This day in history: Earthquake and Port Royal

Pirate lover? Yeah, me too. Then you know all about this, but here's a bit anyway from The History Channel.

Earthquake destroys Jamaican pirate haven

On this day in 1692, a massive earthquake devastates the infamous town of Port Royal in Jamaica, killing thousands. The strong tremors, soil liquefaction and a tsunami brought on by the earthquake combined to destroy the entire town.

Time

I was going to post a brief bit on time, how there's never enough and how it seems to fly entirely too quickly for my liking. Or my sleep habits for that matter! But when I looked on Today in History, I saw that today in 2004 the National World War 2 Memorial opened.

Got me thinking about time and the passage of in a whole new way. How it'll be 70 years this December since the bombing of Pearl Harbor (72 this September since the official start of the war). How it took 59 years before there was even a monument devoted to those who served in that war. (I'm obviously not counting the years it took to build the beautiful monument.)

And how of the 16,112,566 individuals were members of the United States armed forces during the war, as of September 2010 approximately 1,981,000. [wiki article]

If you have the opportunity to visit, take the time to do so.

On April 29, 2004, the National World War II Memorial opens in Washington, D.C., to thousands of visitors, providing overdue recognition for the 16 million U.S. men and women who served in the war. The memorial is located on 7.4 acres on the former site of the Rainbow Pool at the National Mall between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. The Capitol dome is seen to the east, and Arlington Cemetery is just across the Potomac River to the west.

The granite and bronze monument features fountains between arches symbolizing hostilities in Europe and the Far East. The arches are flanked by semicircles of pillars, one each for the states, territories and the District of Columbia. Beyond the pool is a curved wall of 4,000 gold stars, one for every 100 Americans killed in the war. An Announcement Stone proclaims that the memorial honors those "Americans who took up the struggle during the Second World War and made the sacrifices to perpetuate the gift our forefathers entrusted to us: A nation conceived in liberty and justice."

Though the federal government donated $16 million to the memorial fund, it took more than $164 million in private donations to get it built. Former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, who was severely wounded in the war, and actor Tom Hanks were among its most vocal supporters. Only a fraction of the 16 million Americans who served in the war would ever see it. Four million World War II veterans were living at the time, with more than 1,100 dying every day, according to government records.

The memorial was inspired by Roger Durbin of Berkey, Ohio, who served under Gen. George S. Patton. At a fish fry near Toledo in February 1987, he asked U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur why there was no memorial on the Mall to honor World War II veterans. Kaptur, a Democrat from Ohio, soon introduced legislation to build one, starting a process that would stumble along through 17 years of legislative, legal and artistic entanglements. Durbin died of pancreatic cancer in 2000.

The monument was formally dedicated May 29, 2004, by U.S. President George W. Bush. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it received some 4.4 million visitors in 2005.

Tuesday Comings and Goings

First day of February? I can't keep up with these quickly passing days.

Today in history:

1587 – The Colony of Roanoke Island is established by the landing of Sir Walter Raleigh. This Colony would become known as the "Lost Colony"
1790 – In New York City, the Supreme Court of the United States attempts to convene for the first time.

I like the attempts to convene...I can't find out why that is. Looks like it did convene on February 2, 1790.

1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: France declares war on the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
1796 – The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York.
1884 – The first volume (A to Ant) of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.
1893 – Thomas A. Edison finishes construction of the first motion picture studio, the Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey.
1942 – World War II: Josef Terboven, Reichskommissar of German-occupied Norway, appoints Vidkun Quisling the Minister President of the National Government.

Why is that last interesting? Every heard of a quisling? It's not really used anymore, but a quisling is a snitch: a person who betrays his or her own country by aiding an invading enemy, often serving later in a puppet government. I learned it ages ago by watching Errol Flynn's Edge of Darkness. I guess sometimes Hollywood really can teach you something, huh.

2003 – Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

I remember watching this on TV because I had off for a snow day.