Daily history

Good morning,


There was a "Bearcat" that called me late last night and did not say anything. I guess a "Gator" had his tongue. Just joking.

Quote of the day:

"I was raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Right after I finally learned how to spell Kalamazoo, my father moved us to Albuquerque."

                                 Al Unser, Jr.

I guess y'all are tired of hearing about the Halasis couple that crashed the President's White House soiree a couple of weeks ago. Here is another tidbit. They stated that they threw a party in the "Virginia Horse Country" and went to Maryland to get the adult beverages. That alone is against the law because liquor and wine is cheaper in Maryland than it is in Virginia. They bought $25,000 worth of beverages and threw the party. After it was over they brought $13,000 worth of liquor back to the store in Maryland and wanted to get some of their money back. What made it bad was the check they wrote for the original $25,000 bounced. The Salahis are scam artists in addition to having no class.

A registered nurse at the Spartanburg County Medical Center named Kimberly Brannon has been arrested for the theft of controlled substances. She was charged with taking hydrocodone and a number of other narcotics. She is the second RN that has been charged with the theft of narcotics from the same medical facility in one month.

I have a confession. About a month ago I "adopted" a combat Marine stationed in Afghanistan. A couple of weeks ago communications with him ceased and I could not figure out what happened. I assumed that he had lost interest. Then a couple of days ago we found out that a major offensive had been launched against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan by the US Marines. Then in dawned on me that he was in accelerated training and any outside communications would be terminated for security purposes before the attack. Here I am sitting fat, dumb and happy worried if he is getting my messages and he is being shot at, dodging mortar fire and roadside bombs, etc. I learned a lesson.

The mighty Gamecock football team will go to a bowl game in Birmingham, Alabama and play the University of Connecticut, better known as UConn.

This date in history December 8

1914    A month earlier German Admiral Maximilian Von Spee had sunk two British cruisers with the loss of all hands off the south coast of Chile. This was the worst defeat for the British navy in a hundred years. On this date Von Spee arrived at the British held Falkland Islands in the south Atlantic with the expectation of annihilating whatever British naval forces that were there. He expected to have an easy time with the slow and sluggish British battleships he saw anchored in the harbor. Von Spee’s squadron was not in peak condition because of the previous battle and the transit of Cape Horn enroute to the Falklands. What Von Spee did not see until it was too late was the two British fast cruisers “Inflexible” and “Invincible”. The British sailors aboard these ships were eager for revenge for the ships previously sunk by Von Spee. The two cruisers opened on Von Spee’s flagship “Scharnhorst” at 16,500 yards which was out of the range of the “Scharnhorst”. That ship went to bottom with all hands in a matter of minutes. The British cruisers then turned their attention to the German cruisers “Gneisenau” and “Numberg” sent them to the bottom with all hands also. All told the Germans lost four ships and 2,000 men to 10 for the British. Military historians consider this the most important sea battle in WWI. It also has the distinction of being the last battle of sailors and their guns without the assistance of aircraft and/or submarines.

1980    Previously a maniac name Mark Davis Chapman decides that John Lennon is a phony and is going to do something about it. He tells his wife that he is going to New York and kill John Lennon but his wife blows it off as bravado. He goes to New York with a .38 caliber revolver and no ammunition. Once there he discovers that ammunition of that sort is illegal and flies to Atlanta to get ammo. After arriving back in New York, he camps out outside Lennon’s luxury apartment and waits. On this date, Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono arrive at the apartment and Chapman walks up and pumps four rounds into Lennon. Chapman then casually walks back to the wall of the building, and whips out the book, “A Catcher in the Rye”, and begins reading while waiting on the police to arrive. Lennon, bleeding profusely, is put in an ambulance and taken to a hospital but dies enroute. We never know what kind of maniac is out there, do we?

1775    Earlier Patriot General George Washington had sent General Robert Montgomery and 1,000 troops into Canada via Lake Champlain and General Benedict Arnold with another 1,000 into Canada via the Maine woods to capture the cities of Montreal and Quebec. Montgomery captures Montreal almost without firing a shot but Quebec was another story. The Governor General of Canada, Sir Guy Carleton, had been at Montreal but sneaked away to Quebec. Upon arriving at Quebec, Carleton whipped together a formidable defense and awaited the arrival of the Patriots. Arnold arrived at Quebec first and demanded that the Governor surrender which was denied. Arnold decided to wait for the arrival of Montgomery and the extra troops and artillery. The Patriots were on a schedule because the greatest majority of the troop’s enlistments ended on December 31. On this date, Arnold and Montgomery join forces and begin the siege of Quebec. The siege lasted until December 31 when Montgomery and Arnold, knowing their troops would be decimated the next day, launch an assault on the city. It was a disaster with Montgomery killed and Arnold suffering a severe leg wound. After this fiasco, the Patriots retreated down Lake Champlain into the United States and safety.

1894    American writer James Thurber is born in Columbus, Ohio. As with most kids he had no clue about what he wanted to do in life, until he went to Ohio State University. It was there that he discovered creative writing then he knew his calling. James lost an eye while playing with his brothers and his writings were signed with a caricature of a man with an eye patch. James wrote for the New Yorker magazine mostly short stories and whimsical essays. James gave us An Owl in the Attic, The Seal in the Bedroom and his most memorable The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. In his later years, James’ health began to fail and he compensated by getting heavily into the sauce. As a result his whimsical humor left him and his work became darker and darker. He died in 1961 but he left us with some wonderful literature.

1860    On this date the United States Secretary of the Treasury, Howell Cobb angrily resigns his position in protest of the election of the Republican Abraham Lincoln. Some of you may not know this but the Republican Party was formed for the sole purpose of the elimination of slavery in America. Anyway, Cobb goes back home to Georgia. Four months later when several state began seceding from the Union, Georgia being one of them, Cobb offered his services to the Confederate Army and was given the rank of General. It was Cobb and his brigade of Georgians that was behind the stone wall at the base of Marye’s Heights at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia. These Georgians rose up and fired at the unsuspecting oncoming Union infantry at a range of less than fifty yards and one of the bloodiest massacres in the history of the war was delivered. There is a county in Georgia named for Howell Cobb.

Births and deaths:

1542    Mary Queen of Scots is born. When she spoke of the lover the Earl of Bothwell she said “I would follow him around the earth in my underwear.”

1723    German philosopher Paul Holbach is born. He said “The hardest of stones, by degrees, give way to the touch of air.”

1889    US writer Hervey Allen is born. He said “Religions change, beer and wine remain”.

1936    Us actor David Carradine is born. He said “If you cannot be a poet, then be a poem.”

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow