http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog en-us Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:21:45 -0400 Main Page Blogware Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/3/15/4481111.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/3/15/4481111.html Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:21:23 -0400 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#006600>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A>: There are many traditions and symbols associated with St. Patrick's Day and Ireland. Here are some of the most popular.</P> <P><FONT color=#006600><STRONG>Shamrock</STRONG></FONT> - The shamrock as a symbol of Ireland and St. Patrick's Day is partly due to the natural abundance of clover plants in the country, but largely due to its strong association with Christianity. Legend has it that St Patrick used the shamrock to visually illustrate the concept of the Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) when trying to convert polytheistic pagans to Christianity. It was through the retelling of this story that the shamrock became associated with St. Patrick and Ireland's conversion to Christianity. As a result, the shamrock is widely used to commemorate Saint Patrick's Day, and in modern times has been appropriated by secular institutions as a symbol for the Irish.</P> <P><FONT color=#006600><STRONG>Four-Leaf Clover</STRONG> </FONT>- Although clovers are most often found in nature with three leaves, rare four-leaf clovers do exist. Finding one is thought to bring someone extreme luck. The folklore for four-leaf clovers differs from that of the Shamrock due to the fact that it has no religious allusions associated with it. It is believed that each leaf of a four-leaf clover represents something different: first is hope, the second is faith, the third is love, and the fourth is happiness.</P> <P><STRONG><FONT color=#006600>Leprechauns</FONT></STRONG> - Just what does a mythical leprechaun look like and why are they so special? A leprechaun looks like a little old man and dresses like a shoemaker with a cocked hat and leather apron. A Leprechaun's personality is described a aloof and unfriendly. They live alone and pass the time by mending the shoes of Irish fairies. The legend is that the fairies pay the leprechauns for their work with golden coins, which the "little people" collect in large pots - the famous "pots of gold" often associated with leprechauns.</P> <P>If you listen closely for the sound of their hammer you might be able to capture one. If you do you can force him (with the threat of bodily harm) to reveal where he's hidden his treasure. Be careful! Do not take your eyes off him for if you do he will surely vanish and your hopes of finding his treasure will vanish with him.</P> <P><STRONG><FONT color=#006600>Green </FONT></STRONG>- So why do we all wear green? Probably because you'll be pinched if you don't! School children started this tradition. Green is also the color of spring, the shamrock, and is connected with hope and nature. Historically, green has been a color used in the flags of several revolutionary groups in Ireland and as a result it appears in the official tri-color country flag, adopted in 1919.</P> <P>In addition to that, Ireland is often called the "Emerald Isle" due to the lush natural greenery found on the island. When people say that Ireland has 40 shades of green, they are right.</P> <P><FONT color=#006600><STRONG>The luck of the Irish</STRONG> </FONT>- Want to be lucky this St. Patrick's Day? Follow this advice:</P> <P>1. Find a four-leaf clover. 2. wear green(so you don't get pinched). 3. Kiss the blarney stone. 4. Catch a Leprechaun if you can.</P> <P>In honor of St. Patrick's Day I leave you with this Irish blessing: May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow and may trouble avoid you wherever you go!</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#006600>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A></P> Main Page shamrock victor stone spring legend jodyvictor Jody Irish Ireland honor green foliage emeralds day church Blarney American america Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/3/8/4475159.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/3/8/4475159.html Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:56:25 -0500 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#006600>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A>: Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of Girl Scouts in the United States, was a remarkable achiever. She set high ideals for the world and for her fellow women. During a time when women were restrained by society, Juliette Gordon Low set a precedent for young women to follow even today. </P> <P>In 1912, women were facing many old struggles. Their education was limited and so were their futures. However, as the dawn of World War I approached women realized that their role was a vital one. Organizations such as Girl Scouts and Girl Guides were especially important at this time to the development of a new, stronger, and more gifted young woman.</P> <P>The first troop meeting of Girl Scouts in the United States was held in Savannah on March 12, 1912. Juliette Low's girls were able to contribute to the war effort in their community. These young women were able to actively participate as valued citizens who were concerned about their future.</P> <P>The first American Girl Scout handbook was written by Walter John Hoxie, a naturalist. This book reflected many stereotypes of the time, making many references to the arts of "housewivery." However, there was a marked emphasis on ecology and physical fitness which attended to the promise of a new American girl in the years to come. In 1916, Juliette Low adapted a newer version of the Girl Scout Handbook. This book included an aviation badge, a new height for the all girl organization.</P> <P>Juliette Low was a firm believer in letting the girls run their own troops. Adults involved in the troops were advisers, not leaders. When she died on January 18, 1927 she inspired the founding of the Juliette Low World Friendship Fund. This organization uses its money to send American girls to other countries and bring other girls to visit the United States.</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#006600>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A></P> Main Page WWI war victor US States Scouts UnitedStates United organized March jodyvictor Jody history historical American america Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/3/1/4469522.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/3/1/4469522.html Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:36:40 -0500 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#000066>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A>: Martha Dandridge Custis Washington was the woman behind our very first President. Here is more about her.</P> <P>"I think I am more like a state prisoner than anything else, there is certain bounds set for me which I must not depart from..." So in one of her surviving letters, Martha Washington confided to a niece that she did not entirely enjoy her role as first of First Ladies. She once conceded that "many younger and gayer women would be extremely pleased" in her place; she would "much rather be at home."</P> <P>But when George Washington took his oath of office in New York City on April 30, 1789, and assumed the new duties of President of the United States, his wife brought to their position a tact and discretion developed&nbsp;over 58 years of life in Tidewater Virginia society.</P> <P>Oldest daughter of John and Frances Dandridge, she was born June2, 1731, on a plantation near Williamsburg. typical for a girl in an 18th-century family, her education was almost negligible except in domestic and social skills, but she learned all the arts of a well-ordered household and how to keep a family contented.</P> <P>As a girl of 18 - about five feet tall, dark-haired, gentle of manner-she married the wealthy Daniel Parke Custis. Two babies died; two were hardly past infancy when her husband died in 1757.</P> <P>From the day Martha married George Washington in 1759, her great concern was the comfort and happiness of her husband and children. When his career led him to the battlegrounds of the Revolutionary War and finally to the Presidency, she followed him bravely. Her lover of private life equaled her husband's; but, as she wrote to her friend Mercy Otis Warren, "I cannot blame him for having acted according to his ideas of duty in obeying the voice of his country." As for herself, "I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances."</P> <P>At the President's House in temporary capitals, New York and Philadelphia, the Washington's chose to entertain in formal style, deliberately emphasizing the new republic's wish to be accepted as the equal of the established governments of Europe. Still, Martha's warm hospitality made her guests feel welcome and put strangers at ease. She took little satisfaction in "formal compliments and empty ceremonies" and declared that "I am fond of only what comes from the heart." Abigail Adams, who sat at her right during parties and receptions, praised her as "one of those unassuming characters which create Love and Esteem."</P> <P>In 1797 the Washington's said farewell to public life and returned to their beloved Mount Vernon, to live surrounded by kinfolk, friends, and a constant stream of guests eager to pay their respects to the celebrated couple. Martha's daughter Patsy had died, her son Jack at 26, but Jack's children figured in the household.</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#cc0000>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A></P> <P>After George Washington died in 1799, Martha assured a final privacy by burning their letters. Sher died of "severe fever" on May 22, 1802. both lie buried at Mount Vernon, where Washington himself had planned an unpretentious tomb for them.</P> Main Page Washington war victor US UnitedStates United States president NewYorkCity Mount liberty legend jodyvictor Jody independence history government Europe constitution Congress children born American america Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/2/22/4463032.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/2/22/4463032.html Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:24:04 -0500 <P><SPAN lang=EN style="COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN"><FONT size=2><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#cc0000>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A>: In honor of George Washington's birthday here's a brief biography. On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. "As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent," he wrote James Madison, "it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles."<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN lang=EN style="COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN"><FONT size=2>Born in 1732 into a Virginia planter family, he learned the morals, manners, and body of knowledge requisite for an 18th century Virginia gentleman.</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN lang=EN style="COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN"><FONT size=2>He pursued two intertwined interests: military arts and western expansion. At 16 he helped survey Shenandoah lands for Thomas, Lord Fairfax. Commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he fought the first skirmishes of what grew into the French and Indian War. The next year, as an aide to Gen. Edward Braddock, he escaped injury although four bullets ripped his coat and two horses were shot from under him.</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN lang=EN style="COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN"><FONT size=2>From 1759 to the outbreak of the American Revolution, Washington managed his lands around Mount Vernon and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses. Married to a widow, Martha Dandridge Custis, he devoted himself to a busy and happy life. But like his fellow planters, Washington felt himself exploited by British merchants and hampered by British regulations. As the quarrel with the mother country grew acute, he moderately but firmly voiced his resistance to the restrictions.</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN lang=EN style="COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN"><FONT size=2>When the Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia in May 1775, Washington, one of the Virginia delegates, was elected Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. On July 3, 1775, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, he took command of his ill-trained troops and embarked upon a war that was to last six grueling years.</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN lang=EN style="COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN"><FONT size=2>He realized early that the best strategy was to harass the British. He reported to Congress, "we should on all Occasions avoid a general Action, or put anything to the Risque, unless compelled by a necessity, into which we ought never to be drawn." Ensuing battles saw him fall back slowly, then strike unexpectedly. Finally in 1781 with the aid of French allies--he forced the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN lang=EN style="COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN"><FONT size=2>Washington longed to retire to his fields at Mount Vernon. But he soon realized that the Nation under its Articles of Confederation was not functioning well, so he became a prime mover in the steps leading to the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in 1787. When the new Constitution was ratified, the Electoral College unanimously elected Washington President.</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN lang=EN style="COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN"><FONT size=2>He did not infringe upon the policy making powers that he felt the Constitution gave Congress. But the determination of foreign policy became preponderantly a Presidential concern. When the French Revolution led to a major war between France and England, Washington refused to accept entirely the recommendations of either his Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who was pro-French, or his Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who was pro-British. Rather, he insisted upon a neutral course until the United States could grow stronger.</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN lang=EN style="COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN"><FONT size=2>To his disappointment, two parties were developing by the end of his first term. Wearied of politics, feeling old, he retired at the end of his second. In his Farewell Address, he urged his countrymen to forswear excessive party spirit and geographical distinctions. In foreign affairs, he warned against long-term alliances.</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN lang=EN style="COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN"><FONT size=2>Washington enjoyed less than three years of retirement at Mount Vernon, for he died of a throat infection December 14, 1799. For months the Nation mourned him.</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN lang=EN style="COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN"><FONT size=2><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#000066>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A></FONT></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=Arial>&nbsp;</FONT></P> Main Page Washington war victor UnitedStates United States president NewYorkCity Mount liberty jodyvictor Jody honor history government freedom France federal February father Europe England election constitution Congress British battle army American america Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/2/15/4453374.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/2/15/4453374.html Mon, 15 Feb 2010 08:00:00 -0500 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#000066>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A>: In honor of all our U.S. Presidents, below are quotes from the first, George Washington.</P> <P>* A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man that actions, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends.</P> <P>* Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.</P> <P>* Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.</P> <P>* Experience teaches us that it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession.</P> <P>* Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance: they are the peoples' liberty's teeth.</P> <P>* Friendship is a plant of slow growth and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.</P> <P>* Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.</P> <P>* Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.</P> <P>* I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.</P> <P>* If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#cc0000>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A></P> Main Page Washington victor US UnitedStates United president power liberty jodyvictor Jody independence honor history government freedom free day constitution born birthday American america Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/2/8/4450686.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/2/8/4450686.html Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:02:38 -0500 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#666600>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A>: The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) was founded by Chicago publisher William Boyce on February 8, 1910. At that time in the US, there were several other loosely structured outdoor-oriented youth organizations, some using the name "Boy Scout" and some using other names, and there were already a number of troops in existence using some variation of the British Scout program. Boyce's key contribution was to organize the BSA as a business. He incorporated the organization (in Washington, DC, rather than Chicago), recruited key youth professionals (in particular from the YMCA) to design and operate the program, and he provided key funding for the infant organization.</P> <P>The new BSA quickly established a national office, developed a temporary handbook, sought out Baden-Powell's endorsement (which they got), and began to work to get a Congressional Charter from the US Congress (which they got in 1916). They also began an active campaign to absorb all other Scout-type youth organizations into the BSA. Indeed, only one such organization held out past 1912 - publisher William Randolph Hearst's Militaristic "US Boy Scout" (also called the "American Boy Scouts") organization (founded only three months after the BSA, and a member of the Order of World Scouts, a&nbsp;mostly British program in competition with Baden-Powell's program). Resorting to the federal courts, and aided by their Congressional Charter and testimony from Baden-Powell, the BSA obtained a favorable ruling against the "US Boy Scout" in 1919.</P> <P>Three people influenced the BSA's development more than any others: Ernest Thompson Seton, James West, and to a lesser extent, Daniel ("Uncle Dan") Beard.</P> <P>"Uncle Dan" Beard was beloved by millions of American Boy Scouts during his lifetime. A well-known artist and outdoorsman, he had founded a Scout-like organization called the Sons of Daniel Boone about 1905. While it had much in common with Boy Scouting, it lacked organizational structure (it was promoted through several magazines). It does not appear that Baden-Powell used any of Dan Beard's literature as he formulated his ideas for Boy Scouting.</P> <P>Ernest Thompson Seton, a famous writer and artist, had founded a loosely structured boys' program called the Woodcraft Indians around 1901-02. Seton had also visited England in 1904, where he met with Baden-Powell and gave him a copy of his manual for the Woodcraft Indians. B-P used many of Seton's ideas as he developed his Boy Scouting program. Indeed, Seton's introduction to the Original Edition of the BSA's Boy Scout Handbook makes it clear that he considered himself to be the real founder of the World Scouting movement. When William Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America in 1910, Seton merged his Woodcraft Indians with the new organization and became the BSA's first Chief Scout (from 1910 to 1915).</P> <P>James West was a Washington, DC attorney active in juvenile cases. Recruited in 1911 as Executive Secretary, West soon changed his title to Chief Scout Executive. West created a well-organized national structure that was a key to the BSA's growth and reputation. Although he had intended to make Scouting only a temporary diversion from his legal career, West remained Chief Scout Executive from 1911 until his retirement in 1943.</P> <P>West and Seton soon found they had conflicting ideas&nbsp;on how Scouting should develop. Scouting Founder Seton thought of West as a simple administrator, and challenged West's authority to control the young program's development. West had the organization and power base, and forced Seton out in 1915 (and removed all of Seton's writing from the Boy Scout Handbook by the 14th printing in 1916). But Seton's contribution had been made, and American Scouting today owes much to both men.</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#666600>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A></P> Main Page BSA Scouts Boy Washington victor US UnitedStates United States president power organized legend jodyvictor Jody Indian February England Congress British American america Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/2/1/4444674.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/2/1/4444674.html Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:39:08 -0500 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#cc6600>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A>: Tomorrow we will find out if winter will be 6 weeks longer or, if spring will come early. <FONT color=#cc6600>Groundhog Day </FONT>received worldwide attention as a result of the 1993 film of the same name, <EM><FONT color=#cc6600>Groundhog Day</FONT></EM>, which was set in Punxsutawney (though filmed primarily in Woodstock, Illinois) ad featured Punxsutawney Phil. </P> <P>An early American reference to<FONT color=#cc6600> Groundhog Day </FONT>can be found in a diary entry, dated February 5, 1841, of Berks County, Pennsylvania storekeeper James Morris:</P> <P>"Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate."</P> <P>In Scotland the tradition may also derive from an English poem:</P> <P>As the light grows longer</P> <P>The cold grows stronger</P> <P>If Candlemas be fair and bright</P> <P>Winter will have another flight</P> <P>If Candlemas be cloud and snow</P> <P>Winter will be gone and not come again</P> <P>A farmer should on Candlemas day</P> <P>Have half his corn and half his hay</P> <P>On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop</P> <P>You can be sure of a good pea crop</P> <P>This tradition also stems from similar beliefs associated with Candlemas Day and<FONT color=#cc6600> <EM>Groundhog Day</EM></FONT>. Candlemas, also known as the Purification of the Virgin or the<EM> Presentation</EM>, coincides with the earlier pagan observance Imbole.</P> <P><FONT color=#cc6600>Groundhog Day </FONT>proponents state that the rodents' forecasts are accurate 75% to 90% of the time. A Canadian study for 13 cities in the past 30 to 40 years puts success rate level at 37%. Also, the National Climate Data Center reportedly has stated that the overall predictions accuracy rate is around 39%. No matter -<FONT color=#cc6600> Groundhog Day </FONT>is just fun!</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#cc6600>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A></P> Main Page Pennsylvania Candlemas year victor spring solstice Scottish poem movie legend jodyvictor Jody groundhog February day Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/1/25/4438982.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/1/25/4438982.html Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:54:36 -0500 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#000099>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A>: The most literal meaning of blue moon is when the moon (not necessarily a full&nbsp;moon) appears to a casual observer to be unusually bluish, which is a rare event. The effect can be caused by smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere, as has happened after forest fires in Sweden and Canada in 1950 and 1951, and, notably, after the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, which caused the moon to appear blue for nearly two years. Other less potent volcanoes have also turned the moon blue. People saw blue moons in 1983 after the eruption of the El Chichon volcano in Mexico, and there are reports of blue moons caused by Mt. St. Helens in 1980 and Mount Pinatubo in 1991.</P> <P>On September 23, 1950, several muskeg fires that had been smoldering for several years in Alberta, Canada suddenly blew up into major - and very smoky - fires. Winds carried the smoke eastward and southward with unusual speed, and the conditions of the fire produced large quantities of oily droplets of just the right size (about 1 micron in diameter) to scatter red and yellow light. Wherever the smoke cleared enough so that the sun was visible, it was lavender or blue. Ontario, Canada and much of the east coast of the U.S. were affected by the following day, and two days later, observers in England reported an indigo sun in smoke-dimmed skies, followed by an equally blue moon that evening.</P> <P>The key to a blue moon is having lots of particles slightly wider than the wavelength of red light (0.7 micron) - and no other sizes present. This is rare, but volcanoes sometimes produce such clouds, as do forest fires. Ash and dust clouds thrown into the atmosphere by fires and storms usually contain a mixture of particles with a wide range of sizes, with most smaller than 1 micron, and they tend to scatter blue light. This kind of cloud makes the moon turn red; thus red moons are far more common than blue moons.</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#000099>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A></P> Main Page fire volcano victor US UnitedStates sun red Mount moon landfall jodyvictor Jody explosive England Canada blue American Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/1/18/4426117.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/1/18/4426117.html Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:00:00 -0500 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A> : For Robert E. Lee's birthday, January 19,&nbsp;here are some favorite quotes from him.</P> <P>A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others.</P> <P>Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less.</P> <P>Get correct views of life, and learn to see the world in its true light. It will enable you to live pleasantly, to do good, and, when summoned away, to leave without regret.</P> <P>I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself.</P> <P>I have been up to see the Congress and they do not seem to be able to do anything except to eat peanuts and chew tobacco, while my army is starving.</P> <P>I think it better to do right, even if we suffer in so doing, than to incur the reproach of our consciences and posterity.</P> <P>It is good that war is so horrible, or we might grow to like it.</P> <P>Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or to keep one.</P> <P>The education of a man is never completed until he dies.</P> <P>The trite saying that honesty is the best policy has met with the just criticism that honesty is not policy. The real honest man is honest from conviction of what is right, not from policy.</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A></P> <P>&nbsp;</P> Main Page war victor tobacco jodyvictor Jody January Congress born birthday army American america Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/1/11/4425952.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/1/11/4425952.html Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:56:24 -0500 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A> : Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 - October 12, 1870) was a career United States Army officer, an engineer, and among the most celebrated generals in American history. Lee was the son of Major General Henry Lee III "Light Horse Harry" (1756-1818), Governor of Virginia, and his second wife, Anne Hill Carter (1773-1829). He was also related to Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809).</P> <P>A top graduate of West Point, Lee distinguished himself as an exceptional soldier in the U.S. Army for thirty-two years. He is best known for commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War.</P> <P>In early 1861, President Abraham Lincoln invited Lee to take command of the entire Union Army. Lee declined because his home state of Virginia was seceding from the Union, despite lee's wishes. When Virginia seceded from the Union in April 1861, Lee chose to follow his home state. Lee's eventual role in the newly established Confederacy was to serve as a senior military adviser of President Jefferson Davis. Lee's first field command for the Confederate States came in June 1862 when he took command of the Confederate forces in the East (which Lee himself renamed the "Army of Northern Virginia").</P> <P>Lee's greatest victories were the Seven Days Battles, the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, and the Battle of Cold Harbor but both of his campaigns to invade the North ended in failure. Barely escaping defeat at the Battle of Antietam in 1862, Lee was forced to return to the South. In early July 1863, Lee was decisively defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. However, due to ineffectual pursuit by the commander of Union forces, Major General George Meade, Lee escaped again to Virginia.</P> <P>In the spring of 1864, the new Union commander, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, began a series of campaigns to wear down Lee's army. In the Overland Campaign of 1864 and the Siege of Petersburg in 1864-1865, Lee inflicted heavy casualties on Grant's larger army, but was unable to replace his own losses. In early April 1865, Lee's depleted forces were turned from their entrenchments near the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, and he began a strategic retreat. Lee's subsequent surrender at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865 represented the loss of only one of the remaining Confederate field armies, but it was a psychological blow from which the South could not recover. By June 1865, all of the remaining Confederate armies had capitulated. </P> <P>Lee's victories against superior forces won him enduring fame as a crafty and daring battlefield tactician, but some of his strategic decisions, such as invading the North in 1862 and 1863, have been criticized by many military historians.</P> <P>In the final months of the Civil War, as manpower reserves drained away, Lee adopted a plan to arm slaves to fight on behalf of the Confederacy, but this came too late to change the outcome of the war. After Appomattox, Lee discouraged Southern dissenters from starting a guerrilla campaign to continue the war, and encouraged reconciliation between the North and the South.</P> <P>After the war, as a college President, Lee supported President Andrew Johnson's program of Reconstruction and inter-sectional friendship, while opposing the Radical Republican proposals to give freed slaves the vote and take the vote away from ex-Confederates. He urged them to re-think their position between the North and the South, and the reintegration of former Confederates into the nation's political life. Lee became the great Southern hero of the war, and his popularity grew in the North as well after his death in 1870. He remains an iconic figure of American military leadership.</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A></P> Main Page Union Confederate WestPoint war victor US UnitedStates United States state Republican president October legend jodyvictor Jody history government born birthday battle army American america Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/1/4/4420135.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2010/1/4/4420135.html Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:08:48 -0500 <P><STRONG><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/">Jody Victor</A></STRONG> : It is believed that the Babylonians were the first to make New Year's resolutions, and people all over the world have been breaking them ever since. The early Christians believed the first day of the new year should be spent reflecting on past mistakes and resolving to improve oneself in the new year. Here are the most popular modern-day resolutions. Maybe one of them will be right for you.</P> <P><STRONG>Fit in Fitness</STRONG> - Regular exercise has been associated with more health benefits than anything else know to man. Studies show that it reduces the risk of some cancers, increases longevity, helps achieve and maintain weight loss, enhances mood, lowers blood pressure, and even improves arthritis. In short, exercise keeps you healthy and makes you look and feel better.</P> <P><STRONG>Tame the Bulge</STRONG> - Over 66 percent of adult Americans are considered overweight or obese by recent studies, so it is not surprising to find that weight loss is one of the most popular New Year's resolutions. Setting reasonable goals and staying focused are the two most important factors in sticking with a weight loss program.</P> <P><STRONG>Quit Smoking</STRONG> - If you have resolved to make this the year that you stamp our your smoking habit, over-the-counter availability of nicotine replacement therapy now provides easier access to proven quit-smoking aids. Even if you've tried to quit before and failed, don't let it get you down. On average, smokers try about four times before they quit for good.</P> <P><STRONG>Enjoy Life More</STRONG> - Given the hectic, stressful lifestyles of millions of Americans, it is no wonder that "enjoying life more" has become a popular resolution in recent years. It's an important step to a happier and healthier you! Try something new, take up a new hobby or sport, go to a theater performance, or head to the local spa.</P> <P><STRONG>Get Out of Debt</STRONG> - If money was a big source of stress in your life last year, this may be the resolution for you. Join the millions of Americans who have resolved to spend this year getting a handle on their finances.</P> <P><STRONG>Learn Something New</STRONG> - Perhaps you are considering a career change, want to learn a new language, or just how to fix your computer. Whether you take a course or read a book, you'll find education to be one of the easiest, most motivating New Year's resolutions to keep. You can find a wide variety of courses and programs at your local community college, YMCA, Museum of Art, or Center for the Arts.</P> <P><STRONG>Help Others</STRONG> - A popular, non-selfish New Year's resolution, volunteerism can take many forms. Whether you choose to spend time helping out at your local library, mentoring a child, or building a house, there are many nonprofit volunteer organizations that could really use your help.</P> <P><STRONG>Get Organized</STRONG> - Organization can be a very reasonable goal. Whether you want your home organized enough that you can invite someone over on a whim, or your office organized enough that you can find the stapler when you need it, there are professional organizers you can hire, books and articles&nbsp;you can read, and organizational items you can buy to get you started</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A></P> Main Page year victor UnitedStates resolution people organized NewYears jodyvictor Jody January health exercise American america Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/12/28/4414720.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/12/28/4414720.html Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:29:48 -0500 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A> : The most commonly sung song for English-speakers on New Year's eve, "Auld Lang Syne" is an old Scottish song that was first published by the poet Robert Burns in the 1796 edition of the book, <EM>Scots Musical Museum</EM>. Burns transcribed it (and made some refinements to the lyrics) after he heard it sung by an old man from the Ayrshire area of Scotland, Burns' homeland.</P> <P>It is often remarked that "Auld Lang Syne" is one of the most popular songs that nobody knows the lyrics to. "Auld Lang Syne" literally translates as "old long since" and means "times gone by." The song asks whether old friends and times will be forgotten and promises to remember people of the past with fondness, "For auld land syne, we'll take a cup o' kindness yet."</P> <P>The lesser known verses continue this theme, lamenting how friends who once used to "run about the braes,/ And pou'd the gowans fine" (run about the hills and pulled up the daisies) and "paidl'd in the burn/Frae morning sun til dine" (paddled in the stream from morning to dusk) have become divided by time and distance--"seas between us braid hae roar'd" (broad seas have roared between us). Yet there is always time for old friends to get together--if not in person then in memory--and "tak a right guid-willie waught" (a good-will drink).</P> <P>But it was band leader Guy Lombardo, and not Robert Burns, who popularized the song and turned it into a New Year's tradition. Lombardo first heard "Auld Lang Syne" in his hometown of London, Ontario, where it was sung by Scottish immigrants. When he and his brothers formed the famous dance band, Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians, the song became one of their standards. Lombardo played the song at midnight at a New Year's eve party at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City in 1929, and a tradition was born. After that, Lombardo's version of the song was played every New Year's eve from the 1930s until 1976 at the Waldorf Astoria. In the first years it was broadcast on radio, and then on television. The song became such a New Year's tradition that <EM>Life</EM> magazine wrote "that if Lombardo failed to play 'Auld Lang Syne,' the American public would not believe that the new year had really arrived."</P> <P><STRONG><FONT color=#000099>Happy New Year!</FONT></STRONG></P> <P><STRONG><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/">Jody Victor</A></STRONG></P> Main Page Scottish year victor TV television royal poem people Old NewYorkCity NewYears museum jodyvictor Jody holiday auldlangsyne American Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/12/21/4409470.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/12/21/4409470.html Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:46:52 -0500 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#cc0000>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A>: The origin of Santa Claus begins in the 4th century with Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, an area in present day Turkey. By all accounts St. Nicholas was a generous man, particularly devoted to children. After his death around 340A.D. he was buried in Myra, but in 1087 Italian sailors purportedly stole his remains and removed them to Bari, Italy, greatly increasing St. Nicholas' popularity throughout Europe.</P> <P>His kindness and reputation for generosity gave rise to claims that he could perform miracles and devotion to him increased. St. Nicholas became the patron saint of Russia, where he was known by his red cape, flowing white beard, and bishop's mitre.</P> <P>In Greece, he is the patron saint of sailors. In France he was the patron of lawyers, and in Belgium the patron of children and travelers. Thousands of churches across Europe were dedicated to him and some time around the 12th century an official church holiday was created in his honor. The feast of St. Nicholas was celebrated December 6 and the day was marked by gift-giving and charity.</P> <P>After the Reformation, European followers of St. Nicholas dwindled, but the legend was kept alive in Holland where the Dutch spelling of his name Sint Nikolaas was eventually transformed to Sinterklaas. Dutch children would leave their wooden shoes by the fireplace, and Sinterklaas would reward good children by placing treats in their shoes. Dutch colonists brought&nbsp; this tradition with them to America in the 17th century and here the Anglican name of Santa Claus emerged.</P> <P>In 1822 Clement C. Moore composed the poem <EM>A Visit From Saint Nicholas</EM>, published as<EM> The Night Before Christmas</EM> as a gift for his children. In it, he portrays Santa Claus:</P> <P><EM>He had a broad face and a little round belly.</EM></P> <P><EM>That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.</EM></P> <P><EM>He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf;</EM></P> <P><EM>And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;</EM></P> <P><EM>A wink of his eye and a twist of his head</EM></P> <P><EM>Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.</EM></P> <P>Other countries feature different gift-bearers for the Christmas or Advent season: La Befana in Italy; The Three Kings in Spain, Puerto Rico, and Mexico; Christkindl or the Christ Child in Switzerland and Austria; Father Christmas in England; and Pere Noel, Father Christmas or the Christ Child in France. Still, the figure of Santa Claus as a jolly, benevolent, plump man in a red suit described in Moore's poem remains with us today and is recognized by children.</P> <P><STRONG><FONT color=#006600>HO HO HO! </FONT><FONT color=#cc0000>Merry</FONT> <FONT color=#cc0000>Christmas!</FONT></STRONG></P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#006600>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A></P> Main Page victor UnitedStates Spain SantaClaus red poem people Old legend jodyvictor Jody Italy honor holiday gift French France father Europe England day church christmas children celebration Austria america Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/12/14/4404479.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/12/14/4404479.html Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:33:02 -0500 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#006600>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A>: As Christmas draws near, a bit of nostalgia creeps in for all of us. Remember the <EM>Charlie Brown Christmas Special</EM>? They still show it on some TV channels at this time of year. Here are the words to the little song that tracked through the program - very appropriate for this time of year - and I'll bet you remember the tune!</P> <P>Christmas time is here,</P> <P>happiness and cheer,</P> <P>fun for all that children call</P> <P>their favorite time of year.</P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <P>Snowflakes in the air,</P> <P>carols everywhere,</P> <P>olden times and ancient rhymes</P> <P>and love and dreams to share.</P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <P>Sleigh bells in the air;</P> <P>beauty every where;</P> <P>yuletide by the fireside</P> <P>and joyful memories there.</P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <P>Christmas time is here;</P> <P>we'll be drawing near;</P> <P>oh that we could always see</P> <P>such spirit through the year,</P> <P>such spirit through the year.</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#cc0000>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A></P> Main Page snowflakes dreams year victor time snow Silverbells love jodyvictor Jody day christmas children carols carol bells Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/12/7/4399186.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/12/7/4399186.html Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:20:26 -0500 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A> : The attack on Pearl Harbor was an unannounced military strike conducted by the Japanese navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on the morning of December 7, 1941. It resulted in the United States entry into World War II. The attack was intended as a preventive action to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from influencing the war the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against Britain and the Netherlands, as well as the U.S. in the Philippines. The attack consisted of two aerial attack waves totaling 353 aircraft, launched fro six Japanese aircraft carriers.</P> <P>The attack sank four U.S. Navy battleships (two of which were raised and returned to service later in the war) and damaged four more. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, and one minelayer, destroyed 188 aircraft, and caused personnel losses of 2,402 killed and 1,282 wounded. The power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not hit. Japanese losses were minimal, with 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 65 servicemen killed or wounded. One Japanese sailor was captured.</P> <P>The attack was a major engagement of World War II. It took place before a formal declaration of war by Japan and before the last part of a 14-part message had been delivered to the State Department in Washington, D.C. The Japanese Embassy in Washington had been instructed to deliver it immediately prior to the scheduled time of the attack in Hawaii. The attack, and especially its surprise nature, were both factors that swayed U.S. public opinion from isolationism to support for direct participation in the war. Germany's prompt declaration of war, unforced by any treaty commitment to Japan, quickly brought the United States into the European Theater as well. Despite numerous historical precedents of unannounced military action, the lack of any formal declaration prior to the attack led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaim "December 7th, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy".</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A></P> Main Page PearlHarbor Pacific WorldWarII Washington war victor US UnitedStates United theater States state ship president navy jodyvictor Jody Japan history historical government Europe day British battle army American america airplane Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/11/30/4393903.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/11/30/4393903.html Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:39:48 -0500 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#cc0000>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A>: As we get closer to Christmas, more nostalgia seems to come to mind. Here's a Christmas&nbsp;carol that seems to describe this time of year, known as <EM>Silver Bells</EM>.</P> <P>City sidewalks, busy sidewalks.</P> <P>Dressed in holiday style</P> <P>In the air there's a feeling of Christmas</P> <P>Children laughing. People passing</P> <P>Meeting smile after smile</P> <P>And on ev'ry street corner you'll hear.</P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <P>Silver bells, silver bells</P> <P>It's Christmas time in the city</P> <P>Ring-a-ling, hear them sing</P> <P>Soon it will be Christmas day.</P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <P>Strings of street lights, even stop lights</P> <P>Blink a bright red and green,</P> <P>As the shoppers rush home with their treasures.</P> <P>Hear the snow crunch, see the kids bunch</P> <P>This is Santa's big scene</P> <P>And above all this bustle you'll hear.</P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <P>Silver bells, silver bells</P> <P>It's Christmas time in the city</P> <P>Ring-a-ling, hear them sing</P> <P>Soon it will be Christmas day.</P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#006600>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A></P> Main Page bells children Silverbells silver snow shop winter victor time SantaClaus jodyvictor Jody holiday gift day city christmas carols carol Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/11/23/4385808.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/11/23/4385808.html Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:00:00 -0500 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#cc6600>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A>: Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, presently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, has been an annual tradition in the United States since 1863. It did not become a federal holiday until 1941. Thanksgiving was historically a religious observation to give thanks to God, and is still celebrated as such by many families, but is now also considered a secular holiday.</P> <P>Most Americans celebrate by gathering at home with family or friends for a holiday feast. Though the holiday's origins can be traced to harvest festivals which have been celebrated in many cultures since ancient times, the American holiday is tied to the deliverance of the English settlers by Native Americans after the harsh winter at Plymouth, Massachusetts and that event has become the pre-eminent foundation story for English North America.</P> <P>The First Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to God and the Native Americans for helping the pilgrims survive the brutal winter. Although half of the pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower had already died, many more would have had it not been for the native Americans teaching the pilgrims to harvest foods. The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three whole days providing enough food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Indians. The traditional Thanksgiving menu often features turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. Americans may eat these foods on modern day Thanksgiving, but the first feast did not consist of these foods. On the first feast turkey was any type of fowl that the pilgrims hunted. Pumpkin pie wasn't on the menu because there were no ovens for baking, but they did have boiled pumpkin. Cranberries weren't introduced at this time. Due to the diminishing supply of flour there was no bread of any kind. The foods included in the first feast included duck, geese, venison, fish, lobster, clams, swan, berries, dried fruit, pumpkin, squash, and many more vegetables.</P> <P>The first recorded Thanksgiving ceremony took place on September 8, 1565, when 600 Spanish settlers, under the leadership of Pedro Menendez de Aviles, landed at what is now St. Augustine, Florida, and immediately held a Mass of Thanksgiving for their safe delivery to the New World; there followed a feast and celebration. As the La Florida colony did become part of the United States, this can be classified as the first Thanksgiving, although it was not a harvest festival. The Spanish colonial town of San Elizario (San Elceario), near El Paso, Texas, has also been said to be the site of the first Thanksgiving to be held in what is now known as the United States, though that was also not a harvest festival. Spaniard Don Juan de Onate ordered his expedition party to rest and conducted a mass in celebration of thanksgiving on April 30, 1598,</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#ff6600>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A></P> Main Page Native victor US UnitedStates thanksgiving pumpkin prayer November jodyvictor Jody honor holiday historical government federal England day church celebration British American america Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/11/16/4382328.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/11/16/4382328.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:20:19 -0500 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A> : Let's take a trip back in history and see what happened on this day - November 16.</P> <P>1798 - British seamen board the U.S. frigate<EM> Baltimore</EM> and impress a number of crewmen as alleged deserters, a practice that contributed to the War of 1812.</P> <P>1813 - The British announce a blockade of Long Island Sound, leaving only the New England coast open to shipping.</P> <P>1821 - Trader William Becknell reaches Santa Fe, N.M., on the route that will become known as the Santa Fe Trail.</P> <P>1846 - General Zachary Taylor takes Saltillo, Mexico.</P> <P>1864 - Union General William T. Sherman departs Atlanta and begins his "March to the Sea."</P> <P>1892 - King Behanzin of Dahomey (now Benin), leads soldiers against the French.</P> <P>1902 - A cartoon appears in the<EM> Washington Star</EM>, prompting the Teddy Bear Craze, after President Teddy Roosevelt refused to kill a captive bear tied up for him to shoot during a hunting trip to Mississippi.</P> <P>1907 - The Indian and Oklahoma territories are unified to make Oklahoma, which becomes the 46th state.</P> <P>1913 - <EM>Swann's Way</EM>, the first volume of Marcel Proust's 7-part novel <EM>Remembrance of Things Past</EM>, is published.</P> <P>1920 - Metered mail is born in Stamford, Connecticut with the first Pitney Bowes postage meter.</P> <P>1945 - Eighty-eight German scientists, holding Nazi secrets, arrive in the United States.</P> <P>1948 - President Harry S. Truman rejects four-power talks on Berlin until the blockade is removed.</P> <P>1953 - The United States joins in the condemnation of Israel for its raid on Jordan.</P> <P>1955 - The Big Four talks, taking place in Geneva on German reunification, end in failure.</P> <P>1960 - After the integration of two all-white schools, 2,000 whites riot in the streets of New Orleans.</P> <P>1965 - In the last day of the fighting at Landing Zone X-Ray, regiments of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division repulse NVA forces in the Ia Drang Valley.</P> <P>1967 - U.S. planes hit Haiphong shipyard in North Vietnam for the first time.</P> <P>1979 - American Airlines is fined $500,000 for improper DC-10 maintenance.</P> <P>1982 - The space shuttle<EM> Columbia</EM> completes its first operational flight.</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A></P> <P>&nbsp;</P> Main Page war victor US UnitedStates United States state president power jodyvictor Jody Indian history historical French France day crew British Atlanta army American Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/11/9/4376223.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/11/9/4376223.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:42:48 -0500 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A> : Here's a list of interesting happenings from history on this day, November 9.</P> <P>1799 - Napoleon Bonaparte participates in a coup and declares himself dictator of France.</P> <P>1848 - The first U.S. Post Office in California opens in San Francisco at Clay and Pike streets. At the time there are only about 15,000 European settlers living in the state.</P> <P>1900 - Russia completes its occupation of Manchuria.</P> <P>1906 - President Theodore Roosevelt leaves Washington, D.C., for a 17-day trip to Panama and Puerto Rico, becoming the first president to make an official visit outside of the United States.</P> <P>1914 - The Australian light cruiser HMAS <EM>Sydney</EM> wrecks the German&nbsp; cruiser <EM>Emden,</EM> forcing her to beach on a reef on North Keeling Island in the Indian Ocean.</P> <P>1918 - Germany is proclaimed a republic as the kaiser abdicates and flees to the Netherlands.</P> <P>1935 - Japanese troops invade Shanghai, China.</P> <P>1938 - Nazis kill 35 Jews, arrest thousands and destroy Jewish synagogues, homes and stores throughout Germany. The event becomes known as<EM> Kristallnacht</EM>, the night of the shattered glass.</P> <P>1965 - Roger Allen LaPorte, a 22-year-old former seminarian and a member of the Catholic worker movement, immolates himself at the United Nations in New York City in protest of the Vietnam War.</P> <P>1965 - Nine Northeastern states and parts of Canada go dark in the worst power failure in history, when a switch at a station near Niagara Falls fails.</P> <P>1967 - NASA launches Apollo 4 into orbit with the first successful test of a Saturn V rocket.</P> <P>1972 - Bones discovered by the Leakeys push human origins back 1 million years.</P> <P>1983 - Alfred Heineken, beer brewer from Amsterdam, is kidnapped and held for a ransom of more than $10 million.</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A></P> Main Page workers war victor US UnitedStates United States state ship Republican president November NewYorkCity month jodyvictor Jody Japan history historical government day city Chinese china Canada Apollo Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/11/2/4369555.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/11/2/4369555.html Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:25:03 -0500 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A> : Here's what happened through history on this day November 2nd!</P> <P>1783 - Gen. George washington issued his farewell address to the Army near Princeton, N.J.</P> <P>1795 - James K. Polk, the 11th President of the United states, was born in Mecklenburg County, N.C.</P> <P>1865 - Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States, was born near Corsica, Ohio</P> <P>1889 - North Dakota and South Dakota became the 39th and 40th states.</P> <P>1917 - British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour expressed support for a national home for the Jews of Palestine in what became known as the Balfour Declaration.</P> <P>1947 - Howard Hughes piloted his huge wooden airplane, the Spruce Goose, on its only flight, which lasted about a minute over Long Beach Harbor in California.</P> <P>1948 - President Harry S. Truman narrowly won re-election over republican challenger thomas E. Dewey.</P> <P>1959 - Charles Van Doren admitted to a House subcommittee that he had the questions and answers in advance of his appearances on the TV game show "Twenty-One."</P> <P>1963 - South Vietnamese President Ngo Dihn Diem was assassinated in a military coup.</P> <P>1976 - Former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter defeated Republican incumbent Gerald R. ford, becoming the first U.S. president from the Deep South since the Civil War.</P> <P>1983 President Ronald Reagan signed a bill establishing a federal holiday on the third Monday of January in honor of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.</P> <P>2004 - President George W. Bush was elected to a second term as Republicans strengthened their grip on Congress.</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A></P> Main Page airplane federal TV Republican army Washington war victor UnitedStates United television States state president Ohio November jodyvictor Jody holiday history government film election day constitution Congress born birthday battle American Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/10/26/4362394.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/10/26/4362394.html Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:09:06 -0400 <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN"><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A> : The Erie Canal is famous in song and story. Proposed in 1808 and completed in 1825, the canal links the waters of Lake Erie in the west to the Hudson River in the east. An engineering marvel when it was built, some called it the Eighth Wonder of the World. </SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN">In order to open the country west of the Appalachian Mountains to settlers and to offer a cheap and safe way to carry produce to a market, the construction of a canal was proposed as early as 1768. However, those early proposals would connect the Hudson River with Lake Ontario near Oswego. It was not until 1808 that the state legislature funded a survey for a canal that would connect to Lake Erie. Finally, on July 4, 1817, Governor Dewitt Clinton broke ground for the construction of the canal. In those early days, it was often sarcastically referred to as "Clinton's Big Ditch". When finally completed on October 26, 1825, it was the engineering marvel of its day. It included 18 aqueducts to carry the canal over ravines and rivers, and 83 locks, with a rise of 568 feet from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. It was 4 feet deep and 40 feet wide, and floated boats carrying 30 tons of freight. A ten foot wide towpath was built along the bank of the canal for horses, mules, and oxen led by a boy boat driver or "hoggee". </SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN">In order to keep pace with the growing demands of traffic, the Erie Canal was enlarged between 1836 and 1862. The "Enlarged Erie" was 70 feet wide and 7 feet deep, and could handle boats carrying 240 tons. The number of locks was reduced to 72. Most of the remaining traces of the Old Erie Canal are from the Enlarged Erie era. </SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN">In 1903, the State again decided to enlarge the canal by the construction of what was termed the "Barge Canal", consisting of the Erie Canal and the three chief branches of the State system -- the Champlain, the Oswego, and the Cayuga and Seneca Canals. The resulting canal was completed in 1918, and is 12 to 14 feet deep, 120 to 200 feet wide, and 363 miles long, from Albany to Buffalo. 57 Locks were built to handle barges carrying up to 3,000 tons of cargo, with lifts of 6 to 40 feet. This is the Erie Canal which today is utilized largely by recreational boats rather than cargo-carrying barges. If you want to see an example of the locks, and towpath built here in Ohio, visit Canal Fulton, Ohio.</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN"><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor&nbsp;</STRONG></A></SPAN></P> Main Page Appalachian Mountains towpath canal victor UnitedStates States river Ohio October jodyvictor Jody government city American america Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/10/19/4355634.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/10/19/4355634.html Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:17:48 -0400 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#cc0000>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A>: In the summer of 1781, after six years of war, the American Army was struggling. The British occupied New York City. A second British army lead by General Lord Cornwallis ravaged the South - capturing Charleston, Richmond, and apparently was heading for the Chesapeake Bay. Mutiny plagued the American army in New York and New Jersey.</P> <P>There was a glimmer of hope, however. The French, allied with the Americans since 1778, had landed six thousand troops in Rhode Island while the French fleet gathered in the Caribbean preparing to do battle with the British. General George Washington and the French commander, Comte de Rochambeau, met in May 1781 to plan their strategy. Washington wanted to attack the British in New York City. Rochambeau, fearful of attacking such a well fortified position and lacking confidence in the Continental Army's abilities, recommended marching south to battle Cornwallis in Virginia.</P> <P>Washington finally acquiesced to the French position and on August 22, the two armies began their march from White Plains, New York to Virginia arriving in early September. As the combined American and French armies marched south, a battle between the French and British fleets in the Chesapeake Bay sealed the fate of General Cornwallis and his British troops at Yorktown. In the period from September 5-9, the French surprised the British fleet at the mouth of the Chesapeake forcing the British navy to retreat to New York, leaving General Cornwallis stranded.</P> <P>After a five-day bombardment, the combined American and French forces attacked and overwhelmed Cornwallis's fortified position on the night of October 14. The British commander was left with no choice but to surrender, which he did on October 19. News of the surrender reached England on November 25 sending shock waves through the British government. Although King George III wanted to continue the battle, the surrender forced Prime Minister Lord North to resign in March 1782. His replacement began the peace process that culminated in the signing of the Treaty of Paris in September 1783 granting independence to the American colonies.</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#000099>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A></P> Main Page French army navy Washington war victor treaty summer September Paris October may March July jodyvictor Jody independence history government freedom France England day city British battle August American america Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/10/12/4348995.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/10/12/4348995.html Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:03:02 -0400 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A> : A sailor on board the<EM> Pinta</EM> sighted land early in the morning of October 12, 1492, and a new era of European exploration and expansion began. The next day, the 90 crew members of Christopher Columbus's three-ship fleet ventured onto the Bahamian island of Guanahani, ending a voyage begun nearly ten weeks earlier in Palos, Spain.</P> <P>As a reward for his valuable discovery, the Spanish crown granted Columbus the <EM>right to bear arms</EM>. His new Coat of Arms added the royal charges of Castile and Leon and an image of islands to his traditional family arms. Columbus further modified the design to include a continent beside the pictured islands.</P> <P>Before his final voyage, the Spanish monarchs prepared a Book of Privileges, a collection of agreements showing how Columbus was remunerated for his explorations. In 1502, four copies of the book were known to exist. The Library of Congress's precious copy of this work is considered one of the "Top Treasures" included in the online exhibition American Treasures of the Library of Congress. </P> <P>The first recorded celebration of Columbus Day in the United States took place on October 12, 1792. Organized by The Society of St. Tammany, also known as the Columbian Order, it commemorated the 300th anniversary of Columbus's landing. The 400th anniversary of the event, however, inspired the first official Columbus Day holiday in the United States. In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation urging Americans to mark the day. The Public responded enthusiastically, organizing school programs, plays, and community festivities across the country. <EM>Columbus and the Discovery of America</EM>, Imre Kiralfy's "grand&nbsp; dramatic, operatic, and ballet spectacle," is among the more elaborate tributes created for this commemoration. The World's Columbian Exposition, by far the most ambitious event planned for the celebration, opened in Chicago the summer of 1893.</P> <P>Over the following decades, the Knights of Columbus, an international Roman Catholic fraternal benefit society, lobbied state legislatures to declare October 12 a legal holiday. Colorado was the first state to do so on April 1, 1907. New York declared Columbus Day a holiday in 1909 and on October 12, 1909, New York governor Charles Evans Hughes led a parade that included the crews of two Italian ships, several Italian-American societies, and legions of the Knights of Columbus. Since 1971, Columbus Day, designated as the second Monday in October, has been celebrated as a federal holiday. In many locations across the country Americans parade in commemoration of the day.</P> <P>Today, many Americans celebrate Columbus Day as a day of rest and relaxation. Appropriately, both hammocks and chocolate were introduced to Europeans by the people of the New World.</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A></P> Main Page victor UnitedStates United States state Spanish Spain ship president October NewYorkCity museum monarchy jodyvictor Jody Italy holiday Europe day crew Court Congress Columbus American america Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/10/5/4342443.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/10/5/4342443.html Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:18:07 -0400 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A> : Ray Kroc was born on October 5, 1902. It was a time in America where men and women were increasingly trying their hand at entrepreneurship. The country had moved out of the dark ages and these people wanted to lead from the front. I was the age of William Durant and Henry Ford. It was the age of the great nation builders.</P> <P>Young Ray Kroc believed that opportunity only knocked once and took his chances as they came. When he was fifteen years old he lied about his age and landed himself the job of an ambulance driver for the Red Cross. After that he tried his hand at a myriad of things, finally settling down to be a salesman. He initially sold paper cups. Opportunity knocked on his door when he had a chance meeting with Earl Prince, the inventor of the five-spindle multimixer. Ray Kroc convinced Earl to give him exclusive marketing rights for the mixer and successfully sold it all over the country for the next decade and a half.</P> <P>As he traveled all over the country, he realized that one of his largest customers was a California based restaurant owned by the McDonald brothers. On further inquiry he found out that they used a mass production assembly line system for their hamburgers and sandwiches. The owners were not interested in expanding the operation further and seemed content with present operations. In another display of salesmanship Ray Kroc convinced the brothers to make him their exclusive agent. In 1954 Ray Kroc opened his own McDonald's drive-in in Des Plaines, Illinois. He officially established the McDonald's Corporation.</P> <P>It was not an easy time for Ray Kroc. He was suffering from diabetes and arthritis. His gall bladder and thyroid gland had already been surgically removed. But the desire to succeed burnt throughout his body. In a final act of refined salesmanship Ray Kroc managed to convince the brothers to sell the company to him. He asked them to name their price. The $2.7 million that Ray Kroc paid in 1961 for the McDonald's Corporation is considered to be one of the greatest acts of salesmanship of all time.</P> <P>While running McDonald's he realized that a big chunk of the profits would come from the land on which the franchisees are established. In 1956 Ray Kroc set up the Franchise Realty corporation, which bought land and leased it out to franchisees. Post 1961, Ray Kroc began recruiting franchisees at a feverish pace. The revenues that the company received from the franchisees made it easier for Kroc to raise capital in the financial markets. He utilized some of the money to create an enduring advertising campaign that centered on the company's mascot - Ronald McDonald.</P> <P>Once the domestic market was saturated with McDonald's franchisees, Ray Kroc turned his attention overseas. It has opened outlets in more than sixty-five countries. McDonald's tailor-made its offerings depending on the country in which it was operating. In order to make the chain's name more easily pronounceable for Japanese consumers, it was changed to Makudonaldo. In India and in the Middle East, pork is not served. In Ireland the promotions proclaimed, "Our name may be American, but we're all Irish."</P> <P>Today most companies who operate in the service industry have picked up something or other from the McDonald's way of functioning. They have learned that Ray Kroc was right when he said that, "The organization cannot trust the individual; the individual must trust the organization." Non-conformists did not find any place in his plans. Ray Kroc constantly harped on the need for minute labor specialization and definition of the company's value position.</P> <P>After handing over the operations to Fred Turner in 1968, Kroc began to take a macro view of the organization that he built from scratch. He continued to monitor business of the newer franchisees. His paranoia regarding the success of McDonald's was as intact as ever. Whenever he traveled he insisted that his chauffeur drive him to at least six franchisees for him to conduct surprise checks.</P> <P>In 1974, Ray Kroc became a hero for reasons completely unrelated to business. He purchased the San Diego Padres baseball team and prevented them from moving to Washington, D.C. Ray Kroc passed away from old age in January 1984, at the age of eighty-one, just the ten months before McDonald's sold hamburger number fifty billion. By 1987, the year before McDonald's opened its ten thousandth store, they had sold 65 billion hamburgers.</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A></P> Main Page hamburgers WWI victor television team people October jodyvictor Jody Japan Irish Ireland Europe born baseball American america Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/9/28/4335441.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/9/28/4335441.html Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:47:26 -0400 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#cc0000>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A>: Take a look back in history and you'll be amazed at how much happened in one day. Here's what happened today.</P> <P><STRONG>1066</STRONG> - William the Conqueror, the duke of Normandy, invaded England.</P> <P><STRONG>1542</STRONG> - Portuguese navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo arrived in present-day San Diego.</P> <P><STRONG>1781</STRONG> - American forces, backed by a French fleet, began the siege of Yorktown Heights, Va., during the Revolutionary War.</P> <P><STRONG>1787</STRONG> - Congress voted to send the Constitution to state legislatures for their approval.</P> <P><STRONG>1850</STRONG> - Flogging was abolished as a form of punishment in the U.S. Navy.</P> <P><STRONG>1901</STRONG> - Ed Sullivan, who entertained millions of Americans with his long-running Sunday night variety show, was born.</P> <P><STRONG>1924</STRONG> - Two United States Army planes landed in Seattle, Washington, having completed the first round-the-world flight in 175 days.</P> <P><STRONG>1939</STRONG> - During World War II, Germany and the Soviet Union agreed on a plan to partition Poland.</P> <P><STRONG>1972</STRONG> - Japan and communist China agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations.</P> <P><STRONG>1974</STRONG> - First lady Betty Ford underwent a mastectomy at Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland.</P> <P><STRONG>1989</STRONG> - Deposed Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos died in exile in Hawaii at age 72.</P> <P><STRONG>1991</STRONG> - Jazz musician Miles Davis died at age 65.</P> <P><STRONG>1995</STRONG> - Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat signed an accord to transfer much of the West Bank to the control of its Arab residents.</P> <P><STRONG>2000</STRONG> - Capping a 12-year battle, the government approved use of the abortion pill RU-486.</P> <P><STRONG>2000</STRONG> - Ariel Sharon, leader of Israel's hard-line opposition, sparked new Israeli-Palestinian clashes by touring the Temple Mount.</P> <P><STRONG>2000</STRONG> - Former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau died at age 80.</P> <P><STRONG>2005</STRONG> - House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was indicted by a Texas grand jury on a charge of conspiring to violate political fund-raising laws. (The charge was later thrown out. DeLay is awaiting trial on money laundering and conspiracy charges.)</P> <P><STRONG>2005</STRONG> - The U.S. Treasury unveiled the new $10 bill, which features splashes of red, yellow, and orange.</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#000066>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A></P> Main Page WorldWarII war victor US UnitedStates United treaty States state president legend jodyvictor Jody Japan history historical government games Europe England Court constitution Congress Chinese Canada British born birthday battle American america amendment Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/9/21/4328570.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/9/21/4328570.html Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:20:02 -0400 <P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 3.75pt 7.5pt 3.75pt 0in; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif><FONT size=2><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A> : On this day in 1780, during the American Revolution, American General Benedict Arnold meets with British Major John Andre to discuss handing over West Point to the British, in return for the promise of a large sum of money and a high position in the British army. The plot was foiled and Arnold, a former American hero, became synonymous with the word "traitor."<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 3.75pt 7.5pt 3.75pt 0in; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif><FONT size=2>Arnold was born into a well-respected family in Norwich, Connecticut, on January 14, 1741. He apprenticed with an apothecary and was a member of the militia during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). He later became a successful trader and joined the Continental Army when the Revolutionary War broke out between Great Britain and its 13 American colonies in 1775. When the war ended in 1883, the colonies had won their independence from Britain and formed a new nation, the United States.</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 3.75pt 7.5pt 3.75pt 0in; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif><FONT size=2>During the war, Benedict Arnold proved himself a brave and skillful leader, helping Ethan Allen's troops capture Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 and then participating in the unsuccessful attack on British Quebec later that year, which earned him a promotion to brigadier general. Arnold distinguished himself in campaigns at Lake Champlain, Ridgefield and Saratoga, and gained the support of George Washington. However, Arnold had enemies within the military and in 1777, five men of lesser rank were promoted over him. Over the course of the next few years, Arnold married for a second time and he and his new wife lived a lavish lifestyle in Philadelphia, accumulating substantial debt. The debt and the resentment Arnold felt over not being promoted faster were motivating factors in his choice to become a turncoat.</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 3.75pt 7.5pt 7.5pt 0in; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif><FONT size=2>In 1780, Arnold was given command of West Point, an American fort on the Hudson River in New York (and future home of the U.S. military academy, established in 1802). Arnold contacted Sir Henry Clinton, head of the British forces, and proposed handing over West Point and his men. On September 21 of that year, Arnold met with Major John Andre and made his traitorous pact. However, the conspiracy was uncovered and Andre was captured and executed. Arnold, the former American patriot, fled to the enemy side and went on to lead British troops in Virginia and Connecticut. He later moved to England, though he never received all of what he'd been promised by the British. He died in London on June 14, 1801.</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 3.75pt 7.5pt 7.5pt 0in; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif><FONT size=2><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P>&nbsp;</P> Main Page WestPoint Washington war victor UnitedStates London liberty jodyvictor Jody independence honor history historical government freedom free England British born battle American america Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/9/14/4321565.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/9/14/4321565.html Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:58:04 -0400 <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#cc0000>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A>: On September 3, 1814, Francis Scott Key and John Stuart Skinner, and American prisoner-exchange agent, set sail from Baltimore aboard the ship HMS <EM>Minden</EM> flying a flag of truce on a mission approved by President James Madison. Their objective was to secure the release of Dr. William Beanes, the elderly and popular town physician of Upper Marlboro, and a friend of Key's who had been captured in his home. Beanes was accused of aiding the arrest of British soldiers. Key and Skinner boarded the British flagship HMS<EM> Tonnant</EM> on September 7 and spoke with Major General Robert Ross and then-Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane over dinner, while they discussed war plans. At first, Ross and Cochrane refused to release Beanes, but relented after Key and Skinner showed them letters written by wounded British prisoners praising Beanes and other Americans for their kind treatment.</P> <P>Because Key and Skinner had heard details of the plans for the attack on Baltimore, they were held captive until after the battle, first aboard HMS<EM> Surprise</EM>, and later back on the HMS<EM> Minden</EM>. After the bombardment, certain British gunboats attempted to slip past the fort and effect a landing in a cove to the west of it, but they were turned away by fire from nearby Fort Covington, the city's last line of defense.</P> <P>During the rainy night, Key had witnessed the bombardment and observed that the fort's smaller "storm flag" continued to fly, but once the shell and Congreve rocket barrage had stopped, he would not know how the battle had turned out until dawn. By then, the storm flag had been lowered, and the larger flag had been raised.</P> <P>Key was inspired by the American victory and the sight of the large American flag flying triumphantly above the fort. This flag, with fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, came to be known as the Star Spangled Banner Flag. Aboard the ship the next day, <FONT color=#000066><FONT color=#cc0000>September </FONT>14</FONT>, Key wrote a poem on the back of a letter he had kept in his pocket. At twilight on September 16, he and Skinner were released in Baltimore. He completed the poem at the Indian Queen Hotel, where he was staying, and he entitled it "Defence of Fort McHenry".</P> <P>Interestingly, much of the idea of the poem and even some of the wording is arguably derived from and earlier song by Key, also set to the tune of "Anacreon in Heaven". The song, known as "When the Warrior Returns", is said to have been written in honor of Stephen Decatur and Charles Stewart on their return from the First Barbary War.</P> <P>Key gave the poem to his brother-in-law, Judge Joseph H. Nicholson. Nicholson saw that the words fit the popular melody "The Anacreontic Song", of English composer John Stafford Smith, which was the official song of the Anacreontic Society, and 18th century gentleman's club of amateur musicians in London. Nicholson took the poem to a printer in Baltimore, who anonymously printed broadside copies of it - the song's first known printing - on September 17, of these, two known copies survive.</P> <P>On September 20, both the<EM> Baltimore Patriot</EM> and <EM>The American</EM> printed the song, with the note "Tune: Anacreon in Heaven". The song quickly became popular, with seventeen newspapers from Georgia to New Hampshire printing it. Soon after, Thomas Carr of the Carr Music Store in Baltimore published the words and music together under the title "The Star-Spangled Banner" although it was originally called "Defence of Fort McHenry". The song's popularity increased, and its first public performance took place in October, when Baltimore actor Ferdinand Durang sang it at Captain McCauley's tavern.</P> <P>The song gained popularity throughout the nineteenth century and bands played it during public events, such as July 4th celebrations. On July 27, 1889, Secretary of the Navy Benjamin F. Tracy signed General Order #374, making "The Star-Spangled Banner" the official tune to be played at the raising of the flag.</P> <P>In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson, ordered that "The Star-Spangled Banner" be played at military and other appropriate occasions. Although the playing of the song two years later during the seventh-inning stretch of the 1918 World Series is often noted as the first instance that the anthem was played at a baseball game, evidence shows that the "Star-Spangled Banner" was performed as early as 1897 at opening day ceremonies in Philadelphia and then more regularly at the Polo Grounds in New York City beginning in 1898. However, the tradition of performing the national anthem before every baseball game began in World War II. Today, the anthem is performed before the beginning of all MLS, NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL games (with at least one American team playing), as well as in a pre-race ceremony portion of every NASCAR race.</P> <P>On November 3, 1929, Robert Ripley drew a panel in his syndicated cartoon,<EM> Ripley's Believe it or Not!,</EM> saying "Believe It or Not, America has no national anthem". In 1931, John Philip Sousa published his opinion in favor, stating that "it is the spirit of the music that inspires" as much as it is Key's "soul-stirring" words. By a law signed on March 3, 1931 by President Herbert Hoover, "The Star-Spangled Banner" was adopted as the official national anthem of the United States.</P> <P><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT color=#000066>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A></P> Main Page baseball WorldWarII war victor UnitedStates United Stripes States Stars ship president people museum March July jodyvictor Jody holiday history games flag day celebration British American america Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/9/7/4310853.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/9/7/4310853.html Mon, 07 Sep 2009 08:00:00 -0400 <P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt 0in; LINE-HEIGHT: 160%"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 160%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT color=#000000><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif color=#cc0000>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif>: </FONT></FONT></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 160%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif>Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country. <BR><BR>More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers. <BR><BR>Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold." <BR><BR>But Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic. </FONT><STRONG><BR><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif>The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, l883. <BR><BR>In l884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in l885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country. </FONT><STRONG><BR><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif>Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From them developed the movement to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 2l, l887. During the year four more states -- Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York -- created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories. </FONT><STRONG><BR><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif>The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take were outlined in the first proposal of the holiday -- a street parade to exhibit to the public "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations" of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. This became the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.&nbsp; <BR><BR>The character of the Labor Day celebration has undergone a change in recent years, especially in large industrial centers where mass displays and huge parades have proved a problem. This change, however, is more a shift in emphasis and medium of expression. Labor Day addresses by leading union officials, industrialists, educators, clerics and government officials are given wide coverage in newspapers, radio and television. <BR><BR>The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership -- the American worker</FONT></SPAN></P></SPAN> <P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt 0in; LINE-HEIGHT: 160%">&nbsp;</P> <P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt 0in; LINE-HEIGHT: 160%"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><STRONG><STRONG><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; LINE-HEIGHT: 160%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif color=#000099>Jody Victor</FONT></STRONG></A></SPAN></P></STRONG></STRONG></SPAN></SPAN></STRONG></STRONG></STRONG> Main Page workers Monday labor victor UnitedStates United States state September president jodyvictor Jody honor holiday history historical heritage freedom day constitution celebration American america amendment Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/8/31/4306145.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/8/31/4306145.html Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:13:28 -0400 <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><SPAN><STRONG><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif size=2>Jody Victor</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif size=2> : Hurricane Carol is the most destructive tropical cyclone to hit the northeast Atlantic states since the 1938 hurricane.</FONT></STRONG><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif size=2> <FONT color=#000000>With the exception of the 1938 hurricane...Carol is the most destructive hurricane to strike Connecticut, Rhode Island, and southeastern Massachuttes since since the 1869 hurricane. Carol is the last major hurricane (category 3 or greater) to strike Rhode Island or Connecticut. Carol had nearly the same effect in the northeast states as the 1938 hurricane sixteen-years earlier...only the swath of destruction was shifted 50-miles east. This was due to the fact that carol made landfall further east than the 38 hurricane. Thus, western Long Island and western Connecticut experienced little damage from Carol... while the areas from New London, Connecticut to Cape Cod suffered damage nearly as bad as in 1938. To this day (2009)... Hurricane Carol is still considered the most damaging hurricane in Massachusetts history. </FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif>Hurricane Carol developed from an area of disturbed weather east of the southern Bahamas on August 25, 1954. The area of disturbed weather quickly became a tropical storm by August 27...and was officially classified as a hurricane while east of Florida late on 27 August. Caught in a weak upper level steering environment... ship reports indicated the storm was drifting slowly just to the north of the Bahamas between August 27 and late on August 29th. Early on August 30th, a deepening trough elongated along the coast from South Carolina to Canadian. The storm quickly became caught in this strong southerly flow and turned northeast with increasing forward speed toward the northeast Atlantic states.</FONT></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif>By midnight on August 30th, Carol's western edge was brushing the North Carolina Outer Banks. Forecasters issued hurricane warnings for the North Atlantic States from New Jersey to Maine as Carol swept past Cape Hatteras. Carol's overnight accelration left residents and vacatioers the task of making hasty preperrations for the storm in darkness...adding to the confusion and fear of residents and vacationers. At 8:37 am the next morning (August 31st), Air Force Hurricane Hunters located the center of Carol less than 100-miles south of eastern Long Island. The recon aircraft measured sustained winds of 115-mph and a barometeric pressure of 28.37 inches (964-mb) about 40-miles southwest of the eye of Carol. Around 9:30 am...Carol made landfall across the twin forks of Long Island, then moved into eastern Connecticut with the "eye" reported over Groton, Connecticut just after 10:00 am. This path put the area from southeastern Connecticut to southeastern Massachusetts ... once again was in the damaging eastern half of a tropical cyclone. </FONT></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif>Jody Victor</FONT></SPAN></STRONG></A></P> Main Page landfall hurricane victor UnitedStates States state jodyvictor Jody history historical day city carol August atlantic American america Country Boy http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/8/24/4298834.html http://jody-victor.blogcreek.com/blog/_archives/2009/8/24/4298834.html Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:22:40 -0400 <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A> : Mount Vesuvius, which is probably the most famous volcano in the world, is situated just above the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Vesuvius also happens to be the only active volcano located on the mainland of Europe. It rises approximately 4,200 ft (1,280 m) giving those who venture to the top an excellent view of the area below. It can best be described as a volcano within a volcano. Vesuvius actually sits inside a huge caldera, which was formed when Mount Somma collapsed. The area between Mount Somma and Mount Vesuvius is called the Valle del Gigante (Giant's Valley). Volcanic activity from this area goes as far back as over 400,000 years, but it wasn't until August 24, 79 AD that Vesuvius made its mark in history. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">On August 24, 79 AD Mount Vesuvius erupted and in the process it buried the cities of Pompeii, Stabiae, and Herculaneum. The accounts of this great destruction were witnessed by Pliny the Younger, who was staying in Cape Misenum about 12 miles from the volcano at the time of the eruption. Pliny the Younger was a writer and he recorded what he saw in his letters to the historian Tacitus. His descriptive account of the eruption has helped scientist piece together what exactly happened on that dark day in history. </SPAN></P> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">The eruption of 79 wasn't the only one in Vesuvius history. Throughout time there have been numerous eruptions varying in intensity and length. Researchers believe the eruption of 472 AD was one of the most destructive eruptions in the past 2000 years. In fact historical documents state that the ash from Vesuvius reached as far away as Constantinople. The 1631 eruption killed about 3,500 to 4,000 people and destroyed the villages/towns located on the slopes of Vesuvius. The last time Vesuvius erupted was in 1944 during World War II. During this period soldiers of the Allied armies helped the people evacuate the area. </SPAN></P> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">In 1841 on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius construction for the Osservatorio Vesuviano began. The Observatory officially opened in 1845 making it the oldest scientific institution devoted to studying volcanoes. </SPAN></P> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">Today Vesuvius still emits smoke into the air, but you have to be very close to the top to observe this. The volcano seems so harmless, but we know how dangerous it can be. We can only hope that this volcano will not erupt again and destroy more lives. It is beautiful to see such a great volcano, but we hope that it can stay harmless and peaceful for centuries and centuries to come.</SPAN></P> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><A href="http://www.jodyvictor.com/"><STRONG>Jody Victor</STRONG></A></P> <P>&nbsp;</SPAN></P> <P>&nbsp;</P> Main Page people volcano Europe Mount Vesuvius year WorldWarII war victor power legend jodyvictor Jody history historical day city August