Today we have some interesting concepts in government. About this day in 6 BC a Jewish baby was born who challenged Roman authority, and whose name has been used to validate and overthrow governments ever since. The heroic Richard the Lionheart died and was replaced by his youngest brother John, to the dismay of the people but a great boon to storytellers and mythmakers. The Committee on Public Safety was formed in France, creating public terror instead. In the birthday list we have a junior aide to President Richard M. Nixon who revealed the extensive system of tape recording in the White House which eventually ended Nixon's presidency.
Two pioneers of the aviation industry were born on this date, one Dutch and one American. The companies they founded are both still in operation today, although there have been a few mergers along the way. And on the subject of pioneering, modern man first set foot on the North Pole on this date, but it wasn't the man they said it was when we learned history in school.
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- Richard I (the Lionheart) dies in battle and is succeeded by his brother
John Lackland (at right). The sons of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitane,
John's reign was as troubled as his reputation in the Robin Hood legends
suggests. He fought with Pope Innocent III, was excommunicated, and finally
gave in. He mismanaged his lands in France, and lost them. He was unpopular
at home with the barons, the church, and the people and was forced to
sign the Magna Carta in 1216.
1793 - Committee of Public Safety created in France, Robespierre's source of authority for the Reign of Terror.
1909 - Robert Peary and Matthew Alexander Henson, four Inuits, and 40 dogs arrive at the North Pole. Commander (later Admiral) Peary was not the first man to stand there. His assistant through four expeditions and 18 years, a black man from Washington DC originally hired as Peary's valet, was first by 45 minutes.
Victory Day, Ethiopia, sometimes Patriots' Victory Day, celebrates the withdrawal of Mussolini's forces from Ethiopia after occupying the African nation from 1936 to 1941.
Van Riebeeck Day, South Africa, commemmorates the landing of Dutch East India Company party led by Jan van Riebeeck in 1652. Also Founder's Day.
1890 - Anthony Herman Gerard Fokker, The Flying Dutchman, born in Java, built airplanes at home. When WW I broke out moved to Germany and built observation planes, later fighters with machine guns synchronized to fire through propellors. Moved to US and built commercial aircraft, inventing fabric over welded-steel tubing construction. Died in New York 23 December 1939.
1892 - Donald Wills Douglas, US aircraft manufacturer. Dropped out of US Naval Academy to study aeronautic engineering, completed a BS at MIT in only two years. With $600 in capital (and a family to feed) he started Douglas Aircraft Company in Los Angeles in 1921. Merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 and retired. Died 1 February 1981.
1926 - Alexander Porter Butterfield, US government official, deputy assistant to Richard Nixon. During an interview with the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities Butterfield made the historic disclosure that presidential conversations in the Oval Office and elsewhere had been secretly recorded at the direction of President Nixon. Administrator of Federal Aviation Administration 1973-1975, returned to private business. Curently president of Internet marketing company Global Network, Inc.
A child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead and dreams of a faraway place.
A traveler on the plane sees the farmhouse and dreams of home.
- Carl Burns
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that
you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover.
- Mark Twain
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Copyright 2000 G. Armour Van Horn, all rights reserved. This document may be distributed freely. Please forward the complete message including this copyright notice.