Well readers, another week has passed. There’s a lot happening in the news; Oprah apparently gained 40 pounds, a certain Illinois governor was arrested  for trying to sell President Elect’s Obama’s senate seat and a winter storm is on its way to our little town of Lincoln (which should make for a fun weekend!)…. but best of all its another installment of This Week in History! We’ve got France, and Alcatraz, and Space, oh my!  

December 15, 1852: Henri Becquerel, French physicist and Nobel laureate is born.

Onitsha by J.M. G. Le Clezio, while not related physics, was written by a fellow French Nobel prize winner and may prove to be a pretty impressive read!

December 16, 1937: Theodore Cole and Ralph Cole attempt to escape from Alcatraz.

    Well, they didn’t make it. In fact there is only one potentially successful escape from Alcatraz. For a look, however, on what happened to the island after the prison shut down then check out The American Indian Occupation of Alcatraz: Red Power and Self-Determination by Troy R. Johnson.

December 17, 1999: United Nations General Assembly designates November 25 as International Day to Eliminate Violence against Women.

    One of the first, and best, tools against violence is education. Bright Epoch: Women and Coeducation in the American West by Andrea G. Radke-Moss pays tribute to a few of the first mixed gender Institutions in Iowa and Nebraska.

December 18, 1966: Saturn’s moon, Epimethous, is discovered by Richard L. Walker.

    The key to space exploration is discovery.  One of the first major discoveries was the Skylab space station. It ended badly, and fiery, but that is often the risk of progress. You can find out more about in Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story by David Hitt, Own Garriott, and Joe Kerwin.

December 19, 1997: Silk Air Flight 185 crashed into the Musi River in Indonesia and kills 104.

    Flying may be significant, as is space, but like its counterpart there are always risks involved. You can see them first hand in Hard Air: Adventures from the Edge of Flying by W. Scott Olsen.

 

Well readers, I hope you enjoyed this installment of This Week in History. Remember you can find these books and more at the University of Nebraska Press website. Be sure and join us next week for Tuesday Trivia, and have a great weekend!