Today in History...

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

May 10, 1893, in one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in history, which to this day is causing pain and anguish to botanists and linguists alike, the case of Nix v. Hedden established that as far as the government of the United States is concerned, truth be damned: the tomato is a vegetable.

The court unanimously found that the tomato should be classified under the customs regulations as a vegetable, based on the ways in which it is used, and the popular perception to this end. Justice Horace Gray, writing the opinion for the Court, stated that:

"The passages cited from the dictionaries define the word 'fruit' as the seed of plants, or that part of plants which contains the seed, and especially the juicy, pulpy products of certain plants, covering and containing the seed. These definitions have no tendency to show that tomatoes are 'fruit,' as distinguished from 'vegetables,' in common speech, or within the meaning of the tariff act."

Gray acknowledged that botanically, tomatoes are classified as a "fruit of the vine"; nevertheless, they are seen as vegetables because they were usually eaten as a main course instead of being eaten as a dessert. In making his decision, Justice Gray mentioned another case where it had been claimed that beans were seeds — Justice Bradley, in Robertson v. Salomon, 130 U.S. 412, 414, similarly found that though a bean is botanically a seed, in common parlance a bean is seen as a vegetable. While on the subject, Gray clarified the status of the cucumber, squash, pea, and bean.

Of course, the ridiculous notion that fruit cannot be a main dish is a whole other fulcrum for the catastrophic condition of our country.

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3871]

On 5/9/2019 at 7:17 AM, El Diablo said:

A small detachment of Texas Rangers that included the legendary Frank Hamer was unable to stop the mob, which burned the courthouse and much of the community’s black business section.

Kevin Costner in the recent Bonnie and Clyde movie

1 hour ago, Walden Ponderer said:

May 10, 1893, in one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in history, which to this day is causing pain and anguish to botanists and linguists alike, the case of Nix v. Hedden established that as far as the government of the United States is concerned, truth be damned: the tomato is a vegetable.

The court unanimously found that the tomato should be classified under the customs regulations as a vegetable, based on the ways in which it is used, and the popular perception to this end. Justice Horace Gray, writing the opinion for the Court, stated that:

"The passages cited from the dictionaries define the word 'fruit' as the seed of plants, or that part of plants which contains the seed, and especially the juicy, pulpy products of certain plants, covering and containing the seed. These definitions have no tendency to show that tomatoes are 'fruit,' as distinguished from 'vegetables,' in common speech, or within the meaning of the tariff act."

Gray acknowledged that botanically, tomatoes are classified as a "fruit of the vine"; nevertheless, they are seen as vegetables because they were usually eaten as a main course instead of being eaten as a dessert. In making his decision, Justice Gray mentioned another case where it had been claimed that beans were seeds — Justice Bradley, in Robertson v. Salomon, 130 U.S. 412, 414, similarly found that though a bean is botanically a seed, in common parlance a bean is seen as a vegetable. While on the subject, Gray clarified the status of the cucumber, squash, pea, and bean.

Of course, the ridiculous notion that fruit cannot be a main dish is a whole other fulcrum for the catastrophic condition of our country.

This is incredible that this opinion exists, and it is odd that I was thinking about this argument for some reason this very morning -- complete with both sides' positions.  I can't figure out how that is possible.  Maybe some radio on the background somewhere I was at was discussing this day in history.

[HouTex 1939]

1503 Christopher Columbus discovers Cayman Islands

1752 Benjamin Franklin tests the lightning conductor with his kite-flying experiment

1775 Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia names George Washington Supreme Commander

1869 Golden Spike driven, completing the 1st US Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah and connecting the Central Pacific Railroad with the Union Pacific

1924 J. Edgar Hoover appointed head of FBI

1933 Nazis stage public book burnings in Germany

1940 Nazi armies attack Netherlands, Belgium & Luxembourg

1940 Winston Churchill succeeds Neville Chamberlain as British Prime Minister

1941 Adolf Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess escapes to Britain to open secret negotiations with the Allies, parachuting into Scotland

1966 25°F lowest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in May

1969 Turtles play White House, Mark Volman falls off stage 5 times

 

[NeverMarryAStripper 22288]

1503 Christopher Columbus discovers Cayman Islands
 

1504 First bank established in the Cayman Islands

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

2 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

1504 First bank established in the Cayman Islands

1505 First body of someone who asked too many questions about a Cayman Island bank washes ashore in Maracaibo.

[HornsOverIthaca 2339]

4 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

1504 First bank established in the Cayman Islands

 

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

May 12, 922 C.E., Abbasid envoy Ahmad ibn Fadlan arrived in the lands of Volga Bulgars.  He did not have anywhere near the smoldering good looks of Antonio Banderas, who portrayed him in Michael Crighton's "13th Warrior" (the movie rendering of the book "Eaters of the Dead").  He also did not, so far as we know, join Beowulf in conquering a remnant tribe of cannibalistic Neanderthals plaguing the Vikings, but the real Ahmad ibn Fadlan was an interesting character all the same.  Crighton's treatment of Ibn Fadlan's narrative is perhaps more sympathetic than might be found among scholars (after all, Crighton used him as his novel's narrator, so Ibn Fadlan's actual judgmentalism would not have sufficed as a vehicle for telling a fanciful story).

At the time Ibn Fadlan was travelling and writing, Islam was still a very new religion, and had not yet been codified "and the seal of finality had not been set upon further thought and development in theology or philosophy" as one Ibn Fadlan reviewer put it -- while Ibn Fadlan recognized this reality in principle, in action he was highly critical of those in Central Eurasia (the Volga Bulgars among them) whose implementation of Islam fell far short of the ideal he held as an ambassador from Baghdad.  He wrote of these less-than-ideal Muslims that they were "like asses gone astray. They have no religious bonds with God, nor do they have recourse to reason."

[HouTex 1939]

1932 Body of kidnapped son of Charles Lindbergh is found in Hopewell, New Jersey

1937 Coronation of King George VI of Great Britain (and his other realms and territories beyond the sea) at Westminster Abbey, London

1940 Nazi blitzkrieg and conquest of France begins with the crossing of the Muese River

1942 Nazi U-boat sinks American cargo ship at mouth of Mississippi River

1943 Winston Churchill arrives in USA

1951 1st H Bomb test, on Enewetak Atoll

1967 "Are You Experienced" album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience first released - one of the most influential debut albums ever

[El Diablo 4232]

May 13th, 1973, in tennis' first so-called "Battle of the Sexes," Bobby Riggs defeated Margaret Court 6-2, 6-1 in Ramona, California. (Billie Jean King soundly defeated Riggs at the Houston Astrodome in September.)

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

May 13, 1862, Robert Smalls -- a slave from Charleston, South Carolina, who had been hired out by his master to the Confederate army -- took advantage of the planned debauchery of the three-man white crew of the gun boat CSS Planter, who spent the night of May 12th on shore, getting drunk, playing cards, and presumably carousing with the likely ladies of Charleston.  At 3:00 a.m., in the quiet dark of the early morning, Smalls dressed in the captain's uniform, and with seven of the eight other slaves assigned to the ship, sailed the Planter out of the wharf, stopped to pick up his own family and the families of other crewmen, and made for the line of Union vessels blockading the harbor.

Smalls piloted the ship past the five Confederate forts that guarded the harbor, giving the correct Confederate signals to each signal tower. The ship passed Fort Sumter approximately 4:30 am, and he headed straight for the Federal fleet, flying a white bed sheet as a sign of surrender; the USS Onward was about to fire until a sailor noticed the white flag. When the Onward's captain boarded the Planter, Smalls requested to raise the United States flag. He then surrendered the Planter and her cargo to the United States Navy.

President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill within weeks which awarded Smalls and his crewmen the prize money for the Planter. Smalls' share was $1,500 (about $34,000 adjusted for inflation in 2012 dollars), a huge amount for the time. He met President Lincoln two weeks later and gave a first hand account of his adventure.

Smalls' bravery became a major argument for allowing African Americans to serve in the Union Army.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

5 minutes ago, Walden Ponderer said:

May 13, 1862, Robert Smalls -- a slave from Charleston, South Carolina, who had been hired out by his master to the Confederate army -- took advantage of the planned debauchery of the three-man white crew of the gun boat CSS Planter, who spent the night of May 12th on shore, getting drunk, playing cards, and presumably carousing with the likely ladies of Charleston.  At 3:00 a.m., in the quiet dark of the early morning, Smalls dressed in the captain's uniform, and with seven of the eight other slaves assigned to the ship, sailed the Planter out of the wharf, stopped to pick up his own family and the families of other crewmen, and made for the line of Union vessels blockading the harbor.

Smalls piloted the ship past the five Confederate forts that guarded the harbor, giving the correct Confederate signals to each signal tower. The ship passed Fort Sumter approximately 4:30 am, and he headed straight for the Federal fleet, flying a white bed sheet as a sign of surrender; the USS Onward was about to fire until a sailor noticed the white flag. When the Onward's captain boarded the Planter, Smalls requested to raise the United States flag. He then surrendered the Planter and her cargo to the United States Navy.

President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill within weeks which awarded Smalls and his crewmen the prize money for the Planter. Smalls' share was $1,500 (about $34,000 adjusted for inflation in 2012 dollars), a huge amount for the time. He met President Lincoln two weeks later and gave a first hand account of his adventure.

Smalls' bravery became a major argument for allowing African Americans to serve in the Union Army.

Niiiice move Captain Smalls.................

[El Diablo 4232]

May 14th, 2001, the Supreme Court ruled 8-0 that there is no exception in federal law for people to use marijuana for medical purposes.

[Armybrat 41394]

Let them enforce it then. 

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

May 14, 1796, Edward Jenner administered a smallpox vaccination to James Phipps, the eight-year-old son of Jenner's gardener. Jenner's vaccine was not created in an especially complicated way -- he scraped pus from cowpox blisters on the hands of Sarah Nelmes, a milkmaid who had caught cowpox from a cow called Blossom, whose hide now hangs on the wall of the St George's medical school library. Phipps was the 17th case described in Jenner's first paper on vaccination.

While Jenner's accomplishment is typically credited with being first, it actually built on work begun forty years earlier; in 1765, Dr John Fewster published a paper in the London Medical Society entitled "Cow pox and its ability to prevent smallpox", but he did not pursue the subject further.

At least five doctors in England and Germany (Sevel, Jensen, Jesty 1774, Rendell, Plett 1791) experimented with a cowpox vaccine in humans against smallpox, and Benjamin Jesty successfully vaccinated and presumably induced immunity with cowpox in his wife and two children during a smallpox epidemic in 1774, but Jesty was a farmer in Dorset, not a well known scientist with the ability to properly describe his experiments and disseminate the results in the appropriate literature, so it was not until Jenner took the information and formalized it that the first successful vaccination program could truly begin.

[Catdaddyhorn 3466]

A day late but,  "On this date - May 13, 1985 - Philadelphia Police dropped a bomb from a helicopter on a home owned by radical black nationalist group MOVE, destroying the house, killing 5 adults and 6 children, and causing a fire that burned down 61 black middle class homes.

Prior to dropping the bomb, over 500 police officers fired more than 10,000 rounds into a house known to contain women and children. Finally, police commissioner Gregore J. Sambor ordered the dropping of the bomb, which had been "loaned" to the police by the FBI.

The ensuing fire burned down a fairly well-off black neighborhood in West Philly, leaving 250 people homeless.

Firefighters were standing by, but declined to put out the blaze until it had burned down much of the neighborhood. They later claimed they had not been ordered to put it out.

Ironically, it had been complaints from the African American neighbors about the MOVE House that had prompted police action in the first place.

Because bombing on a civilian home was clearly illegal, the bomb was euphemistically called an "entry device" in police records. However, an inquiry later found the bombing totally unjustified, stating that "Dropping a bomb on an occupied house was unconscionable."

A federal jury ordered the city of Philadelphia to pay $1.5 million to the woman who was the sole survivor of the bombing as well as two relatives of those killed, but the 61 black homeowners were not compensated for the loss of their bombed out homes.

Instead, the city contracted with a developer to "replace" them, but the new homes were of incredibly shoddy, slapdash construction, with cracking foundations, faulty electrical wiring, improperly installed beams, and leaky roofs.

The neighborhood never recovered. It took more than 20 years of pressure before the city finally offered the affected homeowners a meager "buyout" of a mere $190,000 each, in 2008.

This might have seemed "generous" compared to prevailing home values at that time, but did not reflect more than two decades of terrible living conditions or the much higher value of the neighborhood, before an American city saw fit to bomb its own citizens from their air."

 

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

May 16, 1770, in a foreshadowing of the American Revolution, the Battle of Alamance was fought in Alamance County, North Carolina.

This was the conclusion of the "War of the Regulation", a conflict between parties all of whom claimed loyalty to the British crown, but only one side of which actually held official sanction. Basically, most people in the region had grown tired of corrupt and petty local officials running roughshod in the name of the king, and took up arms to oppose a wide variety of excessive taxes, out-of-proportion assessments, etc. It was not about independence, it was more like an armed mob angry at the way a city zoning commission meeting had gone. Roughly 2,000 ordinary citizens faced off against about 1,000 armed militia.

The "rebels" were the self-styled "North Carolina Regulators" and they were opposed by the North Carolina Provincial Militia, under the direction of Governor William Tryon. The Regulators were represented by Herman Husband, Captains Montgomery and Merrill, and numerous other local figures. After much bluster and fuss, the militia delivered terms to the Regulators, noting that they had "no ammunition, no training, and no hope of success" and the Regulators demured.

In the ensuing battle, the Regulators seemed to start off rather well simply because they outnumbered the militia by so much; in fact, they even captured a canon at one point. However, lacking ammunition and training, they were unable to make any use of it, and were eventually rounded up. Some were executed, some fined, and others pardoned, which just goes to show it pays to have a good lawyer.

While this sounds like a prelude to the Revolutionary War, the reality is a little different -- many of the Regulators ended up joining the Tory militia, and not an insignificant number of the official militia ended up joining the Continental Army. Nevertheless, calling it the opening salvo in the Revolution is not all that far from the mark.

[Parliament 14593]

May 13, 1862, Robert Smalls -- a slave from Charleston, South Carolina, who had been hired out by his master to the Confederate army -- took advantage of the planned debauchery of the three-man white crew of the gun boat CSS Planter, who spent the night of May 12th on shore, getting drunk, playing cards, and presumably carousing with the likely ladies of Charleston.  At 3:00 a.m., in the quiet dark of the early morning, Smalls dressed in the captain's uniform, and with seven of the eight other slaves assigned to the ship, sailed the Planter out of the wharf, stopped to pick up his own family and the families of other crewmen, and made for the line of Union vessels blockading the harbor.
Smalls piloted the ship past the five Confederate forts that guarded the harbor, giving the correct Confederate signals to each signal tower. The ship passed Fort Sumter approximately 4:30 am, and he headed straight for the Federal fleet, flying a white bed sheet as a sign of surrender; the USS Onward was about to fire until a sailor noticed the white flag. When the Onward's captain boarded the Planter, Smalls requested to raise the United States flag. He then surrendered the Planter and her cargo to the United States Navy.
President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill within weeks which awarded Smalls and his crewmen the prize money for the Planter. Smalls' share was $1,500 (about $34,000 adjusted for inflation in 2012 dollars), a huge amount for the time. He met President Lincoln two weeks later and gave a first hand account of his adventure.
Smalls' bravery became a major argument for allowing African Americans to serve in the Union Army.

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

Worth the read. He went on to be a successful businessman and politician.

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

The Antikythera mechanism was discovered on May 17, 1902, by Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais. This curiosity is the ancient Greek analog computer and model of the solar system ("orrery" for the linguists in the crowd) and was used to predict the position of various astronomical bodies, and the calendrical occurence of eclipses decades in advance. It was also used to time the occurence of a four year cycle of athletic games similar to the Olympiad. 

This particular device has been dated to somewhere between 87-205 BCE, and reconstructive models suggest it probably had something on the order of 37 gear wheels enabling it to follow the movements of the moon and sun through the zodiac; some speculate that it was designed by the 2nd century BCE astronomer Hipparchus of Rhodes.

[HouTex 1939]

1536 Anne Boleyn's 4 "lovers" executed shortly before her own beheading

1756 Britain declares war on France (7 Years' or French & Indian War)

1792 24 merchants form New York Stock Exchange at 70 Wall Street

1871 Indian fighter General William T. Sherman escapes from the Comanches in an ambulance

1944 General Eisenhower sets D-Day for June 5th

1954 US Supreme Court issues its decision in Brown v Topeka Board of Education overruling 1896 "separate but equal" Plessy v Ferguson decision

2015 Gun fight between rival biker gangs and police in Waco, Texas leaves 9 dead and 18 injured.

[Underdog 29168]

Always enjoy this thread, good work everyone. 

[HouTex 1939]

1803 Britain declares war on France after Napoleon Bonaparte continues interfering in Italy and Switzerland

1896 US Supreme court affirms legitimacy of racial separation (Plessy v Ferguson) (overturned in 1954 by Brown v. Board of Education)

1917 US Congress passes Selective Service Act, authorizing the federal government to raise a national army for the American entry into World War I through compulsory enlistment

1948 Saudi Arabia joins invasion of Israel

1965 Gene Roddenberry suggests 16 names for Star Trek Captain; they include Kirk

1970 Beatles' last released LP, "Let It Be", released in US

1977 Menachem Begin becomes Prime Minister of Israel

1980 Mount St Helens erupts in Washington state, causing the largest landslide in history, killing 57 people and costing $1 billion in damage

[shakahorn 1656]

On 5/17/2019 at 7:40 AM, HouTex said:

...

1944 General Eisenhower sets D-Day for June 5th

...

Um, what am I missing here?

[PatrickMcHorn 376]

Um, what am I missing here?

It was delayed a day due to wind iirc.

[HouTex 1939]

It was delayed a day due to wind iirc.

Yes. On the eve of departure they delayed it one day. They almost delayed it another day but our weather forecasters predicted a break in the weather and they were right.

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

May 18, 1302, in Bruges (that's in Belgium, y'all), the French garrison led by James of St. Pol and Pierre Flote, the king's chief advisor and negotiator, were sleeping peacefully after having spent the preceding 24 hours "negotiating" with the Flemish natives. Most of the rebellious burghers who lived there had fled prior to the city's occupation, and the French troops were in no forgiving mood when dealing with the families left behind. Word got out, and the rebels decided running was maybe not the best option, after all.

The Brugeois attacked before dawn, killing 300 French soldiers; James of St. Pol fled to Courtrai, and Pierre Flote skipped off to Lille. The rebels applied for assistance to all other Flemish towns, and all but Ghent joined them in their rebellion. For the next three years, the Flemish were tantalizingly close to pulling off the upset, but ultimately, they paid enormous tribute to France as the cost of remaining nominally independent.

Bruges is perhaps the quaintest tourist spot in Europe, but given the kinds of history that took place there, I have very little quibble with those who would claim that its high point was captured in film in 2008. Colin Farrell scolding the fat American tourists, and Ralph Fiennes shooting a little person and then turning his gun on himself, these are the kinds of plot devices that make the invention of cinema worth it. As for the Franco-Flemish War, I'm pretty sure not even the Belgians nor the French are actually required to learn much about it in school.

[HouTex 1939]

1182 The high altar of Paris cathedral Notre Dame is consecrated by Cardinal Henri de Château-Marçay and Maurice de Sully

1536 Anne Boleyn, second wife of English King Henry VIII, is beheaded at the Tower of London on charges of adultery, incest and treason

1568 English Queen Elizabeth I arrests Mary, Queen of Scots

1780 About midday, near-total darkness descends on New England, now known to be caused by forest fires in Canada

1891 Rice Institute, which became Rice University in Houston, is chartered

1958 US & Canada form North American Air Defense Command (NORAD)

[Parliament 14593]

Wait.  What?  Incest?

[HouTex 1939]

She was accused of fucking her brother.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

8 minutes ago, HouTex said:

She was accused of fucking her brother.

Just to get a baby, cut her some slack...

 

"The Other Boleyn Sister".. Scarlett Johansen, Natalie Portman, good flick

Edited May 19, 2019 by Onboard 2.0

[El Diablo 4232]

Big day in Trans-Atlantic aviation history!

May 20, 1927—92 years ago today--Charles Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, N.Y. aboard the Spirit of St. Louis on his historic solo flight to France. He landed in Paris 33-and-a-half hours and 3,500 miles later.

May 20, 1932—87 years ago today--Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. (Because of weather and equipment problems, Earhart set down in Northern Ireland instead of her intended destination, France.)

May 20, 1939—80 years ago today--regular trans-Atlantic mail service began as a Pan American Airways plane, the Yankee Clipper, took off from Port Washington, New York, bound for Marseilles, France.

[HouTex 1939]

1867 Royal Albert Hall of Arts & Sciences foundation laid by Queen Victoria in London

1873 Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patent the first blue jeans with copper rivets

1927 Saudi Arabia becomes independent of Great Britain in the Treaty of Jeddah

1944 US Communist Party dissolves

1956 Atomic fusion (thermonuclear) bomb dropped from plane at Bikini Atoll

1959 Japanese-Americans regain their citizenship

1969 US troop capture Hill 937/Hamburger Hill in Vietnam

1970 100,000 march in NY supporting US policies in Vietnam

2018 Two cyclists attacked by a cougar, 1 dies, in North Bend, Washington State

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

May 20, 685 C.E., Pictish forces led by King Bridei Mac Bili routed the dastardly English (well, okay, technically it was the Northumbrians, but any excuse to proclaim Scottish superiority over the bloody English is a good excuse in my book) at the Battle of Dun Nechtain or Battle of Nechtansmere (Scottish Gaelic: Blàr Dhùn Neachdain, Old English: Nechtansmere).

The Northumbrians, led by King Ecgfrith, had been losing their hold on Scottish territory for several decades. In an attempt to reassert control, and against his counselors' strident urgings, Ecgfrith marched north. The Picts feigned a retreat, and laid an ambush at Dun Nechtain – archaeologists have been unable to pinpoint exactly where the battle was fought, but it is clear that the Picts chose high ground, and launched their counterattack going downhill.

Adam Bede's “Ecclesiastical History of the English People” provides a clear accounting of the battle:

"[T]he very next year [685AD], that same king [Egfrid], rashly leading his army to ravage the province of the Picts, much against the advice of his friends, and particularly of Cuthbert, of blessed memory, who had been lately ordained his bishop, the enemy made show as if they fled, and the king was drawn into the straits of inaccessible mountains, and slain with the greatest part of his forces, on the 20th of May, in the fortieth year of his age, and the fifteenth of his reign."

Sadly, there are no Pictish accounts available, as one may be sure the Picts would have made an epic out of it instead of a footnote.

[Buffsoldier 1895]

3 hours ago, Walden Ponderer said:

Sadly, there are no Pictish accounts available, as one may be sure the Picts would have made an epic out of it instead of a footnote.

So, Picts or it didn't happen?

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

May 21, 878 C.E., the Muslim Emirate of Sicily captured Syracuse, Sicily, as part of the conquest of that island -- Muslim rule over Sicily lasted from the 9th to the 11th centuries, and much of the uniqueness of Sicilian culture stems from the strong blending of influences of which Muslim rule was only one part. 

As early as 652, Sicily was invaded by the Arab forces of Caliph Uthman; however, it was not until late in the 800's, with the fall of Syracuse, that control of the island was ceded by the Byzantine empire, which had controlled ridiculously large chunks of what had been the Roman Empire ever since a decree of Emperor Justinian I in 535.

Prior to Byzantine control, the Vandals had briefly been in charge; in the 12th century, Norman King Roger I put a Viking stamp on Sicily; as late as the 1220's, however, Arabic-speaking Muslims formed the majority of the population. Since then, of course, the Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture has more or less gelled into "Sicilian" -- and while modern Sicilians speak a language somewhat recognizable as "Italian"... they are, nevertheless, a land and culture much unto themselves.

[HouTex 1939]

1924 Nathan Leopold & Richard Loeb kidnap and kill Bobby Franks to demonstrate their supposed intellectual superiority by committing a "perfect crime"

1927 Aviator Charles Lindbergh, in the Spirit of St Louis, lands in Paris after the first solo air crossing of Atlantic

1932 After flying for 17 hours from Newfoundland, Amelia Earhart lands near Londonderry, Northern Ireland, becoming the 1st transatlantic solo flight by a woman

1946 Physicist Louis Slotin is exposed to a lethal dose of radiation while preparing a plutonium core experiment at the Los Alamos lab, he dies 9 days later and the accident ends all hands-on nuclear assembly work at Los Alamos

[HenryJames 67328]

 

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

21 hours ago, Walden Ponderer said:

May 21, 878 C.E., the Muslim Emirate of Sicily captured Syracuse, Sicily, as part of the conquest of that island -- Muslim rule over Sicily lasted from the 9th to the 11th centuries, and much of the uniqueness of Sicilian culture stems from the strong blending of influences of which Muslim rule was only one part. 

As early as 652, Sicily was invaded by the Arab forces of Caliph Uthman; however, it was not until late in the 800's, with the fall of Syracuse, that control of the island was ceded by the Byzantine empire, which had controlled ridiculously large chunks of what had been the Roman Empire ever since a decree of Emperor Justinian I in 535.

Prior to Byzantine control, the Vandals had briefly been in charge; in the 12th century, Norman King Roger I put a Viking stamp on Sicily; as late as the 1220's, however, Arabic-speaking Muslims formed the majority of the population. Since then, of course, the Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture has more or less gelled into "Sicilian" -- and while modern Sicilians speak a language somewhat recognizable as "Italian"... they are, nevertheless, a land and culture much unto themselves.

And we wonder how the Mafia came to be uniquely Eye- talian.

[HenryJames 67328]

[HouTex 1939]

1849 Abraham Lincoln receives a patent (only US President to do so) for a device to lift a boat over shoals and obstructions

1906 Wright Brothers are granted a patent for their "flying machine," having applied for one 3 years earlier (patent no. 821,393)

1940 Winston Churchill flies to Paris to decide with General Maxime Weygand a strategy to save France

1953 US President Eisenhower signs Offshore Oil Bill

1954 Robert Zimmerman aka Bob Dylan is Bar Mitzvahed

1964 LBJ presents "Great Society"

1987 30 killed in a Texas tornado

1992 Johnny Carson's final appearance as host of "The Tonight Show"

2011 An F5 Tornado strikes the city of Joplin, Missouri killing at least 158 people, the single deadliest US tornado since modern record keeping began in 1950

 

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

May 23, 1701, Captain William Kidd was hanged in London for the murder of William Moore. A Scottish high-seas adventurer, there are many historians who say that his reputation as a pirate was unjust, and that he merely acted as a privateer. Those of us who care don't typically draw much distinction, though, as the only real difference between a pirate and a privateer is that privateers were much better politicians.

Kidd didn't actually make much money, nor wreak much havoc, during his time at sea. His fame mostly relates to the sensationalism of his questioning by Parliament, and his subsequent trial (think "Early 18th Century O.J." and you wouldn't be far amiss... there may even have been a slow-speed white phaeton-with-ponies chase through Portsmouth, for all I know). 

His trial was mostly a political affair, with Tories seeking to discredit the Whig representatives who were Kidd's chief financial backers -- realizing he was probably a lost cause, his political allies abandoned him, and his former crew members turned state's evidence to save their own skins. 

Whether he was really guilty or not (he probably was, but that's somewhat beside the point), it was definitely not a trial one would describe as "on the up and up" -- but then, what would a pirate trial be without a little shadiness from the court, amiright?

[HenryJames 67328]

 

[NeverMarryAStripper 22288]

May 23, 1701, Captain William Kidd was hanged in London for the murder of William Moore. A Scottish high-seas adventurer, there are many historians who say that his reputation as a pirate was unjust, and that he merely acted as a privateer. Those of us who care don't typically draw much distinction, though, as the only real difference between a pirate and a privateer is that privateers were much better politicians.
Kidd didn't actually make much money, nor wreak much havoc, during his time at sea. His fame mostly relates to the sensationalism of his questioning by Parliament, and his subsequent trial (think "Early 18th Century O.J." and you wouldn't be far amiss... there may even have been a slow-speed white phaeton-with-ponies chase through Portsmouth, for all I know). 
His trial was mostly a political affair, with Tories seeking to discredit the Whig representatives who were Kidd's chief financial backers -- realizing he was probably a lost cause, his political allies abandoned him, and his former crew members turned state's evidence to save their own skins. 
Whether he was really guilty or not (he probably was, but that's somewhat beside the point), it was definitely not a trial one would describe as "on the up and up" -- but then, what would a pirate trial be without a little shadiness from the court, amiright?

This is an interesting read about him and how he was actually commissioned to hunt pirates.

[Brisketexan 106883]

3 hours ago, HenryJames said:

 

The person who greenlit that program has been sacked.

[NeverMarryAStripper 22288]

The person who sacked the person that greenlit that program has been sacked

[mulletpelini 5225]

On 5/20/2019 at 9:21 AM, HouTex said:

1867 Royal Albert Hall of Arts & Sciences foundation laid by Queen Victoria in London

Damn, good for Albert

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

34 minutes ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

The person who sacked the person that greenlit that program has been sacked

Well when you've been moose bit you lose your bearings 

[phdhorn 6225]

Happy 200th Birthday Queen Victoria!
 

That's the best picture you're gonna get of her, so fap away.

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

May 24, 1626, in what was either the dumbest purchase in history (based on the fact that the seller did not actually own what they were selling), or the smartest purchase in history (based on the fact that what was purchased was worth several billion times the asking price), Peter Minuit, a Dutch adventurer, bought the Island of Manhattan from the Lenape peoples (who at the time were encamped only temporarily, and did not have any especial attachment to the land) for 60 guilders worth of trade goods.

Historian Nathaniel Benchley notes that the island was actually mostly controlled by the Weckquaesgeeks, which more than explains why the Lenape were completely happy to accept a deal that, on its face, sounds like highway robbery.

[HouTex 1939]

1775 John Hancock is unanimously elected President of the Continental Congress

1846 General Zachary Taylor captures Monterey in Mexican War

1883 Brooklyn Bridge opened by President Arthur and NY Governor Cleveland

1894 Lowell Observatory, Arizona, first begins observations of Mars with an eighteen-inch telescope, leads its builder Percival Lowell to conclude there are canals on Mars

1923 Stanley Baldwin succeeds Andrew Bonar Law as British Prime Minister

1940 German tanks reach Atrecht, France (only two weeks after the invasion of the Low Countries)

1941 German battleship Bismarck sinks the British battle cruiser HMS Hood; 1,416 die, 3 survive

1976 In the Judgment of Paris, wine testers rate wines from California higher than their French counterparts, challenging the notion of France being the foremost producer of the world's best wines

 

[Buffsoldier 1895]

2 hours ago, phdhorn said:

Happy 200th Birthday Queen Victoria!
 

That's the best picture you're gonna get of her, so fap away.