This Day in
History
3/3
by Akhil Vennelakanti and Mihir Kapoor
On this date in 1931, U.S. President Herbert Hoover signed a congressional act which made The Star-Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key the official U.S. national anthem.
Back in September 14, 1814 during the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key, an American lawyer, observed how the American flag still stood at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, even after twenty-five hours of bombardment by the British. This inspired him to compose Defence of Fort M’Henry. The lyrics were then published in two newspapers, the Baltimore Patriot and The American, on September 20, 1814, and set to the tune of the popular drinking song To Anacreon In Heaven by composer John Stafford Smith. In October, it was first publicly sung at a tavern by Ferdinand Durang. For the decades to come, the popularity of the song would only grow.
Bands across America would play it during Independence Day celebrations. In 1917, soldiers of the army and the navy designated The Star-Spangled Banner as the ‘national anthem’ which sparked decades of campaigns to make it the official national anthem of the United States. Six bills were passed in the 1920s by John Linthicum, the congressman from Maryland at the time. All of them failed. However, the National Federation of Music Clubs thought The Star-Spangled Banner as unfit to be the national anthem, and hosted a competition for a better one. America the Beautiful by Katherine Lee Bates was the chosen text but no winner was named. In 1930, five million people signed a petition made by the Veterans of Foreign Wars to make The Star-Spangled Banner the national anthem, and was then presented to the House Judiciary Committee on January 31.
It was sent to the House of Representatives and passed to the Senate, which sent it to the President. President Herbert Hoover then signed the order into law, marking The Star-Spangled Banner as the official United States national anthem, 117 years after the song was first drafted by Key.
History. “‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ becomes official U.S. national anthem,” History, 09 February 2010, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/march-3/the-star-spangled-banner-becomes-official
New York Times. “‘Star Spangled Banner’ Is Voted National Anthem by Congress,” Proquest, 04 Mar 1931, www.proquest.com/docview/99446706/?sourcetype=Newspapers
New York Times. “‘Star Spangled Banner’ Is Now Official Anthem,” Proquest, 05 Mar 1931, www.proquest.com/docview/150173140/?sourcetype=Newspapers
2/18
by Akhil Vennelakanti and Mihir Kapoor
On this day in 1930, the long-standing hypothesis of a ninth planet was finally validated by 24-year-old Clyde W. Tombaugh’s discovery of the 9th planet, Pluto.
Percival Lowell was the first to theorize a ninth planet in the solar system, since he thought that the causation of the wobbling in Uranus’s and Neptune’s orbits were caused by an unknown planet of which he called “Planet X.” He calculated the mysterious planet’s location and searched the cosmos for a decade…but it was nowhere to be found.
Meanwhile, Clyde W. Tombaugh, who was born into a farming family, fell in love with astronomy as a teenager. He was determined to find the planet perceived by Lowell, though he had no formal training in astronomy. When Lowell Observatory saw some of his drawings, the staff hired Tombaugh as an assistant and groundskeeper, where he continued his search using the lab’s astrograph. Using Lowell’s calculations, he eventually found a tiny spot that he identified as a planet, rather than a star. Its surface temperature was estimated to be -360° F (-217.7° C), so it was aptly named after the Roman god of the underworld, Pluto. His search had been completed, which caused madness in the observatory, where scientists tried to gather as much information about the planet as possible. Many other astronomers agreed that what he discovered was a planet. On March 13, 1930 (which was coincidentally Lowell’s birthday) Pluto was announced as the ninth planet.
However, there were some (now well-known) complications at the turn of the 21st century. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefined the definition of a planet to three rules: it must orbit a star, it must have enough gravity to be round, and it must ‘clear its neighbourhood.’ It was deemed a ‘dwarf planet’ for a variety of reasons, mainly because it does not clear its neighbourhood at all. Pluto was no longer the ninth planet.
Sources: History.com, Lowell.edu, Planetary.org
1/30
by Akhil Vennelakanti and Mihir Kapoor
On this day in 1933, President Paul von Hindenburg named Adolf Hitler as chancellor of Germany.
Adolf Hitler was a strong speaker, and with his speeches, supported his developing Nazi party. In July 1932, the Nazis claimed 230 governmental seats; along with the Communist party, they took over half of the Reichstag government building. Paul von Hindenburg was daunted by the growing power of the Nazis. He, at first, refused to appoint Hitler as chancellor of Germany. He had elected Kurt von Schleicher instead, who desired to lessen Hitler’s power and fame. During the November elections, Schleicher’s endeavors resulted in a quite paradoxical situation; the Nazis lost power, but the Communists grew stronger. Franz von Papen, an ex-chancellor, as well as the German National People’s Party (DNVP), convinced Hindenburg to elect Hitler–as well as let Papen be vice-chancellor and put non-Nazis in government positions in order to reduce Hitler’s evil doings.
At first, Papen criticized Hitler’s regime. Nearby countries feared that Hitler could use his new powers to eventually become a dictator–which he (as is well known) did; the Enabling Bill had given him full power. Officers and men now had to take an oath of allegiance to Hitler. Reduction of unemployment made the party popular. No one dared oppose him. Hitler then did some things that he would be immortalized for–fighting in World War II, hosting the Holocaust, and many more heinous things.
When the Nazi Party had lost World War II, Adolf Hitler went into hiding in a bunker in Berlin, which was known as the Führerbunker. He would write a book, Mein Kampf (My Struggles) while he was down there. Finally, on April 30th, 1945, he committed suicide with his wife, Eva Braun, by his side. Nazi Germany was then immortalized by historians, philosophers and politicians alike as one word: evil.
Sources: History.com, Wikipedia.org, Britannica.com
10/22
by Akhil Vennelakanti and Mihir Kapoor
On this day in 2008, Chandrayaan (Hindi for moon craft) launched to conduct a high resolution of the moon’s chemical and mineralogical characteristics. Chandrayaan was launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on the 22nd of October at 12:52 AM Universal Central Time (UTC), making this the first Indian space mission. The vehicle reached the moon’s orbit on November 8, 2008.
On November 14, 2008, the Moon Impact Probe was separated from Chandrayaan at 2:36 PM UTC. The 590-kg (1,300 lb) Chandrayaan launched on October 22, 2008, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Then it was put into an elliptical orbit around the Moon, and hit the south pole in a controlled manner. The probe landed near Shackleton at 3:01 PM UTC. With this mission, ISRO (the Indian Space Research Organization) became the fifth national space agency to land on the lunar surface. On that same day, Chandrayaan launched a small craft that was made to test future moon landings, as well as study the Moon’s atmosphere. The smaller craft discovered water on the Moon shortly before it crashed. NASA created two spacecraft which tried to find ice on the lunar surface. One of them, M3, studied the infrared waves on the Moon. It found traces of water on the Moon’s surface. M3 also found evidence that ice existed on the moon. The other, Mini-SAR, broadcasted radio waves towards the lunar poles. The changes of the waves proved that there is, in fact, ice on the Moon. The European Space Agency (ESA) provided an infrared sensor and a solar wind detector. The Bulgarian Aerospace Agency helped with the mission by providing a radiation monitor. The ISRO used various instruments to create images of the Moon with very high resolution, as well as a topographic map of the lunar surface. The Chandrayaan Imaging X-ray Spectrometer, created by both ISRO and ESA, was designed to detect various metals via emitted X-rays due to solar flares.
The mission was intended to last two years, but due to loss of radio communication with the craft, it ended August 28, 2009.
Sources: Britannica, Wikipedia, NASA
Hawaii's Constitution of 1840
by Akhil Vennelakanti
On this day in 1840, the Kingdom of Hawai’i, now the U.S. state Hawaii, created the Constitution of 1840. Written by King Kamehameha Kekauluohi III and his advisors, it gave all citizens equal rights, as denoted by the first paragraph: "’God hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on the earth,’ in unity and blessedness. God has also bestowed certain rights alike on all men and all chiefs, and all people of all lands.” The document also discusses the government of the area, as well as its judicial system, its “House of Nobles” (governors of each island), tax officers and much more.
The document also considers Jehovah (God) and that “no law shall be enacted which is at variance with the word of the Lord Jehovah, or at variance with the general spirit of His word.” However, it also states that “all men of every religion shall be protected in worshipping Jehovah, and serving Him, according to their own understanding.” Another thing that it states is that the government will not punish people who do not worship Jehovah, as long as they do not harm the people or the kingdom.
It also states that no citizen will be punished until they are sent to court, or if there is no proof of the crime. However, the citizen may be punished if they commit any crime against the constitution. Also, it dictates that no law can be passed that can allow any citizen the right to injure another person.
Finally, the last paragraph of the constitution concerned changes to the constitution. Similar to the modern U.S. constitution’s amendments, new laws can be suggested by the people, but must be approved by the legislature (the House of Nobles).
It was signed by the king at Honolulu, the capital of the kingdom—and now the United States.
Sources: History.com, Department of Accounting and General Services (Hawaii), Wikipedia.com