Daily Lesson

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

"I believe my girl friend has had sixty-one boyfriends before me because she calls me her sixty-second lover." Rodney Dangerfield

Today it will be a biography first and then the lesson.







                                         Henry Knox

                            The forgotten American hero


Henry Knox was born in Boston on July 25, 1750. After his father died Henry dropped out of school at the age of 12 and went to work in a bookstore. He stayed there until he was eighteen when he joined a local militia. He was a witness to the Boston Massacre in 1770 and joined the Boston Grenadiers in 1772. He got married to a woman named Lucy Flucker (Be careful with the pronunciation) in 1774 then he joined the Continental Army in 1775 and was given the rank of Colonel and given command of the Continental Regiment of Artillery by George Washington. It is not known if he joined the army to get away from Lucy or not. Henry was tasked with going to the recently captured Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York and bringing the captured artillery pieces back to Boston, and he was supposed to do all of this without the British detecting it. Henry accomplished his mission by stealth, moving a lot at night and wrapping the wheel of the cannon with rags to dampen the noise. After arriving back in Boston, he wasn’t finished yet. Washington ordered that those artillery pieces go to the crest of Dorchester Heights near Boston and also be done in secrecy. Guess who he picked to lead that arduous assignment? That’s right, he pick Henry. Getting those cannon to the crest meant a lot of sweat and muscle because the roads to the crest were crude if not non-existent. Henry got his assignment done over night and the next morning British General William Howe found himself staring down the barrels of several cannon on the highest ground around. Howe had no choice but to evacuate Boston or be annihilated. In December of 1776, Washington saw that his army was emotionally and spiritual spent after a series of ignominious losses in the recent past. He knew he had to do something spectacular to raise the spirits of his troops. He was also aware that many of his troops enlistments ran out on December 31 and many of them would probably go to the house. It was during this period that Thomas Paine became aware of this situation and delivered one of the most famous writings in the history of these United States when he deliver his pamphlet “Common Sense” which began “These are the times that try men’s souls…..” Washington had this document read to his troops and most of them said they would stay, enlistments be damned. Washington decided to cross back over the Delaware and re-capture Trenton from the arrogant Hessians (German mercenaries) who had sent him retreating across the Delaware earlier. Guess who he tasked with planning and execution of the river crossing, troops and artillery included? Yes, it was Henry. Washington opened the attack on Trenton the next morning and on Christmas Day kicked the living dog shit out of those Hessians, including fatally wounding their commander, and re-captured Trenton. This victory restored the fighting spirit to his troops and the rest of the colonies. For this action Henry was promoted to Brigadier General and given command of Chief of Artillery of the Continental Army. By this time the Continental Army had been forged into a tough fighting machine. Henry was present at nearly every important battle in the northeast including Princeton, Brandywine (been there), Germantown (been there) in 1777 and Monmouth in 1778. What time he wasn’t in combat he was a participant in other affairs. He was one of the judges in the trial for treason of Major John Andre in 1780. When Washington felt he had British General Charles Cornwallis surrounded at Yorktown, it was Henry that placed the artillery and Cornwallis eventually surrendered essentially ending the Revolutionary War in 1781. He was given command of West Point for a couple of years and then was made commander in chief of the army. In 1785 he became the Secretary of War. In this capacity he began the organization of a national militia that eventually became the National Guard. He also set into motion the beginnings of a national navy. He ordered the construction of national coastal fortifications and he supervised Indian policy also. He finally retired to Thomaston, Maine in 1796. He engaged lumbering, shipbuilding, stock raising and brick making. He died in Thomaston in 1806 at the age of 56. Other than George Washington, I cannot find a man as devoted and dedicated to his country than Henry Knox. By the way, Henry was very, very corpulent all of his life. In other words, he was very overweight but in his case, size didn’t matter.


             This date in history  September 10



1897     Even without a breathalyzer test, George Smith is arrested for DWI in London. This is the start of legal entanglements for years to come that caused attorneys to jump for joy from that day to this. However, the statistics show that even the severest of penalties do not seem to deter the driving imbibers. Each year there is an average of 16,000 deaths, 500,000 injuries and $1 billion in damages. We are a very hardheaded bunch.



1921     Germany opens the autobahn. The autobahn being the first minimum access highways in the world with no speed limit. It closely resembles 1-385 at 5:30p near Greenville, S.C. and Independence Blvd in Charlotte, N.C. at about the same time.



1942     President Roosevelt decrees the advent of gasoline rationing for the duration of the WWII. What we really need to do is outlaw any vehicle that cannot produce at least 25 MPG in the city and 28 MPG on the road and that means the SUV's like the Tahoe, Explorer/Expedition and Grand Cherokees, etc.  I have a brother that one of these beasts and when we go fishing this winter it and fill up the truck and the boat it will cost about $140. Too heavy.



1993    On this date is the final episode on Tonight with David Letterman on NBC. Dave's final guest was Tom Hanks. After the retirement of Johnny Carson it was a seesaw battle between Dave and Jay Leno to be Johnny's replacement. Jay won and Dave moved to CBS. Dave originally outdid Jay in the polls but eventually Jay prevailed and has been ahead ever since.



1989     Hungary allows the East Germans that had been in refugee camps to return to West Germany if they wanted to which was opposed to Soviet policy. The president of Hungary said "We cannot be a nation of refugee camps." This unanswered act of defiance was a sure indicator the Russia's influence was circling the drain.



1977    Charlene Williams and Gerald Gallego meet in a Sacramento Bar. Thus beginning one of the most sordid tales in the annuls of serial killers. These monsters decided that Gerald's sexual and sadistic appetites were the equal of Charlene's and so they went on rampage of capturing runaways and raping, torturing and killing them. They had done in 10 teenagers before finally being caught in an Ingles parking lot asleep in a stolen car in Greenville, S.C., tried and convicted. Charlene rolled on Gerald and got 20 years, Gerald got life without parole. In my opinion that ain't good enough, I wish we still used the rack and the Iron Maiden so we could get medieval on their collective asses.



1881    Tensions rise in Cochise County, Arizona after a stage robbery is investigated by Wyatt Earp and his brothers. By looking at some boot prints in the dirt, Wyatt decided that Frank Stillwell and sometime sheriff John Behan had done the deed and arrested them. Both Frank and John were supporters of the Ike Clanton and John McLaury families. These 2 families felt that they controlled the "range" country where they could do pretty much as they pleased including rustling other peoples cattle and horses, and the Earp brothers controlled the town. All this tension came to a head in October at the OK Corral. The Earp brothers and Doc Holliday prevailed.



Born today:



1487    Pope Julius III. When speaking to an aide he said “Do you not know, my son, with what little understanding this world is ruled?” Hey Julius, hell yes I know what you are talking about. Nothing has changed in 522 years.



1885     US writer Charles Van Doren. He said “Yes, it is hard to write, but it is harder not to.” I concur, Charles.



1890     French/Italian designer Elsa Schiaparelli. She said “Women all over the world dress the same: they dress to be annoying to other women.” Women are strange critters, ya’ll.



1929    US golfer Arnold Palmer. He said “The road to success is always under construction.” Arnie had one of the fieriest competitive spirits ever seen in sports.



1934    US columnist (and one of my favorites) Charles Kuralt. He said “Thanks to the interstate road system, we can travel coast to coast without seeing a damned thing.” Unfortunately, this North Carolina native left this earth at the age of 63. What a damned shame.



            Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow