Unknown America Page 6

  This little known tidbit from history is what inspired Steve Jobs to name his fledgling company Apple. And so the rainbow colored Apple, with a bite taken out of it, is actually a nod towards the contributions of Alan Turing and not so much a statement of Jobs personal beliefs or support for gay rights and causes.

  What's in a name?

  In 1869, President Ulysses Grant pardoned Dr. Samuel Mudd, the Doctor that set the broken ankle of Lincoln Assassin John Wilkes Booth while Booth was on the run. Some believe Mudd's reputation was so tarnished following the incident, it inspired the phrase “Your name is Mud.” Although the origin of the phrase has been debated, there is no doubt it gained in popularity after the revelation Dr. Mudd assisted Booth. In fairness to the good Doctor it is not known if Mudd knew of Booth's crime. But he was vilified as an accomplice just the same.

  Presidential Coincidence?

  Much has been written about the coincidences between Abraham Lincoln and John Kennedy and their assassinations. But these coincidences are so compelling they deserve mentioning again.

  1. Both men had seven letters in their last names.

  2. Both were shot in the head on a Friday.

  3. Both were seated next to their wives when they were killed.

  4. Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theater. Kennedy was shot in a Lincoln limo which was made by Ford.

  5. Lincoln was in box 7 at Ford's theater and Kennedy was in car number 7 of the Dallas motorcade.

  6. Both assassins used three names with 15 letters; John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald.

  7. Booth shot Lincoln in a theater and was captured in a warehouse. Oswald shot Kennedy from a warehouse and was captured in a theater.

  8. Both were elected to the US House of Representatives for the first time in the year “46” 1846 and 1946 respectively and both were runners-up for their party's nomination for Vice President in the years of “56.”

  9. Both were succeeded by Southern Democrats name Johnson, each of whom had served as their respective VP's.

  Did you know: More odd facts

  -During Prohibition, in an effort to persuade Americans to swear off booze, the US Government poisoned some alcohol with the intent of making people sick. The result? Over 10,000 people died.

  -Russia and the United States are only 55 miles apart at the Bering Strait off the West coast of Alaska.

  -Tweets, those ubiquitous “Micro Blogs” on the Social Media platform Twitter are archived in the Library of Congress... Careful what you type, not only are you making history, you're leaving evidence.

  -In 1893 an Amendment was proposed to the US Constitution that would change the name of The United States of America to The United States of the Earth. The proposed Amendment was from US Representative Lucas Miller of Wisconsin, who said America should change its name based on his claim that; “It is possible for the Republic to grow through the admission of new States into the Union until every Nation on Earth has become part of it.”

  Miller wasn't nominated for a second term.

  -The US tax code is roughly 5000 pages long. Whereas the longest book ever written, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, and the Bible are roughly only 4500 pages long.

  -During the second World War the Federal Government banned sliced bread as a war time conservation effort. The ban was ordered by Claude Wickard who held the position of Food Administrator. According to the New York Times, officials explained that “the ready-sliced loaf must have a heavier wrapping than an unsliced one if it is not to dry out.” It was also intended to counteract a rise in the price of bread caused by the Office of Price Administrations authorization of a ten percent increase in flour prices.

  No texting was involved

  The first automobile accident involving a gasoline-powered car occurred in Ohio City, Ohio in 1891. The driver, engineer James Lambert, was driving one of his inventions, a gasoline-powered buggy, when he ran into a little trouble. The buggy, also carrying a passenger hit a tree root sticking out of the ground. Lambert lost control and the vehicle swerved and crashed into a hitching post. Both men suffered minor injuries.

  That's one big bridge

  The Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco uses the longest bridge cables ever made. Long enough to circle the world at the equator 3 times. They are so big and heavy they had to be fabricated on site.

  The Electricity Wars

  In the early 20th Century a battle of sorts broke out between competing inventors. Thomas Edison had established direct current as the standard for electricity distribution and was living very comfortably off the patent royalties. Edison became quite concerned about losing his royalty income when George Westinghouse and Nicola Tesla introduced alternating current. Worried that the new technology would become the standard Edison set out to discredit AC.

  One strategy he employed was staging animal electrocutions. In 1903 Topsy the elephant was electrocuted at Luna Park Zoo on Coney Island. Captured on film by Edison, the event was just one of a string of demonstrations Edison used in an attempt to discredit the newly introduced alternating current. Which, if it posed any immediate danger at all, was only to the future of Edison's direct current.

  The public displays and accusations hurled back and forth between the inventors and came to be known as the Electricity Wars.

  20 Seconds to disaster

  The successful Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969, ushered in an era of moon exploration that has so far gone unrivaled. However “11” was far from a flawless mission. As the Lunar Module approached the surface the two astronauts on board, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, realized they had only 20 seconds worth of fuel left to “stick” the moon landing or they would have to abort. The close call was likely due to a last minute change of plans by Armstrong over concerns the chosen landing area was not safe.

  According to Aldrin…

  “Neil didn't like what we were heading toward, and we selected a safer spot alongside a crater with boulders in it. We landed with a little less fuel than we would have liked to have had, maybe 20 seconds of fuel left.”

  At this point the craft was only about ten feet above the surface. But had it run out of fuel to land, even at that small height, it would have spelled certain disaster for the men and the mission.

  The Battle of Athens Tennessee

  Shortly after World War II voter fraud was running rampant throughout much of the Deep South, with forged ballots and secret vote counts commonplace. In 1946 in McMinn County Tennessee the frustration reached its boiling point. Although Federal authorities were asked to intervene, the calls for oversight fell on deaf ears. And in early August of 1946, the locals used armed force to ensure a fair outcome in the local elections.

  Here's how it went down...

  In 1936 a man named Paul Cantrell was elected Sheriff of McMinn County for the first of 3 times. After serving three terms as Sheriff he was then elected state senator in 1942 and again in 1944. One of Cantrell’s associates, a man named Pat Mansfield, was elected sheriff during the time Cantrell served in the Tennessee State Senate. But in 1946, Cantrell decided he wanted the office of sheriff back.

  But Cantrell was about to meet with some unanticipated opposition.

  After the end of WWII, some 3,000 veterans, returned home to McMinn County. These veterans, seasoned by hard fighting in the European and Pacific theaters of war, decided to put up one of their own, a man named Knox Henry, to run as a candidate for sheriff in the primary election against Cantrell. These ex-GIs promised honest elections to the voters as a part of their reform plan for the county government.

  During the primary election, 200 armed men were brought in by the local political machine to act as “deputies” at the polls.

  Newly returned veteran Poll-watchers were not allowed into the area where ballots were to be counted, and Sheriff Mansfield ordered his “deputies” to disperse the public. One of the deputies raised his gun and called out, “If you sons of bitches cross this street I'll kill you!”

  Not to
be intimidated, The GIs decided to find themselves some weapons and take matters into their own hands. The National Guard and State Guard armories had American M-1 rifles, British Enfield rifles, and some .45 caliber pistols.

  On August 2nd, the GIs bombed the jail with dynamite, and the deputies surrendered. They then took control of the jail and held the deputies overnight until calm was restored to the town. With the ballots counted fairly the GI candidate for sheriff, Henry, won election by a 3-to-2 margin.

  The skirmish became known as the Battle of Athens and demonstrated how American patriots can restore the rule of law by legitimately ousting corrupt politicians, even by force of arms if necessary. The Battle of Athens stands as an example of what patriotic Americans can do to protect themselves from government tyranny.

  A good corporate citizen

  During the Dust Bowl and Great Depression years of the 1930's women sometimes sewed clothes out of empty flour sacks when money was tight. When flour distributors heard about this they began making their bags more colorful and even with patterns so the subsequent clothing would be more attractive. The sacks even came with instructions on how to wash out the ink of the company's printed logo. It's estimated that a many as 3.5 million women and children wore clothing made from these printed sacks.

  MYTH BUSTER ALERT!

  “Revise” the Alamo!

  It's been a common refrain in American history books for decades “Remember the Alamo!”

  As the story goes The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal event in Texas' fight for independence. Following a 13 day siege of the mission, Mexican troops under the command of Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar (modern-day San Antonio), killing all of the defenders. The Texan's would eventually win their independence at the battle of San Jacinto on April 21st, 1836.

  The story of the Alamo has often been portrayed as somewhat of a micro American Revolution. A small band of motley rebels seeking independence, takes on seemingly insurmountable odds in the fight for freedom and liberty. A great story if it were only as honorable as history portrays. While the Alamo is surely a symbol of pride for many Texan's, and those that perished there certainly are worthy of the banners of courage history has bestowed upon them, it would be unfair to history to forget that it wasn’t just freedom from Mexico's rule they risked their lives for, but the purpose of maintaining their slave trading practices.

  Many people are not aware that Mexico, through the Guerrero decree, made slavery illegal in the territory in 1830. Upon defeating Mexico and winning their independence in 1836 Texas would become a sovereign republic with their Constitution making slavery legal. Texas became part of the United States – by way of treaty – in 1845. With their slave holding ways intact.

  So while the story of the Alamo is one of bravery and heroics in the face of long odds, most history books fail to mention that the cause of the battle was not as noble as legend would suggest.

  Driving on a runway

  The US Interstate Highway System requires that every fifth mile must be straight so that these sections can be used as airstrips in times of war.

  Got a tissue?

  Kleenex tissues were actually developed for use as gas mask filters during the first World War. They were originally called Cheesecloth UGG and were used in respirators instead of fabric when cotton was needed more for bandages.

  A concept up in smoke, literally!

  New York’s Empire State Building was designed for docking passenger laden airships. The architects who designed the building envisioned that airships would anchor to the buildings spire and passengers could descend via a gangplank to the 102nd floor. Then on May 6,1937 the Hindenburg exploded, and the airship concept was abandoned. Their descendants, lighter weight blimps, were relegated to becoming high flying billboards and providing aerial coverage of sporting events.

  Hooray for Hollywood

  When the now iconic Hollywood Sign was first erected in 1923 it was meant to be temporary and the original version actually read “Hollywoodland.” The sign was meant to be part of an 18-month advertising campaign to attract home buyers to the Los Angeles area.

  In the late 1940s, “land” was removed and for decades the sign slipped into a state of disrepair. In August of 1978 the landmark was demolished leaving the peak bare until a new Hollywood sign would be unveiled 3 months later.

  The Hollywood sign has a dark side as well.

  In 1932 24-year-old Peg Entwistle jumped to her death off of the “H” believing her dreams of becoming a movie star would never materialize. According to the LA Times, a hiker found her body, along with a handwritten suicide note, in a ravine below. Ironically, a letter arrived for Entwistle a few days later. She was accepted into the Bliss-Hayden School of Acting specifically for a role as a young woman who, ironically enough, commits suicide.

  Things you did not know about The Star Spangled Banner

  Francis Scott Key actually intended his verses to be song lyrics, not poetry. Contrary to popular belief, “The Star Spangled-Banner” was not a poem set to a melody years later. Although Key was an amateur poet, when he composed his verses he intended them to accompany a popular song of the day.

  Key wanted the words to be sung to the melody of “To Anacreon in Heaven.” Although Key composed the patriotic lyrics amid much anti-British euphoria, “To Anacreon in Heaven” was ironically an English song that served as the theme song of the upper-crust Anacreontic Society of London (A gentleman’s club of musicians, Doctors, and other “intellectual” professions) and a popular pub staple.

  MYTH BUSTER ALERT!

  Contrary to popular lore Key was not imprisoned on a British warship when he wrote the verses.

  Key was a Washington DC lawyer that had been sent to Baltimore by President James Madison on a mission to negotiate for the release of Dr. William Beanes, a prominent surgeon who was captured at the Battle of Bladensburg. Along with John Stuart Skinner, a fellow lawyer working for the State Department, Key set sail on an American sloop and on September 7th the two boarded the British ship Tonnant, where they secured Beanes release under one condition—they could not go ashore until after the British attacked Baltimore. Accompanied by British guards on September 10th, Key returned to the American sloop from which he witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry.

  The song was not titled “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

  When Key scrawled his lyrics on the back of a letter he did not give them any title. Within a week, Key’s verses were printed on broadsides and in Baltimore newspapers with the title “Defense of Fort McHenry.” In November of that year a Baltimore music store printed the patriotic song with sheet music for the first time under the more lyrical title “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

  The flag Key “hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming” did not fly “through the perilous fight.”

  The night of the bombardment a heavy rain fell on Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore. The fort’s 30-by-42-foot garrison flag was so massive that it required 11 men to hoist even when dry, and if waterlogged the woolen banner could have weighed upwards of 500 pounds and snapped the flagpole. So as the rain poured down, a smaller storm flag that measured 17-by-25 feet flew in its place. The next morning they most likely took down the storm flag and hoisted the bigger “official” one and that’s the flag Key saw. Symbolically speaking an American Flag did, literally, weather the storm. But the flag Key gazed upon the next morning was likely the unscathed garrison flag and not the battle tattered storm flag.

  It did not become the national anthem until more than a century after it was written.

  Along with “Hail Columbia” and “Yankee Doodle,” “The Star-Spangled Banner” was among the prevalent patriotic songs in the aftermath of the War of 1812. During the Civil War “The Star-Spangled Banner” was an anthem for Union troops and the song increased in popularity in the ensuing decades. This led to President Woodrow Wilson signing an executive order in 1916 desi
gnating it as “the national anthem of the United States” for all military ceremonies. On March 3rd, 1931, after 40 previous attempts failed, a measure passed Congress and was signed into law that formally designated “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the national anthem of the United States.

  Only 25% is “Anthem”

  Most people do not realize that our National Anthem is just the first verse of Key's song. When we sing this ballad at ball games, parades and other civic events, we're leaving out the 3 last verses of the Star Spangled Banner.

  Here's the Star Spangled Banner in it's entirety:

  Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

  On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In full glory reflected now shines on the stream: 'Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.