#OnThisDay, 21 Mar 1945, Hannie Schaft, an active member of the Dutch resistance known as "the girl with the red hair", is arrested at a German checkpoint in Haarlem.
She is later executed, allegedly saying "I shoot better" after the first attempt to shoot her missed.
Today in 2001, 24 years ago: in Afghanistan, the Taliban government of Mohammed Omar destroys the two gigantic Buddhas of Bāmiyān (5th century), with the help of Arab and Pakistani engineers.
#OnThisDay in 1991, #LeoFender, American inventor, and electric guitar designer (Telecaster; Stratocaster; Precision Bass), died from Parkinson's disease complications at 81. ✞
#RIP
Today in 1990, 35 years ago: Namibia becomes a sovereign state after 75 years of colonization.
On this day in 1915, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the "original soul sister" and "Godmother of rock and roll" was born.
"Rock 'n' roll was bred between the church and the nightclubs in the soul of a queer black woman in the 1940s named Sister Rosetta Tharpe."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9a49oFalZE
Published #OnThisDay 19th March 1976:
The Bottom Dog, Vol. 3, No. 60.
The Bottom Dog was a Limerick-based newspaper, published from 1975 and subtitled “the working class paper of North Munster”.
#OnThisDay, 19 March 1944, Yvonne Baseden parachutes into Nazi-occupied France as a Special Operations Executive radio operator. The British SOE supported the French resistance. Radio operators ran the greatest risk of discovery as their position could be triangulated when they were transmitting.
Baseden was captured and sent to Ravensbrück.
She was the subject of the first regular UK edition of This Is Your Life in 1955.
Today in 1944, 81 years ago: Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupts, killing 26 people, causing thousands to flee their homes, and destroying dozens of Allied bombers.
Today in 1865, 160 years ago: American Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States adjourns for the last time.
“Once, with hand-grenades in my shopping bag, I travelled in a train so full that I had to stand against a German NCO.”
#OnThisDay, 18 Mar 1943, Francine Agazarian arrives in Nazi-occupied France to be a courier in the Special Operations Executive. The British SOE supported the French Resistance.
NO MORE UNEMPLOYED. NEW NATIVE INDUSTRY. FUNGUS! FUNGUS!! FUNGUS!!! JOHN A TONG, Manners street, Wellington, has much pleasure in informing he will purchase FUNGUS at the rate of 6s per sack. Wellington Independent #OnThisDay 18 March 1871
https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/Wellington_Independent,_18_March_1871,_Page_3
Today in 1960, 65 years ago: in Washington, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the directive to the National Security Council about a program of covert actions against Cuba, which will trigger the attempted invasion of Playa Girón (ordered by President John F. Kennedy), in which the United States will be defeated.
Happy 9th anniversary to the first Mastodon post!
Today in 1972, 53 years ago: the film The Godfather opens in New York (United States).
Today in 1948, 77 years ago: In Washington (United States) the Senate approves the Marshall Plan.
Today in 1982, 43 years ago: The South African government bombs the headquarters of the African National Congress in London.
Today in 1940, 85 years ago: The Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union officially ends after the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty.
#OnThisDay, 13 Mar 1990, Ertha Pascal-Trouillot became the provisional president of Haiti. She was the first woman to hold the role.
She stabilised the country for long enough for it to hold a free and fair election.
“I accepted the position in the name of Haitian women. I did it as a service to my country. I did it with love and determination.”
#OnThisDay 12th March 2003: "Monster Meeting" - Crumlin Anti-Bin Tax Campaign
From the Anti-Bin Tax Campaign of the early 2000s in Dublin. The campaign led to the imprisonment of Socialist Party and Irish Socialist Network members. Waste collection was subsequently privatised.
