Happy Friday! Again! Sigh …. these Fridays seem to be coming round way too often. I swear to Dog that there are now two Fridays in each week! (Although those paid weekly, on a Friday, may wish there were! lol)
So anyhoo … you’re here for some Edumacation, Free of Charge, to add to your already over-loaded brain. So … pens and pencils out on the desk. Get ready to turn over your paper and start taking notes. There will be a test at the end. 😉
On this Day in History
1650 – Henry Robinson opens his “Office of Addresses and Encounters” – the first historically documented dating service / marriage bureau – in Threadneedle Street, London. Threadneedle Street is a road in the City of London, leading from an intersection with Poultry, Cornhill, King William Street and Lombard Street, to Bishopsgate.
Can you believe that there was the first Dating Agency here in the UK, in… 1650 ??? It seems like (to me at least) that Dating Agencies are a fairly new ‘invention’ and perhaps only happened in the last (maybe) 80 years. And yet, here we are in 1650!
1789 – The U.S. War Department first establishes a regular army with a strength of several hundred men.
1793 – Tennis was mentioned for the first time in an English sporting magazine.
1829 – The first regular police force in London – the Metropolitan , Police of London (also known as the Met) is founded.. The officers became known as ‘bobbies’ after Robert Peel, the home secretary who founded the modern police force.
1850 – The Roman Catholic hierarchy is re-established in England and Wales by Pope Pius IX.
1885 – The first practical public electric tramway in the world is opened in Blackpool, England. A tram, tramcar, trolley, trolley car, or streetcar is a railborne vehicle, of lighter weight and construction than a train, designed for the transport of passengers (and, very occasionally, freight) within, close to, or between villages, towns and/or cities, on tracks running primarily on streets.
After the inaugural run, the Mayor of Blackpool and his guests retired to a celebration dinner in honour of the opening of the new tramway. After the meal speeches were given and Thomas Parker (the manufacturer of the tram) said that the future of railways was with electric traction. Electrically powered locomotives were cheaper to run than steam and could travel at 70m.p.h.
Tramways or street railways were common throughout the industrialized world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but they disappeared from many U.S. cities in the mid-20th century. In European cities they remained quite common. In recent years, they have made a comeback in many U.S. cities. Many newer light rail systems share features with trams, although a distinction may be drawn between the two, with the term light rail preferred if there is significant off-street running.
1916 – John D. Rockefeller becomes the first billionaire. John Davison Rockefeller (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of modern philanthropy. In 1870, he founded the Standard Oil Company and ran it until he officially retired in 1897. Standard Oil began as an Ohio partnership formed by John D. Rockefeller, his brother William Rockefeller, Henry Flagler, chemist Samuel Andrews, and a silent partner Stephen V. Harkness. Rockefeller kept his stock and as gasoline grew in importance, his wealth soared and he became the world’s richest man and first American billionaire, and is often regarded as the richest person in history.
Standard Oil was convicted in Federal Court of monopolistic practices and broken up in 1911. Rockefeller spent the last 40 years of his life in retirement. His fortune was mainly used to create the modern systematic approach of targeted philanthropy with foundations that had a major effect on medicine, education, and scientific research.
His foundations pioneered the development of medical research, and were instrumental in the eradication of hookworm and yellow fever. He is also the founder of both The University of Chicago and Rockefeller University. He was a devoted Northern Baptist and supported many church-based institutions throughout his life. Rockefeller adhered to total abstinence from alcohol and tobacco throughout his life.
He married Laura Celestia (“Cettie”) Spelman in 1864. They had four daughters and one son; John D. Rockefeller, Jr. “Junior” was largely entrusted with the supervision of the foundations.
1938 – England, France, Germany and Italy signed the Munich Pact, under which the Sudetenland was given to Nazi Germany. In return, Hitler promised not to make any further territorial demands in Europe. World War II began the following year!
1941 – Holocaust in Kiev, Ukraine: German Einsatzgruppe C starts Babi Yar massacre. According to the Einsatzgruppen Operational Situation Report No. 101, at least 33,771 Jews from Kiev and its suburbs were killed at Babi Yar on September 29 – 30, 1941.
Einsatzgruppen (German: “task forces”, “intervention groups”) were paramilitary groups formed by Heinrich Himmler and operated by the Schutzstaffel (SS) before and during World War II. Their principal task, per SS General Erich von dem Bach, at the Nuremberg Trials: “was the annihilation of the Jews, Gypsies, and Soviet political commissars”. They were a key component in Adolf Hitler’s implementation of the final solution of the Jewish question (German: ‘Die Endlösung der Judenfrage) in the conquered territories.
Formed mainly of men from the Ordnungspolizei, the Waffen-SS, and local volunteers, and led by Gestapo, Kripo, and SD officers, these death squads followed the Wehrmacht as it advanced eastwards into through Eastern Europe en route to the Soviet Union. In occupied territory, the Einsatzgruppen also used the local populace for additional security and manpower when needed. The activities of the Einsatzgruppen were spread through a large pool of soldiers from the branches of the SS and Reich.
Per their own records, the Einsatzgruppen killed more than one million Jews, almost all civilians, without judicial review and without semblance of legality (no reading of sentences, of martial or administrative law), beginning with the Polish intelligentsia, and then quickly progressing, by 1941, to primarily killing the Jews of Eastern Europe. Historian Raul Hilberg estimates that between 1941 and 1945 the Einsatzgruppen and the SS killed more than 1.3 million Jews in open-air shootings.
1946 – BBC launched the ‘Third Programme’, later to become Radio 3.
1966 – The Chevrolet Camaro, originally named Panther, is introduced.
1975 – WGPR in Detroit, Michigan, becomes the world’s first black-owned-and-operated television station.
1979 – Pope John Paul II became the first pope to set foot on Irish soil with his pastoral visit to the Republic of Ireland.
1982 – Tylenol Crisis of 1982 began when the first of seven individuals died in metropolitan Chicago. Seven fatal Tylenol poisonings, code-named TYMURS by the FBI, took place in the autumn of 1982 in the Chicago area in the United States. These poisonings involved Extra-Strength Tylenol medicine capsules which had been laced with potassium cyanide. The perpetrator was never caught, but the incident has led to reforms in the packaging of over-the-counter substances and to federal anti-tampering laws.
The Tylenol crisis has been referenced in many films and books. It has also been used as a basis to spread urban legends about poison in kids’ candy at Halloween and other poisoned foods or drinks purchased by consumers.
In the early morning of Wednesday, September 29, 1982, 12-year-old Mary Kellerman of Elk Grove Village died after taking a capsule of Extra Strength Tylenol. Adam Janus of Arlington Heights died in the hospital shortly thereafter. His brother, Stanley (of Lisle), and his wife Theresa died after gathering to mourn, having taken pills from the same bottle. Soon afterward, Paula Prince of Chicago and Mary Reiner of Winfield also died in similar incidents. Investigators soon discovered the Tylenol link.
Urgent warnings were broadcast, and police drove through Chicago neighborhoods issuing warnings over loudspeakers.
As the tampered bottles came from different factories, and the seven deaths had all occurred in the Chicago area, the possibility of sabotage during production was ruled out. Instead, the culprit was believed to have entered various supermarkets and drug stores over a period of weeks, pilfered packages of Tylenol from the shelves, adulterated their contents with solid cyanide compound at another location, and then replaced the bottles. In addition to the five bottles which led to the victims’ deaths, three other tampered bottles were discovered.
Johnson & Johnson, the parent company of McNeil, distributed warnings to hospitals and distributors and halted Tylenol production and advertising. On October 5, 1982, it issued a nationwide recall of Tylenol products; an estimated 31 million bottles were in circulation, with a retail value of over US$100 million. The company also advertised in the national media for individuals not to consume any products that contained Tylenol. When it was determined that only capsules were tampered with, they offered to exchange all Tylenol capsules already purchased by the public with solid tablets.
The crime has never been solved, although opportunistic extortionist James W. Lewis claimed responsibility and made a money demand. Lewis was arrested and though ultimately found to have no connection to the deaths, ended up serving 13 years of a 20-year prison term for the extortion attempt.
A second man, Roger Arnold, was investigated and cleared of the killings. However, the media attention caused him to have a nervous breakdown and he blamed bar owner Marty Sinclair for sending the police his way. He shot and killed a man he believed to be Sinclair, but who was in fact an innocent man who did not know Arnold. Arnold wound up serving 15 years on a 30 year sentence for second degree murder. Arnold died in June 2008.
It has also been suggested that Laurie Dann, a native of Chicago’s north suburbs who had a long history of mental illness and had later engaged in similar secretive poisoning attempts (as well as a grisly murder/suicide at a local grade school), may have been responsible.
A $100,000 reward, posted by Johnson & Johnson for the capture and conviction of the “Tylenol Killer,” has never been claimed.
Johnson & Johnson was praised by the media at the time for its handling of the incident. While at the time of the scare the market share of Tylenol collapsed from 35% to 8%, it rebounded in less than a year, a move credited to J&J’s prompt and aggressive reaction. In November it reintroduced capsules, but in a new, triple-sealed package, coupled with heavy price promotions, and within several years Tylenol had become the most popular over-the-counter analgesic in the US.
A number of copycat attacks involving Tylenol and other products (Google: Stella Nickell, for information on the 1986 Excedrin tampering murders) ensued during the following years. One of these incidents occurred in the Chicago area; unlike Tylenol, it actually forced the end of the product affected by the hoax, Encaprin, from Procter & Gamble. However, the incident did inspire the pharmaceutical, food, and consumer product industries to develop tamper-resistant packaging, such as induction seals, and improved quality control methods. Moreover, product tampering was made a federal crime.
Additionally, the tragedy prompted the pharmaceutical industry to move away from capsules, which were easy to contaminate as a foreign substance could be placed inside without obvious signs of tampering. Within the year, the Food and Drug Administration introduced more stringent regulations to avoid product tampering. This led to the eventual replacement of the capsule with the solid “caplet”, a tablet made in the shape of a capsule, as a drug delivery form and to the addition of tamper-evident safety-seals to bottles of many sorts.
Link: Tylenol Murders at the Urban Legends Reference Pages
1988 – Space Shuttle: NASA launches STS-26, the return to flight mission, after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
2006 – US Representative Mark Foley resigns after allegations of inappropriate emails to house pages were introduced. Mark Adam Foley (born September 8, 1954) is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 until 2006, representing the 16th District of Florida.
Once known as a crusader against child abuse and exploitation, Foley resigned from Congress on September 29, 2006 after allegations surfaced that he had sent suggestive emails and sexually explicit instant messages to teenaged males who had formerly served and were at that time-serving as Congressional pages. As a result of the disclosures, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement opened investigations of the messages to find possible criminal charges. The House Ethics Committee has also opened an investigation into the response of the House Republican leadership and their staff to earlier warnings of Foley’s conduct.
Longstanding rumors surfaced, in 2003, that Foley was either gay or bisexual and was in a long-term relationship with a man. The story was initially published only in local and gay press; then the New Times broke the story in the mainstream press. Other alternative press rivals, including the New York Press, then addressed the topic. Foley held a press conference to denounce the “revolting” rumors and stated that his sexual orientation was unimportant, but did not specifically deny the rumors. A few weeks later he withdrew his candidacy, saying his father’s battle with cancer had caused him to reassess his perspective on life (the seat was later won by Republican Mel Martinez). Foley had raised $3 million in campaign contributions before withdrawing.
In 2006, as Republican division over the candidacy of Katherine Harris grew, Foley’s name was mentioned as a contender for the race against Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, but he did not file by the May deadline.
In the House, Foley was one of the foremost opponents of child pornography. Foley had served as chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children. He introduced a bill, coined the “Child Modeling Exploitation prevention Act of 2002” to outlaw web sites featuring sexually suggestive images of preteen children, saying that “these websites are nothing more than a fix for pedophiles.” As it was written, the bill would have prohibited commercial photography of children, and it failed due to the unmanageable burden it would have presented to the legitimate entertainment industry. In June 2003 he wrote letters to the governor and attorney general of Florida, asking them to review the legality of a program for teenagers of a Lake Como nudist resort in Land o’ Lakes, Florida.
Foley’s legislation to change federal sex offender laws was supported by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh, and a number of victims’ rights groups. President Bush signed it into law as part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.
Foley also succeeded in getting a law passed that allows volunteer youth-serving organizations like the Boy Scouts of America and Boys and Girls Clubs to have access to FBI fingerprint background checks.
Resignation from the U.S. Congress
On September 28, 2006, ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross reported that, in 2005, Foley had sent email messages from his personal AOL account to a former Congressional page, asking the page to send a photo of himself to Foley, among other things. Foley’s office confirmed that Foley had sent the messages but said it has a practice of asking for photos of individuals who may ask for recommendations and that the page had requested a recommendation.
The original news report prompted another page to come forward and on September 29, 2006, ABC News reported that it had seen excerpts of sexually explicit instant messages allegedly sent by Foley. The instant messages made repeated references to sexual organs and acts.
Kirk Fordham, Chief of Staff to Tom Reynolds and former Chief of Staff to Foley, said that he was with Foley on September 29, 2006 when ABC confronted him with the explicit IMs before they were publicized. Fordham then visited GOP headquarters to inform Reynolds and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert; he returned with a one-sentence resignation letter that Foley signed. Hastert and Reynolds let it be known that if Foley didn’t resign, he would be expelled from the House. That same day, Foley tendered his resignation to Hastert as well as Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Foley said in a statement, “I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent.” Once the news report became more widely known, Foley’s chances of retaining his seat in Congress were limited. Hastert said in an October 2 press conference that he would have demanded Foley’s expulsion from the House had he tried to stay in office. Even if he’d tried to get his seat back, polls showed him losing badly to his Democratic opponent, Tim Mahoney.
More pages came forward, alleging a history of inappropriate conduct by Foley dating back at least 10 years. Foley had been warned about the matter in 2005 by another House Republican and the House Clerk. Through his lawyer, Foley insisted he was not a pedophile and had never had sexual contact with any minor. He explained that he had a drinking problem and had made the communications while intoxicated. He checked himself into a rehab clinic on October 2, 2006. His lawyer also revealed that Foley was molested by a clergyman when he was between the ages of 13 and 15 adding that “Mark Foley wants you to know he is a gay man.” Federal authorities said the explicit messages could result in Foley’s prosecution, under some of the same laws he helped to enact.
There was widespread criticism of Republican leaders for their response to earlier warnings and inconsistencies in their statements. In particular, many called for Hastert to resign, including some conservative voices such as the editorial page of The Washington Times.
On October 19, 2006, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune stated that a Catholic priest named Anthony Mercieca told the newspaper about an intimate two-year relationship he had with Foley when the congressman was a teenage altar boy living in Lake Worth, Florida. The priest is retired and living in Malta. He acknowledged getting naked in saunas and possible “light touching”, but denied contacts of a sexual nature.
Florida officials have closed the investigation of Foley, stating they found “insufficient evidence” to file criminal charges. Chicago Tribune, September 20, 2008, Section 1, page 4, ‘Nation Briefing’.
External Link
ABC News – “The Blotter” – reporting that Mr. Foley had Internet Sex while waiting for a House Vote.
Born on this Day
1758 – Horatio Nelson, British admiral (d. 1805) born in the village of Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk in Great Britain.. He defeated the French and her allies on numerous occasions during the age of Napoleon Bonaparte and was naval hero at the Battle of Trafalgar.
1904 – Greer Garson, British actress (d. 1996)
1907 – Gene Autry, American actor, singer, and businessman (d. 1998)
1930 – Colin Dexter, British author of Inspector Morse novels
1931 – James Watson Cronin, American nuclear physicist, Nobel laureate
1935 – Jerry Lee Lewis, American musician
1942 – Madeline Kahn, American actress (d. 1999)
1942 – Ian McShane, British actor
1943 – Lech Walêsa, President of Poland, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
1944 – Mike Post, American composer – won his first Grammy at age 23 for Best Instrumental Arrangement on Mason Williams’ “Classical Gas”.
1956 – Sebastian Coe, British athlete & Gold medal Olympic winner
1970 – Emily Lloyd, British actress
and finally….
Thought for the Day
Do you, like me, get thoroughly fed up to the back teeth of the ‘stars’ of today complaining about how bad they had it as a child?
Have you, like me, noticed that this ‘poor me, didn’t I have it bad, and all the things that you see are wrong with me, or any bad behaviour I display, is/are my parents fault’ – has filtered through to the ordinary everyday people, like me and you?
Do you ever want to stop these people moaning about ‘their lot’ and quietly but firmly tell them that what they are complaining about is normal growing up?
Being told that you can’t go out looking like a lady of the night in your own choice of clothes – isn’t ‘abuse’ – but decent parenting!
Being ‘grounded’ for throwing things at a neighbour’s house hasn’t done you any harm, in fact its built a bit of responsibility towards others into their psyche.
Being punished for bad behaviour makes them realise what they did wrong, and ensures that they don’t do it again.
Being made to take the rubbish/garbage out, isn’t ‘controlling’ them.. but making them part of a team that works together for the greater cause.
And being smacked on the bottom or the hand for swearing at Grandma or Aunt ‘B’, isn’t something that you need counselling to get over. It’s a darn good way to ensure that you don’t swear at perfectly decent people who you should have more respect for.
What has happened to our world – that younger folk feel this need to blame everyone else for their own short-comings?
Why do they feel that their current bad attitude is all their mother or fathers fault?
Why do they think that something that amounted to great parenting when they were younger – means that they need to have counselling now?
How the heck do they think that they grew to the age they are – if their parents were as bad as they would have us all believe?
Are we mollycoddling these children so much now, that they believe that anything that happens isn’t their fault but always someone else’s?
Is the fact that they can’t get a well paid job, their parents fault?….. or is it simply that they haven’t ever learnt that the only place where money comes before work – is in the dictionary.
Why are so many folks now growing up with this bad attitude and believing that the world owes them something?
Did no one ever tell them that the world owes them nothing – it was here first.
~ x ~ x ~ x ~
Now I know it’s now playtime, and before this week I’ve shared games with you to play, and bits of information that lead to other fun things but just for a change, I thought I’d keep you sitting down with an extra cup of coffee and give you some TV to watch. Via You Tube.
40 Unexpected Life Hacks – some of them you might know, but quite a few you might not. So grab yourself an extra refill and settle down for some entertainment:
Wishing you a fantabulous Friday filled with fun, friendship and fluffy stuff like love! And a weekend of wonderfulness, wrigglyness and CAKE! Go have a cake. One cake really isn’t going to make you fat, nor is it going to make you unhappy. Break out and go against those nay sayers who tell you that you should be stick thin and conform. Buy yourself a cake and inside your head sing Happy Unbirthday to yourself. Mentally blow the invisible candle out and MAKE A WISH!
Wishing you the happiest of Happy Unbirthdays!
With love and squidges ~
The Art of Cobwebs 