Tom

On this day in 1862, Robert Smalls, a slave in South Carolina, commandeered a Confederate transport ship in Charleston Harbor and sailed it from the Confederate-controlled waters of the harbor to the U.S. blockade that surrounded it. He then piloted the ship to the Union-controlled enclave in Beaufort–Port Royal–Hilton Head area, where it became a Union warship. In the process, he freed himself, his crew, and their families. His example and persuasion helped convince President Abraham Lincoln to accept African-American soldiers into the Union Army.

When he was 12, at the request of his mother, Smalls’s master sent him to Charleston to hire out as a laborer. Smalls worked as a longshoreman, rigger and sailmaker, and he eventually worked his way up to become a wheelman, more or less a helmsman, though enslaved people were not permitted that title. As a result, he was very knowledgeable about Charleston Harbor.

In the fall of 1861, Smalls was assigned to steer the CSS Planter, a lightly armed Confederate military transport. Planter‘s duties were to survey waterways, lay mines, and deliver dispatches, troops and supplies. Smalls piloted the Planter throughout Charleston harbor and beyond, on area rivers and along the South Carolina, Georgia and Florida coasts. From Charleston harbor, Smalls and the Planter‘s crew could see the line of federal blockade ships in the outer harbor, seven miles away. Smalls appeared content and had the confidence of the Planter‘s crew and owners, but, at some time in April 1862, he began to plan an escape. He discussed the matter with all of the other enslaved people in the crew except one, whom he did not trust.

On the evening of May 12, the Planter was docked as usual at the wharf below General Ripley’s headquarters. Its three white officers disembarked to spend the night ashore, leaving Smalls and the crew on board, “as was their custom.” Smalls asked Captain Relyea if the crew’s families could visit, which was occasionally allowed, and he approved on condition that they depart before curfew. When the families arrived, the men revealed the plan to them.

At some point, three crew members pretended to escort the family members back home, but they circled around and hid aboard another steamer^[c] docked at the North Atlantic wharf. At about 3:00 a.m. on May 13,^[16] Smalls and seven of the eight enslaved crewmen made their previously planned escape to the Union blockade ships. Smalls put on the captain’s uniform and wore a straw hat similar to the captain’s.^[1] He sailed the Planter past what was then called Southern Wharf and stopped at another wharf to pick up his wife and children and the families of other crewmen.

Smalls guided the ship past the five Confederate harbor forts without incident, as he gave the correct steam-whistle signals at checkpoints. The alarm was only raised after the ship was beyond gun range, for, rather than turn east towards Morris Island, Smalls had headed straight for the Union Navy fleet, replacing the rebel flags with a white bed sheet that had been brought by his wife. The Planter had been seen by the USS Onward, which was about to fire until a crewman spotted the white flag. In the dark, the sheet was difficult to see, but the sunrise arrived which allowed viewing.

The Onward‘s captain, John Frederick Nickels, boarded the Planter, and Smalls asked for a United States flag to display. He surrendered the Planter and its cargo to the United States Navy. Smalls’s escape plan had succeeded. Smalls, having just turned 23, quickly became known in the North as a hero for his daring exploit. Newspapers and magazines reported his actions.

After the Civil War, Smalls returned to Beaufort and became a politician, winning election as a Republican to the South Carolina Legislature and the United States House of Representatives during the Reconstruction era. He authored state legislation providing for South Carolina to have the first free and compulsory public school system in the United States.

Portrait by Mathew Brady

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Bad way to start the day…

Today is the birthday, in 1950, of American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist Stevie Wonder. A child prodigy who developed into one of the most creative musical figures of the late 20th century. Wonder who has been blind from shortly after birth, signed with Motown’s Tamla label at the age of eleven and continues to perform and record for Motown to this day. Wonder has scored over 40 US & UK Top 40 singles. Albums include Talking Book, Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUj9frKY46E

Today is the birthday, in 1777, of Mary Reibey. She was an English-born merchant, shipowner and trader who was transported to Australia as a convict. After gaining her freedom, she was viewed by her contemporaries as a community role model and became legendary as a successful businesswoman in the colony.

Reibey, baptized Molly Haydock, was born on 12 May 1777 in Bury, Lancashire, England. Following the death of her parents, she was reared by her grandmother and sent into service. She ran away and was arrested for stealing a horse in August 1791. At the time, she was disguised as a boy and was going under the name of James Burrow. Sentenced to seven years’ transportation, she arrived in Sydney, Australia, on the Royal Admiral in October 1792.

On 7 September 1794, 17-year-old Mary married Thomas Reibey, after he had proposed to her several times; she finally agreed to marry the junior officer on the store ship Britannia. Thomas Reibey was granted land on the Hawkesbury River, where he and Mary lived and farmed following their marriage.

Thomas Reibey commenced a cargo business along the Hawkesbury River to Sydney and later moved to Sydney. Thomas Reibey’s business undertakings prospered and trading activities were extended to the Bass Strait, the Pacific Islands and, from 1809, to China and India.

When Thomas Reibey died on 5 April 1811, Mary assumed sole responsibility for the care of seven children and the control of numerous business enterprises. She was no stranger to this task, having managed her husband’s affairs during his frequent absences from Sydney. Now a woman of considerable wealth through her husband’s businesses, Reibey continued to expand her business interests. In 1812, she opened a new warehouse in George Street and, in 1817, extended her shipping operations with the purchase of further vessels. In the same year, the Bank of New South Wales was founded in her house in Macquarie Place.

In the emancipist Society of New South Wales, she gained respect for her charitable works and her interest in the church and education. She was one of the founding Governors of the Free Grammar School in 1825. On her retirement, she built a house at Newtown, Sydney, where she lived until her death on 30 May 1855 from pneumonia. She was 78 years old.

An enterprising and determined person of strong personality, during her lifetime, Reibey earned a reputation as an astute and successful businesswoman in the colony of New South Wales. She is featured on the obverse of Australian twenty-dollar notes printed since 1994 and on its replacement design since 2019.^[11] She was posthumously inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2001.

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BADA BING!

An 11-year-old came up with a TV pitch that is stone cold genius: A reality show, in the vein of The Amazing Race, that follows a group of Flat Earthers trying to travel to the edge of the world.

Me: Do you shower after sex? Coworker: Yeah, of course I do. Me: Well, how about getting laid a little more often.

It makes sense if you don’t think about it.

I’m not saying you are the dumbest person in the world, just hope that other guy doesn’t die.

Any dog can be a guide dog if you don’t care where you’re going.

Bilbo at the wine store… What wine goes well with watching too much TV and worrying about the end of democracy?

Dyslexics are teople poo.

Thanks Donald J. Trump. Under Joe Biden my truck could only hold around $75 in diesel. Now my truck holds $130 in fuel. Hurts my wallet a bit more but makes me feel better knowing my truck can take more fuel under your presidency.

I UNDERSTAND WHY MAGA THINKS TRUMP IS A GOD. EVERY TIME HE SHOWS UP ANOTHER PLAGUE HAPPENS.

Cop: Do you know why I stopped you? *Looks back at my trailer full of donkeys* Me: “Because I’m … hauling ass”

There are two types of Trump supporters: billionaires and dumbasses…check your bank account to see which one you are!

I’m not antisocial, I’m socially selective.

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Today’s news…

Bang A Gong! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF1qfLMczNo

On this day in 1996, Valuejet Flight 592, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crashed into the Florida Everglades about 10 minutes after departing Miami due to a fire in the cargo compartment. The fire was caused by mislabeled and improperly stored chemical oxygen generators. All 110 people on board were killed.

ValuJet, a low-cost carrier, already had a poor safety record before the crash, and the incident brought widespread attention to the airline’s problems. Many of the airline’s planes were purchased in used condition from other airlines, and little training was provided to workers and contractors who were hired for maintenance and other services. ValuJet quickly developed a reputation for a lackluster safety record.

The aircraft had suffered a series of incidents in the two years before the crash, including two aborted takeoffs and eight emergency landings. Engine and pressurization errors were the primary issues in several of the incidents. In May 1995, the FAA issued a rewiring directive for all DC-9 cockpits because the wire bundles in the switch panel could cause “fire and uncontrolled smoke throughout the cockpit as a result of chafing and shorting.”

On the afternoon of May 11, 1996, Flight 592 left Gate G2 in Miami after a delay of one hour and four minutes because of electrical problems. In the flight deck were two experienced pilots, Captain Candi Kubeck (35) and First Officer Richard Hazen (52). There were 110 people on board: 105 passengers, mainly from Florida and Georgia, and a crew of two pilots and three flight attendants. At 2:04 p.m. EDT, the DC-9 departed from Runway 9L (now Runway 8R) and began a normal climb.

At 2:10 p.m., the passengers began to smell smoke. At the same time, the pilots heard a loud bang in their headsets and noticed that the plane was losing electrical power. The sag in electrical power and the banging sound were eventually determined to be the result of an explosion of a tire in the cargo hold.

Kubeck and Hazen immediately asked air traffic control to return to Miami and were given instructions for a return to the airport. Eyewitnesses watched as the plane banked sharply, rolled onto its side and nosedived into the Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area in the Everglades, a few miles west of Miami, at a speed in excess of 507 miles per hour. A group of sightseers in a small private plane also witnessed the crash and provided a nearly identical account, stating that Flight 592 seemed to “disappear” after hitting the swamp and that they could see nothing but scattered small debris, part of an engine and a large pool of jet fuel near the crash site.

The NTSB determined that just before takeoff, 144 expired chemical oxygen generators, each slightly larger than the size of a tennis-ball can, had been placed in the cargo compartment. Failure to cover the generators’ firing pins with the prescribed plastic caps made accidental activation much more likely. Investigators determined that one of the oxygen generators was likely triggered when the plane experienced a slight jolt while taxiing. As the aircraft taxied and took off, the generator began releasing heat that caused other canisters to activate. Each activation created more heat, which rapidly caused all of the generators to activate. The intense heat ignited a fire in the other materials in the cargo hold.

The fire began to destroy control cables that ran to the back of the aircraft, which explained why the pilots began losing control before the plane crashed. Recovery of the aircraft and victims was severely complicated by the location of the crash. The nearest road of any kind was more than a quarter of a mile (400 m) away from the crash scene, and the location of the crash itself was a deep-water marsh with a floor of solid limestone. The aircraft was destroyed on impact, with no large pieces of the fuselage remaining.

ValuJet was grounded by the FAA on June 16, 1996. It was allowed to resume flying again on September 30, but never recovered from the crash. In 1997, the company acquired AirTran Airways. Although ValuJet was the nominal survivor, the merged airline took the AirTran name. ValuJet executives believed that a new name was important to regain the trust of the flying public.

A ValuJet Airlines DC-9-32 at Washington – Dulles International (KIAD) May 1995. One year later, this plane crashed just west of Miami.

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Trump Derangement Syndrome…

22 feet long – don’t try a U-Turn…

Flying Cars…

An Introduction…

math is not for everyone…

I hope everyone enjoyed Mothers’ Day

Thanks, Debra…

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Today is the birthday, in 1943, of Les Chadwick, who with Gerry And The Pacemakers had the 1963 UK No.1 single ‘How Do You Do It’ and the 1965 US No.6 single, ‘Ferry Cross The Mersey’. In common with The Beatles they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein, and were recorded by George Martin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV5_LQArLa0

On this day in 1886, pharmacist John Stith Pemberton developed an early version of a beverage that would later become Coca-Cola, but sold the rights to Asa Griggs Candler for roughly 2,300 ($79,946.31 in 2026) dollars shortly before his death in 1888.

