On this day in history...

[Heid the Ba]

He also did the military four wheel version (sort of) Kubelwagen. That and the 600 hp petrol-electric drive Elefant/Ferdinand tank destroyer. Not many common parts between those two.

[Richard A]

No, no, A=very good, B=good, C=stisfactory, D=sufficient, E=deficient, F=inadequate. E and F are fails.

Interestingly, my friends said about the same thing, and they were probably right. "Arneb, Du bist Arzt!" And that was that, I guess.

Ah yes, I'd forgotten that "satisfactory" and "sufficient" were different grades. Even so.

[Arneb]

9 May, 1945, since someone had to capitulate to Stalin, too...

[Richard A]

Not just to Stalin. Far to the west, Vizeadmiral Friedrich Hüffmeier continued to maintain the Reich until 9 May 1945 before he finally surrendered to British forces. The story goes that he told them that if they advanced any further, they would be fired upon. Their commander replied that since the entire German army had surrendered, if he did fire on the liberators, he would be hanged for murder. He changed his mind, surrendered and as a result not only got to walk out of captivity but did so after less than 2 years. I suspect his captivity was more comfortable than that of those who fell into the hands of Comrade Stalin.

[Heid the Ba]

The Battle of Langside was fought on 13 May 1568 between forces loyal to Mary, Queen of Scots, and forces acting in the name of her infant son James VI. And everything turned to shite for a while.

[Arneb]

Belated happy 75th for our beautifully crafted Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland (23 May, 1949)

[Richard A]

On 29 May 1982, Pope John Paul II began his visit to the UK - the first Pope to do so since the Reformation.

[Arneb]

100 years ago today, Franz Kafka died of tuberculosis. I admit I never finished even one of his books - not because his writings didn't touch me, but because maybe they touched me too much: The Castle, the Trial, the Metamorphosis - in all of these it felt like an invisible hand was grabbing me by the throat. I couldn't stand stand any of these works long enough to finish one. His short writings are different. Some are almost as radical as Hemingway's "For Sale: Baby shoes, never used", and while I still very much feel their impact, I can get through them.

[Мастер]

100 years ago today, Franz Kafka died of tuberculosis. I admit I never finished even one of his books - not because his writings didn't touch me, but because maybe they touched me too much: The Castle, the Trial, the Metamorphosis - in all of these like an invisible hand was grabbing me by the throat. I couldn't stand stand any of these works long enough to finish one. His short writings are different. Some are almost as radical as Hemingway's "For Sale: Baby shoes, never used", and while I still very much feel their impact, I can get through them.

I’ve read one of the books you mention in two different languages.

[Arneb]

50 years ago today, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic played their single competetive match against each other, during the 1974 Men's Football World Championship, in Hamburg, FRG. The GDR won the match, 1-0, by a goal from striker Jürgen Sparwasser, in the 77th minute. As you would all guess, the goal and the match became iconic.

Paradoxically, the goal maybe is what gave Germany the title in that tournament. You see, we had had two rather lame games, 1-0 against Chile and 3-0 against Australia, and the match against the GDR went equally lame. That it turned into a humiliating defeat kindled a kind of resistive spirit in the German team who had a long team session, with quite a few beers consumed, during the night after. Words became heated and loud, but they pulled themselves together and gave a far better perfomance through the rest of the tournament.

Also, coming in second in the group actually carried an advantage: Whom would you rather have played in the second group stage on your way to World Championship glory: Sweden, Yugoslavia and Poland, or the Netherlands, Argentina, and Brasil, the reigning Champions? Exactly. By virtue of losing, Germany went into a somewhat easier second group than the GDR - who went down 1-0 and 2-0 against the Netherlands and Brasil, gaining a 1-1 against Argentina. West Germany, meanwhile went on to win their three matches to meet the Netherlandsw in the Final. And we all know how that went. Franz Beckenbauer said it all when he quipped about the genius of Johan Cruyff: He is the better footballer, but I am World Champion. Thank you, then, in more than one way, Jürgen Sparwasser.

I am sure I already told this story, possibly in this thread, but hey, 50 years!

[Heid the Ba]

Great story.
It is common on long rugby tours that at some point everything starts to get testy and it is usual that instead of one morning's training a large amount of beer is supplied and senior members are charged with sorting it out but everyone has to be physically fit to train the next day and all the beer has to be drunk. Superficial injuries are never mentioned again.

[Arneb]

After writing the post, I read that Beckenbauer was quoted as saying, a 23rd medal should go to Sparwasser.

[Richard A]

I see that that was the only time the GDR qualified for the World Cup. Though apparently they beat Belgium just before ceasing to exist.

[Arneb]

They had a decent shot at making it to the 1990 tournament, only failing at the last qualifying match against Austria - on 15 November, 1989, a week after the opening of the wall. Their coach, who later made a decent carrier in German professsional football in then 90s and oughts told how the cabin area was swarming with agents trying to sign their top players to Bundesliga clubs.

[Lianachan]

25th June, 1984 (40 years ago!) - release of the very good and very popular album Purple Rain by Prince & The Revolution.

[Arneb]

30 June, 1974 - Brasil's one and only good moment at the Football World Championship in Germany (West): In the first match of the second group phase, against the GDR (remember they won their gorup by way of beating the FRG? Smart move!), Brasil receive a free kick at a good distance from the goal. Unexpectedly, a Brasilian player, Jairzinho, joins his GDR comrades in the player wall put up to defend the free kick. It may seem obvious today, but he is not there to support the GDR's defence of socialism: As soon as his teammate Rivelino shoots, Jarizinho drops to the ground and the ball screams through the GDR wall's first ever hole, giving Brasil the winning goal.

[Heid the Ba]

". . . and the ball screams through the GDR wall's first ever hole . . ."
*tips hat*

[Arneb]

70 years ago today, on July 4, 1954, Germany's men's national football team won their first World Cup title, in Berne, Switzerland. The heavy favourites, Hungary, fielded a team riddled with marvellous players who had given the Germans a thorough thrashing (8-3) in the first round. Predictably, Germany were two down rather quickly, but surprised everyone by euqalising before half-time. After a second half of intense Hungarian pressure, Hartmut Rahn made history in the 84th minute with a sharp left shot from the edge of the penalty area. There is no complete film footage ot the match, but there is a relatively high-quality enhanced and colorised version of the extant material. Here ist, with the original Herbert Zimmermann commentary - which was for radio, not the TV and is an iconic document in Germany to this day (the decider starts at 8:25 min):

[Arneb]

50 years ago, today, also on a Sunday, the German men's national football team won their second World Championship title in Munich, Germany, beating the Netherlands 2 - 1.

Germany weren't the favourites, especially after their lukewarm first round performance with the "lucky" defeat against the GDR, but they showed grit and resolve during the second group stage, winning the group with the famous "naval battle of Frankfurt" in torrential rain against Poland. The Netherlands, comletely full of themselves as always, were certain to win this and scored after two minutes, on a penalty after a stupid foul. Not to be outdone, Germany equalized with another penalty and took the lead with one of those inimitable Gerd Müller "dancing on the tip of a pin" goals even before half-time. And that was that for the game. Lots of brilliant Dutch attacking, staunch German defending, and a superb Sepp Maier in the German goal ending with Franz Beckenbauer lifting the all-new Football World Champion trophy into a dull and cloudy Munich afternoon sky (you all know, of course, that the original trophy, the Coupe Jules Rimet, had been awarded to Brasil permanently after their third title in 1970). It wasn't a roaring victory, it wasn't a "back from the ashes" moment like '54, and it didn't look magic at all (in stark contrast to the elegance and seemingly effortless levity of the European title two years previously), but ist stuck in the public memory - and in mine as well, because that final is probably the first football match, at age 5, which I can dimly remember.

[Heid the Ba]

20th August 1858 – Charles Darwin first publishes his theory of evolution through natural selection in The Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, alongside Alfred Russel Wallace's same theory.
20th August 1940 - Leon Trotsky got an ice pick that made his ears burn.

[Richard A]

2 days late, but still worth marking.

35 years and 2 days ago, Peter Spitzner and his 7-year old daughter became the last people to escape across the Berlin Wall - in the boot of a US soldier's car. I would have thought that by then, there were easier and definitely safer routes through Hungary or even Czechoslovakia, but they established their place in history.

[Heid the Ba]

Kharkiv is liberated by the Soviet Red Army for the second time after the Battle of Kursk.
That was 1943, topical or what.
There was a Third Battle of Kharkov, known as Manstein's Backhanded Blow. Where a man Hitler couldn't get rid off due to his status absolutely twatted the Soviet armies advancing into Ukraine.

[Heid the Ba]

2nd September 1752: Great Britain adopted the Gregorian Calendar and it all went to hell in a handcart.

[Heid the Ba]

4th September
476 – Romulus Augustulus is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself "King of Italy", thus ending the Western Roman Empire. And good riddance.
929 – Battle of Lenzen: Slavic forces are defeated by a Saxon army near the fortified stronghold of Lenzen in Brandenburg. Noble North Europeans against Slavs? We can put that one on repeat.

[Lance]

September 4th 2008: Tlanuwa born. He left us December 18th, 2022.

September 4th 2012: Blazing and Saddles born. Blazing left us December 19th, 2021. Saddles, the last of his pack, is enjoying his 12th birthday sleeping on the couch.

And yes, that dad and his 2 puppies shared the same birthday.