1. 2011: Osama Bin Laden is taken down by Navy SEALS
Photo: Nytimes
The President and key members watching the live raid on Osama
Photo: dailymail
It was on this day that the infamous terrorist who was said to be the mastermind behind the attack that devastated the United States on September 11th, 2001, was finally killed.
President George W. Bush declared right after the Twin Tower attack that Osama Bin Laden would be captured dead or alive. Bin Laden was born into a wealthy Saudi Arabian Family and apparently used his inheritance to start the terrorist group known as Al Qaeda that was said to be behind the attack that dreadful day. Bin Laden was able to stay one step ahead of the U.S. Government as the manhunt would go on for almost 10 years before military groups were able to track down his location to a compound just north of Islamabad, Pakistan. Navy Seal Team 6 was called out to make a secret mission to take out the elusive terrorist. The Seal Team 6 was a highly classified group that most people didn’t know existed, but that changed on this day in 2011 when the entire team became national heroes.
2. 1918: General Motors acquires Chevrolet
William C. Durant
Photo: hemmings
Photo: myautoworld
There is an interesting story behind the starting of both the General Motors and Chevrolet car companies. Both were started by William C Durant, GM back in 1908 and then Chevrolet in 1911. Durant was a brilliant, yet aggressive businessman and was able to acquire the Buick, Oldsmobile and Cadillac brands under the General Motors name. But at the time GM was struggling financially and Durant’s aggressive expansion was blamed for the financial shortcomings and he was forced out of GM by its board members. So Durant went and created the Chevrolet Company in November of 1911 and it became extremely successful. Durant still had stocks in GM and continued to buy more with the profits he was getting from his hit Chevy brand. It was on this day that Durant was able to strike a deal where he would trade five shares of Chevy stock for one GM share and with the shares Durant already had that made him the controlling shareholder. So it was this day back in 1918 that GM acquires Chevrolet to become one of the largest car companies in the world, and Durant was leading the way. But that was only for just over two years, Billionaire Pierre Dupont stepped in and paid all of Durant’s debts, only if the founder would step down, officially, for good.
3. 1933: The Loch Ness Monster sighting
Photo: Vox
The Loch Ness Monster, also known as Nessie, has been been a part of myths and stories almost since the beginning of time with historians able to find references to the aquatic monster dating back to as early as 500 A.D. But it was on this day back in 1933 that a local sighting was documented by a local news authority, the Inverness Courier, and the modern version of the legend is born. Loch Ness is the largest body of fresh water in the United Kingdom (located in Scotland) and this massive lake stretches over 23 miles and is reportedly about 800 feet deep. There has been countless sightings and almost as many attempts to discover the beast, especially after there was a 20,000 pound reward for whoever cold catch the mighty creature. But just like the “Bigfoot” sightings, there hasn’t been any concrete evidence that the animal truly exists even though there have been many Universities that have sent teams out with Sonar and underwater photography gear. Although apparently each one of the teams that used the modern equipment to find Nessie all saw so meting large and moving that they couldn’t identify.