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Today sixty years ago, on September 18th 1961, UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961) died in a plane crash near Ndola, Zambia. Hammarskjöld was on his way to negotiate a cease-fire between the Katangese secessionists in (former Belgian) Congo, and the UN troops that fought against the secession. All sixteen crew and passengers perished in the crash.

According to the official inquiry, the plane had crashed because of pilot error, flying too low in the dark of the night.

Alternative theories claim that the crash was an assassination, either by a bomb, or by having it shot down. Concerning the latter, a Belgian pilot, mercenary in the service of the Katangese, is often mentioned. He was a former RAF pilot with experience with night fighters. However, he has always denied he was in Katanga at the time of the crash. Furthermore, the alleged plane, a Fouga Magister, was not suitable for nightly operations, unless it would be stowed with extra navigation equipment, that would have made it too heavy to fly the distance from its point of departure to the crash site and back. The mystery remains unsolved as yet.

Hammarskjöld was awarded posthumously with the Nobel Peace Prize 1961.
Just came across this. Worth remembering. Hammarskjöld was one of the last non-partisan, admirable Secretaries-General (despite being a Swede). He deserves to be remembered!
 
I was a little kid but lived in a pub, and listened to the grown-ups talking.
"Nothing good will come of it"
" 'Taint natural, going up there"
"Fancy the Russians being that clever"
etc.

And the abhorrence when Laika was sent up in Sputnik 2..........
I was a little kid too, but I still remember the joke that went around everywhere. I won't repeat it as its a bit racist but it was funny, if you liked puns!
 
And with us in the former GDR it was said: The heroic scientists of our Soviet brother country have achieved a great success. The first living animal was launched into space. But of course we children were not told that the dog was killed after the experiments had been completed, as a landing was not planned.
Yep, bit of a plot hole there.
 
And with us in the former GDR it was said: The heroic scientists of our Soviet brother country have achieved a great success. The first living animal was launched into space. But of course we children were not told that the dog was killed after the experiments had been completed, as a landing was not planned.
A lot of German rocket specialists forced to work for the Soviets among these 'heroic scientists'!
 
Forty years ago, on October 6th 1981, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat was murdered while watching a military parade. The assassins had infiltrated into the parade, and fired on the grandstand as their military truck paraded along. Eleven more people were killed and 28 wounded. The assassination was claimed by islamists as a revenge for the peace, Sadat had made with Israel, two years earlier.
 
Forty years ago, on October 6th 1981, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat was murdered while watching a military parade. The assassins had infiltrated into the parade, and fired on the grandstand as their military truck paraded along. Eleven more people were killed and 28 wounded. The assassination was claimed by islamists as a revenge for the peace, Sadat had made with Israel, two years earlier.
That also being the date of the beginning of the October War in 1973 (Yom Kippur war from the Israeli side) which was being celebrated ... the early Egyptian successes in that war were of course, what put Sadat into a position where he felt that his nation's honor was restored and he could afford to negotiate with Israel.
A number of important landmarks in Egypt are named for the date such as 6 October bridge, the main traffic artery in Cairo, which also became a flashpoint in the 2011 uprising.
 
A lot of German rocket specialists forced to work for the Soviets among these 'heroic scientists'!
This was the belief at the time and has persisted ever since. However, the project was almost entirely a Soviet one.
As the War ended, most of the best German rocket scientist, including Werner von Braun, were snatched up by the US and Britain in Operation Paperclip. The Soviets did end up with some blueprints and unfinished V-2s. They also had some German engineers who had worked on the construction, but not the development of the V-2. They did produce a copy of the V-2 (R-1), but they couldn't overcome that missile's problems.
Meanwhile, a separate team developed a much better missile, the R-2. This team was headed by Sergei Korolev, a Russian engineer who had spent time in the Gulag before being released to build missiles during WWII. This team was mix of Russians and Germans. By 1950, the Soviets decided to send all of the German engineers back to the DDR and the ballistic missile program became an all Soviet affair.
It was Korolev who fathered the Sputnik program and the lead the early days of Soviet manned space flight. However, because of fears the West might target him for kidnapping or assassination, his identity was kept secret. In the press he was only referred to as the Chief Designer; even most of the cosmonauts didn't know his name. He wasn't public identified until after his death in 1966.
Korolev deserves to be remembered with Goddard and von Braun as a pioneer of space exploration.
 
It started with a kicking cow...

On October 8th 1871, today 150 years ago, Chicago's great fire begun. In two days, one third of the city was destroyed, over a path of 6 km long and 1 km wide, destroying one third of the city and killing about 300 people.
 
October 12th, 1810, the first Octoberfest is held in Munich, Germany!
 

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October 12th, 1810, the first Octoberfest is held in Munich, Germany!

I am very sorry to say I have been to Munich only once, and then only for a day and a night. A friend took me to the Augustiner Brau and I had a wonderful over indulgence of German pork and beer :), and then I spent time the next day sitting in Marienplatz listening to the clock and watching the world go by. I regret not having had more time there, but at least I saw it. Those beer halls are damned busy in the off season, I don't know what they must be like in October.

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It was a side trip on a larger European trip, I drove hundreds of kilometres from France to make the visit. What can I say, I'm Australian :D I'll say one more thing, 30 years after my first travels on German autobahns, the traffic hasn't got any better! And when the road clears, it's alarming to be doing 130 kmph or so and have people absolutely screaming past you in what to me is the wrong lane.
 
October 12th, 1810, the first Octoberfest is held in Munich, Germany!
I was very fortunate to be in Germany during Oktoberfest 1970, all courtesy of the US government. It was a fun experience and I have lots of good memories from my time there. Those folks of all ages, really no how to party.:thumbsup:
 
I am very sorry to say I have been to Munich only once, and then only for a day and a night. A friend took me to the Augustiner Brau and I had a wonderful over indulgence of German pork and beer :), and then I spent time the next day sitting in Marienplatz listening to the clock and watching the world go by. I regret not having had more time there, but at least I saw it. Those beer halls are damned busy in the off season, I don't know what they must be like in October.

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It was a side trip on a larger European trip, I drove hundreds of kilometres from France to make the visit. What can I say, I'm Australian :D I'll say one more thing, 30 years after my first travels on German autobahns, the traffic hasn't got any better! And when the road clears, it's alarming to be doing 130 kmph or so and have people absolutely screaming past you in what to me is the wrong lane.
Trust me, it was bad enough for me, and I was used to driving in the right hand lane. How about this..... A cold and rainy night in November, sitting along side the Autobahn several kilometers outside of Mannheim in broken down Army jeep waiting for the army tow truck to rescue me. That would be bad enough anywhere, but on the Autobahn it was flat scary. Cars and trucks going by so fast they would rock the Jeep back and forth. It was not fun at all.
 
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