Daily history

Good morning,




Quote of the day:

“Men are superior to women. For one thing, men can urinate from a speeding car.”

Will Durst



I read about a man that called the cops because he saw someone pull up in his yard, jump out and grab one of his prize “Albany Blood Cock” roosters. He claimed that the rooster was worth $1,000. The thief jumped back in his car and sped away. The owner chased for a while but the thief escaped. I could not help but research what a Albany Blood Cock was. It is a fighting chicken, y’all. A Gamecock, if you will. It seems that this particular breed along with the McAnally breed are the fiercest fighters out there. They are known affectionately in the cockfighting arena as “roundheads”. It is obvious that the owner of this rooster is not in the cockfighting business or he would have not called the cops, but that does not stop him from raising these athletes and selling them to those who do. When you think about how much this rooster is worth and what care is involved, it sounds like a lucrative business to me. Nah, If I did that my daughters would never speak to me again even though their inheritance would increase dramatically…or would they?



Over in Teheran, Iran somebody on a motorcycle pulled up beside a limo carrying two nuclear scientists, planted a magnetic bomb and lit it off. One of the scientists was killed outright and the other one is in serious condition. Iran blamed Israel for this assassination in an attempt to slow down Iran’s development of nuclear weapons. I think that is a definite possibility. I like it.



Last week a Somali Muslim that was a naturalized American citizen conspired to build and plant a bomb in a large crowd gathering around for a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon. The only problem was that this jackass was getting the bomb parts from an FBI operative and the parts were fake. He was arrested and is looking at a long time in the joint. I have been fishing in Rogue River in the Medford, Oregon area in the past. Let me tell you, those Oregonians in that area are as close to real cowboys as you will find in America today. They are rough and ready and are prepared to fight at the drop of a hat, and you don’t even need the hat. After this episode in Portland, the Muslim communities in Oregon are terrified that these “rough boys” will come after them and I would not be surprised if they did. It was a great pleasure to associate with people that just take you for what you are and expect the same from you…just don’t lie to them or betray them. If you do, the hat with drop.



This date in history November 30



1776 On this date one of the greatest screw-ups in history occurs. British Admiral Richard Howe and his bother British General William Howe offer amnesty to any colonist that would swear an oath to cease and desist from “Treasonable acting and doings” within 60 days. Earlier in September Admiral Howe had brought his fleet into Long Island Sound and disembarked his brother General William Howe and his well trained and polished infantry. After landing Howe engaged in two battles with Patriot General George Washington and his rag tag army and on one occasion Howe had the entire Patriot army flanked and could have cut off Washington’s retreat and captured and hanged him and his entire staff for treason and the rebellion would have ended. But the Howe brothers saw themselves as peace makers and allowed Washington and company to escape by boat over to Manhattan. A little while later the Patriots sent over a committee headed by Ben Franklin to negotiate with the Howe brothers. After two days of talks the negotiations broke down when the Howe brothers would not even consider American Independence as being necessary for peace. After this both sides ramped up for the all out war they knew was coming. Seven years later after an ocean of tears and blood was shed by our ancestors, victory was ours.



1835 On this date Samuel Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri. At the age of 13 he was apprenticed out to a printer but then went to work for an older brother who was an editor with the Hannibal Journal in Hannibal, Missouri. He was commissioned to write a humorous travel column for the Keokuk Daily Post in Keokuk, Iowa. But Samuel saw himself as a riverboat captain on the mighty Mississippi and became an apprentice. At the age of 23 he received his license as a riverboat captain. He piloted until the outbreak of the Civil War and then nearly all riverboat traffic was discontinued. It was during his time as a captain that he received the nickname of “Mark Twain” which was a call out signifying the depth of two fathoms which was the minimum safe depth on the river. He moved out west and began writing for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, in Virginia City, Nevada. He eventually moved to San Francisco and began writing in earnest and delivered one of his best renderings in “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”. In addition to this he gave us “Huckleberry Finn”, “Tom Sawyer”, “Roughin’ it” and many other gems. It is unlikely that the world will ever be graced with such a talented wit as he. He eventually moved to Hartford, Connecticut where he died in 1910. What a great legacy he left us.



1864 Earlier CSA General John Bell Hood and the once proud army under his command was trying his damnedest to stop the enormous Union army from capturing Atlanta from the north. He was not successful and finally had to pull his troops out of the area and into Alabama to refit and recover. After finally getting his army into condition Hood headed for Nashville, Tennessee to try and capture the Union supplies known to be there. U.S. General William T. Sherman had enough troops that he was able to send and army commanded by General George Thomas to Nashville to protect his supplies. Thomas arrived at Nashville way ahead of Hood and was dug in way before Hood’s arrival. Yet another Union army commanded by General John Schofield was headed toward Nashville from the south and Hood was approaching Nashville from the southwest. It looked like Hood and Schofield would arrive at Nashville on the same day. Hood’s scouts and Schofield’s scouts had located each other’s armies and reported their positions back to their commanders. Schofield’s plan was to march right by Hood and go to the already prepared positions just south of Nashville near the town of Franklin, Tennessee. Hood attacked the left flank of Schofield marching army to no avail. In spite of being attacked, those Yankees made it to their prepared positions and dug in. Hood was furious and blamed his underlings for not stopping Schofield and arrayed his troops for a frontal assault. On this date, Hood launched a ferocious attack on Schofield’s center in spite of the fact that all of his army had not yet arrived and much of his artillery was still miles away. The Confederates marched off in perfect unison and broke the Yankee lines on the outer flanks but were unable to crack the center. Then the Yankees launched and equally ferocious counter-attack from the center and pushed the Confederates back in defeat. This was the last attack of this type in the Civil War. Any battle after this was a cavalry exchange or a siege. In this one battle Hood lost seven Generals and a majority of his regimental commanders not to mention 5,500 troops. This was the end of the Confederate army in the “western theatre”. There was a meeting of CSA General Lee and US General Grant five months later in Appomattox Court House, Virginia where Lee asked for terms for the surrender of the once mighty Army of Northern Virginia. The war was over.



1989 On this date the so called “America’s first serial killer” struck. A trucker named Richard Mallory was last seen in the company of Aileen Wournos. They had left a truck stop near Palm Bay, Florida and Richard was never seen alive again. They found his truck three days later near Ormond Beach with his wallet, a few condoms and pocket change on the front seat, but no Richard. Finally Richard’s body turned up in a Daytona Beach junkyard with three bullet holes in his chest. Over a period of two years seven men were found dead killed in a similar manner. The Florida Bureau of Investigation finally tracked Wournous down to a seedy biker bar near Tampa. She went on trial and was convicted of murder on seven counts. After the jury rendered their verdict, Aileen screamed “I am innocent. It was self defense. I was raped. I hope all of you scum sucking maggots get raped.” This was not a smooth move for Aileen because it would be the same jury that would convene two weeks later and determine her punishment. They gave her the death penalty. After Aileen figured out that the state of Florida was not kidding and they were going to kill her, she became a born again Christian. Sure enough, the state of Florida did indeed mean business and in October of 2002 she went meet her maker electrified and her corpse was cremated. The ashes sent to her birthplace in Michigan where a former friend spread her ashes under a tree where they used to play. It seems sad, but think of the families of her victims first, and then think of Aileen.



Born today:



1874 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. He said “Life is fraught with opportunities to keep your mouth shut.” Churchill is one of my favorite personalities.



Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow