Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 6: One Moore player for England

Bobby Moore, who captained the England football team to the 1966 World Cup championship, was born on Holy Saturday, April 12, 1941. He joined West Ham United as a 15 year old, making his professional debut two years later against Manchester United. He would spend 16 seasons at West Ham before moving to Fulham for three seasons and ending his career with stints in the US and Denmark. 

But Moore is best known for his run with the English national team. He played in the 1962 World Cup, and became England's youngest captain the following year. His participation in the 1966 tournament was briefly in doubt due to issues with his West Ham contract, and there was some talk prior to the championship game of leaving Moore out of the lineup. In the end leaving him in paid off, as he assisted on two goals towards the Three Lions' 4-2 win over West Germany.

Moore captained England in the 1970 World Cup, where they lost 3-2 to West Germany in the quarterfinals. England failed to qualify for the 1974 tournament, making a 1973 friendly against Italy the 108th and final cap of Moore's international career. He retired as the most capped player in England history and with the most appearances as captain for the national team. 

Moore survived a bout with testicular cancer in the early 1960s, but was not so fortunate with a case of colorectal cancer that spread to his liver. Moore would be the first player from the 1966 team to pass away, dying in 1993 at the age of 51.

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 5: To (not) live and die in (not) Dixie

Richard Taylor was the only son of President Zachary Taylor, and despite being born in what would become a border state (Kentucky) and educated in Union states (Massachusetts and Connecticut), he spent most of his adult life in the south and would become a general in the Confederate army during the US Civil War.

Taylor had no military experience prior to the war, but was a wealthy planter in Louisiana, where he built a fortune on the backs of the 200-plus slaves who grew and processed his sugar cane. He was chosen to be a commander of a Louisiana militia unit in the Civil War because his (then deceased) sister had been married to Confederate president Jefferson Davis.

Potential cronyism aside, Taylor proved to be an able commander, leading troops that played a pivotal role in the Shenandoah campaign. He would be sent back to Louisiana to raise troops and fight Union incursions into the state. He defeated Nathaniel Banks during the Red River campaign, was promoted to lieutenant general, and would wind up commanding both a Confederate military department and, briefly, the Army of Tennessee. 

After the war, his plantation ruined, he lived in New Orleans, but relocated to Winchester, Virginia after his wife died. From there he often visited friends in Washington and New York while staying active in Democratic Party politics. It was during a visit to New York that he died, on April 12, 1879.

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 4: Assassination averted

Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim grew up in Finland when it was still part of Russia, and rose in the ranks of the imperial Russian army to become a lieutenant general. Finland would declare itself independent after the Bolshevik revolution, but soon had its own civil war between the pro-Bolshevik "Reds" and the "Whites," who were anti-communist and backed the Finnish Senate. Mannerheim was made the leader of the White army, which was also supported by Germany troops.

The Whites won the civil war, raising Mannerheim's profile. He served as regent of Finland for a short time, and ran a losing campaign for president. By 1920 he had left politics but was still an active public figure as well as a war hero.

Which made him a ripe target for assassination by former Red officers. A group assembled in St. Petersburg to plan the attack, which was to take place during a White Guards parade in Tampere. A shooter and two backups were selected, and they went to the parade on Holy Saturday, April 3 1920, but were unable to complete their mission. The shooter got cold feet, and his backups, not able to see him, were not able to fire on Mannerheim themselves. A second attempt was made for April 6, which also failed, and resulted in the arrest of all three assailants.

This all worked out for Mannerheim, as he would go on to become the army's Commander in Chief during World War II, as well becoming Finland's sixth president.

 Book Log 2023 #10: If Then by Jill Lepore

As much as we are (rightly) concerned about the ways tech companies collect, use, and misuse our personal data, the concept of data mining, and using the results of mining to direct politics, business, and everything in between, is not new. The Simulatics Corporation was a pioneer in the field, and this book looks at how the company came about and the ways in which they influenced society in the 1960s.

There's much in common with how the company collected and used data to guide politicians and advertising, notably providing consulting services to the Kennedy campaign in 1960. Unlike today, the company always feels a little on the edge, possibly due to the limits of technology at the time, or perhaps due to the personalities of its founders (one a mid-level ad man, the other a bipolar mathematical genius). It's not all that surprising that the company shut down in 1970, as it never seemed to be that stable in terms of a business.

The book does provide plenty of opportunities to think about how Simulatics informs today's big data environment, while also demonstrating that many of the issues we're facing aren't exactly new, and that the past may have something to teach us about how to deal with the present.

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 3: Prominent polymath passes

Arthur Aikin was born into a family of noted writers and scholars, including a father who was a doctor, historian, and biographer. He followed his father's footsteps into science, studying chemistry under Joseph Priestly and becoming a lecturer in the subject at Guy's Hospital in London for 32 years. He would be the first treasurer of the Chemical Society (now the Royal Society of Chemistry) and its second president.

Outside of chemistry, he was also a president of the British Mineralogical Society, a founder of the Geological Society of London, and was a member of the Society of the Arts, the Linnean Society, and the Institution of Civil Engineers. He also supported himself writing, translating, and lecturing to the public, and his writing often introduced foreign scientific news to the British public. He was even a Unitarian minister for a short time.

Aikin passed away on Holy Saturday, April 15, 1854.

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 2: Pentecostalism revival arrival

Pentecostalism has roots prior to April 14, 1906, but it owes much of its worldwide reach to the revival that started that day at the Azusa Street mission founded by William J. Seymour. His church had been meeting elsewhere priot to that day, but after the group started speaking in tongues (and after the growing crowds caused the porch of their previous meeting space to collapse), Seymour moved to a new building on Azusa Street.

Worship services there were frequent, and pulled in hundreds. The crowd was notable for it racial and gender balance, which did not always sit well with others (notably Charles Parham, another of the founding figures of the Pentecostal movement). This would change, as segregated congregations would become the norm until the 1960s.

While the revival would wane after a few years, Seymour would preach at what became to be called the Apastolic Faith Mission for the rest of his life. Other preachers, who left Azusa Street to found their own churches, would grow Pentecostalism to the worldwide faith it is today. This timeline gives a good idea of where the Azusa Street revival fits in the history of the movement.

Another Lenten season is upon us, and I am totally doing what I said I was going to do at the end of last year's Lentorama:

Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Same basic idea as last year, you're getting 40 days' worth of historical events that happened on the day before (Western) Easter. Such as:

Day 1: So Long Sam Stephens 

Sam Stephens served as an Army broadcaster during the Korean War, and after the war became co-owner of KOJM radio in Harve, Montana. He went into politiccs in 1969, rising to the position of state senate president during his 16 years in that chamber.  

In 1988 he ran for governor, beating former governor Thomas Lee Judge to become the state's first elected Republican governor since 1964. Stephens served one term, the highlight of which seems to be overseeing the state's centennial celebration.

Hopefully the other 39 days are more interesting.

I was lucky enought to find this site that calculates church calendar dates for any year you put in. It will come in handy when we get to 2032 and I'm reduced to a Lentorama of "It Happened on the First Day of the Second Week of Lent."

 Book Log 2023 #9: The Odd Clauses by Jay Wexler

Some parts of the US Constitution are pretty well known (if occasionally misinterpreted), like the First Amendment's right to free speech. But then there are other parts that are less familiar, or seem less relevant in today's world. Why is there a whole amendment on not forcing people to put up soldiers in their homes? What exactly is a bill of attainder? And why does so lofty a document get into weights and measures? 

In this book, Wexler (who, full disclosure, I knew in high school and have occasional contact with over social media) examines these less familiar parts of the Constitution, and shows how they apply to the present day with regards to broader themes in the law (for example, the chapter on the Third Amendment gets related to privacy). 

The dense subject matter is leavened along the way with a fair amount of humor and personal observation. This isn't surprising given that Wexler once wrote a scholarly article about which justices generated the most laughter during argument (there's also a sequel).

If you're interested in the Constitution, or in the ways common law is able to connect the seemingly anachronistic to current day concerns, this is very much worth reading.

 Book Log 2023 #8: Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich by Norman Ohler

I'd heard from time to time over the years that Hitler was on drugs during World War II, but this was always somewhere between a rumor to an assertion, with no real corroboration. In this book, Ohler presents the results of his research, and details not only Hitler's drug use (generally under a doctor's supervision), but the widespread use of drugs by the military and the German people in general.

In one respect, this isn't that surprising, between the history of now-illegal drugs being widely available in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and the known use of drugs (usually stimulants) by troops in wartime to fend off fatigue. The scope of the drug use, as presented by Ohler, is what's surprising.

While several drugs are discussed, the main focus of the book is on a methamphetamine called Pervitin. The book paints a picture of a nation popping Pervitin regularly, from soldiers on the front lines to civilians back at home. Hitler's drug use saw him go from doctor-administered vitamin and hormone shots to a regimen that included Pervitin and Eukadol, which we would know better as oxycodone.

All of this drug use is seen as a key factor in Germany's early successes in the war, but also a significant factor in its eventual loss, as dependency led to mental and physical breakdown. 

The book is quite readable and eye-opening. Assuming you believe that Ohler is correct in his assumptions. Not everyone is convinced that his recounting is on the level, either based on contrary evidence or thoughts that Ohler, a novelist by trade, spiced things up a bit to improve the story (this review is particularly critical). The linked review also notes that the book serves as a bit of an apology for Nazi Germany and its atrocities, blaming it on the drugs.

As a book Blitzed is successful, as it's engaging and well-paced. Whether or not it's accurate... 

 Book Log 2023 #7: Dead Lions by Mick Herron

British spydom's Island of Misfit Toys is back, after a low-level spy that Jackson Lamb worked with in Berlin back in the day turns up dead on an Oxford bus. He looks into things, and comes to believe that the man knew about a Russian operation going on in London, and was killed to keep it quiet. While Lamb continues to investigate, two of the slow horses are assigned to protect a visiting Russian oligarch. This is not a coincidence.

I thought this was a solid follow-up to the first book, and appreciated that it wasn't another book primarily about machinations at MI-5 (not that I had a problem with the first book, just happy that this wasn't more of the same). I am curious to see if Slough House continues to be as dangerous a place to work as it's been in the first two books. They've got a pretty high body count going for a dead-end post.