OCTOBER 30 — 1735 Happy Birthday John Adams; 2012 Monster truck Bigfoot becomes ElectroFoot thanks to new battery; 1974 Stephen King spends the night at the Stanley Hotel in Colorado
OCTOBER 30
1735 – Happy Birthday John “Duke of Braintree” Adams.
…Bonny Johnny was born October 30 1735 in Braintree, Mass. Now Quincy Massachusetts. His great great grandparents landed on Plymouth Rock in the early 1620s from England. He often skipped school as a youngster to go fishing and hunting, but lest you think that’s setting a good example, keep in mind that he began attending Harvard at age sixteen where he got two degrees. Some people are just too smart for school, I suppose. He was 5’6” and considered rather, for lack of a better term, stocky. Hence the nickname His Roundity. He married his sweetheart Abigail Smith, who was almost as smart as he was, judging by the countless letters they wrote back and forth.
As a distinguished lawyer, Adams became a patriot early on, became a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congress, worked with Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence, and pushed the American colonies towards the movement for independence against Great Britain. However also as a lawyer, despite strong anti-British sentiment, he made a point after the Boston Massacre to defend the British soldiers involved in the shot heard round the world. His point was simply to show not just the colonists but also Britain that the American judicial system was fair and balanced. This hurt his law career, but strengthened his reputation as a courageous man.
When the Revolutionary War began, the Duke of Braintree Adams served as a diplomat in France and Holland, and assisted the negotiations on the treaty of peace. Upon his return to the newly formed United States of America, Adams became the first vice-president under George Washington. John and Abby moved to the President’s Mansion, which we call the White House, which was so new the paint was still wet. It was damp and uncomfortable, didn’t have much furniture, and Adams wrote Abigail, before I end my letter, I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof.“ Now that’s a kneeslapper.
Hostilities between the British and French were tighter than a funeral drum, and caused serious problems for the U.S. on the high seas. When Adams sent three delegates to France in 1798, French Foreign Minister Talleyrand and the Directory refused to meet them unless they paid a substantial bribe. This became known as the XYZ affair after Adams reported the insult to Congress, and the Senate released this information, referring to the French Directory simply as X, Y and Z. This created a huge boost to the popularity of Adams and the Federalist Party. He signed the Alien and Sedition Acts, intended to deter foreign agents out of the U.S. and suppress the attacks of Republican editors. This Congress authorized money to build three new frigates as well as several warships to fight the French in the seas.
A quasi war broke out between the U.S. and France as hostilities broke out, ending in 1800. Since there technically was no war, there was no winner; however Adams became a loser in the eyes of many in his party. Hamiltonians were furious that His Roundity would back down from France, and in the 1800 presidential election Adams was defeated to his own Vice President, Thomas Jefferson.
He did not attend his old friend- now political nemesis’s inauguration, but instead, retired to his farm in Braintree. Most of his teeth had fallen out, which was not uncommon in those days, and he refused to wear dentures, and spoke with a lisp. Not sure who made up the word lisp, but that’s pretty cruel to put the letter S in that word. But I digress. Bonny Johnny and Thomas Jefferson became friends again after their life in politics ended in what would be one of my favorite American tales. The correspondences they wrote to each other were very touching, in my opinion. On July 4th, 1826, the 50th anniversary of signing the Declaration of Independence, John Adams died at the age of 90, the exact day that Thomas Jefferson died as well. Adams last words were, “Jefferson lives,” not realizing Jefferson had just passed away mere hours earlier.
Happy birthday John!
2014 — Raiders become the most penalized team in the NFL.
Again. This was against the Tampa bay Buccs that was a tough record to beat. Only the 1944 Brooklyn Tigers and Chicago Bears, as well as the 1998 San Francisco 49ers had the most penalties in one game until this night. It was smack dab in the middle of the NFL season, week 8, when the Raiders committed 23 penalties, losing 200 yards total. Among all that yardage lost, their top penalties included holding and unnecessary four times each, followed by pass interference, illegal use of the hands, illegal formation, 12 men on the field, false start, taunting, intentional grounding, ineligible downfield on a kick, delay of game, and illegal block above the waist.
In 2017 the Oakland Raiders amassed 114 penalties and losing over a thousand yards because of it. And yet, on this night against the Buccs, they still managed to win in overtime, 30-24.
2012 — Bigfoot debuts its new battery
the first monster truck to be fully powered by an electric motor, it got a new nickname: Electro-Foot. This 11,000 giant probably wouldn’t even fit in my garage. It sports a Bob Chandler Custom Tubular chassis and a custom motor 260 Kw powered by 30 Odyssey batteries, with six more powering the steering column, and brakes.
The tires 66” x 43” x 25” and the shocks are custom nitrogen charged. It this magnificent beast, which was designed and built by Dennis Berube of Phoenix, gets 360 volts. And here it was in all its glory at SEMA in Vegas, but didn’t start car crushing until November 8th. Me talking about this by the way is nearly not as interesting as watching it, so really you have to check it out on your favorite YouTube channel
1938 – War of the Worlds airs on the radio and panicked America.
…Before the story began, an announcer came on to CBS and presented Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater on the air in War of the Words by HG Wells. But millions didn’t hear that part because they were listening to a comedy action NBC radio that ended on 8:12 p.m. By then, Welles was well into the story and the Martians were already here terrorizing the populace and destroying New York City. Millions of Americans thought it was real and havoc ensued in New Jersey, terrified civilians jammed highways seeking to escape the alien marauders. People begged police for gas masks to save them from the toxic gas the aliens unleashed and asked electric companies to turn off the power so that the Martians wouldn’t see their lights.
1974 – Stephen and Tabitha King spend the night in the Stanley Hotel in Colorado.
Back in 1903, Freelan Oscar Stanley, inventor of the Yankee steam powered car, was diagnosed with tuberculosis. His remedy: get out of the city and start eating right. He headed to Rocky Mountains and settled in Estes Park, where his condition improved greatly. But life was boring He acquired the land, turned it into a resort area by building a giant hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. In 1911, on the 2nd floor in room 217, a housekeeper named Elizabeth Wilson was electrocuted during a lightning storm.
These days it’s the most requested room, now that’s the spirit! Room 217 is supposedly the room Stephen and Tabitha stayed in; at least that’s what he told ABC News. On this night in 1974 King had free rein of the hotel since they were the only guests. Kinda. As he wandered down the halls, he was quickly and easily inspired to write The Shining, which would be his biggest accomplishment in his still-early career. Children of yesteryear standing in the hallways, even a party at McGregor’s Hall, in 2015 the Stanley even built a hedge-maze along with some hedge animals that might come to life when you’re not looking.
The hotel also has a resident psychic named Madame Vera. For $50 you can take a 5-hour paranormal tour, with actual ghost hunting equipment. The 4th floor is the place to go, most of the sounds of children playing and laughing and running up and down the halls can be heard there. But it that’s too much for you, just know that if you’re ever staying at the Stanley Hotel, it’s not actually the Overlook hotel. Here, when you’re walking down the hallways and you see the firehose in its glass container on the wall, remember, it’s just a hose after all, only canvas and brass, you could hack it to pieces and it would never complain, never twist and jerk and bleed green slime all over the blue carpet, because it was only a hose, not a nose and not a rose, not glass buttons or satin bow, not a snake in a sleepy doze.
Sleep tight everyone!
Happy Halloween everyone. Good times.