Daily history

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

                                Ralph Waldo Emerson

Over at the Carowinds amusement park near Charlotte, NC a twenty year old employee was arrested for stealing $810. She walked out with the cash stuffed down her panties. The money was recovered by a sheriff’s deputy. They did not specify the exact location of the cash on her person and what was the condition of the bills when they pulled them out. Also, was deputy a male or female? Pardon my pun, but that would have been a very touchy situation.

The fugitive that I reported about last Tuesday has been arrested. He was found at a Red Roof Inn over in Spartanburg, SC this past Friday. He was lucky he was not shot. The cops take it seriously when you say that you will never return to prison.

Earlier this week a family down near Charleston, SC woke up at 3:30am when someone was breaking in. The parents went into the kitchen and there was a 250 pound, 43 year old woman holding a knife to the throat of their 12 year old daughter. The woman threatened to cut the girls throat if the parents did not give her $20. This dumb-ass is looking at least 10 year in the joint for breaking and entering, threatening and kidnapping for a lousy $20. The parents coughed up the $20 and this crazy woman left, she had brought a dog with her she and the dog went on their merry way. The funny part is that they were not in a car but were walking…and the woman was barefoot. The police had no problem with tracking this woman’s footprints because she was not walking on the pavement but on the side of the road where it was not so hot. The side of the road in that area is all sand. When they arrived at the woman’s house the dog as described by the victims was sitting on the front porch. This may be dumbest criminal south of the 37th parallel.

Over in Spartanburg, SC the county deputies were called to a domestic disturbance. It seems that a 36 year old woman was in her house with her new boyfriend and her old boyfriend shows up unannounced and starts beating on the door. She finally opens the door and the old boyfriend hits her with a banana and spits at her. That’s right, I said a banana. This no class, y’all. He could have used at least a Granny Smith apple, a Ruby Red grapefruit or Jalapeno pepper. By the way, the old boyfriend and the woman had four children together over the years.

Over in Spartanburg, SC a woman shopping at a Wal-Mart called and complained to the police about a flasher. She was in the check-out lane in the “garden section” when a man came in and there was nothing between him and the Lord but a pair of flip-flops, extra short shorts and a tank top. You will notice that I did not mention underwear. He went over to the lawn care section, stayed five minutes and went to the check-out line. The man kept bending over at the waist and pulling up his shorts as tight as he could get them and the security cameras confirmed it…I will leave the rest to your imagination. I wonder what bought…was it Miracle Gro…..or insecticide?

June 30    was not a good day for Joe Stewart of Navarre, Florida. Back in April of 2009 he was in his 1996 Ford SUV and was in collision with a Chevy SUV and chose not to stop. Further on down the road he lost control of his truck and crashed into a telephone pole killing one of his passengers and seriously injuring another. He was tested and blew a .122 on the Breathalyzer, the legal limit in Florida is .08 meaning Joe was legally drunk and responsible for a death and serious injury. On June 30 his case came to trial and he was convicted and the judge gave him 30 years. OUCH!

This date in history July 12

1861    Earlier Bostonian Albert Pike left home in the 1830’s to seek his fortune in the Great American west. He joined with more than one trapping and hunting expeditions departing from the Saint Louis area. Albert and horses did not get along well and he spent a great deal of time walking. He finally settled in the area near what is now Fort Smith, Arkansas. He was a participant in the Mexican-American war in the mid 1840’s. The problem here was that he did not get along with his commanding officer and a point came where it was a matter of honor and a duel was in order. These two faced off and blazed away with pistols but not a scratch was suffered by either one and their “seconds” put and end to this foolishness. Pike became friendly with, and was well known by several of the Indian tribes from the Great Plains all the way back to the Cherokees. Pike was not an advocate of secession but when Arkansas seceded, Pike offered his services to the Confederacy. Pike was named as special envoy to the Native Americans and it was his job to gain treaties with as many as he could so the Confederacy would not have to deal with them during the Civil War. The Native Americans were not thrilled with the white Southerners moving in on their lands but that was not as bad as the US government demanding that the tribes leave their lands altogether to the white man. Pike did not disappoint and on this date he signed a treaty with the powerful Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes in Indian Territory not to mention treaties with the Creeks, Seminoles, Comanche and Caddo among others. One Cherokee named Stand Watie joined the Confederate army and rose to the rank of Brigadier General. If I am not mistaken he was present at Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House.

1963    On this date little Pauline Reade is walking to a dance from her home in Gorton, England. This is the last anyone had seen of her for years to come except for her abductors Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. Ian and Myra became known as the “Moor Murderers”. It was not until 1987 that Pauline’s body was recovered and then only after Ian had confessed to the murder while in an insane asylum and took the police to the burial site. Little Pauline was not the only one. Ian and Myra tortured and murdered two 12 year old boys and one 10 year old girl. Finally they captured a 17 year old boy and chopped him to pieces with a hatchet in front of Myra’s brother-in-law David Smith. Even though Smith was a “skinhead” or a neo-Nazi, this brutality was even too much for him and he blows the whistle on Ian and Myra. The police raided Ian and Myra’s apartment and found pornographic photos of Myra that Ian sold on the street. They also found photos of the 10 years old girl being tortured and recordings of her begging for her life. The police found other photos of Ian and Myra in a remote location and were able to identify it as Saddleworth Moor. By the way, a moor is an expanse of infertile land usually fairly swampy. The police found the remains of two more victims in this moor. Ian and Myra received the worst penalty available in Great Britain and that being life imprisonment. It is really peculiar that England has banished the death penalty when their history is full of inventive methods of torture and horrendous methods of execution. I guess they got it out of their system.

1995    The weather bureau in Chicago issues a heat warning calling for extended days with temperatures of over 100 degrees. Sure enough, the weather bureau is on target this time and this date begins a torturous heat wave the like of which had never been recorded in that area in history. It was estimated that the heat index was about 120 if you included the humidity. During this period air conditioners were running so hard that power failures were common. The temperature at night never got below 85 and there were so many hydrants opened and sprayed out onto the streets that the fire fighters had no water pressure. Many railroads warped in the heat causing the railroads to grind to a stop. The emergency rooms and the morgue were filled to overflowing with corpses killed in this heat. They were mostly elderly men that lived alone rather than elderly women. This was attributed to the fact that elderly women had a larger friend base and could move to friend’s houses if their house became too hot. A good estimate is that 465 people died more than normal during the heat wave. Keep this in mind when Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore tells you in his book that global warming is coming.

1861    Earlier James Butler Hickok move to Nebraska from Homer, Illinois. He chose to be known as “Bill” as his father was named. Bill was well trained and adapted to the life of the gun and was considered a crack pistol shot with either hand even at the young age of 21. He settled in Rock Springs Station, Nebraska and took a job as a stock handler. Across the street was a blacksmith named Dave McCanles who, for reasons known only to Dave, hated Bill and would needle him whenever he had the chance. Bill got back at him secretly by having sex with Dave’s mistress Sarah Shull. One day Dave evidently found out about Bill and Sarah so Dave and two of his friends and Dave’s 12 year old son come storming over to the stock yard yelling that he was going to take Bill out into the yard and horsewhip him. Bill responded with “You try that and there will be one less son-of-a-bitch here.” Dave took a couple of steps toward Bill with gun drawn. Bill whips out his pistol and drills poor Dave in the middle of his chest. Dave staggers back out in the yard and dies in the arms of his 12 year old. The other two come running into the station again with guns drawn and Bill drops one of them hitting him twice and hit the other one in the side and drops him but it was not a fatal wound. The others in the stock yard got fed up and finished off the two wounded attackers. It is from this episode that the legend of “Wild Bill” Hickok was born.

1943    The Russian army, having gathered all the artillery and tanks available, open up a defensive perimeter know as the “Kursk Salient” to try and put a stop to the German assault that was about to overcome the entire country. There were about 3,000 tanks available to each side. On this date near the city of Kursk 900 Soviet tanks engaged 900 German tanks in the largest tank engagement in history. About an equal number of tanks were destroyed on both sides but the German advance was stopped in its tracks and the invasion of Russia was beginning to turn around. After the Russians gained the initiative they were merciless and relentless in the slaughter of the Germans.

Born today:

1817    US writer Henry David Thoreau. He said “Any fool can make rules for the speaking and writing of the English language, and any fool can follow it.” I guess Thoreau is best known for “On Walden Pond” and “Civil Disobedience”.

1920    Canadian writer Pierre Berton. He said “A Canadian is someone that can make love in a canoe.” Hey Pierre, a southerner is someone that can make love standing up in a Pawley’s Island hammock.Died today:

1536    Dutch writer Erasmus. He said “If I gain a little money I buy books, if there is anything left over I buy food.” Evidently Erasmus has not tried the strawberry pie at Ellie’s of Daniel Island.

1849    First Lady Dolley Madison. She said “I would rather fight with my hands rather than my tongue.” I am going to let that one alone.

1988    US actor Joshua Logan. He said “Not since Attila the Hun swept across Europe leaving 500 years of blackness has there been a man like Lee Marvin.” Hey Josh, I liked Lee myself but GEEEZ!

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow