Lost and Found – January 8th Edition

What to remember about January 8th…

• 1642  Italian astronomer and scientist Galileo Galilei dies (b. 1564); considered by many the “Father of Modern Science”
• 1790  In New York City, President Washington delivers the nations 1st State of the Union speech to Congress
• 1815  2-weeks after end of the War of 1812, Andrew Jackson’s militia defeat British forces at Battle of New Orleans
• 1867  Republican Congress overrides President Andrew Johnson’s veto; 1st law in nation granting African-American men the right to vote is passed
• 1964  President Lyndon Johnson announces his “war on poverty” at State of the Union address; birth of the American welfare state
• 1973  Watergate trial begins for 7 men accused of breaking into and bugging Democrat Party headquarters
• 2002  President George W. Bush signs “No Child Left Behind Act”
•  2011  Jared Lee Loughner goes on shooting rampage in Arizona; 6 killed and 13 wounded including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords

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Lost and Found – January 7th Edition

What to remember about January 7th…

• 1718  Revolutionary War general and member of Rogers’ Rangers Israel Putnam is born in Salem village, Massachusetts (d. 1790)
• 1785  American John Jeffries and Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard are 1st to cross the English Channel by air; do it in a balloon
• 1789  1st presidential election under the newly ratified U.S. Constitution is held; George Washington wins as expected
• 1800  Future 13th President Millard Fillmore is born in New York (d. 1874)
• 1953  President Truman announces in State of the Union address that the U.S. has successfully developed a hydrogen bomb
• 1980  President Carter signs bill authorizing $1.5 billion in bail out loans for Chrysler Corporation
• 1999  President Clinton’s impeachment trial begins in the Senate for lying under oath and obstructing justice
• 2010  Muslim gunmen open fire on Christians leaving midnight Christmas mass in Egypt; 9 killed and 11 wounded
• 2015  Muslim terrorists storm offices of French Satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris killing 12 and wounding 11 for the “blasphemy” of making fun of Islam and Muhammad; rampage continues for 2-more days until another 5 killed an 11 wounded in associated attacks

Lost and Found – January 6th Edition

What to remember about January 6th…

• 1759  George Washington marries widow Martha Dandridge Custis
• 1777  General Washington sets Morristown, New Jersey as winter quarters for his army after victories at Trenton
• 1838  American inventor Samuel Morse publicly demonstrates telegraph for 1st time
• 1853  President-elect Franklin Pierce and family are in train accident near Boston; 11-year old son Benjamin dies in wreck
• 1893  President Benjamin Harrison signs charter for Washington National Cathedral
• 1912  New Mexico enters the Union as the 47th State
• 1919  26th president Theodore Roosevelt dies in New York (b. 1858)
• 1946 Future 41st President George Herbert Walker Bush marries Barbara Pierce
• 1994  Olympic hopeful Nancy Kerrigan is attacked at practice session before Olympic skating trials; teammate Tonya Harding hired attacker to ensure her place on team
• 2000  Congress certifies 2000 election; George Bush will become 43rd President with 271 electoral votes to Al Gore’s 266

Lost and Found – December 14th Edition

What to remember about December 14th…

• 1777  Irish-American patriot Thomas Conway is appointed Inspector General of United States by Continental Congress
• 1799  America mourns; General George Washington, 1st American president, dies at home in Mount Vernon (b. 1732)
• 1896  USAF General and Medal of Honor recipient James Harold “Jimmy” Doolittle is born in Alameda, California (d. 1993)
• 1819  Alabama admitted to the Union as 22nd state
• 1863  President Lincoln grants amnesty to his sister-in-law Emilie Todd Helm; widow of Confederate General Benjamin Helm
• 1903  Orville Wright’s 1st attempt at powered flight fails; crash damages aircraft and delays next attempt by 3 days
• 1911  Team led by Norwegian Roald Amundsen becomes 1st to reach South Pole
• 1972  Astronaut Eugene Cernan is last human to walk on the moon as Apollo 17 mission prepares to return to Earth
• 2008  During press conference, Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi shouts “This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog” and throws his shoes at President George W. Bush
• 2012  Mentally disturbed and unmedicated 20-year old Adam Lanza kills his mother and then attacks Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut; 20 children and 6 adults killed with illegally obtained firearms.  Coward commits suicide before police enter the school.

Lost and Found – December 11th Edition

What to remember about December 11th…

• 1725  George Mason IV is born in Virginia (d. 1792); patriot, Constitutional Convention delegate, and “Father of the Bill of Rights”
• 1777  General Washington halts march to Valley Forge as American and British forces stumble upon each other at river crossing
• 1816  Indiana is admitted to the Union as 19th state
• 1862  Union troops cross river into Fredericksburg, Virginia hoping to take the city from Army of Northern Virginia
• 1941  Hitler’s Germany declares war on United States; Italy follows suit
• 1972  Landing module of Apollo 17 touches down; last human visit to the Moon begins
• 2008  Financier con man Bernie Madoff is arrested in New York City for $65 billion Ponzi Scheme
• 2008  Police recover remains of murdered 2-year-old Caylee Anthony in a garbage bag near the family home in Orlando, Florida

Lost and Found – December 4th Edition

What to remember about December 4th…

• 1780  Patriot dragoons use fake cannon to bluff British troops into surrender near Camden, South Carolina
• 1783  At a tavern in New York, General George Washington informs his officers that he is returning to civilian life
• 1872  After leaving New York a month before, British ship Mary Celeste is found abandoned at sea and under full sail
• 1912  Marine pilot, POW, and Medal of Honor winner Gregory “Pappy” Boyington is born in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho (d. 1988); commander of famous “Black Sheep Squadron” in Pacific
• 1917  Psychiatrist W.H. Rivers publishes report on psychological trauma of WWI troops; “shell shock” is the name given to what is now known at PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder
• 1918  Woodrow Wilson sets sail for Europe; 1st President to visit the continent while still in office
• 1942  Polish Christians form Zegota resistance group to aid Jews avoid or escape the Nazi’s “final solution”
• 1945  Senate votes to allow U.S. participation in the United Nations
• 1966  Viet Cong infiltrate defenses and shell Tan Son Nhut airport for over an hour damaging U.S. aircraft
• 1980  After the death of drummer John Bonham, legendary rock band Led Zeppelin announces they have disbanded
• 1992  President George H.W. bush orders U.S. troops to Somalia to secure humanitarian efforts during ongoing civil war
• 2009  American student Amanda Knox is convicted by Italian Jury in murder of her British roommate; conviction overturned 2011

Lost and Found – December 2nd Edition

What to remember about December 2nd…

• 1777  Philadelphia nurse and housewife Lydia Darragh overhears British plans for surprise attack on General Washington’s forces; pretending to need flower, she slips out and passes a warning to Colonials
• 1823  Monroe Doctrine becomes new U.S. foreign policy when unveiled at President’s annual address to Congress
• 1845  President Polk reasserts Monroe doctrine announcing aggressive westward expansion as part of America’s “manifest destiny”
• 1942  Enrico Fermi experiment produces 1st nuclear chain reaction; “atomic pile” was built and tested in a basement at University of Chicago
• 1954  U.S. Senate votes to condemn Joseph R. McCarthy for “conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute”.
• 1970  At the direction of President Nixon and with approval of Congress, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) begins operations
• 1976  Communist dictator Fidel Castro is becomes President of Cuba
• 2001  Energy-trading corporation Enron files bankruptcy after fraud and mismanagement can no longer be concealed
• 2015  Married Islamist terrorists Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik kill 14 and wound 22 in attack on office Christmas party in San Bernadino County, California

 

Thanksgivings of the Past (Repost)

For those that would argue that our Founders and this nation were secularists that intended to keep God and faith out of the public square, I invite you to read some of their own words on the occasion of Thanksgiving.

George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation – October 3, 1789

Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation of Thanksgiving – October 3, 1863

I would argue that their greatest concern was that NO faith or become the officially endorsed religion of this country.  The right to practice your beliefs, s long as they caused no harm to another,was to be sacrosanct and inviolable.  Their intent was not to prevent one from speaking of religion, hearing of religion or being offended by another’s religion.  The Founders saw America as a moral nation whose various faiths gave them the strength and values to surmount any challenge and strive towards the greatness in every individual… no matter their creed.  Stop trying to get God out of the public square.  He has the right to free speech too.

Lost and Found – November 5th Edition

What to remember about November 5th…

• 1605  Guy Fawkes is arrested for planting bomb under British Parliament in hopes of replacing government  with  Catholic leadership
• 1775  George Washington condemns Guy Fawkes Night
• 1872  Susan B. Anthony defies the law and votes for the 1st time; she is later fined $100
• 1938  “Adagio for Strings” by American composer Samuel Barber makes world premier on radio from New York City
• 1977  George W. Bush marries Laura Welch in Midland, Texas
• 1994  Former President Ronald Reagan announces that he has Alzheimer’s disease
• 2006  Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is sentenced to death in Baghdad for crimes against humanity
• 2009  13 killed and 32 wounded when Muslim U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan goes on shooting spree while shouting “Alahu Akbar”
• UPDATE:  2011  American radio and television personality Andrew Aitken “Andy” Rooney dies (b. 1919)

Lost and Found – November 3rd Edition

What to remember about November 3rd…

• 1777  George Washington learns of cabal led by General Conway intent on discrediting him with Congress
• 1783  Continental Army is disbanded after Washington has his Farewell Orders to the Army published on November 2nd
• 1793  Founder of Texas Steven F. Austin is born (d. 1836)
• 1941  Japanese Fleet receives Top Secret Order No. 1 directing them to attack Pearl Harbor in 34 days
• 1957  Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2 spacecraft; stray dog named Laika from the streets of Moscow is 1st animal in space
• 1964  Washington, D.C. residents vote able to vote in a presidential election for the 1st time
• 1979  5 Communist Workers Party and union protesters killed by Ku Klux Klan and American Nazis during march in Greensboro, North Carolina; no police present at the rally
• 1986  Reports surface in Lebanon of American secretly selling arms to Iran to secure release of 7 hostages; Iran-Contra Affair
• 2010  San Francisco passes law banning McDonald’s from giving free toys with “unhealthy” meals