FEBRUARY 8 — 1887 The Dawes-Severalty Act signed by President Cleveland; 1994 Jack Nicolson goes berserk in road rage incident; INVENTION/PATENTS: 1883 Louis Waterman begins experiment in making fountain pen, 1898 John Sherman (envelope and gumming macine), 1802 Simon Willard patents banjo clock; 1986 Spud Webb wins Slam Dunk Contest in NBA All-Star Game
FEBRUARY 8
1887 – The Dawes Severalty Act is signed by President Cleveland. This document provided the distribution of Indian reservation land among individual tribesmen, and was intended to encourage the Native Americans to blend in with Angle American culture. It had good intentions, kinda, but didn’t work out for the Natives at all. It was proposed by Senator Henry Dawes of Massachusetts, and under his Act gave the president the authority to divide Indian reservations into individual owned plots. Heads of households would receive 160 acres, unmarried men were given 80 and boys received 40. The bill would stall in congress until a provision was included that allowed the Anglo-Americans to split up whatever the Indians didn’t take. As a result, the Native Indians would lose about %60 of their land.
With this act, Indian life fell apart as they were forced to learn how to live in a different agricultural system. Others got conned out of their properties, and disease and poverty became the norm. The Act remained in effect for over 40 years, and was replaced by the Wheeler-Howard Act which attempted to reinvigorate the centrality of tribal control and cultural autonomy on the reservations. But the damage had already been done.
In golf news…
1994 – Jack Nicholson explodes in a case of classic L.A. road rage. Put down the 2 iron, Murphy, nice and easy. On February 8, 1994, Robert Blank, according to Jack, cut him off near the corner of Moorpark Way and Riverside Dr. At the next red light, Jack got out of the car and started hammering away on Blank’s Benz. On the windshield, and on the roof of the car. Jack apparently started getting into golf after the filming of 1990’s The Two Jakes. On the course he used his 3 and 5 iron, but not his 2. Not till that day at least. Panic not people, It’s OK, Blank’s Mercedes is doing fine these days from what I hear. How about a little Anger Management Jack? I know you were hoping the Lakers were going to win another title this year, but c’mon! Calm down.
1883 – Louis Waterman begins experiment to invent the fountain pen. That’s right, world. You no longer have to dip that pesky feather into a jar of ink. Yet another reason planet Earth just needs Americans. Lewis Edson Waterman founded his company in New York in 1883 with the invention of a new feeder. He used the capillarity principle which allowed air to induce a steady and even flow of ink. He worked on his invention for ten years before placing it on the market. Waterman got a patent for his new fountain pens in 1884.
1898 — John Arnes Sherman of Massachusetts 1st envelope folding and gumming machine. Also in Massachusetts 1802 Simon Willard patented the banjo clock.
1986 – Spud Webb defies that size matters. 5’7” Anthony Jerome Webb from Dallas Texas found a way to get into the NBA as an Atlanta Hawk. Also played for the Sacramento Kings, and in 1986 during a slam dunk contest at the NBA All-Star Game Weekend, Spud Webb, the shortest player to ever compete in this event, beat out people such as 6’8” Dominique Wilkins who was the slam dunk champ in 1985. Man’s game.