Today in History...

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

3 hours ago, Beveaux said:

Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Holy shit, that's right. I've gotta head to Chuy's tonight. It's the one thing that most closely resembles a cultural event here in College Station. That, and I can celebrate having our house go up on the MLS listings today. Happy birthday, King!

[Brisketexan 104465]

Battle of New Orleans.  The Battle of New Orleans was fought on Sunday, January 8, 1815,^[1] between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham, and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson.^[2] It took place approximately 5 miles (8.0 kilometres) east-southeast of the city of New Orleans,^[3] close to the present-day town of Chalmette, Louisiana, and was an American victory.^[2] The battle effectively marked the end of the War of 1812.

That, and it inspired the kickass Johnny Horton song.

[elfenix 34168]

On 12/30/2018 at 7:22 AM, Doc Reeves said:

1940- LA opens the first freeway, Arroyo Seco Parkway

and it feels like the first one.  narrow, twisty, short ramps.  fun to drive (for a freeway) but probably pretty dangerous.

Edited January 8, 2019 by elfenix

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

January 9, 1349, the Jewish population of Basel, Switzerland (roughly 600 people), were shackled inside a wooden barn on an island in the Rhine. The barn was then burned to the ground, along with everyone inside.

The nominal cause for the Basel Massacre was the incidence of the Black Death (bubonic plague) in Switzerland in 1348-1350; the locals noticed after several months of the plague that the Jewish population was disproportionately less affected by the plague, and (never having trusted anyone different from themselves anyway) their suspicions turned to accusations. The Jews must be poisoning the drinking water, right?

Actually, this explanation came close to a proper understanding of the causes of the plague, though informed as it was by superstition, fear and hatred instead of by science and an inquiry for the good of public health, it fell short of seeing the simple truth: Jewish religious customs led their population to be far more hygienic than the surrounding Christian community.

With cleaner houses, cleaner persons, cleaner food, cleaner clothes, etc. they were far less likely to attract the rats which carried the fleas which carried the plague. Instead of wondering whether their well-water was tainted, the Christians of Basel should have been asking whether their entire way of life was tainted, and not by an alien culture, but by themselves.

History does not record whether there were any private doubts or feelings of remorse when the plague continued for another year after the massacre. One suspects however that in the main, the answer is that there were not.

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

Actor Paul Henreid (born Paul Georg Julius Freiherr von Hernried Ritter von Wasel-Waldingau) was born on January 10, 1908 in Triest, (at the time part of Austria). He is best known for his portrayal of Czech resistance leader Victor Lazlo, whose triumphal escape from Nazi forces in Vichy French occupied Morocco during WWII forms the backdrop for the classic movie “Casablanca” – best known as the vehicle for one of Humphrey Bogart’s finest performances, and for which Henreid is often overlooked.

Though he had a storied big-screen career, spanning from 1933’s “Dawn” to 1977’s “Exorcist II: The Heretic” Henreid never truly broke through to major stardom. It seems he may have been prescient about why, as he was reluctant to take the role of Lazlo, saying it would “set him up as a stiff forever.”

Of course, while he was right about that, he was wrong about a great many other things. For starters, he was quite disagreeable on the set, not getting along with any of his fellow actors. For another, he called Bogart a “second-rate actor” – Ingrid Bergman, who played his wife Ilsa Lund, called Henreid a “prima donna” and vowed not to work with him again.

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

January 11 is Kagami Biraki (Japanese 鏡開き), a traditional ceremony which literally translates to "Opening the Mirror" (from an abstinence) or, also, "Breaking of the Mochi." 

Kagami mochi ("mirror rice cake") basically consists of two round rice cakes, the smaller atop the larger, and resembles the sake casks from hundreds of years ago which were the original source of the tradition -- supposedly the 4th Tokugawa Shogun gathered his daimyo before battle and made a ritual of opening a sake cask... since they won the battle, the ritual stuck, only it somehow morphed into a dessert instead of a drink. 

Making mochi for New Year's was once a family tradition in Japan, but nowadays most people buy their mochi prepackaged, and the Kagami Biraki parties look suspiciously like the old European tradition of "breaking bread". 

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

January 12th in Turkmenistan is “Memorial Day” in remembrance of the approximately 8,000 Turkmen who died in the 1881 siege of Geok Tepe, which is Turkmen for “Blue Hill” (the Russian name is “Gökdepe”).  Geok Tepe is at the southernmost extreme of central Turkmenistan, just north of the Iranian border.  In 1881, it consisted of a small fortress, with a wall 18 feet high and 20 to 30 feet thick.
 
The Russians found it impregnable for most of their month long assault… but as with all fortresses, a fundamental weakness was found.  Russian sappers (miners armed with explosives) managed to breach the wall on January 12th; in addition to the 8,000 Turkmen warriors killed in the battle, fully 40,000 civilians fled into the desert, many of whom were never heard from again.
 
While this defeat marked the beginning of Turkmen assimilation into first the Russian Empire, and then the U.S.S.R., Turkmenistan has in reality been essentially ungovernable by outsiders for its entire history; it returned to independence in the early 1990s.
 
The site of the Geok Tepe fortress has since been repurposed; Saparmurat Hajji Mosque, notable for its beautiful mint-turquoise roof and white marble structure, was built to commemorate the defeat.  Tourism in Turkmenistan is not advisable for any but the most adventuresome, but if one is willing to risk the displeasure of an authoritarian regime, it’s a site worth seeing.

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

January 13, 532 C.E. marked the beginning of the "Nika Riots" or "Nika Revolt" (Στάσις τοῦ Νίκα Stásis toû Níka), a week-long riot that still dates as the most violent in the history of then-Constantinople, now-Istanbul (no singing, please). Nearly half of the city was burned or destroyed, and tens of thousands of people died, all because of the pre-modern version of a soccer riot.

Chariot races were quite popular in 6th century Byzantium, and on that fateful day, the Hippodrome (at the time one of the largest stadiums in the world, and located right next to the imperial palace) was the scene of a fairly unusual mixture of passionate sports fans. 

Basically, the "Blues" and "Greens" (the teams were named by their jersey colors), who had always hated each other, and been on the verge of rioting anyway from pure drunken sports-fan-i-ness, were united by their hatred of Emperor Justinian, who had jailed two of their leaders in a tax dispute related to his war-and-peace situation vis-a-vis the Persian Empire.

Got all that?

Anyway, Justinian's box seats atop the palace and overlooking the Hippodrome kept him relatively safe, as the crowd in the Hippodrome could not manage to storm the palace; instead, they went on a weeklong rampage that included burning numerous important buildings (including the Hagia Sophia, the finest Byzantine church ever built), and leading the Senate to attempt a coup, going so far as to name Hypatius (nephew of former Emperor Anastasius I) as the new emperor.

Ever the sly dog, after a week of rioting, Justinian managed to send an emissary to bribe the leaders of the Blues (whom he had always supported). The Blues, sensing a rather cynical opportunity, gladly accepted, and marched away from their stunned allies, who were then butchered by imperial troops. Hypatius, of course, didn't get to take the throne.

European soccer fans have attempted on occasion to match this level of passion, but one suspects that they just haven't got it in 'em, no matter how sotted on good Belgian beer they might get.

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

Medieval Christians (particularly in France) celebrated January 14th as "Fête de l'âne" (Latin "Festum Asinorum" or in English "Feast of the Ass"). 

As an adjunct to the more widely known "Feast of Fools" the "Feast of the Ass" celebrated all the donkey-related stories in the Christian Bible, most notably the flight into Egypt after Jesus' birth, in order to escape the infanticide decreed by Herrod. 

A girl and a child on a donkey would take a turn through town (obviously, most towns were small enough to allow such a spectacle) and then to the church, where the donkey would be tethered right next to the altar, and in echo of the modern Protestant "Amen!" the congregants would respond to the priest with a hearty "Hee-Haw!"

[Doc Reeves 6434]

1784- The United States ratifies the Treaty of Paris signed earlier in Sept. by King George III officially ending the Revolution War

1639- The “Fundemental Orders” are adopted in Connecticut.  It is the first written constitution that created a government.

2005- The Huygens probe lands on Saturns moon Titan.

1975- Teen Heiress Leslie Whittle is kidnapped by Donald Neilson aka “the black panther”

1967- The Human Be In takes place in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Tim Leary said famously “Turn on, tune in and drop out”

1724- King Phillip of Spain Abdicates 

1539- Spain Annexes Cuba

1514- Pope Leo X issues a papal bull against slavery

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Doc Reeves

[HouTex 1847]

1699 Massachusetts holds day of fasting for wrongly persecuting "witches"

1878 US Supreme court rules race separation on trains unconstitutional

1943 World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt travels from Miami to Morocco to meet with Winston Churchill, becoming the first American president to travel by airplane

1943 World War II: Casablanca Conference begins between Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt

1944 Soviet army begins offensive at Oranienbaum/Wolchow

1952 Snowstorm in Sierra Nevada kills 26

1960 US Army promotes Elvis Presley to Sergeant
1964 Jacqueline Kennedy's 1st public appearance (TV) since US President JFK's assassination

1973 "Aloha from Hawaii", an Elvis Presley concert, becomes the most watched broadcast by an individual entertainer

1994 The Duchess of Kent converts to Catholicism, the first member of the Royal Family to do so in more than 300 years

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

2 hours ago, HouTex said:

1699 Massachusetts holds day of fasting for wrongly persecuting "witches"

 

[El Diablo 4232]

January 15th, 1892, the original rules of basketball, devised by James Naismith, were published for the first time in Springfield, Massachusetts, where the game originated.

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

January 15, 1962, in a necropolis for a Greek noble in Derveni, Macedonia (on the road from Thessaloniki to Kavala, at the northernmost point of the Aegean, near the modern Greek/Turkish border), an ancient Greek papyrus roll was discovered. Naturally, it was given the name "Dervini papyrus" and it has been dated to around 340 B.C.E., during the reign of Philip II of Macedon, which makes it the oldest surviving manusript in Europe. 

In reality, it is only a few centuries younger than the oldest surviving papyrus texts, written in Aramaic and preserved in Egypt by the dry desert conditions, but it is obviously much younger than the carved cuneiform writing, examples of which are scattered from Iran to Syria.

The Derveni text is from the unique ancient Greek religion known as "Orphism", derived from the mythical lyricist known as Orpheus. Essentially an allegorical form of literary criticism, the Derveni document is an extensive commentary on the birth of the Gods, attributable either to the philosopher Anaxagoras, or at the very least one of his followers.

It took over four decades before the text was published, partly due to the difficulty in extracting legible phrases from a decrepit, partially burnt ancient bit of scrawling and scratching. The retelling of ancient myths with which more recent sources have made us all familiar did reveal some rather new twists, however, including the following:

"Zeus, having 'heard oracles from his father', goes to the sanctuary of Night (the Goddess Nyx), who tells him 'all the oracles which afterwards he was to put into effect.' Upon hearing them, Zeus 'swallowed the phallus [of the Titan king Uranus] who first had ejaculated the brilliance of heaven.'"

I don't recall hearing that version in my high school literature classes.

[clapclapclap 9000]

100 years ago the Boston Molasses Flood killed 21:

https://www.masslive.com/expo/news/g66l-2019/01/d604cf99127002/100-years-ago-great-boston-molasses-flood-of-1919.html

[Brisketexan 104465]

January 15, 1962, in a necropolis for a Greek noble in Derveni, Macedonia (on the road from Thessaloniki to Kavala, at the northernmost point of the Aegean, near the modern Greek/Turkish border), an ancient Greek papyrus roll was discovered. Naturally, it was given the name "Dervini papyrus" and it has been dated to around 340 B.C.E., during the reign of Philip II of Macedon, which makes it the oldest surviving manusript in Europe. 
In reality, it is only a few centuries younger than the oldest surviving papyrus texts, written in Aramaic and preserved in Egypt by the dry desert conditions, but it is obviously much younger than the carved cuneiform writing, examples of which are scattered from Iran to Syria.
The Derveni text is from the unique ancient Greek religion known as "Orphism", derived from the mythical lyricist known as Orpheus. Essentially an allegorical form of literary criticism, the Derveni document is an extensive commentary on the birth of the Gods, attributable either to the philosopher Anaxagoras, or at the very least one of his followers.
It took over four decades before the text was published, partly due to the difficulty in extracting legible phrases from a decrepit, partially burnt ancient bit of scrawling and scratching. The retelling of ancient myths with which more recent sources have made us all familiar did reveal some rather new twists, however, including the following:
"Zeus, having 'heard oracles from his father', goes to the sanctuary of Night (the Goddess Nyx), who tells him 'all the oracles which afterwards he was to put into effect.' Upon hearing them, Zeus 'swallowed the phallus [of the Titan king Uranus] who first had ejaculated the brilliance of heaven.'"
I don't recall hearing that version in my high school literature classes.

Was said phallus in a bag of other phalli? Asking for a Stoops.

[Doc Reeves 6434]

6 hours ago, clapclapclap said:

100 years ago the Boston Molasses Flood killed 21:

https://www.masslive.com/expo/news/g66l-2019/01/d604cf99127002/100-years-ago-great-boston-molasses-flood-of-1919.html

 Buddy of mine grew up around there and said when he was a kid during the summer when it got hot it would still smell strongly of molasses.

[El Diablo 4232]

January 16, 1919—100 years ago today--the Galveston Brewing Co. quit brewing beer because of the impending U.S. Prohibition and began making a non-intoxicating beer called Galvo, instead. 

"Barkeep, I'd like a pint of Galvo and a fresh onion for my belt."

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

January 16, 929 C.E., Emir Abd-ar-Rahman III established the Caliphate of Córdoba, thereby adding one of the more interesting twists in the history of al-Andalus (Arabic: الأندلس; Spanish: al-Ándalus; Berber: Andalus or Wandalus), the state sometimes referred to as "Muslim Spain" or "Islamic Iberia" just to keep things simple. However, the reality is that it was never very simple.

Scholarly debate constantly rages over whether or not to refer to Islamic rule in Spain as an example of religious tolerance and peace, and there are plenty of examples by proponents and adversaries alike, but the rule of Umayyad Emir Abd-ar-Rahman III serves as an excellent starting place in explaining why both sides of the argument are sort of missing the point.

Officially, all creeds were protected by explicit freedom of religion decrees under his rule, and there are numerous examples of harsh penalties handed out to those who would violate the freedoms of Jewish or Christian Andalusians, but there were complicating factors, some of which led to harsh treatment by the government of those self-same protected minority groups.

Basically, as the highest ranking/most powerful Umayyad in the world at the time, Abd ar-Rahman had two principle worries in Iberia; the first was relatively minor -- the possibility of conflict with the Christian kingdoms to his north (Asturias and Navarre), and the second was conflict with the Berber (North African Muslim) tribes to his south. The Christians were in no position to threaten al-Andalus, and for the first 20 years of his rule, Abd ar-Rahman made sure that for his part he gave them no reason to do so.

The Berbers, on the other hand, were mostly either descended from or in allegiance to various rulers from the Fatimid and Abbasid Caliphates, and as representatives of a hodge-podge of non-Arabic Islamic nationalities and points-of-origin, gave rise to an almost uncountable number of revolutions, plots, intrigues, riots, and demonstrations against the principally Arabic nobility of al-Andalus.

By declaring himself "Caliph" Abd ar-Rahman was breaking with longstanding tradition in Islam that the "Caliph" (the ruler of the whole Islamic world) must be the ruler who controls the holy sites of Mecca and Medina. His presumption has some modern resonance, if you care to read between the lines in current events rather than get your "news" from television, but I digress. If you don't understand why the overwhelming majority of Muslims reject ISIS, there's not much hope for your education.

Anyway, Abd ar-Rahman did manage to suppress the vast majority of the rebel groups, but in doing so, he discovered that several of them included Christians or Jews who had seen an opportunity to overthrow Muslim rule altogether by pitting the Arabs against the Berbers.

The Caliphate of Córdoba lasted until 1031, and when it died, most of the religious freedoms which marked the relatively idyllic tolerance of al-Andalus died with it. It is difficult to say how well the "Peace of al-Andalus" would have fared had the non-Muslims kept completely out of the conflict, but that certainly isn't a question most folk ask, poignant as it might be.

[Buffsoldier 1895]

19 hours ago, clapclapclap said:

100 years ago the Boston Molasses Flood killed 21:

https://www.masslive.com/expo/news/g66l-2019/01/d604cf99127002/100-years-ago-great-boston-molasses-flood-of-1919.html

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

January 17, 1781, one of the largest defeats inflicted on British troops during the American Revolution took place in northwestern Cherokee County, South Carolina, near the town of Cowpens (though, to be precise, there wasn't really a "town" there at the time, just, you know, pens for cows).

For reference, the year 2000 melodrama "The Patriot" featuring Mel Gibson loosely (and boy, do I mean loosely) based its climactic final battle scene on the Battle of Cowpens. 

The only details even remotely close boil down to the fact that the American commander (Brigadier General Daniel Morgan) had his militia units at the front of his order of battle, ordering them to fire twice, and then run away, with the intention of resuming formation behind the Continental Regulars who were behind a hill and out of view of the British Dragoons (17th Light Dragoons, to be precise) under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Banastre Tarleton (whom Jason Isaacs' character in Gibson's ridiculous story actually resembled the real historical figure, down to the smirk and polish -- it's rare that the "black hat" in a historical mockumentary is accurate, but in this case, it was spot on).

Gen. Cornwallis, however, much as Gibson would have you believe otherwise, was not in attendance. He was sitting in Charleston, pulling his hair out trying (and failing) to counter the brilliant overall strategy of Southern Commander of American forces General Nathanael Greene, who split his meager forces in the face of superior numbers (something no European educated military figure would ever dream of doing), relying on speed and the ability to live off the land, something the British could not do.

At Cowpens, supposedly superior British firepower and discipline ran straight into the teeth of the actually superior American mobility and marksmanship. Even at this late date in the war, the British continued to rely on the power of cavalry and of the bayonnet, in spite of the American reliance on actually hitting something when they fired their muskets and longbore rifles. 

The Americans picked off the entire officer corps of the British horse troops before they got anywhere close to the American lines, and when the militia regrouped and the battle started in earnest, the British had, quite literally, been rendered powerless to adapt -- there simply was no chain of command left to tell them how to change tactics, and so they just stood there and got shot. That, or ran away. Or surrendered.

The estimates of how many troops on either side were involved vary greatly, but most eyewitness accounts agree that the forces were fairly evenly distributed... with the exception being that the British cavalry greatly outnumbered the American horse troops. It didn't matter. Both sides had a little over 1,000 men engaged; American losses came to 25 dead, 124 wounded. British losses were 110 dead, 229 wounded, 829 captured or missing, and 2 field canon abandoned.

Morgan retired shortly after this fight, which he had enjoined only as a personal favor to his friend and Virginia neighbor George Washington.

Tarleton's military career ought to have ended (indeed, after his many war crimes, he probably ought to have been arrested, court martialed, and shot), but he had fairly powerful political allies, and in fact, later in 1781, he returned to Britain, became a member of Parliament, and spent the rest of his life defending slavery. So, you know, he was at least consistent in terms of which side of history to come down on.

[El Diablo 4232]

January 17, 1995, George W. Bush was sworn in as the state’s second Republican governor since reconstruction

[Sbbruin 21697]

25 years ago today my shit got rocked.  Was living in Westwood but had graduated.  I had actually gotten up to get some water a few minutes before so I hadn't yet fallen back to sleep.  A quick jolt, a pause, then shit got real.

Edited January 17, 2019 by Sbbruin

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

January 18, 1976, a right wing Lebanese Christian militia group known as the Lebanese Front invaded the Karantina district in east Beirut (a mostly Muslim neighborhood inhabited by Lebanese of Palestinian, Kurdish, Syrian, and Armenian descent), killing 1,500 people in what came to be known as the Karantina Massacre.

This was one of the earliest, but (as horrific as it was) hardly the bloodiest of atrocities committed during the Lebanese Civil War, which raged from 1975 to 1990. It also highlights the fundamental obscurity of levantine history in the United States, as very few Americans could cite the major players in the evolution of the Lebanese war over the last several decades.

The roots of the '75-'90 Civil War, in fact, lay in conflicts between predominantly Christian groups (the Druze and the Maronites) in the early 19th Century. The Druze gained control, which was reinforced by French colonial rule (the French stepped into the void left by the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century).

However... while the country has had (for 2,000 years) a significant Christian population, it has (for close to the last 1,000 years) been majority Muslim. The Muslims, though, were even more fractured and sectarian than the Christians, making it not only possible, but even politically probable for Christians at any given time to form a plurality, making them the governing power (the application of Game Theory to politics finds Lebanon a grim laboratory). 

That logic, though, never changed the fact that the extreme sectarian divisions were a ticking time bomb, bound to go off every time economic conditions worsened in one corner or the other.

In 1975, conflict erupted between an odd assortment of shifting alliances, with the Sunni and Christian groups in the coastal cities in sometime alliance against Shia in the south and Beqaa (to the East), and Druze in the mountains being sometimes neutral, sometimes allied with pro-Western groups (whichever those might be at any given time).

The incursion of Israel into Southern Lebanon in the 1980's (in their conflict with the Palestine Liberation Organization) did nothing to ease matters in the broader Lebanese conflict.

By the end of the war, fully 120,000 Lebanese lay dead. As of 2012, over 1,000,000 Lebanese had fled the country. The Syrian Civil War currently raging is very much like the Lebanese conflict which preceded it; Western Islamophobia has led most Americans to completely misinterpret as "religious" a war which is clearly (like practically all other wars before it) a racially charged socioeconomic power grab. 

And like the Lebanese Civil War which came before it, there will be no "winners". Certainly not Lebanon, by the way, where over 1 million Syrian refugees are now living.

[El Diablo 4232]

January 18, 1891—128 years ago today—James Stephen Hogg was inaugurated as the state’s governor, the first native Texan to be elected to the office. He was born in 1851 in Cherokee County and died in 1906 in Houston at the age of 54. He served two 2-year terms as governor, leaving office in 1895. He’s famous, among other things, for naming his daughter Ima (His three sons had conventional names and he did not, as is widely believed, have a second daughter whom he named Ura).

[HouTex 1847]

1778 Captain James Cook stumbles over Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian Islands)

1919 The Paris peace conference (aka the Versailles peace conference) opens to draw up the treaties formally ending the Great War (WWI)

1945 Soviet Armed Forces enter Krakow, Poland and push Germans out, only to eventually occupy entire country

1964 The Beatles make their first appearance on US Billboard Chart with single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" at #45

1976 Super Bowl X, Miami Orange Bowl: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Dallas Cowboys, 21-17; MVP: Lynn Swann, Pittsburgh, WR

1980 Gold reaches $1,000 an ounce

1980 Pink Floyd's album "The Wall" hits #1

 

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

January 19th is the earliest date on which Bóndadagur (an Icelandic holiday also known as "Man's Day") may take place. Traditionally, Iceland used the Germanic calendar, which does not dovetail easily with the Julian calendar, but the calculation basically places Bóndadagur between January 19th and 25th. It is the first day in the month of Þorri; literally translated, it means "Farmer's Day" and is a generally humorous celebration of the "man of the house" in rural, agrarian Iceland.

The first written reference to Bóndadagur was in 1864 by Jón Árnason, in his book Þjóðsögur ("Folk Tales"). According to Árnason, the master of the house should arise on the celebration day, put only one leg of his trousers and underwear on, and hop around outside calling men on neighboring farms to attend a feast to welcome the month of Þorri.

Hallmark has, of course, gotten in on the act, and Bóndadagur since the 1970's been a commercialized cultural event. Icelandic wives commemorate Bóndadagur by small tokens (frequently a gag gift), and cooking the smoked lamb called hangikjöt.

For the record, "Women's Day" in Iceland is called Konudagur, and is celebrated on the first day of Góa, and it predates Bóndadagur by several decades. It is the Icelandic equivalent of Valentine's Day, and occurs roughly at the same time (mid-February) as the rest of the world is besieged by flowers, chocolate, and jewelry.

[El Diablo 4232]

January 19th, 1937, millionaire Howard Hughes set a transcontinental air record by flying his monoplane from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds.

Makes me want to see Elon Musk do something similar.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

2 minutes ago, El Diablo said:

January 19th, 1937, millionaire Howard Hughes set a transcontinental air record by flying his monoplane from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds.

Makes me want to see Elon Musk do something similar.

He probably has insurance riders that stop him form doing anything dangerous.

[El Diablo 4232]

4 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

He probably has insurance riders that stop him form doing anything dangerous.

Oh sure, shift the blame to some anonymous insurance carrier for him being a big pussy.  

[Armybrat 40678]

On 1/8/2019 at 4:49 PM, Brisketexan said:

That, and it inspired the kickass Johnny Horton song.

A Brit friend of mine is rebuilding a French farmhouse & barn for his retirement. He restored a vintage 1960s jukebox for the game roo, so I sent him a couple dozen classic rock 45s, including Horton’s Battle of New Orleans hit, from our collection.

Unfortunately the jukebox was lost in a freak accident.

[Brisketexan 104465]

A Brit friend of mine is rebuilding a French farmhouse & barn for his retirement. He restored a vintage 1960s jukebox for the game roo, so I sent him a couple dozen classic rock 45s, including Horton’s Battle of New Orleans hit, from our collection.
Unfortunately the jukebox was lost in a freak accident.

What the fuck does a freak jukebox accident look like?

[Armybrat 40678]

His place of business in London has a large warehouse in the back where the jukebox was stored (waiting for the French place - in Chaillac - to be completed). Last summer his son (an intern) went out to the warehouse to check on some equipment and heard a loud rushing water noise. He walked back to the rear area in the building and saw a 10’ hole in the concrete slab. Looking down into it he saw a river of fast water about 40’ below.

Seems a major water main had ruptured and washed out a huge sinkhole space under that half of the warehouse where my friend kept a large amount of building supplies - plumbing & electrical equipment, along with personal stuff destined for the French house. Anyway, his son carefully backed away from the hole and went back to the offices to get his dad. That’s when half of the 6,000 square foot warehouse collapsed down into the sinkhole, washing away tons of equipment and said jukebox, along with some nice slabs of Italian marble. It took the City of london’s Public works department hundreds of loads of gravel & concrete to fill the void, not to mention repairing the old waterline. Friend is still dealing with his insurance carrier which is in turn dealing with the city hall over liability.

All that said, my friend is overwhelmingly thankful his son was spared certain death. I told the kid to go buy a lottery ticket. 

The Johnny Horton record was not in that warehouse, but my friend is having a tough time finding another vintage jukebox like the one that was lost. It was the type that he remembers playing with in a local hangout while he grew up in the 1960s.

Edited January 19, 2019 by Armybrat

[davidg 4025]

5 hours ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

He probably has insurance riders that stop him form doing anything dangerous.

Elon just needs this guy

 

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

2 minutes ago, davidg said:

Elon just needs this guy

 

 We all need that guy

 

Life's a bit more empty with out Phillip S. Hoffman too.

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

January 20th is "Qara Yanvar" or "Martyr's Day" in Azerbaijan, in commemoration of Black January, also known as Black Saturday, or the January Massacre. 

During the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1990, the USSR decreed emergency rule in Baku (the largest city in Azerbaijan) and 26,000 predominantly Russian troops from the USSR clashed with Azerbaijani citizens. 

There was no organized Azerbaijani resistance (despite Soviet claims to the contrary) but there were large crowds of protestors, on some of whom the Soviets opened fire. Over the next three days, as many as 300 citizens were killed, with as many as 800 wounded. 

A few private citizens took it upon themselves to take potshots at soldiers, with 21 Soviet invaders killed, and 90 wounded. Though it was during the last days of the USSR, they did manage to suppress any news coverage of the event, and not only did most of the West not know what was going on, outside of Baku, most Azerbaijanis were also unaware of the events until much later.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23356]

50 years ago

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

January 21st is National Hug Day.  Invented in 1986 in Clio, Michigan by Rev. Kevin Zaborney, the idea is to encourage everyone to hug family and friends more often.  "American society is embarrassed to show feelings in public," he wrote, though he cautioned that we should probably ask before hugging, just to be sure we get the appropriate response.  In the 1980s, touchy-feely advocate Leo Buscaglia practically invented the positive-reinforcement-through-human-contact meme, and since that time, numerous researchers have found time and time again that warm, approving human contact has effects as widespread and beneficial as increasing oxytocin (the "love" hormone responsible for, among other things, altruism, honesty, and orgasms), reducing the stress hormone cortisol (and thereby reducing one of the biggest contributors to weight gain), lowering blood pressure, and easing the negative effects of tachycardia.  And it's not just friends and family who are not touching enough -- one study at the University of Miami found that American romantic partners spend only one-third of the time simply touching (nothing prurient, mind you, simply holding hands, hugging, or snuggling) that French couples spend.

[El Diablo 4232]

January 21, 1917—102 years ago today--Leonard Harmon was born in Cuero, TX. During World War II, he served as a mess attendant first class aboard the USS San Francisco. He was killed in action on November 13, 1942 during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal and was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for heroism in the action. In August 1943, he was honored as the first black for whom the Navy named a ship as the USS Harmon was commissioned. The 1,400-ton Buckley class destroyer escort was part of the landings in January 1945 in Leyte and in March operated off Iwo Jima. After the war, she was assigned to duties in both the Pacific and the Atlantic before she was decommissioned in 1947. The Harmon remained inactive until she was sold for scrapping in January 1967.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Roy_Harmon

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

January 22, 1877 (a mere hundred and forty-two years ago), Father Arthur Tooth SSC was arrested for, among other crimes against humanity, using incense, unleavened bread, and facing east during the celebration of the Communion Feast during his services as minister of the parish of St James's Hatcham. It didn't help that he also (shock! horror!) used candles on the altar during these atrocious acts.

These (among a few other seemingly mundane) practices were proscribed under the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874, which had sought to make worship services in the Church of England free from ritualistic liturgical practices. Ritualism in the Church was perceived by many to be a threat to "English identity" as it mirrored many of the practices of the Catholic churches (both Roman and Orthodox).

Coming as it did nearly a century after the American Revolution and subsequent constitutionally protected separation of church and state in the U.S., Tooth's arrest highlighted the absurdity of government interference in religion. It also emphasized the real reasons behind centralized liturgical control -- ritualism, it turns out, was practiced most often in working class parishes such as St James's Hatcham, where it was a more accessible form of worship for the poor and underprivileged. 

Ritualist ministers were often far more involved in social outreach programs than their conformist peers, and whether they were conscious of such motivation or not, those who opposed ritualism were, in fact, striking a blow for the oligarchy.

Imprisoning Tooth at London's Horsemonger Lane Gaol made him a Christian martyr (a martyr! In 19th century England!), and led to the eventual end of enforcement of the ridiculous and oppressive Public Worship Regulation Act of 1874 in 1906, (nearly 30 years later), though the act was still on the books (unenforced) for another 91 years, only being repealed in 1965, 88 years too late for Tooth.

[El Diablo 4232]

January 22, 1883—136 years ago today--the Texas Fifty Cent Act was repealed. The act, which Gov. Oran M. Roberts advocated, was passed in July 1879 and provided for the sale of state land at 50 cents an acre, half of which was to be used to reduce public debt and half to establish a permanent school fund. The Fifty Cent Act was unfortunately shot full of holes. The state sold about 3.2 million acres for a total of about $1.6 million, but the act was repealed because of fraudulent land speculation.

[HouTex 1847]

1941 1st mass killing of Jews in Romania

1941 British and Australian troops capture Tobruk from Italians

1943 Allied Joint Chiefs of Staff determine invasion of Sicily for July 10th

1943 Temperature rises 49°F in 2 minutes in Spearfish, South Dakota

1944 Allied forces begin landing at Anzio on the Italian mainland

1946 US President Harry Truman sets up the Central Intelligence Agency

1968 "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" (with a very young Goldie Hawn) premieres on NBC

1973 George Foreman TKOs Joe Frazier in 2 rounds to win WBC & WBA heavyweight boxing titles in Kingston, Jamaica; Frazier knocked down 3 times in both 1st & 2nd rounds

1973 Roe vs Wade: US Supreme Court legalizes most abortions

1980 PGA begins a senior golf tour

1988 Mike Tyson TKOs Larry Holmes in 4 in Atlantic City to retain his undisputed heavyweight boxing title; 38-year old former champion floored 3 times in 4th before fight stopped

 

 

[El Diablo 4232]

January 23rd, 1968, North Korea seized the U.S. Navy intelligence ship USS Pueblo, commanded by Lloyd "Pete" Bucher, charging its crew with being on a spying mission; one sailor was killed and 82 were taken prisoner. (Cmdr. Bucher and his crew were released the following December after enduring 11 months of brutal captivity at the hands of the North Koreans.)

/csb - Mid 80's I was working as a merchant seaman and met a former Navy radioman who claimed to have been on duty stateside and in communication with the Pueblo as it was being boarded by the Norks.

[HouTex 1847]

1962 British intelligence officer Kim Philby defects to USSR

1971 UCLA loses to Notre Dame, UCLA then wins next 88 games in a row

1973 US President Richard Nixon announces an accord has been reached to end Vietnam War

2002 Reporter Daniel Pearl kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan, and subsequently murdered.

2016 Category 5 blizzard delivers record 3ft of snow to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast US, killing 55 and incurring estimated $500m - $3bn economic losses

 

 

[Doc Reeves 6434]

That 2016 blizzard was crazy. For 55 people to die in that in our modern times is astronomical

[Doc Reeves 6434]

1556- The Shaanxi Earthquake In Shaanxi province China. It is the world deadliest earthquake. As many as 830,000 people were killed.

 1849- Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her MD becoming the USs first female Dr.

1964- 24th Amendment is ratified eliminating Poll taxes.

1985- OJ Simpson becomes the first Heisman Trophy winner to be inducted into the Football hall of game.

1960- The bathyscaphe USS Trieste breaks the human occupied depth record at 35,797ft

1957- American inventor Walter Frederick Morrison sells his rights for a plastic flying disk to Wham-O toy co. It is named the “Frisbee”

1943- WWII: The Americans and Australian forces defeat the Japanese in Papua. This marks the turning point of the end of Japanese aggression and a shift to defense.

1941- Charles Lindbergh testifies before Congress that the US should pursue a Neutrality Pact with Hitler.  

1912- The International Opium Convention is signed at The Hauge in response to the Opium Wars in China. It is later the foundation of the USs Harrison Act and most of our drug legislation over the past 100yrs.

1907- Charles Curtis of KS becomes the first Native American US senator.

1897- Elva Zona Heaster is found dead in Greenbrier, WV. The resulting trial is the only known trial in US history where the alleged testimony of a ghost was used to convict a defendant.

1870- US Calvery kill 173 native Americans almost all of whom were women and children in what becomes known as the Marias Massacre.

1855- the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge is opened in Minneapolis, MN. It’s the first perminate bridge across the Mississippi at any point.

1719- The province of Liechtenstein is created within the Holy Roman Empire.

1656- Blaise Pascal publishes the first of his Letters provinciales.

1570- James Stuart, King James I’s regent in Scotland is assassinated by firearm, the first recorded instance of such. It also marks the beginning of the Scottish Civil War.

1510- King Henery VIII, at age 18, appears incognito in the lists at Richmond where he competes against other jousters. He is applauded by the crowd for his skill before dramatically revealing his identity. 

1368- Zhu Yuanzhang ascends to the throne as Hongwu Emperor beginning the Ming dynasty that would last for 300 years.

 

 

 

 

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

The American Pie Council has held an annual "National Pie Day" on January 23rd every year since 1986. The origin is actually slightly older than that, with Boulder, Colorado schoolteacher Charlie Papazian having declared in the mid-1970s that his birthday should be "National Pie Day" -- not to be confused, of course with "Pi Day" held on March 14th every year (3/14). 

The American Pie Council has distributed promotional posters to pie shops featuring the cast of the movie "Labor Day" in conjunction with "National Pie Day" and so the image of Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin and Gattlin Griffith should now, forever more, be etched in your mind. An escaped murderer (whether fictional or no) is the perfect representation of the maker of the perfect apple pie.

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

January 24, 41 C.E., Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, more popularly known as "Caligula", was assassinated by his Praetorian guards. 

The name "Caligula" literally means "little soldier's boot" and it was a nickname he earned as a child by accompanying his highly successful father, the Emperor Tiberius, who had been one of the better generals and one of the most popular figures in Roman political life. While the official records would seem to indicate that the first six months or so of Caligula's rule were fairly mundane, shortly thereafter, a review of his deeds requires the use of words like "extravagant" or "cruel". 

You could throw in "sadistic" or "perverted", too, and you wouldn't be wrong... even by ancient Roman standards. When Morrissey sings of an awkward suggestion from a paramour that "Caligula would have blushed" well, you know you are well into hyperbole, because Caligula wasn't going to blush for anything. 

The assassination attempt was predestined for partial success -- the actual killing was easy, since he had made himself so unpopular in so many circles. However, the main push from within the Praetorians had been an attempt to restore the Roman Republic, putting the Senate back at the center of power, as it had been before the Caesars. 

It was not to be -- other Praetorians, with fewer scruples but more political savvy, were able to place Caligula's uncle Claudius on the throne.

[HouTex 1847]

1895 Lord Randolph Churchill dies (Winston's father)

1921 Paris Conference on reparations is held

1935 1st canned beer, "Krueger's Cream Ale," is sold by American company Krueger Brewing Co

1939 30,000 killed by earthquake in Concepcion Chile

1943 Adolf Hitler orders German troops at Stalingrad to fight to the death

1950 Jackie Robinson signs highest contract ($35,000) in Dodger history

1952 1st NFL team in Texas, Dallas Texans formerly NY Yanks

1965 Winston Churchill dies

1984 Apple Computer unveils its revolutionary Macintosh personal computer

1989 1st reported case of AIDS transmitted by heterosexual oral sex

1994 Dow Jones closes above 3,900 for 1st time (3,914.48)

 

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

January 25th is Dydd Santes Dwynwen (Welsh for St. Dwynwen's Day), the Welsh equivalent to Valentine's Day. Dwynwen, as one might guess, is the Welsh saint of romantic love. 

Oral tradition is always difficult to verify, so take it with a grain of salt, but the story goes that some time around the 5th Century, a young woman named Dwynwen fell in love with a young man named Maelon Dafodrill. (If these Welsh names sound silly to American ears, please at least be grateful that they seem to have enough vowels in them -- never a certainty in that language.)

For some unknown reason, they could not marry. Could be the family disagreed; could be he was a fickle rogue; could be pretty much anything -- given 5th century superstitions, maybe he was actually a pile of rocks. With the Welsh, who knows?

Anyway, distraught by her unrequitable love for Maelon, Dwynwen prayed to "fall out of love" with him, and here's where the story gets a truly pre-modern feel to it: she was visited by an angel, who gave her a potion designed to erase all memory of Maelon, and turn him into a block of ice. God then gave her three wishes... 

First, she wished that Maelon be thawed (which is a little odd, given that she had supposedly forgotten him, but why let internal inconsistency get in the way of a good story); second, she wished that God meet the hopes and dreams of true lovers everywhere; and third, she wished never to marry.

In gratitude for God granting her three wishes, she devoted herself as no nun had ever devoted herself before or since (and whether she was a real person or not has become rather beside the point). The church known as Llanddwyn was named after her, and was supposedly built in her lifetime (though no one knows for sure, as there is no real proof one way or the other).

Dydd Santes Dwynwen greeting cards have become quite popular, both as a way to commemorate this uniquely Welsh take on Valentine's Day, and as a way of preserving Welsh language and culture.