Wednesday, March 9, 2016

This Date in History - March 9

Happy birthday to Emmanuel "Webster" Lewis.   He's 45 today.   He probably doesn't look like this anymore.   Or maybe he does.

141 BC:  LIU CHE, POSTHUMOUSLY KNOWN AS EMPEROR WU OF HAN, ASSUMES THE THRONE OVER THE HAN DYNASTY OF CHINA.

He was the Han ruler solo.   Groan.

1276:  AUGSBURG BECOMES A FREE IMPERIAL CITY.

As opposed to an Imperial city with a rate card.

1566:  DAVID RIZZIO, PRIVATE SECRETARY TO MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, IS MURDERED IN SCOTLAND.

An extreme reaction to not getting an appointment on Mary's calendar.

1796:  NAPOLEON BONAPARTE MARRIES HIS FIRST WIFE.

Which probably means there was a second one as well.

1841:  THE US SUPREME COURT RULES IN THE US VS. THE ARMISTAD CASE THAT CAPTIVE AFRICANS HAD SEIZED CONTROL OF THE SHIP CARRYING THEM HAD BEEN TAKEN INTO SLAVERY ILLEGALLY.

Probably the elevator pitch that Spielberg used to sell the movie of the same name.

1842:  THE FIRST DOCUMENTED DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA OCCURS AT RANCHO SAN FRANCISCO, SIX YEARS BEFORE THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH.

In them thar hills.

1862:  AMERICAN CIVIL WAR - THE USS MONITOR AND CSS VIRGINIA FIGHT TO A DRAW IN THE BALL OF HAMPTON ROADS.  

You sunk my battleship!

1910:  THE WESTMORELAND COUNTY COAL STRIKE, INVOLVING 15,000 COAL MINERS REPRESENTED BY THE UNITED MINE WORKERS, BEGINS.

That's an awful lot of picket signs.

1916:  MEXICAN REVOLUTION - PANCHO VILLA LEADS NEARLY 500 MEXICAN RAIDERS IN AN ATTACK AGAINST A BORDER TOWN IN NEW MEXICO.

And they all jumped the fence to live in New Mexico.

1921:  ACTOR CARL BETZ IS BORN.

Judd for the Defense!

1926:  TV HOST JOE FRANKLIN IS BORN.

His very first memory for his lane.

1932:  SINGER KEELY SMITH IS BORN.

Paging Louie Prima.

1933:  GREAT DEPRESSION - PRESIDENT FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT SUBMITS THE EMERGENCY BANK ACT TO CONGRESS, THE FIRST OF HIS NEW DEAL POLICIES.

Well, it was a new deal then.

1934:  ASTRONAUT YURI GAGARIN IS BORN.

Da.

1936:  ACTOR MARTY INGELS IS BORN.

I'm Dickens, He's Born.

1945:  THE BOMBING OF TOKYO BY THE US ARMY AIR FORCES BEGIN, ONE OF THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE BOMBING RAIDS IN HISTORY.

Worse than the Nazis blowing out London?

1954:  CBS TELEVISION BROADCASTS THE SEE IT NOW EPISODE, A REPORT ON SENATOR JOSEPH MCCARTHY."

And let's light the brooms now.

1959:  THE BARBIE DOLL MAKES ITS DEBUT IN NEW YORK.

Ken is coming.   And get your minds out of the gutter.

1961:  SPUTNIK 9 SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES, CARRYING A HUMAN DUMMY NAMED IVAN IVANOVICH.  

As opposed to some of the dummies we have in politics.

1971:  ACTOR EMMANUEL LEWIS IS BORN.

The over/under on whether he's hit 4 feet yet?

1976:  FORTY-TWO PEOPLE DIE IN THE 1976 CAVALESE CABLE CAR DISASTER, THE WORST CABLE-CAR ACCIDENT TO DATE.

Soon to be a Movie of the Week with Lindsay Wagner and James Brolin.

1989:  FINANCIALLY TROUBLED EASTERN AIR FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY.  

The Wings of Man.   Yeah, now, not so much.

1996:  ACTOR GEORGE BURNS DIES.

He made it to 100.  God bless him.

1997:  COMET HALE-BOPP:  CHINA GETS TO SEE THIS DURING AN ECLIPSE.

I much prefer B-Bop.

2010:  BASEBALL STAR WILLIE DAVIS DIES.

A great player but ironically remembered for making three errors in one inning during a World Series game.

Dinner last night:  Leftover pasta and meatballs.




1 comment:

Leotalian said...

Another great day in history worthy of a funny evaluation. Although Emannuele Lewis was 44 when you wrote the piece he is 45 today. Eastern airlines wanted to make certain about the bankruptcy so they "files files" which makes sense oddly enough. Still did a double take. Have a good day.