JULY 16 — 1882 Mary Todd Lincoln passes away; 1907 Happy Birthday Oroville Redenbacher; 1988 Happy Anniversary Michael J. Fox/Tracy Pollan; 2012 Happy Divorcery Russell Brand/Katy Perry
JULY 16
1882 — Mary Todd Lincoln passes away.
America’s least popular first lady..
She was too much of a hellcat.
Mary Todd was born wealthy, and carried that into adulthood, right in front of a nation fighting a civil war. Mary was born December 13, 1818 in Lexington Kentucky. In the early 1840s, her boyfriend Abraham was disapproved by her parents because he was poor and uneducated.
Yet the two were in love, and that was all that mattered. On November 4 1842, Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln were married. She had four boys, two would die young. In November 1860 when Abraham won the presidency, Mary Todd couldn’t be happier to be First Lady of the White House, until she got there. She came from a southern background; her brothers and uncles were slave-owners and fighters for the Confederate army.
Many Americans thought Mary Todd to be a rebel spy, actually. Truth was, she was a big Union supporter, but had frequent violent outbursts and lost credibility with many. This hellcat was opinionated and blunt. Then another one of her sons died. The Lincolns had already lost Edward in 1850 as an infant. But now, in 1862, third son William, or Willie, died of typhoid fever. Her husband was trying to lead the country through the Civil War and had little time for her.
Many historians believe if Mary were diagnosed today she would be suffering from bipolar disease. Her behavior was often frightening to those in the room, and she continued to alienate herself. Supposedly one time a cousin was sent in to look after Mary and hang out with her but after a couple months of that the cousin staged a family emergency as an excuse to bail out of there. Now, Mary was mourning.
Then on April 14 1865, as she sat next to her husband at Ford’s theater watching a play, John Wilkes Booth came in and shot her husband in the head at point blank range. Hours later, Secretary of War Edward Stanton kicked her out of the room as they frantically tried to keep Abraham alive. Alone, she would not see her husband die
. Andrew Johnson was sworn in as president, and wouldn’t so much as give Mary a sympathy card. Mary had spent her time in the White House unwisely spending way too much money. In charge of decorations, she overspent her bill. She borrowed money and purchased expensive and custom dresses, while the people of America, former friends and family, were killing each other. She had lost two sons and a husband, boo freaking hoo hoo hoo. So did most women of America, who lost a son, a husband, a father, in many cases all three trying to fight this war.
Mary was in no hurry to move out of the White House, but when she finally did, her debtors were after her, and former first lady Mary Todd Lincoln nearly became homeless, staying at a hotel in Chicago. She begged Congress for a widow’s pension, but since William Henry Harrison’s wife didn’t get a pension as a widow, and since Mary spent too much money and they didn’t like her anyway, the answer was no. Despite, Mary decided to sell her own expensive dresses.
Not wanting anyone to know they were hers, she went with her dressmaker Elizabeth Heckly under assumed names, but since some of the clothes were custom-made and obviously she was such a high-profile person, jewelers began recognizing her stuff, and then the jig was up. Then Heckley, who was black, wrote and published a book bBehind the Scenes, or Thirty Years as a Slave, and Four Years in the White House which was eaten up by the press, but humiliated Mary even more.
In 1871, her youngest son Thomas died, leaving Robert as the remaining her only living son. But after Mary fell into another deep depression, Robert had her institutionalized. Somehow Mary got out, and did regain control of her property in Springfield. She lived with her sister Elizabeth, and died on this day in 1882, age 63. There’s a lot written about Mary, possibly more than even Eleanor Roosevelt. She’s been portrayed by Mary Tyler Moore, Sally Field, even Mary Elizabeth Winsted in Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter.
Rest in peace, Mary.
1945 – First atom bomb successfully tested.
…According to ushistory.org, Early in 1939, the world’s scientific community discovered that German physicists had learned the secrets of splitting a uranium atom. Fears soon spread over the possibility of Nazi scientists utilizing that energy to produce a bomb capable of unspeakable destruction. In August 1939, Albert Einstein wrote to President FDR to warn him about the atomic bomb.
Roosevelt wasn’t into the idea of researching this at first, but the War Department took it seriously.the Manhattan Project, headed by Brig General Leslie R. Groves, took three years of super secret testing. It was such a big secret not even VP Harry Truman didn’t know about it until he became President Truman. At the University of Chicago, the first fission chain reaction was successfully started.
On July 16 right before dawn, in the New Mexican desert about 35 miles south of Soccoro, Director Dr. Oppenheimer, along with about 20 scientists and assistances and others, watched as the manhattan project, then known as Trinity, was tested on a 100-foot tower which vaporized upon discharge. A ginormous burst of light that could be seen for 200 miles lit up the morning sky. A mushroom cloud reached 40,000 feet, unloading about 20,000 tons of TNT, causing damage to civilian homes up to 100 miles away. The mushroom cloud instantly turned a half-mile of sand into glass.
Of course there was a cover-up story! As the story was told at the time, a huge ammunition dump had just exploded in the desert. Truman would get the word at Potsdam. I think Rush said it best, quote:
Imagine a place where it all began
Gathered from across the land
To work in the secrecy of the desert sand
All of the brightest boys
To play with the biggest toys
More than they bargained for.
In Civil War news…
1861 Battle of Bull Run Pt. 1
…Union Maj. Irvin McDowell left Washington with 35,000 men in his Army of Northeastern Virginia, with the intent of attacking the Confederate Line at Bull Run. For months now in the north, the people were getting impatient on this southern rebellion and wanted to take down the Confederate Capital in Richmond, VA. McDowell would be incapable of winning this battle not only due to his inexperience,but also the fact that he didn’t have enough time to train his soldiers. On the Confederate side, The battle wouldn’t start until the 21st, and Confederate Gen. PGT Beauregard and 22,000 men of Army of the Potomac, were waiting. More on that on the 21st.
This was the first major land battle of the armies in Virginia. On July 16, 1861, the untried Union army under Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell marched from Washington against the Confederate army, which was drawn up behind Bull Run beyond Centreville. On the 21st, McDowell crossed at Sudley Ford and attacked the Confederate left flank on Matthews Hill. Fighting raged throughout the day as Confederate forces were driven back to Henry Hill. Late in the afternoon, Confederate reinforcements extended and broke the Union right flank. The Federal retreat rapidly deteriorated into a rout. Thomas J. Jackson earned the nom de guerre “Stonewall.”
By July 22, the shattered Union army reached the safety of Washington.
1951 – Catcher in the Rye is published. JD Salinger’s book about a confused 17-[year old kid wandering around Manhattan trying to get drunk and lucky with a lady was loved, admired, hated, and banned pretty much the day it was released. Holden Caulfield, trying to understand a world of phonies trying to figure out the meaning of life, gets expelled from school, picks up a prostitute, borrows from from his little sister to buy alcohol, the story goes nowhere, just like the main character’s life. Which was kind of the point.
1907 – Happy birthday Oroville Redenbacher. We all love his popcorn now don’t we.
1988 – Happy anniversary Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollen, the two met on the set of Family Ties during the 80s and they’re still together after all these years with four children.
2012 – Happy divorsary Actor/comedian Russell Brand and pop star Katy Perry, due to irreconcilable differences a year after the fairytale wedding in India.