ISBB History Club

On May 4, 1979, Margaret Thatcher, leader of the Conservative Party (1975-1990) and the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century, became the first woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

She would go on to become one of the most influential and effective politicians of all time, being dubbed the "Iron Lady" by a Soviet journalist; a moniker that would represent her steadfast and uncompromising politics and leadership style.

📷: Yevgeny Ananyevich Khaldei
May 2, 1945: The 'Raising a Flag over the Reichstag' was captured during the Battle of Berlin.

While many other photographers were able to take pictures of flags on the roof, this one would become widely recognized. The image would be regarded by many all around the world as one of the most significant images of World War II.

December 10th, 1993, the first 'Doom' was released.

Considered by many to be the original “first person shooter” game, Doom was the first video game to have player vs player action, making it possible to play against somebody without being in the same room together.

Doom was highly controversial, covered by multiple media outlets frequently, for it's graphic depiction of violence. Fortunately, the game went on to become extremely successful and it went on to revolutionize the modern-day gaming industry.

The Maersk Alabama hijacking is a series of incredibly tense maritime events that occurred on April 8, 2009 to April 12, 2009.

It began when four Somalian pirates onboard the FV Win Far 161, a stolen Taiwanese fishing vessel, assaulted the ship. As the pirates approached the Maersk Alabama, the crew fired flares and swung the ship's rudder in an effort to prevent the pirates from getting on the ship. Unfortunately, despite these efforts the ship was boarded and captured 240 nautical miles (440 km; 280 mi) southeast of Eyl, Somalia. This led to a whole chain of events including a hostage situation and a rescue effort by the United States Navy.

The event finally ended on the 12th of April when US Navy SEAL snipers of Red Squadron, Naval Special Warfare Development Group armed with semi-automatic rifles shot and killed the three remaining pirates who held Captain Richard Phillips hostage on the lifeboat.

The story of the incident was reported by Captain Richard Phillips, who had been captain of the Maersk Alabama at the time of the incident, in the book A Captain's Duty (2010), which he co-wrote with Stephan Talty. The book was later adapted in the American film Captain Phillips (2013), starring award-winning actor, Tom Hanks.

Commonly believed to have been discovered on the 8th of April 1820 by a man named Yorgos Kentrotas, the Venus de Milo, sometimes referred to as the Aphrodite de Milos, is a 204 cm (6.69 ft) antique Greek sculpture made of Parian marble.

Many historians and art professionals estimate that the statue was sculpted between 150 and 125 BC during the Hellenistic period. It depicts a Greek goddess, thought to be Aphrodite, half-clothed with a bare torso. It is currently displayed at the Musée du Louvre.

On this day, 1909, Americans Robert Peary (first picture) & Matthew Henson (second picture) arrived at the "North Pole." After measuring the angle of the sun and concluding that he was at 90 degrees north,

Robert E. Peary, Matthew Henson, Ootah, Ooqueah, Egingwah, and Seegloo reached the northernmost point of their expedition, and Peary planted the flag of the United States, along with four smaller flags, at what Peary believed to be the North Pole. "The Pole at last! My dream and goal for twenty years!" Peary wrote in his diary. Henson later recalled the four Eskimos saying "Ting neigh tim ah ketisher," which means "We have got there at last!" in Inuit.

The six of them spent a total of 30 hours in the Pole before returning at 4:00 P.M. Later research indicated that the area where Peary set his flags was not the real Pole. Peary came within 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) of the North Pole, according to a research back in 1989 published by the National Geographic Society.

February 25, 1964, a 22-year-old Muhammad Ali, known as Cassius Clay at the time, (19–0 w/15 KOs) fought Sonny Liston (35–1 w/ 24 KOs). He would win the fight after Liston failed to come out for round 7, ultimately making Ali the new heavyweight champion of the world.

The iconic photo of Ali standing triumphantly over Liston was caught by photographers Neil Leifer and John Rooney.

On this day in 1930, Clyde W. Tombaugh, with contributions from William H. Pickering, located a new planet while in the observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. He then named the former planet after the Greek god of the underworld, Pluto.

📷: Eddie Adams & Võ Sửu
On this day on 1968, Nguyễn Văn Lém, a member of the Viet Cong, was executed by Nguyễn Ngọc Loan. Before Lém was captured, he had murdered Lt. Col. Nguyen Tuan along with Tuan's wife, six children and mother.

Nguyễn Ngọc Loan, a South Vietnamese brigadier general, shot him in retaliation. The event was captured and would become one of the most famous images in contemporary American journalism.

In around mid-November 2017, Sprite would release their seasonal cranberry flavor. They would advertise this new flavor by releasing an animated commercial featuring musical artist DRAM; and in the commercial an animated version of American professional basketball player Lebron James makes a guest appearance. The commercial would then conclude with Lebron James asking us, the audience, if we “Wanna Sprite Cranberry?” 🍒

On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service attacked the United States; launching a surprise offensive on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, located at Honolulu, Hawaii. Up until the attack, the United States remained neutral in the war, choosing not to get involved in the conflict.

They would announce their entry into WWII the following day.

On December 1, 1949, one of the world's most powerful drug traffickers and the leader of the Medellín cartel, Pablo Escobar, was born. Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was born in Rionegro, Colombia; his father, a farmer, and his mother, a schoolteacher. Pablo was the third of seven children; he and his siblings would grow up nearby the city of Medellín.

In his early years, Escobar begun his life of infamy. He would sell fake lottery tickets, steal gravestones, sell counterfeit high school diplomas, do grand theft auto, and commit numerous petty street scams. Eventually, he would make his way up, getting involved in the kidnapping of a Medellín executive for ransom. Soon enough, he would turn into “the King of Cocaine,” becoming the wealthiest criminal in history. (as of 2021)

Escobar would die due to a gunshot wound to the head on December 2, 1993; the day after his birthday.