Elizabeth Short
When Elizabeth Short left San Diego for Los Angeles on January 9, 1947 she was simply a 22 year old aspiring actress. On that day she hitched a ride to LA with salesman Robert Manley. He dropped her off at the Bilmore Hotel at around 6:30 PM. A few hours later she was seen leaving the Biltmore Hotel and walking south on Olive Street. A little later she was seen in the Crown Jewel Cocktail Lounge, formerly known as Broox’s Cocktail Lounge at Eight and Olive.
On the morning of January 15, 1947 a car was seen stopped at a vacant lot at 39th and Norton. At 10:54 a call is made to the LA Police Department with a report of a ‘person without clothes on’ at this vacant lot. When police arrived they discovered the naked and mutilated body of Elizabeth Short. Later her death would be listed as late on the 14th or early 15th. Nothing is known about her actions between the night/early morning of the 9th/10th and the discovery on the 15th.
Elizabeth Short was nicknamed the Black Dahlia. As with many things with this case and her life, it’s not really known whether this was a nickname that she was called while alive or was an invention of the press. The evidence points to a newspaper reporter invention. Many her knew her, referred to her as Bette.
Her murder is one of many unsolved Los Angeles murder cases. And it will probably never be solved. Too much evidence was compromised and there was police malfeasance. During the early days of the investigation there were as many newspaper reporters answering the phones at police headquarters as police officers.
There are plenty of suspects or persons that have been reported to be the Black Dahlia Murderer. Some of those suspects were cleared by police and others are though as doubtful because of some of the circumstances of the murders. About 60 people have confessed to the murder. Most of these were men but there also has been a few women.
Just as the number of suspects and confessed murders are a great number so are the myths and misconceptions about Elizabeth Short and the murder. One of the biggest is that she was a prostitute as well as an actress in underground sex films of the era. There is no evidence to this rumor and district attorney’s grand jury states that she was not a prostitute. Another is that at the time of her murder she was pregnant and the death was due to a blotched abortion. The autopsy describes Short’s reproductive organs as anatomically normal and states that Short was not and had never been pregnant.
The Battle After the War
The last major battle of the World of 1812 occurred on January 8, 1815 when the British lead by Sir Alexander Cochrane met the Andrew jackson led Americans. The battle on was the end of a British invasion that began on December 14, 1814. On that date a British fleet of 10,000 soldiers and sailors anchored in the Gulf of Mexico.
The United States and Great Britain began talks for peace in August of 1814 at Ghent, Belgium. On Christmas eve after four months of talks a treaty was signed. The Treaty of Ghent was not ratified by the US Senate until February 16, 1815.
Some may considered this to be a battle that was held when the two countries were at truce, however with the speed of communications at that time, there was no way that either of the two commanders could know that their countries were not at war.
In fact the outcome of this battle made it obvious to the British that the United States was a country that could defend their selves and convince them to abide by the treaty.
For many years the anniversary of the battle was celebrated. It also help to propel Andrew Jackson to the forefront of American politics and achieve the office of President
Johnny Horton recorded the song The Battle of New Orleans composed by Jimmy Driftwood. Driftwood, a history teacher, put words to an old fiddle tune called The 8th of January as a way to help teach children about the battle. Johnny Horton’s version of the song was so popular it topped the charts in 1959 and won the 1960 Grammy Award for Song of the Year.
The Moons of Jupiter
In a letter dated January 7th, Galileo Galilei wrote about a discovery of his of what he thought were three fixed stars near Jupiter. Soon he found that there were four and they weren’t stars but bodies that were in orbit around the planet.
Even though these four moon are bright, they would not have been seen without the aid of a telescope. They could be seen if they were farther away from Jupiter.
Galileo initially called his discovery the Cosmica Sidera (”Cosimo’s stars”), in honour of Cosimo II de’ Medici (1590–1621). At Cosimo’s suggestion, Galileo changed the name to Medicea Sidera (”the Medician stars”).
The received their final names Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto by Simon Marius after the lovers of the Greek god Zeus. Zeus is the equivalent of to the Roman god Jupiter. Galileo refused to use these names and just simply used a numbering scheme listing them from closest to Jupiter outward as I, II, III, IV.
The Galilean moons would be considered dwarf planets if they were in direct orbit around the sun and not also orbiting Jupiter. The are spheroidal in shape.
If one counts a recently discovered moon that hasn’t established an orbit, Jupiter has 63 moons. Jupiter has eight moons that are termed regular satellites. This include the Galilean moons. The other 55 are classified as irregular satellites with 14 of these are still unnamed.
Four Freedoms
In his 1941 State of the Union Address to the joint Congress President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed four points as fundamental freedoms humans “everywhere in the world” ought to enjoy. This speech is known as the Four Freedoms speech.
Two of these Freedoms are part of the United States Constitutional values. Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion (the freedom to worship God in their own way).
Roosevelt Third Freedom is; “freedom from want–which, translated into universal terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants-everywhere in the world.”
The fourth is “freedom from fear–which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor–anywhere in the world.”
The speech was given at a time when the world was in danger of being brought under the tyrantical rule of Adolf Hitler and when the US was still a neutral party in the World conflicts, which would change after the December 7th attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese eleven months later.
The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, General Assembly Resolution 217A established in 1948 have these four rights incorporated into its preamble which partly reads; “Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed the highest aspiration of the common people,….”
Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night falls on the evening of January 5th or the eve of the Epiphany. It is the last night of the period called Christmastide, which begins on Christmas Day.
The song the 12 Days of Christmas relates to the days of Christmastide.
The Epiphany is the celebration of of the coming of the Magi. The earliest reference to this feast was in 361 when Ammianus Marcellinus St. Epiphanius says that January 6 is hemera genethlion toutestin epiphanion (Christ’s “Birthday; that is, His Epiphany”).
Twelfth Night to Epiphany morning is one of the traditional time to take down the Christmas tree and decorations.
The song does not have any religious symbolism nor a code used by persecuted Catholics. There is no evidence that this was even considered until the 1990’s.
William Shakespeare play Twelfth Night is a play meant to be performed on twelfth night. The play is based on the short story “Of Apolonius and Silla” by Barnabe Rich, which was based on a story by Matteo Bandello.
We’ll Be Back After a Short Break
This will be the last post until we come back with new ones on Monday January 5th.
Thank you for taking a few minutes out of you day to read these tidbits. It is much appreciated.
Some other sites that can be considered as part of our network are ShoreToBeFun.com, a site dedicated to the Delmarva Peninsula. Also I am a Technology Consultant and have a site for Technology Tips for SMBs at SMBTechTips.com. Please consider taking a look at either of both of these.
My Favorites of 2008
Movie
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
While some may have found it hard seeing Harrison Ford playing an older Indiana Jones, I actually thought it was refreshing, not to mention you got to see more of the Indiana Jones Adventures.
Network Television Series
Heroes
The end of Season 1 was a letdown and Season 2 wasn’t really all that good, but it was still one of the most interesting show on TV.
Cable Series
True Blood
It made you fall in love with Vampires.
Book Fiction
Sookie Stackhouse - Southern Vampire Mysteries
OK, most of these books were written before 2008 and it took for the the HBO series for me to discover them, but they are delightful reads.
Non-Fiction Book
The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008
Bob Woodward once again probes the working of the White House.
Enjoyable Comeback
Stephen King
I read my first Stephen King book during the summer of ‘76 and have always been a fan. However many of his works in the 1990s I were not able to finish. Duma Key was a great book and the collection of short stories Just After Sunset just shows that his best work are not novel length.
Remembering 2008
When people look back upon 2008, many years from now, the two events that will sure to be on everyone’s list is the downturn of the economy and the 2008 Presidential election. Had Obama lost, it still would have been one for the history books. His election really does mean that we are entering a new age.
Many people that have entertained, educated or annoyed us passed away this past year. The ones that we will miss the most are those who were in their prime or their prime was in front of them. We missed the chance to see how Tim Russert would have commented and reported on the historic November election and all of the work that Heath Ledger would have done to entertained us.
The most heartbreaking lost of 2008 was that of the 2 year old Caylee Anthony. She would have turned 3 on August 9th. The picture of the first missing and now confirmed dead girl is one to melt the heart of even the vilest of people. Although it seems as if the vilest person is her mother Casey Anthony. Casey Anthony had been indicted for the murder of her daughter even before the girl’s remains were discovered on December 11th.
At the beginning of the year it appeared as if the New England Patriots were going to do something that had never been accomplished in the NFL. That would be to finish the season with a perfect record of 19-0. This would have matched the undefeated season of the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins had a record of 17-0 playing only 14 regular season games compared to New England’s 16 game schedule. The New York Giants, who entered the playoffs as a wild card team and fifth seed in the NFC, won the Super Bowl, 17-14. To win, the Giants won 17 road games and became the first NFC wild card team to win the Super Bowl. The year ended with the Detroit Lions becoming the first NFL team to lose all 16 regular season games.
On July 15, 2007 the Philadelphia Phillies became the first baseball team (in fact the first professional franchise) to lose ten thousand games. Even with that they advanced to the 2007 baseball playoffs when the New Mets had their famous collapse. 2008 had a lot of the same with the Phillies winning the NL East over the Mets who struggled once again in September. They then went on to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers (3-1) and Los Angeles Dodgers (4-1) for the NL Championship. Playing the upstart Tampa Bay Rays (they went from having the worst record in the American League in 2007 to winning the AL East and AL Championship in 2008) the Phillies won the World Series (4-1). This was the first sports championship for a team from Philadelphia since the NBA’s 76ers won in 1983.
Perhaps the most unusual story to come out of 2008 was the July 3rd marriage of Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. No they did not come back from the grave to be married. Ralph Archbold (66), who is an impersonator of Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross impersonator Linda Wilde (50) exchanged the vows of marriage in front of Independence Hall. Although there was a 45 year age difference between Franklin and Ross, it would have been possible for them to have married.
Happy New Year
This was has been my New Year’s Eve post the past two years. Have a Happy New Year.
The celebration of the New Year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon 4000 years ago. The Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon after the first day of spring. The Romans in 153 BC established January 1 as the beginning of the New Year.
The Greeks introduced the tradition of a baby to symbolize the rebirth of the god of fertility Dionysus. Early Christians denounced the practice as pagan, but due to its popularity as a new birth they reevaluate their view and allowed members to celebrate the New Year with a baby that symbolized the birth of Jesus.
The Tournament of Roses Parade, in Pasadena, California began in 1886 when members of the Valley Hunt Club decorated their carriages with flowers to celebrate the ripening of the orange crop. The Rose Bowl football game began as the sports centerpiece of the festival in 1916, although a game had been played on that day in 1902.
The song ‘Auld Lang Syne’, which is sung at midnight of New Years eve in almost every English-speaking country was written by Robert Burns in the 1700’s. It was first published after his death in 1796. The music came from an old Scotch tune. ‘Auld Lang Syne’ means ‘old long since’. In the United States the most popular version is by Bandleader Guy Lombardo, who ushered in the New Year with the song on radio and the early days of television, following a tradition he started at a New Year’s eve party at New York’s Roosevelt Hotel in 1929. He played it every New Year’s eve until his death in 1976.
The watching the ball drop on New Year’s eve at New York’s Times Square began in 1907. The original ball was made of wood and iron. The current ball is of Waterford crystal and weighs 1,070 pounds and is six feet in diameter.
January 1st is ushered in first at Kiritimati on the Christmas Islands, in Kiribati. Not all cultures celebrate January 1st as the beginning of the New Year. The Chinese New Year begins on the new moon of the first lunar month which falls between January 21 and February 21. The Jewish New Year begins on Rosh Hashanah, ‘head of the year’. The Iranian New Year is the moment of the vernal equinox in March or when spring begins.
There She Is, Miss America
The man who is probably best known for singing There She Is, Miss America was born on December 30, 1914. Bertram Jacobson, or as he’s better know Bert Parks, was born on that day in Atlanta, Georgia.
He was the host of the annual telecast of the Miss America contest from Atlantic City from 1955, its second telecast, until he was let go in 1979. CBS was not one to carry on traditions and he was fired simply because they felt he was too old to be the host.
Other than his work with Miss America, Parks worked as a Radio Announcer and in the 1950s as a game show host.
He was the host of the pilot for the Hollywood Squares, which was filmed on April 21, 1965. The personalities in the squares were Cliff Arquette (in his “Charley Weaver” comic persona), Wally Cox, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Abby Dalton, Jim Backus, Gisele MacKenzie, Robert Q. Lewis and Vera Miles.
In 1990 Parks was invited back to the Miss America contest on its 70th anniversary. While there were 25 former Miss Americas on stage he sang the signature song, There She Is, Miss America.
Parks died of lung cancer at the age of 77 in La Jolla, California on February 2, 1992.
