Browsing: February 17

A Brief History On February 17, 1801, the Presidential election of the United States faced its first major test of the system put in place to elect the President when the Electoral College voted, and the result was that the contest between Thomas Jefferson/Aaron Burr, incumbent President John Adams/Charles Pinckney, and John Jay resulted in a failure of a candidate to earn an electoral majority. The vote for President was then forwarded to the US House of Representatives, and that legislative body voted to make Thomas Jefferson the third President of the United States in what was probably the most…

A Brief History On February 17, 1979, two Communist nations that had collaborated in the Vietnam War against the United States went to war with each other, as China sought to punish Vietnam for invading Cambodia. Digging Deeper Although China had provided weapons, supplies, technical assistance and advisers to Communist North Vietnam during the war against South Vietnam and its United States ally, and even perhaps combat involvement of Chinese pilots and soldiers.  (I personally was told by a USMC Vietnam Vet that he had seen Chinese KIA during the War.)  The Chinese led by Chairman Mao sought to shepherd…

A Brief History On February 17, 1972, misers, poor people, chicks, and Adolf Hitler were all vindicated! Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find that on this date, the Volkswagen Beetle became the best-selling car of all time with number 15,007,034 pulling it ahead of the Ford Model T. Built to satisfy Adolf Hitler’s specifications for a “people’s car,” the Beetle was designed by Ferdinand Porsche.  Designed to scoot along at 62 mph and to carry 2 adults along with 3 children, the Beetle was also required to have an air-cooled engine and to meet standards of reliability and easy maintenance.  It…

A Brief History On February 17, 1864, the H.L. Hunley became the first submarine to sink an enemy warship, even though it had itself sunk twice before! Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find the Hunley again sank after its successful attack, making it a total of three times that she sank, each time drowning her crew. About forty feet long and four feet wide, the Hunley had, not surprisingly, been designed by H.L. Hunley who also died in the second sinking.  Built in Mobile, Alabama, the Hunley was transported by railroad to Charleston, South Carolina where Confederate authorities took charge…

A Brief History People have often fallen in love with performers whose songs strike the listener to the core.  Sometimes it is the look, the clothes, the words, the beat, the rhythm, the dance moves, the gyrations or just the plain old sex appeal oozing off the singer like drops of water dripping off a young Ursula Andress as she comes out of the ocean in Dr. No.  Other times, the song itself is the turn on, with a combination of the right words sung the right way with the right voice coming together in a sort of sexual serendipity that makes…