JUNE 7

JUNE 7 — 1769 Daniel Boone explores Kentucky; 1866 Chief Seattle dies; 1936 Lucky Luciano convicted; 1976 Saturday Night Fever gets its inspiration; 1989 time: 1:23:45, 6-7-89; Happy Birthday Prince

JUNE 7
1769 – Daniel Boone begins exploring Bluegrass State of Kentucky.
…Boon was a pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boon is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now Kentucky, which was then part of Virginia but on the other side of the mountains from the settled areas.

As a young adult, Boone supplemented his farm income by hunting and trapping game, and selling their pelts in the fur market. It was through this occupational interest that Boone first learned the easy routes to the area. Despite some resistance from the Shawnees, in 1775 Boone blazed his Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap in the Appalachian Mountains from North Carolinaa and Tennessee into Kentucky.

There he founded the village of Booesborough, one of the first American settlements west of the Appalachians. Before the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 European people migrated to Kentucky/Virginia by following the route marked by Boone.

1866 – R.I.P. Chief Seattle
…near the city named after him. Seattle was a Duwamish chief. A prominent figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship with David Swenson Doc Maynard.

A widely publicized speech arguing in favor of ecological responsibility and respect of Native American’s land rights had been attributed to him. However, what he actually said has been lost through translation and rewriting,

1936—Charles Lucky Lucian convicted
…on 62 counts of compulsory prostitution. Lucky was born in Sicily on November 24, 1897.
He split New York City in to five crime families, heading the Genovese crime family himself. He also initiated The Commission, which served as a governing body for organized crime nationwide. Luuciano moved to Havana and was later departed to Italy, living out his final years in Naples. On June 7 1936 he was sentenced to 30 to 50 years in jail.
After World War II Luciano received a parole and a deportation order.

1976 — Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night
… is published in New York Magazine. It was the basis for the characters and plot for the movie Saturday Night Fever, which not only exploited the fashions of disco but John Travolta’s talents.
Originally, the article was published as a piece of factual reporting. However Nik Cohn, who wrote the article, stated later it was based on fiction. Cohn, who was new to the United States from the United Kingdom, was tasked to write about the 1970s disco scene, and Cohn was unfamiliar with the American working-class subculture he was trying to cover.
So he based his piece on a young man he knew in England. Didn’t matter, it turns out, as the two different subcultures shared certain similarities, both emphasized fashion and music, and both the US and UK characters were working class. So there.

1989 – For one second this morning, the time was 01:23:45, 6-7-89.

1958—Happy birthday Prince.
…And may God rest ye soul, m’brutha.

That was his real name! He was named after his father. Prince has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. He’s won 7 Grammys, a golden globe, and an academy award. Rolling Stone mag has listed Prince at number 27 on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. In 1993 he changed his name into a symbol. I guess because he wants to be difficult, I don’t know.