Today in History: July 7, 2020
You want history? We got history! (And not a single wikipedia link!)
1456 A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death. [Browse the English transcript of the trial here .]
1550 The traditional date that Chocolate is thought to have been introduced to Europe. [Are you a choco-holic? Get some therapy here .]
1668 Isaac Newton receives his MA from Trinity College, Cambridge. [Newton invented calculus, but he called it “fluctions.” When I learned that, I called it fluctions too - much to the chagrin of my college professors. Read how he scooped Leibniz here .]
1777 American Revolutionary War: Battle of Hubbardton (Vermont). [The only battle fought entirely in what would become Vermont. Read about how the Yanks gave the Brits a bloody nose here .]
1799 Ranjit Singh’s men take up their positions outside Lahore. [Read more about this fascinating period of British history here .]
1802 “The Wasp” is published in Hudson, New York. [Although many sites claim this was a comic book, it was really just a 4-page newspaper used to attack Thomas Jefferson. Read about how some things never change here .]
1865 Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold and George Atzerodt are executed for their role in the conspiracy to assassinate US President Abraham Lincoln. [Read about the trial here .]
1868 Ed Pooley takes 12 dismissals as keeper in match Surrey v Sussex.
1908 The Democratic Party meets in Denver at the start of their convention; William Jennings Bryan is nominated as presidential nominee. [You may know Bryan from his participation in the Scopes monkey trial. Another former Secretary of State who never became president. Read more here .]
1912 American athlete Jim Thorpe wins 4 of 5 events to win the Pentathlon gold medal at the Stockholm Olympics.
1928 Sliced bread is sold for the first time by the Chillicothe Baking Company, Missouri, using a machine invented by Otto Frederick Rohwedder. [It was described as the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped. Some sources say Otto sliced the bread on the 6th, not the 7th. If true, read about the invention of sliced day-old bread here . (See also the birthday section in today’s Spark!)]
1930 Construction begins on Boulder (Hoover) Dam. [Sure it’s big and it holds water. But the real story of the dam is the engineering inside it. Read about what $175 million and 4.25 million cubic yards of concrete will get you here .]
1932 Australian cricket batsman supreme Don Bradman scores a double century during a Goodwill Tour in Montreal, Canada. [I ran this through Google translate English to American, but it didn’t help.]
1937 Japanese and Chinese troops clash at the Marco Polo Bridge, beginning the Second Sino-Japanese War.
1947 Alleged and disputed Roswell UFO incident. [Sliced bread AND UFOs. What a day! If you want to believe, start here .]
1952 SS United States cross Atlantic in record 82:40. [At first I read that as minutes:seconds and thought, “That’s pretty darn speedy!” But it’s hours:minutes. Still, read about the ship that made the transatlantic dash here .]
1958 President Eisenhower signed a bill approving Alaskan statehood.
1960 The USSR shoots down a US (spy) aircraft over the Barents sea. [Read about the crew’s ordeal here .]
1967 The Beatles’ “All You Need is Love” is released. The Doors’ “Light My Fire” hits #1.
1977 “The Spy Who Loved Me”, the tenth James Bond film, stars Roger Moore and premieres in London.
1978 Solomon Islands declares independence from UK. [Get the tourist’s-eye view here .]
1980 Jim King completes riding Panama City’s Miracle Strip roller coaster 368 hours (16 days). He took a 5-minute break each hour, but still… [The technical difference between a roller coaster and a “thrill ride” is that a coaster gets all it’s energy from the initial climb to launch height. A thrill ride uses additional motors/energy along the way. Coasters were much more of a challenge to design. I actually went to Panama City for spring break 1978. Take the plunge here .]
1980 Institution of Sharia law in Iran.
1986 IBM-PC DOS Version 3.2 (updated) released. [I miss DOS.]
2001 In his first appearance at Daytona since the death of father Dale Earnhardt Sr., Dale Jr. wins Pepsi 400 coming from 7th with 9 laps remaining to beat teammate Michael Waltrip.
2017 Tesla Motors produces its first mass-market car, the Model 3. [I know some of you are Tesla fans.]
Births:
1053 Emperor Shirakawa of Japan.
1656 Guru Har Krishan, 8th Guru of Sikhism.
1752 Joseph-Marie Jacquard, inventor of the programmable loom. [The warp and weft were controlled by a string of punch cards foreshadowing Hollerith.]
1851 Charles Tindley, American gospel music composer.
1860 Gustav Mahler, Kalischat Bohemia Austria, composer/conductor (Titan).
1880 Otto Frederick Rohwedder, American engineer (invented the bread-slicing machine), born in Davenport, Iowa.
1907 Robert Anson Heinlein, legendary American science fiction author.
1919 Jon Pertwee, English actor and entertainer (third Doctor in Doctor Who, Worzel Gummidge), born in London.
1927 Doc Severinson, [Carl], bandleader/trumpeter on the Tonight Show, born in Arlington, Oregon.
1940 Ringo Starr [Richard Starkey], English drummer and member of The Beatles, born in Liverpool, England
1941 James “Jim” Rodford, English rock vocalist and bassist (The Kinks, Argent, Zombies), born in St Albans, Hertfordshire.
1968 Amy Carlson, American actress (Blue Bloods, Third Watch), born in Glen Ellyn, Illinois
Deaths
1307 Edward I, King of England (1272-1307), dies at 68.
1647 Thomas Hooker, American colonial clergyman (known as “the father of Connecticut”), dies at 61.
1701 William Stoughton, American judge at the Salem witch trials.
1771 Thomas Gray, English poet (Elegy), dies at 54.
1890 Henri Nestlé, German-Swiss industrialist (founder of Nestlé), dies from heart attack at 75.
1901 Johanna Spyri, Swiss children’s book author (Heidi), dies at 74.
1930 Arthur Conan Doyle, British writer (Sherlock Holmes), dies at 71.
1973 Veronica Lake [Constance Ockleman], American actress (Sullivan’s Travels, I Married a Witch), dies from hepatitis and acute kidney injury at 50. [In the movie Sullivan’s Travels, the main character aspires to write an epic motion picture called “O Brother, Where Art Thou.” The Coen brothers were inspired to name their 2000 version of Homer’s “The Odyssey” (produced in 2000 starring George Clooney) after that.]
1975 Ruffian, American thoroughbred racehorse.
1984 Carl Boenish, American father of BASE jumping, dies at 43 [in a BASE jump incident].
The Funnies:
On the Menu Today – Inside-out Pot Pie (Chicken Biscuit)
Raising my four kids on the farm meant growing vegetables, raising chickens, and a lot of home-canning. This recipe was a winter favorite that warmed you all through. We’d gather up armfuls of mason jars and head up to the kitchen. Instead of wasting time and effort on making crust, we’d simply ladle the pot pie filling into a bowl over a home-made biscuit.
In a large stock pot, combine:
1 quart canned shredded chicken (about a pint of chicken meat and a pint of broth)
1 quart cut green beans (with liquid)
1 quart sliced carrots (with liquid)
1 quart cubed potatoes (rinse off any starch)
2 large chopped onions
1 tbsp minced garlic
Bring the mixture slowly to a boil, stirring as required.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven and mix up a batch of flour biscuits.
In a separate bowl of 2 cups of flour, add cold water and whisk until blended and pour-able. (Some prefer corn starch or arrowroot powder.) Drizzle the flour mixture into the pot as you stir constantly. Try to distribute the flour mixture thoroughly as it thickens the mix. Stop when you start to feel some resistance to your stirring. Serve immediately over a biscuit and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Quote of the Day
Those who love the twilight speak as if public education must be training in conformity, and government support of science be public aid of caution. - John F. Kennedy
Comic of the Day
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Image Credit: XKCD
Inspirobot Sometimes Controversial Inspirational Quote of the Day:
Bonus Heavily Grounded InspiRobert of the Day:
Yesterday’s Spark:
Read yesterday’s cautionary Spark! by Sully here .
