The Friday Post (a post of 2 halves)

This week I thought we could do something different again.

We’ll firstly take a look over our shoulders and find out a few things which happened on this day (June the 23rd) in History.

And then …  we’ll have a bit of fun.  😉

So put on your seat belts, grab your coffee, we’ll be taking off  and travelling backwards in time to 1868  – where we’ll begin our trip of: …

On this Day in History

1868 – Christopher Latham Sholes  receives a patent for Type-Writer.  

Christopher Latham Sholes (February 14, 1819 – February 17, 1890) was an American inventor who invented the first practical typewriter and the QWERTY keyboard still in use today.

From their invention before 1870 through much of the 20th century, typewriters were indispensable tools for many professional writers and in business offices. By the end of the 1980s, word processor applications on personal computers had largely replaced the tasks previously accomplished with typewriters. Typewriters, however, remain popular in the developing world and among some niche markets, and for some office tasks.

1888 – Frederick Douglass is the first African-American nominated for U.S. president. 

Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, (born circa 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American abolitionist, women’s suffragist, editor, orator, author, statesman and reformer. Called “The Sage of Anacostia” and “The Lion of Anacostia”, Douglass is one of the most prominent figures in African-American and United States history.

1894 – The International Olympic Committee is founded at the Sorbonne, Paris, at the initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

1917 – In a game against the Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox pitcher Ernie Shore retires 26 batters in a row after replacing Babe Ruth, who had been ejected for punching the umpire.

1940 – World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler surveys newly defeated Paris in now occupied France.

1942 – World War II: The first selections for the gas chamber at Auschwitz take place on a train load of Jews from Paris.

1942 – World War II: Germany’s latest fighter, a Focke-Wulf FW190 is captured intact when it mistakenly lands at RAF Pembrey in Wales.

1943 – World War II: The British destroyers Eclipse and Laforey sink the Italian submarine Ascianghi in the Mediterranean after she torpedoes the cruiser HMS Newfoundland.

1972 – Watergate Scandal:

U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and White House chief of staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about using the Central Intelligence Agency to obstruct the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s investigation into the Watergate break-ins.

1960 –  Eddie Cochran was at No.1 in the UK with the single ‘Three Steps To Heaven’.  The American singer had been killed 3 months earlier in a car crash while touring the UK.

1966 – The Beatles had their tenth consecutive UK No.1 single with ‘Paperback Writer’ / ‘Rain.’ The track is marked by the boosted bass guitar sound throughout, partly in response to John Lennon demanding to know why the bass on a certain Wilson Pickett record far exceeded the bass on any Beatles records. It was also cut louder than any other Beatles record, due to a new piece of equipment used in the mastering process.

1970 – Chubby Checker was arrested in Niagara Falls after police discovered marijuana and other drugs in his car.

1993 – ‘Teflon Don’  jailed for life. New York crime boss, John Gotti was sentenced to life imprisonment with no chance of parole.

The head of the city’s largest Mafia family was convicted on 2 April for racketeering and five counts of murder – including the former head of the Gambino clan, Paul Castellano.

Gotti’s deputy, Frank Locascio, was also sentenced to life after being found guilty of similar charges. Both men were fined $250,000 (£134,500).

Several hundred Gotti-supporters had gathered outside the Brooklyn courtroom and an angry mob attempted to storm the building when the decision was announced.

Judge Leo Glasser’s sentencing brought to a close the long quest to convict the man nicknamed the “Teflon Don”.

Gotti, 51, had escaped repeated attempts by federal prosecutors throughout the 1980s to get charges to stick to him.

But police finally persuaded Salvatore Gravano – his former ally and right hand man – to testify against his boss in return for leniency.

John Gotti died of throat cancer in prison on 10th June 2002.  He was 61.

The Telfon Don’s son, John Gotti Jnr, took over the running of the Gambino family but was jailed in 1999 for bribery, extortion, gambling and fraud, and remains behind bars.

2016 – The United Kingdom votes in a referendum to leave the European Union, by 52% to 48%.

And,  as they say in the best Monty Python episodes:~ 

please click to watch and hear, it’s only 16 seconds long.

The following are actual questions from lawyers,  in a courtroom. 

And with some of those questions are the answers.  (some of these might need a moment of thinking about before the penny drops!).

Was that the same nose you broke as a child?

Now, doctor, isn’t it true that when a person dies in his sleep, in most cases he just passes quietly away and doesn’t know anything about it until the next morning?

Q: What happened then?
A: He told me, he says, ‘I have to kill you because you can identify me.’
Q: And did he kill you?

Was it you or your brother that was killed in the war?

The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?

Were you alone or by yourself?

Do you have any children or anything of that kind?

Q:  I show you exhibit 3 and ask you if you recognize that picture?
A:  That’s me.
Q:  Were you present when that picture was taken?

Were you present in court this morning when you were sworn in?

Q:  Now, Mrs. Johnson, how was your first marriage terminated?
A:  By death.
Q:  And by whose death was it terminated?

Q:  Do you know how far pregnant you are now?
A:  I’ll be three months on November 8.
Q:  Apparently, then, the date of conception was August 8?
A:  Yes.
Q:  What were you doing at that time?

Q:  Mrs. Jones, do you believe you are emotionally stable?
A:  I used to be.
Q:  How many times have you committed suicide?

So you were gone until you returned?

Q:  She had three children, right?
A:  Yes.
Q:  How many were boys?
A:  None.
Q:  Were there girls?

You don’t know what it was,  and you didn’t know what it looked like,  but can you describe it?

Q:  You say that the stairs went down to the basement?
A:  Yes.
Q:  And these stairs, did they go up also?

Q:  Have you lived in this town all your life?
A:  Not yet.

Q:  Do you recall approximately the time that you examined the body
A:  It was in the evening. The autopsy started about 8:30 pm.
Q:  And Mr. Edington was dead at the time, is that correct?
A:  No, you stupid ***,  he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy!

You couldn’t make it up could you?  And you know what’s even more fearful?  …  They walk among us!

Well… it’s Friday again.  They seem to come around quicker than ever.  I’ve been a day behind all week.  Tuesday was Monday.  Wednesday I was convinced was Tuesday … and so it went on all through the week.  Tsk.  It’s me.  Apparently I’m getting old, but I know I’m not because I’ve not increased in age since the age of 27, when I taught my two little girls who were so innocent and willing to listen to me back then,  that if anyone asked them how old their mommy was they were to say …  “My mummy’s ONLY 27!”.  And I continued to feed that delightful fact into their little heads until I was sure that they wouldn’t ever forget it.  And so,  as each year passed,  I remained, to my girls at least,  “Oooonly 27”.

I now get a birthday card from daughter No.2 every year which wishes me “Happy 27th Birthday Mom”.   Ahh,  I love her sooooo much.  😀

Anyhoo…  I’ve sat here talking all this time and you’re wanting to drink up the last of your coffee in peace.  So, I shall stop yacking and let you go about your daily life.

Remember … today is Friday.  It’s permissible to smile BIG TIME on a Friday.  So please share your smile with the world,  for you are sooo gorgeous when you smile … SEE.… THERE IT IS!!!  That smile lights up your whole face!  THE WHOLE ROOM IN FACT!!   Yeah … smile lots today because it really suits you.

Have a truly blessed day my beautiful, fabulous blogging friend.

Love and hugs ~

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