September 4, 1886 –Geronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who warred against the encroachment of the United States on his tribal lands and people for over 25 years. While outnumbered, Geronimo fought against both Mexican and United States troops and became famous for his daring exploits and numerous escapes fromContinue reading “They may kill you after reading this”
Tag Archives: history
Force Majeure
August 2, 1100 – (Those of you with delicate sensibilities may wish to skip this story.)You may have wondered when the phrase Act of God first came into use. You’ve seen it on legal forms and may have unfortunately encountered it when trying to collect on your home insurance policy. As with many things, theContinue reading “Force Majeure”
Eureka
August 1, 1769 –Spain sent an exploratory expedition from San Diego to Monterey on this date, to survey the area and identify locations worthy of settling and converting the locals to Catholicism. The expedition was led by Gaspar de Portolá, nephew of the celebrated Spanish comedian Uncle Porky, and included a number of religious missionariesContinue reading “Eureka”
June and July were just practice
The festival of Lammas marks the beginning of the harvest, when people go to church to give thanks for the first grain to be cut. This is the long way of saying that it’s August again. How did a single month become so important? Like almost everything else that’s difficult to understand, the history ofContinue reading “June and July were just practice”
It’s not always fun and games being a queen
July 24, 1567 –Mary of Guise, the French wife of Scotland’s King James V, gave birth to a daughter named Mary in 1542. A week later King James died and the very young Mary became the Queen of Scotland. Prince Edward of England proposed marriage to the Scottish Queen immediately, and his proposal is thereforeContinue reading “It’s not always fun and games being a queen”
My failures have been errors in judgment, not of intent.
July 23, 1885 –One of the most famous residents of West 122nd Street and Riverside Drive made a most fateful decision on this date. He decided to give up the ghost. In 1881, Ulysses S. Grant – American general, the eighteenth President of the United States, and a famous horseback-riding drunk – purchased a houseContinue reading “My failures have been errors in judgment, not of intent.”
If you can dream it, you can do it.
July 23, 1904 –At the turn of the last century, ice cream men were a breed apart. It was hard work making ice cream, and the rewards were few. “You don’t choose ice cream,” they said. “Ice cream chooses you.” Well, Charles E. Menches was an ice cream man. They say it ran in hisContinue reading “If you can dream it, you can do it.”
On the way home
July 21, 1969 –Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin blasted off from the Moon after twenty-one and a half hours on the surface and returned to the command module piloted by Michael Collins on this date. The lunar module’s lower section, left behind, has a plaque mounted upon it, reading, “Here menContinue reading “On the way home”
Ernest Hemingway
July 21, 1899 –Ernest Hemingway was born on this date. He was young at the time of his birth. It was fine to be young. He drove an ambulance in World War I. It wasn’t called World War I then. It was just called the war. It was one of those times when people shotContinue reading “Ernest Hemingway”
The first pie fight
July 17, 1913 –On this date, audiences attending the silent film A Noise from the Deep observed Mabel Normand striking Fatty Arbuckle in the face with a pie. It was purportedly the first use of the pie-in-the-face routine in film history. It may not seem that remarkable, considering how much history there had been inContinue reading “The first pie fight”
The Haus of Dcaligari 