The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Boston Massacre(3/5/1770)

If you were living in Boston at the time, this is what you would have read in the Boston Gazette and Country Journal in its edition of Monday, March 12, 1770. The actual account as reported and published in the pages of that newspaper follows.

A few minutes after nine o'clock four youths, named Edward Archbald, William Merchant, Francis Archbald, and John Leech, jun., came down Cornhill together, and separating at Doctor Loring's corner, the two former were passing the narrow alley leading Mr. Murray's barrack in which was a soldier brandishing a broad sword of an uncommon size against the walls, out of which he struck fire plentifully. A person of mean countenance. armed with a large cudgel bore him company.

Edward Archbald admonished Mr. Merchant to take care of the sword, on which the soldier turned round and struck Archbald on the arm, then pushed at Merchant and pierced through his clothes inside the arm close to the armpit and grazed the skin. Merchant then struck the soldier with a short stick he had; and the other person ran to the barrack and brought with him two soldiers, one armed with a pair of tongs, the other with a shovel. He with the tongs pursued Archbald back through the alley, collared and laid him over the head with the tongs. The noise brought people together; and John Hicks, a young lad, coming up, knocked the soldier down but let him get up again; and more lads gathering, drove them back to the barrack where the boys stood some time as it were to keep them in. In less than a minute ten or twelve of them came out with drawn cutlasses, clubs, and bayonets and set upon the unarmed boys and young folk who stood them a little while but, finding the inequality of their equipment, dispersed.

On hearing the noise, one Samuel Atwood came up to see what was the matter; and entering the alley from dock square, heard the latter part of the combat; and when the boys had dispersed he met the ten or twelve soldiers aforesaid rushing down the alley towards the square and asked them if they intended to murder people? They answered Yes, by G-d, root and branch! With that one of them struck Mr. Atwood with a club which was repeated by another; and being unarmed, he turned to go off and received a wound on the left shoulder which reached the bone and gave him much pain. Retreating a few steps, Mr. Atwood met two officers and said, gentlemen, what is the matter They answered, you'll see by and by. Immediately after, those heroes appeared in the square, asking where were the boogers? where were the cowards? But notwithstanding their fierceness to naked men, one of them advanced towards a youth who had a split of a raw stave in his hand and said, damn them, here is one of them.

Crispus Attucks

But the young man seeing a person near him with a drawn sword and good cane ready to support him, held up his stave in defiance; and they quietly passed by him up the little alley by Mr. Silsby's to King Street where they attacked single and unarmed persons till they raised much clamour, and then turned down Cornhill Street, insulting all they met in like manner and pursuing some to their very doors. Thirty or forty persons, mostly lads, being by this means gathered in King Street, Capt. Preston with a party of men with charged bayonets, came from the main guard to the commissioner's house, the soldiers pushing their bayonets, crying, make way! They took place by the custom house and, continuing to push to drive the people off pricked some in several places, on which they were clamorous and, it is said, threw snow balls. On this, the Captain commanded them to fire; and more snow balls coming, he again said, damn you, fire, be the consequence what it will! One soldier then fired, and a townsman with a cudgel struck him over the hands with such force that he dropped his firelock; and, rushing forward, aimed a blow at the Captain's head which grazed his hat and fell pretty heavy upon his arm. However, the soldiers continued the fire successively till seven or eight or, as some say, eleven guns were discharged.

By this fatal manoeuvre three men were laid dead on the spot and two more struggling for life; but what showed a degree of cruelty unknown to British troops, at least since the house of Hanover has directed their operation, was an attempt to fire upon or push with their bayonets the persons who undertook to remove the slain and wounded!

Mr. Benjamin Leigh, now undertaker in the Delph manufactory, came up and after some conversation with Capt. Preston relative to his conduct in this affair, advised him to draw off his men, with which he complied. The dead are Mr. Samuel Gray, killed on the spot, the ball entering his head and beating off a large portion of his skull.

A mulatto man named Crispus Attucks, who was born in Framingham, but lately belonged to New-Providence and was here in order to go for North Carolina, also killed instantly, two balls entering his breast, one of them in special goring the right lobe of the lungs and a great part of the liver most horribly.

Mr. James Caldwell, mate of Capt. Morton's vessel, in like manner killed by two balls entering his back.

Mr. Samuel Maverick, a promising youth of seventeen years of age, son of the widow Maverick, and an apprentice to Mr. Greenwood, ivory-turner, mortally wounded; a ball went through his belly and was cut out at his back. He died the next morning.

A lad named Christopher Monk, about seventeen years of age, an apprentice to Mr. Walker, shipwright, wounded; a ball entered his back about four inches above the left kidney near the spine and was cut out of the breast on the same side. Apprehended he will die.

A lad named John Clark, about seventeen years of age, whose parents live at Medford, and an apprentice to Capt. Samuel Howard of this town, wounded; a ball entered just above his groin and came out at his hip on the opposite side. Apprehended he will die.

Mr. Edward Payne of this town, merchant, standing at his entry door received a ball in his arm which shattered some of the bones.

Mr. John Green, tailor, coming up Leverett's Lane, received a ball just under his hip and lodged in the under part of his thigh, which was extracted.

Mr. Robert Patterson, a seafaring man, who was the person that had his trousers shot through in Richardson's affair, wounded; a ball went through his right arm, and he suffered a great loss of blood.

Mr. Patrick Carr, about thirty years of age, who worked with Mr. Field, leather breeches-maker in Queen Street, wounded; a ball entered near his hip and went out at his side.

A lad named David Parker, an apprentice to Mr. Eddy, the wheelwright, wounded; a ball entered his thigh.

Source: The Boston Gazette and Country Journal, March 12, 1770

Another View

The Boston Massacre was not really a massacre, but more like a riot. In fact only five people died.

One of the most common myths is that the BM was the event that led to the Revolutionary War. In fact, many important events led up to the massacre. It was called a massacre by the use of propaganda. It mainly started by the British trying to enforce laws.

British Soldiers were sent to America to enforce the Proclamation and to maintain order but their presence just made matter worse.

It all started March 5 by a couple of boys throwing snowballs at British soldiers. A crown soon gathered throwing ice and making fun of them. Soon after, the British started firing wildly. Other weapons were clubs, knives, swords, and a popular weapon, your own bare hands.

Queen Street Courthouse

The people that died are: Crispus Attacks, one of the more famous people who was an African American sailor, Samuel Gray, a worker at rope walk, James Caldwell, a mate on a American ship, Samuel Maverick, who was a young seventeen year old male, and Patrick Carr, a feather maker.

The purpose of the Boston Massacre was to try to make liberal and moderate people become radicals. It was really an accident and the radicals tried to use propaganda and turn something small into something big. The British soldiers were accused of Murder and manslaughter. To represent them was John Adams, a relative of Samuel Adams. Adams wanted the trial to get over and didn’t want the truth to come out. The Boston Massacre and misleading visual representation by Paul Revere could have been one cause of a later war.

Justice Peter Oliver

The BM increased the hatred between the Americans and the British. The radical people tried to use this minor event as propaganda. Paul Revere and Samuel Adams were happy the few colonists died because they used it as propaganda so the colonist would get mad at the British. Whenever the word propaganda is used it means the truth is stretched.

The Results of the Trial

The Massacre trials ended quietly. Samuel Adams wrote several articles in the Boston Gazette during December, 1770, under the pseudonym "Vindex," that accused the soldiers of escaping with blood on their hands. But the mood had changed in Boston since the Massacre. He turned his attentions to keeping the memory of the Massacre alive, organizing annual commemorations on March 5, a tradition that lasted until 1783.

Kilroy and Montgomery faced the death penalty at the sentencing on December 14, 1770. To escape execution they "prayed the benefit of clergy," a Medieval remnant of the time when clergymen were excepted from the secular courts. To receive the benefit they had only to prove they could read Psalm 51, verse 1, the "neck verse," at a time when most people were illiterate. Although illiterate himself, Kilroy was able to obtain the benefit because the reading requirement was abolished in 1705.

Suffolk County Sheriff Stephen Greenleaf branded Kilroy and Montgomery on the right thumb with an "M" for murder. The brand was to prevent them from ever being able to invoke the benefit of clergy again.

After his acquittal, Captain Preston removed himself from Boston to Castle William in Boston Harbor, and eventually returned to England. The soldiers returned to the Twenty-ninth Regiment, which had left Boston following the Massacre.

Additional Sources:

www.hodgman.org
www.law.umkc.edu
www.crispusattucks.org
www.soulofamerica.com
www.theinsider.com
www.starry-nite.com
www.worcestercitymuseums.org.uk

Paul Revere's Engraving - Explained

When Paul Revere first began selling his color prints of "The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street" in Boston, he was doing what any like-minded patriot with his talents in 1770 would have done. Only, Paul Revere did it faster and more expeditiously than anyone else, including two other artist-engravers who also issued prints of the Massacre that year.

Twenty-one days before-- on the night of March 5, 1770-- five men had been shot to death in Boston town by British soldiers. Precipitating the event known as the Boston Massacre was a mob of men and boys taunting a sentry standing guard at the city's customs house. When other British soldiers came to the sentry's support, a free-for-all ensued and shots were fired into the crowd.

Four died on the spot and a fifth died after four days. Six others were wounded.

The two women in the middle of this photo are standing right on top of the circle of cobblestones that mark the location of the Boston Massacre. This overlooked monument is located approximately 10 paces east of The Old State House (the red brick building in the photo).

The presence of British troops in Boston had long been a sore point among Boston's radical politicians. Paul Revere wasted no time in capitalizing on the Massacre to highlight British tyranny and stir up anti-British sentiment among his fellow colonists. As you will see, Revere's historic engraving is long on political propaganda and short on accuracy or aesthetics.

Notice how the British Grenadiers are shown standing in a straight line shooting their rifles in a regular volley, whereas when the disturbance actually erupted both sides were belligerent and riotous.

Notice also that Revere's engraving shows a blue sky. Only a wisp of a moon suggests that the riot occurred after nine o'clock on a cold winter night.

Notice too the absence of snow and ice on the street, while Crispus Attacks-- a black man lying on the ground closest to the British soldiers-- is shown to be white. As an aside, it should be noted that as a result of his death in the Boston Massacre, Crispus Attacks would emerge as the most famous of all the black men to fight in the cause of the Revolution, and become its first martyr.

This unmarked circle is where the Massacre took place. It is hard to find -- you need to know where to look for it.

Documentation has come to light over the years indicating that Revere copied engraver Henry Pelham's drawings of the Massacre, produced his own engraving, and three weeks after the occurrence was advertising his prints for sale in Boston's newspapers. By the time Pelham's prints hit the street, Revere's print had flooded the market. A third engraving was executed by Jonathan Mulliken , who also issued prints depicting the event. Except for a number of minor differences, all three prints appear alike.

In his rush to produce his engraving Revere employed the talents of Christian Remick to colorize the print. Remick's choice of colors is simple yet effective. Notice the use of red for the British uniforms and the blood. The other colors-- blue, green, brown and black-- all contribute to make this print what is arguably the most famous in America.

Few historians would deny that the "BM" proved to be a milestone in America's road to independence. By popularizing the tragic event, Paul Revere's print became "the first powerful influence in forming an outspoken anti-British public opinion," one in which the revolutionary leaders had almost lost hope of achieving.

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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Tribute to a Generation - The memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004.

Thanks to CholeraJoe for providing this link.

Iraq Homecoming Tips

~ Thanks to our Veterans still serving, at home and abroad. ~ Freepmail to Ragtime Cowgirl | 2/09/04 | FRiend in the USAF

PDN members and fans. We hope you will consider this simple act of patriotism worth passing on or taking up as a project in your own back yard. In summary:

Who They Are: Operation: Stitches Of Love was started by the Mothers of two United States Marines stationed in Iraq.

What They Are Doing: We are gathering 12.5"x12.5" quilt squares from across the country and assembling the largest quilt ever produced. When completed we will take the quilt from state to state and gather even more squares.

Why They Are Doing This: We are building this quilt to rally support for the Coalition Forces in Iraq and to show the service members that they are not forgotten. We want the world to know Nothing will ever break the stitches that bind us together as a country.

Ideas to start a local project:

Obtain enough Red, White and Blue material (cloth) for a 12.5 x 12.5 quilt square.
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Consider this tribute as a project for your civic group, scouts, church or townhall group.

Locate an elementary school with an after school program in your neighborhood or locate an after school program in your neighborhood not attached to a school and ask if you could volunteer one or two afternoons and create some squares with the kids.

Invite some VFW posts to share your project in honor of their post.

Send us webmaster@patriotwatch.com for digital photos of in progress and finished project for various websites, OIFII.com and the media.

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The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

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FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

Good Thursday Morning Everyone.

If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

Ping completed. ;-)

Good night Sam.

Good Night Snippy. See ya later today :-)

The English could have taken Napoleon's route, and used cannon charged with grape shot on the crowd.

The Revolutionary War is readily war gamed. The English could have won easily. Declare martial law in Boston in 1770, and kill all who disobeyed orders. Follow up with Sheridan's approach in the Valley.

The same stuff Kitchener used in the Boer War would also have worked. Put the women and children into camps with a high desease and death rate and tell the men to come in. Works.

I never could see why Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. In a month or two the French fleet would have been driven away. Goes to show that war is politics a la bayonet.

Good morning Snippy.

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.

Good morning!

I'm particularly interested in the American Revolution, and I've read a good deal about the Boston Massacre.

Some sidelights or miscellaneous facts that might interest you:

Crispus Attucks was not necessarily black or mulatto - there are strong indications that he was actually a Natick Indian. (Nobody will admit this because the politically correct had to find an African-American prominent in the pre-Revolutionary brangles.) He was not from Boston - think he was from Marblehead but I would have to go look it up. John Adams made much of the fact that he was not from Boston at the trial.

The mob was organized and led by John's poor relation Samuel - several witnesses at the preliminary hearing testified that a "man in a red cloak" led the rioters. (This was not Sam, but his lieutenant and chief organizer.) This evidence was suppressed at the trial because Adams wanted to avoid dragging Sam Adams and his "Liberty Boys" into the evidence. Adams wrote much of the material that was published in the papers in an attempt to work up a frenzy against the soldiers.

John Adams's defense was brilliant and still studied by attorneys. The first key to the defense was getting a separate trial for Preston and the men accused of firing the fatal shot. The second key was his use of eyewitnesses; the third was his closing argument.

The star eyewitness was a Boston physician (a Tory who later fled Boston) who tended Patrick Carr, the last victim. The doctor (I wish I could remember his name) testified to Carr's deathbed statement that he should have known better than to be hanging around, because he had often seen troops attacked in Ireland, "and had never seen them stand so much before they fired." He testified that the mob attacked the soldiers by throwing snowballs and then oyster shells, and that a group approached the soldiers directly with cudgels and Attucks with a cutlass which he swung about as though he were mad.

Gotta take my daughter to school. To be continued . . .

Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God." —Mark 11:22

When the Spirit prompts the asking,
When the waiting heart believes,
Then we know of each petition
Everyone who asks receives.

Faith is the key to answered prayer.

Nice job.

Boston is very historic and fun to walk around.
I was born and raised in Hopkinton. It is incredible to see
a old historic building in the middle of the high rise bldgs.
I spent many a night in Hay market square selling tomatoes,
cabbage, corn and cucumbers fresh off the farm.
Right around the corner is the old state house and other bldgs.

I have stood on the bridge in Lexington/Concord where the
Shot heard round the World was fired that started the war.

To bad Mass. is just way to liberal for me, so I chose new york to reside....

ooops, just as liberal what am I doing here..

Good morning ladies. Flag-o-gram.

USS Boxer homecoming.

Have you resolved your Boston Massacre questions yet?

Hiya Sam. Radical anti-British hero bump!

Good morning everyone!

Good morning PE. Thanks for the link to the album of pictures. So heart warming to see our fabulous troops home coming with Old Glory flying high and proud.

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on May 06:
0973 Henry II Roman Catholic German king/emperor (1002/14-24)
1501 Marcellus II [Marcello Cervini] Italy, humanist/Pope (1555, 22 days)
1758 Maximilien Robespierre Arras Fr, French revolutionary (1781)
1769 Ferdinand III archduke of Austria/ruler of Toscane
1801 George Sears Greene Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1899
1806 Chapin Aaron Harris US, founded America Society of Dental Surgeons
1812 Martin Robinson Delaney Charlestown VA, 1st black major in US Medical Corps
1813 Joseph Tarr Copeland Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1893
1825 Joseph Bailey Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1867
1829 Phoebe Ann Coffin 1st female ordained minister in New England
1843 Grove Karl Gilbert geologist, investigated Lake Bonneville UT
1856 Robert Edwin Peary US, arctic explorer (North Pole-April 6 1909)
1856 Sigmund Freud Freiberg Moravia, cigar smoker, father of psycho-analysis
1868 Wladyslaw Stanislaw Reymont Poland, novelist (Chiopi, Nobel-1924)
1870 Amedos Peter Giannini San Jose CA, founded Bank of America
1888 Emmanuel Celler (Representative-D-NY, 1923-73)
1895 Rudolph Valentino Castellaneta Italy, sheik/actor (Eagle)
1898 Daniel Gerber Freemont MI, beloved by babies at mealtime
1905 [Bernard] Toots Shor raconteur/restauranteur (Toots Shor)
1907 Weeb Ewbank NFL coach (Baltimore Colts, New York Jets)
1913 Stewart Granger [James Stewart], London, actor (Prisoner of Zenda)
1915 Orson Welles Kenosha WI, actor (Citizen Kane, War of the Worlds)
1915 Theodore H White historian/writer (Making of the President)
1916 Adriana Caselotti animation voice (Show White)
1929 John Polk Allen Carnegie OK, CEO (Biosphere 2)
1931 Willie Mays Westfield AL, Hall of Fame baseball centerfielder, "Say Hey Kid" (New York Giants, New York Mets, 660 homeruns, National League MVP 1954)
1934 Richard C Shelby (Representative-D-AL (1979-86)/Senator-D-AL, 1987- )
1945 Bob Seger Dearborn MI, rocker (Silver Bullet Band-Shake Down)
1946 Jim Ramstad (Representative-Rino-MN)
1949 David Cornell Leestma Muskegon MI, USN/astronaut (STS 41-G, 28, 45)
1952 Chiaki Naito-Mukai Tatebayashi Japan, astronaut (STS 65, 95)
1953 Tony Blair British PM (Labour, 1997- )
1954 Sergei Nikolayevich Tresvyatsky Russia, cosmonaut
1959 Aidan Quinn actor (Avalon, Crusoe, Desperately Seeking Susan)
1961 George Clooney Lexington KY, actor/moron (Dr Douglas Ross-ER, Batman)
1968 Linnea Marie Fayard Shreveport LA, Miss Louisiana-America (1991-5th)

Deaths which occurred on May 06:
0523 Thrasamunde king of Vandals
1667 Johann Jacob Froberger German singer/organist/composer, dies at 50
1727 Catharina I Latvia tsarina of Russia, dies at about 42
1859 Friedrich Heinrich Alexander explorer/scientist, dies
1862 Henry David Thoreau US writer/pacifist (Walden Pond), dies at 44
1864 Henry Livermore Abbott US Union Brigadier-General, dies in battle
1864 Micah Jenkins Confederate Brigadier-General (friendly fire), dies at 28
1882 Lord Frederick Cavendish assassinated by Fenian Invincibles, in Dublin
1882 Thomas Henry Burke assassinated by Fenian Invincibles, in Dublin
1910 Edward VII King of England (1901-10), dies at 68
1919 Frank Lyman Baum author (Wizard of Oz), dies at 62
1948 43 communist rebels executed in Athens
1963 Monty Wooley actor (Pied Piper, Man Who Came to Dinner), dies at 74
1987 William J Casey director of CIA (1981-87), dies at 73
1989 Guy Williams actor (Zorro, Lost in Space), dies at 65
1991 Wilfrid Hyde-White British actor (Peyton Place/140+ films), dies at 87
1992 Marlene Dietrich [Maria Losch], actress (Angel), dies in Paris at 90
1994 Haskell "Cool Papa" Sadler blues singer/guitarist, dies at 59
1996 Michael Gerzon mathematician, dies at 50

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 STUBBERFIELD ROBERT A.---RICHMOND NC.
[REMAINS RETURNED 06/89]
1966 DODSON JAMES
[06/18/66 ESCAPED, DECEASED]
1966 LAMAR JAMES L.---EUDORA AR.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 WIDEMAN ROBERT EARL---RAY VILLAGE OH.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1968 ALDRICH LAWRENCE L.---FORT WORTH TX.
1968 BAIRD WILLIAM A.---WOOSTER OH.
[03/05/73 RELEASED BY PRG INJURED, ALIVE IN 98]
1968 BRANCH MICHAEL P.---NEWPORT KY.
[03/16/73 RELEASED BY PRG]
1969 BILLIPP NORMAN K.---MILWAUKEE WI.
[REMAINS IDENTIFIED 01 NOV 96]
1969 HAGAN JOHN ROBERT---SAVANNAH GA.
[REMAINS RETURNED IDENTIFIED 01 NOV 96]
1970 HERNANDEZ FRANK S.---FRESNO CA.
1970 KIER LARRY GENE---OMAHA NE.
1970 TERAN REFUGIO T.---WESTLAND MI.
1970 WORTHINGTON RICHARD C.---BOTHELL WA.
1972 WILES MARVIN B.---SAN DIEGO CA.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
1312 Pope Clement V closes Council of Vienna
1476 Emperor Frederik III of Habsburg & duke Charles the Stout arrange marriage of their children
1527 Spanish & German Imperial troops sack Rome; ending the Renaissance
1529 Battle at Gogra: Mogol emperor Babur beats Afghans & Bengals
1536 King Henry VIII, orders bible be placed in every church
1642 Ville Marie (Montréal) forms
1733 1st international boxing match: Bob Whittaker beats Tito di Carni
1753 French King Louis XV observes transit of Mercury at Mendon Castle
1787 1st Black Masonic Lodge (African #459) forms at Prince Hall, Boston
1794 Haiti, under Toussaint L'Ouverture, revolts against France
1804 Suriname sold to English (until February 1816)
1833 John Deere makes 1st steel plow
1835 1st edition of New York Herald (price 1¢)
1840 1st postage stamps (Penny Black) issued (Great Britain)
1848 Otto Tank ends slavery in Suriname colony
1851 Dr John Gorrie patents a "refrigeration machine"
1851 Linus Yale patents Yale-lock
1853 1st major US rail disaster kills 46 (Norwalk CT)
1861 Arkansas & Tennessee become 9th & 10th states to secede from US
1861 Jefferson Davis approves a bill declaring War between US & Confederacy
1864 Battle of Port Walthall Junction VA
1864 Battle of Wilderness-General Longstreet seriously injured
1864 General Sherman begins advance to Atlanta GA
1882 Chinese Exclusion Act: US Congress ceases Chinese immigration
1889 Universal Exposition opens in Paris France; Eiffel Tower completed
1890 Mormon Church renounces polygamy [1006-Truth Restored (Morman pub)]
1895 21st Kentucky Derby: Soup Perkins aboard Halma wins in 2:37½
1896 22nd Kentucky Derby: Willie Simms aboard Ben Brush wins in 2:07.75
1903 Chicago White Sox commit 12 errors against Detroit Tigers
1904 American Lung Association holds its 1st meeting
1907 33rd Kentucky Derby: Andy Minder aboard Pink Star wins in 2:12.6
1910 King George V ascends to British throne
1914 British House of Lords rejects women suffrage
1915 Allies attack Cape Helles, Hellespont
1915 German U-20 sinks Centurion SE of Ireland
1915 Red Sox Babe Ruth pitching debut & 1st homerun, loses to Yankees 4-3 in 15
1919 Paris Peace Conference disposes of German colonies; German East Africa is assigned to Britain & France, German Southwest Africa to South Africa
1929 American League announces it will discontinue MVP award
1933 59th Kentucky Derby: Don Meade aboard Brokers Tip wins in 2:06.8
1935 British King George & Queen Mary celebrates silver jubilee
1937 Dirigible Hindenburg explodes in flames at Lakehurst NJ (36 die)
1939 65th Kentucky Derby: James Stout aboard Johnstown wins in 2:03.4
1940 Pulitzer prize awarded to John Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath)
1941 Joseph Stalin became premier of Russia
1942 Corregidor & Philippines surrender to Japanese Armies
1944 70th Kentucky Derby: Conn McCreary aboard Pensive wins in 2:04.2
1945 General J Blaskowitz surrenders German troops in Netherlands
1950 76th Kentucky Derby: William Boland on Middleground wins in 2:01.6
1950 Liz Taylor's 1st marriage (Conrad Hilton Jr)
1954 Roger Bannister of Britain breaks 4 minute mile (3:59:4)
1955 West Germany joins NATO
1957 Last broadcast of "I Love Lucy" on CBS-TV
1959 Iceland gunboats shoot at British fishing ships
1960 President Eisenhower signs Civil Rights Act of 1960
1960 Trotsky's murderer Jacques Mornard (Ramón Mercader), freed in México
1961 87th Kentucky Derby: John Sellers aboard Carry Back wins in 2:04
1962 1st nuclear warhead fired from Polaris submarine (Ethan Allen)
1962 Pathet Lao breaks cease fire/conquerors Nam Tha Laos
1966 Most runs scored in 11th inning (9) Phillies score 5 to beat Pirates 8-7
1967 93rd Kentucky Derby: Bobby Ussery on Proud Clarion wins in 2:00.6
1967 Zakir Hussain elected 1st Moslem President of India
1968 Battle between students & troops in Paris France, 1000 injured
1970 Yuchiro Miura of Japan skis down Mount Everest
1972 98th Kentucky Derby: Ron Turcotte aboard Riva Ridge wins in 2:01.8
1974 Bundy victim Roberta Parks disappears from OSU, Corvallis OR
1974 Smallest attendance at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium (4,149)
1975 Bundy victim Lynette Culver disappears from Pocatello ID
1975 Early warnings provided by REACT (ham radio operators) means only 3 people die in tornado that strikes Omaha NE
1978 104th Kentucky Derby: Steve Cauthen aboard Affirmed wins in 2:01.2
1979 Fred Markham set a bicycle speed record of 81.8 kph over 200 meters
1981 US expels Libyan diplomats
1982 Seattle Mariner Gaylord Perry becomes 15th pitcher to win 300 games
1984 Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken Jr hits for the cycle
1984 José Napoleon Duarte wins El Salvador presidential election
1985 17th Space Shuttle Mission (51-B)-Challenger 7 lands at Edwards Air Force Base
1987 Mario Andretti sets the one-lap speed record at Indianapolis 500 at 218.204 MPH
1987 Niroslav Milhailovic begins 54 hours of telling jokes
1987 PTL's Jim Bakker & Rich Dortch dismissed from Assemblies of God
1989 115th Kentucky Derby: Pat Valenzuela on Sunday Silence wins in 2:05
1994 Chunnel linking England & France officially opens
1994 House passes the assault weapons ban (We're sake at last)
1994 Paula Jones accused President Clinton with making an unwanted sexual advance during a meeting in a hotel room in 1991, when he was governor of Arkansas.
1996 The body of former CIA director William E. Colby was found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he'd disappeared.
1996 Guatemala's leftist guerrillas sign key accord with government of President
1997 Army Staff Sergeant Delmar Simpson gets 25-year sentence for rape
1997 Michael Jackson & Bee Gees inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
2012 Transit of Venus

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Bulgaria : Shepherd's & Herdsman's Day
Denmark : Prayer Day
Lebanon : Martyrs' Day
Zambia : Labour Day (Monday)
National Turn Off Your TV Week (Day 4)
National Correctional Officers Week (Day 5)
It's Senior Comedians Week!
Just Say No Week (Day 5)

Religious Observances
Denmark : Prayer Day
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St John Before the Latin Gate

Religious History
1432 Flemish artist Jan van Eyck, 61, finished the altarpiece for St. John's Church in Ghent, Belgium. Van Eyck's work is noted for its descriptive realism and intensive color.
1527 Forty thousand mercenaries, hired by Cardinal Pompeo Colonna, sacked the city of Rome, destroying two-thirds of the houses. They butchered clergy and laity alike, and forced Clement VII to flee, disguised as a gardener. It was the end of the golden age of the Renaissance.
1835 Birth of John T. Grape, American Methodist layman. He composed a number of hymn tunes during his life, including ALL TO CHRIST, to which we sing today, "Jesus Paid It All."
1955 Responding to a letter received from a child, English pologist C. S. Lewis wrote: 'God knows quite well how hard we find t to love Him more than anyone or anything else, and He won't be Angry with us as long as we are trying. And He will help us.'
1986 The Rev. Donald E. Pelotte, 41, was ordained in Gallup, New Mexico -- the first American Indian to be made a Roman Catholic ishop in the U.S.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"If at first you don't succeed,...then skydiving isn't for you."

Actual Newspaper Headlines...
Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over

Why did the Chicken cross the Road...
COLONEL SANDERS: I missed one?

Stocks To Watch In 2004 Watch for these consolidations in 2004 and make yourself a bundle...
Knotts Berry Farm and the Nat'l Org. of Women will become.... Knott NOW

Guide to REAL driving...
Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS kicks in, giving a nice, relaxing foot massage as the brake pedal pulsates. For those of you without ABS, it's a chance to stretch your legs.

Morning Iris7.

Another case of something that looked impossible on paper, but yet was "meant to be". Considering that not the entire population was fighting for Independence it makes it all more amazing.