The Book Of Yesterday | July 16
ATOMIC BOMB SUCCESSFULLY TESTED IN NEW MEXICO
July 16, 1945
Just before the sun was shining in a small town in Alamogordo, New Mexico, in the United States, a thunderous explosion shook that quiet area. And it was not a mere explosion, but it was part of a test of the strength and power of a new and more destructive bomb.
The atomic bomb, the product of the top-secret Manhattan Project that aims to create a powerful nuclear weapon that they think will eventually end the war going on in Europe.
The Manhattan Project was built in 1942, and led by Brigadier General Leslie R. Groves, in response to then -President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s possibility of German scientists making nuclear weapons. It is composed of scientists such as the Italian Enrico Fermi, who proposed that the reaction caused by uncontrolled nuclear fission could be used as a weapon, and the theoretical physicist Robert Oppenheimer, who is the scientific director of Project Y in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The German physicist Albert Einstein supported the theory of the existence of a catastrophic nuclear explosion through an uncontrolled chain reaction.
A total of US $ 1,889,604,000 or more than 94.8 billion pesos was spent on this project to create the atomic bomb, and on July 14, preparations began for the test of that bomb. After attaching the bomb to the top of a 100-foot steel tower, the team that would detonate the bomb moved away 10,000 yards or 9.1 kilometers away, and passed 5:40 a.m., using safety goggles, witnessed by Oppenheimer and several others. enjoy the very bright and thunderous explosion of the bomb, which created a 40,000 foot mushroom cloud. The explosion was so hot that the bombed -out tower melted, and the burnt desert sand became glass. It has a power equivalent to over 20,000 tons of aggregate stick of dynamite. The first atomic bomb was successful, and it was ready to be used to end the long years of war. But for scientists like Oppenheimer, that was also the moment of frightening truth about its damage to man and nature.
President Harry S. Truman liked the result of the detonation, and it was set to be used against Germany, but they surrendered in May 1945. They thought of using only one target - Japan.
THE DAMAGED 1990 LUZON EARTHQUAKE
July 16, 1990
An ordinary July 16, 1990, exactly 4:20 pm, our country was shaken by a very powerful force of nature, what is now called the 1990 Killer Earthquake. A very strong earthquake was recorded in the town of Rizal, Nueva Ecija, with a magnitude of 7.8 according to the Richter magnitude scale.
This earthquake was the result of the strike-slip movement of the Philippine Fault and Digdig Fault under the Philippine Fault System that split from Sierra Madre to Metro Manila.
The damage caused by this 45-second quake was enormous, estimated at 20,000 sq. Km. km, from the Cordillera region, Ilokos region, central Luzon to Manila. Although the epicenter of the quake was in central Luzon, the Cordillera was the most affected and damaged, especially the city of Baguio in Benguet, where the entire city was isolated for more than two days because the Kennon Road, the main road to Baguio, was damaged, and limited to helicopters transport into the city. Many high -rise buildings in Baguio were destroyed by the earthquake, including the Hyatt Hotel where several occupants were buried alive in its ruins. The city of Dagupan in Pangasinan was also severely damaged, where several buildings were otherwise destroyed and sank underground, due to the softness of the soil on which the buildings were built, and even in the towns of La Union and the town of Cabanatuan in Nueva Ecija, where a large private high school building of the Christian College of the Philippines collapsed, and more than 250 students and teachers were mailed alive. In the midst of the tragedy, a 20-year-old student Robin Garcia showed heroism when he rescued eight people trapped in the destroyed building alone, but he also died in the aftershocks hit after the earthquake. Similar injuries were recorded in Manila and some parts of southern Luzon.
In all, as many as 1,621 people were killed in that quake, including student hero Robin Garcia, while the total amount of damage to property and industries amounted to US $ 369 million or more than 18.5 billion pesos. This was the strongest earthquake to shake the Philippines at the end of the 20th century.
NARCISCO CLAVERIA TAKES OFFICE AS GOVERNOR GENERAL OF THE PHILIPPINES
July 16, 1844
On this day in 1844, the then Lieutenant-General Narciso Claveria y Zaldua arrived in Manila to serve as the Spanish Governor-General of Las Yslas Philippines. He was the 71st Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines.
One of his achievements as Governor-General was his reform of the Philippine calendar, which for centuries has been a mistake in our calendar. He adopted the abolition decree on the 31st of December, 1844 so after the 30th of December it was New Year’s Day in the year 1845.
The most striking legacy of his administration was his decree enacted on November 21, 1849 mandating Filipinos to use the Spanish surnames in the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos. This is the reason why Filipinos who do not have Spanish blood or have the same last name even though they are not related have Spanish surnames.
During his administration the first steamboats, or steam -powered ships, the Reina del Castilla, Magallanes and Elcano, first sailed our oceans. The steamboats were also used in Governor Claveria's campaign against Moro pirates in Sulu in February 1848. He held the title of Conde de Manila, and was honored by Queen Isabela II of Spain. He also implemented reforms under the leadership of the Governors in the country's provinces, and during his administration also emerged the country's daily periodicals, one of which was La Esperanza, published on the first day of December, 1846.
His term as Governor-General ended on December 26, 1849 before returning to Spain and becoming Senator in 1850. He died a year later on June 21, 1851.
References:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narciso_Claver%C3%ADa_y_Zald%C3%BAa
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Luzon_earthquake
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