Birthday Headlines
Pauline F. Bacay
De La Salle – College of St. Benilde

Introduction
As final requirement for Technical Writing class, the students were to research on events that were headlines on the day they were born, 20 years, 50 years and 100 years ago. They were to present this in front of a panel in specific schedules their professor has given. This also served as their final exam for the second term of school year 2012 – 2011. They were to follow the APA style in doing the paper including a bibliography of the same format. The research is very useful in their course, which is Bachelor of Arts Major in Consular and Diplomatic Affairs, because it concerns historical headlines around the world and their course mostly consists of majors in history. They may also improve their research making skills and strategies in the study because it requires them to consult more sources for a precise and reliable study.
Based on this study, many historical events did happen on the same month of the researcher’s birthday. Some created great effect on today and others are just headlines that shook the world. It’s a way of discovering new things about history and also getting to remember it because it took a mindful of research to get all the information. It also serves as an achievement for a student to create a research paper and applying all that they have learned in their subject.

BODY
January 31, 1996
50 Dead in Sri Lanka suicide bombing
BBC News UK (1996) reported more than 50 citizens of Sri Lanka died during a suicide bombing at the country’s central bank while 1,400 were injured. There was a truckload of explosives that crashed into the bank which triggered the bombing. Many believed that the Tamil Tigers, a very organized terrorist in the world, were the one’s responsible for this tragic explosion. The group had been fighting for their homeland’s independence which led to the death of almost 40,000 citizens for the past 12 years.
Three men went out of the truck with guns blazing and bombs were thrown. The explosion caused two floors of the 10-storey bank to collapse. Also, windows from a 39-storey building shattered which was still under construction then. The driver of the truck died and two youths wearing jackets filled with explosives were arrested. The employees of the bank that were located in the upper floors of the burning building were taken by helicopters to safety while guests in the Intercontinental Hotel, a luxury hotel in the area, were asked to evacuate.
This explosion greatly impacted the country’s tourism dropping it by 40% while employees were decreased and rates were dropped to attract tourists.

January 26, 1996 (Published)
A New Urban Nightmare: A Communist Hit Squad Targets the Capital
According to Asia Week (1996), on a December 11 morning, Leonardo Ty, a Filipino-Chinese billionaire, together with his driver were killed by three young men who shot them in a Mercedes-Benz with .45 automatic pistols while in a middle of traffic. The assassins escaped in a jeepney.
The Alex Boncayao Brigade admitted on doing the crime. They are a communist death squad who seek revenge for the deaths of 17 workers from different types of accidents in Ty’s paper factory. They adopted a Maoist-type of revolution and they are related to the Communist Party of the Philippines.
On the same day of the crime, the group targeted two other Filipino-Chinese businessmen, namely Benjamin Yu and Ramon Chua. Yu survived a shot on the thighs while Chua managed to escape any type of injury but his bodyguard and his Singapore friend’s 5 year old son were killed. This signifies the start of the group’s weakening in the government by first taking out top contributors or leaders in the economic sector to greatly affect investments. This was according to the Philippine National Police’s director for intelligence Clyde Fernandez.
There are a lot of theories about who the ABB really are, like if they’re probably a guns-for-hire group for Ty or they are a small group of 20 or so of misguided terrorists and bandits. Overall, Fernandez considers the danger of these existing terrorists since Manila’s rates for kidnappings, robberies, rapes and murders are very high.

January 31, 1976
Death of Ernesto A. Miranda
Ernesto A. Miranda was a citizen of Phoenix, Arizona who was convicted of kidnapping, rape and robbery. The case began on 1963 during his arrest when the police suspected him of stealing $8.00 in cash from a Phoenix, Arizona bank worker and did not inform him of his rights to get an attorney and against self-incrimination but still was accused of the said crimes. He confessed on doing the crime, including his kidnapping and raping of an 18 year old girl 11 days earlier, while the police recorded these as evidence. The trial was hugely based of his confessions and he was granted 20-30 years of imprisonment. He and his attorneys unsuccessfully appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court and then they appealed next to the US Supreme court where the court reviewed the case in 1966 (McBride, n.d.).
On June 30, 1966, the US Supreme Court reversed the trial and gave Miranda a second trial where his confessions are not considered as evidence and the “Miranda Rights” is established for the rights of people accused in crimes. But this trial still convicted him 11 years in prison for the same crimes. He was granted a parole afterwards. He gained money by selling autographed Miranda Warning cards and continued his criminal life by getting arrested many times for driving offenses until he was suspended in his driving privileges. He lived in cheap hotels and spent most of his time in bars until in January 31, 1976 where a violent fight broke in La Amapola bar in Phoenix and he was stabbed by a knife. He was declared dead on arrival at the age of 35 at Good Samaritan Hospital. The suspect was read his Miranda Rights (Longley, n.d.).

