July 9, 2023 July 9th, 2023 |
Quiz: In what story did we first hear, “ ..Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!”
Yesterday’s Quiz answered below: What does it mean to have bonhomie?
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History for 7/9/2023
Birthdays: Schopenhauer, Elias Howe, Ottorino Respighi, David Hockney, Samuel Elliot Morrison, Sir Edward Heath, Kelly McGillis, Barbera Cartland, J. Paul Getty II, H.V. Kaltenborn, Richard Roundtree, Daniel Guggenheim, John Tesch, Fred Savage, Chris Cooper, O.J. Simpson, Courtenay Love is 63, Debbie Sludge is 73, Brian Dennehy, Tom Hanks is 67, Sofia Vegara is 50
271B.C.- Greek philosopher Epicurus died at age 72. A strict vegetarian, he suffered from kidney stones and dysentery from drinking only water.
1540- Henry VIII had his marriage annulled to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. Because the match was made for strictly political reasons, in contrast to Henry's other queens, she was not beheaded, but had a nice quiet life afterward. Still, because it was his idea, Henry had his minister Thomas Cromwell beheaded. You gotta have some fun.
1595 - Johannes Kepler theorized a geometric construction of the universe.
1686- The Treaty of the League of Augsburg. French king Louis XIV’s ambition to build his kingdom without a thought to who he offended managed to unite most of Europe- against him. Germany, Sweden, Spain, Holland, Austria and England all signed a secret alliance against France. Years ago these same nations were bitter enemies over religion, and kept apart by the diplomacy of Cardinal Richelieu. But Richelieu was long dead and even though Louis was a great catholic champion, the Pope hated him too. This treaty set the stage for the next century of European conflict.
1772- THE GASPEE’ INCIDENT- Another provocation leading to the American Revolution. Britain’s insistence her colonies trade through Britain exclusively made Americans a race of smugglers. Many New England businessmen had money tied up in ships doing illegal business. So, when the captain of the Royal Navy ship HMS Gaspee’ was overly diligent in catching coastal smugglers, local people were indignant. This day the Gaspee ran aground in the shoals off Rhode Island. That night a group of patriots seized the captain and crew and set fire to the ship. The next day the crew were released and everyone in the vicinity suddenly caught amnesia.
1776- The Declaration of Independence read out to Washington's army defending New York City. The people of New York celebrate by pulling down a large statue of King George III at Bowling Green. They melted the lead statue into 42,000 bullets. This was all done while knowing a huge British invasion fleet was just outside their harbor about to attack. The happy mobs also went after suspected loyalists including NY Mayor David Matthews, Royal Governor Tryon, and one of General Washington’s own bodyguard.
1815 -1st natural gas well in US is discovered.
1816- Happy Argentine Independence Day!
1864- Battle of the Monocacy. Jubal Early's Confederates threatened Washington D.C., to try and pull Grant away from his stranglehold on Richmond. This day they fought a large skirmish with Union forces in the area and resume their march towards the US Capitol.
1842 - Notary Stamp Law passes.
1910 - Walter Brookings becomes 1st to pilot an airplane up to an altitude of one mile!
1918- Depressed after his sweetheart Estelle married another man, writer William Faulkner left his Oxford Mississippi home to go to Canada and enlist in the RAF. He never saw combat, because World War I ended as his training was completed.
1929- The first airline service set up between New York City and Los Angeles (Glendale Airport). It was set up by Clement Melville Keyes, and Jack Maddux, running Ford Tri-Motor airplanes. First called Maddux Airlines, then later TWA.
1937- A fire at the Fox Studio film vaults destroyed thousands of stored nitrate prints. Entire careers were erased from film history. Stars like Theda Bara and William Farnum had most of their work destroyed. A tragedy to film history.
1940- VICHY- After the terrible defeat by the Germans, the remains of the French government set up a Nazis puppet state with elderly Great War hero Marshal Phillipe Petain as president. Because Paris was occupied by the Nazis, they met in the mineral water resort town of Vichy. The Vichy Republic was born. For a long time after a debate raged in France whether Petain was a traitor or whether he sacrificed his honor to salvage what he could of France from the wreckage of the defeat. Remember the scene at the end of the film "Casablanca" Claude Rains pours himself some mineral water, but when he sees the label says Vichy, he tosses it into the trash.
1942- Anne Frank and her family go into hiding from the Nazis in the warehouse attic above her father’s office.
1943- Polish secret agent Jan Kauszka had been smuggled out of occupied Europe so he could travel to Washington. Today he told President Franklin Roosevelt that the Polish Underground Resistance (AK) had undeniable proof that Hitler’s secret plan was to murder all of the Jews of Europe.
1945- Shortly before he boarded the battleship Augusta to travel to Potsdam to confer with Churchill and Stalin, US President Harry Truman fired his Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau. Henry had been FDR’s treasury head for 12 years, the longest serving cabinet officer since founding father Albert Gallatin. Henry Morgenthau masterminded FDR’s battle with the Depression, The New Deal, and financed the World War II victory. But Truman chaffed at being lectured by old Roosevelt stalwarts. He now called Morgenthau a "blockhead", idiot," and "He don’t know shit from apple-butter!"
1955 - "Rock Around Clock", arguably the first Rock & Roll song, hits #1 on Top 100 chart\
1956 - Dick Clark's 1st appearance as host of American Bandstand.
1972- David Bowie first appeared as his alter-ego Ziggy Stardust.
1976- Walt Disney’s The Treasure of Matecumbe premiered.
1981 - Walt Disney's the "Fox & The Hound," released. The first animated feature Walt Disney had no input on. Although the film has brief screen credits, it marks the torch being passed from the Nine Old Men golden age generation to the boomer generation. A complete personnel roster would include Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Woolie Reitherman, Tim Burton, John Lasseter, Bill Kroyer, Don Bluth, Lorna Cook, Henry Selick, Brad, Bird, John Pomeroy, Dan Haskett, Steve Hulett, John Musker, Jerry Rees, Rebecca Rees, Randy Cartwright, Glen Keane and many more.
1983- The Police’s single "Every Breath You Take" goes to #1.
1993- Industrial Light & Magic completed its transition to digital technology by shutting down its Howard Anderson Optical Printer. The Optical Printer system of mattes had been the way Motion Picture visual effects had been done since Georg Melies in 1909, but the Digital Revolution had changed everything.
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Yesterday’s Quiz: What does it mean to have bonhomie?
Answer: To project a casual, good-natured friendliness. A hail-fellow-well-met.