Friday

                            Musings and History

Quote of the day:

After being caught by the British spying for the Americans in the Revolutionary War he was taken to the gallows and when offered a chance to say something before execution he said:

“I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”

                                                 Nathan Hale

Trivia question of the day:

Who was the only US President to be married in the White House? Answer at the end of the blog.

The quote above reminded me of a book I read many years ago. It was written by Edward Everett Hale in 1863 during that slaughtering time known as the American Civil War. The book was set in 1807 and was about a young naval lieutenant named Phillip Nolan. Nolan was involved in a trial accusing him of treason. During the trial Nolan yelled that he wished he had never heard of the United States and wished he would never hear about it again. The judge took at him at his word and sentenced him to spend the rest of his days aboard American warships and no one was to tell him any news about the United States. He stayed aboard these ships for 55 years never learning the fate of his country. All of the days aboard these ships he always had a section of his quarters with a portrait of George Washington draped with the American flag. He also had a map of the United States showing many territories that were now states that he did not now about. Not only that, twice a day he would pray to God to bless the President of the United States. On his death bed a friend briefed him on what had happened in the United States since 1807...but his friend did not tell him about the Civil War that was underway because he knew it would crush him. Just before he drew his last breath he requested to be buried in a specific military fort in Mississippi. He died still loyal to the United States and regretting for ever saying those words in the trial...he still loved the United States. The book is A Man Without a Country. Read it, it will awaken your patriotism.

               This Date in History   April 20

1999 Earlier two teenagers named Dylan Keibold aged 18 and Eric Harris aged 17 had planted two propane bombs in the cafeteria of Columbine High School in the city of Littleton, Colorado. They would detonate them during lunchtime hoping to kill as many students as they could and then wait outside with firearms to kill as many kids as they could when the school was evacuated. On this date at about 11:15A, they tried to detonate the bombs but nothing happened. So these boys dressed in trench coats come out of the woods near the school and began shooting the students outside the school and then went on inside and continued shooting. There did not appear to be any pattern as to who they shot, it seemed to be completely at random. On one occasion one of the shooters walked up to a girl that was lying on the floor and asked it she believed in God. The girl said that she did and was killed instantly. On another occasion they asked another girl that was injured if she believed in God and she said that she did and the shooters just walked away. After killing 13 and wounding 25 the two boys turned the guns upon themselves and committed suicide at 12:02P. No one really knew what caused this outburst. The two were members of a group known as the “Trench coat Mafia”. But there was no evidence that this group fostered the killing of innocents. The group studied Gothic philosophy and they played a lot violent video games but other than that, the authorities didn’t have a clue. As a result of this event, nearly all schools in America adopted a “zero tolerance” attitude toward weapons of any kind or anything that can be used as a weapon. It is too late now.

1698 Earlier the Catholic King of England, James II had been deposed by his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange. James went to France and then to Ireland. He brought a small army with him from France and hoped to recoup the throne. He was able to capture Dublin and on this day his army encircled Londonderry. He ordered this city of Protestants to surrender. The city refused even though they did not have a reliable source of supplies. The city repelled one attack after another, but was soon running short of the necessities of life. Then the Protestant Mayor George Walker made an inspired speech and the people of Londonderry dug in their heels and delivered a ferocious defense. After 105 days of siege an army sent by William and Mary arrived and James and his army retreated. Eleven months later at the Battle of Boyne James and his army had their asses handed to them by the army of William and Mary and this was the end for James II. George Walker, the inspiring mayor of Londonderry was killed in this battle.

1978 On this date a Korean Air Line aircraft on a flight from Paris to Seoul, Korea flying an “over the pole” route showed up in Soviet airspace. It took a gigantic navigation error for this to happen and aviation experts doubted this could ever occur with the sophisticated navigation equipment aboard. Anyway, the Soviets sent up two fighters to intercept the aircraft and told the pilot to land at a particular Soviet airport but the Korean crew chose to land on a frozen lake south of Murmansk. The landing was a rough one and two passengers were killed and many injured but the Russians allowed an American aircraft to shuttle out the survivors. This is a lot better than in 1983 when a Korean Air Line aircraft flying from Anchorage, Alaska to Seoul, South Korea strayed 300 miles into Russian airspace and did not respond to commands by the Russian fighters that was sent to intercept. The fighters shot the airliner out of the sky to the tune of 273 dead. Keep these facts in mind the next time you consider flying Korean Air Lines. A celebrity from Greenville, SC died in this tragedy. It was Billy Hong, a renown Korean karate master and scratch golfer. He was flying home to see his parents.

1906 Two days before a tremendous earthquake struck San Francisco. There were underground natural gas lines that were fractured and several fires erupted. The bad part was the wind; it was blowing at about 35 miles per hour. The fire fighting equipment of those days was not equal to the conflagration that resulted. The fire ran unchecked for two days burning an area ½ mile wide and four miles long but on this day the firefighters got a handle on this fire and extinguished it. There were about 700 killed and several thousands homeless.

1871 On this date Congress passes the Third Force Act which allowed President Ulysses Grant to declare martial law or even use military force to suppress the action of the KKK. The KKK was formed in Pulaski, Tennessee right after the end of the Civil War by Confederate veterans led by CSA General Nathan Bedford Forrest. What caused this action was the influx of people from out of the south coming in and taking the lands previously owned by Confederate soldiers that were killed in the War, among other atrocities. The KKK went over the edge and began dictating how lives were supposed to be lived and what church to attend, etc. Most of this turmoil could have been avoided if the so-called Reconstruction had been administered justly. But as with any large scale US government program, it became corrupted and the Southerners paid the price.

1945 On this day the German Gestapo hanged 20 Russian captives and 20 Jewish children. Of these children at least 9 were under the age of 12. These children were brought from Auschwitz to Neuengamme, the place of execution, for the purpose of medical experiments. I do not believe in the death penalty for whoever hanged these children or performed the “medical experiments”, but I do believe in cruel and unusual punishment.

Born today:

1961 US baseball player Don Mattingly. He said of Dwight Gooden “His reputation preceded him before he got here.” You do not have to know good grammar to be a baseball player.

Answer to the trivia question:

The only US President to be married in the White House was Grover Cleveland.

                 Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow