Visiting GF's Family in Raleigh, North Carolina

So, we did not quite get to visit Raleigh, North Carolina, like I wanted to. We did get to drive through a lot of the countryside the next day, once we departed from our trip to the South, and I could see why so many people are drawn to North Carolina. This is a land of lakes and woods, an outdoors advocate's paradise. It was quiet, very rural, and the price of homes here is cheap. If you can land a job, the quality of life is surely not worse than in suburban New Jersey. If you are retired and get some income that way, than it would be a nice place to retire, indeed. The family told us that it hardly ever snows and, although it does get hot and stuffy, on those days, they do what so many down South do: stay indoors, going outdoors only when necessary, or when the temperatures and conditions are relatively cool and mild, such as early mornings and evenings. The family seemed very happy there.

Okay, not my family. At least, not yet.

This was my girlfriend's family. Specifically, an uncle who lives in the United States, her only relatively close relative living in the United States.

She was an interesting woman.

Born in Germany during the war, she can remember the bombings, and the invasion by the approaching Soviet army. She remembers being forcibly removed from what is now part of Poland, and struggling to make a living in what would soon become the Federal Republic of Germany, better known as West Germany.

She moved to the United States in the 1950's, to Buffalo, New York, and married my girlfriend's uncle (brother to her father).

They lived up in Buffalo until the mid-eighties, when they retired, and moved to the area of Raleigh, North Carolina.

She showed us her garden, with all sorts of vegetables that she took obvious pride in. They were not ready yet, she said, or she would have made a point of having us taste it, making a salad or other dish incorporating the fresh veggies.

Oh, and she absolutely loved my son, even slipping him a $20 bill! Needless to say, he was quite thrilled by that, even though he had seemed typically indifferent and disinterested in the conversation up to that point, not surprising for an eight year old boy. Several times, he turned to me and, in a whisper, asked when we could leave. He started doing that within the first half an hour or so.

As for him, I am not entirely sure how and when he came to the United States, but he has been here a long time now. So long, that he mostly seems to have forgotten how to speak Polish. He visited Poland, and his family, once, since leaving Poland, and that was decades ago now - either the seventies, or maybe the very early eighties. It has been quite some time, and it seems doubtful that he will return back to Poland anytime soon again. When my girlfriend talked to him about family, he really did not know who she was talking about other than her father, and maybe one or two other people. Even then, he had only foggy memories of those people, and those times.

We visited for a few hours, and before long, we were embracing and saying goodbye. It was then that my son received the $20 bill, trying to hide it from me (although I watched her sneak it to him). I told him to use it wisely.

The next morning, it was out final day. The estimated drive length back home was around 71/2 hours, and we got started relatively early. We were doing well, too, until we hit Washington, DC. Predictably, it was then that we hit traffic, and heavy, heavy traffic that, unfortunately, lasted until we got past Delaware. I regretted having taken I-95, kicking myself, since I knew better. Should have gone up the peninsula, the way we had originally come down. It might

(might)

have taken longer, but it would have been a whole lot less stressful.

At last, we got past that. I avoided the Delaware Memorial Bridge, since it was a parking lot to get onto it, let alone what was beyond it. I always hated driving on the New Jersey Turnpike, since every time that I drive on it, it seems heavy with traffic. Heavy with stress.

Instead, I went through I-95 past Philadelphia. It might seem counterintuitive to head directly towards a big city like Philly, yet I have rarely had problems there, ironically. It certainly always seems like the better option than the NJ Turnpike, anyway. Plus, our home in Hillsborough is in that general direction.

We more or less got through eastern Pennsylvania painlessly, and were back in New Jersey while there was still some daylight left, for which I was thankful. I can't remember the last time that I was so happy to be back in New Jersey!

It was a good trip, exciting and surprising at times. I would be going on yet another trip shortly (about a week and a half), but for now, I needed to get acclimated again with the regular routine back home. That included taking a nap before the night shift, which I would be working in a few short hours. So, after returning the rental, we came back and took that nap, and I then dropped my son off with his mommy, before heading off back to work, and the regular routine, this trip now history!





On This Day in History - July 29 NASA created and Ball Gets Rolling for World War I

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

July 29, 1958: NASA created

On this day in 1958, the U.S. Congress passes legislation establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a civilian agency responsible for coordinating America's activities in space. NASA has since sponsored space expeditions, both human and mechanical, that have yielded vital information about the solar system and universe. It has also launched numerous earth-orbiting satellites that have been instrumental in everything from weather forecasting to navigation to global communications.  

NASA was created in response to the Soviet Union's October 4, 1957 launch of its first satellite, Sputnik I. The 183-pound, basketball-sized satellite orbited the earth in 98 minutes. The Sputnik launch caught Americans by surprise and sparked fears that the Soviets might also be capable of sending missiles with nuclear weapons from Europe to America. The United States prided itself on being at the forefront of technology, and, embarrassed, immediately began developing a response, signaling the start of the U.S.-Soviet space race.  

On November 3, 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik II, which carried a dog named Laika. In December, America attempted to launch a satellite of its own, called Vanguard, but it exploded shortly after takeoff. On January 31, 1958, things went better with Explorer I, the first U.S. satellite to successfully orbit the earth. In July of that year, Congress passed legislation officially establishing NASA from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and other government agencies, and confirming the country's commitment to winning the space race. In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy declared that America should put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. On July 20, 1969, NASA's Apollo 11 mission achieved that goal and made history when astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon, saying "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."  

NASA has continued to make great advances in space exploration since the first moonwalk, including playing a major part in the construction of the International Space Station. The agency has also suffered tragic setbacks, however, such as the disasters that killed the crews of the Challenger space shuttle in 1986 and the Columbia space shuttle in 2003. In 2004, President George Bush challenged NASA to return to the moon by 2020 and establish "an extended human presence" there that could serve as a launching point for 

Also, very significant on this day, was how so many things fell into place in the early days of World War I:

July 29, 1914: Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany and Czar Nicholas of Russia exchange telegrams

In the early hours of July 29, 1914, Czar Nicholas II of Russia and his first cousin, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, begin a frantic exchange of telegrams regarding the newly erupted war in the Balkan region and the possibility of its escalation into a general European war.  

One day prior, Austria-Hungary had declared war on Serbia, one month after the assassination in Sarajevo of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by a Serbian nationalist. In the wake of the killings, Germany had promised Austria-Hungary its unconditional support in whatever punitive action it chose to take towards Serbia, regardless of whether or not Serbia's powerful ally, Russia, stepped into the conflict. By the time an ultimatum from Vienna to Serbia was rejected on July 25, Russia, defying Austro-German expectations, had already ordered preliminary mobilization to begin, believing that Berlin was using the assassination crisis as a pretext to launch a war to shore up its power in the Balkans.  

The relationship between Nicholas and Wilhelm, two grandsons of Britain's Queen Victoria, had long been a rocky one. Though Wilhelm described himself as Victoria's favorite grandson, the great queen in turn warned Nicholas to be careful of Wilhelm's "mischievous and unstraight-forward proceedings." Victoria did not invite the kaiser, who she described to her prime minister as "a hot-headed, conceited, and wrong-headed young man," to her Diamond Jubilee celebration in 1897, nor her 80th birthday two years later. Czar Nicholas himself commented in 1902 after a meeting with Wilhelm: "He's raving mad!" Now, however, the two cousins stood at the center of the crisis that would soon escalate into the First World War.  

"In this serious moment, I appeal to you to help me," Czar Nicholas wrote to the kaiser in a telegram sent at one o'clock on the morning of July 29. "An ignoble war has been declared to a weak country. The indignation in Russia shared fully by me is enormous. I foresee that very soon I shall be overwhelmed by the pressure forced upon me and be forced to take extreme measures which will lead to war." This message crossed with one from Wilhelm to Nicholas expressing concern about the effect of Austria's declaration in Russia and urging calm and consideration as a response.  

After receiving the czar's telegram, Wilhelm cabled back: "I...share your wish that peace should be maintained. But...I cannot consider Austria's action against Serbia an 'ignoble' war. Austria knows by experience that Serbian promises on paper are wholly unreliable. I understand its action must be judged as trending to get full guarantee that the Serbian promises shall become real facts...I therefore suggest that it would be quite possible for Russia to remain a spectator of the Austro-Serbian conflict without involving Europe in the most horrible war she ever witnessed." Though Wilhelm assured the czar that the German government was working to broker an agreement between Russia and Austria-Hungary, he warned that if Russia were to take military measures against Austria, war would be the result.  

The telegram exchange continued over the next few days, as the two men spoke of their desire to preserve peace, even as their respective countries continued mobilizing for war. On July 30, the kaiser wrote to Nicholas: "I have gone to the utmost limits of the possible in my efforts to save peace....Even now, you can still save the peace of Europe by stopping your military measures." The following day, Nicholas replied: "It is technically impossible to stop our military preparations which were obligatory owing to Austria's mobilization. We are far from wishing for war. As long as the negotiations with Austria on Serbia's account are taking place my troops shall not make any provocative action. I give you my solemn word for this." But by that time things had gone too far: Emperor Franz Josef had rejected the kaiser's mediation offer, saying it came too late, as Russia had already mobilized and Austrian troops were already marching on Serbia.  

The German ambassador to Russia delivered an ultimatum that night—halt the mobilization within 12 hours, or Germany would begin its own mobilization, a step that would logically proceed to war. By four o'clock in the afternoon of August 1, in Berlin, no reply had come from Russia. At a meeting with Germany's civilian and military leaders—Chancellor Theobald Bethmann von Hollweg and General Erich von Falkenhayn—Kaiser Wilhelm agreed to sign the mobilization orders.  

That same day, in his last contribution to what were dubbed the "Willy-Nicky" telegrams, Czar Nicholas pressed the kaiser for assurance that his mobilization did not definitely mean war. Wilhelm's response was dismissive. "I yesterday pointed out to your government the way by which alone war may be avoided....I have...been obliged to mobilize my army. Immediate affirmative clear and unmistakable answer from your government is the only way to avoid endless misery. Until I have received this answer alas, I am unable to discuss the subject of your telegram. As a matter of fact I must request you to immediatly [sic] order your troops on no account to commit the slightest act of trespassing over our frontiers." Germany declared war on Russia that same day.

Here is other news that took place shortly after the end of World War I, but which would have a huge impact on World War II, ultimately:

July 29, 1921 - Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party)

On this day in 1921, Adolf Hitler (1934-1945) becomes the leader of the National Socialist German Workers' (Nazi) Party. Under Hitler, the Nazi Party grew into a mass movement and ruled Germany as a totalitarian state from 1933 to 1945.   

Hitler's early years did not seem to predict his rise as a political leader. Born on April 20, 1889, in Braunau am Inn, Austria, he was a poor student and never graduated from high school. During World War I (1914-1918), he joined a Bavarian regiment of the German army and was considered a brave soldier; however, his commanders felt he lacked leadership potential and never promoted him beyond corporal.  Frustrated by Germany's defeat in World War I, which left the nation economically depressed and politically unstable, Hitler joined a fledgling organization called the German Workers' Party in 1919. Founded earlier that same year by a small group of men including locksmith Anton Drexler (1884-1942) and journalist Karl Harrer (1890-1926), the party promoted German pride and anti-Semitism, and expressed dissatisfaction with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the peace settlement that ended the war and required Germany to make numerous concessions and reparations. Hitler soon emerged as the party's most charismatic public speaker and attracted new members with speeches blaming Jews and Marxists for Germany's problems and espousing extreme nationalism and the concept of an Aryan "master race." On July 29, 1921, Hitler assumed leadership of the organization, which by then had been renamed the Nationalist Socialist German Workers' Party.   

In 1923, Hitler and his followers staged the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, a failed takeover of the government in Bavaria, a state in southern Germany. In the aftermath of this event, Hitler was convicted of treason and sentenced to five years in prison, but spent less than a year behind bars (during which time he dictated the first volume of "Mein Kampf," or "My Struggle," his political autobiography.) The publicity surrounding the Beer Hall Putsch and Hitler's subsequent trial turned him into a national figure. After his release from jail, he set about rebuilding the Nazi Party and attempting to gain power through the democratic election process. In 1929, Germany entered a severe economic depression that left millions of people unemployed. The Nazis capitalized on this situation by criticizing the ruling government and began to win elections. In the July 1932 elections, they captured 230 out of 608 seats in the Reichstag, or German parliament. In January 1933, Hitler was appointed German chancellor and in March of that year his Nazi government assumed dictatorial powers. The Nazis soon came to control every aspect of German life and all other political parties were banned. 

Following Germany's defeat in World War II (1939-1945), during which some 6 million European Jews were murdered under Hitler's state-sponsored extermination programs, the Nazi Party was outlawed and many of its top officials were convicted of war crimes. Hitler had committed suicide on April 30, 1945, shortly before Germany`s surrender.


Skaptar Volcano in Iceland erupted. John Graves Simcoe built his home in what would be Toronto, having sailed there previously. Van Gogh died on this day, by suicide. Thei first ever helicopter ascent took place on this day in France. In the early days of the first World War, Austria-Hungary bombed Belgrade, while Russian troops by the border that Russia shared with Austria-Hungary were mobilized. Pancho Villa surrendered. Adolf Hitler became the head of the Nazi party. The Berlin Airlift ended on this day. NASA was created on this day. The Beatles "Help" was premiered in London.

Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:

362 - Emperor Julianus of Constantinople ends education laws

626 - Avaren/Slaves under khagan Bajan begin siege of Constantinople

904 - Thessalonica is sacked by Saracen pirates led by renegade Leo of Tripoli

1014 - Battle of Strumitsa-valley: Byzantine destroys Bulgarian armies

1030 - Battle at Stiklestad (Trondheim)

1179 - Lando Sittino proclaimed (anti-)pope Innocent III

1560 - Turkish fleet recaptures Djerba on Spanjaarden

1563 - League of High Nobles routes King Philip II

1567 - James VI is crowned King of Scots at Stirling.

1579 - Antwerp request union with Utrecht

1579 - King Philip II arrests plotters Antonio Perez & princess van Eboli

1585 - Friese academy opens

1588 - The English defeated the Spanish Armada in the Battle of Gravelines.   

1588 - Duke Farneses troops ready for invasion of England

1634 - Dutch fleet under Johannes van Walbeeck lands on Curacao

1655 - Biggest townhall in the world opens in Amsterdam

1676 - Nathaniel Bacon declared a rebel for assembling frontiersmen to protect settlers from Indians

1693 - War of the Grand Alliance: Battle of Landen/Neerwinden - France wins Pyrrhic victory over Allied forces in the Netherlands.

1696 - French king Louis XIV & Victor Amadeua van Savoye signs peace

1715 - 10 Spanish treasure galleons sinks off Florida coast by hurricane

1751 - 1st international world title prize fight-Jack Stack of England, beats challenger M Petit of France in 29 mins in England

1754 - The first international boxing match was held. The 25-minute match was won when Jack Slack of Britain knocked out Jean Petit from France.   

1773 - The first schoolhouse to be located west of the Allegheny Mountains was built in Schoenbrunn, OH.  

1783 - Skaptar Volcano on Iceland erupts killing about 9,000

1786 - "The Pittsburgh Gazette" became the first newspaper west of the Alleghenies to be published. The paper's name was later changed to "The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette."   

1793 - John Graves Simcoe decides to build a fort and settlement at Toronto, having sailed into the bay there.

1835 - 1st sugar plantation in Hawaii begins

1836 - Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

1844 - NY Yacht Club forms

1847 - Cumberland School of Law founded in Lebanon, Tennessee, USA. At the end of 1847 only 15 law schools exist in the United States.

1848 - Irish Potato Famine: Tipperary Revolt - in Tipperary, an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule is put down by police.

1851 - Annibale de Gasparis discovers asteroid 15 Eunomia.

1858 - Treaty of Amity and Commerce/Harris Treaty signed between US & Japan opening Japanese ports to trade

1864 - 3rd & last day of battle at Deep Bottom Run, Virginia

1864 - Battle of Macon, GA (Stoneman's Raid)

1864 - American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, DC.

1874 - Major Walter Copton Winfield of England received U.S. patent for the lawn-tennis court.   

1890 - Artist Vincent van Gogh died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Auvers, France.

1899 - 1st motorcycle race, Manhattan Beach, NY

1899 - Southern California Golf Association forms

1899 - The First Hague Convention is signed.

1900 - In Italy, King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by Italian-born anarchist Gaetano Bresci.

1902 - Union of Orthodox Rabbis of US & Canada forms

1907 - 1st helicopter ascent in Douai, France

1907 - Sir Robert Baden-Powell forms Boy Scouts in England

1908 - St Louis Browns Rube Waddell strikes out 16 Phila Athletics

1910 - JWEL Hilgers is 1st Dutchman to fly above Dutch territory

1911 - Boston Red Sox Joe Wood no-hits St Louis Browns, 5-0

1913 - Albania becomes sovereignty under prince Wilhelm von Wied

1914 - 1st transcontinental phone link made between NYC & SF

1914 - Austrian-Hungary bombs Belgrade

1914 - British fleet leaves Portland/passes Straits of Dover

1914 - Russia mobilize troops along Austrian boundary

1914 - The first transcontinental telephone service was inaugurated when two people held a conversation between New York, NY and San Francisco, CA.     

1915 - Pirate Honus Wagner at 41, hits a grand slam HR

1916 - Postal check & Girodienst establishes

1920 - 1st transcontinental airmail flight from NY to SF

1920 - Mexican rebel Pancho Villa surrenders

1920 - Construction of the Link River Dam begins as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project.

1921 - Cleveland's 125th anniversary celebration: Cy Young, 54, pitches 2 inn

1921 - New rules of language assumed (equal rights Flemings/Walen Belgium)

1921 - Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party.

1923 - Albert Einstein speaks on pacifism in Berlin

1923 - KPD holds struggle day against fascism, in Germany

1924 - Paul Runyan wins PGA golf championship

1927 - 1st iron lung installed (Bellevue hospital, NY)

1927 - Phil Mead scores his 100th 100, Hampshire v Northants

1928 - Walt Disney's "Steamboat Willie" is released

1928 - Cleve Indians score 17 in 1st 2 inns to beat Yanks 24-6 at Dunn Field they also set a record with 24 singles in 1 game

1929 - Belgium Maurice Dewaele wins Tour de France

1930 - 115°F (46°C), Holly Springs, Mississippi (state record)

1930 - Airship R100, 1st passenger-carrying flight from England to Canada

1932 - Great Depression: in Washington, DC, U.S. troops disperse the last of the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans.

1934 - 17th PGA Championship: Paul Runyan at Park CC Williamsville NY

1936 - RCA shows 1st real TV program (dancing, film on locomotives, Bonwit Teller fashion show & monologue from Tobacco Road & comedy)

1937 - Japanese troops occupies Peking & Tientsin

1937 - Tongzhou Incident

1938 - Comic strip "Dennis the Menace," 1st appears

1938 - Olympic National Park forms

1940 - Urk soccer team forms

1940 - John Sigmund of St. Louis, MO, completed a 292-mile swim down the Mississippi River. The swim from St. Louis to Caruthersville, MO took him 89 hours and 48 minutes.    

1942 - Eastern Blvd in the Bronx renamed Bruckner Blvd

1943 - 1 million inhabitants flee Hamburg

1943 - Nazi's evacuate Hollandsche Theater in Amsterdam

1944 - Allied air force bomb Germany for 6 hours

1944 - Frank McCormick (Reds) HR off Ace Adams (Giants) in both games of DH

1944 - US 4th Armour division occupiers Avranches

1945 - After delivering the Atomic Bomb across the Pacific, the cruiser USS Indianapolis is torpedoed & sunk by a Japanese submarine

1947 - Gas leak explodes in a beauty parlor, 10 women die in Harrisonburg Va

1948 - King George VI opens 14th modern Olympic games in London

1949 - Airlift in West-Germany to West-Berlin ends

1949 - BBC radio begins broadcasting

1950 - Pee Wee Reese, hits the 3,000th Dodger home run

1950 - Disney's adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" was released.  Disney movies, music and books   

1952 - 1st nonstop transpacific flight by a jet

1953 - US bombers shot down at north of Wladiwostok

1955 - Smokey Burgess hits 3 HRS to help Pirates beat Reds 16-5

1955 - USSR performs nuclear Test

1956 - 11th US Women's Open Golf Championship won by Kathy Cornelius

1956 - Jacques Cousteau's Calypso anchors in 7,500 m of water (record)

1956 - WCKT (now WSVN) TV channel 7 in Miami, FL (IND) begins broadcasting

1957 - Floyd Patterson TKOs Tommy Jackson in 10 for heavyweight boxing title

1957 - International Atomic Energy Agency forms by UN

1957 - Jack Paar began hosting the "Tonight" show on NBC-TV. The name of the show was changed to "The Jack Paar Show." Paar was host for five years.   

1957 - The International Atomic Energy Agency was established.   

1958 - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was authorized by the U.S. Congress, and signed into law by  US President Eisenhower.

1958 - Southern Pacific Bay ferries stop running

1959 - First United States Congress elections in Hawaii as a state of the Union.

1961 - Bob Dylan injured in car accident

1961 - Phillies lose 1st of 23 straight games

1961 - Wallis & Futuna Islands become a French overseas territory

1965 - Beatles movie "Help" premieres, Queen Elizabeth attends

1965 - Gemini 5 returned after 12d 7h 11m 53s

1965 - Major league record 26 strikeouts, Phillies (16), Pirates (10)

1965 - USSR performs nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

1966 - Bob Dylan hurt in motorcycle accident near Woodstock NY

1966 - Nigerians chief of staff Jakubu Gowon makes coup

1967 - Fire aboard carrier USS Forrestal in Gulf of Tonkin kills 134

1967 - Moderate quake (6.5) strikes Caracas Venezuela causing severe damage

1967 - U S S Forrestal explodes kills 134. $100 million damage

1968 - Cincinnati Red George Culver no hits Phillies, 6-1

1968 - Gram Parson refuses to play with the Byrds in South Africa

1968 - Mount Arenal, Costa Rica kills 80 in Pelee-type eruption

1968 - Wash DC Ron Hansen makes unassisted triple play vs Cleve

1968 - Pope Paul VI reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's stance against artificial methods of birth control.   

1968 - In Humanae Vitae (of Human Life), Pope Paul VI reaffirmed the Catholic Church's prohibition on artificial methods of birth control. 

1969 - Mariner 6 begins transmitting far-encounter photos of Mars

1970 - 6 days of race rioting in Hartford Ct

1972 - France performs nuclear Test at Muruora Island

1973 - $180,000 in Led Zeppelin receipts are robbed from NY Hilton

1973 - Greek plebiscite chooses republic over monarchy

1974 - 2nd impeachment vote against Nixon by House Judiciary Committee

1974 - Episcopal Church ordained female priests

1974 - France performs nuclear Test at Muruora Island

1974 - St Louis Card Lou Brock steals his 700th base

1975 - Ford became 1st US pres to visit Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz

1975 - Military coup by Gen Mohammed/Pres Jakubu Gowon fired

1975 - OAS (Organization of American States) members voted to lift collective sanctions against Cuba. The U.S. government welcomed the action and announced its intention to open serious discussions with Cuba on normalization.   

1976 - In New York City, the "Son of Sam" kills one person and seriously wounds another in the first of a series of attacks.

1976 - USSR performs underground nuclear Test

1978 - 600,000 attend "Summer Jam" rock festival, Watkins Glen, NY

1978 - Penny Dean swims English Channel in record 7h40m

1978 - Pioneer 11 transmits images of Saturn & its rings

1978 - On Old Timer's Day, NY Yankees announce that Billy Martin will return as NY Yankee manager in 1980 & Bob Lemon will become GM

1979 - 7th du Maurier Golf Classic (Peter Jackson Classic): Amy Alcott

1981 - Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Amphitheater is dedicated

1981 - England's Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer were married.   

1981 - Iran ex-president Bani Sadr flees to Paris

1983 - Steve Garvey (Los Angeles Dodgers) set the National League consecutive game record at 1,207.   

1983 - "Friday Night Videos" premieres on NBC TV

1983 - Steve Garvey ends his NL record 1,207 consecutive game streak

1984 - 12th du Maurier Golf Classic: Juli Inkster

1984 - 23rd Summer Olympics opens in LA

1985 - 19th Space Shuttle Mission (51-F)-Challenger 8-launched

1985 - General Motors announced that Spring Hill, TN, would be the home of the Saturn automobile assembly plant.  

1986 - Bomb attack in West-Beirut, 30 killed

1986 - Dennis Amiss scores his 100th 100, Warwickshire v Lancashire

1986 - NY jury rules NFL violated antitrust laws, awards USFL $1 in damages

1987 - Ben & Jerry's & Jerry Garcia agree on a new flavor Cherry Garcia

1988 - FDIC bails out 1st Republic Bank, Dallas, with $4 billion

1988 - Gorbachev pushes plan electing president & parliament in March, 1989

1988 - Judge orders NASA to release unedited tape from Challenger cockpit

1988 - Last US Playboy Club (Lansing Mich) closes

1988 - South African government bans anti-apartheid film "Cry Freedom"

1988 - Baltimore trades Mike Boddicker to the Red Sox for Brady Anderson & Curt Schilling

1988 - Rick Sutcliffe swipes home, 1st pitcher since Pascual Perez in 1984 to steal home

1989 - Javier Sotomayor of Cuba sets high jump record (8'0") in San Juan

1989 - Phillies retire Steve Carlton's # 32

1989 - Vince Coleman, record streak stopped at 50 straight stolen bases

1989 - White Sox trade Harold Baines to Rangers for Scott Fletcher & Sam Sosa

1990 - 26th Curtis Cup: US wins 14-4

1990 - 28th Tennis Fed Cup: USA beats USSR in Atlanta Georgia (2-1)

1990 - 36th Mazda LPGA Championship won by Beth Daniel

1990 - Boston Red Sox set major league record with 12 doubles in a game

1990 - South Africa Communist Party begins 1st legal conference

1991 - 1st Sunday Night game at Shea Stadium (Mets beat Cubs 6-0)

1991 - Yankee Stadium fans throw cups & blowup dolls at Jose Canseco

1992 - "Chinese Coffee" closes at Circle in Sq Theater NYC after 18 perfs

1992 - Evgueni Sadovyi swims world record/OR 400m freestyle (3:45.00)

1992 - Ray Sharkey, actor (Wiseguys), arrested for narcotic possession

1993 - Cin Red pitcher Thomas Browning arrested for marijuana possession

1993 - Walter Koenig (Checkov-Star Trek) suffers a mild heart attack

1993 - The Israeli Supreme Court acquitted retired Ohio autoworker John Demjanjuk of being Nazi death camp guard "Ivan the Terrible." His death sentence was thrown out and he was set free.    

1994 - 200,000 Moslems demand death to feminist Taslima Nasrin

1994 - Corrupt Italian ex-premier Craxi gets 8½ year jail sentenced

1994 - H Emans Arubaanse Peoples Party wins parliamentary election

1994 - India army kills 27 Moslem militants

1994 - Jesse Timmedequas, rapes & murders Megan Kanka, 7 (Megan's Law)

1994 - Parliamentary election in Aruba

1995 - Monica Seles beats Martina Naratilova in her return to tennis

1995 - Carolina Panthers beat Jacksonville Jaguars in their 1st NFL exhibition game 20-14

1996 - The controversial child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act (1996) is struck down as too broad by a U.S. federal court.

1997 - US Senior Golf Open ends at Olympia Fields GC Ill

1997 - Minamata Bay in Japan was declared free of mercury 40 years after contaminated food fish were blamed for deaths and birth defects.   

1998 - The United Auto Workers union ended a 54-day strike against General Motors. The strike caused $2.8 billion in lost revenues.  

2003 - Red Sox switch hitter Bill Mueller became the first baseball player to hit grand slam home runs from both sides of the plate in the same game. 

2005 - Astronomers announced that they had discovered a new planet (Xena) larger than Pluto in orbit around the sun. 

2012 - Tropical Storm Khanun kills 88 people and leaves 60,000 homeless in North Korea

The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/jul29.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory

Savannah, Georgia

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.seen from Lafayette Square.

 

Savannah was supposed to be a side trip, a mere excursion from Charleston.

And we almost did not even go!

Boy, are we ever glad that we did, because as it turns out, Savannah was, quite frankly, the highlight of our trip down South! It was the one place that, yes, everyone agreed was simply wonderful and tremendous fun!

It is a beautiful city, filled with history and beauty. 

Ironically, my girlfriend tried to talk me out of going to Savannah, because she was just tired of all of the driving that we were doing. I did not blame her, or anything, but kind of put my foot down and insisted on going, since it had a reputation for being very beautiful and worth the visit, and was only two hours away from Charleston. Had we not gone, I think we would have regretted it, and used that argument at the time to convince her.

In the end, she gave in. 

Later on, she would be thankful that I won this particular argument!

So, what makes Savannah so nice?

Savannah is Georgia's third largest city, after Atlanta and Columbus. But it is not it's size or economic might that brings throngs of visitors every year, and it certainly will not overwhelm you with it's size. 

No, what makes Savannah unique is the history that has remained very much alive through centuries now. 

We can trace the origins of this back to the earliest days, when James Oglethorpe succeeded in creating the English colony of Georgia, with it's origins being in Savannah.

Oglethorpe is a rather fascinating character. He was opposed to slavery in his colony of Georgia, and thus, rather ironically given that Georgia would be right in the heart of the Confederacy and the slave owning state not too far into the future, it was, nonetheless, the only one of the original thirteen colonies during Oglethorpe's day that attempted to prohibit slavery! It was officially outlawed in 1735, but after much protest from those living inside of Georgia, claiming that they could not compete with states where slavery was legal, the powers that be relented, and slavery was legalized in Georgia in 1750.

Also, Oglethorpe was interested in trying to establish a colony for debtors, since he had lost a friend to disease that he had acquired in debtor's prison, an event that changed his life.

But before you go thinking that Oglethorpe was setting up his new colony with an emphasis on humanitarianism, some things should remain clear. Catholicism was banned in the new colony, being seen as a real threat to it, mostly because of the close proximity of an influx of Spaniards from nearby Florida.

Having made a contract with the natives, Oglethorpe and his group settled at the present site of Savannah, to finally establish the Province of Georgia, with Savannah serving as the de facto capital.  It would remain the capital for the early days of Georgia's history, even at one point rotating with Augusta as the capital. Augusta ultimately replaced Savannah as Georgia's capital city, although it changed hands quite a few times since, as well.

Wanting to avoid the rather droll and gloomy look and feel of London, Oglethorpe designed Savannah by taking advantage of the sun and space. He created 24 squares, bringing greenery into the city right away, with the city building itself around these public squares, or parks.

Of these 24 original squares, Savannah still has 22 of them. Two of them are gone forever. Only one of the existing squares has been radically changed from the way that it originally looked, having been destroyed, and then restored, but taking a new form.

Since these squares have been preserved, Savannah has retained the airy feel that Oglethorpe had sought. it has also largely preserved it's historical past with many buildings dating back centuries.

And at every turn of it's history, it has played an active part. The city was very much sympathetic to the rebel cause during the Revolutionary War days. It was very much part of Dixie during the Civil War and, as the war was winding down, it became the place where Sherman and his Union army were stationed for the winter during the final months of the conflict, from late 1864 until spring of 1865, as kind of a deal in exchange for Sherman not burning the city to the ground. Thus, it was able to preserve it's past in a way that some other cities in the South were not so lucky to be able to do.

Savannah has been blessed with a very colorful history, as it was a center for pirates at one point. It has also come to gain the reputation as the most haunted place in America. Some of that is evidenced in the novel "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", which was made into a movie.

But that was not the only major movie to have either taken place in Savannah, and/or to have been filmed in Savannah!

Forrest Gump, one of my personal favorite movies, was partially filmed there! These were the famous bench scenes, when he is supposed to be sitting and talking, reflecting on his life, while waiting for the bus that will take him to Jenny's apartment.

Chippewa Square was the site of some of the most famous and iconic scenes in Forrest Gump, although the bench has since been removed. But you can probably notice the similarities between the square as it looks now, and the way it looks in the movie, even if it largely remains as part of the background there.



Also, "Something To Talk About" was also filmed, at least in part, here in Savannah! Finally, Claudine's Return" was also filed in the city, as were parts of "Roots".

Yes, Savannah was wonderful! Very hot and humid, but still wonderful! This is a city that I would love to visit again, although maybe I'll try and go when it is a little bit cooler, like in the fall, or perhaps even winter. Not less than a week before July.

Still, all in all, it was an awesome visit to a really great city, one that I would highly recommend!



Here are some of the sites that I checked and used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.ourgeorgiahistory.com/people/oglethorpe.html

http://www.savannahga.gov/index.aspx?NID=1060

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Oglethorpe

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/georgias-historic-capitals

http://savannahnow.com/slideshows/movies-filmed-savannah#slide-13

http://gosoutheast.about.com/od/savannahgaattractions/a/waving_girl.htm

My girlfriend and I enjoying a brief respite by the water fountain at Lafayette Square, near the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

The Cathedral seen from Lafayette Square.

There were a few people in period costumes that would come onto the bus and tell us a bit of local history from the period that they were dressed for. We even had as a guide a pirate, who obviously took his inspiration from Johnny Depp's "Pirate of the Caribbean" character, Captain Jack Sparrow.

Forsyth Park

Forsyth Fountain



The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

Some of Savannah's Squares:

River Street

The cobbled River Street, with active trolley car rails, and the Savannah River and Talmadge Memorial Bridge in the background. That bridge is the largest bridge in Georgia. I noticed it goes a long way towards hiding the uglier, industrial parts of the area, which you can kind of see behind it in this picture. 

The "Waving Girl" Statue

This is a famous statue in Savannah's waterfront, right off of River Street, and known as "The Waving Girl". It is a statue of Florence Martus, one of Savannah's most famous residents, who moved to a cottage along the river, and was rather bored, feeling lonely. So, she began to make a habit of waving to passing ships with a red handkerchief, and with a lantern at night, and often got sailors to wave, and even for ships to blast their horns. According to a legend the guide told us, she may have been waving to welcome back her lover, although he expressed some skepticism about that story, since she waved to ships passing by for 44 years!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squares_of_Savannah,_Georgia


http://www.savannahtheatre.com/forrest-gump-bus-stop-bench/


http://www.savannahtours.us/?event=offer.detail&offerId=6909


http://voices.yahoo.com/touring-savannah-georgia-midnight-garden-of-3588993.html