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Quote of the day:

While attending a cocktail party, Sir Winston Churchill had one too many brandies and was obviously hammered. A frumpy elderly lady walked up and said “Sir Winston, you are drunk.” Sir Winston said “Yes madam I am, and you are ugly. But tomorrow morning I will be sober.”

I have agreed to write a column for a publication.  I have also agreed to not proceed with any notifications at this time.  Later.

Imagine this. You are from one of the southern tier states in the United States army or navy or in one of the US military academies. Because of political decisions that you don't really understand, you find out that you will be required to make war on your family, friends and loved ones. This mean that you will have to kill them and destroy their houses and properties. Could you do that...or would you decide to go home and help defend them? That is what happened to many in the Spring of 1861.

         This Date in History  November 9

1780 on this date British General James Wemyss and 190 cavalrymen attempted to ambush Patriot General Thomas “Gamecock” Sumter and 300 infantrymen at Fishdam Ford, South Carolina. Sumter was nicknamed “Gamecock” by the British for his fighting style. Wemyss was the second most hated British officer in the southern United States. The most hated was Colonel Banastre Tarleton but both he and Wemyss waged war against civilians by burning down homes and the indiscriminate killing of livestock among other atrocities. Wemyss’ ambush was discovered and Sumter’s men were ready when the attack came. Wemyss was wounded in the arm and knee and was captured by Sumter. It was Sumter and Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion that was the largest thorn in the side of the British in the southern United States, primarily in North and South Carolina. Both Sumter and Marion were very capable military commanders and proved it time and time again. Unfortunately, Sumter was captured by Tarleton on November 30 and was out of action. The leadership of all the Southern Patriot armies fell to Francis Marion. Marion did not disappoint and was instrumental in driving the hated Redcoats out of the Carolinas into Virginia to the waiting Patriot army led by George Washington. The war was coming to a close when British General Cornwallis and the army that had departed the Carolinas were trapped against the Chesapeake Bay near Yorktown, Virginia and with no possible means of escape Cornwallis surrendered.

1965 The largest power failure in United States history occurred on this date at rush hour. The failure started in Canada when a major power line failed which automatically shifted more power to other lines and they began failing from overload. The domino effect hit New York City and seven other states and three Canadian provinces. It trapped 800,000 people in the New York subways and thousands more in elevators and office buildings. In all there were 30 million people affected. By the following morning all power had been restored. The strange part was that 9 months later there was a spike in the birth rate in the northeastern United States.

1971 On this date a quiet, unassuming and very religious man named John List killed his Mother Alma, his wife Helen and his three children. Earlier, he had stopped the mail and milk delivery and had called his children’s school and told them that he was taking his children out of town to a long visit with a sick relative. John had lost his job as an accountant and kept it from his family. He was close to losing everything and decided that it would be best if his family went on to heaven rather than suffer in poverty. Because of his preparation, no one missed the family for several days and John all but disappeared. He took a train to Denver and began a new life. He eventually ended up in Virginia with a new wife and family. His downfall came when he was featured of “America’s Most Wanted” television show even though the case was 18 years old. The shows producers tasked a reconstructive artist to use the 18 year old photo of John and create a bust of him as what he would look like today with the aging. The artist delivered a dead on match of John and he was soon arrested using the alias of Robert Clark. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to five life terms.

1875 On this day the equivalent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs declared that the Teton Sioux and Cheyenne were hostile. Earlier the Sioux under the command of Chief Red Cloud had agreed to go to a huge reservation in the Black Hills of South Dakota against wishes of many of the tribe. Then the Bureau wanted the Sioux and Cheyenne to do the same and sent an order for them to report to Fort Robinson, Nebraska and if they were not there by a given date they would be declared hostile and the task of getting them to the reservation would be handed to the US Army. One of the worst blizzard in American history occurred and the message never reached the Sioux and Cheyenne and of course they did not go to the reservation and were declared hostile. Soon after this gold was discovered in the Black Hills and prospectors swarmed into Red Cloud’s reservation with impunity from the Bureau. Disgusted with this betrayal, many of Red Cloud’s warriors left and joined with Sioux Chief Sitting Bull and the great Cheyenne warrior Crazy Horse in Montana to hunt buffalo. It was this combined tribes that met with the US 7^th Cavalry led by George A. Custer at the Little Big Horn a year later...y'all know what happened.

Born today:

1918 Austrian actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr. She said “Any woman can be glamorous; all they have to do is stand around looking stupid.” Hedy made a fortune several times over with her inventions. She was a brilliant person.

1918 US Vice President Spiro T. Agnew. He said “I apologize for lying to you. I promise that I will not deceive you except in matters of this sort.” He was forced to resign the Vice-Presidency when it was discovered he had taken bribes and kick backs while the Governor of Maryland in addition to being abysmally stupid.

1921 US Representative (MA) Silvio Conte. He said “This is not time to pull the rug out the middle of the stream.” Silvio go back to Massachusetts and quit ruining my life.

1935 US baseball flame throwing pitcher Bob Gibson. He said “Why should I have to be an example to your kid. You be an example for your kid.” Bob hit the nail on the head here, y'all.

Merci pour ecoutant, moi peux a peine attendre jusq’a demain

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow