July 1 - July 7: Aviator Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan go missing, as they attempt a circumnavigational flight of the globe - Chinese astronomers observe a supernova visible during the day - and Mary Surratt is the first woman executed by the U.S. federal government.
July 2, 1937
Earhart with her Lockheed Elektra. Female Aviator Amelia Earhart is in the middle of attempting to circumnavigate the globe in a Lockheed Elektra 10E. Earhart had previously succeeded in many aviation ‘firsts’, including being the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and many speed records.
Always aiming for greater achievements, she set out to fly across the globe, heading along the equator, a 29,000 mile/47,000 km trip. She received financing from Purdue University, of which much was used to purchase a specially modified plane, increasing its fuel tank capacity, in order to make the long jumps needed when crossing the oceans.
March 17, 1937 Earhart and her small crew made their first attempt, which ultimately failed.
The second attempt saw Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan depart Miami, Florida on June 1. Five weeks into the trip they had already covered over 22,000 miles of the journey, when they arrived in Lae, New Guinea, June 29th. There was only 7,000 miles left, and on July 2nd Earhart and Noonan took off on the next leg of the journey.
Always aiming for greater achievements, she set out to fly across the globe, heading along the equator, a 29,000 mile/47,000 km trip. She received financing from Purdue University, of which much was used to purchase a specially modified plane, increasing its fuel tank capacity, in order to make the long jumps needed when crossing the oceans.
March 17, 1937 Earhart and her small crew made their first attempt, which ultimately failed.
The second attempt saw Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan depart Miami, Florida on June 1. Five weeks into the trip they had already covered over 22,000 miles of the journey, when they arrived in Lae, New Guinea, June 29th. There was only 7,000 miles left, and on July 2nd Earhart and Noonan took off on the next leg of the journey.
Amelia Earhart. The pair took off from Lae at about midnight to make the 2,500 mile trip to Howland Island, and were never seen again. Radio signals received at about 8:43am that morning were the last heard from Earhart - "We are on the line 157 337. We will repeat this message. We will repeat this on 6210 kilocycles. Wait." and then "We are running on line north and south."
There may have been further signals from the aircraft, but they were too week and garbled to make out. Other signals were picked up that were potentially from Earhart’s plane, and these lasted for a few days after the last sighting.
Searches were conducted, but no traces were found. Earhart was declared legally dead on January 5, 1939.
As for what happened, we can never know, but many theories have popped up including they were abduction by UFO, captured by the Japanese and later executed, acting as spies for Franklin Roosevelt, and even that they were communist spies!
Not to forget the wreckage of a plane that might be Earharts was possibly discovered in 2010/2011... but still inconclusive.
There may have been further signals from the aircraft, but they were too week and garbled to make out. Other signals were picked up that were potentially from Earhart’s plane, and these lasted for a few days after the last sighting.
Searches were conducted, but no traces were found. Earhart was declared legally dead on January 5, 1939.
As for what happened, we can never know, but many theories have popped up including they were abduction by UFO, captured by the Japanese and later executed, acting as spies for Franklin Roosevelt, and even that they were communist spies!
Not to forget the wreckage of a plane that might be Earharts was possibly discovered in 2010/2011... but still inconclusive.
July 4, 1054
The Crab Nebula. Chinese astronomers observe a 'guest star', a new star that appeared in the night sky where one is not usually observed. Come the day time, the star was still visible and remained so in daylight for the next 23 days. After that, it was continually observed until April 6, 1056 – a total of 642 days.
The Chinese astronomers recorded their observations, as did North American Indians who recorded through petroglyphs what they had seen in that part of the sky – a new star.
What they had been observing was the light of an exploding star finally reaching our planet (it had actually exploded perhaps 6,500 years earlier, and took the light that long to reach the earth). That exploding star turned into a debris field.
In 1758, French Astronomer Charles Messier was on the lookout for the return of Halley's Comet, when he confused the field for the comet. Realising his error, and not wanting to make the same mistake, he began to catalogue non-cometary objects. The nebula was given the name M1 or 'first Messier Object'.
The patch was reminiscent of a crabs claw, so was given the name 'Crab Nebula'.
The Chinese astronomers recorded their observations, as did North American Indians who recorded through petroglyphs what they had seen in that part of the sky – a new star.
What they had been observing was the light of an exploding star finally reaching our planet (it had actually exploded perhaps 6,500 years earlier, and took the light that long to reach the earth). That exploding star turned into a debris field.
