Moments in Time – Oct. 16, 2019

#Middlebury

• On Nov. 1, 1512, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, one of Italian artist Michelangelo’s finest works, is exhibited to the public for the first time. After demonstrating his mastery of sculpture, Michelangelo was called to Rome in 1508.
• On Oct. 31, 1776, in his first speech before British Parliament since the Americans signed the Declaration of Independence, King George III acknowledges that all is not going well for Britain in the war. The British would formally surrender five years later.
• On Oct. 30, 1938, Orson Welles causes a nationwide panic with his broadcast of “War of the Worlds” – a realistic radio dramatization of a Martian invasion of Earth. Welles had little idea of the havoc it would cause among radio listeners.
• On Nov. 3, 1948, the Chicago Tribune jumps the gun and mistakenly declares New York Gov. Thomas Dewey the winner of his presidential race with incumbent Harry Truman in a front-page headline: “Dewey Defeats Truman.” Truman would win by 114 electoral votes.
• On Oct. 29, 1956, Israeli armed forces push into Egypt toward the Suez Canal, initiating the Suez Crisis. They would soon be joined by French and British forces. The catalyst for the attack was the nationalization of the Suez Canal by Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser.
• On Oct. 28, 1965, construction is completed on the Gateway Arch, a spectacular 630-foot-high parabola of stainless steel on the waterfront of St. Louis, Missouri. An internal tram system takes visitors to the top of the arch.
• On Nov. 2, 1982, a fuel truck in a military convoy explodes in the 1.7-mile long Salang Tunnel in Afghanistan, killing an estimated 3,000 people, mostly Soviet soldiers traveling to Kabul. Believing it to be an attack, troops closed both ends of the tunnel, trapping people inside.

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