Good News in History, July 15

And, 69 years ago today, 18 Nobel laureate scientists signed the Mainau Declaration publicly decrying nuclear weapons. Within one year, 34 others—mostly chemists and physicists—joined the German nuclear scientists Otto Hahn and Max Born in calling for an end to perilous radioactive bombs. READ the text of the Declaration… (1955)

We, the undersigned, are scientists of different countries, different creeds, different political persuasions. Outwardly, we are bound together only by the Nobel Prize, which we have been favored to receive. With pleasure we have devoted our lives to the service of science. It is, we believe, a path to a happier life for people. We see with horror that this very science is giving mankind the means to destroy itself. By total military use of weapons feasible today, the earth can be contaminated with radioactivity to such an extent that whole peoples can be annihilated. Neutrals may die thus as well as belligerents.

If war broke out among the great powers, who could guarantee that it would not develop into a deadly conflict? A nation that engages in a total war thus signals its own destruction and imperils the whole world.

MORE Good News on this Day:

• The Boeing Company (Pacific Aero) was first formed by William Boeing in Seattle Washington, 36 years before they would test and manufacture the first commercial jet transport airliner built in US, the 156-passenger Boeing 707 (1916)
• The pilot Wiley Post began the first solo flight around the world (1933)
• President Richard Nixon announced he would visit the People’s Republic of China to seek a ”normalization of relations” (1971)
• The Mozilla (non-profit) Foundation was established to support and provide leadership for open-source software, like its browser, Firefox (2003)

Though not a pilot, on this day in 1939 the fashionable and smashing Clara Adams stepped off her passenger aircraft in Newark, having completed a 25k flight around the world for the first time in history, describing her journey as “beautiful beyond description and sublime beyond the most vivid imagination of the human mind.” Known as the “Maiden of Maiden Flights,” she did more than perhaps any other human to popularize air travel. 

Clara Adams was the first passenger on round-trip commercial flights across the Pacific, between New York and Bermuda, and between San Francisco and New Zealand. She is remembered primarily as the first woman to fly across the Atlantic as a ticketed passenger aboard the Graf Zeppelin on its return flight from New York in October 1928.

Adams also was the first woman to fly aboard the Dornier Do X, the largest, heaviest, and most powerful flying boat ever made, between New York and Rio de Janeiro. She was one of 11 women aboard the maiden flight of the Hindenburg and despite the end of public interest in airships due to the Hindenburg disaster, Adams remained eager to fly on airships.

Her ’round-the-world trip lasted sixteen days and nineteen hours and covered 24,609 miles. She stepped off the plane in Newark 6 years to the day that famous pilot Wiley Post began his first solo flight around the world. She wore a tan plaid suit of Chinese silk she bought in Hong Kong and a straw hat from Rangoon. (1939)

Happy 58th Birthday to a literal drummer’s drummer, Jason Bonham. Son of legendary Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, Jason could already skillfully play percussion at age 5. Throughout his career he has amassed album credits with a dizzying number of artists, including Jimmy Page for his solo project Outrider, Joe Bonamassa, the remaining members of Led Zeppelin, Paul Rodgers, UFO, Foreigner, Sammy Hagar, a supergroup called Black Country Communion, and his own band called Bonham. 

On 12 September 2007, it was announced that Jason Bonham would step into his father’s shoes and play drums for a Led Zeppelin reunion concert. This took place on 10 December 2007 at London’s O2 arena, and his performance was described as “flawless” by music critics.

“It was Bonham who may have been the star of the show,” they write. “Bonham’s flawless performance and driving beat even made the other members of the band watch in awe at the end of “Black Dog.” (1966)

And on this day in 1606, Rembrandt, the Dutch Master portrait painter who wanted to be the best in the world and painted not with emotion but with intellect, was born. Signed only with his first name, his canvases were revered while he was still in his early 20s.

On this day in 1799, the ancient Rosetta Stone was found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta.

The rock slab became the key to deciphering hieroglyphics in the modern age because it uniquely included a Greek translation. Inscribed with three versions of a decree issued at Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BCE on behalf of King Ptolemy V, the top and middle texts are in Ancient Egyptian, using hieroglyphic script and demotic scripts, while the bottom is in Ancient Greek. The ability to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs opened a window into ancient Egyptian history, that had heretofore been closed. No wonder the language software, Rosetta Stone, took that name as its own…

And, on this day in 1988, a cobbled-together action film called Die Hard was released in US theaters. Costing $28 million, it grossed over $140 million that summer, and turned Bruce Willis—a comedic TV actor—into a blockbuster superstar. Its success sparked a franchise of four sequels, video games, and a comic book—it also spawned a string of movies that involve a random citizen turns into a hero against overwhelming odds. Considered a Christmas picture, Die Hard portrays off-duty NYC cop John McClane (Willis) trying to rescue his wife in a skyscraper where her office holiday party is being terrorized by gunmen. The lead villain, Hans Gruber, was played by Alan Rickman in his first film role ever.

CHECK OUT: 13 Surprising Facts About Die Hard or WATCH the trailer below, featuring all the iconic lines…

Happy 62nd Birthday to Forest Whitaker, the actor, producer, and director, whose work has earned him an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a British Academy Film Award, and 2 Screen Actors Guild Awards.

After he got a college scholarship singing opera, he switched to acting and debuted in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Whitaker built a reputation for intensive character study work in stellar films such as Bird (portraying Charlie Parker), Good Morning, Vietnam, The Crying Game, Platoon, The Great Debaters, The Butler, and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.

For his 2006 portrayal of the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the drama The Last King of Scotland, Whitaker won the Academy Award for Best Actor. He also appeared in blockbusters like Panic Room, Rogue One (Star Wars Story), and Black Panther. He directed the films Waiting to Exhale, Hope Floats, and First Daughter.

His humanitarian work includes serving as the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation, and founding the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative, which is a nonprofit outreach program he runs as CEO. Whitaker studies yoga, has a black belt in kenpō, and is a vegetarian.

His ancestry has been traced to a region in Nigeria, where he was made an honorary chief. WATCH a recent bio and interview… (1961)

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