APRIL 8 — 1912 Warburg and National Citizens League begin promoting Currency Law; 1826 Randolph and Clay duel it out; 2016 Rookie Trevor Story hits another one outta there for the Rockies
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APRIL 8
1912 – New York Times reports Bank Asks Patrons to Aid Reform Work. The National Citizns League needed cash for its new currency Law Propoganda. Actual words in the headline. German-born Paul Warburg, who came from a heavy family line of bankers was working with Senator Nelson Aldrich to come up with a new banking system that was like Europe’s. What they proposed to Congress was a system in which the United Stets gave the new bank the ability to issue U.S. currency, loan it to the government at interest and then convert that federal debt into cash to be loaned out by its member banks over and over and over again.So how does this idea get sold to the masses? That’s where the Citizens League came in. There they were on this day in 1912, right on the cover of the Times saying “A million dollars doesn’t go very far in a campaign of education such as is being carried on by the NCL for the promotion of a sound banking system, yet the contribution of $1M for that purpose by individual Directors of the National banks of the country short time ago provoked much comment and a suggestion that the electorate was to be corrupted by the use of these funds. ” The NCL went on to say it’s a non-partisan association of businessmen who believe the industry of a country bears the burden of our present defective currency. Good thing big New York Banks and JP Morgan and the Rockfeellers were there to help! Was a million dollars enough to “educate” Americans this new banking system was a good idea? At the time, Woodrow Wilson was governor of New Jersey, and he though the Constitution was corrupt, arguing for a system like Parliament. He believed that competition was sin, so he had no problem rallying the idea for this central bank. The National Citizens League would be successful, and the Federal Reserve Act would come into effect, a mere 16 years before the the Great Depression.
script data-ad-client="ca-pub-8113795558250501" async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>Apr 8 1826 – Randolph and Clay go at it in a duel. John Randolph, slave owner from Virginia, a boozer and regular opium fanatic, Senator of Virginia, did not particularly care for Secretary of State Henry Clay. The two disagreed on slavery; Randolph had helped found the American Colonization Society which sent freed slaves back to Africa. He actually disenfranchised himself with the Jeffersonias and formed his own party called the Tertium Quids. Randoolph threw around insults, calling Senator Daniel Webster a vile slanderer, president John Quincy Adams a traitor, and most effectively, Henry Clay The Great Compromiser, and worse yet, a blackleg, which is another word for the death of livestock or someone who cheats in card games. He is a man of splendid abilities but utterly corrupt. He shines and stinks, like a rotten mackerel by moonlight.” That was IT. In those days, Senators were exempt from duels because they were considered gentlemen, but when Clay challenged him to one anyway, he didn’t expect Randolph to actually accept. Ding, ding, it was on. Kinda. Randolph accepted, but as a Senator he didn’t really want to fight. He certainly didn’t want to win and leave Mrs. Clay a widow. So the two men showed up with their seconds and medical guides on the Virginia side of the Potomac. Seconds, by the way, are the moderators of the duel. The duel was about to begin when Randolph’s pistol accidentally went off. Tensions on both sides mounted quickly, but was resolved after some persuasion from Randolph. Clay recognized it as an misfire, and they moved on. Ten paces each, away from each other. The word would be given, followed by the three count, to the duel. Clay’s bullet caught Randolph’s long coat, almost a cape actually, while Randolph’s bullet would’ve missed a barn door. Boys, boys. Mommy needs a vodka shot. The two men aimed their pistols once again. Randolph raised his pistol over his head, and fired his bullet up into the sky. Clay, seeing the true intention of Randolph, lowered his pistol and said I trust in God, my dear sir, you are untouched; after what has occurred, I would not have harmed you for a thousand words.” In response, Randolph told Clay, You own me a new coat. I somehow doubt that Clay ever replaced Randolph’s bullet-holed coat, but for now, crisis averted. John Randolph would free his slaves as promised, but not to Africa as was the intention of the ACS, instead they supposedly went to Ohio and settled there.
