Karl Baedeker published tourist guides that were available for such a wide range of destinations and of such high quality that his name became synonymous with travel guides. In his day, "Baedekers" were aimed at the pedestrian, Karl believed it was the only way to savor new territory, the firm he founded didn't publish auto touring guides for almost a century after his death. His son moved the company from Koblenz to Leipzig, where the files were destroyed in World War II, the firm was established again at Stuttgart in 1949 and is led by a great grandson. True to the founder's concept of covering a lot of territory and keeping them up to date there were 34 new Baedekers released in 2000. In his honor I've chosen travel quotations today.
Henry VIII, once the most passionately catholic of monarchs, prevailed upon Parliament to make him head of the English church so he could get a divorce. The bra was patented after a socialite bought a sheer dress that exposed her old-style corset, a dog was launched into space with no way to come home, and what is probably the most famous newspaper headline of all time was sent to press - a combination of incompetent pre-election polls and a lot of substitutes in the newsroom.
The body of a woman who flew US Army aircraft overseas and was shot down was sent home for burial only because her fellow WASP pilots passed the hat to cover the cost. The WASPs had no GI Bill, no medical coverage, no prospect of burial in a military cemetery. Men who served as clerks and never left the US got the full package. It made no sense, it certainly wasn't justice, but that's the way it stood for 33 years until Barry Goldwater forced it through on this day in 1977. Some days it's embarrassing to be male.
1534 - The British Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, making English monarch the head of the Church of England, disallowing any jurisdiction by the pope over the English church, and granting power over ecclesiastical courts and processes to the throne. An Oath of Allegiance was required of all clergy and many others, which Thomas More would later refuse to sign at the cost of his life.
1868 - John W. Menard became the first black Congressman in US history. He defeated a white man by a vote of 5,107 to 2,833 to represent Louisiana's Second Congressional District in the 40th Congress.
1914 - Mary Phelps Jacob, a New York City socialite, was granted US Patent No. 1,115,674 for a construction she called the "Backless Brassiere." Women who were still wearing whalebone corsets loved it, but Mary did not enjoy operating Caresse Crosby - the business she established to manufacture and sell the new undergarment. She sold the patent to Warner Brothers Corset Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut who, it is said, made $15 Million from the patent in the next 30 years.
1948 - With much of the staff of the Chicago Tribune out on strike, a very inexperienced newsroom crew prepared the front page with many errors, some just X-ed out, one block of five lines printed upside down, and the main headline said "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN." After additional returns came in, Trib staff sallied forth in their station wagons to retrieve the embarrassing issue.
1957 - Sputnik 2 was launched with a 6 kg part-Samoyed terrier named Laika as passenger. Heat regulation, oxygen regeneration, and a jellied food/water concoction were provided for ten days, after which time Laika would die. Instruments were included to register pulse, respiration, blood pressure, and record electro-cardiograms. Laika's exact fate is not known, the radio failed after less than two days, but the mission provided the first information on mammals in space flight.
1977 - A third of a century after the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program was deactivated, Congress passed a bill granting them veteran's benefits. They ferried planes, towed targets, and flew top-secret reconnaissance missions, but had officially been civilian employees while some in the Army attempted to make them an official part of the service. Senator Barry Goldwater threatened to attach a WASP status amendment to every bill introduced in the Senate, he was opposed by Jimmy Carter, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Veterans' Administration.
Independence from Colombia Day, Panama - Commemorates the 1903 proclamation of independence from Colombia. After the French tried and failed to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, the US dispatched a French national with a financial interest in the canal right of way as "envoy extraordinary." Colombia was upset by the agreement, briefly aligning the interests of revolutionaries in Panama and the US, a junta broke from Colombia and started a new country with open support from the US.
1801 - Karl Baedeker, German publisher - Born at Essen, eldest son of Gottschalk Diederich Baedeker who is credited with inventing the lending library and himself the son of a publisher. After graduating from the University of Heidelberg he bought out a bankrupt publisher at Koblenz in 1827. One of their most popular titles was "A Guide to the Rhine - A Rhine Journey from Mainz to Cologne," which Baedeker updated based on his own travels, emphasizing practical travel tips and recommending restaurants and hostelries. Spurred on by a competitor, London's John Murray, the first major Baedeker was "Rheinlande" in 1839, adding extensive history, architecture, geology, and other articles, often written by leading experts. He added guides to Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, and Holland, insisting on first-hand knowledge and meticulous fact checking. He also traveled incognito, and wasn't hesitant to point out museums or hotels that failed to treat travelers well. He died at Koblenz in 1859.
Too often travel, instead of broadening the mind, merely lengthens the
conversation.
- Elizabeth Drew
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry
it with us or we find it not.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast and
you miss all you are traveling for.
- Louis L'Amour, Ride the Dark
Trail
Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember
more than I have seen.
- Benjamin Disraeli
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