Category: History

The Patended President

Today in History, May 22, 1849:

“Be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, of Springfield, in the county of Sangamon, in the state of Illinois, have invented a new and improved manner of combining adjustable buoyant air chambers with a steam boat or other vessel for the purpose of enabling their draught of water to be readily lessened to enable them to pass over bars, or through shallow water, without discharging their cargoes;”

Young Abraham Lincoln receives patent #6469 for an invention to lift river boats over shoals and other obtructions.

Among many other jobs he’d held, he had hauled freight on flat boats on the Mississippi. Twice his boat was hung up. As was common, once the boat had to be unloaded, repaired and portaged over the obstruction…a very laborous job.

Lincoln’s invention would inflate bladders to create more boyancy, lifting the craft over the problem. His invention was never put into use, so it’s viability remains unproven. It does make Abe the only US President with a patent.

“I loved him so much…so I killed him…”

Today in History, May 21, 1936:

“I loved him so much, I wanted him all to myself. But since we were not husband and wife, as long as he lived he could be embraced by other women. I knew that if I killed him no other woman could ever touch him again, so I killed him…..” –

Sada Abe is arrested in Japan for killing her lover, 3 days earlier. At the time of her arrest she was found to have his genitals in her bag. Abe told police that Ishida had been the most considerate lover she’d ever known, and she would know, having been a Geisha and a prostitute among other things.

During their most recent dalliance, they had become enamored with erotic asphyxiation. On the 18th, Abe strangled Ishida to death in his sleep.

She told police that she had severed his member and taken it with her to remember him by, even engaging in necrophilia with it prior to her arrest. She was sentenced to only 6 years in prison by a judge who admitted to being aroused during her trial.

Even that sentence would be commuted in 1940. The story became a cult like sensation in Japan, spawning numerous successful books and movies, and of course making Abe a celebrity. The last sighting of her was in a nunnery in the 1970’s.

Going West…The Homestead Act

Today in History, May 20, 1862:

President Lincoln signs the Homestead Act, which would give 160 acres of western lands to anyone that would farm it successfully for 5 years and build a residence upon it (often a sod building).

The Act would encourage vastly expanded settlement of the west; bad news for Native Americans, good news for those newer Americans wanting to improve their lot in life.

Congress had attempted to pass similar acts in 1852, 1854, and 1859, but each time the attempts were shot down by Southern Democrats who were afraid that if the west were populated it would result in more “free” states, which would result in more votes against slavery.

Once the Republican Lincoln was elected, and the Civil War began, the Southern Democrats were no longer part of the equation in Congress. The Republicans soon passed the Homestead Act and the settlement of the west began in earnest. By the end of the war 15,000 settlers (some of which were merely pawns for land speculators) had accepted their lands. Eventually 80 Million acres would be settled.

Firearms Owner’s Protection Act

Today in History, May 19, 1986:

President Ronald Reagan signs the “Firearms Owners Protection Act” in to law.

The Legislation, while effectively banning machine guns from private ownership, primarily responded to complaints from the public and the nascent NRA regarding abuses of the “Gun Control Act of 1968.”

The act by Congress attempted to protect the rights of peaceful firearms owners and also those possessing Federal Firearms Licenses (FFL), or firearms dealers.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/99th-congress/senate-bill/49

25 Missions

Today in History, May 17, 1943:

The Memphis Belle, a B-17 Flying Fortress of the 8th Air Force, completes it’s 25th mission and it’s crew has the opportunity to return to the states.

The event would be documented in an Army Air Force documentary, and later a blockbuster movie. What wasn’t documented in the original documentary was the fact that over 30,000 airmen lost their lives taking the skies over Europe, 8,000 bombers destroyed.

More airmen died in the skies over Europe than Marines in the Pacific.

Today (literally) the Belle was unveiled after years of restoration at the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.

“Uh Oh, SpaghettiOs!”

Today in History, May 16, 1965:

The Campbell’s Soup Company introduces SpaghettiOs, an easy to prepare, easy to eat pasta.

The tasty kid favorite was the invention of Campbell’s Donald Guerke, who would also come up with the company’s “Chunky” line of soups.

“Oh Oh, SpaghettiOs was a take off of a 50’s Jimmie Rodgers tune, “Uh oh, I’m falling in love again.”

Women’s Army Corps

Today in History, May 15, 1942:

President Franklin Roosevelt signs a bill passed the previous day creating the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps.

The bill had been put forward by Massachusetts Representative Edith Nourse Rogers in mid-1941, who had seen women volunteer in the first World War…on their own dime and without compensation or benefits. The bill lingered until after the attack on Pearl Harbor, when it was taken more seriously.

The many women who served as WACS and WAVES (Navy) during WWII were paid and received benefits, although not as much as the men. It would be decades before they received pensions.

Their service was to be in non-combat roles…secretarial, air traffic control, ferrying aircraft, and hundreds of other positions.

While the inclusion of the hundreds of thousands of women in the military was a huge step forward for a nation which had only given women the vote two decades before, it was still repleat with gender bias. Women could not command men.

The move also was born of necessity, rather than revolutionary thinking. It had the full support of the Army’s commanding General, George C. Marshall, who testified before Comgress on behalf of the legislation.

Marshall expected the “Two-Ocean War” to quickly overwhelm the nation’s ability to provide “manpower”. He believed women already trained in administrative jobs would be more efficient and effective than men.

While the women served in “non-combat” roles as operators, etc, you can’t serve in a combat zone without the risks of combat. WACS were killed in action. One source indicated 16.

Israel is “Re-Born”

Today in History, May 14, 1948:

David Ben-Gurion, soon to be Israel’s first Premier, declares the birth of the first Jewish State in 2,000 years. As he finished his speech, the gunfire from the first Israeli-Arab War could be heard in the distance, as Egyptian forces began their attack.

The story continues…and many have changed sides or at least become more vocal in their anti-Israeli sentiments.

This discussion, and the bloodshed, has been ongoing for centuries.

The Stars and Stripes Forever

Today in History, May 14: 1897 – In Willow Grove Park, Philadelphia, “The Stars and Stripes Forever”, composed by John Phillip Sousa, is first performed in public. As of 1987 it is now the official US March of the United States of America. The tune, and the lyrics Sousa attached to it has to touch every truly American soul.

Let martial note in triumph float
And liberty extend its mighty hand
A flag appears ‘mid thunderous,
The banner of the Western land.
The emblem of the brave and true
Its folds protect no tyrant crew;
The red and white and starry blue
Is freedom’s shield and hope.

[Second Strain]
Other nations may deem their flags the best
And cheer them with fervid elation
But the flag of the North and South and West
Is the flag of flags, the flag of Freedom’s nation.

(repeats) Other nations may deem their flags the best
And cheer them with fervid elation,
But the flag of the North and South and West
Is the flag of flags, the flag of Freedom’s nation.

[Trio]
Hurrah for the flag of the free!
May it wave as our standard forever,
The gem of the land and the sea,
The banner of the right.
Let despots remember the day
When our fathers with mighty endeavor
Proclaimed as they marched to the fray
That by their might and by their right
It waves forever.

[Repeat of the First Strain]
Let eagle shriek from lofty peak
The never-ending watchword of our land;
Let summer breeze waft through the trees
The echo of the chorus grand.
Sing out for liberty and light,
Sing out for freedom and the right.
Sing out for Union and its might,
O patriotic sons.

[Grandioso]
Hurrah for the flag of the free.
May it wave as our standard forever
The gem of the land and the sea,
The banner of the right.
Let despots remember the day
When our fathers with mighty endeavor
Proclaimed as they marched to the fray,
That by their might and by their right
It waves forever.