#civil union pope scandal 2020

[sicut-in-caelo-et-in-terra]

I was wondering what your thoughts on Pope Francis and how he has said that same-sex civil unions are okay. I thought it was against the Bible. I'm just curious, really. I guess my big question is, does the Pope dictate what every catholic believes?

Hey friend, thank you for the ask!

So there's definitely a couple of questions here, I'll grab them one at a time.

First question: my personal thoughts on the events of this past week regarding statements alleged to Pope Francis. I think there's just a lot of confusion going around about what was actually said. Some people are saying that it was a mistranslation and that he actually said something different, some people are saying that it was not as much of a mistranslation as others claim and that this has been Francis's position since before he became pope. You are correct in understanding that Catholic teaching considers sexual acts between two members of the same sex as a sin. In my personal opinion, what frustrates me is that this keeps happening, and that whenever it happens it feels like the Church splits into two camps: The Pope Is Ruining Everything versus There Are No Problems Right Now, and unfortunately it seems as though that the split occurs directly down political party lines. Now I get that perhaps people are only coming across that way because they are trying to address the falsehoods of the people on the other side of them. But really I think that a) the Pope is in a position where he has more information than us and he has been selected for this job, and therefore he may be making these decisions based on whatever information or contexts that we who criticize him do not have; b) the Pope is a person who is going to make mistakes, and he is operating in an age where he is under a particular type of scrutiny so we should be quick to forgive; c) at the same time this has shown itself to be a consistent pattern, and while it is a complex issue with many facets very much including the secular media, however there are a lot of other elements related to how he chooses to present himself and the nature of the follow-up from the Vatican, that this keeps happening tells me that there is definitely room for us to be criticizing the leadership in a spirit of charity. But I think in criticizing the Pope or defending the Pope on social media we really really need to be aware that we are indeed in a public and secular space, and that we are coming across as very divided and very disorganized. I've seen a lot of an apparent lack of charity from both sides. There's a lot more to say and it's definitely been something that has been on my heart.

Second question: whether or not same sex civil unions are okay by Catholic teaching. So the answer to this is yes and no. What I mean by this is that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with a non-marital legal union, for example if two siblings or two best friends of the same gender happen to be living together and plan to do so full time, there can be tax and other benefits for having their partnership recognized (e.g. many hospitals only allow immediate family to visit, depending, and so having a legal pairing can be useful). However, the Church does not endorse same-sex sexual relationships, and it is scandalous for the Church to advocate for laws that endorse same-sex sexual relationships. Now of course there's questions as to whether or not it makes sense to have a law that says "you can have same-sex civil unions unless you're in a sexual relationship" and all this. But that's a huge long topic and this post is already so long and I haven't answered all your questions yet.

As a note here which I think is always important to make given the current climate: a sexual orientation is not a person, it is an appetite. When we discuss sexuality in this context, we are talking specifically about acts/lifestyles, not the people who participate in them. People are people and deserve human rights. This is, I believe, more along the lines of what the Holy Father was talking about. That said, marriage and sex are actually not human rights (if they were, you could make a good case for laws requiring marry or have sex with someone who is otherwise unable to procure it on their own). That's not to say that this produces many struggles for people who experience different things, but again this is for another post.

Third question: papal infallibility. This again is a very complex topic and I'm by no means an expert on ecclesiology but I'll give a basic overview of what I understand. Basically, the Catholic Church (and, as I understand it, most religions) makes objective claims. Claims about reality. Either God exists or He doesn't, and that fact isn't changed by whether or not anyone believes it. When the pope, and the Magisterium in general, teaches, they're not changing reality- they're telling us something that is already true and has always been true. With this, we also know that the infallible authority of the Magisterium (that is, the bishops of the Catholic Church, all in direct lineage by ordination to the twelve apostles, of which the Pope is the shepherd) applies to teaching. The Church makes no infallible claims about anything else. Now within the teaching of the Catholic Church there are different levels of teaching. There's dogma, which we rarely change, but that the Pope does have the authority to change, but only has done so a very small number of times throughout history. These are like basic truths about what it means to be Catholic, such as the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Mary was always the Immaculate Conception, she didn't suddenly become it once the Pope proclaimed it ex cathedra. But we do trust that when the Pope speaks dogma, that he is guided by the holy spirit in doing so, and that what he says is true. The pope speaks infallibly elsewhere besides dogma, such as canonizing Saints - once someone is canonized, we know without a doubt that they are in heaven. But these things are already true, and the Pope just tells everyone that it is true. If the Pope says something that we already know to not be true, such as if he were to say that marriage can be between two men or two women, then that wouldn't become true and we wouldn't believe it. We actually have detailed guidelines on what constitutes the development of doctrine versus the corruption of doctrine. Check out St. John Henry Newman's book Grammar of Assent for more detailed info on that. (Someone please correct me if that's not the right book). The Pope / the Magisterium also has other roles, such as telling us how to practice our religion - it is objectively true that we need to keep holy the Sabbath day, however it is up to the Magisterium to determine what constitutes 'keeping holy the Sabbath day,' in this case, largely, going to Mass (and the Magisterium tells us what the Mass is and what if anything would invalidate the Mass). Also not eating meat on Fridays in lent, that's a thing for the Magisterium to decide about.

Anyway that was a lot but I hope you enjoyed it! If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask!

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 3.23

1400 – The Trần dynasty of Vietnam is deposed, after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule, by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official. 1540 – Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of England; the last religious community to be closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. 1568 – The Peace of Longjumeau is signed, ending the second phase of the French Wars of Religion. 1775 – American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his speech – "Give me liberty, or give me death!" – at St. John's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia. 1801 – Tsar Paul I of Russia is struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death inside his bedroom at St. Michael's Castle. 1806 – After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their "Corps of Discovery" begin their arduous journey home. 1821 – Greek War of Independence: Battle and fall of city of Kalamata. 1848 – The ship John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded. 1857 – Elisha Otis's first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway New York City. 1862 – American Civil War: The First Battle of Kernstown, Virginia, marks the start of Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. Although a Confederate defeat, the engagement distracts Federal efforts to capture Richmond. 1868 – The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law. 1879 – War of the Pacific: The Battle of Topáter, the first battle of the war is fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru. 1885 – Sino-French War: Chinese victory in the Battle of Phu Lam Tao near Hưng Hóa, northern Vietnam. 1888 – In England, The Football League, the world's oldest professional association football league, meets for the first time. 1889 – The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian, British India. 1901 – Emilio Aguinaldo, only President of the First Philippine Republic, is captured at Palanan, Isabela by the forces of General Frederick Funston. 1905 – Eleftherios Venizelos calls for Crete's union with Greece, and begins what is to be known as the Theriso revolt. 1909 – Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society. 1913 – A tornado outbreak kills more than 240 people in the central United States, while an ongoing flood in the Ohio River watershed was killing 650 people. 1918 – First World War: On the third day of the German Spring Offensive, the 10th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment is annihilated with many of the men becoming prisoners of war 1919 – In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement. 1931 – Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar are hanged for the killing of a deputy superintendent of police during the Indian independence movement. 1933 – The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany. 1935 – Signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. 1939 – The Hungarian air force attacks the headquarters of the Slovak air force in Spišská Nová Ves, killing 13 people and beginning the Slovak–Hungarian War. 1940 – The Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or Qarardad-e-Lahore) is put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All-India Muslim League. 1956 – Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world. This date is now celebrated as Republic Day in Pakistan. 1965 – NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States' first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young). 1977 – The first of The Nixon Interviews (12 will be recorded over four weeks) is videotaped with British journalist David Frost interviewing former United States President Richard Nixon about the Watergate scandal and the Nixon tapes. 1978 – The first UNIFIL troops arrived in Lebanon for peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line. 1980 – Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador gives his famous speech appealing to men of the El Salvadoran armed forces to stop killing the Salvadorans. 1982 – Guatemala's government, headed by Fernando Romeo Lucas García is overthrown in a military coup by right-wing General Efraín Ríos Montt. 1983 – Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles. 1988 – Angolan and Cuban forces defeat South Africa in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. 1991 – The Revolutionary United Front, with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia, invades Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow Joseph Saidu Momoh, sparking the 11-year Sierra Leone Civil War. 1994 – At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez. 1994 – A United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 aircraft collides with a USAF C-130 at Pope Air Force Base and then crashes, killing 24 United States Army soldiers on the ground. This later became known as the Green Ramp disaster. 1994 – Aeroflot Flight 593 crashed into the Kuznetsk Alatau mountain, Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, killing 75. 1996 – Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President. 1999 – Gunmen assassinate Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña. 2001 – The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji. 2003 – Battle of Nasiriyah, first major conflict during the invasion of Iraq. 2008 – Official opening of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, India 2009 – FedEx Express Flight 80: A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flying from Guangzhou, China crashes at Tokyo's Narita International Airport, killing both the captain and the co-pilot. 2018 – President of Peru Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigns from the presidency amid a mass corruption scandal before certain impeachment by the opposition-majority Congress of Peru. 2019 – The Kazakh capital of Astana was renamed to Nur-Sultan. 2019 – The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces declared military victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after four years of fighting, although the group maintains a scattered presence and sleeper cells across Syria and Iraq. 2020 – UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson put the UK into its first national lockdown in response to Covid 19.

[elleharperbcu]

Critical Thinking Lectures 2

During this lecture we discussed what the future holds and how the prediction of current social changes impact on fashion & textiles.

Today's objective we are going to start to investigate current social factors, and we will try to predict the impact that these drivers will have on the future of fashion and textiles.

The key causes of changes to the industry are: Sustainability, consumerism, innovation, division of wealth, social media, politics & power.

Politics and power - As a group we spoke about the most powerful people in the world. We decided that governments are the most powerful. A government is an institution where leaders exercise power to make and enforce laws. A government's basic functions are providing leadership, maintaining order, providing public services, providing national security, providing economic security, and providing economic assistance.

WATCHMOJO.COM said that the following people are the most powerful people in the world:

Xi Jinping: China’s president

Vladimir Putin: Russia’s president

Angela Merkel: German Chancellor since 2005. Compassionate leader. Powerful lead over European Union’s.

Pope Francis: Fairly progressive leader; pro women & spoke in favor of LGBT community

Donald Trump: Massive following, continued to make headlines.

Jeff Bezos: Founder of Amazon. Worlds richest person.

Bill Gates: Microsoft Founder high profile. Charitable trusts (reported a wealth of 120 billion).

Larry Page: Co-Founder of Google (reported a wealth of 78 billion) 6.9 million searches on google every Fay.

Narendra Modi: India’s longest serving prime minister.

Mark Zuckerburg: Founder of Facebook.

1 Xi Jinping (General secretary to China’s communist party) 2nd largest economy and inhabited country

Amended constitution to broaden his power, scrapped term limits

“Chinese Dream - personal & national ideals for the advancement of Chinese society” Ewalt, D (2018)

2 Valdimir Putin (Ruled since 2000 4 terms)

Putin set up constitutional changes allowing him to remain in power in Russia beyond 2024

FBI investigation ref influencing Trump’s presidential campaign Trump

Europe is dependent on Russia’s oil and gas supplies

Nationalistic focus

Rise of wealth and standard of living

Stamped out democracy – controls media, critics and journalists of opposition have been killed

“Socially Conservative” negative regarding homosexuality according to Wikipedia (2019)

3 Trump Zurcher, A BBC (2018)

Immigration: closed border to some Muslim countries & building a wall between America & Mexico

Healthcare: repealing Obamacare

Environment; reduction in commitment, to save USA costs

Intention to make America a great nation by increased infrastructure, reducing imports whilst expanding exports

Huge following

Division & Wealth

Global inequality = poverty and social conflict

The richest 1% of the world is twice as wealthy as the poorest 50%. The world richest 1% have more than twice as much wealth as 6.9 billion people, almost half of humanity is living on less than $5.50 a day. Global inequality causes poverty and social injustice. The inequality may affect the fashion industry as not everyone will have the chance to study fashion, due to not having the money or opportunity.

Consumerism:

The rise of fast fashion: As online clothing sales increase during the rise of Covid-19, our unsustainable habit is proving hard to stop. This shows that even the pandemic couldn't solve the fast fashion issue. Online clothing sales in August were up 97% versus 2016 consumer's mindset is returning to unsustainable habits. Boohoo's profit increased by 50% during the pandemic, despite the factory scandal. The Boohoo supplier was involved in 'multi-million-pound' fraud scheme. Leicester clothing factories with links to Boohoo and Select Fashion have been involved in a “multi-million pound” money laundering and VAT fraud scandal, an investigation has found.

Sustainable Fashion:

The Global Goals for Sustainable Development:

“These goals have the power to create a better world by 2030, by ending poverty, fighting inequality and addressing the urgency of climate change. Guided by the goals, it is now up to all of us, governments, businesses, civil society and the general public to work together to build a better future for everyone.” Global Goals 2020 

The pandemic has definitely grown the understanding for sustainable fashion.

Innovation: 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) - the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems. Rouse, M 2018. 

Robotic technology - the use of computer-controlled robots to perform manual tasks. If AI and robotic technology could equate to massive job cuts, i.e. Amazon are already testing drones to complete unmanned delivers to customers, this will mean many people will lose their jobs. The cost of producing and maintaining these machines and this new updated technology may mean people who are already not being paid fairly will be paid even less. If robots are used in war there is nothing stopping robots from being able to design fashion. 

How AI is transforming the fashion industry?

Chatbots 24/7 fashion advisors 

Analysis of social media conversations

Forecasting - AI being used to plan the nest trends

Real time data analysis to assist retailers 

Stocking systems - what to keep in stock and restock 

Khaite merged AR, film and traditional mediums, sending presentation boxes to editors and buyers, including lookbooks and fabric samples with QR codes revealing fashion films and AR 3D renderings of their new shoes.

Farra. E. Vogue Runway 2020 This Is the First Augmented Reality Experiment of Spring 2021

https://www.vogue.com/article/khaite-spring-2021-augmented-reality-experience 

Social Media

Social media is very important to have when starting your own brand, it is an easy way to grow connections and loyal customers by promoting your business online. However social media also has its dark side. The documentary The Social Dilemma on Netflix taught me this. “If you are not paying for the product you are the product”. Social media uses persuasive technology to manipulate the product/ people. Technology engineers use addiction & manipulation psychology to control the user. The user is controlled to look at more adds to get more money. Social media is a drug. 

How are we being manipulated? 

Everything online or on social media is watched, recorded and monitored building a model of each of us - to enable the technology to predict what we will do & how we will behave. 

Machine learning algorithms that are getting better & better so that they can engage humans on social media more & more; learning from our internet searches to suggest the next leading topic...leading us down the rabbit hole. 

Technique have been designed to get people to use their phones more i.e. likes, photo tapping, notifications etc... 

We were asked to type into google “climate change is” we all have different results based on our individual algorithms that have been developed by the platforms. 

What can we do ?

Products need to be designed humanly.

We have a responsibility to change what we built.

People (users) are not a product resource. 

Introduce more laws around digital privacy. 

Introduce a tax for data collection.

Reform so don’t destroy the news.

Turn off notifications. 

Don’t use social media after 9pm.

Always do an extra google search - double check your resources.

Don’t follow just follow suggestions. 

How does the fashion industry use social media? 

For the fashion industry, social media has brought connectedness, innovation, and diversity to the industry. Instagram, for example, functions as a live magazine, always updating itself with the best, most current trends while allowing users to participate in fashion rather than just watch from afar. People are influenced by social media when it comes to there fashion through trendsetters like, celebrities and fashion influencers. 

Although social media has many positives, there is also many dangers that comes from it as well. People become obsessed and addicted to social media, always needing to post and show off everything they are doing. Everything people post on social media is mainly the best parts of their lives making people who have struggles feel even worse. Especially for the young generation there is a need for having the most followers, likes and comments and if you don’t you’re not ‘popular’. Due to social media the younger generation mainly compare themselves and their lives to the ‘perfect’ people they see on social media, which is not the reality. It is all a lie, everyone has good and bad parts to their lives but no one shows the negative sides on social media. This is what creates a depressed generation. Everyone then just hides behind screens wishing they were someone else which then leads to jealousy and evilness. Most trolls on social media are those who are just jealous of the love and support these high followed people on social media receive and the high quality of life they live but what they don’t see is the bad side to these people's lives that is not shown half the time.

[ebenpink]

World News Briefs -- January 23, 2019 (Evening Edition) http://bit.ly/2MtiiYm

BBC: Juan Guaidó: US backs opposition leader as Venezuela president US President Donald Trump has said he recognises Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president. The announcement came minutes after the 35-year-old declared himself acting leader in Caracas on Wednesday. A number of South American countries, including Brazil, Colombia and Peru, have also recognised Mr Guaidó as Venezuela's legitimate president. It comes amid mass protests against President Nicolás Maduro who has overseen years of economic freefall. Hyperinflation, power cuts and shortages of basic items have driven millions of people out of Venezuela. Read more ....

MIDDLE EAST

Russia and Turkey mull next steps in war-torn Syria. Erdogan visits Moscow with looming Turkish military op in Syria. Syria on agenda, Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets Vladimir Putin. 'Rapid military escalation' occurring between Iran and Israel. Netanyahu warns of 'lethal' reaction to any Gaza escalation. Jordan officials hold talks in Syria on resuming flights. About 19 million lack access to clean water in Yemen. US backtracks on Iran-focused conference in Poland after objections. Gulf Arab economies to grow more slowly through 2020: economists.

ASIA

North Korea's Kim expresses satisfaction for pre-summit negotiations, praises Trump: KCNA. Afghanistan's CEO says U.S. has reassured on troop pullout. US confirms its envoy held talks with Taliban in Qatar. Afghan spy agency says it kills Taliban mastermind of deadly attack. China on track for more growth, Vice-President Wang Qishan tells worried world elite in Davos. Beijing says China and US are 'mutually indispensable'. China deletes 7 million pieces of online information, thousands of apps. Seoul accuses Japanese patrol plane of threatening flight. Thailand sets March 24 as date of first election since Shinawatra coup. Tonga facing 'absolute disaster' after internet cable blackout.

AFRICA

East Libyan forces call U.N. envoy 'opponent'. Zimbabwe union leader faces subversion charge after protests. Zimbabwe’s civil servants to strike on Friday over salaries. Zimbabwe soldiers 'beating' protesters as crackdown continues. Omar al-Bashir launches media crackdown as Sudan protests continue. US warns Sudan to free protesters, probe deaths. Sudan's leader visits Qatar amid protests. US warns Sudan to free protesters, probe deaths. US recognizes Tshisekedi after controversial DR Congo vote. DR Congo presidential inauguration set for Thursday. Nigeria finds more than 20,000 kidnapped girls in Mali.

EUROPE

France's 'yellow vest' protesters to field candidates in EU vote. U.S. prosecutors press witnesses to testify against Assange-WikiLeaks. At Davos, battle lines are drawn over trade and cooperation. Angela Merkel tells Davos end of multilateralism means 'misery'. IMF tells Ukraine to speed up reforms. Sanctions on Moscow hurt the US long term, Russia's wealth fund head says. Momentum gathers behind British MPs' bid to stop no-deal Brexit. Germany seeks extension of EU's migrant deterrent sea operation. EU urges crackdown on 'golden passports' for big investors.

AMERICAS

Maduro rival claims Venezuela presidency amid protests, U.S. support. Colombia recognizes opposition lawmaker Guaido as Venezuela's president. Venezuela’s Guaido declares himself president amid protests. Venezuela protests: 'Four dead' as thousands rally against Maduro. Venezuela street clashes and military unrest pile pressure on Maduro. Venezuela opposition leader swears himself in as interim president. Trump wants to deliver State of Union next week as planned. Trump said he still plans to deliver State of the Union address on Jan. 29. Congress agitates to end relentless shutdown. Trump threatens to cut aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador over caravans. Crush of desperate migrant families seek asylum at border. Across Mexico border from safe El Paso, violence surges in Juárez. Bolsonaro's Davos debut overshadowed by growing scandal around son. Pope visits Panama for first World Youth Day in Central America.

TERRORISM/THE LONG WAR

Global terror deaths lowest since 2009: report. Kurd-led forces overrun last IS-held village in Syria: monitor. S.African 'jihad suspect' dies in Mozambique hospital.

ECONOMY/FINANCE/BUSINESS

Wall Street edges higher as upbeat earnings dampened by trade, shutdown woes. White House adviser Hassett confident U.S., China can reach trade deal by March. China to pass US in retail sales this year: forecast. Dyson to move head office to Singapore. from War News Updates http://bit.ly/2FKLF7N via IFTTT

[political-fluffle]

Pope Francis has given his most explicit support to same-sex civil unions in a move that is likely to further enrage his conservative opponents in the Catholic church.

His comments came in an interview in a documentary film, Francesco, which premiered at the Rome film festival on Wednesday.

He said: “Homosexual people have a right to be in a family. They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it. What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered. I stood up for that.”

The feature-length film, directed by Evgeny Afineevsky, tells the story of Francis’s papacy over the past seven and a half years, covering many of the trips he made before the Covid-19 pandemic and his handling of the sexual abuse scandals that have engulfed the church.

It also focuses on issues that Francis has made the hallmarks of his papacy, including the environment, poverty, migration and inequality. (...)

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 5.22

192 – Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu. 760 – Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. 853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt. 1176 – The Hashshashin (Assassins) attempt to assassinate Saladin near Aleppo. 1200 – King John of England and King Philip II of France sign the Treaty of Le Goulet. 1246 – Henry Raspe is elected anti-king of the Kingdom of Germany in opposition to Conrad IV. 1254 – Serbian King Stefan Uroš I and the Republic of Venice sign a peace treaty. 1370 – Brussels massacre: Hundreds of Jews are murdered and the rest of the Jewish community is banished from Brussels, Belgium, for allegedly desecrating consecrated Host. 1377 – Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe. 1455 – Start of the Wars of the Roses: At the First Battle of St Albans, Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England. 1520 – The massacre at the festival of Tóxcatl takes place during the Fall of Tenochtitlan, resulting in turning the Aztecs against the Spanish. 1629 – Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and Danish King Christian IV sign the Treaty of Lübeck ending Danish intervention in the Thirty Years' War. 1762 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Hamburg. 1762 – Trevi Fountain is officially completed and inaugurated in Rome. 1766 – A large earthquake causes heavy damage and loss of life in Istanbul and the Marmara region. 1804 – The Lewis and Clark Expedition officially begins as the Corps of Discovery departs from St. Charles, Missouri. 1807 – A grand jury indicts former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr on a charge of treason. 1809 – On the second and last day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling (near Vienna, Austria), Napoleon I is repelled by an enemy army for the first time. 1816 – A mob in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England, riots over high unemployment and rising grain costs, and the riots spread to Ely the next day. 1819 – SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. 1826 – HMS Beagle departs on its first voyage. 1840 – The penal transportation of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished. 1848 – Slavery is abolished in Martinique. 1849 – Future U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is issued a patent for an invention to lift boats, making him the only U.S. president to ever hold a patent. 1856 – Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina severely beats Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made regarding Southerners and slavery. 1863 – American Civil War: Union forces begin the Siege of Port Hudson which lasts 48 days, the longest siege in U.S. military history. 1864 – American Civil War: After ten weeks, the Union Army's Red River Campaign ends in failure. 1866 – Oliver Winchester founded the Winchester Repeating Arms 1872 – Reconstruction Era: President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act into law, restoring full civil and political rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers. 1900 – The Associated Press is formed in New York City as a non-profit news cooperative. 1906 – The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their "Flying-Machine". 1915 – Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, the only volcano besides Mount St. Helens to erupt in the contiguous U.S. during the 20th century. 1915 – Three trains collide in the Quintinshill rail disaster near Gretna Green, Scotland, killing 227 people and injuring 246. 1926 – Chiang Kai-shek replaces the communists in Kuomintang China. 1927 – Near Xining, China, an 8.3 magnitude earthquake causes 200,000 deaths in one of the world's most destructive earthquakes. 1939 – World War II: Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel. 1941 – During the Anglo-Iraqi War, British troops take Fallujah. 1942 – Mexico enters the Second World War on the side of the Allies. 1943 – Joseph Stalin disbands the Comintern. 1947 – Cold War: The Truman Doctrine goes into effect, aiding Turkey and Greece. 1948 – Finnish President J. K. Paasikivi released Yrjö Leino from his duties as interior minister in 1948 after the Finnish parliament had adopted a motion of censure of Leino with connection to his illegal handing over of nineteen people to the Soviet Union in 1945. 1957 – South Africa's government approves of racial separation in universities. 1958 – The 1958 riots in Ceylon become a watershed in the race relations of various ethnic communities of Sri Lanka. The total deaths is estimated at 300, mostly Tamils. 1960 – The Great Chilean earthquake, measuring 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale, hits southern Chile, becoming the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. 1962 – Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashes in Unionville, Missouri after bombs explode on board, killing 45. 1963 – Greek left-wing politician Grigoris Lambrakis is shot in an assassination attempt, and dies five days later. 1964 – Lyndon B. Johnson launches the Great Society. 1967 – Egypt closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. 1967 – L'Innovation department store in Brussels, Belgium, burns down, resulting in 323 dead or missing and 150 injured, the most devastating fire in Belgian history. 1968 – The nuclear-powered submarine USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard, 400 miles southwest of the Azores. 1969 – Apollo 10's lunar module flies within 8.4 nautical miles (16 km) of the moon's surface. 1972 – Ceylon adopts a new constitution, becoming a republic and changing its name to Sri Lanka, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations. 1972 – Over 400 women in Derry, Northern Ireland attack the offices of Sinn Féin following the shooting by the Irish Republican Army of a young British soldier on leave. 1987 – Hashimpura massacre occurs in Meerut, India. 1987 – First ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. 1990 – North and South Yemen are unified to create the Republic of Yemen. 1992 – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia join the United Nations. 1994 – A worldwide trade embargo against Haiti goes into effect to punish its military rulers for not reinstating the country's ousted elected leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. 1996 – The Burmese military regime jails 71 supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi in a bid to block a pro-democracy meeting. 1998 – A U.S. federal judge rules that U.S. Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the Lewinsky scandal involving President Bill Clinton. 2000 – In Sri Lanka, over 150 Tamil rebels are killed over two days of fighting for control in Jaffna. 2002 – Civil rights movement: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murder of four girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. 2010 – Air India Express Boeing 737 crashes over a cliff upon landing at Mangalore, India, killing 158 of 166 people on board, becoming the deadliest crash involving a Boeing 737 until the crash of Lion Air Flight 610. 2010 – Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2–0 in the Uefa Champions League final in Madrid, Spain to become the first, and so far only, Italian team to win the historic treble (Serie A, Coppa Italia, Champions League). 2011 – An EF5 tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people and wreaking $2.8 billion in damages, the costliest and seventh-deadliest single tornado in U.S. history. 2012 – Tokyo Skytree opens to the public. It is the tallest tower in the world (634 m), and the second tallest man-made structure on Earth after Burj Khalifa (829.8 m). 2014 – General Prayut Chan-o-cha becomes interim leader of Thailand in a military coup d'état, following six months of political turmoil. 2014 – An explosion occurs in Ürümqi, capital of China's far-western Xinjiang region, resulting in at least 43 deaths and 91 injuries. 2015 – The Republic of Ireland becomes the first nation in the world to legalize gay marriage in a public referendum. 2017 – Twenty-two people are killed at an Ariana Grande concert in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing. 2017 – United States President Donald Trump visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and becomes the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Western Wall. 2020 – Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 crashes in Model Colony near Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 98 people.