s were called, Rose was the spark plug, leading the team to back-to-back World Series victories in 1975 and 1976. Rose signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as a free agent in 1979, then led the Phillies to the first World Series championship in their 97-year history in 1980. On August 10, 1981, Rose broke Stan Musial’s career record for hits as a National Leaguer when he collected his 3,631st hit.

In 1984, Rose returned to the Reds after a stint with the Montreal Expos. On September 8, 1985, he tied Cobb’s 57-year-old record for career hits (4,191) with two hits against the Chicago Cubs. Three days later on September 11, Rose came to the plate in the first inning of a game against the San Diego Padres in front of a home crowd at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium. Rose watched the first pitch to gauge pitcher Eric Show’s speed, fouled off the second pitch and then laid off the third pitch. With the count at 2-1, Rose lined a hanging slider into left-center field for a single. The Reds rushed out of the dugout to surround the new hits king and Rose’s longtime teammate Tony Perez lifted him in the air in celebration. The Cincinnati crowd of 47,237 stood and applauded for a full seven minutes as their hometown hero wiped tears from his eyes. (Show started to take warm-up tosses with the catcher during the tribute, and then sat down on the mound to wait, a move many in baseball found in appropriate.)

Pete Rose retired as a player during the 1986 season, but remained in his position as Reds manager until August 24, 1989, when he was banned from baseball for life for gambling on Reds games.

I used to go watch the Big Red Machine at Riverfront Stadium. I have saved  the newspaper that went out the day after he broke the record.

[King Shizzo]

Sep 12, 2002

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/tyco-execs-indicted


Tyco execs indicted
   
 

Three former executives from Tyco International, including the CEO and CFO, are indicted in New York on charges that they stole hundreds of millions of dollars from the company. Two of the men, CEO Dennis Kozlowski and CFO Mark Swartz, were later convicted and given lengthy prison sentences. The case became symbolic of the era's corporate corruption and greed.

Kozlowski and Swartz were charged with using Tyco, a manufacturer of industrial products, as their private bank and looting $150 million while pulling in another $430 million by secretly selling large shares of company stock after its value had been artificially inflated. Among other things, the men took unauthorized loans from the company's coffers and gave themselves enormous, unauthorized bonuses. In June 2002, three months before the indictments, Kozlowski resigned as Tyco's chief just before he was charged with evading sales taxes on expensive paintings he'd purchased. At his Tyco trial in 2004, the former CEO's lavish lifestyle was put on public display and the media had a field day with revelations of his conspicuous consumption. He once spent $6,000 on a shower curtain and $2 million--some of it Tyco money--on an extravagant birthday party for his wife. In April 2004, the case ended in a mistrial after a jury member holding out for an acquittal received a coercive letter from a stranger.

At a second trial in June 2005, the jury deliberated for 11 days before convicting Kozlowski and Swartz on multiple counts of grand larceny, securities fraud, conspiracy and falsifying business records. Each man was later sentenced to 8 1/3 years to 25 years in prison, while Kozlowski, 58, was ordered to pay $170 million in fines and restitution and Swartz, 45, was ordered to pay $72 million.

The summer of 2005 also saw other corporate executives pay a steep price for their white-collar crimes: Former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years in prison for spearheading an $11 billion fraud that brought down the telecommunications giant, while Adelphia Communications chief John Rigas received a 15-year sentence for stealing hundreds of millions from the cable company. Among the companies that came to represent the corporate scandal and excess of the 1990s--Enron, Adelphia, Tyco and WorldCom--only Tyco survived. It was reorganized under new management and is now a global organization.

[King Shizzo]

Sep 13, 1996

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/tupac-shakur-dies


Tupac Shakur dies



Hip hop star Tupac Shakur dies on September 13, 1996 of gunshot wounds suffered in a Las Vegas drive-by shooting.

More than a decade after his death on this day in 1996, rapper Tupac Shakur remains one of the most recognizable faces and voices in hip-hop. A steady stream of posthumous album releases has kept his name near the top of lifetime sales rankings, and artistic efforts like the 2003 film Tupac: Resurrection have kept his image and music current among fans who were far too young to have seen and heard him perform while he was still alive. His recording career came to an end with his death at the age of 25, but like another famous rapper with whom his story is intertwined, Shakur has only grown in stature with each passing year since his still-unsolved murder.

The story of Shakur's death on September 13, 1996, begins with a failed attempt on his life two years earlier. On November 30, 1994, Tupac Shakur was shot and seriously wounded during a robbery committed by two armed men in the lobby of a midtown Manhattan office building that housed a recording studio where he'd been working on his third album, Me Against the World (1995). For reasons that have been detailed obsessively in works such as Nick Broomfield's 2002 documentary Biggie and Tupac, Shakur blamed the attack on producer Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs and rival rapper Christopher Wallace—a.k.a. "The Notorious B.I.G." Shakur's charges, and his subsequent move to the L.A.-based record label Death Row Records, sparked the so-called "East Coast vs. West Coast" feud that defined the hip-hop scene through the mid-1990s.

In Las Vegas on September 7, 1996, for the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon boxing match, Shakur and others in his entourage were captured on tape in the lobby of the MGM Grand hotel engaging in a violent scuffle with a man later identified as a member of the Los Angeles-based Bloods street gang. Hours later, Shakur was riding as a passenger in a car driven by Death Row Records head Marian "Suge" Knight when a white Cadillac pulled up alongside them at a stoplight on Flamingo Road and opened fire. At least 12 shots were fired, four of which struck Shakur and one of which grazed the head of Suge Knight. Emergency surgery at University Medical Center saved Shakur's life that night, and in the days following, doctors announced that his chances of recovery had improved. On September 13, 1996. however, Tupac Shakur died of his wounds.

Six months later, Shakur's rap rival, Christopher Wallace, was murdered in similar circumstances in Los Angeles. No arrest has been made to date in connection with either murder.