Question: Are St. John the Apostle and St. John the Evangelist the same guy?

Yesterday’s Question answered below: When they say “ he faced a phalanx of reporters.” What is a phalanx?
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History for 9/17/2009
Birthdays: Hank Williams, Spiro Agnew, Ken Kesey, Jerry Colonna, Roddy MacDowell, George Blanda, Wendy Carlos Williams, Elvira- real name Cassandra Peterson, Anne Bancroft, Jeff MacNelly, Sir Frederick Ashton, Rita Rudner, Bass Lehrman is 47

1179- Feast of Saint Hildegard of Bingen, the medieval female composer.

1630- Happy Birthday Beantown! The Puritan colonists of New England decide to name their new settlement Boston, after a town in Lincolnshire. The site was an Algonquin village called Shawmut.

1632-BATTLE of BRIETENFELD- One of the great battles of the religious Thirty Years War. South Germans, Austrians, Italians, Spaniards on the Catholic side, Swedes, Danes, Hungarians and North Germans on the Protestant side. Catholic general Joachim Tchserclas Von Tilly lost despite dedicating the battle to the Virgin Mary and having twelve cannon named for the Twelve Apostles. Protestant Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus sang morning prayers with his army from the saddle. I wonder if their battle cry was:" Prince of Peace! CHAAAAARGE !!"

1787- The U.S. Constitution signed by the representatives of 12 of the thirteen states. Rhode Island boycotted the convention. “The business is closed.” George Washington wrote in his diary. Alexander Hamilton signed as the only representative of New York since the others left in protest. He was a prime mover of the Constitutional rewrite but was unimpressed with the final result: “Just more pork with the same old sauce, but it might lead the way for a better one later.”Aaron Burr wrote” I doubt if it will last 50 years.” Yet the US Constitution became the bedrock of the American system and is viewed with an almost religious dedication. When Ben Franklin emerged from the meeting, an old woman asked:’ Well, Dr Franklin, what have you given us now?” Franklin replied:” A Nation, mam, if you can keep it!”

1859- JOSHUA NORTON of San Francisco, a well known rice merchant, suffered a mental breakdown under the strain of work, bought a tricycle and a marching band uniform and declared himself Joshua Ist, By God's Grace Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico! Everybody went along with the gag including Abraham Lincoln, who Joshua would write to as "My Prime Minister" and Abe would answer "Your Majesty". When Joshua died in 1875, 35,000 San Franciscans turned out for a state funeral befitting royalty.

1862- BATTLE OF ANTIETAM or Sharpsburg. Abe Lincoln needed a Union victory before freeing the slaves so the act wouldn't look like the last desperate gamble of a losing side. Robert E. Lee had invaded Maryland but his secret orders wrapped around some cigars were discovered by Yankee trooper. "At last I've got him!' crowed Gen. George B. "Little Mac" McClellan, the Union commander who was a great organizer but a terrible battlefield commander. The two sides batter each other in one of the bloodiest days in U.S. history, double the U.S. casualties of D-Day in World War II. McClellan delayed sending in his reserves at a critical moment to break Lee's center, so the battle was a draw. Lee withdrew into Virginia -he was leaving Maryland anyway, so it was kind of, sort of, a Union success.
Yet despite Lincoln's pleading, McClellan refused to pursue. Lil' Mac was convinced Lee had 100,00 troops (he had barely 30,000.). Never one for modesty, McClellan wrote his wife: "Once again God has made me His instrument to be the Savior of my country."
Lincoln fired him ,but published his Emancipation Proclamation anyway.

1921-SWASTIKA- New leader of the German National Socialist or Nazi Party Adolph
Hitler sent his first circular letter to party members. He had spent a lot of time researching graphic symbols in a Munich library with a Professor Pluskau who specialized in Oriental cultures. Now Herr Hitler advised all good party members to adopt as their emblem an ancient Aryan symbol of a crooked cross called a Swastika. This was to be worn as an armband and on party stationary toped with an eagle in imitation of ancient imperial Rome. Early Nazi rallies actually sold name brand merchandise to fund their movement. I wonder if they had Nazi ShamWows….?

1939- Russian forces join German troops in the invasion of Poland and occupied the Balkan countries Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. These nations would not regain their independence until 1990.

1940- After the failure of the German Luftwaffe, Hitler postponed Operation Sea Lion, the invasion of the British Isles. The Battle of Britain was over. Hitler would resume bombing London with rocket weapons in 1943 in the period called 'The Blitz".

1941- As Stuka Bombers drop incendiary explosives over their heads, Dmitri Shostakovitch performs the first two movements of his Symphony #7 the "Leningrad" to a Leningrad audience. Shostakovitch wrote the symphony during the terrible 900 day siege by the Nazi's, often pausing to join the fire brigade in putting out fires.

1951- Battle of the Yalu River. General MacArthur's UN army reached the edges of North Korea near the Chinese border.

1965- If you ever wondered what could be funny about being held in a Nazi prison camp you could watch the TV sitcom HOGANS HEROES, which debuted this day. Nazi Commandant Colonel Klink was acted by Werner Klemperer, whose father was the famous orchestra conductor Otto Klemperer who had to flee Germany because they were Jewish. Sergeant Schulz and the Frenchman LeBeau were also played by actors who survived the Holocaust- John Banner and Robert Clary.

1971- RCA gave up and pulled out of the retail computer market.

1972- Filmation's The Groovie Ghoulies" debuts.

1975- Psychotherapist Lucile Yaney opened one of LA’s most unusual restaurants- the Inn of the Seventh Ray in Topanga Canyon. Built on the site of a countryhouse 1920’s evangelist Aimee Semple MacPherson brought her lovers. Premiere organic cuisine with berry wines, then you can browse the store for power crystals, I-Ching sticks and literature from Alastair Crowley and Edgar Cayce. Faaar- Out !

1978- After thirteen days of intense negotiations President Jimmy Carter announced the Camp David Peace Accords , the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab neighbor- Egypt. Prime Minister Menachem Begin shook hands with President Anwar El Sadat.

2008- the entire country of Iceland declared bankruptcy.

2008- the first revelations that the Department of the Interior officials were having sex and taking drugs with lobbyists for the Oil companies. One official admitted snorting meth off an office toaster oven. Meanwhile they winked at the oil companies forgetting to pay hundred of millions of dollars in environmental penalties and fees.
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Yesterday’s Question: When they say “ he faced a phalanx of reporters.” What is a phalanx?

Answer: Most ancient armies were disorganized mobs of warriors. The Greeks invented the system of in-step marching and fighting in a huge rectangle formation. They presented their enemies with a moving wall of shields, bristling with bronze spears. The formation was called the Phalanx. This human wedge literally pushed their enemies off the field. The phalanx dominated until replaced by the smaller and more maneuverable Roman legion.
The name phalanx has come down to us to mean a group that presents a solid united front. Franco’s fascist party in Spain called themselves phalangists or the phalanx.

Question: When they say “ he faced a phalanx of reporters.” What is a phalanx?

Yesterday’s Question answered below: Lately the favorite catchphrase of politicos is “ The Senator Double downed on his comment in Congress.” Okay, what does Double down mean?
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History for 9/16/2009
Birthdays: J.C.Penney (James Cash Penney), B.B. King is 84 (originally Rydell King, when a DJ in Memphis his name was Beale St. Blues Boy or B.B.King, Anne Francis, Linda Darnel, Nadia Boulanger, Alan Funt, George Chakiris, Peter Falk, Ed Begley Jr, Jennifer Tilly, Molly Shannon, Marvin Middlemark 1919-the inventor of the rabbit ears TV antenna. ), Mickey Rourke is 53, Lauren Bacall- born Betty Persky is 85

218BC -Estimated date that Hannibal and his Carthaginian army completed their crossing of the Alps and descended into the Po River Valley of Italy. Of 32 elephants only 2 survived the journey.

1498-The Grand Inquisitor Tomas de Torquemada died peacefully. He presided over the torture and execution of up to 17,000 people during the Spanish Inquisition. He also oversaw the expulsion of Jews and Christian Arabs from Spain. Even the Borgias asked him to cool it. The name Torquemada became a synonym for judicial cruelty.

1776-BATTLE OF HARLEM HEIGHTS- From Washington's defeat by the British at New York City until Christmas he fought several rearguard actions as the British chased him and his raggedy ass rebels up into White Plains, across the Hudson, and across New Jersey to Pennsylvania. Historians graciously call these desperate hit and run actions battles, Harlem Heights, Throggs Neck, White Plains, Ft. Washington. The British were now so cocky about knocking the rebels about, that when the advance scouts spotted the American positions they didn't use the usual trumpet signals but sounded fox-hunting calls. The British referred to the Americans as Mr. Washington’s Army, because they refused to honor him with the title of General.

1830- The Liverpool-Manchester railroad inaugurated. The first trip was an all VIP affair, with the Prime Minister the Duke of Wellington and most of the government along for the ride. At one point during a stop the elderly Duke watched a member of the House of Lords Sir William Huckisson, step out on to the track and get his leg severed by another train. The first known fatality by train.

1859- In Old San Francisco California State Senator David Broderick called California Supreme Court Justice David Terry a “pro-slavery crook, knave and poltroon”. The chief justice in a rage and challenged Broderick to a duel. They had to reschedule their meeting several times to elude the police but finally met on this date on site near present day Stinson Beach. Broderick's gun discharged prematurely near Terry's feet. Terry, instead of being satisfied and firing wide, took aim and drilled Broderick through the chest, killing him instantly.

1864- THE NILE DEBATE- On this day a debate was scheduled in the British city of Bath between famous African explorers Richard Burton and John Speeckes as to whether Speeckes had discovered the source of the Nile River at Lake Victoria Nyanza. They had started the expedition together as friends but came ot hate one another. The debate would be moderated by another famed explorer Dr. David Livingstone. However fate, or Speeckes, ensured the debate would never take place. On the day before the high strung Speeckes had gone hunting to break the tension and had accidentally shot himself in the chest. Whether he had intentionally or unintentionally committed suicide remains a mystery. A different explorer, Henry Stanley, proved Speeckes correct in 1873.

1893- THE LAST GREAT OKLAHOMA LAND RUSH-After appropriating some of their land in 1889, in 1893 the U.S. Gov't takes over the last huge stretch of land owned by the Cherokee Nation, who once owned all of Georgia and the Carolinas and Tennessee. They rename the Cherokee Strip Oklahoma and at the sound of a signal gun at noon one hundred thousand white settlers swarmed over it like a mad gold rush, on horseback, bicycle and carriages. By days end 40,000 claims averaging 160 acres a claim were made. Senator Henry Dawes of Mass. who sponsored the land grab, said of the Cherokee: " The defect in their system is obvious. Because they hold their land in common there is no selfishness, which is at the bottom of all Civilization."

1898- Indianapolis attorney Albert Beveridge advocated the conquest of the Philippines in a speech entitled “The March of the Flag,” the classic manifesto of U.S. Imperialism.

1901- A British Imperial Academy of Sciences team began to excavate a Wooly Mammoth frozen in Siberia. Most of the head had been eaten by wolves and the ears and trunk were gone, but the hair, skin and contents of its’ stomach were still there.

1908- General Motors Car Company formed. The phrase then was:"What's good for General Motors is good for the Nation."

1917- TANKS make their first appearance on the Somme battlefield. The inventors wanted them to be called “Land-Battleships” but the British had shipped their secret weapon across the Channel in crates marked "water-Tanks" to fool spies, so the name Tank stuck.

1919- An Austrian ex-corporal named Hitler drifting through Munich today joined a new right wing political party called the German Workers Party, later the National Socialists or Nazis. He also attended meetings of the ultra-nationalist Thule Society. It was a group that espoused racial supremacy and hated of Jews.

1920- FOR THOSE WHO THINK TERRORISM IS A MODERN PROBLEM- On this day anarchists planted a time bomb in a wagonload of scrap iron and parked it in the middle of Wall Street on a busy business lunch hour. The blast killed 38 and injured hundreds, blowing out the ground floor of J.P. Morgan's bank. Bankers described nightmarish scenes like a woman's decapitated head with her stylish bonnet still on, imbedded like a cannonball in a marble inlaid wall by the force of the blast. One of the victims was a sailor named Watson who had survived the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine. He survived this one as well but had to get a steel plate in his head. He eventually went mad. Another man knocked senseless and almost killed was young bank executive Joseph Kennedy Sr., father of the Kennedy Dynasty. The perpetrators were never caught. In 2001 the headquarters of Morgan/Stanley were in the World Trade Center.

1920- Enrico Caruso made his last recordings for the Victor Recording Company.

1934- Los Angeles Mayor Frank Shaw recalled for corruption. The city father's frustration with the mob corruption of politicians and police back east moved them to create the unique city charter that makes the Los Angeles City Council more powerful than the Mayor and made the LAPD an independent entity. Currently Los Angeles has one of our city council members under indictment for influence peddling and another busted for drug use.

1940- Congress passed the Burke-Wadsworth Act, creating the first peacetime draft in US History. The Selective Service Agency is born.

1940- Texan Sam Rayburn became Speaker of the House of Representatives. Rayburn was a mentor of young Lyndon Johnson. In 1945 Harry Truman was having an old fashioned Bourbon and poker party with Rayburn in his office when he was given the news of Franklin Roosevelt’s death.

1941- CBS Radio premiered the Arkansas Traveler Show. In it bandleader Bob Burns played a strange instrument he called a Bazooka. Later when the US Army issued the first hand-held anti-tank rocket launchers to their infantry, the GI’s called the things Bazookas because it resembled Burns instrument.

1949-Chuck Jones "Fast and Furrious" the First Road Runner-Coyote cartoon.

1953- The St. Louis Browns Baseball team moved to Baltimore and became the Baltimore Orioles.

1963- The Beatles record “She Loves You- Yeah,Yeah,Yeah.”on the Swan Records label.

1964- The Peter Potamus Show debuted.

1965- The Dean Martin Show premiered on NBC. “Well, Ah think I’m gonna go to da couch now..”

1966- the last LOOK magazine published.

1966- The new Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center had its opening night. A performance of Samuel Barbers Anthony & Cleopatra sung by Leontyne Price and Justino Diaz. It was a near disastrous night because Ms Price got locked in a pyramid for awhile and couldn’t get out.

1969- President Nixon appears on the t.v. comedy "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" and says:"Sock it to Me?"

1973- American Indian Activists Russell Means and Dennis Banks were acquitted of all charges in the Wounded Knee shootout and siege. That Banks and Means were shooting it out with the FBI was beyond question. The reason was the judge objected to the governments illegal bungling of evidence and witnesses.

1976- The U.S. Episcopal Church approved the ordination of women as priests and bishops.

1983- Arnold Schwarzenegger became a US citizen.

1984- “Miami Vice” TV show debuted.

1985-The Congressional Budget Office announced that the United States had gone from a Creditor Nation that had bankrolled most of the world in the Twentieth Century, to a Debtor Nation.

2003- Sheb Wooley, the composer of the 1951 hit “One Eyed One Horned Flying Purple People Eater” and the theme song of the TV show Hee Haw, died in Henderson Tennessee at age 82.
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Yesterday’s Question: Lately the favorite catchphrase of politicos is “ The Senator Double downed on his comment in Congress.” Okay, what does Double down mean?

Answer: in Blackjack, it means doubling your bet after only two cards are down, showing your bold confidence and determination.

Question: Lately the favorite catchphrase of politicos is “ The Senator Double downed on his comment in Congress.” Okay, what does Double down mean?

Yesterday’s Question: What fruit is mentioned most times in the Holy Bible?
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History for 9/15/2009
Birthdays: James Fennimore Cooper, William Howard Taft, Porfirio Diaz- Mexican President 1884-1911, Agatha Christie, Julian Cannonball Adderly, Bruno Walter, Yuri Noorstein, Merlin Olsen, Hank Williams, Oliver Stone, Jean Renoir (film director and son of painter August Renoir), Alexander Korda, Jesse Norman, Robert Benchley, Ron Shelton, Merlin Olsen, Dan Marino, Fay Wray, Tommy Lee Jones is 63, Prince Henry, the second son of Charles and Di is 25

7 BC.- THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM..? According to astronomical records kept by the Persian Magi starting this day an alignment of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars caused a rare bright star that glowed both day and night . Another explanation of the star may have come from Chinese astronomers who recorded a comet during the year 5 BC.. Remember according to the most modern calculations Jesus may actually have been born in 6 BC

1776- The BATTLE OF NEW YORK- Lord Howe's British Army crossed the East River from Brooklyn and attacked Manhattan at Turtle Bay, approximately between E 30th and 31st Streets. Colonial troops panicked and fled uptown while George Washington futilely tried to rally them where the 42nd St. Public Library now is. As the last panic stricken farmer scampered off tossing his weapons away, George Washington threw down his hat and exclaimed: "Lord, have I such soldiers as these?" Legend has it the only reason the British let the Yankees escape was the commanders paused to have tea with a Quaker lady acquaintance. New York was an occupied city for the rest of the Revolutionary War. Hundreds of colonial prisoners were kept in rotting prison ships moored in the harbor, where many died of disease and neglect.

1811-El GRITO- MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE- As the bells ring peasant priest Father Miquel Hidalgo waved the banner of the Virgin of Tonantzin-Guadalupe and published a revolutionary tract-The Cry of Dolores. New Spain declared their Independence as Mexica, the name of the ancient Aztec nation. Hidalgo was later captured and shot but not before setting the people aflame:" Will you recover the lands stolen three hundred years ago from our forefathers by the hated Spaniards? Long Live Our Lady of Guadalupe! Death to the gachupines!” -Aztec for Euro- Honkies. The war continued for a decade until Spain acknowledged Mexican independence in 1821.

1858- The Butterfield Overland Mail service started up, driving stagecoaches throughout the Old West.

1894- Japanese defeat the Chinese at Ping Yang. They take Korea and Taiwan.

1901- After the funeral of assassinated President McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt strode into the White House for his first day as President. Bully !

1925- The Grand Order of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan take out a copyright on their logo – the white cross on the red circle with the black square in the center. After all, some other racist hate group might try to copy their cool duds!

1930- The first Blondie comic strip.

1930- Hoagy Carmichael first recorded “Georgia on My Mind”.

1935-“The Law Protecting German Blood and German Honor” aka the Nuremberg Edicts passed in Nazi Germany. They make Anti-Semitism official state policy. It took civil rights away from Jews and set up levels of Jewishness to determine pure Aryan bloodlines.”Jews are forbidden to marry other Germans or hold public office, including college professorships.

1936-MGM producer Irving Thallberg, the "Boy Genius" of Hollywood, died of a cerebral hemorrhage at 31. He was the inspiration for F.Scott Fitzgerald's "The Last Tycoon". His boss Louis B. Mayer was beginning to resent his popularity. When actress Gloria Swanson asked Mayer how he felt about Thallberg's death Mayer replied:" God has been very kind to me."

1940- Climax of the BATTLE OF BRITAIN-Herman Goring tries some final huge bomber raids to flatten London and wipe out the R.A.F., in preparation for Operation Sea Lion, the German invasion of Great Britain. Germans thought this was the day the attack across the Channel would happen at last. Hundreds of planes dogfight in the skies over London and Saint Pauls Cathedral is wreathed in flame and smoke. 65 German planes were shot down in one day. American CBS news correspondent Edgar R. Murrow gained national fame by fearlessly standing on a rooftop at the height of the battle and reporting a live radio broadcast.

1950- The INCHON LANDINGS. Gen Douglas MacArthur's masterstroke to amphibiously land an army behind the North Korean invaders and drive them from South Korea. It was an unlikely landing beach- short pebbly beach with a high craggy cliffs and the high tides in the world – 37 feet, from low to high tide, make the area inaccessible for most of the day. But MacArthur had remembered the Japanese had used this spot as a landing site in 1894 and it worked decisively. Mao Tse Tung had guessed that MacArthur might try a landing at Inchon and warned North Korean leader Kim Il Sung but Sung ignored the warnings and was taken completely by surprise. Within a week Seoul was recaptured and the North Korean Army was in full retreat.

1954- The day of shooting on the film the Seven Year Itch. Marilyn Monroe in her little white dress stood over the subway grate and let the breeze blow her dress up, much to the annoyance of her husband, baseball star Joe Dimaggio. Her white halter outfit was thereafter known as a Marilyn Dress.

1956- Surgeons Walter Freeman and Egas Moniz perform America's first prefrontal lobotomy on a depressed, 63-year-old Kansas woman in Washington, D.C.

1957-The tv series Bachelor Father starring John Forsythe premiered.

1959- Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev arrived in the U.S. for a good will tour that included farms and factories. Americans found the earthy bald peasant with the broad smile charming, and not at all the bogeyman everyone feared.

At one point Khruschev requested to visit Disneyland, the “workers playground” but Walt Disney refused:” In 1942 we lent those Commie bastards a print of Snow White and they released in their theaters with their own credits on it!”

Khruschev also praised American white bread. “Russian Bread is made one day and goes stale. American bread can stay on shelf for weeks and still be soft!”


1965- "Green Acres" t.v. show debuts. Arnold Ziffle the pig gains national prominence.

1971 –The environmental political movement Greenpeace founded in Vancouver by twelve members of the Don’t Make a Wave Committee.

1973- Star Trek animated series by Filmation premiered. This was the first time Kirk, Spock, Sulu and Uhura were untied again with a Roddenberry script since the original series was cancelled in 1967.

2008- THE GREAT RECESSION- George W. Bush touted himself as the CEO President, proud of his team’s business experience. Today the US Stock Market went into a full panic after two of the nation’s oldest investment banks- Merrill Lynch and Lehman Bros failed. Lehmans was $613 billion in debt. This shock added to the news of the government taking over mortgage insurers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and gas prices suppressing car sales. The American financial crisis panicked stock markets around the world. It was the greatest financial collapse since the Great Depression of 1929.
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Yesterday’s Question: What fruit is mentioned most times in the Holy Bible?

Answer: According to Biblical scholars, figs are mentioned 23 times in the Old and New Testaments.

Question: What fruit is mentioned most times in the Holy Bible?

Yesterday’s Question Answered Below: Who said “ It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done before. It is a far, far better place I go to, than I have ever been..” ?
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History for 9/14/2009
Birthdays: Lao Tzu-604BC,Caliph Al Mansur -the founder of Bagdhad-711AD, Dr. Ivan Pavlov, Charles Dana Gibson, Czech nationalist Jan Masaryk Margaret Sanger the founder of Planned Parenthood, Clayton Moore TV’s Lone Ranger, Luigi Cherubini, Producer Hal Wallis, Joey Heatherton, Bowser from Sha-Na-Na., Walter Koenig-Star Trek’s Mr. Chekov, Nicole Williamson, Sam Neill is 62

615 A.D.- Battle of Nineveh- Byzantine Emperor Heraclius defeats the army of Shah Chosroes II of Persia. Heraclius is a mystery to military historians. For most of his reign he sat on his throne in a stupor while the Persian army overran his kingdom. Finally when they're practically at the gates of his palace, Heraclius got up, took his legions and destroyed Chosroes in a series of lightning campaigns worthy of Caesar, Alexander and Rambo all rolled into one. He chased the Persian army to the edge of Afghanistan and spread garbage on the grave of the great Persian philosopher Zoroaster. The fleeing Persian satraps (noblemen) threw Chosroes down a well and piled stones on him just to make Heraclius go away. Then Heraclius went back to his throne and did nothing for the rest of his reign.

1324- In Ravenna a few hours after he put the finishing touches on the last part of his epic poem The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri died of malaria fever.

1523- Pope Adrian VI died. He was a Dutchman who thought he had been selected to be a true shepherd to his Christian flock. But when he entered Rome he was hurled into a hurricane of Vatican power politics and intrigue. It was said he died of shock. He was the last non-Italian pope until John Paul II in 1978. Romans hated Adrian so much that when he died they sent flowers to his doctor in thanks for losing his patient.

1812-NAPOLEON ENTERS MOSCOW- Napoleon entered the great Russian city and expected to be met by a delegation to surrender the keys of the city, and discuss peace terms. This happened in Berlin, Rome, Milan, Vienna and Madrid. Instead, the civilian population had fled. The lord mayor of Moscow, Count Theodore Rostopchin ( nicknamed "Crazy Theo" by Catherine the Great ), had opened up all the prisons and lunatic asylums on a promise from the inmates that they would do no less than burn the city down around the Frenchman's ears. The GREAT FIRE OF MOSCOW would last for four days and leave Napoleon thousands of miles from home with no winter shelter.


1814- BRITISH NAVY BOMBARDS FT. McHENRY – Georgetown lawyer Francis Scott Key was sent to the British to negotiate the release of a local Maryland doctor named Beanes. The British had accused Scottish born Dr. Beanes of mistreating their POW’s but relented when Key brought with him a letter written by men saying they were being well taken care of. Still, Key came at an awkward moment because they were about to attack Baltimore. So Admiral Cochrane invited him to stay and watch the show. Francis Scott Key watched the Rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air all night. Colonel Armistead the American commander at Ft. McHenry flew a big ass American flag to show everyone his fort was still fine and dandy. Dr Beane’s eyesight wasn’t very good and in the Dawns Early Light he asked Key:” If our flag was still there?” This question inspired Key to start writing down stanzas for a poem. After 25 hours of bombardment the British gave up firing on the fort and sailed away to save their resources for the attack on New Orleans. Key wrote a neat little poem and showed it to his brother-in-law Judge Nicholson. He thought it would sound good matched to a British pub song called "To Anacreon in Heaven". The song had a few difficult final high notes that enabled the bartender or publican to tell if you had too much to drink. It became the U.S. national anthem in 1931. Despite Jimmy Hendrix s’ rendition at Woodstock there has been occasional calls to replace it with America the Beautiful.

1837- Charles Tiffany with two partners set up their first store- Tiffany & Young. Tiffany stressed upscale merchandise from Europe to the best of New York society. In 1848 Charles Tiffany was on vacation in Europe when a revolution in France broke out and he wound up buying loads of cut-rate diamonds from aristocrats trying to flee. This moved his business exclusively into Jewelry and he soon bought out his partners and it became simply Tiffany’s. His son Louis Tiffany was the artist in stain glass creating Tiffany windows and lamps.

1847- THE HALLS OF MONTEZUEMA- The U.S. army under Gen.Winfield Scott captured Mexico City. As the army fanned out mopping up resistance the Marines were sent to take the National Palace. Marine Lieutenant A.S. Nicholson cut down the Mexican tricolor and ran up the Stars and Stripes over the Halls of Montezuma , unwittingly giving the first line to his Corps stirring battle hymn. For the first time the US flag flew over a foreign capitol. After this success President Polk started to dream of not just annexing California but making all of Mexico down to Panama part of the United States! Luckily cooler heads prevailed, and the French under Maximillian discovered twenty years later the folly of trying to dominate the Mexico with foreign troops.

1901- After lingering two weeks with an assassins bullet in him, President William McKinley died. Teddy Roosevelt became the nations youngest president at 42. Republican party boss Marc Hanna groaned:” Oh, no! Now that crazy cowboy is President!”

1927-Modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan died in freak car accident when her scarf tangled in the spokes of her Bugatti sportscar and snapped her neck. The scarf was a gift from the mother of famed Hollywood director Preston Sturges.

1927- Gene Austin recorded “My Blue Heaven”.

1944-PELELIU- The Marines attack the Japanese held island of Peleliu. It was a target because it was feared the Japanese planes could launch attacks from there to harass the flanks of General MacArthurs’ liberation of the Philippines. At the last minute Admiral Halsey’s reconnaissance discovered there was very little chance of that happening, but it was felt it was too late to call off the attack. After three days of heavy naval bombardment a Navy Captain told Marine Col. Chesty Puller-“ All you have to do is walk in.” The Japanese by now had learned from American landing tactics and were sheltered from the bombardment in underground bunkers. When the Marines hit the beaches they opened up with a furious counter barrage. It took weeks of bloody fighting to dislodge them. The US First Marines Division was so decimated by casualties - 54%, it ceased for a while to be a viable fighting force.

1957- TV show “Have Gun Will Travel” with Richard Boone as Paladin, premiered.
The head writer of this show was Gene Roddenberry, who would later create Star Trek.

1968-Filmation's "the Archies" "Sugar...ah, honey honey...."

1972- Premiere of the TV show The Waltons. “ Goodnight John-Boy.”

1978- The Mork & Mindy Show with young Robin Williams. “Na-Nuu, Na-Nuu.”

1985- Disney's TV show "Gummi Bears"

1993- Former Simpson’s writer Conan O’Brien takes over David Letterman’s old spot at the Late Show.
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Yesterday’s Question: Who said “ It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done before. It is a far, far better place I go to, than I have ever been..” ?

Answer: It was the final words of Englishman Sidney Carton as he ascended the scaffold to the guillotine to save another, in Charles Dicken’s novel A Tale of Two Cities.

“ It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known

Question: Who said “ It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done before. It is a far, far better place I go to, than I have ever been..” ?

Question: Who were the Fab Four?
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History for 9/13/2009
Birthdays: Gen"BlackJack" Pershing, Clara Schumann, Milton Hershey, Arnold Schoenburg, Jacqueline Bissett, Frank Marshal, Laura Secord, Jesse L. Lasky, Richard Kiel – Jaws in the James Bond movies, Maurice Jarre, Roald Dahl, Don Bluth is 72, Dr Kenneth Starr, Fred Silverman “The Man with the Golden Gut.”

122AD- In England the Roman legions began to build Hadrians' Wall.

1759- THE BATTLE OF THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM. England took Canada away from France. Gen. Wolfe defeated The Marquis De Montcalm and captures the great fortress of Quebec. Both Wolfe and Montcalm are killed, the only time both commanding generals were killed in a one battle at the same time. Gen. Wolfe (32) was aware he was asking his redcoats to scale a sheer rockface in a driving rainstorm then defeat a huge army with their backs to a cliff. So to boost their morale he read them his favorite poem: "Elegy in a Country Churchyard". with lines like:" The paths of Glory lead naught but to the Grave..." Gee, that would cheer me up....

1805- Admiral Nelson leaves London to take out HMS Victory and his fleet to sea.
He will achieve death and glory at the Battle of Trafalgar. Shortly before he had a conversation with the artist Benjamin West. He told West his portrayal of the Death of General Wolfe at the Battle of Quebec was his favorite painting and why had he not painted anything as good since? West replied that there hasn't been any comparable incidents of tragic heroism lately. Nelson laughed and said: "Well I shall make a it a point to get myself killed in my next battle, to provide you with suitable inspiration!"

1814- After destroying Washington DC and Alexandria , the British Navy began a bombardment of the forts surrounding Baltimore. Baltimore then was the main port of the many American privateers pirating English ships.

After 25 straight hours continuous bombardment of Fort McHenry, the forts big Stars and Stripes flag was still flying. A simultaneous land attack failed when General Ross, who was a veteran of Wellingtons’ army, was shot down by American snipers. Ross had ate his breakfast on shore in a local inn. When the proprietor asked if he should have a dinner ready for him Ross replied:" No thank you. Tonight I shall sup in Baltimore or in Hell!"

After the failure of the bombardment the British gave up and sailed away leaving Francis Scott Key on the shore with penciled notes for a neat little poem. More tomorrow.

1845-THE IRISH POTATO FAMINE- An Irish newspaper printed this day announced that a fungus named Vituperia Infestae was affecting most of the years potato crop, the one food staple for the poor. The same parasite carried over in American fertilizer had effected continental European agriculture as well but a drought minimized it’s effect. Ireland was more devastated by the famine than she had ever been by any war.

The famine raged for three years and killed millions. And all this while Ireland was administered by the richest nation in the world, the British Empire. Irish companies were still exporting other grains at the time as well. British relief agencies that were set up were inadequate and refused to just dispense food for fear of creating "a race of dependents". They established works projects that killed more as the starving were made to clear roads and move boulders. Also to pay for the programs landlords were taxed based on how many tenant farmers they had, so they evicted the poor.

Truth be said most industrialized countries at this time were hard on their poor, poverty was viewed as a lack of character. It’s just everyone was too slow or apathetic to realize just how great a disaster was occurring in Ireland. By the time the famine eased in 1849 one quarter of the entire population of Ireland had died or immigrated to North America.

1848- The first lobotomy.

1899-First man hit by an automobile. (74th and Central Park West in New York City).

1916- A Tennessee judge orders Margo the circus elephant hanged for killing three men. It took a railroad crane and steel cable, but it sure taught her a lesson!

1928- Riding high on their big hit film the Jazz Singer, the Warner Bros. buy out First National Pictures and move into their big Burbank studio lot, where they still are today.

1942- The aircraft carrier USS Wasp was torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese submarine I-15. With Enterprise and Saratoga under repairs, for several anxious weeks Admiral Nimitz had to defend the entire South Pacific with one lone carrier, The Hornet against six heavy Japanese battle carriers. Then Hornet was sunk just as the Enterprise came back into service.

1945- Henchmen of mobster Bugsy Siegel buy a 30 acre roadside tract from a widow in Las Vegas. On it will rise the Las Vegas Casino resort, the Flamingo. There were two little hayseed casinos in Vegas already, but the big glitzy hotel strip of mega casinos was Bugsy's dream.

1961- TV sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? debuted. Can you still sing the opening theme? " There's a fire in the Bronx, Brooklyns' broken out in fights, there's a traffic jam in Harlem that's backed up to Jackson Heights; There's a scout troop lost a child, Khruschevs' due at Idylwild...Car 54 Where are you?!"

1963- The sci-fi thriller series The Outer Limits premiered- Do not attempt to adjust your television- we control the horizontal, etc.

1969-Hanna Barbera's "Scooby-Doo,where are you?" and "Dastardly and Mutley and their Flying Machines" premiered.

1971- General Lin Piao, leader of the Red Guard movement and would-be successor to Mao Tse Tung, died in plane crash. The Cultural Revolution that had been raging since 1966 seems to fade away afterwards.

1971- ATTICA. Mass prisoner riot in a top New York State Penitentiary acquired counter-culture celebrity status and heavy race-war overtones. The legend was cemented after Governor Nelson Rockefeller used a massive military force to crush the revolt this day. It has been argued that more inmates and hostages were killed because of the attack than if negotiations had been allowed to continue. Most of the prison guards held hostage were murdered, some killed by troops in the confusion. Nelson Rockefeller, the last Liberal Republican, had presidential ambitions. But any further hope he had of running were ended by this incident. For years afterwards every hippie protest resounded with cries of "Attica, Attica!".

1974- The Rockford Files TV series with James Garner debut.

1979- Animator Don Bluth quits Walt Disney Studios taking a third of the top artists with him. Often controversial, Bluth becomes Disney's most serious rival since Max Fleischer and helps sparked the animation renaissance of the 1990s. A whole new group of young talent, "bluthies", exert great influence throughout the animation business.

1993- With President Bill Clinton smiling on, Israeli Prime Minister Ystchak Rabin and PLO leader Yassir Arafat signed the Declaration of Principles to the Oslo Agreement. In effect Israel recognized the Palestinians and the PLO has having legitimate national aspirations and the PLO renounced terrorism. This was the meeting with the famous handshake of Rabin and Arafat. Rabin’s great words "Enough of Blood!" were sadly ignored in subsequent years. Rabin was assassinated in 1995, and Arafat and the Likud botched several more peace initiative.

2001- As the world was still in shock from the Sept 11th terrorists attacks, televangelist Pat Robertson declared the tragedy God’s punishment on America for our permissive society, that tolerates homosexuality. Ralph Bingham, one of the hero passengers of United Flt. 93, who fought the terrorists and sacrificed his life so that his plane could not be used as a bomb to hit the White House, was a gay man. A New York Times columnist angrily wrote: "If I am ever in a plane that’s being hijacked, I’d rather have a Ralph Bingham seated next to me than a Pat Roberston!"

2001- Two days after the World Trade Center terrorist attacks, all civilian air travel was banned over the skies of the US. Despite this ban, a special flight evacuated two dozen members of the Saudi Arabian Royal family attending school in the US. Among their number were relatives of 9/11 mastermind Osama Ben Laden. None were ever detained or questioned and no explanation ever given.
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Yesterday’s Question: Who were the Fab Four?

Answer: A nickname for the Beatles.