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History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies
Alexis de Tocqueville
A Paris area Page -- And Another -- Paris Environs -- Mérovingiens and Metz -- Late-winter in Paris 2007 (an impression)
The first Impressionist painting in the Blanton's collection, Jean-Baptiste Armand Guillaumin's Environs de Paris is on view at the Blanton Museum of Art's new location, as it was at the old location (since mid-2004). The work was a gift to Mrs. Johnson (Ladybird) from her husband, the late President Lyndon B. Johnson. It hung in the White House during the Johnson administration. Guillaumin, the last surviving member of the French Impressionist movement (he died in 1927), counted among his friends and colleagues Pissarro, Cezanne and Van Gogh. Called a "furious colourist" by some critics, Guillaumin is known for his landscapes with shimmering light and vibrant, otherworldly color, and super-heated skies. FineArts.UTesas.edu
It is not too early to be thinking about La Tour de France in 2010 -- A few of many related city links: Aurillac, Rodez & Albi -- Voiron -- Die, Gap & Briançon
Maclet -- A Mystery of Art -- More Art -- Sunsets -- Cumberland Falls
More French Cities HERE (and Belgium)
German and Swiss City links
Luxembourg
The past screams to us, but will we listen ???
The article's oldest link (and comments): HERE
Top 50 Pages in 2009 -- New Paris Page -- Some Mountains in Southern France
TURN ye even to me with all your heart,
and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
[So] rend your heart, and not your garments,
and turn unto the LORD your God:
for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness ... [Joel 2:12-13].
More about Lent
March 17, 389 -- La Fheile Phadraig: March 17th is the traditional day to celebrate the life of Saint Patrick (d. 461AD), the patron saint of Éire (Ireland). Calpurnius, his father, was a deacon and local official in late-Roman England. Calpurnius lost his son to raiders from Ireland when Patrick was 16. Patrick served time as a slave, but there is more to the story.
The Fifth Century A.D. saw the cultivation of the Celtic Christian rite, memorialized in the life of Saint Patrick, born into a Christian patrician's family at the nadir of the Western Roman Empire's control over Britain. Kidnapped and enslaved by raiding Irish, Patrick toiled as a herdsman for six years before having a vision and escaping.
Thereafter educated in France, Patrick returned as the Bishop of Ireland, a shepherd again, this time on a mission of life. He had success, by incorporating pagan motifs (bonfires, the shamrock, the image of the sun imposed on a cross) into the Roman {Catholic} style of worship. On the outpost of civilization he would help establish an Ireland that preserved western culture during its most bleak years on the continent. The Celtic Church would accompany other Irish (Scotti or Scots) on their eastern conquests of areas never converted by Rome (Alba). So indeed, many would argue, the Celtic Church kept Christianity alive in England during the dark ages, after Rome collapsed. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11554a.htm
So what makes Patrick a mystic? First, as recounted in the Confession, most of the major events in Patrick's life are preceded by a dream or vision. The visions were usually simple, almost self-explanatory, but they were also so vivid that they caused an enormous emotional impact on Patrick. The first vision, which he received after six years of servitude in Ireland, came by way of a mysterious voice, heard in his sleep. Your hungers are rewarded: You are going home, the voice said. Look, your ship is ready. Indeed, some 200 miles away, it lay in wait.
The second vision, the one that came to him after Patrick had returned home (and that called him back to Ireland), was equally straightforward. Victoricus, a man Patrick had known in Ireland, appeared to him in this dream, holding countless letters, one of which he handed to Patrick. The letter was entitled The Voice of the Irish. Upon reading just the title, he heard a multitude of voices crying out to him: Holy boy, we beg you to come and walk among us once more. He was so moved Patrick awoke. The dream occurred again and again. Eventually, Patrick tells his dismayed family of his plans to return to evangelize Ireland, and soon begins his preparations for the priesthood.
What some find interesting about this dream calling Patrick to his lifelong mission is that it comes not as a directive from God, but as a plea from the Irish. It is also significant, O'Donoughue says, that the voices in the dream do not ask for preaching or baptism, but only that Patrick, as one specially endowed, should come back and share their lives, come and walk once more with them. In other words, Patrick was not commanded to bring civilization or salvation to the heathens. He was invited to live among them as a witness for Christ. http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Mar1997/feature1.asp
You may find St. Patrick's Breastplate, the traditional hymn of confirmation and dedication in the Anglican Tradition at http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/t/stpatric.htm
I bind unto myself today,
The virtues of the star lit heaven,
The glorious sun's life giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
March 16, 1789: Today marks the birth of Georg Ohm in Erlangen, Germany. Ohm, a physicist at the Jesuits' College in Cologne and the Polytechnic School of Nürnberg, discovered Ohm's Law. That is the flow of an direct electric current (amps) through a conductor is directly proportional to the voltage potential and inversely proportional to the resistance. In electricity parlance, the unit of resistance is named for him. E=I*R Erlangen is a middle Franconian city north of Nuremberg.
Fifth Council of the Lateran - March 16, 1512: The French victory of Ravenna (April 11, 1512) hindered the opening of this reform Council called by Pope Julius. It finally met on May 3rd at the St-John the Lateran Basilica in Rome. Participants included fifteen cardinals, the Latin patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch, ten archbishops, fifty-six bishops, some abbots and generals of religious orders, the ambassadors of King Ferdinand, and those of Venice and of Florence. After Julius' death, his successor Pope Leo X continued the Council. The last session ended March 16, 1517. Little was done to put the reform work of the Council into practice. Whether or not the Protestant Reformation could have been avoided, if the reforms had been implemented, is a matter of debate. Martin Luther's promulgation of his 95 theses occurred just seven months after the close of the Council. In England on this date in 1534, the Church in England broke all ties with Rome, setting up a civil war and time of unrest lasting a century and one-half.
le 16>23 Mars 2009: L’édition 2009 de la Semaine de la langue française est placée sous le signe de l’avenir. Il s'agira de montrer que demain peut se dire en français et que notre langue dispose de toutes les ressources nécessaires pour s’adapter aux évolutions du monde. Qu’ils relèvent de la science et des techniques ou qu'ils expriment un regard sur le monde, les dix mots choisis illustrent la capacité de notre langue à dire et à imaginer l'avenir. Ailleurs, Capteur, Clair de Terre, Clic, Compatible, Désirer, Génome, Pérenne, Transformer et Vision. http://www.semainelf.culture.fr/pourdemain.php In 2010 thŽs week runs front the 20th to 27th of March. I'll leave it to you to find the words.
March 17, 1902: Born today, golfing great Robert Tyre Jones (Junior), better known as Bobby Jones, in Atlanta, Georgia. Growing up across the street from the famous East Lake Country Club, Jones soon learned the game of golf, winning his first tournament (a junior championship) at age nine. In 1916, he won the inaugural Georgia State Amateur Championship, and in 1917 and 1922, the Southern Amateur Championship. During this time, he was attending school. He graduated from the Georgia School of Technology (Georgia Tech) with a B.S. in 1922 He received a B.S. from Harvard in 1924. After two years at Emory Law School (1926-27), Jones became a member of the Georgia Bar. He practiced law in Atlanta.
Amazingly, while in college and Law School, Jones amassed an unsurpassed string of victories as an amateur on the professional golf tour. He won nine major tournaments in the 1920s; but, at the height of his career in 1930, Jones won the four major championships of his day -- the British Amateur, U.S. Amateur, British Open and the U.S. Open. A sportswriter coined the term grand slam to forever memorialize golf's greatest and most remarkable achievement. Jones retired from competitive golf soon afterwards. Jones served as an intelligence officer with the US Army Air Corps during World War II. After the War he had a successful business and writing career as a spinal condition limited his ability to actively play and teach golf,
At first he, remained very active in promoting the sport, primarily by producing short films demonstrating golf fundamentals, which still are mainstays of the Golfing Channel in the US. Jones was one of the primary designers of the Augusta National golf course, where the first Masters tournament was held in 1934. He authored or co-authored four books -- Down the Fairway, Golf is My Game, Bobby Jones on Golf and Bobby Jones on the Basic Golf Swing. Bobby Jones died in Atlanta on December 18, 1971. He should not be confused with Robert Trent Jones, who was a famous designer of golf courses from the same era.
Twenty years after -- March 18, 1922: The Atlanta Constitution launched its new WGST radio station (now 640 kHz) using the radio facilities of Georgia Railway and Power Company. This was one day after the Atlanta Journal's WSB radio station (now 750kHz) went on the air. In the following months, the Constitution built its own facilities and was given the new call letters to WGM. For whatever reason, Constitution publisher Clark Howell, Sr. -- who also happened to be a trustee of Georgia Tech --decided to donate the radio station to the school, at which point the call letters reverted to WGST (Georgia School of Technology). http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/tdgh-mar/mar17.htm
March 18, 978AD: When King Edgar the Peacemaker died in 975, he left two sons by different mothers. As was usual in this time this fact led to competing claims and a civil war between supporters of each son. King Edward the Martyr (Eadweard II -- born about 962) succeeded his father as King of England in 975, but was killed at Corfe on March 18, 978. He was almost immediately celebrated as a saint and martyr, and his half-brother, who may have had a hand in his demise, declared that Edward's (feast day) festival should be celebrated all over England. The younger son, Æthelred, became king then in 978. For nearly forty years he tried to save the country from invaders. This long fight ended in failure and led to an infamous nickname for Æthelred, the Unready. In contrast, because the murder of Edward was attributed to irreligious opponents (and because Edward himself was considered a good Christian) Eadweard was canonized as Saint Edward the Martyr in 1001. More information: Wikipedia entry.
March 19, 1776: Today is Saint Joseph’s Day (the father of Jesus), the day that little birds, known as swallows, traditionally return to the Mission San Juan Capistrano in California. Every March 19th since 1776 (with just a very few exceptions), the birds have come back to foreshadow spring in this Southern California seaside town, located between LA and San Diego. The European countries of Belgium, Portugal, Spain and Italy celebrate St Joseph's and Fathers' day on March 19th. Saint Joseph’s Day remains a day for Thanksgiving and praise in Italy.
In the 18th Century, Sicily was ravaged by drought and famine. The people prayed to Saint Joseph for deliverance, and abundant rains reportedly ended the suffering. In gratitude, and in honor of Saint Joseph, the population of Sicily place a table (Saint Joseph’s Table) in the house heavily laden with a variety of foods to be shared with those in need. Charitable donations are also deposited on the table for various charities. Immigrants from Sicily brought this tradition to America where it continues to be observed.
March 19, 1953: In 1953 the Academy Awards celebrated its silver anniversary and came to TV for the first time. NBC paid $100,000 for the rights to broadcast the event on radio and television. Hollywood’s best dressed turned out seeking the Oscar statuettes for the best movies of 1952. Half of the event was held at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, with Bob Hope as host. Conrad Nagel, star of the silent films, hosted the dual celebration from his perch in New York City. Conrad, a co-founder and past president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Academy), was one of the creators of the Oscars. The Best Picture award went to Cecil B. DeMille for The Greatest Show on Earth. Best Director was the legendary John Ford for The Quiet Man.
The best of the rest: for Best Actor: Gary Cooper for High Noon; Supporting Actor: Anthony Quinn for Viva Zapata !; Actress: Shirley Booth for her unforgettable role in Come Back, Little Sheba; Supporting Actress: Gloria Grahame for The Bad and the Beautiful; Art Direction-Set Decoration / Color: Paul Sheriff, Marcel Vertès for Moulin Rouge; Music/Song: Dimitri Tiomkin (music), Ned Washington (lyrics) for the song, High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’), from the movie of the same title. Simply no comparison with the trash presented as the best in movie arts some 5 decades later years later, say in 2006.
March 20, 630: Saint Cuthbert is easily the most well-known of the Anglo-Saxon saints, as much for events after his death in 687 as before. He became a monk at Melrose in 651, and was part of the first monastic community at Ripon. In the later 660s he became prior of Lindisfarne, but in 676 he retired to the less accessible island of Farne. In 685, he was made bishop of Lindisfarne, somewhat reluctantly. After Christmas 686 he retired once again to Farne Island, where he died a few months later.
Within fifty years of his death there were three biographies of Cuthbert, an anonymous life commissioned by the Bishop of Lindisfarne in about 700, and two written by the Venerable Bede, one of the foremost scholars of the day. These works picture him as a simple monk, a pastor and teacher, a man who sees visions and experiences miracles. Cuthbert's connections with the Northumbrian royal family affect how he was viewed in history -- as when Ælfflæd, abbess and daughter of a king, asks him to prophesy about the reign of King Ecgfrith, and he foretells Ecgfrith's death. Eleven years later after his own death, Cuthbert's tomb was opened and the body was found to be uncorrupted (that is, undecayed), which was taken as a great sign of sanctity, and miracles have been claimed in his name ever since. from http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=day&id=03200687
March 21, 630: Roman Emperor Heraclius restored the True Cross, which he had recaptured from the Persians, 13 years after its theft. http://www.thehistorynet.com/tih/tih0321/ The legend of the True Cross begins in the year 326, when it was discovered by the mother of Constantine I, the Empress Helena. http://www.philipresheph.com/a424/gallery/holycross/holycross.htm The True Cross was kept in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem until the year 614. Then Chrosroes II of Persia moved it to his own land after he captured Jerusalem. After its return from Persia, it goes to Constantinople, then back to Jerusalem. See http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04517a.htm and http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04529a.htm
March 21, 1556: The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, died as a heretic at Oxford. Upon the accession (1553) of the Roman Catholic Queen Mary I, he had been tried for treason, convicted of heresy and condemned to death by burning. He had recanted his Anglican leanings in writing, however on his day of death, he refused to repeat the confession of error. He then proceeded to place the hand that had written the forced mea culpa into the flame.
Cranmer was strongly influenced by the German Reformation. He was influential in procuring a royal proclamation (1538) for placing an English copy of the Bible in every parish church. As long as Henry VIII lived, the archbishop would promote no meaningful doctrinal changes, except for his support of Henry's marriage claims. The situation changed with the accession (1547) of the young Edward VI. During his reign Cranmer was able to transform the liturgy of the English Church. He was responsible for much of the first Book of Common Prayer (1549) and compiled its revision of 1552, which contains his well-written prose and beautiful translation of the Psalms. His Forty-two Articles (1553), though never formally adopted, formed the basis of the Church of England's Thirty-nine Articles.
The Thirty-nine Articles, which remain the official synopsis of doctrine (belief) for the Church of England, date from Elizabeth I's reign. They are Calvinistic in theological emphasis and enounce clearly the royal supremacy in the Church of England. They are included, with the occasional modification, in the prayer books of other churches of the Anglican Communion, including that of the Episcopal Church USA, despite its departure from the doctrine of its heritage in the late 20th Century. http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0813927.html
March 21, 1939: A song, written by Irving Berlin in 1918 as a tribute by a successful immigrant to his adopted country, was recorded by Kate Smith for Victor Records on this day. Ms. Smith had introduced the song on her Thursday, November 10, 1938 radio show (aired live the day before Armistice Day). It was a fitting tribute to its composer, who gave all royalties from the very popular and emotional, God Bless America, to the Boy Scouts of America. At the time, the tune became Kate Smith's second signature song. Her first was When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain, which she recorded in 1931 and was her TV theme song in a later day. http://www.theguitarguy.com/whenthem.htm Today, we probably do not really remember that she had a TV show, let alone the theme song for it. Never-the-less, every beam {still} brings a dream, dear, of you ....
March 22nd: According to the decision of the Council of Nicea in AD 325, Easter is observed on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox (March 21). On any given year, this reckoning places Easter between March 22nd and April 25th. Easter was last celebrated on March 22nd in 1818. Easter occurred no time on March 22nd during the 20th century, nor will it occur on that date during the 21st century. http://chi.lcms.org/history/tih0322.htm It occurs on the 23rd in 2008.
March 22nd -- Saint Zechariah (circa 750AD): Pope Zechariah, of Greek heritage, was born in Calabria (Latin: Brutium), in the toe of the southern Italian peninsula. A translator of Greek, educated through the Dialogues de saint Grégoire le Grand he became an eloquent prédicateur (preacher), and was admitted to the clergy at Rome under Pope Gregory III. When Luitprand (712-744) ruled King of the Lombards he threatened to take over Rome (741). It was at this time Zechariah perfected his power of persuasion. His contemporaries admired his gentleness and compassion, and had great confidence in his political skills.
That year also saw the death of Charles Martel (October 22, 741), Gregory III and hoped for relief against the Lombards. Zechariah was elected pope on December 3rd and sanctified in the position on December 10 741. Pope Zechariah had to abandon the Holy See's ineffective ally, the Duke of Spoleto, to deal with Luitprand (Treaty of Terni, in August 742). A semblance of peace then reigned in Italy especially when the Lombards (Longobards) agreed not to attack the Orthodox holdings at Ravenna (June 29, 743). Luitprand died the following January (which was still 743 back then). His nephew (and successor), Hildebrand, was a we bit more more belligerent; but, he was so wicked that his subjects drove him away within seven months. The successor, Rachis, confirmed the peace treaty for twenty years, but Rachis broke the treaty by besieging Perugia (749). Pope Zechariah lifted the siege. The Lombard King repented to the point where, a few months later, he went to Rome and abdicated to enter the Abbey of Monte Cassino, while his wife and daughter became nuns (June 749). Astolphe (Astolphus), the brother and successor, confirmed the treaty for twenty years; yet still, he seized Ravenna (751) thus ending the Byzantine exarchate. More about the Lombards HERE. -- Merovingian Rulers & Map (7th Century) -- Map of Charlemagne's Empire, just 50 years later
Although Constantinople was iconoclastic in Christian practice, Pope Zechariah successfully developed good relations with Konstantin V. Thanks to the work of Saint Boniface, Zechariah maintained excellent relations with the Franks, now ruled by the sons of Charles Martel. Zechariah was able to mediate the question of royal succession. Pepin (the Short) was elected king and sanctified to that office by St. Boniface, thus beginning the reign of the Carolingian dynasty (751) and thereby obtaining a much-needed alley against the Lombards, which threatened once again. It has long been believed that Zachariah died on March 14, 752, and his festival for a long time was celebrated on March 15th. The martyrology reform of 1922 was of the view that his death had occurred on March 22nd. So the fête has changed. And without Pepin there would have been no Charles the Great King of the Franks, Charlemagne, crowned emperor of a new Holy Roman Empire in 800AD by Pope Leo III.
Pippin III Brevis, rex Francorum, deposed the Merovingian ruler, King Childeric III, and he was crowned King in November 751. Childericus III, rex Francorum, so deposed, became the last Merovingian ruler of France, replaced by the Mayors of the Palace and the Pepin line in November 751. Childericus died in 755 at St. Omer, Pas-de-Calais, France. Pepin died during a campaign and was brought to Saint Denis to be buried near the saint in 768. Pepin had not only maintained his father's policy of containing the Moors, he drove them back across the Pyrenees with the capture of Narbonne. He continued his father's expansion of the Frankish church (missionary work in Germany and Scandinavia) and the infrastructure (feudalism) that would prove the backbone of medieval Europe. Picture here of coronation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepin_the_Short
March 22, 1775 -- Edmund Burke -- From his speech on conciliation with America:* * * The proposition is peace. Not peace through the medium of war; not peace to be hunted through the labyrinth of intricate and endless negotiations; not peace to arise out of universal discord, fomented from principle, in all parts of the empire; not peace to depend on the juridical determination of perplexing questions, or the precise marking the shadowy boundaries of a complex government. It is simple peace, sought in its natural course and in its ordinary haunts. * * * http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/D/1751-1775/libertydebate/burk.htm
March 23, 1806: This is the day that the Lewis and Clark expedition set out from the West Coast on its return to the East. Read the journal entries HERE or HERE.
Altho' we have not fared Sumptuously this winter & Spring at Fort Clatsop, we have lived quite as comfortably as we had any reason to expect we Should; and have accomplished every object which induced our remaining at this place except that of meeting with the traders who visit the entrance of this river. Our Salt will be very sufficient to last us to the Missouri where we have a Stock in Store. Clark: March 20th
Salt was vital to the survival of the Corps of Discovery. The crew began the journey with 12 casks of salt, but soon consumed them. Curing meat became impossible. The expedition nearly starved on several occasions when fresh meet proved unavailable. Upon reaching the mouth of the Columbia River in late 1805, Fort Clatsop was erected. Three men ventured to the beach at what is now Seaside, Oregon to boil down the sea water to make salt. In 50 days they obtained 4 bushels of salt and were thus able to preserve food and survive the return trek. This salt was genuine, pure Pacific Sea Salt and contained no added iodine or man-made impurities, except perhaps something from some rusty black-iron pots ! http://www.trailtreasures.com/prod.itml/icOid/627
March 23, 1743: Georg Frideric Händel's oratorio Messiah had its London premiere. King George II attended. In the middle of the "Hallelujah Chorus" (the last portion of the epic composition), the sovereign rose to his feet in appreciation ! The entire audience followed suit out of respect for the King. So from the beginning came the custom of standing during the Hallelujah finale. Franz Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 94 in G Major ,also known as the Surprise Symphony, premiered in London, on this date in 1792.
The first audience to hear the Messiah largely lived in Dublin in late-1742. They gave to it what is reported to be the greatest ovation in that city's history. Some weeks later, London heard it for the first time, and again it was a triumph. http://www.classicalarchives.com/bios/handel_bio.htmlBehold, I tell you a mystery;
We shall not all sleep; but we shall all be changed in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we {all} shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
and this mortal must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15:51-53An interesting aside: On April 6, 1759, Georg Friedrich Händel accompanied the orchestra and choir on the organ during a performance of the Messiah for the final concert of the Easter season. He passed away just eight days later, on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. His remains lie in Westminster Abbey. http://www.byu.edu/music/areas/keyboard/Organ/composers/handel.html
Voici, je vous dis un mystère:
nous ne mourrons pas tous, mais tous nous serons changés, en un instant,
en un clin d'œil, à la dernière trompette.
La trompette sonnera, et les morts ressusciteront incorruptibles,
et nous, nous serons changés.
Car il faut que ce corps corruptible revête l'incorruptibilité,
et que ce corps mortel revête l'immortalité. trans. par Louis Segond (1910)March 23, 1775: In a speech before the Virginia Provincial Convention, American revolutionary Patrick Henry made his famous plea for independence from Britain. Give me liberty, or give me death ! http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/henry-liberty.html In 1776, Henry was elected Governor of Virginia. He was re-elected for three terms and then succeeded by Thomas Jefferson. He was again elected to the office in 1784. Patrick Henry was a strong critic of the constitution proposed in 1787. He was in favor of the strongest possible government for the individual states, and a weak federal government. http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/henry.htm
Like unto shipwrecked Paul on Melita's desolate sea-shore,
March 23, 1990: The U.S. Postal Service issued a 25-cent stamp commemorating an airy feature film: Gone With the Wind. http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/gwtw.htm The movie had won eight Oscars (Academy Awards of 1940), including Best Picture. Among the other winners, Hattie McDaniel received the Best Supporting Actress award. Ms. McDaniel was the first African-American (actress or actor) to receive an Oscar in any category from http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/tdgh-feb/feb29.htm.
March 24, 1882: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, US poet (Song of Hiawatha), died. He is the sole American honored with a bust in the Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine (February 27, 1807). He was also famous for, inter alia, The Children's Hour and Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie.
Thus he approached the place where Evangeline sat . . . .
March 25, 1584: Sir Walter Raleigh, English explorer, courtier and writer, renewed Humphrey Gilbert's patent to explore North America. He established the Virginia colony on Roanoke Island (1587), first English Colony in the Americas. http://usparks.about.com/cs/parkhistory/a/virginiadare.htm Among the colonists was Virginia Dare, born at Roanoke, for whom a stamp was issued in 1937, 350 years after her birth. The stamp was first offered for sale on August 18, 1937, at Manteo, N.C., near the site of the original colony. It was a five-cent denomination, unusual because first-class postage was normally much less, just three (3) cents. http://www.junior-philatelists.com/USStampsHistory37.htm The colony was unusual, too -- it vanished without a trace. The Mint of the United States also issue a commemorative half-dollar (25,000) that year. http://www.commem.com/prod08Roa.htm
Twenty-five years later, Henry Hudson would embark on his third voyage, for the Dutch East India Company, claiming the New York area (new Holland) for the Dutch. http://www.ianchadwick.com/hudson/hudson_03.htm. Exactly another twenty-five years later, the Catholic colony of Maryland was founded by English colonists sent by Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore. Although he had a Charter from the English King, he lost the Colony twice (during the English Civil Wars). On March 25, 1655, supporters of Parliament (Cromwell) imprisoned his ex-governor and executed four others. Cecil Calvert sent his 24-year-old son Charles to Maryland in 1661, to be governor after he regained control of the Colony for the second time. http://mdroots.thinkport.org/library/cecilcalvert.asp
After the dry spell of 1929-33, in which no new commemorative coin types were issued by the United States Mint, the Maryland half dollar was at the vanguard of new issues, beginning in 1934. Although it was not the first new issue authorized (that honor going to the Texas half dollar), it was the first one coined and distributed. As such, it ushered in a golden age of commemorative coinage that lasted another five years. http://www.coinsite.com/content/Commemoratives/Maryland.asp
March 25, 1765: Following Great Britain's victory in the French and Indian War, King George III issued the Proclamation of 1763. One of its provisions was to extend Georgia's southern boundary from the Altamaha River to the St. Mary's river. Two years later, on March 25, 1765, Governor James Wright approved an act of the General Assembly creating four new parishes -- St. David, St. Patrick, St. Thomas, and St. Mary -- in the newly acquired land, and further assigning Jekyll Island to St. James Parish. Here is a map showing the Georgia's colonial parishes. Twelve years later, the Constitution of 1777 combined St. David and St. Patrick parishes into the new county of Glynn, and St. Thomas and St. Mary into a new county called Camden.March 25, 2008: It's a little bit spooky, but 40 years ago this day a new Radio voice appeared in Atlanta -- WREK - Ramblin WREK Radio. http://www.wrek.org/?q=history So the big news is that WREK gets a new transmitter this month (in 2008). Actually, it was delivered, installed and tested in time for the 40th anniversary of the station.
Also on this date in 1968, the Monkees TV show last aired on the Network Hey, hey ... ; Secretary Clark Clifford convened his dinner meeting of Wise Men, a dozen distinguished elder statesmen and soldiers, including former Secretary of State Dean Acheson and World War II General Omar Bradley at the State Department (Given a blunt assessment of the situation in Vietnam, all but 4 would advocate withdrawal in a lunch meeting with President Johnson the next day); an airplane crashes in the Irish Sea; flight crews already are preparing an aircraft (an F-111a) for its first combat mission in in SE Asia; At Olympic Sound Studios, with Mick Jagger on lead vocals and Keith Richards performing acoustic rhythm as well as electric guitar work ... ; Martin Luther King speaks at national rabbinical convention at the Concord Resort Hotel in New York’s Catskills Mountains (http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/01/kings_legacy_of.html), while RFK wrote a memo to his headquarters, outlining his presidential campaign strategy; a Paris-based reporter, Jeffrey Paley (William Paley, president of CBS was his father) was trying to interview Jim Garrison; Today's guest stars -- Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Pam Austin appear on Laugh-In, where a “Mod, Mod World” looks at the 1968 Olympics -- this episode wins an Emmy, with appearances by Regis Philbin and John Wayne, too; John Joseph Cardinal Carberry was installed as Archbishop of St. Louis (made a Cardinal a year later by Pope Paul VI); Stevie Wonder releases I'm Wondering on Motown Records; Kiss Me Kate a musical appears on ABC TV (in its third release) casting Robert Goulet, Carol Lawrence, Michael Callan, Jessica Walters, and Marty Ingels in the lead roles.
This Webmaster wandered through the doors of the offices and studio of WREK in the fall of 1969 and witnessed is some early progressive improvements -- the move away from the Top Forty format, the new transmitter, stereo, live concerts, automation, WAVES, classics intermingled with the regular and oldies playlist, new audio compressors, new logo (a concept still in use). The item to the right shows the General Manager and a new station op with glasses (circa 1969-70). Guess who ? Bon Chance !! More Pictures HERE.
March 26, 809: Today commemorates the death date of Saint Liudger (742-809) St. Liudger, born near Utrecht (Modern Holland) in about 742, was a missionary to the Friesians and Saxons. He followed after the Martyrdom of Saint Boniface (Apostle to the Hessorum) whose work he wished to continue further to the north (lower Rhine). He studied under Alquin (who invented lower-case letters and punctuation) and enjoyed a lifelong association with him. Ordained a priest in 777 in Cologne, he undertook missionary effort among the pagans near the mouth of the Ems (787 -- Near modern Emden, Germany). Liudger was effective because he knew the language of the germanic tribes inhabiting the area.
In 793 Charlemagne (Karl der Große) offered Liudger the Bishopric of Trier, but Liudger declined, expressing a preference to continue his missionary work among the Saxons. In this effort he built a monastery in the more eastern Saxon territories. The city that grew around the monastery came to be known as Münster. He founded a convent for women in about 803 and placed his sister, Sainte Gerburgis at its head. This was the first convent in Westphalia. In 805 he became the first Bishop of Münster. Four years later he died (809), entombed in Werden, where he had built a monastery and a church. His designation as a saint precedes the practice of canonization by a pope. Werden is now part of Essen.
Werden is now part of Essen (Essen-Werden), commuters on the way to the train station (S-Bahnhof), pass by its ancient church, perhaps without knowing its history or significance, as this Webmaster would have done some 40 years ago. An 830, der Heliand, die sächsische Bibel in Stabreimen, entsteht im Kloster Werden; An 1550, die Reformation in Werden beginnt mit Peter Ullner, Pfarrer an der Luciuskirche; au 9ème siècle à la bibliothèque de cloître Werdener. La Bible de Wulfilas en argent trouvée des Goths, le Codex Argenteus, à l'empereur Rudolf II à Prague en 1573- aujourd'hui dans Uppsala. An 1877, die Eisenbahnstrecke von Werden nach Essen wird eröffnet. An 1929, Werden verliert nach 612 Jahren die Selbständigkeit - heute Stadtteil von Essen. Our Essen page is HERE.
March 27, 1814 -- War of 1812: President, then General, Andrew Jackson's Division, wins the Battle of Horseshoe {Bend}, Mississippi Territory in what would become the State of Alabama. The Battle of Horseshoe Bend (Tallapoosa River) was fought against the Red Stick Creeks (1000 enemy-Jackson permitted women and children to leave prior to the conflict) was the event along with the Battle of New Orleans that propelled Jackson into National prominence. He fought (2700 regulars) with other Native Americans (600), who he later forced out of the South during the Trail of Tears. Only 200 of the enemy in 1814 escaped (into the Florida swamps). The Battle took place on March 27, and by April 9th a Treaty transferred 23 million acres to the US. Sam Houston (a future governor of TN and Texas) served as a 3rd Lieutenant, receiving a wound that troubled him for the rest of his life. The campaign was the direct result of the Massacre at Fort Mims (north of Mobile). Private Robert McMurry was in a Company commanded by Captain George Chapman (2nd Regiment-TN Militia- Col. Archer Cheatham). It was called the War with the Creek Indians. He was drafted at Springfield 1814 for a term of 3 months and served 3 mo. 15 days (116 days). His Honorable Discharge was dated May 10, 1814, and left the Militia at Fayettsville (Fayetteville). see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Horseshoe_Bend_(1814); http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1128.html
Also at the battle was John Ross. A Native American, he was adjutant to Revolutionary War hero Colonel Gideon Morgan (also known as A’gansta’ta (Oconostota) out of respect) who led a regiment of the Cherokee in the War of 1812 against the hostile Creeks in such battles as battles of Tallasehatche, Talladega, Auttose and Horseshoe Bend. Ross, after that conflict, became a wealthy planter and in 1827 moved to Georgia.
March 27, 1836: After two days of battle, 300 Georgia volunteers fighting in the War for Texas Independence under Colonel James Walker Fannin and Lt. Colonel William Ward (who also were Georgians) were forced to surrender to a much larger Mexican Army. Fannin had negotiated a surrender that would allow the troops in his command to be paroled. However, on March 27th all of the prisoners were marched to La Bahia (Goliad), where upon Santa Anna's order, the entire command of Georgia volunteers was massacred. [Click HERE to read more about the massacre.] This tragedy so inflamed Georgians that many volunteered to fight during the Mexican War a decade later. Remember Goliad; Remember the Alamo !! became the cry. Cruelty has its consequences, as Mexico soon would discover. As for Fannin, Georgia named a county for him, the gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains. This Fannin County was created in 1854 from portions of Union County and Gilmer County, with Morganton as the first county seat. Another Fannin County lies along the famed Red River. It was once part of the original Red River County, first created after Texas became an Independent Country. Fannin County Texas was created on December 14, 1837, along with 39 North Texas counties all carved out of the premier Red River County.
Their flag was made by Johanna Troutman of Knoxville, Georgia. In 1835, Colonel Fannin had made the appeal for a Georgia battalion to aid the Texas cause. Miss Troutman presented this flag to Colonel Fannin before he returned back to Texas with the volunteers. The flag was first unfurled at Velasco on January 8, 1836 and was carried into battle at Goliad on March 27, 1836. White Flag-Blue Star http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-txhs.html -- http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/indepenflgs.htm
March 27, 1964: On Good Friday, Valdez, Alaska (Prince William Sound) was rocked by a very great earthquake. Indeed, it was thought to be the largest seismic event ever recorded in North America with the force of billions of tons of TNT. In 1977 seismologists pegged the quake at 9.2 on the Richter scale, although there have been later reevaluations of the intensity. It lasted 4 minutes, followed by tsunamis and fires. Over 100 persons died at Valdez. Survivors moved 4 miles west to solid bedrock and rebuilt the town. Tremendous destruction also occurred in Anchorage. Much of Crescent City, California was demolished by an unexpected tsunami, also created by this quake. http://www.olympus.net/personal/gofamily/quake/famous/1964.html
March 27, 1970: The late Georgia Governor, Lester Maddox, approved the state's first legislation designed to protect the Georgia's coastal marshlands. The law (Coastal Marshlands Protection Act, as amended (O.C.G.A. §§12-5-280, et seq.)) prohibited any person from removing, filling, dredging, draining or otherwise altering any marsh without first obtaining a permit from the newly created Coastal Marshlands Protection Agency. That agency has since been folded into the Georgia's Department of Natural Resources (DNR). It now functions as a Committee under the Coastal Resources Division of DNR.
March 27, 2005: This day is Easter in the Western Church. Within the Orthodox Church, feast days and fast days are reckoned according to two distinct calendars, the Julian Calendar and the Gregorian Calendar. The first is attributed to the Roman Emperor Julius Cæsar, whose name it bears. It was later corrected in the sixteenth century by Pope Gregory XIII due to the increasing discrepancy between calendar time and calculated astronomical time. The Gregorian Calendar corrected the error, but was not accepted fully by all Orthodox Churches for all events. http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article7070.asp So for some, Easter is the 27th of March and others May 1st in 2005. http://www.transchurch.org/sguide/dates.htm#lent&easter
March 28, 845: Marauding Viking pirates sack Paris (la Ville Lumière), a capital of the former Merovingian dynasty of the Franks. The group collects a huge ransom for leaving the city intact, and this gang goes on to plunder elsewhere in France. The crews find the French microclimate and land satisfying. In another 100 years, voila, the northmen become upstanding citizens of France, no longer estranged. In about another 100 years, some turn into the Norman rulers of England, with a claim on the French throne. A Viking Timeline for France is here.
Other Highlights: In about 4500 BC a canoe (pirogue) sank along the Seine between the Bercy and Cour Saint-Emilion Métro stop (ligne 14). This will become the first evidence of a settled presence in the Paris region. It was placed on display in September 2000 at the Carnavalet Museum. About 250 years before the birth of Christ, a native tribe of Celtic people settled on the banks of the Seine River. They called the setting Loukteih, meaning a marshy place. Two hundred years later (52 B.C.), Roman soldiers arrive in Paris, beginning a long tradition of strangers marching into the town. There, after the usual rousing parade, Julius Cæsar holds an assembly at the local hôtel de ville. The new owners embark on a building spree for economic stimulus on a nearby hill. The Romans called the tribe that occupies the area the Parisii. Cæsar identifies the city as Lutetia Parisorum, a Latinized version of the Celtic names, in his famous work that extols the virtues and victories of his campaign in Gaul. see generally http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/paris/en/index.html Our map of that Romanized city is HERE.
In 250 AD, the Romans behead Denis, Bishop of the Parisii (he also known as Dionysius), in the area of Paris that is now named for the hill of the martyred saint, Montmartre. The Church of Saint Pierre today sits on the spot (pictured right). Legend recites that the good bishop carries his head, after it is severed from his body, north (down the hill) to the place now known as the site of the abbey of St. Denis. Saint Denis is most often depicted headless, head in hand. Denis, the first bishop of Paris (pronounced dawn-ee) and his companions, martyred in 270AD on a large hill overlooking Gare du Nord and all Paris, were buried several miles north of the spot of the execution. The small chapel built over the spot and named for this martyr, became a very famous, pilgrimage church, during the fifth and sixth centuries. In 630 King Dagobert (a Merovingian ruler of France) founded an abbey for Benedictine monks, replacing the original chapel by a large basilica. This basilique has been much rebuilt and expanded -- only the burial crypt remains of the original structure; however, it was desecrated during the Revolution.
In about 300AD, barbarians destroy the city. By 360AD the city name of "Paris" had become official and Emperor Julian of the late Roman Empire (in the West) is crowned there. http://worldfacts.us/France-Paris.htm Moving along about 90 years, we find Attila, a Hun of some reknown, heading toward Paris. A young nun named Geneviève encourages the Parisians to pray and stand firm against the impending onslaught and certain death. Attila's legions avoid Paris and are defeated at Châlons. Geneviève is hailed as the city's savioress and is named later the patron sainte of Paris. What is now the Panthéon in Paris was originally built as a church to be named and dedicated to Sainte-Geneviève. The original church of that name sat on the highest point of a hill -- over 70 meters above the river -- looking west towards what was the Roman forum and city centre.
The Église Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, where now rest Saintes Geneviève and Clotilda (Clotilde-former Princess of ancient Burgundy) and Clovis, Roi of all Franks (in 1996 the country celebrated the 1500th anniversary of his baptism on December 25th), stands next to the Panthéon (to the north and the east) on the hill that dominates the left bank. These are the founding patrons of Paris and the French Nation (along with St. Denis). The first parish church of St. Étienne (the area of the old Roman forum) arose in the 6th century out of the Abbey of Ste. Geneviève. It used the burial crypt of the structure for its worship space. Not until the 13th century was a separate church built, on the north side of the abbey on the crest of the hill overlooking the Seine. An ever-growing parish resulted in a new structure begun in the year before Columbus left for the New World (1491). Successive stages of construction help explain the mixture of architectural styles, making it one of the most uncommon Église in 16th Century Paris. The vaults of the apse and the bell tower appeared in 1491, the chancel in 1537, the gallery in 1545; finally, the vaults of the nave and the transept were completed in 1580. The bell tower is raised in 1624 and the portal is built in 1610. After the Revolution the demolition of the Abbey church, in 1807, disturbs the balance of its façade. This church contains Pascal’s tomb, who died while he was in the parish territory and Racine’s ashes -- transferred to this church from Port-Royal in 1711. Furthermore, it contains the shrine of St. Geneviève’s remains (left), the patron Sainte of Paris. The reliquary contains only a few fingers, bones and ashes, because during the Revolution, the remains were burned.
The three ancient schools of Notre-Dame, Ste-Geneviève, and St-Victor may be regarded as the triple cradle of the universitas scholarium, which included masters and students; hence the name University. Read about the first student strike in Paris, 1226AD -- it caused the changes that led to the founding of the historic University of Paris. The Université de Paris is often referred to as the Sorbonne or La Sorbonne after the collegiate institution (Collège de Sorbonne) founded about 1257. The University of Paris VIII: Vincennes - Saint-Denis was organized in response to the student strikes of 1968. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose !!! Perhaps Sainte Geneviève will yet appear once more, and save her people from the barbarians.
March 28, 1889: Atlanta lumber dealer George V. Gress and railroad contractor Thomas J. James attended an auction of a bankrupt traveling circus at the Fulton County courthouse. The two joined together for the winning bid of $4,485.00. James wanted the circus wagons and railroad cars for his business, while Gress was interested in the collection of circus animals. A few days later, Gress offered the animals and their cages to the city of Atlanta. Several days after that, the Atlanta City Council decided to locate the animals in Grant Park. Gress then built a large brick building to house the animals, giving Atlanta its first zoo. In 1893, Gress and Charles Northern would purchase a cycloramic painting of the Battle of Atlanta. They placed it in Grant Park for public viewing. Over the next six years, Gress donated the $12,000 in admissions to the Cyclorama for use in helping Atlanta's poor children. Finally, in 1898, Gress donated the painting to the City of Atlanta.
How soon they forget -- March 28, 1930: The Greek peoples of Byzantium originally founded it on the European side of what today is the Bosphorus strait. Emperor Constantine (the First) renamed it Nova Roma, but the grand City became known as Constantinople, a more compelling name, reflecting its great ruler and its Greek heritage. Nova Roma became the seat of the Eastern Roman Empire for 1050 years (395 to 1453); moreover, after about 100 years, it was the only portion of the once vast empire to remain a single political entity. As the seat of the Ottoman Empire for another 465 years, the city stantinople began sounding like stamboul to the locals, and officially as Qusţanţanīya, which means "The City of Constantine" in Arabic. It officially became Istanbul at about the same time that the village of Angora became Ankara, the capital of Turkey. Mostafa Kamal Ata Turk had created the Turkish Republic out of the ruins of World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. These two changes in name only were but the last official touches. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul
March 29, 1638: Immigrants establish New Sweden, the first settlement in Delaware by Swedish Lutherans and Finnish émigrés. They were the first to build log cabins in America. English colonists did not know how to build houses from logs, but those immigrants who had lived in the forests of Scandinavia, Germany and Switzerland did. German pioneers (called Dutch), who settled in Pennsylvania, built the log cabins there in the early 1700s. The Scotch-Irish immigrants who settled in the Appalachian highlands after 1720 made the widest use of log cabins. By the time of the American Revolution, cabins from logs were the principal dwelling type along the western frontier (Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio), and this architectural motif migrated westward from there. see http://www.genealogia.fi/emi/art/article418e.htm
The Colony was established under Swedish jurisdiction (1637), however the Dutch sent in occupying troops in 1655 and technical Swedish sovereignty over New Sweden was at an end. Never-the-less, a Swedish and Finnish presence remained very much in evidence. In fact, Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant permitted the colonists to continue to be a Swedish Nation, governed by a court of their choosing, free to practice their religion. They organized their own militia, retained their land holdings and traded with the native people. This independent colony continued until 1681, when an Englishman, William Penn, received his charter for Pennsylvania, which included the three lower counties that comprise present-day Delaware. http://www.colonialswedes.org/History/History.html
March 30, 1867: The U.S. Secretary of State, William H. Seward, reached agreement with Russia's Baron Stoeckl to purchase the territory of Alaska for $7.2 million, or about two and one-half cents an acre for all that gold, oil, timber, ice and beauty. This purchase, soundly ridiculed as Seward's Folly, Seward's Icebox or President Andrew Johnson's Polar Bear Garden, was signed the next day and later approved by the US Senate by only one vote. Tennessee born President Johnson took office after Lincoln's death, was impeached but not convicted, yet had this remarkable vision of America's future, despite the petty politics of the time.
Few persons remember that William H. Seward, former governor, U.S. Senator from New York and Secretary of State under Lincoln and Johnson was the leading Republican contender in a three-way contest for the post of President in the 1860 election; however on the third ballot Lincoln won. In fact, Seward first lost the nomination for the presidential election against John C. Frémont in 1856. http://www.sewardhouse.org/biography/ Secretary Seward was brutally stabbed in his Washington home on April 14, 1865, the same night President Lincoln was shot in the Ford Theater. The attacker, Lewis Powell, a co-conspirator with Booth, injured five people in the nighttime action. Seward recovered from his injuries and continued to serve as Secretary of State, visiting Alaska during the Grant Administration.
March 30, 2006: We cry tears of joy for her release and we pray for the swift and safe release of all others still in captivity. http://news.ft.com/cms/s/17da2082-bfe3-11da-939f-0000779e2340.html -- An American journalist Jill Carroll was freed in Iraq on Thursday, nearly three months after being kidnapped in Baghdad.
March 31, 1831: Born this day in Scotland: Archibald Scott Couper in Kirkintilloch, Dumbartonshire. This chemist discovered the tetra-valency of carbon and the ability of carbon atoms to bond with one another to form long chains, which concepts are fundamental to modern organic chemistry. He also created the symbolic use of a line between element symbols to indicate chemical bonding. This Scotsman sought to publish his ideas with the French Academy of Sciences, in a paper delivered through his superior, Adolphe Würtz. Couper's efforts were not forwarded in a timely fashion, and August Kekulé published the same, although independently derived, idea of tetra-valence first, thereby depriving Couper of his due fame. http://www.todayinsci.com/3/3_31.htm
Archibald Scott Couper's father was in the business of textiles. Key to the manufacture of these types of materials are their dyestuffs. A number of chemical companies grew out of the research into textile substitutes, such as nylon, rayon and other plastic-like fibers -- and dyes, too -- none of which could have risen without Couper's discovery. For example, the Hoechst facility, just downriver from Frankfurt, has been a chemical manufacturing site for over 140 years. The aniline dye factory "Theerfarbenfabrik Meister, Lucius & Co." at Höchst am Main was founded in 1863, forming the basis for Hoechst AG. Just as the story, of how Progil {also a dyestuffs firm} and other companies became Rhône-Poulenc Chimie S.A., the Hoechst story has taken many twists and turns. Today Rhône-Poulenc and Hoechst AG are combined into a drug manufacturing firm, Aventis.
March 31, 1889: Today marks a completion date. Born, Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, in Dijon France -- A man who could cut the mustard, he designed many important bridges and viaducts. Of course, you know him well for his notable work, the Statue of Liberty. He became the structural engineer on that project, completed in Paris in 1884. He also did the Tour Eiffel, begun in 1887 on the Champs-de-Mars, at a cost of about $1 million for the Parisian World Exhibition of 1889. On March 31st in the year 1889, this famous Paris landmark would open to the dismay of some at the time. At 985 feet high, it was the highest structure in the world until 1930, when a building in NYC was built with a pretty fair view of Lady Liberty. In spite of all of this, in 1893 France condemned him to two years' imprisonment plus fines for a criminal breach of trust in connection with the failed French attempt at building a canal in Panama.
March 31, 1943: Its pre-Broadway try-out was at New Haven's Shubert in 1943, under a forgettable title. The show, "Away We Go," was renamed. It had a honeymoon run when it opened at the St. James Theatre in New York City, this day in history. http://www.musicals101.com/1940bway2.htm That is, it became an instant hit. The show ran for 2,248 performances -- until 1948. The musical has grossed millions of dollars as an onstage production, on and off Broadway. As a blockbuster movie it broke records. Still running in an occasional revival today, it has become legendary among musicals -- it was retitled -- OK -- wait for it -- Oklahoma?
April First: Mea Culpa -- Yes, termites were the first chinese computer bugs.
If ye should find yerself drawn towards the sea,
Take the moral compass of poetry. More sea tales hereApril 1, 1566: Pedro Menéndez de Avilés y Alonso de la Campa, then governor of Florida, travels north to confer with Chief Guale on Sainte Catherine Island. This native chief controlled the lower half of what would 200 years later be called the Georgia coast. Menéndez built two forts, one on Cumberland Island and one on St. Catherine. In September of 1565, Menéndez had attacked the nearby French Huguenot colony called Fort Caroline, murdering everyone (men, women and children), except the few who escaped in ships. He had hung some of the butchered bodies from trees, in proper style for the times, one supposes as a warning for others who would trespass. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/a/aviles.shtml
More in April is HERE.
The Menéndez governing style would prove generally unsuccessful for the Spanish cause. By the end of his stay in the New World only the settlement at Saint Augustine remained a viable mission. He returned to Spain in 1567. Named Captain General of the Great Armada (1573), Menéndez received his just rewards at the hands of the British in a naval battle at Santander, Spain (1574). Felipe II declara a Santander base naval del Cantábrico (1570). As an aside, the Romans put their Port at Santander in 19BC. It became an important centre for the export of Iberian minerals to the Empire, minerals dug no doubt by native slaves. There is no report of the Romans hanging bodies on trees there; but, one supposes they would have done so, if it advanced the cause of commerce. Thus we ask, which is worse, butchery for profit, politics or profound belief.
April 1, 1925: Sculptor Augustus Lukeman took over the Stone Mountain (Georgia) project. He suggests that three men -- Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis -- be enshrined forever on the face of the mountain. Upset about the lack of progress on completion of the Confederate memorial carving, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association had fired the original designer John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum in February. Although the contract with Borglum had said that his working models belonged to the Association, the sculptor had reacted to his dismissal by destroying the models. After being indicted by a grand jury, Borglum fled the state. Subsequently, he was replaced by Lukeman, who blasted off the face of the mountain the heads of Lee and Jackson, the Borglum work already set in stone to last eternity.
April 2, 742: Charlemagne (Karl der Große -- d.814), Charles I the Great, King of the Franks, was born. His capital was at Aachen (Acquisgrana in Latin), which today is in Germany, close by the Dutch Border. The Carolingian rule under Charlemagne, annexed all of southern Germany and the lands in the north and northeast, held by the Saxons. Charlemagne, crowned emperor of the Roman Empire in 800AD by Pope Leo III, patterned his court after the style of the late Roman Empire. The official work of his court was done in Latin; however, the day - to - day language (in the eastern empire) congealed into what has evolved into Hoch Deutsch today. Why not French? Because, upon his death the empire split into three kingdoms. The western area eventually became France and its romantic (ne c'est pas) language based in Latin prevailed. Indeed, even by 800AD the language between the western and the eastern parts of the empire had shown marked differences. Go HERE for more information.
April 2, 1513: A Spanish explorer, Juan Ponce de Léon, landed in Florida. Having discovered Florida at dawn, he later introduced citrus (orange and lemon) trees into the area in order to furnish drinks for breakfast. He is best remembered, perhaps, for his failures. He found no treasure in gold nor the fountain of youth. However, on April 2, 1792, the U.S. Congress passed the Coinage Act, which authorized establishment of the Federal Mint in Philadelphia. It established the dollar, defined in fixed weights of gold and silver. Congress authorized the $10 Eagle, $5 half-Eagle and $2.50 quarter-Eagle gold coins, as well as $ilver dollar, half-dollar, quarter, disme & half-disme coins. Small amounts of these issues of coins premiered in 1793. Copper coins, the cent (1793) and half-cent (1794) also appeared in due course.
Due to a lack of Federal coinage, Spanish coins continued to circulate widely in the new Nation for many years. The 8-Real coin had the same amount of silver as the American dollar. Often this Spanish denomination was cut up, if smaller 4-Real or 2-Real coins were unavailable -- 2 bits of an 8-Real coin were a quarter. The mint in San Francisco (a town also established by Spanish explorers looking for gold) opened one day and a few years later in history on April 3, 1854.
Le 2 avril 1810: L'empereur Napoléon 1er (40 ans) épouse l'archiduchesse d'Autriche Marie-Louise (18 ans). Marie-Louise descend de l'impératrice Marie-Thérèse. Elle est la nièce de la reine Marie-Antoinette. Marie-Louise was an Austrian Archduchess, daughter of Emperor Francis I of Austria, a country recently at war with France.
The Sénat had pronounced effective his divorce from Josephine, his first love, on December 15, 1809. In the meantime, on June 10, 1809, Pope Pius VII had excommunicated Napoléon. Retaliating, Napoléon had the Pope put in custody on July 6th. Then on February 17, 1810, France annexed the Papal States. This action forced the Pope to sign an additional concordat and to annul Napoléon’s marriage to Josephine. http://www.french-at-a-touch.com/French_History/napoleon_i_1804-1814.htm Napoléon divorced Josephine, his wife, who was 46 years old in 1809, because she still had not produced an heir. The new bride, in due course, had a son, Napoléon François-Joseph Charles. As heir to the French Empire, Napoléon gave him the title, King of Rome. After Napoléon's defeat, the young King of Rome might have become his successor, under the regency of his mother, Empress Maria Louisa, but Talleyrand objected and arranged for the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty. Maria Louisa was given the life-title of Duchess of Parma, while Napoleon's son was named the Duke of Reichstadt. He apparently had TB, dying in 1832 at the age of 21. http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/his/CoreArt/art/nap4.html
April 2, 1814: Henry Lewis Benning was born in Columbia County, Georgia. After graduation from the University of Georgia in 1834, Benning read law in the city of Talbotton before being admitted to the bar in Columbus (1835). Through the law, he had success and wealth -- owning over 3,000 acres of land. After unsuccessful races for the General Assembly and Congress, the legislature placed Benning into the Georgia Supreme Court (1853-59). Benning urged Georgia's secession after the election of Lincoln. Upon War's outbreak, he raised the 17th Georgia Infantry, for which he was elected its colonel in August of 1861.
His company participated in, inter alia, battles of the Seven Days and Second Manassas. Later Benning took command of Toombs' Brigade at Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg. In January 1863, he became a brigadier general, in Hood's Division. His brigade fought at Gettysburg (Devil's Den), Chickamauga (Battle of Chattanooga) and Knoxville. In General Field's Division, his brigade fought in the battles of Wilderness, Petersburg and Appomattox Courthouse. When the conflict ended, Benning resumed the private practice of law in Columbus GA, passing away on July 8, 1875.
Talbotton, incorporated on December 20, 1828, is the county seat of Talbot County. The city and county were named for Governor Mathew Talbot, who was serving as President of the Georgia Senate when Governor Rabun died. The city is famous for the first session of the Georgia Supreme Court, held on January 26, 1846, at ye olde Claiborne Hotel. At the hotel, the State's first 15 attorneys took the oath to practice law before that appellate body.
The first successful and systematic training of the U.S. Infantry can be tracked back to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in 1778. It was on this frozen ground that Lt. General Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, first Inspector General of the United States Army, introduced a set of standard drill regulations, teaching them to Washington's ragtag army. In 1867, Emory Upton's A New System of Infantry Tactics was adopted by the U.S. Army, hailed as the greatest single advance in Infantry training procedures since the regulation of von Steuben. Upton was present (but on the opposite side of the field) at many of the battles in which Benning fought.
Due to his concern over the decline of good marksmanship in the Army, Lt. Gen. Arthur MacArthur persuaded the Army to establish the School of Musketry at the Presidio of Monterey, California, on February 21, 1907. This may be called the beginning of the present Infantry School concept, leading to the eventual creation of Fort Benning. After the outbreak of World War I, the U.S. Army created a new training post in Columbus, named Camp Benning in honor of General Benning. In 1922, the camp was redesignated as Fort Benning, now known as the Home of the Infantry.
April 2, 1917: In direct response to the sinking of the Lusitania by Germany on April 2nd, President Woodrow Wilson would ask for a declaration of war from Congress, in accordance with the provisions of the U.S. Constitution. At 8:30 p.m. President Woodrow Wilson, delivered a message before a joint session of Congress. Realizing that a great and costly war lay ahead, Wilson would argue, the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured … The world must be made safe for democracy. On April 2, 1917, Jeannette Rankin, from Montana, became the first woman to take a seat in the US Congress. Four days later, she voted against the declaration that was granted that same day (April 6, 1917). http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/apr06.html On April 2, 1917, the Red Baron shot down Snoopy, an American Volunteer, given permission to fight for France before the USA joined the confligration. Kill #34 was a Sopwith Camel over Givenchy, France. This is the extent of many a person's knowledge of the Great War (to end all wars). Did you know that in two weeks later 100,000 men would be casualties from just one battle ??
April 2, 1982: Several thousand troops from Argentina seized the disputed Falkland Islands, located in the south Atlantic Ocean, from Great Britain. Her Majesty's Government, led by the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, took the possessions back the following June. Britain's fight with Argentina would be called the Falkland Islands War, also known as the Falklands, the Malvinas or the South Atlantic War. The short, undeclared conflict between the two nations was fought over claims to Islas Malvinas and neighboring smaller islands. Argentina had laid aside claims to the territories since the 19th century; but, spurred by a long dispute over South Georgia Island and political expediency, the military government of Argentina invaded the Falklands. A British naval task force headed toward the war zone by late April. British forces established a beachhead in late May. With the surrender of the Argentine garrison at Stanley on June the 14th, the bitter winter fight essentially had ended, but not without severe losses on both sides.
South Georgia (in the Scotia Sea) 1675: A London-born merchant Antoine de la Roche was possibly the first person to lay claim to South Georgia Island. In April 1675, as he was sailing for the British from Lima, Peru (on the Pacific Ocean) to England, his ship was forced off-course, blown south upon rounding Cape Horn and in the Atlantic (or Antartic waters as the case might be), de la Roche spied ice-covered mountains. He and his crew may have been the first Europeans to see any of the sub-Antarctic islands, thus establishing the British rights that still would be in dispute over 300 years later.
Many historians, particularly those who support Argentina's claim to ownership of South Georgia, believe that de la Roche was wrong, and that he had in fact sighted Beauchene Island, 800 miles further away. This theory is highly suspect, as Beauchene Island does not possess the high mountains or the bays specifically referred to in de la Roche's account. http://www.btinternet.com/~sa_sa/south_georgia/south_georgia.html {map here too}
Second of April, 2007: The Arch-basilica of Saint John in Laterano, located in Rome, is the oldest church in Rome (although much rebuilt and expanded). After ten years in construction, Constantine dedicated the Lateran structure, located north and east of the Colosseum. In that sense it is the mother church of all churches.
In the 4th century AD, when Christian worshippers prepared to build larger structures, architectural models based on pagan temples were unsuitable, but not simply for their pagan associations. Pagan cult and sacrifices occurred outdoors under the open sky in the sight of the gods, with the temple, housing cult figures and the treasury. The usable model at hand, when Emperor Constantine I wanted to memorialize his faith, was the familiar, conventional architecture of roman-style basilicas. These buildings had a center nave with one aisle at each side. The apse stood at one end. On this raised platform sat the bishop and priests. Other Constantinian Basilicas: Ste. Mary Major, Old Saint Peter's Basilica, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of the Nativity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Christian_art_and_architecture
Constantine took over from his rivals in 312AD, ending the persecution of Christians throughout the empire. Pope Sylvester the First, Archbishop of Rome, lived at Lateran and expanded the residence, added a church and baptistry. The complex remained the official home of all Popes (although during this time it was ravaged by barbarians and wrecked by earthquakes) until the move to Avignon (1309-77). Its most recent face-lift was during the baroque epoch (18th Century), by the architect Alessandro Galilei (1735). http://dalbera.club.fr/perso_2002/rome_web/st_jean_de_latran/index.htm
The Lateran basilica was the site of a second anniversary remembrance of Pope John-Paul II on April 2, 2007. A mass held at Saint Peter's later in the day was led by Pope Benedict XVI. The Pope will not attend Monday's ceremony at the Lateran basilica in order to complete the official investigation into John Paul's life, a key step in the process of beatification (blessedness) and canonization (sainthood), which has been placed on the fast-track. The Vatican's procedures dictate that a miracle attributed to the candidate's intercession be confirmed before beatification and requires an additional miracle for canonization. Ironically, John-Paul II holds the record for recognizing these special persons of holiness in the Church. http://www.kansas.com/519/story/34175.html
An Index of Top 50 Pages in 2008 & Top 50 Pages in 2009
Art in Bercy -- Mont Saint-Michel (newly revised) -- Other Churches and structures (newly revised) --- Georgia's Golden Isles -- Art -- Maclet -- Clymer
LaRoche family-related Links -- Who Were The Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes? . . . the Essenes? -- Images of Pittsburgh -- Texas
May we also suggest for adventure: http://www.catholic-convert.com/
We have gotten ideas from a lot of places, but in particular from: | An historical recounting for the entire months of: January -- February -- March -- April -- May -- June -- July -- August -- September -- October -- November -- December |
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