OCTOBER 12 — 1979 Forestiere Underground Gardens becomes historic landmark; 1960 Shoe Banging Incident; 2016 Happy Pigtastic Pulled Pork Day!; 2016 Auston Matthews scored four goals in NHL debut game
OCTOBER 12
1979 — Forestiere Underground Gardens becomes a historic landmark.
So how do you deal with the blazing heat of the San Joaquin Valley in the California desert? Besides cranking the A/C full blast?
Well if your Sicilian immigrant Baldassare Forestiere, you become a mole man and start digging. Mamamia! He started digging a huge 65-room complex underground in 1906 and didn’t stop until his death in 1946. Forestiere lived up to his name and was big into gardening.
Well guess what!
This underground tavern is now a museum! Containing three levels as deep as 23 feet, you walk through Roman arches and domes containing rooms with one mgnificent garden after another, many with sunroofs and water inlets. Nice thing about those skylights is that it keeps the cavern cool as the hot air gets pushed out. Some of the plants and trees are over 100 years old, and fruits grow down there as well, including citrus, berries and kumquats.
The most amazing part about this place, is that Baldassare created it all using his bare hands. The Forestiere family worked with the state of California to preserve its legacy.
1960–The shoe banging incident happened.
…Or did it? And if so, how? Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev ruled the Soviet Union with an iron fist for ten years, led the world to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile crisis, and allegedly banged his shoe on the table during a debate he was losing a UN convention October 12, 1960. When a Philippine delegate accused Khrushchev and the Soviet Union for swallowing up Eastern Europe and depriving it of political and civil rights, making Khrushchev a hypocrite for accusing the US of being imperialists, Khrushev pulled off his right shoe, stood up and brandished the shoe at the Philippine delegate on the other side of the hall. He then banged his shoe on the desk, according to NY Times reporter Benjamin Welles.
But that’s not what another NY Times reporter stated. James Feron, who was there, said he didn’t bang his shoe on the table. He leaned over, took off a slip on shoe, waved it pseudo menacingly, and put it on his desk, but he never banged his shoe.
A third reporter stated that the heel of the hand that held the shoe slammed the desk, but one shoe itself didn’t’ touch it. AT ANY RATE. The famous shoe banging incident was reported to happen on October 12, 1960 according to history.com, but the NYT states it happened on the 13th. In either case it’s hilarious and Khrushchev proved to the world just what a clown he was. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.
1786 – Jefferson writes the head and heart letter
…to Cosway. Six months prior, Thomas Jefferson, whose wife had passed away, met Maria Cosway when he was serving as the US minister to France. She was young, beautiful, English, was a painter and played music. Oh yeah, forgot to mention – she was also married. Jefferson had a mega crush on her, and it looks like she was equally taken by him. One time they were in a park together, and he leaped over either a fence or a fountain, accounts vary on what exactly it was he jumped over, and broke his right wrist. That is so adorable. She left Paris in October, and on October 12, 1786, Jefferson wrote a letter to her. A very very very long letter, which I’m going to read right now. Just kidding.
Basically In the letter, his head argued with his heart and went back and forth and back and forth in regards to his feelings for her. As time went on, the two continued to write, but Jefferson’s love for her eventually faded out. Her love for him apparently didn’t, but by the time he wrote his final letters to her he talked more about politics and science than love.
1860—Happy birthday Elmer Sperry. He invented the gyrocompass, which was adopted by the US navy and would be used in both world wars. We’ll take it, thank you.
2000—Bin Laden attacks the USS Cole. On October 12, 2000 the USS Cole had stopped unannounced in Yemen for refueling. It was enforcing sanction on Iraq. Two terrorists blew up explosives near the ship that killed seventeen sailors and wounded 38 more. President Clinton ordered all American ships in the Persian Gulf to leave port and head for the seas. Bin Laden at that time was also charged with the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people, including 12 America ns.
2016 – today is national pulled pork day folks and it just wouldn’t be very pigtastic without Sonny’s BBQ in Florida, home of the world’s largest pulled port sandwich, which was created on this day in 2016. 2,012 lbs. at Central Park in Winter Park, Florida. God bless America. This is why I always say we don’t have a hunger issue in America, every city has a soup kitchen, and we have an obesity problem.
2016 — Matthews scores four goals in debut NHL game.
Auston Matthews, who would score an amazing 40 goals in his first year playing pro hockey, was born in near the Bay Area in California. But he grew up in Scottsdale AZ, where he learned to play hockey. Who does that? Who grows up in the firepit playing an ice game?
Auston Matthews, who grew up watching Kobe Bryant, would be the first overall draft pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sadly for the Leafs, on his debut evening, Matthews would score two in the first half and two more in the second, an NHL record by the by, yet they would lose in OT to the Senators. Ouch.