This Day in History: May 21st

This Day in History: Clara Barton founds the American Red Cross, the helpers who give aid to people in desperate, tragedy-struck situations, 1881; Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic, 1927; Amelia Earhardt takes Charles' cue and does the same things five years later, becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Pond, 1932; a construction worker picks up his guitar and goes in to the doorway of Chess Records, recording a song that will become a major hit and inspire hundreds of others to create songs in this new thing- this thing called "rock and roll" as D.J. Alan Freed descrived it, Chuck Berry's tune being the first of many in a great musical career, 1955


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This Day in History May 15th

This Day in History: The Seven Years War (also called the French and Indian War) begins between Britain and France (aided by the local Indian tribes) in North America, 1756; John Adams orders the Federal government to pick up and move- from Philadelphia to the new capital, Washington, D.C., 1800; air mail service begins in the U.S., but only between New York, Philadelphia and Washington, 1918; the "wonders of science" just keep on coming, with Du Pont's new nylon stockings going on sale, causing a sensation among women, 1940; Nolan Ryan- who'd been traded by the Mets to the Angels just a few years earlier- gets the first no-hitter of his very long career which would see him earn a total of six and launch him to the Baseball Hall of Fame, 1973; the Soviets realize that invading a mountainous, parched Middle Eastern country with tanks and rocket launchers, killing thousands of villagers and installing a puppet regime was not a good way to make friends- and start their withdrawal from Afghanistan, 1988

This Day in History: May 14th

This Day in History: Delegates begin to assemble in a spot which would gain recognition as the "cradle of liberty"- Philadelphia- preparing to attend a meeting which will change the world- the Constitutional Convention- the first time a society shook off the rule of an opposing nation and wrote its own laws to guide a country, many of them dining at another place that had become famous- the Old Ci...ty Tavern- where Thomas Jefferson had spent time while writing the Declaration of Independence, 1787; English physician Edawrd Jenner successfully tests his smallpox vaccine and later gets a town named after him, Jennersville in southern chester County, PA., 1796; Lewis and Clark start on an exciting road trip, 1804; a machine goes up in the heavens to bring back information on how the universe works, Skylab being launched to increase scientific knowledge, 1973; 'Ol Blue Eyes- Frank Sinatra- passes away at the age of 82, but his tunes live on forever, 1998

Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day: "James Dean, James Dean...I know just what you mean


James Dean, you said it all so clean... And I know my life would look all right

If I could see it on the silver screen...

You were the low-down rebel if there ever was...Even if you had no cause

James Dean, you said it all so clean...And I know my life would look all right

If I could see it on the silver screen...

Little James Dean up on the screen

Wonderin' who he might be...Along came a Spyder and picked up a rider

Took him down the road to eternity..." --The Eagles, "James Dean"

This Day in History- May 11th

This Day in History: Roman Emperor Constantin names a city after himself, making Constantinople a major crossroads of Europe and Asia, 330 A.D.; the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" takes its place as the 32nd state as Minnesota enters the Union, 1858; horrendous dust storms sweep across the Great Plains all the way to the Eastern Seaboard carrying as much as 350 million tons of silt in one day, scattering it all over the countryside, forcing thousands to flee from devastated areas such as Oklahoma and neighboring states at a particularly bad time- the Great Depression, during which the entire nation felt the double effects of an economic downturn and natural disasters, 1934; Israel is admitted to the United Nations, 1949; machine beats man as "Deep Blue"- IBM's master mind of a computer tops World chess Champion Gary Kasparov at a game of chess, 1997

This Day In History: April 9th

This Day in History: Mark Twain gets his riverboat pilot's license, giving him the material which would make him famous in the coming decades when he publishes "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and other books which became classics of American literature, 1859; General Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox, effectively ending the Civil War- America's costliest, deadliest and most bitter internal struggle which claimed roughly 600,000 casualties- roughly 4% of the population- the equivalent of 12 million dead today, 1865; NASA introduces the very first astronauts to America who would go forward in Project Mercury, a story detailed in the wonderful movie (and book by Tom Wolfe before it) called 'The Right Stuff', 1959; Paul McCartney saddens the entire world and announces the break-up of the Beatles, ending "The Sixties", 1970  www.GenePisasale.com -Gene Pisasale, Author of "The Forgotten Star", "Abandoned Address- The Secret of Frick's Lock", "Lafayette's Gold- The Lost Brandywine Treasure" and the column "Living History" which runs bi-weekly in The Daily Local News and other Chester county, Pa. media outlets

This Day In History April 8th

This Day in History: Traders for the Dutch East India Company begin the settlement which will be named Cape Town, South Africa, a crossroads for voyagers going from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, 1652; the U.S. Congress approves President Rooselvent's Works Progress Administration (WPA), the massive Federal spending designed to put millions of unemployed people to work building roads, bridges and dams across America, many of which like the scenic and often photographed Bixby Bridge along the coast at California's Big Sur now a landmark destination, 1935; Hank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth's home run record, slamming his 715th run despite having received death threats from bigoted people who weren't fond of seeing the former Negro leagues player shatter their misguided and one-sided dreams, 1974