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

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.

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

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Posted by The Skipper     on 10/07/2004 at 12:46 AM   
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   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 ....

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/06/2004 at 02:19 AM   
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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

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.

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.

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

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Posted by The Skipper     on 10/06/2004 at 01:54 AM   
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   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)

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.

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

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Posted by The Skipper     on 10/05/2004 at 05:47 AM   
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   Monday - October 04, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

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

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.

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.}

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/04/2004 at 05:44 AM   
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   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)

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.

Today’s Birthdays

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

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Posted by Ranting Right Wing Howler     on 10/03/2004 at 05:31 AM   
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   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)

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.

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.}

Posted by Ranting Right Wing Howler     on 10/02/2004 at 05:12 AM   
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   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

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.

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.}

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/01/2004 at 04:20 AM   
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   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

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.

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

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Posted by The Skipper     on 09/30/2004 at 01:43 AM   
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   Wednesday - September 29, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“Life is something that happens when you can’t get to sleep.”
-- Fran Lebowitz (1950 - )

1965 - Hanoi Announces That Downed Pilots Will Be Treated As War Criminals
Hanoi publishes the text of a letter it has written to the Red Cross claiming that since there is no formal state of war, U.S. pilots shot down over the North will not receive the rights of prisoners of war (POWs) and will be treated as war criminals. The U.S. State Department protested, but this had no impact on the way the American POWs were treated and most suffered extreme torture and other maltreatment while in captivity. The first pilot captured by the North Vietnamese was Navy Lieutenant Everett Alvarez, who was shot down on August 5, 1964. The American POW held longest was Army Special Forces Captain Floyd James Thompson, who had been captured in the South on March 26, 1964. American POWs were held in 11 different prisons in North Vietnam and their treatment by the North Vietnamese was characterized by isolation, torture, and psychological abuse. The exact number of POWs held by the North Vietnamese during the war remains a debatable issue, but the POWs themselves have accounted for at least 766 verified captives at one point. Under the provisions of the Paris Peace Accords, the North Vietnamese released 565 American military and 26 civilian POWs in February and March 1973, but there were still more than 2,500 men listed as Missing in Action (MIA).

1399 - King Richard II became the first English monarch to abdicate his throne.

1829 - Sir Robert Peel’s police force, the “bobbies,” began operations at Scotland Yard.

1895 - French chemist Louis Pasteur died.

1978 - John Paul I died one month after becoming pope.

1982 - Seven people died after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide. This led to the use of safety seals on most consumer products.

Lord Horatio Nelson, Viscount, (1758–1805), British admiral. The most famous of Britain’s naval heroes.
Enrico Fermi, (1901–54), American physicist
Gene Autry, (1907-1998), Singer and actor best known as the “Singing Cowboy.”
Lech Walesa, (1943- ) Polish labor leader

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Posted by The Skipper     on 09/29/2004 at 03:09 AM   
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   Tuesday - September 28, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“An intelligence test sometimes shows a man how smart he would have been not to have taken it.”
-- Laurence J. Peter (1919 - 1988)

1066 - William The Conquerer Invades England
Claiming his right to the English throne, William, duke of Normandy, invades England at Pevensey on Britain’s southeast coast. His subsequent defeat of King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings marked the beginning of a new era in British history. William was the illegitimate son of Robert I, duke of Normandy, by his concubine Arlette, a tanner’s daughter from the town of Falaise. The duke, who had no other sons, designated William his heir, and with his death in 1035 William became duke of Normandy at age seven. Rebellions were epidemic during the early years of his reign, and on several occasions the young duke narrowly escaped death. Many of his advisers did not. By the time he was 20, William had become an able ruler and was backed by King Henry I of France. Henry later turned against him, but William survived the opposition and in 1063 expanded the borders of his duchy into the region of Maine. In 1051, William is believed to have visited England and met with his cousin Edward the Confessor, the childless English king. According to Norman historians, Edward promised to make William his heir. On his deathbed, however, Edward granted the kingdom to Harold Godwine, head of the leading noble family in England and more powerful than the king himself. In January 1066, King Edward died, and Harold Godwine was proclaimed King Harold II. William immediately disputed his claim. In addition, King Harald III Hardraade of Norway had designs on England, as did Tostig, brother of Harold. King Harold rallied his forces for an expected invasion by William, but Tostig launched a series of raids instead, forcing the king to leave the English Channel unprotected. In September, Tostig joined forces with King Harald III and invaded England from Scotland. On September 25, Harold met them at Stamford Bridge and defeated and killed them both. Three days later, William landed in England at Pevensey.With approximately 7,000 troops and cavalry, William seized Pevensey and marched to Hastings, where he paused to organize his forces. On October 13, Harold arrived near Hastings with his army, and the next day William led his forces out to give battle. At the end of a bloody, all-day battle, King Harold II was killed--shot in the eye with an arrow, according to legend--and his forces were defeated. William then marched on London and received the city’s submission. On Christmas Day, 1066, William the Conqueror was crowned the first Norman king of England, in Westminster Abbey, and the Anglo-Saxon phase of English history came to an end. French became the language of the king’s court and gradually blended with the Anglo-Saxon tongue to give birth to modern English. William I proved an effective king of England, and the “Domesday Book,” a great census of the lands and people of England, was among his notable achievements.

48 BC - Pompey The Great assassinated in Egypt.

1542 - Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo arrived at present-day San Diego.

1924 - Two U.S. Army planes landed in Seattle after completing the first round-the-world-flight in 175 days.

1972 - Japan and Communist China agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations.

1989 - Former Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos died in exile in Hawaii.

Ed Sullivan, (1901-1974), Television personality
Al Capp (Alfred Gerald Caplin), (1909-1979), Cartoonist creator of Li’l Abner
Brigitte Bardot, (1934- ), French actress (ooh-la-la)

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

Posted by The Skipper     on 09/28/2004 at 02:25 AM   
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   Monday - September 27, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“Obviously crime pays, or there’d be no crime.”
-- G. Gordon Liddy

1939 - Poland Surrenders
On this day in 1939, 140,000 Polish troops are taken prisoner by the German invaders as Warsaw surrenders to the superior mechanized forces of Hitler’s army. The Poles fought bravely, but were able to hold on for only 26 days. On the heels of its victory, the Germans began a systematic program of terror, murder, and cruelty, executing members of Poland’s middle and upper classes: Doctors, teachers, priests, landowners, and businessmen were rounded up and killed. The Nazis had given this operation the benign-sounding name “Extraordinary Pacification Action.” The Roman Catholic Church, too, was targeted, because it was a possible source of dissent and counterinsurgency. In one west Poland church diocese alone, 214 priests were shot. And hundreds of thousands more Poles were driven from their homes and relocated east, as Germans settled in the vacated areas. This was all part of a Hitler master plan. Back in August, Hitler warned his own officers that he was preparing Poland for that “which would not be to the taste of German generals"-including the rounding up of Polish Jews into ghettos, a prelude to their liquidation. All roads were pointing to Auschwitz.

1540 - Jesuit order established.

1940 - The Tripartite Pact is signed by Germany, Italy, and Japan.

1959 - Typhoon Vera battered the Japanese island of Honshu, killing almost 5,000 people.

1964 - The Warren Commission report concluded that there was no conspiracy in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

1998 - Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals hit his record-setting 69th and 70th home runs duing the last game of the season.

Samuel Adams, (1722–1803), Political leader in the American Revolution, founder of great beer company
Alfred Thayer Mahan, (1840–1914), U.S. naval officer and historian

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Posted by The Skipper     on 09/27/2004 at 01:58 AM   
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   Sunday - September 26, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.”
-- John Adams (1735 - 1826)

1580 - Sir Francis Drake Circumnavigates The Globe
English seaman Francis Drake returns to Plymouth, England, in the Golden Hind, becoming the first British navigator to sail the earth. On December 13, 1577, Drake set out from England with five ships on a mission to raid Spanish holdings on the Pacific coast of the New World. After crossing the Atlantic, Drake abandoned two of his ships in South America and then sailed into the Straits of Magellan with the remaining three. A series of devastating storms besieged his expedition in the treacherous straits, wrecking one ship and forcing another to return to England. Only the Golden Hind reached the Pacific Ocean, but Drake continued undaunted up the western coast of South America, raiding Spanish settlements and capturing a rich Spanish treasure ship. Drake then continued up the western coast of North America, searching for a possible northeast passage back to the Atlantic. Reaching as far north as present-day Washington before turning back, Drake paused near San Francisco Bay in June 1579 to repair his ship and prepare for a journey across the Pacific. Calling the land “Nova Albion,” Drake claimed the territory for Queen Elizabeth I. In July, the expedition set off across the Pacific, visiting several islands before rounding Africa’s Cape of Good Hope and returning to the Atlantic Ocean. On September 26, 1580, the Golden Hind returned to Plymouth, England, bearing its rich captured treasure and valuable information about the world’s great oceans. In 1581, Queen Elizabeth I knighted Drake during a visit to his ship. The most renowned of the Elizabethan seamen, he later played a crucial role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.

1789 - Thomas Jefferson was appointed America’s first Secretary of State.

1820 - Frontiersman, Daniel Boone, died in Missouri.

1914 - The Federal Trade Commission was established.

1950 - United Nations troops recaptured Seoul, the capital of South Korea, from the North Koreans.

1960 - Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy took part in the first televised presidential debate.

1986 - William H. Rehnquist was sworn as the 16th chief justice of the Supreme Court.

John Chapman, (1774–1845), American pioneer (Johnny Appleseed)
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, (1849–1936), Russian physiologist and experimental psychologist (dog trainer)
George Gershwin, (1898–1937), American composer ("Rhapsody In Blue")
Olivia Newton-John, (1948- ), Australian singer, actress

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

Posted by The Skipper     on 09/26/2004 at 05:15 AM   
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   Saturday - September 25, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.”
-- Herm Albright (1876 - 1944)

1789 - The Bill Of Rights Passes Congress
The first Congress of the United States approves 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and sends them to the states for ratification. The amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were designed to protect the basic rights of U.S. citizens, guaranteeing the freedom of speech, press, assembly, and exercise of religion; the right to fair legal procedure and to bear arms; and that powers not delegated to the federal government were reserved for the states and the people. Influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689, the Bill of Rights was also drawn from Virginia’s Declaration of Rights, drafted by George Mason in 1776. Mason, a native Virginian, was a lifelong champion of individual liberties, and in 1787 he attended the Constitutional Convention and criticized the final document for lacking constitutional protection of basic political rights. In the ratification process that followed, Mason and other critics agreed to approve the Constitution in exchange for the assurance that amendments would immediately be adopted. In December 1791, Virginia became the 10th of 14 states to approve 10 of the 12 amendments, thus giving the Bill of Rights the two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it legal. Of the two amendments not ratified, the first concerned the population system of representation, while the second prohibited laws varying the payment of congressional members from taking effect until an election intervened. The first of these two amendments was never ratified, while the second was finally ratified more than 200 years later, in 1992.

1890 - Wilford Woodruff, president of the Mormon church, renounced the practice of polygamy. This paved the way for Utah’s acceptance as a state in 1896.

1957 - Nine black children were escorted to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, under heavily armed guard, because of racial violence.

1981 - Sandra Day O’Connor was sworn in as the first female justice on the Supreme Court.

William Faulkner, (1897–1962), American novelist
Barbara Walters, (1931- ), Television reporter and anchor
Michael Douglas, (1944- ), Actor, director, producer

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

Posted by The Skipper     on 09/25/2004 at 01:46 AM   
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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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