The Duck Almost as Famous as a Mouse

When he first appeared in the Disney Silly Symphonies cartoon short The Wise Little Hen on June 9, 1934 he may not have been the character as we know him today. But it was the first appearance of Donald Duck.

The 1934 Donald had not become the Donald as we know him today, but even though features did change he was in his blue sailor suit and hat and exhibited a bit of a temper.

While July 9th is officially Donald’s birthday, it was twice mention that his birth was on a 13th. In the 1944 film The Three Caballeros his birthday is given as “Friday the 13th” and in the short Donald’s Happy Birthday his birthday is March 13.

Donald’s nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie, would make their first animated appearance in the April 15, 1938 film, Donald’s Nephews. They had already appeared as characters in the comic strip featuring Donald Duck.

By the 1940s Donald was as popular as Mickey Mouse. A 1938 poll showed him as being more popular. Even though they were originally shown as partners it became obvious that Donald wanted to be the Super Star. All in jest it has created a rivalry that maintains even to this day.

All in all Donald Duck doesn’t look to bad for celebrating his 75th Birthday. Happy Birthday Donald.

St. Augustine, Florida

52 years after Ponce de Leon first sighted Florida and two years after the French established a fort and colony on the St. Johns River, 600 soldiers and settlers under the leadership of Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles settled St. Augustine on September 8, 1565. Menendez destroyed the French fort resulting in the coast of Florida being in full control of the Spanish.

In 1586, Sir Francis Drake attacked and burned the town, but did not take control of the town.

St. Augustine was founded 42 years before the first English settlement in Jamestown (1607) and is the oldest surviving European settlement in the United States.

Even though Florida seceded from the Union and join the Confederate States of America, the fort at St Augustine was occupied by Union soldiers during the entire war.

The Fort at St Augustine, which has served under 5 different flags has never been taken. It was removed from the active roles of the US Army in 1900 and is now the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument.

The city is rich with Spanish Colonial style buildings with an ongoing preservation effort to restore these buildings to their original appearance and has become a center for colonial Spanish culture.

http://www.oldcity.com/history-information.cfm

Mystery Woman’s Mystery Death

The life of Virgina Rappe is almost clouded in as much mystery as her death. Rappe, who was born on July 7, 1895, was discovered sick in Silent Comedy star Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle’s vacation bedroom in San Francisco on September 5, 1921. four days later she died of an inflammation of the lining of the pelvis.

Mostly due to false newspaper reports claiming that Arbuckle had raped the young actress during the wind weekend party either with his weight or the act of rape with a foreign object causing the rupture of her bladder, Arbuckle was arrested of raping and murdering Rappe.

Virginia Rappe (pronounce Rap-pey) life was tragic from the beginning. She was born out of wedlock and her mother Mabel moved from Chicago to New York to hide her shame. Mabel died when Virginia was 11 and went back to Chicago to be raised by her Grandmother.

She suffered what was probably a lonely and difficult childhood and if she didn’t use her body to her advantage she was used by men. By the age of 17 she possibly had a number of abortions as well as giving birth to a child that she gave up.

By 1917 she was in California getting work in motion pictures and dating director Henry “Pathé” Lehrman. Many of these roles were small, in a time when only major roles got a screen credit, so it’s hard to say how many films in which she appeared.

Shortly before leaving LA for San Francisco she and Lehrman separated and there was a rumor that she was pregnant. Was an abortion part of the cause of death? No one may ever know although it is the most common theory. She was remembered as saying during the party that “I need money for an abortion”.

Records in Baseball Unlikely to be Broken

Cy Young’s career record of 511 wins
Young played in a day when a pitcher started nearly every game. Even the post 1920 record of 417 wins is far below Young’s and even though there has been a number of 300 career winners in the past couple of years, all of these were by men already in their 40s.

Ty Cobb’s career average of .367
It takes a great hitter to reach a career average of .300 and most great hitters do tend to fall below .300 at the end of their career. It’s unlikely to ever happen. Just as a player having a .400 season is unlikely to happen.

Nolan Ryan’s career strikeout of 5714
Can it be reached? Yes, but not likely. Roger Clemens was considered a great strike out pitcher and he was still over 1000 behind.

Joe DiMaggio 56 game hitting streak
No one has come close. Pete Rose only hit in 44 straight games in 1978 and he is the closest.

Cal Ripken’s consecutive games played streak of 2632
When he moved into second place behind Lou Gehrig he was 700 games away and people still felt that Gehrig’s streak would not be broken. Ripken not only broke Gehrig’s record of 2130 straight games played, but he played for another 501 games.

Johnny Vander Meer’s record of 2 consecutive No-Hitters
A No-Hitter at best takes a lot of luck and pitching one in consecutive games has only happened once in the history of the game. Most pitchers never pitch a no-hitter let alone 2. Although when you think about it, this is a record that could be broken since it would only take 2 great games in a row and not a career or season to reach.

Best American Silent Movies

6. The Crowd – 1928 – King Vidor, Director
Cast: Eleanor Boardman [Mary Sims], James Murray [John Sims], Bert Roach [Bert], Estelle Clark [Jane], Daniel G. Tomlinson [Jim], Dell Henderson [Dick], Lucy Beaumont [Mary’s mother], Freddie Burke Frederick [John Sims Jr.], Alice Mildred Puter [daughter]; Sidney Bracey [John’s supervisor], Johnny Downs [John Sims, age 12], Sally Eilers [the party girl at Bert’s Place], Warner P. Richmond [Mr. Sims, John’s father], Virginia Sale [Mary’s sister-in-law], Larry Steers [doctor], Claude Payton

Plot: The life of a man and woman together in a large, impersonal metropolis through their hopes, struggles and downfalls.

5. Greed – 1924 – Erich von Stroheim, Director
Cast: Gibson Gowland [John ‘Mac’ McTeague], ZaSu Pitts [Trina Sieppe McTeague], Jean Hersholt [Marcus Schouler], Dale Fuller [Maria Miranda Macapa], Tempé Piggot [Mother McTeague], Sylvia Ashton [‘Mommer’ Sieppe, Trina’s mother], Chester Conklin [Hans ‘Popper’ Sieppe, Trina’s father], Joan Standing [Selina, Trina’s cousin]; Austin Jewell [August Sieppe, Trina’s little brother], Oscar Gotell [Max Sieppe, Trina’s little twin brother], Otto Gotell [Moritz Sieppe, Trina’s little twin brother], Günther von Ritzau [?] (same as Erich von Ritzau?) [Dr. ‘Painless’ Potter, a traveling dentist], Frank Hayes [Charles W. Grannis, the Modern Dog Hospital owner], Fanny Midgley [Anastasia Baker, a retired dressmaker], Max Tyron [Rudolph Oelbermann, Trina’s uncle and owner of the toy store], Hughie Mack [Mr. Heise], E. ‘Tiny’ Jones (‘Tiny’ Jones) [Mrs. Heise], J. Aldrich Libby [Mr. Ryer], Rita Revela [Mrs. Ryer], Lon Poff [lottery company man], S.S. Simon [Joe Frenna, the saloonkeeper], [?] William Mollemhauer or William Mollenheime? [the palmist], Hugh J. McCauley [the photographer], William Barlow [the minister], Jack McDonald [?] [Placer County sheriff, or Cribbens, a prospector]?, James F. Fulton [?] [Placer County sheriff, or Cribbens, a prospector]?, James Gibson [deputy sheriff], Jimmy Wang [Chinese cook], Erich von Stroheim [balloon vendor], Lita Chevrier, Edward Gaffney, Harold E. Henderson, Cesare Gravina [Zerkow, the junkman (role cut from final film)], Jack Curtis [McTeague Sr. (role cut from final film)], Florence Gibson [old hag at Mike’s Saloon (role cut from final film)]

Plot: The sudden fortune won from a lottery fans such destructive greed that it ruins the lives of the three people involved.

4. The Gold Rush – 1925 – Charlie Chaplin. Director
Cast: Charles Chaplin [the lone prospector], Georgia Hale [Georgia], Mack Swain [Big Jim McKay], Tom Murray [Black Larsen], Henry Bergman [Hank Curtis], Betty Morissey [Georgia’s friend], Malcolm Waite [Jack Cameron], John Rand, Albert Austin, Heinie Conklin, Allan Garcia, Tom Wood

Plot: The Tramp goes the Klondike in search of gold and finds it and more.

3. City Lights – 1931 – Charlie Chaplin, Director
Cast: Charles Chaplin [the little tramp], Virginia Cherill [the blind girl], Harry Myers, Hank Mann, Florence Lee, Allan Garcia, Henry Bergman, Albert Austin, Stanhope Wheatcroft, John Rand, James Donnelly, Eddie Baker, Robert Parrish, Granville Redmond, Jean Harlow [extra], Ray Erlenborn [newsboy], Anna May the elephant.

Plot:The Tramp struggles to help a blind flower girl he has fallen in love with.

