JULY 24 — 1959 The Kitchen Debate; 1847 Hoe patents printing press; 1862 Battle of Kernstown; 1998 Saving Private Ryan premieres
JULY 24
1959 – The Kitchen Debate!
…VP Richard Nixon, the great attorney that he was, went up against Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev got political in a make-believe kitch in Moscow at a fair. The two men discussed the virtues of capitalism versus communism. Nixon argued that in America, thanks to capitalism, an American could buy a home for around $14,000, or about $70,ooo today. Khrushchev’s point was that the homes in the Soviet Union are built to last much longer. Nixon argued that homes last much longer than 20 years but that Americans might want a more modern home with better kitchen appliances that do more things, thanks to the innovation and great ideas made by capitalism. Khrushchev restored that American should have a machine that digests the food for us, in other words, these modern inventions which Nixon was spouting are interesting but not necessary.
The debate got heated, with both sides recognizing that that full blown nuclear war would simply destroy both countries. At the time, America was secretly using Turkey as a potential launching pad for nuclear missiles, and the Soviets were aligning themselves with Cuba, leading of course to the upcoming Cuban missile crisis. But getting back to the debate. The debate was essentially a tie, with both sides making their points. Ironically, it was the communistic policies that led to the unavailability of food and other consumer goods as, according to livinghistoryfarm.org, “crop failures in the 1980s and later coupled with an increasingly expensive arms race produced long lines in grocery stores all over Russia and the other Soviet Block states.”
1847 – Richard March Hoe patents the rotary type printing press. You can check out his mansion in Printer’s Park at the corner of Aldus Street and Hoe avenue in the Bronx.
1864 – 2nd Battle of Kernstown.
…Union Brig. Gen. George Crook and the Army of WV V. Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early. The result? Confederate Victory. By July 1864, the northerners hoped to end this bloody war in Richmond, and not enough attention was going to the Shenandoah Valley. Crook and 12,000 of his men were stationed south of Winchester at Kernstown to hold the Valley. On the Confederate side, after Stonewall Jackson was killed by friendly fire in Chancellorsville, Robert E. Lee chose Jubal early to lead the charge in Shenandoah.
On July 23, Early drove north from Strasburg towards Winchester, engaging Crook’s force in Kernstown. But Crook did not take into account the building up of confederate forces. Union Col. James Mulligan tried to line up his troops behind stone walls, but were surrounded by Confederate gunfire. Mulligan was killed by Confederate sharpshooters, and as he die he breathed, “Lay me down and save the flag.” Confederate maj. Gen. John Breckenridge launched a flanking tactic on the Union left. The Yankees scatered through the streets of Winchester, down the valley and all the way to Bunker Hill. This would be Early’s last major raiding the North, as Abraham Lincoln decided to put the entire valley under command of Philip Sheridan.
As kernstownbatle.org puts it: “the Second Battle of Kernstown marked the beginning of Sheridan’s Valley Campaign of 1864 effectively destroying the breadbasket of the Confederacy tilting the balance of power in the Valley in favor of the Union. The Shenandoah Valley…its families, its farms, its livelihood…was left in ruins.
In 1862, Stonewall Jackson had said “If this Valley is lost, this war is lost.” Nine months after Early’s victory at Kernstown the war ended at Appomattox”.
1998—Saving Private Ryan
…featuring Tom Hanks and Matt Damon is released. The story revolves around D-Day. Captain John Miller, played by Hanks, is ordered to find Prigate James Francis Ryan, played by Damon, who is caught behind enemy lines. Ryan was the remaining family member of four brothers who survived the Normandy Invasion, and in order to prevent PR disasters, the Sole SurvivorP Policy was established. The movie is based on a true story about Sgt. Fritz Neland of the 101st Airborne who had also lost his brothers in the war. Luckily as it turned out, one of his brothers had survived.
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