THE FIREBOMBING IN THE CITY OF HAMBURG, GERMANY
July 24, 1943
In the Bible, the city of Gomorrah is one of the two “sinful” cities that God destroyed by raining brimstone and fire.
So it is not surprising that a large-scale air-raid was carried out by the British air force on the port city of Hamburg in northern Germany on the night of this day in 1943. This air-raid by the planes was named "Operation Gomorrah". Royal Air Force bombers consisting of nearly 800 planes, and within an hour, they rained incendiary bombs totaling 2,300 tons across Hamburg, roughly equal to the number of bombs dropped by the Luftwaffe on London's first five days of the London Blitz. This created a hellish firestorm that heated nearly 1,000 degrees Celsius across the city. Even the civilians who hid in their bomb shelter did not survive the hell that fell on them. Strong winds exacerbated the spread of the fire in Hamburg.
To keep them out of the enemy's radars, the planes first rained aluminum papers, confusing the radars and thinking that the falling aluminum papers were planes and so that anti-aircraft could not hit them. defenses of the Germans in the city.
The next morning, American planes dropped bombs on Hamburg, and fires rained down on Hamburg six times until August 3 of the same year. Up to 31 sq. Km. km the extent of the damage caused by the firebombing in Hamburg, and an estimated 32,000-43,000 people were burned alive in this hellish attack by British and American planes in Hamburg.
Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany, it is an important industrial center in that country, especially in shipbuilding. More than 280,000 establishments, including hundreds of industrial plants, naval facilities, schools, and Nazi government offices, were destroyed in these bombings.
In all, from 1940 to 1945, up to 69 air attacks were carried out in Hamburg, including Operation Gomorrah, and it was one of the most destructive air raids carried out against Nazi Germany. This disastrous firebombing by the British in Dresden, Germany in February 1945 was followed by this disastrous firebombing.
GUILLERMO TOLENTINO WAS BORN
July 24, 1890
On July 24, 1890, Guillermo Tolentino was born in Malolos, Bulacan. He was awarded the title of National Artist for Sculpture in 1973.
Before he achieved this, his name became famous due to his works such as UP Oblation commissioned by the then president of the University of the Philippines Rafael Palma, and the Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan City.
Tolentino graduated in fine arts in 1915 from the University of the Philippines. He went to the United States to re-study and enrich his artistic skills with the help of a scholarship grant from Bernard Baruch of New York University’s Beaux School of Arts. He graduated there with honors in 1921.
He has also toured some of the most famous museums and art galleries in Europe. He went there to study at the Regge Instituto Belle Arti in 1922.
He won a national award for his work Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan City. He also designed the medal of the Ramon Magsaysay Awards as well as the emblem of the Republic of the Philippines.
From 1953 to 1955, he served as director of the University of the Philippines School of Arts. He retired in 1955 as professor emeritus.
Tolentino died at the age of 86 on July 12, 1976.
GENERAL SIMON BOLIVAR WAS BORN
July 24, 1783
If in the Philippines, we have Emilio Aguinaldo, in America it is George Washington, General Simon Bolivar of Latin America was also a general who fought against foreign occupation and eventually ruled an independent country.
Today is the 238th birthday of Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Ponte Palacios y Blanco or simply Simon Bolivar, born in 1783 in Caracas, the capital of the country of Venezuela. From Bolivar’s wealthy family to the family of Spanish nobles who migrated to Latin America in the 16th century. Because the eldest and customary firstborns became heirs, Bolivar was privileged to study in Spain and France. There he became aware of the liberal thoughts of the philosophers of the Enlightenment. This gave him the motivation to fight the Spanish conquest of his country, and he took advantage of it during the turmoil in Spain caused by the war against Napoléon in 1807.
Bolivar led the campaign for Latin America's independence from Spain, and although more Spanish troops rushed to suppress Bolivar's uprising he succeeded in liberating Venezuela in 1821, after the last battle of Carabobo.
