238 years in the past right this moment is well known as the primary identified date of the abolition of the loss of life penalty in a Western nation-state. Commemorated right this moment as Cities for Life Day, the choice got here within the realm of Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany. Pietro Leopoldo would later grow to be Leopold II, the Holy Roman Emperor. READ how he got here to the choice… (1786)
Cesare Beccaria was one of many biggest Italian Enlightenment writers, who was famous for his masterpiece Of Crimes and Punishments (1764), which was later translated into 22 languages. In it, Beccaria put forth a number of the first trendy arguments in opposition to the loss of life penalty. His treatise was additionally the primary full work of penology, advocating reform of the felony regulation system.
So it was that Tuscany was the primary civil state on the earth to get rid of torture and capital punishment.
On this present day, collaborating cities illuminate a symbolic monument, such because the Atomium in Brussels, the Colosseum in Rome, and the Plaza de Santa Ana in Madrid. Collaborating cities in 2009 embrace greater than 60 capitals worldwide, and over 1,200 cities and cities world wide, resembling Rome, Brussels, Madrid, Ottawa, Mexico Metropolis, Berlin, Barcelona, Florence, Venice, Buenos Aires, Antwerp, Vienna, Naples, Paris, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Reggio Emilia, Bogotá, Santiago de Chile.
MORE Good Information on this Date:
- Leopold II, the Grand Duke of Tuscany in Italy, instituted penal reforms making his nation the primary state to abolish the loss of life penalty in trendy occasions—and the day is commemorated by 300 cities world wide as Cities for Life Day (1786)
- The author and humorist Mark Twain was born in Missouri (1835)
- Gaining independence from the UK on this date: Barbados (1966) and South Yemen (1967)
- The movement image Gandhi, which went on to win eight Academy Awards, had its world premiere in essentially the most becoming of cities, New Delhi, telling the biographical story of Mohandas Gandhi, an Indian lawyer whose non-violent activism overthrew an empire (1982)
- Invoice Clinton introduced hope for peace to Northern Eire and obtained a rapturous welcome as the primary serving US president to go to the area (1995)
- Longtime Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings collected a complete of $2,520,700, tv’s largest sport present winnings (2004)
- John Sentamu grew to become the primary black archbishop within the Church of England (2005)
- The Dave Matthews Band turned their tour-opening present in East Rutherford, NJ right into a profit live performance, fulfilling a pledge to donate $1 million from ticket gross sales and merchandise to help Hurricane Sandy restoration efforts. (2012)
148 years in the past right this moment, the golden funerary “Masks of Agamemnon” was pulled from the stays of a tomb on Mycenae by archeologist Heimlich Schliemann in some of the well-known archaeological finds in historical past, not least as a result of a debate on the authenticity of the masks remained heated for many of the twentieth century. As we speak, the masks as a hammered gold artifact of historic Mycenae is well-accepted, nonetheless it’s believed to predate the interval of the Trojan Conflict by about 400 years, making it the masks of another person—Schliemann took to calling ‘him’ “Schulze.”
The masks was one in every of 5 found within the royal shaft graves at Mycenae. The faces and palms of two kids in Grave III have been coated with gold leaf, one masking having holes for the eyes. The faces of the boys will not be all coated with masks. That they have been males and warriors was prompt by the presence of weapons of their graves. The portions of gold and thoroughly labored artifacts indicated honor, wealth, and standing.
Schliemann was fairly excessive on his personal repute, by accounts, after his discovery of the archeological stays of Troy. He took the invention of the golden masks as proof that the Trojan Conflict was a historic occasion. In any case, “points” concerning unscrupulous habits on the Troy excavations meant {that a} Greek archeologist was chosen as director of the Mycenae shaft grave expeditions, amongst whose obligations was mainly to maintain an in depth eye on Schilemann. (1876)
53 years in the past right this moment, Brian’s Track, concerning the friendship of Chicago Bears soccer teammates Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers premiered on ABC within the U.S.. Starring James Caan and Billie Dee Williams, the TV film primarily based on Sayers’ autobiography (I Am Third), received a Grammy, a Peabody, and 5 Emmy Awards.
The story recounts the main points of Brian Piccolo’s life, the NFL professional athlete stricken with terminal most cancers in 1965.
Piccolo’s and Sayers’ sharply differing temperaments and racial backgrounds made them unlikely buddies within the 60s, however they grew to become the primary interracial roommates in NFL historical past, and Brian’s Track chronicles the evolution of their friendship, ending with Piccolo’s loss of life. An enormous success on TV, critics have known as the film one of many best telefilms ever made. A particular “guy-cry” flick, it steered away from overt sentimentality whereas expressing the real affection that the 2 males felt so deeply. WATCH the trailer… (1971)
150 years in the past right this moment, the famed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was born.
Although he developed a lisp and stutter whereas spending a variety of time away from his dad and mom, he performed with military males, and went on to grow to be a Main within the 2nd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards—and later, because the nation’s chief throughout her darkest time, led Britain to victory in World Conflict II, giving inspiring speeches that inspired bravery and endurance. He grew to become the primary Honorary Citizen of the US and later the primary British Prime Minister to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
He stated, “We will combat in France, we will combat on the seas and oceans, we will combat with rising confidence and rising power within the air, we will defend our island, no matter the fee could also be, we will combat on the seashores, we will combat on the touchdown grounds, we will combat within the fields and within the streets, we will combat within the hills; we will by no means give up. Allow us to subsequently brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth final for a thousand years, males will nonetheless say, ‘This was their best hour’.” (1874)
And, 24 years in the past right this moment, the Parliament instituted the Countryside and Rights of Approach Act in England and Wales.
This ‘Proper to Roam’ Act additionally led to a formalized Scottish model, preserving the custom of unhindered entry to uncultivated countryside, offered care is taken to not trigger harm or intrude with farming and looking. The act’s power (jus spatiandi) was utilized to areas of ‘mountain, moor, heath and down’ along with registered widespread land. (2000)
And, 42 years in the past right this moment, Michael Jackson’s Thriller LP was launched. Produced by Quincy Jones, and that includes a duet with Paul McCartney, it grew to become the world’s best-selling album of all time, with estimated gross sales of 66 million copies. The primary to be licensed 33× multi-platinum, the album received a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards, with 7 prime 10 singles, together with Billie Jean, Beat It, The Lady Is Mine and Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’—all of which Jackson wrote. (1982)
And, on this present day in 1968, Glen Campbell’s album ‘Wichita Lineman’ hit #1 on the US album chart. The inspiration for that title track’s lyrics got here to Jimmy Webb whereas he was driving via Washita County, Oklahoma. He was observing “an countless litany of phone poles, every trying precisely the identical.” Then, within the distance, he seen the silhouette of a solitary lineman atop a pole—the image of loneliness. Webb then imagined what the person may be saying into the telephone. When the famed nation singer who hoped for one more track like ‘By the Time I Get to Phoenix’ heard the tune that was written for him, he cried.
Dozens of different artists, like James Taylor and, guitarist Johnny A., have coated the timeless ballad. Coincidentally, Campbell additionally performed his final reside efficiency in 2012 on November 30.
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