DBKP Today in Weird History: July 14
July 14, 195th day of the year, there’s 170 days left until the end of the year.
Wars, Revolutions, and Sociopathic Regimes
1749 Bastille Day – French peasants stormed the Bastille prison in France and captured all 7 prisoners, an “in your face” to King Louis the 16th, beginning of the French Revolution
1798 The Sedition Act: The Sedition Act (14 July) rendered it a crime to make statements intended to defame or bring the president, Congress, or government into contempt or disrepute. Those convicted could be fined up to $2,000 and jailed for two years.
1933 – Part of Gleichschaltung, Germany outlaws all political parties except Nazism
Gleichschaltung [ˈglaiçʃaltÊŠÅ‹] (literally “equal switching”, “synchronization”; meaning “coordination”, “making the same”, “bringing into line”) is a Nazi term for the process by which the Nazi regime successively established a system of totalitarian control over the individual, and tight coordination over all aspects of society and commerce.
The Gleichschaltung also included the formation of various organisations with compulsory membership for segments of the population, in particular the youth. Boys served as apprentices in the Pimpfen (“cubs”) beginning at the age of six, and at age 10, entered the Deutsches Jungvolk (“Young German Boys”) and served there until entering the Hitler Youth proper at age 14. Boys remained there until age 18, at which time they entered into the Arbeitsdienst (“Labor Service”) and the armed forces (Wehrmacht). Girls became part of the Jungmädel (“Young Maidens”) at age 10, and at age 14 were enrolled in the Bund Deutscher Mädel (“League of German Maidens”). Girls remained in the BDM until age 18 and then joined ‘Glaube und Schönheit’ (“Faith and Beauty”); here they remained until the age of 21, when they were sent to serve their Landjahr — a year of labor on a farm. In 1936, membership of the Hitler Youth numbered just under 6 million. Source – Answers.com
1958 – Iraqi Revolution: King Faisal II and his entire household were assassinated during a military coup. Nuri es-Said attempted to escape from Baghdad disguised as a woman but he was captured and executed on 14th July, 1958.
As a result of the Iraqi Revolution, the Arab nationalist, Abdul Karim Kassem, became the country’s new leader and in 1959 Iraq withdrew from the Baghdad Pact.
Society’s “Norm” Makers
1946 – Dr. Benjamin Spock’s book, Baby and Child Care is published.
Patents
1868 – Alvin J. Fellows patents his new invention, the tape measure.
1914 – Robert H. Goddard patents liquid rocket fuel
Freakish Weather:
1954 – The Midwest broiled under obscenely hot temps: 118 F (48 C) Warsaw and Union Missouri, 117 F (47 C) East St. Louis, Missouri
1987 – Severe thunderstorms in Iowa produced eight inches of golf ball size hail near Grafton, IA, completely stripping corn stalks in the area.
2005 – Death Valley had 7 consecutive days (July 14-20) with high temperatures equal to or above 125 degrees.
True Crime
1966 – Richard Speck, a 24-yr-old drifter, entered a nurses dorm in Chicago. Speck tied up and then brutally murdered 8 women, one of them a guest staying overnight. One woman survived after hiding by hiding under a bed. Speck was sentenced to die but escaped his fate after the Supreme Court ruled in 1972 that the Death Penalty was unconstitutional.
Money, Capitalism
1988 – Volkswagen packs its bags and leaves America. The first plant built in America by a foreign auto maker, Volkswagen, in 1976, closed its doors.
1969 – Federal Reserve System withdraws paper currency from circulation, $500, $1000, $5000, and $10,000 bills.
Weird Newsmakers
1992 – Ripley’s Believe or Not Museum burns down in Gatlinburg, Tennesee after a massive fire destroys an entire city block.
Famous Births
1891 Alexander M. Volkov, Russian novelist and mathematician
1903 American writer, Irving Stone
1910 American animator, William Hanna
1912 Woody Guthrie, American folk musician
1918 Swedish film and theatre director, Ingmar Bergman
1926 American actor Harry Dean Stanton
1961 Jackie Earle Hayley, American actor
1966 Matthew Fox, American actor
1967 Professional wrestler Jeff Jarrett
1967 Patrick J. Kennedy, politician
Famous Deaths
1274 Saint Bonaventure
1575 Richard Taverner, English Bible Translator
1614 Camillus de Lellis, Italian saint
1881 Billy the Kid
Outlaw William Bonney, known as Billy the Kid, was shot down by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Bonney’s true age was unknown, it was estimated he was between 19-20 years of age.
1965 Adlai Stevenson, U.S. Presidential Candidate
Image - Million dollar bill
Image – Ripley’s Believe It or Not
Image – Billy the Kid
Sources – 440 – Those Were the Days
