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MARCH 23 — 1775 Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death (QUIZ!); 1983 Reagan announces Star Wars; 2015 Louisville Slugger sold to Wilson Sporting Goods; 1862 Stonewall Jackson defeated in Battle of Kernstown; 2015 RIP Gary Dahl, “inventor” of the Pet Rock
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MARCH 23
“Give me liberty or give me death!”
a) John jay
2) John Adams
c) Patrick Henry
d) Benjamin Franklin
1983-Star Wars is born.
Not talking about the movie, talking about Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI.
With this program, in case the Russians tried anything funny, like launching a fullscale war on the United States, US satellites could knock Russian nuclear missiles out of the sky before it hits the U.S. Sounds easy enough, right? This way the offense doctrine known as MAD, or Mutually Assured Destruction, could be shelved and now the US is winning the arms race against the Soviets.
Not so fast.
A global shield was not only impossible by the current technology, such an idea probably won’t ever work. So it really never got off the ground, no pun intended. When Bill Clinton was elected president, the name was changed from SDI to BMDO, or Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, and that never really went anywhere either.
However it should be noted that because research was at least begun on this technology, it has paved the way for American military superiority in the field of comprehensive advanced missle defense systems.
2015 Louisville Slugger is sold to Wilson Sporting Goods.
Batter up!
That was great news for Wilson, acquiring the oldest and best known baseball bat ever. The Louisville Slugger started out in the 1880s when 17 year old John Hillerich, just call him Bud, made the first one for local legend Pete Browning.
Browning, who was nicknamed the Louisville Slugger played for the Louisville Eclipse, and was breaking all of his bats when he swung at the ball. Bud took Browning into his father’s shop and custom designed one for him. Browning would use this bat to knock three in a row outta there on his first day. He finished his career in the major leagues with a .321 batting average.
Naturally, his other Eclipse teammates went to young Bud to get these quality bats, but Bud’s father J.F. Hillerich wasn’t interested in making bats. He was into making porch columns, stair railing, and butter churning things, according to the Louisville Slugger’s website history page.
But eventually JF would cave into his son’s idea, and produce baseball bats under the name Falls City Slugger. In 1895 Bud was old and mature enough to acquire the company from his dad, and renamed the bats, the Louisville Slugger. Then in 1905, the first athletic endorsement of sporting gear of any kind, occurred when Honus Wagner signed a marketing contract of exclusive public testimonial to one product.
Of course, the contracts used to this day whether it’s Wilson, Nike, Adidas, Under Armor, or whatever are much different, Wagner would be the first to sign it. Since then, the best in all of baseball, from Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, Joe Dimaggio, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson , Johnny Bench, all the way up to Derek Jeter, Curtis Anderson Jr., etc. etc. Aluminum bats began production in the 1970s, and Louisville Slugger has the world’s largest baseball bat that lies against a five story building on West Main Street. It’s a replica of what the Sultan of Swat Babe Ruth used in the 1920s, weighing 68,000 pounds, standing at 120 feet.
This is the factory available for public tours where they produce about a million baseball bats per year. Suh-wing bath!!! He cannot he cannot he cannot suh-wing battah.
1862 One of Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson’s rare defeats came in the First Battle of Kernstown.
Probably because of the bad intelligence he got regarding the situation in the Shenandoah valley. Stonewall Jackson’s cavalry commander, Turner Ashby attacked Kernstown, Virginia the previous day and reported to Jackson that only four regiments were present, probably about 3,000 men or so.
Yeah, because the other 2/3 of Union soldiers were hiding. Commander james Shields, under the command of Nathan Kimball, were believed to be vulnerable. This was on a Sunday, and Stonewall Jackson made it a policy not to engage in battle on the Sabbath, unless he felt he had to. Well today my friend, battle was inevitable.
Right away the confeds were pushed back and Jackson immediately reinforced it with a small infantry brigade. Jackson tried to flank the Union right by way of Sandy Ridge, but Col. Erastus B. Tyler’s bridgade countered this movement and joined up with Kimball’s brigade, and the confederates retreated. The Union didn’t pursue. The result of the battle was a Union tactical victory, but also considered a Confederate strategic victory since they prevented the Union from transferring forces from the Shenandoah Valley to reinforce the Penninsula Camplaing against the Confederate capital in Richmond.
1998 James Cameron Titanic wins 11 Grammies, tying the record of most grammies with 1959’s Ben Hur.
2009-Three time World Series Champ and video game developer Curt Schilling announced his retirement. He helped to lead the Philadelphia Phillies, AZ Diamondbacks, and Boston Red Sox to the World Series
1985 U.SA. For Africa enters the Billboard pop charts at Number 21 with We Are the World.
2015 – RIP Gary Dahl, inventor of the Pet Rock
Question for the adults: have you ever been in a bar and listened to some guy in his 40s slobber on about making some ridiculous product no one can live without? For some people who go to bar it probably happens every time.
Actually Gary was the one listening in on the drunken slobs around him complaining about their pets at home. The way they shed, the cost of pet food they needed to be walked, on and on they went. So Gary decided to come up with a Pet Rock that would take care of all that nonsense. The brilliance behind the idea was the packaging.
This small rock came with some wood shavings and a cardboard box with instruction, because, you know, you need instructions on how to take care of a pet rock. For instance there was a step that read, “If, when you remove the rock it appears to be excited, place it on some old newspapers. The rock will know what the paper is for and will require no further instruction. It will remain on the paper until you remove it.”
The Pet Rock was released just in time for Christmas of 1975 and the success of this rock quite literally made Gary a millionaire almost overnight.
But within the six months the fad was gone and replaced by copycat pet rocks. Then Gary’s investors went after him, stating they hadn’t received their fair share of profits. A court agrees with them, and Gary was forced to fork over a six-figure dollar amount. The Pet Rock was done just as soon as it begins. Gary tried other failed attempts at business, perhaps most notably a Sand Breeding Kit, which contained male and female sand that could be left alone to do its thing.
In 2001 ThinkGeek.com came up with a USB Pet Rock that did absolutely nothing when you plugged it in except annoy co-workers. He finally settled for a classic money maker, opening a bar in Los Gatos, CA where his invent on started. It’s called Carry Nations, named after the hammer throwing lady of the temperance movement who used to trash bars for serving alcohol.
Ultimately, he would go back to his day job before the Pet Rock, which is helping people with marketing. Why not, right? If this guy can sell a rock for $4.00, why wouldn’t one choose him for their marketing advisor? In 1988 he told the ape, “There’s a bizarre lunatic fringe who feel I owe them a living. Sometimes I look back and wonder if my life wouldn’t have been simpler if I hadn’t done it.”
Probably, but it may not have been as rewarding It was on this day in 2015 Gary Dahl passed away. He became a millionaire temporarily, for selling one of history’s most useless gadgets.
C) Patrick Henry. He made that speech addressing the second Virginia Convention in 1775 right after the British passed the Stamp Act.