NOVEMBER 7 — 1979 W. Virginia Prison Break; 2004 2nd Battle of Fallujah; 1868 Cornell U opens its doors; 1861 Battle of Belmont; 2015Braud & Gallagher serve up largest plate of gumbo in history
NOVEMBER 7
1979 – Prison break from West Virginia Prison.
I don’t like talking about spooky things when Halloween’s over, because it’s weird. But this bears commenting.
This prison, which has been the subject of many scary documentary TV shows such as ABC Family’s Scariest Places on Earth, A&E’s Paranormal State, Sci-Fi’s Ghost hunters, and dozens more. The Pen was opened in1876 and closed in 1995, and with jail calls at 5×7 feet, these rooms were tighter than Honey BooBoo’s training bra. This Penitentiary had 85 executions by hanging; the first began in 1899 as soon as capital punishment became the law of the land in West Virginia.
After 1950, execution by hanging was replaced by Old Sparky, the name of the Electric Chair, yes, have a seat. The prison policy was more centered around punishment than rehab. Some of the famous movies filmed at the Penn include 1955’s The Night of the Hunter, 1971’s Fool’s Paradise, and more recently Out of the Furnace featuring Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana, Woody harrelson and others. But is it haunted? I know Halloween was last week, if you really want to pee your pants, spend the night at the north wall. Though much of the deceased were buried at White Gate Cemetery just a few miles outside Moundsville, up 4th street, then turn left on Tom’s Run Road and you’ll see it on the right after about another mile. But those hangings in the compound seemed to have left a bit of a mark. The inmates ate basic meals; meat, potatoes, beans.
Finally on this day in 1979, on a Wednesday night 15 prisoners broke out. One of them, Turney Williams, managed to get his hands on some weaponry, attacked an off-duty police officer driving by and took off with his car. Williams wouldn’t be apprehended again for another six years, in the meantime killed several others Williams would return to the penn and carry out multiple life sentences. These days it is a tourist trap, and if you don’t have Halloween plans for next year, might want to check this one out.
1940 – Galloping Gertie collapses.
…The Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State had just been completed four months prior to this, and at that time, engineers noticed a certain bounce on the bridge. It was a vertical wave motion, in fact. Wind tunneling studies began. But by October, it was assumed something was wrong with the bridge. By November, tie down cables were used to minimize the bounce. But the bridge kept bouncing and earned the nickname Galloping Gertie. The engineers told the press that this bounce was normal, but some knew better, including the head of the company who supplied sand and gravel who bet that the bridge wouldn’t last a year. Wind deflectors were to be put in sometime around mid November, but the bridge didn’t make it.
At 10:00 on the morning of November 7, the last car was allowed to pass, driven by Leonard Chatsworth, news editor for the Tacoma News Tribune, and his dog Tubby. The bridge twisted and galloped. Chatsworth car overturned. He was able to crawl out of the window, but Tubby was freaked out, and when he attempted to rescue Tubby, Tubby bit his finger. See you in another life pooch. So sorry. By 11:00 am the center span started crumbling chunks of concrete like popcorn, street lights snapped off light matchsticks, and the suspensions cables snapped like fishing wire. The bridge fell into the sea, cueing huge splashes. The world’s third largest suspension bridge had crumbled, and the biggest fail in bridge engineering history came to a close.
2004 – Second Battle of Fallujah.
…The US, Republic of Iraw, and British coalition V Al Queda. The result, a coalition victory. The fiercest combat Americans were in since Hue City in Vietnam in 1968. It’s also the bloodiest battle of the Iraq war, and the first major engagement against insurgents instead of forces from the Ba’ath Iraqi government. Al Qaeda would come back and take over Fallujah in 2013.
1868 – Cornell University opens its doors. Dedicated to being a co-educational, non-sectarian institution where admission is offered regardless of race, color or gender, these days Cornell U boasts more than 250,000 alumni, 34 Marshall scholars, and 44 noble laureates.
1861 – Battle of Belmont.
…Union Brig. Gen. Ulysses Grant v Confederate Brig. Gen. Gideon Pillow. The result: Union victory. Kinda. This was Grant’s first big mission in the Civil War. His plan was to attack the Confederates at Columbus, Kentucky, across the Mississippi River from Missouri. But the only accomplishment he made there was when he overran the confederate forts on the MO side of the river. The Confederates were able to regroup with reinforcements and Grant retreated. Grant had 3100 men, the Confederates had around 5000. Union lost 607 in casualties, 120 out of those dead, while the Rebels lost 641, 105 killed.
2015 – congratulations Braud & Gallagher for serving up the largest serving of gumbo in the history of the entire world!
The previous gumbo record, 2100 pounds, was owned by the University of Alabama, and a Mandeville attorney firm decided it was time to bring it back to Louisiana where the record belonged. They needed a special pot to be constructed, and found the Encore Group of Houma, who forged a giant pot 12 feet wide, 4 feet wide and 4 feet deep. On this day in 2015, during a LSU football game against the University of Alabama, the law firm filled the giant pot with 1500 pounds shrimp, 500 pounds crab, 40 gallons of oysters, some serious spices, and the Tigers with 5300 pounds of gumbo, shattered the Crimson Tide’s puny 2100 pound record.
1988- John Fogerty was found not guilty of plagiarizing his own song, “Run Through the Jungle” when he wrote “The Old Man Down The Road”. His former record label, Fantasy Records, had brought about the suit, which ended up costing Fogerty $400,000 in legal fees. .