In 1758, French Astronomer Charles Messier was on the lookout for the return of Halley's Comet, when he confused the field for the comet. Realising his error, and not wanting to make the same mistake, he began to catalogue non-cometary objects. The nebula was given the name M1 or 'first Messier Object'.
The patch was reminiscent of a crabs claw, so was given the name 'Crab Nebula'.
July 7, 1865
Mary Surratt. Mary Surratt owned a small tavern in Surrattsville (now Maryland) and on April 14, 1865 a young man tasked her with delivering a package to this tavern. What she did not know was that the package contained firearms (or binoculars depending on the source) and the man who asked her to deliver them would that night assassinate US President Abraham Lincoln.
On top of this, Surratt also owned a boarding house in Washington D.C. where a group of Confederate supporters, including John Wilkes Booth, were plotting that very assassination.
The assassination took place, Lincoln was dead, and Surratt was then entangled with the conspirators, trialled, found guilty and on July 5th was sentenced to death for her involvement. This was the first time the U.S. Federal Government would sentence a woman to be executed.
Construction of the gallows at the Washington Arsenal commenced immediately, they were 12 feet high and were built with enough room to hang all four that were sentenced to die for the assassination and their parts in it.
On top of this, Surratt also owned a boarding house in Washington D.C. where a group of Confederate supporters, including John Wilkes Booth, were plotting that very assassination.
The assassination took place, Lincoln was dead, and Surratt was then entangled with the conspirators, trialled, found guilty and on July 5th was sentenced to death for her involvement. This was the first time the U.S. Federal Government would sentence a woman to be executed.
Construction of the gallows at the Washington Arsenal commenced immediately, they were 12 feet high and were built with enough room to hang all four that were sentenced to die for the assassination and their parts in it.
Surratt and her priest. On June 6th Mary Surratt was told she would be hanged the next day. She was consoled and spoken two by two priests and her daughter for most of the night, the whole while maintaining her innocence. At 11:25am on the morning of the execution the gallows were tested, the crashing of the trapdoors heard by all of the condemned.
At 1:15pm the condemned prisoners were escorted up the steps of the gallows, hands and wrists manacled, Mary Surratt leading the way. More than 1000 people had come to witness the execution, including several photographers whose photos of the act can still be easily found online today.
The four were seated in chairs, as white cloth was used to bind their arms to their sides, and their legs tied together, and ministrations were given by the clergy. The other prisoners continually maintained that Surratt was innocent.
As the noose was placed over her head, followed by a white bag, Surratt complained that her bindings were too tight, to which her officer replied “Well, it won't hurt long.” Her final words before she dropped were "Please don't let me fall."
At 1:15pm the condemned prisoners were escorted up the steps of the gallows, hands and wrists manacled, Mary Surratt leading the way. More than 1000 people had come to witness the execution, including several photographers whose photos of the act can still be easily found online today.
The four were seated in chairs, as white cloth was used to bind their arms to their sides, and their legs tied together, and ministrations were given by the clergy. The other prisoners continually maintained that Surratt was innocent.
As the noose was placed over her head, followed by a white bag, Surratt complained that her bindings were too tight, to which her officer replied “Well, it won't hurt long.” Her final words before she dropped were "Please don't let me fall."
Surratts boarding house is now a restaurant. After she was executed and then cut down, the surgeons found that her neck had not been broken by the fall....
She and the others executed alongside her were buried near the foot of the gallows, where she lay until her body was finally handed over to her family in 1869, and buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, D.C .
The Washington Arsenal was later named Fort McNair, and since her death Mary Surratt has been seen about the fort, either fleetingly glimpsed as a lady, or as a hooded figure in a black dress, bound at the hands and feet, just as she had been on the day of her execution. What’s more, children of the soldiers who were stationed at the fort have reported a woman in black playing with them.
Mary's boarding house is also reputedly haunted, with mumbling and whispering heard along with footsteps as well as sobbing.
She and the others executed alongside her were buried near the foot of the gallows, where she lay until her body was finally handed over to her family in 1869, and buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, D.C .
The Washington Arsenal was later named Fort McNair, and since her death Mary Surratt has been seen about the fort, either fleetingly glimpsed as a lady, or as a hooded figure in a black dress, bound at the hands and feet, just as she had been on the day of her execution. What’s more, children of the soldiers who were stationed at the fort have reported a woman in black playing with them.
Mary's boarding house is also reputedly haunted, with mumbling and whispering heard along with footsteps as well as sobbing.
Ashley Hall 2013
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