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On This Day...

: 1820
In 1820 The US whaling ship the ‘Essex’ was sunk after being attacked by a whale

The Essex was a 238-ton whaling ship which had a long history of successful whaling voyages. On the 12^th of August 1819, she left the dock in Nantucket, Massachusetts on her first voyage after a refit. The 87ft vessel contained four smaller whaleboats each about 28ft long

After only days at sea, the ship was hit by high winds, damaging one of the masts. Unperturbed Captain George Pollard continued on his quest but his crew were certain that this was a bad omen. The crew restocked their food reserves on the Galapagos Islands and began a voyage far from the coast of South America to waters they had been told were good hunting grounds for whales. One of the four whaleboats was attacked and damaged while on a hunt in November 1820 by a whale putting it out of action. On the morning of the 20^th of November, a pod of whales was spotted and the crew gave chase in the remaining three whaleboats. Another of the smaller vessels was damaged and had to return to the Essex for repairs. It was while on board the Essex that the crew noticed a very large 80-ton sperm whale acting strangely in the water. It appeared to just be watching them in the water. After the whale had appeared to be sizing up the ship it began to swim straight at the Essex which it struck with enough force to almost capsize while temporarily knocking itself unconscious. The whale soon recovered and swam several hundred meters in front of the vessel before turning to face it straight on. Then the 85ft Sperm Whale began to swim straight at the Essex with increasing speed until it struck the bow (front) of the ship which caved in on impact. The whale continued pushing forward for several hundred meters with the Essex against its head before it slowed and retreated underwater. The Essex was left sinking and destroyed and the crew were forced to use the remaining three whaleboats and any supplies they could salvage for the voyage home. Supplies proved too small and only eight of the crew survived the journey. The account of the encounter by the survivors was used as the bases of Herman Melville’s novel ‘Moby Dick’ in 1851.; 1962
In 1962 following a peaceful end to the Cuban Missile Crisis the US removed its blockade of Cuba

On the 22^nd of October 1962 the announcement of the ‘Cuban Missile Crises’ caused panic across the world almost starting the Global Nuclear War. Britain, Turkey and Italy had United States Thermonuclear Jupiter and Thor missiles in their countries for a few years when the Russians, using their influence, placed some of their own in Cuba. Previously America had not had the threat of nuclear missiles on their doorstep and Cuba being just 90 miles from Florida the US would have little time to react. For the theoretical ‘Mutually Assured Destruction’ deterrent to work being able to respond quickly was vital and without it, Russia had the advantage. Kennedy had known about the construction of the missiles in Cuba for several days but didn’t want to let the Russians know until he had put a plan in action. He had the island of Cuba surrounded by the US Navy in order to prevent more arms being brought into the country and he also demanded the missiles be dismantled. For thirteen days the world watched with fear and dread until the two superpowers leaders managed to end the crisis peacefully. Russian President Nikita Khrushchev agreed to dismantle ling of the missiles if the US agreed not to invade Cuba (and more secretly the United States promised to remove its missiles from Turkey, but this was not revealed for 25 years). The US continues its sanctions of Cuban imports despite them being declared illegal by the United Nations.

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