1981- The passing of General Omar Bradley,
…the receiver of today’s bad-ass award. He was a US Army field commander in North Africa and Europe during WWII.He commanded the infantry school at Fort Benning, George, and was later placed at the head of te II Corps for the North African campaign, was successful in causing the fall of Tunisia and the surrenderof over 250,000 Axis soldiers. He led forces in the invasion and capture of sicily and joined his troops In the Normandy invasion, he was promoted to commander of the US 12th army group, the oargest force ever placed under an American group commander, and led successful operations in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Czechoslavakia. After the war, he headed the Veterans administration and became Chief of Staff of the US Army.
In 1949, he was appointed the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the following year oversaw the policy-making for the Korean War, before retiring from active service in 1953. He was the last of only nine people to hold five-star rank in the US Armed Forces. In the 1970 movie Patton, his character is played by Karl Malden.
1974-Hank Aaron hits his 715th career homerun
…and breaks the long standing record held by Babe Ruth. You probably already know this story already, so I won’t get into it too much, and if you don’t know the story, it’s because you’re probably not a baseball fan, which is fine either way. There’s something for everyone here. Long before Hank was an Atlanta Brave, a
script data-ad-client="ca-pub-8113795558250501" async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>s a young boy he worked for an ice truck.
An ice truck is something humanity had before refrigerators. Ice trucks would drive through neighborhoods and sell ice.
Hank’s job was to break the ice, or at least, ch ip away at it, which he credits to his powerful wrists that would really come in handy later. In 1953 Hank won the 1953 Sally League MVP. One sportswriter commented: “Henry Aaron led the league in everything except hotel accommodations.” He did lead the league in hits, runs, RBI, doubles, and batting average, but these were the 1950 so Hank never got to stay or eat with his team at hotels and restaurants. Matter of fact, one time in a restaurant in Washington DC behind Griffith stadium, when he was done eating the cooking crew at the restaurant broke the dishes. Why? Because a black man ate off those dishes. Ah, the 1950s.
2016 – Rookie Story belts yet another one outta there for the Rockies.
Less than a week after making his debut in Major League Baseball, shortstop Trevor Story broke a record by getting homeruns in all four of his first games. According to mlb.com, one reason for his success could be due to his baseball bat, which was forged from a Texas tree felled by lightning. Another rumor is that he learned to play in a magic cornfield in Iowa.
On his MLB debut, he hit two; first a 3-run homer then another one the next time he stepped up to the plate at Chase Field, AZ on April 4th, against the Diamondbacks. He followed it up with another one the next day, becoming only the third hitter to score in his first two games, then on the 6th did it again with a two-run homer off Arizona’s Patrick Corbin.
Then on this day in 2016, he slugged one out to become the first player to hit home runs on each of his first four games. He would finish the season with 101 hits, 67 runs scored, 27 homers and 72 RBI. Throughout his second season however, Story’s hitting would slow down, finishing the year with a 239 batting average, 32 doubles, 24 homers, and 82 RBI.
1842- Happy birthday Elizabeth Custer,
…yeah she’s the great general’s wife. She grew up in Michigan as the daughter of a prominent judge, and tragically by the time she was thirteen, her three siblings and mother all passed away. She went to Young Ladies Seminary and Collegiate Institute where she graduated at the head of her class, and met her future husband in the middle of the Civil War. Her dad didn’t want anything to do with Captain George Custer at that time. It wasn’t until Captain Custer led a successful campaign in the Battle of Gettysburg, that her dad would consider the two getting married.
In additiona to being very beautiful and intelligent, Libbie was very talented and used to write her husband’s memoirs when he was out in the fields of battle. In 1887 she wrote a very informative book called Tenting on the Plains which illustrated her life on the Texas frontier and life in the Wild West. After Custer’s last stand at Little Big Horn in 1876, Libbie learned that President Ulysses Grant and his staff blamed Custer for the Indian massacre, and she started writing again to defend her late husband’s honor. She lived as a widow for more than fifty years and died in NYC right before her 91st birthday. If you want to see her portrayel in film, she’s played by Rosanna Arquette in the 1991 tv mini-series Son of the Morning Star.