Today in History

[GHT]

TENNIS pro Andy Murray was just eight years old when Thomas Hamilton walked into his school gym and opened fire on a class, killing 16 children and their teacher. His class was on their way to the gym when the sound of gunfire rang out. Murray took refuge under a desk in the headmaster’s office. The Dunblane Primary School massacre on March 13, 1996, changed Britain forever, ushering in the introduction of the strictest gun laws in the world.

1996, At Dunblane, a 13th-century village on the edge of the Scottish Highlands, 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton bursts into the gymnasium of the Dunblane Primary School with four guns and opens fire on a kindergarten class. Sixteen children and their teacher, Gwenne Mayor, were fatally shot before Hamilton turned the gun on himself.

 

[LizzieMaine]

On this date in 1915, at the Brooklyn Dodgers spring traning camp in Daytona Beach, Florida, manager Wilbert Robinson -- a retired big-league catcher of considerable note, but also a character of the first water -- was finally told to put up or shut up about his bragging that he could catch a baseball dropped from any great height. Arrangements were made for Uncle Robbie to catch a ball dropped from an airplane flying over the playing field, and he appeared for the exhibition with supreme confidence of his ablilities.

Unknown to Uncle Robbie, however, a certain member of his team -- quite possibly outfielder Casey Stengel -- had a few words with the pilot, the noted aviatrix Ruth Law, before the plane engaged for the occasion took off. As a result, the pilot was armed, not with a regulation 9 oz. A. G. Spalding & Bros. National League baseball, but a large and rather overripe grapefruit.

At the appointed hour,Law's plane buzzed over the field and the pilot let her payload drop. Uncle Robbie swerved below, tracking the object's descent, assumed his position, and confidently raised his mitt. The grapefruit burst thru the webbing of the mitt and exploded in a spectacular display of pulp and juice, all over Robinson's face. "Blood!" the manager screamed, sinking to his knees. "I'm killed! Get help! I'm killed!"

Robinson survived, and would manage the Dodgers for another fifteen years. But he never ate grapefruit again.

"I'll get you for this, Stengel."

 

[Fading Fast]

⇧ To be fair to Robinson, he "put up" as it sounds as if he had his glove right there.

 

[Peacoat]

TENNIS pro Andy Murray was just eight years old when Thomas Hamilton walked into his school gym and opened fire on a class, killing 16 children and their teacher. His class was on their way to the gym when the sound of gunfire rang out. Murray took refuge under a desk in the headmaster’s office. The Dunblane Primary School massacre on March 13, 1996, changed Britain forever, ushering in the introduction of the strictest gun laws in the world.

I was in England in 1991, and the gun laws were pretty darn strict then. No one, including most police officers, could carry a weapon; handguns were banned; and shotguns and rifles were strictly regulated. Only a few police officers in each town/county were authorized to keep a rifle locked in the trunk of their police car. Seems to work for them.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

On this day in 1969, 'The Love Bug' was released.

 

[scotrace]

The planet Uranus was discovered on March 13, 1781. Why, oh why didn't they name it something else.

Speaking of joke butts, Uncle Sam made his first appearance in the New York Lantern on this day in 1852.

 

[Peacoat]

Put the accent on the first syllable and make the letter "a" in the second syllable soft instead of hard. The second syllable is spoken quickly. YOUR ah nus An astronomer friend of mine from years ago was quick to teach me the correct pronunciation.

 

[GHT]

The planet Uranus was discovered on March 13, 1781. Why, oh why didn't they name it something else.

When I saw that on the history website, I thought it best to avoid, but it's stupid to associate Uranus with your anus, after all, nobody is offended by the names Norfolk & Suffolk and in England we have the 'C' word hidden in Scunthorpe, we also have a river called Piddle and a village called Shitterton.

 

[vitanola]

On this date in 1915, at the Brooklyn Dodgers spring traning camp in Daytona Beach, Florida, manager Wilbert Robinson -- a retired big-league catcher of considerable note, but also a character of the first water -- was finally told to put up or shut up about his bragging that he could catch a baseball dropped from any great height. Arrangements were made for Uncle Robbie to catch a ball dropped from an airplane flying over the playing field, and he appeared for the exhibition with supreme confidence of his ablilities.

