This Day in History (with special bonus Rock History content): 1567 - Don Diego de Losada founds the city of Santiago de Leon de Caracas, (modern-day Caracas,) the capital city of Venezuela. Rumor has it he was actually looking for the six-fingered man who killed his father. 1603 - King James VI of Scotland is crowned King James I of England, uniting the kingdoms of England and Scotland. Bonus Trivia: King James ordered the first translation of the Bible into English, hence what we now refer to as The King James Bible. 1670 - Austrian Emperor Leopold I expels 4,000 Jews from Vienna. Note from TDH: Even on the days TDH isn’t posted, sh*t happened. It is remarkable (and not in a good way) how often, throughout modern history, there were horrific attacks on Jewish people in Europe. And given the ugly news coming out of Europe today, and even from a few places right here in the good ol’ USA, it’s clear anti-Semitism is again on the rise. That old saying about “those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it”? We’ve failed to learn, apparently. TDH stands unapologetically for and with Israel and the Jewish people. 1758 - In the Seven Years War: The island battery at Fortress Louisbourg in Nova Scotia is silenced and all French warships are destroyed or taken by British forces. Yes, hardly a day in history goes by that we can’t find some example of the French getting their unbathed behinds kicked by somebody. 1837 - The first commercial use of an electric telegraph was successfully demonstrated by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone between Euston and Camden Town (London.) For additional science learning, look up Wheatstone bridge. It’s an electrical instrumentation device, not an actual bridge you cross to get to the other side of the river. 1866 - Time to pull a cork and raise a glass! Brilliant, but usually drunk Ulysses S. Grant is named the first General of the Army (5 stars.) Only General Douglas MacArthur would out-do that, by not only getting a 5th star, but then designing his own 5 star logo. (Mac arranged his stars in a pentagonal array, instead of the traditional straight line.) 1941 - Just a few days after demanding Japan get out of Indo-China, FDR bans the selling of benzine/gasoline to Japan. Bonus content: It could be argued, and certainly would have been on the Japanese side, that FDR was doing everything he could to goad Japan into war. Double Bonus Content: In his very first cabinet meeting, way back in 1932, FDR brought up the possibility of war with Japan, and he was a believer in the xenophobic fear based idea of “The Yellow Peril.” 1966 - Eric Clapton records the guitar tracks for George Harrisons (still with the Beatles) hit song While My Guitar Gently Weeps. You did know that Slow Hand was the one who played those “weeping” guitar leads, right? And you did know “Slow Hand” is Clapton’s nickname, right? 1990 - Roseanne Barr sings the National Anthem at a Cincinnati Reds @ San Diego Padres game. At the conclusion, she grabbed her crotch and spit. Her defenders claimed she was making fun of baseball players, and her detractors felt she was disrespecting our flag and our National Anthem. One thing that can’t be argued; her singing is terrible, and the Padres came to regret their decision to have her sing that night at Jack Murphy Stadium.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 14:01:47 +0000
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