Today In History; December 28

December 28, 2013

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Good Morning & God Bless To Everyone !!!

Today is December 28, the 362nd day of 2013 and there are 3 days left this year in which it is another blessed day to be in the work of our Lord here at:

For God’s Glory Alone Ministries !!!

It’s another beautiful day here in Albuquerque where it is presently 20 degrees outside with a little wind bringing in a windchill of 11 degrees. I can attest to it being chilly out having just gone out to get the wife’s paper and couldn’t get back inside fast enough! We are expecting a very slightly cloudy day and a high in the upper 40’s today.

So, What Happened Today In 1941:

Request Is Made To Create Construction Battalions Which Become U.S. Navy Seebees

On this day, Rear Admiral Ben Moreell requests authority from the Bureau of Navigation to create a contingent of construction units able to build everything from airfields to roads under battlefield conditions. These units would be known as the “Seabees”—for the first letters of Construction Battalion.

The men chosen for the battalions were not ordinary inductees or volunteers—they all had construction-work backgrounds. The first batch of recruits who made the cut had helped build the Boulder Dam, national highways, and urban skyscrapers; had dug subway tunnels; and had worked in mines and quarries. Some had experience building ocean liners and aircraft carriers. Approximately 325,000 men, from 60 different trades, ages 18 to 60, would go on to serve with the Seabees by the end of the war. The officers given the authority to command these men were also an elite crew, derived from the Civil Engineer Corps. Of the more than 11,000 officers in the Corps all together, almost 8,000 would serve with the construction units.

Although the Seabees were technically supposed to be support units, they were also trained as infantrymen, and they often found themselves in combat with the enemy in the course of their construction projects. They were sent to war theaters as far-flung as the Azores, North Africa, the Mediterranean, the Pacific, and the beaches of Normandy.

Some of the Seabees’ feats became legendary. They constructed huge airfields and support facilities for the B29 Superfortress bombers on Guam, Saipan, and Tinian, as well as the ports needed to bring in the supplies for the bombing of Japan. The Seabees also suffered significant casualties in the process of providing innovative new pontoons to help the Allies land on the beaches of Sicily. During D-Day, the Seabees’ demolition unit was among the first ashore. Their mission: to destroy the steel and concrete barriers the Germans had constructed as obstacles to invasion.

The Seabees’ motto was “We Build, We Fight.”

Other Memorable Or Interesting Events Occurring On December 28 In History:

1065 – Westminster Abbey opens in London, England;

1612 – Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei observed the planet Neptune but mistook it for a star. (Neptune is officially discovered in 1846 by Johann Gottfried Galle);

1793 – Thomas Paine is arrested in France for treason. Though the charges against him were never detailed, he had been tried in absentia on December 26 and convicted. Before moving to France, Paine was an instrumental figure in the American Revolution as the author of Common Sense, writings used by George Washington to inspire the American troops. Paine moved to Paris to become involved with the French Revolution, but the chaotic political climate turned against him, and he was arrested and jailed for crimes against the country;

1781 – British troops commanded by Major James Henry Craig are posted at John’s Island, just outside of Charleston, South Carolina, on this day in 1781. Craig had evacuated his troops from Wilmington, North Carolina, a little over a month earlier on November 14. The Patriots planned to remove Craig and his men from the island with troops led by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Light Horse Harry Lee and his famed cavalry from Fort Ninety-Six in the South Carolina backcountry. Lee aborted the attack when a column led by Major James Hamilton arrived too late and was unable to cross the Wapoo River, which was only fordable once or twice a month;

1822 – Confederate General William Taliaferro is born in Gloucester County Virginia. He served under General Thomas J “Stonewall” Jackson then spent the 2nd half of the Civil War preparing coastal defenses in the south;

1832 – Citing political differences with President Andrew Jackson & a desire to fill a vacant Senate seat in South Carolina, John C Calhoun becomes the first Vice President in U.S. history to resign from the office;

1836 – Spain recognizes independence of Mexico;

1838 – Silent-film star Florence Lawrence commits suicide in Beverly Hills at age 52. Lawrence was also an inventor having designed the 1st “auto signalling arm” and the 1st “mechanical brake signal”;

1846 – Iowa is admitted as the 29th State of the Union;

1849 – Dry-Cleaning is discovered by M Jolly-Bellin when he accidentally upsets a lamp containing turpentine & oil on his clothing & sees the cleaning effect it had;

1856 – Future President Woodrow Wilson is born in Staunton Virginia. Wilson led the nation through WWI & was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1920. He died on February 23, 1924;

1867 – United States claims Midway Island, the 1st territory annexed outside its continental limits;

1869 – The Knights of Labor, a union of tailors in Philadelphia, hold the 1st Labor Day ceremonies in American history;

1895 – World’s 1st commercial movie screening takes place at the Grand Cafe in Paris France;

1902 – Trans-Pacific communications cable links Hawaii to the U.S.;

1908 – 7.5 magnitude earth quake strikes off the coast of Sicily killing over 100,000 people & destroys several towns. It was also responsible for deaths on the Italian mainland;

1943 – Russian troops, with no notice, deport everyone from Kalmukkie as they believed they were collaborating with Germany during WWII. Roughly 70,000 were killed;

1945 – Congress officially recognizes “Pledge of Allegiance”;

1946 – The French declare martial law in Vietnam as a full-scale war appears inevitable;

1950 – Chinese forces cross the 38th parallel into South Korea;

1951 – The U.S. pays $120,000 to free four fliers convicted of espionage in Hungary;

1964 – South Vietnam forces retake Binh Gia in a costly battle loosing 200 troops, 5 U.S. advisors & 300 more wounded or missing;

1968 – Israel attacks an airport in Beirut Lebanon destroying 13 planes;

1971 – The U.S. Justice Department sues Mississippi officials for ignoring voting ballots of blacks in the state;

1972 – During the Vietnam War, after 11 days of round-the-clock bombing, (except a 36 hour Christmas stand-down), in Operation Linebacker II, North Vietnam agreed to return to the Paris peace talks;

2000 – U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of business after 128 years;

2010 – Remains of a human believed to have lived 400,000 years ago are discovered in Israel challenging the theory that humans originated in Africa;

2012 – Vladimir Putin signs law banning U.S. adoption of Russian children.

Now We’re Off To The Fun Stuff:

Today’s Thought Provoking Inspirational Christian Music Video:

You Gave Everything To ME: https://www.todayschristianmusic.com/artists/mark-schultz/videos/everything-to-me-music-video/

Today’s Funny Bulldog: