ON THIS DAY

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25 June, 2009

Death of Michael Jackson

· On June 25, 2009, less than three weeks before his concert residency was due to begin in London, with all concerts sold out, Jackson died from cardiac arrest, caused by a propofol and benzodiazepine overdose.

· Conrad Murray, his personal physician, had given Jackson various medications to help him sleep. Jackson's death was caused by the propofol overdose.

· News of his death spread quickly online, causing websites to slow down and crash from user overload, and it put unprecedented strain on many services and websites including Google, AOL Instant Messenger, Twitter and Wikipedia. Overall, web traffic rose by between 11% and 20%.

· Conrad Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter, was found guilty and sentenced to four years in prison, but was released after one year and eleven months.

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QUOTE FOR THE DAY

 

I'M BACK

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As the heading above shows, I have been away but have now returned.

The reason for my absence was that I was hospitalised for pneumonia, put on intravenous antibiotics and I was unable to get emails out. I am still on antibiotics but no longer an inpaatient.

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There is a Bytes catch up by me posting the current and missed "On This Day' posts.

Bytes will return to the usual format thereafter.

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June 20, 1893

Lizzie Bordern acquitted

Lizzie Borden (1860 – 1927) was an American woman who was tried and acquitted of the August 4, 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts.

On June 20, 1893. after an hour and a half of deliberation, the jury acquitted Lizzie Borden of the murders. Upon exiting the courthouse, she told reporters she was "the happiest woman in the world".

No one else was charged in the murders and, despite ostracism from other residents, Borden spent the remainder of her life in Fall River. She died of pneumonia at age 66.

  

The Borden murders and trial received widespread publicity in the United States, and have remained a topic in American popular culture depicted in numerous films, theatrical productions, literary works, and folk rhymes around the Fall River area.

  

Bordern's stepmother, Abby, was hit 18 times, and her father Andrew was hit 11. This event later became the basis for a popular (yet inaccurate) school-yard rhyme, which goes:

Lizzie Borden took an axe

And gave her mother forty whacks,

And when she saw what she had done,

She gave her father forty-one.

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June 21, 1939

Lou Gehrig retirement

On this day in 1939 the NY Yankees announced Lou Gehrig's retirement after doctors revealed he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Gehrig was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned for his prowess as a hitter and for his durability, which earned him the nickname "the Iron Horse", and he is regarded as one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is an incurable neuromuscular illness now commonly referred to in the United States as "Lou Gehrig's disease".

Gehrig died of complications from ALS in 1941, 17 days before his 38th birthday.

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June 22, 1940

French surrender WWII

The Armistice of 22 June 1940, sometimes referred to as the Second Armistice at Compiègne, was an agreement signed this day by officials of Nazi Germany and the French Third Republic. It became effective at midnight on 25 June.

Under the armistice the northern half of the country was occupied and the south established as the Nazi client state Vichy France. The French were also permitted to retain control of all of their non-European territories.

Adolf Hitler deliberately chose Compiègne Forest as the site to sign the armistice because of its symbolic role as the site of the Armistice of 11 November 1918 that signaled the end of World War I with Germany's surrender.

Left to right: Joachim von Ribbentrop, Walther von Brauchitsch,Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler, and Walther von Brauchitsch in front of the Armistice carriage

Ferdinand Foch's railway car.

Before the 1918 signing in the Forest of Compiègne, the wagon was the personal carriage of Ferdinand Foch and was later displayed in French museums. However, after the successful invasion of France, Adolf Hitler had the wagon moved back to the exact site of the 1918 signing for the 1940 signing due to its symbolic role. The wagon was later destroyed near the end of World War II, most likely by the SS.

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June 23, 2016

Brexit

On this day in 2016 the United Kingdom voted in a referendum to withdraw from the European Union, with 51.9 percent supporting Britain's exit (“Brexit”) and 48.1 percent opposing the move; it marked the first time a country had decided to leave the organisation.

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June 24, 1812

Naoleon invades Russia

On this day in 1812 Napoleon began his ill-fated invasion of Russia.

Facts:

· Napoleon’s aim was not to conquer Russia but rather to destroy the Russian armies, thereby forcing Tsar Alexander to submit to French will. By punishing Russia for its insolence, Napoleon would ensure that the rest of Europe remained subservient.

· His plan was to destroy the Russian armies bit by bit and he hoped to win the war within three weeks.

· His army had 615,000 men, half of them French, the rest from various European countries, plus 200,000 horses.

· Instead of engaging in battle, as napoleon wanted, the Russian military command retreated and drew Napoleon deep into Russia, using a scorched policy whereby anything of value was destroyed, including crops, windmills, bridges, livestock, and depots.

· Scorching summer heat combined with torrential rains meant that many of Napoleon’s men fell sick; by the third week of July, over 80,000 men were either dead or seriously ill from diseases such as typhus and dysentery. Starvation and malnutrition also depleted Naoleon’s ranks, with 1,000 horses per day dying.

· Acceding to demands from Russian officers to stand and fight, the Battle of Smolensk say 10,000 French losses and 12,000 Russian.

· A retreat further into Russia was followed by the Battle of Borodino where the Russians lost 45,0000 men killed or wounded and the French 35,000.

· On 14 September Napoleon entered Moscow, to find it evacuated and the supply depots on fire, which ended setting Moscow ablaze. Napoleon’s troops were deprived of provisions and shelter and were forced to resort to pillaging.

· With the Tsar unwilling to surrender and facing a strongly opposed population, Napoleon left Moscow so that he would not be forced to winter there.

· By this time Napoleon’s army had dwindled to only 100,000 men.

· Morale plummeted further as the French army marched through the Borodino battlefield, where thousands of corpses remained unburied, half-eaten by wolves.

· By early November, the onset of Russian winter temperatures dropped to -30°C. Soldiers suffered from snow blindness, their breath turning to icicles as it left their mouths. Many lost their way and froze to death, others merely collapsed and died where they lay. Comradeship quickly broke down, as men were charged merely to sit by a fire, and fights broke out over food and water. There were also several instances of cannibalism.

· The French invasion of Russia remains one of the most famous military disasters in history. Of the 615,000 French and allied troops, there were over 500,000 losses. Of the survivors, thousands were suffering from frostbite or starvation, and many were permanently crippled. Of the half million losses, around 100,000 had deserted and 120,000 taken prisoner; the corpses of the remaining 380,000 troops were buried beneath the Russian snow.

· Russian losses are more difficult to assess; around 150,000 Russian soldiers likely died from all causes, with at least twice as many more wounded. An unknown number of Russian civilians died, but the combined total of military and civilian deaths likely surpassed one million. The invasion remains one of the deadliest military operations in history.

· Napoleon never truly recovered from this catastrophe; while he quickly raised new infantry conscripts, he was unable to replace the cavalry and artillery losses. The Russian army was joined by the armies of Britain, Prussia, and Austria, beginning the War of the Sixth Coalition (1813-1814), the conflict that would topple Napoleon's empire.

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QUOTE FOR THE DAY

 

Agha Hasan Abedi (1922 – 1995) was a Pakistani banker and convicted felon who founded Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) and saw its collapse after one of the biggest banking fraud scandals in history was unearthed. Before his death, he was convicted by the United Arab Emirates court of fraud and sentenced to eight years in prison. Abedi underwent a heart transplant operation in 1988 and died of a heart attack in 1995.

Abedi evolved the concept of Real Management in BCCI that called for a balanced relationship between individual members of the management and between the units of operation in BCCI.

PUTT'S LAW

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Putt's Law and the Successful Technocrat is a book, credited to the pseudonym Archibald Putt, published in 1981, the author's true identity remaining unknown.

It proposes Putt's Law and Putt's Corollary.

__________

Putt's Law:

"Technology is dominated by two types of people, those who understand what they do not manage and those who manage what they do not understand."

__________

Putt's Corollary:

"Every technical hierarchy, in time, develops a competence inversion."

Putt's Corollary says that in a corporate technocracy, the more technically competent people will remain in charge of the technology, whereas the less competent will be promoted to management.

__________

From:

https://medium.com/@mesw1/putts-law-understanding-and-managing-in-the-tech-world-4df6e110c485

Putt’s Law and Corollary highlight a critical challenge in the tech industry: the disconnect between management and technical expertise. This disconnect often leads to a lack of understanding from those in leadership positions about the complexities and nuances of the technology they oversee. Consequently, decisions made by management may not always align with the best technical practices or the realities of the technical work being done. This gap can hinder innovation, reduce efficiency, and lead to demoralization among technically skilled employees.

Putt’s Law and Corollary, while humorous, underscore a real challenge in technology management: the need for leaders to understand the technology they oversee. By fostering an environment of continuous learning and inclusive decision-making, organizations can turn this potential pitfall into an opportunity for growth and innovation.

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QUOTE FOR THE DAY

 

ON THESE DAYS

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There were no Bytes items posted yesterday due to internet connection problems.

Instead, here are missed On This Day items and the current one . . .

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June 17, 1972

Watergate break in

The Watergate, an office-apartment-hotel complex in Washington, D.C., that was the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, was broken into by five men who were later arrested, prompting the Watergate scandal that upended the administration of U.S. President Richard M. Nixon.

The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, in August of that year. It revolved around members of a group associated with Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign, who broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate Hotel on June 17, 1972, where they planted listening devices, and Nixon's later attempts to conceal his administration's involvement in the burglary.

Their arrest was prompted by Forrest Gump complaining to his hotel management about the torches in the darkened rooms in the Watergate Hotel opposite keeping him awake.

Nahh, that's not true, that was in the film.

What really happened was that that sometime after midnight on Saturday, June 17, 1972, Watergate Complex security guard Frank Wills noticed tape covering the latches on some of the complex's doors leading from the underground parking garage to several offices, which allowed the doors to close but stay unlocked. He removed the tape, believing it was not in itself suspicious. When he returned a short time later and discovered that someone had re-taped the locks, he called the police.

Police dispatched an unmarked police car with three plainclothes officers, Sgt. Paul W. Leeper, Officer John B. Barrett, and Officer Carl M. Shoffler, who were working the overnight shift; they were often referred to as the "bum squad" because they often dressed undercover as hippies and were on the lookout for drug deals and other street crimes. 

Alfred Baldwin, on "spotter" duty at the Howard Johnson's hotel across the street, was distracted watching the film Attack of the Puppet People on TV and did not observe the arrival of the police car in front of the Watergate building, nor did he see the plainclothes officers investigating the DNC's sixth floor suite of 29 offices. By the time Baldwin finally noticed unusual activity on the sixth floor and radioed the burglars, it was already too late.

The police apprehended five men and criminally charged them with attempted burglary and attempted interception of telephone and other communications.

Following the arrest of the Watergate burglars, media and the Department of Justice connected money found with those involved in the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP), the fundraising arm of Nixon's campaign. 

Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, journalists from The Washington Post, pursued leads provided by a source they called "Deep Throat" (later identified as Mark Felt, associate director of the FBI) and uncovered an enormous campaign of political spying and sabotage directed by White House officials and illegally funded by donor contributions. 

Nixon dismissed the accusations as political smears and won the election in a landslide in November. Further investigation and revelations from the burglars' trial led the Senate to establish a special Watergate Committee and the House of Representatives to grant its Judiciary Committee expanded authority in February 1973.

The burglars received lengthy prison sentences that they were told would be reduced if they co-operated, which began a flood of testimony from witnesses.

On the verge of being impeached, Nixon resigned the presidency on August 9, 1974, becoming the only U.S. president to do so. In all, 48 people were found guilty of Watergate-related crimes, but Nixon was pardoned by his vice president and successor Gerald Ford on September 8.

A word combined with the suffix "-gate" has become widely used to name scandals, even outside the U.S and especially in politics.

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June 18, 2023

Submersible Titan explodes

On 18 June 2023, Titan, a submersible operated by the American tourism and expeditions company OceanGate (the name alone should have raised concerns), imploded during an expedition to view the wreck of the Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Communication between Titan and its mother ship, MV Polar Prince, was lost 1 hour and 33 minutes into the dive. Authorities were alerted when it failed to resurface at the scheduled time later that day. After the submersible had been missing for four days, a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) discovered a debris field containing parts of Titan, about 500 metres (1,600 ft) from the bow of the Titanic.

The search area was informed by the United States Navy's (USN) sonar detection of an acoustic signature consistent with an implosion around the time communications with the submersible ceased, suggesting the pressure hull had imploded while Titan was descending, resulting in the instantaneous deaths of all five occupants.

Numerous industry experts had stated concerns about the safety of the vessel. OceanGate executives, including Rush, had not sought certification for Titan, arguing that excessive safety protocols and regulations hindered innovation.

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June 19, 1976

Viking 1 into Mars orbit

Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft, along with Viking 2, each consisting of an orbiter and a lander, sent to Mars as part of NASA's Viking program. Viking 1 went into Mars orbit on Jue 19, 197, the lander touching down on Mars on July 20, 1976, the first successful Mars lander in history.

Viking 1 operated on Mars for 2,307 days (over 6.25 years) or 2245 Martian solar days, the longest extraterrestrial surface mission until the record was broken by the Opportunity rover on May 19, 2010.

Lander shell (top) and orbiter

Viking 1 launched August 20, 1975 and arrived at Mars on June 19, 1976. The first month was spent in orbit around the Martian planet and on July 20, 1976 Viking Lander 1 separated from the Orbiter and touched down.

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3 WORD THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 

MUSIC MONDAY

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BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAINS

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I was listening to the soundtrack of the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a favourite film, well worth watching.

The opening of the film is accompanied by the song Big Rock Candy Mountains, which sets out a hobo’s idea of paradise.

There is also a children’s version,

The lyrics and video link are below but few would know of the surprising dark origins of the song. I didn’t until I looked up the song.

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Video link to the version from O Brother, Where Art Thou?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vTomEuuIZA&list=RD2vTomEuuIZA&start_radio=1

Lyrics:

One evening as the sun went down

And the jungle fire was burning

Down the track came a hobo hikin'

And he said, "Boys, I'm not turning

I'm headed for a land that's far away

Beside the crystal fountains

So come with me, we'll go and see

The Big Rock Candy Mountains

"In The Big Rock Candy Mountains

There's a land that's fair and bright

Where the handouts grow on bushes

And you sleep out every night

Where the boxcars all are empty

And the sun shines every day

On the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees

The lemonade springs where the bluebird sings

in The Big Rock Candy Mountains

"In The Big Rock Candy Mountains

All the cops have wooden legs

And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth

And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs

The farmers' trees are full of fruit

And the barns are full of hay

Oh I'm bound to go where there ain't no snow

Where the rain don't fall, the wind don't blow

In The Big Rock Candy Mountains

"In The Big Rock Candy Mountains

You never change your socks

Ad the little streams of alcohol

Come a-trickling down the rocks

The brakemen have to tip their hats

And the railroad bulls are blind

There's a lake of stew and of whiskey, too

You can paddle all around 'em in a big canoe

In The Big Rock Candy Mountains

"In The Big Rock Candy Mountains

The jails are made of tin

And you can walk right out again

As soon as you are in

There ain't no short-handle shovels

No axes, saws or picks

I'm a-goin' to stay where you sleep all day

Where they hung the jerk that invented work

In The Big Rock Candy Mountains

"I'll see you all this comin' fall

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains"

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Facts:

"The Big Rock Candy Mountains" was first recorded and copyrighted by Harry McClintock in 1928, a hard time for many with the Great Depression just about to start. McClintock said that he wrote the song in 1895, based on tales from his youth hoboing through the United States while working for the railroad as a brakeman.

The song was first recorded by McClintock, also known by his "hobo" name of Haywire Mac. McClintock said that he wrote the song, though it was likely partially based on other ballads. Before recording the song, McClintock cleaned it up considerably from the version he sang as a street busker in the 1890s.

The song was not popularised until 1939, but it achieved more widespread popularity in 1949 when a sanitised version intended for children was re-recorded by Burl Ives. It contains the verse:

Oh, the buzzin' of the bees in the cigarette trees

The soda water fountain

Where the lemonade springs and the bluebird sings

In that Big Rock Candy Mountain.

Sanitised versions have been popular, especially with children's musicians; in these, the "cigarette trees" become peppermint trees, the "streams of alcohol" trickling down the rocks become streams of lemonade and the lake of whiskey becomes a lake of soda pop.

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The dark origins:

From:

https://casanders.net/music-history/the-true-story-of-the-big-rock-candy-mountain/

Kids were often seduced into the hobo lifestyle by “jockers” — aggressive hobos who would trick children and then force the kids to work for them begging and sometimes to perform sexual favors.

McClintock says that the version he wrote in 1898 was much more adult than the version he recorded in 1928. During a court case questioning the authorship of “The Big Rock Candy Mountain,” McClintock produced the final verse from his original song:

“The punk rolled up his big blue eyes and said to the jocker, “Sandy, I’ve hiked and hiked and wandered too, But I ain’t seen any candy. I’ve hiked and hiked till my feet are sore, I’ll be God damned if I hike any more, To be buggered sore like a hobo’s whore In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.”

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Haywire Mac:

Harry Kirby McClintock (October 8, 1884 – April 24, 1957), also known as "Haywire Mac", was an American railroad man, radio personality, actor, singer, songwriter, and poet, best known for his song "The Big Rock Candy Mountains".

In his youth, McClintock ran away from home to join the circus and drifted from place to place throughout his life. He railroaded in Africa, worked as a seaman, supplied food and ammunition to American soldiers while working as a civilian mule train packer in the Philippines, and in 1899 worked as an aide to newsmen in China covering the Boxer Rebellion.[citation needed]

 

In America, Mac traveled as a railroader and minstrel. He worked for numerous railroads during his life.

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ON THIS DAY

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June 16, 1963

First woman in space

Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (born 6 March 1937) is a Russian engineer, member of the State Duma, and former Soviet cosmonaut.

She was the first woman in space, having flown a solo mission on Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. She orbited the Earth 48 times, spent almost three days in space, is the only woman to have been on a solo space mission and is the last surviving Vostok programme cosmonaut. Twenty-six years old at the time of her spaceflight, she remains the youngest woman to have flown in space under the international definition of 100 km altitude, and the youngest woman to fly in Earth orbit.

Tereshkova in 2024

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QUOTE FOR THE DAY

 

RATE MY PLATE: A REVISIT

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Rate My Plate is an online community of members that like to share, via photographs and comments. whatever is on their dinner plate. The group has over 560,000 members.

Below are selected pics and comments from the Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/RateMyPlateNow/posts/?ref=page_internal

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Corn Beef Hash by Saffron

Comments:

😂😂😂 cat food with gravy and sweetcorn

My dog would vomit up nicer 🤢🤢

Reminds me that I need dog pooh bags the next time I go shopping.

Did you scrape the sides of an outhouse pit for that?

The sad thing is 😩if i came in pissed I’d probably eat that with 3 rounds of bread 🤣

Yup you made a hash of it alright

No offence and I bet you enjoyed it but it resembles the tonsil stone I spat up 😂

Looks like something my cat threw up

Slide that straight into a dog bowl and even the dog will decline it.

Sweetcorn is a bugger to digest, but you didn't have to show us the evidence....😆

Imagine having a name like Saffron and you produce that:D

Has that been through someone's intestine already 🤮

Before or after you ate it, Saffron?

Is that a moat around the mound?

Is that the Pedigree Chum version 😉

Strange shaped toilet bowl.

What the heck is that ? Don't tell me you will actually eat that ?

Wtf is that brown liquid it's swimming in ? Looks rank .🤑🤑🤑

__________

Saturday morning's fry-up by Derek P

Epic plate of food. Black pudding isn’t for me, but the rest 🤤

Just needs a good pot of tea to wash it down 😃

Looks great but a black pudding no no for me 😟

Such a good looking plate mate I’d demolish it. 12/10 extra 3 points for not having beans in a bloody pot and for having no damn food touching other food is perfectly acceptable

Who stole the other egg🤔😜 too much wet on plate for me but that's a me thing looks banging and would still demolish 🍽️

Another egg, no black pudding and fresh tomatoes for me

That’s a lovely plate of food well done I am the egg man

Oh hell who eats that much food in one setting.

Beans and tomatoes running into each other- Noooooo

Whatis it with the spawn of the devil 😈 aka tomatoes

No beans on for me.. Rest looks banging 9/10 😋😋👍👍

No mushrooms! 👍 And if that's fried bread 10/10 😋

Beans n tin tomatoes on same plate ! Shite

Just need a bigger plate 😋😃

__________

Just got home from the pub quick snack before bed by Barry

You'd just got home from the pub, yet you were able to prep the spring onions... That shows that you hadn't had anywhere near enough pints to allow you to think that that monstrosity would ever be acceptable...

You should be disappointed in yourself!

Barry’s drunk and feeling slack, rumbling gut, he needs a snack. He stumbles around with glassy eyes, surveying shelves for food supplies.

White bread stares with ghostly grace, next to cheese in cling wrap’s embrace. Spring onion leans in wilted cheer, quiche just sits like “Eat me, dear”.

A drunken feast, a lurching bite, the flavours clash, but feels just right. So Barry grins, a cheesy smirk, snack success, despite the work.

Homer simpson wouldn't even eat that

Barry came home from the pub in a daze,

His breath was a cocktail of Guinness and haze.

He raided the fridge like a half-blind raccoon,

And made a sad sandwich by light of the moon.

Spring onion slapped on with cheese in a heap,

Then cold, crusty quiche—dear God, that's deep.

It smelled like a fart in a birthday balloon,

But Barry just grinned and hummed a crude tune.

He munched like a goblin, crumbs in his beard,

Then burped so loud even ghosts disappeared.

“Michelin star,” he declared with a smirk—

As his stomach began its sinister work.

Oh Barry my love who raised you? Get that cheese under the grill and get a bit of Branston on it!

You could have a done cheese on toast that would at least have been edible !

Believe that looks like daylight in this photo, hell of a pub crawl, Berry you legend!

Squirt of mayonnaise and that’s right on my radar 👌

I've made and eaten worse, but if you can make that and then photo it you must be sober and crap at making a sandwich.

Take the quiche off for a start, next put the spring onions in the bin where they belong, do the same with the rest and go to bed 👍

or order a pizza 🍕

Barry’s sloshed and feeling slack,

his gut’s in knots—he needs a snack.

He wobbles forth, eyes glazed and wide,

like food’s a beast he must outstride.

White bread looms like a ghostly sheet,

cheese clings on, sweaty in defeat.

Spring onion flops in floppy style,

quiche just whispers, “Eat me, vile.”

He grabs a chunk, he takes a bite—

each flavour wrong, yet weirdly right.

Bread, cheese, and onion, quichey goo...

Barry chews like heroes do.

With crumbs stuck fast upon his chin,

he grins that boozy, cheesy grin.

A snack well earned (or barely fought),

a masterpiece... or maybe not!

Another couple of plnts and you would be in kebab mode. 😂

I’d squash that quiche flat and slap them two together…. Stick it in the sandwich toaster… winner 👍🏻

There was a young man named Barry

Whose sandwich was too heavy to carry

The quiche weighed a ton

The onions looked glum

And the bread and cheese just scare me

__________

Can’t beat a sosig sarnie by Glyn P

There’s nothing like a sausage sandwich… and that’s nothing like a sausage sandwich..

I am well aware that our English language is subject to changes and updates, but, for the sake of my, and others’ sanity, it’s Sausages SAUSAGES

You're supposed to put the sausage in your sandwich before you digest it not after

I take it the rest of the hand is still in the freezer 😬

There's more chance of Oscar Pistorious getting athletes foot than me eating that

Did you lose those sausages under the sofa before putting them on the bread?

That reminds me must clean out the cat litter tray

Looks like four rats on a slice of dry bread!

I mean, you’re right you can’t beat a sausage sarnie. But when it looks like four cremated slugs I think it’s safe to say it can be beaten into a bin

I normally use a poo bag to pick my dogs doings not two stale bits of bread. Just saying.

__________

My one and only meal of the day.. gammon & eggs by Stephen S

If you moved the eggs up the plate a little, you could easy get another six on there.

Stephen I didn't want to ask but it looks like the meal request of a man on death row who loves gammon and eggs. Enjoy 👍

Eight attempts to fry an egg and you still can't get it right. They should have fat or oil splashed over the top of the yolk.

Pop some chips with that and it's a top tea.

I didn't know that you could sweep the floor with fried eggs.

Heart attack on a plate

I’d make that your only meal of the month if I was you pal.

Cholesterol on a plate.

Be ideal with some chips n beans

Do you want a de frib and a heart bypass to go with that

He's hitting his protein

Protein farts for days after eating all that 🤣

__________

Quick snack tonight crispy Bacun butty by Jenny L

It's bacon actually if you're adult!

Bacon going out of date today was it?

This looks absolutely delicious...like something your tastebuds would high-five you for while your arteries quietly dial 000.

Can't beat a bacon butty smashing

I think another slice or two of bacon…

Your bacon sandwich looks perfect to me

once had a full english in a greasy spoon near closing time and they gave me all the bacon they'd cooked...got about 30 pieces...reminds me of that day

It's 1 of those situations where u buy an 8 pack of bacon..n u know 5 will b enough but u can't put the 3 back in the fridge so fk it..cook em all 🤷

You're missing one thing : a defibrillator

ON THIS DAY

 

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June 15,2015 

Magna Carta signed

 

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215.

First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Stephen Langton, to make peace between the unpopular king and a group of rebel barons who demanded that the King confirm the Charter of Liberties, it promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift and impartial justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25 barons.

Neither side stood by their commitments, and the charter was annulled by Pope Innocent III, leading to the First Barons' War.

After John's death, the regency government of his young son, Henry III, reissued the document in 1216, stripped of some of its more radical content, in an unsuccessful bid to build political support for their cause. At the end of the war in 1217, it formed part of the peace treaty agreed at Lambeth, where the document acquired the name "Magna Carta", to distinguish it from the smaller Charter of the Forest, which was issued at the same time. Short of funds, Henry reissued the charter again in 1225 in exchange for a grant of new taxes. His son, Edward I, repeated the exercise in 1297, this time confirming it as part of England's statute law. However, Magna Carta was not unique; other legal documents of its time, both in England and beyond, made broadly similar statements of rights and limitations on the powers of the Crown. The charter became part of English political life and was typically renewed by each monarch in turn, although as time went by and the fledgling Parliament of England passed new laws, it lost some of its practical significance.

Research by Victorian historians showed that the original 1215 charter had concerned the medieval relationship between the monarch and the barons, and not ordinary subjects. The majority of historians now see the interpretation of the charter as a unique and early charter of universal legal rights as a myth that was created centuries later. Despite the changes in views of historians, the charter has remained a powerful, iconic document, even after almost all of its content was repealed from the statute books in the 19th and 20th centuries.

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4 WORD THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 

FOOTNOTES TO HISTORY

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This saying dates back in various forms to the 13th and 14th centuries in England and Germany.

It means that no detail is too small to ignore to achieve a successful outcome but conversely, the smallest detail can also have profound adverse consequences, as the following show . . .

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Popeye the Sailor Man has been the advocate and symbol for consumption of spinach for strength and health.

Popeye’s passion for spinach and the strength it gave him. In 1870, German scientist Erich von Wolf conducted research into the amount of iron in spinach and other vegetables. He discovered that spinach had an iron content of 3.5 milligrams per 100-gram serving. However, when Wolf wrote up his findings, he misplaced a decimal point. He put down spinach’s iron content ten times greater than what it actually was: 35 milligrams of iron per 100-gram serving, instead of 3.5 milligrams. It was not until 1937 that somebody double-checked Wolf’s math, spotting the error.

By then, Popeye had already become a cultural icon, and the spinach myth took hold.

BTW:

The person believed to have inspired Popeye was Polish-born Frank "Rocky" Fiegel (pictured below), a tough labourer from Chester, Illinois, who was always getting in fights. It was believed he could have been a professional boxer. However, he also gave out candy and treats to children, including E.C. Segar, who remembered Fiegel when he created Popeye. Fiegel was described as "just like the fictional spinach-loving mariner ... a one-eyed, pipe-smoking curmudgeon with a jutting chin."

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The de Havilland Comet became the world’s first commercial jetliner in 1952, and in terms of design, it was a total game-changer. In an age of propellers, this British-made jet had four turbojet engines, the sleek, bullet-shaped fuselage that planes still have today and it could fly higher than its competitors. It also had a pressurised cabin, its wings swept backwards, which was unheard of at the time, and was the first jet in history to make a scheduled, commercial flight. In its first year, 1952, it flew 30,000 passengers, including Queen Elizabeth.

However the Comet’s most important contribution to aviation wouldn’t be measured by its successes but the most horrific of failures.

It also had large, square windows.

A de Havilland Comet with square windows.

Investigations into a series of Comet crashes in 1953 and 1954 found they were caused by in-flight metal fatigue failure, which led to explosive decompression and midair breakup.

The sharp corners of the windows put the surrounding metal under extra stress in high altitudes — as much as two or three times more than other places on the plane. The stress was concentrated in the four corners of every window, causing the metal fatigue.

Once identified, the entire Comet fleet discontinued service. De Havilland never recovered: while the Comet boasted a new design with round windows and thicker fuselages, the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 hit the market and became hits with airliners.

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As the late 1980s saw communism begin to crumble in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, East Germany’s communist leaders began to grudgingly ease their citizens’ travel restrictions.

On November 9th, 1989, East Berlin’s communist party boss Gunter Schabowski held a press conference to explain some minor revisions to the travel code. However, he mistakenly implied that travel restrictions were being completely removed. When a reporter asked when the changes would take effect, Schabowski shrugged and replied: “immediately, right away“.

When East Germans heard it, they swarmed the border, demanding the promised free passage. The border guards had received no such instructions, but rather than deal with a riot, they stepped aside, and the wall came down in a rapturous celebration. Soon afterward, a crowd of West Berliners jumped on top of the Wall, and were soon joined by East German youngsters. The evening of 9 November 1989 is known as the night the Wall came down.

Germans stand on top of the Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate, before this section was torn down on 9 December 1989

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American dancer Isadora Duncan (1878 – 1927) was famous in the late 19th and early 20th century for dance themes derived from Greek art.

Duncan in a Greek-inspired pose and wearing her signature Greek tunic. She took inspiration from the classical Greek arts and combined them with an American athleticism to form a new philosophy of dance, in opposition to the rigidity of traditional ballet.

She was also known for wearing long, flowing scarves.

On September 14, 1927, in Nice, France, Duncan was a passenger in an Amilcar CGSS automobile. She wore a long, flowing, hand-painted silk scarf draped around her neck, which became entangled in the wheel well around the open-spoked wheels and rear axle, pulling her from the open car and fatally breaking her neck.

BTW:

In 1913, her two children, aged 3 and 5, had drowned when a car carrying them plunged into the Seine. Later that year, Duncan was injured in an automobile accident, as she would be again in a car crash in Leningrad, in 1924. On another occasion, she narrowly escaped death by drowning when her car plunged into the water.

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Ten days after the Manhattan Project created the world’s first atomic bomb and America had successfully tested it, the United States issued a blunt “or else” statement, calling for the surrender of all Japanese armed forces. It was an ultimatum, warning the Japanese that if they did not surrender, and surrender soon, they would face “prompt and utter destruction“.

This was hotly debated within the Japanese government. Subsequently, Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki stated at a press conference that Japanese policy would be one of “mokusatsu“.

Mokusatsu was a Japanese word which meant that Prime Minister Suzuki had received the message and that he was giving it serious consideration.

Unfortunately, Japanese is a subtle language in which the same word could have different meanings. One of the possible different meanings for mokusatsu – and one which the Japanese Prime Minister did not intend – is to “contemptuously ignore”.

It was that latter meaning that American translators gave to President Harry Truman. International news agencies reported to the world that the Japanese government responded that the ultimatum was “not worthy of comment”. 10 days later, the B-29 Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. A few days later, the Bockscar dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki.

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