Gilbert M. Stack's Blog, page 144

Today in History: West Point

On this day (March 16) in 1802, Thomas Jefferson signed the Military Peace Establishment Act to define the number of officers and military personnel that the United States would maintain in times of peace. The Act was actually driven by Jefferson’s distrust of the military and fear that it was dominated by the Federalist Party and he used it not only to shrink the army but to purge it of the officers he considered to be the most partisan Federalists. The Act also established the Military Academy at West Point to train engineers so that the U.S. military would not be dependent on foreign engineers.

Today in History: A Hero Passes

On this day (March 15) in 2009, my father-in-law, Mike Makoe, passed away. He was a very good man who served his country in Vietnam where he was exposed to Agent Orange which eventually killed him. He worked hard his whole life and got a raw deal in the end—lung cancer is a very difficult way to go. Yet even at the worst of times, he had a joke to tell, a story to relate, a little humanity to share. We all miss him.

Today in History: The Cotton Gin

On this day (March 14) in 1794 Eli Whitney received a patent for his cotton gin. This invention changed the course of American History because it made growing cotton much more profitable thus increasing the demand for slaves at a time in which many historians believe that slavery was losing its economic viability. Cotton blooms contains thirty to forty sticky seeds which had to be separated from the cotton fiber before they could be turned into cloth. One slave, working by hand, could clean approximately one pound of cotton per day. The cotton gin permitted one person to clean more than fifty pounds of cotton a day. Whitney’s “cotton engine” greatly enhanced the value of cotton farming and the need of slaves to work the cotton fields.

Today in History: Uranus

On this day (March 13) in 1872 Sir William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus—except he wasn’t actually the first person to sight it. In 128 BCE Hipparchos included Uranus in his star catalogue and Ptolemy incorporated it from Hipparchos’s work into his own Almagest. In 1690, John Flamsteed observed it six times cataloguing it as 34 Tauri. Pierre Charles Le Monnier observed it at least twelve times between 1750 and 1769. None of these people, however, realized they were looking at a planet. Even Sir William Herschel originally identified it as a comet. It was other astronomers who realized that Herschel’s comet was actually a planet.

Today in History: The Girl Guides

On this day (March 12) in 1912 the Girl Guides were founded in the United States. You may know them better as the Girl Scouts. The Girl Guides were a direct response to young girls being prevented from joining the new Boy Scouts organization. The Boy Scouts justified their ban on girl by pointing to cultural expectations of girls in their 1909 manual: “If a girl is not allowed to run, or even hurry, to swim, ride a bike, or raise her arms above her head, how can she become a Scout?” After receiving intense negative publicity for his anti-girl stand, Boy Scouts founder, Robert Baden-Powell, asked his sister, Agnes, to form the Girl Guides to give young women the same opportunities that Boy Scouts gave to young men.

Today in History: Assassination!

On this day (March 11) in the year 222, Roman Emperor Elagabalus was assassinated by his own Praetorian Guard (who were charged with keeping him alive). He had been put on the throne through the machinations of his grandmother, Julia Maesa, who arranged the assassination of her nephew to make way for the then 14 year old Elagabalus. Born in Syria and culturally Eastern, he was not a good match for the Romans. He was transgendered and preferred sexual liaisons with men, instead of women (although he did marry five times during his four year reign). Romans were not opposed to homosexuality, but they believed the only “respectable” position in the relationship was as the “active” partner emulating the male in a traditional male/female relationship. Elagabalus enjoyed calling himself the “queen” and the “wife” of his lover, Hierocles, and this was a bit too much for the Romans. Apparently he also enjoyed a game in which he play-acted “prostituting” himself to men passing through the halls of his residence. As his reputation sank his grandmother (the same woman who had put him on the throne four years earlier) arranged his assassination so she could try again with another grandson.

Today in History: Charles I Tries to Go It Alone

On this day (March 10) in 1629, Charles I of England dissolved Parliament and began his period of Personal Rule, trying to find ways to govern without having to work with the representatives of his people. His effort to rule as an absolute monarch greatly irritated many of his subjects, but it was his efforts to force religious conformity on his three kingdoms that eventually drove them into rebellion starting with the Scots in the north.

Today in History: Mattel Introduces Barbie

On this day (March 9) in 1959, Mattel introduced the Barbie doll. Since that time, more than 1 billion Barbies have been sold, but the real impact of Barbie on the toy market was the accessories: clothes, dream houses, cars and friends.

Today in History: A Man Enslaved

On this day (March Eight) in 1655, a Virginia court ruled that African John Casor was not an indentured servant but a slave for life. This was the first time the courts had made such a declaration. Casor had been owned by a free black man, Anthony Johnson, who initiated his suit when Casor left his service to go and work for another man. Casor claimed that he had worked off his indenture. Johnson claimed there had never been an indenture. In deciding the case for Johnson, the court also affirmed for the first time the right of free blacks to own slaves in Virginia.

Today in History: Abduction

On this day (March 7) in 1827, thirty-year-old Edward Gibbon Wakefield abducted 15-year-old Ellen Turner and married her in a bid to obtain a fortune from her wealthy parents. This was not the first time Wakefield had employed such a scheme. Ten years earlier he had eloped with 17-year-old Scottish heiress, Eliza Pattle, and convinced her mother to give the young couple 70,000 pounds to avoid a scandal. When Eliza died giving birth to her third child four years later, he began looking for another opportunity to enrich himself.

He found it in young Ellen Turner, who was released to him from her bordering school on the basis of a forged note. He then convinced her that her father had gone bankrupt and had fled England to avoid his creditors. He further convinced her that her father could still be saved if she would marry him because the bankers had agreed to transfer some of her father’s estate to Ellen’s husband. The poor girl was convinced to slip across the border to Scotland with him and marry him. The new couple then made their way to France, always “about to meet up” with her father.

In the meantime, Wakefield contacted Ellen’s parents and told them that their daughter was now married, but the girl’s father chose not to try and avoid a scandal. Instead he went to the Foreign Secretary for help and pursued Wakefield with the police to France. Wakefield claimed that as the girl was married to him, her father could not take her away from him, but the French authorities disagreed. Wakefield, his brother and his stepmother were tried, found guilty, and sentenced to three years in prison.

Wakefield went on to become a politician in New Zealand with an interest in prison reform. After Ellen’s marriage to Wakefield was annulled by Act of Parliament, she was married to a wealthy neighbor at the age of seventeen. She died two years later giving birth to her daughter.