Tag: this date in history

Magellan Sets Sail

Today in History, September 20, 1519:

Just shy of 500 years ago, five ships set sail from Spain, led by Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, seeking a western passage to the “Spice Islands” of Indonesia.

Magellan persevered through lengthy explorations of rivers that did not lead to his destination, a mutiny by the captains of his ships, and finally…the discovery of the passage at the southern tip of South American which bears his name.

After transiting a straight that suffers some of the worst weather on Earth, his small fleet sailed across thousands of miles across an unknown Ocean which he named “Pacific” for its calm waters until they reached the Phillipines. There, Magellan was killed in combat with a native tribe. Two ships remained.

They made it to the Spice Islands and took on cargo. One made a failed attempt to sail back across the Pacific; the other completed the first circumnavigation of the globe to return to Spain.

Garfield’s Potential

Today in History, September 19, 1881:

20th President James A. Garfield had been shot by an assassin on July 2. The assassin was a disgruntled man who thought he’d been owed a job in Garfield’s administration.

Doctors including Alexander Graham Bell (a friend) did everything they could to save the President, and he lingered until today’s date before succumbing to his wounds.

He only served as President for four months before being shot down, so the nation will never know what his potential may have been.

And if Garfield had lived, and served one or even two terms, how would it have affected the fortunes of his successors?

Happy Constitution Day!

Today in History, September 17: 1787 –

The Constitutional Convention draws to a close with the signing of the final draft of the United States Constitution.

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” We owe so much to our nation’s founders and to this document. We must continue to defend it from it’s detractors.

The Second Seminole War Ends

Today in History, August 14, 1842:

After seven years of war on the Florida peninsula, the second Seminole War is declared to be at an end.

The war had begun when the US government attempted to enforce the Indian Removal Act and the Treaty of Ft. Gibson in which the Seminole Tribe was to move to the Creek Reservation west of the Mississippi River, in Indian Territory.

The tribe resisted with the leadership of Osceola beginning in 1835. Numerous battles ensued, but the government began to succeed with smaller raids and false truces with which they captured as many as 3-4,000 Seminoles, forcing their removal.

Osceola was captured in 1837 and imprisoned in Charleston, SC where he died.

Mount Rushmore

Today in History, August 10, 1927:

The Memorial at Mt. Rushmore is dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge. The memorial wouldn’t be declared complete until October 31, 1941, seven months after the man in charge of it’s carving, Gutzon Borglum, had died. His son Lincoln finished the project.

President Washington was chosen for obvious reasons, having led the battles that created our nation;

President Jefferson was chosen due to his instrumental work in creating our Declaration of Independence, which has inspired Democracy around the world;

President Lincoln was chosen for leading the nation through the Civil War, preserving the Union and abolishing slavery;

Theodore Roosevelt was chosen for leading the nation through the industrial revolution of the late 19th century, seeing to the construction of the Panama Canal.

An interesting aside…Mt. Rushmore is named for a young NYC attorney who visited the area in 1884 to check land ownership for some eastern investors. He was impressed with the mountain and asked prospectors what it was called…they replied that it had no name, but since he had asked, they would call it Rushmore Peak…and so it was.

SOS!

Today in History, August 11, 1909:

The first American use of “SOS” to call for assistance at sea. Diamond Shoals extends many miles into the Atlantic Ocean from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and are considered to be the “Graveyard of the Atlantic”, one of the most dangerous areas of the east coast.

On today’s date the SS Arapahoe was off the shoals when the ship lost it’s screw (propeller). Wireless operator T. D. Haubner sent the SOS

signal and help was dispatched from Hatteras.

A few months later the Arapahoe was the first to respond to the second use of SOS by the SS Iroquois…so that Haubner and the Arapahoe are the first to have sent and the first to have responded to the signal (ship-wise).

Many (including me until today) believe the signal stands for “Save our Ship” or “Save our Souls”. Neither is true. After using several other codes to signal distress, the international sailing community settled on SOS because the code for the letters in Morse code are easy to send under stress and easily understood, and some of the previous signals weren’t. …—… dot dot dot, dash dash dash, dot dot dot.

Masons and Presidents

Today in History, August 4, 1752:

21-year-old George Washington becomes a Master Mason, the highest rank of Freemason in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Rather than an evil conspiracy, the Freemasons were (are) a fraternity based on the medieval guild system, thus “masons”.

Their requirements were (are) public service and high moral standards. 14 US Presidents were Freemasons.

PT-109

Today in History, August 1-2, 1943:

PT-109 (Patrol Torpedo) is patrolling Blackett Strait in the Solomon Islands when it is rammed and cut in half by Japanese Destroyer Amagiri.

Two of the crew are killed outright, but 11 others survive, although some are badly injured/burned. Their very young commander carried one of the injured on his back in the mile + swim to a nearby island. He then took turns with the boat’s exec swimming back out into the channel attempting to signal other PT’s at night while avoiding Japanese patrols.

Finally they were rescued thanks to natives working for an Australian coast watcher. Lt. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who could have easily sat out the war due to his wealth, displayed incredible courage and loyalty to his crew.

One question not asked in the propaganda of his Presidential campaign was, how does a craft that is basically a speedboat, navigated by an experienced sailor, get rammed by a slow moving man-of-war? That aside, nobody can deny President Kennedy’s courage.

Republicans Killed by Democrats

Today in History, July 30, 1866:

The New Orleans Riot.

NOLA had been under Union control for most of the Civil War, although deep South in geography and sentiments.

In 1864, a state convention of mostly Confederate sympathies had tried to enforce “Black Codes” to limit the rights of Freedmen.

Now that the war was over, “Radical” Republicans were holding a state convention in The Mechanic’s Institute in New Orleans in hopes of gaining control of the legislature. A group of black Union veterans formed and marched to the Institute in support of the Republicans, where they were attacked by an armed group of former Confederates, including some authorities (the Mayor and others were Democrat former Confederates). 34-35 black and 3 white Republicans were killed.

Other similar riots in the South occurred, convincing enough voters that more stringent Reconstruction policies were needed. In November Republicans would sweep into both houses of Congress by 77%. The next year they would force through the Fourteenth Amendment protecting citizenship rights and equal protections over the protests of Democrats in Congress. Before it could be ratified, the Reconstruction Acts were passed…requiring former states to ratify if before they could be represented in Congress.