The first Duke of Marlborough had quite the rollercoaster career, as changes in parliament and the throne of England brought him in and out of power, not to mention disgrace and exile. He changed loyalties himself at least once, and his wife's position in the court of Queen Anne was largely responsible for one crest in his career. The brilliant general was one of the great English strategists, in the same class as Wellington. And his father, the poor knight with no prospects? That would be one Winston Churchill - yes, the same family has been involved in English politics ever since.
One of the earliest US psychologists was born on this day, a contemporary of Freud and Pavlov he was able to rack up quite a few "firsts" in the field, starting with being the first to drop a rat in a maze. He not only was one of the first to test for intelligence, coming down on the nature side of the nature vs. nurture dispute that continues today, he was among the first test developers to attack the validity of other tests. Intelligence and IQ testing is rather out of favor these days, but I think we all know that intelligence is important - choosing to subscribe to history newsletters is probably a primitive intelligence test, and you passed with flying colors.
It wouldn't be possible today, given wetlands preservation rules, but this is the day the dam enclosing the Zuider Zee was completed. Fifty years ago today the Journal of the American Medical Association printed the first authoritative research linking smoking and lung cancer. Americans have been trying to quit smoking ever since, I know I still want a cigarette instead of chewing this nicotine gum!
1232 - Pope Gregory IX sent the first Inquisition team to Aragon in Spain, after turning its details over to the Dominicans the previous year.
1932 - A dam between the Waddenzee and the Zuider Zee in the Netherlands was completed. Since that time the Zuider Zee has become a freshwater lake called the IJsselmeer and a five "polders," areas of dry land comprising some 560,000 acres mostly used for agriculture, all about 15 feet below sea level.
1950 - The Journal of the American Medical Association published "Tobacco smoking as a possible etiologic factor in bronchogenic cancer" by Ernst Wynder and Evarts Graham. Wynder, while a medical student, observed a relationship between lung cancer and smoking, as had many others, teamed with thoracic surgeon Evarts Graham who opened his case files. Together they performed the most systematic and detailed survey to date showing links between smoking and cancer, causing many doctors to quit. Including Graham, who quit in 1952 but succumbed to lung cancer in 1957.
Independence Day, Republic of Georgia - Celebrates the 1991 breakup of the USSR. Georgia returns to a mostly dark red flag that had last been used by an independent Georgia from 1918 to 1921.
1650 - John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, English soldier, diplomat - Son of impoverished squire, served as page to Duke of York 1665, entered army 1667, rose quickly due to York's patronage. Married Sarah Jennings, friend of princess/queen Anne, in 1678. Duke of York became King James II, Churchill supported him at first, switched to William III, fell out of favor with William, returned to power with Queen Anne, both John and Sarah fell out of favor. Brilliant military strategist, won many of the battles in the War of the Spanish Succession and held the anti-France alliance together, but was falsely charged with theft of public funds and dismissed in 1711. Left England, returned to power under George I in 1714. Died at Windsor 16 June 1722.
1876 - Robert Mearns Yerkes, US psychologist - Born into a farm family in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, defied father by attending Ursinis College planning a medical career. Entered Harvard 1897 to study biology, learned of Darwin's work and worked with lower animals and tested for intelligence, he was first to put rats in a maze. Ph.D. from Harvard 1902, translated (with a Russian student) Pavlov's dog salivation studies. Refined Binet test for academic purposes, criticized the Stanford-Binet scale that followed. First psychologist to work for US Army, designed testing programs to eliminate the mentally unfit, developing first widely-used intelligence tests. Moved to Yale 1924 and established psychology program and primate behavior study lab, retired 1941. Remained involved with primate behavior studies until his death 3 February 1956.
There's no underestimating the intelligence of the American public.
- H. L. Mencken
It's a scientific fact that if you stay in California you lose one point
of your IQ every year.
- Truman Capote
More men die of jealousy than of cancer.
- Joseph P. Kennedy
Man's fear of ideas is probably the greatest dike holding back human
knowledge and happiness.
- Morris Leopold Ernst
If you're going through hell, keep going.
- Winston Churchill
Twisted History is sent daily, absolutely free, to our subscribers who understand that the events of the past centuries have shaped our lives today - and are probably less depressing than the events on today's TV news. Both an HTML version (which looks just like this) and a text version that is compatible with all mail clients are available.
Copyright 2000 G. Armour Van Horn, all rights reserved. This document may be distributed freely. Please forward the complete message including this copyright notice.