Aug. 30 marks several significant historical events. In 1916 Ernest Shackleton returned to Elephant Island to rescue 22 crew members who had survived four and a half months after the Endurance sank. In 1941 German forces cut the last rail line out of Leningrad; in 1945 General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Japan to establish Allied occupation headquarters. The Hot Line between Washington and Moscow began in 1963, and Thurgood Marshall became the first Black U.S. Supreme Court justice in 1967. Hurricane Katrina devastation hit New Orleans in 2005, the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, and Mikhail Gorbachev died in 2022. Several notable public figures share Aug. 30 birthdays.
On Aug. 30, 1916, on his fourth attempt, explorer Ernest Shackelton successfully returned to Elephant Island in Antarctica to rescue 22 of his stranded crew members, who had survived on the barren island for four and a half months after the sinking of their ship, the Endurance. Also on this date: In 1941, during World War II, German forces approaching Leningrad cut off the remaining rail line out of the city. In 1945, U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrived in Japan
In 1963, the Hot Line communications link between Washington and Moscow went into operation. In 1967, the Senate confirmed the appointment of Thurgood Marshall as the first Black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2005, a day after Hurricane Katrina hit, floods covered 80 percent of New Orleans, looting continued to spread and rescuers in helicopters and boats picked up hundreds of stranded people.
In 2021, the United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan, ending America's longest war with the Taliban back in power, as Air Force transport planes carried a remaining contingent of troops from Kabul airport. After watching the last U.S. planes disappear into the sky over Afghanistan, Taliban fighters fired their guns into the air, celebrating victory after a 20-year insurgency.
Collection
[
|
...
]