TODAY IN HISTORY: 10 DECEMBER 2009; “Avatar” gets world premiere in London

On this day in 2009, “Avatar,” a 3-D science-fiction epic helmed by “Titanic” director James Cameron, makes its world debut in London. Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver, the box-office mega-hit was praised for its state-of-the-art technology and earned nine Academy Award nominations, including best picture and best director.

Set in the year 2154, “Avatar” tells the story of disabled ex-Marine Jake Sully, who is recruited to help conquer and colonize Pandora, a faraway moon that is home to a mineral deposit coveted by people on Earth, whose energy resources are almost depleted. Pandora is inhabited by the Na’vi, a group of nature-loving, blue-skinned, half-alien/half-human creatures intent on protecting their own eco-system. (Cameron hired a linguist to create a unique language for the Na’vi.) Using an avatar to explore Pandora because the air there is toxic to humans, Jake falls in love with a Na’vi princess and goes native, eventually working to save the Na’vi from the human colonists.

Cameron wrote the script for “Avatar” in 1994; however, at that point the technology didn’t exist to produce the movie he wanted. In the meantime, he penned and directed “Titanic,” the 1997 blockbuster that garnered 11 Oscars and became the first film to gross more than $1 billion internationally. Prior to “Titanic,” Cameron helmed such hit films as “The Terminator” (1984), “Aliens” (1986) and “The Abyss” (1989), and became known for his imaginative use of special effects. In 2009, he told The New Yorker: “[‘Avatar’] integrates my life’s achievements…It’s the most complicated stuff anyone’s ever done.” Among the technologies used to make “Avatar” was performance capture, which turns an actor’s movements into a computer-generated image.

At the 82nd Academy Awards, held in March 2010, “Avatar” won Oscars for best visual effects, cinematography and art direction.

A long-awaited sequel, "Avatar: The Way of Water," was set to be released in late 2022.

Author:

History.com Editors

TODAY IN HISTORY: 09 DECEMBER 1890; British Journalist, Flora Shaw suggests Nigeria named after River Niger

On this day in 1890, British journalist and writer Flora Shaw, who later got married to Lord Lugard, the former governor-general of Nigeria in 1902, coined the name ‘Nigeria'.

Nigeria, the most populated black country and the number one economy on the African continent, didn’t exist until 1914 when three regions were amalgamated by the British Colonial masters.

Flora Shaw combined the words “Niger” and “Area” to form the name Nigeria. In other words, the nation’s name was gotten from its longest river, River Niger.

Over the cause of time, the word Niger Area, transformed into Nigeria. And this has been in use ever since.

However, before amalgamation took place all the various regions existed on their own, albeit with separate governments and separate names.

Nigeria is blessed and lucky to have its origin tied to Flora Shaw who was more than just a journalist. She was a pioneer for the abolition of slave trade which greatly ravaged the African continent and several parts of the world.

Lady Lugard died on the 25th of January 1929, after falling ill with pneumonia.

TODAY IN HISTORY: 09 DECEMBER 1992; British PM, John Major announces separation of Prince Charles and Diana

On this day in 1992, British Prime Minister John Major announces the formal separation of Charles, Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne, and his wife, Princess Diana. Major explained that the royal couple were separating “amicably.” The report came after several years of speculation by the tabloid press that the marriage was in peril, citing evidence that Diana and Charles spent vacations apart and official visits in separate rooms.

On July 29, 1981, nearly one billion television viewers in 74 countries tuned in to witness the marriage of Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, to Lady Diana Spencer, a young English schoolteacher. Married in a grand ceremony at St. Paul’s Cathedral in the presence of 2,650 guests, the couple’s romance was, for the moment, the envy of the world. Their first child, Prince William, was born in 1982, and their second, Prince Harry, in 1984.

Before long, however, the fairy tale couple grew apart, an experience that was particularly painful under the watchful eyes of the world’s tabloid media. Diana and Charles separated in 1992, though they continued to carry out their royal duties. In August 1996, two months after Queen Elizabeth II urged the couple to divorce, the prince and princess reached a final agreement. In exchange for a generous settlement, and the right to retain her apartments at Kensington Palace and her title of “Princess of Wales,” Diana agreed to relinquish the title of “Her Royal Highness” and any future claims to the British throne.

In the year following the divorce, the popular princess seemed well on her way to achieving her dream of becoming “a queen in people’s hearts,” but on August 31, 1997, she was killed with her companion Dodi Fayed in a car accident in Paris. An investigation conducted by the French police concluded that the driver, who also died in the crash, was heavily intoxicated and caused the accident while trying to escape the paparazzi photographers who consistently tailed Diana during any public outing.

Prince Charles got married the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles, on April 9, 2005.

TODAY IN HISTORY: 08 DECEMBER 1997; Shehu Musa Yar'Adua dies in prison at 54

On this day in 1997, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, soldier, politician, businessman and elder brother of Nigerian ex-president late Umar Musa Yar’Adua died in prison at age of 54 years.

He was convicted by Military Tribunal for coup plotting in June 1995 against the government of General Sani Abacha and was sentenced to jail.

Tens of thousands of people turned out in Katsina State, his birthplace and where he was buried to give him last respect as one of Nigeria's most prominent political prisoners, whose death in prison was proved to be a stinging embarrassment to the military Government.

Shehu Musa Yaradua, a former general and Vice President, was regarded as one of the most formidable opponents of the military ruler, Gen. Sani Abacha. Some weeks before his death, General Abacha promised he would release some of Nigeria's scores of political detainees as part of an avowed move toward elections, which he had set for 1998. 

An official statement issued by family members said he had died after a brief illness in Enugu prison.

TODAY IN HISTORY: 08 DECEMBER 1993; Bill Clinton signs NAFTA into law

On this day in 1993, the U.S. President Bill Clinton signed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law. President Clinton during the signing said he hoped the agreement would encourage other nations to work toward a broader world-trade pact.

NAFTA, a trade pact between the United States, Canada and Mexico, eliminated virtually all tariffs and trade restrictions between the three nations. The passage of NAFTA into law became one of Clinton’s first major victories as the first Democratic president in 12 years, though the movement for free trade in North America had begun as a Republican initiative.

During its planning stages, NAFTA was heavily criticized by Reform Party presidential candidate Ross Perot, who argued that if NAFTA was passed, Americans would hear a “giant sucking sound” of American companies fleeing the United States for Mexico, where employees would work for less pay and without benefits. The pact, which took effect on January 1, 1994, created the world’s largest free-trade zone.

Female teacher ‘rapes’ four-year-old pupil in Borno

The Borno State police command have arrested a female teacher for allegedly raping a four-year-old pupil in the state.

The female teacher, identified as Aunty Zara working with Golden Olive School, in Maiduguri, the state capital, was said to have been arrested by the police last week.

Confirming the incident on Saturday, Sani Kamilu, Borno police spokesperson, said it was the victim’s father who reported the case to the police, adding that investigations into the incident have begun.

Hassan Dala, the father of the victim, said he reported the case to the police when he noticed his daughter’s urine was reddish.

“Initially, I presumed it to be a symptom of infection. I took her to the hospital, and they told us what the problem was,” Dala said.

“When the mother asked her, the victim told us what the teacher did to her. The victim said that the teacher cuddled, gave her breasts to suck, and inserted a finger inside her private parts.”

“You have exposed yourself towards jail” – Nwoko slams Wike

 Nyesome Wike and Ned Nwoko

The Senatorial candidate for Delta North under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Ned Nwoko has slammed Rivers State Governor, Nyesome Wike for allegedly causing confusion in PDP since the governor lost the PDP presidential ticket and failed nomination for Vice presidential slot, saying he has exposed himself towards jail.

In a press statement, Ned Nwoko Media Directorate said it is laughable that a man of monumental corrupt tendencies and wanton profligacy like governor Wike, could so unabashedly talk when his activities connote unimaginable scam and fraudulence.

Nwoko, who had earlier called for disciplinary action against the governor, said Wike’s claim on 13 percent derivation payment to South-South region is fraudulent.

He added that the governor is trying falsely and maliciously to instigate the people against some governors in the oil producing region.

The press statement reads, “The attention of Ned Nwoko Media Directorate has been drawn to a cowardly video where the Rivers state governor, Nyesome Wike purportedly made wild insinuations against Hon. Prince Ned Nwoko.

“Characteristic of the garrulous governor, he carelessly dabbled again into the issue of the $418 million Paris Club refunds, a legitimate entitlement of Prince Ned Nwoko, whose patriotic ingenuity, as a time-honoured lawyer, secured billions of dollars in favour of local and state governments including Wike’s administration as a beneficiary.

“Wike had in illogical imprudence, chastised Ned Nwoko for laying claim to monies the international lawyer genuinely earned and approved by the Federal government following various Federal High Court, Court of appeal and Supreme Court judgements, Federal Government and presidential approvals and three separate EFCC reports supporting the payments.

“When has demands for professional fees duly sanctioned by statutory authorities and scrutinized by anti-corruption agencies like EFCC and DSS become “fraud”? We are appalled by Wike’s wicked and despicable wild goose chase.

“Ned Nwoko Media directorate asserts on the contrary, that the Rivers state governor received a whopping share of over 60 billion Naira from the Paris Club refunds to states. Thanks to the sterner stuff of Prince Ned Nwoko who took the Federal Government to Courts on behalf of the states and local governments and won, over the arbitrary deductions. 

“Like discerning members of the public, we are aware of Wike’ s primitive hoarding of illicit loots for elections, a dubious game plan that can only be contrived by a man of opaque character.

“Wike spoke of corruption among some governors. Kettle cannot call Pot black. A man with both hands stained with filthy lucre lacks moral justification to utter one word on embezzlement. To go sanctimonious is unpardonable criminality. Wike, no matter the pretence has exposed himself towards jail.

“Why cast childish attacks against Ned Nwoko, a towering personality who had consummated his career as a world class lawyer in the 1990s in London when Wike was struggling as an obscure worker in a Local Government? Who was Wike when Ned Nwoko returned to Nigeria in 1999 to win Aniocha /Oshimili Federal constituency seat and mount the green chambers of the National Assembly as distinguished member, House of Representatives?

“That he was spoon-fed to become governor through godfather syndrome in 2015 , desperately grabbing public funds to his chest, should not be a license to brag and bully. Let Wike disclose his source of wealth he now flaunts with arrogant vainglorious relish. Can he survive outside dirty politics?

“Wike postures deceptively in panic to cover his tracks on the well known serious open secret of his involvement in national economic sabotage through oil bunkering.

“If the governor’s mischievous vituperations on the Paris Club refunds are off key and unserious, his pedestrian shout on Ned Nwoko’s matrimony amounts to nothing. His false childish tantrums that the man has imaginary “20 wives” sounded like beer parlour gossip, unbelievable from the lips of a governor! How nauseating and condescending.

“Let Wike delude himself in bogus gubernatorial robe. By six months time, he would descend into a commoner, stripped of all immunity, bare from boastful manners and haughty airs. Prince Ned Nwoko, a civil fellow who has never been on the street with Wike would then compel him to answer questions about his litany of lies and corrupt misdeeds. He is poised, resolutely waiting to bring the Rivers state governor to justice very soon”

“Since Wike lost the PDP presidential ticket and failed nomination for Vice presidential slot because of his brash and unreliable temperament, he has been weeping, nagging on Television and every fora. Rather than lick his self-inflicted wounds remorsefully, he chose an inglorious path of blame game and transferred aggression.

“We hereby wish to emphasize for the avoidance of doubt that no external influence whether overtly or covertly moved Prince Ned Nwoko to challenge Wike’s excesses as the Star Prince of Anioma is a man of his own clout, unaffected and independent by nature.

“He is driven by the conviction as a pioneer and strong stakeholder in PDP, that an unhinged Wike, a latter day political noise maker and opportunist has become a power-drunk bull in a China shop who must be decisively handled, before he plots more divisive embarrassment”

“Remarkably, Prince Ned Nwoko with his matchless exposure has all it takes to humble the Port-Harcourt talkative,” the statement concluded.

TODAY IN HISTORY: 26 NOVEMBER 1950; Chinese counterattacks in Korea change nature of war

On this day in 1950, thousands of communist Chinese troops, in some of the fiercest fighting of the Korean War, launched massive counterattacks against U.S. and Republic of Korea (ROK) troops, driving back the Allied forces before them and putting an end to any thoughts for a quick or conclusive U.S. victory. When the counterattacks had been stemmed, U.S. and ROK forces had been driven from North Korea and the war settled into a grinding and frustrating stalemate for the next two-and-a-half years.

In the weeks prior to the Chinese attacks, ROK and U.S. forces, under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, had succeeded in driving deeper into North Korea and were nearing the border with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The PRC issued warnings that the Allied forces should keep their distance, and beginning in October 1950 troops from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army began to cross the border to assist their North Korean ally. Their numbers grew to around 300,000 by early November. 

Some bloody encounters occurred between the Chinese and ROK and U.S. forces, but the Chinese troops suddenly broke off offensive operations on November 6. This spurred MacArthur, who had always discounted the military effectiveness of the Chinese troops, to propose a massive new offensive by U.S. and ROK forces. 

Alternately referred to as the “End the War” or “Home by Christmas” offensive, the attack began on November 24. The offensive almost immediately encountered heavy resistance, and by November 26 the Chinese were launching destructive counterattacks along a 25-mile front. By December, U.S. and ROK forces had been pushed out of North Korea. Eventually, U.S. and ROK forces stopped the Chinese troops and the war settled into a military stalemate.

The massive Chinese attack brought an end to any thoughts that U.S. boys would be “home by Christmas.” It also raised the specter of the war expanding beyond the borders of the Korean peninsula, something U.S. policymakers—leery of becoming entangled in a land war in Asia that might escalate into a nuclear confrontation with the Soviets—were anxious to avoid.

Author:

History.com Editors

TODAY IN HISTORY: 25 NOVEMBER 1994; Nelson Mandela says AIDS threatens South Africa's future

On this day in 1994, a former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela in London, called for a new war against HIV/AIDS. He argued that AIDS is claiming more lives in Africa than the sum total of all wars, famines, floods, and other deadly diseases, such as malaria.

Speaking in London at the British Red Cross 2003 humanity lecture, the former South African president described HIV/AIDS as a "new war of global dimensions." He said: "AIDS represents a tragedy of unprecedented proportions, unfolding particularly in Africa but with incidence and effect across the globe. "It is devastating families and communities, overwhelming and depleting healthcare services, and robbing schools of both students and teachers."

He said HIV/AIDS is also undermining the fragile economies of sub-Saharan Africa. "Business has suffered losses of personnel, productivity, and profits. Economic growth is being undermined, and scarce development resources have to be diverted to deal with the consequences of the pandemic." AIDS is wiping out the developmental gains of the past decades and sabotaging the future, he told an audience of 700 people. 

Dr. Nelson Mandela also argued that the developed world must join the battle against AIDS more forcefully. "It is no less than a war—a world war that affects all of us ultimately. We are in this modern globalised world, each the keeper of our brother and sister.

The British Red Cross and Mandela's charitable organisation, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, are funding programmes to tackle HIV/AIDS in Africa. A report published by the British Red Cross in 1993, AIDS in Africa: Our Biggest Challenge Yet , revealed that at least 25 million people in sub-Saharan Africa were living with HIV and that in some regions as many as one in four people were infected. 

The work of the British Red Cross and the Nelson Mandela Foundation focuses on reducing the stigma of HIV/AIDS, getting people to talk about the disease and discuss how to prevent infection, and providing home care for sick and dying people.  

TODAY IN HISTORY; 25 NOVEMBER 1963; U.S President John Kennedy laid to rest at Arlington Cemetery

Three days after his unfortunate assassination in Dallas, Texas, the 35th President of United States, John F. Kennedy on this day in 1963 was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. He was 46.

JFK as fondly called was shot to death while riding in an open-car motorcade with his wife and Texas Governor John Connally through the streets of downtown Dallas. Ex-Marine and communist sympathizer Lee Harvey Oswald was the alleged assassin. Kennedy was rushed to Dallas’ Parkland Hospital, where he was confirmed dead 30 minutes later.

Vice President Lyndon Johnson, who was three cars behind President Kennedy in the motorcade, was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States less than two hours later. He took the presidential oath of office aboard Air Force One as it sat on the runway at Dallas Love Field airport. The swearing in was witnessed by some 30 people, including Jacqueline Kennedy, who was still wearing clothes stained with her husband’s blood. Seven minutes later, the presidential jet took off for Washington.

The next day, November 23, President Johnson issued his first proclamation, declaring November 25 to be a day of national mourning for the slain president. On that day, hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of Washington to watch a horse-drawn caisson bear Kennedy’s body from the Capitol Rotunda to St. Matthew’s Catholic Cathedral for a requiem Mass. The solemn procession then continued on to Arlington National Cemetery, where 19 heads of state and government, including French President Charles de Gaulle, as well as representatives from 92 other nations gathered for the state funeral. Kennedy was buried with full military honors on a slope below Arlington House, where an eternal flame was lit by his widow to forever mark the grave.

TODAY IN HISTORY: 24 NOVEMBER 2003; President Obasanjo says he will surrender Charles Taylor to face trial

On this day in 2003, Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo says in an interview with foreign journalists that he will surrender ousted Liberian leader Charles Taylor to face a war crimes trial.

President Obasanjo, Taylor's host in exile, has adamantly resisted surrendering Taylor on an existing indictment by a United Nations-backed court but made it clear on Tuesday November 24, 2003 during a media chat that he would listen if Liberia itself asked.

Taylor has lived in exile in Calabar, Cross River state Nigeria since early August, 2003 when he fled, under international pressure, as rebels laid siege to his capital, Monrovia.

If Liberia’s new interim government decides it wants him to face charges there, ”then I believe he will understand sufficiently the need to go home”, Obasanjo told foreign reporters, at his farm in Ota, Ogun state Nigeria.

Asked what he would do if Taylor resisted, Obasanjo responded, ”I would persuade him.”

Liberia’s government has not specifically said it wanted Taylor for trial. Interim leader Gyude Bryant, appointed under an August 18 peace deal, has said he fears war-crimes trials would harm reconciliation in the country.

Taylor, a former rebel, launched Liberia into 14 years of conflict in 1989, when he led an initially small insurgency to overthrow the government.

The UN indictment accuses Taylor of backing rebels in a vicious 10-year terror campaign in neighbouring Sierra Leone. The administration of United States President George Bush has disavowed moves by the US Congress to place rewards for Taylor’s surrender to the UN court.

TODAY IN HISTORY 24 NOVEMBER 1999; Hundreds kill in the Yellow Sea ferry sink

On this day in 1999, disaster occurred when a ferry sinks in the Yellow Sea off the coast of China, killing hundreds of people. The ship had caught fire while in the midst of a storm and nearly everyone on board perished, including the captain.

The Dashun, a 9,000-ton vessel, was transporting passengers from the port city of Yantai in China’s Shandong province to Dalian, near Korea, on November 24. It was snowing and windy when the ship, carrying approximately 300 passengers and 40 crew members, left Yantai. Just a short way into the journey, a fire broke out on board. Although the exact cause is unknown, many believe that the gas tank on a vehicle the ship was carrying may have ruptured.

The fire forced the passengers to the lifeboats. A distress signal was sent out at 4:30 p.m (apparently officials already knew about the problems on board because a passenger had called for help on a cell phone), but the stormy weather delayed rescue efforts until the next morning. Reportedly, Ma Shuchi, a crew member, swam six miles to safety, though many others died after jumping into the freezing water. Even most of those who made it to the lifeboats ended up freezing to death as they waited for rescue ships. By the time rescuers appeared, most could only try to retrieve the bodies from the sea. Only 36 people survived. The fire on the Dashun was not put out until the evening of November 25; the ship then drifted toward shore before sinking about a mile off the coast.

This was the second disaster of November 1999 for the Yantai Car Ferry Company; another ship, the Shenlu, had sunk off the coast of Dalian just weeks earlier. Four officers of the company, including the general manager, were later brought to trial in China.

The capsizing of the Dashun was the worst maritime accident in China since 133 people had died in a ferry collision on the Yangtze River in 1994.

Author:

History.com Editors

TODAY IN HISTORY: 23 NOVEMBER 2011; President Jonathan fires EFCC boss, Farida Waziri

On Wednesday 23 November 2011, Nigerian President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan unexpectedly sacks Mrs. Farida Waziri as the executive Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and appointed Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde who was the Commission's director of Operation, as an acting-Chairman of the anti-graft agency.

