Night of the Murdered Poets
August 12, 1952 - Under the orders of Soviet
leader Joseph Stalin 13 prominent Jewish intellectuals were executed in
the basement of the infamous Lubyanka prison in Moscow.
Known as the Night of the Murdered Poets, the massacre was a precursor to stepped
up persecution of Soviet Jews. The murdered intellectuals were members of the
Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, which, ironically, was tasked with bolstering
support for the Marxist ideology and the Soviet movement. Despite their loyalty
to communism and the Soviet Union, Stalin began to see the Committee's international work as a threat. Beginning in 1948
members of the Committee were arrested on charges of espionage and treason. For
the next several years they were incarcerated in Lubyanka were they were tortured,
beaten and held in isolation before they were tried and executed for their
alleged capital offenses.
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Check Please!
August 14, 1935 - President Franklin D.
Roosevelt signed the United States Social Security Act into law, creating a
government pension system for the retired, widowed and disabled. The program
has been controversial throughout its 75-year history but has come to
be seen as a right by many of those receiving benefits. The first benefits
under the new program were paid out in 1937 and averaged $24 per year to the
1.3 million recipients. In comparison, nearly 51 million individuals received Social
Security benefits in 2008, with the average payment of $12,089 per year.
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Shipping Short-Cut
August 15, 1914 - The Panama Canal officially opened to
shipping traffic. The first to make the 48-mile trip was the cargo
ship SS Ancon. The concept of
building a canal across the Isthmus of Panama dates back to 1534, when the King
of Spain ordered a survey for a route through Panama
that would ease the voyage for ships traveling to and from Spain and Peru. Construction on the canal was
started by the French in 1880, who attempted to build the entire canal at sea
level. However, after 13 years and more than 22,000 deaths from malaria
and yellow fever, the French abandoned the project. In 1903 under the
leadership of President Theodore Roosevelt the United
States secured the rights to build the canal from the
newly independent government of Panama.
American construction began in 1904 and was completed in 1914, two years ahead of
schedule. Unlike the French design, the Americans used a series of locks and
dams to move ships through the canal. In 1999 the United
States turned over control of the canal to Panama
pursuant to a controversial 1977 treaty signed by President Jimmy Carter. The
average toll for a ship to cross the Panama Canal
is $54,000. The most expensive toll ever charged was $331,200, charged on May 16, 2008 to the cruise
ship Disney Magic. The least expensive toll ever charged was 36 cents to
American adventurer Richard Halliburton, who swam the canal in 1928.
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Jazz Genius
August 17,
1959 - Jazz legend Miles Davis released his highly acclaimed
album Kind of Blue, which went on to become not only the best-selling
jazz record of all time but also what many regard as the
greatest jazz album of all time. The album's influence
on music extends beyond jazz and includes rock and classical music. In October
2008 the Davis's masterpiece was certified quadruple platinum, meaning more than 4 million
copies have been sold. To hear a clip of Davis's magnum opus click here.
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"Death solves all problems -- no man, no problem."
- Joseph Stalin
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