OCTOBER 19 — 1781 British surrender to the U.S.; 2019 Oyster shucking showdown in St. Mary’s, MD; 1869 Sutro Tunnel begins construction in Virginia City; 2016 Julio Urias becomes youngest pitcher in MLB playoff history
OCTOBER 19
1781 – British surrender to the US.
…The War of Independence was never that popular in Great Britain. It cost too much money and too many lives, and besides many of the British were sympathizers to the American’s wish for independence. King George III had wanted to keep fighting but lost support in Parliament so he had to call it quitsies.
After the siege of Yorktown, British Commander Charles Cornwallis and his officers realized their situation was doomed to failure. On October 17, a drummer and a blindfolded officer waving a white flag walked up to the French and American lines and surrendered. Negotiations began and the articles of capitulation were signed October19, 1781. Signators included General Washington, Compte de Rochambeau, the Comte de Baras on behalf of the French Navy, Cornwallis and Lt. Thomas Symonds, the senior Royal Navy officer.
According to Wikipedia, the British asked for a traditional Honors of War, marching out with dignity, flags waving, muskets shouldered, and playing an enemy or American song as a tribute to the victors, but Washington said no. Just like the British had refused the same request from Benjamin Lincoln, who had a humiliating British defeat in Charleston. Since Cornwallis was too sick, as he claimed, to attend the ceremony, Brigadier General Charles O’Hara presented the sword of surrender to Rochambeau, but Rochambeau shook his head and pointed at Washington. Hokay. O’Hara tried to give the sword to Washington, and George shook his head and pointed to Benjamin Lincoln. Ouch.
1897 – George Pullman passed away.
…He had a town in Chicago named after him for a brief period of time, until he pissed off pretty much everyone in the town. He designed sleeping cars, which were railcars with beds. It was a big success but in 1893, an economic depression started to hit the US, as well as his company. Pullman lowered his union workers wages, and gave them longer hours. The leader of the Union, Eugene Victor Debs, who would form the Socialist Party of America, tried negotiating with Pullman but Pullman instead locked up his office and split town. The town of Pullman would be absorbed by Chicago.
2019 — Oyster showdowns take over the St. Mary’s festival in Leonardtown, MD.
Aw shucks!
And I mean a lot of shucks! Whoever it was in ancient civilization and first opened up an oyster and discovered a giant blob of bugars and thought, wow that looks delicious, must have eaten said oyster. I don’t know who that caveman was, since I’m more of a U.S. History guy, but I’m guessing he or she ate it with either vodka, or bacon. Or better yet both. New Orleans, say what you will about your oysters, but this is Maryland, folks.
Sorry Saints fans. I’m talking food, family entertainment and fun St. Mary’s County. This is where champion shuckers, like Scott O’Lear from Panama City Beach in Florida, competes in the men’s division timed on how many shuckes could a shucker shuck a shuck. Sorry ladies, no diamonds in these balls of snot.
1926 – Canadian American John Garunt patents the semi-automatic rifle. Now we’re gonna have some real fun.
1869 – The Sutro Tunnel begins construction in Virginia City, NV.
…The Comstock Load was one the richest silver deposits in the world, so as you can imagine was very popular during the Gold Rush. But as miners dug deeper for silver and gold, more and more water needed to be pumped out, which was a very expensive task. Prussian-born entrepreneur Adolph Sutro came up with an extravagant plan to excavate a four mile-long tunnel through the solid rock of the Comstock in order to drain and ventilate the mines. It took a few years to catch on, for a couple reasons. One, many people thought the idea of digging a ginormous hole almost 21,000 feet over three miles long was crazy, and two, if it did work, it was feared that Sutro would monopolize the entire Comstock district.
But with help from European capital, Sutro was able to put his plan into motion. When finished, the tunnel was successful in draining the water from the mines. Unfortunately, by this point, the Comstock mines were tapped out and declined in value, and the major companies stopped pumping. Sutro sold it in 1879 and moved to San Francisco and become mayor in the late 1 890s. These days, the Comstock still drains at the 1,640 foot level, and water constantly flows from the tunnel mouth, leaving the top parts of Comstock dry.
1998 – Mike Tyson gets his boxing license back after losing it in the bite fight from in June 1997. During that fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Vegas, Tyson bit a huge chunk flesh off the ear of his opponent Evander Holyfield. It was really weird and it’s hard to watch to this day.
2016 – Julio Urias becomes the youngest pitcher to take the mound in the playoffs.
During a season where it seemed the Los Angeles Dodgers could do no wrong as they ended the season as NL West champs, this kid from Mexico, made his MLB debut against the Mets on May 27 at age 19. The Dodgers had their eyes on Julio for years, and signed him up on his 16th birthday. When he was a young boy he had several surgeries on his left eye, and now can barely see out of it. But being the devout Roman Catholic that he is, he states that’s how God works. “He gave me a bad left eye but a good left arm.”
Now in the playoffs, Julio would help defeat the Washington Nationals start pitching in the next round against the Cubs. Chicago would be the winner of the World Series that year, beating the Cleveland Indians. The next year saw more inconsistencies from Julio, and then a shoulder surgery left him out for the season.
OCTOBER 19 — 1781 British surrender to the U.S.; 1897 George Pullman dies, made sleeping cars; 1926 Garunt patents semi-auto rifle; 1869 Sutro Tunnel begins construction in Virginia City; 1998 Mike Tyson gets boxing license back