Sources said the curiosity of President Goodluck Jonathan was “aroused” sometime in 2010 when he learnt that Waziri had bought a car as gift for a top Presidency official in a desperate bid to retain her position as Nigeria's anti-graft Czar.

The official in question was said to have alerted the president, who then put Waziri under watch following some other unfavorable reports on her relationship with political exposed persons (PEPs).

Mrs. Waziri was reportedly complaining when she received the news of her sack that President does not have constitutional power to remove her from office, although it was gathered  that Jonathan has relied on Section 3 (2) of the EFCC Act 2004 which states:

“A member of the Commission may at any time be removed by the President for inability to discharge the functions of his office (whether arising from infirmity of body or any other cause) or for misconduct or if the President is satisfied that it is not in the interest of the Commission or the interest of the public that the member should continue in office.”

A government official said that there were “too many damning reports against Mrs. Waziri, both locally and internationally. A recurring allegation against Waziri during her tenure was that she was “too comfortable” with politicians.

“In times past, she wrote controversial letters to British authorities to clear accused persons. In some instances, the accused persons were believed to have drafted the letters by themselves,” another government official said, attributing her removal to “a cocktail of misdeeds”.

US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton had said during a visit to Nigeria in 2009 that “EFCC has fallen off” under Waziri’s watch and this had created credibility problems for the commission among donor countries.

TODAY IN HISTORY: 23 NOVEMBER 1979; IRA bombmaker Thomas McMahon sentenced for Mountbatten’s assassination

On this day in 1979, 31-year old Thomas McMahon, a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), bagged life imprisonment for preparing and planting the bomb that killed Lord Louis Mountbatten and three others three months before.

On August 27, 1979, Louis Mountbatten was killed when McMahon and other IRA terrorists detonated a 50-pound bomb hidden on his fishing vessel Shadow V. Mountbatten, a World War II hero, elder statesman and second cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, was spending the day with his family in Donegal Bay off Ireland’s northwest coast when the bomb exploded. Three others were killed in the attack, including Mountbatten’s 14-year-old grandson, Nicholas. Later that day, an IRA bombing attack on land killed 18 British paratroopers in County Down, Northern Ireland.

The assassination of Mountbatten was the first blow struck against the British royal family by the IRA during its long terrorist campaign to drive the British out of Northern Ireland and unite it with the Republic of Ireland to the south. The attack hardened the hearts of many Britons against the IRA and convinced Margaret Thatcher’s government to take a hard-line stance against the terrorist organization.

The IRA immediately claimed responsibility for the Mountbatten attack, saying it detonated the bomb by remote control from the coast. It also took responsibility for the same-day bombing attack against British troops in County Down, which claimed 18 lives.

IRA member Thomas McMahon was later arrested and convicted for his role in the Mountbatten bombing. A near-legend in the IRA, he was a leader of the IRA’s notorious South Armagh Brigade, which killed more than 100 British soldiers. He was one of the first IRA members to be sent to Libya to study detonators and timing devices and was an expert in explosives. Authorities believe the Mountbatten assassination was the work of many people, but McMahon was the only individual convicted. Sentenced to life in prison, he was released in 1998, along with other IRA and Unionist terrorists, under a controversial provision of the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland’s peace deal. McMahon claimed he had turned his back on the IRA and was becoming a carpenter.

TODAY IN HISTORY; 08 NOVEMBER 1994, Republican Party wins U.S. two Legislative houses

On this day in 1994, the Republican Party wins control of both the U.S. House of Commons and the House of Lords, in midterm congressional elections, for the first time in 40 years. Led by Representative Newt Gingrich of Georgia, who subsequently replaced Democrat Tom Foley of Washington as speaker of the House, the empowered GOP united under the “Contract with America,” a 10-point legislative plan to reduce federal taxes and dismantle social welfare programs established during six decades of mostly Democratic rule in Congress.

Gingrich’s House of Representatives, home to the majority of the Republican freshmen, led the “Republican Revolution” by passing every bill incorporated in the Contract with America–with the exception of a term-limits constitutional amendment—within the first 100 days of the 104th Congress. 

TODAY IN HISTORY; 08 NOVEMBER 2018, Nigerian information minister says government spends N3.5 million monthly to feed El-Zakzaky

Alhaji Lai Mohammed

On this day in 2018, Nigerian information minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in a leaked video, claimed that the federal government spends N3.5 million monthly to feed Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, a Shiite cleric who has been detained for over two years.

Lai Mohammed’s statement on the Shiite leader was believed to have been made while addressing journalists on same day the Kaduna court denied Mr El-Zakzaky bail.

It was gathered that the minister did make the claim but had told journalists he was speaking off the record. The video, however, still made its way to the public and gone viral, drawing wide criticisms of the minister.

The information minister was at that point interjected by the transport minister, Rotimi Amaechi, who jokingly mocked the figures saying “then you people need to take me in o.”

Mr Mohammed, then defended the figure he announced, saying “Honestly, don’t quote me, but these are the facts.” At this point Mr Amaechi joked further that he “can take N500,000” monthly to be held in prison by the government.

At N3.5 million monthly, it would mean the government claims it spends about N115,000 daily to feed the forced prisoner. The minister’s claims of N3.5 million monthly also came at a time the government is finding it difficult to pay a monthly minimum wage of N30,000 to workers.

Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, leader of the Shiite IMN movement has been detained since December 2015 after soldiers clamped down on his supporters killing at least 347 of them. The army accused them of blocking a public road being used then by the army chief, Tukur Buratai.

The massacre was condemned by local and international rights groups and investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Although no soldier was being tried or prosecuted for the killings, Mr El-Zakzaky was detained by the government since the December 2015 incident. The government also ignored a court ruling that ordered that he be released and paid compensation alongside his detained wife, Zinat.

Mr El-Zakzaky was initially held for about two years alongside his wife, Zinat, without trial. After much public outcry, he was charged before a Kaduna court for alleged conspiracy and abating culpable homicide.

TODAY IN HISTORY; 07 NOVEMBER 1996, Prof. Wole Soyinka's book ‘The Open Sore of a Continent' is published

Prof. Wole Soyinka

On this day in 1996, the literary giant and Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, who at the time divided his exile between London and Cambridge, published his book titled, The Open Sore of a Continent. Soyinka has been an eloquent voice of protest against authoritarianism and kleptocracy in Nigeria.

In the book, Prof. Soyinka collected previous lectures in which he described Nigeria's predicament, condemned the country's illegitimate leaders and mused about questions of nationalism and international intervention. For those who are not familiar with Nigerian history especially under the military juntas, Prof. Soyinka’s Open Sore of a Continent has some rough patches. Soyinka who is also a journalist, doesn't always contextualize his comments. Yet, his condemnation of despotism and his called for international sanctions remain a challenge to the world community. The Nobel laureate opened and closed the book with the story of Ken Saro-Wiwa, a leader of the Ogoni minority, who was executed on November 10, 1995 by Nigerian military ruler, General Sani Abacha. The gruesome execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa made world headlines and this signaled to Soyinka both the beginning of ethnic cleansing and the disintegration of the state.

Prof. Soyinka also recognised his homeland's flawed origin but suggested that its politico-military elite, not its people, have squandered Nigeria's nationhood by annulling the June 12 election and curbing dissent. He also regretted that the promise of pan-Africanism has dwindled to local salvage efforts. He concluded by proposing--without specifying who should do so--that ""a structured pattern of regional conferences"" be initiated to stave off future Yugoslavias and Rwandas.

TODAY IN HISTORY; 07 NOVEMBER 1989, Two African American democrats elected into office

David Dinkins

On Saturday 7th of November 1989, history was made in the United States of America as two African American Democrats were elected into offices in New York and Virginia respectively. While the former Manhattan borough president David Dinkins, was elected New York City’s first African American mayor, Lieutenant Governor Douglas Wilder, became the first elected African American state governor in American history.

Although Wilder was the first African American to be popularly elected to the governor’s post, he was not the first African American to hold that office. That distinction goes to Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback, a Reconstruction-era lieutenant general of Louisiana who became Louisiana state governor in December 1872. Pinchback served as acting governor for five weeks while impeachment proceedings were in progress against Governor Henry Clay Warmoth.

Douglas Wilder

Wilder served as Virginia governor until 1993, whereupon he was forced to step down because Virginia law prohibits governors from serving two terms in succession. In 1993, Dinkins was defeated in his bid to win a second mayoral term by Republican challenger Rudolph Giuliani.

