A Brief History On February 19, 1978, Egyptian commandos raided Larnaca International Airport in Cyprus in an attempt to rescue hostages taken in the hijacking of a Cyprus Airways Douglas DC-8. The Egyptians were not authorized by Cyprus to engage the hijackers, and a firefight broke out between Cypriot forces against the Egyptians, resulting in at least 18 Egyptians killed and another 18 wounded, while eight Cypriots were wounded. Digging Deeper A pair of terrorists had assassinated two Egyptians at a conference in Cyprus, and then took hostages to the airport and boarded a jetliner. Not allowed to land anywhere…
Browsing: February 19
A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on February 19th. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On February 19, 1807, former Vice President of the United States, Aaron Burr, the same guy that shot Alexander Hamilton to death in a duel while Burr was serving as Vice President, was arrested for treason. On February 19, 1859, New York Congressman Daniel E. Sickles made history as the first person acquitted by reason of “temporary insanity.” On February 19, 1943,…
A Brief History On February 19, 1954, the Soviet Politburo, the highest policy making organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, ordered the Crimean Oblast to the Ukrainian SSR. The Crimea had previously been part of the Russian SFSR, and numerous cultures, kingdoms, and empires before that. Digging Deeper After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a referendum of Crimean citizens voted to become an autonomous region within the Ukrainian SSR and in 1992, within an independent Ukraine. In 1994, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States agreed to the Budapest Memorandum, a treaty that addressed former Soviet…
A Brief History On February 19, 1807, former Vice President of the United States, Aaron Burr, the same guy that shot Alexander Hamilton to death in a duel while Burr was serving as Vice President, was arrested for treason. Burr is just one of several US Vice Presidents or former Vice Presidents that ran afoul of the law or otherwise engaged in nefarious or questionable behavior. Today we look at some of these ill-starred #2 politicians. As always, feel free to tell us who you would add to this list and why. Digging Deeper Aaron Burr. Burr first earned notoriety…
A Brief History On February 19, 1945, 30,000 US Marines landed on the Japanese held island of Iwo Jima, part of the Volcano Islands chain. The Battle of Iwo Jima is often cited as the most ferocious battle in American History and is a testament to the incredibly brave and dedicated men on both sides that fought and died there. Among the bravest of the brave was Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone, a previous Medal of Honor winner from the Guadalcanal Campaign that was only at Iwo Jima because he demanded to be returned to action instead of staying in the…