The Emperors of Chocolate were Milton S. Hershey and Frank Mars, both suffered early failures before hitting their stride. Hershey, the elder of the two, actually provided the chocolate coating for the Milky Way bar in 1923, Mars' first success. M&Ms were named after Mars and Murie, Murie was president of Hershey in 1930 when he helped the nominal competitor create the new product. Despite Hershey's great success, he never was a traditional businessman in more ways than helping a competitor. When he was alive the products were never advertised, and he operated in the interest of the town he built rather than his own fortune. He launched a major building program during the depression to provide jobs, including the Hotel Hershey, community center, Hershey Theatre, and sports arena and stadium. So what does a confectioner used to working on an imperial scale do after retirement? Experiment with new sweets, of course. Would you believe celery, carrot, and potato ice creams and a surprisingly successful beet sorbet?
We have two preachers who were banished on this day, one they called Golden Tongue in 404, the other who was called many things in 1635. It got as hot as it ever has on this day in 1922 (I knew this "global warming" thing was nonsense), and it got hot in the magazine business in 1943. Compared to the hot and steamy contents of more recent publications, Esquire during World War II was pretty tame, but the Postmaster General overstepped the limits of his office to cool things down.
Finally, New York officials brutally put down a prison takeover at Attica - an uprising caused by conditions that even some of the guards admitted were beyond human enduring. Ironically, the prison at Attica was built in 1929 at record expense, largely because it was built to be not only escape proof, which all prison architects attempt, but riot proof as well.
1609 - English explorer Henry Hudson, sailing for the Dutch East India Company in the ship Halve Maan (Half Moon), enters what is now the Hudson River. He was looking for the Northwest Passage and was disgusted two weeks later when he reached what is now Albany and determined that it was just a river, but he did claim the land for the Netherlands. He returned to England where he was arrested for sailing under a foreign flag.
1635 - The Massachusetts General Court banished Separatist preacher Roger Williams, 32, for criticizing the Massachusetts Bay Company charter and for perpetually advocating a separation of church and state. He returned to England, secured a charter for Rhode Island, and eventually found himself on the receiving end of young dissenters there.
1922 - Highest air temperature recorded in the world, 58 Celsius (136.4 Fahrenheit), is reached at Al' Azizayah, Libya.
1943 - The US Post Office Department under Postmaster General Frank C. Walker issued a "show cause" order, revoking the second-class (newspapers and magazines) mailing rates for Esquire magazine, claiming it had published matter of "an obscene, lewd, and lascivious character," specifically the "Varga girls," unless the magazine could show cause why it should continue. The Post Office's own hearing ruled in Esquire's favor, but Walker overruled them. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of the magazine in 1946.
1948 - Maine Republican Margaret Chase Smith was elected to the US Senate, making her the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress.
1971 - About a thousand National Guardsmen, New York state police, and correction officers stormed New York's Attica Prison, ending the uprising by 1200 inmates four days earlier, holding 32 guards hostage. When it was over, 32 inmates and nine hostages were killed by gunfire. There had been only a single fatality in the uprising.
Feast of John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, Roman and Lutheran churches - Born at Antioch in 349, ordained in 386 and known for his eloquent sermons on social justice, equality of women, the sanctity of the home, and opposition to slavery. Surprise selection as Bishop of Constantinople in 398, his reforms earned him banishment from the city in 404, the Emperor ordered him moved in 407 and the forced march in severe weather killed him on 14 September 407. On Anglican calendar for 27 January, the date his remains were returned to Constantinople in 438.
1857
- Milton Snavely Hershey, US confectioner, philanthropist - Born
near Hockersville, Pennsylvania to Mennonite parents who separated early,
father was a dreamer who wasted time reading and mother threw him out.
Frequent moves interrupted school, only finished fourth grade. Apprenticed
to Lancaster confectioner, in 1876 started taffy company in Philadelphia,
first of several failures in partnership with his father, in Denver (where
he learned about adding milk to caramels), Chicago, New Orleans, and New
York. Returned to Lancaster 1883, made caramels with fresh milk that were
a hit, started Lancaster Caramel Company in 1887 which was a dramatic
success. Saw chocolate being made at Columbia Exposition in 1893 and bought
all the demonstration equipment. Sold Lancaster Caramel in 1900 for $1
million, concentrated on perfecting milk chocolate bar, which had been
an expensive Swiss import.Bought 1200 acres in Dauphin County where large
volumes of fresh milk were available, started building factory in 1903
and the town around it, maintained firm but benevolent control of town.
Unlike most company towns, Hershey had tree-lined streets, brick homes,
good schools, inexpensive public transportation, extensive park and recreation
facilities. Unable to have children with wife Catharine, established Milton
Hershey Industrial School for orphan boys in 1909. Catharine died in 1915,
Hershey endowed the school with his entire holding of Hershey Chocolate
stock, worth about $60 millions. In 1935 endowed the M. S. Hershey Foundation
to support the Hershey Museum and Gardens, Hershey Theatre, and the Hershey
Community Archives. Retired in 1944, died at Hershey, Pennsylvania on
13 October 1945.
The British churchgoer prefers a severe preacher because he thinks a
few home truths will do his neighbors no harm.
- George Bernard Shaw
The good rain, like a bad preacher, does not know when to leave off.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
I, for one, get rather annoyed when I settle into a nice bubble bath
with some Belgian chocolate and a mystery at my side only to discover
that all of the characters in the latter are still alive at the end.
- Miriam Nadel
As with most fine things, chocolate has its season. There is a simple
memory aid that you can use to determine whether it is the correct time
to order chocolate dishes: any month whose name contains the letter A,
E, or U is the proper time for chocolate.
- Sandra Boynton
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