Today In History - Our First Clues That Democrats Would Be First To Cause Global Warming

On this day in history, unbeknownst to us at the time, the fourth clue that Democrats would be totally responsible for starting Global Warming, aka: Climate Change, was thrown in our faces by Harry Truman. In fact, this fourth clue clearly indicated that they would not only be responsible for starting global warming but that they would continually proceed to find better ways to make our planet nice and toasty warm regardless of the cost to us. On this day in history, January 31, 1950, President Harry Truman announced that the USA would seek to create the hydrogen bomb, aka: The Hell Bomb.

Oh, by the way, if you were wondering what were the first three clues that Democrats would be responsible for Global Warming, they were gifts that President Harry Truman gave to the world and that warmed our planet more than the sun in some places: Trinity, Little Boy, and Fat Man. Funny how the liberal leftist Demoncrats now want to blame man's slash and burn farming techniques of 7,000 years ago but how they don't even mention at all the atomic, hydrogen, and whatever types followed, bombs that have been set off since Harry Truman first starting toasting the earth and its atmosphere with thermonuclear goodness.

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - It Was A Very Lucky Day For Carol DaRonch....

...and also a day that provided law enforcement with information they needed to help apprehend a heinous serial killer. On November 8, 1974, 18 year old Carol DaRonch was approached by a man claiming to be a police officer. He told her there had been an attempt to steal her car. She accompanied him into the parking lot of a Murray City mall where she had been shopping and got into that man's car. Suddenly, the man placed handcuffs onto her (reportedly both wound up on the same wrist as she struggled with him) and tried to beat her with a crowbar. DaRonch did exactly what many police departments and leftist civic groups try to deter crime victims from doing - she fought for her life. The result was that she was able to escape from her abductor. It is almost certain that had she not escaped she would have been killed because that man was the serial killer Ted Bundy.



About 9 months later, in Seattle, an officer saw a Volkswagen that was suspicious to him. He pulled over the car and found handcuffs in the back of the car and arrested the driver - Ted Bundy. Based in part on evidence supplied by DaRonch, Bundy was convicted of kidnapping and put in jail and the investigation of him as a suspected serial killer went into overdrive. More here and lots more here.

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - WW I German Soldiers Attacked By Monsters

It may sound incredible and the Germans who saw them advancing probably did not believe their own eyes but indeed monsters - of a sort - were advancing on their positions in Battle of Flers-Courcelette an offensive in the Battle of the Somme. The Germans had been expecting a British infantry advance but indeed had never imagined what was coming at them. As a German war correspondent reported it:

"Two mysterious monsters slowly approached us, over the cratered landscape. The monsters approached slowly limping, swaying, swinging but they kept moving towards us. No obstacles could stop them, a supernatural force seemed to drive them forwards. Our machine gun fire and our head weapons ricocheted off them. So they had no trouble wiping out the crews of the advanced shell
holes." 1

What the Germans were seeing, on that Sept. 15, 1915, were not monsters out of a science fiction novel. Yet, for all practical purposes, they could have been because the Germans though valiant were as helpless against them as they would have been against an invasion of alien spaceships. You see the things that they saw advancing on them, the things that wiped them out, were a new type of war machine the likes of which the world had not seen before and that thing came in good numbers. It was a division of troops supported by tanks, about 21 of them that actually made it into warfare that day. What they saw was probably a lot like the one pictured, a British Mark 1 male tank (they also had a female model with less firepower). Even though faced with monsters the Germans showed great bravery in the face of such beasts. As reported by a British war correspondent:

“They were very courageous. Despite the tank’s machine gun fires, they attempted in desperate rage to assault the wandering tank fort and to kill its crew, They hauled each other up in the air, climbed on the roof, searched for hatches and openings and fired into the slits with pistols." 2

Despite the valiant attempts of the Germans the tanks helped achieve a feat that had been virtually unheard of during the trench warfare of the War To End All Wars. The British forces advanced about 3,500 yards in one day - this during a war where victory was claimed after advances of a mere few feet.

There were drawbacks to the tank. For one thing they were notoriously unreliable. many broke down, others got mired in mud and so on. Yet the British and french believed in them and hurried to improve and develop more efficient models. The Germans believed that artillery would master tanks - a mistake they paid for with defeat. How things changed by WWII when the German Army through use of air forces, artillery and tanks followed by huge infantry advances heralded a new form of warfare known as the Blitzkrieg.

Today we have the M1 Abrams Tank here in the USA. Just compare the specs for it to those of the British Mark 1 and you will realize that we have come a long way since the first use of tanks in warfare on this day in history in 1915. I imagine though if I was in an infantry unit and was armed with only a rifle, even in today's world of warfare, and saw an antiquated Mark 1 advancing on me all guns firing away, I probably would not be as valiant as were those German soldiers way back then.

All the best,
Glenn B

footnotes:
1. & 2. http://www.todayinhistory.de/index.php?what=thmanu&lang=en&manu_id=1580&tag=15&monat=9&weekd=&year=2009&weekdnum=&dayisset=1&lang=en

Today In History - And So The Broncks Was Born

Yeah I know, I spelled it wrong - or did I! You see the Da Bronx - a burough (also county or boro) of New York City - was named after Jonas Bronck. Who was he? Well according to different online accounts of his life he was a Swede who married a Dane, he was a Dutch, or he was a Dane. He was also supposedly a sailor, who all accounts seem to agree married a Dutch woman. After the marriage they emigrated from Europe to New Amsterdam. Once there, on August 9, 1638 (or in June or in July as some accounts have it), he purchased a piece of land across the Harlem River from Harlem and started a farm there. Not only did he purchase it from the Dutch government (or maybe it was a grant according to one account) but he also paid two Indian chiefs for it as was the custom among the Dutch to make sure their debts were paid.

The farm later became known as Bronk's Land. A river in the area was also named the Bronck's River. Years later, despite a misspelling, the name stuck and the area became known as Bronxland, then finally the Bronx. It bears his name through the present day though I would bet that only a very small percentage of the residents of the Bronx could tell you why the area has that name. I would also bet they could not tell you some other things about the Bronx:

In New York history, the Bronx was originally part of Westchester County and not part of New York City (New Amsterdam). In or about 1895 the Bronx was incorporated into new York City. It had been a rural area with lots of farmland up until about 1900 when it began to become urbanized at a fast clip. My guess is that the people back then had no idea as to where urbanization of the Bronx would lead; if they could only see it now. Of course, some things that a big city have to offer are okay despite urbanization. The Bronx has some famous spots such as Yankee Stadium (well not anymore, now there is a replacement for the house that Ruth built), the Bronx Zoo (for a long time called the Wildlife Conservation Park but now once again being called the Bronx Zoo), Fordham University and the Bronx Botanical Gardens (actually the New York Botanical gardens). While there is a lot of urbanization, for want of as good a descriptor that remains civil, there is also much natural beauty remaining. I can not think of another boro in NYC that still has small flowing rivers such as the Bronx River and the Hutchinson River (named for Anne Hutchinson) - rivers that still cause local flooding during heavy rains and after snow melt offs. The Bronx also has a lot of brackish marshland. An amazing fact about the Bronx is the amount of parkland that it contains. Almost 24% of it is made up of parks. The largest park in New York City - Pelham Bay Park (nope not Central Park) is located in the Bronx and is made up of over 2,700 acres. Then again the Bronx also houses some of the largest housing developments in all of New York. You can go from spectacular natural beauty at one moment to an urbanized drab but definitely lively environment in the next. Yet those folks, living all crammed together not only have great parks to visit, they also have a decent beach at Orchard Beach (actually in Pelham Bay Park).

Most people living their could probably not tell you anything about the rivers that run through the Bronx, and my bet is many have never been to Pelham Bay Park, or to Fordham University. Along that same line, many may not realize some other fun facts about the Bronx. The Bronx is the only part of New York City on the mainland of the United States. Two of the boros of NYC are on Long Island's western end - Queens and Brooklyn. Another is the Island of Manhattan. Finally there is Staten Island. The Bronx consists of about 42 square miles. It has many universities and colleges. It has some of the most, if not the most, traveled bridges, highways and railroads within the United States of America. There are people living there from virtually every corner of the world. It now is the home of The New Fulton Fish Market Cooperative at Hunts Point (a socialist type name if ever there was one, thanks to Mayor Bloomberg) which for hundreds of years had been located on Fulton Street in Manhattan - but there went Mayor Asshole Bloomberg screwing up the city again when he finagled its move to the Bronx. Of course some things like Yankee Stadium were actually born in the Bronx - the original stadium was built in 1923 the year before my mother was born. While it has not moved it too has been replaced. The old Yankee Stadium is no more for baseball as a new Yankee Stadium was built across the street from it and opened this year.

If you ever come to visit New York City as a tourist (as opposed to vi sting a relative who lives in a certain part of the city) chances are you will spend most of your time in Manhattan visiting things like the site of the World Trade Center, the Empire State Building (the observation deck on the 86th floor, the outside one - not the one on the 102nd floor, is probably my favorite spot in all of Manhattan), The Statue of Liberty, the American Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Modern Art, Central Park, Broadway, the Cathedral of St. John The Divine (largest cathedral in the world) and so on. But if you do not take at least a day or two to visit the Bronx you are truly missing something else about New York that is well worth the trip. The zoo, the botanical gardens, the restaurants on City Island (a small island community off of and part of the Bronx), a Yankees Game, a walk down parts of the Grand Concourse (best to be in a group - yeah some parts of the Bronx can be pretty rough for tourists) make it all worthwhile. My favorite spot in the Bronx - well there are three: The Bronx Zoo, the NYPD Firearms Range at Rodman's Neck, and the north facing side of an old stone bridge over the Bronx River Parkway with a small sign on it that says New York City. When I came home from camp, over 5 summers in my childhood, I always knew home was not far off when I saw that sign. One other thing that may become a favorite of mine, something I have never seen, is the Edgar Allen Poe Cottage that once belonged to my all time favorite American author. It too is located in Da Bronx.

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - "Mr. Watson — come here — I want to see you. "

It was March 10, 1876 when those words were shouted into the mouthpiece of a contraption that has since become indispensable in modern day life. Yes, those were the words spoken by Alexander Graham Bell to his assistant Thomas A. Watson (photo was dated 1876 and is actually one of Bell speaking into a prototype of the telephone). Watson quickly obeyed Bell's command to come to him for he had heard Bell's words clearly. While Watson was only as far away as the next room, he may as well have been a world away for the means by which he had heard Bell was the first telephone, and the telephone has definitely bridged a gap as wide as the world when it comes to communication. As a matter of fact, in 1915, when Bell was invited to participate in the celebration of the completed transcontinental telephone lines, he again uttered those same words to his faithful assistant Watson. This time Watson replied that it would take at least a week for him to do so. You see Watson was in San Fransicko Francisco at the time and Bell was calling him from New York City!

For more info see:

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr002.html

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/today.html (go to March 10 if this brings up another day).

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - The Saving of a Monarch

I am monarch of all I survey,

My right there is none to dispute;

From the centre all round to the sea,

I am lord of the fowl and the brute.

You may have heard or read those words before, I know they are familiar to me, but the truth be told I never knew to whom they referred or the why of them. As a matter of fact, I never read the rest of the poem, and as can already been seen in the second stanza, being monarch of all you survey may not be such a good thing as you might expect:

O solitude! where are the charms

That sages have seen in thy face?
Better dwell in the midst of alarms

Than reign in this horrible place.

On this day in history in 1709, the reign of that monarch in "this horrible place" finally came to its long hoped for end when Alexander Selkirk departed Juan Fernandez Island off the coast of Chile. His stay there had been a lonely one as a castaway, a long lonely one. He had been on the island for about 4 years and 4 months without another soul to keep him company.

While my guess is that you are not likely familiar with the exploits of Selkirk, or indeed even with mention of his name, you are most probably quite familiar with the name of the fictional character whose time stranded on a desert island was probably based upon Selkirk's real life ordeal. You see, Selkirk was likely the inspiration for Daniel DeFoe's Robinson Crusoe. My guess is you have heard the Crusoe name before. After reading the brief account of Selkirk's time on the island, and after reading a poem he supposedly wrote about it, I have to say he was a strong willed man to have toughed it out, especially after twice finding it necessary to hide from possible antagonists who landed on the island before his rescue. Talk about Survivorman - this was the real deal. Check out the references below to learn a bit more about the man, the real Robinson Crusoe!

All the best,
Glenn B

references:

http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Selkirk

http://www.poeticbyway.com/xcowper.htm for the complete poem supposedly penned by Selkirk himself.

Today In History - 1st Mass In The New World

January 6, 1494 - The first Mass in the New World is celebrated at La Isabela, Hispaniola. Now if that is not interesting enough on its own, then go here:

http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php

Once there ypou can see another 158 events that took place on january 6th throughout history. January 6th seems to be a pretty eventful day, here is a tasteof some of those other events:

1497 - Jews expelled from Graz (Syria)

1535 - Lima Peru founded

1681 - First recorded boxing match

1759 - George Washington married Martha Dandridge

1838 - Samuel Morse publically deomnstrates telegraph for first time

1912 - New Mexico becomes 47th state

1931 - Thomas Edison submits his last patent application

1942 - Pan Am (Pan American Airlines) was the firsrt airline to schedule round the world flight (I heard today on the radio that today marked the actual completion of said flight)

1945 - George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Pierce married

1958 - Gibson patents flying V guitar

1963 - Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kindgdom premieres with Marlin Perkins

1967 - Uncle Miltie calls it quits (Milton Berle shows airs for last time)

1979 - The Village People's Y.M.C.A becomes their only UK No.1 single. At it's peak it sold over 150,000 copies a day (one can only hope this horrendous song and group helped put an end to disco)

1995 - A chemical fire in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines, leads to the discovery of plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack

2005 - Mississippi Civil Rights Workers Murders: Edgar Ray Killen is arrested as a suspect for the 1964 murders of three Civil Rights workers.

Lots of other interesting things took place today, and they are listed on said web page.

If you are a bit more interested in the first mass that took place in the New World, go to the below website and page down a bit for a brief summary about it:

http://www.dominicanaonline.org/Portal/english/cpo_conquista.asp

Enjoy.

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - The Columbine Masacre

Are you saying, hey wait a minute, the Columbine High School Massacre took place on April 20, not on November 21, well you would be right. Then again, who is referring to the Columbine High School Massacre? Not me that is for sure. I am writing about the original Columbine Massacre, the one that took place on November 21, 1927 when about a half dozen coal miners were killed by police during an organized strike called for by the union known as The Industrial Workers of the World (a leftist loony union if ever I have heard of one, but still no excuse for the actions of the police and mine security officers that day).

There was scuffling, there was blood, there was violence, and then there were reportedly a couple of shots fired into the air by the sheriff. Of course that was all that was needed to get the other LEOs shooting and many who did not deserve to be were wounded or died as a result.

See this for more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_Mine_massacre

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - Freedom's Bell Rung

Well maybe it wasn't the Liberty Bell (Freedom's Bell after all), and maybe there weren't even any bells ringing even though that would have been almost a sure thing to have happened, but the fact remains that today was the effective day that the United States of America won the war of revolution against Great Britain. It was October 19, 1781 when General Lord Charles Cornwallis signed surrender papers at Yorktown, VA. This was the second major surrender by the British in the Revolution. In all, at Yorktown, about 8,000 troops were taken captive by the Americans led by General George Washington, and all of Great Britain's hopes of winning the war were lost. For this victory we owe a lot to the French, for it was only with an assist from Commander Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur comte de Rochambeau and Admiral Francois de Grasse that this victory was achieved. Of course the treaty that truly ended the war was not signed until 1783, but the siege of Yorktown culminating with the surrender of Cornwallis' army marked freedom for the U.S.A..

For more info see:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_yorktown

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - Uncle Sam

Today in 1813, "the earliest known printed reference to the United States by the nickname "Uncle Sam" occurs in the Troy Post" (1). That would be the Troy Post of Troy, NY folks.

All the best,

Glenn B

references:

1. http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Sam

Today In History - There really Was A Man In The Moon

Well, at least there was a man on the moon. July 20, 1969 was the day that man landed on the moon (it was not until the 21st that he actually walked on the moon) by way of the moon landing of Apollo 11. Buzz Aldrin spoke the first words on the moon, but Neil Armstrong gave us a hint of how it should have remained out there in space, when he said: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." No one knew to what he was referring because the name of the spacecraft, the lunar module, was Eagle 1. Tranquility Base was a name he had made up for the landing zone on the moon, what high hopes had he, and I guess so did the rest of us!

It was one of the most amazing achievements of our time, and a damn pity that space exploration did not go full tilt after that. Then again, we had and still have other things to worry about here at home on good old planet earth, like whose god is better than everyone else's god, who can send more bombs to whose backyard, how many rights we can give to homosexuals, starving worthless piss ants who will not work for their own well being, and oh yes Global Warming. Folks we could have been out there with a full fledged space exploration program ala Star Trek but we were just to busy screwing one another over to realize the great potential that is out among the stars. What a shame because that moon landing was absolutely amazing and held promise of wonderful things to come. Yet, here we are still stuck in the primordial ooze of men's minds, bickering,bitching, moaning and in general not knowing which way is up!

We should have followed the advice of Johnny Cash when he sang:

"I'll fly a starship across the universe divide, and when I reach the other side, I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can..."

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - The Republican Party Officially Kicks Off

Yep, it was on July 6, 1854 that the Republican Party had its first official meeting. The party was formed by anti-slavery activists (imagine that next time someone stereotypes you as a racist for being Republican). Sure there were other things for which the party stood and for which it would stand over the years, but it was born as part of the anti-slavery movement. Soon it was the party of Abraham Lincoln, and the rest is history including Ronald Reagan and right through to today.

For more info on the Republican Party - of which I will admit I am still a member despite my grumblings about dropping out not too long ago - go to:

http://www.gop.com/About/AboutRead.aspx?Guid=a747a888-0ae6-4441-94f4-2a3a6561f872

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_%28United_States%29

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - Modern America Made Possible

A lot of things happened today in history that made the world a worse or better place, and that truly effected the United States of America in a big way. Today is a significant day regarding important, if not great leaders, for example on this day in 1863 General Thomas Stonewall Jackson passes onto the great beyond due to injuries and disease, in 1865 Jefferson Davis the president of the Confederacy is captured by Union forces, in 1924 (heck the year my mom was born) J. Edgar Hoover was appointed as the head of the FBI, in 1940 Sir Winston Churchill become Prime Minister of great Britain (you ca bet this effected U.S. History). There were important births on this day too: 1730 George Ross a signer of the Declaration of Independence was born in New Castle, Delaware, and the notorious (and I would hope you know why he was notorious) John Wilkes Booth was born in 1838. Some events mark this as a particularly noteworthy day for the USA: in 1775 the Green Mountain Boys led by Etan Allen and Benedict Arnold take Fort Ticonderoga from the British without firing a shot, in 1872 Virginia Woodhull is the first woman to be nominated for the presidency of the United States, the USS Triton completes the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth in 1960 (something of my early childhood); but I don't want to talk about them. All of the above listed events, with the exception of Churchill taking over in England, pale in comparison to the events and years of effort that led up to a ceremony that took place today. That ceremony symbolized something that formed the United States of America as we know her as one of, if not, the greatest nation on the earth.

Today, May 10, 1869 , was the day that the Golden Spike was driven. The Golden Spike was a ceremonial railroad spike, and it was driven into the rails at Promontory Summit, Utah. The spike itself, though golden, really means little; the driving of it home into the rails at the junction where the locomotives of two mighty railroad companies - The Union Pacific's 119 and The Central Pacific's Jupiter - met cowcatcher to cowcatcher meant a great deal. You see, that spike was the final spike put into place in what became known as the First Transcontinental Railroad. The railroad was authorized by law, backed by the federal government, and is one of the great works pushed for by Abraham Lincoln although not finished until a few years after his assassination at the hands of the notorious John Wilkes Booth (whom you may recall just so happened to be born on this day in 1838 - what irony that he drove home a piece of lead in an attempt to divide the nation, and it was a spike of gold, driven into place due in part to his fallen target, that united her eventually, though not in 1869, from coast to coast).

The completion of the railroad assured future wealth for America. It opened the west to settler as nothing had that preceded it. Yet not all was made golden with its completion. For with the completion of the First Transcontinental railroad came other things that showed a darker side of America. With it came the Buffalo Hunters, and with them came a hail of lead that would decimate the bison herds throughout the plains states. With the demise of the buffalo came the fall of the Plains Indian Nations, and the destruction of much of the flora and fauna of the Great Plains. Hordes of Chinese immigrants entered the United States to work on the lines, only later to be the only legally admitted group to be forced to leave the USA in huge numbers. Yes, the railroad was entwined with some of our darker moments. Still though, the United States grew as a result, and at a faster pace than could ever have been imagined when only stage lines, and caravans of settlers wagon trains crossed from one side of the country to the other.

With the railroad came technological achievements (steam engine improvements and so forth), architectural achievements (building bridges and the like), and the opening of the west that allowed for increased settlement and trade. Where traveling from coast to coast had once taken almost 6 months, or more, it could now be completed in only a week. The United States had stepped into a new age, at a speed never before imagined. Looking at all the good and the bad associated with it, I have to think it was good more so than bad, and though I will not belittle the bad that came of it, I certainly cannot diminish the good because of the bad. Both sides of the deeds done stand out on their own in testimony to the building of a great nation and all that comes with it.

To see where I found this information, and for more about all of it, please see:

First Transcontinental Railroad : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Transcontinental_Railroad, and http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/places/states/utah/ut_promontory.htm

Golden Spike: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_spike

USS Triton: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Triton_%28SSRN-586%29, and http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/t8/triton-v.htm

Fort Ticonderoga: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Ticonderoga

Victoria Woodhull: http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761563714/Victoria_Woodhull.html

Winston Churchill: http://encarta.msn.com/sidebar_1741503234/Churchill_Blood_Toil_Tears_and_Sweat_.html

Many of The Above Dates and Events: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history (note the apparent error on this one about which submarine first circumnavigated the globe while underwater

Take a look at some of the links, something else that intrigues you may just catch your eye. For me it was the union of a nation, for you it maybe something else.

All the best,

Glenn B

Today In History - Muhammad Ali and Other Top Men Not At The Top Any Longer

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Today In History - A Personal Experience

Things of Historical Signifigance that Took place on April 19:

1012 - Martyrdom of St. Alphege in Greenwich, London. (killed by Vikings after he refused to be ransomed)
1529 - At the Second Diet of Speyer, a group of rulers (German: Fürst) and independent cities (German: Reichsstadt) protests the reinstatement of the Edict of Worms, beginning the Protestant movement.
1539 Emperor Charles V reaches a truce with German Protestants at Frankfurt, Germany.
1587 - Sir Francis Drake sinks the Spanish fleet in Cádiz harbor.
1689 Residents of Boston oust their governor, Edmond Andros.
1764 The English Parliament bans the American colonies from printing paper money.
1775 The American Revolution begins as fighting breaks out at Lexington, then at Concord, MA.
1782 The Netherlands recognizes the United States.
1794 Tadeusz Kosciuszko forces the Russians out of Warsaw.
1809 - The army of Austria attacks and is defeated by the forces of the Duchy of Warsaw in the Battle of Raszyn, part of the struggles of the Fifth Coalition.
1802 The Spanish reopen New Orleans port to American merchants.
1824 English poet Lord Byron dies of malaria at age 36 while aiding Greek independence.
1861 The Baltimore riots result in four Union soldiers and nine civilians killed.
1861 President Lincoln orders a blockade of Confederate ports.
1880 The Times war correspondent telephones a report of the Battle of Ahmed Khel, the first time news is sent from a field of battle in this manner. (A terrible development as far as I am concerned, reporters do not belong in the middle of combat as far as I am concerned.)
1897 First Bostom Marathon held.
1927 In China, Hankow communists declare war on Chiang Kai-shek.
1938 General Francisco Franco declares victory in the Spanish Civil War.
1939 Connecticut approves the Bill of Rights.
1943 The Warsaw Ghetto uprising against Nazi occupation commences.
1943 - Bicycle Day – Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann deliberately takes LSD for the first time. (Turbulence of a type not experienced before, at least not to this degree; and that would have an effect on a generation in years to come in the 60s and 70s.)
1951 - General Douglas MacArthur retires from the military.
1961 - The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba ends in success for the defenders.
1971 Russia launches its first Salyut space station (And the cold war gets hotter.).
1989 The battleship USS Iowa’s number 2 turret explodes, killing 47 sailors. (First blamed on a gay sailor whom it was thought had committed suicide, then blamed on a technical glitch.)
1993 The FBI ends a 51-day siege by storming the Branch Davidian religious cult headquarters in Waco, Texas.
1995 A truck bomb explodes in front of the federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. (Terrorism of a domestic nature.)
1999 - The German Bundestag returns to Berlin. (One day before April 20, could this be significant? See below commentary.)
2005 - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger elected Pope Benedict XVI on the second day of the Papal conclave. (One day before April 20, could this be significant? See below commentary.)
2008 – The Pope visits NYC. Yes Pope Benedict XVI, will be in NYC on my anniversary and will be screwing up traffic when I try to take Linda to see Macbeth on Broadway; and it will be Passover weekend. I can only hope all the wackos stay away.) (One day before April 20, could this be significant? See below commentary.)


Absolutely Useless Things, in my opinion, that Happened on April 19:

1927 - Mae West is sentenced to 10 days in jail for obscenity for her play Sex.
1934 - Shirley Temple debuts in Stand Up and Cheer.
1960 Baseball uniforms begin displaying player’s names on their backs.
1977 Alex Haley receives a special Pulitzer Prize for his book Roots.
1982 NASA names Sally Ride to be the first woman astronaut.


Most Important Thing In My Life On April 19:

Here is where today gets down to the personal experience level, at least for me (just in case you were wondering about the title of this blog). Linda and I said “I Do” to one another. She and Celina came into my life, Brendan coming along at a later date; but all only possible because of those two words.


Commentary on April 19:

You have got to admit that we wound up choosing one heck of a turbulent day in history on which to be married. All the turbulence in the world though did not amount to what later took place because what happened on April 20, the day we consummated our marriage vows. It was that day, a relatively peaceful one in history, on which Adolf Hitler was born. Although many years would first pass, the beginning of evil and turbulence like the world had not yet seen was born on that day. Maybe all of the historical turbulence associated with of April 19th and April 20th has had a bit to do with it sometimes having been a rocky road for us, but we and our marriage have endured over two decades; and I love her dearly. Damn history, we will make it regardless.

This April 19, we will be going to see Patrick Stewart in Macbeth on Broadway, the Pope is in NYC, Passover begins at sunset, and it is the anniversary not only of our marriage but of all those other things above. Kind of makes me second guess myself - not for getting married on April 19th (ignorance is bliss and I knew little of the above when we got married) - but rather for having bought tickets to see Macbeth when at the very least traffic will be a nightmare due to the Pope's visit, and New York City will have been turned into a armed encampment for his protection. Hopefully all the wackos will stay away, and the day will remain peaceful. As for me though, thanks to those who revolted on this day in 1775 (and people still wonder why I picked this day to do something as revolting revolutionary, for a once confirmed bachelor, as getting married) and to the Constitution and Bill of Rights they later gave to us, you can bet if my wife gives me a hug around the hips she will feel something hard it will be a fully loaded 9mm pistol. That is at least while we are in Manhattan - who knows what it will be once we get back home!

Oh well, for now am going to stop writing, and go an enjoy breakfast with the Frau on our special day. Then I have some varnishing to do before we live for the city (yes that front door frame only got as far as being stained yesterday). Oh, before I go, to give credit where credit is due, the above historical facts come from Wikipedia, History.com, todayinhistory.com, and of course from memory of history lessons learned, reading the news, and personal expereince.

