Riveting Design
May 20, 1873 -
Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received
a patent for pants with copper rivets at the points of strain. The denim pants known
as Levis would eventually start a
fashion revolution that would make blue jeans a staple wardrobe item. The key
to the success of the pants was the copper rivets, which kept the pockets and
other seams from ripping. The original design had a copper rivet in the crotch
of the pants. This rivet was later removed after cowboys complained that the
rivet conducted heat while they sat around the camp fire and then burned a
rather sensitive area once they climbed back in the saddle. Although Levis brand jeans today hardly resemble the originals, it is possible to buy pants
based on the first patent here.
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Southern Hospitality
May 22, 1856 - Preston Brooks a U.S. Congressman from South Carolina attacked and beat Senator Charles Sumner with a cane
as he sat at his desk in the U.S. Senate chamber. Brooks' attack was
in retaliation for a speech Sumner had made a few days earlier in which Sumner
had insulted Brooks' relative Senator Andrew Butler and Southerners in
general for their support of slavery. Even after Sumner fell unconscious to the
floor Brooks continued to beat the Senator until he broke his cane. Brooks was fined
$300 for the incident, but fellow Southerners saved him from being expelled
from the House of Representatives. It was three years before Sumner fully
recovered from the attack and was able to resume his duties in the Senate, and
even then he was plagued by nightmares, headaches, and other symptoms of
post-traumatic shock. |
Polka's Pop
May 23, 1829 - Cyrill Demian, a piano maker in Vienna, Austria, received the first patent for an accordion. Popular in traditional music styles such as tango, cajun and polka, the accordion is sometimes considered
a one-man-band because it needs no other accompanying instrument. The most
well-known modern musician to regularly use the accordion is parodist Weird Al Yankovic. |
Bye Bye Bonnie & Clyde
May 23, 1934 - American outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were ambushed by police and killed near Black Lake, Louisiana. In 1932 the infamous duo and their gang began a
two-year crime spree robbing banks, stores and gas stations. During this time they
are believed to have killed at least nine police officers and committed several
civilian murders. A posse led by Texas Ranger Frank Hamer began hunting the
gang in early 1934. After tracking their locati on to southwestern Louisiana the posse laid an ambush along a desolate forest
road. Using automatic rifles, shotguns and pistols the officers fired more than
130 rounds at the outlaw's car. According to statements made by two members of
the posse, "Each of us six officers had a shotgun and an automatic rifle
and pistols. We opened fire with the automatic rifles. They were emptied before
the car got even with us. Then we used shotguns ... There was smoke coming from
the car, and it looked like it was on fire. After shooting the shotguns, we
emptied the pistols at the car, which had passed us and ran into a ditch about
50 yards on down the road." The official
autopsy report listed 17 separate entrance wounds on Barrow and 26 on Parker. |
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"We kept shooting at the car
even after it stopped. We weren't taking any chances."
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Dallas Deputy Sheriffs Bob Alcorn and Ted Hinton regarding the ambush of the outlaws Bonnie and Clyde
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Heath is Reading
Think a Second Time by Dennis Prager (who just so happens to play the accordion)
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History Quiz Results
Congratulations to David M., Howard F. and Susie R. who correctly responded to last week's History Quiz. The Korean War was not a declared war but rather a conflict sanctioned by the United Nations. Each will receive a Bath By Bettijo "Peace" Organic Aromatherapy Stick.
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