After this, General Bolivar participated in the establishment of Gran Colombia, the union of Latin American countries that wanted to break free from Spanish occupation, where he became its first President in February 1819. He also led the revolution against Spain. in Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia, which would eventually bear his surname. He also became the first President of Bolivia, and even of Peru and Venezuela. General Bolivar led Gran Colombia (currently the countries of Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama, and Bolivia), and he wanted to unify and strengthen the newly independent country in the face of the Spanish threat and growing US influence, but within it who would break this dream of General Bolivar caused by the conflict between the leaders of Gran Colombia. Gran Colombia eventually disintegrated, and as a result, he retired as President of Gran Colombia in April 1830 and decided to leave for Europe.
He was unable to sail because of pneumonia and at the age of 47, General Bolivar died in Santa Marta, Colombia, with the failure to unite the independent nations of Latin America.
However, General Simon Bolivar was dubbed the "Liberator" of Latin America, along with other great generals in Latin America such as General Jose de San Martin.
AMERICAN AVIATOR AMELIA EARHART WAS BORN
July 24, 1897
If there is a popular image of women's power around the world, it is the American aviator Amelia Mary Earhart or simply Amelia Earhart. Today is his 124th birthday, being born in 1897 in Atchison county, Kansas state in the United States, and the son of Samuel Earhart and Amelia Otis.
As a child, she tried to break the traditional status of American women. There he was playing basketball with some boys, climbing a tree like a man, and acting like a man. Earhart attended college in Pennsylvania but did not finish it. During World War, I Earhart served as a Red Cross nurse in Canada after visiting her brother in Toronto. He was also stricken with the deadly Spanish Flu in 1918 but recovered as well.
While watching an aerial exhibition in Canada he was amazed at flying airplanes, which he also dreamed of flying an airplane as well. He returned to the United States to study medicine at Columbia University, and in December 1920 his dream of boarding a plane came true, along with World War I flying ace Frank Hawks. He taught at a flying school while working for a telephone company in California. He also bought his plane which he named "Canary", and in December 1921 he obtained his license to fly an airplane.
After participating in a flight exhibition in California, Amelia Earhart has already set world records for airplane flying. She was the first woman to fly an airplane solo, the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean continuously, and the first woman to fly across the entire United States, from Los Angeles, California to Newark, New Jersey, and fly from California to Hawaii. She was awarded the “Distinguished Flying Cross” medal, the first woman to receive such an award. She helped found Ninety-Nines, an organization that aims to open up opportunities for women to become airplane pilots, of which she also became its first President.
In June 1937, Earhart's plane to fly around the world was carried out, and with pilot Fred Noonan they left Oakland, California airport aboard a Lockheed 10E Electra. After nearly a month of crossing southern America, the Atlantic, east to India and Southeast Asia, the Earharts flew again to another destination on Howland Island in the central Pacific from Lae, New Guinea on the 2nd of July, 1937. But this time, they were never seen again. Extensive search and retrieval operations were conducted across the Pacific to find Earhart's or even their plane, but they failed. Earhart and Noonan were declared dead in absentia on January 5, 1939, and several theories have been proposed about what happened to Amelia Earhart after her flight in July 1937.
Reference:
History.com (n.d.). Operation Gomorrah is launched. Retrieved July 23, 2021, from https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/this-day-in-history/operation-gomorrah-is-launched
Watson, G. (2018, August 2). Operation Gomorrah: Firestorm created 'Germany's Nagasaki'. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-43546839.amp
The Shame Project (n.d.). Today in Philippine history, July 24, 1890, Guillermo Tolentino was born in Malolos, Bulacan. Retrieved July 24, 2020, from https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1244/today-in-philippine-history-july-24-1890-guillermo-tolentino-was-born-in-malolos-bulacan
Wikipedia (n.d.). Simon Bolivar. Retrieved July 24, 2021, from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sim%C3%B3n_Bol%C3%ADvar
History.com (n.d.). Amelia Earhart. Retrieved July 24, 2021, from https://www.history.com/.amp/topics/exploration/amelia-earhart