Jan 23, 2016 January 23rd, 2016 |
Quiz: What is a conundrum?
Yesterday’s Quiz answered below: What does Allegro Non Troppo mean?
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History for Jan 23, 2016
Birthdays: Musio Clementi, Edouard Manet, Sergei Eisenstein, Derek Walcott, Ernie
Kovacs, Stendahl, Jean Moreau, Randolph Scott, Dan Duryea, Rutger Hauer is 71, Warner Bros animator Manny Davis, Disney animation director Dave Hand, Princess Caroline of Monaco, Mariska Hargitay is 52, Sonny Chiba is 77. Animator Phil Mendez
St. Idelfonso's Day- He was archbishop of Toledo and had a vision one day in
which the Virgin Mary appeared and gave him a chausible (cloak).
1556- The worst earthquake ever recorded, killed 830,000 people in Zhanzshi China.
1789- Georgetown University founded near what will be Washington D.C.
1795- A fleet of 14 Dutch warships got stuck in ice and was captured by attacking French cavalry.
1806- Prime Minister Pitt the Younger dies at 46. A heavy port drinker, he had a
stroke after getting the news of Napoleon's big victory at Austerlitz. As the
maps and dispatches dropped from his lap, his last words were:
”Oh My Country!" Another source said his dying words were "Oh I wish I had another one of Mrs. Bellamy's Meat Pies !". Suspiciously, the source of that anecdote was a spokesman for the Bellamy's Meat Pies Company.
1812- The largest earthquake ever in North America. It was not in California but in the
Mississippi Valley near New Madrid Missouri. The quake was felt as far south as
New Orleans where it moved the mouth of the Mississippi River, and it rattled store
windows in New York City. Legend has it Indian leader Tecumseh had predicted it.
He told Indians who had signed treaties with the whites:" I will stamp my foot,
then you will know the anger of the Great Spirit."
1862- Here’s a toast to that great American- Count Agoston Haraszthy ! Who? Next
time you raise a glass of Napa Valley Pinot Noir think of him. This day the Hungarian
immigrant count bought land in the Sonoma Valley and imported cuttings from 1,000
varieties of European wine grapes. There may have been one or more earlier vineyards, ( Buena Vista in 1857) but the Count jumpstarted the California wine industry.
1867- New York City residents awoke this day to find the East River separating them
and the City of Brooklyn had frozen solid. It stayed that way for several weeks
wreaking havoc among the ship traffic and commerce. Everyone realized they needed
a bridge. Work on the Brooklyn Bridge was begun in 1869.
1879- The Defense of Rourkes Drift. After the British invasion force was annihilated
by the Zulus at the Battle of Ishandlwana the other day, a ragtag group of stragglers,
wounded and drivers behind an improvised wall of piled up oatmeal sacks hold off
the entire Zulu army. The first Victoria Crosses were given out over this engagement.
More were given here than at D-Day. One went to a sergeant who later had it stolen
off the wall of his pub. He petitioned the government and got another one....and
that too was stolen. When he died in 1911 he had the VC embellished on his tombstone....and,..you guessed it....it was stolen.
1913- A group of young Turkish army officers led by Enver Bey take over the government from the despotic rule of Sultan Abdhul Hamid IV, and try to modernize things, keeping the Sultan as a figurehead. Enver’s movement created the name The Young Turks.
1920- The Netherlands refused to extradite Kaiser Wilhelm to the victorious Allies for trial. He was granted asylum and lived peacefully until his death in 1940.
1922- The first insulin injection given in Toronto by doctors Banting and Macleod
to diabetic patient Leonard Thompson.
1930- Ivory Snow soap invented 'pure as the driven snow'. In 1969 the model
on the Ivory Snow detergent box, Marilyn Chambers, became a notorious porn star. The baby she held in the photo was actress Brooke Shields.
1941- Aviator Charles Lindbergh testified before Congress to express his opposition
to lend lease aid to Britain and he urged America to negotiate a neutrality pact
with Hitler.
1942- Tupperware invented by Charles Tupper.
1943- The last Luftwaffe plane evacuated wounded and mail out from the German 6th
Army surrounded at Stalingrad. Field Marshal Frederich Von Paulus gave a final message to a colonel scheduled to be evacuated out:" Tell them that the Sixth Army
has been betrayed by the Supreme Command."
As the last three JU-52s took off, the Pitomnik Airfield was overrun. Russian T-34 tanks clanked down the runway casually firing shells into parked planes. Most of the freezing soldiers last letters, full of anger with Hitler, were ordered destroyed by Goebbels Propaganda Ministry. Some specimens survived and were published fifty years later.
1943- A group of high German officials began secret meetings on how to kill Hitler and stop the war. Their conspiracy would culminate in the Operation Valhalla, the July 20th bomb plot.
1957- The Disneyland TV show premiered” Our Friend, the Atom.”
1968- THE PUEBLO INCIDENT- While America was watching the Battle of Que Sanh in Vietnam, a US Navy spy ship doing CIA intelligence work was captured in North Korean waters. The hostage ordeal mesmerized the public for weeks and the sailors were finally released after a long captivity and humiliating show-trials. After his release,
the commander, Capt. Lloyd Bucher retired from the navy, went to Art Center in Pasadena and became an illustrator.
1974- The U.S. Congress authorized the building of the Alaska Oil pipeline.
1978- In Woodland Hills Terry Kath, the lead singer of the group Chicago, killed
himself when he playfully put a pistol to his head. His last words were: "Don't
worry. It's not loaded, see...?"
1983- TV series The A Team, making a celebrity out of a Mohawk and bling wearing former bouncer named Mr. T. “ I pity the fool!”
1989- Artist Salvador Dali’ died. Rushing to leave as much money as possible for
his family his agents had the ancient artist autograph reams of blank paper they intended to print Dali’ lithographs on later.
2004- Satellite TV dish installer Jay McNeil of Paduca Kentucky was trying out a
new telescope when he discovered a nebula in space. It’s now called McNeil’s Nebula.
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Yesterday’s Quiz: What does Allegro Non Troppo mean?
Answer: It means fast, but not too fast.