I was suffering from uncertainty between doing a bio of George Armstrong Custer (born 1839) or Walt Disney (1901) - so I did Werner Heisenberg, the father of uncertainty. He was in the thick of theoretical developments in physics when the Nazis came to power, and with some difficulty came to an accommodation with the regime that put him in charge of significant parts of Nazi nuclear efforts. There has been much dispute over his role in Germany not ending up with "the bomb" before the US did, particularly since the Germans had been well ahead before the war started. It isn't clear that Heisenberg dragged his feet on the project, it is clear that he continued to avoid experimental work in favor of theoretical, and a weapons project needs a lot of experimentation. However, it seems clear that Germany simply could not have devoted the tens of thousands of workers that it would have taken to mount something like the Manhattan Project in the Third Reich - the resources went to build airplanes and rockets.
Today marks the first college fraternity in the US, the first nudist organization, the end of Prohibition, and an accident on an aircraft carrier that sent a plane, pilot, and an atomic bomb to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
One element of uncertainty that you have to deal with is whether or not you will get an issue Twisted History each day. Although I make a few idiotic typos from time to time, factually each event is carefully researched. From start to finish, including dealing with mailing problems, subscription issues, the research and writing, and starting the mailing up, each issue takes from four to six hours. Income from advertising comes to about five dollars a day. (Yes, I expected it to be 20 times that by now.) There are very few things I like doing more than creating another issue of Twisted History, but Christmas is coming and there are bills to pay - and everything else I do pays better than a buck an hour! Please consider making a contribution to the process - a small group of subscribers already has, anything from $5 to $50. Each payment has been small, but it has helped keep things going. To pay by PayPal or to get the address to send a check, visit:
1776 - A group of undergraduates at the College of William and Mary at Williamsburg, Virginia organize an honor society called Phi Beta Kappa. The first of the "Greek letter" societies formed in the US, members met regularly to write, debate, and socialize. They adopted an oath of secrecy, a code of laws, Latin and Greek mottoes, and an elaborate initiation rite.
1929 - Kurt Barthel, a German immigrant living at New York City, founded the American League for Physical Culture with a predominantly German membership, their first outing was a nude picnic in the Peekskills included eight men and four women. Two years later the first "naturist" organization had over 200 members.
1933 - The 21st Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified, repealing the 18th Amendment: "1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed. 2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited." Prohibition out, local option in.
1955 - In a joint convention at New York City the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations agreed to merge, forming the 15-million-member AFL-CIO. By unanimous vote, AFL head George Meany became president of the new union.
1965 - An A-4 carrying a single nuclear weapon rolls off the deck of the USS Ticonderoga, 70 miles off the coast of Japan. The plane, with the pilot and the bomb, sank in 16,000 feet of water. It has not been recovered.
King's Birthday, Thailand - Celebrates the 1927 birth of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the ninth monarch of the reigning Chakri Dynasty. Buildings are decorated and parades are held around the country, major festivities at the Grand Palace at Bangkok.
1901 - Werner Karl Heisenberg, German physicist - Born at Würzburg, Bavaria, Germany, second son of Dr August Heisenberg, a professor of Greek studies at the University of Munich. His father fostered academic competition between Karl and his older brother Erwin, pushing Karl ahead of his classmates. In 1911 he entered the Maximilians Gymnasium. (A gymnasium in Germany is a college-track secondary school lasting nine years, his maternal grandfather was the principal.) Graduated top of his class, developing special aptitude in math, physics, and languages, entered the University of Munich in 1920 and took only three years to get his doctorate. Disappointing score on oral exam (equivalent to a C) was the result of first rate command of theoretical physics and lack of preparation or interest in experimental work. Continued to study atomic physics at Göttingen and Copenhagen, published his first breakthrough in quantum physics, matrix mechanics, at Göttingen in 1925, and was named professor of theoretical physics at Leipzig in 1927 - he was the youngest full professor in Germany at the time. The status of academics had fallen dramatically since his youth and inflation was raging, he (and many other German physicists) survived on research grants from America, Rockefeller Foundation money in his case. Debate between Heisenberg and associates supporting matrix mechanics and Erwin Schrödinger and his colleagues who argued for "wave mechanics" led to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principal in 1927, which was the basis for his Nobel Prize in Physics for 1932. Was seen as a representative of "Jewish physics" by Nazis, was threatened with concentration camp. Married in 1937 after coming to uneasy terms with regime. Was a leader in nuclear fission research in both Leipzig and Berlin, may have been responsible for slow progress toward a nuclear bomb. After the war he was held with nine other scientists in England for six months, the British secretly recorded their conversations. Returned to Göttingen in 1946 to head the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute (renamed Max Planck Institute in 1948), advanced nuclear power technology from 1955. Opposed nuclear weapons, continued to seek a unified theory of subatomic particles. Retired in 1970, died of cancer at his Munich home on 1 February 1976.
The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If I ever marry, I'll try to forget the fact.
- Oscar Wilde
The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the Prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this.
- Albert Einstein
I bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween.
- Unnamed 13-year-old
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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.