January 1976 (National Geographic)
Endangerment of Harp Seals
Pagophilus groenlandicus (with literal meaning “the ice-love from Greenland) gets its common name, Harp Seal, not only from the sound it makes but the harp-shaped black mark on an adult’s silver back. They started migrating in 1976 from the west coast of Greenland and Canada’s eastern Arctic to the wintering grounds off the coast of Labrador and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence so the female harp seals will give birth to a pup. It was controversial and debateable during this time about the hunting on these Arctic creatures. Conservationists and human groups have expressed their want to end the hunting of these creatures. They also described the method of killing them by banging their skulls as they lie defenceless on the ice. The Canadian Minister of Fisheries responded to these actions by investigating on the problem and setting up annual hunting quotas. But it seems that this reduction of quota is too late, considering that since 1950’s, the population of harp seals dropped more than a half, from roughly 3,300,000 to 1, 250,000. Total ban of sealing vessels and reduction of quotas cannot help in preventing the severe decreasing of their population before the end of the century. They were in great danger of being extinct, especially when the hunters target the pups or newly born harp seals with their white coats as their livelihood (Lavigne, 1976).
Based on the experiment by David Lavigne and Nils Øritsland that was performed through the usage of ultraviolet photography in an aerial survey camera, there are only fewer than a million harp seals in the Western Atlantic. It is proof that the population of these animals have been declining for the past years, despite of the hunting quota reduction and banning of large sealing vessels.

January 31, 1946
Project Diana – Radar roundtrip to the Moon
After the World War 2, the United States military leaders asked the US Army Signal Corps to research on the ability of long – range radar to detect incoming missiles. They sought to find solutions in preventing destruction by future rocket or nuclear weapon launches targeting their country, like the ones that happened during the Second World War. The first attempt was unsuccessful before the war. This lead to the creation of Project Diana, named after the Goddess of the Moon, which later became the United States’ first step in starting the Space age.
The project was assigned to Lt. Col. John Dewitt who actually had an interest in astronomy. They were assigned to find out if radar waves can enter the ionosphere without the long – range missile curving as it tries to reach its target. Dewitt chose the moon as its first distant target and named the project after the goddess of the moon, Diana. According to Reed and Swanson (1996), “the project scientists greatly modified a SCR-271 bedspring radar antenna, set it up in the northeast corner of Camp Evans, jacked up the power, and aimed it at the rising moon on the morning of January 10, 1946. A series of radar signals were broadcasted, and in each case, the echo was picked up in exactly 2.5 seconds, the time it takes light to travel to the moon and back.”
This event was also considered as mankind’s first contact with non-terrestrial objects which later many space programs and missions followed. The naming of the program also influenced the names of other space projects after ancient Greek and Roman gods, like Mercury and Apollo.
On January 31, 1946, Universal Studios produced a film that features exact footages from the program that was held at Camp Evans, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, including the setting up of the instruments and Lt. Col. Dewitt’s discussion on the experiment itself and the possibilities that await in the future of space missions.

January 29, 1896
Emile Grubbe becomes first doctor to use radiation treatment on breast cancer
In 1895, German Physicist Wilhelm Roentgen discovered X-Rays. This became the basis for the creation of radiotherapy and mammography. Since the rays it produces doesn’t only have the ability to pass through tissues but also kill certain cancers. Soon, three cancers were being treated by this: Two by Herman Goeht and one by Emile Grubbe.
Emile Grubbe was German but he was born in Chicago because his parents were immigrants. He developed an interest in experimenting with X-Rays after Roentgen’s discovery. He got so interested that he had blisters and tumors on his hand and neck from overexposure to radiation from the device. A professor from the same homeopathic medical school he was attending suggested to Grubbe that he should use radiation therapy on breast cancer. In homeopathic medicine, one of its basic premises is that treatments with small dosages can heal those symptoms that large dosages can cause. Reuben Ludlam, professor from the same homeopathic medical school, told Grubbe that radiation may be used to treat tumors since they also cause them (Ullman, 2011).
The treatment was first given to Mrs. Rose Lee, an elderly patient suffering from breast cancer which had relapsed post mastectomy – the tumor developed into a mass which gave unbearable pain. The treatment was performed for 18 consecutive evenings. Soon, it made the mass shrink – this became the first documented local response to the history of X-Ray therapy. But after 3 months from the initial treatment, the tumor returned and Lee died anyway. Grubbe concluded that radiation can be used to only treat local or newly formed tumors and this was the beginning of radiation oncology.

January 31, 1896
Publication of Kalayaan newspaper
Katipunan was a Philippine revolutionary group that consists of Anti-Spanish Filipinos who seek independence by revolution from the Spaniards who ruled their country. Andres Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, and Ladislao Diwa started the organization. It was a secret organization until the outbreak in 1896 which started the Philippine Revolution. The group was revealed to the Spaniards after their member named Teodoro Patino confessed the group’s illegal activities to his sister, the mother portress of Mandaluyong orphanage. Seven days after the revelation, the members tore their cedulas during the Cry of Balintawak.
The organization had their own publication, Ang Kalayaan. They had their own printing press since they fear of betrayal and discovery but the capacity of that printing press was low. However in 1895, two members from Kalibo, namely Francisco del Castillo and Candido Iban, who recently returned to the Philippines after working in Australia as pearl divers and won in a lottery, bought a press for the Katipunan. On December 31, 1895, according to Valenzuela, a meeting was held in Andres Bonifacio’s house to elect members of the new Supreme Council in Katipunan. Bonifacio was re-elected as President, Emilio Jacinto as Secretary and he, Valenzuela, was elected as Fiscal. The next day, Valenzuela proposed to handle the printing press in condition that Bonifacio, who had the printing press in his house, should give this to him so he can directly manage and edit the monthly review. Bonifacio agreed to this and in mid-January 1896, the printing press was transferred to Valenzuela’s home in Calle de Lavezares in san Nicolas. He then recruited two of his Polo, Bulacan townmates, namely Ulpiano Fernandez, who earned a living as printer with the paper El Comercia, and Faustino Duque, a Colegio de San Juan De Letran student.
However, Valenzuela claimed he did not have time to do the job since he was busy in his commitments as physician and organizer for Katipunan. So this obligation was passed to Emilio Jacinto who went to Valenzuela’s house after his pre-law classes in University of Santo Tomas. On the production side, the printer lacked letters, particularly “k”, “w”, “h”, “y” and the common vowels. Jacinto asked his mother, Josefa Dizon, for P20 so he could buy type from Isabelo de Los Reyes, owner of a printing press, and Valenzuela begged and bought some more from Diario de Manila employees. Even then, there was only enough type to make one page at a time, and the process of setting all eight pages took two months before completing. On its masthead, it was dated January 1896. But due to problems, the paper finally appeared in mid-March.
Valenzuela claimed that 2,000 copies were printed, but Epifanio de los Santos stated that there were just 1,000 of which 700 were distributed in Manila by Andres Bonifacio and other surrounding towns, 200 by Emilio Aguinaldo in Cavite and the remaining 100 by Pio Valenzuela in Bulacan.
The circulation of this paper attracted new thousands of members. By the revolution in August 1896, Valenzuela estimated that there were 20,000 to 30,000 members. The paper was the first and last of its publication prior to August 1896. It contained the message of liberty the leaders – Bonifacio, Jacinto and Valenzuela – wanted the people to hear and be mindful of (Richardson, 2005).

CONCLUSION
The researcher concluded that making a research consists of being careful in inputting data and looking for sources or references. A single mistake, like in indentions, proper punctuations, proper usage of active voice and citations, can ruin the paper itself since it must be clear and concise, thus making the research process a little challenging. Also, citations must strictly follow the APA format so it is important to keep in mind the rules in citing references. Paraphrasing and summarizing of a text must be carefully done to avoid being accused of plagiarism. Lastly, it is important to be careful in choosing references because the credibility of each article or source is not always good.
Students should not take this project as a stressing matter because it is just a research about events that happened on their birthday. It allows them to explore new ways in researching and exercises their English grammar and application of Technical Writing skills.

Bibliography
A Communist hit squad targets the capital. (January 26, 1996). Asiaweek, 22, 25.
BBC News (31 January, 1996). 1996: Fifty dead in Sri Lanka suicide bombing. Retrieved November 14, 2012, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/31/newsid_4083000/4083095.stm.
Bradley, D. (January 11, 2012). Dr. Emil Grubbe: The first X-ray martyr. Dotmed news. Retrieved November 25, 2012, from http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/17747?p_begin=1.
Lavigne, D. (January 1976). Life or death for the Harp Seal. National Geographic, 149 (1), 129 – 142.
Longley, R. (n.d.). Miranda: Rights to remain silent. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/mirandarights/a/miranda_2.htm.
Mcbride, A. (n.d.). Miranda V. Arizona (1966). Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_miranda.html.
Reed, M.B. & Swanson, M. (June 1996). Evaluation of selected cultural resources at Fort Monmoth, New Jersey: Context for cold war era, revision of historic properties documentation, and survey of Evan Area and sections of Camp Charles Wood. Retrieved November 22, 2012, from http://www.campevans.org/_CE/html/diana.html.
Richardson, J. (November 2005). Notes on Kalayaan, the Katipunan paper. Studies on the Katipunan. Retrieved November 27, 2012, from http://kasaysayan-kkk.info/studies.kalayaan.htm.
Ullman, D. (April 3, 2011). Homeopathy for radiation poisoning. The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 25, 2012, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/homeopathy-for-radiation-poisioning_b_842664.html.