The very first day of May makes all the worries go away. At least it does in an ideal world where alleged-celebrities are responsible enough to drive with a valid license and in a completely sober state of mind. Speaking of celebrity DUIs,
William Wallace’s cry for freedom is made more resonant then ever on this day of 1328, with the Edinburgh-Northampton Treaty, putting a definite end to the Wars of Scottish Independence. Not a moment too soon, later remarked Scottish leader Robert Bruce of his costly enterprise; trusted General Montgomery had just informed him that no more soldiers could be recruited for their side, offering the now-famous words “I kennot giv ya morr, Surr. Shey’s goanna bloe”.
1808 today saw Ferdinand of Spain relinquish his throne, a single day after ascending to it, in favor of France’s Napoleon. The event marked one of the only times in history where a nation would surrender so quickly to France, and not the other way around.
All of France did indeed surrender to the Folies Bergères, when the iconic music hall opened its doors this evening of 1869. Catering to the popular taste of the upper class, the institution was famous for shows centered on revealingly dressed (if at all) women, often of exotic nature and beauty. Today we call that “You Tube”.
This date of 1927, Imperial Airways takes the very first order for a cooked meal on a regular flight. 45 years later, a second passenger would take his chances. In-flight recorders would demonstrate that this second tragedy was actually a suicide attempt from a man wishing to not experience the plane’s impending crash.
Pierre de Coubertin and his dream of world-wide sporting brotherhood takes a back seat to Blood & Guts as the 1940 Summer Olympics, scheduled to open on this day, are canceled because of the ongoing war. The only thing that prevented an opportunistic claim of victory on all the events by Thomas Edison is the fact that he’d been dead for nine years. Some still feared it wouldn’t be enough to stop him.
The first operational Packet Switching network, the web’s granddaddy known as ARPANET, receives on each of its West Coast addresses an unsolicited mail message from DEC Marketing. In essence, the original spam email was sent on this day in 1978, an event so tragic and sad that absolutely no amount of inspiration can help produce a joke about it. Unless that was it.
And last but not least, in Baseball the day almost belonged to Oakland A’s outfielder Ricky Henderson who in 1991reached the milestone of 939 stolen bases, breaking a record previously established by Lou Brock in the 70s. The accomplishment was quickly overshadowed when in the very same game pitcher Nolan Ryan completed his seventh no-hitter thus increasing his own record (which still stands). That accomplishment was overshadowed as well when Ryan was congratulated by a bunch of dead White Sox players who popped out of a corn field by the dugout.
WOW: Words Of (a certain) Wisdom
“If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.” -Napoleon Bonaparte (often mistakenly attributed to George W. Bush or Stephen Harper)