Daily history

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

"A successful life is one that is lived through understanding and pursuing one's own path, not chasing after the dreams of others."

                                      Chin Ning Chu

A 63 year old insurance agent/financial advisor over in Rock Hill, SC is arrested for running a Ponzi scheme to the tune of nearly $2 million. I admit that he is not a Bernie Madoff but people got hurt just as bad. This man was caught when a beneficiary on a life insurance policy complained to New York Life about this loser. He spent most of the money of the usual goodies; houses, boats, at least one wedding and his children's education. Most of the victims were the widows/widowers and children of the deceased.

It's cold down here in Gamecock country. Many of the long time residents, me included, say that they cannot remember when it has been this cold for so long. Down in a small town south of Greenville a water pipe burst in an elementary school Monday night and flooded four classrooms. Like I say, it is damned cold.

About a year ago Lam Luang of Mobile, Alabama went out on a bridge crossing from the mainland to Dauphin Island and threw his four small children over the side...they all were killed. This past week a jury convicted this monster of first degree murder and will decide sometime this week if he will be sentenced to death or life without parole. That is a no-brainer, y'all.

Good news:

This past Saturday in the tiny town of Boston Bar, British Columbia 11 year old Austin Forman was visiting his grandfather. Austin went outside to get some firewood with his grandfather's 18 month old Golden Retriever named Angel following closely.

Normally Angel would be running around playing but this time Angel was right on Austin's heels whining. After Austin and Angel reached the wood pile, a mountain lion leaped out of the underbrush and rushed Austin. Angel jumped between the two and took on the mountain lion in a ferocious fight. Austin ran into the house and tells his grandfather that Angel is getting eaten alive. He called 911 and fortunately for them, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police office was just minutes away. When the Mountie showed up the mountain lion had Angel pinned down with a grip on her throat. The Mountie fire three shots killing the lion. Angel was immediately taken to a veterinarian where the vet said that Angel was pretty ripped up but would survive. Courage and bravery is admirable no matter how it is displayed. The photo of Angel looked a lot like Katie, my brother's dog that is no longer with us.

This date in history January 6

1066    Earlier the King of England, Edward the Confessor, while on his death bed had named Harold Godwinson as his successor to the throne. Harold was from one of the most powerful families in England. On this date Harold was crowned as Harold II, King of England. Well, William the Duke of Normandy, a cousin of Harold, called bullshit on this ceremony claiming that Edward the Confessor had promised him the crown years before. Harold was aware of this claim and gathered his army on the channel and awaited William’s attack. Then another problem arose. King Harold’s brother Tostig and the King of Norway, Harald III Hardraade decided the time was ripe for an attack and take the crown from Harold for themselves and attacked England through Scotland forcing Harold to leave the channel unprotected and meet the attack coming down from the north. King Harold met the Tostig and Harald III army and all but annihilated that bunch and the survivors ran their young asses back to the Humber River and sailed back to Norway never to return. All of this took place in August of 1066. Soon after this battle a courier found King Harold near the battle site and told him that he had better get his ass back to the channel because the fleet of William of Normandy was on the horizon headed for the beach near Hastings. But that is another story.

1777    Earlier General George Washington had delivered a severe ass-kicking to the British forces at Trenton and Princeton and on this date he retreats to his winter quarters in Morristown, New Jersey. Washington had a problem with desertion because many of the troops did not want to spend another winter in the field with all of the privations experienced in the past. Another problem was many of his troops whose enlistments had expired on December 31 had failed to re-enlist. Fortunately for Washington he had gained much popularity throughout the colonies and had increased the maximum punishment from 39 lashes to 100 lashes. The Continental Congress had decreed that anyone enlisting for three years would receive a cash bonus and those that would enlist for the duration of the war would receive a land grant. All of this brought the Continental Army about 17,000 new enlistments and with his present army of about 11,000 brought Washington a substantial army to sally forth the coming spring.

1827    Future Confederate General John Calvin Brown is born in Giles City, Tennessee. He became a well known lawyer in Pulaski, Tennessee. He was opposed to secession but when Tennessee seceded he offered his services to the Confederacy and enlisted as a private but less than a month later he was awarded the rank of Colonel in the 3rd Tennessee. Brown’s unit was assigned duty at Fort Donelson on the Tennessee River which was captured by US General Ulysses Grant and included Brown. Brown was exchanged six months later and was promoted to Brigadier General. He was present at the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky and was wounded. He was able to recover enough to be present at the Battle of Stones River. He was also present at the infamous Battle of Chickamauga and was again wounded. He convalesced enough to be present at the Siege of Chattanooga in October and November of 1863. He was assigned to CSA General John Bell Hood’s Confederate army in the disastrous Atlanta Campaign and eventually followed Hood into Tennessee and the bloodbath that was the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee. This battle virtually crushed Hood’s army into not being a viable force any longer. Brown was wounded in this battle for the third time. Hood was relieved and succeeded by CSA General Joseph Johnston and Brown recovered enough to be with Johnston when he surrendered to US General William Sherman in North Carolina. After the war Brown served as Governor of Tennessee for two terms and also was a railroad president. He died in 1889 in Boiling Springs, Tennessee at the age of 62.

1798    On this date Jedadiah Strong Smith is born in Bainbridge, New York and became arguable the greatest trapper/explorer this country ever produced. It was Smith that discovered the famous “South Pass” across the Sierra Nevada Mountains which allowed heavily loaded wagons headed toward California and Oregon an easy passage. He found this path by his friendship with the Crow tribe who had known about this pathway for centuries. In 1822 he ran across a trapping party lead by William Ashley. Ashley had been depending on the Indians to provide the beaver furs that Ashley needed so he decided to hire his own trappers to provide beaver pelts and hired the knowledgeable Jed Smith as a guide/trapper. Smith did not disappoint and Ashley’s fur business flourished. Smith formed his own fur company and it flourished also. He was again hired to explore the Great Salt Lake area and was the first honky to explore many parts of California. After many close calls with different Indians he decided to retire to an easier life. He began guiding wagon trains from Saint Louis to Santa Fe and then on into California. On one occasion Smith led a wagon train out of Saint Louis and decided to take a short cut to save 200 miles. What he did not plan on was that there was no potable water on this route. About half way to Santa Fe the train was getting low on drinking water and Smith rode out looking for some. He never returned so the wagon train continued to Santa Fe hoping to find Smith there. He was not there but a Mexican trader was selling things that were known to belong to Smith. The trader had bought the items from a Comanche warrior. The warrior told the trader that he and four other Comanche had trapped Smith in a box canyon somewhere in the Texas panhandle near the Cimarron River and had tortured and killed him. His body was never found. He was 33 years old when he died. What a wonderfully adventurous but short life this man had.

Born today:

1931    US writer E. L. Doctorow. He said “Writing is an acceptable form of schizophrenia.” Some of the “romance” novels were obviously written by the unbalanced.

1911    US actor Joey Adams. He said “A psychiatrist asks a lot of expensive questions that your wife asks for nothing.” I had forgotten why I ain’t married; now I remember.

Died today:

1879    US minister Elias Beadle. He said “Half the work done in this world is to make things appear as they are not.” Sounds like a woman putting on make-up to me.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow