Good News in History September 20

764 years in the past, the Salisbury Cathedral was consecrated in England. Thought-about the oldest instance of early Gothic structure in England, the outdated magnificence maintains the biggest cloister, the tallest spire, and the biggest exterior park or “cathedral shut,” of any cathedral in Britain. Inside are additionally one of many oldest continual-working clocks, and one of many 4 surviving copies of the Magna Carta. READ extra concerning the cathedral… (1,258)

Development was paid for by donations, principally from the canons and vicars of southeast England, who have been requested to contribute a hard and fast annual sum till the constructing was accomplished. A legend tells that the Bishop of Previous Sarum shot an arrow within the route he would construct the cathedral; the arrow hit a deer, which died within the place the place Salisbury Cathedral is now.

It was reputed to take a seat on a ley line that additionally linked it with close by Stonehenge, and the earlier shire cathedral at Previous Sarum. A number of outdated Gothic cathedrals in England have suffered the destruction of their spires, since they have been constructed so excessive at a time when buttressing had not been considered. As such, the spire at Salisbury grew to become the biggest in England virtually 300 years after it was constructed, for the reason that spire of Previous St. Paul’s in London collapsed.

This reality was found by architect Christopher Wren in 1668, and extra beams hidden above a false ceiling saved the Salisbury spire from the identical destiny.

MORE Good Information on this Day:

• Led Zeppelin (going by the identify, The Yardbirds) began recording their debut album in London, and took solely 36 hours of studio time, with many of the tracks being recorded ‘dwell’ within the studio with only a few overdubs (1968)
• Billie Jean King beat 55-year-old Bobby Riggs in straight units in a battle-of-the-sexes tennis match watched by a worldwide tv viewers of fifty million folks in 37 international locations (1973)
• The primary wave of Southeast Asian “boat folks” arrived in San Francisco beneath a U.S. resettlement program (1977)
• A multinational UN peacekeeping pressure landed in East Timor to revive order and assist set up a brand new peaceable authorities; a society was efficiently rebuilt (1999)
• Don’t Ask Don’t Inform, the Pentagon’s legislation towards overtly homosexual service members, formally ended (2011)

76 years in the past immediately, the primary Cannes Movie Pageant (Pageant worldwide du movie) was held within the sunny seaside metropolis of Cannes, France.

Previewing all genres of movie, together with documentaries and even scholar movies, from around the globe, the annual occasion is now held on the Palais des Festivals, which was expressly constructed for the event. Greater than a thousand movies are marketed right here yearly for distribution, as effectively.

The Lost Weekend directed by Billy Wilder, which portrayed alcohol habit, gained a Grand Prize—and its star Ray Milland, gained Finest Actor. Different American movies nominated have been Gaslight (pictured above) by George Cukor and Notorious by Alfred Hitchcock. (1946)

Glad 88th Birthday to Sophia Loren, the Italian actress who gained an Academy Award for her lead within the 1962 movie Two Ladies. With that statue in hand, she grew to become the primary actress to win an Oscar for a non-English-speaking efficiency. (1934)

52 years in the past immediately, the Russian area probe Luna 16 landed on the Moon, the primary time an unmanned probe was used to take pictures and produce objects again to Earth from area.

Also referred to as Lunnik 16, a part of the Soviet’s Luna program, it grew to become the primary robotic probe to land on the Moon and return a pattern of lunar soil to Earth—however solely after making an attempt and failing 5 occasions, based on This Day in Space. By that point, NASA astronauts had already collected lunar soil samples, on the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 missions. WATCH the video… (1970)

And on at the present time in 1998, Cal Ripken Jr. ended his “iron man” streak, one of the vital superb feats in sports activities historical past, after enjoying in a report 2,632 consecutive baseball video games over 16 seasons for the Baltimore Orioles.

The televised recreation nonetheless ranks as one of the vital watched baseball occasions, with Cal’s children throwing out the primary pitch. Within the fifth inning, because it was tallied a full recreation, the crowds within the stands, the opposing gamers, and the 4 umpires gave Ripken a standing ovation lasting greater than 22 minutes, one of many longest ovations for any athlete. ESPN by no means went to a industrial break as Ripken walked across the fringe of the complete discipline to shake arms and provides high-fives to followers.

Cal, whose skills and character are praised within the video under, authored a motivational e-book, Get in the Game: 8 Elements of Perseverance That Make the Difference—and a collection of younger grownup fiction books about playing baseball. (Featured picture by Rdikeman, CC)

Additionally, on at the present time, 503 years in the past, the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan set sail on the Atlantic from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain—an expedition that circumnavigated the globe for the primary time.

A hardy sailor at a younger age, Magellan was born right into a Catholic society that believed it was their mission to transform the world to Christianity—however there was one other aim. Seven years earlier, he captained a voyage to the legendary Spice Islands in Asia (the Moluccas), dwelling to nutmeg and clove timber. These treasured unique flavors have been price their weight in gold—and Magellan’s share of their sale again in Europe sparked his need for extra wealth. Extraordinarily charismatic, he satisfied the King of neighboring Spain to bankroll his newest expedition—to find a brand new passage to the Spice Islands, between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which might keep away from Portuguese battle ships within the southern horn of Africa.

The 270 males carried provides to maintain two years of journey aboard 5 ships, however they have been basically “picket tubs” that had no bathrooms, privateness, or kitchens on board—and because the temper soured, a mutiny broke out. Regardless of that, the tenacious Magellan reached the southern tip of South America and found a cape. His fleet sailed into the labyrinth of unpredictable winds and currents at Tierra del Fuego and the 350-miles of slender waterways claimed one ship (whereas one other took benefit of the confusion and fled again to Spain). However Magellan was in the end profitable in aim, utilizing his longed-for passage to succeed in the Pacific Ocean in six weeks.

Lastly, along with his three remaining ships, he landed within the Philippines—the primary Europeans to ever arrive—and although giant numbers of the inhabitants transformed to Catholicism (and nonetheless stay so, to at the present time), one island was hostile to the overseas threats and Magellan was killed in battle.

Two vessels shortly turned again, however beneath the command of Juan Sebastian Elcano, the remaining ship reached the Spice Islands, the place it lastly collected the long-desired spicy cargo and returned to Spain through the Cape of Good Hope, finishing the unintended circumnavigation of the world and proving the Earth was spherical.

The Victoria docked in a Spanish port three years after setting sail with about 20 surviving crew members to inform the story—and the western passage round South America has been named the Strait of Magellan ever since. The fearless explorer impressed numerous missions over the subsequent 5 centuries, even into outer area—with NASA naming its profitable Venus probe Magellan.

He as soon as mentioned, “The church says the earth is flat; however I’ve seen its shadow on the moon, and I’ve extra confidence even in a shadow than within the church.”

“The ocean is harmful and its storms horrible, however these obstacles have by no means been adequate cause to stay ashore… In contrast to the mediocre, intrepid spirits search victory over these issues that appear unattainable… It’s with an iron will that they embark on probably the most daring of all endeavors… to fulfill the shadowy future with out worry and conquer the unknown.” ― Ferdinand Magellan

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