Histortweet Week in Review - W/E November 14, 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 November 14, 2009:

[SFX: SOUND827]World: DATELINE Soviet Union, November 10, 1982 – Rumors of Brezhnev’s death are not exaggerated: http://bit.ly/25KB4g

The Back-Story: [SFX: Rumors; I heard a rumor; Ashes to ashes; Kalinika; ]Leonid Brezhnev had ruled the Soviet Union with an iron fist. Because of the paranoia rife among the leadership in the Communist nation, plans for a successor were not explicit. For some years, western observers thought that the appearance and demeanor of the premier, who had been absent several public events, suggested grave physical danger. When Mr. Brezhnev failed to sign a public message of congratulations to Angola on its national day, suspicions rose that he had died, a fact confirmed by an official announcement the following day.[SFX: Sheer Heart Attack; People who diedKenny’s Dead]

[SFX: SOUND827]Sports: DATELINE West Virginia, November 14, 1970 – Plane crash devastates Marshall U. football squad: http://bit.ly/JIZxB
The Back-Story: [SFX: Gymnopedie No 1] On a rainy night, following a narrow loss to the East Carolina Pirates, small-town college, Marshall University’s, Thundering Herd football squad, along with their coaches and select fans, were on an uneventful flight, headed home. In the poor weather conditions, Flight 932 approached Huntington Airport in West Virginia and, for reasons undetermined by an investigative board, descended too early, striking trees, crashing, and burning. The victims are memorialized at the Memorial Student Center Fountain each year on the anniversary of the crash where, following the laying of a wreath, the water is turned off until the following spring.[SFX:Wallflower]

[SFX: SOUND827]: Things that make you go HUH?: DATELINE Oregon, November 12, HUH?: 1970 – Hey, ho, blow the whale down. Or up. Exploding whale blows up in OHD’s face: http://www.theexplodingwhale.com/
The Back-Story: [SFX:Jonah and the whale; Blow the Man Down]A large sperm whale, which beached itself and died in Oregon, left officials with a problem: What to do with its 8 tons of rotting flesh. It was too big to bury, so officials of the Oregon Highway Division, which had jurisdiction, decided to treat it like a boulder and blow it up, with 20 tons of dynamite [SFX: Dy-no-mite!]. The hope was that the carcass would be largely disintegrated, with the remainder eaten by seagulls and crabs. Although the dynamite was positioned in an attempt to direct the blubber to the sea, large chunks flew in all direction, even destroying a car parked a quarter of a mile away. The remainder of the carcass, too big for scavengers, was buried [SFX: Good Advice]

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

November 8: Author Margaret Mitchell
November 9:Astronomer Carl Sagan
November 10: Father of the Reformation Martin Luther
November 11: US General George Patton
November 12: Sculptor Auguste Rodin
November 13: Author Robert Louis Stevenson
And November 14: Charles, Prince of Wales

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