Good News in History, June 6 – the 80th Anniversary of D-Day

80 years ago today, 160,000 troops from Britain, America, and Canada—along with a dozen other nations—stormed five sandy beaches along the Normandy Coast, intending to liberate mainland Europe from Adolf Hitler’s tyranny. The D-Day Landings were one of several major turning points in the war, and historians ever since have relished plucking every imaginable detail of courage and strategy from those 24 hours. The 80th anniversary celebrations were held on the Normandy coast, beginning with a parachute team leaping out of WWII-era planes in WWII-era uniforms, including a veteran in his 90s jumping from a plane once again near Omaha Beach, landing to the sounds of Glen Miller and Edith Piaf. WATCH heartwarming video about the Day… (1944)

The UK’s King Charles gave the opening speech to the memorial ceremony, stressing the importance of remembering what the soldiers faced up to and what they accomplished on behalf of future generations.

Few soldiers who fought on the beaches are alive today, but dozens of WW II veterans are attending the ceremonies, the oldest of which is 107.

Operation Overlord, which encompassed the D-Day landings, was the largest amphibian combined arms assault in military history, and when you put it like that the outcome would have seemed assured to us today. But, at the time, not even General Dwight D. Eisenhower had any clue how it would go—as Allied troops were required to scale steep cliffs surrounded by Nazi artillery. In fact, the night before the invasion he penned a letter ‘taking full responsibility for the failure’. Instead, it turned out to be the greatest triumph.

WATCH two videos produced by the American Battle Monuments Commission (the second one is at the 1:25:30 mark)…

AND, from Great Britain…

MORE Good News on this Day:

• The first drive-in theater opened in Camden, New Jersey, with an outdoor movie screen and a large parking area where customers viewed films from the privacy and comfort of their cars—something still being done in a couple hundred theaters in the U.S. (1933)
• The first Internet connection was created when Network control protocol packets were sent from the data port of one IMP mini-computer to another—a development that the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency made to interconnect machines across the country (1969)
• The video game, Tetris, was released (1984)
• 172 nations meet at a United Nations Environmental Conference—the Earth Summit— in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the largest ever of its kind with unprecedented scope (1992)
• In Australian Rules Football, Tony Lockett broke the record for career goals, previously 1299 by Gordon Coventry, which had stood since 1937 (1999)
• Phylicia Rashad became the first African-American to win a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, for her work in “A Raisin in the Sun” (2004)

Happy 68th birthday to tennis star and heartthrob Björn Rune Borg, winner of 11 Grand Slam singles titles consisting of 6 French Opens and 5 consecutive championships at Wimbledon. Borg is widely considered one of the all-time greats of the sport. He was ranked by Tennis magazine as the sixth-greatest male player of the Open Era. His rivalry with John McEnroe is considered one of the best in the sport’s history, and their meeting in the 1980 Wimbledon final is considered one of the greatest matches ever played.

A youth phenomenon, it was clear that young Björn was destined for a career having become the best under-13s tennis player in his native Sweden. At the of 15, he won the Wimbledon Junior’s Cup, while in the following year he was seeded into the French Open and Wimbledon proper.

Winning a series of smaller tournaments at age 17, including the London Open, New Zealand Open, and São Paulo before also winning the higher-ranked, Italian Open, he captured the first of what would become 6 French Open titles when he defeated Manuel Orantes in 5 sets having just turned 18 years of age.

Borg had one of the most distinctive playing styles in the Open Era. His highly unorthodox backhand involved taking his racket back with both hands but actually generating his power with his dominant right hand, letting go of the grip with his left hand around the point of contact, and following through with his swing as a one-hander.

Another trait usually associated with Borg was his grace under pressure. His calm court demeanor earned him the nickname of the “Ice Man” or “Ice-Borg” (1956)

Happy 57th birthday to actor-producer Paul Giamatti. Steadily building a post-graduate career with small supporting roles, he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Cinderella Man. He’s also known for his work in The Illusionist, Straight Outta Compton, American Splendor, Too Big To Fail, Downton Abbey, 12 Years a Slave—and for playing the U.S. president in John Adams, which earned him a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy, and Screen Actors Guild Award.

Maybe more than anyone else, Giamatti has not had as many major lead roles as his talent deserves, epitomized by a 2013 return to theater as Shakespeare’s Hamlet in a modern-dress production from Yale that earned him rave reviews as the dramatic lead. Another example is his brilliant role as a depressed author and wine aficionado in the film Sideways (see the trailer), that nearly brought down the Merlot industry in California—because his character despised the red, preferring Pinot Noir. (1967)

78 years ago today, the National Basketball Association (NBA) was created with 11 teams. Interestingly, it was founded in New York City by owners of the major ice hockey arenas.

First known as the Basketball Association of America, the league changed its name to the National Basketball Association in 1949, after merging with the competing NBL—National Basketball League. Today, it has 30 teams—29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. Watch this cool video: the Best Player From Every Decade In NBA History…
(1946)

18 years ago today, the Brazilian government began protecting an area of the Amazon rainforest even more vast than the state of California.

Partnering with Germany, the World Bank, and WWF in 2002, a Brazilian conservation group established a new park system, the Juruena National Park—now the third-largest park in Brazil. The system of 80 reserves and parks now protects the vital habitat of more than 190,000 square miles. The Success has been phenomenal for one of the world’s most ambitious conservation project— the ARPA (Amazon Region Protected Area Program). Brazil has been able to reduce deforestation in Amazonia by nearly 90% in the first ten years. (2006)

SHARE the Milestones, Memories, and Music…