Unknown to Uncle Robbie, however, a certain member of his team -- quite possibly outfielder Casey Stengel -- had a few words with the pilot, the noted aviatrix Ruth Law, before the plane engaged for the occasion took off. As a result, the pilot was armed, not with a regulation 9 oz. A. G. Spalding & Bros. National League baseball, but a large and rather overripe grapefruit.

At the appointed hour,Law's plane buzzed over the field and the pilot let her payload drop. Uncle Robbie swerved below, tracking the object's descent, assumed his position, and confidently raised his mitt. The grapefruit burst thru the webbing of the mitt and exploded in a spectacular display of pulp and juice, all over Robinson's face. "Blood!" the manager screamed, sinking to his knees. "I'm killed! Get help! I'm killed!"

Robinson survived, and would manage the Dodgers for another fifteen years. But he never ate grapefruit again.

"I'll get you for this, Stengel."

"You know, I call my girl friend "Grapefruit". Every time I try to squeeze her she hits me right in the eye..."

 

[GHT]

"You know, I call my girl friend "Grapefruit". Every time I try to squeeze her she hits me right in the eye..."

Er, is that grapefruit or grope fruit?

 

[vitanola]

Pu-leeze! Mr. Hemingway!

 

[scotrace]

March 15, 1972: The Godfather premiers, giving boys memorable quotes to pull out for the rest of their lives.

Beware the Ides of March. On this day in 44 BC, Julius Caesar is stabbed to death by Roman Senators.

Symbolics Computer Corp registered the first internet domain, symbolics.com, in 1985. Today, the company is dead and the site just touts its status as the first.

It is the 113th birthday of Rolls Royce, Ltd.

 

[LizzieMaine]

From 1918 thru 1954, March 15th was Tax Day.

I'd sure like to see exactly what Brother Schwalb claimed on Schedule H. I bet the auditor did too.

 

[MisterCairo]

When I saw that on the history website, I thought it best to avoid, but it's stupid to associate Uranus with your anus, after all, nobody is offended by the names Norfolk & Suffolk and in England we have the 'C' word hidden in Scunthorpe, we also have a river called Piddle and a village called Shitterton.

And one can visit several places in Newfoundland with fun names. Dildo, Placentia and Come By Chance, for example...

 

[vitanola]

From 1918 thru 1954, March 15th was Tax Day.

I'd sure like to see exactly what Brother Schwalb claimed on Schedule H. I bet the auditor did too.

He has a kind face. I cant imagine that he was up to all that much. Probably helped to set his no-good brother-in-law in business. He ended his days in Sunny California.

 

[LizzieMaine]

President of the New York Fruit Auction Company, no less. What am I bid for these cumquats?

 

[Peacoat]

I woke up this morning feeling Irish. Then I realized what day it is. On this day in 461 AD Saint Patrick of Ireland died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland.

I feel that corned beef and cabbage are in play for today.

Cheers,
McPeacoat

 

[scotrace]

In 1931, Nevada secured its future by legalizing gambling.

1895 - In a major milestone for motion pictures, Auguste and Louis Lumière filmed the first footage with their new cinematograph, "the wonder of the age," according to Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula.

 

[LizzieMaine]

On this date in 1928, broadcast syndication by means of recordings was introduced in the US with the advent of "Amos 'n' Andy." Broadcast live over WMAQ in Chicago, the station of the Chicago Daily News, on a six-night-a-week schedule, this serialized comedy-melodrama was distributed to about thirty additional stations from Boston to San Francisco via 12-inch 78rpm recordings made several weeks in advance of the date of the live broadcasts. Subscribing stations aired the recordings at the same time and on the same dates as the live broadcasts from WMAQ, creating the illusion of a network without the need for wire lines connecting the stations.

This "Chainless Chain" system was the first instance in broadcasting history of a pre-recorded program feature, and its success was near-instantaneous. Within a year, the subscriber list had reached 70 stations, leading NBC and the Pepsodent Company to take on the program as a live sponsored feature, bringing the syndication project to an end. But the basic idea caught on, and within two years radio syndication had become a multi-million dollar industry -- one which survives to the present day.

 

[GHT]

1628 Massachusetts Bay Colony granted land by England. Almost two hundred years later, on the same day and month in 1822, Boston, Massachusetts was incorporated as a city.

1932 The Sydney Harbour Bridge is opened.


1982 Falklands War: Argentinian forces land on South Georgia Island, precipitating war with the U.K.