March 21, 1836 - The Battle of Goliad

"...(I) ask that He who buildeth up and pulleth down nations will, the mercy preserve and unite us. For a Nation divided against itself cannot stand. I wish, if this Union must be dissolved, that its ruins may be the monument of my grave, and the graves of my family." - Sam Houston. These were the final words of a very worried Sam Houston; a man who raised up Texas and got her into the United States of America only to watch her go down in the flames of Civil War in March of 1863. One of the most important acts which he brought about was the the Battle of Jacinto which took place on today's date, April 21 in 1836. It once and for all settled the question of whether the Lone Star Republic would be a part of the United States... it would. A detailed, first-hand account of the battle was written by General Houston from the headquarters of the Texan Army in San Jacinto on April 25, 1836. Numerous secondary analyses and interpretations have followed. What follows is the best that I could manage, based on on-line and separate sources not to mention the recent book by Brian Kilmeade. Lorenzo de Zavala had opposed Santa Anna's power grab in Mexico wherein he openly supported the Democratic reforms. To Santa Anna, Zavala was a traitor and needed to be arrested, along with his supporters. Unfortunately, Santa Anna missed the government at Harrrisburg when they bolted town some several hours ahead of the strutting martinet. Santa Anna did get there in time to destroy all of the government's printing equipment;

General Houston (right) arrived a few days later. He was a man of strongly-held opinions; there was something reminiscent of George Washington in the man, and this was likely what got him named major general of the army at the beginning of the Texas Revolution. When he arrived at Harrisburg he found the town had been wrecked. After their long March most of the Texians wanted to settle and make Camp. But Deaf Smith* (*- so named because of a childhood disease that made him lose his sense of hearing) was determined to take a few of his men and go looking for these men who had made such a Mess of Harrisburg. "They were of one mind,"one colonel said,"to march down and fight the enemy!"

At this point on that same day, a Mexican courier carrying intelligence on the locations,and future plans of all of the Mexican troops in Texas was captured and dragged into camp with Spanish language documents in their saddle bags. These were quickly translated and showed that the Mexican forces in the area were much smaller than the Texians. About 1500 to the nearly 3,000 Texians. Sam Houston realized that his army was ill-trained. So Houston continued to retreat to the great displeasure of so many of his officers. Houston was keenly aware of how untrained they were, hence the reason for the continual retreats. They had moved back by 120 miles. On March 31 they paused and began training together. And at this time they were joined by Secretary of War Thomas Rusk and Preident David G. Burnet, as well as Secretary of War Samuel Carson. Houston convinced these men that his plans were legitimate, and they should retreat to the Sabine river. They moved through the town of Harrisburg, and that the Mexicans had about 600 men in Texas. Realizing that this showed the Mexicans those who had commited the massscres at the Alamo and at Goliad were now in smaller numbers and not far away.Also there were copies of the Texas Declaration of Independance around.The steamboat "Cayuga" had moved out with the Government members who Santa Anna had been looking to catch up with. When Houston showed up at Buffalo Bayou three days later (8/17/1836)they found that Santa Anna had already been there and left that place a mess. But they now knew that man - Santa Anna - who had ordered the massacres at the Alamo, and Goliad was within reach. The two armies were now within striking distance of each other. With his army standing in formaton. He spoke of meeting their opposites and glory and victory, but when he got right down to one thing that would fire all of their hearts: "Some of us may be killed; remember the Alamo, the Alamo, The Alamo!!" His army then raced as fast as it could towards Lynchburg.The area was filled with Oak Groves and marshes; quite at home for the Texians, but strange as could be imagined for the Mexicans. Houston's 900 man force arrived in the morning of April 20, Santa Anna's 700 mn force a couple of hours later. The Houston group set up camp near the banks of Bufallo Bayou which gave them decent cover, but little room to get away if needed. The set-up of Santa Anna's forces caused Colonel Pedro Delgado to write later "the camping ground of His Excellency's selection was in all respects, against military rules. Any youngster would have done better." Over

the next couple of hours skirrmishes broke out, with the Texians forcing the Mexicans to withdraw from a spot near the (above, Santa Anna surenders to Sam Houston)center. Then Mexican Dragoons then forced the Texians out of the area. Houston was unhappy that the Mexicans got a better look at his forces. Some of the men were unhappy that a full battle hadn't occurred. Genral Cos arrived in the morning with @540 reiforcements. But these men were all untrained and green. Santa Anna allowed his men to rest and relax. During this interval Houston ordered the destruction of Vinces Bridge thus blocking off the only escape for the mexicans. As this morning lingered on and there was no attack, the Texicans got busy. The Texican cavalry was initially dispatched to the Mexican forces' far left, and the artillery advanced through the tall grass to within 200 yards of the Mexican breast works. "The Twin Sisters" (cannons brought from Cincinnati)opened the battle at 4:30. After this opening salvo the Texians broke ranks and began swarming all around the mexican lines yelling "Remember the Alamo! Remember tha Alamo" to initiate hand to hand combat with the Mexicans, who were taken completely by surprise. Santa Anna snd his officers issued conflicting orders while trying to lead some kind of defense. But it wasn't working. The Texian infantry forces charged on without halt until they had control of the woodland and the Mexican breastwork. The right wing of Burleson's and the left wing of Millard's forces had taken possession of the breastwork. Within 18 minutes, Mexican soldiers abandoned their campsite and fled for their lives, The killing lasted for hours. Many Mexicans tried to go through the marshes of Peggy Lake while shooting at anything that moved. But they had fallen prey to these Alamo/Goliad Avengers. The totals at the end of the day left Mexican soldiers killed and 300 captured. Eleven Texians died, with 30 others, including Houston, wounded. Santa Anna had escaped towards Vince's Bridge. Finding the bridge destroyed, he hid in the marsh and was captured the following day, wearing the uniform jacket of a private. But this failed when his own men recognized him as such and pointed him out to the Texian authorities. His Excellency was brought before Houston's own boys wanted him hung on the spot.He had escaped towards Vince's Bridge. Finding the bridge destroyed, he hid in the marsh and was captured the following day, wearing the uniform jacket of a private. But this failed when his own men recognized him as such and pointed him out to the Texian authorities. His Excellency was brought before Houston whose own boys wanted him hung on the spot. In what historian Davis calls "one of the most one-sided victories in history",650 Mexican soldiers were killed and 300 captured. Eleven Texians died, with 30 others, including Houston, wounded. Eventually dealing with Santa Anna became a matter between one country and another. In 1874, he took advantage of a general amnesty issued by President Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada and returned to Mexico, by then crippled and almost blind from cataracts. Santa Anna died at his home in Mexico City on 21 June 1876 at age 82. He was buried with full military honors in a glass coffin in Panteón del Tepeyac Cemetery. *********** ************** ******* ***************** ***** ___________________________________________________________________________________ SOURCES = "Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers"by Brian Kilmeade,Large Print, New York, Penguin Random House https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Jacinto, https://www.history.com/topics/mexico/battle-of-san-jacinto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Alamo

February, 1917 : The Zimmermann Telegram

February 1917: When Britain and France had gotten to Autumn of 1917, they found themselves at the end of a rope financially speaking. They had spent a lot of money to prosecute the war against the Germans. And the Germans were preparing to announce to the world that they were about to re-start their policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. This meant that they would proceed to sink any ship of either the Allies, or their friends, any place that the found them. The Germans had come to figure that if the Americans were tied up with the Germans in submarine combat on one hand and had to deal with combat with the Mexicans on their southern boarder, then the Germans might prevail. The brits were frankly desperate to bring the the americans into the fray on their side.

Alfred Zimmerman,(right) the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs during a portion of Kaiser Wilhelm's reign, thought that this idea of dragging the Americans into the European war might just be the trick that would put them over the top against the Allies. The man who received the coded message, Ambassador Heinrich von Eckardt, was really hot to make this happen for his side. It would really shut down the Allies The text of the telegram read in part: "We intend to begin on the first of February unrestricted submarine warfare. We shall endeavor in spite of this to keep the United States of America neutral. In the event of this not succeeding, we make Mexico a proposal of alliance on the following basis: make war together, make peace together, generous financial support and an understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.Please call the President's attention to the fact that the ruthless employment of our submarines now offers the prospect of compelling England in a few months to make peace. Signed, ZIMMERMANN" This document was being reviewed by the director of British naval intelligence, Rear Admiral William Reginald Hall, the director of Naval intelligence. Hall

was a hot-tempered maverick who blinked his clear blue eyes so regularly that his colleaugues called him "Blinker." An American who worked with him called him the most cold blooded proposition there had ever been. His interrogations of German P.O.W.s were as ruthless as anything the Old Bailey had ever seen. ,,,,,To Bell, secretary of the United States Embassy in Britain it seemed at first incredible, and he thought that it was a forgery. But when he was convinced, Bell sent a copy to United States Amb. Walter Hines Page.

Page who then reported the story to President Woodrow Wilson (right) "Good Lord!" he yelled. "Good Lord!" One would think he had much more by way of anger, but whtever he felt he kept it to himself until any doubts as to the authenticity of the telegram were done away with by Zimmermann himself. At a press conference on 3 March 1917, he told an American journalist, "I cannot deny it. It is true." On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went before a joint session of Congress to request a declaration of war against Germany. Wilson cited Germany’s violation of its pledge to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as well as its attempts to entice Mexico into an alliance against the United States, as his reasons for declaring war. On April 4, 1917, the U.S. Senate voted in support of the measure to declare war on Germany. The House concurred two days later. The United States later declared war on German ally Austria-Hungary on December 7, 1917.

FEBRUARY 4, 1937 Walt Disney Premiers "Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs."

In December 1937 Walt Disney (below), producer and the father of "Mickey Mouse" was in the mood for a great experiment. He had produced countless cartoon shorts over the years and found success in that area. But now he wanted to make a full length animated film. He had a ton of negative voices in Hollywood including his wife Lillian, telling him that no adult would sit through the entire feature-length cartoon about a lady and a bunch of dwarfs. But Walt was convinced it would work, so he stuck his neck out on up to borrowing 1.5 million dollars in order to get it done. So Snow White premiered in Hollywood on December 21, 1937, got a huge ovation for his work from his celebrity filled crowd which loved every minute of it. It was then released the following February 4 grossing 8 million - an unbelievably huge sum during a vast economic depression. This was most made by any film up to that time. Walt Disney was born in Chicago in 1901. In 1923 Walt joined up with the infant animation industry. All films came with a cartoon back then, and in 1928 Walt introcuced the world to Mickey Mouse in the first full length sound cartoon: "Steamboat Willie"(below) 1928. By 1934, Disney had won 4 Oscars for his cartoons, many in color. But he realized that the way to

really expand and diversify his product was with feature length cartoons. So one night in 1934, Walt took all of his best prodution men out to dinner and then brought them back to the studio. There, he related the entire "Snow White" story for them right down to the characters music that would play with them and some type of voice that they would have had. He really had it all laid it out of his mind. So the more the story took shape in Disney's head the more it took hold with his artists. The story had to be adapted storyboard form by the artists Dorothy Ann Blank, Richard Creedon, Merrill De Maris, Otto Englander, Earl Hurd, Dick Rickard, Ted Sears and Webb Smith. David Hand became the supervising director, and William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, and Ben Sharpsteen directed the film's penetrating individual sequences. The story was based on a plot from Grimms fairy tales, and it went through any

number of changes while it was developed into a full blown story. For example staff writer Richard Creedon came up with the principal characters for the seven dwarfs, none of whom had names in the original story. Also the number of dwarfs went through several changes. But Disney wanted names that would express something about the indvidual characters of the dwarfs, hence "Doc", "Sneeezy", "Grumpy", etc.were born. Also there were changes in the character of the Evil Queen. Disney didn't want her to be crazy, or fat, but a "stately beautiful type" There were a number of changes in how the Queen was to have Snow White murdered. Eventually after many changes that had the Queen using a poison comb, it was decided that a poisoned apple was to be the weapon of choice, The object of the Queen's wrath was of course Snow White who was spoken and sung by 21 year old Adriana Caselotti (below). Adriana brought a very sweet voice to Snow White, both in

song and in dialogue, as a direct contrast to the darkness of evil Queen. Her version of "Some Day My Prince Will Come" by Frank Churchill was one of the hilights of the film. And I couldn't resist whistling along with "Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It's Home From Work We Go" by Frank Churchill, and Larry Morey. Of course, there were artists all over the place on this one. The main concept artist in this production was Albert Hurter who had final approval on everything: from the look on each character to the animals to the rocks surrounding the dark castle had to be approved by Mr.Hurter before it went into the film. That is just a hint of what went into the production of this magnificent film. The main point is that Disney got his baby out to the public.The film premiered at the Carthay Circle Theater on December 21, 1937, to an audience which was very receptive, and which contained some of the people who were most critical of its production. An audience contaning the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton and Judy Garland gave it a standing ovation. The American publication Variety observed that "[so] perfect is the illusion, so tender the romance and fantasy, so emotional are certain portions when the acting of the characters strikes a depth comparable to the sincerity of human players, that the film approaches real greatness." Following successful intial runs in New York and Miami, the film was put into general release all around the United States on February 4, 1937. It became the most sucessful sound film of all time. Of course it was eclipsed in this by "Gone With The Wind" (1939), but it did remarkably well in foreign releases such as England and Australia. The film was re-released during the War, and it did so well that Disney began the practice of re-releasing every ten years. Eventually with VHS, and DVD technology, and all manner of special editions,"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" looks to be a permanent part of our cinematic firmament. ...Sources: = .............................................. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_White_and_the_Seven_Dwarfs_(1937_film)...... https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Snow_White_and_the_Seven_Dwarfs................. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/disney-releases-snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs..........https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/disney-releases-snow-white-and-the-sevendwarfs.......https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriana_Caselotti......https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Albert_Hurter......https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimms%27_Fairy_Tales

December 26 = The Battle of Trenton.

On December 23, 1776 Thomas Paine wrote "these are the times that try men's souls." in his incendiary pamphlet "Common Sense". Surely it was so for George Washington's Continental army. They had been kicked out of New York and all of the Forts which they had erected on the Brooklyn Hieghts. And his army was literally disintegrating arround him his soldier's enlistment papers were due to expire at the end of the year. The men he had were in very poor shape, many of whom were "entirely naked and most so thinly clad as to be unfit for service" in Washington's own description, The only element in their favor was winter, which kept the Delaware River frozen, and safely between the Brits and the Americans. The British had settled into their winter quarters, hoping that either the freezing winter, or renewed hostilities in the spring, would end the rebellion. Indeed the Hessians (German mercenaries in the employ of the Brits) had settled down with a mere 1500 men at Trenton, just 9 miles down the road across the Delaware River. Washington Conceived a Bold Plan to keep his army together and in the field. Washinton refused to see himself as beaten no matter what William Howe (the General in charge of the British forces) thought. He now had the permission of the Congress to use the army in any way he thought productive, and this seemed to stimulate his thoughts."His Excellency George Washington" General Greene (below) would record later "never appeared to so much advantage as the hour of stress."

Washinington devised a daring plan to sting the British, and the Hessiaan mercenaries. capture a ton of much-needed supplies as well as give a huge boost to his Armies morale. ....... His plan was the reverse of what anyone expected. Instead of huddling in winter quarters like the Brits and their Hessian pals did, he proposed to ATTACK!................He would move his 2,400 man force, including horse and eighteen cannons, across the ice-choked Delaware River, divide his forces into two, one under Greene and one under Sullivan, to launch a pre-dawn attack. Sullivan would attack the town from the south, and Greene from the north at dawn on December 26. The task of ferrying everything across the Delaware River fell on Colonel John Glover and his tough, rugged band of Massachusetts fishermen. After revealing his plan at a council of war, Washington ordered as many boats as his men could lay ther hands on to be located and ferried to his position ten miles above Trenton. And the strictest silence had to be maintained. The freezing troops of the Continental Army were given meager provisions for three days and were not told the objective, only that the password was, “Victory or Death!"

Henry Knox, Washington’s Chief of Artillery recalled in a letter to his wife, "The moon was full on Christmas night. As men and material loaded into the transports.."Floating ice in the river made the labor almost incredible.” The river’s strong and swift current complicated matters, as did a nasty nor’easter which began pelting everyone with snow, freezing rain and sleet, accompanied by a steady and stiff wind. By 3:00 am, Washington’s troops were across. “Perseverance,” wrote Knox, “accomplished what first seemed impossible." Behind schedule because of the storm, the Americans arrived on the outskirts of Trenton around daybreak on the 26th. Washington split his force into two columns. One, commanded by Nathaniel Greene attacked from the north, while a second under John Sullivan attacked from the west to cut the line of retreat to the south. Recalling the assault, one American officer said, “I never could conceive that one spirit should so universally animate both officers and men to rush forward into action.”

As they marched, Washington rode up and down the line, urging his men to forward. General Sullivan sent a message to Washington that the weather was wetting his men's gunpowder. Washington ordered, "Tell General Sullivan to use the bayonet. I am resolved to take Trenton." The Hessian garrison, under the command of Colonel Johann Rall had been harassed by American militia for several weeks and were exhausted. Despite Washington engaging the pickets on the outskirts of town, Rall was taken completely by surprise. The Hessians attempted to form up at several spots but were unable to do so effectively. It became a running battle and the Americans quickly had the upper hand. Some of the Hessians did manage to escape, but most of them were captured.

The battle raged with the Americans pouring down their assault upon the suddenly awakened Teuonic enemies. The Hessians were never sufficiently able to mount an organized defense. At on point they pulled back in as orderly a fashion as they could through the streets of Trenton only to be surrounded by the Americans in a peach orchard on the outskirts. Hessian commander Col. Johann Rall attempted to rally his men, but it couldn't be done, as his men felt frightened by this surprise attack. Col. Rall wound up beeing mortally wounded. This left his troops demoralized and those who saw this through their weapons to the ground and surrendered. The Hessians lost 22 men killed in the fight with another 86 receiving wounds and close to 900 were taken prisoner. The Americans also seized much-needed supplies, including additional cannons and 1,200 muskets. The Americans suffered only five casualties, all only wounded. It was a major victory that proved a vital boost to the American cause when it desperately needed it. Washington had won a stunning victory. The army that the British thought was all but defeated had destroyed a major garrison with very light casualties, capturing critical supplies in the process. Striking on Washington took to cross and recross Delaware again over the next ten days, fighting a delaying action at the Battle of the Assunpink and winning another stunning victory at the Battle of Princeton. The Revolution had survived. Sources = https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/trenton..... https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/trenton..... https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/washington-wins-first-major-u-s-victory-at-trenton........ "1776" by David McCullough, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2005. "The American Heritage History of the American Revolution" by Bruce Lancaster, American Heritage Publising Co. New York, 1971...... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Trenton x x

December 14, 1911 = Amundsen Wins Race to the South Pole

On today's date, December 14 in 1911, Norwegian Roald Amundsen (below) became the first explorer to reach the South Pole, beating his British rival, Robert Falcon Scott by more than a month.

Amundsen, born in Borge, near Oslo, in 1872, was one of the greatest figures in the history of polar exploration. In 1897, he was first mate on a Belgian expedition that was the first ever to spend the entire winter in Antarctica. In 1903, he steered the 47-ton sloop Gjöa around the coast of Canada using the Northwest Passage and becoming the first navigator to accomplish that treacherous route. He was having some difficulty raising funds for a dash to the North Pole when he heard in 1909 that the Americans Frederick Cook and Robert Peary had already gotten there. Amundsen completed his preparations and in June 1910 sailed instead for Antarctica, secretly changing his plans. Without telling his financial backers or even his own crewmen at first, the Norwegian steered his ship Fram toward Antarctica and set his sights on reaching the South Pole. Before arriving, he sent a letter to Captain Robert Falcon Scott of the British Royal Navy(below)

who was preparing his own expedition in Australia. It read simply: “Beg leave to inform you Fram proceeding Antarctic. Amundsen.” Amundsen sailed his ship into Antarctica’s Bay of Whales and set up base camp 60 miles closer to the pole than Scott. Both explorers set up their means of trasportation Amundsen using sleigh dogs, and Scott employing Siberian motor sledges, Siberian ponies, and dogs. There was considerable press coverage to the two teams in what they called “race for the South Pole.” After spending the early part of 1911 laying down advance caches of food and supplies for their polar journeys, Amundsen and Scott’s expeditions took shelter and spent several months waiting out the dark and frigid Antarctic winter. Amundsen later tried to get a head start by beginning his journey early in September 1911, but was forced to turn back after temperatures fell as far as 68 degrees below zero. Finally, on October 20, 1911, conditions improved enough for his five-man team to begin their dash to the Pole. Scott got underway just a few days later on November 1. Amundsen and Scott relied on vastly different forms of transport during their journeys. Scott employed a combination of sled dogs, Manchurian ponies and even several motorized tractors. The machines fell victim to the arctic temperatures which quickly caused them to break down. Similarly, the cold caused his ponies to grow weak and they had had to be shot. After sending the dogs back to camp, he and his team were forced to spend much of their strength for their journey hauling their heavy supply sledges on foot. Amundsen, meanwhile, relied solely on skis and sled dogs to cross the tundra. The dogs helped his men save their strength, and the explorers later killed the weakest of the animals to supplement their food supply. Thanks to the speed of his dog teams, Amundsen’s party managed to race toward the Pole at a pace of over 20 miles per day. The Norwegians took a previouly untried route that forced them to navigate a dizzying icy trail of crevasses, mountains and glaciers, but by early December, they had penetrated farther into the interior of Antarctica than anyone in history. Amundsen would later summed up his feelings at this moment of triumph: “had the same feeling that I can remember as a little boy on the night before Christmas Eve—an intense

expectation of what was going to happen.” Finally, on December 14, 1911, he and his companions arrived at the South Pole. The men planted the Norwegian flag, (Pictured,above)smoked celebratory cigars and posed for snapshots, but they only remained for a few days before beginning the arduous trek back to their base camp. “The goal was reached,” Amundsen wrote, “our journey ended.” Scott's Team Arrives...Late Over a month later on January 17, 1912, Scott and his weary British team finally reached the Pole. And there they found that Scott had left him notes informing him that he had beaten them to their prize location by just over a month. Now Scott had to find their way back to their base camp. Having reached the South Pole late in the summer of the Antarctic. The Temperatures were dropping rapidly as Scott's weary company began its slow and laborious track to the north. But exhaustion from frostbite and not enough food began to spread throughout the weary group. Nevertheless Scott kept a diary of his travels almost the end. "Wednesday, 17 January Great God! this is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have labor to it without the reward of priority "Thursday 29 March Since the 21'st we have had a continuous gale from West Southwest and Southwest. We had fuel to make 2 cups of tea a piece and bare food for two days on the 20th. Every day have been ready to start for depot 11 miles away, but outside the door of the tent it remains a scene of whirling drift. I do not think can hope for better things now. We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker of course and the end cannot be far. It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more." "For God sake look for our people." The members of Scott's Scott’s group had a much tougher time on their return trek. Scott's dog teams were sent back while Scott and his four explorers continued on foot. On January 18, 1912, they reached the pole only to find that Amundsen had preceded them by over a month. Weather on the return journey was exceptionally bad–two members perished–and a storm later trapped Scott and the other two survivors in their tent only 11 miles from their base camp. Scott’s frozen body was found later that year. Sources = "The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness History" Edited by John B Lewis Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc. 1998. "The Treacherous Race to the South Pole" By Evan Andrews.... https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/amundsen-reaches-south-pole.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Amundsen.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amundsen%27s_South_Pole_expedition.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Falcon_Scott

November 2, 1948 – Dewey defeats Truman!

Note= This posting is intended strictly as report on the remarkable events that happened in 1948 on this date. NO support or lack of support for either of the candidates on the ballot tomorrow is intended.

"Dewey Defeats Truman" was an incorrect banner headline on the front page of the Chicago Daily Tribune on November 3, 1948, the day after incumbent United States President, Harry S. Truman, won an upset victory over Republican challenger and Governor of New York, Thomas E. Dewey, in the 1948 presidential election. The President bought the paper's early edition. The... mistake was famously held up by Truman at a public appearance following his successful election, smiling triumphantly at the error.

What had gone wrong at the polls? Harry Truman had been thrust into the presidency by the death of Franklin Roosevelt in April 1945. Most Americans seemed to appreciate his steady grip on the government during difficult times. But the Republicans nominated Thomas E Dewey governor of New York (above). During his time as governor of New York and during his time as New York City Dist. Attorney, Dewey had made it his business to go after mafia related crime syndicates such as the one led by Lucky Lucciano and others. Both men seemed qualified. Dewey seemed like a more steady reliable hand at the helm of government. Some papers while expressing fondness for the president could not support him. "However much affection you may feel for Mr. Truman and whatever sympathy we may feel for him in his strugges with his difficulties," said a front-page editorial in the Baltimore Sun, "to vote him into the presidency on November 2 would be a tragedy for the country and for the world." For some time polls had been predicting Dewey as being ahead of Tuman by 5 to 15 points. “We stopped polling a few weeks too soon,” said George Gallup Jr., co-chairman of the Gallup organization and son and namesake of another polling titan. “We had been lulled into thinking that nothing much changes in the last few weeks of the campaign.”

Truman's 1948 Campaign: within the Democratic Party, there was some opposition Truman. After he forced a strong civil rights plank into the party platform that year Truman faced a walkout of many Southern Democrats under the leadership of Strom Thurmond,who formed a "Dixiecrat" party separate from the Democratic ticket.Similarly former vice president Henry Wallace,who favored more progressive policies than Truman formed his own "Progressive Party", and these exspected to take some points away from Truman's Democratic Party. Given what seemed a deadly three-way split the Democratic Party, Dewey decided to take the high road in his campaign speaking in generalities and vague platitudes about what a great picture that they had in front of her. The Louisville Courier Journal summed up what it saw as Dewey's bland and vague campaign by saying it could be reduced to four sentences: "agriculture is important, our rivers are full of fish, you cannot have freedom without liberty, our future lies ahead."

But Truman's feisty fighting personality let him out on whistle stop campaign all across America. As can be seen in the map above Truman's campaign touched countless towns with countless speeches about his campaign. It was an Odyssey of 31,000 miles across the country and 352 speeches during his whistle stop tour and put him in personal contact countless civilians who understoodhis plain speaking style and appreciated it. Dewey was determined to avoid anything too controversial by criticizing Truman directly. In contrast to Dewey's restrained style, Truman unleashed a continuous attack upon Dewey by name, his refusal to cite issues specifically, and the "Do nothing" republican held 80'th Congress. The candidate for the most part seemed unbeatable, his outlook entirely positive. Between speeches he could lie down and go immediately to sleep however rough the road had been. "Give me 20 minutes." he would say. The strain of the campaign seemed to make him more firm even, in his purpose. At no point in the entire campaign to the staff, or the press, or even any of his family did he show less willingness to go on. The odds were all against him yet this only seemed to make him stronger. His natural optimism seemed to take over and keep them going. Several well-known and influential newspaper columnists, such as Drew Pearson and Joseph Alsop didn't believe Truman had a chance. Influential politcians said that Truman didn't have a chance and in their talks suggested which of Dewey's circle would take over which cabinet positions.

But still,the unthinkable began happening! On the night of the election Dewey and his family and his staff confidentally assembled at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. There they fully expected returns coming in from all of the country electing Dewey to the presidency. Truman, used his Secret Service men assigned to him to steal away the historic Elms Hotel in nearby Excelsior Springs Missouri.There, he had dinner took a bath and went to sleep. " In the returns that started coming in Truman took an early which he never relinquished. Leading radio constantly reported that the returns were coming in from other parts of the country that would overcome Truman's lead and win the election for Dewey. Meanwhile over the radio the authoritative voices of radio commentators were reporting that the president was ahead by 1.2 million notes, but that Truman was undoubtedly beaten. Truman's staffers kept vigil over the radio for the next several hours. The tide was turning, with reports coming in that said Truman was leading by 2 million votes! They got Truman to wake up and turn on his radio radio to hear the commentator saying he didn't seem how Truman could possibly be elected since states like Ohio and Illinois which is where Dewey's base of "rural votes" was, had not been tallied yet. "We got 'em beat!" Truman said. The Secret Service got the car ready and they took a ride to Kansas City. Dewey had carried New York New Jersey and Michigan, but Truman and taken Massachusetts all the South except four states, was winning in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Colorado, He held by slim margins in Illinois and Ohio so far, and was ahead in all-important California. Dewey for his part began to realize the trouble he was in the early returns from New England and New York shows his new tallies as much less than was expected. He stayed up rest the evening and early morning analyzing the bits as they were counted. By 10:30 AM Dewey realized the jig was up at 11:14 AM he sent a kind letter of concession Pres. Truman. Clearly the pollsters had gotten it all wrong and went back to their books and came up with new ways of interpreting their data. Truman went on to serve four more eventfull years as president of the United States. But with a picture of Truman holding up the Chicago Tribune saying Dewey had defeated him in their memories, polllsters were never quite so sure of themselves again. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Sources = "Truman" by David McCullough. Simon and Schuster, 1992.XXXXXX https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_United_States_presidential_election#Fall_campaignXXXXX https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/truman-defeats-dewey XXXXX https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna26661213

