Today in History

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A murder in the Scottish highlands in 1040 A.D. inspires Shakespeare to write a tragedy. Macbeth led an expedition into his rivals lands in the highlands to slay Duncan I, who happens to be his cousin. Something I didn't know about this tragedy. I didn't know it was based on facts or that Duncan I was Macbeth's cousin. I did see this Shakespearean play many years ago on the stage, not screen and did enjoy it. It was one of a handful of stage plays I saw. With the foundation laid 632 years earlier, Cologne Cathedral is finished in 1880. It is a soaring masterpiece of Gothic architecture, standing 157 m. (515 ft.) tall. It is the tallest twin-spired church in Germany. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is Germany's most-visited landmark, attracting 20,000 people a day, and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996. Days after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered and WWII ends in 1945. Celebrations erupt all over the US and around the world as President Harry Truman announced the end of the war, and a photographer captured the famous kiss in Times Square between a white clad sailor and nurse. In London, a B-grade sci-fi and horror movie makes its debut and Frank N. Furter and friends hit the silver screen as Rocky Horror Picture Show premiers in 1975. However, it didn't hit the US until a month later, and didn't make a splash until it made a midnight debut and became a cult classic since. To date, I've only seen bits of this movie, but not all of it. Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons