Monday - October 11, 2004

The Good Old Days

I’m currently reading Neal Stephenson’s “The System Of The World”, Part III of “The Baroque Cycle”. The story takes place in London in the early 1700’s, back when Christians didn’t feel impelled to put up with a rash of shit from foreigners. I stumbled across this paragraph and had to share it with you. Here is your quote for the week ....

“.... this was one of the old gates of the City Of London. And in accordance with an ancient and noble tradition, common to almost all well-regulated Christian nations, the remains of executed criminals were put on display at such gates, as a way of saying, to illiterate visitors, that they were now entering into a city that had laws, which were enforced with gusto.To expedite which, the top of the tower above Great Stone Gate had been fitted with numerous long iron pikes that sprayed out from its battlements like black radiance from a fallen angel’s crown. At any given time, one or two dozen heads could be seen spitted on the ends of these, in varying stages of decomposition. When a fresh one was brought in from Tower Hill, or from one of the City’s hanging-grounds, the wardens of the gate would make room for it by chucking one of the older heads into the river. Though here as in every other aspect of English life, a strict rule of precedence applied. Certain heads, as of lordly traitors who’d been put to death at the Tower, were allowed to remain long past their Dates Of Expiration. Pickpockets and chicken-stealers, by contrast, were swapped through so rapidly that the ravens scarcely had time to peel a good snack off of them.”

Ahhhh, those were the days, my friend.

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“Underlying the whole scheme of civilization is the confidence men have in each other, confidence in their integrity, confidence in their honesty, confidence in their future.”
-- Bourke Cockran

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On This Day In History
October 11th

1899 - Boer War Begins In South Africa
The South African Boer War begins between the British Empire and the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State. The Boers, also known as Afrikaners, were the descendants of the original Dutch settlers of southern Africa. Britain took possession of the Dutch Cape colony in 1806 during the Napoleonic wars, sparking resistance from the independence-minded Boers, who resented the Anglicization of South Africa and Britain’s anti-slavery policies. In 1833, the Boers began an exodus into African tribal territory, where they founded the republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. The two new republics lived peaceably with their British neighbors until 1867, when the discovery of diamonds and gold in the region made conflict between the Boer states and Britain inevitable. Minor fighting with Britain began in the 1890s, and in October 1899 full-scale war ensued. By mid June 1900, British forces had captured most major Boer cities and formally annexed their territories, but the Boers launched a guerrilla war that frustrated the British occupiers. Beginning in 1901, the British began a strategy of systematically searching out and destroying these guerrilla units, while herding the families of the Boer soldiers into concentration camps. By 1902, the British had crushed the Boer resistance, and on May 31 of that year the Peace of Vereeniging was signed, ending hostilities. The treaty recognized the British military administration over Transvaal and the Orange Free State and authorized a general amnesty for Boer forces. In 1910, the autonomous Union of South Africa was established by the British. It included Transvaal, the Orange Free State, the Cape of Good Hope, and Natal as provinces.

1939 - A letter from Albert Einstein was delivered to President Franklin D. Roosevelt concerning the possibility of atomic weapons.

1968 - The first staffed Apollo mission, Apollo 7, was launched with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham aboard.

1984 - Space shuttle Challenger astronaut, Kathryn Sullivan, became the first American woman to walk in space.

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Today’s Birthdays

Eleanor Roosevelt, (1884–1962), American humanitarian, wife of FDR
Jerome Robbins, (1918–98), American choreographer and dancer

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

   Sunday - October 10, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has.”
-- Will Rogers (1879 - 1935)

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On This Day In History
October 10th

732 - Battle Of Tours, Muslims Defeated In Europe - By French, No Less
At the Battle of Tours near Poitiers, France, Frankish leader Charles Martel, a Christian, defeats a large army of Spanish Moors, halting the Muslim advance into Western Europe. Abd-ar-Rahman, the Muslim governor of Cordoba, was killed in the fighting, and the Moors retreated from Gaul, never to return in such force. Charles was the illegitimate son of Pepin, the powerful mayor of the palace of Austrasia and effective ruler of the Frankish kingdom. After Pepin died in 714 (with no surviving legitimate sons), Charles beat out Pepin’s three grandsons in a power struggle and became mayor of the Franks. He expanded the Frankish territory under his control and in 732 repulsed an onslaught by the Muslims. Victory at Tours ensured the ruling dynasty of Martel’s family, the Carolingians. His son Pepin became the first Carolingian king of the Franks, and his grandson Charlemagne carved out a vast empire that stretched across Europe.

1845 - The U.S. Naval Academy opened in Annapolis, Md.

1886 - The tuxedo dinner jacket made its debut at a ball in Tuxedo Park, N.Y.

1935 - George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess debuted on Broadway.

1943 - Chiang Kai-shek took the oath of office as president of China.

1970 - Fiji gained its independence from Great Britain.

1973 - Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned after being charged with tax evasion.

1985 - Actor and director Orson Welles died in Hollywood at age 70.

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Today’s Birthdays

James Clavell, (1924–1994), (Charles Edmund DuMaresq de Clavelle), screenwriter, director, producer, novelist
Helen Hayes, (1900-1993), Actress
Thelonious Monk, (1917-1982), Jazz pianist, composer, arranger
Brett Favre, (1969- ), Football quarterback

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

   Saturday - October 09, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?”
-- George Carlin

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On This Day In History
October 9th

1936 - Hoover Dam Begins Transmitting Electricity To Los Angeles
On this day in 1936, harnessing the power of the mighty Colorado River, Hoover Dam begins sending electricity over transmission lines spanning 266 miles of mountains and deserts to run the lights, radios, and stoves of Los Angeles. Initially named Boulder Dam, work on the dam was begun under President Herbert Hoover’s administration but completed as a public works project during the Roosevelt administration (which renamed it for Hoover). When it was finished in 1935, the towering concrete and steel plug was the tallest dam in the world and a powerful symbol of the new federal dedication to large-scale reclamation projects designed to water the arid West. In fact, the electricity generated deep in the bowels of Hoover Dam was only a secondary benefit. The central reason for the dam was the collection, preservation, and rational distribution of that most precious of all western commodities, water. Under the guidance of the Federal Reclamation Bureau, Hoover Dam became one part of a much larger multipurpose water development project that tamed the wild Colorado River for the use of the growing number of western farmers, ranchers, and city dwellers. Water that had once flowed freely to the ocean now was impounded in the 115-mile-long Lake Mead. Massive aqueducts channeled millions of gallons of Colorado River water to California where it continues to this day to flow from Los Angeles faucets and irrigate vast stretches of fertile cropland. With Hoover Dam, the federal government set out to demonstrate that the aridity of a region once called the Great American Desert need be no serious obstacle to its full settlement and development. However, as rapidly growing western cities like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Phoenix today face increasing difficulties in obtaining the water they need, it remains to be seen if the Great American Desert might still dictate its own limits to western growth.

1635 - Religious dissident and Rhode Island founder, Roger Williams, was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1888 - For the first time the public was admitted to the Washington Monument.

1930 - Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly across the United States.

1967 - Che Guevara was executed in Bolivia.

1975 - Soviet scientist Andrei Sakharov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end the nuclear arms race.

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Today’s Birthdays

John Lennon, (1940–1980), singer, guitarist, songwriter
Trent Lott, (Chester Trent Lott), (1941- ), American Senator (R-MS)

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

   Friday - October 08, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“I’ve done the calculation and your chances of winning the lottery are identical whether you play or not.”
-- Fran Lebowitz

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On This Day In History
October 8th

1871 - Great Fire Of Chicago Begins
At nine o’clock on a Sunday evening, the Great Fire of Chicago erupts after a cow reportedly kicks over a lantern in the barn of a resident named Mrs. O’Leary. Within hours, the conflagration, driven by a strong wind out of the southwest, engulfed the center of the city and around midnight jumped the Chicago River, burning the southern portion of the city to the ground by daybreak. As thousands of panicked Chicagoans fled to the north, the fire pursued them, and by Monday the flames had reached Fullerton Avenue, then the northern-most limit of the city. Tuesday morning, a saving rain began to fall, and the flames finally died out, leaving four square miles of Chicago a smoking ruin. Property damage was estimated at $200 million, 90,000 people were made homeless, and at least 250 people perished in the blaze.

1918 - Alvin York Kills 25 & Captures 132 Germans
During World War I, U.S. Corporal Alvin C. York is credited with single-handedly killing 25 German soldiers and capturing 132 in the Argonne Forest of France. The action saved York’s small detachment from annihilation by a German machine-gun nest and won the reluctant warrior from backwater Tennessee the Congressional Medal of Honor. On October 8, 1918, York and 15 other soldiers under the command of Sergeant Bernard Early were dispatched to seize a German-held rail point during the Allies’ Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The Americans lost their way and soon found themselves behind enemy lines. A brief firefight ensued with a superior German force, and in the confusion a group of Germans surrendered. However, German machine-gunners on a hill overlooking the scene soon noticed the small size of Early’s patrol. Yelling in German for their comrades to take cover, the machine gunners opened fire on the Americans, cutting down half the detachment, including Sergeant Early. York immediately returned fire and with his marksman eye began picking off the German gunners. He then fearlessly charged the machine-gun nest. Several of the other surviving Americans followed his lead and probably contributed to the final total of 25 enemy killed. With his automatic pistol, York shot down six German soldiers sent out of the trench to intercept him. The German commander, thinking he had underestimated the size of the American force, surrendered as York reached the machine-gun nest. York and the other seven survivors took custody of some 90 Germans and on the way back to the Allied lines encountered 40 or so other enemy troops, who were coerced to surrender by the German major that the Americans had in their custody. The final tally was 132 prisoners.

1869 - The 14th president of the United States, Franklin Pierce, died in Concord, N.H.

1934 - Bruno Hauptmannn was indicted for the murder of Charles Lindbergh’s baby.

1945 - President Harry Truman announced the U.S. would share the secret of the atomic bomb only with Great Britain and Canada.

1956 - Don Larsen of the New York Yankees pitched the first and only perfect game in a World Series.

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Today’s Birthdays

Jesse Jackson, (1941- ), Civil rights activist & loud-mouthed, race-baiting extortionist
Edward VernonRickenbacker, (1890–1973), American war hero and airline executive
Chevy Chase (Cornelius Crane Chase), (1943- ), Comedian & actor
Sigourney Weaver (Susan Weaver), (1949- ), Actress & killer of aliens

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

   Thursday - October 07, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“Television news is like a lightning flash. It makes a loud noise, lights up everything around it, leaves everything else in darkness and then is suddenly gone.”
-- Hodding Carter

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On This Day In History
October 7th

1968 - Movie Ratings System Adopted
The movie industry adopts a film ratings system for the first time. The initial ratings were G (for general audiences), M (for mature audiences), R (no one under 16 admitted without an adult), and X (no one under 16 admitted). Until the late 1960s, American films were unrated. Instead, the industry’s self-imposed regulations, the Production Code, dictated permissible screen content. The Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America adopted the code in 1930; it went into strict effect in 1934. The code outlined specific details of what was suitable for a film, including requirements that a movie not “lower the standards of those who see it.” The code forbade the portrayal of drug trafficking, “excessive and lustful kissing,” seduction, and mixed-race relationships. It also stated that movies should not portray villains sympathetically or make fun of clergy members. Though the code was a guideline rather than a law, few producers risked making films that violated its standards. Social changes in the 1960s rendered the code increasingly obsolete, however, and it was revised to suggest restraint in sexual themes (rather than forbidding them), among other changes. The ratings system adopted in 1968 was modified in subsequent years. In 1970, M was replaced by PG (parental guidance suggested), and R movies restricted admission of people under the age of 17 unless they were accompanied by a parent or guardian. In 1984, the PG-13 rating was added at the request of moviemaker Steven Spielberg, who wanted to address concerns raised by parents of preteens who thought some of Spielberg’s films, including the “Indiana Jones” series and Gremlins, were too scary for their children, even though they fit within the other guidelines for a PG movie. In 1990, the Motion Picture Association of America replaced the X rating with NC-17, after its Code and Ratings System Administration gave 10 mainstream films the X rating. NC-17 was designed to indicate a non-pornographic film with sexual content that might be inappropriate for viewers under 17.

1765 - The Stamp Act Congress convened in New York to draw up colonial grievances against England.

1849 - Poet-writer Edgar Allan Poe died at age 40.

1949 - The Republic of East Germany was formed.

1982 - Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats,” the longest running show in Broadway history, opened.

1985 - The Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked by Palestinian gunmen in the Mediterranean.

2001 - U.S. and British forces launched bombing campaign against Taliban government and al-Qaeda terrorist camps in Afghanistan.

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Today’s Birthdays

Desmond Tutu, (1931- ), South African religious leader.
Niels Henrik David Bohr, (1885–1962), Danish physicist

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

   Wednesday - October 06, 2004

DemoNazi Storm Troopers In Orlando

Union goons from the AFL-CIO stormed Bush/Cheney campaign headquarters in Orlando, FL yesterday. Over 100 “protesters” stormed into the building, vandalizing the place and injuring two campaign workers. A similar “protest” occurred in Miami. The two protests were evidently timed and planned by the union.

Sound familiar? It started like this in Germany in 1933. A war “hero” came to power through lies, voter intimidation and strong-arm tactics and Jews were blamed for everything that was wrong in the world.

Between the Democrats and the Muslims, we are being presented with a repeat of those dark days in history. What now, America? Are we going to sit back on our collective asses and allow this madness to continue? It’s your choice ....

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.”
-- Mahatma Gandhi

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On This Day In History
October 6th

1973 - Yom Kippur War Begins
Hoping to win back territory lost to Israel during the third Arab-Israeli war, Egyptian and Syrian forces launch a coordinated attack against Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Taking the Israeli Defense Forces by surprise, Egyptian troops swept deep into the Sinai Peninsula, while Syria struggled to throw occupying Israeli troops out of the Golan Heights.

Israel’s stunning victory in the Six-Day War of 1967 left the Jewish nation in control of territory four times its previous size. Egypt lost the 23,500-square-mile Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip, Jordan the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and Syria the strategic Golan Heights. When Anwar el-Sadat became president of Egypt in 1970, he found himself leader of an economically troubled nation that could ill afford to continue its endless crusade against Israel. He wanted to make peace and thereby achieve stability and recovery of the Sinai, but after Israel’s 1967 victory it was unlikely that Israel’s peace terms would be favorable to Egypt. So Sadat conceived of a daring plan to attack Israel again, which, even if unsuccessful, might convince the Israelis that peace with Egypt was necessary.

In 1972, Sadat expelled 20,000 Soviet advisers from Egypt and opened new diplomatic channels with Washington, which, as Israel’s key ally, would be an essential mediator in any future peace talks. He formed a new alliance with Syria, and a concerted attack on Israel was planned.

When the fourth Arab-Israeli war began on October 6, 1973, many of Israel’s soldiers were away from their posts observing Yom Kippur, and the Arab armies made impressive advances with their up-to-date Soviet weaponry. Iraqi forces soon joined the war, and Syria received support from Jordan. After several days, Israel was fully mobilized, and the Israel Defense Forces began beating back the Arab gains at a heavy cost to soldiers and equipment. A U.S. airlift of arms aided Israel’s cause, but President Richard Nixon delayed the emergency military aid for seven days as a tacit signal of U.S. sympathy for Egypt. In late October, an Egyptian-Israeli cease-fire was secured by the United Nations.

Although Egypt had again suffered military defeat at the hands of its Jewish neighbor, the initial Egyptian successes greatly enhanced Sadat’s prestige in the Middle East and provided him with an opportunity to seek peace. In 1974, the first of two Egyptian-Israeli disengagement agreements providing for the return of portions of the Sinai to Egypt were signed, and in 1979 Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the first peace agreement between Israel and one of its Arab neighbors. In 1982, Israel fulfilled the 1979 peace treaty by returning the last segment of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.

For Syria, the Yom Kippur War was a disaster. The unexpected Egyptian-Israeli cease-fire exposed Syria to military defeat, and Israel seized even more territory in the Golan Heights. In 1979, Syria voted with other Arab states to expel Egypt from the Arab League. On October 6, 1981, Sadat was assassinated by Muslim extremists in Cairo while viewing a military parade commemorating the anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.

1927 - “The Jazz Singer,” the first full-length talking picture, starring Al Jolson, debuted.

1949 - Japanese-American broadcaster, Iva Toguri D’Aquino (Tokyo Rose), was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $10,000 for treason.

1981 - Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat was assassinated in Cairo.

1989 - Bette Davis died in France at age 81.

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Today’s Birthdays

Jenny Lind, (1820–87), Swedish soprano
George Westinghouse, (1846–1914), American inventor and manufacturer
Carole Lombard, (1908-1942), Actress

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

   Tuesday - October 05, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“Get the facts, or the facts will get you. And when you get them, get them right, or they will get you wrong.”
-- Dr. Thomas Fuller (1654 - 1734)

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On This Day In History
October 5th

1892 - The Dalton Gang Wiped Out In Coffeyville, Kansas
On this day in 1892, the famous Dalton Gang attempts the daring daylight robbery of two Coffeyville, Kansas, banks at the same time. But if the gang members believed the sheer audacity of their plan would bring them success, they were sadly mistaken. Instead, they were nearly all killed by quick-acting townspeople. For a year and a half, the Dalton Gang had terrorized the state of Oklahoma, mostly concentrating on train holdups. Though the gang had more murders than loot to their credit, they had managed to successfully evade the best efforts of Oklahoma law officers to bring them to justice. Perhaps success bred overconfidence, but whatever their reasons, the gang members decided to try their hand at robbing not just one bank, but at robbing the First National and Condon Banks in their old hometown of Coffeyville at the same time. After riding quietly into town, the men tied their horses to a fence in an alley near the two banks and split up. Two of the Dalton brothers-Bob and Emmett-headed for the First National, while Grat Dalton led Dick Broadwell and Bill Powers in to the Condon Bank. Unfortunately for the Daltons, someone recognized one of the gang members and began quietly spreading the word that the town banks were being robbed. Thus, while Bob and Emmett were stuffing money into a grain sack, the townspeople ran for their guns and quickly surrounded the two banks. When the Dalton brothers walked out of the bank, a hail of bullets forced them back into the building. Regrouping, they tried to flee out the back door of the bank, but the townspeople were waiting for them there as well. Meanwhile, in the Condon Bank a brave cashier had managed to delay Grat Dalton, Powers, and Broadwell with the classic claim that the vault was on a time lock and couldn’t be opened. That gave the townspeople enough time to gather force, and suddenly a bullet smashed through the bank window and hit Broadwell in the arm. Quickly scooping up $1,500 in loose cash, the three men bolted out the door and fled down a back alley. But like their friends next door, they were immediately shot and killed, this time by a local livery stable owner and a barber. When the gun battle was over, the people of Coffeyville had destroyed the Dalton Gang, killing every member except for Emmett Dalton. But their victory was not without a price: the Dalton’s took four townspeople to their graves with them. After recovering from serious wounds, Emmett was tried and sentenced to life in prison. After 14 years he won parole, and he eventually leveraged his cachet as a former Wild West bandit into a position as a screenwriter in Hollywood.

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Today’s Birthdays

Raymond A. Kroc, (1902—1984), Founder of McDonalds
Chester A. Arthur, (1829-1886), American President

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

   Monday - October 04, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”
-- Hunter S. Thompson

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On This Day In History
October 4th

1957 - Sputnik Launched
The Soviet Union inaugurates the “Space Age” with its launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. The spacecraft, named Sputnik after the Russian word for “satellite,” was launched at 10:29 p.m. Moscow time from the Tyuratam launch base in the Kazakh Republic. Sputnik had a diameter of 22 inches and weighed 184 pounds and circled Earth once every hour and 36 minutes. Traveling at 18,000 miles an hour, its elliptical orbit had an apogee (farthest point from Earth) of 584 miles and a perigee (nearest point) of 143 miles. Visible with binoculars before sunrise or after sunset, Sputnik transmitted radio signals back to Earth strong enough to be picked up by amateur radio operators. Those in the United States with access to such equipment tuned in and listened in awe as the beeping Soviet spacecraft passed over America several times a day. In January 1958, Sputnik’s orbit deteriorated, as expected, and the spacecraft burned up in the atmosphere.

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Today’s Birthdays

Rutherford Birchard Hayes, (1822-1893), US President (1876-1880)
Frederic Remington, (1861–1909), American painter, sculptor
Charlton Heston, (1924- ), Actor & president of the NRA

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

   Sunday - October 03, 2004

The Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“ A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. ”
-- George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

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On This Day In History
October 3rd

1990—East and West Germany reunite after 45 years

Less than one year after the destruction of the Berlin Wall, East and West Germany come together on what is known as “Unity Day.” Since 1945, when Soviet forces occupied eastern Germany, and the United States and other Allied forces occupied the western half of the nation at the close of World War II, divided Germany had come to serve as one of the most enduring symbols of the Cold War. Some of the most dramatic episodes of the Cold War took place there. The Berlin Blockade (June 1948-May 1949), during which the Soviet Union blocked all ground travel into West Berlin, and the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 were perhaps the most famous. With the gradual waning of Soviet power in the late 1980s, the Communist Party in East Germany began to lose its grip on power. Tens of thousands of East Germans began to flee the nation, and by late 1989 the Berlin Wall started to come down. Shortly thereafter, talks between East and West German officials, joined by officials from the United States, Great Britain, France, and the USSR, began to explore the possibility of reunification. Two months following reunification, all-German elections took place and Helmut Kohl became the first chancellor of the reunified Germany. Although this action came more than a year before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, for many observers the reunification of Germany effectively marked the end of the Cold War.

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Today’s Birthdays

Thomas Wolfe, (1900), American Novelist
Emily Price Post, (1873), Authority In Etiquette
Gore Vidal, (1929), Writer
Dave Winfield, (1951), Baseball Player

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

   Saturday - October 02, 2004

The Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.” —John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873)

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On This Day In History
October 2nd

1780 - British spy executed in Arnold affair

During the American War for Independence, British Major John Andre is hanged as a spy by U.S. military forces in Tappan, New York.

Ten days before, Andre had been apprehended by three highwaymen sympathetic to the Patriot cause, and they turned him over to U.S. authorities after finding intelligence information hidden in his boot. The intelligence papers revealed that Andre was returning from a secret meeting with U.S. General Benedict Arnold, who, as the commander of West Point, had offered to surrender the strategic Hudson River fort for a bribe of 20,000 pounds sterling. With the plot uncovered, Arnold fled to the British warship Vulture and joined the British in their fight against his country. Benedict Arnold had been a hero of the Patriot cause, distinguishing himself in a number of battles, but henceforth his name became synonymous with the word “traitor” in American speech. He died in London in 1801.

1836 Darwin returns to England

The British naturalist Charles Darwin returns to Falmouth, England, aboard the HMS Beagle, ending a five-year surveying expedition of the southern Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Visiting such diverse places as Brazil, the Galapagos Islands, and New Zealand, Darwin acquired an intimate knowledge of the flora, fauna, and geology of many lands. This information proved invaluable in the development of his theory of evolution, first put forth in his groundbreaking scientific work of 1859, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.

Darwin’s theory argued that organisms gradually evolve through a process he called “natural selection.” In natural selection, organisms with genetic variations that suit their environment tend to propagate more descendants than organisms of the same species that lack the variation, thus influencing the overall genetic makeup of the species. His Origin of Species, the first significant work on the theory of evolution, was greeted with great interest in the scientific world but was attacked by religious leaders for its contradiction of the biblical account of creation.

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Today’s Birthdays

Nat Turner (1800) Civil Rights Leader
Groucho Marx (1890) Comedian
Donna Karan (1948) Fashion Designer
Sting (1951) Musician

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

   Friday - October 01, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”
-- Thomas Jefferson

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On This Day In History
October 1st

1890 - Congress Creates Yosemite National Park
On this day in 1890, the United States Congress decrees that about 1,500 square miles of public land in the California Sierra Nevada will be preserved forever as Yosemite National Park. Once the home to Indians whose battle cry Yo-che-ma-te ("some among them are killers") gave the park its name, Anglo-Americans began to settle in Yosemite Valley as early as the 1850s, eventually driving out the native inhabitants. Early settlers quickly recognized the unique beauty of the narrow Yosemite Valley with the sheer-faced Half Dome Mountain looming nearly a mile above the valley floor and three stunning waterfalls. At that time other awe-inspiring natural wonders like Niagara Falls were already becoming popular American tourist destinations, and a few early settlers tried to profit from the wonders of the Yosemite Valley by charging tourists hefty fees. But thanks to the popular paintings of Albert Bierstadt and the photographs of Carlton Watkins, Americans who would never see the magnificent valley in person began to call for its preservation from crass commercial development. In June 1864, President Abraham Lincoln agreed, signing a bill that ceded the small Yosemite Valley area, along with the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoia trees, to the state of California with the requirement that it be held as a national public trust “for all time.” But in subsequent years, the state of California proved a less than vigilant caretaker of the Yosemite, inspiring the famous naturalist John Muir to publish several widely read articles exposing the destruction of the valley by large herds of sheep that Muir called “hoofed locusts.” In 1890, Muir’s efforts, as well as those of the newly founded Sierra Club, convinced Congress that Yosemite would be better protected as one part of a 1,500-square-mile national park. Though later reduced in size to 540 square miles, Yosemite National Park has ever since been one of the most popular nature preserves in the world. Today the park receives more than four million visitors annually.

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Today’s Birthdays

William Edward Boeing, (1881-1956), Aircraft manufacturer
James Earl Carter, Jr., (1924- ), American President, asanine, pinko loser
Julie Andrews, (1935- ), Actress
Mark McGwire, (1963- ), Baseball player

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

   Thursday - September 30, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“Democracy means government by discussion, but it is only effective if you can stop people talking.”
-- Clement Atlee

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On This Day In History
September 30th

1955 - James Dean Killed In Auto Accident
James Dean was killed in an automobile accident today along with his mechanic Rolf Wutherich, when Dean’s Porsche 550 Spyder crashed head-on into another car. The tormented young actor was the embodiment of an entire generation’s restless rebellion, made famous by his role in Rebel Without a Cause and called “the damaged but beautiful soul of our time” by Andy Warhol. He had always seemed to be searching for a way to release that restless energy, finding an outlet in the racing of cars and motorcycles. His fascination with cars and speed began when his father gave him his first ‘39 Chevy. Ironically, Dean had been on his way to a car race at the time of his death.

1791 - Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute premiered in Vienna, Austria.

1927 - Babe Ruth hit his 60th home run. The record stood until Roger Maris hit 61 in 1961. Mark McGwire beat Maris’s record in 1998 by hitting 70 and Barry Bonds topped this in 2001 with 73.

1949 - The Berlin Airlift came to an end.

1966 - Botswana gained its independence from Great Britain.

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Today’s Birthdays

Elie Wiesel, (1928- ), American writer, survivor of Auschwitz
Johannes Wilhelm Geiger, (Hans Geiger), (1882–1945), German physicist, inventor of the “Geiger Counter”
Lester G. Maddox, (1915- ), U.S. public official, governor of Georgia (1967–71), nut-case segregationist
Truman Capote, (Truman Streckfus Persons), (1924-1984), Novelist, playwright, and short-story writer

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

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THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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