Monday

                          Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Falling in love is merely uncorking the imagination and bottling up common sense.”

                                           Helen Rowland

Trivia question of the day:

When did horses arrive in North America? Answer at the end of the blog.

1633 Incredible as this may seem, one of the most brilliant men in history, Galileo, is called to Rome to be censured because he is teaching astrophysics that is adverse to what Pope Urban VIII and the Catholic Church believes. I am going to paraphrase that. He was subject to torture because he did not teach what the Church wanted the people to hear. His crime was that he read a thesis by a Polish astronomer named Copernicus who proved to Galileo’s satisfaction that the earth orbited the sun rather than the sun orbited the earth as the Catholic Church believed. Not only that Galileo had secured himself a telescope and did indeed prove to himself that Copernicus was correct. What we have here is the Catholic Church making policy in the scientific arena without making even one observation. Anyway, Galileo could not believe that God would give mankind the power of reasoning and then not allow him to use it and continued to teach the Copernican theory until a member of the church hierarchy came by and threatened him with torture and told him that he had better get his self to Rome because Pope Urban was really pissed at his disobedience. So Galileo went to Rome and was faced with a triumvirate of Catholic Church members who would spare him from torture if he would recant his teachings and would accept being exiled to his villa in central Italy for the rest of his life. He took the exile but his writings and those of Copernicus prevail to this day. Galileo died on January 6, 1642 being part of an era of discovery never before equaled in history. By the way, it took the Catholic Church 300 years to admit that Copernicus and Galileo were right.

This Date in History December 11

1777 On this date Patriot General George Washington ordered his army of 12,000 to leave their encampment at Whitemarsh, New Jersey and cross the Schuylkill River and go into winter quarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. As his troops began crossing, who should show up but British General Charles Cornwallis and a large contingent of Redcoats and Loyalists. Washington orders his troops to retreat back across the river and they retreated back to their previous encampment at Whitemarsh. The Patriots cooled their heels until December 19 and they tried to cross again and did it successfully. The overall British commander of that area General William Howe was informed about Washington and the Patriots being encamped at Valley Forge but Howe was too warm and comfy in Philadelphia and failed to pursue. For this failure, General Howe was relieved and British General Sir Henry Clinton assumed command. Fortunately for us several professional military men from Europe came over to help Washington whip his army into shape and whip them into shape they did because the next spring a professionally trained and disciplined army arose out of the misery and death from disease and starvation that was apparent in Valley Forge. What amazing ancestors we had, y'all.

1985 On this date the legendary man known as the “Unabomber” killed his first victim. This was by no means the first of his bombs but it was the first murder. A man named Hugh Scrutton was killed by a mail bomb in his computer store in Sacramento. California. There were two other deaths by mail bombs sent by this lunatic. The very first bomb from this man was in 1978 was exploded on the campus of the University of Chicago on May 25. There were a series of bombs either laid on the ground or sent through the mail to what appeared to be random locations for the next fifteen years which made it very difficult for the FBI to track down. In fact the FBI did not track down the Unabomber; he was ratted out by his brother. The Unabomber threatened to bomb a plane flying out of Los Angeles which really gave the FBI heartburn and he became their first priority. The Unabomber sent letters to different newspapers stating that he would stop these acts of terrorism if they would print his “manifesto”. The Los Angeles Times and the New York Post agreed and did indeed print his manifesto which essentially called all the major industries in America as traitors and worthy of killing. The brother of Ted Kaczynski contacted the FBI and told them that the theme and the phrasing in the manifesto looked like something his brother would write. The FBI found out where Ted was living and surrounded his cabin in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains in Montana. Ted was arrested without a struggle and bomb making materials were found inside his cabin. Ted’s lawyer wanted Ted to plead insanity but he refused and plead guilty in return for not receiving the death penalty. He was given life without the possibility of appeal or parole. There are crazy people everywhere.

Born today:

1803 French composer Hector Berloitz. He said “Time is the best teacher but it kills all of its students.” That’s depressing, y'all.

1810 French writer Alfred de Musset. He said “How glorious it is, and also how painful, to be an exception.” I think he is talking about Al Gore.

1882 German physicist Max Born. He said “The belief that there is only one truth and that is known to only oneself is the deepest root of all evil in the world.” That sounds like Pat Robertson to me.

Died today:

1757 English actor Colley Cibber. He said “There is no fiend in hell can match the fury of a woman scorned, slighted, dismissed or disappointed.” I think I know this woman.

Answer to the trivia question: There were no horses in North America before the Spanish conquistadors arrive around 1520 and after. Spanish horses and war dogs were the reason Cortes was able to overcome the entire Aztec nation with about 600 troops. The Aztecs had never seen either the horses or viciously trained war dogs before and were intimidated. Another reason was Cortes was 6'-4” and red haired. They thought he was a giant and a God because they had never seen anyone that size nor red hair. Some of those Spanish mustangs escaped and found heaven on the Great Plains and other places and flourished.

                     Thanks for listening    I can hardly wait until tomorrow