All Things in Moderation

2009 – ScottC and lmsinca (posting as lindaS) meet each other and have their first ever interaction on Greg Sargent’s The Plum Line (see the posts starting at 9:52pm). They continue to argue with and annoy each other 4 years later.

1990 – Playing for the Seattle Mariners, Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. become the first father and son to ever play in the same game for the same team in MLB history. Each goes 1 for 4. Kinda cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G2AnNdjBu4

1976 – Former Beatle George Harrison is found guilty of “subconscious plagiarism” for his song My Sweet Lord. He was sued by the estate of Ronnie Mack, who had written the song He’s So Fine, recorded by The Chiffons, and from which Harrison was alleged to have plagiarized. Earnings from the song are ordered to be paid to Mack’s estate. Eh….I sort of get it. Sort of. You be the judge:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rinz9Avvq6A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VUIB41EUFA

1888 – The mutilated body of prostitute Mary Ann Nichols is found in London’s east end neighborhood of Whitechapel. Nichols is the first of five recognized victims of the infamous, and to this day still un-named, serial killer known as Jack the Ripper. If you ever go to London and are looking for something interesting to do in the early evening, do the Jack the Ripper walking tour guided by Donald Rumbelow, a renowned British crime historian. I thought it was pretty good.

Filed under: This Day in History | 9 Comments »

Posting this a bit early, as I think there will be no MP this morning.

1996 – After two children and 15 years of marriage, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Charles and Diana, formally agree to a divorce. The couple had already been separated for four years, and had been negotiating for over 6 months on a final settlement. Almost a year to the day later, on August 31, 1997, Diana will be killed in a car crash in Paris. Charles will eventually go on to marry his long-time mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles, in 2005. The news of the divorce produced much sadness among many followers of the British Royal family, but for those of us who have always considered the royal family to be an expensive and foolish anachronism, we couldn’t have cared less.

1963 – On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. delivers a speech to 250,000 people who had come for the March on Washington, demanding voting rights and an end to racial segregation. The speech, popularly known as the I Have A Dream speech, will be delivered 8 years to the day of the racially charged murder of Emmett Till (see below) and will come to be seen as one of the most famous and stirring speeches in American history.

1955 – Emmett Till a black teenager from Chicago visiting family in Money, Mississippi, is brutally beaten, shot in the head, and dumped into the Tallahatchie River. His mangled body will be found 3 days later. Till was killed by Roy Bryant, the husband of a white woman with whom Till was reported to have flirted a few days earlier, and JW Milam. Till’s uncle, Mose Wright, positively identifies the two men who took Till from Wright’s house on the night of the murder, but a jury will acquit the two men nonetheless, on the grounds that the mangled body could not be positively identified as Till. A year after the acquittal, protected by double jeopardy laws, the two will admit to and describe the murder to Look magazine. Till’s murder and the subsequent outrage over the verdict is regarded as a pivotal event in the history of the then infant Civil Rights movement.

1948 – Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope opens in theaters. Inspired by the true murder committed by Loeb and Leopold, Rope depicts the story of 2 young men who, just for kicks, murder their “friend” and then hold a dinner party with the trunk holding the body as the center piece of the party. Starring Jimmy Stewart, the film is best known for the absence of many conventional cuts, as large portions of the film are shot as a single, continuous scene. Although a canister of film could only hold 10 minutes of film, several scenes last for well over 10 minutes, which was accomplished by timing movements so that as the canister ran out, an actor would walk past the front of the camera, briefly blacking it out, allowing the change of the canister to occur without an obvious cut in the action. Hitchcock apparently didn’t like the film, and called it a failed experiment, but it is one of my favorite Hitchcock films. Interestingly, the initial scene shown in the trailer below isn’t actually in the film at all.

Filed under: This Day in History | 30 Comments »

1968 – The Democratic National Convention in Chicago begins as thousands of protestors descend on the city to protest the on-going war in Vietnam. The 4-day convention is marked by violence, both inside and outside the convention hall, but is most noted for what a subsequent report will call a “police riot” when protestors and police clash in the streets of Chicago in front of a national television audience. Eight of the protest leaders are arrested and eventually tried in what will come to be known as the trial of the Chicago Seven. (One of the eight, Bobby Seale, is removed from the courtroom and eventually tried separately, hence the Chicago 7).

1939 – The Brooklyn Dodgers host the Cincinnati Reds at Ebbets Field and play in the first ever televised MLB game. The impetus for the broadcast was the World Fair, taking place in New York City, as organizers sought a way to show off one of their prize exhibits, a new invention called television. The broadcast involved just 2 cameras, one on the third base line that showed views of infield throws to first, and one high behind the batter showing a full field view. Although the video itself was of poor quality, with pitched and batted balls virtually impossible to actually see, the exhibition was a huge success, propelling both popular interest in the new invention and innovation to improve quality.

1839 – The slave ship Amistad is captured off the coast of Long Island after the 53 Mende captives on their way to be sold into slavery escape the hold and take over the ship. After killing the captain and several crew members, they demand that the navigator return them to their home in Africa, but the navigator, while pretending to do so, instead sails north along the coast of the US and to the tip of Long Island. The US takes the ship into custody and holds a highly publicized trial to determine the status of the Mende captives. The case eventually reaches the Supreme Court which finally rules in 1841 that the Mende were illegally transported and held, and frees them. The episode was recently popularized in the Steven Spielberg movie Amistad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP0hwVVUTac

Filed under: This Day in History | 36 Comments »

1975 – British rock band Queen begins to record lead singer Freddie Mercury’s song Bohemian Rhapsody at Rockfield Studios in Wales. The song takes over three weeks to fully record, with sessions going 10 hours a day. EMI, Queen’s record company, was reluctant to release the song as a single, but eventually relented after the band secreted a copy of the song to a Capitol Radio DJ who played the song 14 times over the course of a weekend, to much praise. The song stayed on the UK charts for 9 weeks, reaching number one in 1976, and then climbing back into the top spot in 1991 following the death of Mercury. In the US, the song peaks at number 9 in 1976, but reached all the way to number 2 in 1992 after it was featured in the comedy Wayne’s World.

1812 – British forces defeat the American militia at Bladensburg, Maryland and march unopposed into Washington D.C. The British proceed to set fire to the White House, the House of Representatives, the Library of Congress and the unfinished Capitol building, as well as many private homes. The British retreat from the city 2 days later, leaving it in charred ruins.

79 – Mount Vesuvius in southern Italy erupts for the first time in centuries, destroying the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The eruption is reported to have lasted 18 hours, burying Pompeii under some 15 feet of volcanic ash and pumice, while Herculaneum is buried under 60 feet of mud and volcanic rock. During the 18th century a farmer found traces of Pompeii on his vineyard, prompting an excavation project that continues to this very day. The ash under which the city was buried preserved many artifacts, including the outlines of the bodies of the poor souls who were buried under it, in a kind of plaster mold, providing great insight into the daily life of the time prior to the eruption.

Filed under: This Day in History | 77 Comments »

1989 – 42-year old Nolan Ryan, playing for the Texas Rangers, strikes out Rickey Henderson on a 96-MPH fastball, becoming the first pitcher in Major League Baseball history to strike out 5,000 batters. Ryan, probably the greatest pitcher ever to live, finishes his Hall of Fame career with 5,714 strikeout, 7 no-hitters, and 12 one hitters. Unparalleled.

1971 – Monty Python’s Flying Circus hits the big screen in the US, as And Now For Something Completely Different, the film version of their British sketch comedy show, debuts in the US. The film sees limited success in its initial release, but it performs well upon its re-release in 1974, after PBS begins broadcasting the original TV series. (Best MP film: Life of Brian….discuss.) Below, a sketch that would seem appropriate for ATiM.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y

1864 – The Geneva Convention of 1864, which calls for nonpartisan care of the sick and wounded in war, is adopted by 12 nations meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. In honor of Jean-Henri Dunant, Swiss humanitarian and strong advocate of the proposal, a red cross on a white background, the inverse of the Swiss flag, is chosen as the emblem to mark medical supplies and personnel during war. The International Red Cross was founded.

1851 – The yacht America of the New York Yacht Club wins the Hundred Guinea Cup by defeating 14 British ships in a regatta around the Isle of Wight. The race was a blowout, with America beating second place by a full 22 minutes. In 1857 the owners of the yacht deed the Cup, which will come to be known as the America’s Cup, to the New York Yacht Club on the condition that the Cup be put up as a prize in a regular international racing competition. The first America’s Cup race,takes place in 1870 and continues to this day, making it the world’s oldest and longest running sporting competition. (Question: what makes a sport a sport, and does boat racing actually qualify?)

Filed under: This Day in History | 4 Comments »

1987 – Dirty Dancing featuring Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze, opens in theaters. A coming of age story set in a 1963 summer resort in the Catskill Mountains of New York and involving young love, abortion, and Ayn Rand, this movie is so bad it is a must-watch classic. With dialogue like “Nobody puts baby in the corner!”, who can resist?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28A9Jgo92GQ

1959 – Hawaii officially becomes the 50th, and to date the last, state to join the union. Established as a US protectorate in 1894, Hawaii is officially annexed in 1898 and becomes a formal US territory in 1900. (I have no idea what the distinction is between being annexed and being a formal US territory.) The Japanese attack on the Hawaiian naval base at Pearl Harbor in 1941 firmly establishes Hawaii in the national psyche, and 18 years later it becomes a full fledged member state. Best of the Hawaiian Islands? Maui, without a doubt.

1940 – In a stirring speech to the House of Commons in the midst of the Battle of Britain, the greatest political leader in the history of war, Winston Churchill praises the men of the Royal Air Force for their efforts against the Luftwaffe by exclaiming the now famous line “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” Eventually members of the RAF will come to be known simply as “The Few”. I’m pretty sure that on the top 10 list of history’s great wartime leaders, Winston Churchill holds the top 5 positions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y60xvkJ8ko

1858 – The first of seven debates between Senate candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas takes place in Ottowa, Illinois. The debates center on the issue of slavery, and are perhaps the most well-known political debates in the history of the US. The debates are a preview of the very issue that would be the focus of the presidential election 2 years later, in which both Lincoln and Douglas would again be opposing candidates, along with a third, John C. Breckinridge. Although Douglas would win the Senate election (actually, his fellow Democrats would win the Illinois house of representatives, which then appointed him Senator), Lincoln would get his revenge by winning the 1860 presidential election, leading directly to Southern secession and the Civil War.

Filed under: This Day in History | 13 Comments »

1998 – The Canadian Supremes rule that Quebec cannot unilaterally secede from the Federation. And Canada isn’t even a Union!

1968 – As Czechoslovakian protests against the Soviet Union mount during the course of what will come to be known as Prague Spring, 200,000 Soviet troops cross the border into Czechoslovakia and head to the capitolto crush the protests and reassert Soviet control. Within two days the entire nation is occupied, and further protests are violently put down. The Soviet intervention puts a new chill into US-Soviet relations as President Johnson cancels his planned trip to the USSR.

1940 – Leon Trotsky is attacked in his Mexico City home-in-exile by ice axe weilding Ramon Mercader, a Spanish communist. He will die the next day from his wounds. A founding member of the Russian Revolution, Trotsky had lost the power struggle to succeed Lenin as the head of the Soviet Union upon Lenin’s death. He became the object of Stalin’s persecution, including being expelled from the Soviet Union, which culminated several assassination attempts, the last of which finally proved successful.

1858 – Charles Darwin published the theory of evolution through natural selection in The Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London. This became one of the two cornerstones of modern biology and denying it remains a popular pastime.

1000 – This is National Day in Hungary. Supposedly King Stephen founded the state in 1000. I (MIA) have visited St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna but I did not know this was the same Stephen. Stephen was declared a saint in 1087 on this day, as well.

Filed under: This Day in History | 6 Comments »

It’s going to be a brief one today….sorry.

1953 – The Iranian military, with the assistance of the CIA, overthrows Premier Mosaddeq and reinstates the Shah of Iran. The Shah, an ally of the US throughout the Cold War, will remain in power until the 1979 Iranian revolution. The 1953 coup and the US relationship with the Shah will be a primary motivating factor in the 1979 hostage crisis, when Iranian “students” storm the US embassy in Tehran and hold 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

1951 – Eddie Gaedel, at 3 foot 7 inches the smallest person ever to “play” in a MLB game, makes his first and only career plate appearance for the St Louis Browns, taking a walk on 4 straight pitches and promptly being taken out for a pinch runner. Gaedel’s appearance was orchestrated by showman and owner Bill Veeck, who was famous for his unique efforts at trying to increase fan attendance.

1942 – Amidst mounting pressure from Stalin to open a second front in the war, the Allies stage a raid on the French town of Dieppe, the first Allied attempt to attack German positions in mainland Europe. The raid, beset by all kinds of logistical and tactical problems, is a complete debacle, being turned back a mere 5 hours after it had begun, with over 60% of the troops being casualties or captured. Nevertheless, the lessons learned are held out by Churchill as being crucial to the later success of the invasion of Normandy on D-Day.

1812 – A naval battle between the USS Constitution and the Guerrière, a British frigate, breaks out off the coast of Nova Scotia. Surprisingly the Constitution gets the best of the 20-minute battle, inflicting serious damage while suffering very little itself. Witnesses to the battle later claim that the British cannon shots simply bounced off the sides of the Constitution, resulting in the eventually legendary ship being nicknamed “Old Ironsides”.

Filed under: This Day in History | 23 Comments »

1992 – Boston Celtic great Larry Bird announces his retirement after a 13 year career. A 3-time NBA champion, 2-time NBA Finals MVP, and 3-time season MVP, Bird’s long-time rivalry with Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers is largely credited with reviving the moribund NBA of the 1970’s and propelling it to new found heights of popularity. I had never been an NBA follower, but found myself in Boston at the height of the Celtics success during the 1980’s and became a huge Bird and Celtic fan. He was a wonder to watch, both because of his talent and the arrogant self-confidence he exuded, typified by the story of his participation in the inaugural 3-point shooting contest at the 1986 All-Star game. Apparently all of the participants had been gathered in the locker room just prior to the event for a meeting with NBA officials, and Bird had not yet arrived. Finally he walked in, looked around the room and announced “Who’s coming in second?” One of my favorite Bird moments below. (BTW, check out those shorts.)

1991 – With the Soviet Union slowly disintegrating as a result of Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms, hard-line communists within his administration along with the heads of the Soviet army and the KGB launch a coup, placing Gorbachev under house arrest his Crimean vacation villa. Gorbachev refuses their demand for his resignation, and a state of emergency is declared with vice president Gennady Yanayev attempting to seize control of the government. The coup was thwarted in large part when Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who himself was inexplicably not detained, calls for a general strike to protest the coup, and rallies the people of Moscow to gather at the Russian White House. Major Evdokimov, chief of staff of a Tamanskaya tank battalion declares his loyalty to Yeltsin, providing Yelstin with a base to resist the coup. The coup eventually falls apart and Gorbachev is restored to power, but it accelerates the dissolution of the Soviet Union, with the emboldened Yeltsin asserting Russian independence, followed by most of the rest of the Soviet Republics. Within 5 months, the Soviet Union will officially cease to exist.

1963 – James Meredith becomes the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi. Meredith had one year earlier become the first African American admitted to the university, the result of a court order which had to be enforced over the objections of the university by US marshals sent to the school by President Kennedy. While Meredith’s enrollment was accompanied by violent protests including 2 deaths, his graduation ceremony was reported to be uneventful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHIuSiip20U

1920 – The 19th amendment to the US Constitution, guaranteeing the right to vote to women, officially becomes law when Tennessee becomes the 36th state to ratify the amendment. Women had already gained the right to vote in only 15 states, and the ratification marks the culmination of nearly a century of the women’s suffrage movement. Susan B. Anthony, a major force behind the movement from the middle of the 19th century, did not live to see this day, having unfortunately died in 1906.

1872 – The first ever mail order catalog is issued by Aaron Montgomery Ward. The first catalog is a single 8″ by 12″ piece of paper, but within a decade it will grow into a 500 page book with over 20,000 items for sale.

Filed under: This Day in History | 12 Comments »