Today In History

[SlowwHand]

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: from The Free Dictionary The Curse of the Bambino (1920)
Legend has it that a curse was placed on the Boston Red Sox after Babe Ruth, the "Bambino," was sold to the New York Yankees on this day in 1920. Before the sale, the Red Sox had won five World Series, and the Yankees had not even attended one; after the sale, the Red Sox failed to win the series until 2004, while the Yankees won 26 times. What are some things that Red Sox fans have done in their attempts to break the curse?

More...

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Curse+of+the+Bambino

[SlowwHand]

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: from The Free Dictionary Sputnik 1 Falls to Earth (1958)
Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite to be put into orbit. It was launched by the Soviet Union in October, 1957, and acted as the starting gun for the space race. The Sputnik, Russian for "travel companion," gathered data about the density of the upper layers of the atmosphere and the behavior of radio signals in the ionosphere. Sputnik 2, the second satellite to be put into orbit, was the first to carry a living creature. What kind of animal was on board?

More...

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Sputnik+1

[Zkribbler]

What kind of animal was on board?

A dog. Hence it's nickname: Muttnick.

[SlowwHand]

Muttnik.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: from The Free Dictionary King Henry VIII Marries Fourth Wife (1540)
Anne of Cleves was Henry VIII's fourth wife, whom Henry found physically unattractive, calling her a "Flanders Mare." They married on January 6, 1540, but Henry decided to annul the marriage soon after. Queen Anne wisely cooperated, testifying that their marriage had never been consummated. The Earl of Essex, however, who had arranged the marriage, fell out of favor with the king and was beheaded on July 28, 1540. That same day, Henry married his fifth wife; what was her name?

More...

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Henry+VIII+of+England

[Jon Miller]

Anne

JM

[SlowwHand]

Joan of Arc Goes on Trial (1431)
Joan of Arc was a French military leader and heroine who was canonized in 1920. Inspired and directed by religious visions, she organized the French resistance that forced the English to end their siege of Orléans in 1429. The same year she led an army of 12,000 to Rheims and had the dauphin crowned Charles VII. Captured and sold to the English by the Burgundians, she was later tried for heresy and sorcery and was burned at the stake. What was the "rehabilitation trial"?

More...

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Joan+of+Arc

[Ned]

Love those English.

I'd like to see another Mel Gibson film about Joan ala William Wallace that would end with the English torturing and burning Joan alive.

[SlowwHand]

Wow.

[Dis]

you should be using wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_10

They even have semething about your silly state. The first big gusher at Beumont, Texas in 1901.

And Napoleon divorced poor Josephine.

[Dis]

also a film called Metropolis was released on this day. I never heard of this film (I wasn't alive back then). It looks fascinating. It's probably impossible to find this thing, but I'll try.

[SlowwHand]

Are you volunteering to take over? Do. Good idea.

[Dis]

I'm going to check this film out. It's the most expensive silent film ever made. You were around back then, you should remember it.

[Zkribbler]

On this day, writer Thomas Paine publishes his pamphlet “Common Sense,” setting forth the arguments for American independence. Although little used today, pamphlets were an important medium for the spread of ideas in the 16th through 19th century.

Paine was born in England in 1737, and worked as a corset-maker in his teens. He also worked as a sailor and schoolteacher before becoming a prominent pamphleteer. In 1774, Paine arrived in Philadelphia, and came to support American independence. His 47-page pamphlet sold some 500,000 copies and had a powerful influence on American opinion. Paine served in the U.S. Army and worked for the Committee of Foreign Affairs before returning to Europe in 1787. Back in England, he continued writing pamphlets in support of revolution. He released The Rights of Man, supporting the French revolution in 1791-2, in answer to Edmund Burke’s famous Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). His sentiments were highly unpopular with the British government, so he fled to France, but was later arrested for his political opinions. He returned to the US in 1802, and died in New York in 1809.

I liked the part where he had to flee Britain because he was pro-French, so he went France where he was arrested for his political opinons. --When you piss everyone off, you know you're doing something right.

[Zkribbler]

1908 : Theodore Roosevelt makes Grand Canyon a national monument

Happy Birthday, Alexander Hamilton!

[Ned]

Hamilton would have made an excellent president. His were the best among the Federalist papers, IMHO.