JUNE 12 — 1630 Arabella reaches Salem, begins Great Migration; 1924 Happy Birthday George H.W. Bush
JUNE 12
1987 – Tear down this wall!
That was the challenge issued by The Great Communicator
Ronald Reagan to Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the Berlin Wall, in a speech at the Brandenburg Gate near the Berlin wall on June 12, 1987. celebrating the 750th anniversary of Berlin. Reagan dared Gorbachev, who was at the time the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to tear it down as an symbol of Gorbachev’s desire to increase freedom in the Eastern Bloc through glasnost (transparency) and perestroika (restructuring).
In 1945 after World War II, Berlin and Germany were divided into four sections; with the Americans, British and French controlling the western region and the Soviets gaining power in the eastern region. In May 1949 the three western sections came together as the Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany, and in 1952 the border between the east and west was closed and the following year East Germans were not allowed to leave without permission.
In August 1961, the Berlin Wall was erected by the East German government to prevent it s citizens from escaping to the West. Between 1949 and the wall’s inception, it’s estimated that over 2.5 million East Germans fled to the West in search of a less miserable life. Finally President Regan said that magic line.
Fortunately for Berliners, the speech foreshadowed events to come: two years later, on November 9, 1989, happy East and West Germans did break down the infamous barrier between East and West Berlin, and Germany was officially reunited on October 3, 1990.
1630 Arabella reaches Salem, Mass., beginning the Great Migration.
The Massachusetts Bay Company and the settlers on the ship that went to the New World were looking for two things: a profit and the right to worship whatever religion peacefully.
Seven years prior, the Dorchester Company tried to settle in Cape Ann, and had to move in 1626 to Naumkeag, named after the Native Americans who farmed the re. The town got renamed to Salem, which is Hebrew for peace, and the settlers elected John Endecott as their governor, which was nice that they instead of King Charles in England. got to democratically choose their leader.
Back in 1620, the Mayflower had already landed hundreds of Pilgrims to Plymouth, and now King Charles was granted a charter to the Massachusetts Bay Company to settle what would be the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Governor John Winthrop would be leading the fleet, of ships to travel across the Atlantic, while he commanded the Anabella. But this group was more interested in breaking away from the doctrine of the Church of England than making a profit; perhaps a good thing for them since settlers in Virginia prior had tried looking for gold when there was none instead of harvesting crops.
The folks in Virginia barely survived with the help of the Native Americans and tobacco would be the most profitable resource instead of gold. Winthrop’s group was different.
He supposedly delivered a speech on the trip, famously saying “[F]or we must Consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us; so that if we shall dealer falsely with our god in this worked wee have undertaken and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through the world, we shall open the mouths of enemies to speaker evil of the ways of god and all professors for God’s sake….” It would be on this day they arrived to Salem, but they did not stay for long because it just was not habitable for their present conditions. Instead, William Blackstone found another peninsula that would work much better, and they named it Boston, after the town in England they had left. The first year was tough, to say the least. Winthrop wrote to his wife about “much morality, sickness and trouble.”
The settlers would not make it through the first year, but Winthrop kept his faith in God alive and managed to lead the settlers to eventual prosperity. The Great Migration would last from 1630 to 1642. During that time, English settlers arrived in by the hundreds.
By 1632, Boston, now the largest city in North America, became to capital of Massachusetts. Winthrop led the colony for a decade, and remained active in the city’s politics until he died in 1649.Th investors Massachusetts Bay Company were pleased as trade flourished between the colonies and West Indies. In 1684 King Charles II revoked the charter due to the English Restoration when King Charles II restored power over English, Scottish and Irish monarchies.
By 1750 Boston had a population of 15,000.
Like a boss!
1924—Happy birthday Number 41.
…George HW Bush was born June 12, 1924 in Milton, Mass to Senator Prescott Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush.
After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, Bush put off college so he could enlist in the navy and fight in World War II as the youngest pilot in the navy and flew 58 combat missions. He then attended to Yale, graduated in 1948, and moved his family to West Texas and entered the oil business, becoming a millionaire by the age of 40.
He got into politics, served in the House of Representatives and director oj the CIA, when he retired once Jimmy Carter took office as the president. Bush was later elected Vice President under Ronald Reagan, As VP, Bush had responsibility in several domestic areas, including Federal deregulation and anti-drug programs, and visited scores of foreign countries.
In 1988 he was elected president, facing a dramatically changing world. The Cold war was over the USSR disbanded, and Gorbachev stepped down. Meanwhile Bush sent troops to Panama to overthrow the corrupt regime of General Manuel Noriega, who was threatening the security of the canal and the Americans living there.
Norriega was brought to the US for trial as a drug trafficker. Bush also faced Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, who had invaded Kuwait and threatened to move into Saudi Arabia. Bush got together a coalition of troops, and after a few weeks of air and missile bombardment, the 1000th hour land battle dubbed Desert Storm routed Iraq’s million-man army.
Despite his foreign successes, Bush was unable to withstand discontent at h home from a faltering economy, rising violence in inner cities, and continued high deficit spending. In 1992 he lost his bid for reelection to Democrat Bill Clinton.
In 2010 President Barack Obama awarded George HW Bush the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his commitment to service and ability to inspire volunteerism throughout the country, encouraging citizens to be a thousand points of light.
1963 – the first Skyway opens in Minneapolis.
Why? Because it’s too cold and rainy and snowy from November through April so you don’t want to walk outside if you can avoid it. In fact, July and August is sweltering hot, so skyway still looks good. Leslie Park had a vision to fix an ailing downtown Minneapolis during the 1950s. General Mills had packed up and headed to Golden Valley. A giant new shopping center had opened in the outskirts in what was recently a cornfield. Downtown was hurting. A Skyway, or a Walkway above ground between downtown buildings, was first built by Park on 7th and Marquette. It turned out to be one of the main factors that saved downtown Minneapolis! People loved this walkway!
By 1972 there were seven walkways linking buildings, and from there it grew. And grew. Even Adrian Petersen had to catch his breath. These days, it’s eight miles long, climate controlled, connects 69 city blocks, and is used by about 260,000 walkers per day. If you’re not familiar with it, grab a map because there are some areas where it gets confusing, from what I hear.