MSN Web Communities
Code of Conduct
• Respect Others
• Keep it Legal
• Play Nice
• Don't Spam
• Take Responsibility
• Uphold the Code
• Protect your Privacy
As part of Microsoft's commitment to making MSN a great place to meet and interact with others around the world, you agree to abide by our Code of Conduct. Your commitment to this Code of Conduct in all bulletin board services, chat areas, news groups, forums, communities, personal web pages, calendars, electronic mail postings and/or other message or communication facilities designed to enable you to communicate with the public at large or with a group (collectively, "Communication Services"), ensures a positive experience for all our users.
Specific communities, chats, and discussion groups may also have additional guidelines which govern your use, so be sure to review them in addition to this Code of Conduct. Microsoft is not responsible for the content or activities in any user-created, non-Microsoft managed Communication Service.
The Communication Services' Web sites are general purpose sites and are designed for use by individuals that are 13 years of age or older.
All activity on MSN.COM (including the Communication Services) is also governed by the MSN.COM Terms of Use. To read the MSN.COM Terms of Use, please click here.
Respect Others
• We encourage everyone to treat each other with mutual respect. Do not use the Communication Services to threaten, harass, stalk, or abuse others participating in any Communication Service. Refrain from all expressions of bigotry, racism, hatred, or profanity.
• Microsoft encourages our users to create their own chats and communities. The creators of these areas act as Hosts. Hosts may eject or ban a user from their area if a participant violates one of their guidelines or this Code of Conduct. By participating in a user-created area, you agree to be bound to the rules of that area.
• Managers and/or Hosts who manage the Communication Services may eject or ban users, as well as remove postings, that violate this Code of Conduct.
Keep it Legal
• Microsoft does not allow any illegal activities. You cannot use the Communication Services to publish, post, distribute, or disseminate defamatory, infringing, obscene, or other unlawful material or information.
• Do not upload files or post messages that contain photos, software or other material protected by intellectual property laws, rights of privacy or publicity or any other applicable law unless you own or control the rights thereto or have received all necessary consents. Microsoft is not responsible for any use of anything you say or post.
• Do not post any materials (including software and other information) that could harm (or is designed to harm) other users' computers or would allow others to inappropriately access software or Web sites.
Play Nice
• Microsoft does not tolerate disruptive activity online, such as persistent off-topic comments and postings or statements that incite others to violate this Code of Conduct or participate in illegal activities. Our participants want to chat and post on the Communication Services in a positive environment.
• Microsoft does not allow posting or use of computer programs that contain destructive features such as: viruses, worms, Trojan horses, or bots for the use of scrolling, showing multiple screens, and other activities that can be disruptive to online communication.
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• While we have provided you with the ability to self-rate and categorize the user-created areas of the Communication Services, Microsoft reserves the right to change the rating or re-categorize all user-created areas.
Don't Spam
• Please don't "spam" through the Communication Services; none of our users like it. To spam includes sending identical and irrelevant submissions to many different discussion groups, mailing lists or communities. Usually such postings have nothing to do with the particular topic of the group or are of no real interest to those on the mailing list. To spam also includes misrepresenting the source of anything you say or post. Spamming is a serious violation of online etiquette.
• Microsoft reserves the right to ban a user at any time, without notice, from any or all Communication Services for spamming.
• The Communication Services areas may be used to provide supplemental information regarding your own business (provided you do not use spam to provide this information); however, the Communication Services areas are not designed to be used as the primary mechanism for operating your business or providing core information about your business. Any use of the Communication Services for commercial purposes is solely at your own risk and Microsoft has no liability for such use.
• Any space provided to you in any Communication Service is for your own personal use. You may not sell, license, exchange or barter any space provided to you within any Communication Service for any purpose including, without limitation, selling, licensing, exchanging or bartering space for advertisements.
Take Responsibility
• You are responsible and liable for all your activities while participating in the Communication Services. Remember, you are responsible for anything you say or post.
• Microsoft offers our users the ability to create their own Communication Services areas (e.g. chats, communities and personal web pages). Microsoft takes no responsibility for the ratings, content, nor any activities resulting from the content or otherwise, in these areas. The creators or hosts of these user-created areas are required to agree to and uphold this Code of Conduct before creating their Communication Service.
• The Communication Services areas are not designed as the primary places to store any materials; you are responsible for creating backups of materials you post to any Communication Service such as photos, documents and software. Microsoft is not responsible for loss of access to, or deletion or alteration of any materials included in any Communication Service.
• Microsoft reserves the right to remove at any time, without notice, any user-created Communication Service (or any particular posting) that violates this Code of Conduct.
• Some Communication Services may post Internet website links in their area. Please be advised that Microsoft is not responsible for the content on the websites associated with the links you may view.
• Some content and links on the Internet may contain adult content and may not be suitable for children. We encourage parents to join their children as they surf and explore the Internet.
• You are responsible for any actions you may take based on advice or information you receive online. Use your own good judgment when evaluating information provided through any Communication Service, remember that the information provided could be from people at any age and experience level. The decision to conduct transactions with anyone is your own and you should conduct your own research prior to making any decisions.
Uphold the Code
• In helping to make the Communication Services a great place to meet and chat, you must do your part to uphold this Code of Conduct.
• Microsoft reserves the right to immediately terminate or suspend access to any Communication Service for violations of our Code of Conduct.
• Microsoft also reserves our right to amend or change the Code of Conduct at any time without notice. You agree to periodically review this document to ensure you are doing your part.
Protect your Privacy
• We caution you against giving out personally identifiable information (such as social security numbers, credit card numbers, names and addresses, driver license numbers) to strangers online, which may be used for illegal or harmful purposes.
• Some personal information you provide to Microsoft may be stored outside of the country in which you reside.
• To read the MSN Privacy Statement please click here.
Thanks for following this Code of Conduct and joining MSN Communication Services!
August 1999
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Seize the Moment
SEIZE THE MOMENT, DO IT NOW
I have a friend who lives by a three-word philosophy: "Seize the moment." Just possibly, she may be the wisest woman on this planet. Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.
I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.
How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you?
How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched Jeopardy! on television?
I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gasp and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday. I had a late breakfast. It looks like rain. And my personal favorite: "It's Monday". She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.
We cram so much into our lives. We tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect: We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Stevie toilet-trained. We'll entertain-when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on" and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit."
When anyone calls my seize-the-moment friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Roller blades.
My lips had not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my hips with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?
Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to......not something on your SHOULD DO list.
I have a friend who lives by a three-word philosophy: "Seize the moment." Just possibly, she may be the wisest woman on this planet. Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.
I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.
How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you?
How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched Jeopardy! on television?
I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gasp and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday. I had a late breakfast. It looks like rain. And my personal favorite: "It's Monday". She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.
We cram so much into our lives. We tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect: We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Stevie toilet-trained. We'll entertain-when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on" and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit."
When anyone calls my seize-the-moment friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Roller blades.
My lips had not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my hips with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?
Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to......not something on your SHOULD DO list.
Comic Search Error Page
These Weapons of Mass Destruction cannot be displayed
The weapons you are looking for are currently unavailable. The country might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your weapons inspectors mandate.
Please try the following:
• Click the Regime change button, or try again later.
• If you are George Bush and typed the country's name in the address bar, make sure that it is spelled correctly. (IRAQ).
• To check your weapons inspector settings, click the UN menu, and then click Weapons Inspector Options. On the Security Council tab, click Consensus. The settings should match those provided by your government or NATO.
• If the Security Council has enabled it, The United States of America can examine your country and automatically discover Weapons of Mass Destruction.
If you would like to use the CIA to try and discover them,
click Detect Weapons
• Some countries require 128 thousand troops to liberate them. Click the Panic menu and then click About US foreign policy to determine what regime they will install.
• If you are an Old European Country trying to protect your interests, make sure your options are left wide open as long as possible. Click the Tools menu, and then click on League of Nations. On the Advanced tab, scroll to the Head in the Sand section and check settings for your exports to Iraq.
• Click the Bomb button if you are Donald Rumsfeld.
Cannot find weapons or CIA Error
Iraqi Explorer
The weapons you are looking for are currently unavailable. The country might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your weapons inspectors mandate.
Please try the following:
• Click the Regime change button, or try again later.
• If you are George Bush and typed the country's name in the address bar, make sure that it is spelled correctly. (IRAQ).
• To check your weapons inspector settings, click the UN menu, and then click Weapons Inspector Options. On the Security Council tab, click Consensus. The settings should match those provided by your government or NATO.
• If the Security Council has enabled it, The United States of America can examine your country and automatically discover Weapons of Mass Destruction.
If you would like to use the CIA to try and discover them,
click Detect Weapons
• Some countries require 128 thousand troops to liberate them. Click the Panic menu and then click About US foreign policy to determine what regime they will install.
• If you are an Old European Country trying to protect your interests, make sure your options are left wide open as long as possible. Click the Tools menu, and then click on League of Nations. On the Advanced tab, scroll to the Head in the Sand section and check settings for your exports to Iraq.
• Click the Bomb button if you are Donald Rumsfeld.
Cannot find weapons or CIA Error
Iraqi Explorer
Miscellaneous Tidbits
Forensic Facts -- Presumptive tests are quick, on-the-spot tests that officers use to make decisions about possible criminal activity. Even on routine traffic duty, officers rely on these tests, which involve chemical reactions that give fast color responses, to detect illegal substances such as heroin, methamphetamine or cocaine.
Did you ever play Kill The Man With The Ball on the playground at school?
Another general who disagreed with the execution of the war got himself involuntarily retired. (He was separated from his wife, and the Army got some dirt on him having an affair.)
A vigilant press, free from fear of reprisal and with confidential sources, is vital to a free society. It is an essential watchdog on government wrongdoing and incompetence. The first thing an autocratic government does when assuming power is to crackdown on the press.
LONDON (Reuters) - A hearse overturned when the horses pulling it to a south London cemetery stampeded, dragging the carriage and coffin past appalled relatives and sending floral tributes flying. "It was dreadful," a mourner told the South London Press. "The horses dragged the carriage to the cemetery on its side, tossing the coffin all over the place and destroying all the flowers inside. "Some people got very angry and had to be restrained by other mourners... It is understandable given the circumstances. I'm horrified that something like this could happen." Police were called to calm angry mourners so that the funeral last month could go ahead. The carriage appeared to have clipped a mini-roundabout as it entered Lambeth Cemetery for the funeral, the local council which administers the graveyard said Friday. (Reporting by Peter Apps, editing by Tim Pearce)
I met his guy awhile ago, and we’ve hung out a couple of times with friends, but we just recently went on a “real” date. We slept together after that first date, but I like him, so now I’m afraid I’ve screwed up. Is it really that bad to have sex on the first date? It’s not bad, but if you’re going to make some intentional decisions to get off on the right foot, then sleeping with someone on the first date isn’t one of them. Yes, even if the chemistry is that good. Flaubert (old French author) believed that anticipation is the purest form of pleasure – and the most reliable. In the final chapter of the Sentimental Education, he writes about two old friends sitting around remembering the best thing that never happened to them. Flaubert said the things that happen to you invariably disappoint, the things that never happen would never dim, never fade. We’ll always remember them fondly. So, put off the sex as long as you want. Not only will the anticipation make him want you that much more, but it will be a form of pleasure all it’s own. Not to mention you’ll make Flaubert a very proud man.
Did you ever play Kill The Man With The Ball on the playground at school?
Another general who disagreed with the execution of the war got himself involuntarily retired. (He was separated from his wife, and the Army got some dirt on him having an affair.)
A vigilant press, free from fear of reprisal and with confidential sources, is vital to a free society. It is an essential watchdog on government wrongdoing and incompetence. The first thing an autocratic government does when assuming power is to crackdown on the press.
LONDON (Reuters) - A hearse overturned when the horses pulling it to a south London cemetery stampeded, dragging the carriage and coffin past appalled relatives and sending floral tributes flying. "It was dreadful," a mourner told the South London Press. "The horses dragged the carriage to the cemetery on its side, tossing the coffin all over the place and destroying all the flowers inside. "Some people got very angry and had to be restrained by other mourners... It is understandable given the circumstances. I'm horrified that something like this could happen." Police were called to calm angry mourners so that the funeral last month could go ahead. The carriage appeared to have clipped a mini-roundabout as it entered Lambeth Cemetery for the funeral, the local council which administers the graveyard said Friday. (Reporting by Peter Apps, editing by Tim Pearce)
I met his guy awhile ago, and we’ve hung out a couple of times with friends, but we just recently went on a “real” date. We slept together after that first date, but I like him, so now I’m afraid I’ve screwed up. Is it really that bad to have sex on the first date? It’s not bad, but if you’re going to make some intentional decisions to get off on the right foot, then sleeping with someone on the first date isn’t one of them. Yes, even if the chemistry is that good. Flaubert (old French author) believed that anticipation is the purest form of pleasure – and the most reliable. In the final chapter of the Sentimental Education, he writes about two old friends sitting around remembering the best thing that never happened to them. Flaubert said the things that happen to you invariably disappoint, the things that never happen would never dim, never fade. We’ll always remember them fondly. So, put off the sex as long as you want. Not only will the anticipation make him want you that much more, but it will be a form of pleasure all it’s own. Not to mention you’ll make Flaubert a very proud man.
Advice to the Love Worn (I mean "Lorn")
Ask Lynn: Advice on love By Lynn Harris
Dear Lynn, I’m writing because I’m having a dilemma. I have an extremely strong attraction to one of my instructors in my grad program. I am 40, and he’s a few years older than me. While I find him very attractive physically, other characteristics attract me as well, such as his intelligence, humor, and compassion. He challenges me, in a good way, which I enjoy.
The way I am drawn to him is not like anything I have ever experienced before, with anyone. It scares me. He has actually taken my breath away when he’s been close to me, and he seems to stand very close to me when talking to me. Others have observed this. What makes this difficult is that while I believe he has an attraction to me, he is in a long-term relationship with “the mother of his son” (his words); they’ve not married. I would not want to do anything to cause problems for him and his relationship.
My dilemma: I want to tell him how I feel. I can’t determine if this would be a good move or foolish. The class he teaches will be ending very soon, and I am not sure when I will see him again. I don’t want to have regrets or a “what if” situation, because I’ve had a few of those in my past. Any thoughts?
– Baffled
Dear Baffled,
Hey, bet you did really well in that class. Handsome, smart, funny, compassionate. You are officially hot for teacher, as the song goes—and what a difficult but delicious feeling it must be!
Unfortunately, however, you’re going to have to try and find that feeling with someone else, someone who is neither in a relationship nor above you on the school totem pole. Even if I could somehow endorse hitting on an instructor in your program, which, for the record, I cannot, I really cannot endorse poaching, which this would be, even if he doesn’t exactly call his partner his “Snookums.” You’re 40—remember the Police song, “Don’t Stand So Close To Me?” Well… that.
I’m truly sorry. I do approve of your impulse here, the one that spurs you to avoid regrets and what-ifs. They can seriously bring you down; just ask the guy at the end of the bar. But while boldness and risk-taking and caution-to-the-wind-throwing are generally to be commended, they are to be eschewed when doing so could constitute home-wrecking or jeopardizing your academic career.
Speaking of “What if,” you’re probably thinking, “But what if he’s miserable in his relationship and he’d leave her (and this job) for me if only he knew how I felt?!” Trust me, that element of mystery is not the only thing holding him back. If things ever do change — or if he wants them to — trust me, through the miracle of Google, he’ll find you. And as for regrets, I have to say: Sometimes it’s better to wish you had than to wish you hadn’t.
Meanwhile, as I suggested earlier, see what you can do to learn from this situation. What does your attraction to him tell you about what you look for in men? Do you see any patterns? (Smart and compassionate: good. Unavailable: less so.) Since, at the moment, your instructor is off-limits, at least let your crush instruct you.
Lynn Harris is co-creator, with Chris Kalb, of the award-winning website, BreakupGirl.net and author of the new comic novel Death By Chick Lit. A journalist and essayist, Lynn also writes about gender, dating, and culture high and low for Salon, Glamour, The New York Times, and others. In her spare time, she enjoys being married. Submit your own dating questions for Lynn at BreakupGirl.net. Your question may be answered in a future column.
Dear Lynn, I’m writing because I’m having a dilemma. I have an extremely strong attraction to one of my instructors in my grad program. I am 40, and he’s a few years older than me. While I find him very attractive physically, other characteristics attract me as well, such as his intelligence, humor, and compassion. He challenges me, in a good way, which I enjoy.
The way I am drawn to him is not like anything I have ever experienced before, with anyone. It scares me. He has actually taken my breath away when he’s been close to me, and he seems to stand very close to me when talking to me. Others have observed this. What makes this difficult is that while I believe he has an attraction to me, he is in a long-term relationship with “the mother of his son” (his words); they’ve not married. I would not want to do anything to cause problems for him and his relationship.
My dilemma: I want to tell him how I feel. I can’t determine if this would be a good move or foolish. The class he teaches will be ending very soon, and I am not sure when I will see him again. I don’t want to have regrets or a “what if” situation, because I’ve had a few of those in my past. Any thoughts?
– Baffled
Dear Baffled,
Hey, bet you did really well in that class. Handsome, smart, funny, compassionate. You are officially hot for teacher, as the song goes—and what a difficult but delicious feeling it must be!
Unfortunately, however, you’re going to have to try and find that feeling with someone else, someone who is neither in a relationship nor above you on the school totem pole. Even if I could somehow endorse hitting on an instructor in your program, which, for the record, I cannot, I really cannot endorse poaching, which this would be, even if he doesn’t exactly call his partner his “Snookums.” You’re 40—remember the Police song, “Don’t Stand So Close To Me?” Well… that.
I’m truly sorry. I do approve of your impulse here, the one that spurs you to avoid regrets and what-ifs. They can seriously bring you down; just ask the guy at the end of the bar. But while boldness and risk-taking and caution-to-the-wind-throwing are generally to be commended, they are to be eschewed when doing so could constitute home-wrecking or jeopardizing your academic career.
Speaking of “What if,” you’re probably thinking, “But what if he’s miserable in his relationship and he’d leave her (and this job) for me if only he knew how I felt?!” Trust me, that element of mystery is not the only thing holding him back. If things ever do change — or if he wants them to — trust me, through the miracle of Google, he’ll find you. And as for regrets, I have to say: Sometimes it’s better to wish you had than to wish you hadn’t.
Meanwhile, as I suggested earlier, see what you can do to learn from this situation. What does your attraction to him tell you about what you look for in men? Do you see any patterns? (Smart and compassionate: good. Unavailable: less so.) Since, at the moment, your instructor is off-limits, at least let your crush instruct you.
Lynn Harris is co-creator, with Chris Kalb, of the award-winning website, BreakupGirl.net and author of the new comic novel Death By Chick Lit. A journalist and essayist, Lynn also writes about gender, dating, and culture high and low for Salon, Glamour, The New York Times, and others. In her spare time, she enjoys being married. Submit your own dating questions for Lynn at BreakupGirl.net. Your question may be answered in a future column.
A PUBLIC SERVICE MESSAGE TO HELP WOMEN BETTER UNDERSTAND MEN
Because I'm a man, when I lock my keys in the car, I will fiddle with a coat hanger long after hypothermia has set in. Calling AAA is not an option. I will win.
Because I'm a man, when the car isn't running very well, I will pop the hood and stare at the engine as if I know what I'm looking at. If another man shows up, one of us will say to the other, "I used to be able to fix these things, but now with all these computers and everything, I wouldn't know where to start." We will then drink a couple of beers and break wind, as a form of Holy Communion.
Because I'm a man, when I catch a cold, I need someone to bring me soup and take care of me while I lie in bed and moan. You're a woman. You never get as sick as I do, so for you, this is no problem.
Because I'm a man, I can be relied upon to purchase basic groceries at the store, like milk or bread. I cannot be expected to find exotic items like "cumin" or "tofu." For all I know, these are the same thing.
Because I'm a man, when one of our appliances stops working, I will insist on taking it apart, despite evidence that this will just cost me twice as much once the repair person gets here and has to put it back together.
Because I'm a man, I must hold the television remote control in my hand while I watch TV. If the thing has been misplaced, I may miss a whole show looking for it, though one time I was able to survive by holding a calculator instead (applies to engineers only).
Because I'm a man, you don't have to ask me if I liked the movie. Chances are, if you're crying at the end of it, I didn't...and if you are feeling amorous afterwards...then I will certainly at least remember the name and recommend it to others.
Because I'm a man, I think what you're wearing is fine. I thought what you were wearing five minutes ago was fine, too. Either pair of shoes is fine. With the belt or without it, looks fine. It does not make your rear look too big. It was the pasta and potatoes and Margaritas that did that. Your hair is fine. You look fine. Can we just go now?
Because I'm a man, and this is after all, the year 2008, I will share equally in the housework. You just do the laundry, the cooking, the cleaning, the vacuuming, and the dishes, and I'll do the rest. Like wandering around in the garden with a beer, wondering what to do.
THIS HAS BEEN A PUBLIC SERVICE MESSAGE TO HELP WOMEN BETTER UNDERSTAND MEN.
Because I'm a man, when the car isn't running very well, I will pop the hood and stare at the engine as if I know what I'm looking at. If another man shows up, one of us will say to the other, "I used to be able to fix these things, but now with all these computers and everything, I wouldn't know where to start." We will then drink a couple of beers and break wind, as a form of Holy Communion.
Because I'm a man, when I catch a cold, I need someone to bring me soup and take care of me while I lie in bed and moan. You're a woman. You never get as sick as I do, so for you, this is no problem.
Because I'm a man, I can be relied upon to purchase basic groceries at the store, like milk or bread. I cannot be expected to find exotic items like "cumin" or "tofu." For all I know, these are the same thing.
Because I'm a man, when one of our appliances stops working, I will insist on taking it apart, despite evidence that this will just cost me twice as much once the repair person gets here and has to put it back together.
Because I'm a man, I must hold the television remote control in my hand while I watch TV. If the thing has been misplaced, I may miss a whole show looking for it, though one time I was able to survive by holding a calculator instead (applies to engineers only).
Because I'm a man, you don't have to ask me if I liked the movie. Chances are, if you're crying at the end of it, I didn't...and if you are feeling amorous afterwards...then I will certainly at least remember the name and recommend it to others.
Because I'm a man, I think what you're wearing is fine. I thought what you were wearing five minutes ago was fine, too. Either pair of shoes is fine. With the belt or without it, looks fine. It does not make your rear look too big. It was the pasta and potatoes and Margaritas that did that. Your hair is fine. You look fine. Can we just go now?
Because I'm a man, and this is after all, the year 2008, I will share equally in the housework. You just do the laundry, the cooking, the cleaning, the vacuuming, and the dishes, and I'll do the rest. Like wandering around in the garden with a beer, wondering what to do.
THIS HAS BEEN A PUBLIC SERVICE MESSAGE TO HELP WOMEN BETTER UNDERSTAND MEN.
Life Is A Gift
Today before you think of saying an unkind word - Think of someone who can't speak.
Before you complain about the taste of your food - Think of someone who has nothing to eat.
Before you complain about your husband or wife - Think of someone who's crying out for a companion.
Today before you complain about life - Think of someone who went too early and is no longer here.
Before you complain about your children - Think of someone who desires children but they're barren.
Before you argue about your dirty house, someone didn't clean or sweep - Think of the people who are living in the streets.
Before whining about the distance you drive - Think of someone who walks the same distance.
And when you are tired and complain about your job - Think of the unemployed, the disabled and those who wished they had your job.
But before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another - Remember that not one of us are without sin and we all answer to one maker.
And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down - Put a smile on your face and be thankful you're alive and still around.
Life is a gift...
Live it...
Enjoy it...
Celebrate it...
And fulfill it.
Before you complain about the taste of your food - Think of someone who has nothing to eat.
Before you complain about your husband or wife - Think of someone who's crying out for a companion.
Today before you complain about life - Think of someone who went too early and is no longer here.
Before you complain about your children - Think of someone who desires children but they're barren.
Before you argue about your dirty house, someone didn't clean or sweep - Think of the people who are living in the streets.
Before whining about the distance you drive - Think of someone who walks the same distance.
And when you are tired and complain about your job - Think of the unemployed, the disabled and those who wished they had your job.
But before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another - Remember that not one of us are without sin and we all answer to one maker.
And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down - Put a smile on your face and be thankful you're alive and still around.
Life is a gift...
Live it...
Enjoy it...
Celebrate it...
And fulfill it.
Coca-Cola
In 1886, John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist and Civil War veteran with a passion for making home-made headache cures, brewed the first batch of Coca-Cola. Pemberton first sold his drink at a nearby soda parlor for five cents a glass, selling an average of nine glasses per day. When Coca-Cola started to become popular in Atlanta, a businessman named Asa Candler bought the beverage from Pemberton and started Coca-Cola on its road to success. Candler began an active and innovative marketing campaign that spurred the wide distribution of Coke. Soon Coca-Cola was being bottled, and with the aid of transportation networks, began to creep across the United States and to foreign countries. During World War II, Coca-Cola strengthened its image with the American public and doubled its presence in international markets. The company continued to grow through the use of new media and distribution technologies, achieving the international status that it has today ("Timeline").
Why did Coca-Cola succeed? Part of the answer can be found by examining Coca-Cola in the context of technological systems, a collection of related technologies and institutions. Coca-Cola set out on its path to success by exploiting preexisting technological systems and by creating its own systems to develop and spread Coke.
Patent Medicines on Tap
The early history of Coca-Cola provides a look into how the company interacted with the technological systems of its day. In 1886, Coca-Cola began as a competitor in the patent medicine market. After the Civil War, America rapidly shifted from an agrarian society to a more urban and industrialized society. This period was known as “the Gilded Age”, and one of its features was the patent medicine industry. Patent medicines were home-brewed medicines, popular due to a hit-or-miss medical profession, the desire of large numbers of Civil War Veterans for self-doses of medicine, and neurosis from rapidly changing lifestyles. Patent medicines featured flamboyant names and advertising, such as “Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Purgative Pellets”, “Botanic Blood Balm”, and “Copeland’s Cholera Cure.” Outrageous promises were made regarding the effects of these medicines. Coke was no different from other patent medicines. One 1885 advertisement for Coca-Cola read as follows:
Another early venue for Coca-Cola was the soda parlor. During the Gilded Age, soda parlors were ornate beverage bars where customers could buy their favorite soft drinks of the day. They offered as many as 300 different types of beverage syrups, which would be mixed with carbonated water by the “Soda Jerks” behind the counter. One of the selling points of Coca-Cola was that it was more easily prepared than other carbonated beverages, allowing the parlors to serve more customers. Competition in the fountain beverage market was fierce. Coca-Cola grew to prominence by gaining a strong base in the system of soda parlors (Pendergrast 16).
Coca-Motion
Transportation was a large part of the Coca-Cola technological system. As transportation technology improved, Coca-Cola extended its domain further into the world. At first, mule-drawn wagons distributed bottled Coke. Coca-Cola designed its bottling region to be about fifty miles across, because that was the distance that a mule and wagon could cross in a day. Railroad stops were already major transportation hubs. Coca-Cola hired railway employees as commissioned salesmen to sell cases of bottled Coke at railway stations and depots. One especially interesting part of the Coca-Cola transportation system was the Josephine, a New Orleans bottler’s motor boat that delivered Coke to the Bayous. With the invention of the truck, Coca-Cola was able to spread out into more outlets, such as fruit stands, bowling alleys, and cigar stores. Coca-Cola continued its rise to greatness through its pioneering use of transportation systems (Cheatham 100).
Message in a Bottle
The bottling industry played an enormous part in the history of Coca-Cola. In 1894, a Vicksburg, Mississippi candy manufacturer named Joe Biedenharn first bottled Coke for sale in rural areas, but it was not until 1899 that the Coca-Cola Company first signed a bottling contract. Asa Candler, head of Coca-Cola at that time, did not believe that bottling would be successful and sold the bottling rights to two enterprising lawyers, Benjamin Thomas and Joseph Whitehead, for a grand sum of one dollar. Thomas and Whitehead set up bottling plants and made agreements with existing bottlers to bottle Coke. Their investment soon proved sound.
Why did Coca-Cola succeed? Part of the answer can be found by examining Coca-Cola in the context of technological systems, a collection of related technologies and institutions. Coca-Cola set out on its path to success by exploiting preexisting technological systems and by creating its own systems to develop and spread Coke.
Patent Medicines on Tap
The early history of Coca-Cola provides a look into how the company interacted with the technological systems of its day. In 1886, Coca-Cola began as a competitor in the patent medicine market. After the Civil War, America rapidly shifted from an agrarian society to a more urban and industrialized society. This period was known as “the Gilded Age”, and one of its features was the patent medicine industry. Patent medicines were home-brewed medicines, popular due to a hit-or-miss medical profession, the desire of large numbers of Civil War Veterans for self-doses of medicine, and neurosis from rapidly changing lifestyles. Patent medicines featured flamboyant names and advertising, such as “Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Purgative Pellets”, “Botanic Blood Balm”, and “Copeland’s Cholera Cure.” Outrageous promises were made regarding the effects of these medicines. Coke was no different from other patent medicines. One 1885 advertisement for Coca-Cola read as follows:
Another early venue for Coca-Cola was the soda parlor. During the Gilded Age, soda parlors were ornate beverage bars where customers could buy their favorite soft drinks of the day. They offered as many as 300 different types of beverage syrups, which would be mixed with carbonated water by the “Soda Jerks” behind the counter. One of the selling points of Coca-Cola was that it was more easily prepared than other carbonated beverages, allowing the parlors to serve more customers. Competition in the fountain beverage market was fierce. Coca-Cola grew to prominence by gaining a strong base in the system of soda parlors (Pendergrast 16).
Coca-Motion
Transportation was a large part of the Coca-Cola technological system. As transportation technology improved, Coca-Cola extended its domain further into the world. At first, mule-drawn wagons distributed bottled Coke. Coca-Cola designed its bottling region to be about fifty miles across, because that was the distance that a mule and wagon could cross in a day. Railroad stops were already major transportation hubs. Coca-Cola hired railway employees as commissioned salesmen to sell cases of bottled Coke at railway stations and depots. One especially interesting part of the Coca-Cola transportation system was the Josephine, a New Orleans bottler’s motor boat that delivered Coke to the Bayous. With the invention of the truck, Coca-Cola was able to spread out into more outlets, such as fruit stands, bowling alleys, and cigar stores. Coca-Cola continued its rise to greatness through its pioneering use of transportation systems (Cheatham 100).
Message in a Bottle
The bottling industry played an enormous part in the history of Coca-Cola. In 1894, a Vicksburg, Mississippi candy manufacturer named Joe Biedenharn first bottled Coke for sale in rural areas, but it was not until 1899 that the Coca-Cola Company first signed a bottling contract. Asa Candler, head of Coca-Cola at that time, did not believe that bottling would be successful and sold the bottling rights to two enterprising lawyers, Benjamin Thomas and Joseph Whitehead, for a grand sum of one dollar. Thomas and Whitehead set up bottling plants and made agreements with existing bottlers to bottle Coke. Their investment soon proved sound.
Democratic Donkey
January 15, 1870
First appearance of the Democratic donkey
On January 14, 1870, the first recorded use of a donkey to represent the Democratic Party appears in Harper's Weekly. Drawn by political illustrator Thomas Nast, the cartoon is entitled "A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion." The jackass (donkey) is tagged "Copperhead Papers," referring to the Democrat-dominated newspapers of the South, and the dead lion represents the late Edwin McMasters Stanton, President Abraham Lincoln's secretary of war during the final three years of the Civil War. In the background is an eagle perched on a rock, representing the postwar federal domination in the South, and in the far background is the U.S. Capitol.
Four years later, Nash originated the use of an elephant to symbolize the Republican Party in a Harper's Weekly cartoon entitled "The Third-Term Panic." The cartoon referred to the disparaging response by The New York Herald to the possibility that Republican President Ulysses S. Grant might seek a third-term. The New York Herald is depicted as a donkey wearing lion's skin labeled "Caesarism." This bogus lion is frightening several timid animals identified with the names of opposing newspapers, such as The New York Times and The New York Tribune, while a berserk elephant, labeled "Republican vote," is tottering above a chasm labeled "Chaos" as it tosses to the right and the left the few remaining platform planks holding its weight. The caption of the cartoon reads: "An Ass having put on the Lion's skin, roamed about the Forest, and amused himself by frightening all the foolish Animals he met with in his wanderings."
First appearance of the Democratic donkey
On January 14, 1870, the first recorded use of a donkey to represent the Democratic Party appears in Harper's Weekly. Drawn by political illustrator Thomas Nast, the cartoon is entitled "A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion." The jackass (donkey) is tagged "Copperhead Papers," referring to the Democrat-dominated newspapers of the South, and the dead lion represents the late Edwin McMasters Stanton, President Abraham Lincoln's secretary of war during the final three years of the Civil War. In the background is an eagle perched on a rock, representing the postwar federal domination in the South, and in the far background is the U.S. Capitol.
Four years later, Nash originated the use of an elephant to symbolize the Republican Party in a Harper's Weekly cartoon entitled "The Third-Term Panic." The cartoon referred to the disparaging response by The New York Herald to the possibility that Republican President Ulysses S. Grant might seek a third-term. The New York Herald is depicted as a donkey wearing lion's skin labeled "Caesarism." This bogus lion is frightening several timid animals identified with the names of opposing newspapers, such as The New York Times and The New York Tribune, while a berserk elephant, labeled "Republican vote," is tottering above a chasm labeled "Chaos" as it tosses to the right and the left the few remaining platform planks holding its weight. The caption of the cartoon reads: "An Ass having put on the Lion's skin, roamed about the Forest, and amused himself by frightening all the foolish Animals he met with in his wanderings."
Western Union and A&P
January 19, 1881
Western Union snaps up Atlantic and Pacific Co.
In 1881 Jay Gould, the ravenous financier and archetypal robber baron, used his wiles and ways to seize control of Western Union, William Vanderbilt's mighty telegraph company. Gould mounted an elaborate campaign to drive down the company's stock, using his newspaper, as well as his influence on Wall Street, to raise doubts about Western Union's leadership and hefty stock price. He also started a rival telegraph concern, the Atlantic and Pacific Company, in hopes of raising doubts about Western UnionÝs dominance over the industry. The gambits worked and Western Union's stock swooned. In a desperate attempt to staunch the bleeding, Western Union snapped up the Atlantic and Pacific Company on this day in 1881. Far from staving off the competition, the deal further fattened Gould's pocketbook and, more importantly, primed him for the final phase of his takeover scheme. Gould convinced his Wall Street associates to start another raid on Western Union. However, as the traders were busy driving down Western UnionÝs asking price, Gould, in the guise of an "anonymous" investor, started gobbling up the companyÝs suddenly cheap stock. When the dust settled, GouldÝs cronies were left counting their losses; meanwhile, the devious financier had successfully wrested control of Western Union.
Western Union snaps up Atlantic and Pacific Co.
In 1881 Jay Gould, the ravenous financier and archetypal robber baron, used his wiles and ways to seize control of Western Union, William Vanderbilt's mighty telegraph company. Gould mounted an elaborate campaign to drive down the company's stock, using his newspaper, as well as his influence on Wall Street, to raise doubts about Western Union's leadership and hefty stock price. He also started a rival telegraph concern, the Atlantic and Pacific Company, in hopes of raising doubts about Western UnionÝs dominance over the industry. The gambits worked and Western Union's stock swooned. In a desperate attempt to staunch the bleeding, Western Union snapped up the Atlantic and Pacific Company on this day in 1881. Far from staving off the competition, the deal further fattened Gould's pocketbook and, more importantly, primed him for the final phase of his takeover scheme. Gould convinced his Wall Street associates to start another raid on Western Union. However, as the traders were busy driving down Western UnionÝs asking price, Gould, in the guise of an "anonymous" investor, started gobbling up the companyÝs suddenly cheap stock. When the dust settled, GouldÝs cronies were left counting their losses; meanwhile, the devious financier had successfully wrested control of Western Union.
Cheyenne
January 22, 1879
Chief Dull Knife makes last fight for freedom
On this day, pursuing American soldiers badly beat Cheyenne Chief Dull Knife and his people as they make a desperate bid for freedom. In doing so, the soldiers effectively crushed the so-called Dull Knife Outbreak.
A leading chief of the Northern Cheyenne, Dull Knife (sometimes called Morning Star) had long urged peace with the powerful Anglo-Americans invading his homeland in the Powder River country of modern-day Wyoming and Montana. However, the 1864 massacre of more than 200 peaceful Cheyenne Indians by Colorado militiamen at Sand Creek, Colorado, led Dull Knife to question whether the Anglo-Americans could ever be trusted. He reluctantly led his people into a war he suspected they could never win. In 1876, many of Dull Knife's people fought along side Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull at their victorious battle at Little Bighorn, though the chief himself apparently did not participate.
During the winter after Little Bighorn, Dull Knife and his people camped along the headwaters of the Powder River in Wyoming, where they fell victim to the army's winter campaign for revenge. In November, General Ranald Mackenzie's expeditionary force discovered the village and attacked. Dull Knife lost many of his people, and along with several other Indian leaders, reluctantly surrendered the following spring.
In 1877, the military relocated Dull Knife and his followers far away from their Wyoming homeland to the large Indian Territory on the southern plains (in present-day Kansas and Oklahoma). No longer able to practice their traditional hunts, the band was largely dependent on meager government provisions. Beset by hunger, homesickness, and disease, Dull Knife and his people rebelled after one year. In September 1878, they joined another band to make an epic march back to their Wyoming homeland. Although Dull Knife publicly announced his peaceful intentions, the government regarded the fleeing Indians as renegades, and soldiers from bases scattered throughout the Plains attacked the Indians in an unsuccessful effort to turn them back.
Arriving at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, near their Wyoming homeland, Dull Knife and his people surrendered to the government in the hopes they would be allowed to stay in the territory. To their dismay, administrators instead threatened to hold the band captive at Fort Robinson until they would agree to return south to the Indian Territory. Unwilling to give up when his goal was so close, in early January, Dull Knife led about 100 of his people in one final desperate break for freedom. Soldiers from Fort Robinson chased after the already weak and starving band of men, women, and children, and on January 22, they attacked and killed at least 30 people, including several in the immediate family of Dull Knife.
Badly bloodied, most of the survivors returned to Fort Robinson and accepted their fate. Dull Knife managed to escape, and he eventually found shelter with Chief Red Cloud on the Sioux reservation in Nebraska. Permitted to remain on the reservation, Dull Knife died four years later, deeply bitter towards the Anglo-Americans he had once hoped to live with peacefully. The same year, the government finally allowed the Northern Cheyenne to move to a permanent reservation on the Tongue River in Montana near their traditional homeland. At last, Dull Knife's people had come home, but their great chief had not lived to join them.
Chief Dull Knife makes last fight for freedom
On this day, pursuing American soldiers badly beat Cheyenne Chief Dull Knife and his people as they make a desperate bid for freedom. In doing so, the soldiers effectively crushed the so-called Dull Knife Outbreak.
A leading chief of the Northern Cheyenne, Dull Knife (sometimes called Morning Star) had long urged peace with the powerful Anglo-Americans invading his homeland in the Powder River country of modern-day Wyoming and Montana. However, the 1864 massacre of more than 200 peaceful Cheyenne Indians by Colorado militiamen at Sand Creek, Colorado, led Dull Knife to question whether the Anglo-Americans could ever be trusted. He reluctantly led his people into a war he suspected they could never win. In 1876, many of Dull Knife's people fought along side Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull at their victorious battle at Little Bighorn, though the chief himself apparently did not participate.
During the winter after Little Bighorn, Dull Knife and his people camped along the headwaters of the Powder River in Wyoming, where they fell victim to the army's winter campaign for revenge. In November, General Ranald Mackenzie's expeditionary force discovered the village and attacked. Dull Knife lost many of his people, and along with several other Indian leaders, reluctantly surrendered the following spring.
In 1877, the military relocated Dull Knife and his followers far away from their Wyoming homeland to the large Indian Territory on the southern plains (in present-day Kansas and Oklahoma). No longer able to practice their traditional hunts, the band was largely dependent on meager government provisions. Beset by hunger, homesickness, and disease, Dull Knife and his people rebelled after one year. In September 1878, they joined another band to make an epic march back to their Wyoming homeland. Although Dull Knife publicly announced his peaceful intentions, the government regarded the fleeing Indians as renegades, and soldiers from bases scattered throughout the Plains attacked the Indians in an unsuccessful effort to turn them back.
Arriving at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, near their Wyoming homeland, Dull Knife and his people surrendered to the government in the hopes they would be allowed to stay in the territory. To their dismay, administrators instead threatened to hold the band captive at Fort Robinson until they would agree to return south to the Indian Territory. Unwilling to give up when his goal was so close, in early January, Dull Knife led about 100 of his people in one final desperate break for freedom. Soldiers from Fort Robinson chased after the already weak and starving band of men, women, and children, and on January 22, they attacked and killed at least 30 people, including several in the immediate family of Dull Knife.
Badly bloodied, most of the survivors returned to Fort Robinson and accepted their fate. Dull Knife managed to escape, and he eventually found shelter with Chief Red Cloud on the Sioux reservation in Nebraska. Permitted to remain on the reservation, Dull Knife died four years later, deeply bitter towards the Anglo-Americans he had once hoped to live with peacefully. The same year, the government finally allowed the Northern Cheyenne to move to a permanent reservation on the Tongue River in Montana near their traditional homeland. At last, Dull Knife's people had come home, but their great chief had not lived to join them.
Masacre
January 23, 1870
Soldiers massacre the wrong camp of Indians
Declaring he did not care whether or not it was the rebellious band of Indians he had been searching for, Colonel Eugene Baker orders his men to attack a sleeping camp of peaceful Blackfeet along the Marias River in northern Montana.
The previous fall, Malcolm Clarke, an influential Montana rancher, had accused a Blackfeet warrior named Owl Child of stealing some of his horses; he punished the proud brave with a brutal whipping. In retribution, Owl Child and several allies murdered Clarke and his son at their home near Helena, and then fled north to join a band of rebellious Blackfeet under the leadership of Mountain Chief. Outraged and frightened, Montanans demanded that Owl Child and his followers be punished, and the government responded by ordering the forces garrisoned under Major Eugene Baker at Fort Ellis (near modern-day Bozeman, Montana) to strike back.
Strengthening his cavalry units with two infantry groups from Fort Shaw near Great Falls, Baker led his troops out into sub-zero winter weather and headed north in search of Mountain Chief's band. Soldiers later reported that Baker drank a great deal throughout the march. On January 22, Baker discovered an Indian village along the Marias River, and, postponing his attack until the following morning, spent the evening drinking heavily.
At daybreak on the morning of January 23, 1870, Baker ordered his men to surround the camp in preparation for attack. As the darkness faded, Baker's scout, Joe Kipp, recognized that the painted designs on the buffalo-skin lodges were those of a peaceful band of Blackfeet led by Heavy Runner. Mountain Chief and Owl Child, Kipp quickly realized, must have gotten wind of the approaching soldiers and moved their winter camp elsewhere. Kipp rushed to tell Baker that they had the wrong Indians, but Baker reportedly replied, "That makes no difference, one band or another of them; they are all Piegans [Blackfeet] and we will attack them." Baker then ordered a sergeant to shoot Kipp if he tried to warn the sleeping camp of Blackfeet and gave the command to attack.
Baker's soldiers began blindly firing into the village, catching the peaceful Indians utterly unaware and defenseless. By the time the brutal attack was over, Baker and his men had, by the best estimate, murdered 37 men, 90 women, and 50 children. Knocking down lodges with frightened survivors inside, the soldiers set them on fire, burnt some of the Blackfeet alive, and then burned the band's meager supplies of food for the winter. Baker initially captured about 140 women and children as prisoners to take back to Fort Ellis, but when he discovered many were ill with smallpox, he abandoned them to face the deadly winter without food or shelter.
When word of the Baker Massacre (now known as the Marias Massacre) reached the east, many Americans were outraged. One angry congressman denounced Baker, saying "civilization shudders at horrors like this." Baker's superiors, however, supported his actions, as did the people of Montana, with one journalist calling Baker's critics "namby-pamby, sniffling old maid sentimentalists." Neither Baker nor his men faced a court martial or any other disciplinary actions. However, the public outrage over the massacre did derail the growing movement to transfer control of Indian affairs from the Department of Interior to the War Department--President Ulysses S. Grant decreed that henceforth all Indian agents would be civilians rather than soldiers.
Soldiers massacre the wrong camp of Indians
Declaring he did not care whether or not it was the rebellious band of Indians he had been searching for, Colonel Eugene Baker orders his men to attack a sleeping camp of peaceful Blackfeet along the Marias River in northern Montana.
The previous fall, Malcolm Clarke, an influential Montana rancher, had accused a Blackfeet warrior named Owl Child of stealing some of his horses; he punished the proud brave with a brutal whipping. In retribution, Owl Child and several allies murdered Clarke and his son at their home near Helena, and then fled north to join a band of rebellious Blackfeet under the leadership of Mountain Chief. Outraged and frightened, Montanans demanded that Owl Child and his followers be punished, and the government responded by ordering the forces garrisoned under Major Eugene Baker at Fort Ellis (near modern-day Bozeman, Montana) to strike back.
Strengthening his cavalry units with two infantry groups from Fort Shaw near Great Falls, Baker led his troops out into sub-zero winter weather and headed north in search of Mountain Chief's band. Soldiers later reported that Baker drank a great deal throughout the march. On January 22, Baker discovered an Indian village along the Marias River, and, postponing his attack until the following morning, spent the evening drinking heavily.
At daybreak on the morning of January 23, 1870, Baker ordered his men to surround the camp in preparation for attack. As the darkness faded, Baker's scout, Joe Kipp, recognized that the painted designs on the buffalo-skin lodges were those of a peaceful band of Blackfeet led by Heavy Runner. Mountain Chief and Owl Child, Kipp quickly realized, must have gotten wind of the approaching soldiers and moved their winter camp elsewhere. Kipp rushed to tell Baker that they had the wrong Indians, but Baker reportedly replied, "That makes no difference, one band or another of them; they are all Piegans [Blackfeet] and we will attack them." Baker then ordered a sergeant to shoot Kipp if he tried to warn the sleeping camp of Blackfeet and gave the command to attack.
Baker's soldiers began blindly firing into the village, catching the peaceful Indians utterly unaware and defenseless. By the time the brutal attack was over, Baker and his men had, by the best estimate, murdered 37 men, 90 women, and 50 children. Knocking down lodges with frightened survivors inside, the soldiers set them on fire, burnt some of the Blackfeet alive, and then burned the band's meager supplies of food for the winter. Baker initially captured about 140 women and children as prisoners to take back to Fort Ellis, but when he discovered many were ill with smallpox, he abandoned them to face the deadly winter without food or shelter.
When word of the Baker Massacre (now known as the Marias Massacre) reached the east, many Americans were outraged. One angry congressman denounced Baker, saying "civilization shudders at horrors like this." Baker's superiors, however, supported his actions, as did the people of Montana, with one journalist calling Baker's critics "namby-pamby, sniffling old maid sentimentalists." Neither Baker nor his men faced a court martial or any other disciplinary actions. However, the public outrage over the massacre did derail the growing movement to transfer control of Indian affairs from the Department of Interior to the War Department--President Ulysses S. Grant decreed that henceforth all Indian agents would be civilians rather than soldiers.
Sutter's Creek
January 24, 1848
Gold discovered at Sutter's Creek
A millwright named James Marshall discovers gold along the banks of Sutter's Creek in California, forever changing the course of history in the American West.
A tributary to the South Fork of the American River in the Sacramento Valley east of San Francisco, Sutter's Creek was named for a Swiss immigrant who came to Mexican California in 1839. John Augustus Sutter became a citizen of Mexico and won a grant of nearly 50,000 acres in the lush Sacramento Valley, where he hoped to create a thriving colony. He built a sturdy fort that became the center of his first town, New Helvetia, and purchased farming implements, livestock, and a cannon to defend his tiny empire. Copying the methods of the Spanish missions, Sutter induced the local Indians to do all the work on his farms and ranches, often treating them as little more than slaves. Workers who dared leave his empire without permission were often brought back by armed posses to face brutal whippings or even execution.
In the 1840s, Sutter's Fort became the first stopping-off point for overland Anglo-American emigrants coming to California to build farms and ranches. Though sworn to protect the Mexican province from falling under the control of the growing number of Americans, Sutter recognized that his future wealth and influence lay with these Anglo settlers. With the outbreak of the Mexican War in 1846, he threw his support to the Americans, who emerged victorious in the fall of 1847.
With the war over and California securely in the hands of the United States, Sutter hired the millwright James Marshall to build a sawmill along the South Fork of the American River in January 1848. In order to redirect the flow of water to the mill's waterwheel, Marshall supervised the excavation of a shallow millrace. On the morning of January 24, 1848, Marshall was looking over the freshly cut millrace when a sparkle of light in the dark earth caught his eye. Looking more closely, Marshall found that much of the millrace was speckled with what appeared to be small flakes of gold, and he rushed to tell Sutter. After an assayer confirmed that the flakes were indeed gold, Sutter quietly set about gathering up as much of the gold as he could, hoping to keep the discovery a secret. However, word soon leaked out and, within months, the largest gold rush in the world had begun.
Ironically, the California gold rush was a disaster for Sutter. Though it brought thousands of men to California, the prospectors had no interest in joining Sutter's despotic agricultural community. Instead, they overran Sutter's property, slaughtered his herds for food, and trampled his fields. By 1852, New Helvetia was ruined, and Sutter was nearly wiped out. Until his death in 1880, he spent his time unsuccessfully petitioning the government to compensate him for the losses he suffered as a result of the gold rush he unintentionally ignited.
Gold discovered at Sutter's Creek
A millwright named James Marshall discovers gold along the banks of Sutter's Creek in California, forever changing the course of history in the American West.
A tributary to the South Fork of the American River in the Sacramento Valley east of San Francisco, Sutter's Creek was named for a Swiss immigrant who came to Mexican California in 1839. John Augustus Sutter became a citizen of Mexico and won a grant of nearly 50,000 acres in the lush Sacramento Valley, where he hoped to create a thriving colony. He built a sturdy fort that became the center of his first town, New Helvetia, and purchased farming implements, livestock, and a cannon to defend his tiny empire. Copying the methods of the Spanish missions, Sutter induced the local Indians to do all the work on his farms and ranches, often treating them as little more than slaves. Workers who dared leave his empire without permission were often brought back by armed posses to face brutal whippings or even execution.
In the 1840s, Sutter's Fort became the first stopping-off point for overland Anglo-American emigrants coming to California to build farms and ranches. Though sworn to protect the Mexican province from falling under the control of the growing number of Americans, Sutter recognized that his future wealth and influence lay with these Anglo settlers. With the outbreak of the Mexican War in 1846, he threw his support to the Americans, who emerged victorious in the fall of 1847.
With the war over and California securely in the hands of the United States, Sutter hired the millwright James Marshall to build a sawmill along the South Fork of the American River in January 1848. In order to redirect the flow of water to the mill's waterwheel, Marshall supervised the excavation of a shallow millrace. On the morning of January 24, 1848, Marshall was looking over the freshly cut millrace when a sparkle of light in the dark earth caught his eye. Looking more closely, Marshall found that much of the millrace was speckled with what appeared to be small flakes of gold, and he rushed to tell Sutter. After an assayer confirmed that the flakes were indeed gold, Sutter quietly set about gathering up as much of the gold as he could, hoping to keep the discovery a secret. However, word soon leaked out and, within months, the largest gold rush in the world had begun.
Ironically, the California gold rush was a disaster for Sutter. Though it brought thousands of men to California, the prospectors had no interest in joining Sutter's despotic agricultural community. Instead, they overran Sutter's property, slaughtered his herds for food, and trampled his fields. By 1852, New Helvetia was ruined, and Sutter was nearly wiped out. Until his death in 1880, he spent his time unsuccessfully petitioning the government to compensate him for the losses he suffered as a result of the gold rush he unintentionally ignited.
UMW
January 25, 1890
United Mine Workers of America founded
On this day, a fleet of workers whose jobs were spread throughout the massive coal industry banded together to form the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). The UMWA rapidly became one of America's most potent, and at times most troubled, labor organizations. In its earliest incarnation, the coal union was a close affiliate of Samuel GompersÝs America Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.). The partnership not only helped legitimize the UMWA, but also shaped its politics, as GompersÝs A.F. of L. placed its conservative stamp on the new coal union. However, by 1935, UMWA chief John L. Lewis had grown disenchanted with the A.F. of L. and in the same year, Lewis and the UMWA joined forces with seven other unions to form the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The partnership didnÝt last long, at least for the coal workers: in 1942, the UMWA pulled up its stakes and withdrew from the CIO. On its own, the UMWA often fell prey to the anti-union tendencies of the federal government: in 1946 and 1948, Lewis and his union were found guilty of criminal contempt for failing to avert coal strikes. The UMWA persevered through the 1950s, but Lewis's retirement in 1960 badly rattled the union. By the late 1960s, the UMWA was riddled with corruption and internal struggles. The UMWA seemingly hit bottom in 1970, when reform minded president Joseph A. Yablonski, as well as his wife and daughter, were found murdered. However, a few years later, the situation turned even uglier when W.A. (Tony) Boyle, who had preceded Yablonski as the union's chief, was convicted of ordering the murders. The chaos continued until Richard Trumka's rise to the presidency in 1982: he cleansed some of the corruption and brought a modicum of stability back to the organization. In 1989, the UMWA ended its long stint as a lone wolf and joined forces with the AFL-CIO.
United Mine Workers of America founded
On this day, a fleet of workers whose jobs were spread throughout the massive coal industry banded together to form the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). The UMWA rapidly became one of America's most potent, and at times most troubled, labor organizations. In its earliest incarnation, the coal union was a close affiliate of Samuel GompersÝs America Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.). The partnership not only helped legitimize the UMWA, but also shaped its politics, as GompersÝs A.F. of L. placed its conservative stamp on the new coal union. However, by 1935, UMWA chief John L. Lewis had grown disenchanted with the A.F. of L. and in the same year, Lewis and the UMWA joined forces with seven other unions to form the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The partnership didnÝt last long, at least for the coal workers: in 1942, the UMWA pulled up its stakes and withdrew from the CIO. On its own, the UMWA often fell prey to the anti-union tendencies of the federal government: in 1946 and 1948, Lewis and his union were found guilty of criminal contempt for failing to avert coal strikes. The UMWA persevered through the 1950s, but Lewis's retirement in 1960 badly rattled the union. By the late 1960s, the UMWA was riddled with corruption and internal struggles. The UMWA seemingly hit bottom in 1970, when reform minded president Joseph A. Yablonski, as well as his wife and daughter, were found murdered. However, a few years later, the situation turned even uglier when W.A. (Tony) Boyle, who had preceded Yablonski as the union's chief, was convicted of ordering the murders. The chaos continued until Richard Trumka's rise to the presidency in 1982: he cleansed some of the corruption and brought a modicum of stability back to the organization. In 1989, the UMWA ended its long stint as a lone wolf and joined forces with the AFL-CIO.
Pat Garrett
January 25, 1869
Pat Garrett leaves Louisiana
Pat Garrett, both celebrated and despised as the man who killed Billy the Kid, abandons a life of luxury in Louisiana and heads west.
Born into a wealthy southern farming family in 1850, Patrick Floyd Garrett grew up in a world of privilege on a large Louisiana plantation. When his parents died after the Civil War, a bitter estate feud erupted among the children, and Garrett received almost nothing. Like many other rootless post-war Southerners, Garrett decided to try his luck in the promised land of the West, and in 1869, he left Louisiana for Texas, where he worked for several years as a cowboy and buffalo hunter.
After 10 years of drifting around Texas, in 1879 Garrett finally settled in Lincoln County, New Mexico, where he won election as sheriff the following year. A new sheriff could hardly have faced a more difficult time to try keeping the peace. Lincoln County was in the final days of a war between two powerful groups of ranchers and businessmen, both of which had hired former cowboys to become illegal soldiers and assassins. Although the war itself was winding down, some of these hired gunmen continued their crime sprees, including a young killer named Billy the Kid, who became Garrett's public enemy number one.
Following a failed attempt to ambush the Kid near Fort Sumner in December 1880, Garrett tracked him to a stone cabin near Stinking Springs, New Mexico, where he finally arrested the young gunslinger. A Lincoln County jury quickly found the Kid guilty of murder and sentenced him to hang, but while Garrett was out of town on April 28, 1881, Billy the Kid managed to kill two of his guards and escape.
Garrett renewed the manhunt, and learned that the Kid was still foolishly hanging around Fort Sumner in order to be near his girlfriend. On the night of July 14, Garrett unexpectedly encountered the Kid in a darkened room and shot him dead without warning. When news of Billy the Kid's death came out, some attacked Garrett for having violated the informal "code of the West," arguing the sheriff should have given the Kid a fair chance to defend himself. Garrett responded that he had merely done what was necessary to bring a vicious killer to justice, later writing, "I, at no time, contemplated taking any chances [with Billy the Kid] which I could avoid with caution or cunning."
With Billy the Kid dead and the war all but over, Garrett turned to quieter pursuits. His 1882 ghost-written book, The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, was not very authentic but it won Garrett enduring fame and cemented Billy the Kid's place in the pantheon of legendary western gunslingers. After several more stints as a sheriff and an unsuccessful attempt at horse ranching, Garret was shot to death by a disgruntled business associate in 1908.
Pat Garrett leaves Louisiana
Pat Garrett, both celebrated and despised as the man who killed Billy the Kid, abandons a life of luxury in Louisiana and heads west.
Born into a wealthy southern farming family in 1850, Patrick Floyd Garrett grew up in a world of privilege on a large Louisiana plantation. When his parents died after the Civil War, a bitter estate feud erupted among the children, and Garrett received almost nothing. Like many other rootless post-war Southerners, Garrett decided to try his luck in the promised land of the West, and in 1869, he left Louisiana for Texas, where he worked for several years as a cowboy and buffalo hunter.
After 10 years of drifting around Texas, in 1879 Garrett finally settled in Lincoln County, New Mexico, where he won election as sheriff the following year. A new sheriff could hardly have faced a more difficult time to try keeping the peace. Lincoln County was in the final days of a war between two powerful groups of ranchers and businessmen, both of which had hired former cowboys to become illegal soldiers and assassins. Although the war itself was winding down, some of these hired gunmen continued their crime sprees, including a young killer named Billy the Kid, who became Garrett's public enemy number one.
Following a failed attempt to ambush the Kid near Fort Sumner in December 1880, Garrett tracked him to a stone cabin near Stinking Springs, New Mexico, where he finally arrested the young gunslinger. A Lincoln County jury quickly found the Kid guilty of murder and sentenced him to hang, but while Garrett was out of town on April 28, 1881, Billy the Kid managed to kill two of his guards and escape.
Garrett renewed the manhunt, and learned that the Kid was still foolishly hanging around Fort Sumner in order to be near his girlfriend. On the night of July 14, Garrett unexpectedly encountered the Kid in a darkened room and shot him dead without warning. When news of Billy the Kid's death came out, some attacked Garrett for having violated the informal "code of the West," arguing the sheriff should have given the Kid a fair chance to defend himself. Garrett responded that he had merely done what was necessary to bring a vicious killer to justice, later writing, "I, at no time, contemplated taking any chances [with Billy the Kid] which I could avoid with caution or cunning."
With Billy the Kid dead and the war all but over, Garrett turned to quieter pursuits. His 1882 ghost-written book, The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, was not very authentic but it won Garrett enduring fame and cemented Billy the Kid's place in the pantheon of legendary western gunslingers. After several more stints as a sheriff and an unsuccessful attempt at horse ranching, Garret was shot to death by a disgruntled business associate in 1908.
Pinkertons
January 26, 1875
Pinkertons maim Frank and Jesse James' mother
Mistakenly believing Frank and Jesse James are hiding out at their family home, a gang of men--likely led by Pinkerton detectives--mount a raid that leaves the outlaws' mother permanently maimed and their nine-year-old half-brother dead.
The Chicago-based Pinkerton Detective Agency had been pursuing the James brothers and their gang since 1874, when several big railroad companies first hired the Pinkertons to stop the outlaws. Responsible for a string of bank and train robberies, the James brothers were already famous for their daring style, and some even viewed the men as modern-day Robin Hoods. The Pinkertons, though, had no such romantic illusions about the outlaws. One of their best operatives working on the case, John W. Witcher, had been found dead from a bullet wound to the stomach, with his head, shoulder, and face eaten away by wild hogs. The Pinkertons were convinced Jesse James and another gang member had murdered Witcher, and they were determined to stop the outlaws.
In late 1874, the Pinkertons learned that Jesse and Frank James periodically returned to their old family farm in Clay County, Missouri, to visit with their mother and other family. On the night of January 26, 1875, a gang of men surrounded the James farm in the mistaken belief that the James brothers were inside. In an attempt to flush the outlaws out of the house, the gang threw several flares through the windows. Unexpectedly, one of the flares exploded instantly, killing Frank and Jesse's young half-brother and blowing away their mother's arm. Though the identity of the gang members has never been determined with absolute certainty, contemporary admirers of the James Brothers and modern-day historians agree that the Pinkertons were probably responsible. Regardless, the incident gave credence to the popular view that the men were innocent victims of the powerful railroads that had hired the Pinkertons to wipe them out.
After the attack on the James farm, the Pinkertons appear to have backed off from their more aggressive tactics. One of his own gang members, not a Pinkerton operative, killed Jesse James for a bounty in 1882. Frank James surrendered shortly thereafter, but no jury would convict him, and he remained a free and law-abiding citizen until his death in 1915. The grave of Jesse, who was buried in the front yard of his mother's farm, became a popular tourist attraction. For many years, tourists could pay Mrs. James to visit the grave and listen to her tearful and melodramatic account of how venal Pinkertons and evil railroad barons had so unjustly persecuted her good and utterly innocent sons.
Pinkertons maim Frank and Jesse James' mother
Mistakenly believing Frank and Jesse James are hiding out at their family home, a gang of men--likely led by Pinkerton detectives--mount a raid that leaves the outlaws' mother permanently maimed and their nine-year-old half-brother dead.
The Chicago-based Pinkerton Detective Agency had been pursuing the James brothers and their gang since 1874, when several big railroad companies first hired the Pinkertons to stop the outlaws. Responsible for a string of bank and train robberies, the James brothers were already famous for their daring style, and some even viewed the men as modern-day Robin Hoods. The Pinkertons, though, had no such romantic illusions about the outlaws. One of their best operatives working on the case, John W. Witcher, had been found dead from a bullet wound to the stomach, with his head, shoulder, and face eaten away by wild hogs. The Pinkertons were convinced Jesse James and another gang member had murdered Witcher, and they were determined to stop the outlaws.
In late 1874, the Pinkertons learned that Jesse and Frank James periodically returned to their old family farm in Clay County, Missouri, to visit with their mother and other family. On the night of January 26, 1875, a gang of men surrounded the James farm in the mistaken belief that the James brothers were inside. In an attempt to flush the outlaws out of the house, the gang threw several flares through the windows. Unexpectedly, one of the flares exploded instantly, killing Frank and Jesse's young half-brother and blowing away their mother's arm. Though the identity of the gang members has never been determined with absolute certainty, contemporary admirers of the James Brothers and modern-day historians agree that the Pinkertons were probably responsible. Regardless, the incident gave credence to the popular view that the men were innocent victims of the powerful railroads that had hired the Pinkertons to wipe them out.
After the attack on the James farm, the Pinkertons appear to have backed off from their more aggressive tactics. One of his own gang members, not a Pinkerton operative, killed Jesse James for a bounty in 1882. Frank James surrendered shortly thereafter, but no jury would convict him, and he remained a free and law-abiding citizen until his death in 1915. The grave of Jesse, who was buried in the front yard of his mother's farm, became a popular tourist attraction. For many years, tourists could pay Mrs. James to visit the grave and listen to her tearful and melodramatic account of how venal Pinkertons and evil railroad barons had so unjustly persecuted her good and utterly innocent sons.
National Geographic Society
January 27: General Interest
1888 : National Geographic Society founded
On January 27, 1888, the National Geographic Society is founded in
Washington, D.C., for "the increase and diffusion of geographical
knowledge."
The 33 men who originally met and formed the National Geographic
Society were a diverse group of geographers, explorers, teachers,
lawyers, cartographers, military officers and financiers. All shared
an interest in scientific and geographical knowledge, as well as an
opinion that in a time of discovery, invention, change and mass
communication, Americans were becoming more curious about the world
around them. With this in mind, the men drafted a constitution and
elected as the Society's president a lawyer and philanthropist named
Gardiner Greene Hubbard. Neither a scientist nor a geographer, Hubbard
represented the Society's desire to reach out to the layman.
Nine months after its inception, the Society published its first issue
of National Geographic magazine. Readership did not grow, however,
until Gilbert H. Grosvenor took over as editor in 1899. In only a few
years, Grosvenor boosted circulation from 1,000 to 2 million by
discarding the magazine's format of short, overly technical articles
for articles of general interest accompanied by photographs. National
Geographic quickly became known for its stunning and pioneering
photography, being the first to print natural-color photos of sky, sea
and the North and South Poles.
The Society used its revenues from the magazine to sponsor expeditions
and research projects that furthered humanity's understanding of
natural phenomena. In this role, the National Geographic Society has
been instrumental in making possible some of the great achievements in
exploration and science. To date, it has given out more than 1,400
grants, funding that helped Robert Peary journey to the North Pole,
Richard Byrd fly over the South Pole, Jacques Cousteau delve into the
sea and Jane Goodall observe wild chimpanzees, among many other
projects.
Today, the National Geographic Society is one of the world's largest
non-profit scientific and educational institutions. National
Geographic continues to sell as a glossy monthly, with a circulation
of around 9 million. The Society also sees itself as a guardian of the
planet's natural resources, and in this capacity, focuses on ways to
broaden its reach and educate its readers about the unique
relationship that humans have with the earth.
1888 : National Geographic Society founded
On January 27, 1888, the National Geographic Society is founded in
Washington, D.C., for "the increase and diffusion of geographical
knowledge."
The 33 men who originally met and formed the National Geographic
Society were a diverse group of geographers, explorers, teachers,
lawyers, cartographers, military officers and financiers. All shared
an interest in scientific and geographical knowledge, as well as an
opinion that in a time of discovery, invention, change and mass
communication, Americans were becoming more curious about the world
around them. With this in mind, the men drafted a constitution and
elected as the Society's president a lawyer and philanthropist named
Gardiner Greene Hubbard. Neither a scientist nor a geographer, Hubbard
represented the Society's desire to reach out to the layman.
Nine months after its inception, the Society published its first issue
of National Geographic magazine. Readership did not grow, however,
until Gilbert H. Grosvenor took over as editor in 1899. In only a few
years, Grosvenor boosted circulation from 1,000 to 2 million by
discarding the magazine's format of short, overly technical articles
for articles of general interest accompanied by photographs. National
Geographic quickly became known for its stunning and pioneering
photography, being the first to print natural-color photos of sky, sea
and the North and South Poles.
The Society used its revenues from the magazine to sponsor expeditions
and research projects that furthered humanity's understanding of
natural phenomena. In this role, the National Geographic Society has
been instrumental in making possible some of the great achievements in
exploration and science. To date, it has given out more than 1,400
grants, funding that helped Robert Peary journey to the North Pole,
Richard Byrd fly over the South Pole, Jacques Cousteau delve into the
sea and Jane Goodall observe wild chimpanzees, among many other
projects.
Today, the National Geographic Society is one of the world's largest
non-profit scientific and educational institutions. National
Geographic continues to sell as a glossy monthly, with a circulation
of around 9 million. The Society also sees itself as a guardian of the
planet's natural resources, and in this capacity, focuses on ways to
broaden its reach and educate its readers about the unique
relationship that humans have with the earth.
Mormons
February 1, 1885
Mormon president goes underground
John Taylor, the president of the Mormon Church, goes "underground" to avoid arrest and continue resisting federal demands for reforms within the community of Latter-day Saints.
A former Methodist minister, Taylor converted to Mormonism in 1836, not long after Joseph Smith founded the religion in New York. Taylor quickly became one of Smith's closest confidants and supporters, and he remained loyal to the controversial prophet and his church through years of persecution. When Smith was assassinated in Illinois in 1844 by an angry mob, Taylor was by his side and suffered several wounds during the attack. He escaped serious injury because a heavy pocket watch stopped a potentially fatal bullet.
After Smith's death, Taylor became an equally loyal follower of the new church president, Brigham Young. Taylor led one group of Mormon emigrants westward to Salt Lake City where Young was building a thriving theocratic empire. In Utah, he continued to ascend in the church hierarchy, and when Young died in 1877, Taylor took over leadership of the church.
Taylor's tenure as the leader of the Latter-day Saints was marked by growing tensions between the church and the federal government. The Mormon practice of polygamy became a lightning rod for federal criticism, yet this issue reflected a larger struggle regarding the church's power over its members and the future state of Utah. Although the Mormons treasured the freedom to develop their new society free from outside interference, they also sought the benefits of being a part of the United States. Inevitably, these two goals conflicted. In 1851, the Mormons won territorial status for Utah, but the government remained suspicious of Taylor's theocratic society. To the federal government, the Mormon political and economic domination of the region violated the separation of church and state. By attacking polygamy, federal authorities hoped they could also undermine the secular power of the church.
Taylor strongly opposed the federal attempts to undermine the Mormon theocracy. He believed the practice of polygamy was divinely ordained and state or federal anti-polygamy laws should not be allowed to prevail. Determined to assert the primacy of national secular law over the Mormon theocracy, U.S. marshals began arresting Mormons for practicing polygamy. Vulnerable to arrest themselves, Taylor and his leading administrators went underground on February 1, 1885. For the next two-and-a-half years, Taylor conducted church business from a series of secret hideouts in Salt Lake City.
Taylor's underground administration managed to avoid arrest, but the federal actions were steadily undermining church power and influence. Grudgingly, in 1887, Taylor assented to one concession: making polygamy illegal in a proposed Utah state constitution. Congress found Taylor's proposed compromise inadequate and rejected the petition for statehood. Taylor died that same year, still an exile in his own home. For several more years, the Mormon leadership continued the fight, but federal pressure eventually became so great that in 1890 Taylor's successor publicly rejected polygamy. The theocratic government of the Latter-day Saints had been tamed, and Utah achieved statehood in 1896.
Mormon president goes underground
John Taylor, the president of the Mormon Church, goes "underground" to avoid arrest and continue resisting federal demands for reforms within the community of Latter-day Saints.
A former Methodist minister, Taylor converted to Mormonism in 1836, not long after Joseph Smith founded the religion in New York. Taylor quickly became one of Smith's closest confidants and supporters, and he remained loyal to the controversial prophet and his church through years of persecution. When Smith was assassinated in Illinois in 1844 by an angry mob, Taylor was by his side and suffered several wounds during the attack. He escaped serious injury because a heavy pocket watch stopped a potentially fatal bullet.
After Smith's death, Taylor became an equally loyal follower of the new church president, Brigham Young. Taylor led one group of Mormon emigrants westward to Salt Lake City where Young was building a thriving theocratic empire. In Utah, he continued to ascend in the church hierarchy, and when Young died in 1877, Taylor took over leadership of the church.
Taylor's tenure as the leader of the Latter-day Saints was marked by growing tensions between the church and the federal government. The Mormon practice of polygamy became a lightning rod for federal criticism, yet this issue reflected a larger struggle regarding the church's power over its members and the future state of Utah. Although the Mormons treasured the freedom to develop their new society free from outside interference, they also sought the benefits of being a part of the United States. Inevitably, these two goals conflicted. In 1851, the Mormons won territorial status for Utah, but the government remained suspicious of Taylor's theocratic society. To the federal government, the Mormon political and economic domination of the region violated the separation of church and state. By attacking polygamy, federal authorities hoped they could also undermine the secular power of the church.
Taylor strongly opposed the federal attempts to undermine the Mormon theocracy. He believed the practice of polygamy was divinely ordained and state or federal anti-polygamy laws should not be allowed to prevail. Determined to assert the primacy of national secular law over the Mormon theocracy, U.S. marshals began arresting Mormons for practicing polygamy. Vulnerable to arrest themselves, Taylor and his leading administrators went underground on February 1, 1885. For the next two-and-a-half years, Taylor conducted church business from a series of secret hideouts in Salt Lake City.
Taylor's underground administration managed to avoid arrest, but the federal actions were steadily undermining church power and influence. Grudgingly, in 1887, Taylor assented to one concession: making polygamy illegal in a proposed Utah state constitution. Congress found Taylor's proposed compromise inadequate and rejected the petition for statehood. Taylor died that same year, still an exile in his own home. For several more years, the Mormon leadership continued the fight, but federal pressure eventually became so great that in 1890 Taylor's successor publicly rejected polygamy. The theocratic government of the Latter-day Saints had been tamed, and Utah achieved statehood in 1896.
OED
February 1: General Interest
1884 : Oxford Dictionary debuts
On this day in 1884, the first portion, or fascicle, of the Oxford
English Dictionary (OED), considered the most comprehensive and
accurate dictionary of the English language, is published. Today, the
OED is the definitive authority on the meaning, pronunciation and
history of over half a million words, past and present
Plans for the dictionary began in 1857 when members of London's
Philological Society, who believed there were no up-to-date,
error-free English dictionaries available, decided to produce one that
would cover all vocabulary from the Anglo-Saxon period (1150 A.D.) to
the present. Conceived of as a four-volume, 6,400-page work, it was
estimated the project would take 10 years to finish. In fact, it took
over 40 years until the 125th and final fascicle was published in
April 1928 and the full dictionary was complete--at over 400,000 words
and phrases in 10 volumes--and published under the title A New English
Dictionary on Historical Principles.
Unlike most English dictionaries, which only list present-day common
meanings, the OED provides a detailed chronological history for every
word and phrase, citing quotations from a wide range of sources,
including classic literature and cookbooks. The OED is famous for its
lengthy cross-references and etymologies. The verb "set" merits the
OED's longest entry, at approximately 60,000 words and detailing over
430 uses.
No sooner was the OED finished than editors began updating it. A
supplement, containing new entries and revisions, was published in
1933 and the original dictionary was reprinted in 12 volumes and
officially renamed the Oxford English Dictionary.
Between 1972 and 1986, an updated 4-volume supplement was published,
with new terms from the continually evolving English language plus
more words and phrases from North America, Australia, the Caribbean,
New Zealand, South Africa and South Asia.
In 1984, Oxford University Press embarked on a five-year,
multi-million-dollar project to create an electronic version of the
dictionary. The effort required 120 people just to type the pages from
the print edition and 50 proofreaders to check their work. In 1992, a
CD-ROM version of the dictionary was released, making it much easier
to search and retrieve information.
Today, the dictionary's second edition is available online to
subscribers and is updated quarterly with over 1,000 new entries and
revisions. At a whopping 20 volumes weighing over 137 pounds, it would
reportedly take one person 120 years to type all 59 million words in
the OED.
1884 : Oxford Dictionary debuts
On this day in 1884, the first portion, or fascicle, of the Oxford
English Dictionary (OED), considered the most comprehensive and
accurate dictionary of the English language, is published. Today, the
OED is the definitive authority on the meaning, pronunciation and
history of over half a million words, past and present
Plans for the dictionary began in 1857 when members of London's
Philological Society, who believed there were no up-to-date,
error-free English dictionaries available, decided to produce one that
would cover all vocabulary from the Anglo-Saxon period (1150 A.D.) to
the present. Conceived of as a four-volume, 6,400-page work, it was
estimated the project would take 10 years to finish. In fact, it took
over 40 years until the 125th and final fascicle was published in
April 1928 and the full dictionary was complete--at over 400,000 words
and phrases in 10 volumes--and published under the title A New English
Dictionary on Historical Principles.
Unlike most English dictionaries, which only list present-day common
meanings, the OED provides a detailed chronological history for every
word and phrase, citing quotations from a wide range of sources,
including classic literature and cookbooks. The OED is famous for its
lengthy cross-references and etymologies. The verb "set" merits the
OED's longest entry, at approximately 60,000 words and detailing over
430 uses.
No sooner was the OED finished than editors began updating it. A
supplement, containing new entries and revisions, was published in
1933 and the original dictionary was reprinted in 12 volumes and
officially renamed the Oxford English Dictionary.
Between 1972 and 1986, an updated 4-volume supplement was published,
with new terms from the continually evolving English language plus
more words and phrases from North America, Australia, the Caribbean,
New Zealand, South Africa and South Asia.
In 1984, Oxford University Press embarked on a five-year,
multi-million-dollar project to create an electronic version of the
dictionary. The effort required 120 people just to type the pages from
the print edition and 50 proofreaders to check their work. In 1992, a
CD-ROM version of the dictionary was released, making it much easier
to search and retrieve information.
Today, the dictionary's second edition is available online to
subscribers and is updated quarterly with over 1,000 new entries and
revisions. At a whopping 20 volumes weighing over 137 pounds, it would
reportedly take one person 120 years to type all 59 million words in
the OED.
baseball
February 2, 1876
National League of baseball is founded
On February 2, 1876, the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, which comes to be more commonly known as the National League (NL), is formed. The American League (AL) was established in 1901 and in 1903, the first World Series was held.
The first official game of baseball in the United States took place in June 1846 in Hoboken, New Jersey. In 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings became America’s first professional baseball club. In 1871, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players was established as the sport’s first “major league.” Five years later, in 1876, Chicago businessman William Hulbert formed the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs to replace the National Association, which he believed was mismanaged and corrupt. The National League had eight original members: the Boston Red Stockings (now the Atlanta Braves), Chicago White Stockings (now the Chicago Cubs), Cincinnati Red Stockings, Hartford Dark Blues, Louisville Grays, Mutual of New York, Philadelphia Athletics and the St. Louis Brown Stockings.
In 1901, the National League’s rival, the American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, was founded. Starting in 1903, the best team from each league began competing against each other in the World Series. Various teams switched in and out of the National League over the years, but it remained an eight-team league for many decades until 1962, when the New York Mets and Houston Colt .45s (later renamed the Houston Astros) joined the league. In 1969, two more teams were added: the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals). Also that year, the league was split into an East and West division of six teams each. The Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins became part of the National League in 1993, followed by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1998. In 1994, the league was reorganized to include a Central division, along with the East and West groups.
In 1997, Major League Baseball introduced inter-league play, in which each NL team played a series of regular-season games against AL teams of the same division. (In 2002, the rules were changed to allow AL/NL teams from non-corresponding divisions to compete against each other.) However, one major difference between the two leagues remains: the American League’s 1973 adoption of the designated hitter rule allowed teams to substitute another hitter for the pitcher, who generally hit poorly, in the lineup. As a result, teams in the American League typically score more runs than those in the National League, making, some fans argue, for a more exciting game.
Between 1903 and 2007, AL teams were the winners in 61 of the 103 World Series played. The American League’s New York Yankees have won more World Series championships--26--than any other team in baseball.
National League of baseball is founded
On February 2, 1876, the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, which comes to be more commonly known as the National League (NL), is formed. The American League (AL) was established in 1901 and in 1903, the first World Series was held.
The first official game of baseball in the United States took place in June 1846 in Hoboken, New Jersey. In 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings became America’s first professional baseball club. In 1871, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players was established as the sport’s first “major league.” Five years later, in 1876, Chicago businessman William Hulbert formed the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs to replace the National Association, which he believed was mismanaged and corrupt. The National League had eight original members: the Boston Red Stockings (now the Atlanta Braves), Chicago White Stockings (now the Chicago Cubs), Cincinnati Red Stockings, Hartford Dark Blues, Louisville Grays, Mutual of New York, Philadelphia Athletics and the St. Louis Brown Stockings.
In 1901, the National League’s rival, the American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, was founded. Starting in 1903, the best team from each league began competing against each other in the World Series. Various teams switched in and out of the National League over the years, but it remained an eight-team league for many decades until 1962, when the New York Mets and Houston Colt .45s (later renamed the Houston Astros) joined the league. In 1969, two more teams were added: the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals). Also that year, the league was split into an East and West division of six teams each. The Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins became part of the National League in 1993, followed by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1998. In 1994, the league was reorganized to include a Central division, along with the East and West groups.
In 1997, Major League Baseball introduced inter-league play, in which each NL team played a series of regular-season games against AL teams of the same division. (In 2002, the rules were changed to allow AL/NL teams from non-corresponding divisions to compete against each other.) However, one major difference between the two leagues remains: the American League’s 1973 adoption of the designated hitter rule allowed teams to substitute another hitter for the pitcher, who generally hit poorly, in the lineup. As a result, teams in the American League typically score more runs than those in the National League, making, some fans argue, for a more exciting game.
Between 1903 and 2007, AL teams were the winners in 61 of the 103 World Series played. The American League’s New York Yankees have won more World Series championships--26--than any other team in baseball.
a collection of "this day in history"
February 2, 1880
First electric streetlight installed
The first electric streetlight was installed in Wabash, Indiana. The city paid the Brush Electric Light Company of Cleveland, Ohio, $100 to install a light on the top of the courthouse. A month later the city commissioned four more lights to be installed. Residents of Wabash became the first Americans to wear their sunglasses at night.
February 1, 1898
First auto insurance policy is issued
The Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut, extended coverage to an automobile owner, making them the first company to issue an automobile insurance policy to an individual. Dr. Truman J. Martin of Buffalo, New York, paid a premium of $11.25 for the policy that covered $5,000 to $10,000 of liability. In 1925, Massachusetts became the first state to mandate automobile insurance, "requiring owners of certain motor vehicles and trailers to furnish security for their civil liabilities." Today, auto insurance is a fact of life for American drivers as nearly every state requires some insurance for the operator of a motor vehicle. In a country where the driver's license serves as the primary form of identification, the challenge of selecting a coverage policy and paying the car insurance premium has become a rite of passage for many young Americans.
February 1, 1893
First movie studio built
On this day in 1893, Thomas Alva Edison finishes the first movie studio on his property in West Orange, N.J. The studio, a frame cabin covered with black roofing paper, was built on a pivot so it could be turned to face the sunlight throughout the day. Edison spent $638 building the studio, which he called a "revolving photographic building."
January 29, 1886
Benz gets patent
Karl Benz received a patent for his "Motorwagen" on this day. The Motorwagen, a three-wheeled automobile powered by an internal-combustion engine, was the first practical internal-combustion vehicle ever constructed. It made its first test run in early 1885. Benz completed his first four-wheeled motorcar in 1893, and went on to build many successful racing cars. In 1926, his company, Benz and Co., merged with Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft to form Daimler-Benz, an industry giant that has remained a formidable auto maker to the present day.
January 24, 1860
New engine runs on fire, not water
French inventor Etienne Lenoir was issued a patent for the first successful internal-combustion engine. Lenoir's engine was a converted steam engine that burned a mixture of coal gas and air. Its two-stroke action was simple but reliable--many of Lenoir's engines were still working after 20 years of use. His first engines powered simple machines like pumps and bellows. However, in 1862, Lenoir built his first automobile powered by an internal-combustion engine--a vehicle capable of making a six-mile trip in two to three hours. It wasn't a practical vehicle, but it was the beginning of the automobile industry.
January 23, 1849
First woman M.D.
Elizabeth Blackwell is granted a medical degree from Geneva College in New York, becoming the first female to be officially recognized as a physician in U.S. history.
Blackwell, born in Bristol, England, came to the United States in her youth and attended the medical faculty of Geneva College, now known as Hobart College. In 1849, she graduated with the highest grades in her class and was granted an M.D. In 1857, after several years of private practice, she founded the New York Infirmary for Women and Children with her sister, Emily Blackwell, also a doctor. In 1868, the institution was expanded to include a women's college for the training of nurses and doctors, the first of its kind in America. The next year, Blackwell returned to England, where in 1875 she became professor of gynecology at the London School of Medicine for Women, a medical discipline she had helped to establish.
January 20, 1870
First female brokerage firm opens
In 1870, Victoria Woodhull and her sister Tennessee Claflin opened the doors of Woodhull, Claflin & Co., the nation's first brokerage firm run solely by women. The firm, which represented an early victory for equal rights in the often-chauvinistic world of Wall Street, was in part a product of the sisters' friendship with rail baron Cornelius Vanderbilt. All three were fiercely interested in spirituality--as children, Tennessee and Victoria performed psychic demonstrations in a traveling medicine show--and Vanderbilt willingly used his money and influence to help the sisters. The firm proved to be a success, but Victoria and Tennessee's achievements were hardly restricted to Wall Street. In 1870, the sisters established a publication, Woodhull and Claflin's Weekly, which became a pulpit for their ardent beliefs in free love and women's suffrage and also served as the first venue for the English translation of the Communist Manifesto. Though her rejection of the tenets of conventional marriage raised the ire of some suffragettes, Victoria became a leading light in the women's rights movement. In 1872, the Equal Rights Party, a dissident branch of the National Woman Suffrage Association, even nominated Woodhull as their candidate for the president of the nation. Despite her stated aversion to the principles of marriage, Victoria wedded several times; later in life she headed to England and married an affluent British merchant, as did her sister. Tennessee died in 1923, while Victoria passed away a few years later, in 1927.
In 1866, Charles Elmer Hires invented root beer.
Throughout the 1870s and 1880s, the city of government of Cincinnati was known for corruption. Politicians liberally utilized the spoils system, appointing family members, friends, and supporters to city offices. Jury tampering also was purportedly rampant. In March 1884, William Berner was tried for the murder of his employer. The jury found Berner guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter. Many city residents were outraged, believing that jury tampering had taken place to assure Berner a lighter sentence. In protest of the reduced sentence, prominent Cincinnati residents organized a protest meeting. The meeting quickly evolved into a riot. Locals were infuriated with the political corruption and jury tampering occurring in their city. The rioters, who eventually numbered more than ten thousand people, marched on the courthouse and set it on fire, completely destroying the structure. The building, constructed in 1853, had served as the Hamilton County courthouse for more than thirty years. The riot lasted for three days. It took Ohio National Guard soldiers, some of whom were armed with Gatling guns, to quell the disturbance. Approximately fifty residents died in the riot, and another two hundred were injured. (Image Details -- Interior view of the Court of Common Pleas in the Hamilton County Courthouse after it was damaged by fire, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1884. The fire was started during a riot sparked by public outrage over the outcome of a murder trial.)
January 14, 1875 -- Debate continues over greenbacks -- By 1875, the United States was involved in a roiling debate over greenbacks, the paper currency issued during the Civil War. So-called "soft money" supporters had taken up the cause of the greenback and successfully pushed for the paper notes to stay in circulation following the close of the war. However, "hard money" forces in the House fired back, and on January 14, they engineered the passage of the Specie Resumption Act, a legislative salvo against paper currency. The bill directed the Treasury to begin exchanging legal tender for gold on January 1, 1879; it also mandated that the number of greenbacks in circulation be trimmed down to $300 million. Treasury Secretary John Sherman stocked up on gold and, by the dawn of 1879, the specie exchange program was up and running. But, at the same time, greenbacks had become just as valuable as gold on the exchange market; the public was reluctant to swap their paper currency for coinage and the exchange program turned out to be a flop.
The Chattanooga Police Department in 1884. In the front row, left to right, were French Lawson, First Lieutenant and Assistant Chief W. P. “Dock” Mitchell (a future chief), Chief of Police James A. Allen, Second Lieutenant and Assistant Chief J. P. Kilgore (a future chief), Tom Russell, and “Dasher” Bates. Left to right in the second row were John Shelow, Tom J. Howard, Caleb Smith, Frank Duncan, W. F. Springer, John Usery, and Jenkins. The back row from left to right were an unidentified officer, John Hall, John Hankins, Cicero Rape, and Abe Litz. Uniforms were double breasted with brass buttons and a plain pinched shield breast badge. The wide brim hats had no insignia. Chief of Police James Allen was the first to hold the title Chief of Police. He was appointed to the position on April 13, 1883, and served for twelve years. Allen had previously served as a lieutenant on the force.
In 1958, a hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb was lost by the US Air Force off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, never to be recovered.
First electric streetlight installed
The first electric streetlight was installed in Wabash, Indiana. The city paid the Brush Electric Light Company of Cleveland, Ohio, $100 to install a light on the top of the courthouse. A month later the city commissioned four more lights to be installed. Residents of Wabash became the first Americans to wear their sunglasses at night.
February 1, 1898
First auto insurance policy is issued
The Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut, extended coverage to an automobile owner, making them the first company to issue an automobile insurance policy to an individual. Dr. Truman J. Martin of Buffalo, New York, paid a premium of $11.25 for the policy that covered $5,000 to $10,000 of liability. In 1925, Massachusetts became the first state to mandate automobile insurance, "requiring owners of certain motor vehicles and trailers to furnish security for their civil liabilities." Today, auto insurance is a fact of life for American drivers as nearly every state requires some insurance for the operator of a motor vehicle. In a country where the driver's license serves as the primary form of identification, the challenge of selecting a coverage policy and paying the car insurance premium has become a rite of passage for many young Americans.
February 1, 1893
First movie studio built
On this day in 1893, Thomas Alva Edison finishes the first movie studio on his property in West Orange, N.J. The studio, a frame cabin covered with black roofing paper, was built on a pivot so it could be turned to face the sunlight throughout the day. Edison spent $638 building the studio, which he called a "revolving photographic building."
January 29, 1886
Benz gets patent
Karl Benz received a patent for his "Motorwagen" on this day. The Motorwagen, a three-wheeled automobile powered by an internal-combustion engine, was the first practical internal-combustion vehicle ever constructed. It made its first test run in early 1885. Benz completed his first four-wheeled motorcar in 1893, and went on to build many successful racing cars. In 1926, his company, Benz and Co., merged with Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft to form Daimler-Benz, an industry giant that has remained a formidable auto maker to the present day.
January 24, 1860
New engine runs on fire, not water
French inventor Etienne Lenoir was issued a patent for the first successful internal-combustion engine. Lenoir's engine was a converted steam engine that burned a mixture of coal gas and air. Its two-stroke action was simple but reliable--many of Lenoir's engines were still working after 20 years of use. His first engines powered simple machines like pumps and bellows. However, in 1862, Lenoir built his first automobile powered by an internal-combustion engine--a vehicle capable of making a six-mile trip in two to three hours. It wasn't a practical vehicle, but it was the beginning of the automobile industry.
January 23, 1849
First woman M.D.
Elizabeth Blackwell is granted a medical degree from Geneva College in New York, becoming the first female to be officially recognized as a physician in U.S. history.
Blackwell, born in Bristol, England, came to the United States in her youth and attended the medical faculty of Geneva College, now known as Hobart College. In 1849, she graduated with the highest grades in her class and was granted an M.D. In 1857, after several years of private practice, she founded the New York Infirmary for Women and Children with her sister, Emily Blackwell, also a doctor. In 1868, the institution was expanded to include a women's college for the training of nurses and doctors, the first of its kind in America. The next year, Blackwell returned to England, where in 1875 she became professor of gynecology at the London School of Medicine for Women, a medical discipline she had helped to establish.
January 20, 1870
First female brokerage firm opens
In 1870, Victoria Woodhull and her sister Tennessee Claflin opened the doors of Woodhull, Claflin & Co., the nation's first brokerage firm run solely by women. The firm, which represented an early victory for equal rights in the often-chauvinistic world of Wall Street, was in part a product of the sisters' friendship with rail baron Cornelius Vanderbilt. All three were fiercely interested in spirituality--as children, Tennessee and Victoria performed psychic demonstrations in a traveling medicine show--and Vanderbilt willingly used his money and influence to help the sisters. The firm proved to be a success, but Victoria and Tennessee's achievements were hardly restricted to Wall Street. In 1870, the sisters established a publication, Woodhull and Claflin's Weekly, which became a pulpit for their ardent beliefs in free love and women's suffrage and also served as the first venue for the English translation of the Communist Manifesto. Though her rejection of the tenets of conventional marriage raised the ire of some suffragettes, Victoria became a leading light in the women's rights movement. In 1872, the Equal Rights Party, a dissident branch of the National Woman Suffrage Association, even nominated Woodhull as their candidate for the president of the nation. Despite her stated aversion to the principles of marriage, Victoria wedded several times; later in life she headed to England and married an affluent British merchant, as did her sister. Tennessee died in 1923, while Victoria passed away a few years later, in 1927.
In 1866, Charles Elmer Hires invented root beer.
Throughout the 1870s and 1880s, the city of government of Cincinnati was known for corruption. Politicians liberally utilized the spoils system, appointing family members, friends, and supporters to city offices. Jury tampering also was purportedly rampant. In March 1884, William Berner was tried for the murder of his employer. The jury found Berner guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter. Many city residents were outraged, believing that jury tampering had taken place to assure Berner a lighter sentence. In protest of the reduced sentence, prominent Cincinnati residents organized a protest meeting. The meeting quickly evolved into a riot. Locals were infuriated with the political corruption and jury tampering occurring in their city. The rioters, who eventually numbered more than ten thousand people, marched on the courthouse and set it on fire, completely destroying the structure. The building, constructed in 1853, had served as the Hamilton County courthouse for more than thirty years. The riot lasted for three days. It took Ohio National Guard soldiers, some of whom were armed with Gatling guns, to quell the disturbance. Approximately fifty residents died in the riot, and another two hundred were injured. (Image Details -- Interior view of the Court of Common Pleas in the Hamilton County Courthouse after it was damaged by fire, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1884. The fire was started during a riot sparked by public outrage over the outcome of a murder trial.)
January 14, 1875 -- Debate continues over greenbacks -- By 1875, the United States was involved in a roiling debate over greenbacks, the paper currency issued during the Civil War. So-called "soft money" supporters had taken up the cause of the greenback and successfully pushed for the paper notes to stay in circulation following the close of the war. However, "hard money" forces in the House fired back, and on January 14, they engineered the passage of the Specie Resumption Act, a legislative salvo against paper currency. The bill directed the Treasury to begin exchanging legal tender for gold on January 1, 1879; it also mandated that the number of greenbacks in circulation be trimmed down to $300 million. Treasury Secretary John Sherman stocked up on gold and, by the dawn of 1879, the specie exchange program was up and running. But, at the same time, greenbacks had become just as valuable as gold on the exchange market; the public was reluctant to swap their paper currency for coinage and the exchange program turned out to be a flop.
The Chattanooga Police Department in 1884. In the front row, left to right, were French Lawson, First Lieutenant and Assistant Chief W. P. “Dock” Mitchell (a future chief), Chief of Police James A. Allen, Second Lieutenant and Assistant Chief J. P. Kilgore (a future chief), Tom Russell, and “Dasher” Bates. Left to right in the second row were John Shelow, Tom J. Howard, Caleb Smith, Frank Duncan, W. F. Springer, John Usery, and Jenkins. The back row from left to right were an unidentified officer, John Hall, John Hankins, Cicero Rape, and Abe Litz. Uniforms were double breasted with brass buttons and a plain pinched shield breast badge. The wide brim hats had no insignia. Chief of Police James Allen was the first to hold the title Chief of Police. He was appointed to the position on April 13, 1883, and served for twelve years. Allen had previously served as a lieutenant on the force.
In 1958, a hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb was lost by the US Air Force off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, never to be recovered.
groundhog day
February 2: General Interest
1887 : First Groundhog Day
On this day in 1887, Groundhog Day, featuring a rodent meteorologist,
is celebrated for the first time at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney,
Pennsylvania. According to tradition, if a groundhog comes out of its
hole on this day and sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of
winter weather; no shadow means an early spring.
Groundhog Day has its roots in the ancient Christian tradition of
Candlemas Day, when clergy would bless and distribute candles needed
for winter. The candles represented how long and cold the winter would
be. Germans expanded on this concept by selecting an animal--the
hedgehog--as a means of predicting weather. Once they came to America,
German settlers in Pennsylvania continued the tradition, although they
switched from hedgehogs to groundhogs, which were plentiful in the
Keystone State.
Groundhogs, also called woodchucks and whose scientific name is
Marmota monax, typically weigh 12 to 15 pounds and live six to eight
years. They eat vegetables and fruits, whistle when they're frightened
or looking for a mate and can climb trees and swim. They go into
hibernation in the late fall; during this time, their body
temperatures drop significantly, their heartbeats slow from 80 to five
beats per minute and they can lose 30 percent of their body fat. In
February, male groundhogs emerge from their burrows to look for a mate
(not to predict the weather) before going underground again. They come
out of hibernation for good in March.
In 1887, a newspaper editor belonging to a group of groundhog hunters
from Punxsutawney called the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club declared that
Phil, the Punxsutawney groundhog, was America's only true
weather-forecasting groundhog. The line of groundhogs that have since
been known as Phil might be America's most famous groundhogs, but
other towns across North America now have their own weather-predicting
rodents, from Birmingham Bill to Staten Island Chuck to Shubenacadie
Sam in Canada.
In 1993, the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray popularized the
usage of "groundhog day" to mean something that is repeated over and
over. Today, tens of thousands of people converge on Gobbler's Knob in
Punxsutawney each February 2 to witness Phil's prediction. The
Punxsutawney Groundhog Club hosts a three-day celebration featuring
entertainment and activities.
1887 : First Groundhog Day
On this day in 1887, Groundhog Day, featuring a rodent meteorologist,
is celebrated for the first time at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney,
Pennsylvania. According to tradition, if a groundhog comes out of its
hole on this day and sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of
winter weather; no shadow means an early spring.
Groundhog Day has its roots in the ancient Christian tradition of
Candlemas Day, when clergy would bless and distribute candles needed
for winter. The candles represented how long and cold the winter would
be. Germans expanded on this concept by selecting an animal--the
hedgehog--as a means of predicting weather. Once they came to America,
German settlers in Pennsylvania continued the tradition, although they
switched from hedgehogs to groundhogs, which were plentiful in the
Keystone State.
Groundhogs, also called woodchucks and whose scientific name is
Marmota monax, typically weigh 12 to 15 pounds and live six to eight
years. They eat vegetables and fruits, whistle when they're frightened
or looking for a mate and can climb trees and swim. They go into
hibernation in the late fall; during this time, their body
temperatures drop significantly, their heartbeats slow from 80 to five
beats per minute and they can lose 30 percent of their body fat. In
February, male groundhogs emerge from their burrows to look for a mate
(not to predict the weather) before going underground again. They come
out of hibernation for good in March.
In 1887, a newspaper editor belonging to a group of groundhog hunters
from Punxsutawney called the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club declared that
Phil, the Punxsutawney groundhog, was America's only true
weather-forecasting groundhog. The line of groundhogs that have since
been known as Phil might be America's most famous groundhogs, but
other towns across North America now have their own weather-predicting
rodents, from Birmingham Bill to Staten Island Chuck to Shubenacadie
Sam in Canada.
In 1993, the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray popularized the
usage of "groundhog day" to mean something that is repeated over and
over. Today, tens of thousands of people converge on Gobbler's Knob in
Punxsutawney each February 2 to witness Phil's prediction. The
Punxsutawney Groundhog Club hosts a three-day celebration featuring
entertainment and activities.
Belle Starr
February 3, 1889
Belle Starr murdered in Oklahoma
The outlaw Belle Starr is killed when an unknown assailant fatally wounds the famous "Bandit Queen" with two shotgun blasts from behind.
As with the lives of other famous outlaws like Billy the Kid and Jesse James, fanciful accounts printed in newspapers and dime novels made Belle Starr's harsh and violent life appear far more romantic than it actually was. Born Myra Belle Shirley on a small farm near Carthage, Missouri, in 1848, she received an education in the classics and became a competent pianist. Seemingly headed for an unexciting but respectable middle-class life, her fate was changed by the outbreak of the Civil War, which ruined her father's business as a Carthage innkeeper and claimed the life of her brother Edwin. Devastated, the Shirley family abandoned Missouri to try to make a fresh start in Texas.
In Texas, Belle began her life-long pattern of associating with men of questionable character. In 1866, she met Cole Younger, a member of the James-Younger gang that was gaining notoriety for a series of daring bank and train robberies. Rumor had it that Younger fathered Belle's first child, Pearl, though the father might have actually been another outlaw, Jim Reed. Regardless, Belle's relationship with Younger was short-lived, and in 1866 she became Reed's wife. Belle was apparently untroubled by her new husband's reputation and she had become his partner in crime by 1869. She joined him in stealing cattle, horses, and money in the Dallas area. Riding her mare, Venus, and sporting velvet skirts and plumed hats, Belle played the role of a "bandit queen" for several years.
In 1874, a member of his own gang killed Reed, and Belle was suddenly on her own. Pursued by the law, she drifted into Oklahoma Indian Territory, where she led a band of cattle and horse thieves. There she met a handsome young Cherokee named Sam Starr, who eventually became her common-law husband and new criminal partner. The Starrs managed to elude capture for nearly a decade, but in 1883 they were arrested for horse theft and both served five months in the Detroit federal prison.
Freed from prison, the couple immediately resumed their criminal careers. In 1886, Belle again lost a husband to violent death when Sam Starr was killed in a gunfight with an old enemy. Belle wasted no time in finding a third companion, a Creek Indian named Jim July, an outlaw who was 15 years her junior. In 1889, July was arrested for robbery and summoned to Fort Smith, Arkansas, to face charges. Belle accompanied her young lover for part of the journey but turned back before reaching Fort Smith. On her way home, someone ambushed and fatally wounded her with two shotgun blasts to her back. Jim July believed the murderer was a neighbor with whom the couple had been feuding, but no one was ever convicted of the crime.
Belle Starr murdered in Oklahoma
The outlaw Belle Starr is killed when an unknown assailant fatally wounds the famous "Bandit Queen" with two shotgun blasts from behind.
As with the lives of other famous outlaws like Billy the Kid and Jesse James, fanciful accounts printed in newspapers and dime novels made Belle Starr's harsh and violent life appear far more romantic than it actually was. Born Myra Belle Shirley on a small farm near Carthage, Missouri, in 1848, she received an education in the classics and became a competent pianist. Seemingly headed for an unexciting but respectable middle-class life, her fate was changed by the outbreak of the Civil War, which ruined her father's business as a Carthage innkeeper and claimed the life of her brother Edwin. Devastated, the Shirley family abandoned Missouri to try to make a fresh start in Texas.
In Texas, Belle began her life-long pattern of associating with men of questionable character. In 1866, she met Cole Younger, a member of the James-Younger gang that was gaining notoriety for a series of daring bank and train robberies. Rumor had it that Younger fathered Belle's first child, Pearl, though the father might have actually been another outlaw, Jim Reed. Regardless, Belle's relationship with Younger was short-lived, and in 1866 she became Reed's wife. Belle was apparently untroubled by her new husband's reputation and she had become his partner in crime by 1869. She joined him in stealing cattle, horses, and money in the Dallas area. Riding her mare, Venus, and sporting velvet skirts and plumed hats, Belle played the role of a "bandit queen" for several years.
In 1874, a member of his own gang killed Reed, and Belle was suddenly on her own. Pursued by the law, she drifted into Oklahoma Indian Territory, where she led a band of cattle and horse thieves. There she met a handsome young Cherokee named Sam Starr, who eventually became her common-law husband and new criminal partner. The Starrs managed to elude capture for nearly a decade, but in 1883 they were arrested for horse theft and both served five months in the Detroit federal prison.
Freed from prison, the couple immediately resumed their criminal careers. In 1886, Belle again lost a husband to violent death when Sam Starr was killed in a gunfight with an old enemy. Belle wasted no time in finding a third companion, a Creek Indian named Jim July, an outlaw who was 15 years her junior. In 1889, July was arrested for robbery and summoned to Fort Smith, Arkansas, to face charges. Belle accompanied her young lover for part of the journey but turned back before reaching Fort Smith. On her way home, someone ambushed and fatally wounded her with two shotgun blasts to her back. Jim July believed the murderer was a neighbor with whom the couple had been feuding, but no one was ever convicted of the crime.
Cake Charms
How to Use Cake Charms...
What a romantic Victorian era tradition to make your wedding grand! The custom of "ribbon pulling" dates back to time of Queen Victoria (as do most of our wonderful wedding traditions). A bride would hide small charms (distinctive symbols of romance, love, friendship, memorials, etc.) attached to satin ribbons within the icing of her wedding cake. The bride would have each of her bridesmaids (as well as other important women in her life) pull a charm from the cake before it was cut. It was believed each charm had a special meaning, a bit of advice, or would foretell the future in luck, romance, fortune, etc.
Traditionally, the bride's attendants (even friends, children, family members can participate) assemble behind the cake, along with the bride and groom, at the wedding reception. The ribbon-pulling ceremony takes place just after the cake-cutting ceremony, but prior to cake-serving. Each person takes a turn and pulls a ribbon from the cake. The charm's meaning is revealed. Some couples like to have the ribbon-pulling ceremony prior to the cake-cutting - it's your wedding, do what you want!
If you like the idea of the ribbon-pulling ceremony, but do not want it to be part of the wedding reception - consider having a small cake made with the ribbon pulls for your bridal luncheon/tea/brunch, rehearsal dinner or bridal shower. Some people even opt to have a small bridesmaid charm cake in addition to the main wedding cake.
Today, charm cakes are being included in showers, birthdays, afternoon teas, etc. - any event involving a cake! Charms make perfect party favors for your guests and they have a keepsake charm as a remembrance of the event.
What a romantic Victorian era tradition to make your wedding grand! The custom of "ribbon pulling" dates back to time of Queen Victoria (as do most of our wonderful wedding traditions). A bride would hide small charms (distinctive symbols of romance, love, friendship, memorials, etc.) attached to satin ribbons within the icing of her wedding cake. The bride would have each of her bridesmaids (as well as other important women in her life) pull a charm from the cake before it was cut. It was believed each charm had a special meaning, a bit of advice, or would foretell the future in luck, romance, fortune, etc.
Traditionally, the bride's attendants (even friends, children, family members can participate) assemble behind the cake, along with the bride and groom, at the wedding reception. The ribbon-pulling ceremony takes place just after the cake-cutting ceremony, but prior to cake-serving. Each person takes a turn and pulls a ribbon from the cake. The charm's meaning is revealed. Some couples like to have the ribbon-pulling ceremony prior to the cake-cutting - it's your wedding, do what you want!
If you like the idea of the ribbon-pulling ceremony, but do not want it to be part of the wedding reception - consider having a small cake made with the ribbon pulls for your bridal luncheon/tea/brunch, rehearsal dinner or bridal shower. Some people even opt to have a small bridesmaid charm cake in addition to the main wedding cake.
Today, charm cakes are being included in showers, birthdays, afternoon teas, etc. - any event involving a cake! Charms make perfect party favors for your guests and they have a keepsake charm as a remembrance of the event.
Dawes Act
February 8, 1887
Cleveland signs devastating Dawes Act into law
On this day in 1887, President Grover Cleveland signs the Dawes Severalty Act into law. The act split up reservations held communally by Native American tribes into smaller units and distributed these units to individuals within the tribe. Also called the “General Allotment Act,” the law changed the legal status of Native Americans from tribal members to “individuals” subject to federal laws and dissolved many tribal affiliations The Dawes Severalty/General Allotment Act constituted a huge blow to tribal sovereignty.
Cleveland’s goal was to encourage Native Americans to integrate into American agrarian culture. Cleveland, who once said “though the people support the government; the government should not support the people,” led a socially reformist yet financially conservative government that did not believe in welfare handouts. He signed the act in a sincere but misguided attempt to improve the Native Americans’ lives by incorporating them into white culture, rejecting earlier policies toward Native Americans that forced them to live on desolate reservations where it was difficult to make a living. However, his support of the Dawes Severalty Act actually did more damage than good.
Under the Dawes Act, the head of each Native American family received 160 acres in an effort to encourage Native Americans to take up farming, live in smaller family units that were considered more “American” and renounce tribal loyalties. The government held such lands in trust for 25 years, until the recipients could prove themselves self-sufficient farmers. Before the family could sell their allotment, they were required to get a certificate of competency. If the family did not succeed at farming, the land reverted back to the federal government for sale, usually to white settlers. The Dawes Act reduced Native American landholdings from 138 million acres in 1887 to 78 million in 1900 and continued the trend of white settlement on previously Native American-held land. In addition, the law created federally funded boarding schools designed to assimilate Native American children into white society. Family and cultural ties were practically destroyed by the now-notorious boarding schools, in which children were punished for speaking their native language or performing native rituals.
The Dawes Severalty Act was finally abolished in 1934, during President Franklin Roosevelt’s first term.
Cleveland signs the Dawes Severalty Act
In a well-meaning but ultimately flawed attempt to assimilate Native Americans, President Grover Cleveland signs an act to end tribal control of reservations and divide their land into individual holdings.
Named for its chief author, Senator Henry Laurens Dawes from Massachusetts, the Dawes Severalty Act reversed the long-standing American policy of allowing Indian tribes to maintain their traditional practice of communal use and control of their lands. Instead, the Dawes Act gave the president the power to divide Indian reservations into individual, privately owned plots. The act dictated that men with families would receive 160 acres, single adult men were given 80 acres, and boys received 40 acres. Women received no land.
The most important motivation for the Dawes Act was Anglo-American hunger for Indian lands. The act provided that after the government had doled out land allotments to the Indians, the sizeable remainder of the reservation properties would be opened for sale to whites. Consequently, Indians eventually lost 86 million acres of land, or 62 percent of their total pre-1887 holdings.
Still, the Dawes Act was not solely a product of greed. Many religious and humanitarian "friends of the Indian" supported the act as a necessary step toward fully assimilating the Indians into American culture. Reformers believed that Indians would never bridge the chasm between "barbarism and civilization" if they maintained their tribal cohesion and traditional ways. J.D.C. Atkins, commissioner of Indian affairs, argued that the Dawes Act was the first step toward transforming, "Idleness, improvidence, ignorance, and superstition.... into industry, thrift, intelligence, and Christianity."
In reality, the Dawes Severalty Act proved a very effective tool for taking lands from Indians and giving it to Anglos, but the promised benefits to the Indians never materialized. Racism, bureaucratic bungling, and inherent weaknesses in the law deprived the Indians of the strengths of tribal ownership, while severely limiting the economic viability of individual ownership. Many tribes also deeply resented and resisted the government's heavy-handed attempt to destroy their traditional cultures.
Despite these flaws, the Dawes Severalty Act remained in force for more than four decades. In 1934, the Wheeler-Howard Act repudiated the policy and attempted to revive the centrality of tribal control and cultural autonomy on the reservations. The Wheeler-Howard Act ended further transfer of Indian lands to Anglos and provided for a return to voluntary communal Indian ownership, but considerable damage had already been done.
Cleveland signs devastating Dawes Act into law
On this day in 1887, President Grover Cleveland signs the Dawes Severalty Act into law. The act split up reservations held communally by Native American tribes into smaller units and distributed these units to individuals within the tribe. Also called the “General Allotment Act,” the law changed the legal status of Native Americans from tribal members to “individuals” subject to federal laws and dissolved many tribal affiliations The Dawes Severalty/General Allotment Act constituted a huge blow to tribal sovereignty.
Cleveland’s goal was to encourage Native Americans to integrate into American agrarian culture. Cleveland, who once said “though the people support the government; the government should not support the people,” led a socially reformist yet financially conservative government that did not believe in welfare handouts. He signed the act in a sincere but misguided attempt to improve the Native Americans’ lives by incorporating them into white culture, rejecting earlier policies toward Native Americans that forced them to live on desolate reservations where it was difficult to make a living. However, his support of the Dawes Severalty Act actually did more damage than good.
Under the Dawes Act, the head of each Native American family received 160 acres in an effort to encourage Native Americans to take up farming, live in smaller family units that were considered more “American” and renounce tribal loyalties. The government held such lands in trust for 25 years, until the recipients could prove themselves self-sufficient farmers. Before the family could sell their allotment, they were required to get a certificate of competency. If the family did not succeed at farming, the land reverted back to the federal government for sale, usually to white settlers. The Dawes Act reduced Native American landholdings from 138 million acres in 1887 to 78 million in 1900 and continued the trend of white settlement on previously Native American-held land. In addition, the law created federally funded boarding schools designed to assimilate Native American children into white society. Family and cultural ties were practically destroyed by the now-notorious boarding schools, in which children were punished for speaking their native language or performing native rituals.
The Dawes Severalty Act was finally abolished in 1934, during President Franklin Roosevelt’s first term.
Cleveland signs the Dawes Severalty Act
In a well-meaning but ultimately flawed attempt to assimilate Native Americans, President Grover Cleveland signs an act to end tribal control of reservations and divide their land into individual holdings.
Named for its chief author, Senator Henry Laurens Dawes from Massachusetts, the Dawes Severalty Act reversed the long-standing American policy of allowing Indian tribes to maintain their traditional practice of communal use and control of their lands. Instead, the Dawes Act gave the president the power to divide Indian reservations into individual, privately owned plots. The act dictated that men with families would receive 160 acres, single adult men were given 80 acres, and boys received 40 acres. Women received no land.
The most important motivation for the Dawes Act was Anglo-American hunger for Indian lands. The act provided that after the government had doled out land allotments to the Indians, the sizeable remainder of the reservation properties would be opened for sale to whites. Consequently, Indians eventually lost 86 million acres of land, or 62 percent of their total pre-1887 holdings.
Still, the Dawes Act was not solely a product of greed. Many religious and humanitarian "friends of the Indian" supported the act as a necessary step toward fully assimilating the Indians into American culture. Reformers believed that Indians would never bridge the chasm between "barbarism and civilization" if they maintained their tribal cohesion and traditional ways. J.D.C. Atkins, commissioner of Indian affairs, argued that the Dawes Act was the first step toward transforming, "Idleness, improvidence, ignorance, and superstition.... into industry, thrift, intelligence, and Christianity."
In reality, the Dawes Severalty Act proved a very effective tool for taking lands from Indians and giving it to Anglos, but the promised benefits to the Indians never materialized. Racism, bureaucratic bungling, and inherent weaknesses in the law deprived the Indians of the strengths of tribal ownership, while severely limiting the economic viability of individual ownership. Many tribes also deeply resented and resisted the government's heavy-handed attempt to destroy their traditional cultures.
Despite these flaws, the Dawes Severalty Act remained in force for more than four decades. In 1934, the Wheeler-Howard Act repudiated the policy and attempted to revive the centrality of tribal control and cultural autonomy on the reservations. The Wheeler-Howard Act ended further transfer of Indian lands to Anglos and provided for a return to voluntary communal Indian ownership, but considerable damage had already been done.
Psyc profiles
Ludus Items
I believe that what my partner doesn’t know about me wont hurt him/her.
I have sometimes had to keep my partner from finding out about other lovers.
My partner would get upset if he she knew about some of the things I’ve done with other people.
Storge Items
Our love is the best kind because it grew out of a long friendship.
Our friendship merged gradually into love over time.
Our love relationship is the most satisfying because it developed from a good friendship.
Pragma Items
A main consideration in choosing my partner was how he/she would reflect on my family.
An important factor in choosing my partner was whether he/she would be a good parent.
One consideration in choosing my partner was how he/she would reflect on my career.
Mania Items
When my partner doesn’t pay attention to me I feel sick all over.
I cannot relax if I suspect that my partner is with someone else.
If my partner ignores me for awhile, I sometimes do stupid things to try to get his/her attention back.
Agape Items
I would rather suffer myself than let my partner suffer.
I cannot be happy unless I place my partner’s happiness before my own.
I would endure all things for the sake of my partner.
The Primary Styles
Eros is characterized by an intense physical and emotional attraction and commitment.
Ludus refers to love that is played out according to a set of rules, and should be fun with no commitment.
Storge is characterized by a deep affection, devotion and commitment.
The Secondary Styles
Mania is an obsessive and intensive love.
With Pragma, love is viewed as a practical matter of finding a compatible partner and settling down.
Agape is an intense for friendly love, often self-sacrificing.
I believe that what my partner doesn’t know about me wont hurt him/her.
I have sometimes had to keep my partner from finding out about other lovers.
My partner would get upset if he she knew about some of the things I’ve done with other people.
Storge Items
Our love is the best kind because it grew out of a long friendship.
Our friendship merged gradually into love over time.
Our love relationship is the most satisfying because it developed from a good friendship.
Pragma Items
A main consideration in choosing my partner was how he/she would reflect on my family.
An important factor in choosing my partner was whether he/she would be a good parent.
One consideration in choosing my partner was how he/she would reflect on my career.
Mania Items
When my partner doesn’t pay attention to me I feel sick all over.
I cannot relax if I suspect that my partner is with someone else.
If my partner ignores me for awhile, I sometimes do stupid things to try to get his/her attention back.
Agape Items
I would rather suffer myself than let my partner suffer.
I cannot be happy unless I place my partner’s happiness before my own.
I would endure all things for the sake of my partner.
The Primary Styles
Eros is characterized by an intense physical and emotional attraction and commitment.
Ludus refers to love that is played out according to a set of rules, and should be fun with no commitment.
Storge is characterized by a deep affection, devotion and commitment.
The Secondary Styles
Mania is an obsessive and intensive love.
With Pragma, love is viewed as a practical matter of finding a compatible partner and settling down.
Agape is an intense for friendly love, often self-sacrificing.
Traces of an imaginary affair
Traces of an Imaginary Affair | 2006
Bjorn Franke likes to explore basic human emotions by creating tools to elicit them. In his latest work, titled "Traces of an Imaginary Affair", Bjorn explores the emotion of jealousy and how some partners use it as a tool to measure how much they are loved or as a means to boost their self-esteem.
Human relationships are often the battleground for all kinds of psychotic disorders and delusions. One of the strongest feeling between partners is the feeling of jealousy,
"which is born in love and which is produced by the fear that the loved person prefers someone else." Littré
The kit contains traces of an imaginary affair. These are tools and probes which leave traces on the body such as bite-marks, carpet burns, and kisses.
http://www.bjornfranke.com/projects.htm
Traces of an Imaginary Affair | 2006
Mixed media | 1 object 335/265/66 | 9 c-prints 400/300
The project investigates how jealousy can be instigated intentionally in relationships, which often serves to bolster self esteem or to test the strength of partnerships. A kit containing a set of nine tools is used as an agent to create an imaginary affair. These tools can be used to leave marks on the body such as bite marks, carpet burns, bondage marks, love bites, scratches and bruises. Probes of perfume, lipstick and hair can be applied to either the body or clothes. The kit enables partners to exhibit their obsessive behavior, a form of psychological warfare, in the most effective way – rather than subjecting it to restrictive cultural norms.
Panic Box | 2004 - 2006
Mixed media | 1 object 960/865/1700 | 3 c-prints 600/450
The Panic Box is an installation that instigates fear and panic through an autonomous environment, in which the control over the situation is restricted. A voice invites the user to enter the man-size box. After closing the door, the user is trapped inside and asked to pass a reaction test in order to open the door. The situation intensifies with the release of a gas which apparently slows down the user’s reaction speed. However, since the test result is manipulated and the reaction speed continuously drops, the only way to exit is to press a panic button which unlocks the door and raises an outside alarm. The machine creates a hopeless situation from which the user can only escape by admitting his feeling of panic.
Bjorn Franke likes to explore basic human emotions by creating tools to elicit them. In his latest work, titled "Traces of an Imaginary Affair", Bjorn explores the emotion of jealousy and how some partners use it as a tool to measure how much they are loved or as a means to boost their self-esteem.
Human relationships are often the battleground for all kinds of psychotic disorders and delusions. One of the strongest feeling between partners is the feeling of jealousy,
"which is born in love and which is produced by the fear that the loved person prefers someone else." Littré
The kit contains traces of an imaginary affair. These are tools and probes which leave traces on the body such as bite-marks, carpet burns, and kisses.
http://www.bjornfranke.com/projects.htm
Traces of an Imaginary Affair | 2006
Mixed media | 1 object 335/265/66 | 9 c-prints 400/300
The project investigates how jealousy can be instigated intentionally in relationships, which often serves to bolster self esteem or to test the strength of partnerships. A kit containing a set of nine tools is used as an agent to create an imaginary affair. These tools can be used to leave marks on the body such as bite marks, carpet burns, bondage marks, love bites, scratches and bruises. Probes of perfume, lipstick and hair can be applied to either the body or clothes. The kit enables partners to exhibit their obsessive behavior, a form of psychological warfare, in the most effective way – rather than subjecting it to restrictive cultural norms.
Panic Box | 2004 - 2006
Mixed media | 1 object 960/865/1700 | 3 c-prints 600/450
The Panic Box is an installation that instigates fear and panic through an autonomous environment, in which the control over the situation is restricted. A voice invites the user to enter the man-size box. After closing the door, the user is trapped inside and asked to pass a reaction test in order to open the door. The situation intensifies with the release of a gas which apparently slows down the user’s reaction speed. However, since the test result is manipulated and the reaction speed continuously drops, the only way to exit is to press a panic button which unlocks the door and raises an outside alarm. The machine creates a hopeless situation from which the user can only escape by admitting his feeling of panic.
Gunfighter
October 16, 1851 -- Psychopathic gunfighter "Wild Bill" Longley is born in Texas
The sadistic and murderous western gunman William Preston Longley is born on this day in 1815 in Austin County, Texas.
Little is reliably known of the youth of William Longley, or "Wild Bill" as he was later aptly called. But it is certain that before he was even 20 years old, Longley had already killed several men, and the evidence suggests he was probably what modern-day psychologists would term a psychopath. Notoriously short-tempered, Longley frequently killed for the most trivial of reasons. More than a few men died simply because he believed they had somehow slighted or insulted him, like an unarmed man named Thomas, who Longley murdered in cold blood for daring to argue with him over a card game. He had a particularly strong dislike of blacks, and African-Americans in Texas avoided him whenever possible.
Wherever Longley traveled he left behind a trail of pointless murders, but most of the details of his life are shrouded in myth and supposition. Legend has it that Longley was once hanged along with a horse thief; but shots fired back by the departing posse cut his rope, and he was saved. Reports that he was imprisoned for at least a time and once lived with the Ute Indians are more believable, though not confirmed.
After fleeing to Louisiana to escape punishment for killing a minister named Roland Lay, Longley was captured and returned to Lee County, Texas, where he was tried and found guilty of murder. Sentenced to hang, during his final days Longley became a Catholic, wrote long letters about his life, and claimed that he had actually only killed eight men. On the day of his execution, October 28, 1878, he climbed the steps to the gallows with a cigar in his mouth and told the gathered crowd that his punishment was just and God had forgiven him. After kissing the sheriff and priest and bidding farewell to the crowd, the noose was fitted around his neck, and he was hanged. Unfortunately, the rope slipped so that Longley's knees hit the ground, denying him a quick and painless death. After the hangman pulled the rope taut once more, the famous killer slowly choked to death. It took 11 minutes before he was finally pronounced dead.
The sadistic and murderous western gunman William Preston Longley is born on this day in 1815 in Austin County, Texas.
Little is reliably known of the youth of William Longley, or "Wild Bill" as he was later aptly called. But it is certain that before he was even 20 years old, Longley had already killed several men, and the evidence suggests he was probably what modern-day psychologists would term a psychopath. Notoriously short-tempered, Longley frequently killed for the most trivial of reasons. More than a few men died simply because he believed they had somehow slighted or insulted him, like an unarmed man named Thomas, who Longley murdered in cold blood for daring to argue with him over a card game. He had a particularly strong dislike of blacks, and African-Americans in Texas avoided him whenever possible.
Wherever Longley traveled he left behind a trail of pointless murders, but most of the details of his life are shrouded in myth and supposition. Legend has it that Longley was once hanged along with a horse thief; but shots fired back by the departing posse cut his rope, and he was saved. Reports that he was imprisoned for at least a time and once lived with the Ute Indians are more believable, though not confirmed.
After fleeing to Louisiana to escape punishment for killing a minister named Roland Lay, Longley was captured and returned to Lee County, Texas, where he was tried and found guilty of murder. Sentenced to hang, during his final days Longley became a Catholic, wrote long letters about his life, and claimed that he had actually only killed eight men. On the day of his execution, October 28, 1878, he climbed the steps to the gallows with a cigar in his mouth and told the gathered crowd that his punishment was just and God had forgiven him. After kissing the sheriff and priest and bidding farewell to the crowd, the noose was fitted around his neck, and he was hanged. Unfortunately, the rope slipped so that Longley's knees hit the ground, denying him a quick and painless death. After the hangman pulled the rope taut once more, the famous killer slowly choked to death. It took 11 minutes before he was finally pronounced dead.
Statue of Liberty
October 28, 1886 -- Statue of Liberty dedicated
The Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States, is dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland.
Originally known as "Liberty Enlightening the World," the statue was proposed by the French historian Edouard de Laboulaye to commemorate the Franco-American alliance during the American Revolution. Designed by French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, the 151-foot statue was the form of a woman with an uplifted arm holding a torch. Its framework of gigantic steel supports was designed by Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc and Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, the latter famous for his design of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
In February 1877, Congress approved the use of a site on New York Bedloe's Island, which was suggested by Bartholdi. In May 1884, the statue was completed in France, and three months later the Americans laid the cornerstone for its pedestal in New York Harbor. In June 1885, the dismantled Statue of Liberty arrived in the New World, enclosed in more than 200 packing cases. Its copper sheets were reassembled, and the last rivet of the monument was fitted on October 28, 1886, during a dedication presided over by President Cleveland and attended by numerous French and American dignitaries.
On the pedestal was inscribed "The New Colossus," a sonnet by American poet Emma Lazarus that welcomed immigrants to the United States with the declaration, "Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, / The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. / Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. / I lift my lamp beside the golden door." In 1892, Ellis Island, adjacent to Bedloe's Island, opened as the chief entry station for immigrants to the United States, and for the next 32 years more than 12 million immigrants were welcomed into New York harbor by the sight of "Lady Liberty." In 1924, the Statue of Liberty was made a national monument, and in 1956 Bedloe's Island was renamed Liberty Island. The statue underwent a major restoration in the 1980s.
The Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States, is dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland.
Originally known as "Liberty Enlightening the World," the statue was proposed by the French historian Edouard de Laboulaye to commemorate the Franco-American alliance during the American Revolution. Designed by French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, the 151-foot statue was the form of a woman with an uplifted arm holding a torch. Its framework of gigantic steel supports was designed by Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc and Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, the latter famous for his design of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
In February 1877, Congress approved the use of a site on New York Bedloe's Island, which was suggested by Bartholdi. In May 1884, the statue was completed in France, and three months later the Americans laid the cornerstone for its pedestal in New York Harbor. In June 1885, the dismantled Statue of Liberty arrived in the New World, enclosed in more than 200 packing cases. Its copper sheets were reassembled, and the last rivet of the monument was fitted on October 28, 1886, during a dedication presided over by President Cleveland and attended by numerous French and American dignitaries.
On the pedestal was inscribed "The New Colossus," a sonnet by American poet Emma Lazarus that welcomed immigrants to the United States with the declaration, "Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, / The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. / Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. / I lift my lamp beside the golden door." In 1892, Ellis Island, adjacent to Bedloe's Island, opened as the chief entry station for immigrants to the United States, and for the next 32 years more than 12 million immigrants were welcomed into New York harbor by the sight of "Lady Liberty." In 1924, the Statue of Liberty was made a national monument, and in 1956 Bedloe's Island was renamed Liberty Island. The statue underwent a major restoration in the 1980s.
First store in Denver
October 29, 1858 -- The first store opens in the frontier town of Denver, Colorado
On this day in 1858, the first store opens in a small frontier town in Colorado Territory that a month later will take the name of Denver in a shameless ploy to curry favor with Kansas Territorial Gover nor James W. Denver.
The brainchild of a town promoter and real estate salesman from Kansas named William H. Larimer Jr., Denver and its first store were created to serve the miners working the placer gold deposits discovered a year before at the confluence of Cheery Creek and the South Platte River. By 1859, tens of thousands of gold seekers had flooded into the area, but by then the placer deposits were already playing out and most miners quickly departed for home or headed west into the mountains in search of richer lodes.
As a result, by 1860, Larimer's new town had almost failed before it ha d even really started. Although it was still centrally located for servicing the mining camps along the Rocky Mountain Front Range, Denver had neither the rail or water transportation routes needed to bring in goods cheaply. Even the transcontinental Union Pacific railroad, which opened in 1869, didn't stop at Denver initially. In 1870, Denver began to overcome its geographical isolation with t he arrival of the Kansas Pacific Railroad from the East and the completion of the 105-mile Denver Pacific Railway joining Denver to the Union Pacific line at Cheyenne. Other lines began to connect Denver to the booming mining regions in th e Rockies, and by the mid-1870s, the city was thriving as a railroad hub and center of the western mining industry.
By 1890, Denver had a population of more than 106,000, making it the 26th largest urban area in the nation and earning it the nickname, the "Queen City of the Plains." However , the Silver Panic of 1893 brought the boom to an abrupt end, though it was partially revived a year later by the gold discoveries on Cripple Creek. Although t he growing significance of farming and ranching helped moderate its ups and down s by decreasing the city's dependency on mining, this cyclical pattern of economic boom and bust would continue to dominate Denver, and many other western cities, throughout much of the 20th century.
On this day in 1858, the first store opens in a small frontier town in Colorado Territory that a month later will take the name of Denver in a shameless ploy to curry favor with Kansas Territorial Gover nor James W. Denver.
The brainchild of a town promoter and real estate salesman from Kansas named William H. Larimer Jr., Denver and its first store were created to serve the miners working the placer gold deposits discovered a year before at the confluence of Cheery Creek and the South Platte River. By 1859, tens of thousands of gold seekers had flooded into the area, but by then the placer deposits were already playing out and most miners quickly departed for home or headed west into the mountains in search of richer lodes.
As a result, by 1860, Larimer's new town had almost failed before it ha d even really started. Although it was still centrally located for servicing the mining camps along the Rocky Mountain Front Range, Denver had neither the rail or water transportation routes needed to bring in goods cheaply. Even the transcontinental Union Pacific railroad, which opened in 1869, didn't stop at Denver initially. In 1870, Denver began to overcome its geographical isolation with t he arrival of the Kansas Pacific Railroad from the East and the completion of the 105-mile Denver Pacific Railway joining Denver to the Union Pacific line at Cheyenne. Other lines began to connect Denver to the booming mining regions in th e Rockies, and by the mid-1870s, the city was thriving as a railroad hub and center of the western mining industry.
By 1890, Denver had a population of more than 106,000, making it the 26th largest urban area in the nation and earning it the nickname, the "Queen City of the Plains." However , the Silver Panic of 1893 brought the boom to an abrupt end, though it was partially revived a year later by the gold discoveries on Cripple Creek. Although t he growing significance of farming and ranching helped moderate its ups and down s by decreasing the city's dependency on mining, this cyclical pattern of economic boom and bust would continue to dominate Denver, and many other western cities, throughout much of the 20th century.
Story Idea from a ministry report
A high ropes course is a set of cables, ropes and platforms that are placed among trees in the form of an obstacle course about thirty feet off the ground. One description I found says that the purpose of the course is to help participants learn about risk taking, their own perceived limits, how they perform under pressure, how they give and receive support from other people, and how working with others collaboratively can help an individual achieve more than they thought they could accomplish.
But through the experience, I had learned several things about myself and about where we are in ministry today:
* Some times ministry offers no more stability than a steel cable attached between two trees. We have to lean into the rope to make our way across. We have to trust in God that God will lead us when we are trying in our own strength to make our way.
* Ministry is like the swing seat that starts moving before you are securely on it. We live in a rapidly changing world. We must adapt to the changing neighborhoods, changing expectations, and changing needs in the communities around our congregations.
* We have to face our fears and step out in faith. If we think things will get easier or if the challenges that we face in our congregations will go away if we just wait or stick our heads in the sand, that’s not going to happen. We have to risk stepping out in uncertain times on nothing more than a thin rope or cable.
* Failure is a real possibility. If we step out in new ministries, if we launch out in new directions as God calls us, we may not always succeed. We need to realize that is part of the “risk taking” that stepping out in mission means.
* It’s good to have mentors and guides, and it’s good to work in teams. We cannot function on our own or by ourselves. We need to trust in God’s guidance and in the leading of the Holy Spirit. We need to seek those persons who can help to guide and mentor us as we move out in ministry. We need others to watch out for us, and we need to watch out for one another as we face new challenges in ministry and mission.
* Grace abounds. When I fell off the “hourglass” obstacle, I didn’t fall to the ground. I hung from my safety harness. It’s good to know that God is there to help pick us up when we falter. Grace is truly amazing.
These are just a few of the lessons that I have learned through my experience on the high ropes. We live in times where we must, as Adam Hamilton challenges us, “change, innovate, or die.” These are days that call for us to be in prayer, to be listening and seeking what God has in store for our congregations and our mission as the church today.
But through the experience, I had learned several things about myself and about where we are in ministry today:
* Some times ministry offers no more stability than a steel cable attached between two trees. We have to lean into the rope to make our way across. We have to trust in God that God will lead us when we are trying in our own strength to make our way.
* Ministry is like the swing seat that starts moving before you are securely on it. We live in a rapidly changing world. We must adapt to the changing neighborhoods, changing expectations, and changing needs in the communities around our congregations.
* We have to face our fears and step out in faith. If we think things will get easier or if the challenges that we face in our congregations will go away if we just wait or stick our heads in the sand, that’s not going to happen. We have to risk stepping out in uncertain times on nothing more than a thin rope or cable.
* Failure is a real possibility. If we step out in new ministries, if we launch out in new directions as God calls us, we may not always succeed. We need to realize that is part of the “risk taking” that stepping out in mission means.
* It’s good to have mentors and guides, and it’s good to work in teams. We cannot function on our own or by ourselves. We need to trust in God’s guidance and in the leading of the Holy Spirit. We need to seek those persons who can help to guide and mentor us as we move out in ministry. We need others to watch out for us, and we need to watch out for one another as we face new challenges in ministry and mission.
* Grace abounds. When I fell off the “hourglass” obstacle, I didn’t fall to the ground. I hung from my safety harness. It’s good to know that God is there to help pick us up when we falter. Grace is truly amazing.
These are just a few of the lessons that I have learned through my experience on the high ropes. We live in times where we must, as Adam Hamilton challenges us, “change, innovate, or die.” These are days that call for us to be in prayer, to be listening and seeking what God has in store for our congregations and our mission as the church today.
Possible Story Idea from a Book Review
23 December 2006
Christmas Book Review
Our Annual Christmas Pick for Civil War Book Buffs ~
God Rest Ye Merry Soldiers ~ A True Civil War Christmas Story
By James McIvor
Published by Viking/The Penguin Group, 2005
Hardcover, 162 pages, $19.95
Reviewed by Richard G. Williams, Jr.
“Christmas has come once more and it is a very beautiful morning, but O! how changed the scene to what it was last Christmas. Today twelve months ago I was home where I could enjoy the blessings of a comfortable house and home of parents and friends and of religious worship, but this Christmas I am surrounded by warriors, cannons, and guns . . . But I hope and pray that the good Lord in his tender mercy may soon bring this state of things to an end and restore Peace and prosperity to our beloved Country again and turn the hearts of the rulers to peace for ever instead of war.”
This soldier’s heart-wrenching plea for peace and home could have been written by one of our soldiers in Iraq. But it wasn’t. The words came from the pen of North Carolina soldier Constantine A. Hege on Christmas Day in 1862 and his letter home is how James McIvor opens his wonderful book, God Rest Ye Merry Soldiers ~ A True Civil War Christmas Story.
Recounting the events that transpired at Christmas time during the Battle of Stones River (Tennessee) in 1862, this little volume packs a lot of insight into what Christmas was like during the four terrible years that engulfed the Nation from 1861-1865. Ironically, as McIvor points out, it was during those devastating years that Christmas became “a truly American holiday in a way that it had never entirely been before.” (p. 153)
Perhaps it was, in the words of Confederate Hege, “the blessings of a comfortable house and home of parents” that first made Christmas time so special for those lonely, homesick soldiers. As those thousands of veterans, both North and South, returned home after the war they doubtless looked forward to enjoying that first Christmas of peace with loved ones—thankful to have survived a war that took the lives of so many of their comrades. Yet those painful memories of the war also contained some poignant recollections.
McIvor recounts one such event as the Union and Confederate armies camped near each other at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. It was just after Christmas, on the night of December 30th, 1862 that an unusual event occurred. The opposing armies’ bands began playing their favorite melodies; the Union band first striking up a taunting rendition of “Yankee Doodle.” The Confederates fired back with “Dixie” and “The Bonnie Blue Flag”. The duel continued as the Yankees played and sang “Hail Columbia”—“another song from the Revolution that the North had adopted as an anthem of its new fight in the Civil War.” (p. 101)
Then something unplanned and unexpected happened. McIvor writes:
“Finally one of them struck up ‘Home! Sweet Home!’ As if by common consent, all other airs ceased, and the bands of both armies, far as the ear could reach, joined in the refrain. . . Soon the men of both sides, North and South, were all raising their voices to sing the familiar words together.” (p. 102-103)
The final words of the familiar tune must have reminded the soldiers that they might not see home again: “Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home, Home! Home, sweet Home!” McIvor recounts the words of one Tennessee soldier:
“And after our bands had ceased playing, we could hear the sweet refrain as it died away on the cool frosty air on the Federal side.” There would be more dying in the days to come yet the men who experienced this very special Christmas—and survived—would carry those special memories home to their loved ones. As the author points out, “The mass migration and social dislocation the war had left in its wake made a holiday tied to the timeless cornerstones of family and children all the more important to a restless and growing nation.” (p. 156)
If you need a last minute Christmas gift for that Civil War buff on your list, readers would do well to consider this delightful book. (This review appeared in The Washington Times on 23 December 2006 - Used by permission)
Christmas Book Review
Our Annual Christmas Pick for Civil War Book Buffs ~
God Rest Ye Merry Soldiers ~ A True Civil War Christmas Story
By James McIvor
Published by Viking/The Penguin Group, 2005
Hardcover, 162 pages, $19.95
Reviewed by Richard G. Williams, Jr.
“Christmas has come once more and it is a very beautiful morning, but O! how changed the scene to what it was last Christmas. Today twelve months ago I was home where I could enjoy the blessings of a comfortable house and home of parents and friends and of religious worship, but this Christmas I am surrounded by warriors, cannons, and guns . . . But I hope and pray that the good Lord in his tender mercy may soon bring this state of things to an end and restore Peace and prosperity to our beloved Country again and turn the hearts of the rulers to peace for ever instead of war.”
This soldier’s heart-wrenching plea for peace and home could have been written by one of our soldiers in Iraq. But it wasn’t. The words came from the pen of North Carolina soldier Constantine A. Hege on Christmas Day in 1862 and his letter home is how James McIvor opens his wonderful book, God Rest Ye Merry Soldiers ~ A True Civil War Christmas Story.
Recounting the events that transpired at Christmas time during the Battle of Stones River (Tennessee) in 1862, this little volume packs a lot of insight into what Christmas was like during the four terrible years that engulfed the Nation from 1861-1865. Ironically, as McIvor points out, it was during those devastating years that Christmas became “a truly American holiday in a way that it had never entirely been before.” (p. 153)
Perhaps it was, in the words of Confederate Hege, “the blessings of a comfortable house and home of parents” that first made Christmas time so special for those lonely, homesick soldiers. As those thousands of veterans, both North and South, returned home after the war they doubtless looked forward to enjoying that first Christmas of peace with loved ones—thankful to have survived a war that took the lives of so many of their comrades. Yet those painful memories of the war also contained some poignant recollections.
McIvor recounts one such event as the Union and Confederate armies camped near each other at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. It was just after Christmas, on the night of December 30th, 1862 that an unusual event occurred. The opposing armies’ bands began playing their favorite melodies; the Union band first striking up a taunting rendition of “Yankee Doodle.” The Confederates fired back with “Dixie” and “The Bonnie Blue Flag”. The duel continued as the Yankees played and sang “Hail Columbia”—“another song from the Revolution that the North had adopted as an anthem of its new fight in the Civil War.” (p. 101)
Then something unplanned and unexpected happened. McIvor writes:
“Finally one of them struck up ‘Home! Sweet Home!’ As if by common consent, all other airs ceased, and the bands of both armies, far as the ear could reach, joined in the refrain. . . Soon the men of both sides, North and South, were all raising their voices to sing the familiar words together.” (p. 102-103)
The final words of the familiar tune must have reminded the soldiers that they might not see home again: “Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home, Home! Home, sweet Home!” McIvor recounts the words of one Tennessee soldier:
“And after our bands had ceased playing, we could hear the sweet refrain as it died away on the cool frosty air on the Federal side.” There would be more dying in the days to come yet the men who experienced this very special Christmas—and survived—would carry those special memories home to their loved ones. As the author points out, “The mass migration and social dislocation the war had left in its wake made a holiday tied to the timeless cornerstones of family and children all the more important to a restless and growing nation.” (p. 156)
If you need a last minute Christmas gift for that Civil War buff on your list, readers would do well to consider this delightful book. (This review appeared in The Washington Times on 23 December 2006 - Used by permission)
Creative Writing Tips
"As If" Thinking, Pretending, and Creative Thinking
Dialog with an imaginary mentor: Imagine a person (living or dead), a person whose ideas you respect and admire. Try to select someone you sense would have good ideas about the problem you face. Now, with your notebook in front of you, imagine you are sitting across from this person in a quiet coffee shop, and can ask him or her anything you want. Write a question in your notebook. Then with a different color of ink write what you imagine your mentor would reply. Continue this process for 20 minutes or so until you have the information you need.
Sit right down and write yourself a letter: Make believe you are a sage or a wise woman, you have seen and know everything. You have been watching the real you grapple with the problem you face and the time has come to speak. As this wise person, write yourself a letter of encouragement and advice. Make it as least a page.
If you are just starting to write in a journal or have temporarily run out of steam, here are some ideas.
Look at a magazine and find a picture that appeals to you. Cut it out, paste it in your notebook and write about it.
Draw a word portrait of your interior landscape. Next draw a word portrait of your exterior landscape.
Invent a dream you wish you'd had. Write about it in detail, paying special attention to concrete sensory images.
Write a dream that a plant, a fish, a star, or a stone might have.
List all of the things that have happened to you only once in your entire life.
Write about an event in your life – first from your perspective and then from the perspective of someone else who was present.
Write about a person or an event that is a paradox or contradiction.
Turn a feeling – love, joy, beauty, anger or fatigue – into a character. Write a detailed description and dialog with this character.
Allow your pen to give voice to a part of your body besides your mind. Have this part write a letter to you. Write a response.
If you were to select music for a soundtrack of the day you've had, what songs would you play in the background? Why?
Invent a new myth for the beginning of the universe.
Write down everything that comes into your mind about money.
Pick the first date from the past and place that pop into your mind. Now write a journal entry as though you were reliving a former lifetime.
Write about a belief you've discarded.
Your life is a journey. From where? To where? Write a travel article about this trip.
Write an entry telling another person something that you are too afraid or reluctant to tell them.
http://www.kporterfield.com/journal/Journal_Prompts.html
Dialog with an imaginary mentor: Imagine a person (living or dead), a person whose ideas you respect and admire. Try to select someone you sense would have good ideas about the problem you face. Now, with your notebook in front of you, imagine you are sitting across from this person in a quiet coffee shop, and can ask him or her anything you want. Write a question in your notebook. Then with a different color of ink write what you imagine your mentor would reply. Continue this process for 20 minutes or so until you have the information you need.
Sit right down and write yourself a letter: Make believe you are a sage or a wise woman, you have seen and know everything. You have been watching the real you grapple with the problem you face and the time has come to speak. As this wise person, write yourself a letter of encouragement and advice. Make it as least a page.
If you are just starting to write in a journal or have temporarily run out of steam, here are some ideas.
Look at a magazine and find a picture that appeals to you. Cut it out, paste it in your notebook and write about it.
Draw a word portrait of your interior landscape. Next draw a word portrait of your exterior landscape.
Invent a dream you wish you'd had. Write about it in detail, paying special attention to concrete sensory images.
Write a dream that a plant, a fish, a star, or a stone might have.
List all of the things that have happened to you only once in your entire life.
Write about an event in your life – first from your perspective and then from the perspective of someone else who was present.
Write about a person or an event that is a paradox or contradiction.
Turn a feeling – love, joy, beauty, anger or fatigue – into a character. Write a detailed description and dialog with this character.
Allow your pen to give voice to a part of your body besides your mind. Have this part write a letter to you. Write a response.
If you were to select music for a soundtrack of the day you've had, what songs would you play in the background? Why?
Invent a new myth for the beginning of the universe.
Write down everything that comes into your mind about money.
Pick the first date from the past and place that pop into your mind. Now write a journal entry as though you were reliving a former lifetime.
Write about a belief you've discarded.
Your life is a journey. From where? To where? Write a travel article about this trip.
Write an entry telling another person something that you are too afraid or reluctant to tell them.
http://www.kporterfield.com/journal/Journal_Prompts.html
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