This Date In History, The Southern Version: July 2020

Friday, July 31, 2020

Friday

Musing and History

Quote of the day:
“I am not going to deny myself things that I want just so I can spend an extra two years in the geriatric ward.” Me too, George.
George Carlin
A while back I met a lady named Rhonda while celebrating life with members of my eastside social group. Unfortunately the conversation got to present day politics. She had me at a disadvantage because I have stopped watching/listening to the media because of their unreliability. She finally said that she thought that Hillary should be president because she is squeaky clean(?) and has demonstrated leadership(?). She said that she knows how bad Donald is because she is in the real estate business herself. I bade her a good evening after that stunning display of rock hard logic.

This Date in History July 31
1777 On this date a 19 year old Frenchman named Marquis de Lafayette joined George Washington’s Continental army as a Major General. Earlier Continental Congress secret envoy to France, Silas Deane had persuaded French military expert Baron Johan De Kalb and his protégée Marquis de Lafayette to offer their services to the fledgling United States in its war with England. The ruling monarch of France was King Louis XVI and he knew that any support sent to the colonies by France would result in war with England and forbade DeKalb and Lafayette from donating their expertise. In fact the British demanded at the ship Lafayette was aboard to be captured and Lafayette imprisoned. This in fact did happen but Lafayette escaped and boarded another ship that was able to evade the pursuing British ships. Lafayette finally arrived in South Carolina and made his way north and met up with Washington. The Continental Congress was reluctant to bestow such a rank on such a young man but Washington’s influence prevailed and Lafayette was given the rank. Lafayette served with distinction at the Battles of Brandywine, Monmouth and Rhode Island. After the United States and France signed a treaty, as expected, England declared was on France. This disturbed Lafayette and he requested to return to his homeland and see what Louis XVI had in mind for him in the war against England. He returned to France but came back to the United States and joined with Washington once again. He was at Yorktown, Virginia when British General Charles Cornwallis and his entire army were forced to surrender which virtually assure a Patriot victory in their war for independence. In fact if was a division of French troops that blocked Cornwallis from retreating. After the surrender ceremony George Washington made a stirring speech but Lafayette just said “The play...is over.”

1975 The leader of the powerful Teamsters Union of America, Jimmy Hoffa, is reported missing in Detroit. Jimmy had been waiting in the back seat of his Cadillac in front of the Red Fox restaurant in suburban Detroit on minute and the next minute both Jimmy, his driver and the Cadillac were gone. Jimmy had gone to jail for jury tampering for 8 years and while he was gone, his second in command in the Union Jim Fitzsimmons moved in and was elected President. This precisely what Hoffa had ordered not to happen. Hoffa wanted to remain President and run the Union from a jail cell. After he got out of jail, he went on a campaign to regain control of the Teamsters. Jimmy had some murky dealings with organized crime but nothing specific was ever determined. He finally was re-elected as President of the Union but Fitzsimmons and his followers were not pleased and the word on the street was that organized crime felt that Jimmy had become a threat. So it could have either or both that sent Jimmy to where he is today and has never been found. The most popular theory is that he was killed and his corpse was encased in one of the 8 foot diameter concrete columns that were under construction building the Meadowlands arena in New Jersey. I don’t think we will ever know what happened to Jimmy.

1715 On July 5 10 Spanish galleons and 1 French frigate departed Havana, Cuba loaded to the scuppers with Maya and Inca gold and silver headed for Europe. The Spanish ships hugged the Florida shore while the French ship sail further off shore. On this date when the Spanish ship were somewhere between Cape Canaveral and Fort Pierce, Florida a hurricane struck and all 10 of the Spanish ships were sunk spilling tons of gold and silver on the ocean floor. The French ship was able to ride out the storm with minimum damage. Later salvage boats from Cuba recovered 80% of the booty but the rest of it lay on the bottom until the early 1960’s when the rest of the treasure was salvaged.

Born today:

1912 US writer Irv Kupcinet. He said “What can you say about a civilization that says God id dead and Elvis is alive.” Hey Irv, do you meant that Elvis is not alive and working at a Dairy Queen in Kalamazoo, Michigan?

1919 US Sports announcer Curt Gowdy. At an automobile race he said “If there is a pile-up they might have to give some of the driver’s artificial insemination.” That may be good for Danica Patrick, Curt, but I had rather have artificial respiration.

1921 US racial advocate Whitney Young. He said “It is better to prepare for an opportunity and not have one than to not be prepared and have an opportunity.” You are right, Whitney, that is why I have Viagra, Cialis and Levitra in a capsule holder on my key chain, for what good it does.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

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Thursday, July 30, 2020

Thursday

Musings and History

Quote of the day:
“Promise me you will always remember. You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
Christopher Robin to Pooh written by A.A. Milne
It would do all of us good to start the day by looking in the mirror and repeating this sentence.

During the American Civil War there were several units totally composed of recent immigrants, especially the Irish and Germans. They wanted to preserve this nation that had taken them in when they had nowhere else to go. I can assure you that you would not see that from most of the the Latinos. Theft and lawlessness is apparently a way of life for them for the most part and no interest in citizenship, there are exceptions. A few years ago I had planned to rent a house near Merida, Mexico which is about 80 miles west of Cancun. The owner was from New Mexico and he sent me a few tips to make my trip more enjoyable. One of his points was to never leave anything outside unattended or it would be stolen. He said they would not break in but anything outside unattended was considered abandoned and fair game this included beach towels and wash cloths left on a hand rail to dry out, etc. A grill was to be taken out, used, and then wait for it to cool off and take it back in…or else lose it. I did read about a Latino that graduated from Arizona State University with a Mechanical Engineering degree. He eventually realized that he could not get a job with an American engineering firm because he was indeed an illegal immigrant so he went back to Mexico. Nearly all large engineering firms that do business with the US Government require American citizenship from people that work on security sensitive projects. This man made no effort to find an avenue to citizenship...he just wanted to take and not give and that appears to be the norm.

This Date in History July 30

1780 On this date Patriot Colonel Isaac Shelby and his division of 600 infantry captured Fort Thicketty which was about 10 mile southeast of Cowpens, South Carolina. Shelby and his troops were able to capture the fort that was manned totally by Loyalists without firing a shot. Earlier Shelby was part and parcel of the Battle of Kings Mountain, North Carolina where British General Thomas Ferguson and his division of Loyalists were trapped on top of a small mountain in the King’s mountain range near the North Carolina/South Carolina border and the Patriots had the bottom of the mountain surrounded. Even though Ferguson and his troops surrendered, he and his troops were annihilated. When Ferguson raised a white hanky as a signal of surrender, he said “I am an officer in his majesty’s army and will be treated with dignity and respect.” This comment was met with at least 8 musket balls and Ferguson was dead as fried chicken before he hit the ground. This action was caused by the slaughter of 200 Patriots a few weeks earlier that had surrendered to the infamous British Colonel Banaste Tarleton at the village of Waxhaw just south of present day Charlotte, NC and all were bayoneted and killed. Word of Shelby and his “over the mountain” men had reached the Loyalists at Fort Thicketty and they wanted no part of Shelby and company. Shelby went on down and defeated the British at the Battle of Cedar Springs (in the center of the present day city of Spartanburg, SC) and on down to the Battle of Musgrove Mill which is about 30 mile southwest of Spartanburg. Shelby and his “over the mountain” men were bloodthirsty and ruthless and everybody knew it, especially the Loyalists. The “over the mountain” men were those back country men that came down from the wilds of the Appalachian Mountains to kill the British and were good at it. Speaking of good at it, Shelby was born in Maryland and was involved in Pontiac’s War. He scalped his first Indian at the age of 13. The city of Shelby, North Carolina is named for this Patriot

1619 This date saw the first gathering of a legislative body in America. The House of Burgesses was founded in the choir section of the local church in Jamestown, Virginia. It had been 12 years since Jamestown had been founded and the financier of this expedition was The London Company, a group of investors, and they required a legislative body in the colony. 22 people were voted into office by the local adult males. The first thing they did was establish the minimum price for tobacco. Then they established a law defining what a person could and could not do on the Sabbath. These folks were very religious, y'all. By the way, in old English “Burgess” means “the public”.

1863 On this date Shoshone chief Pocatello signed the treaty of Box Elder Creek making the immigrants able to cross southern Idaho safely. At one time the Bannock Shoshone were one of the most powerful tribes on the Great Plains. But a white man’s disease called smallpox had swept through the tribe in the epidemic of 1781 decimating their number to the point that the fierce Blackfoot had pushed them off the plains and into the mountains. Then there came an even more dangerous group in the Lewis and Clark expedition carrying even more white man’s diseases. The Shoshone wanted to be friends with the white man so they could lay their hands on firearms to defeat the hated Blackfoot. But 50 years later the Shoshone finally realized that the white man was a much more dangerous threat than the Blackfoot but it was too late, the pioneers and settlers were well established along with the US Cavalry.

Born today:

1891 Baseball manager Casey Stengel. He said “The key to being a good manger is to keep those people that hate you away from those that are undecided.” Casey was funny.

Died today:
1784 French philosopher Denis Diderot. He said “All children are essentially criminal.” Tack onto that “especially those little monsters in restaurants sitting in a booster chair five feet from me screaming in their gravelly voices “NO I DON”T WANT THAT, I WANT ICE CREAM!!!!!” I have asked more than one waitress to go knock those brats out. They never do.

1975 Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa. He had said “I don’t need bodyguards”. On this date Jimmy was sitting in his Cadillac outside of a restaurant near Detroit one minute and the next minute he and his car disappeared from the planet and have never been found to this day. I don’t know Jimmy, but maybe a couple of means guys with, .45 ACP automatics close by might have prevented that. But for today, goodbye Jimmy wherever you are.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

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Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Wednesday

Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return, but the hurt is much worse when you love someone and do not have the courage to tell them how you feel.”

Charles Swindoll

Back in 2007 an illegal immigrant named Alejandro Umana wanted to make an impression to the notorious Mexican street gang MS-13. He chose to walk into a restaurant in Greensboro, NC and gunned down two brothers for no other reason than to make an impression. After that he threatened many of the witnesses to try and stop them from cooperating with the investigation, he tried to extort money from a local drug lord for MS-13. Later on his trial was completed and he was sentenced to death. Yes indeed, we really want those illegal Latino immigrants living with us.

A while back up in Gaston County, North Carolina 28 year old Howard Pouser drifted to the opposite side of the road and slammed head on into an ’89 Oldsmobile. He went far enough over that he struck the passenger side of the Olds which was the heaviest. Recent high school graduate 17 year old Laura Fortenberry was riding in the passenger seat and was killed instantly. Here is the bad part. Howard had been convicted of three other DWI’s in addition to several other crimes. The law enforcement officials sent Howard to the hospital for a minor injury and he was released afterward. Howard went home, crawled into bed and went to sleep, for crying out loud. The cops came and woke him up and got a blood sample for DWI reasons. He was arrested and his bond is $2 million. How could this jackass be still be on the streets? He had better take a good look at the sun because it may be the last he will see of it for years to come.

This Date in History July 29

1588 A few years earlier Queen Elizabeth I of England had sent her most able sea captain in Sir Francis Drake out to harass Spain, England’s worst enemy at the time. Drake did not disappoint. He caught the Spanish fleet at anchor in Cadiz, Spain and sent in ships that were on fire into the fleet and bombarded them with long range artillery. This attack delayed by one year King Phillip of Spain’s attempt at the control of the English Channel and therefore controlling England’s commerce. Drake’s attack also alerted England to Spain’s intentions. Queen Elizabeth had sent monetary aid and supplies to some of the Dutch colonies that were rebelling against Spain’s attempt to occupy those lands. Eventually, King Phillip of Spain got his fleet together to the tune of 130 ships containing 8,000 guns manned by 2,000 sailors and 20,000 infantry. This fleet was known as the “Great Armada” but later it was known as the Spanish Armada. The fleet left Spain headed for the English Channel in a line of ships eight miles long. The delay had allowed the English fleet almost a year to prepare and when the Spanish Armada arrived in the English Channel the English were ready. The English ships were not a fast as the Spanish ships but they were a lot more rugged, especially in rough seas, and had cannon with a lot longer range. As you might suspect, the English ships stood off out of range of the Spanish ships and bombarded the hell out them. Then the worst possible thing happened for the Spanish Armada. A typical English Channel storm arrived unexpectedly and the mighty Spanish Armada was forced to seek shelter in a small bay near Calais, France where they anchored down to ride out the storm. The English fleet, Sir Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake commanding, waited until the storm abated and on this date they sealed off the mouth of the bay the Spanish Fleet had occupied and again bombarded the hell out of them and sent in, you guessed it, fire ships meant to set fire to the Armada. After that it was every Spanish ship for himself and the ships left that bay the best way they could. Most of the ships did escape from the bay but they were not in formation and disorganized, the English were waiting and picked them off one by one. Not only that the wind shifted and the Spanish Fleet had no chance to sail back to Spain and many of them crashed on the shores of Scotland and Ireland with the English fleet in hot pursuit. The English fleet turned back at the north end of Scotland. Finally, the survivors of the “Great Armada” arrived back in Spain less than half strength. This is one of the most important military events in history in stopping Spain from invading England.

1981 On this date the heir apparent to the English throne Prince Charles, the oldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, and Diana Spencer are married in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London (been there). Nearly one billion, I said one billion, people watched that wedding from 74 countries on TV. Since Diana was of a royal descent she automatically became Princess Diana. There were 2,650 guests at the wedding. The “happy” couple was blessed with a son about a year later when Prince William was born and in 1984 Prince Harry was born. It was soon thereafter that a rift appeared between the two and the English press got scent of it. They announced formal separation in 1992 but in reality they had been apart longer than that. They continued to carry out their royal duties until August of 1996 when a divorce was granted. The only thing Diana had to give up was the title of “Her Royal Highness” and Charles gained his mistress of many years, Camilla Bowles. We all know what happened to Princess Di but Prince Charles chose to marry Camilla. How he could ever arrive at this decision is beyond me. When I was in London in ’04 I went on a bus tour of that great city. Our tour guide was aflame but he was a funny guy. He said that on one occasion Prince Charles was driving into Buckingham Palace with a couple of his friends and ran over one of Queen Elizabeth’s prize Corgi dogs. He got out and found that the Corgi had been crushed top to bottom. His friends persuade him just to bury the dog and pretend that he did not know what happened to it. So he started digging a hole and hit something metallic and it is a brass lamp. Charles began rubbing and a Genie popped out. The Genie offered Charles one wish and he asked if the Genie can bring the dog back to life. The Genie says, “Hand me the dog” and he looks the dog over and says “I can’t do anything with this, the dog is crushed from one end to the other, but you still have a wish. So Charles said, “Can you make Camilla any prettier?” There was a long pause and the Genie says “Let me see the dog again.” By the way, our tour of London included a visit to St. Paul’s. What a stunning sight it is. Many, many of England’s greatest heroes are buried in the cemetery including Lord Wellington and Lord Nelson. The dome of St. Peters was designed by the famous architect Sir Christopher Wren in the late 1600’s. The dome has structural members that meet at the top and there is nothing underneath. Sir Wren designed a chain that was attached to all the members at the bottom which prevented them from spreading apart. As far as I know, that chain is still there. Wren was a pretty smart guy.

1945 On this date the battleship USS Indianapolis is enroute from Tinian to the Philippines after delivering the final part of the Hiroshima bomb. A Japanese submarine spots the Indy and put two torpedoes in the side of this great ship. The shots are fatal and the Indy goes down fairly quickly but most of the crew of 800 escaped into the sea. But there are not enough life rafts to get everybody aboard so they rotate hanging on the sides and sitting inside. There were 134 survivors to this tragedy. The sharks fed on those hanging on the side.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

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