JUNE 23 = Hitler Tours Paris

  Adolf Hitler, Der Fuehrer his very own self stopped by Paris for a few hours to gaze and gawk a bit on today's date, June 23 in 1940. He had a full schedule of things that he wanted to see, but he was there for just a few hours that morning, and that was it. He left promptly and never came back. All the better for the people of Paris one might say, but there it was. Evidently the man was as odd as he was evil. Now  I should say right off that I've run into several other internet sources saying that Hitler's visit came on the 24th, the  25th, and also the 21st. But I've found more saying the 23rd was the date than others citing another date so that is the one I'm going with. Forgive me if I've gotten it wrong.

Hitler Arrives on the Spot

The Germans blew through the French defenses without too much trouble and and the French wound up surrendering to the Germans on June 22, 1940 on the very spot where Germany had had to surrender to France at the end of World War I. In fact Hitler had the railway car of  Marshall Foch (the General who had beaten the Germans in 1918) hauled to the spot in Compiegne Forest wherein the 1918 ceremony had taken place and took the French armistice there, not wanting to pass up this chance to rub salt into the wounds of his enemies. He subsequently had the memorial sight destroyed. Hitler also ordered the destruction of two other memorials: one of French War Hero General Mangin and one of Edith Cavell a nurse who helped Allied troops to escape the Germans in World One. Now that he had destroyed these little details, Hitler had a few other things to do.

Der Fuehrer Decides to Have a Look at Paris

  Albert Speer, whom Hitler referred as his "colleague" in matters of Art and Architecture was  informed by the Little Corporal himself that he wished tour the French capitol in a few days, and that he wanted Speer as part of his entourage. So at 5:30 a.m. the plane carrying Hitler and his Henchmen arrived at Le Bourget airport near Paris and they all piled into three large Mercedes sedans (with Hitler seated as usual next to the driver) and drove through streets largely unoccupied at such an early hour. They went directly to Paris Opera House - a great neobaroque building designed by Charles

Garnier which was very dear to Hitler's "heart". The great stairway was very spacious and highly ornamented as well as the elegant foyer (above) all were carefully examined. Hitler, who took on the role of guide in spite of the presence of a guide from the Opera Co. noticed a salon  was missing and pointed it out, but the guide already knew it. Hitler was quite taken with all of this beauty. When the tour was finally over Hitler through his adjutant offered a couple of times to pay the Opera's attendant 50 marks, which the man politely but firmly declined saying that he was 'only doing his job."

Off to the Eiffel Tower!

Next the Motorcade proceeded past the Rue Madeline, on down the Champs Elysees, and on to the Eiffel Tower.  Hitler seemed in the film of this event to be one more tourist looking the place over; not overly impressed as he moved among his cronies. From the Arc de Triomphe which included
France's Tomb of the Uknown Soldier, Hitler's caravan move onto L'Invalides there to gaze upon the tomb of Napoleon (the Original Little Corporal)which he spent some time doing. He later ordered that the remains of Napoleon's son to be re-interred alongside of his Dad. Hitler was much impressed by the Pantheon, but had no great interest in the most significant architectural works in Paris: the Place des Vosges, the Palace of Justice, and  the Louvre. The only sight he got into was the unitary row of houses on the fashionable Rue de Rivoli. After taking in a few more churches, Hitler had everyone back at airport by 9:00 a.m.. It was one of the greatest cities in world, but after less than three hours this man had had his fill. Nevertheless he later gushed to Speer: "It was the dream of my life to be permitted to see Paris. I cannot say how happy I am to have that dream fulfilled today."


Sources =

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hitler-takes-a-tour-of-paris

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/hitlerparis.htm

https://www.google.com/search?q=rue+Rivoli&oq=rue++Rivoli&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l2j46j0l3j69i60.46675j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8