Monday

                             Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“My next neighbor just had a Pacemaker installed and when he and his wife make love my garage door opens.”

Bob Hope

Trivia question of the day:

“What a was the rifle portrayed in the movie “Quigley Down Under” starring Tom Selleck? Answer at the end of the blog.

               This Date in History January 15

1559 On this date exactly two months after the death of her half-sister Mary I, the daughter of Henry VIII, Elizabeth Tudor, is crowned as Queen Elizabeth I of England. Mary I was also a daughter of Henry VIII but instead of being a follower of the Church of England as founded by her father, Mary was a devout Catholic. While in power Mary made sure that he surrounded herself with Catholics in positions of power especially direct representatives of the Pope. After the rise of Elizabeth to power, things changed. Elizabeth was a devout protestant which pleased the general population. They felt that a protestant would be more tolerant of religions that the tight-assed Mary and they were right. After she took power there were several attempts on her life by the Catholics but Elizabeth saw to it that heads rolled in retribution. With the guidance of Secretary of State Sir Thomas Cecil, Elizabeth was able to uproot all of the powerful Catholics entrenched in the Court. Elizabeth spent quite a bit of time in the Tower of London as a prisoner of Mary but she eventually prevailed. After Elizabeth had been in power for several years, her cousin known as Mary, Queen of Scots rose into power in Scotland but she also was a Catholic in a country of rock-ribbed Presbyterian Scots and they did not sit still very long with Mary stacking her court with Catholics in places of power and the Scottish lords kicked her out of power. Mary tried to re-take the throne of Scotland by force but the Scots were too much for her army and it was almost annihilated and Mary, Queen of Scots hightailed it to England and asked her cousin, Elizabeth I for asylum. Elizabeth granted her cousin safety in England. Then yet another attempt was made on Elizabeth’s life by the Catholics and Mary was caught as being involved. If Elizabeth had died, Mary, Queen of Scots would have been in line for the English throne. For this indiscretion Elizabeth had Mary’s head removed on the lawn of Fotheringay Castle by a big guy with a big axe. Elizabeth was known s the “Virgin Queen” because she never married. She said that she would never marry so her power would not be diluted. Whether or not she was a chaste virgin is not known but she did have two boyfriends that we know of, they were the Earl of Essex and the Earl of Leicester. It was during Elizabeth’s reign that England became a world sea power including the enormous defeat of the Spanish Armada and eventually England became the most powerful nation on the planet. Elizabeth died in 1603 as one of the greatest monarchs in history.

1865 On this date Union General Alfred Terry and 9,000 troops launch a successful attack on Fort Fisher in the mouth of the Cape Fear River in front of Wilmington, North Carolina. Wilmington was one the CSA’s most used blockade runner ports along with Mobile, Alabama. About a month before the Confederates had withstood a monstrous bombardment from the Union navy and a subsequent land assault. The land assault was repulsed and the Union focused their attention on Mobile and was successful in capturing that valuable port. Then they came back to Wilmington and put forth a maximum effort and Fort Fisher fell. Three months later CSA General Lee and US General Grant met at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia and hammered out surrender and the Civil War was over. By the way, it was General Alfred Terry that was in command of the Army containing the 7^th Cavalry, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer commanding, that was annihilated at Little Big Horn. He also spent a hell of a lot of time out on the Great Plains pursuing the Sioux and Cheyenne led by people like Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, Dull Knife, Sitting Bull, etc.

Born today:

1809 French writer Pierre Proudhon. He said “Newspapers are the cemeteries of ideas”. If you think about it, it is true because the newspapers only print what they want to.

1906 Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. He said “If there were no women, all the money in the world would have no meaning.” This is true especially for men to pay alimony, child support and an amount that would provide for a lifestyle to which she had become accustomed.

1929 Civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. He said “There is nothing more dangerous in the world than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” I think Reverend King knew Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Shumer

Died today:

1865 US educator Edward Everett. He said “Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.” Hey Ed, I don’t think a group of intellectuals would have stopped Adolph Hitler, Napoleon Bonaparte and Attila the Hun and many others.

Answer to the trivia question. The rifle portrayed in the movie “Quigley Down Under” was a modified Sharps 45/90.

                 Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow