•         Musings and History

    Quote of the day:
    “Swearing is a compromise between running away and fighting.”
                                      Finley Dunne
     
    I saw a brief clip of Winston Churchill holding up his right hand with his fingers in a “Vee” signifying victory when Germany surrendered in WWll. Sir Winston had his hand up with his palm outward. There is another signal that the English were known for when they hold their hand up with a “Vee” but their palm is turned inward. Here is a the story.
    In the early 11th century William, the Duke of Normandy (western France) was convinced that English king Edward the Confessor had promised him the throne of England after his death. On his deathbed Edward named Harold Godwinson as his successor instead. William began assembling an army with the intention of taking the throne of England by force. In 1066 when the unpredictable English Channel calmed down William sailed across and landed on the southern coast of England near Hastings. A ferocious battle ensued and Harold and his army was defeated. William was crowned the king of England in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day of the same year. After this the subsequent Kings of England felt they had a claim on the west coast of France (Normandy) if not the throne of France because of William and several had crossed and tried to take over. As you might suspect the kings of France would have none of it and many battle were fought. In the fall of 1415 English king Henry V decided that he should exercise his rights in France and sailed over to Normandy with his army. He set siege to the French town of Hanfleur and after a while the city fell. The problem was that the siege took longer than expected and nearly half of Henry's army died of disease. Henry decided that he and his army needed to get up to the port of Calais and await his navy to come and get them. On the way the king of France and his army intercepted them and a monstrous battle ensued. The English had developed two things that made them nearly unbeatable to the French. They were the longbow and the iron bodkin arrowhead. The English longbow had a much longer range than any bow in the world at the time and the iron bodkin arrowhead would penetrate nearly any armor or chain mail. When Henry and his army faced the French army near the village of Agincourt it was no contest. Henry's Welsh archers standing out of range of the French archers showered the French army with those terrible arrows and resulted in a huge mass of wounded and dying humanity wallowing on the ground. After a while Henry ordered his archers and the rest of his infantry to wade into the Frenchmen with axes, daggers, halberds, swords and cudgels and complete the massacre. A few of Henry's archers were captured by the French and before executing them they cut off the first and second fingers of their hands to show the English that these men would not be drawing a bow any longer. For many years after that when an Englishman felt challenged he would hold up his hand with his fingers in “Vee” palm inward indicating “Come on jackass, I still have my fingers.”

                           This Date in History May 4

    1970 Two days before in Kent, Ohio over 2,000 college students began rioting on the Kent State University campus to protest the Vietnam War in general and the United States incursion into Laos and Cambodia in particular. The Governor of Ohio called out the National Guard to control the crowds and the presence of the Guard dispersed the crowd. The next day scattered rioters were dispersed with tear gas. On this date the rioters gathered in a few crowds and the National Guardsmen donned gas masks and fixed bayonets after the crowds began throwing rocks. For an unknown reason the Guardsmen opened fire killing 4 and wounding 8 students. The closest was 40 yards away and the farthest was 250 yards. After a period of shock and first aid the rioters were again told to disperse by the commander of the National Guard. At this the rioters gathered and took steps at the Guardsman and a bloodbath appeared to be on the horizon but members of the Kent State faculty ran out in front of the rioters and was able stop their advance and persuaded them to go home. The Commander of the National Guardsmen that were there along with a few others went on trial for this massacre but the state of Ohio chose to drop all charges. I guess that was the best thing to do. The sooner the time of healing starts the better it will be.

    Margaret Thatcher had been elected Prime Minister of Great Britain. She earned the nickname “Iron Pants” during the 1982 encounter with Argentina over the disputed Falkland Islands when the Argentinians invaded the Falklands. There was some suppositions that the Argentinians had chosen to wait until Maggie came to power before attempting to take the Falklands, a British Protectorate, because they did not think a woman would be as aggressive as a man. They were wrong. Maggie sent a message to the Argentinians that they had two weeks to get their asses back to the house. That is about how long it would take the British military to mobilize their Navy and Marines and get down there. They did not go home and sure enough, two weeks later the British Navy and Marines showed up at the Falklands and in a week had sent the Argentinians back to the house asses in hand.

    1948 A twenty-five year old author named Norman Mailer delivered what is acknowledged to be one of the best novels about World War II in The Naked and the Dead. Norman was raised in Brooklyn, NY in 1923 and attended Harvard but enlisted in the army during World War II. After being discharged in 1946 Mailer attended the Sorbonne in Paris, France. He wrote The Naked and the Dead about his personal experiences in the war. Even though Norman is known as a two-fisted drinker and an advocate of male superiority, he has won a Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction and a National book award about a peace march that he attended. He is a very talented but violent writer. He stabbed his wife while they were attending a party. I wonder what she said to piss him off.

    Died today:

    1969 English writer Sir Osbert Sitwell. He said “In reality, killing time is a misnomer. It is time that is killing us.” Now I am depressed.

    1975 Member/leader of the Three Stooges, Moe Howard. He said “We are not nearly as violent as western movies.” That’s right Moe, but you made a quantum leap toward silliness.

    1984 British sex goddess Diana Dors. She said “I am the first sex symbol from England since Lady Godiva.” Could be Diana, but Lady Godiva had a prettier dress.

    1989 US Attorney General from California Evelle Younger. He said “An incompetent attorney can delay a trial for months. A competent lawyer can delay one for even longer.” I hate lawyers.

               Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow