Daily history

Good morning,







Quote of the day:


“Diana Ross does not think of herself as a Supreme, she thinks she is supreme. On the census form where it says birthplace she wrote “manger”.


Joan Rivers






A few days ago a Greenville cop stopped a car for running a stop sign. The driver said that he did not have a license so the cop got him out and had him put his hands on the side of the cruiser and he began a search of the driver's car. He did not find anything but a few weed-like leaves on the floorboard but the driver began a loud and frequent barrage of abusive language so he was handcuffed and taken to jail. As is normal, the driver was strip searched and what their wondering eyes should appear, but a zip lock bag of crack in the crack. He is in the joint sans the dope. It is just as well, that dope can be a pain in the butt anyway.






I want to confess right now that I made a mistake voting for Nikki Haley for Governor of South Carolina. I thought she was different that the typical politician, I was wrong. This broad kicked off the board of directors a woman that has contributed enough money to the University of South Carolina that there is a wing named after her. She replaced her with a man that was a major contributor to her campaign fund. Politicians are all the same, gender apparently does not matter.






This week an 18 year old boy received an multimillion dollar judgment from Duke Energy. Back in 2006 a car the boy was riding in struck a power pole during driving rainstorm. The power pole and all the wiring fell to the ground. Included in the wiring was a 7,200 volt line. The people in the car were not hurt but the 7,200 volt line was still active. The boy got out of the car and stepped on the line and was immediately fried and set on fire. He has since been through a long series of skin grafts and has suffered brain damage. I found out something I did not know before and that is if a high tension power line falls to the ground it is supposed to automatically shut down, this one didn't and it cost Duke a lot of money and a young boy a lot of misery. Duke was actually sued for not having sufficient safety equipment in place, lets hope they stay safe from now on.






This date in history March 17






1776 On this date the hated 8 year occupation of Boston by the British ended. Thanks to Colonel Benedict Arnold, General Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, General Henry Knox, General John Thomas and hundred of dedicated Continental soldiers and workmen all commanded by General George Washington. It all began a few months earlier when a small Regiment of Continental Soldiers led by Colonel Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen made a surprise attack on the British encampment at Fort Ticonderoga on the northern end of Lake Champlain and captured the entire British garrison while firing only one shot. General Arnold woke them up and demanded their surrender or annihilation. They surrendered. After the Fort was evacuated, General Henry Knox was tasked by Washington to bring the 20 or so cannon in Fort Ticonderoga to Boston 300 miles away and do it without the British discovering it. Knox muffled the wheels of the caissons and did indeed cover the 300 miles undetected. Washington then tasked General John Thomas to take the cannon to the crest of Dorchester Heights, the highest ground in the vicinity of Boston and again, do it undetected. Thomas set out on his mission with 800 soldiers and 1,000 laborers. What roads there were to the crest were essentially cow paths meaning that Thomas and his crew had to hack their way to the top. They were discovered when they had about half finished and General William Howe, the British commander in Boston, ordered the British warships in Boston Harbor to bombard the Continental position on Dorchester Heights. But guess what happened. A two day rainstorm engulfed Boston and the warships could not fire at an unseen target. Thomas was able to finish the placement of the cannon and General Howe knew his position was untenable. Two days later, Howe and 11,000 British troops boarded their ships and sailed their young asses up to Nova Scotia to cheers of the elated Bostonians.






1863 Since the beginning of the Civil War, the Union cavalry had its ass kicked by the much more skilled Confederate cavalry. The Southern cavalry was made up of men from the agrarian sector and were all good horsemen. They also had better field commanders such as General J.E.B. Stuart, Colonel Fitzhugh Lee, General Wade Hampton III, John S. Moseley and last but not least, Nathan Bedford Forrest among others. A few days before, one of the parade of Generals commanding the Union Army of the Potomac, General Joseph Hooker got fed up with the Confederate dominance of the cavalry and sent US Colonel William Averill and a select unit of cavalrymen to attack a known cavalry position near the Culpepper Court House, Virginia. Averill arrived on this date and was met by a squad of 60 Confederate sharpshooters. After repeated attacks, Averill was able to overwhelm the rifle pits. After this, Confederate cavalry leader Fitzhugh Lee arrived on the scene and was commanded by his father General Robert E. Lee to immediately attack these smart ass Yankees. Fitzhugh Lee attacked twice and was repulsed each time. Soon after, CSA General J.E.B. Stuart arrived on the scene. Averill seeing Stuart arrive began a withdrawal thinking that Stuart had his powerful cavalry behind him. The truth was that Stuart and artillery commander Colonel John Pelham had just came over to observe. The downside of this was that Colonel John Pelham, by far the finest artillery commander in the Confederacy, was killed by a piece of shrapnel. This battle was fought near a place called Kelly’s Ford. Somehow the Union considered this draw a victory because they did not get their ass kicked by the Confederate cavalry.






1804 Two months before the Lewis and Clark left on their immortal expedition James Bridger was born in Richmond, Virginia. Jim became one of the most important explorers of the American west in its history. He was the original “Mountain Man”. Little is known of Jim’s childhood but it is known the he and his family moved to Saint Louis, Missouri in 1818. Jim honed his skill by exploring the area around Saint Louis and followed the route of the Lewis and Clark expedition. When Jim was 18 years old he found out about an enterprise named the Ashley-Henry Fur Company. Their idea was to head west and trade with the Indian for furs, especially beaver and mink. The first person hired was Jim Bridger. Jim was successful in trading with the Indians, even the fierce and protective Blackfoot that gave Lewis and Clark so much trouble. He was successful in building the first fur trading post on the Yellowstone River. It is acknowledged that he was the first Anglo to lay eyes of the Great Salt Lake even though he thought it was the Pacific Ocean. He had an enormous recall of geographic detail that saved his ass more than once. He operated as an independent trapper for several years. He grew tired of the nomadic life and decided that there was enough traffic on the Oregon Trail to warrant a trading post so he married a Flathead woman named Cora and founded and build Fort Bridger in the Green River section of southern Wyoming. His fort became a regular stop for the pioneers headed west. He and Cora had three children and it looked like an idealistic life for Jim, but it was not to be. Cora died, one of his daughters was killed by the Blackfoot and the third died of jaundice. After these episodes Jim would retreat into the mountains and trap, living with different Indian tribes. In 1853, Jim married a Shoshone woman he named Mary, and lived at the Fort in the summer and with the Shoshone in the winter. The Mormons in the area became jealous of Jim’s success and tried to have him arrested. But Jim and Mary escaped into the mountains along with their three children. The Mormons burned and gutted his fort and destroyed his supplies. The Mormons are not as benevolent as they would want you to believe. He was worried how to feed his family and bought a farm near Westport, Missouri and left his family there during his western adventures. In 1858 he sold his fort and made his living as a guide to the pioneers and as a scout to the US cavalry. In 1868 he retired to his farm in Westport and tended his apple orchard. With his eyesight failing and rheumatism rampant, he died July 13, 1881 at the age of 76 in Westport. What a contribution this man made to the expansion of these United States.






Born today:






1829 US writer Jean Ingelow. She said “I have lived long enough to thank God that all my prayers have not been answered.” Me too.






1941 President of the Orlando Magic NBA team Pat Williams. He said about former star Charles Barkley “He is so fat his bathtub has stretch marks.” Charles claims he will eventually run for the governor of his native state of Alabama. Come on Charles, face reality.






Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow.