Gilbert M. Stack's Blog, page 124

Today in History: HMS Oxley Was Sunk by Friendly Fire

On this day (September 10) in 1939, the British Royal Navy lost its first submarine, HMS Oxley, to friendly fire when HMS Triton fired on it off the coast of Norway. It was the beginning of World War II and Oxley was out of position and did not respond to four attempts to signal it. Two men survived the sinking of the Oxley.

Today in History: The Compromise of 1850

On this day (September 9) in 1850, the Compromise of 1850 went into effect. 1) California became a state. 2) Texas gave up much of the territory it claimed (including parts of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming) in exchange for the U.S. paying off $10 million of the debt it accumulated before becoming a state. (You can imagine how big it would have been without this deal.) 3) The Wilmot Provisio (which would have outlawed slavery in new territories) was abandoned in exchange for Popular Sovereignty which let the people of new territories vote on whether or not they would be slave or free states. 4) The slave trade (but not slavery) was outlawed in Washington D.C. But the most important aspect of the compromise was 5) a new, highly controversial, Fugitive Slave Act which required citizens to actively help U.S. marshals recapture escaped slaves and created a “system of justice” in which judges got paid $20 for finding that an alleged escaped slave actually had escaped, but only $10 if he found that he was a free black. Northern abolitionists were horrified by the new Fugitive Slave Act and encouraged them to become much more outspoken in their opposition to slavery with many prominent abolitionists proudly and publicly proclaiming they would go to jail before cooperating with this law. It also encouraged northerners to increase their financial support to men like John Brown and to abolitionist causes such as the violent contest over slavery we now call Bleeding Kansas. So the Compromise of 1850 resolved several short term problems the country was facing, but it moved the country much closer to civil war.

Today in History: The First Submarine Attack

On this day (September 7) in 1776, the United States made the first submarine attack in history. The submarine was called the Turtle and it was piloted by Ezra Lee. It attacked the British ship, Eagle. The plan was to attach a time bomb to the ship, but Lee was unable to stab the bomb into the underside of the ship and was forced to call off the attack.

Today in History: The King Fish Was Assassinated

On this day (September Eight) in 1935 the King Fish, Huey Long, was assassinated. Long was a populist politician who had served both as Governor and Senator of Louisiana. He abandoned his support for FDR when he decided that the New Deal was not doing enough to curb poverty. He created a “Share Our Wealth” platform that would have taxed the wealthy and redistributed their income to the poor in direct financial assistance (which FDR had believed to be unconstitutional when he became president). He was planning to challenge FDR for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. He was murdered by the son-in-law of a political opponent he had just succeeded in removing from office.

Today in History: A Shopping Revolution

On this day (September 6) in 1916, Piggly Wiggly, the first self-service grocery store opened in Memphis, Tennessee. Up until this time, customers handed a clerk a list of items they wished to purchase and the clerk gathered them. As an effort to cut costs, Piggly Wiggly allowed customers to roam the store themselves, gathering their own items. This also provided the customer the opportunity to be inspired to purchase items they hadn’t intended to buy. It was a revolution in both sales and shopping.

Today in History: An Early Hollywood Scandal

On this day (September 5) in 1921, silent film star Virginia Rappe died at a party becoming one of the first Hollywood scandals. Rappe had attended a party hosted by Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, also a silent film star. She allegedly suffered a trauma at his party and died four days later of a ruptured bladder and secondary peritonitis. Witnesses told many different stories, one of which was that Arbuckle had raped Rappe. He was tried for manslaughter three times. On the third time, the jury not only acquitted him but apologized to him stating there was absolutely no evidence connecting him to Rappe’s death. Despite the acquittal, his career was destroyed by the scandal. To this day, historians still argue over whether or not Rappe died as the consequence of a crime.

Today in History: The Little Rock Nine

On this day (September 4) in 1957, Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas, used the National Guard to prevent nine African American students from entering Little Rock Central High School. After the Supreme Court Decision in Brown v. Board of Education, the Little Rock School Board agreed to follow the court ruling and unanimously approved a plan of gradual desegregation. When the first nine African-American students showed up for school they were prevented from entering by the National Guard and images of the confrontation filled newspapers around the country. The Mayor of Little Rock asked President Eisenhower to intervene to protect the students and allow them to attend school. On September 24, Eisenhower sent in the 101st Airborne (minus their African American members) to escort the “Little Rock Nine” to class.

Today in History: Labor Day

Labor Day in the United States is a day set aside each year to celebrate the accomplishments and contributions to society of American Labor. It is a federal holiday celebrated on the first Monday of September and marks the unofficial end of Summer. There are two primary theories regarding its origins. The first is that it was started by the Knights of Labor (the first national labor organization and originally one that kept its membership secret) in 1882 when they met clandestinely in New York and inspired the Central Labor Union to hold a parade honoring labor. The second theory is that it was created by Peter Maguire, Vice President of the American Federation of Labor, who insisted that he had proposed the celebration to the Central Labor Union in Spring 1882. In any event, it became a federal holiday in 1894.

Today in History: Frederick Douglass Escaped from Slavery

On this day (September 3) in 1838, Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery in Maryland. He would go on to be one of the great civil rights voices of any time. Douglass was such an effective writer and public speaker that many people refused to believe he had been a slave. Although he never consented to be added to the ticket, Douglass was the first African-American candidate for Vice President of the United States (running with Victoria Woodhull as part of the Equal Rights Party). He also argued vehemently for women’s rights, saying that he could not accept the right to vote as a black man if women were deprived of the right.

Today in History: Richard the Lionhearted Makes Peace with Saladin

On this day (September 2) in 1192, Richard the Lionhearted and Saladin signed the Treaty of Jaffa ending the Third Crusade. The Treaty provided for a three year truce, permitted Christians and Muslims to travel safely through Palestine, the town of Ascalon was turned over to Saladin, and Christian control of the coast was recognized from Tyre to Jaffa. This freed Richard to return home to put his house in order, but he wouldn’t get there right away. Contrary to all custom regarding crusaders, he would be kidnapped by a fellow Christian and held for ransom while Philip II of France tried to conquer Richard’s holdings in France.