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

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.

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.}

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/08/2004 at 12:16 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:

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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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