JULY 15 — 1806 Pike sets off for travels; 2012 Wash. University sails in 3d milk jug; 1951 Happy Birthday Jesse “The Body” Ventura; 1973 Nolan Ryan throws 2nd no hitter
1806 – Pike sets off for his travels.
Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American explorer and military officer who served in the War of 1812. Pike tried to find the source of the Mississippi River and also explored the Rocky Mountains and southwestern North America. Pike’s Peak in Colorado is named for him. Pike was sent to Minnesota by General James Wilkinson (Governor of the Louisiana Territory) to search for the source of the Mississippi River in 1805.
Pike led a crew of 20 men from St. Louis to upper Minnesota during the fall and winter. They traveled on boats, and then sleds (when the river iced over). Although the actual source is Lake Itasca, Pike was convinced that the nearby Lake Leech was the source General Wilkinson then sent Pike to the Rocky Mountains and the southwest in 1806, but was officially told not to enter Spanish territory. Pike discovered Pike’s Peak in Colorado, but failed to climb it. Continuing south, Pike did enter Spanish territory, and was arrested and taken to Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico). Pike was one of the first Americans to see New Mexico. He was released by the Spanish in Louisiana.
His notes about his journey mistakenly stated that the area he traveled in was mostly a desert, unsuitable for farming. This discouraged the settlement of the area for quite a while, but trade increased and Pike’s information on the military weakness of the Spanish was quite important. General Pike died in 1813 during the War of 1812 at the battle of York (in Canada); Pike commanded the American troops at the battle of York.
2012 – WOOF rocks the boat, says the headline for Washington.edu.
…The Washington Open Object Fabricators Group submitted a 3d printed milk jug boat. That you could actually put in the water, sit in , and row. It all started as a boat race way back in 1972 with the Seafair Pirates Landing and Milk Carton Derby on Green Lake in Seattle. Since then, Seafair has expanded itself to include many events such as the Lake Washington Triathlon, the Torchlight Parade, the Seafair Cup, the Blue Angels appearance, and of course, the Milk Carton Derby, where folks come from all over with the most outlandish milk carton schemes. Not to be outdone in that category, students from the WOOF team at the University of Washington figured out how to make a 7 foot long 40 pound boat made out of crushed milk cartons.
To complete their 3D printing system they would need a plasma cutter and a homemade extruder to build a boat that could account for 2% shrinkage when hitting the water. That is so nerdy I don’t even know what I just said! But they did it, and the crew managed to create the world’s largest 3D printed boat. Very cool fellas.
1988 – Yippee Kiyaa MFer. Die Hard, the best Christmas movie of all time is released on July 15 1988, and the reason it’s the best xmas movie is because it’s the greatest movie of all time.
Here are some things you may not have known about Die Hard. That famous line Yippiee Kiyay was a throwaway line Bruce Willis used to get the filming crew to crack up. He never thought it would stick. Speaking of great lines, another great one is when Deputy Chief Robinson points out that McLane could be a bleeping bartender for all he knows. Ironically, before he was an actor, Bruce Willis was a bartender in real life. Incidentally, the German that Hans Gruber was speaking is incorrect and basically doesn’t make any sense when translated. One more i9nteresting thing about Die Hard and I’ll move on. Notice much of the scenese with Bruce Willis were filmed at night, that’s partly because during the day he was filming his TV show Moonlighting. Speaking of actors,
1951 – Happyy birthday Jesse The Body Ventura.
Jesse’s also a former professional wrestler, TV host, author, conspiracy theorist, naval veteran and former governor of Minnesota. He ran for the Reform Party and beat both the Democrat and Republican nominees, and has publicly said he might run for President in 2016.
1973 California Angel Nolan Ryan throws his 2nd no hitter beating Detroit Tigers 6-0