Friday - September 24, 2004
Daily Dose
Quote Of The Day
“An education isn’t how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It’s being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don’t. ”
-- Anatole France (1844 - 1924)
On This Day In History
September 24th
622 AD - the prophet Muhammad completes his Hegira
On this day in 622, Muhammad-------ah, screw it, given the lunacy of Muslims in the world today, fuck the dumb shit. I will not write about this moron’s adventures. I have better things to do. Like letting you know about our Supreme Court, below.
1789 - The First Supreme Court
The Judiciary Act of 1789 is passed by Congress and signed by President George Washington, establishing the Supreme Court of the United States as a tribunal made up of six justices who were to serve on the court until death or retirement. That day, President Washington nominated John Jay to preside as chief justice, and John Rutledge, William Cushing, John Blair, Robert Harrison, and James Wilson to be associate justices. On September 26, all six appointments were confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The U.S. Supreme Court was established by Article 3 of the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution granted the Supreme Court ultimate jurisdiction over all laws, especially those in which their constitutionality was at issue. The high court was also designated to oversee cases concerning treaties of the United States, foreign diplomats, admiralty practice, and maritime jurisdiction. On February 1, 1790, the first session of the U.S. Supreme Court was held in New York City’s Royal Exchange Building. The U.S. Supreme Court grew into the most important judicial body in the world in terms of its central place in the American political order. According to the Constitution, the size of the court is set by Congress, and the number of justices varied during the 19th century before stabilizing in 1869 at nine. In times of constitutional crisis, the nation’s highest court has always played a definitive role in resolving, for better or worse, the great issues of the time.
1957 - The Brooklyn Dodgers played their last game at Ebbets Field.
1960 - The Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was launched.
1969 - The trial of the “Chicago Eight,” radical antiwar and counterculture activists accused of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic convention, began.
1991 - Children’s author Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, died at age 87.
Today’s Birthdays
John Marshall, (1755–1835), American jurist, 4th Chief Justice of the United States (1801–1835)
F. Scott Fitzgerald, (Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald), (1896–1940), American novelist and short-story writer
Jim Henson, (1936-1990), Puppeteer
Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - The Biography Channel.
Posted by The Skipper
on 09/24/2004 at 05:19 AM
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Permalink • Thursday - September 23, 2004
The Daily Dose
Quote Of The Day
“It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not to deserve them.” —Mark Twain
On This Day In History
September 23rd
1779 John Paul Jones victorious
During the American Revolution, the U.S. ship Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, wins a hard-fought engagement against the British ships of war Serapis and Countess of Scarborough off the east coast of England.
Scottish-born John Paul Jones first sailed to America as a cabin boy and lived for a time in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where his brother had a business. He later served on slave and merchant ships and proved an able seaman. After he killed a sailor while suppressing a mutiny, he went to the American colonies to escape possible British prosecution. With the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775, he traveled to Philadelphia and was commissioned a senior lieutenant in the new Continental Navy. He soon distinguished himself in actions against British ships in the Bahamas, the Atlantic, and the English Channel.
In August 1779, Jones took command of the Bonhomme Richard and sailed around the British Isles. On September 23, the Bonhomme Richard engaged the Serapis and the smaller Countess of Scarborough, which were escorting the Baltic merchant fleet. After inflicting considerable damage to the Bonhomme Richard, Richard Pearson, the captain of the Serapis, asked Jones if he had struck his colors, the naval sign indicating surrender. From his disabled ship, Jones replied, “I have not yet begun to fight,” and after three more hours of furious fighting the Serapis and Countess of Scarborough surrendered to him. After the victory, the Americans transferred to the Serapis from the Bonhomme Richard, which sunk the following day.
Jones was hailed as a great hero in France, but recognition in the United States was somewhat belated. He continued to serve the United States until 1787 and then served briefly in the Russian navy before moving to France, where he died in 1792 amid the chaos of the French Revolution. He was buried in an unmarked grave. In 1905, his remains were located under the direction of the U.S. ambassador to France and then escorted back to America by U.S. warships. His body was later enshrined in a crypt at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
1806 Lewis and Clark return
Amid much public excitement, American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark return to St. Louis, Missouri, from the first recorded overland journey from the Mississippi River to the Pacific coast and back. The Lewis and Clark Expedition had set off more than two years before to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase.
Even before the U.S. government concluded purchase negotiations with France, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned his private secretary Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, an army captain, to lead an expedition into what is now the U.S. Northwest. On May 14, the “Corps of Discovery,” featuring 28 men and one woman--a Native American named Sacagawea--left St. Louis for the American interior.
The expedition traveled up the Missouri River in six canoes and two longboats and wintered in Dakota before crossing into Montana, where they first saw the Rocky Mountains. On the other side of the Continental Divide, they were met by Sacagawea’s tribe, the Shoshone Indians, who sold them horses for their journey down through the Bitterroot Mountains. After passing through the dangerous rapids of the Clearwater and Snake rivers in canoes, the explorers reached the calm of the Columbia River, which led them to the sea. On November 8, 1805, the expedition arrived at the Pacific Ocean, the first European explorers to do so by an overland route from the east. After pausing there for winter, the explorers began their long journey back to St. Louis.
On September 23, 1806, after two and a half years, the expedition returned to the city, bringing back a wealth of information about the largely unexplored region, as well as valuable U.S. claims to Oregon Territory.
1846 Eighth planet discovered
German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle discovers the planet Neptune at the Berlin Observatory.
Neptune, generally the eighth planet from the sun, was postulated by the French astronomer Urbain-Jean-Joseph Le Verrier, who calculated the approximate location of the planet by studying gravity-induced disturbances in the motions of Uranus. On September 23, 1846, Le Verrier informed Galle of his findings, and the same night Galle and his assistant Heinrich Louis d’Arrest identified Neptune at their observatory in Berlin. Noting its movement relative to background stars over 24 hours confirmed that it was a planet.
The blue gas giant, which has a diameter four times that of Earth, was named for the Roman god of the sea. It has eight known moons, of which Triton is the largest, and a ring system containing three bright and two dim rings. It completes an orbit of the sun once every 165 years. In 1989, the U.S. planetary spacecraft Voyager 2 was the first human spacecraft to visit Neptune.
Today’s Birthdays
Euripides (as in “you rippa dese pants an’ I’m- a gonna kill ‘ya!") 480 or 485—406 B.C, dramatist
Mickey Rooney, 1920-- , Actor
John Coltrane, 1926-- , jazz musician
Ray Charles, 1930-- , Musician
Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - The Biography Channel.
Posted by Ranting Right Wing Howler
on 09/23/2004 at 05:39 AM
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Permalink • Wednesday - September 22, 2004
The Daily Dose
Quote Of The Day
“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” —Groucho Marx
On This Day In History
September 22nd
1776 American Patriot executed for spying
In New York City, Nathan Hale, a Connecticut schoolteacher and captain in the Continental Army, is executed by the British for spying.
A graduate of Yale University, Hale joined a Connecticut regiment in 1775 and served in the successful siege of British-occupied Boston. In the summer of 1776, he crossed behind British lines on Long Island in civilian clothes to spy on the British. While returning with the intelligence information, British soldiers captured Hale near the American lines and charged him with espionage. Taken to New York, he was hanged without trial the next day.
Before being executed, legend holds that Hale said, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” There is no historical record to prove that Hale actually made this statement, but if he did he may have been inspired by the lines in English author Joseph Addison’s 1713 play Cato: “What a pity it is/That we can die but once to serve our country.”
1980 Iran-Iraq War
Long-standing border disputes and political turmoil in Iran prompt Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to launch an invasion of Iran’s oil-producing province of Khuzestan. After initial advances, the Iraqi offense was repulsed. In 1982, Iraq voluntarily withdrew and sought a peace agreement, but the Ayatollah Khomeini renewed fighting. Stalemates and the deaths of thousands of young Iranian conscripts in Iraq followed. Population centers in both countries were bombed, and Iraq employed chemical weapons. In the Persian Gulf, a “tanker war” curtailed shipping and increased oil prices. In 1988, Iran agreed to a cease-fire.
Today’s Birthdays
Michael Faraday, 1791–1867, English scientist
Tommy Lasorda, 1927-- , Baseball manager
Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - The Biography Channel.
Posted by Ranting Right Wing Howler
on 09/22/2004 at 05:20 AM
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Permalink • Tuesday - September 21, 2004
The Daily Dose
Quote Of The Day
“I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult.”
-- Rita Rudner
On This Day In History
September 21st
1938: THE GREAT NEW ENGLAND HURRICANE
Without warning, a powerful Category 3 hurricane slams into Long Island and southern New England, causing 600 deaths and devastating coastal cities and towns. Also called the Long Island Express, the Great New England Hurricane of 1938 was the most destructive storm to strike the region in the 20th century.
The officially unnamed hurricane was born out a tropical cyclone that developed in the eastern Atlantic on September 10, 1938, near the Cape Verde Islands. Six days later, the captain of a Brazilian freighter sighted the storm northeast of Puerto Rico and radioed a warning to the U.S. Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service). It was expected that the storm would make landfall in south Florida, and hurricane-experienced coastal citizens stocked up on supplies and boarded up their homes. On September 19, however, the storm suddenly changed direction and began moving north, parallel to the eastern seaboard.
Charlie Pierce, a junior forecaster in the U.S. Weather Bureau, was sure that the hurricane was heading for the Northeast, but the chief forecaster overruled him. It had been well over a century since New England had been hit by a substantial hurricane, and few believed it could happen again. Hurricanes rarely persist after encountering the cold waters of the North Atlantic. However, this hurricane was moving north at an unusually rapid pace--more than 60 mph--and was following a track over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.
With Europe on the brink of war over the worsening Sudetenland crisis, little media attention was given to the powerful hurricane at sea. There was no advanced meteorological technology, such as radar, radio buoys, or satellite imagery, to warn of the hurricane’s approach. By the time the U.S. Weather Bureau learned that the Category 3 storm was on a collision course with Long Island on the afternoon of September 21, it was too late for a warning.
Along the south shore of Long Island, the sky began to darken and the wind picked up. Fishermen and boaters were at sea, and summer residents enjoying the end of the season were in their beachfront homes. Around 2:30 p.m., the full force of the hurricane made landfall, unfortunately around high tide. Surges of ocean water and waves 40 feet tall swallowed up coastal homes. At Westhampton, which lay directly in the path of the storm, 150 beach homes were destroyed, about a third of which were pulled into the swelling ocean. Winds exceeded 100 mph. Inland, people were drowned in flooding, killed by uprooted trees and falling debris, and electrocuted by downed electrical lines.
At 4 p.m., the center of the hurricane crossed the Long Island Sound and reached Connecticut. Rivers swollen by a week of steady rain spilled over and washed away roadways. In New London, a short circuit in a flooded building started a fire that was fanned by the 100 mph winds into an inferno. Much of the business district was consumed.
The hurricane gained intensity as it passed into Rhode Island. Winds in excess of 120 mph caused a storm surge of 12 to 15 feet in Narragansett Bay, destroying coastal homes and entire fleets of boats at yacht clubs and marinas. The waters of the bay surged into Providence harbor around 5 p.m., rapidly submerging the downtown area of Rhode Island’s capital under more than 13 feet of water. Many people were swept away.
The hurricane then raced northward across Massachusetts, gaining speed again and causing great flooding. In Milton, south of Boston, the Blue Hill Observatory recorded one of the highest wind gusts in history, an astounding 186 mph. Boston was hit hard, and “Old Ironsides"--the historic ship U.S. Constitution--was torn from its moorings in Boston Navy Yard and suffered slight damage. Hundreds of other ships were not so lucky.
The hurricane lost intensity as it passed over northern New England, but by the time the storm reached Canada around 11 p.m. it was still powerful enough to cause widespread damage. The Great New England Hurricane finally dissipated over Canada that night.
All told, 700 people were killed by the hurricane, 600 of them in Long Island and southern New England. Some 700 people were injured. Nearly 9,000 homes and buildings were destroyed, and 15,000 damaged. Nearly 3,000 ships were sunk or wrecked. Power lines were downed across the region, causing widespread blackouts. Innumerable trees were felled, and 12 new inlets were created on Long Island. Railroads were destroyed and farms were obliterated. Total damages were $306 million, which equals $18 billion in today’s dollars, making the Great New England Hurricane the sixth costliest hurricane in U.S. history.
Today’s Birthdays
H. G. Wells, 1866–1946, English author.
Larry Hagman, 1931--, Actor
Stephen King, 1947-- , Author
Bill Murray, 1950-- , Comedian, Actor
Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - The Biography Channel.
Posted by Ranting Right Wing Howler
on 09/21/2004 at 05:11 AM
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Permalink • Monday - September 20, 2004
Daily Dose
Quote Of The Day
“Bureaucrats write memoranda both because they appear to be busy when they are writing and because the memos, once written, immediately become proof that they were busy.”
-- Charles Peters
On This Day In History
September 20th
1519 - Magellan Sets Out Around The World
Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan sets sail from Spain in an effort to find a western sea route to the rich Spice Islands of Indonesia. In command of five ships and 270 men, Magellan sailed to West Africa and then to Brazil, where he searched the South American coast for a strait that would take him to the Pacific. He searched the Rýo de la Plata, a large estuary south of Brazil, for a way through; failing, he continued south along the coast of Patagonia. At the end of March 1520, the expedition set up winter quarters at Port St. Julian. On Easter day at midnight, the Spanish captains mutinied against their Portuguese captain, but Magellan crushed the revolt, executing one of the captains and leaving another ashore when his ship left St. Julian in August. On October 21, he finally discovered the strait he had been seeking. The Strait of Magellan, as it became known, is located near the tip of South America, separating Tierra del Fuego and the continental mainland. Only three ships entered the passage; one had been wrecked and another deserted. It took 38 days to navigate the treacherous strait, and when ocean was sighted at the other end Magellan wept with joy. He was the first European explorer to reach the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic. His fleet accomplished the westward crossing of the ocean in 99 days, crossing waters so strangely calm that the ocean was named “Pacific,” from the Latin word pacificus, meaning “tranquil.” By the end, the men were out of food and chewed the leather parts of their gear to keep themselves alive. On March 6, 1521, the expedition landed at the island of Guam. Ten days later, they dropped anchor at the Philippine island of Cebý--they were only about 400 miles from the Spice Islands. Magellan met with the chief of Cebý, who after converting to Christianity persuaded the Europeans to assist him in conquering a rival tribe on the neighboring island of Mactan. In fighting on April 27, Magellan was hit by a poisoned arrow and left to die by his retreating comrades. After Magellan’s death, the survivors, in two ships, sailed on to the Moluccas and loaded the hulls with spice. One ship attempted, unsuccessfully, to return across the Pacific. The other ship, the Vittoria, continued west under the command of Basque navigator Juan Sebastiýn de Elcano. The vessel sailed across the Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and arrived at the Spanish port of Sanlýcar de Barrameda on September 6, 1522, becoming the first ship to circumnavigate the globe.
1870 - Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of modern Italy, seized the Papal States from the French.
1881 - Chester A. Arthur was sworn in as the 21st president of the United States, succeeding James A. Garfield, who had been assassinated.
1973 - Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in a battle of the sexes tennis match.
1998 - Baltimore Oriole shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr., sat out a game, ending his consecutive game playing streak. Ripken played 2,632 consecutive games over 16 seasons.
2000 - Independent Counsel Robert Ray announced the end of the Whitewater investigation, saying there was insufficient evidence to charge President Clinton and his wife, Hillary.
2001 - President George W. Bush addressed the nation and a joint session of Congress about terrorism. He also named Tom Ridge as head of the new Office of Homeland Security.
Today’s Birthdays
Upton Sinclair, (1878–1968), American novelist and socialist
Dr. Joyce Brothers (Joyce Bauer), (1928- ), Psychologist, television personality
Sophia Loren (Sophia Scicoloni), (1934- ), Italian film actress
Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - The Biography Channel.
Posted by The Skipper
on 09/20/2004 at 05:42 AM
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Permalink • Sunday - September 19, 2004
Daily Dose
Quote Of The Day
“Such a day, rum all out: — Our company somewhat sober: — A damned confusion amongst us! — Rogues a-plotting: — Great talk of separation — so I looked sharp for a prize: — Such a day found one with a great deal of liquor on board, so kept the company hot, damned hot; then all things went well again.”
-- Blackbeard The Pirate (1689-1718)
On This Day In History
September 19th
1900 - Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid Pull Off Their First Robbery Together
Robert Parker and Harry Longbaugh, better known as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, rob the First National Bank in Winnemucca, Nevada, marking the first time that the duo worked as a team. Up until this point, both men had been loosely affiliated with the Hole-in-the-Wall gang, named after a secret Colorado mountain hideout. While growing up in Utah, Robert Parker fell under the guidance of his neighbor, Mike Cassidy, who became Parker’s criminal mentor and taught him how to shoot. In the 1890s, after borrowing his neighbor’s name, Butch Cassidy robbed banks and trains throughout the West and, for a while, managed to stay one step ahead of the posses that were constantly on his tail. However, he was nabbed by a sheriff in Wyoming in 1894 and spent two years in jail for cattle rustling. Cassidy had actually come up with a more efficient way of rustling by simply extorting money from ranchers so that their steers weren’t stolen. After getting out of jail, Cassidy hooked up with the Hole-in-the-Wall crew. By all reports, he was the most levelheaded of the group. Harry Longbaugh took his name from Wyoming’s Sundance jail, where he had spent some time for horse theft. His reputation as an exceptionally fast and accurate shooter quickly spread. When the Sundance Kid and Butch Cassidy met in 1900, they immediately became friends and partners. Seeking respite from the Pinkerton detectives who were hot on their trail, Sundance, Cassidy, and Etta Place, a schoolteacher with whom Sundance had become involved while hiding out in Texas, made their way to South America. Place scouted out banks in Argentina for Cassidy and Sundance, who then robbed the poorly guarded depositories. When they became too well known in Argentina, Cassidy and Sundance moved to Bolivia, where they worked honest jobs for a few years before their identities were discovered. According to most reports, the pair was ambushed by Bolivian soldiers and killed in San Vicente. Yet, rumors still persisted that Cassidy survived and lived a quiet life on a Nevada ranch until the 1920s.
1881 - President James Garfield died of a gunshot wound inflicted by a disappointed office seeker the previous July 2.
1955 - President Juan Peron of Argentina was deposed and exiled after a military coup.
1957 - The United States conducted its first underground nuclear test in the Nevada desert.
1959 - Khrushchev barred from visiting Disneyland.
1985 - The Mexico City area was struck by the first of two devastating earthquakes that claimed thousands of lives. The second earthquake hit 36 hours later.
1994 - U.S. troops entered Haiti to enforce the return of exiled president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
2001 - The Pentagon ordered combat aircraft to the Persian Gulf following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Today’s Birthdays
Sir William Golding, (1911–1993), English novelist
William Hesketh Lever, (1851-1925), English soap-maker (Lever Bros.), philanthropist
Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - The Biography Channel.
Posted by The Skipper
on 09/19/2004 at 12:53 AM
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Permalink • Saturday - September 18, 2004
Daily Dose
Quote Of The Day
“I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”
-- Sir Winston Churchill
On This Day In History
September 18th
1970 - Jimi Hendrix Dies
Guitarist Jimi Hendrix dies at the age of 28, following a drug overdose in London.
Hendrix was born in Seattle in 1942. He grew up playing guitar, imitating blues greats like Muddy Waters as well as early rockers. He joined the army in 1959 and became a paratrooper but was honorably discharged in 1961 after an injury that exempted him from duty in Vietnam. In the early 1960s, Hendrix backed such musicians as Little Richard, B.B. King, Ike and Tina Turner, and Sam Cooke. He moved to New York in 1964, where he played in coffeehouses.
It was at one of these coffeehouse gigs that British bassist Bryan Chandler of the Animals first heard Hendrix play. Chandler arranged to manage Hendrix and brought him to London in 1966, where they created the Jimi Hendrix Experience with bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell. The band’s first single, “Hey Joe,” hit No. 6 on the British pop charts, and the band became an instant sensation.
In 1967, the Jimi Hendrix Experience made its first U.S. appearance, at the Monterey Pop Festival. Hendrix made a splash by burning his guitar. In the next two years, the band released classic songs like “Purple Haze,” “Foxy Lady,” and “The Wind Cries Mary.” The band’s albums included Are You Experienced? (1967), Bold as Love(1969), and Electric Ladyland (1969).
After the band dissolved in 1969 over creative tensions, Hendrix made his famous appearance at Woodstock, playing a masterful, intricate version of “The Star Spangled Banner.” Later that year, he put together a new group called the Band of Gypsies, which debuted on New Year’s Eve, 1969. The band released only one album, Band of Gypsies (1969). (A second album, Band of Gypsies II, was released in 1986.) Hendrix then recorded another album, without the band, called The Cry of Love, which was released in 1971. Jimi Hendrix played his last concert in August 1970, at the Isle of Wight Festival in Britain.
Today’s Birthdays
Samuel Johnson, (1709–84), English author
Greta Garbo, (1905–1990), American film actress
Frankie Avalon (Francis Thomas Avallone), (1939- ), Singer, actor
Lance Armstrong, (1971- ), Cyclist
Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - The Biography Channel.
Posted by The Skipper
on 09/18/2004 at 05:36 AM
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Permalink • Friday - September 17, 2004
Daily Dose
Quote Of The Day
“He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”
-- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)
On This Day In History
September 17th
1862 - Battle Of Antietam, The Bloodiest Day In American Hostory
Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and Union General George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac fight to a standstill along a Maryland creek on the bloodiest day in American history. Although the battle was a tactical draw, it forced Lee to end his invasion of the North and retreat back to Virginia. After Lee’s decisive victory at the Second Battle of Bull Run on August 30, 1862, the Confederate general had steered his army north into Maryland. Lee and Confederate President Jefferson Davis believed that another Rebel victory might bring recognition and aid from Great Britain and France. Lee also sought to relieve pressure on Virginia by carrying the conflict to the North. His ragtag army was in dire need of supplies, which Lee hoped to obtain from Maryland farms that were untouched by the war. Lee split his army as he moved into Maryland. One corps marched to capture Harpers Ferry, Virginia, while the other two searched for provisions. Although a copy of Lee’s orders ended up in the hands of McClellan, the Union general failed to act quickly, allowing Lee time to gather his army along Antietam Creek at Sharpsburg, Maryland. McClellan arrived on September 16 and prepared to attack. The Battle of Antietam actually consisted of three battles. Beginning at dawn on September 17, Union General Joseph Hooker’s men stormed Confederate General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s troops around the Dunker Church, the West Woods, and David Miller’s cornfield. The Federals made repeated attacks, but furious Rebel counterattacks kept the Yankees in check. By early afternoon, the fighting moved south to the middle of the battlefield. Union troops under General Edwin Sumner inflicted appalling casualties on the Confederates along a sunken road that became known as “Bloody Lane” before the Southerners retreated. McClellan refused to apply reserves to exploit the opening in the Confederate center because he believed Lee’s force to be much larger than it actually was. In the late afternoon, Union General Ambrose Burnside attacked General James Longstreet’s troops across a stone bridge that came to bear Burnside’s name. The Yankees crossed the creek, but a Confederate counterattack brought any further advance to a halt. The fighting ended by early evening, and the two armies remained in place throughout the following day. After dark on September 18, Lee began pulling his troops out of their defenses for a retreat to Virginia. The losses for the one-day battle were staggering. McClellan lost a total of 12,401 men, including 2,108 dead, 9,540 wounded, and 753 missing. Lee lost 10, 406, including 1,546 dead, 7,752 wounded, and 1,108 missing. Although the Union army drove Lee’s force back to Virginia, the battle was a lost opportunity for the Yankees. McClellan had an overwhelming numerical advantage, but he did not know it. Another attack on September 18 may well have scattered the Confederates and cut off Lee’s line of retreat. A week later, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and changed the Northern goal from a war for reunification into a crusade for the end of slavery.
1787 - The Constitution was completed and signed by a majority of the delegates attending the constitutional convention in Philadelphia.
1920 - The American Professional Football Association—a precursor of the NFL—was formed in Canton, Ohio.
1994 - Heather Whitestone of Alabama became the first deaf Miss America.
Today’s Birthdays
Warren Earl Burger, (1907–95), American jurist, fifteenth Chief Justice of the United States (1969–86)
Hank Williams, (1923–53), American country singer and songwriter
Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - The Biography Channel.
Posted by The Skipper
on 09/17/2004 at 05:43 AM
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Permalink • Thursday - September 16, 2004
Daily Dose
Quote Of The Day
“I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.”
-- E. B. White (1899-1985)
On This Day In History
September 16th
1620 - Mayflower Departs England
The Mayflower sails from Plymouth, England, bound for the New World with 102 passengers. The ship was headed for Virginia, where the colonists--half religious dissenters and half entrepreneurs--had been authorized to settle by the British crown. However, stormy weather and navigational errors forced the Mayflower off course, and on November 21 the “Pilgrims” reached Massachusetts, where they founded the first permanent European settlement in New England in late December. Thirty-five of the Pilgrims were members of the radical English Separatist Church, who traveled to America to escape the jurisdiction of the Church of England, which they found corrupt. Ten years earlier, English persecution had led a group of Separatists to flee to Holland in search of religious freedom. However, many were dissatisfied with economic opportunities in the Netherlands, and under the direction of William Bradford they decided to immigrate to Virginia, where an English colony had been founded at Jamestown in 1607.
1908 - General Motors was founded by William C. Durant.
1919 - The American Legion was incorporated by an act of Congress.
1940 - The United States first adopted peacetime conscription when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act into law.
1974 - President Ford announced conditional amnesty for Vietnam War deserters and draft evaders.
1982 - Lebanese Christians massacred hundreds of Palestinian refugees in Beirut.
Today’s Birthdays
Allen Funt, (1914-1999), Radio & TV producer ("Candid Camera")
Lauren Bacall (Betty Joan Perske), (1924- ), American actress (and Bogart’s wife)
B.B. King (Riley B. King), (1925- ), Legendary blues musician
Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - The Biography Channel.
Posted by The Skipper
on 09/16/2004 at 05:16 AM
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Permalink • Wednesday - September 15, 2004
Daily Dose
Quote Of The Day
“The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.”
-- Niels Bohr (1885 - 1962)
On This Day In History
September 15th
1950 - U.S. Forces Land At Inchon
During the Korean War, U.S. Marines land at Inchon on the west coast of Korea, 100 miles south of the 38th parallel and just 25 miles from Seoul. The location had been criticized as too risky, but U.N. Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur insisted on carrying out the landing. By the early evening, the Marines had overcome moderate resistance and secured Inchon. The brilliant landing cut the North Korean forces in two, and the U.S.-led U.N. force pushed inland to recapture Seoul, the South Korean capital that had fallen to the communists in June. Allied forces then converged from the north and the south, devastating the North Korean army and taking 125,000 enemy troops prisoner.
1789 - The U.S. Department of Foreign Affairs changed its name to the Department of State.
1821 - Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador gained independence.
1862 - Confederates capture Harpers Ferry, Virginia
1916 - Tanks introduced into warfare at the Somme
1935 - The Nuremberg Laws deprived Jews of their citizenship and made the Swastika the official emblem of Nazi Germany.
1963 - A church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, killed four young black girls
Today’s Birthdays
James Fenimore Cooper, (1789–1851), American novelist ("Last Of The Mohicans")
William Howard Taft, (1857–1930), 27th President of the United States (1909–13)
Agatha Christie, (1891–1976), English detective story writer
Oliver Stone, (1946- ), American filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer
Dan Marino, (1961- ). Football quarterback
Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - The Biography Channel.
Posted by The Skipper
on 09/15/2004 at 04:55 AM
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Permalink • Tuesday - September 14, 2004
Daily Dose
Quote Of The Day
“Communism doesn’t work because people like to own stuff.”
-- Frank Zappa (1940 - 1993)
On This Day In History
September 14th
1812 - Napolean Captures Moscow
One week after winning a bloody victory over the Russian army at the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon Bonaparte’s Grande Armýe enters the city of Moscow, only to find the population evacuated and the Russian army retreated again. Moscow was the goal of the invasion, but the deserted city held no czarist officials to sue for peace and no great stores of food or supplies to reward the French soldiers for their long march. Then, just after midnight, fires broke out across the city, apparently set by Russian patriots, leaving Napoleon’s massive army with no means to survive the coming Russian winter.
1814 - Francis Scott Key Composes The Star Spangled Banner
Francis Scott Key composes the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner” after witnessing the massive British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Maryland during the War of 1812. Key, an American lawyer, watched the siege while under detainment on a British ship and penned the famous words after observing that the U.S. flag over Fort McHenry had survived the 1,800-bomb assault. After circulating as a handbill, the patriotic lyrics were published in a Baltimore newspaper on September 20. Set to the tune of “To Anacreon in Heaven,” an English drinking song written by the British composer John Stafford Smith, it soon became popular throughout the nation. Throughout the 19th century, “The Star-Spangled Banner” was regarded as the national anthem by the U.S. armed forces and other groups, but it was not until 1916, and the signing of an executive order by President Woodrow Wilson, that it was formally designated as such. In 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a Congressional act confirming Wilson’s presidential order.
1901 - President McKinley died of gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeded him.
1927 - Modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan died in Nice, France.
1940 - Congress passed the Selective Service Act, providing for the first peacetime draft in U.S. history.
1959 - The Soviet space probe Luna 2 became the first man-made object to reach the Moon when it crashed onto the lunar surface.
1982 - Princess Grace of Monaco died from injuries sustained in a car crash the previous day.
1994 - Acting commissioner Bud Selig announced the cancellation of the 1994 baseball season on the 34th day of a strike by players.
Today’s Birthdays
Margaret Higgins Sanger, (1883–1966), American leader in the birth control movement
Charles Dana Gibson, (1867–1944), American illustrator
Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - The Biography Channel.
Posted by The Skipper
on 09/14/2004 at 04:19 AM
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Permalink • Monday - September 13, 2004
Daily Dose
Quote Of The Day
“It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that the Internet has evolved into a force strong enough to reflect the greatest hopes and fears of those who use it. After all, it was designed to withstand nuclear war, not just the puny huffs and puffs of politicians and religious fanatics.”
-- Denise Caruso
On This Day In History
September 13, 1940 - Italy Invades Egypt
On this day in 1940, Mussolini’s forces finally cross the Libyan border into Egypt, achieving what the Duce calls the “glory” Italy had sought for three centuries. Italy had occupied Libya since 1912, a purely economic “expansion.” In 1935, Mussolini began sending tens of thousands of Italians to Libya, mostly farmers and other rural workers, in part to relieve overpopulation concerns. So by the time of the outbreak of the Second World War, Italy had enjoyed a long-term presence in North Africa, and Mussolini began dreaming of expanding that presence-always with an eye toward the same territories the old “Roman Empire” had counted among its conquests. Chief among these was Egypt.
But sitting in Egypt were British troops, which, under a 1936 treaty, were garrisoned there to protect the Suez Canal and Royal Navy bases at Alexandria and Port Said. Hitler had offered to aid Mussolini in his invasion, to send German troops to help fend off a British counterattack. But Mussolini had been rebuffed when he had offered Italian assistance during the Battle of Britain, so he now insisted that as a matter of national pride, Italy would have to create a Mediterranean sphere of influence on its own-or risk becoming a “junior” partner of Germany’s.
As the Blitz commenced, and the land invasion of Britain by Germany was “imminent” (or so the Duce thought), Mussolini believed the British troops in Egypt were particularly vulnerable, and so announced to his generals his plans to make his move into Egypt. Gen. Rodolfo Graziani, the brutal governor of Ethiopia, another Italian colony, disagreed, believing that Italy’s Libya forces were not strong enough to wage an offensive across the desert. Graziani also reminded Mussolini that Italian claims of air superiority in the Mediterranean were nothing more than propaganda. But Mussolini, a true dictator, ignored these protestations and ordered Graziani into Egypt-a decision that would disprove the adage that war is too important to leave to the generals.
Today’s Birthdays
Walter Reed, (1851–1902), American army surgeon
John Joseph Pershing, (1860–1948), American army officer and commander in chief of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I
Bill Monroe, (1911-1996), the father of American bluegrass music
Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - The Biography Channel.
Posted by The Skipper
on 09/13/2004 at 06:01 AM
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Permalink • Sunday - September 12, 2004
Daily Dose
Quote Of The Day
“Don’t be a fool and die for your country. Let the other sonofabitch die for his.”
-- George S. Patton (1885 - 1945)
On This Day In History
September 12, 1953 - Khrushchev Elected Soviet Leader
Six months after the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev succeeds him with his election as first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Born into a Ukrainian peasant family in 1894, Khrushchev worked as a mine mechanic before joining the Soviet Communist Party in 1918. In 1929, he went to Moscow and steadily rose in the party ranks and in 1938 was made first secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party. He became a close associate of Joseph Stalin, the authoritative leader of the Soviet Union since 1924. In 1953, Stalin died, and Khrushchev grappled with Stalin’s chosen successor, Georgy Malenkov, for the position of first secretary of the Communist Party. Khrushchev won the power struggle, and Malenkov was made premier, a more ceremonial post. In 1955, Malenkov was replaced by Bulganin, Khrushchev’s hand-picked nominee.
In 1956, Khrushchev denounced Stalin and his totalitarian policies at the 20th Party Congress, leading to a “thaw” in the USSR that saw the release of millions of political prisoners. Almost immediately, the new atmosphere of freedom led to anti-Soviet uprisings in Poland and Hungary. Khrushchev flew to Poland and negotiated a diplomatic solution, but the Hungarian rebellion was crushed by Warsaw Pact troops and tanks.
Khrushchev’s policies were opposed by some hard-liners in the Communist Party, and in June 1957 he was nearly ousted from his position as first secretary. After a brief struggle, he secured the removal of top party members who opposed him, and in 1958 Khrushchev prepared to take on the post of premier. On March 27, 1958, the Supreme Soviet--the Soviet legislature--voted unanimously to make First Secretary Khrushchev also Soviet premier, thus formally recognizing him as the undisputed leader of the USSR.
In foreign affairs, Premier Khrushchev’s stated policy was one of “peaceful coexistence” with the West. He said, “We offer the capitalist countries peaceful competition” and gave the Soviet Union an early lead in the space race by launching the first Soviet satellites and cosmonauts. A visit to the United States by Khrushchev in 1959 was hailed as a new high in U.S.-Soviet relations, but superpower relations would hit dangerous new lows in the early 1960s.
In 1960, Khrushchev walked out of a long-awaited four-powers summit in protest of U.S. spy plane activity over Russia, and in 1961 he authorized construction of the Berlin Wall as a drastic solution to the East German question. Then, in October 1962, the United States and the USSR came close to nuclear war over the USSR’s placement of nuclear missiles in Cuba. After 13 tense days, the Cuban Missile Crisis came to an end when Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the offensive weapons in exchange for a secret U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba.
The humiliating resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis, an agricultural crisis at home, and the deterioration of Soviet-Chinese relations due to Khrushchev’s moderate policies all led to growing opposition to Khrushchev in the party ranks. On October 14, 1964, Leonid Brezhnev, Khrushchev’s protýgý and deputy, organized a successful coup against him, and Khrushchev abruptly stepped down as first secretary and premier. He retired to obscurity outside Moscow and lived there until his death in 1971.
Today’s Birthdays
Richard Jordan Gatling, (1818–1903), American inventor of the Gatling Gun
Maurice Chevalier, (1888–1972), French singer and film actor
Jesse Owens, (1913–1980), U.S. track star
(At the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin, Owens astounded the world and upset Hitler’s “Aryan” theories by equaling the world mark (10.3 sec) in the 100-meter race, by breaking world records in the 200-meter race (20.7 sec) and in the broad jump (26 ft 5 3/8 in./8.07 m) and by winning also (along with Ralph Metcalfe and others) the 400-meter relay race.)
Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - The Biography Channel.
Posted by The Skipper
on 09/12/2004 at 04:55 AM
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Permalink • Saturday - September 11, 2004
Daily Dose
Quote Of The Day
“The spread of evil is the symptom of a vacuum. whenever evil wins, it is only by default: by the moral failure of those who evade the fact that there can be no compromise on basic principles.”
-- Ayn Rand, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 1966
On This Day In History
September 11, 2001 - Attack On America
At 8:45 a.m. on a clear Tuesday morning, an American Airlines Boeing 767 loaded with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The impact left a gaping, burning hole near the 80th floor of the 110-story skyscraper, instantly killing hundreds of people and trapping hundreds more in higher floors. As the evacuation of the tower and its twin got underway, television cameras broadcasted live images of what initially appeared to be a freak accident. Then, 18 minutes after the first plane hit, a second Boeing 767--United Airlines Flight 175--appeared out of the sky, turned sharply toward the World Trade Center, and sliced into the south tower at about the 60th floor. The collision caused a massive explosion that showered burning debris over surrounding buildings and the streets below. America was under attack.
The attackers were Islamic terrorists from Saudi Arabia and several other Arab nations. Financed by Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda terrorist organization, they claimed to be acting in retaliation for America’s support of Israel, its involvement in the Persian Gulf War, and its continued military presence in the Middle East. Some of the terrorists had lived in the United States for more than a year and had taken flying lessons at American commercial flight schools. Others had slipped into the U.S. in the months before September 11 and acted as the “muscle” in the operation. The 19 terrorists easily smuggled box-cutters and knives through security at three East Coast airports and boarded four flights bound for California, chosen because the planes were loaded with fuel for the long transcontinental journey. Soon after takeoff, the terrorists commandeered the four planes and took the controls, transforming the ordinary commuter jets into guided missiles.
As millions watched in horror the events unfolding in New York, American Airlines Flight 77 circled over downtown Washington and slammed into the west side of the Pentagon military headquarters at 9:45 a.m. Jet fuel from the Boeing 757 caused a devastating inferno that led to a structural collapse of a portion of the giant concrete building. All told, 125 military personnel and civilians were killed in the Pentagon along with all 64 people aboard the airliner.
Less than 15 minutes after the terrorists struck the nerve center of the U.S. military, the horror in New York took a catastrophic turn for the worse when the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed in a massive cloud of dust and smoke. The structural steel of the skyscraper, built to withstand winds in excess of 200 mph and a large conventional fire, could not withstand the tremendous heat generated by the burning jet fuel. At 10:30 a.m., the other Trade Center tower collapsed. Close to 4,000 people died in the World Trade Center and its vicinity, including a staggering 343 firefighters and 23 policemen who were struggling to complete an evacuation of the buildings and save the office workers trapped on higher floors. Only six people in the World Trade Center towers at the time of their collapse survived. Almost 10,000 other people were treated for injuries, many severe.
Meanwhile, a fourth California-bound plane--United Flight 93--was hijacked about 40 minutes after leaving Newark International Airport in New Jersey. Because the plane had been delayed in taking off, passengers on board learned of events in New York and Washington via cell phone and Airfone calls to the ground. Knowing that the aircraft was not returning to an airport as the hijackers claimed, a group of passengers and flight attendants planned an insurrection. One of the passengers, Thomas Burnett, Jr., told his wife over the phone that “I know we’re all going to die. There’s three of us who are going to do something about it. I love you, honey.” Another passenger--Todd Beamer--was heard saying “Are you guys ready? Let’s roll” over an open line. Sandy Bradshaw, a flight attendant, called her husband and explained that she had slipped into a galley and was filling pitchers with boiling water. Her last words to him were “Everyone’s running to first class. I’ve got to go. Bye.”
The passengers fought the four hijackers and are suspected to have attacked the cockpit with a fire extinguisher. The plane then flipped over and sped toward the ground at upwards of 500 miles per hour, crashing in a rural field in western Pennsylvania at 10:10 a.m. All 45 people aboard were killed. Its intended target is not known, but theories include the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, or one of several nuclear power plants along the eastern seaboard.
At 7 p.m., President George W. Bush, who had spent the day being shuttled around the country because of security concerns, returned to the White House. At 9 p.m., he delivered a televised address from the Oval Office, declaring “Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.” In a reference to the eventual U.S. military response he declared: “We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.”
Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led international effort to oust the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and destroy Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network based there, began on October 7.
Today’s Birthdays
O. Henry (William Sydney Porter), (1862–1910), American short-story writer
Paul (Bear) Bryant, (1913-1983), Best football coach ever; directed Alabama to 6 national titles (1961,64-65, 1973, 78-79)
Brian De Palma, (1940), Contemporary film director
Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - The Biography Channel.
Posted by The Skipper
on 09/11/2004 at 12:58 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:
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.
- Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
- Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
- Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
- Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere
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Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
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