Tehachapi News

All > Columns
Overall Picture: This week was a great one in world history
Topics:
Posted by editor Mon Jan 21, 2008 09:16:24 PST
Viewed 188 times
0 responses 0 comments A few weeks ago I was on the Internet, checking out a fine point in Civil War history, when I stumbled across a web site that listed things that happened on the same day but in different years.   

While I was scanning the web site, I focused on what took place on January 23 over the past several centuries. Immediately I was knocked for a loop to learn that President Nixon announced on that day in 1973 that an accord to end the Vietnam War had been arranged. That means you have to be close to 40 to have any memories of that war. Nearly all the protesters and demonstrators from that era are soon going to be on Social Security if they aren't already. I wonder how many still have their Volkswagen buses with the flowers painted on them.

I apologize for making you feel old but if you also feel like a loser these days, take heart in the fact that this week in 1971 the UCLA basketball team lost to Notre Dame, then went on to win 88 games in a row. I suppose this delighted UCLA alumnae but it must have been a bore to everybody else. If you put your money on UCLA, who could you get to take the other end of the bet?

Let's go way, way back for a moment. On January 23 of 1328 (I'm not sure whose calendar they were using) English King Edward III married somebody called Philippa of Henegouwen. Why do I keep thinking she wasn't from around here? That same day in 1533 another English King, Henry VIII, married Anne Boleyn but it didn't work out. Henry treated women even worse than some people thought Oregon Senator Bob Packwood did. Bob left Washington during the last week of January in 1993 after being accused of harassing 23 women. If that was going on, when did he find time to vote?

This week in 1902 was a biggie for people in the Virgin Islands because Denmark had just sold the place to the U.S. Years later, a flustered official introduced the Governor of the Virgin Islands to President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the Virgin of Governors Island. FDR reportedly said he didn't know they had any over there.

Now let's move on to the important stuff. This week in 1899 saw a patent for the first rubber heel issued to an Irishman, Humphrey O'Sullivan. Don't make any jokes about that at Duffy's Tavern. Speaking of inventions, in late January of 1886 Karl Benz picked up a patent for the first gas-fueled automobile. There is no evidence supporting the claim that he got a speeding ticket that same day.

Close to home, this week in 1988 Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager completed their incredible non-stop flight around the world in brother Burt's Voyager airplane. Built just down the road in Mojave, the skinny plane was a tight fit for the passengers but not much worse than if they had flown coach on Delta. Ask me about my last hop to Louisville. Where was the Voyager when I needed it?

If you think it's been cold up here in the pass lately, you need to stop whining. This week in 1976 the overnight temperature in Browning, Montana dropped from 44 above to 56 below. Five years earlier, in January 1971, the mercury hit 80 below in Prospect Creek Camp, Alaska. I suspect that's why they called off the wet T-shirt contest.

Don't tell me history isn't fascinating.

Send to a Friend

Report a Violation