Tuesday

                               Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Sorrow is tranquility remembered in emotion.”

                             Dorothy Parker

Trivia question of the day:

Who was the Russian Premier during the Cuban missile crisis? Answer at the end of the blog.

This Date in History October 30

1775 The Continental Congress decides that if they are going to war with England they will need more than two war ships to combat the mightiest navy in the world. So they decided to form a seven man committee headed by Esek Hopkins to do something about it. Esek and the others first start by trying to find naval commanders and crews with combat experience. This was a tall order because this young nation had never been at war before that required a navy. But they round up seven men with sailing experience including a young Scotsman named John Paul Jones that later became a hero of the upcoming conflict. They finally round up seven warships in the Alfred, Columbus, Andrea Doria, Cabot, Hornet, Wasp and the Fly. These vessels were in no way the equal of even the smallest British war ship but it was a start. The plan was to use these vessels to surreptitiously board British vessels, murder the captain and most of the crew and abscond with the warship. In other words, they were to utilized open piracy to advance the strength of their country’s navy. It was soon discovered that the best at this strategy was the young Scotsman John Paul Jones. After a time the fledgling Continental Navy had increased their navy to 40 warships and toward the end of the war were able to more than hold their own against the British warships one-on-one. After the war was over in 1781 these ships were decommissioned and the Captains and crews furloughed. It was not until 1798 that it was decided that a permanent United States navy would be required. This was caused by the constant harassment and capture of United States merchant ships by pirates off the west coast of Africa and in the Mediterranean Sea near the North African coast, especially near the coast of Tripoli. If you listen to the Marine Corps hymn and the phrase “to the shores of Tripoli”, this is the Tripoli they are talking about. That’s right; the ubiquitous Marines went ashore and took care of business. No more pirates.

1938 Communications genius Orson Welles and distinguished actor John Houseman formed a radio program named the Mercury Radio Theatre. They would put on weekly plays using guest actors and actresses. Keep in mind that Orson was still a teenager. At the beginning of the show on this date, Orson stated that everything the public heard in the following show was fiction and wished everyone a Happy Halloween. The show started with a mystery play and about five minutes into the show, a voice broke into the play and announced that he was a news reporter and was observing the following. An alien spaceship had landed on a farm in central New Jersey and was moving across the countryside vaporizing everything and everyone in sight. The US Army was on site and had nothing that could stop the space ship. It looked like it was the end of the world. He went on telling what carnage the ship was producing and how impotent the military was. Well, people from all over the country ran out of their houses screaming for divine intervention from this apparently unstoppable foe. After about 20 minutes of this nonsense the “reporter” bade his farewell to the audience because the spaceship was nearly on top of him and the “death ray” was coming his way. After this Orson came back on the air and said that he wished that all had enjoyed the program and wished them a good night. Only then did America realize it was a ruse. I am a loss for words at this, after all it was Halloween. It was Adolph Hitler who said “The more preposterous the suggestion, the more likely it is to be believed.”

1811 On this date one of the greatest novels ever written in Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen is published in England. Jane would not allow her name to be used as the author and the author was named as “a young lady”. Jane refrained from using her name because a woman writing novels was not considered “ladylike”. Even when she was writing at her desk and someone came in she would hide her manuscripts under the blotter. Jane also delivered to the world other masterpieces such as Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma. As for Jane not using her real name because of what she thought people would think of her. There are some of those writers of “romance” novels out there need to stop generating that trash and go home, the 1^st Amendment not withstanding.

1735 One of the heroes of the American Revolution, John Adams, is born in Braintree, Massachusetts. Braintree is now part if Quincy, Massachusetts. He was the third son of John and Susanna Adams and was recognized at an early age as an intellectual. He attended Harvard at the age of 16 and graduated at the age of 20. For a while he worked and studied in the law firm of James Putnam and taught school at Worchester, Massachusetts. He was admitted to bar at the age of 26 and married Abigail Smith at the age of 29. Abigail was the daughter of a Weymouth, Massachusetts congregational minister. From the start of the marriage John and Abigail developed a deep trust and respect for each others thoughts and opinions and Abigail was not afraid to express hers even if it was the opposite of John’s. John and Abigail were eyewitnesses to the Battle of Bunker Hill that was fought literally in their back yard. John became a ridgepole in the support of the cause for American independence. He was never in the military but his political guidance was instrumental in the machinations of our government. It was he that brilliantly mapped out the three branches of Federal Government; Legislative, Judicial and Executive. He also saw the Legislative branch with two sections (House and Senate). This man had incredible vision and ideas that are in practice to this day. He had a problem with the Federalists party under the leadership of Alexander Hamilton who wanted a Federal Government stronger than Adams had envisioned. But that problem dissolved when Hamilton was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr. It was said that Madison was an intellectual, Jefferson was the unquenchable idealist, and Franklin the most charming and versatile but is was Adams that was the most captivating of all of out founding fathers on most counts. Even though the Declaration of Independence was primarily drafted by Thomas Jefferson, Adams was among the group of people to offer help to Jefferson in the phrasing. The Declaration of Independence was introduced as a resolution to the Continental Congress by Richard Henry Lee and that resolution was seconded by John Adams. After the Revolutionary War he was elected as representative to The Court of St. James in 1787. This today is known as the Ambassador to Great Britain. Adams was responsible for beginning the healing of the wounds inflicted to both sides in the Revolutionary War that had ended in 1781 and establish a friendship and rapport between the United States and England that exists to this day. Adams played a very important role in establishing the United States as a major player in the world politic, especially in Europe and Holland in particular. The Dutch were major worldwide traders in those days and Adams saw the market for American goods being shipped on Dutch vessels as an advantage for both America and Holland. There are so many contributions that Adams made to his country, including the first Vice-President and the second President, that it would take a book to fully cover this man’s life and indeed there are many of them out there. It would be worth all of out times to read one about this giant in the history of the United States.

Births and deaths:

1751 English satirist Richard Sheridan is born. In an argument with his son about his academics, his son suggested that he should write “Room for rent” across his own forehead and Richard responded with “Write under that ‘unfurnished’”

The answer to the trivia question:

The Russian premier during the Cuban missile crisis was Nikita Khrushchev

                 Thanks for listening    I can hardy wait until tomorrow