Thursday, December 22, 1724. The Greenwich Tea Party

The last of the "tea parties" occurred on this day in Greenwich, Cumberland County, New Jersey.  It involved the usual tea dumping and dressing as Native Americans.

Last edition:

Tuesday, December 13, 1774. Taking Fort William and Mary.

Labels: 1770s, 1774, American Revolution, British Army, Colonial North America, New Hampshire, Paul Revere

Saturday, August 14, 1824. Return of Lafayette.

Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette, called by Americans "Layfayette" landed in Sandy Hook, New Jersey, for his "farewell" tour of the United States.  It was the first time he had been in North America in forty years.

He would see all of the then 24 American states and Washington, D.C. over a 13 month, 6,000 mile, journey, traveling with his son, George Washington Lafayette.

Last edition:

Sunday, August 8, 1824. The Humehume Rebellion.

Labels: 1820s, 1824, Hawaii, Honolulu Hawaii, Kauai Hawaii, Kingdom of Hawaii, Monarchy, United States Marine Corps, War of 1812

Saturday, March 1, 1924. The Nixon Nitration Works Disaster.

The Nixon Nitration Works disaster occured in which an explosion of ammonium nitrate killed at least 18 people, destroyed several miles of New Jersey factories, and demolished Nixon, New Jersey.

While a very famous industrial disaster, the Nixon Nitration Works and Nixon New Jersey are remembered now principally for being mentioned in Band of Brothers as Cpt. Lewis Nixon III, a major character Ambrose's depiction of the 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment, mentions it.  Lewis Nixon was in fact a member of the family that owned the plant, and it was the case that Richard Winters, his close friend and for most of his service in Europe his superior, worked there for a time after the war.

The Nixon's were troubled in general, and Lewis Nixon III was no exception.  His marriage contracted just after the start of the war failed during it, as did a subsequent one.  A third marriage to Grace Umezawa, formerly a Japanese internee, was successful.  She helped him overcome the alcoholism depicted during the series.

The KDP, the Communist Part of Germany, was reinstated.  The KDP, together with the NADSP, the Nazi Party, would figure enormously in the destruction of German democracy as the extremes grew increasingly powerful in the remaining years of the Weimar Republic.

Alice's Day at Sea, the first of 57 Alice comedies produced by Walt Disney, appeared.  They were short films meant to be shown before the feature, something at one time common.

White rats paraded in San Pedro, California.

Hacks, i.e., cabs, were allowed back in Hyde Park for the first time since 1636.

Not a hack, but on this day, an Irish Traveler feeding his pony on this day in 1924.

Locally, a story didn't add up.

A 20-year-old marrying a 15-year-old?  

And she was in 6th Grade?

The 2023 "Off Year" Election.

October 2, 2023.

Some states, albeit not Wyoming, are having elections this November.  

And some of them will have interesting topics on their ballots.  We start with this one, a Texas right to farm act, that will be on the ballot in Texas.

Texans to Vote on Right to Farm Constitutional Amendment November 7

November 8, 2023

Following the trend of voting to make Americans even more intoxicated and dim than they already are, Ohio voted to legalize recreational marijuana.  It also voted in favor of opening up abortion, unfortunately.

Houston is going to have a mayoral runoff.

cont:

Democrats gained control of both houses of the Virginia legislature.

Republicans only barely held the House of Delegates before this, but this can legitimately be regarded as another example of the Trump GOP losing power in an election.

Democrats took the Governor's race in Kentucky.

None of this may be dramatic, but the GOP has a demographic problem, and Trump isn't helping it.  Therefore, ironically, there's a fairly good chance that he'll be elected as the next President, but the House and the Senate will go Democratic.

cont:

Democrats won big in New Jersey.

For some reason, apparently it was thought they would not, which is odd.

November 9, 2023

Regarding ballot initiatives in Maine; Maine passed a resolution prohibiting election funding by foreign governments, including entities with partial foreign government ownership or control.

The Pine Tree Power Company initiative decisively failed.

A right to repair initiative requiring vehicle manufacturers to provide access to vehicle on board diagnostic systems to owners and repair facilities passed.

An attempt to allow out of states to gather initiative signatures failed.

Texas, not too surprisingly, had a bunch of initiatives on its ballot.  Some of interest here:

A right to farm, ranch, harvest timber, practice horticulture and engage in wildlife management was added to the State Constitution.  The vote was overwhelmingly in favor.

Voters authorized an ad valorem tax exemption on medical and biomedical equipment.

An effort to raise judicial retirement age from 75 to 79 (what the heck?) failed, thank goodness.

A resolution to prohibit a tax on net wealth passed.

Thursday, August 30, 1923. Italians overreact.

Having learned utterly nothing, apparently, from World War One, Italy was having a massive overreaction, or perhaps fascism, thinking it was immune from history, was taking advantage of Greek weakness.

A mob attacked a Ku Klux Klan meeting at Perth Amboy, New Jersey.

Friday, December 18, 1942. Ciano dispatched to Hitler.

Galeazzo Ciano, Mussolini's son-in-law and a prominent figure in the Italian government, was dispatched to the Wolf's Lair with a message from Mussolini urging Hitler to make a separate peace with the Soviet Union.

Ciano only rose to power via his marriage to Edda Mussolini, but starting in 1939 he began to pull away from the dictator over the war, which he opposed.  He was sidelined by being appointed Ambassador to the Holy See in 1943.  He voted with the Fascist Grand Council to remove Mussolini in July 1943, but was removed from his office by the government, after which he fled to Germany.  The Germans in turn handed him over to Mussolini's rebel fascist Italian Social Republic, which would have him executed.

Ciano's diaries are an important source of inside information regarding the Italian fascist government as well as the Axis alliance. 

The British prevailed at El Agheila.

New Jersey 1920's in Color! [60fps,Remastered] With New Sound

Poster Saturday: New Jersey Must Fight On

I'm not exactly certain what this 1919 vintage poster actually is seeking to advance.  It's a New Jersey Department of Health poster making reference to children and World War One, but why, exactly, isn't clear.

October 6, 1920. East Coast Scenes

Clayton, New Jersey Fire Department.  October 6, 1920.

Game two of the World Series went to Brooklyn, 3 to 0.

Ebbets Field, October 6, 1920.

Outside Ebbets Field, October 6, 1920.

April 22, 1919. Homecomings and mustering out.

363d Infantry upon their return to California.

Final review of the 26th Division, Camp Devin, Massachusetts.

312th Infantry passing in review.

Ft. Dix New Jersey. November 14, 1918.

Atlantic City, New Jersey. March 28, 1917

Massive explosion in Lyndhurst, New Jersey

On this day in 1917 a massive explosion occurred at a recently constructed ammunition plant which was providing ammunition under contract to Canada.  Sabotage was suspected at the time but a commission found in 1931 that there was no evidence to support that claim.

The disaster was bad enough but would have been worse but for the heroic act of Theresa Louise "Tessie" McNamara in staying at her post as a switchboard operator and providing notice to each link on the circuit that a fire had broken out and people needed to evacuate.  She's credited with saving up to 1,400 lives.

The belief at the time that the explosion was caused by German sabotage contributed to growing American support for entering the war in Europe.  Ironically, the Black Tom explosion of that past July had been caused by German saboteurs but that was not known at the time. So the Germans were blamed in the minds of some for an explosion they had not caused, but were not blamed for one which they had.

Monday, August 9, 1909. Pennies.

"The Isles", Lake Hopatcong, N.J.  August 9, 1909.

Alabama became the first state to ratify the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution providing for an income tax.

The U.S. mint halted the production of the Lincoln head VDB marked pennies, with the initials of designer Victor David Brenner, on them.  22,350,000 of the pennies had been put into circulation.

Production had only been ongoing for one week.

Friedrich Adam von Trott zu Solz, German lawyer, diplomat, and dedicated and open opponent of the Nazis, was born.  He would later be active in the Kreisau Circle and July 20 plot, under which he was to have been the German Secretary of State in the Foreign Office and lead negotiator with the Western Allies.

He was executed on August 26, 1944, for his role in the plot.

Last edition:

Sunday, August 8, 1909. Passing of St. Mary Helen MacKillop.