December

Wednesday December 01, 2004: The President made an official visit to Halifax, Nova Scotia, today to thank the people of Canada, especially Halifax, for their help and support. He recognized the many acts of kindness of the citizens in this northern city, when US airspace shut down for several days in September 2001.

“Immediately, Canadians opened their homes and their hearts,” Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin said in toasting Mr. Bush at a dinner in Ottawa Tuesday night. “Three days later, on September the 14th, 100,000 Canadians spontaneously gathered on Parliament Hill in what was and is the largest vigil ever seen in our capital.”

“You opened your homes and your churches to strangers. You brought food, you set up clinics, you arranged for calls to loved ones and you asked for nothing in return," the President noted. "Thank you for your kindness to America in an hour of need.”

“Beyond the words of politicians and the natural disagreements that nations will have, our two peoples are one family and always will be," he added. "We're bound by history and geography and trade, and by our deepest convictions ... With so much in common and so much at stake, we cannot be divided.” http://www.macombdaily.com/stories/120204/sta_bush001.shtml

December 1, 2005: Sandy Springs became a Georgia city. Legislation incorporating the Fulton County community had been enacted at the 2005 session of the General Assembly, but the effective date of incorporation was delayed until one second past midnight on the first day of December 2005. And in 2008, Dunwoody officially became Georgia's newest city. Legislation incorporating the DeKalb County community had been enacted at the 2008 session of the General Assembly. Both new cities share a common border and encompass portions of the Hightower Trail, itself an historic border.

December 2, 1737: A disillusioned John Wesley sailed from Georgia to Charleston, and subsequently on to England. Wesley had hoped to serve as a missionary to Georgia's Native Americans. In the nearly two years since he arrived, he had not been able to pursue this goal. The Georgia Colony's founder and Chief Executive Officer, James Edward Oglethorpe, had wished Wesley to minister to the needs of Savannah's population. Wesley, perceived as too formal in his Anglican practices, did not succeed. Toward the end of his stay, it is reported that he also had become romantically involved with a young woman. He proposed marriage. She refused and subsequently married another. Apparently, this led Wesley to refuse her communion, prompting the new husband to sue. Facing a local trial, Wesley departed for England.
 
December 2, 1804: Napoléon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. He becomes the first Emperor crowned in France since 800AD. The premier Emperor, Charles the Great King of the Franks, came from the Carolingian line. This second familial dynasty of France had replaced the Merovingian line (see a better map HERE, and came to power in order to push the Moors back from the first Islamic invasion of Europe, a time celebrated by the Chanson (le 15 août 778).
 
The Carolingians, under Pepin's son, Charlemagne, annexed all of southern Germany and the lands in the north and northeast, held by the Saxons. Charlemagne, crowned emperor of a new Holy Roman Empire in 800AD by Pope Leo III, patterned his court after the western Roman Empire. He ruled from Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), which is today within Germany, on the Dutch Border. The official work of his court was done in Latin; however, the day - to - day language (in the east) congealed into what has evolved into Hoch Deutsch today. Why not French ? Because, upon his death the empire split into three kingdoms because of the tradition that gave each son an equal share of inheritance. The western portion eventually became France and the romantic (n'est pas) language base of Latin prevailed. Indeed, even in 800AD the language between the west and the eastern part of the empire showed marked differences. So much so, that the treaty named after Virodunensis (Verdun -- see below-843AD) had to be written in two languages. The middle kingdom included the land generally between the Rhône/Saône/Meuse and the Rhine Rivers. This is also that area over which and in which most of the European Wars for 1200 years would be fought. For example look at what happened to Alsace. This was the pattern set up with the Treaty of Verdun in 843 AD.

Otto I, an old-Saxon chief, emerged as the King of East Francia by 962AD. He became the leader of the [Holy] Roman Empire {Römischen Reich}, an official designation {Rede} which remained in use, and in German hands, for another nine centuries. Toward the end of that time period, the words Reich, Reiches or Reichs were used without any other direct attributes, still signifying however, a continuation of the empire from the previous Millennium. Frankfurt became the city where the emperors of the German Reich, traditionally, were elected and crowned.

You may think of Napoléon strictly political terms, but he had a great impact on Art History, if only because his Musée du château du Louvre would become the most well-known, best endowed art museum --- tout le monde. Bonaparte celebrated the first anniversary of his coronation with a victory at Austerlitz (also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors) over a Russian and Austrian army. Some 200 Years later, la Lourve celebrated the event with a special exhibit. Napoléon commissioned the Arc de Triumph (Paris-1806) to revive the custom of the triumphal arch (one of Louis' favorite construction projects). These arches once had celebrated the victories of the Roman emperors. Napoleon, crowned emperor of France, used this to symbolically unite him with those ancient rulers. In so doing we see this neo-classical style expand throughout France and the west (in the US, first with the Federal style). Not everyone remained enamored. Beethoven will rename his Third Symphony from the Napoléon to the Eroica after Bonaparte crowns himself.

On December 14, 2004, the readers of The Wall Street Journal [back page of Section IV] were treated with a very fine article on the Louvre exhibit and a view of the painting by Jacques-Louis David about the accession of Napoléon. Note: our readers (of the Vanguard) had information about this event several weeks before. The Wall Street Journal author had a very brief discussion about France's love-hate relationship with its controversial leader. Astute visitors to this Website know that within the confines of our pages we have tried to put some of it all in broader context -- from Roman conquest to the Bastille and beyond, and what this history has meant for America, as well as France. Our pages on French (and German) cities are an endeavor in this regard. We will continue so to do, God willing and if the creeks don't rise.

December 2, 1823: President Monroe, replying to the post-napoleonic era pronouncements of the Holy Alliance (1816), proclaimed the principles known as the Monroe Doctrine, “that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintained, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by European powers.” His doctrine opposing European expansion in the Western Hemisphere ensured that the American sphere of influence in the Western hemisphere remained unquestioned. Although oft challenged, it still governs policies today -- in 2009 we are looking at Iran and South American dictators working together.

Le coup d'État du 2 décembre 1851: Le coup d'État est effectué par Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, président de la République, qui arrive par ce moyen à dissoudre l'Assemblée nationale française sans en avoir le droit constitutionnel, à devenir seul maître de la France, et rétablit le suffrage universel, précédemment aboli par l'Assemblée. Ces décisions et la prolongation de son mandat à 10 ans sont plébiscités par référendum tout comme l'établissement du Second Empire à compter du 2 décembre 1852 devenant ainsi « Napoléon III, empereur des Français » fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup_d'État_du_2_décembre_1851.

December 2, 1942: A self-sustaining nuclear device was demonstrated for the first time at the University of Chicago, on the squash court underneath the football stadium. Scientists initiated this nuclear activity at 3:45 in the afternoon local time. They removed control rods which dampened the process from the nuclear pile of uranium and graphite. Energy increased, revealing that neutrons from fissioning uranium split other atoms, which in turn split a greater number in the un-dampened field. This cascading event is known popularly as a chain reaction.

The experimental reactor was part of the Manhattan Project, the top-secret plan to develop an atomic bomb before the Axis powers in World War II. The group of scientists was led by Enrico Fermi. We now know that the Nazi's had placed nuclear research on the back burner, but at the time a race to exploit the atom for weapons seemed necessary. Some believe that the Japanese Empire was much closer to achieving this goal. Indeed, some evidence suggests that man's third atomic blast occurred not at Nagasaki, but off a small Island in what is today a restricted area of North Korea (then under Japanese control).
 
Some, at the time, worried at the time that a fission bomb would get out of control and destroy the Earth. Similar worries arose with testing of the fusion bomb. Today we worry that the particle device in Europe will do the same, by creating mini-blackholes of the kind that will not evaporate over time. Three times ....

December 2, 1956: Fidel Castro landed on the coast of Cuba. Castro brought a small armed force to overthrow dictator Fulgencio Batista. Che Guevara was one of the few who survived the disastrous landing of the rebels’ boat, the Granma. Castro was successful. On December 2nd of 1961, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declared himself a Marxist-Leninist who would lead Cuba to a Communist paradise. Soon thereafter followed the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962), where the Monroe Doctrine was tacitly employed to reduce foreign European influence (Soviet Union), as the world moved close to a nuclear exchange. Fidel Castro proved too ill to attend his delayed 80th birthday festivities and a military parade in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the landing. During 2007 his words appeared in print, along with pictures -- In Fall 2007 he is reported to have said he would outlive the current US President's term in office - he was right. Little word on him since.

December 2, 1978: Chanting anti-Shah protesters tear through Tehran. A year later, some 2,000 Libyans ransacked the US embassy at Tripoli, Libya, supporting the radical Islamic terrorist regime that took power and hostages in Iran earlier in the year. The problem remains with us today, because of the failure to deal with it then. Sort of like the energy crisis we deal with today ... ?

le 3 décembre 1973: Pioneer 10 effectue le 1er vol autour de Jupiter (en passant à 130 000 kilomètres au-dessus la planète). Pioneer 10, la sonde américaine, est la première a donner des informations sur de Jupiter. Lancée le 3 mars 1973, Pioneer 10 est devenu la plus ancienne des sondes interplanétaires américaines. Elle disparaîtra dans l'espace en janvier 1998 (Kuiper Belt). As everyone may remember, some years later it is captured by the borg collective, who retrofit it for a return voyage to earth, renaming her the Borg-Ship Vegan, and hiding the craft in a comet. It is intercepted at Ice-station Babylon by the cast of the Starship Ænterprise, where it is diverted to Doone thru a staregait manœuvre. There, it is set-up at quai-ballay to be forever revered as the mother of all secret stones. At least I think that's the story. If I have offended anyone, mea culpa. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that use, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive. — C.S. Lewis : Truth is heavy; therefore, few wear it. -- Midrash Shmuel on Avot: 4

Le 4 décembre 1290: The monument called the Eleanor Cross sits in front of London's Charing Cross Station. This is the point from which all distances traditionally are measured in the City and England. Why? Because of a cherished Queen, too soon departed from her people. More pictures of the Charing Cross bridge (by e.g. Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro) follow Here and Here.

Le 04 décembre 1290, Éléonor (ou Aliénor) de Castille décède à Herdeby (Angleterre). Elle est la sœur du roi Alphonse X de Castille et l'épouse bien-aimée du roi d'Angleterre Édouard 1er. Édouard, très affecté par la mort de sa femme, fait élever des croix et peindre son portrait partout où s'arrête le cortège funèbre en route pour l'abbaye de Westminster. Le quartier londonien de Charing Cross conserve le souvenir de l'une de ces croix (Charing viendrait de « chère reine » et serait une déformation du français en usage au XIIIe siècle à la cœur d'Angleterre).

Le 5 décembre 1360 -- Naissance du franc: Le 5 décembre 1360, à Compiègne, le roi Jean II crée une nouvelle monnaie, le «franc», de même valeur que la monnaie existante, la livre tournois. Le 5 décembre 1978: Adoption du SME (Système monétaire européen) lors du Conseil européen réunit les 4 et 5 décembre 1978 à Bruxelles. Le franc perdure comme monnaie de référence de la France jusqu'au 31 décembre 1998, dernier jour avant l'euro. http://www.herodote.net/histoire12050.htm

Le 5 décembre -- another French happening this date in 1560: At the age of ten Charles IX Valois becomes King upon the death of his brother, François II. Soon, France would be in the midst of turmoil as Protestants fought Catholics beginning in 1562 (guerres de religion). Charles' Queen-mother, Catherine de Médicis, became his Regent until his death in 1573. She would die in 1589 (at age 70), after seeing her 4th son become King in 1575 (Henri III). He, the last Valois, in turn died later in the same year at the hand of an assassin. Henri IV (of Navarre, the first Bourbon King) would follow on the throne, and he too would die by assassination (1610). France would continue its internal struggles under the reign of his son Louis XIII.

December 6, 1884: The Army Corps of Engineers topped off the Washington Monument, 101 years after George Washington approved the location. Construction had begun on the 555-foot Egyptian-style obelisk on July 4, 1848, when a private citizens' group, the Washington National Monument Society, raised enough money to go forward. The original design called for the familiar obelisk surrounded by a large building with a statue of Washington driving a Roman chariot on top. Work ceased in 1854. The money had run out. The monument stood unfinished for 22 years, looking, as Mark Twain put it, like a factory chimney with the top broken off. In 1876, during Ulysses S. Grant's administration, Congress authorized the funds to finish the memorial -- but without the ornate building and classical statue. When the final capstone and 9-inch aluminum pyramid were set in place in 1884, the completed Washington Monument became the tallest structure in the world until 1889, when the Eiffel Tower took over that role for a while. Do you know what city had the tallest monument before this date ? (Hint: Strasbourg Cathedral in France, St-Nikolai in Hamburg, Germany, Cathèdrale Notre Dame in Rouen, France, or Cologne Cathedral in Germany)

December 6, 1889: Businessman and philanthropist Robert W. Woodruff was born in Columbus, Georgia. His family moved to Atlanta when he was four. After attending (but not graduating) from Emory College at Oxford, Woodruff quickly worked his way up the corporate ladder working for White Motor Company, meanwhile investing a considerable amount of his earnings in the hometown stock of Coca-Cola. To help protect that investment, and to return to Atlanta, he took the position of President of the Coca-Cola Company in 1923 (his father was president of Trust Company Bank and leader of the group of investors that had purchased Coca-Cola from the Asa Candler family). He left an $85,000 annual salary with White Motors (worth over a $million) to take a $35,000 position (not counting stock options).

Under his leadership, the Coca-Cola Company became an international and multi-faceted organization. Even after his retirement, Woodruff stayed on to chair the company's finance committee. He was the driving force behind the soft drink firm's phenomenal success. Woodruff had an influential, yet friendly, way with people. He looked at the "big picture" while trusting his employees for the details. His motto, engraved in his office, was: There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't mind who gets the credit.

Woodruff, renowned for his personal philanthrophy and for the Woodruff Foundation established by his parents, earned the nickname, Mr. Anonymous, though his insistence on not being publicly recognized. He and the foundation have donated over $400 million to educational, artistic, civic, and medical projects. Among these were gifts to Emory University to develop its medical center and for Emory's endowment program, to the Atanta Memorial Arts Center and the Alanta Arts Alliance. Atlanta's the High Museum of Art, among many local charities benefiting from his benevolence. Woodruff died on March 7, 1985.

December 6, 1902: The US Post Office issued an 8¢ stamp featuring Martha {Dandridge} [Custis] Washington, the wife of the first US President, George. The stamp was the first U.S. definitive stamp to feature any woman. A small picture of Queen Isabella of Spain had appeared on the rarely seen $1 commemorative issued for the Columbian Exposition on January 21, 1893, and as a portrait (together with Columbus) on the more rare $4 Columbian Exposition stamp. The first president's adopted grandson, Col. George Washington Parke Custis (the grandson of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington trough her first marriage), owned and constructed the mansion, which he intended as a memorial to George Washington, on an 1,100-acre tract of land which he had inherited. Custis hired George Hadfield, an English architect who came to Washington in 1785 to help construct the U.S. Capitol, to design his estate. The Greek revival structure which Hadfield designed took Custis 16 years to complete. http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/arlhouse.htm

One could argue that the large portrait on the eight cent stamp represented a change in attitude and a growing awareness of a woman's contribution to American society. It would be only another eighteen years before the 19th Amendment to Constitution of the United States gave women the right to vote; but the women's suffrage movement was already in full bloom. After much bickering over the appropriate woman to give this premier honor, Martha Washington received the nod. The artwork and choice of color, "dark lilac", resulted in what many have deemed to be the most beautiful stamp in the definitive series of related designs. The 8¢ stamp underwent a color change, as it was issued in deeper and deeper shades until it nearly took on the "dark slate" black color originally reserved for the 13¢ stamp. The original lilac stamps are said to bring a small premium.

December 7, 374: Ambrose is consecrated bishop of Milan, Italy. The first bishop to stand up to the emperor and win (thus creating a church-state precedent that would influence the West for a millennium), he was also an influential theologian, especially regarding doctrines of the Holy Spirit. His preaching led to the conversion of Augustine of Hippo. see http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/12/07.htm Saint Ambrose was born in about 340, most likely in Trier (today in modern Germany). He was the son of a Roman nobleman who was serving in the northern provinces of the Roman Empire as Prefect of Gallia.

Enfin il a montré le lieu et le chemin, quand il a dit: Où je vais, vous le savez, et vous savez le chemin. Le lieu, c'est chez le Père; le chemin, c'est le Christ, comme il l'a dit lui-même: Moi je suis le chemin, la vérité et la vie. Nul ne vient au Père que par moi. par Saint Ambrose {7 décembre} Placez-vous sur les chemins, regardez, Et demandez quels sont les anciens sentiers, Quelle est la bonne voie; marchez-y, Et vous trouverez le repos de vos âmes ! (Jérémie 6:16)

December 7, 521: Columba, who would become an Irish monk and missionary to Scotland founding the community at Iona, is born in Donegal. Just as Patrick evangelized Ireland, Columba was a powerful Christian presence in the North of England. In about 563 AD, Saint Columba brought a Celtic-rite Christianity to Iona, as the Scots (a celtic tribe from Ireland) sought to occupy and control Caledonia. He would travel among the native Picts, distant cousins of the newcomers. Because of Columba's efforts at Iona, his follower, Saint Aidan, at the request of Oswald, Anglo-Saxon King of Northumbria, would establish the famous monastery at Lindisfarne about 80 years later. Saint Aidan would die the night that Cuthbert had his vision in AD 651. S.V.P. see generally Our article on Venerable Bede and Northumbria.

December 7, 1864: General W.P. Howard, of the Georgia State Militia, sent Governor Joseph E. Brown an eyewitness account on the extent of damage to Atlanta following Sherman's occupation of the city. Howard's report dramatically portrayed a city largely in ruins. More about a whole month of events leading up to this day can be found HERE.

December 7, 1917: The American Congress approves a war resolution act against Austria-Hungary, the remnant of the Holy Roman Empire. Another Joint Resolution, declaring that a state of war existed between the Imperial German Government and the United States, had been passed on April 6th.

December 7, 1941: America is attacked suddenly and without warning by forces of Imperial Japan at Pearl Harbor and elsewhere in Hawaii. In Atlanta, guards were doubled at the municipal waterworks and defense manufacturing plants. Major General John P. Smith, commander of the U.S. Army's Fourth Corps Area (which included Georgia), issued the following warning, that all manufacturers and industrialists in states of the Fourth Corps Area take every precaution against sabotage in their establishments. Atlanta Mayor Roy LeCraw, who was inactive as a Lt. Colonel in the National Guard while he held office, officially requested that he be placed on active duty. Georgia's congressional delegation also had strong anti-Japanese reactions.

U.S. Sen. Richard B. Russell responded to the barbarity by stating: Japan has committed national hari-kari. I cannot conceive of any member of Congress voting against a declaration of war in view of the unpardonable, unprovoked attack on us. I am utterly astounded. U.S. Rep. Carl Vinson, Chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee, added: Of course we will have to declare war. There is nothing else for Congress to do. This is a concerted action by the Axis Powers, but I am confident our Navy is ready and will render a glorious account of itself. It probably means we will be drawn into the world conflict on both oceans. Vinson turned out to be right about the conflict and declaration.

One year later -- December 7, 1942: “Hawaii is the key to our position in the Pacific and we've got to hold it. The supply line to Australia and the southwest Pacific is only slightly less important.” Establishing and holding these lines became the chief task for the Pacific Fleet in the first months after Pearl Harbor. The Gilbert and Marshall raids, offensive tactics, were part of this defensive strategy: they smelled out the enemy at a point where it threatened the our new supply lines -- possibly averting a breach those lines. Only when the lines were functioning was the Navy ready for limited offensive measures. Then the first offensive moves partly were intended to secure the Navy's southwest Pacific communication network. http://time-proxy.yaga.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,773997,00.html

December 8, 1765: Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin, was born in Westboro, Mass. Whitney grew up in New England and attended Yale. He came to South Carolina at the request of a friend who managed General Nathaniel Greene's Plantation outside Savannah, Georgia. When the promised job did not materialize in South Carolina, Whitney came to Georgia, possibly because he was infatuated with Greene's widow, Catharine. At her suggestion, Whitney set to work modifying a gin useful only for Sea Island cotton into one for use on the short-staple cotton grown in the rest of Georgia. Within six months he had completed the modifications, and left Georgia for Philadelphia to get a patent on his invention, and to manufacture them where more skilled labor was available.

The patent was issued in March of 1794 and Whitney returned to Georgia with six cotton gins ready for use. Whitney left Georgia, in order to manufacture the gins in New Haven, Connecticut -- where he remained never to return to Savannah. Others soon copied his invention, thus he received little financial reward for his work. Whitney went on to manufacture arms for the government, getting a big contract during the War of 1812. In the process of his arms manufacturing, he perfected the concept of interchangeable parts, ultimately as important as his development of the cotton gin. Whitney did not marry until the age of fifty-four, after Catharine Greene had died. His health began to decline in 1820. He died in New Haven January 8, 1825. On October 7, 1940, the U.S. Post Office issued an Eli Whitney commemorative stamp.

December 8, 1941: The President asks for and receives a Declaration of War from Congress. Within an hour of President Roosevelt's signing the Joint Resolution declaring war on Japan, Governor Eugene Talmadge created a Citizens' Defense Committee to coordinate internal war efforts in Georgia. The President would speak to the Nation on the 9th, telling it to prepare for a protracted conflict. Germany soon declares war on the United States (December 11th). America responds in kind.

Japanese General Yamashita began his attack against the British army at Singapore. General Tomoyuki Yamashita earned the name “Tiger of Malaya” for his capture of Singapore and the whole Malay Peninsula from the British, who had a superior number of troops. Yamashita’s forces landed on the northern Malay Peninsula and southern Thailand on December 8, 1941, and moved rapidly southward toward Singapore, which surrendered on February 15, 1942. The peninsula and Singapore remained under Japanese control throughout for the next three and one-half years. Later in the war, while trying to keep control of the Philippine Islands upon General MacArthur‘s return, Yamashita's command ruthlessly slaughtered more than 100,000 local citizens in Manila. He was later tried and executed for his war crimes.

le 9 décembre 1977 -- Naissance du RER: La première ligne du Réseau Express Régional (RER), la ligne A, est inaugurée. L'idée d'aménager le RER en Île-de-France date de 1965 avec le plan Delouvrier. Quelques années plus tard les lignes B, C et D viendront compléter le réseau ferré. Today the lastest effort is the ring of tramways on the Paris city limits. The third tram-train line went into service in December 2006 -- Ligne T3-Maréchaux Sud. T3 was unfinished on its eastern side. Beginning in 2010, RATP officials will correct this oversight.

December 9, 2005 -- At home in Narnia: Did you know, for instance, that its author [C.S. ("Jack") Lewis] died the same day as US President Jack Kennedy? -- that Lewis was a close friend of Tolkein? The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe premiered on Friday the 9th of December at a US theatre near you, and on boxing day in Australia. Initial $$ figures for the first weekend box office were very good at over $65 million (US). As of December 27th the movie was holding its own at Number 2 against new releases and against Jackson's remake of a hollywood classic. The second movie, Chronicles of Narnia did not do so well.

Douglas Gresham (Jack's stepson) the co-producer of the movie version of the popular series, of which The Lion, etc. is just the first book in the series, states: The myths of Narnia are partly those of the great man-made religions ... Exposure to man's myths will make young viewers ask questions about themselves - and only later will the seed of faith take root.

Gresham and his wife, Merrie, now live in a big house in Ireland, where they run a Christian ministry that specialises in healing the trauma caused by abortion, which they believe is infanticide inspired by Satan. Indeed, critics have accused him of becoming obsessed with the power of the devil. Can you blame me, growing up in the house where The Screwtape Letters were written ? Gresham says. from Theage.com.au

One persistent theme in the Narnia stories is that of children without parents. That comes out of the author's own experience. Clive Staples Lewis -- he preferred to be called Jack -- was born in 1898 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the son of lawyer Albert Lewis and his wife, Flora Hamilton, a well-educated descendant of Anglican Church officials. His idyllic childhood ended painfully when Lewis' mother died of cancer in 1908. In World War I, Lewis was wounded at the front by an English shell that fell short of its mark.

Lewis also drew criticism for his belief in truth with a capital T. "Like Tolkien, Lewis had a very clear moral vision," Ritchie says, and that's part of his popularity now. More specifically, "Lewis was very concerned about rising political and social controls -- the temptation toward totalitarian controls that comes from the most charitable impulses. He believed (moral) relativism was creeping into the West and would destroy it. It would destroy the idea of humanity, and human beings would be willing [at that point] to do anything to each other. That belief comes out in the Chronicles' The Last Battle, the apocalyptic end of Narnia." http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051215/ENT05/512150304/1032/ENT --- Sorry if some links are now dead.

« Le monde de Narnia » est sorti en France le 21 décembre. Aux États-Unis et en Angleterre, Narnia a provoqué un vaste débat dans les milieux intellectuels. En France, où les livres de C.S. Lewis sont moins connus, la majeure partie de la presse chrétienne aborde favorablement l’aspect spirituel de ce film et des éditeurs religieux font paraître des ouvrages qui s’intéressent aux interprétations chrétiennes de l’œuvre de Lewis. http://www.temoignagechretien.fr/journal/article.php?num=3184&categ=Croire Durée: 2h12

December 9-10, 1991: At the summit conference in Maastricht it is decided to move the European Community toward a political and currency union. The €uro is the result. In 2007 the € gained enormous value (over 40%) as the dollar weakened. For the €uropeans, oil prices had hardly changed, but of course they have always been taxed heavily on gasoline. Gold, copper and other commodities seem cheap, too. In 2008, the dollar regained some strength, and oil decreased until the economic panic (aka banking crisis) began at the end of summer.

December 10, 1812: Governor Mitchell approved changing the name of Randolph County to Jasper County. The action came in response to Virginia congressman John Randolph's opposition to the War of 1812 (although eventually he was forgiven and in 1828 would be recognized by having another new Georgia county named in his honor). Jasper County was named for Revolutionary War hero Sgt. William Jasper, who during the siege of Savannah was wounded mortally while retrieving his regiment's flag from the British. [See statute of Jasper]

December 10, 1934: Developer Cecil Burke Day was born in Brooklet, Georgia (Bulloch County). A 1958 Georgia Tech graduate, Day became an immediate success in real estate, working his way up to firm vice-president and commercial sales manager within four years. In October 1962, he opened his own business -- Day Realty Associates. By 1968, his company had expanded to include income properties, commercial brokerage, land and property management and motel site selection. While touring New England in 1968, Day conceived the idea of convenient and moderately priced hotels for travelers. Upon returning to Georgia, he launched Days Inns of America, Inc. in March 1970. The following month the first Days Inn (originally designated as 8 Days Inn in recognition of the original $8 basic rate) opened in Savannah, Ga. Day was a devout Baptist who regularly tithed ten percent of his considerable earnings to his church, and had a Gideon Bible placed in each of his hotel rooms. He died in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 15, 1978.
 
le 10 décembre 1948: L'Organisation des Nations Unies adopte la Déclaration universelle des droits de l’homme. Inspirée par la Déclaration des droits de l’homme et du citoyen de 1789, ce texte a été essentiellement rédigé par René Cassin et John Peters Humphrey. Il énonce les droits fondamentaux de tous les individus, notamment celui de l’égalité à la naissance. La valeur de ce texte est avant tout symbolique, aucune institution n’étant en mesure de le faire appliquer. De Gaulle élu président de la République (1958) Le prix Nobel de la paix est décerné à Mère Thérésa pour son action en faveur des déshérités en Inde (1979). http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/index.shtml

December 11, 1753: A young Colonel in the Virginia Militia, serving as a representative of the British governor, arrives at newly built Fort Le Bœuf. His mission is to counter the French presence in an area contested by both European powers. He must demand French withdrawal. Although only 12 miles from Lake Erie, the stockade lay along French Creek, a tributary of the Allegheny River (and so the Ohio). Captain Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre would ignore the demand to leave. Washington's exploits in the west will eventually ignite a fourth war among competing native tribes and those who claim land rights by virtue of discovery (May 28, 1754). Legardeur will die in the war that ensued (1755), while, in about 30 years, these events would lead to independence for the Colony and for a new nation. George Washington had come of age in a new world. Interestingly, Canada would achieve full independence from Great Britain on this day in 1931. Also on this day in 1948, at St. John's, Newfoundland, a representative signed the Confederation agreement as Newfoundland enters Canada (10th province).
 
December 11, 1972: Challenger, the Lunar Landing Module for the Apollo 17 Mission, landed on the Moon's surface. It was the last known time that men were said to have visited the Moon. The last two men to walk on its surface, Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan, conducted the longest lunar exploration of the Apollo program (75 hours), driving the lunar rover about 36 kilometers (22 miles) in all, ranging as far out as 7.37 kilometers (4.5 miles) from the lunar module. Again the issue is EST, GMT (Universal) or some other time zone !!!

December 12, 1531 -- A Feast Day: The place, called Guadalupe Hidalgo since 1822, is just to the northeast of present day Mexico City. Since 1532, pilgrimages have been made to this shrine in the calpulli or ward of Tlayacac in Cuauhtitlan. Nahua tribesmen founded the site in 1168. The Aztecs (Axayacatl) took over in 1467. The place sits 20 kilometres (14 miles) north of Tenochtitlan (once at the center of today's Mexico City). Just a decade earlier at Tlatelolco, the Aztec center and home village of Juan Diego, Spain had consumated its conquest with one final battle.

On December 9, 1531, Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, an Aztec farmer who newly had converted to Christianity, walked to a morning Mass, passing by the hill known as Tepeyac, south of his village (Tlatelolco). Tepeyac had for centuries been significant because it had a memorial to the goddess Tonantzin (her Aztec name), no doubt destroyed after the Spanish conquest. Tonantzin, associated with the snake goddess Coatlique, once had been honored, especially during winter solstice celebrations. Tonantzin, dressed in white and covered in feathers and seashells, ceremonially was killed to reflect the apparent death of the sun (shortening of days). The goddess was also known by the name of Ilamatecuhtli (‘a noble old woman’) and Cozcamiauh (‘a necklace of maize flowers’). It has been suggested that the name Guadalupe is actually a corruption of a Nahuatl name, Coatlaxopeuh. OK, I know reading and remembering all these names detracts from the flow of information; but many of these familiar spirits seem so similar.

On the 9th, Our Lady of Guadalupe first appeared to Juan Diego (and others), performing several miracles, inter alia, an unexplained healing; the appearing of a miraculous Rose Garden (Catholic symbol of Christ and his mother Mary); and the greatest sign of all: a portrait of the Lady that appears on the coarse fabric of Juan Diego's overcoat on the 12th. Before too long, a shrine is built in Mary’s honor at this once pagan place. http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/mary0003.htm Juan Diego becomes the first new-world / Mexican Saint. The 12th has become one of Mexico's most important Holy Days.

Hazel Spalding from Springfield has no doubt that a place may hold special powers. “I had my rosary in my hand and it turned gold,” she said. “I smelled roses but there was no rose bush.” And nowadays, it is quite peaceful in Valley Hill. More HERE
 
December 12, 1806: Stand Watie (photo) was born in the Cherokee Nation in northwest Georgia near present-day Rome. He became a successful planter, but he incurred the wrath of many of his fellow Cherokees. Watie signed the Treaty of New Echota. It forced the Cherokees to give up the tribal lands in Georgia and move west into what was named the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). Whether or not one considers his actions to be treachery, they stood in sharp contrast to those of Chief Ross, his senior by 16 years.

In 1861, Watie persuaded many Cherokees to join him in siding with the Confederacy. He raised the Cherokee Mounted Rifles. Watie served as its colonel. In 1864, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. In June 1865, Gen. Watie became the last Confederate general to surrender his command.

The Southern Cherokee delegation to Washington in 1866 was sent to negotiate a new treaty with the United States at the end of the American Civil War. The delegates: John Rollin Ridge (son of John Ridge), Saladin Watie (son of Stand Watie), Richard Fields, Elias C. Boudinot (son of Elias Boudinot, i.e. Buck Oowatie), William Penn Adair, Stand Watie and Joseph A. Scales. In many respects, the North treated the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, whose members sided with the South, far worse than the the cessasionist southern states. Many of the tribe would come to resent Waite because of the broken promises of the Union north.

Watie died on Sept. 9, 1871 in Delaware City, Oklahoma. On June 29, 1995, the U.S. Postal Service issued a Stand Watie commemorative stamp.

December 12, 1901: Italian scientist and engineer Guglielmo Marconi received the first long-distance (2,232 miles) radio-frequency transmission in St. John's, Newfoundland (Canada). Electrical engineer John Ambrose Fleming transmitted the Morse code signal for "S" from across the Atlantic Ocean in England, and Marconi heard ...three short clicks... through the static on the radio speaker (I'm thinking this was in a single-ear headphone). Marconi had begun experimenting with radio-telegraphy around 1895, looking at how messages could be transmitted over much greater distances using grounded antennæ on the radio transmitter and receiver. A few years after this successful transatlantic transmission, Marconi opened the first commercial wireless (telegraph) service. By the way, Italo Marconi received a patent for inventing the ice cream cone in NJ on December 13, 1903. Which invention do you remember as best ?

Marconi used a Tesla oscillator to transmit the signals across the English Channel and later the pond. Telsa (a naturalized US Citizen) had discovered the concept over 5 years before. Tesla filed his own basic radio patent applications in 1897, based on work begun as early as 1893. http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_whoradio.html In 1906 Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian, broadcast the first 2-way voice communication across the ocean. This culminated with Fessenden's first-ever radio broadcast from Brant Rock, Massachusetts (December 24 1906). Ships at sea heard this broadcast that included Fessenden playing the hymn O Holy Night on the violin and reading a passage from his Bible. http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Reginald:Fessenden.htm

Marconi inaugurated the first radio message (in real time -- analog) on January 18, 1903 (January 19th GMT). On that date, from the well-grounded Cape Cod cliffs overlooking the Atlantic, Marconi used a powerful (35 kW) rotary spark-gap transmitter, coupled to a massive antenna system in order to transmit a 54-word greeting from US President Theodore Roosevelt to Great Britain's King Edward VII. The monarch promptly acknowledged receipt of the message via land line and undersea cable, literally igniting the spark of a global communication network. http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2002/12/23/1/?nc=1

December 13, 1862: Southern General Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb of Georgia died in the bloody Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, a Confederate victory (Lee {Army of Northern Virginia} vs Burnside {Army of the Potomac}). Cobb, born April 10, 1823, in Jefferson County GA, moved to Athens when he was young. Cobb attended the University of Georgia, graduating at the top of his class. He was admitted to the Bar of the State of Georgia (Law) in 1842. He filled the position of reporter for the Georgia Supreme Court and published a number of legal works, most notably a Digest of Georgia Laws (1851). Known for his religious zeal as a revivalist, Cobb brought the same intensity of spirit to his demand for better schools -- which he believed should not only educate, but shape the morals of young men and women. Accordingly, he helped establish the Lucy Cobb Institute, named for his late daughter, in 1859. Cobb also established the Lumpkin Law School at the University of Georgia that same year.

Cobb at first was a Unionist in his political sentiments; but, when Lincoln was elected and secession form the Union became inevitable, he joined other Southerners. On November 12, 1860, he spoke before the Georgia legislature calling for secession. Elected to the Provincial Congress of the Confederate States of America, he served on the judiciary and printing committees, and the committee which drafted the Confederate Constitution, the original draft of which is thought to be in his handwriting. He soon raised his own regiment of troops - the Georgia Brigade - and as its colonel led them into battle at Seven Days, Second Manassas, and the Sharpsburg campaign. In October of 1862 he took command of Cobb's Brigade (formerly led by his brother Howell Cobb) and was promoted to brigadier general. He was killed with many of his men while defending a wall at Fredericksburg. Cobb is buried in the Oconee Hills Cemetery in Athens GA. http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/tdgh-dec/dec13.htm

Today, just on the west side of I-95 and due west of Fredricksburg, is Germanna Road. It goes past the Germanna Colony visitors center, museum and memorial (southside of road, just before the Rapidan River bridge). This is the place where German immigrants came to Virginia in the early 18th century, to a place that was on the frontier. The Germanna property was on the edge of the Battle of the Wilderness, 5 miles west of Chancellorsville, close to Spottsylvania -- I'm sure I missed some, too. The May 5-6, 1864 Battle of the Wilderness began a six week campaign that began the bloodiest campaign in American History. On May 8, 1864 the Union army seized initiative by moving from Wilderness to Spotsylvania Court House. That shift changed the course of the war as the armies began the road to Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House. Did You Know? Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park is the second largest military park in the world. Chickamauga & Chattanooga is the largest and oldest.

Le 13 décembre 1937 -- « viol de Nankin »: les Japonais s'emparent de Nankin, capitale provisoire de la République chinoise, gouvernée par Tchang Kaï-chek. La chute de la ville est suivie par de gigantesques massacres de civils (200.000 à 300.000 victimes) ... http://www.herodote.net/histoire12131.htm It was this extreme act of violence against the Chinese that convinced the United States to impose real economic sanctions against the Japanese empire; however, short of steel and low on fuel, Japan turned more agressive. It began to plan its attack on the United States, Britain and the other European powers present in the Pacific. As you may remember, Japan's actions in Korea were no less horrendous, and it was not until October 2006, when faced by the nuclear threat of a common enemy, that South Korean could begin to put that past behind them.

December 13, 2002: The European Union (EU) originally was created by six founding states in 1958; today there are 25. On this day in 2002, the EU announced that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia would become members from May 1, 2004. This is the latest and largest class of new members to date. Further enlargement takes place on January 1, 2007, with the proposed addition of Romania and Bulgaria. Negotiations are also underway with other states, including Turkey. On July 1, 2007, the Caribbean islands of Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius became part of the Netherlands as the Kingdom Islands, and thereby also became part of the European Union. This mini-enlargement represented the first enlargement that happens entirely outside the European continent. In contrast is Greenland; after receiving homerule (1981), it removed itself from the EU (1985).

Turkey's prime minister accused (December 12, 2006) the European Union of treating Turkey unfairly after the EU ministers agreed to interrupt the Ankara government's membership application. The EU foreign ministers have frozen eight (8) of the thirty-five (35) policy areas over which the application is considered. This will penalize Turkey for failing its treaty obligations -- to open its ports and airports to traffic from the Greek area of Cyprus, one of the 10 new members that joined the EU in 2004. Turkey has so far refused to open Cypriot trade because the EU will not ease the economic isolation of Turkish Cypriots, whole control the north. Greek Cypriots in 2004 rejected a UN plan to reunify the island, divided since 1974, in a popular referendum. http://euobserver.com/9/23078

December 14th -- France in the News: Henri de Navarre, qui deviendra roi de France sous le nom d'Henri IV, naît à Pau le 14 décembre 1553. L'économiste Pierre Dupont de Nemours est né à Paris le 14 décembre 1735. Chassé par la Révolution, il fonde aux États-Unis une entreprise qui deviendra la première société de chimie du monde et sera notamment à l'origine de l'invention du nylon. Décès: 14 décembre 1799, à Mount Vernon (Virginie, États-Unis), Georges Washington. C'est sa fête (14 décembre): Odile Aveugle de naissance, Odile est abandonnée par le duc d'Alsace, son père. Baptisée à 12 ans, elle recouvre la vue et rentre en grâce auprès de sa famille. Le château familial de Hohenbourg devient un monastère dont Odile est l'abbesse. C'est là qu'elle meurt, en 720, sur les pentes du mont qui porte depuis lors son nom. Sainte Odile est la patronne de l'Alsace. The lègende of the Mont Sainte-Odile.
 
On this date in 1939, Clark [Rhet Butler] Gable, director Victor Fleming and many motion picture executives flew into the City of Atlanta for the world premier of Gone With the Wind. Late that afternoon, the film's stars rode in a parade through the city centre. That evening, the Junior League of Atlanta held a gala ball (soirée). Among those present, Martin Luther King, who, as part of the Ebenezer Baptist Church choir, participated in the singing of spirituals. The National Broadcasting System conveyed the introductions of stars and officials to a nationwide radio audience. Filming of the production had begun on December 10, 1938.

December 15, 37: Born today -- Nero Claudius Augustus Germanicus (Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus), 5th and last Julian emperor of Rome (54-68 A.D.), the adopted son of his predecessor, Claudius -- Cæsar Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus. Claudius married (4th) Julia Agrippina (Agrippina Minor) daughter of Germanicus and Vipsania Agrippina (Agrippina the Elder) in 49. Julia died in 59 A.D. (at age 45), beside the Gulf of Cumæ (Bay of Naples), executed by order of her son, Nero, after an earlier attempt on her life had failed. She probably poisoned Claudius {'shrooms} to promote her son. Claudius, the nephew of Tiberius and grandson of the wife of Augustus, had been made emperor after the mad ruler Caligula.

Claudius himself was born in Lugdunum. Julius Cæsar founded that town, nearby a native village, at the confluence of the Rhône and Saône Rivers, when he sudued the Gaulois natives. Today, Lyon encompasses these sites and much more. Claudius ruled from 41-54 AD. He built many buildings and public works, for example the harbor at Ostia. Modern Picture of Ostia RuinsHe was interested in the judicial system and spent much of his time judging trials. He started the successful conquest of Britain. Two other attempts by Julius Cæsar and Caligula had ended without success. The expense and the distance from the empire's center weighed heavily on his Roman campaign. The cost to finish the job and civilise Britain, as well as Nero's moral and fiscal excesses, led to a revolution, an interregnum of chaos and then re-established control. Claudius always wanted to revive the Roman Republic, but never did; Nero assured it never would return.

Died December 15, 520: Saint MESMIN (Maximin) was a native of Verdun (Virodunensis). A priest named Euspicius, Mesmin's uncle, brought about a reconciliation between the first French monarch Clovis and Verdun, after the city had revolted. Clovis thereafter persuaded Euspicius to take up residence at the King's court, then in Orléans. Maximin followed and was ordained a deacon by the Bishop of Orléans. Later he became a priest. A site about two leagues from Verdun was given by Clovis to Euspicius for a monastery. Euspicius, together with Maximin, built a large monastery there. Euspicius and then Maximin led the group as their abbot. from http://magnificat.ca/cal/engl/12-15.htm

Born this day in 1657: Michel-Richard Delalande, chorister at Église St Germain-l'Auxerrois in Paris, has won a reputation as an important organist and harpsichordist of the chamber music era. He was appointed court composer, gradually assuming fuller responsibilities. He enjoyed a successful and prosperous career in the service of Louis XIV and was also honoured by Louis' successor. Delalande contributed significantly to the French grands motets, compositions for solo voice, chorus and instrumental ensemble, which formed an important element in the music that was played in the royal chapel at Versailles. see http://www.france.diplomatie.fr/ culture/galerie_composit/delaland.html

The Église St. Germain-l'Auxerrois lies at the end of Pont du Neuf on the Right Bank at 2, Place du Louvre, the eastern end of the massive Louvre complex and the grand façade (finished 1667) The 183 meter long eastern façade was the first major work of the Baroque-Classical movement. http://www.parisbestlodge.com/ SaintGermainlAuxerrois.html St. Germain L'Auxerrois of Paris, one assumes, is the same as St. Germain l'Auerois, which served as the King's Royal Church -- when la Louvre was just a Royal Palace (château) (before Versailles was constructed). The Colonnade of the eastern façade of the Louvre was designed by Claude Perrault, after a famous Italian designer of royal places was wooed, hired then let go.

There has been a church on this site since the 6th century. The oldest part of the current church building is the 12th century belfry, which rang out August 24, 1572, when some 3,000 Hugenots were massacred in this neighborhood. The tower bells signaled the supporters of Catherine de Médicis, Marguerite de Guise, Charles IX, and the future Henri III to launch a slaughter of innocents (including Admiral Gaspard de Chastillon, Count de Coligny), who had been invited to celebrate the marriage of Henri de Navarre to Marguerite de Valois. Bordelon Family Site The church structure, of varied architectural styles, was saved by Louis-Philippe and Chateaubriand, and restored by Balthard and Lassus (1838-1855). Today the inside remains very richly furnished.

December 15, 1703: John Martin Boltzius was born at Forst on the Elbe, Lower Lusatia, in what is now Germany. CLICK HERE to learn why this is important to Georgia. Hint: He knew Oglethorpe. Reverend Boltzius remained the spiritual and secular leader of Ebenezer until his death on November 19, 1765.
 
Happy Birthday Bill of Rights -- December 15, 1791: The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution -- the Bill of Rights -- went into effect following ratification by Virginia. Use this link to learn more. The historic right to a jury trial under English Common Law, which had been put into question with the penalties under The Stamp Act of 1765, was imbedded into our Constitution by this Bill of Rights; although, subject to interpretation ever since by the courts. On the same day, the first American law school was created, established at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. A year later to the day, the first life insurance policy was issued in the USA out of Philadelphia. Lawsuits followed. see generally http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/dec15.html As a related aside, the British had adopted their Bill of Rights after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 on December 16, 1689.

On this date in 1818: Governor William Rabun signed legislation creating a County from lands ceded by the Treaty of Cherokee Agency (1817) and ceded by the Treaty of Creek Agency (1818). The county was named for a Georgia signor of the Declaration of Independence, Button Gwinnett. Button Gwinnett was one of three Georgia signers of the Declaration of Independence. He served in Georgia's colonial legislature, in the Second Continental Congress, and as the president of Georgia's Revolutionary Council of Safety. from the http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2543

Born this day in 1832, Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, in Djion France. A man who could cut the mustard, Eiffel 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, constructed (1887-89) on the Champs-de-Mars, at a cost of about $1 million for the Parisian World Exhibition of 1889. 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 a Panama Canal.

December 15, 1836: Born this day, {Jean-Luc} Édmond Picard, French/Belgian lawyer/writer, (La forge Roussel (Bruxelles, 1881); Pro arte (Bruxelles, 1886); Vie simple (Bruxelles, 1893); Imogène (Bruxelles, 1895); Discours sur le renouveau au théâtre (Bruxelles, 1897); Comment on devient socialiste (Bruxelles, 1895); Iericho (Bruxelles, 1902)). Also, after a bit of time travel, this second generation captain of the Starship Enterprise authored Le guide des vintners du vins fin aujourd'hui (Bruxelles, 2406) and its sequal Un jeu fin est toujours bon (released after his passing) -- just testing to see if you're reading all of this -- A detailed biography may be found here.

On December 15, 1916: Allied forces suffered a phyric victory against Germany at the end of the 10 month Battle of Verdun during the Great War (World War I). There were losses of 364,000 Allied and 338,000 German soldiers during the event. Another year of death was ahead. Ironically, the Treaty of Verdun (843), arguably was the ultimate contributor to this conflict. see http://LaRocheUSA.org/Deutsch1.htm

One day and 28 years later, on December 16th, the Battle of the Bulge began, almost in the same area. This was the final major German counter-offensive in World War II. Initially, the German forces entered into Allied territory in the Ardennes Forest on a 75-mile front, a time when foggy, rainy weather prevailed. The Allies, taken by surprise, recovered and fully repulsed the offensive by January 1945.

December 15, 1939: The world premier of Gone With the Wind was held in Atlanta at the Loews Grand Theatre [see photo]. The mayor had schools closed and gave city employees the day off. By 6 p.m., crowds surged when Clark Gable, Vivian Leigh and the film's other stars arrived. The greatest hurrah of the evening, however, was reserved for the novel's diminutive writer, Margaret Mitchell (I wrote about the people who had gumption and the people who didn't). The film won Best Picture of 1939, one of several Oscars Gone with the Wind received that year.

And, what about the Loews Grand? The Georgia-Pacific building, across from the main Fulton County Public Library, rests on the site of the former Grand Theatre. The moviehouse was a masterpiece with a rich history. It could not be demolished; it was an historic landmark. When it burned down, some may have thought the circumstances 2B2 mysterious. Lost by fire, now it too ... gone with the wind.
 
December 16, 1538: King François I ordered a renewed pursuit of Protestants. A day later, King Henry VIII, who had declared himself supreme head of the English church, was excommunicated by Pope Paul III.

December 16, 1773: Sons of Liberty boarded a British merchant ship this night for tea. Disguised as natives, the men in an act of protest over a 3-penny per pound tax, stole aboard a vessel belonging to the British East India Company, in order to dump tea over the rail. Some 342 chests of British tea went into the Boston Harbor in what became known as the Boston Tea Party. The British East India Company was chartered by Queen Elizabeth I in 1600 to carry on trade in the East Indies in competition with the Dutch, and had been given the exclusive right to import Tea into the colony. The tax was to be used to support the Company, which had fallen on hard times. Outraged at the uncivilized behavior and open rebellion against English law, the government in turn sought to punish the Colony, making matters worse. In Philadelphia, a more civilized city at the time, the ships were asked to leave on December 26th.

December 17, 1777: The Sovereign French Government agrees in principle to recognize a new Nation on this day, a breakaway group of 13 colonies. In doing so, the act would set in motion yet another war with England. The great expense would lead to a French Révolution in less than a dozen years. This day in 1777 was a Wednesday, as it is in 2008. The ordeal of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, began on this dark day, as the Continental Army led by General Washington sets up winter quarters. The actual treaty of recognition and assistance was signed February 6, 1778.

December 17, 1903: In Kitty Hawk, North Carolina -- need one say more ??? They were right, flight was possible, and on this day the first man flew 12 seconds. Two brothers, the sons of a Dayton, Ohio bishop (Church of the United Brethren) became well-known in history. Orville Wright made the first powered, controlled and sustained flight. Lying prone at the plane's controls, he flew a distance of 120 feet in 12 seconds. Wilbur ran beside the wing tip (to keep the wing from dragging in the sand) until the craft was airborne. Four sustained flights were made on this day. The 4th flight lasted fifty-nine seconds. The momentous events of that day received little press attention, because the reticent Wright brothers feared their ideas would be stolen by rival aviators. It was not until 1908, after making many refinements to their flying machine, that the Wrights embarked on the series of public demonstrations that finally earned them some worldwide acclaim. For the French view: http://www.herodote.net/histoire12171.htm Oddly enough, on this day in 1969, the U.S. Air Force closed its Project Blue Book investigations by finding no evidence of extraterrestrial spaceships, even though there had been literally thousands of UFO sightings, many remaining unresolved.

Vsevolod Mikhailovich Abramovich (August 11, 1890-April 24, 1913), a pioneer aviator of Russian birth, was born in Odessa. He studied at the Charlottenburg technical college and in 1911 he earned a pilot's license. He then worked for the Wright Brothers' German subsidiary, Flugmaschinen Wright, in Johannisthal, and became the chief test pilot. In 1912, Abramovich built his own aircraft, now known as the Abramovich Flyer, based on what he had learned at the Wright factory, and flew it to St Petersburg to participate in a military aircraft competition, sponsored by the Czar (Imperial Russian Air Force). The same year, he set a world altitude record of 2,100 m (6,888 ft) and an endurance record for carrying four passengers for 46 minutes 57 seconds. He was killed well before the Great War, while instructing a student pilot. Interestingly, Vsevolod Mikhailovich Abramovich was a contemporary of Sikorsky. In late 1916, Sikorsky completed a unique four-engine bomber-biplane called Alexander Nevsky, but it was never put into production. Following the October Revolution, Sikorsky emigrated to the United States of America in 1919.

December 17, 1976: WTCG-TV, Atlanta, Georgia, owned by Ted Turner, changed call letters to WTBS (Turner Broadcasting System), and was uplinked to satellite. It became the first commercial TV station available to the entire United States. WTBS premiered on four cable systems, covering 24,000 homes. Coverage grew in time. Turner has revived this tradition with a Peachtree monicur on a cable channel. The TBS family of channels were sold some years back, and WPCH is its offering by a new call-sign, standing for Peachtree TV.

December 17, 2005: Today's Saturday edition of The Wall Street Journal, page P14 (third section) has a short piece under "Leisure and Arts" about a painting by Piero della Francesca. The Resurrection (circa 1450-1463) is Fresco (225 x 200 cm) at the Pinacoteca Comunale in Sansepolcro, Italy. Louis Auchincloss, the by-line contributor, is awestruck by it, as is rencontre, Kenneth Clark. Both find mystery in it. And, I suppose there is in this visual representation something of the eternal mystery of the Death and Resurrection, which as a matter of course the painter has tried to capture. This is not Piero della Francesca's only treatment of the topic, however, and I would turn to these other works in part to answer the questions posed by this Fresco in Sansepolcro. In particular, I am thinking of the work where Christ stands in front of the yawning Gates of Hell, before he descends. His expression in The Resurrection is more understandable after that experience. Look also to the standard that he carries in his right hand. You have seen it before.

One of the great artists of the early Italian Renaissance, Piero della Francesca painted religious works that are marked by their simple serenity and clarity. He was also interested in geometry and mathematics, and was known for his contributions in these fields. Piero was skilled in perspective, and his paintings are also known for the care with which he rendered the landscapes that provide the backgrounds for his figures. Throughout his life he maintained his ties with Sansepolcro, while travelling widely. http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/piero/

December 18, 1913: Today marks the birth of Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm in Lübeck, Germany. He had just started his university studies when, in 1933, the National Socialists (Nazis) seized power. As a Social Democrat, Frahm had to flee. It was then that he took a new name, which would mark him in history. He spent the duration of World War II in Norway and Sweden. He returned to Germany at the end of the conflict. This man was elected to the new West German parliament in 1949. In 1957, he became the mayor of West Berlin (1957-66). While he was mayor, the Berlin Wall was built. He became the foreign minister and vice-chancellor in the Grand Coalition of 1966. In 1969, he became the chancellor for the Federal German Republic. As chancellor he pursued the Ostpolitik, and one might say, laid the foundation for the eventual reunification of the two Germanys. He resigned as chancellor in 1974 when he learned that a close aid, Gunther Guillaume, had been functioning as a spy for the East German government. Willy Brandt won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1971. The Wall came down in November 1989.

Le 19 décembre 1154: Henri Plantagenêt devient roi d'Angleterre -- Henri d'Anjou (21 ans) et sa femme, Aliénor d'Aquitaine (32 ans) ceignent la couronne d'Angleterre le 19 décembre 1154. Leur couronnement à Westminster est le résultat d'un incroyable concours de circonstances. http://www.herodote.net/histoire12190.htm Henry II, King of England turns out to be a direct descendant of the Ealhmund (First King of England), Odin of Æsgard, Thor, King Priam of Troy, Abraham (Genesis fame) and, of course, Adam (ex-Eden). More HERE

December 20, 1046: Under Henry III the medieval Holy Roman Empire probably attained its greatest power and solidity. By the Synod at Sutri in Italy (and Rome), German King Henry III dismissed Pope Gregory VI, Benedictus IX & Silvester III (3 rival claimants) and named Bishop Suidger of Bamberg as Pope Clemens II (the only Pope buried north of the Alps and the first of four German Popes Henry would select, including his cousin Leo IX, né Buno d'Eguisheim-Dagsbourg). Want to know the broader context of this decision ? GO HERE

December 20, 1576: Edmund Grindal, Archbishop of Canterbury, declined to enforce certain orders of Queen Elizabeth I as head of the Church in England. In part, she wanted him to instruct preachers throughout England to stop speaking so much during services. Elizabeth, Defender of the Faith by the Grace of God, felt three or four sermons per year were sufficient. Archbishop Grindal's refusal earned him house arrest and a long talking to.

According to John Knox, Grindal distinguished himself from most of the Court preachers in 1553. He denounced the worldliness of courtiers and foretold the evils that would follow the King's death. For this reason, Grindal at that time did not become a Bishop. Moreover, he did not consider himself bound to await those evils in England. On the accession of Queen Mary, he made his way to Strasbourg. From there he proceeded to Frankfurt, where he tried to settle the disputes between those who regarded the 1552 Book of Common Prayer as the perfection of reform, and those who wanted additional simplification. He returned to England in January 1559, after Elizabeth had come to the throne, was appointed to the committee to revise the liturgy, and was one of the Protestant representatives at the Westminster conference. http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Bios/EdmundGrindal.htm

December 20, 1606: The Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery set sail from London. Their destination was America. Captain Christopher Newport commanded the three tiny ships for the royally chartered Virginia Company. On April 26, 1607, after just over four months aboard the confines of these three small ships, 104 winter-weary English colonists laid eyes upon the shores of Virginia. They landed first at Cape Henry, later founding Jamestowne, Virginia, the first permanent and successful English settlement in America. Interestingly, the second Cape Henry Lighthouse was commissioned into service on December 15, 1881.

December 20, 1803: The Stars and Stripes was raised over New Orleans as the United States took formal possession of the territory of Louisiana, an area of nearly 900 thousand square miles, nearly doubling the size of a new nation, not yet 20 years old. The territory had been purchased from Napoléon's France for approximately $15 million. Only a few years earlier, the region, which had for a while belonged to Spain, was secretly transferred back to France. President Jefferson was trying to assure the Nation's navigation rights on the Mississippi when he authorized the purchase without first consulting Congress. Years 2004-06 mark the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition into the uncharted regions of this purchase, and beyond to the Pacific. Clark was already at Cahokia (getting prepared) on this date in 1803.

December 21, 1620 -- Why all the fuss: According to information released by the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, tourists spent $384 million in Plymouth County in 2004. Not satisfied that all of the relevant market is being captured, city fathers have tried several ways to lure would-be history buffs to pull off the main highway to visit the olde country, before they move on to spend big bucks at the Cape of Cod. Highway signs will be installed on Route 3 encouraging drivers to tune to the radio (1620 AM Dial) in order to discover see and do in Plymouth. The station's programming will be recorded and broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The radio station, funded through a state grant, will be great for Plymouth's tourism industry, according to Paul Cripps, executive director of the Plymouth County Development Council Convention & Visitors Bureau. http://www.boston.com/news/ One might say that Plymouth Rock was the first tourist attraction in the United States, being the first place the Pilgrims stepped on December 21, 1620. Although this date and place has been much discredited (There are no contemporary references to the Pilgrims' landing on a rock at Plymouth) and disclaimed (We didn't land on Plymouth Rock; Plymouth Rock landed on us, ...), the place remains a cultural icon. http://www.pilgrimhall.org/Rock.htm

Historians have always considered Jamestown more important because it was established more than a dozen years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, the first permanent English settlement in the New World. Until recently, the Virginia site has never quite been the attraction that the one up north has been. Now that new features have opened for the 400 year celebration at Jamestown in 2007, the situation could change. http://www.timesdispatch.com/ But of course we would not sing O beautiful for Jamestown's Swamp -- but rather -- O beautiful for pilgrim feet whose stern impassioned stress; A thoroughfare for freedom beat across the wilderness ! Moreover, on the 200th anniversary of the landing in 1820, Daniel Webster a noted icon for everyman said: Let us rejoice that we behold this day ! We have come to this Rock to record here our homage to our Pilgrim Fathers. http://www.plymrock.org/who_were_the_pilgrims.htm (link revitalized -- use Web.Archive for other dead links)

Yet, if the landing on Plymouth Rock is indeed a myth, it is no more a myth than that the Stone of Scoon once served as Jacob's pillow and no more a myth than the Blarney Stone's gift of eloquence. It is the meaning behind the myth that is important, not the myth itself. And that meaning in our case is that people who came, are coming and will come to America to seek a better life are one and all the sons and daughters of the Pilgrims of 1620. http://www.alden.org/pilgrim_lore/plymouthrock.htm

Of the 102 passengers who arrived on the Mayflower, only 52 survived the winter. The ship sailed back to England in the spring of 1621. Despite the privations of the winter, none of the Pilgrims returned with the vessel. On February 12, 2003, the 108th Congress passed Resolution 38, expressing the approbation of the U.S. Congress for the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock on December 21, 1620. http://www.covenantnews.com/daveblack041221.htm As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Josh. 24:15).

December 21, 1864: In his memoirs, Gen. Sherman recorded the following:

"[T]oward evening of December 21st we discovered, coming toward us, a tug, called the Red Legs, with a staff-officer on board, bearing letters from Colonel Dayton to myself and the admiral, reporting that the city of Savannah had been found evacuated on the morning of December 21st and was then in our possession . . . General Hardee had crossed the Savannah River by a pontoon-bridge, carrying off his men and light artillery, blowing up his iron-clads and navy-yard, but leaving for us all the heavy guns, stores, cotton, railway-cars, steamboats, and an immense amount of public and private property." Source: Mills Lane (ed.), Marching Through Georgia: William T. Sherman's Personal Narrative of His March Through Georgia (New York: Arno Press, 1978), pp. 177-178.

So concludes Sherman's infamous March to the Sea. The journey had taken about forty days, beginning with the roasting of Rome. Troops had set Atlanta ablaze, but the citzens of Atlanta were already rebuilding under a southern flag before he reached the sea. At Savannah, he took up residence in what is now the Parish House of St. John's Episcopal Church.

December 22, 1696 Georgia leader James Edward Oglethorpe, tenth and last child of Theophilus and Eleanor Oglethorpe, was born in London, England. The Oglethorpe family estate lay in Godalming, located in County of Surrey (some 40 miles SW of London). The Oglethorpes lived in a London townhouse during the winter months.

Lady Eleanor Wall Oglethorpe (James' mother) was born in 1661 in Ireland, but at age 17 became a maid to Madam Carwell in the court of Charles II of England. In 1680, Eleanor -- or Ellen, as she was known -- became head laundress to the king. In her new post, she was given lodging at the rear of the palace -- opposite the quarters of a young major in the Dragoons, Theophilus Oglethorpe. Before year's end, the two were married. Their union produced a series of ten sons and daughters beginning with Lewis in 1682 and ending with James Edward in 1696. After the death of Charles II and the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Theophilus and Ellen went to France to be with the deposed James II. By 1696, however, they reconciled with England's new monarchs -- William and Mary

On and off, James Oglethorpe was in Georgia from 1733 to 1743. In 1736, he was given the rank of colonel and a British regiment to defend the colony from Spain. Oglethorpe lived the last six years of his stay in Georgia on St. Simons Island, where he built Fort Frederica. Here, in 1742, his forces turned back a Spanish invasion, for which Oglethorpe was promoted to brigadier general in the British Army. Oglethorpe returned to England in 1743, where he became less and less involved in the affairs of Georgia because of his opposition to the Georgia Trustees abandoning such key cornerstones of the colony as the prohibition on slavery. He married and lived his final four decades divided between London and his wife's inherited estate in Cranham. James Oglethorpe died at age 88 on June 30, 1785. More HERE

December 22, 1775 King George III gave his approval to the "Prohibitory Bill," which stopped all legal trade and commerce with the thirteen American colonies. During debate in the House of Commons, Edmund Burke and others had unsuccessfully attempted to have Georgia exempted from the act's provisions on the grounds that Georgia, unlike other colonies, had never shown open rebellion and defiance against the King and Parliament.

December 22, 1842: Although the town of Marthasville would not be incorporated for another year, the U.S. Post Office Department designated a new Marthasville Post Office for the village that was initially known as Terminus. Sam Mitchell, who had deeded the land for the southern terminus of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, had initially wanted to name the growing village Lumpkin or Lumpkinsville (after then-governor Wilson Lumpkin). Lumpkin thought it improper, so Mitchell then picked the name Marthasville (after Lumpkin's daughter, Martha). Apparently, the name came into use around July 1842. [NOTE: The city was first incorporated on December 23, 1843]

December 22, 1864: While en route from Atlanta to Savannah, Sherman had had no opportunity for direct communication with the leadership in Washington. On Oglethorpe's Birthday, the day of his arrival in Savannah, General Sherman wrote this brief missive to President Lincoln:

"I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, and also about 25,000 bales of cotton."

Source: U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1893, reprinted by The National Historical Society, 1971), Series I, Vol. XLIV, p. 783.

Le 23 décembre 1588: Le 23 décembre 1588, le duc de Guise, dit le Balafré, est assassiné (au château de Blois) sur ordre du roi Henri III. La mort du puissant chef du parti catholique amène le roi à se rapprocher de son cousin et successeur potentiel, le protestant Henri de Navarre, futur Henri IV. Sans que les Français s'en doutent, les guerres de religion qui ont mis à mal le pays pendant deux décennies se rapprochent de leur terme. http://www.herodote.net/15881223.htm The Royal Château de Blois is located in the Loir-et-Cher département in the Loire Valley, in France. The residence of several French kings, it is also the place where Joan of Arc went in 1429 to be blessed by the Archbishop of Reims before departing with her army to drive the English from Orléans. Blois and its château was inherited by his son, Charles d'Orléans the poet-prince, who was taken prisoner by the English at Agincourt and spent twenty-five years as a hostage in England.

December 23, 1739: The Georgia Colony's secretary to the Trustees, William Stephens, recorded two acts of piracy, one which resulted in a gift to a church!

". . . a Sloop Privateer which came from Providence Island, that anchored at Cockspur last Night: Their Business was with the General, to get their Commission approved and strengthened by him; but missing him here, they would lose no Time in going to find him at St. Simon's: They had taken some small Prizes from the Spaniards (as they said) which they sent home; but they told us of a privateer belonging unto Rhode-Island had the good Fortune lately, though but a small sloop with forty Hands, to take a rich Spaniard [ship] lately on the Spaniards' own Coast, with such a Quantity of Silver aboard, that they shared four hundred dollars apiece, besides solid Plate for the Use of a Church . . . ."

Source: William Stephens, A Journal of the Proceeding in Georgia ([no city cited]: Readex Microprint Corporation, 1966), Vol. II, p. 228. from http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/tdgh-dec/dec23.htm

December 23, 1776: The Crisis is a collection written by Thomas Paine during the American Revolution. The following is from his first entry. It reflects disaster upon disaster, during the previous year's campaign; but, General Washington found the first essay so inspiring that he ordered it to be read to the Continental Army at Valley Forge:

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country ... Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered ... What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly ... There are persons, too, who see not the full extent of the evil which threatens them; they solace themselves with hopes that the enemy, if he succeed, will be merciful. It is the madness of folly, to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice; and even mercy, where conquest is the object, is only a trick of war; the cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf, and we ought to guard equally against both ... [We have] by cowardice and submission, the sad choice of a variety of evils — a ravaged country — a depopulated city — habitations without safety, and slavery without hope — our homes turned into barracks and [worse]. http://www.ushistory.org/PAINE/crisis/c-01.htm

December 23, 1964: Radio London (http://www.radiolondon.co.uk/) joined Radio Caroline (http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/History.htm) and Radio Atlanta (later known as Caroline South and North). It arrived off Frinton (northeast of London) this day. The new ship/station brought a team of Americanized DJs, experienced in the art of selling themselves as much as the music. With catchy jingles and contagious slogans like Wonderful Radio London, the Big L soon became well-known in the British Offshore Broadcasting scene (often called pirate-radio). Before these stations arrived, the only other way to hear modern popular music was to tune to Radio Luxembourg. It was the only cross-border broadcaster to the UK that resumed operations after the war (probably because it had been employed by the Germans for propaganda, and when captured by the English, used for the same purpose). The Radio Luxembourg signal could only reach the UK after dark when propagation conditions improved. Even then, it faded in and out for long periods of time due to day-to-day changes in the ionosphere. see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Television

Immaculate Reception-December 23, 1972: Franco Harris, Bradshaw -- another moment in history of which nothing more needs to be said. Forty years in the wilderness ended. http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/release.jsp?release_id=762 A week later the Steelers would become the sixteenth victim in the Dolphins' perfect 17-0 season, but the team had taken the first step toward four Super Bowl victories. http://www.profootballhof.com/hall/story.jsp?story_id=436 Like many from Pittsburgh in that era, I remember where I was during the last 22 seconds of this playoff game, held at the new Three Rivers Stadium. The stadium is already gone but this moment still lives in American Football history. Sour Grapes Department: John Madden, the Raider coach at that time, has always sworn that the ref went and called the stadium security office. As Madden tells it, the ref said, How many guards to do you have to get me out of here, if I call an incomplete pass ? When told that there were but three, he hung up the phone, ran back onto the field, and signaled touchdown, from everything2.com.

Le 24 décembre: Le Réveillon de Noël est constitué par la soirée du 24 décembre qui précède Noël. Il est l'occasion d'organiser un repas festif au sein des familles, car Noël restant un instant magique pour les enfants, le réveillon doit y contribuer. Ce repas est souvent constitué d'une dinde de Noël et terminé par une bûche de Noël en France. Il peut aussi s'agir d'une oie ou de foie gras. Il est souvent précédé d'un plat de fruits de mer (huîtres, etc.). Il existe aussi une tradition dite des Treize desserts, en souvenir de Jésus et de ses douze apôtres. Cette tradition vient de Provence.

Enfin pour les catholiques, le réveillon de Noël est suivi ou coupé par la messe de minuit qui reste encore très populaire dans l'esprit collectif, même si elle est plus souvent dite en début de soirée qu'à minuit. Au retour de la messe ou à minuit, il est de tradition qu'un enfant ajoute le personnage de l'Enfant Jésus dans la crèche pour signifier qu'il est né. Au cœur de la nuit, on célèbre le passage des ténèbres à la lumière. Le texte d’Isaïe (9:1-6) annonce la naissance d’un enfant « qui fera se lever une grande lumière sur le peuple ». Il sera appelé « Prince de la paix ». L’Évangile selon Luc (2:1-14) raconte la naissance de Jésus et l’annonce des anges aux bergers. C’est pourquoi la célébration proprement dite commence souvent par une veillée dans l’église, où l’on met en scène la Nativité et où une statue de l’Enfant Jésus nouveau-né est apportée en procession dans la crèche. La proclamation de l’évangile se termine souvent par le chant du Gloire à Dieu. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messe_de_minuit

December 24, 1818: Church organist, Franz Grüber, composed a melody on guitar at Nicole Kirche (St. Nicholas Church) in Oberndorf, Austria, for a poem. That poem, Stille Nacht, written earlier by pastor Joseph Möhr, was sung for the very first time that evening. The song reached Royal Court Choir of Berlin some years later, where "Silent Night" had become the favorite of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia. He researched the origins of the carol and traced it first to Salzburg in 1854. Later the full story became known. see http://www.german-way.com/german/stille.html

December 25th: Most people do not even know that the day of celebration of the Birth has fluctuated ! Christmas was once a movable feast celebrated many different times during the year. The choice of December 25 was made by the Pope Julius I in the fourth century AD because this coincided with the pagan rituals of the Winter Solstice (Return of the Sun). The intent was to replace the pagan celebration (cult of Sol Invictus) with the Christian one. Today the season of Christmastide begins, of course, on December 25th. This season lasts 12 days, ending with Epiphany on January 6th.

December 25, 336: This is the earliest known year that Jesus' nativity was celebrated on the 25th, as mentioned in the Philocalian Calendar of A.D. 354. By the 400s most of the other Eastern denominations like the Western, Roman Catholic, church had accepted December 25th. In 496 (December 25th) Clovis, the first French King (who was really of a german tribe called the Franks), baptized himself. In 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charles the Great (Charlemagne), Holy Roman Emperor. In 1046, Pope Clemens VI, crowned German King Henry III Holy Roman Emperor, perhaps the most powerful in this line of the German Kings. In 1066, William the Conqueror was crowned king of England at Westminster by Aldred, Archbishop of York. In 1223, Saint Francis of Assisi assembled one of the first Nativity scenes, in Greccio, Italy; the ACLU promptly sued. In 1582, Zealand/Brabant adopted the Gregorian calendar. In 1758, Christmas day was celebrated with a recorded sighting of Halley's Comet by Johann Georg Palitzsch. Not to be outdone, on this date late in the evening in 1776, George Washington crossed the Delaware River with troops and surprised and defeated 1,400 Hessians under British employ. Yankee Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross (1882), was born in North Oxford, Massachusetts in 1821. In 1865, General Evangeline Cory Booth, (Salvation Army, 1904-34), was born.

December 25, 1931: Missionary radio station HCJB, run by World Radio Missionary Fellowship, Inc., begins broadcasting the Gospel from Quito, Ecuador, unto eastern Asia. HCJB has served the World in the years since that first night -- you may still hear it today. http://www.hcjb.org/about_us/hcjb_global/our_history.html

Noël 2005 -- What we did not read in the USA: A Bagdad, les chrétiens ont été privés de messe de minuit pour raisons de sécurité et ont célébré discrètement l'office de Noël samedi après-midi, priant pour "la paix en Irak, la paix dans le monde". L'office a été concélébré par Mgr Emmanuel Delly, patriarche de Babylone, chef spirituel de la principale communauté chrétienne d'Irak, les Chaldéens, qui représentent moins de 3% de la population du pays. "Nous sommes vraiment tous les membres d'une seule famille, c'est pourquoinous les chrétiens, avec nos frères musulmans, devons travailler ensemble pour le bien de l'Irak, chacun selon sa religion", a estimé Mgr Delly. http://www.lexpress.fr/info/quotidien/actu.asp?id=1803 Lumières de Noël, espoirs de paix: http://www.la-croix.com/article/index.jsp?docId=2252760&rubId=1098 {Isabelle de GAULMYN, à Rome}. Le pape s'adresse aux milliers de fidèles rassemblés sur la place Saint-Pierre de Rome, avant la bénédiction urbi et orbi, dimanche 25 décembre -- a médité sur la vraie signification de Noël.

December 26, 1845: On Saint Stephen's Day, a small town going by the name of Marthasville (then in DeKalb, now mostly in Fulton County) was changed into Atlanta. http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/tdgh-dec/dec26.htm. Saint Étienne est l'un des sept premiers diacres choisis par les apôtres du Christ, à Jérusalem. Il prêche avec ferveur, ce qui lui vaut d'être arrêté en 36 de notre ère et lapidé. Parmi les persécuteurs de ce premier martyr figure un certain Saul de Tarse, qui deviendra plus tard.
 
December 27, 537: A church not dedicated to Santa Sofia was consecrated in Constantinople. The Hagia Sophia, meaning holy wisdom in Greek, the second person of the Trinity, was built by Emperor Justinian (Isidoros and Anthemios architects) in just five years. On Tuesday, May 29, 1453, Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror entered the vanquished city late in the afternoon and rode to Hagia Sophia. He was amazed at its beauty and decided to convert the Cathedral into his imperial mosque. Today, it is a mosque still in use in Istanbul. http://www.patriarchate.org/ecumenical_patriarchate/chapter_4/html/hagia_sophia.html voi aussi Inauguration de Sainte-Sophie

How was it built, or more clearly why? It was built because of a riot, something like what occurs between fans of competing soccer teams, only more so. On or about January 18, 532, Emporer Justinian and his wife Theodora attend festivities at the Hippodrome, a stadium for athletic competition. Team rivalry escalated from individual insults to a mob rampage. In the end Constantinople lay in ruins. Called the Nika uprising, about 30-40,000 citizens died. Justinian proceeded to rebuild the city with extensive emphasis on religious art and architecture, including the Hagia Sophia. Pope Benedict XVI visited the structure, as well as other Christian sites around Turkey during the last week of November 2006; no riot was reported. Pope Benedict prayed alongside an Islamic cleric in Turkey's most famous mosque Thursday the 30th (Blue Mosque) as a gesture of peace to Muslims. November 30th, 2006 - the feast of St Andrew, may go down in history as the high point of Pope Benedict XVI's papacy. Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday (Advent-3rd) that his recent trip to Turkey was an "unforgettable" experience that he hoped would lead to dialogue with Muslims; however, there were some Islamic leaders who claimed he had not sufficiently made amends for his September remarks which they felt tied Islam and violence too closely together. Washington Post

On that day he took part in two events which can only mean better relations between east and west. His visit to Istanbul's Blue Mosque - a highly symbolic building in Christianity and Islam - and a joint declaration with the Orthodox archbishop of Constantinople supporting a rapprochement between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches bolstered ties not only between the two churches but also between Christianity and Islam. http://www.ireland.com/ -- bizim icin dua et

Global Warming -- December 27, 1978: At the height of the Cold War (threat of nuclear winter) and in the middle of summer, the highest recorded temperature occurs this day at the South Pole -- a sweltering +7.5°F (-13.6°C) in the glare of the noonday sun. Meanwhile, the Grateful Dead and Devo are in concert in northern climes, oblivious -- oblivious to the record shattering heatwave down south. Devo appears in Atlanta at the Agora Ballroom, while the Dead's venue is Golden Hall, Community Concourse@San Diego, California. The Dead's performance can be seen at: http://www.archive.org/. They appeared at the Winterland for New Year's eve with the Blues Brothers and the New Riders of the Purple Sage (NRPS). Speaking of classic performances, try Verdi Un Ballo in Maschera which was performed in London on December 27, 1978, at: http://www.jcarreras.de/.
 
December 28, 1688: William of Orange made a triumphant march into London as James II fled. The "Glorious Revolution" was complete. William and his Queen, Mary (she was one of the daughters of James II) would rule as joint sovereigns until her death exactly 6 years later at age 32, when she died of complications from smallpox. So in 1688 James II was deposed because the birth of his new son led to fears that England was going to be ruled by a dynasty of Catholic monarchs. During 1689 and 1690 James II operated a military campaign in Ireland from where he hoped to mount an invasion of England. During this time he melted down cannons and other sources of metal to mint base-metal coins to pay his troops. Today the coins are known as gun money. Gunmoney carried James II’s legends and titles. On the reverse they show the date and even the month of striking, as well as a statement of value. XXX indicates 30 pennies (half-crown), XII indicates 12 pennies (shilling), VI 6 pennies. The coins are rare in the better grades, but are otherwise common. James was defeated at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690. He ceased to produce coins by the autumn of that year and in 1691 they were demonetized.

On James II's flight in December 1688, London's Guildhall was chosen as a stronghold from where the men of the new power consortium could prepare the Declaration of Allegiance to the Prince of Orange. The City welcomed Prince William. Indeed, the Lord Mayor, aldermen and 50 representatives of the common council were all invited to this assembly, which was called upon his arrival. With his wife, Queen Mary, he favoured Hampton Court as his chief Royal Residence. It was much rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren but, luckily, the general lack of cash (and revenue) meant that much of his grandiose scheme had to be abandoned. Thus, the older Tudor buildings survived. The couple also bought Nottingham House from their Secretary of State and turned it into Kensington Palace. These two palaces became favorites of Queen Anne. from Britannia.com

Upon William's death in 1702, Queen Anne restored to favor John Churchill, making him Duke of Marlborough. As captain-general of the British army, Marlborough (Winston Churchill's forebear), won a series of victories over the French in the War of the Spanish Succession (this is not the conflict in which France was forced to cede Louisiana to Spain, that happened after the French-Indian War (Seven Years War)).

During Queen Anne's reign the kingdoms of England and Scotland were united (1707), contributing to Scottish and later Scottish-Irish immigration to the Colonies. She died in London on August 1, 1714. A German cousin, George, Elector of Hannover, followed Queen Anne, as King George I of Great Britain, by the terms of the Act of Settlement, passed by Parliament in 1701. It secured the succession of the English crown to members of the House of Hannover of the Protestant faith, unless Queen Anne, the last of the Protestant Stuarts, provided a suitable heir. Anne's husband died in 1708 without living issue.

Thoroughly German in tastes and habits, George I never learned the English language. George I divorced on this date (December 28th) in 1698, so that he could become an heir to the British throne. The British Proprietary Colony (the town of Savannah founded in 1733), named after this German speaking father of thoroughly English King George II, was established in part to hold the Spanish in check. As an aside, John Wesley, as he recounts in his diary (1736), began to perfect his method of evangelism by holding Protestant services each Sunday in at least three languages with English, German and French settlers at Savannah. He soon wore out and left. George III was the Grandson to George II.

In related news, Peter Crothaire (derivation of de la Croix), a Huguenot of the Bordeaux region, changed his last name to that used by this Webmaster's family today, during his service to the husband of Queen Anne. His parents were said to be béarnais, from the region of Béarn near Navarre. Béarn was at that time a small semi-independent province, immediately north of the Pyrénées, about 45 miles long and 35 miles wide, forming a considerable portion of the Kingdom of Navarre. The area was a hotbed of the French reformation, wedged between Spain and France. Henri, the Prince of Navarre, became the first the Bourbon King (as Henri IV) and temporarily settled the religious discord in France (Edict of Nantes). Louis XIV, the Sun King, would revoke the edict (1685), causing Huguenot migrations to Britain, Holland and the Palatinate region of Germany.

It appears that one of the Trustees of Georgia at its founding, John LaRoche, was the son, brother or perhaps nephew of Peter LaRoche né Crothaire. A John Drummond was introduced to the "Georgia Corporation" (sponsored) by both General Oglethorpe and John LaRoche, Trustee. John also introduced James LaRoche (no indication of relationship, possibly a cousin or nephew as he became a Trustee) on the same day. see also http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/tdgh-nov/nov10.htm and Georgia Colonial Charter

December 29, 1737: An important source of labor for the Georgia Colony were European emigrants who had agreed to serve as indentured servants in return for the Trustees paying the cost of transportation to this outpost in the New World. In his journal, Salzburger minister John Martin Boltzius noted the arrival of one such group from Germany:

"A few days ago a boat full of Germans from the Palatinate [a region of Germany stretching from Heidelberg to the French border] came to Savannah, the passage for whom was provided by the Honorable Trustees, in return for which these people and their children are bound to work as servants for a number of years. . . .

"In the coming week, Mr. Causton desires to speak to these people through my offices, so as to offer some proposals as to how their children, of whom there are many among them, should attend school while pursuing their work. . . ."

Source George Fenwick Jones and Renate Wilson, Detailed Reports on the Salzburger Emigrants Who Settled in America . . . Edited by Samuel Urlsperger, Volume Four, 1737 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1976), p. 227.
 
December 29, 1778:  Savannah fell to a British force of 2,000 soldiers under Colonel Archibald Campbell. General Robert Howe and a force of 700 patriots had defended the road into the city, but a black slave named Quamino Dolly led the British on a path through the swamp so that they were able to surprise the Americans from the rear. The patriots were routed and fled. Meanwhile, a British fleet sailed up the river, capturing eleven American vessels. By the end of the day, over 100 patriots had been killed, and the British flag flew over Savannah for the first time in two years. from http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/tdgh-dec/dec29.htm

For the encouragement and support of the Loyalists in the interior, and to awe the Republicans in that quarter after the fall of Savannah, Colonel Campbell, who commanded at the siege of that city, was ordered by General Prevost to advance with about two thousand regulars and Loyalists [Jan., 1779.], upon Augusta. Already he had sent emissaries among the South Carolina Tories to encourage them to make a general insurrection; and he assured them that, if they would cross the Savannah and join him at Augusta, the Republicans might be easily crushed, and the whole South freed from their pestilential influence. Thus encouraged, about eight hundred Loyalists of North and South Carolina assembled westward of the Broad River, under Colonel Boyd, and marched along the frontier of South Carolina, toward the Savannah. Like a plundering banditti, they appropriated every species of property to their own use, abused the inhabitants, and wantonly butchered several who opposed their rapacious demands.

While these depredators were organizing, and Campbell was proceeding toward Augusta, General Elbert crossed the Savannah, joined Colonels Twiggs and Few, and skirmished with the British van-guard at Brier Creek and other places, to impede their progress. They effected but little, and on the twenty-ninth of January [1779.] Campbell took possession of Augusta, and placed the garrison under Lieutenant-colonel Brown, the Loyalist just mentioned, who, with Lieutenant-colonel M‘Girth, had preceded him thither. Campbell then proceeded to establish military posts in other parts of Western Georgia. The Whigs who could leave with their families crossed the Savannah into Carolina. The oath of allegiance was every where administered; the habitations of those who had fled into Carolina were consumed; and Georgia seemed, for the moment, permanently prostrate at the feet of the invaders . . . . from Lossing's Field Book of the Revolution, Vol. II., Chapter XIX. http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~wcarr1/Lossing1/Chap51.html

December 29, 1835: A minority faction of Cherokees under the leadership of Major Ridge, his son John, and Elias Boudinot met with U.S. commissioners at New Echota, the capital of the Cherokee Nation, and signed the Treaty of New Echota ceding to the U.S. all Cherokee lands in the east of the Mississippi River in return for $5 million. For their role in securing the treaty, the two Ridges and Boudinot later would be assassinated by fellow Cherokees.

December 29, 1940: Over 1500 pieces of incendiary ordinance would fall on the City of London this night. During the entire Blitz (the air war against the British civilian population), Nazi aircraft dropped thousands of these bombs, used to start mass fires in the old center of the City, causing the worst damage since the "great fire" of 1666. St. Paul's Cathedral (designed by Cristopher Wren) survived. Eight Wren churches did not fare so well. Along with the Guildhall and Old Bailey (Courts), they were badly damaged by this confligration. A Christopher Wren Church also survives in the city of Charleston SC, initial debarkation point for many Huguenot refugees.
 
On this date a few years earlier in 1170, agents of English King Henry II murdered his prelate, the Archbishop Thomas Becket, in Canterbury Cathedral southeast of London. Becket was canonized 3 years later. A solemn translation of Saint Thomas Becket's relics to a new shrine behind the high altar took place in the year 1220 (July 7). The ceremony was magnificent. People came from all over Europe to assist at it. The shrine-tomb of St. Thomas Becket also was of unparalleled splendor, perhaps the richest in the western world at the time. Yet, nothing of it now remains for it was plundered of all its riches during the reign of Henry VIII. A contemporaneous description:

"All above the stonework was first of wood, jewels of gold set with stone, covered with plates of gold, wrought upon with gold wire, then again with jewels, gold as brooches, images, angels, rings, ten or twelve together, clawed with gold into the ground of gold. The spoils of which filled to chests, such as six or eight men could but convey one out of the [Cathedral]. At one side was a stone with an angel of gold, pointing thereunto, offered there by a King of France, which King Henry put into a ring and wore on his thumb."

Thomas Becket triompha dans sa mort. Ce qu'il n'avait pu obtenir par l'effort de sa vie, il le réalisa par son martyre. Le peuple le vénéra aussitôt comme un saint, et le pape Alexandre III frappa Henri II, compromis dans ce meurtre, d’interdit personnel; pour obtenir son pardon, le Roi dut faire un pèlerinage humiliant au tombeau de Thomas Becket et se soumettre à la pénitence publique de la flagellation (21 mai 1172). Des miracles ayant attesté la glorification de Thomas Becket, Alexandre III le canonisa le 21 février 1173. Toujours est-il que la châsse du martyr devint le but d'un des pèlerinages les plus célèbres de la chrétienté. En 1538, Henri VIII se donna le ridicule de procéder à la «décanonisation» de saint Thomas Becket {en Church anglais}. http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/12/29.htm

December 30, 1853: The US purchased (from Mexico) 45,000 square miles of land known as the Gadsden Purchase. http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/diplomacy/mexico/mx1853.htm The transcontinental railroad (southern route), for which the purchase was made, would not pass through this area for another quarter of a century. James Gadsden, a railroad promoter (and diplomat), became ambassador to Mexico (Franklin Pierce, President) in 1853 with instructions to purchase a border strip to include the Mesilla Valley for the railroad right-of-way. More HERE or HERE. The USA turned down a chance to purchase the Baja, too.

Just in Time for New Year's -- December 31, 406AD: The Alans come to dinner. The Alans, the Asding and Siling Vandals and the Suevians crossover the Rhine, into Roman germaniæ, beginning their invasion of Gallia (Gaul) at Moguntiacum {Mayence -- Mainz}. This group, from the East, often referred to just as the Vandals, follow the pattern of earlier invasions of the Celts, as well as clear a path for the Huns some 45 years later, when Sainte Geneviève would implore the hoard not to destroy the City of Paris. For her role she obtains sainthood and gets a Church on the highest point of the left bank. Today that lately rebuilt structure (in an historical sense of time) is known as the Panthéon, its door once opening upon the Roman Forum in Lutèce, today just traffic. To celebrate the occasion the chimes of Big Ben are broadcast on radio for the first time by the BBC in 1923; and, Guy Lombardo performs Auld Lang Syne for the first time at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City (1929). The show is broadcast over the CBS radio network. Born in London Ontario, Guy founded the Lombardo Orchestra with his brother Carmen in 1916. Auld Lang Syne was his band's theme song before 1929, but tonight was the start of a New Year's Eve tradition. More HERE.

The Latin Vulgate (LV) version of the Bible by Saint Jerome was completed about 406 A.D. Interestingly, when in 406 AD, the allied barbarian forces of Suevi, Alans, Vandals and Burgundians sweep into central Europe, they sever all over-the-land communication between Rome and its colony Britain. In the autumn of 406 AD, the remaining Roman army in Britain decides to mutiny, and in 407 AD, under the leadership of Constantine III, cross back over the Channel into Gaul bent on attacking Rome. This ended the Roman Empire in Britain. The Goths will sack Rome. Meanwhile, the British-Celtic people who had been the allies of Rome would now face devastating attacks and near-annihilation at the hands of the Picts, Scots and in particular, the Saxons, Angles and Jutes of North-Western Europe. The successive waves of Germanic invaders that followed would have an incredible and profound affect of the future of the world – one that would take more than a thousand years to fully realize. It is here that a birth takes place - the birth of a new language – English. http://www.bobschwab.com/pre-old_english.htm

December 31, 1939: From Soviet's Red Fleet of this date we find:

Nobody would dare to say that the loss of a German battleship is a brilliant victory . . . {it} is rather a demonstration, unprecedented in history, of the impotence of the British. Upon the morning of December 13, the battleship {Graf Spee] started an artillery duel with the Exeter, and within a few minutes obliged the cruiser to withdraw from action. According to the latest information the Exeter sank near the Argentine coast, en route to the Falkland Islands.

As translated in The Gathering Storm [Book 2: The Twilight War]. Winston S. Churchill. Houghton Mifflin Company [3rd Impression, June 1948]. pp 528-529

The Red Fleet account does not report that two other ships engaged the Spee and forced her to withdraw. The Exeter was not lost until 1942 in action with the Japanese. Trapped in a neutral port and forced to leave or be interned, the Graf Spee was scuttled before engaging the waiting British fleet that had forced her to retreat.

By the end of 1961, it is estimated that 200,000 people had fled from East to West Germany during the year. The refugees decreased after the Wall was built in the same year. Just 30 years later on December 31, 1991, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was dissolved. The regime that had changed the course of history was officially disappeared. Just 8 years later on the same day (the eve of Y2K), Boris Yeltsin resigned as President of Russia; Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who stepped down from the Presidency in December 2007, replaced Yeltsin. Monsieur Putin could not stand for re-election in 2008, but remains Prime Minister and man of the year, decade and century for the time being; not just for what he has done, but with what he has left undone.

In an effort to preserve harmony and protect the poor, Russia's state-controlled Gazprom has turned off energy supplies (2005) to the former comrades in Ukraine, whose recent elections chose a government that Russia did not desire. The country refused to pay higher-than-market rates. In contrast, Bellaruss, which continues to have a repressive, soviet-like regime, friendly to Putin, retains its favorable contracts with Russia. A year later (December 2006) -- the roles are reversed and it is Bellarus that may lose its warmth at the new Year. By the 3rd of January gas supplies had been resumed and an accord was reached; but, Russia will have greater economic control of the European economy as its gas becomes more indispensible. Record.com NATO now faces geo-strategic extortion in 2008, especially since the events in Georgia.

Remenber your history; Gazprom, the Russian energy monopoly (controlled by the government), took control of the world's largest combined oil and natural gas development at the end of December 2006 (28th), after a highly publicized campaign of pressure on its foreign operator, Royal Dutch Shell. It the first effective nationalization of a large foreign oil or gas project in Russia, which this year surpassed Saudi Arabia in oil production. MyWestTexas.com Putin dubbed it as a sale (between equal partners).
 
It took over a year, but Putin regained some control over the Ukraine relations, as a pro-Russian government was returned to partial power in Kiev. Once talks about joining Nato are on the back-burner, M. Putin visited his born-again friends. At least they are not dying of polonium poisioning. http://www.iht.com/ and http://www.lopinion.ma/spip.php?article14437 But then all this is old news (and the links may no longer work). The new President, however, follows in Putin's footsteps and decries all US meddling in the old Eastern Europe Empire of the modern communist Ruß. In Georgia (summer of 2008) things got hot as Russia supported break-away rebels and then in the August a shooting war began against the Tblisi's government, as Russia annexed some of Georgia. The latest news is that Monsieur Putin will be allowed to serve a third term and the new man will resign.

Just a few of the stories on the last day of 2008: The Kremlin has quoted Pres. Medvedev as saying in season's greetings to President-elect Obama that the two nations should expand their cooperation on the basis of pragmatism and a balance of interests -- a return to the "spheres of influence" policy that worked so well during the cold war. Gas giant Gazprom warned Wednesday that Russian gas supply to western Europe was in "danger" of disruption and accused Ukraine of blackmail, as another New Year's Eve energy dispute went down to the wire. This latest crisis was reminiscent of the 2005-2006 ordeal, which resulted in Gazprom briefly halting shipments to Ukraine, Ukraine siphoning gas intended for western Europe and eventually spot gas shortages among European clients. http://uk.reuters.com/article/businessNews/

So there you have it !!! In twelve pages of calendar history, you'll find everything from Zwingli (January 1st) to Putin (December 31st). The Gadsden Purchase to the Gadsden Flag. You have seen coins and stamps, art and many flags. Lots of links, internal and external. French cities, too. Don't forget to click on the images. Saints, churches, saints and mere mortals -- heros, villains and devils (although not too many, I pray) -- the voices of ones crying in the wilderness.

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