Ask, and ye shall receive:
September 23, 1779
The American warship Bon Homme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, defeated the HMS Serapis off the English coast in the Revolutionary War after Jones reportedly declared “I have not yet begun to fight.”
Cool. My turn!
23 September 1905 — Norway became an independent country, ending its ‘personal union’ with Sweden.
A war between the two countries resulted in Norway entering into a ‘personal union’ with Sweden in 1814, where they maintained separate and distinct geographical boundaries and laws, but they shared the same monarch (King Oscar II). Through the years, Sweden and Norway were in a personal union at least three different times:
1319-1343
1449-1450
1814-1905
(I guess it’s a thing.)
On 23 September 1905 the peace negotiations between Sweden and Norway concluded. The peace agreement was signed in Karlstad, Sweden.
In Karlstad there is a Peace Monument to commemorate the signing of this peace agreement.
In Sunnyvale CA there is a Karlstad Drive.
Oscar Fredrik, or King Oscar II, was the king of both Sweden and Norway until the dissolution of the Union in 1905. King Oscar II renounced his claim to the Norwegian throne in 1905. He continued to be King of Sweden until his death in 1907.
25 September 1974: Scientists warn that continued use of aerosol sprays will cause ozone depletion, which will lead to an increased risk of skin cancer and global weather changes.
25 September 2000 — Kevin Hines, the Golden Gate Bridge, a sea lion, and the Coast Guard.
Today in history…
22 years ago today, Kevin Hines was having a bad day, a terrible day. He was having a bad life. He wrote a suicide note, took a bus to the GGB, and he jumped. Kevin Hines was 19.
Instantly, Kevin regretted his decision to jump. In the air he turned himself around to land in the water legs first. He survived the fall (!) [that’s a 220’ free-fall] and, after he surfaced he felt a creature nudging his body. It was a sea lion helping to keep him afloat until he was rescued by the Coast Guard.
Physics facts: a 220 foot falling adult male would be traveling at about 73 miles per hour. The fall would take about 3.8 seconds.
Kevin Hines now works for suicide prevention and he is a mental health advocate.
I’m nowhere near qualified to describe Kevin’s story beyond basic facts, so I’ll leave a few links here:
◆ Kevin Hines - Wikipedia
◆ Kevin Hines Jumped Off the Golden Gate Bridge, and Survived
◆ https://www.kevinHinesStory.com
Cheers made its debut 40yrs ago today.
Here’s every time Norm entered the bar:
Cheers made its debut 40yrs ago today.
Here’s every time Norm entered the bar
I read somewhere that along about the third season the show’s writers were getting tired of having to come up with new little witticisms for every time he entered, so they started writing the scenes so that Norm was already seated in his familiar spot at the end of the bar.
-“BB”-
Nicely played! I’m going to borrow that one. Thank you!
01 October 1903 — the first game of the modern World Series was played in Boston, at the Huntington Avenue Grounds between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Red Sox (known informally then as the Boston Americans).
In the series the Pirates took a 3 games to 1 lead, and then the Red Sox won 4 straight to take the 9-game series, 5 games to 3. Hall of Famers pitcher Cy Young and 3rd baseman Jimmy Collins played for the Red Sox, and shortstop Honus Wagner and outfielder Fred Clarke played for the Pirates.
Odd fact: There were 17 ground rule triples in the series. Due to overflow crowds at the Pirates’ Exposition Park, if a batted ball rolled under a rope in the outfield that held spectators back, a “ground-rule triple” would be scored.
The old Huntington Avenue Grounds were across the railroad tracks from the old South End Grounds, home of the Boston Braves. The Huntington Avenue Grounds were demolished in 1912. It has been the first home park for the Red Sox, from 1901 to 1911. The Red Sox moved to their new stadium, Fenway Park, for the 1912 season. Fenway is the oldest active ballpark in Major League Baseball.
Today, the locations of home plate and the pitcher’s rubber of the old Huntington Avenue Grounds are maintained on the campus of Northeastern University. The street nearby is called World Series Way. A statue of Cy Young stands near NEU’s Churchill Hall, with a home plate monument 60 feet, 6 inches away.
October 4, 1957: USSR launches Sputnik, triggering the Space Race.
October 10, 1864
The Fathers of Confederation meet in Quebec City, Province of Canada, to debate terms for confederation of the eastern British North American provinces. The result is the Quebec Resolutions, setting out the framework of the new federal country. Two and a half years later, the Resolutions form the basis for the British North America Act, 1867, enacted by the British Parliament in March, 1867, and proclaimed in force on July 1, 1867, joining Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia into the federation of Canada.
October 13, 1960: The Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series, defeating the New York Yankees in Game 7, 10-9, on a home run by Bill Mazeroski.
October 16, 1920
The Decatur (IL) Staleys play the first NFL game in history against the Rock Island (IL) Independents, defeating them by a score of 7 - 0. The following year the Staleys relocated to Chicago, changed their name to the Bears, and have called the Windy City home ever since.
-“BB”-
October 23, 1983: Terrorists strike US and French military posts in Beirut
Suicide bombers detonate two truck bombs outside the barracks housing the US 1st Battalion 8th Marines in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 servicemen and injuring more than 100. Almost simultaneously, another suicide attack on France’s military barracks takes the lives of 58 paratroopers.
02 November 2016: Ending a championship drought that had lasted since 1908, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, defeating the Cleveland Indians 8 - 7 in extra innings.
11 am 11/11/1918
Nov. 11, 1918
Armistice on the Western Front On Nov. 11, 1918, after more than four years of horrific fighting and the loss of millions of lives, the guns on the Western Front fell silent. Although fighting continued elsewhere, the armistice between Germany and the Allies was the first step to ending World War I.
November 15, 1960: last execution in the province of Alberta, Canada. Robert Raymond Cook is executed at Fort Saskatchewan for murdering his father.
November 16,1907 Oklahoma is admitted as the 46th U.S. state.
And in 1990 Milli Vanilli were stripped of their Grammy Award for not singing at all on the Girl You Know It’s True album.
November 15, 1885: Louis Riel, Métis leader, is hanged for treason in Regina, North-West Territories, for his role in leading the North-West Rebellion. Riel had been convicted after a five-day trial in Regina in July, 1885. The Manitoba Queen’s Bench dismissed his appeal on September 9, 1885, and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the highest court for the British Empire, denied his application for leave to appeal on October 22, 1885.
November. 21, 1980: 87 people died in a fire at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
November 22, 1963: John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was shot to death in a motorcade in Dallas; Texas Governor, John B. Connolly, riding in the same car as Kennedy, was seriously wounded. Suspected gunman Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president.