Pemberton suffered from a sabre wound sustained in April 1865, during the Battle of Columbus. His efforts to control his chronic pain led to morphine addiction. In an attempt to curb his addiction he began to experiment with various painkillers and toxins. The development of an earlier beverage blending alcohol and cocaine led to the recipe that later was adapted to make Coca-Cola.

In April 1865, Pemberton sustained a sabre wound to the chest during the Battle of Columbus. He soon became addicted to the morphine used to ease his pain. In 1866, seeking a cure for his addiction, he began to experiment with painkillers that would serve as morphine-free alternatives. His first recipe was “Dr. Tuggle’s Compound Syrup of Globe Flower”, in which the active ingredient was derived from the buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), a toxic plant. He next began experimenting with coca and coca wines, eventually creating a recipe that contained extracts of kola nut and damiana, which he called Pemberton’s French Wine Coca.

With public concern about drug addiction, depression, and alcoholism among war veterans, and “neurasthenia” among “highly-strung” Southern women, Pemberton’s “medicine” was advertised as particularly beneficial for “ladies, and all those whose sedentary employment causes nervous prostration”.

Pemberton blended the base syrup with carbonated water by accident when trying to make another glassful of the beverage. Pemberton decided then to sell this as a fountain drink rather than a medicine. Frank Mason Robinson came up with the name “Coca-Cola” for the alliterative sound, which was popular among other wine medicines of the time.

More details

Believed to be the first coupon ever, this ticket for a free glass of Coca-Cola was first distributed in 1888 to help promote the drink. By 1913, the company had redeemed 8.5 million tickets.

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The EYES have it!!

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Today is the birthday, in 1953, of Alex Van Halen, Dutch-American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen who had the 1984 US No.1 & UK No.7 single ‘Jump’. Alex has become an ordained minister and presided at the wedding of his brother Eddie Van Halen in 2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwYN7mTi6HM

On this day in 1954, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu ended with a French defeat.

By 1953, the First Indochina War was not going well for France. A succession of commanders had proven incapable of suppressing the insurrection of the Viet Minh, who were fighting for independence. During their 1952–1953 campaign, the Viet Minh had overrun vast swathes of Laos, Vietnam’s western neighbor, advancing as far as Luang Prabang and the Plain of Jars. In 1953, the French had begun to strengthen their defenses in the Hanoi delta region to prepare for a series of offensives against Viet Minh staging areas in northwest Vietnam. They set up fortified towns and outposts in the area.

The French began an operation to insert, and support, their soldiers at Điện Biên Phủ, in northwest Tonkin. The operation’s purpose was to cut off enemy supply lines into the neighboring Kingdom of Laos (a French ally) and draw the Viet Minh into a major confrontation in order to cripple them. The French based their forces in an isolated but well-fortified camp that would be resupplied by air, a strategy adopted based on the belief that the Viet Minh had no anti-aircraft capability.

The Viet Minh, however, under General Võ Nguyên Giáp, surrounded and besieged the French. They brought in vast amounts of heavy artillery (including anti-aircraft guns) and managed to move these bulky weapons through difficult terrain up the rear slopes of the mountains.

After a two-month siege, the garrison was overrun, with the surviving French forces were forced to surrender. Although it did not significantly alter the strategic situation in Indochina, the defeat at Dien Bien Phu brought a profound psychological shock to France. It led to a gradual withdrawal of French forces from all of Indochina (with the exception of Laos).

An image of Viet Minh troops planting their flag over the captured French headquarters at Dien Bien Phu, 1954.

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Today is the birthday, in 1840, of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the classical repertoire, including the 1812 Overture, his First Piano Concerto, the Violin Concerto, the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, several symphonies, the opera Eugene Onegin, and the ballets Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUpuAvQQrC0