June 8, 2017

Today, June 8, marks the 150^th birthday of United States architect Frank Lloyd Wright. One of the world’s most influential and imaginative architects, Wright’s long career spanned almost 70 years. His great creative works ranged from buildings typical of the late 1800′s to ultramodern designs. Wright was born on June 8, 1867. He died on April 9, 1959.

American architect Frank Lloyd Wright was born 150 years ago on June 8, 1867. Credit: Library of Congress

To mark the anniversary of Wright’s birth, the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust is hosting a variety of special programs in and around Chicago, Wright’s longtime home and the site of many of his creations. In Washington, D.C., the National Building Museum will celebrate Frank Lloyd Wright Day on June 10. In New York City, the Museum of Modern Art is hosting “Wright at 150: Unpacking the Archives,” a four-month exhibition of drawings, films, letters, models, photographs, and other objects from Wright’s life and career.

Wright was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin. He studied engineering briefly at the University of Wisconsin in the mid-1880′s. In 1887, Wright moved to Chicago, where he became a draftsman for Joseph Lyman Silsbee, a noted Midwestern architect. Wright designed his first building while working for Silsbee.

The prairie style created by Frank Lloyd Wright revolutionized American domestic architecture. The houses he designed in the prairie style emphasized horizontal lines and natural materials that harmonized with the landscape. Wright designed this prairie house in 1902 in Oak Park, Illinois. Credit: Hedrich-Blessing

Wright’s first distinctive buildings were homes designed in his famous  prairie style. In a typical prairie house, spaces inside the home expand into the outdoors through porches and terraces. Because of their low, horizontal form, the homes seem to grow out of the ground. This effect was emphasized by Wright’s use of wood and other materials as they appear in nature.

The Guggenheim Museum in New York City displays works of art in an unusual circular building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Credit: © Shutterstock

Wright’s buildings as well as books featuring his drawings and plans strongly influenced the development of architecture throughout the United States and Europe. Wright’s most famous creations include the Kaufmann “Fallingwater” house at Bear Run near Uniontown, Pennsylvania; the Johnson Wax Company building in Racine, Wisconsin; the Guggenheim Museum in New York City; and the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, California.

December 7, 2016

Today, December 7, marks the 75^th anniversary of the Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack officially drew the United States into World War II (1939-1945). Thousands of people have attended events that began last week at Pearl Harbor, capped by today’s headline ceremony at Kilo Pier attended by survivors of the attack and a number of dignitaries. The U.S. Navy co-hosted events with the National Park Service, with support from the city and county of Honolulu, the state of Hawaii, the governor’s office, Hawaiian members of Congress, and other branches of the U.S. military.

Events today at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, recall the Japanese attack 75 years ago on Dec. 7, 1941. The World War II battleship USS Missouri sits in the right foreground. The white Arizona memorial is at left. Credit: National Park Service

Events this morning at Pearl Harbor begin precisely at 7:50 a.m. local time (12:50 p.m. Eastern Time), the moment the first Japanese planes hit nearby Hickam Field on Dec. 7, 1941. Following events today include the laying of a wreath at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii, the ringing of the Freedom Bell at the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, a band performance at the Battleship Missouri Memorial, a four-team college basketball tournament, ceremonies at the USS Oklahoma Memorial on Ford Island, and ceremonies at Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Army Airfield honoring the U.S. Army and its 25th Infantry Division. A private interment ceremony will take place at the USS Arizona Memorial, where the ashes of two Arizona survivors who recently passed away will be buried with their comrades who died in the ship 75 years ago. A memorial parade down Honolulu’s Kalakaua Avenue and a closing ceremony will finish the day’s formal events.

The poignant USS Arizona Memorial sits above the sunken remains of the battleship itself. Of the ship’s 1,511 crew members, 1,177 died in the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Credit: National Park Service

On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. Two waves of Japanese warplanes sank several U.S. ships, including four battleships. They also destroyed more than 180 U.S. aircraft. The Japanese killed 2,400 Americans but lost only about 100 of their own troops. The attack was a success for Japan at the time. But bringing the United States into the war proved disastrous for Japan and its citizens. The attack on Pearl Harbor has since become one of the iconic moments in U.S. history.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was a key event in U.S. history. Following the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on the U.S. naval base, the United States declared war on Japan and formally entered World War II (1939-1945). Credit: © AP Photo

September 8, 2016

Fifty years ago today, on Sept. 8, 1966, the science-fiction television program “Star Trek” first aired on NBC in the United States and CTV in Canada. The show’s ratings were never strong, and the series lasted just three seasons. Reruns in the 1970’s gained the show legions of new fans, however, giving birth to an entire “Star Trek” culture. Loyal followers called Trekkies formed fan clubs and held conventions. More than 100 “Star Trek” novels have been published, along with over 20 nonfiction books about the series. Numerous spin-off television shows have had much longer runs than the original “Star Trek” series, and the “Star Trek” movie franchise has been ongoing and incredibly popular since Star Trek: The Motion Picture was released in 1979.

The original “Star Trek” crew man the bridge of the starship Enterprise. The popular television show first aired 50 years ago on Sept. 8, 1966. Credit: © Interfoto/Alamy Images

Numerous events and exhibitions—and yes, conventions—have been marking the show’s 50^th anniversary throughout 2016. The largest just may be at Seattle’s EMP Museum, where a continuous “Star Trek” celebration—Exploring New Worlds—began in May and runs through January 2017. Other months-long events include the wandering Starfleet Academy Experience in New York City; Ottawa, Ontario; and Calgary, Alberta; and the “Star Trek” Global Art Exhibition in New York City; Toronto, Ontario; and Birmingham, England. This past weekend, “Star Trek: Mission New York” treated Trekkies to interactive exhibits, celebrity guests, gaming, panels, screenings, and lots and lots of merchandise. Later this month, the symphony orchestra in Paris, France, will perform “Star Trek: the Ultimate Voyage Concert” ahead of the main Destination Star Trek Europe event in Birmingham. Several other musical performances will feature symphony orchestras playing along with screenings of the franchise’s many movies. At least two “Star Trek”-themed cruises will carry Trekkies around the Caribbean Sea, and conventions are being held in such cities as Chicago, Las Vegas, and San Francisco. Truly, there are simply too many events to list them all here.

“Star Trek” was created by Gene Roddenberry. It was set hundreds of years in the future and followed the adventures of the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) as it explored outer space—“the final frontier.” The Enterprise crew was commanded by Captain James T. Kirk, played by William Shatner. His first officer was Mr. Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy. Spock was born of a father from the planet Vulcan and a human mother. The character, with his pointed ears and unemotional manner, became a cult figure among “Star Trek” fans. Other original characters included the spaceship doctor, Leonard McCoy, played by DeForest Kelley; Mr. Sulu, the chief navigator, played by George Takei; communications officer Lieutenant Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols; and engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, played by James Doohan.

“Star Trek” has had a significant impact on the arts, culture, fashion, and technology—even on the English language. No explanation is needed when someone asks to be “beamed up” or to travel at “warp speed.” The show’s weaponry—phasers and photon torpedoes—are both in the Oxford English Dictionary, as are the show’s Klingon and Vulcan humanoid alien races. (Vulcan is also applied to mind-meld and nerve pinch.) Most people probably know Spock’s catch phrase, “Live long and prosper,” as well as the Enterprise crew’s mission “to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

September 2, 2016

Today, September 2, is the 350^th anniversary of the start of the Great Fire of London, a disaster that burned much of England’s capital city in 1666. The fire burned for four full days, torching some 436 acres (176 hectares) of the City of London, including 13,200 houses and 89 churches—among them St. Paul’s Cathedral (which was later rebuilt). The fire was a catastrophe at the time, leaving 80 percent of the city’s population homeless. But the fire also rid the city of many overcrowded wooden buildings that had been a breeding-ground for disease (see Great Plague). New buildings of brick and stone replaced London’s wooden houses and set the framework for the modern capital we know today.

From August 30 through September 4, 2016, a variety of events are marking the anniversary of London’s Great Fire, including exhibitions of scorched artifacts and commemorative sculptures and artworks, walking tours and storytelling, outdoor concerts and an opera, and even a bake-off at the site of the bakery where the fire started 350 years ago.

This painting depicts the Great Fire of London, which destroyed much of the city in September 1666. The fire began near London Bridge, at left. The Tower of London, at right, survived the fire. The original St. Paul’s Cathedral, center, engulfed in flames, did not. Credit: The Great Fire of London in 1666, oil on panel, Dutch School (17th century); Museum of London (Bridgeman Images)

Early on Sunday morning, Sept. 2, 1666, a fire began near the oven of the king’s baker, Thomas Farriner, who lived on Pudding Lane near London Bridge. Farriner escaped his house with his family (without the maid, who died), but the fire soon spread and engulfed nearby houses. London houses in the 1600′s were built mainly of wood and they crowded so tightly over the narrow streets that the upper stories almost touched. At that time too, every home had open fires and candles, and it was not unusual for a fire to consume groups of streets, or even entire districts. Farriner’s fire—or rather the Great Fire—spread rapidly, devouring timber buildings and jumping from street to street, district to district. There was no effective firefighting system at the time, and a strong wind from the east fanned the flames through houses made abnormally dry by a long, hot summer.

Eventually, King Charles II personally supervised demolition operations to make an open strip that the fire could not cross, and, when the wind fell, the danger of the fire spreading farther was over. Writer Samuel Pepys described the Great Fire vividly in his Diary. Pepys, who lived near Farriner’s bakery, hired a boat and watched the conflagration from the River Thames. Official records list the fire’s death toll at only six, but the city’s population at the time was a “best guess,” with many poor people unaccounted for, and only charred remains recognizable as human were counted. A melted piece of pottery found near Farriner’s bakery showed that temperatures there surpassed 2,200 °F (1,250 °C).

Architect Sir Christopher Wren designed the new St. Paul’s Cathedral as well as the Monument to the Great Fire of London near the former site of Farriner’s bakery.

June 4, 2013

The 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom was celebrated today with a service at Westminster Abbey in London. The queen and 25 members of her family joined 2,000 guests for the service honoring the queen’s “60 years of commitment” to her people. The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, praised the queen for embodying “the very nature of being British.” He stated that Elizabeth had set out on a path of “utter self-sacrifice” and had for 60 years shown “single-minded devotion and servant leadership” for which the nation owed her its thanks.

Elizabeth became queen upon the death of her father, King George VI, on Feb. 6, 1952. After a period of mourning, the queen was crowned on June 2, 1953. Elizabeth was the 38th British sovereign to be crowned in the Abbey, which has been the scene of such ceremonies since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066.

Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. (AP/Wide World)

Several key items from her coronation were placed in the Abbey for today’s service, including the solid gold St. Edward’s Crown–removed from the Tower of London for the first time since 1953. (Britain’s famed crown jewels are kept at the Tower, where they are on public display.) The Coronation Chair, one of the oldest pieces of English furniture still in use, was also on display today. The throne was commissioned in 1296 by King Edward I to contain the Stone of Scone, which he had captured from the Scots. The compartment below the seat no longer contains the stone upon which all British monarchs have since been crowned. It was returned to Scotland in 1996. It is to be returned to London temporarily when a British monarch is crowned.

Additional World Book articles:

• Scotland, History of
• United Kingdom, History of the
• United Kingdom 1953 (a Back in Time article)
• The Queen Mother: Creator of the Modern Monarchy (a special report)