Senators Brooks' & Sumner having at it.....

We may think that all this mean talk today in politics is all new, but it isn’t. It has been around for quite a long, long time. There are so many stories much like what we hear today, and even worse, and others were downright creative. Let’s begin with a creative story. In 1950 George Smathers was running against Claude Pepper for the US Senate. In Smather’s campaign speeches he’d say strange things about Pepper, like Pepper is “known extrovert,” he’d say things like this with such contempt, that the audience thought this Pepper guy must be bad for them. Another time he said that Pepper’s brother was a “practicing homo sapiens.” Another time he said, that Pepper “practiced celibacy before marriage.” Huh? Again he’d say silly stuff like this emphatically and with scorn that he convinced the audiences that Pepper sucked, and he was the man. Well it worked because Smathers won. People…who can figure us out?

Then there was the Long brothers back in the 30’s.  Sibling rivalry is bad enough at home; it gets worse when brothers are running against each other in the political world. Earl Long called a political opponent, “a big-bellied, lily-livered liar and the crookedest man who ever lived,” he was referring to his brother Huey Long. One time Earl got so pissed off at his brother he called him a “son of a bitch,” not thinking twice of the implications. Earl, that isn’t a nice name to call your momma. Earl also had a tactic on getting his message out when he ran for office. He’d follow his opponent around and plant himself in the audience where the opponent was speaking. He’d yell out from the audience to inspire spontaneous debate. This allowed Earl to control the agenda for discussion, and got his message out on his opponent’s dime. This really backfired one day for Earl though. His brother Huey Long was running for senate and was speaking at a rally where his sneaky brother was part of the audience. Huey was proudly telling the people of his state what he had done for the state of Louisiana, when out of the crowd someone yelled out, “I know one person you ain’t done nothin’ for—your brother!” Earl replies, “I done something for you, Earl. He continues, “I built a big mental hospital down at Jackson and I had them reserve a room for you.” LOL! These two brothers eventually worked things out, and sadly one, Huey who became a presidential contender, was assassinated in 1935. Ah no, not by his brother.

The Longs were not the only brothers to have it out in the political world. Jimmy Carter’s worse nightmare was his beer guzzling brother, Billy. Billy was a drunk and was constantly embarrassing the peanut farmer, turned president.  One incident of the many led Jimmy to finally put his brother on a plane to Georgia for good. Billy decides to relieve himself on an airport runway in front of the Washington press corps! Now that’s telling Washington he’d didn’t give a sh*t huh? LOL

In 1856 during the height of the slavery debate, Representative Preston Brooks, of South Carolina didn’t like some remarks made about his family by Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts. Brooks got so pissed off that he walked into the Senate Chamber and started to beat Sumner with his walking cane! I think Herman Cain would get a laugh out of this one! Brooks later regretted his actions, but not so much for beating Sumner, more about breaking his cane. But was comforted that he at least saved the gold-plated handle!

One of my favorite stories is the one of Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt didn’t need a cane; in 1883 he simply decked a Democratic opponent with one punch. When the guy gets up, he punches him again. Talk about how to handle a Democrat! LOL Just kidding guys, just kidding.

There are many more stories like these, I can go on forever. So the next time you hear our politicians duking it out, just remember it’s not new. If anything they are a lot more tamed today, and probably wishing they could turn back the clock.

Bath Time...

My visit this past weekend to Patrick Henry’s home in Beaverdam, VA sparked an interest in investigating the history of bathing in America.  We see in a lot of period pieces on TV, the beautiful damsels in their petticoats, and matching parasol, and think she must smell like fresh Lavender. We see the handsome genteel men in their elegant silk, velvet coats and frock and can’t imagine how good he must smell. Well, they didn’t, they really didn’t. Everybody and I mean everybody stank in early America.  Some people in that day would carry a scented handkerchief in their sleeve and quickly bring it up to their nose to mask another’s BO, blissfully unaware that they themselves stank!  Let’s just say that the whole of the 13 colonies was afflicted with BO.

Bath stations, bathtubs, & toilets were skimpy back in the day.  Most took what I call cat baths, a little dab here and there, and mostly on hands and face. Huh?   A few of the better homes had washbasins, and pitchers. The servants would bring in the water which was heated in the kitchen or laundry then lay out fresh dress shirts for the men. The shirts would conceal the sweat flowing on the inside, and keep the gentlemen’s outer wear nice and dry & stain free.  If you were a woman, clean shifts were provided. But simply having clean underwear wasn’t going to keep that BO from escaping. But at least your hands were cleaned, and your face didn’t have the nasty stuff we wake up with.

What about those who insisted on bathing? Some had wooden tubs and it’d work fine, but it took work, which brings us up to one reason bathing was a luxury back in the day. The tub had to be lugged from the laundry or wherever it was kept.  Water had to be hoisted from the well, and then heated up, and the tub filled. And they were lucky to find some homemade soap around the house to cleanse with. The colonials didn’t have towels like we have to today, so they had to find something to use to dry up after the bath. Now, another issue was to find a private area to do take the bath. As you can see, there was much ado which discouraged many. It was considered a luxury really.  A few did manage to lavish in this luxury a couple times a year.

We must understand how bathing was seen back in the day to understand as well. For instance, many thought that bathing would destroy your natural oils and leave you wide open to all kinds of diseases. Of course, we know better today. Some colonials bucked the system though, some would take swims in rivers, or lakes, some even in winter. William Bryd II was known to do that in the James River in Virginia, much to his neighbors’ chagrin.  One man in Williamsburg, VA, St. George Tucker installed the first copper bath.  He put the tub in his dairy; the hot water came from the laundry, and the cold water from his well. No lugging the tub in some part of the house, and no hauling water. No sir, Tucker was not going to stink for anything.

In the New England states bathing was not even a thought. Temperatures dropped low in these states, no one was going to freeze their dirty butts Colonial America was dirty, but so was the whole of the British Empire at the time. You cannot compare these empires to that of the Roman Empire in terms of cleanliness.  Romans lived to bathe. And who wouldn’t, their baths were built over hot springs, and spectacularly designed! They had pools which were cool, warm, and had hot water which was fed by wooden or earthenware pipes. Socializing was a big part of bathing in the Roman Empire. Deals were made in these bath houses, politicians made deals with special interest groups, and more. It sounds pretty much like what we have going on in Washington today, only in water.

So the next time you are reading a story that took place around this time, or see a period piece on TV, they may sound and look as if they smelled like roses, but in fact they stank like….fill in the blanks.

The Embalmed body of Jeremy Bentham

I thought I heard it all, but this is by far, the most bizarre story I’ve heard in a long time.  In the University College London in the main building of the college is a polished wood-paneled cabinet holding the embalmed body of its founder, Jeremy Bentham.  Jeremy was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. Born to a wealthy family in 1748 and educated at Westminster School, and Queens College, and Oxford. Because he was wealthy he had nothing but time to dedicate to study and writing. According to a contemporary, William Hazlitt, Jeremy became a hermit for forty years…”reducing law to a system, and the mind of a man to a machine.” In 1789 he publishes his first book, “Introduction to the Principles of Morals,” and establishes the principles of utilitarianism.

Bentham died on June 6, 1832 and he left his entire estate to the University College London under one condition, that his body be wheeled into the college’s board meetings! Wow, ok…. His body is embalmed and sits in a cabinet at the college, and yes it attends the board meetings.  Bentham is listed on the minutes as “present but not voting.”  So if you ever walk into this college, you will see Bentham’s embalmed body on a chair and dressed in a black jacket, fawn breeches, and straw-colored hat, and holding a stick. His real head was damaged when they tried to embalm it, so they used a wax head instead.  The real head was kept in a case for many years but students kept stealing it for pranks. It is now locked away in a vault; although I’ve read about, and seen pictures of his head in a jar, which is placed at his feet. Ewww!

Why did this man wish to be kept out like this? Board meetings, hmmm, guess he wanted to be sure his money was being used for the right thing.   It’s a sure way to be immortalized.  Well let’s just say the dude was eccentric. The college did what it had to do to get the money, but still I can’t help but think this story to be…. well, gross, macabre,  and bizarre.

In 1789 he moved to France, and as fate had it, France was in the early stages of its own revolution.  Paine got seriously involved in this fight. In 1791 he wrote, “The Rights of Man,” where he supported the French Revolution and condemned its critics, specifically a British statesman, Edmund Burke who supported the American Revolution, but did not support the French Revolution. The pamphlet stepped on many toes, but did well when it was published in England despite that.  But the British government was out to get Paine. They chased him out of England and charged him with sedition and libel. In 1792 he answered to those charges as follows:

“If, to expose the fraud and imposition of monarchy … to promote universal peace, civilization, and commerce, and to break the chains of political superstition, and raise degraded man to his proper rank; if these things be libelous … let the name of libeler be engraved on my tomb”

Thomas Paine

Because he was a staunch supporter of The French Revolution, he was granted honorary French citizenship, and was elected to the French National Convention, this despite he didn’t speak French. The Girondists, a political faction, embraced Paine, and considered him an ally, whereas the Montagnards, another political faction saw him as the enemy.  Although he supported Frances’ fight for freedom, he was in a quandary so to speak.  We must remember that France aided the American Revolution, and now its people wanted their king dead. Death by guillotine! Paine was also very much against capital punishment.  He asked they not execute their king, but instead he should be exiled to America. By this time, it was the Montagards faction who was in power, and their dislike of Paine was stronger than ever, more so because of his stance on the King. They had Paine arrested and imprisoned in 1793. He tried hard to be released by demanding freedom because he was an American citizen. Much to Paine’s disappointment the American ambassador to France, Gouverneur Morris did not back up his claim. Paine felt abandoned by America, and especially by George Washington who also did not come to his rescue. He held a grudge against Washington for the rest of his life. I believe it was Paine’s writing of “The Age of Reason,” in which he criticized institutionalized religion, questioned the legitimacy of the Bible and called for “free rational inquiry” into all subjects, especially religion, may have had something to do with Paine being ostracized by America.

Paine was set to be executed, but escaped it by some freaky chance. “While in prison, Paine narrowly escaped execution. A guard walked through the prison placing a chalk mark on the doors of the prisoners who were due to be sent to the guillotine the next day. He placed a 4 on the door of Paine’s cell, but Paine’s door had been left open to let a breeze in, because Paine was seriously ill at the time. That night, his other three cell mates closed the door, thus hiding the mark inside the cell. The next day their cell was overlooked. “The Angel of Death” had passed over Paine. He kept his head and survived the few vital days needed to be spared by the fall of Robespierre (July 27, 1794)” ~Wikipedia  Paine was eventually released after the American minister, James Monroe, put pressure on the French government. Paine may not have believed in God, but I consider this divine intervention.

Paine returned to America unable to return to England, however, he lost his popularity among the masses. Paine died in 1809, and only 6 people attended his funeral, two of which were black. His obituary read: “He had lived long, did some good and much harm.”

For more on Thomas Paine:

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRpaine.htm

Intertextual War:

http://www.thomaspaineblog.org/thomas-paine-the-first-american-blogger/

http://www.american-buddha.com/paine.bio.6.19.htm

Being a native New Yorker myself, I thoroughly enjoyed this and only wish Duncan had legal access to these beautiful structures so we could learn more. It was a daring feat, and one I don’t advise others to do.

"The first actual case of a bug being found..."

Don’t you just hate a bug on your iPhone, computers, etc?  They make your life a living hell! But where did the term “computer bug” come from, and which computer got it first?  Back in 1945, after WWII ended, the gargantuan Mark II computer which ran ordinance calculations for the U.S. Navy shut down. Technicians eventually found that a moth trapped between two of the machine’s relay points was the culprit. Navy personnel preserved the moth in the daily log (photo above) & noted “the first actual case of a bug being found” in a computer, hence “computer bug.” However, the culprit being a bug was sort of a coincidence, because the term “bug” had been used to describe a mechanical malfunction since Thomas Edison’s day. Today the term “bug,” & “debugging,” is techie jargon and one we all have come to understand to mean a major pain in the ass if you have one.

The Navy’s “debugging,” was quite simple, close all windows in the lab. That’s it, no more bugs. Today, it’s a lot more complicated to debug. In 1949 a mathematician Jon Von Newmann said that constructing self replicating computer programs was possible. The dude was right, today bugs, worms, viruses, and other pain in the asses, have become every computer users worst nightmare. Computer experts say that 55,000 new malware programs are introduced over the Internet every day.

Lesson of the day, closing your windows won’t rid you of computer bugs, so make sure you have good anti-virus software on your computer or you will pay dearly.

Greek Letter X "chi"

What I’m about to tell you is news to me as well. I have always found it offensive when someone would send me a Christmas card with the words, “Merry Xmas.” Why? Because I’ve always felt that when someone did that, it was somewhat of an effort on their part to remove “Christ” from the picture. You know, “The war on Christmas,” stuff.

Well, what a surprise I got. Lexically speaking, Christ is, and always has been in Xmas. “X” is the Greek letter “Chi” and the first letter in the word “Cristos,” which means Christ. Xmas did not show up in English until the 1500′s, but the letter “X” meaning Christ has been in use for 1000 years! Alright, but why the abbreviation? Let’s remember that the use of “X” pre-dates the printing press when books were hand written, written on hard to find materials, and very expensive. It’s a no brainer, use “X” to save space, time and money. But although we know it isn’t offensive to use “Merry Xmas,” do be aware that some still find it so, so use good judgment when wishing someone a Merry “Xmas.” But at least you now know it isn’t disrespectful if you get a card with “Xmas,” and you won’t let it ruin your Christmas. Leave that up to the Scrooges behind the cash registers. Merry Xmas all!

Umm yummy ice cream!

One third of the ice cream consumed today is licked off an ice cream cone. It’s one of America’s favorite treats during the hot summer days. But have you ever wondered who came up with this brilliant, yummy idea? The year is 1904 on a very hot day in the Saint Louis World’s Fair. Ernest Hamwi, an immigrant from Syria was having a real hard time selling hot Persian Waffles. Who would want a hot waffle on stifling summer day? But he noticed that another vendor was selling ice cream like….hotcakes. The vendor ran out of plates. What was he to do? Plenty of ice cream, but nothing to put it on. Ernest got an “aha” moment and rolled a cone out of a waffle and offered it as a substitute to the panicked vendor. The rest is, well history. The ice cream cone was born.

This is the story that is backed by the International Ice Cream Association. But as life has it, many wanted to get in on a good thing. Half a dozen vendors at the fair claimed they came up with the idea. To this day the descendants of these dozen argue, passionately, about it.

One thing all agreed on, it was born at that fair on a hot summer day. And I for one, am glad the idea was born. It was such a good idea that many took the idea back home after the fair and the cone became an instant success from coast to coast. So the next time you have an ice cream cone, think of Ernest who couldn’t sell his hot waffles, but became an instant sensation when he introduced waffle to ice cream. This is truly an American story!

George Owen Squier

Squier retired from the army and decided to start a company to bring wired wireless to America. For $2 a month, Americans could have radio programs piped into their home over the electrical wires. It was an idea way ahead of its day, but one that Americans didn’t want to pay for, since they were getting radio for free. Squier didn’t give up and decided to market his wired wireless to businesses. It was felt that when an office had piped in music, employees would produce more. Businesses liked it, and bought into it.

In 1934 Squier changed his company’s name from Wired Radio to a more catchy name, “Muzak.” A name you are likely familiar with. Muzak is what you and 1 million people a day hear in elevators, stores, restaurants, malls, and offices. Is it really music to our ears? Or is there something else at play here? Well, elevator music of a specific type has been found to have a psychological effect: slower, more relaxed music tends to make people slow down and browse longer. The next time you’re in an elevator, or at a doctor’s office, notice how the music makes you feel. When you are out shopping do the same, but also take notice of  how much you spend. Believe it or not, that piped in music plays a big role on our moods & spending decisions.

Raleigh hated Catholicism and was very vocal about it before a very Protestant Queen Elizabeth I. We can say that Raleigh was accumulating brownie points with the Queen. The Queen became enamored of Raleigh and in fact, made him one of her court favorites. The story goes that Raleigh once laid his expensive cloak over a puddle the queen was to walk over. He just couldn’t let her feet get wet. But this is just a story, which may very well be a Victorian fable.

During Elizabeth’s reign, Raleigh made the mistake of falling in love and secretly marrying one of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting, Throckmorton “Bess,” who was was eleven years younger than him. Raleigh was imprisoned. It took several years for the scandal to simmer down and for Raleigh to regain favor at court. But Raleigh and Bess remained together, devoted, and had two children, Walter and Carew.

Sir Walter Raleigh & son Walter

When Elizabeth died in 1603 Raleigh was implicated in a plot to overthrow the new king, James I. Raleigh was tried for treason, & imprisoned in the Tower of London until 1616. It is during this time he writes, The Historie of the World, a book about ancient Greece and Rome. When released, he led an expedition to South America to find the lost city of El Dorado. In this expedition he attacked the Spanish settlement at San Thome, and in this battle his son Walter is killed.

As if the death of his son was not enough punishment, the Spanish Ambassador convinces James I to reinstate Raleigh’s death sentence. Raleigh is beheaded at Whitehall on October 29, 1618. Before putting his head on the block, he asked to see the ax, and looking at it said, “This is a sharp medicine, but it is a physician for all diseases.” His devoted Bess, still grieving the death of her son, Walter, must now grieve her husband. She had his head embalmed and kept it in a red leather bag, by her side, all the time. And according to a biography written on Raleigh, “Shepherd of the Ocean,” by J. H. Adamson, & H. F. Holland, Bess was in the habit of “frequently inquiring of visitors if they would like to see Sir Walter.”

Bess died twenty-nine years later at age eighty two, and Raleigh’s head was inherited by his son, Carew, who kept it until his death. On January 1, 1668 Carew was buried with the head, alongside the body of Raleigh. It had taken fifty years for Raleigh’s head to finely rest.

sources: Wikipedia,

http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/sir-walter-raleigh.htm

Curious Events in History, Michael Powell, Sir Walter Raleigh, by Frederick Albion Ober