Histortweet Week in Review: W/E September 26, 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 September 26, 2009:

[SFX: SOUND827]World: DATELINE Persian Gulf, September 22, 1980 – Iraq, perceiving post-revolutionary weakness in Iran, escalates clashes to all-out war: http://i-cias.com/e.o/iranirqw.htm
The Back-Story:
[SFX:War: What is it good for] Conflict on the Iran/Iraq border had been festering since 1971, after Iran occupied islands in the Persian Gulf that were claimed by Iraq. After the ouster of Iran’s Shah Pahlevi, Iraq sought to capitalize on the post-revolutionary chaos, and launched an invasion, bolstered by bombing attacks. For the next seven years, the countries fought to no advantage, finally agreeing to a UN brokered peace in 1988.
[SFX: Peace in the Valley]

[SFX: SOUND827]Sports: DATELINE Texas, September 20, 1973 – Bobby rigs battle of the sexes, but Billie Jean’s King: http://bit.ly/HwG7z
The Back-Story:
[SFX: Men men men; It’s a man’s world] It was billed as the Battle of the Sexes, but, in reality, it was more of a publicity stunt. Bobby Riggs, a former Wimbledon champion and number-one ranked player, made the outlandish statement that the women’s game was inherently inferior to the men’s game, and for that reason, even at the age of 55, he would be able to beat the top female player. Billie Jean King answered the call, easily dispatching of the aged chauvinist in straight sets.
[SFX:Anything you can do; I’m winning; The sisters are doing it for themselves]

[SFX: SOUND827]: Things that make you go huh? [SFX: Things that Make You Go Hmm]: DATELINE Soviet Union, September 26, 1983 – Petrov goes with his gut over his computer and his orders, saving the world from nuclear holocaust: http://bit.ly/t3Iwi:
The Back-Story:
[SFX: You dropped a bomb on me] The orders were straightforward: If the US launched a nuclear attack, the Soviet response would be massive retaliation, a strategy of deterence known as Mutually Assured Destruction or MAD [SFX:Mad World]: knowledge of a devastating counterattack would prevent a first strike. However, just after midnight on September 26th, Colonel Petrov witnessed the unthinkable: A nuclear attack from the United States. In the space of five minutes, Colonel Petrov had to make the life-or-death decision of trusting the computer and launching a counterattack, or risking doing nothing with his country under attack. The fact that the world as we know it is still here is testament to his judicious decision. As he later recalled, Colonel Petrov was neither commended nor reprimanded for his actions, and, only 15 years later did the Soviet Union make public how close the world came to nuclear cataclysm.
[SFX:It’s The End of the World as We Know It]

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

September 20:Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso
September 21:Sci Fi Pioneer H.G. Wells
September 22: Tenor Andrea Bocelli
September 23: Jazz great John Coltrane
September 24: Author F. Scott Fitzgerald
September 25:Composer Dmitri Shostakovich
And September 26: Author T.S. Eliot

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