Good Morning Everyone !
Today is December 6, the 340th day of the year with 25 days left.
It is a beautiful but very very chilly day outside in Albuquerque but yet another blessed day in the work for our Lord here at:
For God’s Glory Alone Ministries !!!
So, What Happened Today In 1884:
The Washington Monument Is Completed !
On this day in 1884, in Washington, D.C., workers place a nine-inch aluminum pyramid atop a tower of white marble, completing the construction of an impressive monument to the city’s namesake and the nation’s first president, George Washington. As early as 1783, the infant U.S. Congress decided that a statue of George Washington, the great Revolutionary War general, should be placed near the site of the new Congressional building, wherever it might be. After then-President Washington asked him to lay out a new federal capital on the Potomac River in 1791, architect Pierre L’Enfant left a place for the statue at the western end of the sweeping National Mall (near the monument’s present location).
It wasn’t until 1832, however–33 years after Washington’s death–that anyone really did anything about the monument. That year, a private Washington National Monument Society was formed. After holding a design competition and choosing an elaborate Greek temple-like design by architect Robert Mills, the society began a fundraising drive to raise money for the statue’s construction. These efforts–including appeals to the nation’s schoolchildren–raised some $230,000, far short of the $1 million needed. Construction began anyway, on July 4, 1848, as representatives of the society laid the cornerstone of the monument: a 24,500-pound block of pure white marble.
Six years later, with funds running low, construction was halted. Around the time the Civil War began in 1861, author Mark Twain described the unfinished monument as looking like a “hollow, oversized chimney.” No further progress was made until 1876–the centennial of American independence–when President Ulysses S. Grant authorized construction to be completed.
Made of some 36,000 blocks of marble and granite stacked 555 feet in the air, the monument was the tallest structure in the world at the time of its completion in December 1884. In the six months following the dedication ceremony, over 10,000 people climbed the nearly 900 steps to the top of the Washington Monument. Today, an elevator makes the trip far easier, and more than 800,000 people visit the monument each year. A city law passed in 1910 restricted the height of new buildings to ensure that the monument will remain the tallest structure in Washington, D.C.–a fitting tribute to the man known as the “Father of His Country.”
Other Memorable Or Interesting Events Occurring On December 6th:
963 – Leo VIII elected Pope;
1160 – Jean Bodels “Jeu de St Nicholas” premieres in Arras France;
1240 – Mongols under Batu Khan occupy & destroy Kiev;
1527 – Pope Clemens VII fleas to Orvieto;
1631 – 1st predicted transit of Venus (Kepler) is observed;
1745 – Bonnie Prince Charles army retreats to Scotland;
1749 – French-Canadian explorer La Verendrye dies at 64 in midst of planning another expedition to search for the elusive Northwest Passage;
1768 – Encyclopedia Britannica publishes 1st edition in Scotland;
1777 – General George Washington’s battered forces outsmart British General William Howe’s year-end attempt to drive the Americans from the hills of what is now Whitemarsh Township in Pennsylvania; according to legend, Lydia Darragh, a nurse refered to as America’s 1st spy, gave Washington’s men warning of the attack;
1790 – U.S. Congress meets in new temporary capital in Philadelphia Pa;
1865 – The 13th amendment is ratified officially ending the institution of slavery;
1868 – Public vigilantes yanked 3 brothers from their jail cell in Indiana & hanged Frank, William & Simeon Reno who had killed a guard during a train robbery in May. The Reno brothers are credited with the 1st train robbery in America;
1870 – Joseph H Rainey (SC) becomes 1st black in the U.S. House of Representatives;
1877 – 1st sound recording is made by Thomas Edison;
1877 – Washington Post publishes 1st edition;
1889 – Jefferson Davis, 1st & only President of the Confederate States of America dies in New Orleans La;
1907 – 361 coal miners killed in West Virginia in Marion County caused by an explosion in a network of mines. It was the worst mining disaster in history;
1917 – During WWI, the Belgian steamer ‘IMO’ & French freighter ‘Mont Blanc’, both loaded with ammunition, collide in Halifax Harbor in Canada & explode leveling part of the town and killing nearly 1,600 & injuring approximately 8,000. It was the most devastating man-made explosion in the pre-atomic age;
1933 – A federal judge rules that the book ‘Ulysses’ by James Joyce is not obscene. The book had been banned in both the U.S. & England when it came out in 1922;
1941 – President Roosevelt, convinced by intelligence reports that the Japanese fleet was headed to Thailand, telegrams Emperor Hirohito with a request that “for the sake of humanity,” the emperor intervene “to prevent further death and destruction in the world.”;
1957 – America’s 1st attempt to put a satellite in orbit failed; Vanguard TV3 rose 4 feet off the ground at Cape Canaveral then crashed back to the ground & exploded;
1956 – Nelson Mandela & 156 others are arrested for political activities in South Africa;
1961 – U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff authorize combat missions by Operation Farm Gate authorizing U.S. Air Force pilots to attack Viet Cong as long as at least one Vietnamese national was carried on the strike aircraft. It was a dramatic expansion increasing the involvement of the U.S. in the Vietnam war;
1972 – Intense fighting in South Vietnam breaks out as the secret Paris peace talks resume; both sides where trying to achieve a positional advantage in the event a cease-fire might be worked out;
1973 – Gerald Ford is sworn-in as 1st unelected Vice President;
1982 – Bomb attack on Londonderry Northern Ireland disco kills 17;
1988 – Nelson Mandela is transferred to Victor Vestor Prison in Capetown South Africa;
1994 – Orange County California files for bankruptcy;
2003 – Army becomes 1st major college football team to finish 0-13 in a 34-6 loss to Navy.
Today’s Thought:
“There’s much to be said for challenging fate instead of ducking behind it.” – Diana trilling
Today’s Silly Question:
What is the speed of dark ?
Today’s Peaceful Idea:
Until you make peace with who you are, you’ll never be content with what you have !
Today’s ‘Do You Remember’:
Today’s Child’s Advice:
When you get a bad grade at school, show it to your mom when she’s on the phone !
Today’s Child’s Love Advice:
Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day !
Today’s Irrelevant Fact:
Thomas Edison was afraid of the dark.
Today’s Funny Picture:
Today’s Inspirational Picture:
Until Tomorrow – God Bless To All !!!