You Say It’s Your Birthday
One of the songs on the album The Beatles
I can’t sing Happy Birthday to us. I’m not a good singer and it also falls under copyright protection. Even though the song origins of the song dates to the late 19th century from a song by teachers Patty and Mildred J. Hill who each morning sang to their class a tune called Good Morning to All. In 1935 Happy Birthday to You was copyrighted as a work for hire by Preston Ware Orem for the Summy Company. This copyright still holds and is owned by an investment group. The song will not pass in to the public domain until 2030.
The date of birth is determined by the time zone in which you reside. For example I was born at 11:45 PM Eastern Time. A person born at that very same minute in London would have had an August 31st birthday. My sister, who was born 13 years and 2.5 hours later, celebrates her birthday on the 31st, but if she was born in California we would have had the same birthday.
It’s possible for the older of twins to have their official birth time as listed an hour later than their sibling if the two were born during the time change of Daylight Savings time in the fall.
Those who are born on February 29th could be thought to have a birthday once every 4 years. They often celebrate their birthday on those years that don’t have a 29th on February 28th or March 1st. A person who was born on February 29, 1960 would have just celebrated that 12th birthday in 2008.
Many cultures have a coming of age birthday. For those of the Jewish faith on a boy’s 13th birthday he has his bar mitzvah. At the age of 21 it is legal for Americans to purchase and consume alcohol. At 17 Wizards, such as Harry Potter, comes of age.
Happy Birthday
1935 Labor Day Hurricane.
When the hurricane of Labor Day 1935 hit the United States at the Florida Keys it had winds reaching 200 miles per hour with a barometric pressure recorded at 26.35, the lowest ever recorded on land. It had a 17-foot tidal surge.
At its inception it was only 3 to four days away from the Florida coast. It developed near the Bahamas, and not lower in the Atlantic as usual. It formed on August 29, 1935 and was fully dissipated on September 10. It struck the Florida Keys on September 2nd.
The total deaths in the Florida Keys from this hurricane is unknown but it is estimated that there were at least 423 deaths. 259 of these were from an estimated population of 750 World War I veterans building a bridge to begin the elimination of the ferry boats (34.5%) and 164 of the resident population of 13,335 (1.2%).
After crossing the Keys the storm decreased in strength and headed northward in the Gulf of Mexico. It made landfall again on September 4th in northwest Florida near Cedar Key as a Category 2 hurricane. It passed over Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina prior to emerging into the Atlantic Ocean near Norfolk on September 6. Even after emerging into the Northern Atlantic it again gained to Hurricane strength reaching wind speeds of 90 mph.
It was the first of only three recorded hurricanes that made landfall in the United States as a Category 5 hurricane. The others are Camile in 1969 and Andrew in 1992.
At mile marker 82 in Islamorada just west of US Route 1, sits a simple monument designed by the Florida Division of the Federal Art Project and constructed using Keys limestone by the Works Progress Administration. With more that 4,000 people in attendance it was unveiled in 1937. The monument depicts palm trees amid curling waves, fronds bent in the wind. In front of the sculpture, a ceramic-tile mural of the Keys covers a stone crypt, which holds victims’ ashes from the makeshift funeral pyres. The memorial was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on March 16, 1995.
Did You Know – Early American History
If you are a regular reader you do.
St. Augustine Florida is the oldest continuous settlement in the United States. It was originally a Spanish settlement as well as its oldest port. St. Augustine was founded by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés on September 8, 1565.
The first English child born in America was Virgina Dare who was born on August 18, 1587. She was born shortly after a colony was established on Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina. John White, the Roanoke colony’s governor was her Grandfather. White returned to England to get supplies and when he returned the colony had disappeared never be discovered what had become of the Colony nor Virginia Dare.
The Dutch under the leadership of Peter Stuyvesant controlled the American coast between New York (They founded New Amsterdam, New York’s original name in 1525) and the mouth of the Delaware Day. Dutch settlements on the western shores of the Delaware Bay is one of the reasons that Delaware was not part of the Maryland Colony.
During the Revolutionary War Florida (at the time two separate colonies, East and West Florida) was an English Colony. Spain had lost Florida to England during the French Indian War that ended in 1761. East and West Florida would return to Spanish rule in 1783.
On July 16, 1769 Junípero Serra found a mission at San Diego. This was the first of 21 missions founded along California’s pacific coast.
The Maryland Colony began with a failed attempt by George Calvert, the First Lord Baltimore, in Newfoundland. Calvert had been the Secretary of State under King James the I and he had requested a chance to build a colony in the New World. The “Province of Avalon” began settlement in 1623. In 1628 Calvert moved to the settlement with the intention of remaining there for the rest of his days. The winter of 1628-29 was much worst than he expected and he returned to England. He still desired a colony in the New World and began the process that would become the Maryland Charter.
Female Aviators
I was looking at some of the keywords that have been used by people that have landed here and one jumped out at me. That was, “sexy female fighter pilots”. Other than Amelia Earhart, there wasn’t a lot that I knew about women in aviation history so I took a look.
Orville and Wilbur Wright’s sister Katherine was a big supporter of her brothers’ effort to fly. She gave them money for their experiments and was an important, yet unrecognized member of the team. In 1909, she made her first flight in Pau, France to help demonstrate that it was safe enough for a woman to do it.
On August 11, 1911, the journalist, Harriet Quimby was the first woman to be issued a pilot license in the United States. Her sister, Mathilde Molsant, was the second. She was the first to fly across the English Channel and even though she died on July 1, 1912 when the plane she was piloting pitched forward ejecting her from the plane, she was an inspiration to Earhart. Earhart once said of her, “To cross the Channel in 1912 required more bravery and skill than to cross the Atlantic today…we must remember that, in thinking of America’s first great woman flier’s accomplishment.”
In 1942, to free up men for combat duties, 1074 women were made Women Air Service Pilots (WASP). They were assigned to bases throughout the US and flew all type of aircrafts.
The Navy in 1974 took the first steps in making women true military pilots when they gave wings to six women. The Army followed shortly later in the same year with trained female helicopter pilots. The Air Force didn’t follow until 1976. It still wasn’t until the late 1980′s that women were allowed to fly in combat zones. During Desert Storm, Major Marie Rossi was the first female pilot to die in combat when the helicopter she was flying crashed on March 1, 1989.
Lt. Colonel Martha McSally became the first woman to be trained as an Air Force fighter pilot. She was also the first woman to command a fighter squadron. According to fighterchicks.com, “There are 49 active duty female fighter pilots and 16 WSOs in fighters. There are 17 female fighter pilots in the Air National Guard.”
In case you were wondering, 6 Things to Consider first showed up on page 2 of the google search with the posting about Beautiful Women and Their Sci-Fi Roles when I said that Grace Park and Katee Sackhoff’s roles make fighter pilots sexy.
Favorite Songs
I don’t do this often, since nearly everything here is facts, but once in a while I like to just say things that are important to me. And selections of things that to me is purely subjective. This is is my personal favorite songs.
Colour My World – Chicago
This is a favorite of many since during the 70s and even today many proms have used this as their theme, and weddings and the song for the first dance. It’s a great song alone, but it’s often played by the group as part of James Pankow’s Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon song cycle/suite. It was twice released as part of a single. Both times as B sides. First in 1970 with Make Me Smile, the first song in the suite, and then in 1971 with Beginnings.
Won’t Get Fooled Again – The Who
I was still listening to AM radio when I first heard this song. All I knew for the first few months was the 3 and half minute single release. It wasn’t until a friend told me that it was much longer on the album Who’s Next. I was in love with the short version and blown away with the full version. Part of the song now can be heard as the Theme for CBS’s CS: Miami.
I thought I would add a Christmas seasonal song on the list, but I really could decide between three. Version doesn’t really matter. Those three are White Christmas, most popular version being Bing’s Crosby, I’ll be Home for Christmas and The Christmas Song.
Over the Rainbow – Judy Garland
I have always been a big fan of movies and of course when I was growing up one of the movies we all seem to wait for to play on the TV each year was the Wizard of OZ.
Sure would love to hear what you consider your favorite song.
Evil in the Air
Two nights August 8 and 9, 1969 rocked Los Angeles. On the night of the August 8th at the rental home of Roman Polanski and his pregnant wife Sharon Tate a group of deranged hippies gruesomely killed Steven Parent, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, Abigail Folger, Sharon Tate and Sharon Tate’s unborn child. Polanski was in England.
The next night the some of these same people went to the home of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca and did the same. These hippies were the followers of Charles Manson.
Two things that Manson often quoted were the Bible and The Beatles. Manson saw the four Beatles members as being the “four angels” referred to in Revelation 9. It describes these angels as having “faces as the faces of men” but with “the hair of women” with “breastplates of fire”, their guitars, and their songs as being “issued fire and brimstone”.
The Beatles White Album issued in 1968 was a turning point in the thoughts of Manson. Before hearing the album Manson was caring about the sex and drugs. After this, it was as if god had spoken to him and he believed that they were telling him to start ‘Helter Skelter’, a war between the blacks and whites.
But the Beatles weren’t the only group that Manson had ties. Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys had invited a bunch of girls into his house and they brought their guru, Charlie Manson. In fact one of the songs on the Beach Boys Album 20/20 had its roots in a song written by Manson. Charlie’s version was called Cease To Exist – and the group changed around the lyrics and renamed it Never Learn Not To Love.
Through Wilson’s relationship Manson meet Terry Melcher, the son of Doris Day. Melcher was living at 10050 Cielo Drive when they met. It was at this house that Charlie took his ‘Family’ on the night of August 8th to begin ‘Helter Skelter’
Damn The Torpedoes! The Battle of Mobile Bay
Many of us have heard the phrase, “Damn the Torpedoes! Full speed ahead”. And many of us may also have not idea who said these words or when. Admiral David Farragut, who was commanding a Union Fleet during the American Civil Words is credited with saying this at the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864.
As with many wartime quotes it’s possible that he never uttered these words, but there have been accounts that he did.
The Torpedoes of the Civil War were nothing like today’s self-propelled torpedo. The term torpedo was first used around 1800 and was that of a naval explosive. And the Civil War torpedoes was a floating mine made to explode upon contact. These mines could be dangerous and cause a lot of damage, but they also could be unreliable.
Farragut entered the mouth of the Mobile Bay with a fleet of 14 wooden ships and 4 ironcads. He soon encountered the Torpedoes. The Ironclad USS Tecumseh was sunk by a tethered contact mine and was lost. But he issued orders to continue ahead and navigated the torpedo field safely.
The Battle ended with Franklin Buchanan, Admiral of the Confederate Fleet surrendering to Farragut. Within three weeks the forts defending the Bay were captured.
The City of Mobile remained under the control of the Confederates, but with the Union in control of the Mobile Bay, the city was no longer a major port for the Confederates. This battle as well as Sherman’s March on Atlanta is credited with greatly aiding in the Presidential victory for Abraham Lincoln in November.
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus is thought to have been born between August and October 1451 in Genoa, Italy. Little is known about his youth, although it is thought that he had a brother, Bartolomeo who may have worked in a cartography workshop in Lisbon. He did claim that he began his life at sea at the age of 10.
Columbus never sat for an authentic portrait. Writings have described him as having reddish hair, which turned to white early in his life. He was a lighter skinned person and with too much sun exposure his face had turned red.
At the time of his 1492 voyage it was a common belief, especially of seagoing men, that the earth was a sphere. Europe had begun trade with China, but the overland route was rough and the sea route around the southern tip of Africa was long. Columbus held a theory, that the earth’s circumference was 25,255 kilometers. The accepted theory at the time was that the earth’s circumference was greater, which in actuality is correct.
In 1485, Columbus presented to the King John of Portugal a proposal that the king should equip three sturdy ships to Columbus and in one year’s time he would sail out into the Atlantic, search for a western route to Orient, and then return home. Columbus also requested he be made “Great Admiral of the Ocean”, be granted governor of any and all lands he discovered, and given one-tenth of all revenue from those lands discovered. The king submitted the proposal to his experts. They who rejected it with an opinion that Columbus’ proposed route of 2,400 miles was far too short.
After being rejected by Portugal he presented the same plan to the newly married Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, who ruled the combined lands of Spain. Even though they had similar reports as Portugal about Columbus’s estimates being too short, they didn’t want him to take his plan elsewhere. They gave him a gave him an annual annuity of 12,000 maravedis ($840) and in 1489 furnished him with a letter ordering all Spanish cities and towns to provide him food and lodging at no cost. Finally in 1492 the cash starved Ferdinand and Isabella agreed to fund 1/2 of his expedition. He had already lined up the the other half from private investors.
On the evening of August 3, 1492, Columbus departed from Palos with three ships; the larger of the ships was the Santa María, nicknamed Gallega and two smaller caravels, Pinta and Santa Clara, nicknamed Niña . Columbus first sailed to the Canary Islands, , where he restocked the provisions and made repairs, and on September 6, started what turned out to be a five-week voyage across the ocean. Land was sighted at 2 a.m. on October 12, 1492, Columbus called the island (in what is now The Bahamas) San Salvador.
The First United States Census – 1790
The first United States Census began on Monday, August 2,1790 using that date as the ‘as of’ of the census. President George Washington had taken office the year before and the country wished to have a count of its population.
The Congress assigned responsibility for the 1790 census to the marshals of the U.S. judicial districts. The Act required that every household be visited and that completed census schedules be posted in public place
There were six pieces of information wanted for this census, The name of the head of the family and the number of persons in each household of the following descriptions: Free White males of 16 years and upward, free White males under 16 years, free White females, all other free persons , and slaves.
It showed that 3,929,326 people were living in the United States and that 697,681 were slaves.
The largest cities were New York City with 33,000 inhabitants, Philadelphia, with 28,000, Boston, with 18,000, Charleston, South Carolina, with 16,000, and Baltimore, with 13,000.
The mean center of population was located in Kent County, Maryland near the town of Chestertown, 23 miles east of Baltimore.
The Month of August
August is the 8th month of the Gregorian Calendar. The month was named after the Roman Emperor Augustus in the year 8 BC. Many of the events in his rise to power occurred in this month.
At the time the Month was named August it was practice for the months to alternate with 30 and 31 days. July named for Julius Caesar had 31, with the next month having 30. When the month was renamed for Augustus it was decided to also make this month one with 31 days so as for Augustus not to have a month with less days than Julius.
Other months have at one time been named after Roman Emperors, however only the Months of July and August still remain.
The month’s flower is the gladiolus or poppy with it’s birthstone being the peridot, sardonyx, or sapphire.
During the month of August in 1945, the United States used nuclear bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima on the 6th and three days later at Nagasaki. Japan surrendered on the 15th.
August 15 also is the day the Korea became a county, also in 1945, and with India also becoming an independent country in 1947.
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