ON THESE DAYS

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There were no Bytes items posted yesterday due to internet connection problems.

Instead, here are missed On This Day items and the current one . . .

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June 17, 1972

Watergate break in

The Watergate, an office-apartment-hotel complex in Washington, D.C., that was the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, was broken into by five men who were later arrested, prompting the Watergate scandal that upended the administration of U.S. President Richard M. Nixon.

The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, in August of that year. It revolved around members of a group associated with Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign, who broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate Hotel on June 17, 1972, where they planted listening devices, and Nixon's later attempts to conceal his administration's involvement in the burglary.

Their arrest was prompted by Forrest Gump complaining to his hotel management about the torches in the darkened rooms in the Watergate Hotel opposite keeping him awake.

Nahh, that's not true, that was in the film.

What really happened was that that sometime after midnight on Saturday, June 17, 1972, Watergate Complex security guard Frank Wills noticed tape covering the latches on some of the complex's doors leading from the underground parking garage to several offices, which allowed the doors to close but stay unlocked. He removed the tape, believing it was not in itself suspicious. When he returned a short time later and discovered that someone had re-taped the locks, he called the police.

Police dispatched an unmarked police car with three plainclothes officers, Sgt. Paul W. Leeper, Officer John B. Barrett, and Officer Carl M. Shoffler, who were working the overnight shift; they were often referred to as the "bum squad" because they often dressed undercover as hippies and were on the lookout for drug deals and other street crimes. 

Alfred Baldwin, on "spotter" duty at the Howard Johnson's hotel across the street, was distracted watching the film Attack of the Puppet People on TV and did not observe the arrival of the police car in front of the Watergate building, nor did he see the plainclothes officers investigating the DNC's sixth floor suite of 29 offices. By the time Baldwin finally noticed unusual activity on the sixth floor and radioed the burglars, it was already too late.

The police apprehended five men and criminally charged them with attempted burglary and attempted interception of telephone and other communications.

Following the arrest of the Watergate burglars, media and the Department of Justice connected money found with those involved in the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP), the fundraising arm of Nixon's campaign. 

Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, journalists from The Washington Post, pursued leads provided by a source they called "Deep Throat" (later identified as Mark Felt, associate director of the FBI) and uncovered an enormous campaign of political spying and sabotage directed by White House officials and illegally funded by donor contributions. 

Nixon dismissed the accusations as political smears and won the election in a landslide in November. Further investigation and revelations from the burglars' trial led the Senate to establish a special Watergate Committee and the House of Representatives to grant its Judiciary Committee expanded authority in February 1973.

The burglars received lengthy prison sentences that they were told would be reduced if they co-operated, which began a flood of testimony from witnesses.

On the verge of being impeached, Nixon resigned the presidency on August 9, 1974, becoming the only U.S. president to do so. In all, 48 people were found guilty of Watergate-related crimes, but Nixon was pardoned by his vice president and successor Gerald Ford on September 8.

A word combined with the suffix "-gate" has become widely used to name scandals, even outside the U.S and especially in politics.

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June 18, 2023

Submersible Titan explodes

On 18 June 2023, Titan, a submersible operated by the American tourism and expeditions company OceanGate (the name alone should have raised concerns), imploded during an expedition to view the wreck of the Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Communication between Titan and its mother ship, MV Polar Prince, was lost 1 hour and 33 minutes into the dive. Authorities were alerted when it failed to resurface at the scheduled time later that day. After the submersible had been missing for four days, a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) discovered a debris field containing parts of Titan, about 500 metres (1,600 ft) from the bow of the Titanic.

The search area was informed by the United States Navy's (USN) sonar detection of an acoustic signature consistent with an implosion around the time communications with the submersible ceased, suggesting the pressure hull had imploded while Titan was descending, resulting in the instantaneous deaths of all five occupants.

Numerous industry experts had stated concerns about the safety of the vessel. OceanGate executives, including Rush, had not sought certification for Titan, arguing that excessive safety protocols and regulations hindered innovation.

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June 19, 1976

Viking 1 into Mars orbit

Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft, along with Viking 2, each consisting of an orbiter and a lander, sent to Mars as part of NASA's Viking program. Viking 1 went into Mars orbit on Jue 19, 197, the lander touching down on Mars on July 20, 1976, the first successful Mars lander in history.

Viking 1 operated on Mars for 2,307 days (over 6.25 years) or 2245 Martian solar days, the longest extraterrestrial surface mission until the record was broken by the Opportunity rover on May 19, 2010.

Lander shell (top) and orbiter

Viking 1 launched August 20, 1975 and arrived at Mars on June 19, 1976. The first month was spent in orbit around the Martian planet and on July 20, 1976 Viking Lander 1 separated from the Orbiter and touched down.

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