2. Sunrise (A Song of Two Humans) – 1927 – F.W. Murnau, Director
Cast: George O’Brien [the man], Janet Gaynor [the wife], Margaret Livingston [the woman from the city], Bodil Rosing [the maid], J. Farrell MacDonald [the photographer], Ralph Sipperly [the barber], Jane Winton [the manicure girl], Arthur Housman [the obtrusive gentleman], Eddie Boland [the obliging gentleman], Gibson Gowland, F.W. Murnau [man on ferryboat], Sally Eilers, Gino Corrado, Barry Norton, Robert Kortman, Sidney Bracey, Harry Semels, Phillips Smalley.

Plot: A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.

1. The General – 1926 – Buster Keaton, Director
Cast: Buster Keaton [Johnny Gray], Marian Mack [Annabelle Lee], Glen Cavender [Captain Anderson], Jim Farley [General Thatcher], Frederick Vroom [Southern general], Charles Smith [Annabelle’s father], Frank Barnes [Annabelle’s brother], Joseph Keaton [Union general], Mike Donlin [Union general], Tom Nawn [Union general], Jackie Lowe, Jackie Hanlon, Frank Agney, Ross McCutcheon, Charles Phillips, Jack Dempster, Red Thompson, Anthony Harvey, Ray Hanford, Tom Moran, Bud Fine, Jimmie Bryant, Al Hanson

Plot: When Union spies steal an engineer’s beloved locomotive, he pursues it single handedly and straight through enemy lines.

As rated on http://www.silentera.com/info/top100.html

Happy Independence Day

On Monday July 1776, the Continental Congress began the debate on the resolution that Richard Henry Lee of Virginia had made on June 6th.

A final vote was taken the next day, July 2nd. It was passed even though South Carolina still wasn’t in favor of independence, but Edward Rutledge, who opposed independence and had many motions to delay the vote, convinced the delegation that for the sake of unanimity, they should vote in favor. The New York delegation abstained, since they did not have instructions from their home government.

Delaware had three delegates representing the colony. The colony had just recently declared their independence not only from England but also from Pennsylvania with whom they shared a Royal Governor. Thomas McKean, who was on the side of independence, sent a dispatch to Caesar Rodney, the third delegate who was seeing to his command of his Militia unit near his home in Dover.

Rodney received the dispatch on July 1st, the day before the vote would be taken. He quickly mounted his horse and began the 80 miles trip to Philadelphia. He rode throughout the night. While he rode he encountered a severe thunderstorm. He continued to ride through the rain that turned the road to mud. He arrived shortly after the delegates returned to the Congress after their lunch break, just before the final vote was taken. When Delaware was called he rose and voted in favor of Independence.

In a letter that John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail on July 3 he said;

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for evermore.

Two days later at a little after 11 o’clock on Thursday morning July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved. Again the New York delegation abstained from the vote, but did approve the Declaration five days later.

4-H

The website for 4-H 4husa.org says, “4-H is a community if young people across america who are learning leadership, citizenship and life skills.” It is adminstered by the Cooperative extension System of the United States Department of Agriculture.

The 4-H’s are Head, Heart, Hands and Health.

The organization serves over 9 million members in the United States from ages 5 to 21 in almost 100,000 clubs.

The 4-H started as youth program in Clark Count, Ohio in 1902 and with the passage of the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 Congress created the Cooperative Extension Service of the USDA. Included within the CES charter the work of various boys’ and girls’ clubs involved with agriculture, home economics and related subjects. By 1924 these clubs became organized as “4-H” clubs and the clover emblem was adopted.

The organization is often associated with summer camps, county fairs and state fairs.

National 4-H Council is the national, private sector non-profit partner of 4-H and the Cooperative Extension System. National 4-H Council focuses on fundraising; brand management; communications; legal and fiduciary support to national and state 4-H programs; and operation of the full-service National 4-H Youth Conference Center in Chevy Chase, Md., and the National 4-H Supply Service, the authorized agent for items bearing the 4-H Name and Emblem.

The ‘Real’ Pirates of the Caribbean

Edward Teach – Blackbeard
He originally served as a British privateer based in Jamaica. Privateers were privately owned ships hired by the British government to attack and plunder French and Spanish ships during the war.  After the war he just continued.  He stole a ship Queen Anne’s Revenge and set up a base in North Carolina. Blackbeard’s reign came to a cruel end when in battle with Robert Maynard a British naval commander he died from loss of blood.  Maynard then had his head hung from his boat’s bow.

Henry Morgan
Captain Morgan was originally commissioned by the British to capture Spanish prisoners in Cuba and during his career he never really would have been classified as a Pirate.  He was always a Privateer plundering Spanish vessels while at war.

William Kidd
Captain Kidd is remembered for his trial and execution for piracy after returning from a voyage to the Indian Ocean. Some modern historians deem his piratical reputation unjust, as there is evidence that Kidd acted only as a privateer. His fame springs largely from the sensational circumstances of his questioning before the British Parliament and ensuing trial. His actual actions on the high seas, whether piratical or not, were both less destructive and less lucrative than those of many other contemporary

Bartholomew Roberts
Bart Roberts was a Welsh pirate who raided shipping off the Americas and West Africa between 1719 and 1722. He is considered as being the most successful pirate during its golden age. It is estimated that under his command over 470 vessels were captured. He is also known as Black Bart, but this name was never used in his lifetime.

Jack Rackham
Calico Jack Rackham or Calico Jack, was an English pirate captain during the early 18th century. His nickname was derived from the colorful calico clothes he wore.  He was considered a minor pirate whose flag featured skull and crossbones, the famous Jolly Roger.

Mary Read & Anne Bonny
Mary Read was born in London, the daughter of a sea captain.  At a young age she disguised herself as a boy.  While at sea, dressed as a man, the ship on which she sailed was attacked by Calico Jack. She was recruited to the crew.  One member of the crew was Anne Bonny, who was also disguised as a man.  Bonny discovered Mary’s secret and later so did Calico Jack.  When they were captured in 1720, both of the women were pregnant, most probably by Calico Jack.  Calico Jack was hanged, Mary Read died in prison, but nothing is known of the fate of Anne Bonny.  She disappeared while in prison.

The Little Ice Age

Between 1400 and 1850, areas of the earth had three periods when the weather got cooler with the minima being around 1650, 1770 and 1850.  Scientist term this period the Little Ice Age.  While there is a disagreement on when it began, there is agreement that in ended in the mid 19th century.

The Little Ice Age brought bitterly cold winters to parts of the world, and is thoroughly documented in Europe and North America. Glaciers in the Swiss Alps advanced in the 17th century. The River Thames often froze over during the winter. The first Thames freeze was in 1607; the last in 1814. During the American Revolution in the winter of 1780, New York Harbor froze, allowing people to walk from Manhattan to Staten Island.

While many scientists believe it was a global event, there is not much documentation from the southern hemisphere to show proof. There aren’t many records available. One documented case does show snow falling in the city of Sydney Australia in 1836. This is the only time since European settlement in 1788 that it occurred.

Scientists have theories on the reason for the Little Ice Age.  They have research that shows that during this period that there was a decrease in solar activity as well as an increase in volcanic activity.  From 1645-1715 sunspots were extremely low, some years there were no sunspots at all.

1816 is known as the year without summer.  During this summer the climate in Northern Europe, the American Northeast and eastern Canada was colder than normal and destroyed many crops. New England and Eastern Canada recorded two snowstorms in June.  Ice was observed as far south as Pennsylvania in July. The volcanoes La Soufriere in the Caribbean, Mayon in the Philippines and Tambora in Indonesia were active during this period.

Mark Eakin, who heads the paleoclimatology program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is quoted as saying “There’s the very real potential of the climate system changing dramatically and rapidly”. While this may be possible many scientist say that the possibility of a sudden freeze doesn’t mean mankind can relax efforts to curb global warming. They warn that given the complexity of Earth’s climate, human activities that spew greenhouse gases into the atmosphere may increase the potential for an abrupt cooling.

Making a Point During War

June 28, 1776.
Continental Congress was still nearly a week away from declaring the colonies independence from England. The Declaration of Independence wouldn’t be read in congress for two days. George Washington as Commander-in-chief felt that it was important to show those in his command that treason within his ranks would not be tolerated. In front of around 20,000 people Thomas Hickey who had been sentence to death for “mutiny and sedition, and also of holding a treacherous correspondence with the enemies of said Colonies” was “hanged by the neck till he shall be dead”.

The execution was performed quickly after he was found guilty at his Court Martial just two days earlier on June 26th. Hickey had pleaded Not Guilty but was found Guilty.

Washington’s Army was encamped in New York during this time. Shortly after they arrived a conspiracy developed between some of the Tories of New York and a few of the men in Washington’s Army including Thomas Hickey to turn their allegiance to the King’s Service in exchange for money.

In all 14 men involved in the conspiracy, but only Hickey was tried. He was the only one that was in attachment guarding Washington. The others included a gunsmith, Gilbert Forbes and New York’s Major.

The others were sent to Connecticut where a few of them, including Mayor Mathews, escaped.

There is also another theory, although it has not been confirmed with proof, that part of the conspiracy also included the assassination of General Washington.

*****
Sergeant Thomas Hickey Court-Martial: 1776 – Suggestions For Further Reading