OCTOBER 4 — 1822 Happy Birthday Rutherford B. Hays; 1957 Soviets Launch Sputnik Pt. 1
OCTOBER 4
1822 – Happy Birthday Rutherford Bays.
…Born in Delaware, Ohio in 1822, Hayes attended Kenyon College and in 1842 graduated from Harvard Law. After five years of law practice in Lower Sandusky, he moved to Cincinnati, where he became a prominent young Whig lawyer. In 1852 he married Lucy Webb, who would be the first presidential wife to graduate from College. Hays is one of seven presidents who fought in the Civil War. He was seriously wounded at the Battle of South Mountain in Maryland, and by the end of the war he rose to the rank of brevet major general. After the way, Hays was elected to the House of Representatives, then to governor of Ohio in 1868.
He accepted the nomination, however decided not to campaign, saying, “An officer fit for duty who at the crisis would abandon his post to electioneer, ought to be scalped.” Hays was easily elected, and entered Congress in December 1865. Between 1867 and 18476 he served three terms as Governor of Ohio. Safe liberalism, loyalty to the Republicans, a good war record, and Mark Twain’s endorsement made Hayes an acceptable Republican candidate in1876. Kinda. The Republican party was in bad shape, due to President’ Grant’s corruption allegations in Washington, an economic depression, and Northern dissatisfaction with the Reconstruction in the South.
He opposed Governor Samuel J. Tilden of New York, whom I should be talking about instead of Rutherfraud Hays, but His Fraudulency won the election. Here’s how. Tilden won the popular vote by 250,000. Three states had conflicting ballot reports: Louisiana, South Carolina, and….wait for it…that’s right, scholars, Florida! The commission that double checked the voting results from these states was primarily Republican, and in the end, Old 8 to 7 Hays had 185 electoral votes, Tilden had 184. And that my friends, is why I’m not talking about Sam Tilden.
As president, Hays proved to be much more honest that his predecessor, and asserted that his Cabinet appointments must be based on virtue, not political, which angered Republicans. Hayes pledged protection of the rights of Negroes in the South, but at the same time advocated the restoration of wise, honest, and peaceful local self-government. This meant the withdrawal of troops from the South. There was a new South and a new Republican party. But although southern leaders embraced Republican conservatism, but would face annihilation at the polls if they were to join the party of Reconstruction. Hayes was persistent but could not win over the solid South. Hayes announced in advance that he would service only one term, and retired to Spiegel grove, his home in Fremont, OH, in 1881. He died in 1893.
Happy Birthday Rutherford!
1927 – Gutzon Borglum begins work on Mt. Rushmore.
…90% of that work was used by dynamite. which blew over 420,000 tons of rock. Mt. Rushmore, located in the Black Hills National Forest of S. Dakota, shows the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. And of course, me! Aren’t I handsome. The one who came up with the idea was Duane Robinson, who wasted to attract more people to his state. If you’ve never seen it, it’ free to visit unless you park at the memorial, then you pay a parking fee. Over 3 million people visit it per year.
1957 –Soviets launch Sputnik Part 1
If you were alive during the 1950s and you had a ham radio, you might have been wondering what that beeping noise was, but you probably wouldn’t find out about the world’s first artificial satellite, let alone what the heck that even was, until the news hit the headlines the following day. About the size of a basketball and weighing less than 184 pounds, the Travelling Companion, a.k.a. the Sputnik contained four antennae, a radio transmitter, some batteries and a thermometer. It was the U.S.S.R.’s way of getting a head start in the space race against the United States, while America was still in the locker room getting shoes tied.
Rewind for a moment to 1952, when the International Council of Scientific Unions designated a cycle of solar activity beginning July 1 1957 – December 31 1958, as IGY, or International Geophysical Year. Since President Dwight Eisenhower figured he’d have a few years, space and tech wasn’t exactly on his front astroburner. I just made p that word by the way so you don’t need to look it up.
Well the Soviets obviously weren’t waiting for the IGY to make a move, and up went the Travelling Companion, flying around earth at 8,000 miles per hour, circling the planet every 90 minutes or so, and heading directly over the United States, seven times a day. And what was the deal with those blips? If you were an American during the Cold War, you might think it’s a secret code. How would President Eisenhower respond? To Be continued in tomorrow’s ep: Soviets launch Sputnik Part 2.