TODAY IN HISTORY; 05 NOVEMBER 2009, A 39-year old army major kills 13 in Fort Hood shooting

On this dag in 2009, a mass shooting took place at Fort Hood, near Killeen, Texas. Nidal Hasan, a U.S. Army major and psychiatrist, fatally shot 13 people and injured more than 30 others. It was the deadliest mass shooting on an American military base.

Early in the afternoon of November 5, 39-year-old Hasan, armed with a semi-automatic pistol, shouted “Allahu Akbar” (Arabic for “God is great”) and then opened fire at a crowd inside a Fort Hood processing center where soldiers who were about to be deployed overseas or were returning from deployment received medical screenings. The massacre, which left 12 service members and one Department of Defense employee dead, lasted approximately 10 minutes before Hasan was shot by civilian police and taken into custody.

The Virginia-born Hasan, the son of Palestinian immigrants who ran a Roanoke restaurant and convenience store, graduated from Virginia Tech University and completed his psychiatry training at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, in 2003. He went on to work at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., treating soldiers returning from war with post-traumatic stress disorder. In May 2009, he was promoted to the rank of major in the Army, and that July, was transferred to Fort Hood. Located near the city of Killeen, Fort Hood, which includes 340 square miles of facilities and homes, is the largest active-duty U.S. military post. At the time of the shootings, more than 50,000 military personnel lived and worked there, along with thousands more family members and civilian personnel.

In the aftermath of the massacre, reviews by the Pentagon and a U.S. Senate panel found Hasan’s superiors had continued to promote him despite the fact that concerns had been raised over his behavior, which suggested he had become a radical and potentially violent Islamic extremist. Among other things, Hasan stated publicly that America’s war on terrorism was really a war against Islam.

In 2013, Hasan, who was left paralyzed from the waist down as a result of shots fired at him by police attempting to stop his rampage, was tried in military court, where he acted as his own attorney. During his opening statement, he admitted he was the shooter. (Hasan had previously told a judge that in an effort to protect Muslims and Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, he had gunned down the soldiers at Fort Hood who were being deployed to that nation.) For the rest of the trial, Hasan called no witnesses, presented scant evidence and made no closing argument. On August 23, 2013, a jury found Hasan guilty of 45 counts of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder, and he later was sentenced to death for his crimes.

TODAY IN HISTORY: 04 NOVEMBER 2008, Same-sex marriage is banned as proposition 8 passed in California

On this day in 2008, with over 13 million votes cast, California voters approve Proposition 8 amending the state’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

Earlier, in May 2008, the California Supreme Court had deemed the state’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, making California the second state in the country to legalize gay marriage. Thus, Proposition 8 reversed the state court’s ruling.

Proposition 8, which “provides that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California,” passed 52% to 48%, by a margin of about 600,000 votes. The proposition was opposed by a broad coalition including major corporations such as PG&E and Apple; a litany of civil rights, social justice and community-based organizations; a dozen unions; both sitting U.S. Senators, 16 congressional representatives and the sitting governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger; and seven mayors. Californian voters received robocalls from former president Bill Clinton asking them to vote no on the measure, while actors from the television show “Ugly Betty” argued in Spanish-language TV spots that voting no “is not about being gay or straight,” but “about being American.”

The Protect Marriage campaign supporting Proposition 8 constantly invoked the “far-reaching consequences” of legal gay marriage, particularly the implication that school curriculums would be required to teach that gay marriage is “the same as traditional marriage.” Pollster David Fleischer, in his analysis of the election results, found that the greatest shift toward “Yes” among undecided voters was “among parents with children under 18 living at home—many of them white Democrats,” who feared the effects of legal gay marriage on their children’s public education. Evangelicals and Republicans formed the core of Proposition 8’s support.

California's ban on same-sex marriage was soon overturned through the courts: While Proposition 8 would be upheld by the California Supreme Court the next year, in 2010 a U.S. District Court judge ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional, with their decision stayed on appeal. The District Court’s ruling was upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal in 2013, allowing for same-sex marriages to resume in California.

In 2015, same-sex marriage was made legal nationwide in the landmark Supreme Court civil rights case Obergefell v. Hodges.

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