MAY 14 — 1948 News of the State of Israel hits American headlines; 1607 Jamestown is colonized as the New World’s first LLC; 2006 World’s largest hand puppet show roars at San Diego Zoo
MAY 14
1948 – Here are the headlines for 1948:
New York Times reports: Israel Declares Independence.
That was more or less the same headlines going throughout the entire world, as Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben Groin became its first premier.
After 2,000 years, it appeared that Jews could have a homeland. There was already some hope in that effort since the end of WWI, when the Ottoman Empire was split up and the British took over Palestine. But as Nazi Germany began persecution of Jews, Palestine would become a hotbed of violent activity between the incoming Jews and the existing Arabs in the region.
This was a fight the British did not really want, and blocked them from coming into Palestine in 1939. The Jewish people turned to Franklin D. Roosevelt for help, but even though FDR claimed to be supportive of their cause, his actions spoke differently. In comes Harry Truman as the new president, and he made it known that he would absolutely support a Jewish state in Palestine.
In April 1947, the General Assembly of the United Nations established the Special Committee on Palestine, or UNSCOP, and as a result, the Arab League Council authorized its members in Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and Syria to move troops to the border. U.S. President Truman encouraged the United Nations to move forward with its Partition Plan that would split Palestine in two, which many Jews accepted while none of the Arabs supported it, and the violence continued.
On May 15th, the troops would invade Israel, but the new state would prevail. But the fighting never really stopped, as we all know. A Green Line would establish boundaries, but neighbors Jordan and Egypt took back what they felt was their share; namely the West bank and East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip respectively. In 1950 Egypt would close the Suez Canal, but with military assistance from France and Britain, the Canal would be reopened in 1957. In June of 1967, the Israelites would destroy its enemies in Jordan, Syria, and Egypt in the 6-Day War.
The United States has provided financial aid to Israel ever since, leading to many controversies that go well beyond the extent of this historic moment of 1948.
1804-Lewis and Clark leave St. Louis.
… In Spring of 1801 Captain Meriwether Lewis was asked by President Thomas Jefferson to be his secretary-aide, and then two years later was picked as commander of expedition. He wrote to his buddy Will8iam Clark to join him, and then on the 4th of July that year came the announcement of the Louisiana Purchase.
Now that the United States doubled in size, it was time to see what else is out there. In August of 1804 Lewis and Clark met with representatives of the Oto and Missouri Indians and exchanged peaceful gifts. In August they had another peaceful encounter with the natives, this time the Yankton Sioux council. In September however the Teton Sioux demanded one of the expedition’s boats as a toll to travel farther upriver. Chief Black Buffalo resolves the situation and prevented escalation.
In November they came across Toussaint Charbonneau, a French Canadian fur trapper living with the Hidatsas, and was hired as an interpreter. His wife Sacagawea was a tremendous help to the expedition. The crew completed Fort Mandan and stayed there for the winter. When the weather thawed they continued their trek from present day North Dakota to present day Montana, where they first aw the Rocky Mountains.
They found the Shoshone Indians, and in that mix, Sacagawea’s brother. The Shoshones sold the expedition some horses; they passed through the Clearwater and Snake rivers in canoes, then the Columbia river, then finally the Pacific Ocean. After winter was through, they headed back east to St. Louis with their maps, drawings, gifts, and winning lottery tickets. They were treated as national heroes.
1994-Thoughts and prayers go out to the Beamer family
…and their loved ones as Todd Beamer married his sweetheart Lisa in Peekskill, New York on May 14,1994. Todd of course was a software salesman who famously took back flight 93 from Islamic Terrorists on September 11. After that, Lisa wrote a very special book about him. I bought that book when it first came out. I still have that book. Lisa wrote a book titled after his last words, let’s roll.
And we will NEVER forget.
1607 Jamestown is established.
Since Christopher Columbus sailed the seas of blue in 1492 and landed in Cuba or Haiti or Puerto rice or wherever the heck he landed, the Spanish were all over the eastern seaboard of the Americas.
The United Kingdom , who called that portion of the New World north of Florida Virginia; for the Virgin Queen Elizabeth 1st,took a shot colonizing in 1585 with the Roanoke Colony, or the lost colony, which is now Dare County, NC.
But in the early 1600s, the Virginia Company of England, a limited liability company, decided there might be some gold and silver in the New World, and determined it was worth sailing across the Atlantic to this mysterious continent, the same way the Spanish seized gold.. In December 1606, Christopher Newport and Captain John Smith, and several investors led a crew of artisans, craftsmen, soldiers, a barber, two surgeons, and lots of very rich men who probably thought they were going to the New World and staying at a Marriott hotel because they apparently didn’t have a clue about surviving in the American wilderness.
In December 1606, a small fleet containing Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery left England and arrived to what is now the Chesapeake Bay on May 13th, and unloaded their gear the next day. Home Sweet Home, right? Yes!
Smack dab in the middle of Algonquian Nation, a vast domain led by the mighty Chief Powhaten.
Things got interesting real fast.
When the English settlers h and native tribesmen weren’t exchanging pleasantries, along with food for metal tools, the two groups were clashing almost immediately. Some of the white people who wandered too far outside of the newly established James Cattie, James Forte or James Town, often didn’t make it back alive. Fortunately Smith was able to make peace with Powhatan, which eased tensions.. When a wedding took place between Powhatan’s daughter Pocahontas and John Rolfe, tensions were eased further.
Smith went back to England to report to King James 1 and bring back more colonists and provisions. In his absence, the colonists faced a brutal winter, famine, thrust, and disease carrying mosquitos, and not many survived. They almost abandoned Jamestown, until Smith showed up with more ships full of people and food.
Even though the Virginia LLC came to the New World looking for gold, tobacco would turn out to be the profitable export and survival would be an added bonus. As the Jamestown colony grew and grew, the Algonquians became more not happy about giving up their land. In 1619, the first English government was formed in Jamestown. In that same year, a Portages ship was attacked by the Dutch in the West Indies, and 50 African slaves were sent to Jamestown as the English America’s first slaves.
In 1622, Chief Powhatan’s successor Opechancanough led an attack against Jamestown, killing about a third of the settlement’s population of 1200. When King James heard the news, he attempted to gain greater control over the operations by the Virginia Company, but when he was denied, he dissolved the entire company. Jamestown became a royal extinction of Great Britain.
These days, Jamestown is a natural historic park, if you ever wanted to a field trip with me???
1969-The last Chevy Corvair
…is built. It was the only America-designed, mass produced passenger car to feature a rear mounted air cooled engine. It competed with the VW Beetle, the Ford Falcon, Plymouth Valiant, and Studebaker Lark.
In WWII news…
1943-The British and Americans begin planning Operation Pointblank.
Its purpose was for the progressive destruction and dislocation of the German military and economic system, and the undermining of the morale of the German people. In short, it was intended to force a German surrender. However the result was a disputed tie; the Luftwaffe weakened however German aircraft production increased as a result.
1967-The Commerce Comet
…hits his 500th HomeRun. NYY Mickey Mantle, regarded to be one of the greatest switch hitters of all time, slugged this one off Oriole’s Stu Miller. The Mick was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974
2006 Biggest amateur Puppet show takes place in Balboa Park, San Diego.
Yes, America’s finest city indeed hosted a performance by 508 participants wearing hand puppets as part of the Centennial Community Celebration courtesy of San Diego Zoo Globulin Balboa Park as a nod to the community for years of support.
The puppets looked like a roaring lion wearing a hat, sunglasses and a bow-tie. It also featured a The fathering took place at the Speckles Organ Pavilion , and they acted out a story about Dr. Harry Wegeforth and the founding of the San Diego Zoo in 1916.It also had an orchestra, since this is a really big organ weren’t talking bout at Balboa Park.
Beautiful place, right where my wife and I got married incidentally. The previous record belonged to a grammar school in the U.K. that had 463 puppets doing a production of a Mayan myth called Hurricane and the Feathered Snake