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1786
1786 1786 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). Events - May 21 - Trial of the Necklace affair ends in Paris - August 8 - Mont Blanc was climbed for the first time by Dr. Michael-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat. - August 29- Shays Rebellion begins - September 2 – Hurricane in England. - November 7 - The oldest musical organization in the United States was founded as the Stoughton Musical Society. - November 30 - Peter Leopold Joseph of Habsburg-Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, promulgates a penal reform making his country the first state to abolish the death penalty. November 30 is therefore commemorated by 300 cities around the world as Cities for Life Day. - Choctaw Treaty - Chickasaw Treaty - Robert Burns publishes Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect - Francis Light acquires the island of Penang from the Sultan of Kedah on behalf of the British East India Company. It is the first British colony in South-East Asia. - Anglo-Spanish treaty gives Belize to Britain - First ship of convicts leaves Britain for Botany Bay, Australia - 820 out of 1138 aboard are convicts - The trade with Iceland is opened to all Danish and Norwegian traders. - The Mozart opera "The Marriage of Figaro" is premiered in Vienna - Goethe undertakes his 'Italian Journey' throughout September-December (published in 1817) Births - January 8 - Nicholas Biddle, President of the Second Bank of the United States (d. 1844) - January 12 - Sir Robert Inglis, Bt, English politician (d. 1855) - January 23 - Auguste de Montferrand, French architect (d. 1858) - February 24 - Wilhelm Grimm, German philologist and folklorist (d. 1859) - March 22 - Joachim Lelewel, Polish historian (d. 1861) - June 13 - Winfield Scott, American general and Presidential candidate (d. 1866) - August 17 - David "Davy" Crockett, American frontiersman (d. 1836) - August 25 - King Ludwig I of Bavaria (d. 1868) - September 11 - Friedrich Kuhlau, German composer (d. 1832) - September 18 - King Christian VIII of Denmark (d. 1848) - September 24 - Charles Bianconi, Italian-Irish entrepreneur - December 12 - William L. Marcy, American statesman (d. 1857) - Henry Bishop, English composer - Kim Jeonghui, Korean epigrapher (d. 1856) - Alexander Bryan Johnson, American philosopher (d. 1867) - Carl Maria von Weber, German composer (d. 1826) - Jean Francois Barriere, French historian Deaths - January 7 - Jean-Étienne Guettard, French physician and scientist (b. 1715) - January 14 - Meshech Weare, Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1713) - February 28 - John Gwynn, English architect and engineer (b. 1713) - March 11 - Charles Humphreys, American delegate to the Continental Congress (b. 1714) - April 10 - John Byron, Britsh naval officer (b. 1723) - May 19 - John Stanley, English composer (b. 1712) - May 21 - Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Swedish chemist (b. 1742) - May 25 - Pedro III of Portugal, consort of Queen Maria I of Portugal (b. 1717) - August 17 - King Frederick the Great of Prussia (b. 1712) - September 5 - Jonas Hanway, English merchant, traveler, and philanthropist (b. 1712) - October 2 - Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel, British admiral (b. 1725) - October 17 - Johann Ludwig Aberli, Swiss artist (b. 1723) - December 26 - Gasparo Gozzi, Italian critic and dramatist (b. 1713) Category:1786 ko:1786년 ms:1786 Common year starting on Sunday This is the calendar for any common year starting on Sunday (dominical letter A). e.g. 2006 (A common year is a year with 365 days -- in other words, not a leap year.) For other years, just shift the headers appropriately. Category:Weeks
2nd Millennium:	19th century:	1809	1815	1826	1837	1843	1854	1865	1871	1882	1893	1899
2nd Millennium:	20th century:	1905	1911	1922	1933	1939	1950	1961	1967	1978	1989	1995
3rd Millennium:	21st century:	2006	2017	2023	2034	2045	2051	2062	2073	2079	2090
3rd Millennium:	22nd century:	2102	2113	2119	2130	2141	2147	2158	2169	2175	2186	2197

Category:Sunday ko:일요일로 시작하는 평년 th:ปีปกติสุรทินที่วันแรกเป็นวันอาทิตย์

Affair of the diamond necklace

The Affair of the diamond necklace was a mysterious incident in the 1780s at the court of Louis XVI of France involving the queen Marie Antoinette. It concerned an unsavoury episode in which the wife of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, whose reputation was already tarnished by gossip and scandal, was implicated in a crime by contemporary public opinion. The Affair was historically significant as one of the events that led to the French populace's disillusionment with the monarchy, which eventually culminated in the French Revolution.

The Necklace

The Parisian jewellers Boehmer and Bassenge had spent years collecting stones for a necklace which they hoped at first to sell to Madame du Barry, the favourite of Louis XV. After the death of Louis XV (1774), the jewellers hoped it could be a gift to the queen, Marie Antoinette. In 1778 Louis XVI offered it to the queen as a present; its cost at the time was 1,600,000 livres. By one account, the queen refused it with the statement that the money would be better spent equipping a man-of-war. According to others, Louis XVI himself changed his mind. After having vainly tried to place the necklace outside of France, the jewellers attempted again in 1781 to sell it to Marie Antoinette after the birth of the dauphin Louis-Joseph-Xavier-François (1781-1789). The Queen again refused, allegedly with some reluctance.

The Story

A con-woman called Jeanne de St Remy de Valois conceived of a plan to gain wealth and possibly power and royal patronage through the necklace. A descendant of a bastard of Henry II of France, Jeanne de Valois, after many adventures, had married a soi-disantcomte de Lamotte, and lived on a small pension which the king granted her. In March 1784 she entered into relations with the Cardinal Louis de Rohan, formerly ambassador to Vienna. The Cardinal was regarded with displeasure by Marie Antoinette, having revealed some of her secrets to Maria Theresa of Austria, the empress of Vienna and Marie's mother, bringing a maternal reprimand. The queen also learned of a letter in which the cardinal spoke lightly of Maria Theresa in a way that offended Marie. At the time the cardinal was attempting to regain the favour of the queen in his quest for the position of prime minister. Valois persuaded him that she had been received by the queen and enjoyed her favour, and Rohan resolved to use her to regain the queen's goodwill. The comtesse de Lamotte assured the cardinal that she was making efforts on his behalf. This was the beginning of a pretended correspondence between Rohan and the queen, the adventuress duly returning replies to Rohan's notes, which she affirmed had come from the queen. The tone of the letters became very warm, and the cardinal, convinced that Marie Antoinette was in love with him, became ardently enamoured of her. He begged the countess to obtain a secret interview for him with the queen, and a meeting took place in August 1784 in a grove in the garden at Versailles between him and a lady whom the cardinal believed to be the queen herself. Rohan offered her a rose, and she promised him that she would forget their past dissagreements. Later a certain Marie Lejay (renamed by the comtesse "Baronne Gay d'Oliva", the last word being apparently an anagram of Valoi), who resembled Marie Antoinette, stated that she had been engaged to play the role of queen in this comedy. The countess profited by the cardinal's conviction to borrow from him sums of money destined ostensibly for the queen’s works of charity. Enriched by these, the countess was able to take an honourable place in society, and many persons believed her relations with Marie Antoinette, of which she boasted openly and unreservedly, to be genuine. It is still an unsettled question whether she simply mystified people, or whether she was really employed by the queen for some unknown purpose, perhaps to ruin the cardinal. In any case the jewellers Boehmer and Bassenge believed in the relations of the countess with the queen, and they resolved to use her to sell their necklace. She at first refused their commission, then accepted it. On January 21 1785 the Countess de Lamotte announced that the queen would buy the necklace, but that not wishing to treat directly, she would use a high person as an intermediary. A little while later Rohan came to negotiate the purchase of the famous necklace for the 1,600,000 livres, payable in installments. He claimed to have the queen's authorization, and showed the jewellers the conditions of the bargain approved in the handwriting of Marie Antoinette. The necklace taken by Rohan took to the countess' house, where a man, in whom Rohan believed he recognized a valet of the queen, came to fetch it. Shortly afterwards, the "comte de Lamotte" appears to have started at once for London, it is said with the necklace, which he broke up in order to sell the stones. When the time came to pay, the comtesse de Lamotte presented the cardinal's notes; but these were insufficient, and Boehmer complained to the queen, who told him that she had received no necklace and had never ordered it. She had the story of the negotiations repeated for her. Then followed a coup de théatre. On August 15 1785, Assumption Day, when the whole court was awaiting the king and queen in order to go to the chapel, the cardinal de Rohan, who was preparing to officiate, was arrested and taken to the Bastille. He was able, however, to destroy the correspondence exchanged, as he thought, with the queen, and it is not known whether there was any connivance of the officials, who did not prevent this, or not. The comtesse de Lamotte was not arrested until August 18 1785, after having destroyed her papers. The police set to work to find all her accomplices, and arrested the girl Oliva and a certain Reteaux de Villette, a friend of the countess, who confessed that he had written the letters given to Rohan in the queen's name, and had imitated her signature on the conditions of the bargain. The famous charlatan Cagliostro was also arrested, but it was recognised that he had taken no part in the affair. The cardinal de Rohan accepted the parlement of Paris as judges. A sensational trial resulted (May 31 1786) in the acquittal of the cardinal, of the girl Oliva and of Cagliostro. The comtesse de Lamotte was condemned to be whipped, branded and shut up in the prostitutes' prison, the Salpêtrière. Her husband was condemned, in his absence, to the galleys for life. Villette was banished.

The Scandal

Public opinion was much excited by this trial. Most historians come to the conclusion that Marie Antoinette was relatively blameless in the matter, that Rohan was an innocent dupe, and that the Lamottes deceived both for their own ends. This was also broadly the finding of the Paris Parlement, although they did not comment on the actions of the Queen. Many people in France persisted in the belief that the queen had used the countess as an instrument to satisfy her hatred of the cardinal de Rohan. Various circumstances fortified this belief, which contributed to render Marie Antoinette very unpopular -- her disappointment at Rohan's acquittal and the fact that he was deprived of his charges and exiled to the abbey of la Chaise-Dieu. The comtesse de Lamotte escaped from the Salpetriêre, which incited suspicion she was aided by the Court. The Parlement's acquittal of Rohan also pointed to an assumption that Antoinette was somehow in the wrong. The Countess de Lamotte took refuge in London and published Mémoires in which she accused the queen.

Significance

The affair of the necklace was important in discrediting the French monarchy in the years before the Revolution. Marie Antoinette was an unpopular figure, and salacious gossip about her made her even more of a liability to her husband. She was never able to shake off the idea in the public imagination that she had perpetrated a multi-million pound fraud for her own political ends. The circulation of sexual scandal and arguments about necklaces cannot have made her appear to be more in touch with the ordinary people. The affair also prompted Louis XVI to move closer to his wife, which arguably did not help him deal with later policy dilemmas.

The Affair in fiction

- The Affair of the Necklace, 2001 movie.
- The Queen's Necklace by Dumas book
- Diamond Necklace by Carlyle book

Reference

- Category:Scandals Category: History of France

August 8

August 8 is the 220th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (221st in leap years), with 145 days remaining.

Events

- 1509 - The Emperor Krishnadeva Raya is crowned in the town of Chittoor in the present-day state of Andhra Pradesh, India. His accession marks the beginning of the regeneration of the Vijayanagara Empire after a period of internal strife.
- 1585 - John Davis enters Cumberland Sound in quest for the Northwest Passage.
- 1588 - Battle of Gravelines ends - Defeated by the English during an invasion attempt, the surviving parts of the Spanish Armada begin to sail home. Only 67 of the original 130 ships will later reach Spain and most of these will be in poor condition.
- 1605 - The city of Oulu, Finland, is founded by Charles IX of Sweden.
- 1647 - Battle of Dangan Hill - Irish forces are defeated by British Parliamentary forces.
- 1786 - Mont Blanc is climbed for the first time by Dr. Michael-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat.
- 1839 - Beta Theta Pi was founded in Oxford, OH.
- 1844 - During a meeting held in Nauvoo, the Quorum of Twelve, headed by Brigham Young, is created as the leading body of the Mormon Church.
- 1863 - American Civil War: Following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (Davis will refuse the request upon receipt).
- 1876 - Thomas Edison receives a patent for his mimeograph.
- 1911 - Public Law 62-5 sets the number of representatives in the United States House of Representatives at 435. The law will take effect in 1913.
- 1918 - World War I: Battle of Amiens - Canadian troops, backed by Australians, begin a string of almost continuous victories with a push through the German front lines. German General Erich Ludendorff will later call this the "black day of the German army."
- 1929 - The German airship Graf Zeppelin begins a round-the-world flight (will end on August 29).
- 1930 - Betty Boop premieres in the animated film "Dizzy Dishes".
- 1938 - The Mauthausen concentration camp opens.
- 1942 - World War II: In Washington, DC, six German would-be saboteurs are executed (two others cooperate and receive life imprisonment instead).
- 1942- Quit India resolution was passed by the Bombay session of the AICC, which leads to the start of a historical civil disobedience movement across India
- 1945 - World War II - The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria with more than 1 million troops. Japan surrenders on August 15
- 1945 - The United Nations Charter is ratified by the United States, and that nation becomes the third to join the new international organization.
- 1949 - Bhutan becomes independent
- 1962 - Elizabeth Ann Duncan becomes the last woman to be executed in the United States prior to the reintroduction of capital punishment in 1977. She and the two men she hired to murder her pregnant daughter-in-law in 1958 die in San Quentin's gas chamber.
- 1963 - Great Train Robbery: In England, a gang of 15 train robbers steal 2.6 million pounds in bank notes.
- 1967 - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is founded.
- 1968 - Jurō Wada, a doctor at the Sapporo Medical School, successfully performs Japan's first heart transplant.
- 1969 - An iconic [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:AbbeyRoad.jpg picture] of the Beatles is taken to be used on their album Abbey Road.
- 1972 - Richard Nixon accepts the nomination as candidate for the presidency at the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida and chooses Maryland Govenor Spiro Agnew to be his running mate.
- 1973 - U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew goes on television to denounce accusations he had taken kickbacks from contractors while governor of Maryland. He calls the charges as "damned lies" and vows not to resign. (See also October 10)
- 1973 - Kim Dae-Jung, a South Korean politician and later president of South Korea, is kidnapped from a Tokyo hotel.
- 1974 - Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his resignation (effective the next day, August 9).
- 1976 - Boston, the self-titled debut album for the rock band Boston is released. It sells over 17 million copies and becomes the #1 best-selling debut album in history.
- 1978 - Odie makes his first appearance in the cartoon strip Garfield
- 1988 - General Ne Win, ruler of Burma since 1962, suddenly resigns.
- 1988 - Chicago's Wrigley Field installs lights and attempts to play first game at night.
- 1989 - STS-28: The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off on a secret five-day military mission.
- 1991 - Collapse of Warsaw radio mast, the tallest construction ever built
- 1999 - The series finale of Mystery Science Theater 3000 airs on the Sci-Fi Channel.
- 2000 - Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor.

Births

- 1079 - Emperor Horikawa of Japan (d. 1107)
- 1602 - Gilles de Roberval, French mathematician (d. 1675)
- 1605 - Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, colonial Governor of Maryland (d. 1675)
- 1646 - Godfrey Kneller, German-born painter (d. 1723)
- 1673 - John Ker, Scottish spy (d. 1726)
- 1693 - Laurent Belissen, French composer (d. 1762)
- 1694 - Francis Hutcheson, Irish philosopher (d. 1746)
- 1720 - Carl Fredrik Pechlin, Swedish politician (d. 1796)
- 1814 - Esther Morris, suffragist and the first U. S. woman judge (d. 1902)
- 1839 - Nelson Miles, U.S. general (d. 1925)
- 1866 - Matthew Henson, Arctic explorer (d. 1955)
- 1875 - Artur da Silva Bernardes, President of Brazil (d. 1955)
- 1879 - Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary (d. 1919)
- 1880 - Earle Page, eleventh Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1961)
- 1891 - Adolf Busch, German violinist (d. 1952)
- 1892 - Rafael Moreno Aranzadi, Spanish footballer (d. 1922)
- 1896 - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, American author (d. 1953)
- 1901 - Ernest O. Lawrence, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
- 1902 - Paul Dirac, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
- 1905 - André Jolivet, French composer (d. 1974)
- 1907 - Benny Carter, American musician and arranger (d. 2003)
- 1908 - Arthur Goldberg, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1980)
- 1910 - Sylvia Sidney, American actress (d. 1999)
- 1911 - Rosetta LeNoire, American actress (d. 2002)
- 1915 - James "Jumbo" Elliott, American track coach (d. 1981)
- 1919 - Dino De Laurentiis, Italian film producer
- 1920 - Leo Chiosso, Italian lyricist
- 1921 - William Asher, American film producer
- 1921 - John Herbert Chapman, British physicist
- 1921 - Webb Pierce, American singer (d. 1991)
- 1921 - Vulimiri Ramalingaswami, Indian medical scientist
- 1921 - Esther Williams, American actress and swimmer
- 1922 - Rory Calhoun, American actor (d. 1999)
- 1922 - Rudi Gernreich, Austrian-born fashion designer (d. 1985)
- 1925 - Alija Izetbegovic, President of Bosnia-Herzegovina (d. 2003)
- 1927 - Johnny Temple, baseball player (d. 1994)
- 1929 - Larisa Bogoraz, Soviet dissident (d. 2004)
- 1931 - Sir Roger Penrose, British physicist
- 1932 - Mel Tillis, American singer
- 1936 - Donald P. Bellisario, American television producer
- 1936 - Keith Barron, English actor
- 1937 - Dustin Hoffman, American actor
- 1938 - Connie Stevens, American singer and actress
- 1939 - Alexander Watson, American ambassador and diplomat
- 1944 - Peter Weir, Australian film director
- 1944 - Uli Derickson, Czech-born flight attendant
- 1944 - Brooke Bundy, American actress
- 1949 - Keith Carradine, American actor
- 1951 - Mamoru Oshii, Japanese film director
- 1952 -Jostein Gaarder, Norwegian author
- 1952 - Robin Quivers, American radio personality
- 1953 - Don Most American actor
- 1954 - Nigel Mansell, English race car driver
- 1955 - Herbert Prohaska, Austrian footballer
- 1956 - Branscombe Richmond, American actor
- 1958 - Deborah Norville, American reporter and television host
- 1961 - The Edge, Irish guitarist (U2)
- 1966 - Chris Eubank, English boxer
- 1973 - Scott Stapp, American singer (Creed)
- 1974 - Ulises De la Cruz, Ecuadoran footballer
- 1976 - J.C. Chasez, American singer (
- NSYNC)
- 1976 - Drew Lachey, American singer
- 1978 - Louis Saha, French footballer
- 1979 - Richard Harwood, British cellist
- 1980 - Sabine Klaschka, German tennis player
- 1980 - Pat Noonan, American soccer player
- 1981 - Vanessa Amorosi, Australian singer and songwriter
- 1981 - Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
- 1988 - Princess Beatrice of York

Deaths

- 869 - Lothair II of Lotharingia (b. 825)
- 1445 - Oswald von Wolkenstein, Austrian composer
- 1553 - Girolamo Fracastoro, Italian physician (b. 1478)
- 1588 - Alonso Sánchez Coello, Spanish painter
- 1604 - Horio Tadauji, Japanese warlord (b. 1578)
- 1684 - George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer (b. 1622)
- 1694 - Antoine Arnauld, French philosopher and mathematician (b. 1612)
- 1759 - Carl Heinrich Graun, German composer
- 1828 - Carl Peter Thunberg, Swedish naturalist (b. 1743)
- 1879 - Immanuel Hermann Fichte, German philosopher (b. 1797)
- 1887 - Alexander William Doniphan, American lawyer and soldier (b. 1808)
- 1898 - Eugène Boudin, French painter (b. 1824)
- 1902 - James Tissot, French artist (b. 1836)
- 1911 - William P. Frye, American politician (b. 1830)
- 1933 - Adolf Loos, Austrian architect (b. 1870)
- 1940 - Johnny Dodds, American musician (b. 1892)
- 1944 - Chaim Soutine, Russian painter (b. 1894)
- 1965 - Shirley Jackson, American author (b. 1916)
- 1972 - Andrea Feldman, American actor (b. 1948)
- 1975 - Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1928)
- 1985 - Louise Brooks, American actress (b. 1906)
- 1987 - Danilo Blanuša, Croatian mathematician (b. 1903)
- 1991 - James Irwin, astronaut (b. 1930)
- 1995 - Joan Croydon, theatre actress who made one movie (The Bad Seed) (b. 1923)
- 1996 - Nevill Mott, English physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics (b. 1905)
- 1997 - Sviatoslav Richter, Ukrainian pianist (b. 1915)
- 2004 - Fay Wray, American actress (b. 1907)
- 2005 - Barbara Bel Geddes, American actress (b. 1922)
- 2005 - John H. Johnson, African-American publisher; billionaire (b. 1918)
- 2005 - Gene Mauch, American athlete and manager (b. 1925)
- 2005 - Monica Sjoo, Swedish artist (cancer)
- 2005 - Ilse Werner, German actress (b. 1921)

Holidays and observances

- Taiwan: Father's Day. (In Mandarin, Ba Ba means father and 8-8, or August 8).
- Sweden - Namesday of Queen Silvia, an Official Flag Day.

Religious observances

- Roman Catholic Church: Memorial of St Dominic de Guzman, priest, (1170-1221).

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/8 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050808.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- August 7 - August 9 - July 8 - September 8 -- listing of all days ko:8월 8일 ms:8 Ogos ja:8月8日 simple:August 8 th:8 สิงหาคม

Mont Blanc

:This article is about the mountain. For other uses, see Mont Blanc (disambiguation) Mont Blanc (Fr., "White Mountain") or Monte Bianco (It., same meaning, also known as La Dame Blanche (the White Lady)), in the Alps, is the highest mountain in Western Europe. Its height is about 4,810 metres (15,780 feet), but varies from year to year by a few metres, depending on snowfall and climate conditions. Parts of Mont Blanc clearly lie in France and others in Italy, but the French fight for the possession of the mountain top; in some french maps, it is fully within France. In a convention between France and Kingdom of Sardinia, in Turin (1861), the border [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:1823_Mont_Blanc_1.jpg] was fixed on the highest point of the Mont Blanc (monte sur le groupe du Mont Blanc, en touche le point le plus élevé) and this was the last definition of this border, but often the French maps do not agree about this solution. The two most famous towns near Mont Blanc are Chamonix, Haute-Savoie (France; site of the first Winter Olympic Games in 1924) and Courmayeur, Valle d'Aosta (Italy). Begun in 1957 and completed in 1965, the 11.6 kilometer (7.25 mile) Mont Blanc Tunnel runs beneath the mountain between these two cities and is one of the major trans-Alpine transport routes. The Mont Blanc massif is very popular for mountaineering, hiking, and skiing. Mont Blanc was first climbed on August 8, 1786 by Jacques Balmat and Michel Paccard; the first woman to reach the summit was Marie Paradis in 1808. 1808

The Mont Blanc Glaciers

Mont Blanc has traditionally been considered to be 4807 m high, but GPS-based measurements made in 2001 and 2003 show differences of a few metres from year to year. These seem to result from fluctuations, caused by the weather, in the thickness of the glacier that covers the peak to a depth of up to 23 m. The mountain has a number of glaciers among which the Glacier des Bossons[http://www.montblanc.to/uk/glacier/index.html] and the glacier D'Argentière can be seen streaming slowly down its flanks; the Mer de Glace is the largest of these.

External links

- [http://www.club4000.it/Articoli/MonteBianco.pdf Reasoning about the border between France and Italy by Umberto Pellazza]
- [http://www.ign.fr/telechargement/Pi/C_PRESSE/CP_Mt_Blanc_2003.pdf Official paper of the French surveying board] (PDF)
- [http://www.peakware.com/encyclopedia/peaks/montblanc.htm Mont Blanc on Peakware]
- [http://www.summitpost.org/show/mountain_link.pl/mountain_id/63 Mont Blanc on Summitpost]
- [http://www.diealpen.at Mont-blanc on dieAlpen.at] - online encyclopedia of the Alps
- [http://www.photoglobe.info/db_chamonix/index.html Mont Blanc Massif] Several photos of the Mont Blanc massif including GPS coordinates of the photo locations
- [http://www.photoglobe.info/spc_mont_blanc.html Mont Blanc from Space]
- [http://france-for-visitors.com/alps/mont-blanc/index.html Visiting the Mont-Blanc] - in English
- [http://terragalleria.com/mountain/mountain.mont-blanc.html Photos of Mont-Blanc - Terra Galleria] Taken by an alpinist on each of the 5 faces of the mountain
- [http://album.club-internet.fr/album/disp_serie.phtml?user=burdalet&cid=249795&id_album=21979 Pictures of Mont-Blanc mountain range area ]
- [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mtblanc/ Descent Into the Ice] - Companion web site to the PBS NOVA program which follows a glaciologist and an adventurer into the glacier caves of France's Mt. Blanc
- [http://www.fotogalerien.ch/index.php?gallery=55&&lang=2&pct=15 Mont Blanc from Pointe de Drône] Blanc, Mont Blanc, Mont Blanc, Mont ja:モンブラン

Jacques Balmat

Jacques Balmat, called le Mont Blanc (1762, Chamonix valley - 1834, Sixt valley) was a French mountain guide. A modest chamois hunter and collector of crystals, Balmat realized the first ascension of Mont Blanc with Michel-Gabriel Paccard on August 8, 1786. For this feat, the king of Sardinia, gave him the honorable title le Mont Blanc. Balmat, Jacques

August 29

August 29 is the 241st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (242nd in leap years), with 124 days remaining. It is also the 1st day of Thoth - which is the 1st day of the Egyptian Horoscope. Thoth is the Ibis-headed god of knowledge.

Events

- 708 - Copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 708).
- 1189- Ban Kulin wrote "The Charter of Kulin", which become a symbolic "birth certificate" of Bosnian statehood
- 1261 - Urban IV becomes Pope, the last man to do so without being a Cardinal first.
- 1475 - The Treaty of Picquigny ends a brief war between France and England.
- 1484 - Pope Innocent VIII, a staunch supporter of the Spanish Inquisition, is elected Pope.
- 1521 - The Ottoman Turks capture Nándorfehérvár, now known as Belgrade.
- 1526 - Battle of Mohács: The Ottoman Turks led by Suleiman the Magnificent defeat and kill the last Jagiellonian king of Hungary and Bohemia.
- 1533 - Inca emperor Atahualpa is executed in Cajamarca by the garrote.
- 1541 - The Ottoman Turks capture Buda, the capital of the Hungarian Kingdom.
- 1756 - Frederick the Great attacks Saxony, beginning the Seven Years' War.
- 1786 - Shays' Rebellion, an armed uprising of Massachusetts farmers, begins in response to high debt and tax burdens.
- 1831 - Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction.
- 1842 - The Tokugawa shogunate orders the local daimyō to begin providing foreign ships with fresh water and supplies when requested. (Traditional Japanese date: July 24, 1842).
- 1862 - Battle of Aspromonte: Italian royal forces defeat rebels.
- 1871 - Emperor Meiji orders the Abolition of the han system and the establishment of prefectures as local centers of administration. (Traditional Japanese date: July 14, 1871).
- 1885 - Gottlieb Daimler patents the world's first motorcycle.
- 1895 - The formation of the Northern Rugby Union at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, England.
- 1896 - Chop suey is invented in New York City.
- 1898 - The Goodyear tire company is founded.
- 1907 - The Quebec Bridge collapses during construction, killing 75 workers.
- 1910 - Japan changes Korea's name to Chōsen and appoints a governor-general to rule its new colony.
- 1911 - Ishi, considered the last Native American to make contact with whites, emerges from the wilderness of northeastern California.
- 1922 - Turkish forces set fire to Smyrna, in Asia Minor.
- 1930 - The last 36 remaining inhabitants of St Kilda are voluntarily evacuated to Scotland.
- 1943 - German-occupied Denmark scuttles most of its navy; Germany dissolves Danish government.
- 1944 - Slovak National Uprising takes place as 60,000 Slovak troops turn against the Nazi rulers.
- 1949 - Soviet atomic bomb project: The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, known as First Lightning or Joe 1, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan.
- 1952 - Premiere of John Cage's 4'33" in Woodstock, New York.
- 1958 - United States Air Force Academy opens in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
- 1966 - Last Beatles concert, in San Francisco, California.
- 1966 - Execution of Sayyid Qutb, a leading theoretician of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
- 1982 - The synthetic chemical element Meitnerium, atomic number 109, is first synthesized at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany.
- 1991 - Supreme Soviet suspends all activities of the Soviet Communist Party.
- 1995 - NATO launches Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb forces.
- 1996 - A Vnukovo Airlines Tupolev Tu-154 crashes into a mountain on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, killing all 141 aboard.
- 1997 - At least 98 villagers are killed by the GIA in the Rais massacre, Algeria.
- 1997 - Serial killer Ángel Maturino Reséndiz bludgeons to death Christopher Maier of Lexington, Kentucky, USA, the first of nine victims.
- 2003 - Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the Shia Muslim leader in Iraq, is assassinated in a terrorist bombing, along with nearly 100 worshippers as they leave a mosque in Najaf.
- 2005 - Hurricane Katrina devastates much of the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, killing more than 1350 and costing over 100 billion dollars in damage.

Births

- 1619 - Jean-Baptiste Colbert, French minister of finance (d. 1683)
- 1628 - John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath, English royalist statesman (d. 1701)
- 1632 - John Locke, English philosopher (d. 1704)
- 1725 - Charles Townshend, English politician (d. 1767)
- 1756 - Heinrich Graf von Bellegarde, Austrian field marshal and statesman (d. 1845)
- 1780 - Jean Ingres, French painter (d. 1867)
- 1805 - Frederick Maurice, English theologian (d. 1872)
- 1809 - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., American physician and writer (d. 1894)
- 1810 - Juan Bautista Alberdi, founding father of the Argentine Republic (d. 1884)
- 1843 - David B. Hill, Governor of New York (d. 1910)
- 1844 - Edward Carpenter, English Socialist poet (d. 1929
- 1862 - Andrew Fisher, fifth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1928)
- 1862 - Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1949)
- 1871 - Albert Lebrun, French politician (d. 1950)
- 1876 - Charles F. Kettering, American inventor (d. 1958)
- 1898 - Preston Sturges, American screenwriter (d. 1959)
- 1904 - Werner Forssmann, German physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1979)
- 1905 - Dhyan Chand, Indian hockey player (d. 1979)
- 1915 - Ingrid Bergman, Swedish actress (d. 1982)
- 1916 - George Montgomery, American actor (d. 2000)
- 1917 - Isabel Sanford, American actress (d. 2004)
- 1920 - Charlie Parker, American jazz saxophonist and composer (d. 1955)
- 1923 - The Lord Attenborough, English film director
- 1924 - Consuelo Velázquez, Mexican songwriter (d. 2005)
- 1924 - Dinah Washington, American singer (d. 1963)
- 1933 - Arnold Koller, Swiss Federal Councilor
- 1936 - John McCain, American politician
- 1937 - James Florio, Governor of New Jersey
- 1938 - Elliott Gould, American actor
- 1938 - Robert Rubin, United States Secretary of the Treasury
- 1939 - William Friedkin, American film director
- 1939 - Joel Schumacher, American film director
- 1940 - Gary Gabelich, race car driver and land world speed record holder
- 1941 - Robin Leach, English television host
- 1946 - Bob Beamon, American jumper
- 1958 - Michael Jackson, American singer and songwriter
- 1959 - Ernesto Rodrigues, Portuguese composer
- 1959 - Timothy Perry Shriver, American chairman of the Special Olympics
- 1961 - Carsten Fischer, German field hockey player
- 1962 - Rebecca De Mornay, American actress
- 1963 - Elizabeth Fraser, English singer (Cocteau Twins)
- 1969 - Me'Shell NdegéOcello, American singer
- 1969 - Joe Swail, Irish snooker player
- 1970 - Jacco Eltingh, Dutch tennis player
- 1971 - Carla Gugino, American actress
- 1978 - Larry Ganzman, Ukrainian emigrant
- 1980 - David Desrosiers, Canadian musician (Simple Plan)
- 1981 - Lanny Barbie, Canadian porn star and Penthouse magazine's Pet of the Month for June, 2003

Deaths

- 886 - Basil I, Byzantine Emperor (b. 811)
- 1093 - Hugh I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1057)
- 1395 - Duke Albert III of Austria (b. 1349)
- 1435 - Isabeau de Bavière, queen of Charles VI of France (b. 1371)
- 1442 - John VI, Duke of Brittany (b. 1389)
- 1526 - King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia (killed in battle) (b. 1506)
- 1533 - Atahualpa, last Inca ruler of Peru
- 1657 - John Lilburne, English dissenter
- 1712 - Gregory King, English statistician (b. 1648)
- 1769 - Edmund Hoyle, English author and teacher (b. 1672)
- 1780 - Jacques-Germain Soufflot, French architect (b. 1713)
- 1799 - Pope Pius VI (b. 1717)
- 1877 - Brigham Young, American religious leader and western settler (b. 1801)
- 1904 - Murad V, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1840)
- 1930 - William Archibald Spooner, English writer (b. 1844)
- 1935 - Queen Astrid of Belgium (b. 1905)
- 1947 - Manolete, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1917)
- 1966 - Sayyid Qutb, Egyptian theoretician (b. 1906)
- 1968 - Ulysses S. Grant III, American soldier and planner (b. 1881)
- 1972 - Lale Andersen, German singer (b. 1905)
- 1975 - Eamon de Valera, first Taoiseach and third President of Ireland (b. 1882)
- 1981 - Lowell Thomas, American writer and broadcaster (b. 1892)
- 1982 - Ingrid Bergman, Swedish actress (b. 1915)
- 1987 - Lee Marvin, American actor (b. 1924) 1988 Alastair Leslie-Dakers
- 1989 - Peter Scott, English explorer, naturalist, and painter (b. 1909)
- 2003 - Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, Iraqi political leader (b.1939)
- 2004 - Hans Vonk, Dutch conductor (b. 1942)

Holidays and observances

- Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholic Church commemorate the beheading of John the Baptist with a feast day
- Slovakia - Slovak National Uprising Day (1944, against the Nazi's)

Fictional

- The day the running stopped for fugitive Richard Kimble - 29 August 1967.
- Judgment Day in the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day - 29 August 1997.

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/29 BBC: On This Day] ---- August 28 - August 30 - July 29 - September 29 – listing of all days ko:8월 29일 ms:29 Ogos ja:8月29日 simple:August 29 th:29 สิงหาคม

Shays Rebellion

The Shays Rebellion (also Shays's or Shays') was an armed uprising in Western Massachusetts, United States, that lasted from 1786 to 1787. Many of the rebels, known as Shaysites or Regulators, were small farmers angered by high debt and tax burdens. The rebellion started on August 29, 1786. A state militia that had been raised as a private army defeated the main Shaysite force February 3, 1787. Most of the rebels were treated leniently. The lack of an institutional response to the uprising led to a re-evaluation of the Articles of Confederation and the negotiations for a new Constitution.

Background

Rebellion was led by Daniel Shays, a war veteran. He is quoted to have said: "The seeds of war are now sown...Our cause is yours. Don't give yourself a rest and let us die here." The crisis leading to the rebellion was precipitated by credit problems incurred after the American Revolutionary War, when many of the trade benefits of British colonialism vanished and British companies began to demand payment of debts. This debt ultimately trickled down to consumers, in large part small farmers. In addition, the tax system at the time was highly regressive. As a result, many small farmers were forced to sell their land to meet their debts, often at less than one-third of fair market price. Furthermore, when Massachusetts rewrote its constitution in 1779, the towns of Western Massachusetts and modern-day Maine were unable to contribute to the final document and ratification because of extremely bad weather. The resulting feeling of disenfranchisement led to discussions of reform and/or secession in both areas. Initially the farmers' response was primarily political, a demand for the printing of fiat money, which would cause inflation and therefore reduce the debt burden on the farmers. The farmers also demanded that debtor courts, which enforced many of the credit schemes at the time, be staffed by elected rather than appointed officials. These efforts were resisted and stymied by wealthy and influential parties, led by men like James Bowdoin who had strong control of the government because of the property eligibility requirements for office at the time. When Bowdoin was elected governor, many of the people in Western Massachusetts became restless.

Rebellion

Calling themselves Regulators, men from all over the western and central parts of the state began to agitate for change. Initial disturbances were mostly peaceful and centered primarily on freeing incarcerated farmers from debtor's prisons. In the late summer of 1786 the conflict escalated when armed Regulators shut down debtor courts in Northampton, Worcester, Concord, and elsewhere. After the passage of the Riot Act, the Regulators seized arms from the Springfield Armory. Militia groups called out to fight the Regulators often switched sides. The rebellion eventually gelled into an organized army, led by one Daniel Shays, a farmer from East Pelham and a former captain in the American Revolutionary War. Another leader, Luke Day, was the son of a wealthy family in West Springfield. While the Regulators are usually thought of as a rabble of poor farmers, many of them were members of prominent local families, including the Dickensons of Amherst. In addition, many of the rebels were former soldiers who fought in the American Revolution. The lack of a standing army under the government of the time (set up by the Articles of Confederation) prevented Congress from sending Federal forces. Due to a lack of funds and some empathy for the Regulators, the Massachusetts legislature was unwilling to approve a raising of the militia. Desperate for a solution, Governor James Bowdoin and a number of Boston-area bankers then assembled 4,400 privately-paid mercenaries (who were later legitimized as a militia) under the command of General Benjamin Lincoln to quell what was becoming an increasingly effective rebellion. When the Regulators heard about the mercenary army, they planned to return to the federal arsenal in Springfield, Massachusetts for more weapons. A column of rebels led by Luke Day was delayed by heavy snows, but were repulsed by forces under Gen. William Shepard, allowing Lincoln's as-yet illegitimate army to seize the armory's weapons first. When the other column of Regulators arrived, an extended conflict between the rebels (of some 2000 men) and the Lincoln's army (of around 4,400 men) followed. In the end, this "Battle of Springfield" resulted in a rebel defeat, although only four rebels were actually killed.

Defeat

Shays and his followers were pursued by General Lincoln's now-legitimate militia to Petersham, Massachusetts, where they were defeated on February 3, 1787. Shays and many of the leaders escaped to Vermont where they were sheltered by Ethan Allen and other prominent Vermonters. Vermont governor Thomas Chittenden is believed to have helped shelter these refugees while at the same time publicly decrying the practice. Shays himself was sentenced to death for treason but he and many other leaders were pardoned by the newly elected Massachusetts governor John Hancock. The breakup of this rebel army was followed by guerilla-style attacks on wealthy landowners, liberation of jailed farmers, arson and the like. The last known battle of this kind was fought in South Egremont. In the end, only two men, John Bly and Charles Rose, were hanged for their part in the rebellion. In exchange for amnesty, Shays' followers were banned from elected office for three years and were not allowed to serve on juries or vote. Eventually the force for the rebellion was dissipated both by an improving economy and by elections that replaced some incumbents with individuals sympathetic to the rebellion (including many of Shays' followers, despite the ban).

Constitutional influence

Later in 1787 twelve states sent delegates to a meeting in Philadelphia. Their purpose was to change the Articles of Confederation, but the subject changed to negotiations that were to lead to the United States Constitution. Fear of uprisings like Shays Rebellion were a motivation for creating a strong central government, especially the creation of a standing federal army. In addition many states moved their capitals to rural regions, where state governments would be better informed of local events and better able to control such uprisings. Shays Rebellion strongly influenced the decision to call for the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

References

# Richards, Leonard "Shays's Rebellion: The American Revolution's Final Battle." (2002) Category:Massachusetts history Category:Rebellions in the United States Category:1786

September 2

September 2 is the 245th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (246th in leap years). There are 120 days remaining.

Events

- 44 BC - Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion.
- 44 BC - The first of Cicero’s Philippics (oratorical attacks) on Mark Antony. He will make 14 of them over the next several months.
- 31 BC - Roman Civil War: Battle of Actium - Off the western coast of Greece, forces of Octavian defeat troops under Mark Antony and Cleopatra.
- 1649 - The Italian city of Castro is completely destroyed by the forces of Pope Innocent X, ending the Wars of Castro.
- 1666 - The Great Fire of London breaks out and burns for three days, destroying 10,000 buildings including St. Paul's Cathedral.
- 1752 - The United Kingdom adopts the Gregorian Calendar, nearly two centuries later than most of Western Europe.
- 1789 - The United States Department of the Treasury is founded.
- 1792 - During what became known as the September Massacres of the French Revolution, rampaging mobs slaughter three Roman Catholic Church bishops and more than two hundred priests.
- 1807 - British Navy bombards Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets to prevent Denmark from surrendering its fleet to Napoleon.
- 1833 - Oberlin College is founded by John Shipherd and Philo P. Stewart.
- 1862 - American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln reluctantly restores Union General George McClellan to full command after General John Pope's disastrous defeat at the Battle of Second Bull Run.
- 1862- First federal tax on tobacco
- 1864 - American Civil War: Union forces enter Atlanta, Georgia a day after the Confederate defenders flee the city.
- 1867 - Mutsuhito, the Meiji Emperor of Japan marries Ichijo Masako. The Empress consort is thereafter known as Lady Haruko.
- 1870 - Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Sedan - Prussian forces take French Emperor Napoleon III and 100,000 of his soldiers prisoner.
- 1885 - In Rock Springs, Wyoming, 150 white miners attack their Chinese fellow workers, killing 28, wounding 15, and forcing several hundred more out of town.
- 1898 - Battle of Omdurman - British and Egyptian troops defeat Sudanese tribesmen and establishing British dominance in the Sudan.
- 1901 - Vice President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt utters the famous phrase, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" at the Minnesota State Fair.
- 1935 - Labor Day Hurricane of 1935: A large hurricane hits the Florida Keys killing 423.
- 1939 - Following the invasion of Poland, Freie Stadt Danzig Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) is annexed to Nazi Germany.
- 1944 - Holocaust: Diarist Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from Westerbork to Auschwitz, arriving three days later.
- 1945 - World War II ends: The final official surrender of Japan is accepted aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
- 1945 - Vietnam declares its independence, forming the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).
- 1946 - Ayn Rand began writing Atlas Shrugged.
- 1963 - CBS Evening News becomes U.S. network television's first half-hour weeknight news broadcast, when the show is lengthened from 15 to 30 minutes.
- 1967 - The microstate Principality of Sealand unilaterally declares its independence.
- 1969 - The first automatic teller machine in the United States is installed in Rockville Center, New York.
- 1984 - Seven Die + Fifteen wounded in a clash between rival bikie gangs the Bandidos + the Comancheros @ the Millpera Tavern Millpera, Sydney.
- 1987 - In Moscow, the trial begins of 19-year-old pilot Mathias Rust, who flew his Cessna aircraft into Red Square in May 1987.
- 1990 - Transnistria declares its independence from Moldova; however, Moldova does not recognize it.
- 1991 - The United States recognizes the independence of the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
- 1995 - The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens in Cleveland, Ohio.
- 1998 - In Canada, pilots for Air Canada launch the first strike in company's history.
- 1998 - Swissair Flight 111 crashes near Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia. All 229 people on board are killed.
- 1998 - The UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda finds Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former mayor of a small town in Rwanda, guilty of nine counts of genocide.
- 2002 - World Heavyweight Championship reintroduced to WWE televison.
- 2005 - The Kingdom of Lovely is declared in Leicester Square, London, by King Danny I of Lovely.

Births

- 1243 - Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford, English politician (d. 1295)
- 1548 - Vincenzo Scamozzi, Italian architect (d. 1616)
- 1675 - William Somervile, English poet (d. 1742)
- 1805 - Esteban Echeverría, Argentine writer (d. 1851)
- 1810 - William Seymour Tyler, American educator and historian
- 1830 - William P. Frye, American politician
- 1838 - Liliuokalani of Hawaii, Queen of Hawaii (d. 1917)
- 1850 - Albert Spalding, baseball player and sporting goods manufacturer (d. 1915)
- 1850 - Woldemar Voigt, German physicist (d. 1919)
- 1853 - Wilhelm Ostwald, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1932)
- 1854 - Hans Jæger, Norwegian writer and political activist (d. 1910)
- 1862 -

1786

Events

Births

Deaths

Common year starting on Sunday

Affair of the diamond necklace

The Necklace

The Story

The Scandal

Significance

The Affair in fiction

Reference

August 8

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Religious observances

External links

Mont Blanc

The Mont Blanc Glaciers

External links

Jacques Balmat

August 29

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Fictional

External links

Shays Rebellion

Background

Rebellion

Defeat

Constitutional influence

See also

References

September 2

Events

Births