On this day in history.

[giradman]

USS Kearsarge sinks CSS Alabama this day in 1864!

In the American Civil War, the Confederacy produced a number of notable successes, but just to mention a few (in my mind) are Robert E. Lee and the CSS Alabama, captained by Raphael Semmes - this day in 1864 off the coast of France the Confederate raider was sunk by the USS Kearsarge - pics below of the ship w/ a scaled model and actual photographs aboard the vessel; brief history in first two quotes - the 'wreck' has been found and marine archeological research is ongoing under a joint French-American operation (last quote below - link from Wiki w/ lots more information). I've read a number of books on the naval history of the Civil War, including the one in the last image specifically about this warship. Dave

The most successful and feared Confederate commerce raider of the war, the CSS Alabama, sinks after a spectacular battle off the coast of France with the USS Kearsarge. Built in an English shipyard and sold to the Confederates in 1861, the Alabama was a state-of-the-art ship—220 feet long, with a speed of up to 13 knots. The cruiser was equipped with a machine shop and could carry enough coal to steam for 18 days, but its sails could greatly extend that time. Under its captain, Raphael Semmes, the Alabama prowled the world for three years, capturing U.S. commercial ships. It sailed around the globe, usually working out of the West Indies, but taking prizes and bungling Union shipping in the Caribbean, off Newfoundland, and around the coast of South America. The Union navy spent an enormous amount of time and effort trying to track down the Alabama. (Source)

The ship sailed around South America, across the Pacific, and docked in India in 1864. By the summer, Semmes realized that after three years and 75,000 miles his vessel needed overhauling in a modern shipyard. He sailed around Africa to France, where the French denied him access to a dry dock. Semmes moved out of Cherbourg Harbor and found the USS Kearsarge waiting. In a spectacular battle, the Kearsarge bested and sank the Alabama. During its career, the Alabama captured 66 ships and was hunted by more than 20 Federal warships. (Source)

In November 1984, the French Navy mine hunter Circé discovered a wreck under nearly 200 ft (60 m) of water off Cherbourg. Captain Max Guerout later confirmed the wreck to be Alabama's remains. In 1988, a non-profit organization, the CSS Alabama Association, was founded to conduct scientific exploration of the shipwreck. Although the wreck resides within French territorial waters, the United States government, as the successor to the former Confederate States of America, is the owner. On October 3, 1989, the United States and France signed an agreement recognizing this wreck as an important heritage resource of both nations and establishing a Joint French-American Scientific Committee for archaeological exploration. This agreement established a precedent for international cooperation in archaeological research and in the protection of a unique historic shipwreck. The Association CSS Alabama and the Naval History and Heritage Command signed on March 23, 1995 an official agreement accrediting Association CSS Alabama as operator of the archaeological investigation of the remains of the ship. The association, which is funded solely from private donations, is continuing to make this an international project through its fundraising in France and in the United States, thanks to its sister organization, the CSS Alabama Association, incorporated in the State of Delaware. (Source)

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[giradman]

United States Constitution Ratified in 1788

The United States Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation and became the 'new' law of the country; the Bill of Rights (first 10 Amendments to the Constitution) was shortly adopted. The Constitutional Convention convened in May 1787 at Independence Hall in Philadelphia in the same room in which the Declaration of Independence was signed; George Washington was the president of the convention and soon to be first President of the United States. The documents can be seen in the Rotunda of the National Archives in Washington, D.C. - visits to Philly & D.C. both highly recommended - more details quoted below along w/ some pics. Dave

New Hampshire becomes the ninth and last necessary state to ratify the Constitution of the United States, thereby making the document the law of the land. By 1786, defects in the post-Revolutionary War Articles of Confederation were apparent. Congress endorsed a plan to draft a new constitution, and on May 25, 1787, the Constitutional Convention convened at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. On September 17, 1787, after three months of debate moderated by convention president George Washington, the new U.S. constitution, which created a strong federal government with an intricate system of checks and balances, was signed by 38 of the 41 delegates present at the conclusion of the convention. As dictated by Article VII, the document would not become binding until it was ratified by nine of the 13 states. (Source)

Beginning on December 7, five states–Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut–ratified it in quick succession. However, other states, especially Massachusetts, opposed the document, as it failed to reserve undelegated powers to the states and lacked constitutional protection of basic political rights, such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press. In February 1788, a compromise was reached under which Massachusetts and other states would agree to ratify the document with the assurance that amendments would be immediately proposed. The Constitution was thus narrowly ratified in Massachusetts, followed by Maryland and South Carolina. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the document, and it was subsequently agreed that government under the U.S. Constitution would begin on March 4, 1789. In June, Virginia ratified the Constitution, followed by New York in July. (Source)

On September 25, 1789, the first Congress of the United States adopted 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution–the Bill of Rights–and sent them to the states for ratification. Ten of these amendments were ratified in 1791. In November 1789, North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Rhode Island, which opposed federal control of currency and was critical of compromise on the issue of slavery, resisted ratifying the Constitution until the U.S. government threatened to sever commercial relations with the state. On May 29, 1790, Rhode Island voted by two votes to ratify the document, and the last of the original 13 colonies joined the United States. Today the U.S. Constitution is the oldest written constitution in operation in the world. (Source)

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[J. A.]

June 22, 1987, was the day Frederick Austerlitz, better known as Fred Astaire, American dancer, singer, actor, ..., died in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 88.

Fred Astaire - Wikipedia

 

[giradman]

Fred Astaire is one of my favorite movie performers - love his singing, dancing, and performance style. Of course, he made mostly musicals (until later in his decades long career) - this IMDB LINK lists 36 movies that he made in chronological order w/ images & their 10-scale ratings - for myself, I own about a dozen and a half (shown below) on commercial DVDs & a few BDs and a number of DVD-Rs that I've burned from the TCM channel (not to worry, all in public domain) - I could easily add to this collection -

For those wanting just CDs, there are plenty of film track offerings as single discs or multiple CD sets - at the moment, I have just two recordings (second pic below): 1) ASV 'Let's Face the Music & Dance' - from the 1930s & 40s; and 2) 'Steppin' Out: Astaire Sings' - recorded on Verve by Norman Granz in 1952 w/ a stupendous jazz quartet (Oscar Peterson, piano; Barney Kessel, guitar; Ray Brown, bass; Alvin Stoller, drums). The latter is my favorite (on my iPod & iPad) - highly recommended. Dave
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[scifan57]

You'll notice that in any Fred Astaire movie that shows him dancing that there are no close ups, his full body is always shown. This was due to a contract stipulation he included that mandated this.

 

[giradman]

You'll notice that in any Fred Astaire movie that shows him dancing that there are no close ups, his full body is always shown. This was due to a contract stipulation he included that mandated this.

Believe that I knew that fact, which likely impacted on many other 'film dancers' over the decades - quote below from Johanna's link - also, a few pics of the 'young' Fred w/ his older sister Adele - he had more hair then -

And a bonus for those who have not seen the scene from the Royal Wedding (1951) where Fred dances on the floor, walls, & ceiling as if in 'outer space' - the 'trick' accomplished by a rotating room - the video splits the actual movie appearance on the left w/ the rotating room - guess that he needed to do something 'innovative' after all of those previous movies - Dave

Astaire was also given complete autonomy over how the dances would be presented, allowing him to revolutionize dance on film. He is credited with two important innovations in early film musicals. First, he insisted that an almost stationary camera film a dance routine in a single shot, if possible, while holding the dancers in full view at all times. Astaire famously quipped: "Either the camera will dance, or I will." Astaire maintained this policy from The Gay Divorcee in 1934 onwards until his last film musical, Finian's Rainbow, made in 1968, when he was overruled by director Francis Ford Coppola.

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[scifan57]

June 24, 1948;

The Soviets blockade West Berlin. This initiated the Berlin Airlift and was a diplomatic disaster for the Soviets. Berlin Blockade - Wikipedia

 

[giradman]

Battle of Little Bighorn This Day in 1876 - Custer's Last Stand

On this day in 1876 near the Little Bighorn river in southern Montana, Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer and the 600 men of the 7th Calvary were annilated by combined Native American forces led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull - more details below. Pics of the location of the battlefield, battle map, museum, and 'last stand' monument; also, photos of Custer and Sitting Bull (who later became a popular attraction in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show); also, the 'incomplete' huge Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota, started in the late 1940s and still a 'work in progress' (see last quote below). Dave

On this day in 1876, Native American forces led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull defeat the U.S. Army troops of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer in a bloody battle near southern Montana’s Little Bighorn River. Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, leaders of the Sioux tribe on the Great Plains, strongly resisted the mid-19th-century efforts of the U.S. government to confine their people to reservations. In 1875, after gold was discovered in South Dakota’s Black Hills, the U.S. Army ignored previous treaty agreements and invaded the region. This betrayal led many Sioux and Cheyenne tribesmen to leave their reservations and join Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse in Montana. By the late spring of 1876, more than 10,000 Native Americans had gathered in a camp along the Little Bighorn River in defiance of a U.S. War Department order to return to their reservations or risk being attacked. (Source)

In mid-June, three columns of U.S. soldiers were prepared to march. A force of 1,200 Native Americans turned back the first column on June 17. Five days later, General Alfred Terry ordered Custer’s 7th Cavalry to scout ahead for enemy troops. On the morning of June 25, Custer drew near the camp and decided to press on ahead rather than wait for reinforcements. At mid-day, Custer’s 600 men entered the Little Bighorn Valley. Among the Native Americans, word quickly spread of the impending attack. The older Sitting Bull rallied the warriors and saw to the safety of the women and children, while Crazy Horse set off with a large force to meet the attackers head on. Despite Custer’s desperate attempts to regroup his men, they were quickly overwhelmed. Custer and some 200 men in his battalion were attacked by as many as 3,000 Native Americans; within an hour, Custer and every last one of his soldier were dead. (Source)

The Battle of Little Bighorn–also called Custer’s Last Stand–marked the most decisive Native American victory and the worst U.S. Army defeat in the long Plains Indian War. The gruesome fate of Custer and his men outraged many white Americans and confirmed their image of the Indians as wild and blood thirsty. Meanwhile, the U.S. government increased its efforts to subdue the tribes. Within five years, almost all of the Sioux and Cheyenne would be confined to reservations. (Source)

Born in 1840 along Rapid Creek, Crazy Horse rose to become one of the most powerful Lakota Indians, second only to Sitting Bull. He remains somewhat of a mystery as he lived a life of solitude. But this lone wolf left an intriguing legacy and inspired sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to create the world’s largest mountain carving, right here in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Crazy Horse has come to represent the freedom of the Native American spirit, roaming the wilds of the Great Plains. The carved mountain monument in his honor is intended to immortalize and commemorate the soul of all native people. It’s a tall order – so much so that its massive size seems fitting. Rising over 563 feet high, Crazy Horse Memorial will be one of the tallest monuments in the world once completed. Work on the giant mountain carving began in 1948, with the face and outline now established as Crazy Horse gazes forever across the Black Hills. Because the ambitious project is far from complete, visiting the Crazy Horse monument site allows you to witness the creation of this amazing achievement. (Source)

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[giradman]

James Madison, Father of the US Constitution & 4th President Dies Today in 1836

James Madison, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, died this day in 1836 just a week before the announcement of the Declaration of Independence, 60 years earlier in 1776 - I can only imagine that he wished to die on July 4th! There are 3 early US Presidents who died on July 4 - John Adams & Thomas Jefferson on the same day in 1826 & James Monroe in 1831 - Madison studied and wrote much of the US Constitution at his Montpelier Estate in Virginia (if interested, see my Virginia Mountains Travelogue) - he was married to Dolley Madison, who saved the portrait of George Washington in the White House when burned during the War of 1812 - Dolley was born in North Carolina near Greensboro (just east of us 30 minutes) - there is a wonderful exhibit of her in the Greensboro Historical Museum. Finally, Madison was the shortest & leanest of ALL the United States Presidents, just 5'4" tall and weighing in at over 120 lbs. Dave

On this day in 1836, James Madison, drafter of the Constitution, recorder of the Constitutional Convention, author of the “Federalist Papers” and fourth president of the United States, dies on his tobacco plantation in Virginia. Madison served for three years in the legislature of the new state of Virginia, where he came to know and admire Thomas Jefferson. Madison is best remembered for his critical role in the Constitutional Convention of 1787, where he presented the Virginia Plan to the assembled delegates in Philadelphia and oversaw the difficult process of negotiation and compromise that led to the drafting of the final Constitution. Madison’s published “Notes on the Convention” are considered the most detailed and accurate account of what occurred in the closed-session debates. After the Constitution was submitted to the people for ratification, Madison collaborated with John Jay and Alexander Hamilton on “The Federalist Papers,” a series of pamphlets that argued for the acceptance of the new government. Madison penned the most famous of the pamphlets. (Source)

In 1794, Madison married a young widow, Dolley Payne Todd, who would prove to be Washington, D.C.’s finest hostess during Madison’s years as secretary of state to the widowed Thomas Jefferson and then as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Dolley Madison earned a special place in the nation’s memory for saving a portrait of George Washington before fleeing the burning White House during the War of 1812. The War of 1812 tested Madison’s presidency. The Federalists staunchly opposed Madison’s declaration of war against the British and threatened to secede from the Union during the Harford Convention. When the new nation managed to muster a tenuous victory, the Federalist Party was destroyed as America’s status as a nation apart from Britain was secured. (Source)

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[scifan57]

June 29, 2007;

The first iPhone went on sale, having been announced 6 months earlier at Macworld Expo 2007 in San Francisco by Steve Jobs.

 

[giradman]

June 29, 2007;

The first iPhone went on sale, having been announced 6 months earlier at Macworld Expo 2007 in San Francisco by Steve Jobs.

Thanks for the link - watched the entire presentation and especially enjoyed the image below -
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[scifan57]

Thanks for the link - watched the entire presentation and especially enjoyed the image below -
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View attachment 78215

That image was one of the funniest moments in any Steve Jobs Keynote.

 

[giradman]

'Gone With The Wind' Published Today in 1936

Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind was published today in 1936, and released as a blockbuster movie in 1939 starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh - I read the book as a teenager and have seen the movie numerous times over the decades; also, have owned on VHS tape, then DVD, and now BD (which I bought on a visit to Atlanta, GA at the Margaret Mitchell House & Museum - pics below of the outside & their 'small' apartment, which was called The Dump).

Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949) was a native and long time resident of Atlanta, Georgia - she and her second husband, John Marsh lived in a small cramped apartment where she wrote the novel - she was diminutive (4 ft 11 inches) while her husband towered over her - on a visit to the house and museum, the bed (pic below) they used fit her fine but his feet apparently hung off the bottom according to our guide. Just down Peachtree Street from their residence, she was hit by a speeding car and died within a week at the age of 48 years. Atlanta has many attractions, but this one is a personal recommendation. Dave

Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, one of the best-selling novels of all time and the basis for a blockbuster 1939 movie, is published on this day in 1936. In 1926, Mitchell was forced to quit her job as a reporter at the Atlanta Journal to recover from a series of physical injuries. With too much time on her hands, Mitchell soon grew restless. Working on a Remington typewriter, a gift from her second husband, John R. Marsh, in their cramped one-bedroom apartment, Mitchell began telling the story of an Atlanta belle named Pansy O’Hara. (Source)

In tracing Pansy’s tumultuous life from the antebellum South through the Civil War and into the Reconstruction era, Mitchell drew on the tales she had heard from her parents and other relatives, as well as from Confederate war veterans she had met as a young girl. While she was extremely secretive about her work, Mitchell eventually gave the manuscript to Harold Latham, an editor from New York’s MacMillan Publishing. Latham encouraged Mitchell to complete the novel, with one important change: the heroine’s name. Mitchell agreed to change it to Scarlett, now one of the most memorable names in the history of literature. (Source)

Published in 1936, Gone with the Wind caused a sensation in Atlanta and went on to sell millions of copies in the United States and throughout the world. While the book drew some criticism for its romanticized view of the Old South and its slaveholding elite, its epic tale of war, passion and loss captivated readers far and wide. By the time Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937, a movie project was already in the works. The film was produced by Hollywood giant David O. Selznick, who paid Mitchell a record-high $50,000 for the film rights to her book. (Source)

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[scifan57]

July 10, 1925;

The Scopes trial begins in Dayton, Tennessee. It was popularly called the Monkey Trial. John Thomas Scopes, a young high school science teacher, was charged with teaching evolution in violation of a Tennessee state law. Scopes Trial - Wikipedia

Inherit The Wind was a Hollywood adaptation of the trial.

 

[giradman]

Medal of Honor Created Today in 1862 by Abraham Lincoln

The Medal of Honor is the United State's highest military decoration. After reading the quotes below, I immediately thought of Audie Murphy (1925-1971), one of the most decorated soldiers in WW II - his medals are shown below - in 1955, the film To Hell and Back was released based on his book - Murphy starred in the bioptic (own on DVD). Tragically, he died in his mid-40s in a private airplane crash into a mountain just west of Roanoke, Virginia (about 2 hours from me). Dave

President Abraham Lincoln signs into law a measure calling for the awarding of a U.S. Army Medal of Honor, in the name of Congress, “to such noncommissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities during the present insurrection.” The previous December, Lincoln had approved a provision creating a U.S. Navy Medal of Valor, which was the basis of the Army Medal of Honor created by Congress in July 1862. The first U.S. Army soldiers to receive what would become the nation’s highest military honor were six members of a Union raiding party who in 1862 penetrated deep into Confederate territory to destroy bridges and railroad tracks between Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia. (Source)

In 1863, the Medal of Honor was made a permanent military decoration available to all members, including commissioned officers, of the U.S. military. It is conferred upon those who have distinguished themselves in actual combat at risk of life beyond the call of duty. Since its creation, during the Civil War, more than 3,400 men and one woman have received the Medal of Honor for heroic actions in U.S. military conflict. (Source)

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