Today in History...

[Bullneck 18983]

On 6/1/2018 at 2:10 PM, Bosco said:

51 years ago...

 

So, 71 years ago St. Pepper told the band to play?

[Bullneck 18983]

On 5/18/2018 at 7:08 PM, phdhorn said:

They may, but they be finding a whole Army of War historians themselves who say that Vicksburg may be up there is the most effective single battle ever. The only other comparison I've heard is the Trenton 1776 battle, or Cowpens and Daniel Morgan.

Of course all that could be argued, but military historians say that the effectiveness and overall strategy of Vicksburg was on the par of very few other battles in American history. I agree. This also cover Sherman's brilliant defeating of facing Johnston head-on, forcing him to surrender eventually.

Although Patton's battles were epic brilliant, could be argued that he certainly help shorten the war, but by that time the outcome had been pretty much decided.  The Civil War was completely up in the air until Vicksburg.

Sam Houston is holding on line one.

Edited July 28, 2018 by Bullneck

[phdhorn 6224]

55 minutes ago, Bullneck said:

Sam Houston is holding on line one.

Hmmm.. if you're talking about the Battle of San Jacinto, it was memorable to Texans, of course, but it really wasn't that epic.  Houston gets credit for not engaging his ill-trained troops in battle up until San Jacinto, when they had time to regroup and even drill.  So that part is pretty impressive (i.e. not to attack when his men were begging for it).

However, San Jacinto was far more Santa Anna's continued stupidity than anything else.  When the troops split after the Alamo, Santa Anna took a bunch of raw, new recruits who didn't really know how to fight, such was his arrogance.  They pursued the Texians into Harris County and built earthworks.  But other than that, Santa Anna had them basically take naps and chill out, thinking the Texians (and Texas for that matter) was done.  The Texian troops meanwhile simply decided "see the fork in the road and take it" , er opting to go to Harrisburg and not north to Nagodoches.  This was critical, because Houston never made the order, they simply did it.  This would prove to be the single most decisive step in winning the battle, but Houston wasn't responsible for it.  But Houston caught up to them and found out from a captured Mexican messenger that Santa Anna was pursuing them, but with a smaller and untrained force.  Santa Anna should have retreated/bided time, but he had been hearing of another Mexican general who was winning skirmish after skirmish, and feared he would become the more favored rival (more on this general in a second).  So Santa Anna, ill-equipped to fight the battle, did so anyway, partly out of hubris, and partly out of jealousy.  It was a monumental mistake on his part to fight it.  This is when Houston knew that he could win this battle and stall for time.  And the battle ensued and the Texians routed the green Mexicans. 

But Houston on his part never thought that the upcoming battle was going to be anything but a "delay and regroup" tactic (which it actually turned out to be).  He knew he had one good battle in his troops, and San Jacinto was going to be it.  He did a great job but it was against inferior troops, almost an afterthought as Santa Anna thought (again, stupidly) that they were done.  He was very ill-prepared to fight, his troops didn't know the terrain, and the Texians were right at home.  Plus the two new cannons they just got didn't hurt.  But Houston actually said all was lost anyway the night of San Jacinto.  He knew the bulk of the Mexican army would come north and destroy him, and was actually waiting for it.

San Jacinto would indeed almost likely have been the "one last stand" before the fall of Texas if it weren't for two things:  1) Mexico's best general, by far, was Urrea, the guy who Santa Anna became jealous of.  And he had good reason, Urrea was a much better strategist and maneuverer.  After the Alamo, Urrea went south to begin to clean up Texian settlements in the valley, which he was doing.  he eventually had an army of six-thousand Mexicans who almost certainly would have utterly destroyed Houston and anything else the Texians had going, short of U.S. Federal troops (should they ever enter the conflict).  And when Urrea heard of Santa Anna's blunder in San Jacinto, he was preparing to go north to defeat him and put an end to the Texian government.  However, Santa Anna wrote Filisola (the other general in charge of the Mexican army) and told him they, uh, lost and that they were retreating to Bexar to regroup.  Filisola decided, despite Urrea's urging him to press on, that the lousy spring conditions (rains and knee-deep mud) were taking a toll on ammo and troops, and decided to hold off.  Filisola wasn't wrong, but he understimated the ease with which their army would have won the likely final victories.  Meanwhile, Santa Anna was negotiating his ass out of embarrassment, and during that time, managed to wrangle treaties that called for the Mexican army to withdraw to south of the Rio Grande.  Also during this time, the Mexican government (whose president just recently died and were for a short time almost rudderrless) did what Britain did with Washington, and said, "fuck it, come on back, we're done here."  So they retreated and in the meantime negotiated more treaties that recognized the Republic and essentially put an end to the conflict.

But Urrea adamantly protested not pursuing the fight.  And he was remarkably accurate, and most likely would have crushed the Texians once and for all.  As it was, he obeyed orders and retreated south into Mexico, but this time ignoring orders, he took Texian slaves with him and freed them once they got into Mexico.  So he can also be thanked for that.

San Jacinto was what it was because 1) Santa Anna was a douchebag who fucked everything up, and 2)  José de Urrea was not a douchebag, but almost miraculously, never got to fight the final decisive battles that he would have almost without question won - and won big - and returned Texas to Mexico.

[El Diablo 4232]

On July 29, 1867—151 years ago today--Fort Griffin was established on the right bank of the Clear Fork of the Brazos in what’s now Shackleford County as one of a line of defensive frontier forts built from 1867 to 1881 to protect settlers, travelers, buffalo hunters and cowboys during the Texas Indian wars.

- the year after my Grandpappy was born here in the Lone Star State, so, kinda close to home.

Edited July 29, 2018 by El Diablo

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

July 29th is St. Olaf's Day in most of Scandinavia, but it is celebrated in perhaps the most formalized way in the Faroe Islands, where the day is recognized as Ólavsøkudagur.  Ólavsøka is the name of the several day event of which Ólavsøkudagur is the most important day, and is the biggest summer festival in the islands. 

July 28th, the day before the festival gets underway, there are sculling (rowing) events for which the nation's labor unions have established the tradition of a half-day off from work.  Each year, July 29th is the opening session of the Løgting, the Faroese Parliament. This is not the first event of the Ólavsøka, but it is the focal point of official ceremonies.

The literal meaning of Ólavsøka is "Saint Olaf's Wake" (vigilia sancti Olavi in Latin), commemorating Saint Olaf's death at the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030.  Prior to the Christianization of the islands, the summer festival of Løgting was the big summer event in the Faroes.

Góða Ólavsøku! ("Good Olaf's Wake!")

[Bullneck 18983]

13 hours ago, El Diablo said:

On July 29, 1867—151 years ago today--Fort Griffin was established on the right bank of the Clear Fork of the Brazos in what’s now Shackleford County as one of a line of defensive frontier forts built from 1867 to 1881 to protect settlers, travelers, buffalo hunters and cowboys during the Texas Indian wars.

- the year after my Grandpappy was born here in the Lone Star State, so, kinda close to home.

Your grandfather was born in 1868?  That's some John Tyler level shit.

You're not going to believe this . . .

[El Diablo 4232]

 

[El Diablo 4232]

9 hours ago, Bullneck said:

Your grandfather was born in 1868?  That's some John Tyler level shit.

You're not going to believe this . . .

Nothing spectacular, Gpa was in his 40's when they had dad and dad was in his 40's when they had me. I'm pushing 60. 

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

On July 29th 1910, citizens in predominately African American town of Slocum, TX were massacred. One of many towns (ie Rosewood, Elaine, Tulsa & more), where a successful Black community was subject of terrorist attack. 

Unlike most Texas communities in the early 20th century, the unincorporated town of Slocum—like Rosewood, Florida—was largely African American, with several Black citizens considerably propertied and a few owning stores and other businesses. This alone, in parts of the South, might have been enough to foment violence. But in the area around Slocum, roughly 100 miles east of Waco, there were other issues, according to newspaper reports and other sometimes conflicting accounts of the massacre.

When a white man reportedly tried to collect a disputed debt from a well-regarded Black citizen, a confrontation occurred. Hard feelings lingered. When a regional road construction foreman put an African American in charge of rounding up help for local road improvements, a prominent white citizen named Jim Spurger was infuriated and became an agitator.

Rumors spread, warning of threats against Anglo citizens and plans for race riots. White malcontents manipulated the local Anglo population and, on July 29, white hysteria transmogrified into bloodshed.

Stoked and goaded by Spurger and others, a collection of white mobs made up of Slocum locals and heavily armed white residents from all over Anderson County roamed through the area in groups of six or seven or in mobs of 30 to 40 and, according to some reports, up to 200. Members of the mobs engaged in what authorities later termed a “potshot” occasion, firing on Black citizens at will. They moved from road to road and cabin to cabin, shooting down African Americans in their tracks. Survivors of the bloodshed spread the word, and African Americans began fleeing. The white mobs followed Blacks into the surrounding forests and marshes and shot many victims in the back as they fled. Several bodies were discovered with bundles of clothing and personal effects at their sides.

Every initial newspaper report on the transpiring bloodshed portrayed the African Americans as armed instigators, but these accounts were heinous mischaracterizations. Anderson County Sheriff William H. Black, of Palestine, Texas, and Special Deputy Godfrey Rees Fowler arrived in the Slocum area, and they discovered a terrified white populace, most of whom had slept overnight in churches and schoolhouses. But it was increasingly apparent that the alleged African American mob that had supposedly conspired to attack the local white community hadn’t materialized.

When reporters gathered on July 31, up to two dozen murders had been reported, but local authorities had only eight bodies. Sheriff Black said it would be “difficult to find out just how many were killed” because they were “scattered all over the woods,” and buzzards would find many of the victims first.

“Men were going about killing Negroes as fast as they could find them,” Sheriff Black told the New York Times. “These Negroes have done no wrong that I can discover,” Black continued. “I don’t know how many were in the mob, but there may have been 200 or 300. They hunted the Negroes down like sheep.”

https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/slocum-massacre/

[El Diablo 4232]

"They hunted the Negroes down like sheep"

Nothing more dangerous than an excited aggy like mob.

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3861]

I’ve noticed a very high correlation between Texas stories of Jim Crow era atrocities and the appearance of word Waco in the article. 

[LongestHorn 759]

No one was prosecuted, of course.

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

On July 31, 1492, the Alhambra Decree expelled Jews from the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon (that'd be 'Spain' for the geographically challenged). Expulsion is too nice a word, of course, as this was really a warmup for the Holocaust.

In happier news, July 31st is the birthday of several notable fictional characters: Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, and Walden Ponderer.

[Murfdogg21 4412]

6 minutes ago, Walden Ponderer said:

On July 31, 1492, the Alhambra Decree expelled Jews from the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon (that'd be 'Spain' for the geographically challenged). Expulsion is too nice a word, of course, as this was really a warmup for the Holocaust.

In happier news, July 31st is the birthday of several notable fictional characters: Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, and Walden Ponderer.

Well happy fake birthday to you. Here’s your wreath. 

[NeverMarryAStripper 21781]

 

[phdhorn 6224]

[El Diablo 4232]

August 1st, 1981, the rock music video channel MTV made its debut.

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

Happy Lammas Day! Grab a shock of sorghum, park yourself in front of an a/c vent, close your eyes and pretend you are a Northumbrian farmer celebrating "loaf-mass" the August 1st fall harvest festival in northern Britain.

[phdhorn 6224]

9 minutes ago, Walden Ponderer said:

Happy Lammas Day! Grab a shock of sorghum, park yourself in front of an a/c vent, close your eyes and pretend you are a Northumbrian farmer celebrating "loaf-mass" the August 1st fall harvest festival in northern Britain.

I call Lamar Boulevard "Lameass Boulevard" because er'rbody drives 20mph abreast in both lanes.  So this hits close to home.

[Murfdogg21 4412]

August 1, 2001: Open containers in cars banned for all passengers in Texas. 

[El Diablo 4232]

50 minutes ago, Murfdogg21 said:

August 1, 2001: Open containers in cars banned for all passengers in Texas. 

What year did they take it away from the driver? 'Cause I know growing up it was okie dokie to have a cold one between your legs while puttin' down the road.

[HouTex 1850]

1 hour ago, El Diablo said:

What year did they take it away from the driver? 'Cause I know growing up it was okie dokie to have a cold one between your legs while puttin' down the road.

Yep.  My father and his friends would tell you how far a destination was by how many beers it took to get there. 

[Murfdogg21 4412]

3 hours ago, El Diablo said:

What year did they take it away from the driver? 'Cause I know growing up it was okie dokie to have a cold one between your legs while puttin' down the road.

I don’t know, but this guy turned 21 on August 2, 2001 so it was continuously illegal for one reason or another for me to have an open container. 

[El Diablo 4232]

On August 2, 1876—142 years ago today--James Butler Hickok, better known as “Wild Bill” Hickok, was gunned down by Texas desperado Jack McCall in a Dakota Territory saloon. Hickok, who was playing poker at the time of the shooting, had his back to the door. Hickok usually sat with his back to the wall, but the only seat available when he joined the game that night put his back to the door. McCall, a former Buffalo hunter, walked in unnoticed and shot Wild Bill in the back of the head, shouting, “Take that!” before he fired. McCall was hanged for the shooting, never revealing his motive. The poker hand Hickok was holding when he died consisted of a pair of black aces and a pair of black eights. This combination later became known as the dead man's hand.

[Stoogey 219]

On 7/31/2018 at 11:11 AM, Walden Ponderer said:

In happier news, July 31st is the birthday of several notable fictional characters: Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, and Walden Ponderer.

Neville Longbottom's birthday is listed as July 30, 1980.

Harry Potter's birthday is listed as July 31, 1980.  Harry Potter author J K Rowling's birthday is July 31, 1965.

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

August 3rd is Emancipation Day in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Numerous former British colonies celebrate Emancipation Day throughout the month of August, including many Caribbean nations whose Carnival is actually marked at this time rather than (as we Americans typically think of Carnival) associated with Mardi Gras. This is a fairly universal celebration, as it marks not only the end of slavery, but in many places the festivities also commemorate the end of serfdom and indentured servitude.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21781]

I celebrate July 29th as my emancipation day.

[Stoogey 219]

Jumprope chant which my nieces sing today:

Lizzie Borden took an ax
And gave her mother forty whacks
When she saw what she had done
She gave her father forty-one

Late Thursday morning, August 4, 1892. Fall River, Massachusetts. The bodies of Lizzie's parents were found in the family home. Her step-mother suffered seventeen wounds to the back of her head. Her father, attacked while napping in the parlor, received eleven wounds.  

The inquest began August 8. Lizzie's behavior was strange and her testimony contradictory. Probably due to the morphine her doctor prescribed. Lizzie was arrested on August 11. Her jury trial began June 5, 1893; she was acquitted June 20, after only an hour and a half of deliberation.

The sensational murder trial of the nineteenth century. 

Had the Borden home been converted to a bed and breakfast and gift shop during my rebellious teenage years, I would have wanted to spend the family vacation in Fall River.

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

On August 5, 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert established the first English colony in North America, at what is now St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. 

There were actually Englishmen already present (at "fishing stations") when he arrived -- he made no real attempt to settle there, instead merely levying a few ill-conceived and uncollectable taxes before turning for home after a couple of short weeks. 

Owing to numerous obvious examples of maritime stupidity, his flagship "Squirrel" went down with all hands. Probably explains why nobody learns about him in high school history books, one would imagine. His colony died with him, and nobody moved there permanently for a good long while.

[El Diablo 4232]

2 hours ago, Walden Ponderer said:

On August 5, 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert established the first English colony in North America, at what is now St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. 

There were actually Englishmen already present (at "fishing stations") when he arrived -- he made no real attempt to settle there, instead merely levying a few ill-conceived and uncollectable taxes before turning for home after a couple of short weeks. 

Owing to numerous obvious examples of maritime stupidity, his flagship "Squirrel" went down with all hands. Probably explains why nobody learns about him in high school history books, one would imagine. His colony died with him, and nobody moved there permanently for a good long while.

Any relation to Garrett?

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

21 minutes ago, El Diablo said:

Any relation to Garrett?

Legitimate question, but I think Sir Humphrey only squinted because of the snow blindness.

[Shmitty 112]

August 5, 1305.  William Wallace the great patriot of Scotland was captured in Robroyston, just outside of Glasgow (I've been there and the place felt very solemn to me (besides the fact I had no where to go pee)   

On this day in history, 1305...
William Wallace at Robroyston 
An image drawn for a campaign to save Wallace's Well, Robroyston, from being destroyed by housing developers. The medieval well at Robroyston is believed to have been used by Wallace in his final days of freedom as he was captured nearby. William Wallace was seized in the house of Ralph Rae by Sir John Menteith who discovered the hiding place of the patriot at Robroyston through the treacherous information of Jack Short, his servant. Menteith came under cover of night with a contingent of henchmen and after a violent scuffle in which Wallace’s valiant companion, Kerly, was slain, Wallace himself was finally overpowered. Menteith promptly handed his prisoner over to Sir John de Segrave who quickly transported him to London where he was brutally executed. 
Menteith was well rewarded for his part in this treachery: he received land to the value of one hundred pounds. But the body of water on his lands has ever since been referred to by Scotsmen as “Lake” Menteith rather than “Loch” Menteith, an intentional slur on his name ensuring that his betrayal should never be forgotten.
The document shown at the top of the sketch, known as the Wallace letter, is from King Philip IV of France to his officials at the Vatican and mentions Wallace by name. It was issued on the 7th November 1300 and was in Wallace’s possession on the night of his capture and has been held in the Tower of London ever since. The letter from the French king asks his agents in Rome to help Wallace in business with Pope Boniface VIII. It suggests Wallace intended to travel to Rome, although it is not known what his business there was.

 https://www.facebook.com/andrewhillhouseprints/posts/1537717369601187

 

(not sure how to attach photos)

 

Edited August 5, 2018 by Shmitty

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

Bet Wallace never would have been captured if he hadn't been looking (in vain) for the loo.

[LongestHorn 759]

Edited August 6, 2018 by LongestHorn

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

Huh. I'd never thought about the timing before... here's another reason it would have sucked to have lived there (as if getting incinerated wasn't reason enough):

August 6th is the most common date in Japan for the festival of Tanabata (its date varies by region of the country, starting as early as July 7th and running through the end of August).

This is a star festival, celebrating the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (Vega and Altair, for the astronomically inclined), lovers who are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month (the exact Gregorian date for which there is evidently regional disagreement in Japan, but hey, love and exact accounting don’t always mix).

It’s a day for poetry, much of which is reminiscent of the Chinese Quixi Festival (but don’t tell the Japanese that; they are very possessive of their version of Valentine’s Day…)

So, just imagine:  you've catered to tradition, and bought your sweetie some chocolate covered squid with seaweed chips, just like the guy at the store said she'd like, and you knock on the door, and... POOF! She melts right in front of your eyes. Sorry, sucker.

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

August 7th is Premta d’Simele (Assyrian Martyr’s Day), a day of remembrance marking the first of many massacres committed by the Iraqi government against Assyrian people in Northern Iraq in August of 1933.  Roughly 3,000 Assyrians died in villages in the Dohuk and Mosul districts. 

 In 2004, the Syrian government banned Assyrian political organizations and the Assyrian community of Syria from commemorating the event, and threatened arrests if any were to break the ban.

[DigglerontheHoof 21044]

On 8/6/2018 at 11:13 AM, Walden Ponderer said:

Huh. I'd never thought about the timing before... here's another reason it would have sucked to have lived there (as if getting incinerated wasn't reason enough):

August 6th is the most common date in Japan for the festival of Tanabata (its date varies by region of the country, starting as early as July 7th and running through the end of August).

This is a star festival, celebrating the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (Vega and Altair, for the astronomically inclined), lovers who are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month (the exact Gregorian date for which there is evidently regional disagreement in Japan, but hey, love and exact accounting don’t always mix).

It’s a day for poetry, much of which is reminiscent of the Chinese Quixi Festival (but don’t tell the Japanese that; they are very possessive of their version of Valentine’s Day…)

So, just imagine:  you've catered to tradition, and bought your sweetie some chocolate covered squid with seaweed chips, just like the guy at the store said she'd like, and you knock on the door, and... POOF! She melts right in front of your eyes. Sorry, sucker.

AKA "don't start shit, won't be shit".

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

August 8th is Nane Nane (Swahili for “8-8”). This is the Tanzanian “Farmer’s Day”. As harvest festivals go, this one is relatively low on fanfare, but high on variety – Tanzania is a huge country in Eastern Africa, with a wide variety of ecosystems, ranging from heavily forested areas near Mt. Kilimanjaro, to long sweeping plains further south. And it has one of the coolest and wettest climates in Africa, seldom getting as hot as 90° and hardly ever getting below 50° throughout most of the country. If you can’t grow something there, you ain’t no farmer. Either that, or a lion ate you.

[Cheeseweasel 26437]

The Battle of Amiens, also known as the Third Battle of Picardy, was the opening phase of the Allied offensive which began on 8 August 1918, later known as the Hundred Days Offensive, that ultimately led to the end of the First World War. 

100th Anniversary today.

[WithoutAClue 15184]

68 years ago today, on August 8th, 1950, Harmon Dobson --- a bold man, a man with a clear vision, a man with a dream as big as Texas ----- opened this little 'ol burger stand at 2609 Ayers street in Corpus Christi. The price of the original Whataburger was 25 cents and the stand took in fifty dollars on its first day of business.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23356]

Woodward & Bernstein watch Nixon resign on this day in 1974.

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

August 10, 1628, the Swedish warship Vasa took her maiden voyage. King Gustavus Adolphus had been one of the most successful Kings in Swedish history (at least, in terms of spreading Swedish military might), and was anxious to extend that power to maritime success.

Armed with an impressive array of specially cast bronze cannons, Vasa was one of the most powerful warships ever seen.

She was also an object lesson to leaders everywhere not to surround themselves with yes-men. See, everyone was so afraid of the king, who was impatient to see his new ship set up shop in the Baltic in support of his troop movements in Poland, that they didn't dare bring up the fact that Vasa was ridiculously top-heavy, and was, in addition to being the most powerful ship in the world, also one of the poorest examples of engineering in all of history.

20 minutes into her maiden -- and only -- voyage, Vasa encountered a slight breeze... which was all she wrote. After sailing a mere 1300 meters (a couple of football fields shy of a mile), she sank.

She was recovered in the 1960s, and the museum where the wreck is now on display is one of Sweden's most popular tourist attractions.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

15 minutes ago, Walden Ponderer said:

August 10, 1628, the Swedish warship Vasa took her maiden voyage. King Gustavus Adolphus had been one of the most successful Kings in Swedish history (at least, in terms of spreading Swedish military might), and was anxious to extend that power to maritime success.

Armed with an impressive array of specially cast bronze cannons, Vasa was one of the most powerful warships ever seen.

She was also an object lesson to leaders everywhere not to surround themselves with yes-men. See, everyone was so afraid of the king, who was impatient to see his new ship set up shop in the Baltic in support of his troop movements in Poland, that they didn't dare bring up the fact that Vasa was ridiculously top-heavy, and was, in addition to being the most powerful ship in the world, also one of the poorest examples of engineering in all of history.

20 minutes into her maiden -- and only -- voyage, Vasa encountered a slight breeze... which was all she wrote. After sailing a mere 1300 meters (a couple of football fields shy of a mile), she sank.

She was recovered in the 1960s, and the museum where the wreck is now on display is one of Sweden's most popular tourist attractions.

So funny......... It's on my bucket list of things to see before I die.

[Parliament 14121]

August 10, 1628, the Swedish warship Vasa took her maiden voyage. King Gustavus Adolphus had been one of the most successful Kings in Swedish history (at least, in terms of spreading Swedish military might), and was anxious to extend that power to maritime success.
Armed with an impressive array of specially cast bronze cannons, Vasa was one of the most powerful warships ever seen.
She was also an object lesson to leaders everywhere not to surround themselves with yes-men. See, everyone was so afraid of the king, who was impatient to see his new ship set up shop in the Baltic in support of his troop movements in Poland, that they didn't dare bring up the fact that Vasa was ridiculously top-heavy, and was, in addition to being the most powerful ship in the world, also one of the poorest examples of engineering in all of history.
20 minutes into her maiden -- and only -- voyage, Vasa encountered a slight breeze... which was all she wrote. After sailing a mere 1300 meters (a couple of football fields shy of a mile), she sank.
She was recovered in the 1960s, and the museum where the wreck is now on display is one of Sweden's most popular tourist attractions.

Oops

[LongestHorn 759]

 

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

August 12, 30 B.C.E., Cleopatra (full name Cleopatra VII Philopator; Greek "Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ") committed suicide, allegedly by allowing an asp (Egyptian cobra) to bite her on the breast. 

Cleopatra was the last of the Ptolemaic pharoahs, having succumbed to the hegemony of the Roman Empire, ending three centuries of Greek rule over the once proud Egyptian Empire.

While history remembers her mostly as the cloying subservient of Julius Caesar and Marc Antony, Cleopatra was actually a shrewd ruler whose underappreciated skill kept the Ptolemies in charge for a good two decades longer than they by rights ought to have been expected to do -- when her predecessor Ptolemy XII died in March of 51 B.C.E., 18 year old Cleopatra and her brother, the 10 year old Ptolemy XIII jointly ruled (and, of course, were married). 

Her brother was a bit of a jerk, naturally, and managed briefly to banish Cleopatra to Syria; she eventually won the civil war which ensued, only to have to deal with Rome moving in, at which point she played the Romans one against the other until, finally, the overwhelming military (and moreso financial) might of the Romans proved too much for anyone to resist.

Popular culture typically depicts her as the original "sex as a weapon" femme fatale, but that is a preposterous reading of events. The reality is, she was a driven, intellectually astute politician. But history is written mostly by men, so what're ya gonna do?

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

August 13, 1964, the last execution in the United Kingdom took place, with Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans being hanged for the murder of 53 year old van driver John Alan West.  The following year, Parliament passed the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 by a 2-to-1 margin.  Every subsequent year until 1997, a bill was presented to re-establish the death penalty for the crime of murder, and it was defeated each time.  

In 2004, the 13th Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights encumbered the United Kingdom with the responsibility of not restoring the death penalty for the duration of British membership in the Convention.

In a survey of murder rates for the most recent year available in each of 218 countries, 191 had more murders per capita than Great Britain. 

[Stoogey 219]

47 minutes ago, Walden Ponderer said:

The following year, Parliament passed the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 by a 2-to-1 margin.  Every subsequent year until 1997, a bill was presented to re-establish the death penalty for the crime of murder, and it was defeated each time.  

 
Which put Harry Allen out of work. Kind of an interesting guy. Wore a bow tie to honor the solemnity of his duties. Kept a notebook listing all of his executions. Names, dates, heights, weights and the necessary drops. The idea is to swiftly break the neck causing unconsciousness and rapid death without strangulation or decapitation (as in the case of US military hanging on January 15, 2007 of Barzan Mohamed who was decapitated due to miscalculations of his weight and too long a drop).  

English justice was swift and so were the hangings. The convicted prisoner was assigned to a condemned cell. When the time arrived. a partition was removed. The adjoining room was the execution room. The prisoner was on the trapdoor with noose around neck and the door was sprung within seconds.

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1969 ticker tape parade for Apollo 11 astronauts .........New York City

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August 14, 1720, the expedition led by Spanish Lieutenant-General Pedro de Villasur was roundly defeated by Pawnee and Otoe warriors just outside of present-day Columbus, Nebraska.  Forty-six members of the Spanish force (including several Apache and Pueblo allies) were killed; the approximately 70 survivors bid a hasty retreat to New Mexico, and Spanish influence in Nebraska was effectively put to an end.

The expedition had been intended to halt the expansion of French influence in the Great Plains, as French explorers and fur traders had begun probing the region in the early 18th century.  Spain had claimed the Great Plains as their own territory, but apart from the Coronado expedition in the 16th century (looking for El Dorado, the "lost city of gold"), the Spanish had not really made much effort to colonize the region.

As it turns out, the Spanish needn't have bothered, since the French influence in the region never really took hold.  It took another hundred years, but eventually the Anglo-American settlers of what would become the United States became the first non-native population to successfully invade (steal, whatever term suits you best) the Pawnee and Otoe lands.  The Spanish/French fight turned out to have been a big kerfuffle over nothing.