HistorTweet Week in Review W/E August 29, 2009

[SFX: CHURCHBELL] Greetings, History Lovers! Welcome to This Tweet in History, the Week In Review, podcasting to you on tape delay from our North American Studios.

Here are your top stories for the week ending August 29, 2009:

[SFX: SOUND827]World: DATELINE Indonesia, August 27, 1883: Krakatoa’s last gasp = Hiroshima times 10,000; shock waves circle Earth 7 times; tsunamis; 36,000 deaths: http://bit.ly/p8UoX
The Back-Story:
[SFX: Hot Lava] In the 1800s, the island volcano of Krakatoa was largely unknown. That all changed in 1883, when the island erupted into one of the most catastrophic natural disasters in recorded history, in an explosion that was heard more than 3000 miles away. Dust from the eruption was carried as far as New York City, and affected solar radiation and the earth’s weather for several years after. The eruption spawned several tsunamis, in the Indian and Pacific oceans, the West Coast of the US, South America, and the English Channel. [SFX: Volcano] The explosion, with a total force equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT, destroyed the entire northern portion of the island.

[SFX: SOUND827]Sports: DATELINE Greece, August 29, 2004 –De Lima, surprise leader after 13, knocked off the road and his game by crazed ex-priest, ends up bronzed: http://bit.ly/11mWiQ
The Back-Story:
[SFX: Runnin with the Devi] Brazil’s Vanderlei de Lima was not expected to be the frontrunner in the the 2004 marathon in the Athens Olympics, but, after 13 miles, he claimed the lead. Nine miles later, Cornelius Horan, clad in an orange kilt, stepped into the middle of the course and pushed de Lima into the crowd. Horan, a deranged, defrocked, Irish priest, was fresh of a two-month sentence for having stood for 20 seconds in the middle of the track at Britain’s Grand Prix the year earlier. De Lima collected himself and finished the race valiantly, although, having been knocked out of rhythm by Horan, [SFX: Break my Stride] he was knocked out of first and second place by runners from Italy and the US. At the closing ceremonies, de Lima was awarded the medal for sportsmanship by the International Olympic Committee.

[SFX: SOUND827]: Things that make you go huh? [SFX: Things that make you go hmm?]DATELINE America, August 25, 1835 – According to the Sun, there’s intelligent life on the Moon. More intelligent than life at Yale, apparently: http://bit.ly/13zLlb:
The Back-Story:
[SFX: Walking on the Sun] In 1835, upstart newspaper, the New York Sun, seeking publicity, published a set of satirical articles telling the fantastic story of life on the moon, supposedly uncovered by Sir John Herschel, observed through his telescope in South Africa. [SFX: Man on the Moon] The public swallowed, hook line and sinker, illustrated tales of upright-walking beavers, who lived in huts and were capable of making fire, and winged anthropomorphs. The paper sold thousands of copies, and attracted a contingent from Yale University, who traveled to the Sun’s headquarters for details and left believers.

[SFX: SOUND827] This week’s birthdays:[SFX: In the Club]

August 23:Drummer Keith Moon
August 24:PLO Leader Yasser Arafat
August 25 Composer Leonard Bernstein
August 26: Humanitarian Mother Teresa
August 27: Pee-Wee Herman Creator Paul Reubens
August 28: Philosopher Johann von Goethe
And August 29: King of Pop, Michael Jackson


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