Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 22: Adieu, Pierre

The Vérendrye family were involved in the French fur trade in Canada, and were involved in trying to expand the French reach into the Great Plains and the Canadian prairie. In 1732, two brother from the family set out to find the "River of the West," a river believed to flow into the Pacific Ocean.

Or at least we think that's what they were doing. The documentation of the trip is pretty sparse, just one surviving journal and a lead plate dug up in 1913. It's believed they were the first Europeans to cross the Great Plains and see the Rocky Mountains, though there's some speculation that what they actually saw was the Black Hills. There are a number of problems trying to connect the information in the journal to present-day locations, as there are no coordinates (the expidition's astrolabe kept breaking) and names for peoples and landmarks changed over time.

One thing we do know is that the brothers buried the lead plate mentioned earlier in what is today Fort Pierre, South Dakota, which appears to claim the land for France. That being done the brothers left on April 2, 1734, headed for home. Their trip took three months and surviving a Sioux raid. The family did not follow up with further trips, as without a river to the Pacific or a new source of furs there was no future profit to justify more trips.

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 21: TV twofer

April 15, 1933 gave us not just one iconic TV figure, but two, as it was the birth date of both Elizabeth Montgomery and Roy Clark.

Montgomery is best known for playing Samantha Stevens on Bewitched (making this the second mention of the show during this Lentorama, which is two more than I was expecting). Clark parlayed his music career into hosting the country variety show Hee Haw for nearly 30 years (as well as being a common guest host for The Tonight Show during the 1970s). 

Both would work steadily after their best-known TV work ended, Montgomery focusing on dramatic roles while Clark would focus more on music, and was named to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2009. Montomgery passed away in 1995 from cancer, while Clark would outlive Montgomery by more than two decades, passing from complications of pneumonia in 2018.

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 20: Rockin' in Rovinj

OK, they may not have literally been rockin', but I have to think that the people of this city felt the March 26, 1503 earthquake with an epicenter at Medvednica (a mounain in north-central Croatia), which had an estimated intensity of VII or VIII (very strong to severe). This was the first-ever earthquake recorded in what is now that country, or at least the first quake for which documentation has survived. There have been a number of earthquakes in the region since this one, not surprising as geologists have found a fault line running near the mountain.

This quake may have been the first documented, but it's not particularly well documented, at least not online. The one thing I did find is that the quake caused the tower of the Church of St. Mark in Zagreb to collapse. It was fixed, and the church is now one of the city's most notable tourist attractions, thanks to its colorful tiled roof.

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 19: Gus has his first successful launch

Virgil "Gus" Grissom was born on April 3, 1926, and had a pretty typical childhood growing up in Indiana.  He liked to build model airplanes as one of his hobbies, and did spend time hanging out at the airport in Bedford, Indiana, where a local lawyer would take him on flights and teach him the basics of flying.

Grissom graduated from high school towards the end of World War II, enlisting in the Army Air Corps after graduation. While he received basic flight training, he mostly worked as a clerk. He would get his chance to fly in combat during the Korean War, where he completed 100 missions and earned a Distinguished Flying Cross, among other awards. He was rotated back to the US, and eventually wound up becoming a test pilot for the Air Force.

Being a test pilot with an engineering degree (picked up at Purdue betwen the wars) made him an attractive candidate to join NASA, and after a grueling competition Grissom was named one of the seven Mercury astronauts. Grissom would fly in both the Mercury and Gemini programs; his Mercury flight almost ended in tragedy when the emergency bolts for his capsule's hatch blew unexpectedly, causing the capsule to flood. Grissom was rescued but the capsule sank.

Unfortunately, Grissom was not so lucky as one of the astronauts for the Apollo 1 mission. A fire broke out in the command module during a pre-flight test, killing Grissom and his fellow crewmates, Roger Chaffee and Edward White. 

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 18: But was he a duck?

Edward Wightman grew up in what appears to have been relatively comfortable circumstances, was educated at a grammar school and went into the clothing business established by his mother's family. It was when he also became an Anabaptist minister that things started to take a turn.

As Wightman's status within his religious community grew, he became more comfortable voicing opinions on dogma that fell outside of orthodoxy. He believed in the mortality of the soul (saying it died with the body and was resurrected on Judgement Day), argued against infant baptism (saying that those being baptized should have an understanding of the sacrament), and rejected the Trinity. 

That last part is what really got him into trouble. He was charged with heresy and found guilty, not helped by a volume of theological arguments that he published to explain his views (a copy of which he sent to James I, maybe not the best thing to send the Defender of the Faith). Wightman was sentenced to burning at the stake, but when the time came he said he would recant, and was pulled from the flames.

Of course, he wound up not recanting, but repeated his beliefs even more passionately when he was brought back to court. Back to the fire he went, and on Saturday, April 11, 1612, Wightman became the last person to be burned at the stake in England for heresy. Not long afterwards James I decided that heretics should be locked away in prison, where they could be forgotten rather than become a public spectacle. It wasn't until 1677 that burning at the stake was legally proscribed as a punishment for heresy.

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 17: Paris Expos-ed

The Exposition Universelle, also known as the 1900 Paris Exposition, opened on Saturday, April 14. This world's fair (France's fifth) looked to celebrate the century that had just ended and spur scientific and industrial development for the century to come. To that end, the fair unveiled a number of innovations, from a moving sidewalk to electrified buses to a 360 foot high Ferris wheel (things running on electricity were big at this fair).

The fair also attracted other events during its run, most notably the 1900 Olympic Games. The fair also played a large role in the dissemination of Art Nouveau, which heavily influenced the fair's advertising and design. While most of what was built for the fair was destroyed or repurposed, one way you can see this influence today is in two surviving Metro entrances designed by Hector Guimard (at Port Dauphine and Abbesses stations). The fair also gave us the Gare d'Orsay train station, which is now the Musee d'Orsay

The fair would close in mid-November, and France waited a whole 37 years before hosting another fair.

 Book Log 2023 #13: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Charlie is a high school freshman at a Pittsburgh-area high school, and as an observant and introverted kid is pretty isolated. The book is framed as a series of letters Charlie writes to an unnamed pen pal, to whom he details the ups and downs of the year, involving family and friends. He has specific difficulty coming to grips with the death of his best friend (by suicide) and a favorite aunt (traffic accident).

Much of the plot revolves around issues that are just under the surface - Charlie's crush on one of his senior friends, the other senior's secret relationship with a football player, and Charlie's sister being stuck in an abusive relationship. Things ramp up at the end of the school year, when many of these issues come to the surface, and in one case spark a startling revelation for Charlie.

I didn't quite connect to this book, which is something I run into quite a bit with YA books. I think I make comparisons to my own growing up, and am too quick to discount the book when it goes too far astray from my own experience. Which is a problem, as it's not like my childhood was some Platonic ideal. I also was unlikely to pick up this book, other than it fit a reading challenge, so my heart may not have been it it from the start.

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 17: Polymath produced

David Rittenhouse was born outside of Philadelphia on April 8, 1732.  An inheritance of carpenter's tools and books allowed young David to display a knack in making working scale models of mills and the like. While he was never formally schooled, his self-study would also show an aptitute for math and science. 

These combined interests would lead to a varied career as a maker of scientific instruments, a surveyor, and astronomy. He would complete the Mason-Dixon survey of the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland, make significant astronomical observations of Venus and Uranus, and serve as the treasurer of Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary War. He would become the first director of the US Mint, and even produced its first coins, hand-striking them using metal from flatware donated by George Washington.

Today, Rittenhouse is remembered through Rittenhouse Square, one of Philadelphia's original city squares, and the David Rittenhouse Laboratory, which houses the Physics and Astronomy and Mathematics departments at the Univerisity of Pennsylvania (a building I've spent a number of weekends in, especially for someone not from Philadelphia or a UPenn student).

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 16: Holy Saturday comes early

March 21, 1818, doesn't appear to be particularly notable, except in one way that's pretty meta. This is the earliest day on which Holy Saturday can occur in Western Christianity, and Holy Saturday won't occur on March 21 again until 2285, a gap of 467 years. That's a pretty unusual length of time between Holy Saturdays, at least based on it happening on March 21 about once a century between 1500 and 1818.

Expect a post about the latest possible Holy Satuday (April 25), especially if it comes with an equally large gap.

 Book Log 2023 #12: Billy Bathgate by E. L. Doctorow

Doctorow said he was inspired to write this book by a picture he saw of two men in tuxedos standing on the deck of a tugboat. The image suggested what he called "the cult of gangsterism," and led to this book about a teenager who becomes part of Dutch Schultz's gang.  He becomes a kind of a gofer, doing low level work (casing apartment buildings, etc.), which eventually leads to him spending a lot of time with Schultz's latest moll, Drew Preston. Billy's interest in Drew grows as Schultz's interest in her wanes, leading Billy and Drew into an affair that adds an extra layer of danger to their day-to-day life in Schultz's orbit.

This book fits into the same mold as Ragtime and World's Fair, using historical New York as a backdrop for stories of race, class, and family. I liked it about as much as those other books, though I wasn't crazy about the ending (I've read a few thing saying it's too sentimental, which I think may be right). 

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 15: Pyhäjoki artichokey

Russia and Sweden fought a war in 1808 and 1809, an offshoot of the Napoleonic Wars that roiled Europe during the early part of the 19th century. The Battle of Pyhäjoki took place on April 16, 1808, though it was less of a battle and more of a contested retreat.

Sweden was not ready for war; apparently the only person who thought they were was their king, Gustav IV Adolf (though he was likely counting on support from Great Britain to keep the Russians at bay). In any event, Russia invaded in February 1808 and were able to defeat what defenses Sweden could put up.

Pyhäjoki is the place where Sweden chose to make a stand, but the leader of Swedish forces, Wilhelm Mauritz Klingspor, ordered the retreat to continue based on the agreed upon strategic plan. This proved difficult, as the practicalities of retreating meant that only one Swedish battalion could fight the Russians at a time. In the end, the Swedes lost a little under 200 men in that day's fighting.

The retreat was probablly the right move - once the harbors thawed out the British were able to get invovled, and Sweden was able to fight back more effectively - but in the end Sweden ceded all of Finland to Russia. Gustav IV Adolf wasn't on the throne to see that happen, as before the end of the war he was deposed by a coup (one of whose leaders was Klingspor). 

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 14: Permanently on the level

Unless you are a particularly astute student of the history of Amsterdam, mathematics, or systems for measuring water levels, you've probably not heard of Johannes Hudde. A mayor of Amsterday in the late 17th century, his earlier study of mathematics led him to develop a couple of namesake rules about polynomial roots. He corresponded with several of the leading mathematicians of the day, and both Newton and Leibnitz referenced his work in their own development of calculus.

However, Hudde's most notable accomplishment came as part of his mayoral duties. He developed a system that would keep the water in Amsterdam's canals at a constant level, as denoted by marker stones placed near various canals. This system would be adopted in other countries, and would eventually lead to the system in use today by the EU. 

Hudde died on Holy Saturday, April 15, 1704.

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 13: The Birth of Derwood the Second

Dick Sargent, born on April 19, 1930, is forever destined to be the answer (or part of the answer) to the trivia question about who played Darrin Stephens on Bewitched.  It's not his only role - his filmography boasts work from the mid 1950s up to the early 1990s - but it's easily his best-known.

What may not be remembered as well is his 1991 coming out, which he did to help highlight the elevated suicide rate among younger gay people. He was able to support a number of LGBT-focused organizations before he died in 1994 from prostate cancer.

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 12: A major award

Margaret MacDonald grew up in Nova Scotia, but moved to New York to study nursing. After graduating in 1895, she went to Panama and cared for workers on the Panama Canal. She would become one of the first military nurses during the Spanish-American War, when she worked on a hospital ship caring for American soldiers. She would also serve as a nurse during the Boer War in South Africa.

Upon returning to Canada she was named the head nurse of the Canadian Army Medical Corps, where she insisted on implementing professional standards to military nursing. Her dedication to military nursing would pay off when, on April 11, 1914, she would be named Matron in Chief and became the first woman to rise to the rank of major in any military service related to the British empire.

Her service in World War I focused more on leadership than practical nursing, and in making military nursing a realistic career opportunity for women. She would return to Canada in 1919 and was involved in the reorganization of Canada's military medical service until her retirement the following year.

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 11: No More Labouring

James Callaghan was a British politician, the prime minister before Margaret Thatcher and the last Labour prime minister until Tony Blair. He served in the office from 1976 to 1979, and is the only person to have held all four of what is known in the UK as the Great Offices of State (Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary, and Prime Minister).

Callaghan took office after the retirement of Harold Wilson, at a point where Labour's majority in the House of Commons was dwindling. He entered into a "confidence and supply" agreement with the Liberal Party, but economic turmoil led several smaller parties to support the Conservatives, which helped destabilize the deal with the Liberals. This led to a vote of no confidence in Callaghan in March of 1979, and a Labour loss in the ensuing general election.

Callaghan would hold on as Labour leader for another year, and stayed in Commons until 1987, at which point he was the longest-serving MP with 42 years service. That year he was also awarded the Order of the Garter and was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Callaghan of Cardiff.

Callaghan would pass away on March 26, 2005. At 92 years of age. he is the longest-living prime minister in British history. Sort of like the British version of Jimmy Carter.

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 10: Thanks, John

On April 14, 1781, the Continental Congress of the United States voted a resolution thanking navy captain John Paul Jones for his service. Which leads to the question: why?

It's not that he wasn't due thanks, given his performance in the Revolutionary War. It's just the timing is weird, as the war was still on and you'd think he'd still be out there fighting the British. On the other hand, his record of battle seems to have dried up after his deafeat of the HMS Bonhomme Rirchard (which was two years before the thanking), so maybe Congress knew what was coming.

Jones would in fact struggle to get commissions, and wound up spending a fair amount of time in Europe, including two years as a rear admiral in the Russian navy. Jones died in 1792 and lay in relative obscurity in a Paris cemetary until he was repatriated in 1905. Today, Jones is at rest in the chapel crypt at the US Naval Academy.

 Book Log 2023 #11: The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton

Mike (not his real name) is an 18 year old, who as an 8 year old experienced a trauma so profound that it has left him mute. As he grows up, Mike discovers that he has two significant talents - art and lock picking.  Art leads him to a kindred spirit, but the lock picking threatens to take him away from her, so he has to devise a plan that will both free him of the criminal gang making use of his lock picking and allow him to return to the one person he loves.

I liked the book well enough, but not as much as reviewers or award committees, as it did quite well with those groups. I do see why it would win an Alex Award, given to adult fiction that also has a "special interest" for YA readers (I picked this book to satisfy a reading challenge involving Alex Award winners). But I really don't see how it won an Edgar Award for best novel over Faithful Place, part of Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series. 

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 9: Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On

For centuries, Dubrovnik was the capital of the Republic of Ragusa, a political entity on the southern Dalmatian coast. It's nominal independence came with fealty to larger powers (like Venice or the Ottoman Empire), and despite calling itself a republic it was run by the aristocracy. None of this mattered when, on April 6, 1667, the city suffered what is estimated as a 6.4 magnitude earthquake.

The quake devastated the city, destroying upwards of three-quarters of all public buildings. The death toll was estimated as between 3000 and 5000 people. The casualties included a number of aristocrats and the city's leader, the rector Simone Ghetaldi. Not surprisingly, the city entered a period of lawlessness after the quake, though the majority of the crime was theft of building materials.

The quake did hasten the decline of the republic, which would eventually be conquered by Napoleon and made part of the Kingdom of Italy. Dubrovnik today is part of an independent Croatia, and is very popular with tourists, thanks in part to its distinctive architecture - which came as a a result of the rebuilding after the earthquake.

 Lentorma 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 8: End of the Road 

Henry Leland worked in machine shops in his early life, where he developed skills in precision manufacturing and engineering that he would apply to various fields, most notable automobiles. He built engines for Oldsmobile before moving on to found Cadillac, which he would sell to General Motors in 1909 but run until 1917. At Cadillac he was responsible for introducing the idea of interchangable parts, which cut down production costs, and an electric starter motor to replace the hand crank.

Leland left GM due to a dispute over making weapons during World War I (Leland was a pacifist who opposed the company making engines and vehicles for military use). He apparently got over his objections, as he founded the Lincoln Motor Company off of a major contract to build airplane engines for the US government. When World War I ended the company shifted to automobile production, but struggled to transition and went into receivership. Ford was the only bidder, and bought the company for below its appraised value, seen as revenge for Leland selling Cadillac to GM. 

Leland and his son assusmed they would be allowed to stay on to run the company, similar to what happened with Cadillac. Ford had other ideas, and forced both Lelands out of the company in 1922.

Leland spent the last ten years of his life dabbling in progressive political causes, and passed away on March 26, 1932.

 Lentorama 2023: It Happened on Holy Saturday

Day 7: Continental Navy Blocked

The Continental Navy executed a raid on Nassau, Bahams in early April, 1776, capturing a couple of forts and seizing all of the military equipment and stores they could fit on their ships before withdrawing to head back to New England. The fleet split into two columns, comprised of Continental naval vessels and prize ships captured at Nassau and during the trip home.

One of the columns encountered the HMS Glasgow, a dipatch ship sailing from Newport, Rhode Island to Charleston, South Carolina, in the early hours of Saturday, April 6 off of Block Island. Three Continental ships engaged the Glasgow, but none were able to do so effectively. The Glasgow's more effective fire damaged the Continental ships, and allowed the Glasgow to retreat to Newport. The Continental fleet broke off the engagement, as it did not want to fight the British naval squadron headquartered there. 

The skirmish, known as the Battle of Block Island, was a win for the British, as the Glasgow only suffered four casualties, while the Continental ships counted 24. In the aftermath of the encounter, the commanders of the USS Columbus and USS Hazard were both accused of a variety of charges. A court martial cleared the commander of the Columbus, but the Hazard's commander was convicted and forced to surrender his commission.

Commodore Esek Hopkins, who was in charge of the Continental fleet, also came under scrutiny, both for disobeying orders (he was supposed to sail to Virginia and the Carolinas rather than Nassau) and for distributing prizes without consulting Congress. He would hang on for a couple of years, but was finally dismissed from the navy in 1778.