Musings and History


Quote of the day:
“People say that those that do not vote surrender their right to complain. I don't vote, I don't even leave the house on election day. When imbeciles are elected to office it is the voters that have no complaint because they put them there...I on the other hand.....”
                                                          George Carlin

Trivia question of the day.
What was the name of the “Holy Man” in the movie “Dancing With Wolves” and who played him? Answer at the end of the blog.


                  This Date in History   January 16


1777 For years the state of New York had claimed what is now the state of Vermont was part of New York. As you might suspect, the hard-ass Vermonters called bullshit on that and had threatened each other with war on several occasions. You can imagine how the Vermonters felt when someone showed up in Vermont to claim a piece of land that was sold to them in New York as being part of that state. Earlier the frustrated Vermonters had petitioned Great Britain to allow them to join the British Empire as part of Canada. The stubborn United States Congress refused to recognize Vermont as anything other than a part of New York. On this date the state of Vermont declared its independence from Great Britain and New York. They already had a constitution in place and operated as a separate state from New York even into the second year of Washington’s presidency. Their constitution was the first to prohibit slavery and allowed all adult males to vote rather than just the land owners. Originally the state was known as New Connecticut but when they formed their own country they decided they needed a new name and arrived at a corrupted French word for “Green Mountain”. Finally the United States recognized Vermont as a state and came into the fold as the 14th state in 1791 as a free state. This was counter-balanced a year later when Kentucky was admitted to the union as a slave state.

1861 Kentucky senator Joseph Crittenden introduced legislation called the Crittenden Compromise to try and stop the flood of states seceding from the union.  Four states had already seceded and more were threatening. The Compromise was essentially this: In 1820 the Missouri Compromise was passed stating that all the states north of the latitude 36 degrees, 30 minutes north would be free states and any states south would be slave states. As you expect this did not float very well and the Compromise was amended in 1850 that made the decision as to whether a new state would be slave or free to be left up to the sovereignty of each state. Then in 1850 the Republican Party was formed whose admitted purpose was to stop the spread of slavery in the United States. What Crittenden proposed was that the United States would revert back to the 1820 version of the Missouri Compromise and the 36 degree, 30 minutes latitude issue in the hope that this would bring the seceding states and those threatening back into the fold. The compromise was defeated by two votes primarily because of the Representatives and Senators belonging to the Republican Party. The southern states could not secede fast enough and the Civil War erupted in April of 1861.

1780 On this date British Admiral Sir George Romney and 18 “ships of the line” encounter a squadron of 11 French battleships led by Don Juan de Langara off the coast of Portugal near Cape St. Vincent. Spain was at war with Great Britain because Spain had supported the United States in their bid for independence from Great Britain. The normal strategy in those days was for warships to line up parallel and blast away at each other. Admiral Langara knew that he was outnumbered and out gunned so he and his squadron head for Cadiz, Spain and safety. Admiral Rodney broke up his formation and told all his ships to give “general chase” knowing that his ships were a knot or two faster that the Spanish ships. The British ships were faster because the bottom of their ships were copper clad which eliminated barnacles and the Spanish ships were not meaning that they probably had barnacles attached which slowed them somewhat. The British fleet caught up with the Spanish at about 2:00am which made this battle known as the Moonlight Battle. This was not the norm in those days. Naval battles took place in daylight. The Spanish surrendered all except for two ships which ran aground. The most important thing was that Admiral Langara’s flagship was captured. One again the British navy proved to be the sovereign of the seas.

1936 One of the most perverted maniacs in recorded history is executed in the electric chair in Sing Sing prison in New York. Albert Fish was known to have killed 10 people most of them under the age of ten and then consumed them. He was tried and convicted for the murder of little six year old Gracie Budd of Westchester, New York. A little later he wrote Gracie’s mother and described in detail how he had killed her, cut her up into pieces and made a stew that he ate off of for nine days. Not only was he a cannibal, he was a masochist. His children testified that he made them spank him with nail studded paddles. He ate his own excrement and burned himself with hot iron and red hot pokers. He also pushed sewing needles into his genitals. He told the prison officials about them and an investigation revealed over thirty needles imbedded there. Albert was interrogated by several psychiatrists and all reported back that there was no conceivable perversion that he had not done or was capable of doing. There was no question in the jury’s mind that Albert was insane but they voted for execution anyway to rid the earth of this animal. When he was told that he would be executed, he said that he was excited about it. He said he was looking forward to the new experience. When given the chance to write his last thoughts, it was full of filthy obscenities. To those that are opposed to the death penalty, keep Albert Fish in mind.

2007 On January 15 we commemorate the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was born in Atlanta where his grandfather and father were the pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. He was assistant pastor of that church also. Later on he accepted being the pastor of the Dexter Street Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama. It was from this venue that he began his famous fight for equality for the blacks. He went to jail innumerable times and encouraged his followers to protest peacefully and accented that with the phrase “Remember, the military is in the hands of the white man.” At the unheard of age of 35 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Think what you want about Dr. King, but he was one of the most effective movers and shakers America has ever seen. He single handedly changed America but racial prejudice persists, I guess we all need someone to hate.

Born today:

1855 English writer Eleanor Marx. She said “By the time your life is finished, you will have learned just enough to live it well.” That is depressing, Eleanor.

1944 US country singer Ronnie Milsap. He said “Work for the fun of it. The money will arrive sooner or later.” Ronnie, the problem is that we have to eat between “sooner” and “later”.

Answer to the trivia question. The “Holy Man” in the movie “Dances With Wolves” was Kicking Bird played by Graham Greene.

             Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow