Let’s look at major events that happened today in history;
Today in History
-
1983 Invasion of Grenada
A U.S.-led invasion called Operation Urgent Fury was triggered by a coup that ended with the murder of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop. The invasion ended with a U.S. victory.
Story
The United States invaded Grenada in 1983, its first military action since the Vietnam War. Canada opposed the act alongside the majority of the United Nations.
Grenada gained independence in 1974. In 1979, after a coup, the constitution was suspended and Maurice Bishop’s Marxist-Leninist government took power. Allied to Cuba and the Soviet Union, the country began to significantly beef up its small army, causing U.S. President Ronald Reagan concern over a potential Soviet military build-up in the Caribbean.
But Bishop wanted to establish a socialist government and encouraged development, particularly of the tourism industry.
Communist hardliners disagreed with his approach, urging him to step down or share power.
In 1983, Reagan’s concern escalated to alarm when the hardliners led a coup on Oct. 16 and executed Bishop and other government leaders. Under the guise of evacuating 650 American medical students, the U.S. invaded the island on Oct. 25.
Codenamed “Operation Urgent Fury,” the U.S. sent in about 7,000 troops, joined by 300 from Barbados and Jamaica. They encountered about 1,200 Grenadian and 800 Cuban soldiers. In three days of fighting, a score of U.S. forces and four dozen Grenadians were killed, along with two dozen civilians. The coup was stopped and 18 officials, including the entire military chain of command involved in the coup, were arrested, and constitutional rule was restored.
On the day of the U.S. invasion, Canada tried to evacuate its citizens by dispatching a Boeing 707 from the 437 Transport Squadron to Barbados. The Grenadian government permitted it to land, but permission to take off from Barbados was denied.
Canada dispatched two Hercules flights from Canada to Grenada on Oct. 28, but “in neither case had any Canadians assembled to be evacuated,” according to Department of National Defence mission notes. The U.S. air force evacuated hundreds of people, including 23 Canadians, who returned to Canada aboard the 707.
U.S. troops began to move out of Barbados in early November and were gone in December.
Grenada has been ruled under its constitution, holding democratic parliamentary elections, ever since.
Canada and Britain objected to the U.S. actions.
-
1962 Uganda joins the UN
Uganda became a member state of the United Nations.
-
1940 First African-American made general in US military
Benjamin Oliver Davis became the first African-American general in the United States Army.
-
1854 Battle of Balaclava
An alliance of Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire fought the Battle of Balaclava against the Russian Empire during the Crimean War.
-
1760 George III starts his reign
George III started his reign as the King of Great Britain and Ireland.
