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In 1985, after the death of the third Soviet leader in two years, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, ushering in an era of political reform with his policies of glasnost and perestroika. He cultivated warmer relations with the US and others and even supported the democratically elected governments that replaced the communist regimes of eastern Europe. In 1991, he resigned the presidency of the USSR, which ceased to exist the same day. How did his own policies lead to the end of his administration? More...
2011 - The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster strikes Japan
The nuclear meltdowns occurred after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami. It was the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
2004 - 191 people die as several bombs explode on Madrid commuter trains
The bombings were conducted by an Islamist terrorist cell and came 3 days before Spain's general elections.
1990 - Lithuania becomes the first Soviet republic to declare its independence
The Baltic country's secession marked an important step in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
1990 - Patricio Aylwin becomes Chile's first democratically elected president since the end of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship
Pinochet had been in power since a CIA-backed coup d'état in 1973. Under his command, thousands of political opponents were interned, tortured, and killed.
1851 - Giuseppe Verdi's opera, Rigoletto, receives its premiere
Rigoletto is one of the most popular operas of all time. The piece was premiered at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Italy.
Historical Trivia pick
Escaped prisoner returned a month later in stolen helicopter and broke out girlfriend
Incarceration was no boundary for the love between Ronald McIntosh and his girlfriend, Samantha Dorinda Lopez.
While serving a sentence in Federal prison for wire fraud, Ronald McIntosh, who was 42 at the time, struck up a romance with Ms. Lopez, 37, who was working in the business office of the prison. She was serving a fifty-year sentence for abetting a bank robbery in Georgia and would have been eligible for parole in five years time.
McIntosh, who was a veteran helicopter pilot and mechanic who served in Vietnam, escaped incarceration during a transfer to Lompoc prison.
A month later, he returned to the prison at which Lopez was being held in a stolen helicopter in a fashion that's reminiscent of the great escapes seen only in movies. He landed it in the compound of the medium-security prison and, reunited with his lover, they both escaped.
Unfortunately for them, they were arrested 10 days later when they went to a shopping center in Sacramento to pick up wedding rings.
McIntosh, who was due to be released the next year, was found guilty of air piracy and helping Lopez to escape. Lopez was convincted of escape.
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the Soviet Union
In 1985, after the death of the third Soviet leader in two years, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, ushering in an era of political reform with his policies of glasnost and perestroika. He cultivated warmer relations with the US and others and even supported the democratically elected governments that replaced the communist regimes of eastern Europe. In 1991, he resigned the presidency of the USSR, which ceased to exist the same day. How did his own policies lead to the end of his administration? More...
2011 - The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster strikes Japan
The nuclear meltdowns occurred after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami. It was the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
2004 - 191 people die as several bombs explode on Madrid commuter trains
The bombings were conducted by an Islamist terrorist cell and came 3 days before Spain's general elections.
1990 - Lithuania becomes the first Soviet republic to declare its independence
The Baltic country's secession marked an important step in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
1990 - Patricio Aylwin becomes Chile's first democratically elected president since the end of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship
Pinochet had been in power since a CIA-backed coup d'état in 1973. Under his command, thousands of political opponents were interned, tortured, and killed.
1851 - Giuseppe Verdi's opera, Rigoletto, receives its premiere
Rigoletto is one of the most popular operas of all time. The piece was premiered at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Italy.
Historical Trivia pickEscaped prisoner returned a month later in stolen helicopter and broke out girlfriend
Incarceration was no boundary for the love between Ronald McIntosh and his girlfriend, Samantha Dorinda Lopez.
While serving a sentence in Federal prison for wire fraud, Ronald McIntosh, who was 42 at the time, struck up a romance with Ms. Lopez, 37, who was working in the business office of the prison. She was serving a fifty-year sentence for abetting a bank robbery in Georgia and would have been eligible for parole in five years time.
McIntosh, who was a veteran helicopter pilot and mechanic who served in Vietnam, escaped incarceration during a transfer to Lompoc prison.
A month later, he returned to the prison at which Lopez was being held in a stolen helicopter in a fashion that's reminiscent of the great escapes seen only in movies. He landed it in the compound of the medium-security prison and, reunited with his lover, they both escaped.
Unfortunately for them, they were arrested 10 days later when they went to a shopping center in Sacramento to pick up wedding rings.
McIntosh, who was due to be released the next year, was found guilty of air piracy and helping Lopez to escape. Lopez was convincted of escape.
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61-BLUES
