Hollow Leg History | What Happened on This Date, September 12? - a podcast by The Hollow Leg

490 BC

Battle of Marathon. During the first Persian invasion of Greece, the citizen army of Athens, aided by Plataea, defeat a much larger Persian force. The battle was the culmination of the first attempt by Persia, under King Darius I, to subjugate Greece. The Battle of Marathon was a watershed in the Greco-Persian wars, showing the Greeks that the Persians could be beaten; the eventual Greek triumph in these wars can be seen to have begun at Marathon. The battle also showed the Greeks that they were able to win battles without the Spartans, as they had heavily relied on Sparta previously. This victory was largely due to the Athenians, and Marathon raised Greek esteem of them. The following two hundred years saw the rise of the Classical Greek civilization, which has been enduringly influential in western society and so the Battle of Marathon is often seen as a pivotal moment in Mediterranean and European history. Legend states an Athenian runner named Pheidippides running from Marathon to Athens (about 25 miles) after the battle, to announce the Greek victory, whereupon he promptly died of exhaustion. That is where the modern marathon run originates.

1940

Lascaux cave paintings discovered. Marcel Ravidat, 18, finds a narrow entrance into a series of caves beneath the fields of Dordogne, France, and comes back with three friends to explore the subterranean world. There they gaze upon the vivid Lascaux cave . The walls of the cavern are decorated with some 600 painted and drawn animals and symbols and nearly 1,500 engravings. The pictures depict in excellent detail numerous types of animals, including horses, red deer, stags, bovines, felines, and what appear to be mythical creatures.

1953

Nikita Khrushchev elected Soviet leader. Six months after the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev succeeds him with his election as first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Khrushchev denounced Stalin and his totalitarian policies at the 20th Party Congress, three years later, leading to a “thaw” in the USSR that saw the release of millions of political prisoners. Almost immediately, the new atmosphere of freedom led to anti-Soviet uprisings in Poland and Hungary. Khrushchev flew to Poland and negotiated a diplomatic solution, but the Hungarian rebellion was crushed by Warsaw Pact troops and tanks.

1990

East and West Germany, along with the UK, US and USSR—the Allied nations that had occupied post-WWII Germany—sign the final settlement for reunification of Germany. On 15 March 1991, the treaty would go into full effect.

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