FIRST DOCUMENTED BATCH OF SCOTCH WHISKY IS MADE – JUNE 1, 1494

 

 

John Cor is the name of the friar/distiller referred to in the first known written reference to a batch of Scotch Whisky on June 1, 1494. “To Friar John Cor, by order of the King, to make aqua vitae VIII bolls of malt.” — Exchequer Rolls 1494–95, Vol x, p. 487.

Scotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland and is divided into five distinct categories: Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky (formerly called “vatted malt” or “pure malt”), Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky. All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three years. Any age statement written on a bottle of Scotch whisky, in the form of a number, must reflect the age of the youngest whisky used to produce that product. A whisky with an age statement is known as guaranteed age whisky.

Scotland was traditionally divided into four regions: The Highlands, Lowland, Islay and Campbeltown. Speyside, encompassing the Spey river valley in north-east Scotland, once considered part of the Highlands, has almost half of the total number of distilleries in Scotland within its geographic boundaries; consequently it is officially recognized as a region unto itself. Campbeltown was removed as a region several years ago, yet was recently re-instated as a recognized production region. The Islands is not recognized as a region by the Scotch Whisky Association and is considered part of the Highlands region. [Source: Wikipedia]

 

Photograph by John Haslam

Empty oak barrels waiting to be filled with whisky at the White and MacKay distillery in Invergordon. The distillery is one of the largest in Scotland and produces grain whisky (from unmalted barley) that after maturation for several years in oak barrels, is used in the production of blended whiskies.

 

CABLE NEWS NETWORK (CNN) LAUNCHES – JUNE 1, 1980

 

 

Cable News Network (CNN) is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States. While the news channel has numerous affiliates, CNN primarily broadcasts from its headquarters at the CNN Center in Atlanta, the Time Warner Center in New York City, and studios in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. CNN is owned by parent company Time Warner, and the U.S. news channel is a division of the Turner Broadcasting System

The Cable News Network was launched at 5:00 p.m. EST on Sunday June 1, 1980. After an introduction by Ted Turner, the husband and wife team of David Walker and Lois Hart anchored the first newscast. Burt Reinhardt, the then executive vice president of CNN, hired most of CNN’s first 200 employees, including the network’s first news anchor, Bernard Shaw.

 

 
Major Events

– On January 28, 1986, CNN was the only television channel to have live coverage of the launch and subsequent explosion of Space Shuttle Challenger, which killed the seven crew members

– On October 14, 1987, an 18-month-old toddler named Jessica McClure fell down a well in Midland, Texas. CNN was quickly on the spot, and the event helped make their name. The New York Times ran a retrospective article in 1995 on the impact of live video news: “If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a moving picture is worth many times that, and a live moving picture makes an emotional connection that goes deeper than logic and lasts well beyond the actual event”

– The first Persian Gulf War in 1991 was a watershed event for CNN that catapulted the channel past the “big three” American networks for the first time in its history, largely due to an unprecedented, historical scoop: CNN was the only news outlet with the ability to communicate from inside Iraq during the initial hours of the Coalition bombing campaign, with live reports from the al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad by reporters Bernard Shaw, John Holliman, and Peter Arnett. Operation Desert Storm as captured live on a CNN night vision camera with reporters narrating. The moment when bombing began was announced on CNN by Bernard Shaw on January 16, 1991 as follows:

This is Bernie Shaw. Something is happening outside…Peter Arnett, join me here. Let’s describe to our viewers what we’re seeing…The skies over Baghdad have been illuminated…We’re seeing bright flashes going off all over the sky.

– Coverage of the first Gulf War and other crises of the early 1990s (particularly the infamous Battle of Mogadishu) led officials at the Pentagon to coin the term “the CNN effect” to describe the perceived impact of real time, 24-hour news coverage on the decision-making processes of the American government

– CNN was the first channel to break the news of the September 11 attacks. Anchor Carol Lin was on the air to deliver the first public report of the event. She broke into a commercial at 8:49 a.m. ET and said:

This just in. You are looking at obviously a very disturbing live shot there. That is the World Trade Center, and we have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. CNN Center right now is just beginning to work on this story, obviously calling our sources and trying to figure out exactly what happened, but clearly something relatively devastating happening this morning there on the south end of the island of Manhattan. That is once again, a picture of one of the towers of the World Trade Center.

Source: Wikipedia

 

 

AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 1420 CRASHES – JUNE 1, 1999

 

 

American Airlines Flight 1420 was a flight from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to Little Rock National Airport in USA. On June 1, 1999, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 (registration number N215AA) overran the runway upon landing in Little Rock and crashed. The captain and ten passengers died in the crash.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident report, they learned that the winds were changing direction and that a wind shear alert had sounded on the airport due to a thunderstorm nearby. Air traffic control originally told them to expect Runway 22L for landing, but after the wind direction changed rapidly, Captain Buschmann requested a change to Runway 4R.

As the aircraft approached Runway 4R, a severe thunderstorm arrived over the airport. The controller’s last report, prior to the landing, stated that the winds were 330 degrees at 28 knots. That exceeded the MD-82’s crosswind limit for landing in reduced visibility on a wet runway. With that information, plus two wind shear reports, the approach should have been abandoned at that point, but Captain Buschmann decided to continue his approach to Runway 4R. [Source: Wikipedia]

 

THE NEPALESE ROYAL MASSACRE – JUNE 1, 2001

 

Photograph by Pavel Novak

 

The Nepalese royal massacre occurred on Friday, June 1, 2001, at a house in the grounds of the Narayanhity Royal Palace, then the residence of the Nepalese monarchy, when the heir to the throne, Prince Dipendra supposedly killed nine members of his family and himself.

The dead included King Birendra of Nepal and Queen Aiswarya, Dipendra’s father and mother. Prince Dipendra became de jure King of Nepal upon his father’s death and died whilst in a coma three days after the act; however there are claims that Dipendra was already dead before being declared as the King. Gyanendra then became king. Nepalese people believe that it was Gyanendra and his allies who designed and committed the massacre. Nobody from Gyanendra’s family were killed. There are claims that Gyanendra’s wife had minor injury.

According to reports, Dipendra had been drinking heavily and had “misbehaved” with a guest, which resulted in his father, King Birendra, telling his son to leave the party. The drunken Dipendra was taken to his room by his brother Prince Nirajan and cousin Prince Paras.

One hour later, Dipendra returned to the party armed with an MP5K and an M16 and fired a single shot into the ceiling before turning the gun on his father, King Birendra. Seconds later, Dipendra shot one of his aunts. He then shot his uncle Dhirendra in the chest at point-blank range when he tried to stop Dipendra. During the shooting, Prince Paras suffered slight injuries and managed to save at least three royals, including two children, by pulling a sofa over them.

During the attack, Dipendra darted in and out of the room firing shots each time. His mother, Queen Aishwarya, who came into the room when the first shots were fired, left quickly, looking for help. Dipendra’s mother Aishwarya and his brother Nirajan confronted him in the garden of the palace, where they were both shot dead. Dipendra then proceeded to a small bridge over a stream running through the palace, where he shot himself. [Source: Wikipedia]

 

 

AIR FRANCE FLIGHT 447 CRASHES – JUNE 1, 2009

 

Photograph by Pawel Kierzkowski

 

Air France Flight 447 was a scheduled airline flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on 1 June 2009, killing all 216 passengers and 12 aircrew. The investigation is still ongoing, and the cause of the crash has not yet been determined, but a briefing released by the BEA on 27 May 2011 revealed that the aircraft crashed following an aerodynamic stall.

It further revealed that for about a minute prior to the crash there were inconsistent readings in the pitot tubes (speed sensors). The cause of the faulty readings is yet to be determined, but a theory is that ice formed on the pitot tubes, which would have caused them to freeze, giving inconsistent measurements owing to their reliance on air pressure measurements to give speed readings. Pitot tube blockage is suspected of having contributed to airliner crashes in the past — such as Birgenair Flight 301 in 1996.

The investigation into this accident was severely hampered by the lack of any eyewitness evidence and radar tracks, as well as by difficulty finding the aircraft’s black boxes, which were located and recovered from the ocean floor two years later in May 2011.

The accident was the deadliest in the history of Air France. Paul-Louis Arslanian, the head of the BEA (Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety), described it as the worst accident in French aviation history. This was the deadliest commercial airliner accident to occur since the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in New York City in 2001. It was the first fatal accident to befall an Airbus A330 airliner while in passenger service. [Source: Wikipedia]

 

 

GM FILES FOR CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY REORGANIZATION – JUNE 1, 2009

 

Photograph by KiwDeaPi

 

On June 1st, 2009, GM filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in the Manhattan New York federal bankruptcy court at approximately 8:00 am EST. June 1, 2009 was the deadline to supply an acceptable viability plan to the U.S. Treasury. The filing reported US$82.29 billion in assets and US$172.81 billion in debt.

After the Chapter 11 filing, effective Monday, June 8, 2009, GM was temporarily removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average and replaced by Cisco Systems. On July 10, 2009, a new entity completed the purchase of continuing operations, assets and trademarks of GM as a part of the ‘pre-packaged’ Chapter 11 reorganization.

As ranked by total assets, GM’s reorganization marks one of the largest corporate Chapter 11 reorganizations in U.S. history. The Chapter 11 filing was the fourth-largest in U.S. history, following Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Washington Mutual and WorldCom Inc. [Source: Wikipedia]