badsqwirl

[badsqwirl]

Today in History October 24, 1902 Arthur Conan Doyle is Knighted

The Scottish writer/physician Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh in 1859. He is best known for his stories about the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes which has spawned a multinational multigenerational cultural following. The character of Holmes was first introduced in Doyle’s 1887 novel ‘A Study in Scarlet’. Holmes featured in 56 of Doyle’s short stories and four of his novels. Doyle received knighthood on October, 24 1902 by King Edward VII. He died on July 7, 1930 of a heart attack while in the company of his wife.

[badsqwirl]

September 29, 1923 Mandate for Palestine Goes into Effect

Officially Confirmed on July 24, 1922, several more hurdles and treaties had to be signed for the British Mandate for Palestine officially went into effect. The League of Nations was responsible for the creation and confirmation of the document.

Formalizing British control over the Southern region of Ottoman Syria, the document was in effect until May 14, 1948. The document took control of the area from the now defunct Ottoman empire while creating the first vestiges of a Jewish homeland.

The mandate included Article 14 which specifically called for the creation of a council to review the religious status quo. Knowing the continued strife in the region it may not be surprising that the council was never created. Article 15 of the mandate basically functioned as a freedom of religion clause specifically stating “nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”. Again knowing the history of the region, it is not expected for the reader to be rolling their eyes.

[badsqwirl]

September 13, 1848 – The Amazing Case of Phineas Gage 

A Vermont railroad worker Phineas Gage survived a 3-foot iron rod being driven through his head and lived another 12 years. Gage was 25 at the time and was directing a work gang blasting rock to prepare the laying of railroad tracks. The tamping iron that was being used to compress charges to blast away rock struck a spark and was shot through his skull. This incident destroyed most of his brain’s left frontal lobe and caused drastic changes in his personality and behavior. The still cited incident caused new debate and discussion about the nature of brain function and its role in personality and behavior.

[badsqwirl]

September 5, 1774 – The First Continental Congress Assembles

Called together from the Thirteen Colonies the Continental Congress became the governing body of the precursor to the United States during the American Revolution.

This first meeting was before agreement was made over independence from the crown and was mostly concerned with the intolerable acts. The intolerable acts were a series of laws passed by the British Parliament to punish Massachusetss after the Boston Tea party. This included stripping the colony of the right to self-government. The act caused further dissent against foreign rule and added more support for the impending revolution.

[badsqwirl]

September 4, 1781 – The LA Story begins

Los Angeles, California, was founded as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora La Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula by 44 Spanish settlers. The Pueblo de los Ángeles was the second town created during the Spanish colonization of the Alta California portion of the territory of Las Californias. The Presidio of San Diego was the first. The original settlement consisted of eleven families recruited mostly from Sonora y Sinaloa Province. As new settlers arrived and soldiers from the surrounding presidios retired to civilian life in Los Angeles, the town became the principal urban center of southern Alta California, whose social and economic life revolved around the raising of livestock and the ranches devoted to this.

[badsqwirl]

September 3, 1802 – Wordsworth writes the sonnet Composed upon Westminster Bridge.

Earth hath not anything to show more fair:  Dull would he be of soul who could pass by  A sight so touching in its majesty:  This City now doth, like a garment, wear  The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,  Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples lie Open unto the fields, and to the sky;  All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.  Never did sun more beautifully steep  In his first splendor, valley, rock, or hill;  Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!  The river glideth at his own sweet will:  Dear God! The very houses seem asleep;  And all that mighty heart is lying still!

[badsqwirl]

September 1, 1772 The Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa is Founded

Father Junipero Serra founded the mission in what is now San Luis Obispo, California. The Mission is named for Saint Louis of Anjou, the Bishop of Toulouse. It is part of the larger string of California Missions stretching the coast of California serving as religious center, education center, trading post, and military fortification. Each complex stands roughly one days travel from the next so that a missionary, platoon, or traveler could traverse the region with a safe haven every night.

[badsqwirl]

August 24, 1215 - Pop Innocent III declares Magna Carta invalid.

The Magna Carta was the first document forced onto Royalty of England by his or her subjects. It attempted to limit the powers of the King and protect the privileges (rights) of the people. Now taken in historical context these subjects were feudal lords and they were not asking that the lowly slave class of serfs be treated equal just the ruling class.

The document still created a new paradigm for rule of law and is apriori to all concepts of rights in Western Europe and the English/Spanish/Portuguese/French speaking Americas. The concept of the law of the land being a prosecutorial, protective and indemnitive right still holds true.

[badsqwirl]

August 22, 565 - Columba defeats the Loch Ness Monster, made Saint

An Irish Missionary who is given credit for spreading Christianity in Scotland, Columba had a reputation as a holy man who could produce miracles. One of his Miracles occurred while traveling along the River Ness and he confronted a ferocious water beast and drove it back into the water after the monster killed one man and attempted to kill another. The Pagan King Bridei gave him mad props.

[badsqwirl]

August 21, 1770 - James Cook asks "Yes, but do you have a flag?“

Unfortunately the aboriginal people of Australia they did not have a flag, so Captain Cook formally claimed eastern Australia for Great Britain, naming it New South Wales

[badsqwirl]

August 19, 1989 The Pan-European Picnic.

Today in History the border gate between Austria and Hungary was opened for 3 hours. This act was accompanied by the symbolic cutting of a fence north of the border crossing to showcase this slight part of the Iron Curtain. The Hungarian police were instructed not to stop any immigration and also not to carry firearms. There are reported cases of police actually helping immigrants across the border.

600+ East Germans crossed the border and fled into the west. In an odd move, the following several days saw an increase in Hungarian border patrol. And then on September 11, 1989 Hungary opened its borders to all citizens of the German Democratic Republic and Central Europe, flinging off the Iron Curtain for good.

[badsqwirl]

August 9, 1974 President Nixon Resigns

The Watergate scandal was the result of a June 17, 1972 break-in at the DNC headquarters in Washington, DC. The offices were inside the Watergate office complex. The House Judiciary Committee voted 27 to 11 to recommend impeachment for obstruction of justice. The charges concerned the attempted cover-up by the Nixon administration of its involvement. Its important to be clear that President Nixon was never charged with wrongdoing only impeached. However, forty-three people including many top Nixon Administration officials were indicted, tried, and convicted.

President Nixon was the first and only President to resign from the office on August 9, 1974.

Five men were caught in the attempted break in of the DNC offices. Money found on them was able to be traced back to the Committee for the Re-Election of the President. This led to the revelation of recording devices in the oval office, which has slowly been declassified revealing many things about the President and his involvement.

[badsqwirl]

July 31, 1790 Potassium Potash Process Patented

Samuel Hopkins received the first US patent for an improvement in the apparatus and process for making potash. The US Patent Statute was signed into law on April 10, 1790 by President Washington. The Statute did not create a Patent Office but created a cabinet level committee of the Secretary of State, Secretary of War, and the Attorney General to make decisions over the merit of a petition for patent. Other patents that year were issued for a candle making process and a flour-milling machine.

Potash is a manufactured form of salt that contains water soluble potassium (K) used in fertilizers and other products.

[badsqwirl]

July 31, 1930 Who Knows What Evil Lurks in the Hearts of Men?

The Shadow Knows.

The Shadow was a wealthy, young man about town by day and a crime-fighting psychic vigilante by night appearing in serialized Pulp Novels, comic books, and radio dramas in the 1930’s. The radio mystery program featuring The Shadow first aired  on July 31, 1930. The program was titled ‘Detective Story Hour’ narrated by the Shadow, but the character became so popular that it was eventually renamed and centered about the character. Orson Welles did not originate the narrator role, but he did feature prominently on several episodes. The introduction to each show was “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of Men? The Shadow Knows!” and the episodes concluded with the Shadow reminding his listeners, “The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. Crime Does not pay… The Shadow knows!”

[badsqwirl]

June 28, 1914 Franz Ferdinand Assasinated/Austria becomes Important

The Archduke of Austria and heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914 by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. An attempt to blow up Ferdinand’s car failed earlier in the day. His death triggered a chain of events and domino treaties which led to the WWI.

Austria-Hungary, in retaliation, declared war on Serbia. This led to the Central Powers (including Germany) joining on Austria’s side, and the Allied powers like Britain and France joining on Serbia’s side.

“Don’t die darling, live for our children” - Ferdinand’s last words to his wife

[badsqwirl]

July 22, 1587 The Colony of Roanoke II: The Resettling

Today in history, A second group of English settlers arrived on Roanoke Island to re-establish the deserted colony. Roanoke Island is situated in Dare County off the coast of North Carolina. Virginia Dare was the first English child born in the Americas and the grand daughter of John White the leader of the original colony.

Other than the word CROATOAN, little indication of what happened to the original 115 colonists was left. While most consider the Dare Stones a proven fraud, it is one of my favorite explanations for the dissapearance. The colonists are said to have traveled from the site and Eleanor Dare, mother of Virginia, left marking stones on the way to mark their journey. The Colonists would eventually perish. My second favorite (probably fraudulent) explanation is the absorption of the colonists into a local Native American tribe, lent credence by historical accounts of Native Americans with blue eyes and fair skin living in British style homes.

If you really want a good read check out Neil Gaiman’s Marvel 1602 which tells a superhero laden version of Roanoke and is great fun for lovers of Marvel multiverse tales. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_1602

[badsqwirl]

July 18, 1290 The Jews are Kicked out of England

King Edward I issued the Edict of Expulsion in 1290 which banished approximately 16,000 Jewish people from English soil. Usury, the act of unethical or immoral monetary loans, was tied directly to Judaism at the time and the Statute of Jewry of 1275 had made it illegal and blasphemous to conduct certain banking practices. Under that Statute, Jews were hanged and their assets were seized by the government. As both Christian and Islamic laws forbade such things as interest on loans, Judaism had a natural fit to the banking professions at the time as they had no such religious laws.

The combination of the Statue of Jewry and the Edict of Expulsion instantly swelled the Crown’s accounts as the property of all Jews was instantly seized. Many practitioners of Judaism simply chose to “convert” to Christianity to retain their property and right of migration.

Officially Jews were not allowed in England until 1657, when Oliver Cromwell took a financial view of matters and used the Navigation Act of 1651 to attract rich Jewish Immigrants from other European countries.

Antonio Fernandez Carvajal and Simon de Caceres were the first Jews to purchase property in England in over 350 years. It was for a Jewish Cemetery.