Daily history

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

“Don't rely on someone else for your happiness and self worth. Only you can be responsible for that. If you can't love and respect yourself - no one else will be able to make that happen. Accept who you are - completely; the good and the bad - and make changes as YOU see fit - not because you think someone else wants you to be different."

                                     Stacy Charter

I read that some of the airlines are beginning to fly out of Italy and Greece because the ejecta from the Iceland volcano is not reaching some of the southern parallels. However, all the airlines in the British Isles and eastward are still grounded. Volcanologists are predicting this volcano will be active for several more months but worse yet they are saying that this present volcanic action may activate another much larger volcano nearby. What will happen to the European economy? The BMW assembly plant near Greenville, South Carolina has already begun to cut back production because all of their parts that are brought over from Munich by air are grounded. I suppose they could bring them to a seaport and ship them to Charleston and truck them up. But that would quadruple the assembly time and as we all know, time is money.

At about 2:30a Tuesday morning down in Pensacola, Florida the cops received a call about a suspicious car in a ditch. A deputy arrived and recognized that the car was stolen. A person got out of the car and pointed a yet unidentified weapon at the officer whereupon the officer fire one round into the car and the suspect surrendered. Before the officer could get the cuffs on, a fist fight erupted and the suspect ran away. A short while later the suspect was spotted driving yet another stolen car. The car was stopped by another officer and when the suspect was being cuffed, he made a lunge and tried to capture the officer’s sidearm and a struggle ensued. The weapon was fired several times during the struggle but the suspect was eventually overpowered and arrested. He is cooling his heels in the Escambia County jail. By the way, the suspect is a 14 year old boy. What the hell is a 14 year old boy doing stealing cars at 2:30 in the morning?

Back in 1789 the British merchant ship HMS Bounty was engaged in trade with the natives of Tahiti. The Captain of this ship was a cruel man named William Bligh. He was hard and severe with his crew including giving 20 lashes to a crewman that had already died of disease. The second in command was named Fletcher Christian who was sympathetic with the crew and led a mutiny which took control of the ship from Bligh. Bligh and a few loyal crewmen was set adrift in a 24 foot open boat with one sail and were not allowed any navigation instruments. Captain Bligh sailed that boat over 4,000 miles to the island of Timor where there was a British camp and survival was assured. That voyage was recognized to this day as a stupendous feat of navigation and seamanship by Bligh. There is a group of Australians that have constructed a boat the same size and shape of the one that Bligh and crew were on and will attempt to make the same voyage. They plan to eat only sea birds and fish and drink only rainwater as the crewmen of the Bounty did. Not me y’all, but Bon Voyage to the nutty Aussies.

This date in history April 21

1836    After a couple of years of intimidation by Mexican dictator Santa Anna when he murdered over 400 Texans at Goliad that had surrendered not to mention the 186 at the Alamo, Santa Anna considered parts of Texas as part of Mexico and he was not about to part with it without a fight and the Texans were not going to settle for anything else other than total independence. During these losses for the Texans, Sam Houston had been training a small but fierce army. On this date, Sam unleashed his army against 2,000 of Santa Anna’s army southwest of what is now Houston, Texas near the San Jacinto River. The howling Texans came boiling out a forest onto the encamped Mexicans screaming “Remember Goliad” and “Remember the Alamo”. The Mexicans fought briefly and then ran like rabbits into the waist deep San Jacinto River where they were picked off unmercifully by the Texans. Among those Mexicans that surrendered and were not killed anyway was Santa Anna himself. He was brought before a malaria ridden Sam Houston and Sam said “I don’t want Santa Anna, I want Texas.” He then told Santa Anna to get his young ass back to Mexico and never come back and recognize Texas as an independent nation. Santa Anna agreed and went back to Mexico. The Texans drew up a constitution and elected Sam Houston as the President of Texas. They then petitioned the United States to become a state. The United States initially refused because Texas was a “slave holding” state and the acceptance of Texas into the Union would upset the balance of “slave” and “free” states. Texas remained essentially an independent nation until Santa Anna began to show his butt again and the Mexican War broke out in 1848. It took the American army crossing into Mexico and kicked Santa Anna’s ass in his own country to put an end to it. An official treaty was signed by Mexico and the US giving the US the contested part of Texas. Shortly after this Texas became a welcome addition to these great United States.

1777    On this date a British army led by British General William Tryon attacked and begin sacking the city of Danbury, Connecticut. They trashed or burned everything in sight because there was very little if any resistance from the Continental army. This rampage continued for nearly a week until Patriot General Benedict Arnold, General David Wooster and General Gold Sillman gather an army of 500 Patriots and head to Danbury. Upon arrival at Danbury they Patriots launch a flank attack and the British begin a retreat. The Patriots did not have enough men to cut off the retreat and the British were able to march through Ridgefield and Campo Hills on the way back to the safety of their warships anchored in Long Island Sound. General Wooster was shot during this action and died of his wounds two weeks later. Benedict Arnold was a fine field commander for the colonies until 1780 when he got his feelings hurt about not receiving a promotion when he thought he should and tried to sell West Point to the British. General Sillman was kidnapped by his Loyalist neighbors and held to keep him out of the war. This put Mary Sillman, his wife, between a rock and a hard place. General Sillman was an astute businessman and had several irons in the fire, along with a farm, and it was up to Mary to keep the ball rolling. Mary was equal to the task and was able to negotiate the release of her husband along with all her other duties. She even served as mid-wife to her next door neighbor who was repeatedly raped by British soldiers because she would not give up her house to the soldiers. Great guys, huh?

1863    On this date US General Abel Streight began a raid from northern Alabama into northern Georgia with the intent of cutting the Western and Atlantic Railroad between Chattanooga and Atlanta. He also sent US General Greenville Dodge on a diversionary attack on Tuscumbia, Alabama. Dodge was successful and did indeed capture Tuscumbia. Streight on the other hand was not as fortunate. He encountered a Confederate cavalry unit led by Colonel William Forrest (Nathan Bedford’s brother) and set a trap which Forrest fell into and was defeated by Streight. After this Streight and his army of 2,000 continued toward the railroad. But little did he know that CSA Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest and his well trained and experienced cavalry were shadowing him. A few days later Streight discovered that he was surrounded by Forrest. Forrest called for a truce meeting to hammer out the terms of Streight’s surrender. At the meeting there was almost a continuous string of messengers reporting to Forrest which impressed Streight. Finally Forrest ordered Streight to surrender his and his troop’s arms which they did. Forrest then ordered them to fall into rank and file. After all of this was done, Forrest’s troops stepped out of the woods and Streight realized that Forrest only had 500 troops to his 2,000 but it was too late them, he had been outfoxed by the wily Forrest.

1930    The Ohio Penitentiary was built in Columbus in 1834. Almost from the git-go it was hell on earth. In 1840 a cholera epidemic swept through the prison, the number of deaths was never recorded. In 1893 a retiring prison superintendent wrote “Ten thousand pages of the history of the Ohio Penitentiary cannot give on an idea of the inward wretchedness of its 1,800 inmates. The real truth is known only to God,” The prison was built for 1,500 and at its peak it held 4,300. On this date a fire broke out on some wooden scaffolding that was being used to build additions. The fire quickly reached the roof and began to spread. During all this time the majority of the guards refused to open the cells to allow the prisoners to escape the fire and smoke. A few guards did open the cells and about 50 inmates got away from the fire but eventually the roof collapsed and 320 inmates were burned to death and 130 were injured. As you might suspect, the mother all riots broke out and understandably so. It took the National Guard to quell it. The state of Ohio raised almighty hell at the Prison Bureau and the Prison Bureau responded with paroling 2,300 of the prisoners which increased the crime rate exponentially. You can’t have it both ways.

1838    On this date John Muir was born in Dunbar, Scotland. He and his family moved to a farm in central Wisconsin when he was just a child. At the time Wisconsin was on the American western frontier. He stayed with his family on the farm until he was 23 years old. He traveled the Midwest for several years. Muir had a mechanical and inventive mind. He was working in a wagon factory when he slipped and scratched his left cornea with a file he was holding. His right eye dimmed in sympathy and he was temporarily blinded. During this period of retrieving his sight, Muir re-thought his mission in life. After getting his sight back, he departed on a 1,000 mile hike to the American West. During his travels he came upon the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California and he was deeply moved. He knew then what his mission was the preservation of this pristine wilderness. He began studying transcendentalism as taught by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau saying that the wilderness is “a window open into heaven, a mirror reflecting the image of God”. He and several others formed the Sierra Club dedicated to preservation of wildernesses. He had his biggest fight when the issue of damming the river in the Hetch Hetchy canyon in Yosemite to provide water for San Francisco. In spite of Muir’s fight, the dam was built and exists to this day. Muir died in 1914 disappointed that he was unable to stop the dam but he lit a fire of wilderness stewardship that burns to this day.

1945    On this date the Russian army driving toward Berlin from the south, overrun the German High Command at Zossen. The only resistance left for the Germans is the 12 and 13 year old “soldiers” using 6 tank destroyer guns. The Russians merely brought up bulldozers and rolled over those kids, time and time again until there was nothing left that could be identified as human. How could Hitler expect kids to defend against a million wild-eyed Russian soldiers seeking revenge along with 4,000 tanks and assorted other heavy machinery? I guess the answer to that one is obvious, he was Satan incarnate.

Born today:

1828    French historian Hippolyte Taine. He said “I have made a study of philosophers and cats. Cats have wisdom that is infinitely superior.” They are also very delicious, just joking.

1838    Scottish naturalist John Muir. He said “And surely God’s people, no matter how savage or serious, great or small, like to play. Elephants and whales, dancing, humming gnats, and invisibly small microbes, all are warm with divine radium and must have lots of fun in them.” Muir was one in million, ya’ll.

1958    US actress Andie McDowell. She said “In my next life I want to come back five foot, two inches with the finest ass and tits you have ever seen.” Andie is from Gaffney, SC and married her high school boyfriend about five years ago. As far as I know they are still together.

Died today:

1910    US writer Mark Twain. He said “Sometimes too much drink is barely enough”. Mark Twain is the hero of the most cynical of writers.

1924    English writer Marie Corelli. She said “No I never married. I never had to because I have three pets that serve the same purpose. I have a dog that growls all morning, a parrot that swears all afternoon and a cat that comes in late every night.” Marie, that sounds a lot like my theory that a black Lab is better than a wife. They only eat once a day and will sleep outside if you want them to, will retrieve birds out of cold water and are eternally loyal. But if they do decide to run away from home it does not cost you half of everything you have ever owned.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow