#Showa Woman’s Duty

[multivergentrp]

Will be adding a muses page for fandom-specific characters sometime soon, primarily mixed HC-based takes on canon or semi-canon characters from certain series.

They will mostly be on-hold until their base profiles are done and the page is ready for viewing, but I hope to get this done within the next few weeks. This will be an open plotting call and sneak-peek summarization post for the ones I have on mind for this blog, for now.

~ A feisty ex-active duty bounty-hunting Jackal woman named Trois, from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Adapted from a canonically existent side character introduced in video game tie-in comics.

 ~ The Legendary Hero Galactic Knight, nicknamed Galacta, a grizzled but functionally sociable recluse, from the Kirby series. Follows aling the currently known and implied canon information, but HC fills in the blanks.

 ~ Rozan, a cyberneticized female Godzilla-species kaiju/titan based off a female Godzilla of the same name from a novelized Showa-era unused movie script, following after her as closely as possible in personality and certain story beats, but having a divergent take otherwise.

[jailhouse41]

Poster for The Woman Killer (Showa Onna Jingi, 昭和おんな仁義) also known as Showa Woman’s Duty or Showa Woman’s Gambling Code, 1969, directed by Taro Yuge (弓削太郎) and starring Kyoko Enami (江波杏子), Mikio Narita (成田三樹夫), Asao Koike (小池朝雄) and Mari Atsumi (渥美マリ).

[httplovecraft1890]

The Theme of Free Will in Yandere Simulator

So in the past, I’ve speculated at length about what some broad story points might be for Yandere Simulator and while I’ve revised my opinion on the significance of a character like Fun Girl (her statement of “YOU BELIEVE EVERYTHING I SAY. I WONDER WHAT ELSE I CAN TRICK YOU INTO BELIEVING?” feels a bit embarrassing in hindsight) I do think there are broad strokes that can be taken from what I wrote and applied to newer story points that’ve been shared with us since. You can consider everything below a refinement of those original ideas, I suppose. Let’s start by going back and revisiting Saikou Corp. Note: some of this information doesn’t have a specific source other than vague recollections aside from what YandereDev has said on Twitter, Reddit, etc. so apologies in advance.

What, exactly, do we know about Saisho Saikou? If we’re taking Fun Girl less as an actual plot point herself and more as a vehicle to deliver exposition to the audience then we can summarize a fair few things:

He was drafted into the service of the Imperial Japanese Army at age 17 in the closing days of the war. This retroactively confirms his date of birth was some time in 1928, meaning Saisho is 91 in 2019.

Saisho was confined to kitchen duty after being transferred to Okinawa at first. This changed after a bomb tore his dorm apart and he was trapped with the corpses of his friends for hours until he was rescued by other troops. During the attempted retreat after their rescue operation he called them cowards for wanting to fall back in the face of American forces. The memories of being stuck there with his dead friends still haunts him.

After being moved to a bunker, he was under constant stress from air raids and a chronic lack of sleep as well as malnourishment. When the U.S. finally found their hiding spot he tried to pull a pin on a grenade but it failed to detonate; he was promptly captured afterwards.

- From the June 1, 2018 Fun Girl text files We know little of his life after the war at the moment other than in 1946 he was reduced to running the company that would become Saikou Corporation out of his family’s garage (much like the company it parodies, Sony, was forced to do at first in our world by its creators). Given his later characterization I suspect that he probably ruthlessly took advantage of the breaking of up so many of the zaibatsu (large financial or industrial conglomerates owned by specific families; Mitsubishi is an example) by the American occupying forces following the war. In the decades following his country’s defeat Saisho created an enormous megacorporation that makes most of the consumer products seen in Yandere Simulator’s universe. As Headmaster Shuyona later relates to us, once he puts his mind to something he never takes no for an answer. Aside from the obvious wealth aspect that it grants him, though, what else is at work in his mind?

Like so many others, the defeat of Japan in the war simply unimaginable to him and, as far as he’s concerned, even if everyone else surrendered he never did.

The brainwashing and propaganda of the early Showa period never left him; as more and more Western influence began to creep into Japan, the more he began to freak out about it. Progressive politics and democracy are things he utterly despises.

Unsurprisingly, his reactionary politics have a racial component to them. For Saisho, the only people fit to rule the world are the Japanese and that if only everyone else realized it, there’d be a worldwide utopia. Though not outright confirmed, this also goes some way to explaining the almost eugenics-like obsession with ‘purity’ in the modern Saikou clan.

Even so, probably through careful PR stunts and knowing when to keep his mouth shut, Saisho’s worst beliefs aren’t known to the public.

- From the December 1, 2018 build’s Fun Girl files

It’s with some surprise then we know for a fact that Saisho wanted his firstborn daughter to inherit the company after he was ready to retire and only kept his son, Megami’s dad, as a backup. Despite the grueling and inhuman training that each Saikou generation seems to be put through, it seems that Saisho did genuinely love his daughter based on what Headmaster Shuyona confirms in Headmaster’s Tape #1. While this seems incongruous at first with his far right politics I think it’s helpful to see it less as a belief in equality between men and women, but instead that since she was a Saikou, she was inherently a cut above others because of that. Not many fathers would have schools built for their children in their honor if something wasn’t genuine, I think.

Megami’s aunt is a very interesting character at the moment. We know nothing about her other than the fact that she was first in line for the proverbial throne and hasn’t spoken to Saisho in 30 years because of him disowning her after they got into an argument. Fun Girl seems to hint that the conversation revolved around her trying to remember a supposed sister of hers (i.e., her) but this might just be her trolling us all. I think there’s something else very important given that time frame we also need to keep in mind: the date. What’s 30 minus 2019? 1989.

If we assume for a moment that Akademi opening its doors in 1985 was her first year, then following traditional Japanese high school length, it stands to reason her graduation occurred in 1988. The following year, Ryoba’s murder of the girl who was almost certainly Headmaster Shuyona’s daughter must’ve sent serious shock waves through Buraza Town. Megami’s aunt would’ve probably followed the proceedings with a lot of interest and I think a reason she parted ways with Saisho is because Saikou almost certainly tipped the scales in favor of Ryoba during her trial against the journalist. Why? Because of the country’s insanely high conviction rate. It’s greater than 99%. You’d practically need a miracle to get through it all and make the person who tried to take you to court look like a monster for doing so - something we know she pulled off. It’s not something that she could’ve done on her own without money changing hands or judges being properly blackmailed and flipping the media circus around. Headmaster’s Tape #6 also confirms that by 1999 Ryoba had seemingly regular contact with Saisho and Megami’s dad but it’s easy to extrapolate that they must’ve been speaking with one another prior to then; after all, just because Shuyona didn’t know about it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen (it doesn’t help him either that Saisho almost certainly sees him as a useful idiot). Learning a dark secret like this about your own family, coupled with the hell they put you through growing up, would break anyone and I think it’s a good explanation of why she left. If we accept that Saikou Corporation are Ryoba’s and Mr. Aishi’s employers then several things fall into place - why they haven’t ever had to move, why they live in a well off neighborhood, how they can simply up and leave for 10 weeks at a time to a foreign country - and the picture comes into focus. One of the things that Fun Girl seems to confirm is that Saisho’s love for Japan is equally as strong as what Ayano feels for Senpai. Knowing what we know about how the Aishi family curse seems to work, that’s pretty bone chilling. Coupled with every other horrible thing he thinks, combined with his vast wealth and influence, and it’s a recipe for disaster. The question becomes, however, what the point of all of this is. What could a murderous young woman possibly offer one of the most powerful companies in the world? Her body and mind. Stick with me here. Pretend you’re a scientist working for Saikou Corporation and you’re tasked with finding out what makes Ryoba tick; we’ll ignore for the moment any possible supernatural angle that the story might develop to explain their condition. The Aishi ‘curse’ seems to be a psychological condition, effecting the maternal line, that results in its carriers possessing severely stunted emotional growth, antisocial personality traits, flat affects, monotone voices, etc. This begins to alter in the host, however, an intermittent time after puberty in their late teens when, through various circumstances, meeting an individual causes an unknown psychological trigger to occur, acting as a kind of drug that for a time rewires the brain to enter a euphoria-like state wherein they begin to function on a neurotypical level, but only in contact with the source of this change (19 being the median age when an Aishi woman typically marries their victim). What if you could isolate the factors that cause such a thing to occur? 30 years is a long time to study something, after all, and decades’ worth of research must’ve meant some kind of breakthrough. Assuming that Saikou Corporation is like any other megacorporation in fiction then they’re sure to have their hands in medical technology. Imagine taking the research you’ve done on a so-called ‘yandere’ and began to try recreating it. After all, the idea of being able to use certain external symbols or things as stimuli is practically dystopian in its usefulness. Like, say, introducing a corporate symbol and ensuring its customers only felt a sense of satisfaction when buying a certain product.

Let’s go further than that. What if you could engender the same feelings of emptiness, followed by unbridled joy, when looking at something as simple as a flag? Not only could you brainwash an entire nation, but any other place on earth that allows the services you provide as a global company...

From this perspective, the “why?” of Saikou Corporation involving themselves with Ryoba becomes evident. After coming to this piece of speculation, if it is the case, something else also really clicked for me. Two things, actually. The first is that it’d give new meaning to the speech Megami tells you on the Skype chat you can have with her at school:

Is someone there?...Ah! It's you...Why have you come here? Have you come here to taunt me? Do you even know who I am? I know who you are. I know WHAT you are. My father won't allow me to attend school while you are..."active". He has a reason for tolerating your presence at this school. I don't. You are a vulgar creature that is only allowed to exist because you serve a purpose. If it was my decision, then every last one of you would be exterminated. Have fun while you can. If you and I ever cross paths...you're going to have a bad time.

The purpose is to further Saikou Corporation’s knowledge of the yandere condition and to find further ways to exploit it. Megami’s dad is in on this scheme and has purposefully kept Megami off campus while Ayano is on her murder spree as a way to keep her safe. What’s more, Ayano isn’t the only yandere that’s active either. Such a statement is more revealing than you might imagine it to be too. I think it’s pretty accepted at this point that the journalist’s wife was a yandere herself. He tells us as much in Mysterious Tape #6

But as soon as we met, she wanted to spend every waking moment with me. She wouldn't let me out of her sight, and got possessive if another woman so much as looked at me.

I quickly began to depend on her for everything. It wasn't long before I couldn't live without her. I certainly wasn't in any state to take care of myself... I was like an adult-sized baby. Helpless and vulnerable. Who knows...maybe that's what she was attracted to. Maybe she just wanted to experience the sensation of owning a person. Maybe she wanted to keep a human pet.

Isn’t it odd how she showed up in his life only a year after his ordeal with Ryoba in court? How his marriage to her didn’t involve them leaving the town at all? If I were him, I would’ve probably left it behind a long time ago, especially if it brought up memories as traumatic as what he’d experienced (and the fact he was directly threatened by Ryoba too). But instead his marriage and alcoholism caused him to never get out until it was too late. The timing seems... convenient, doesn’t it? Almost as if it were planned.

It wouldn’t be hard, I think, to sic some girl afflicted with the condition on someone either in hopes they’d ‘imprint’ on them or alternatively try to induce that very same response in them somehow. It’s a safe bet, again, considering how long Saikou Corp. would’ve had to pour over the data they’d collected. There surely would’ve been theories on how it happened and they’d be unethical enough to try it on human test subjects. So if they could do that, who might it happen to?

I think that an overarching narrative theme in-game is going to be that of free will. Let’s consider for a moment both Megami and Ayano as parallels to one another. Both are incredibly driven women who will stop at nothing to get what they desire - order for Megami, Senpai for Ayano - with familial histories of treachery and abuse. If Megami’s life has been lain down before her without her having much say in the matter, how does this similar struggle reflect in Ayano? Arguably, Megami could have everything she ever materially wanted in life just as Ayano has in the form of the feelings Senpai gives her but the issue goes deeper. If the price for Megami was having every moment planned out for her, is it not possible that the feelings Ayano has are just as manufactured? I don’t mean that in the ‘love at first sight’ kind of way; I’m questioning if the meeting with Senpai was something that was set up for her to go through, a test to see if this poor schmuck could be the thing that would let them begin to move onto a new test subject to put them through their glorified obstacle course (Akademi). Not to mention the fact that it essentially occurs right after Ryoba and Mr. Aishi leave for America is an immediate red flag. If Megami is trying to stop Ayano, though, then it must mean that she’s rebelling against the wishes of Saikou Corporation itself. After all, they don’t want something that they’ve put years of investment into slipping through the fingers if they can help it. The end game she has in mind is anyone’s guess at this point but I suspect it will be the purge of anything related to the above secret project. As such, there’s going to have to be someone to offer us an alternative to bringing down the current iteration of Saikou - and I think we also have an inkling of who’s going to aid us in bringing her down.

Kencho is emblematic of the status quo. He desperately desires his father’s approval (the one who’s likely continuing his father’s wishes and pursuing this whole endeavor to begin with) and will do anything to gain it. If Megami steps out of line too much, he’s certain to know that means she’ll fall from grace. He’s only been prevented from doing anything about his current situation because he’s only second best and hurting Megami would upset his dad. However, if she were to have an unfortunate accident... well, it isn’t as if he could be ignored anymore. In exchange, I imagine he’ll give Ayano exactly what her mother had: a nice house, a life untouched by anyone who’d take Taro or Taeko away from her, and a way for the two of them to have children if you go the latter route. All Ayano has to do is just give in to being a pawn like her mother did, like Kencho did, and like his father did. Or she can, at last, have the first real choice she’s ever had in her life by siding with Megami and tearing it all down (with Senpai still the promised reward in exchange for her help, certainly...).

[nightcoremoon]

when you read a chapter of ouran high school hosts club about soup and post-wwii japan causing mass starvation, and the twins make an offhand comment about the showa period, which you then google to learn that showa refers to emperor hirohito, learn he was in “power” until 198fucking9, was succeeded by his son and then his grandson despite having no real political power because of american post-war occupation which executed almost the entire japanese political system except the emperor who they left alive as a show of power and dominance, and was a fucking nightmare of a totalitarian fascist leader like holy shit yikes levels of evil, and that apparently the current “liberal democratic party” are actually conservatives. I did not expect to get invested in the politics of japan outside of years 1937-1945 but wow a lot of stuff happened I never learned about because american media doesn’t care about any of that because the wartime efforts in the pacific theater are more hollywoodable and the Pearl Harbor propaganda makes America seem much more sympathetic to the point we ignore the absolute atrocities of hiroshima and nagasaki (yet won’t shut the fuck up about 9/11 twenty years later). you only ever hear about the bad things hitler and mussolini did- which, don’t get me wrong, were really really unquantifiably bad, convincingly arguably worse (but saying the holocaust was worse than the nukes is like saying luis garavito was worse than jeffrey dahmer, it’s both terrible tragedies that killed a lot of people; it’s just that ten million vs a hundred thousand is more). but we did a lot of bad shit too. wonder why nobody ever wants to talk about that. makes me wanna see world history as told by people who aren’t, you know. the top 5 current economies. which happen to be america, china, japan, germany, and britain. like, I genuinely wonder what India, France, Korea, other countries that weren’t heavily involved with wwii (this isn’t a ding on those countries, india helped against rommel, but france was just destroyed because their population hadn’t recovered from carrying the great war and korea was just the worst place to be under japanese role especially if you were a woman forced at gunpoint to work in the military brothels :/ anyway I am deciding while typing this to clarify that when I say wwii I mean specifically the allies vs axis in europe and the pacific since that’s where all the movies and games take place besides, oddly enough, call of duty 2 big red one which is genuinely what made me learn that part of wwii took place in the tunisian desert).

so basically ouran high school hosts club reawakened my wwii special interest because I got emotionally invested in the story of how the vice principal met his wife

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 8.15

636 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between Byzantine Empire and Rashidun Caliphate begins. 717 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year. 718 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople. 747 – Carloman, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, renounces his position as majordomo and retires to a monastery near Rome. His brother Pepin the Short becomes the sole ruler (de facto) of the Frankish Kingdom. 778 – The Battle of Roncevaux Pass takes place between the army of Charlemagne and a Basque army. 805 – Noble Erchana of Dahauua grants the Bavarian town of Dachau to the Diocese of Freising 927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto. 982 – Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria. 1018 – Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria. 1038 – King Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, dies; his nephew, Peter Orseolo, succeeds him. 1057 – King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada. 1070 – The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in England. 1096 – Starting date of the First Crusade as set by Pope Urban II. 1185 – The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia. 1237 – Spanish Reconquista: The Battle of the Puig between the Moorish forces of Taifa of Valencia against the Kingdom of Aragon culminates in an Aragonese victory. 1248 – The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.) 1261 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned as the first Byzantine emperor in fifty-seven years. 1281 – Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of Kōan. 1310 – The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes. 1430 – Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca. 1461 – The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmed II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered. 1483 – Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel. 1511 – Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate. 1517 – Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary. 1519 – Panama City, Panama is founded. 1534 – Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540. 1537 – Asunción, Paraguay is founded. 1540 – Arequipa, Peru is founded. 1549 – Jesuit priest Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: 22 July 1549). 1592 – Imjin War: At the Battle of Hansan Island, the Korean Navy, led by Yi Sun-sin, Yi Eok-gi, and Won Gyun, decisively defeats the Japanese Navy, led by Wakisaka Yasuharu. 1599 – Nine Years' War: Battle of Curlew Pass: Irish forces led by Hugh Roe O'Donnell successfully ambush English forces, led by Sir Conyers Clifford, sent to relieve Collooney Castle. 1695 – French forces end the bombardment of Brussels. 1760 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz: Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon. 1824 – The Marquis de Lafayette, the last surviving French general of the American Revolutionary War, arrives in New York and begins a tour of 24 states. 1843 – The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States. 1843 – Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark. 1863 – The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863). 1893 – Ibadan area becomes a British Protectorate after a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton. 1899 – Fratton Park football ground in Portsmouth, England is officially first opened. 1907 – Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, the first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies. 1914 – A servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright murders seven people and sets fire to the living quarters of Wright's Wisconsin home, Taliesin. 1914 – The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon. 1914 – World War I: The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia. 1914 – World War I: Beginning of the Battle of Cer, the first Allied victory of World War I. 1915 – A story in New York World newspaper reveals that the Imperial German government had purchased excess phenol from Thomas Edison that could be used to make explosives for the war effort and diverted it to Bayer for aspirin production. 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, so-called Miracle at the Vistula. 1935 – Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska. 1939 – Twenty-six Junkers Ju 87 bombers commanded by Walter Sigel meet unexpected ground fog during a dive-bombing demonstration for Luftwaffe generals at Neuhammer. Thirteen of them crash and burn. 1939 – The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California. 1940 – An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbor during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October. 1941 – Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 07:12, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for espionage. 1942 – World War II: Operation Pedestal: The oil tanker SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island's defenses. 1943 – World War II: Battle of Trahili: Superior German forces surround Cretan partisans, who manage to escape against all odds. 1944 – World War II: Operation Dragoon: Allied forces land in southern France. 1945 – Jewel Voice Broadcast by the Emperor Showa following effective surrender of Japan in the World War II, Korea gains Independence from the Empire of Japan. 1947 – India gains Independence from British rule after near 190 years of British company and crown rule, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations. 1947 – Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi. 1948 – The First Republic of Korea (South Korea) is established in the southern half of the peninsula. 1950 – Measuring Mw 8.6, the largest earthquake on land occurrs in the Assam-Tibet-Myanmar border, killing 4,800. 1952 – A flash flood drenches the town of Lynmouth, England, killing 34 people. 1954 – Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay. 1960 – Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France. 1961 – Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall. 1962 – James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok died in 2016. 1963 – Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland. 1963 – President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital. 1965 – The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock. 1969 – The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in upstate New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era. 1970 – Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play professionally in an American football game. 1971 – President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors. 1971 – Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom. 1973 – Vietnam War: The USAF bombing of Cambodia ends. 1974 – Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President Park Chung-hee. 1975 – Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup. 1975 – Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II. 1977 – The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project. 1984 – The Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in Şemdinli and Eruh 1985 – Signing of the Assam Accord, an agreement between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement to end the movement. 1995 – In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later). 1998 – Northern Ireland: Omagh bombing takes place; 29 people (including a woman pregnant with twins) killed and some 220 others injured. 1999 – Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria: Some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco. 2005 – Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins. 2005 – The Helsinki Agreement between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia was signed, ending almost three decades of fighting. 2007 – An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090. 2013 – At least 27 people are killed and 226 injured in an explosion in southern Beirut near a complex used by Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. A previously unknown Syrian Sunni group claims responsibility in an online video. 2013 – The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years. 2015 – North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time, 81⁄2 hours ahead of UTC.

[63824peace]

Thursday, 24th of november

Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day. I went into the office after lunch. I encountered something interesting that evening while I made my way from the office to the Hibiya Line. A little girl held her camera in front of a huge billboard. She appeared about six or seven years old. She was probably in the lower grades of elementary school.

She paced back and forth, side to side, struggling to find the best frame for her photograph. Her hands held a small, pink camera. A woman who looked like the girl's mother paid more attention to the people passing by than to her daughter.

"What is she trying to shoot?"

I was curious, so I walked in front to see the billboard that she had tried to capture on film. The billboard in front of me glowed with a representation of the Hills' Christmas lights.

"Ah! So this is what she wants to preserve."

The Hills features three different lighting schemes within its Christmas decorations. Keyaki-zaka has Snow-&-Blue. 66 Plaza has Dramatic Crystal. And Mouri Teien has Garden-H. Each decorative scheme has a different sponsor. Collectively, though, we call this year's Hills Christmas display Artelligent Christmas 2005.

The little girl had seen the scenery as soon as she had stepped off the train and passed through the turnstile. The billboard only showed a second-hand image of the lights display, but it was still quite beautiful. She must have been very happy. The lighting really touched her, so she wanted to photograph the billboard's scenery.

She finally framed her shot and clicked the shutter. The camera's flash briefly lit the hall white. The girl nodded, satisfied, and then left for the Hills while holding her mother's hand.

To feel the scenery's beauty... to want to keep it near... her camera had served its duty. Children sense the world so clearly.

They enjoy the world even to the point that scenery depicted on a billboard has beauty. Would anyone my age have tried to preserve the image found on the billboard? No -- they would think that the billboard is reserved for advertisements. Adults reason that the real scenery sits just a little farther away, so they conclude that the billboard isn't fit for a photograph.

Even a commercial billboard can serve as photographic material if the picture-taker senses its beauty. Reality or facsimile... the distinction is irrelevant. Beauty found is beauty, nothing less.

A child's purity... that's the root of the girl's hunger for beautiful things.

We spent the morning in a long internal meeting. It lasted through the end of lunch. Kenichiro had thought of me, and he brought me food from the fifth floor while I was still in the meeting. Because of him I could check my mail while I ate katsu bento from the Hills' own Katsura.

For some reason I felt uncomfortable. I was nonetheless thankful.

I ate hurriedly since I had an afternoon visitor scheduled. I always eat fast, so it was an easy trick.

I took care of one piece of mail for every bite that I ate. By the time that I had polished off the bento, I had gone through all the mail that had gathered while I had attended the meeting.

I once ate quite slowly, unlike now. I ate the slowest in my family. I would sometimes even chew a piece of hard meat from my school lunch until the first class started after lunch. I chewed like a cow does its cud.

I had so many preferences, so many likes and dislikes. Eating became a difficult task in itself. I would always dream, "Can we go on living somehow without eating, through some kind of photosynthesis?" Could people live on like The End?

Everything changed when I got into junior high. All the students scrambled for the school playground at lunchtime. The ones who got there first were the daily winners -- first come, first serve. Students from the other classes would claim the playground if any one of us dawdled too long.

We couldn't use any particular custom as an excuse to eat earlier, so we had to fill up our stomachs as quickly as possible at the beginning of lunch. I developed a way to eat my bento quickly: to swallow without chewing, and to eat by swallowing. I became a quick eater after eating like that day by day. My family gets nervous because I eat so hastily, but it's really convenient when I have to eat and run.

In the afternoon I had a secret meeting with a certain Mr. X. The commercialization for a certain project (that I won't name here) has progressed smoothly.

Later I returned to organize the MGS4 project. We continued settling our arrangements for the big event in honor of Subsistence's release. I worked on mail, papers, or my blog whenever I had a spare moment.

Meetings and engagements overran my schedule today. What a miserable Thursday.

In the evening I went to the Virgin Cinemas and saw the film Always: San-cho-me-no-yuuhi. The film depicts "the good old days of Showa." It's based on one of my favorite mangas, San-cho-me-no-yuuhi.

The movie sets its narrative in Showa 33 -- the thirty-third year of the Showa Emperor's enthronement. That was 1958, the year when we completed the Tokyo Tower.

I was born in Showa 38 (1963), so I'm sensitive to movies like this. I cried when I saw the 2001 Crayon Shin-chan movie that was set at the World Expo Osaka. I can't restrain my sobs when something touches me that way. Sometimes I even wail. I prepared for the movie and brought my beloved camouflage handkerchief.

Tears fell over the curves of my cheeks many times during the movie. I would have allowed myself to cry more freely, had I been alone. I haven't cried at a movie like that since I saw Big Fish.

I heard that audience members older than fifty tend to cry from beginning to end. I didn't react that way though. My memories of those times start in the Showa 40s, and they set the movie in the Showa 30s. Ten years make a huge difference.

For example, I've never seen an icebox. I also never saw the former sumo wrestler (who later turned pro wrestler) Rikidozan live. He lived from 1924 to 1963... Rikidozan died the year before I was born. On top of all that, I was born in Tokyo and then raised in Kansai. That created another gap in my experience.

Some people say that the sight of the unfinished Tokyo Tower alone moves older Tokyo citizens to tears. The scenery certainly inspires much nostalgia.

The ad gimmicks were really well executed in the film. The sign boards and posters looked like authentic Showa artifacts, with such names as Torys Bar, Mitsubishi Enpitsy, Glico, National, Tsubame Gomu, and so on. You could see all the people selling goldfish and bamboo poles, along with the tobacconists and mom-and-pop candy stores. Everything hearkened to that time... the refrigerators, the TVs, the fans, the choo-choo trains, and the automatic tricycles.

The images inspire a melancholy nostalgia. Just seeing them on the screen brought such pleasure. I immediately decided to buy the DVD.

I didn't cry because of the setting alone though. It's a genuinely good film.

The screenplay exaggerates some things at times, but even that coheres with the Showa Era. The exaggeration reminded me of a television show that I used to watch as a boy, Kanmi Fujiyama Shochiku Shin Kigeki.

The national populace really should see this movie. They'll laugh and cry with longing, but we ought to remember that complaining won't do any good. Adults shouldn't say, "Those really were the best days." We're no longer in the Showa Era. We're in the Heisei Era now. We should bear in mind that it's the twenty-first century.

We ought to remember the past, yes -- but we shouldn't allow it to consume us. We live in the present moment, and some people are too tied to the ideals of that period to fully move forward. We'll never work through the future unless we accept the present. We must fill the twenty-first century with dreams.

I love the manga San-cho-me-no-yuuhi, as well as its author Mr. Ryohei Saigan.

I first discovered Ryohei Saigan over twenty years ago. Back then the manga had been titled Yuuyake-no-uta. I became acquainted with the manga when I borrowed it from my older brother. Ryohei Saigan had such a unique touch. His romantic stories stirred nostalgia within us. No other manga compared with him. I became his fan immediately.

After that, I read the collection of science fiction stories that he had written early in his career. I liked him more and more. They might be scarce (and in some cases impossible) to find, but I recommend these books to everyone.

1: Chikyu saigo no hi (The Last Day of the Earth)

2: Time Scooter

3: Mysterian

4: Hipparukosu no umi (The Sea of Hipparcos)

5: Akai Kumo (Red Cloud)

I was pretty worried when I learned that they would adapt San-cho-me-no-yuuhi into film. Mr. Yamazaki directed it, and he also directed the films Juvenile and Returner. He is a director from the gaming generation, and his films lean heavily on visual effects.

My friend had recommended the film to me, but I didn't have the courage to watch. Very few films can ever surpass their original source materials. I'm glad that I saw it though. It's different from the original, but it also captured the emotional gamut of the Showa Era.

The sunset doesn't look beautiful in the twenty-first century, but that's not due to pollution or smog. We can't see a beautiful sunset because our people and society are sick. We could have regarded a sunset as beautiful when we were children, because the people and the times had been purer back then.

The movie Always reminds us of these things. The film simultaneously becomes nostalgic and reminiscent.

I ate dinner at Azabu Juban with one of my close friends. We hadn't seen each other in a month, so we spoke of many things. My friend sometimes slipped into the Kansai dialect along with me.

Kansai seems to be contagious!

I saw my friend off and started back toward the office. I noticed that the sunset's chrome had lit the Tokyo Tower.

The Tower has guarded Tokyo's sky for fifty years, but the environment has changed... and the times have changed too. I returned to my office in the Hills Tower, a landmark of the twenty-first century. The Hills doesn't bear any of the Era's scents.

I had received so much mail in my absence.

I suddenly felt so melancholy that I decided just to go home. The day's last train jostled me from side to side for about an hour, until I arrived at my home station at last. I climbed the slope that leads to my house.

I stopped when I arrived at a certain area near San-cho-me. I didn't see a sunset of course... it was already midnight.

The streets were already asleep. The house windows wouldn't emit any light because the families within had gone to sleep. The world's slumbering hours had come.

I steadily walked through the nighttime suburb alone. We don't have decorations like the lights at the Hills here. Our street-lamps shine feebly. This isn't a town from the Era.

I felt somewhat cold, and the waning moon seemed languid. Everything converged to make me feel lonely.

I try to walk along the curbs at times like this. I walked farther inside the white line that designated the pedestrian path. Then the sensors installed in the houses detected my presence. The sensors' lights will blink on around the garage whenever anyone set them off. They're installed for security. At one particular spot, a line of consecutive houses has light sensors installed.

The dark street lit up when I walked close to those houses. The lights popped on, one after another. They seemed to whiten the night just for me -- my private beacons.

A beautiful sunset means that we live in a beautiful era. I'd like to see a sunset during our times like the one I saw in the movie.

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: 10 Anime to Watch if You Loved 'Yuri!!! On ICE'

The word is out: Yuri!!! On ICE was officially crowned Crunchyroll's Anime of the Year at the Anime Awards. The show’s combination of thoughtful character drama, thrilling performance sequences, and goofy comedy made it a deserved breakout hit. Will there be more? Maybe, but it won’t be for a long time yet. So what can all of us do to occupy ourselves in the meantime? Watch more anime, of course!

  Yuri!!! On ICE was a unique show, but if you loved something about its specific blend of strengths, there are almost certainly more shows out there for you to enjoy. But recommendations are never a one-size-fits-all sort of thing, so I’ll be tackling this one piece at a time. What specifically about Yuri!!! On ICE spoke to you? What sort of show could see yourself enjoying, even if it doesn’t have precisely everything Yuri!!! On ICE? Well, let’s start with the easy ones, and see where we get from there.

  First off, if you loved Yuri!!! On ICE, you probably owe it to yourself to check out some of director Sayo Yamamoto’s other work. Yamamoto has been renowned as a distinctive directorial voice in anime for years now, having even worked as an episode director on esteemed projects like Samurai Champloo and Space Dandy. Her own works exemplify the forward-thinking perspective that made Yuri!!! on ICE so unique, and so my list of recommendations will start right there.

  1) Michiko & Hatchin

Michiko & Hatchin is a rambling road trip starring a lawless woman and her orphan companion, who seek their destinies in a country three steps removed from our own Brazil. If you like Shinichiro Watanabe’s style of episodic adventures (Champloo, Cowboy Bebop), but feel they could probably use a badass heroine topping the bill, it’s very worth a look. Yamamoto herself has described this one as a show she hoped women could come home to after a day of work, cracking a beer and enjoying the show.

  2) The Woman Called Fujiko Mine

Four years after directing Michiko & Hatchin, Yamamoto returned with The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. Though this show takes place in the general Lupin III, master thief universe, it’s both relatively self-contained and very unique in its focus. As the title says, this show turns its eye to Lupin’s eternal femme fatale Fujiko, who is given her own rich story in Yamamoto’s capable hands. Couple that with the show’s gorgeous art design, and you’ve got another series that’s definitely worth checking out.

Before I move on from Yamamoto, I should mention that her highlights aren’t just limited to the full series she’s directed. Yamamoto preceded Yuri!!! On ICE with the clear stylistic predecessor Endless Night, a beautiful skating-focused short from the Animator Expo program. She’s also renowned for her work on show ending songs, having directed the endings for shows like Attack on Titan, Space Dandy, and Rage of Bahamut: Genesis. Yuri!!! On ICE’s tight schedule and breakneck pacing didn’t even necessarily allow all of Yamamoto’s strengths to shine, so I’d definitely give her other work a chance.

    But of course, shows are more than just their creators. While Yamamoto has directed some very exciting productions, if you’re looking for something that feels like Yuri!!! On ICE, you might have to look elsewhere. The thrill of competition, the camaraderie of a broad cast, the fundamental optimism of pushing beyond yourself to succeed—all of those things are fundamental to sports dramas like Yuri!!! On ICE. And fortunately, Yuri!!! On ICE actually hits us during something of a sports anime renaissance, where we have a wide variety of recent sports hits to choose from. As far as those go, check out the next recommendations (in no particular order).

  3) Haikyuu!!

Starting off our sports roundup, Haikyuu!! offers a satisfying and reasonably grounded take on high school volleyball. Featuring some terrific animation and a wide, likeable cast, it just recently finished up its third season. It’s light, fun, and brimming with energy. Even if Yuri!!! On ICE made you fall in love with figure skating, you might want to leave a little time in your schedule for volleyball after this one.

  4) Cross Game

Cross Game sadly isn’t available streaming, but is still widely in manga form. As a personal fan, I had to include this one in my list - a story about grief, family, and the competitions that bring us together, it’s one of my absolute favorite manga. Focusing on a pitching prodigy and the team that rises around him, Cross Game offers a more sensitive and character-focused approach to sports stories, following its cast as they grow from children into young adults.

5) Kuroko’s Basketball

At the more sports-as-superpowers end of the genre, there’s the intense and often beautifully directed Kuroko’s Basketball. There are no overt romantic relationships in this one, but Kuroko’s Basketball is still deeply invested in the internal worlds of its characters, and the relationships that form between them. Plus, who doesn’t like shows about characters with basketball teleportation magic?

  6) Ping Pong the Animation

Finally, the tremendous Ping Pong the Animation brings a unique visual sensibility and terrific character writing together to offer one of the strongest shows in any genre. Starring a dynamic cast of young talents, it both celebrates what makes them unique and also examines the fundamental nature of competition. Every competitor has their own style and reasons for playing, and Ping Pong brings all of its heroes to life.

7) Free!

I’d frankly be negligent in my duties if I moved on from sports shows without mentioning Free! Free! is actually a less dedicated sports drama than those picks above, and more of a slice of life/drama blend, but it’s still funny and beautifully animated and full of cute boys. Definitely worth a look if you’re seeking something a little lighter.

Of course, Yuri!!! On ICE wasn’t just a thrilling sports show - it was also a mature and satisfying romance, a queer drama with a very thoughtful approach to its cast. If you’re looking for more shows like that, I’ve got a few picks that are just the thing!

8) Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

Focusing on a few artists practicing Japanese theater across the twentieth century, Rakugo presents a striking story of passion, legacy, and awakening to your own sexuality. Performers find identity and redemption on the stage, all while weathering a Shakespearian hurricane of tragedy and personal sacrifice. It’s sensitively written and beautifully directed, and its second season is airing right now.

9) Wandering Son

Wandering Son tends to show up on any list of LGBT-focused anime, and for good reason. The show is a beautifully intimate story of two adolescents coming to terms with their gender identities. Featuring another great ensemble cast and a warm, almost watercolor-styled visual aesthetic, it’s a sensitive and often heartwarming production. Wandering Son embraces the complexity and validity of our sometimes contradictory feelings, celebrating the value of every member of its charming cast.

  10) Yurikuma Arashi

If you know Kunihiko Ikuhara, this one’s probably not surprising - he directed the standout adolescent drama Revolutionary Girl Utena, and all of his works are rich in visual metaphor and social commentary. His latest show is actually his most direct, though that doesn’t make it any less exciting. Yurikuma Arashi tackles the realities of same-sex oppression, portraying not just the difficulty of being yourself in a hostile society, but also the various ways we all become servants of such systems. And it does this all through the wonderful framing device of... predatory lesbian bears.

  From ice skating champions to lesbian bears seems like quite a trip, but there are all sorts of things to draw from our favorites. I hope some of these shows sound appealing to you, and please sound off with any of your own recommendations in the comments!

-----

Nick Creamer has been writing about cartoons for too many years now, and is always ready to cry about Madoka. You can find more of his work at his blog Wrong Every Time, or follow him on Twitter.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[jailhouse41]

Poster for The Woman Killer (Showa Onna Jingi, 昭和お��な仁義) also known as Showa Woman’s Duty or Showa Woman’s Gambling Code, 1969, directed by Taro Yuge (弓削太郎) and starring Kyoko Enami (江波杏子), Mikio Narita (成田三樹夫), Asao Koike (小池朝雄) and Mari Atsumi (渥美マリ).

[jailhouse41]

Lobby card for The Woman Killer (Showa Onna Jingi, 昭和おんな仁義) also known as Showa Woman’s Duty or Showa Woman’s Gambling Code, 1969, directed by Taro Yuge (弓削太郎) and starring Kyoko Enami (江波杏子).

[jailhouse41]

Lobby card for The Woman Killer (Showa Onna Jingi, 昭和おんな仁義) also known as Showa Woman’s Duty or Showa Woman’s Gambling Code, 1969, directed by Taro Yuge (弓削太郎) and starring Kyoko Enami (江波杏子).

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 8.15

636 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between Byzantine Empire and Rashidun Caliphate begins. 717 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year. 718 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople. 747 – Carloman, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, renounces his position as majordomo and retires to a monastery near Rome. His brother Pepin the Short becomes the sole ruler (de facto) of the Frankish Kingdom. 778 – The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed. 805 – Noble Erchana of Dahauua grants the Bavarian town of Dachau to the Diocese of Freising 927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto. 982 – Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria 1018 – Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria. 1038 – King Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, dies; his nephew, Peter Orseolo, succeeds him. 1057 – King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada. 1070 – The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in England. 1185 – The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia. 1237 – The Battle of the Puig takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista pitting the forces of the Taifa of Valencia against the Kingdom of Aragon. The battle resulted in an Aragonese victory. 1248 – The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.) 1261 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned Byzantine emperor in Constantinople. 1281 – Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of Kōan. 1309 – The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes. 1430 – Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca. 1461 – The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmed II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered. 1483 – Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel. 1511 – Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate. 1517 – Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary. 1519 – Panama City, Panama is founded. 1534 – Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540. 1537 – Asunción, Paraguay is founded. 1540 – Arequipa, Peru is founded. 1549 – Jesuit priest Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: 22 July 1549). 1599 – Nine Years' War: Battle of Curlew Pass: Irish forces led by Hugh Roe O'Donnell successfully ambush English forces, led by Sir Conyers Clifford, sent to relieve Collooney Castle. 1695 – French forces end the bombardment of Brussels. 1760 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz: Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon. 1824 – The Marquis de Lafayette, the last surviving French general of the American Revolutionary War, arrives in New York and begins a tour of 24 states. 1843 – The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States. 1843 – Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark. 1863 – The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863). 1869 – The Meiji government in Japan establishes six new ministries, including one for Shinto. 1893 – Ibadan area becomes a British Protectorate after a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton. 1907 – Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, the first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies. 1914 – A servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright murders seven people and sets fire to the living quarters of Wright's Wisconsin home, Taliesin. 1914 – The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon. 1914 – World War I: The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia. 1914 – World War I: Beginning of the Battle of Cer, the first Allied victory of World War I. 1915 – A story in New York World newspaper reveals that the Imperial German government had purchased excess phenol from Thomas Edison that could be used to make explosives for the war effort and diverted it to Bayer for aspirin production. 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, so-called Miracle at the Vistula. 1935 – Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska. 1939 – Thirteen Stukas dive into the ground during a disastrous air-practice at Neuhammer. There are no survivors. 1939 – The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California. 1940 – An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbor during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October. 1941 – Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 07:12, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for espionage. 1942 – World War II: Operation Pedestal: The SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island's defenses. 1943 – World War II: Battle of Trahili: Superior German forces surround Cretan partisans, who manage to escape against all odds. 1944 – World War II: Operation Dragoon: Allied forces land in southern France. 1945 – Jewel Voice Broadcast by the Emperor Showa following effective surrender of Japan in the World War II, Korea gains Independence from the Empire of Japan. 1947 – India gains Independence from British rule after near 190 years of Crown rule and joins the Commonwealth of Nations. 1947 – Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi. 1948 – The Republic of Korea is established south of the 38th parallel north. 1952 – A flash flood drenches the town of Lynmouth, England, killing 34 people. 1954 – Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay. 1960 – Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France. 1961 – Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall. 1962 – James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok still resides in the capital, Pyongyang. 1963 – Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland. 1963 – President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital. 1965 – The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock. 1969 – The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in upstate New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era. 1970 – Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play professionally in an American football game. 1971 – President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors. 1971 – Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom. 1973 – Vietnam War: The United States bombing of Cambodia ends. 1974 – Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President, Park Chung-hee. 1975 – Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup. 1975 – Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II. 1977 – The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project. 1984 – The Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in Şemdinli and Eruh 1995 – In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later). 1998 – Northern Ireland: Omagh bombing takes place; 29 people (including a woman pregnant with twins) killed and some 220 others injured. 1999 – Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria: Some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco. 2005 – Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins. 2005 – The Helsinki Agreement between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia was signed, ending almost three decades of fighting. 2007 – An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090. 2013 – At least 27 people are killed and 226 injured in an explosion in southern Beirut near a complex used by Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. A previously unknown Syrian Sunni group claims responsibility in an online video. 2013 – The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years. 2015 – North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time, 8½ hours ahead of UTC.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 8.15

636 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between Byzantine Empire and Rashidun Caliphate begins. 717 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year. 718 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople. 747 – Carloman, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, renounces his position as majordomo and retires to a monastery near Rome. His brother Pepin the Short becomes the sole ruler (de facto) of the Frankish Kingdom. 778 – The Battle of Roncevaux Pass takes place between the army of Charlemagne and a Basque army. 805 – Noble Erchana of Dahauua grants the Bavarian town of Dachau to the Diocese of Freising 927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto. 982 – Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria. 1018 – Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria. 1038 – King Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, dies; his nephew, Peter Orseolo, succeeds him. 1057 – King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada. 1070 – The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in England. 1185 – The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia. 1237 – The Battle of the Puig takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista pitting the forces of the Taifa of Valencia against the Kingdom of Aragon. The battle resulted in an Aragonese victory. 1248 – The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.) 1261 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned as the first Byzantine emperor in fifty-seven years. 1281 – Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of Kōan. 1310 – The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes. 1430 – Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca. 1461 – The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmed II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered. 1483 – Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel. 1511 – Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate. 1517 – Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary. 1519 – Panama City, Panama is founded. 1534 – Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540. 1537 – Asunción, Paraguay is founded. 1540 – Arequipa, Peru is founded. 1549 – Jesuit priest Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: 22 July 1549). 1592 – Imjin War: At the Battle of Hansan Island, the Korean Navy, led by Yi Sun-sin, Yi Eok-gi, and Won Gyun, decisively defeats the Japanese Navy, led by Wakisaka Yasuharu. 1599 – Nine Years' War: Battle of Curlew Pass: Irish forces led by Hugh Roe O'Donnell successfully ambush English forces, led by Sir Conyers Clifford, sent to relieve Collooney Castle. 1695 – French forces end the bombardment of Brussels. 1760 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz: Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon. 1824 – The Marquis de Lafayette, the last surviving French general of the American Revolutionary War, arrives in New York and begins a tour of 24 states. 1843 – The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States. 1843 – Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark. 1863 – The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863). 1893 – Ibadan area becomes a British Protectorate after a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton. 1899 – Fratton Park football ground in Portsmouth, England is officially first opened. 1907 – Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, the first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies. 1914 – A servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright murders seven people and sets fire to the living quarters of Wright's Wisconsin home, Taliesin. 1914 – The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon. 1914 – World War I: The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia. 1914 – World War I: Beginning of the Battle of Cer, the first Allied victory of World War I. 1915 – A story in New York World newspaper reveals that the Imperial German government had purchased excess phenol from Thomas Edison that could be used to make explosives for the war effort and diverted it to Bayer for aspirin production. 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, so-called Miracle at the Vistula. 1935 – Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska. 1939 – Twenty-six Junkers Ju 87 bombers commanded by Walter Sigel meet unexpected ground fog during a dive-bombing demonstration for Luftwaffe generals at Neuhammer. Thirteen of them crash and burn. 1939 – The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California. 1940 – An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbor during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October. 1941 – Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 07:12, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for espionage. 1942 – World War II: Operation Pedestal: The oil tanker SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island's defenses. 1943 – World War II: Battle of Trahili: Superior German forces surround Cretan partisans, who manage to escape against all odds. 1944 – World War II: Operation Dragoon: Allied forces land in southern France. 1945 – Jewel Voice Broadcast by the Emperor Showa following effective surrender of Japan in the World War II, Korea gains Independence from the Empire of Japan. 1947 – India gains Independence from British rule after near 190 years of British company and crown rule, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations. 1947 – Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi. 1948 – The Republic of Korea (South Korea) is established south of the 38th parallel north. 1952 – A flash flood drenches the town of Lynmouth, England, killing 34 people. 1954 – Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay. 1960 – Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France. 1961 – Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall. 1962 – James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok died in 2016. 1963 – Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland. 1963 – President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital. 1965 – The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock. 1969 – The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in upstate New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era. 1970 – Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play professionally in an American football game. 1971 – President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors. 1971 – Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom. 1973 – Vietnam War: The USAF bombing of Cambodia ends. 1974 – Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President Park Chung-hee. 1975 – Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup. 1975 – Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II. 1977 – The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project. 1984 – The Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in Şemdinli and Eruh 1995 – In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later). 1998 – Northern Ireland: Omagh bombing takes place; 29 people (including a woman pregnant with twins) killed and some 220 others injured. 1999 – Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria: Some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco. 2005 – Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins. 2005 – The Helsinki Agreement between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia was signed, ending almost three decades of fighting. 2007 – An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090. 2013 – At least 27 people are killed and 226 injured in an explosion in southern Beirut near a complex used by Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. A previously unknown Syrian Sunni group claims responsibility in an online video. 2013 – The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years. 2015 – North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time, 8​1⁄2 hours ahead of UTC.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 8.15

636 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between Byzantine Empire and Rashidun Caliphate begins. 717 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year. 718 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople. 747 – Carloman, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, renounces his position as majordomo and retires to a monastery near Rome. His brother Pepin the Short becomes the sole ruler (de facto) of the Frankish Kingdom. 778 – The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed. 805 – Noble Erchana of Dahauua grants the Bavarian town of Dachau to the Diocese of Freising 927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto. 982 – Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria 1018 – Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria. 1038 – King Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, dies; his nephew, Peter Orseolo, succeeds him. 1057 – King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada. 1070 – The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in England. 1185 – The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia. 1237 – The Battle of the Puig takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista pitting the forces of the Taifa of Valencia against the Kingdom of Aragon. The battle resulted in an Aragonese victory. 1248 – The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.) 1261 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned Byzantine emperor in Constantinople. 1281 – Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of Kōan. 1310 – The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes. 1430 – Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca. 1461 – The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmed II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered. 1483 – Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel. 1511 – Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate. 1517 – Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary. 1519 – Panama City, Panama is founded. 1534 – Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540. 1537 – Asunción, Paraguay is founded. 1540 – Arequipa, Peru is founded. 1549 – Jesuit priest Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: 22 July 1549). 1592 – Imjin War: At the Battle of Hansan Island, the Korean Navy, led by Yi Sun-sin, Yi Eok-gi, and Won Gyun, decisively defeats the Japanese Navy, led by Wakisaka Yasuharu.[1] 1599 – Nine Years' War: Battle of Curlew Pass: Irish forces led by Hugh Roe O'Donnell successfully ambush English forces, led by Sir Conyers Clifford, sent to relieve Collooney Castle. 1695 – French forces end the bombardment of Brussels. 1760 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz: Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon. 1824 – The Marquis de Lafayette, the last surviving French general of the American Revolutionary War, arrives in New York and begins a tour of 24 states. 1843 – The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States. 1843 – Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark. 1863 – The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863). 1893 – Ibadan area becomes a British Protectorate after a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton. 1907 – Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, the first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies. 1914 – A servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright murders seven people and sets fire to the living quarters of Wright's Wisconsin home, Taliesin. 1914 – The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon. 1914 – World War I: The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia. 1914 – World War I: Beginning of the Battle of Cer, the first Allied victory of World War I. 1915 – A story in New York World newspaper reveals that the Imperial German government had purchased excess phenol from Thomas Edison that could be used to make explosives for the war effort and diverted it to Bayer for aspirin production. 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, so-called Miracle at the Vistula. 1935 – Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska. 1939 – Twenty-six Junkers Ju 87 bombers commanded by Walter Sigel meet unexpected ground fog during a dive-bombing demonstration for Luftwaffe generals at Neuhammer. Thirteen of them crash and burn. 1939 – The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California. 1940 – An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbor during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October. 1941 – Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 07:12, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for espionage. 1942 – World War II: Operation Pedestal: The oil tanker SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island's defenses. 1943 – World War II: Battle of Trahili: Superior German forces surround Cretan partisans, who manage to escape against all odds. 1944 – World War II: Operation Dragoon: Allied forces land in southern France. 1945 – Jewel Voice Broadcast by the Emperor Showa following effective surrender of Japan in the World War II, Korea gains Independence from the Empire of Japan. 1947 – India gains Independence from British rule after near 190 years of British company and crown rule, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations. 1947 – Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi. 1948 – The Republic of Korea (South Korea) is established south of the 38th parallel north. 1952 – A flash flood drenches the town of Lynmouth, England, killing 34 people. 1954 – Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay. 1960 – Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France. 1961 – Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall. 1962 – James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok died in 2016. 1963 – Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland. 1963 – President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital. 1965 – The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock. 1969 – The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in upstate New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era. 1970 – Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play professionally in an American football game. 1971 – President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors. 1971 – Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom. 1973 – Vietnam War: The United States bombing of Cambodia ends. 1974 – Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President Park Chung-hee. 1975 – Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup. 1975 – Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II. 1977 – The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project. 1984 – The Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in Şemdinli and Eruh 1995 – In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later). 1998 – Northern Ireland: Omagh bombing takes place; 29 people (including a woman pregnant with twins) killed and some 220 others injured. 1999 – Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria: Some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco. 2005 – Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins. 2005 – The Helsinki Agreement between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia was signed, ending almost three decades of fighting. 2007 – An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090. 2013 – At least 27 people are killed and 226 injured in an explosion in southern Beirut near a complex used by Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. A previously unknown Syrian Sunni group claims responsibility in an online video. 2013 – The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years. 2015 – North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time, 8​1⁄2 hours ahead of UTC.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 8.15

636 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between Byzantine Empire and Rashidun Caliphate begins. 717 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year. 718 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople. 747 – Carloman, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, renounces his position as majordomo and retires to a monastery near Rome. His brother Pepin the Short becomes the sole ruler (de facto) of the Frankish Kingdom. 778 – The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed. 805 – Noble Erchana of Dahauua grants the Bavarian town of Dachau to the Diocese of Freising 927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto. 982 – Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria 1018 – Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria. 1038 – King Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, dies; his nephew, Peter Orseolo, succeeds him. 1057 – King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada. 1070 – The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in England. 1185 – The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia. 1237 – The Battle of the Puig takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista pitting the forces of the Taifa of Valencia against the Kingdom of Aragon. The battle resulted in an Aragonese victory. 1248 – The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.) 1261 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned Byzantine emperor in Constantinople. 1281 – Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of Kōan. 1309 – The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes. 1430 – Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca. 1461 – The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmed II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered. 1483 – Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel. 1511 – Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate. 1517 – Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary. 1519 – Panama City, Panama is founded. 1534 – Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540. 1537 – Asunción, Paraguay is founded. 1540 – Arequipa, Peru is founded. 1549 – Jesuit priest Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: 22 July 1549). 1599 – Nine Years' War: Battle of Curlew Pass: Irish forces led by Hugh Roe O'Donnell successfully ambush English forces, led by Sir Conyers Clifford, sent to relieve Collooney Castle. 1695 – French forces end the bombardment of Brussels. 1760 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz: Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon. 1824 – The Marquis de Lafayette, the last surviving French general of the American Revolutionary War, arrives in New York and begins a tour of 24 states. 1843 – The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States. 1843 – Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark. 1863 – The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863). 1893 – Ibadan area becomes a British Protectorate after a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton. 1907 – Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, the first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies. 1914 – A servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright murders seven people and sets fire to the living quarters of Wright's Wisconsin home, Taliesin. 1914 – The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon. 1914 – World War I: The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia. 1914 – World War I: Beginning of the Battle of Cer, the first Allied victory of World War I. 1915 – A story in New York World newspaper reveals that the Imperial German government had purchased excess phenol from Thomas Edison that could be used to make explosives for the war effort and diverted it to Bayer for aspirin production. 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, so-called Miracle at the Vistula. 1935 – Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska. 1939 – Twenty-six Stukas commanded by Walter Sigel meet unexpected ground fog during a dive-bombing demonstration for Luftwaffe generals at Neuhammer. Thirteen of them crash and burn. 1939 – The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California. 1940 – An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbor during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October. 1941 – Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 07:12, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for espionage. 1942 – World War II: Operation Pedestal: The SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island's defenses. 1943 – World War II: Battle of Trahili: Superior German forces surround Cretan partisans, who manage to escape against all odds. 1944 – World War II: Operation Dragoon: Allied forces land in southern France. 1945 – Jewel Voice Broadcast by the Emperor Showa following effective surrender of Japan in the World War II, Korea gains Independence from the Empire of Japan. 1947 – India gains Independence from British rule after near 190 years of Crown rule and joins the Commonwealth of Nations. 1947 – Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi. 1948 – The Republic of Korea (South Korea) is established south of the 38th parallel north. 1952 – A flash flood drenches the town of Lynmouth, England, killing 34 people. 1954 – Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay. 1960 – Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France. 1961 – Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall. 1962 – James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok died in 2016. 1963 – Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland. 1963 – President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital. 1965 – The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock. 1969 – The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in upstate New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era. 1970 – Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play professionally in an American football game. 1971 – President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors. 1971 – Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom. 1973 – Vietnam War: The United States bombing of Cambodia ends. 1974 – Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President Park Chung-hee. 1975 – Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup. 1975 – Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II. 1977 – The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project. 1984 – The Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in Şemdinli and Eruh 1995 – In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later). 1998 – Northern Ireland: Omagh bombing takes place; 29 people (including a woman pregnant with twins) killed and some 220 others injured. 1999 – Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria: Some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco. 2005 – Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins. 2005 – The Helsinki Agreement between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia was signed, ending almost three decades of fighting. 2007 – An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090. 2013 – At least 27 people are killed and 226 injured in an explosion in southern Beirut near a complex used by Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. A previously unknown Syrian Sunni group claims responsibility in an online video. 2013 – The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years. 2015 – North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time, 8½ hours ahead of UTC.