MAY 10 — 1924 J. Edgar Hoover becomes head of the F.B.I.; 1869 Transcontinental Railroad complete; 1986 Happy Anniversary Tommy Lee/Pamela Anderson; 1955 Happy Birthday Chris Berman
MAY 10
1924- J. Edgar Hoover becomes head of the FBI.
Born on New Year’s Day in Washington DC in 1895, Hoover entered on duty with the Department of JustUs in 1917, quickly rose up the government ranks, and in 1924 by the time he was 29, was appointed acting director of the Bureau of Investigation as it was called at the time.
In the1930s Hoover and his G-Men got tough on organized crime through a number of ways, including implementation of programs to professionalize US law enforcement through training and forensic assistance. That’s how the Bureau opened its Technical laboratory to provide forensic analysis on Federal, state and local law enforcement official.
Throughout the 1940s and 50s Hoover got tough on Nazi and Communist espionage, and during the Cold War began investigating the backgrounds of government employees to ensure that foreign agents did not infiltrate the government.
Although Hoover’s Bureau was instrumental in crime-fighting, these days his reputation isn’t so rosy. Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia has found Hoover exceeded the jurisdiction of the FBI, because you know, Microsoft is so knowledgeable at federal law enforcement. Also the Columbia Encyclopedia has accused that Hoover used the FBI to harass political dissenters and activists, to amass secret files on political leaders, and in the book Hoover and the Great American Inquisition by John Stuart Cox and Athan G. Theoharis, accuses Hoover of collecting evidence using illegal methods
. Finally Harry Truman accused Hoover of being a Gestapo or secret police, and that J Edgar Hoover would give his right eye to take over, and all congressmen and senators are afraid of him. Nonetheless if you look at his accomplishments, Hoover’s use of modern scientific methods to stop crime and upgrade the technical skills of the police department is considered admirable by most, and the fact that he worked the FBI through two world wars, a depression, and a cold war, makes J Edgar Hoover an American icon who led the FBI for nearly a half a century.
1869-The Golden Spike was pounded in by the Silver Hammer,
..and thus completes America’s first Transcontinental Railroad. Prior to this, the only way to get to the west coast was by horse and buggy or take a ship all the way around South America. Either way took months.
Originally it couldn’t be agreed upon whether to build the railroad using a northern or southern route, but by 1861 and the southern states seceded from the United States, the decision to build it across the north became self evident.
Not an easy job! Tunnels would have to be blasted out of the mountains, rivers bridged and wilderness tamed. The Union pacific began laying track from Omaha to the west while the Central Pacific headed east from Sacramento. People died, Chinese and Irish immigrants worked exhausting days and nights, and finally on May 10, it was complete.
1986-Happy anniversary Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee and Heather Locklear.
Of course they were only married for 8 years but what a honeymoon. Most couples have pictures. These two had a famous video.
1955 Happy birthday Chris Berman. He Could Go All the Way!!!