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - et tu Brute

Screw the fabricated Shakespeare lingo, let's go way back in the way-back machine to see what someone much closer to the source (in the temporal aspect) had to say about today in 44 AD. As per Wikipedia, according to Plutarch (Greek Historian and fabricator, how appropriate when found in Wikipedia) :

"A certain seer warned Caesar to be on his guard against a great peril on the day of the month of March which the Romans call the Ides; and when the day had come and Caesar was on his way to the senate-house, he greeted the seer with a jest and said: "The Ides of March has come,..." .

I think you know what happened after that, but if not, here it is in a nutsack: Julius Caesar went on his way to a meeting with the Roman Senate. His friend, and loyal Roman, Mark Anthony had learned of the plot and tried to get to him in time to warn him but was out maneuvered by the conspirators. On his way, Caesar was met by a group of senators near a Roman theater, and they went to a room therein to work on a petition. Clever were those Romans, they used a typical ploy that even would work today, getting a rat politician into a backroom to carry out behind the scenes dirty politics. Caesar, in my best guess, probably thought he was going to get what was coming to him in the form of a nice fat bribe. What he got though was something else, he got what was coming to him in the form of realization that the seer had been correct when those in the group of senators attacked him and stabbed him to death. Supposedly, 60 senators took part (must have been a big room) and he was stabbed over 23 times. Included among those senators was Brutus, fiendish backstabbing murdering bastard one time friend of Caesar (a friend up to that moment as far as Caesar had known).

I guess Caesar should have listened to what the seer had to say in the earlier prediction of that day, and to the words of the seer on that day itself. Oh did I forget to mention the seer's reply to Caesar's jest? Here it is, and maybe Caesar should have taken heed:

"Yes, the Ides of March has come, but it has not passed."

If you want to see more about the assassination of Julius Caesar, or about the Ides of March, you can go to my source for the above:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Julius_Caesar and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ides_of_March#_ref-2

I am sure there has been lots of other stuff written about all this that you could find elsewhere with just a little effort.

All the best,

Glenn B

Today In History - The Man Who Said The Following Passed Away, Who Was He?

"Since my life as a prisoner has begun I have heard the teachings of the white man's religion, and in many respects believe it to be better than the religion of my fathers...Believing that in a wise way it is good to go to church, and that associating with Christians would improve my character, I have adopted the Christian religion. I believe that the church has helped me much during the short time I have been a member. I am not ashamed to be a Christian, and I am glad to know that the President of the United States is a Christian, for without the help of the Almighty I do not think he could rightly judge in ruling so many people. I have advised all of my people who are not Christians, to study that religion, because it seems to me the best religion in enabling one to live right." (from: Wikipedia)

Now I am not much of a Christian though I was baptized in the Catholic religion many years ago. Since my youth, the Church and I have had a parting of company, but not necessarily of our ways. While I believe many aspects of Christianity (or of most religions) to be little more than fantasy, I beleive that many morals taught by Christians to be of extreme value in living life to its fullest, and in that regard I have not and never will fully part from the Church. It is interesting how the person whose quote appears above turned to Christianity especially in light of the fact that he was about as far removed from Christian beliefs as could have been possible at the time. Then again I guess that all religions, or I should say almost all, teach a similar morality, and goodness of character to some extent.

Well anyway, morality is not the issue here, today in history is what I am writing about, and today - February 17 in 1909 - the man who said those words died in a very different situation from how one may have expected him to die. He passed on most certainly in a manner that did not give a hint as to how he had led a great part of his life. He died weak and old from disease, but had in his earlier lifetime been one of the most feared warriors in the world.

I wonder, without looking up that quote, do you know who said it? It is obvious from the quote that he was not a white, he was a leader of some sorts, that he had to do with American History; and from what I said you know he was a warrior too. Who was he? No cheating take your best shot at a guess, or give a definitive answer right out if you know. I'll chime in with the right answer tomorrow or the next day.

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History: "Tokyo Express no longer has terminus on Guadalcanal".

Those words that appear in the title were wired by General Alexander Patch to his superiors upon the securing of Guadalcanal on February 9, 1943. The fighting there had begun on August 7, 1942. It was the first major offensive against Japanese forces by those of the USA and other allies. This battle saw major repated action on land, sea and in the air, and it was a major defeat for the Japanese, and the first land victory by the US against them. (The very first land defeat for the Japanese in the Pacific was dealt to them by the Australians at the Battle of Milne Bay.)

This battle or campaign as it was called back then took 6 months to the day, with the Island being proclaimed secure 2 days after fighting ceased, and Japanese troops were evacuated. The casualties in this one campaign alone are estimated to have been:

28,850 Japanese - The source for this only listed Japanese land forces and US Marine land forces regarding casualties, see: http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Guadalcanal/USMC-M-Guadalcanal-A.html The Japanese have been estimated to have lost over 2/3 of their forces at Guadalcanal.

7,100 USA - This source showed this number as the total US forces lost in all aspects of battle for guadalcanal; see: http://www.pbs.org/thewar/detail_5210.htm

Look at those numbers again. In 6 months of fighting there were more casualties for the USA than there have been throughout the whole of the current Iraq war by about double. My guess is that if we compared insurgent and terrorist losses from the current war to thos elost by Japan at Guadalcanal, we would find that the losses to our enemy today far outnumber those from back then. Yet we have Code Pink, the mayor of Berkely, CA, and people like Cindy Sheehan, Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, and others who have been, or are still, telling us how we are doing poorly in this war and need to recall the troops. Yes the loss of even one life is tragic; but there are some damned good reasons to go to war - and some good reasons that our soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen are over there fighting. The defeat of terrorism in the world today, and the protection of the United States of America, are just as good reasons as was the defeat of the Axis powers back in WWII.

For mor einfo on Guadalcanal see:

http://www.vectorsite.net/tw2guad_1.html

http://www.guadalcanaljournal.com/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Guadalcanal

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Guadalcanal/USMC-M-Guadalcanal-A.html

Today In History - The British Zulu War Commences...

...and while the events of this date were not all that awesome, certain battles to follow today's unauthorized invasion of Zululand in 1879 by British Lt. General Chelmsford are some of the most remarkable in history.

Later the same month, on January 22, 1879 the Zulus wiped out a very large contingent of British forces under Chelmsford at Isandhlwana, killing 850 British soldiers, 450 native troops in British Service, and taking nearly 1000 rifles with ammunition. This was the most devastating defeat for British forces in battle against native forces, only about 55 British troops survived the battle, along with some native troops in British service. It was one heck of a piece of fine fighting by the Zulus for sure against better armed British troops, but despite the big win, the luck of the Zulus was about to change later on that same day.

On that same day, January 22, 1879, one of the most awe inspiring battles of all time took place at Roarke's Drift when about 138 British Soldiers defended their position against an opposing force of about 4,000 to 5,000 Zulu Warriors, many armed with British rifles. Should I forget to write about this on January 22, at least I made mention here. You can see more about this at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorke%27s_Drift, and at: http://www.rorkesdriftvc.com/, http://schwartz.eng.auburn.edu/zulu/rorke.html, http://www.rorkesdriftvc.com/battle/battle.htm, http://battlefields.kzn.org.za/battlefields/about/192.xml. Eleven British soldiers received the Victoria Cross for their actions that day, more such awards than had ever been given for any single engagement in British History; and that record stands through today.

Not only did the British erect a memorial to the British soldiers who fought and fell at Roarke's Drift: http://www.rorkesdriftvc.com/battle/rorkesdrift_monument.htm , but they also erected one in honor of the Zulu Warriors who fought and fell there that day: http://www.rorkesdriftvc.com/battle/zulu_memorial.htm.

It will soon be time once again to sit down with a good beer in hand and watch one of my favorite movies of all time: Zulu (1964) (http://imdb.com/title/tt0058777/), starring Michael Caine and Stanley Baker. If you have never seen this movie, why not find a copy, then wait until the 22nd January, then find a nice comfortable chair and a beer, and plop you butt into it in front of the television and give it a watch. By the way, if you cannot wait to see, oh well what the heck - go for it.

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!

In 1818, on Christmas Eve, the words to Silent Night, Holy Night were put to music for guitar. The words had been written in 1816 by Josef Mohr. Then in 1818 Mohr, who was then an assistant pastor at St. Nicholas Church, asked fellow church member, and organist and choirmaster, Franz Xaver Gruber to put it to music for guitar. The next day, Christmas 1818, the song was sung in St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, Austria for the very first time. It was sung by Mohr and Gruber to the music of a guitar, and they were accompanied by the church choir. Can you imagine that, a Christmas Song sung to the music of guitar back in 1818! All this supposedly because the two men had been struggling with a broken church organ on Christmas Eve in preparation for Christmas Mass; or so the story goes - and I like the story. Actually, the fact of its authorship, and of its musical score have been fairly well documented, and so have the date(s) of its creation (words/music thus dates), and so to was the date it was first sung in church. The part about the broken organ is possibly a stretch, but I guess we can make allowances for it being the Christmas season.

See:

http://www.visit-salzburg.net/surroundings/silentnightchapel.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Joseph_Gruber

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Night_%28song%29

Enjoy the song when you hear it or sing it; and Merry Christmas to all.

All the best,
Glenn B