Random News and Notes 4 November
On this date:
- 1493 – Christopher Columbus discovers Guadeloupe during his second expedition.
- 1677 – William III and Mary of England wed on William’s birthday.
- 1760 – Following the Russian capture of Berlin, Frederick II of Prussia defeats the Austrians at the Battle of Torgau.
- 1777 – In a letter that General George Washington receives, he is informed that a conspiracy is afoot to discredit him with Congress and have him replaced by General Horatio Gates. Thomas Conway, who would be made inspector general of the United States less than two months later on December 14, led the effort; as such, it became known as the Conway Cabal.
- 1791 – General Arthur St. Clair, governor of Northwest Territory, is badly defeated by a large Indian army near Fort Wayne.
- 1798 – Congress agrees to pay a yearly tribute to Tripoli, considering it the only way to protect U.S. shipping.
- 1842 – Abraham Lincoln marries Mary Todd in Springfield, Ill.
- 1854 – Florence Nightingale and her nurses arrive in the Crimea.
- 1863 – From the main Confederate Army at Chattanooga, Tennessee, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet’s troops are sent northeast to besiege Knoxville.
- 1918 – Austria signs an armistice with the Allies.
- 1918 – Just one week before the armistice was declared, ending World War I, the British poet Wilfred Owen is killed in action during a British assault on the German-held Sambre Canal on the Western Front.
- 1922 – The entrance to King Tut’s tomb is discovered.
- 1922 – The U.S. Postmaster General orders all homes to get mailboxes or relinquish delivery of mail.
- 1924 – Calvin Coolidge is elected 30th president of the United States.
- 1952 – General Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected 34th president of the United States.
- 1956 – Russian troops attack Budapest, Hungary.
- 1979 – At the American Embassy in Teheran, Iran, 90 people, including 63 Americans, are taken hostage by militant student followers of Ayatollah Khomeini. The students demand the return of Shah Mohammad Reza Pablavi, who is undergoing medical treatment in New York City.
- 1980 – Ronald Reagan is elected the 40th president of the United States.
- 1995 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated at a peace rally in Tel Aviv.
- 2008 – Senator Barack Obama of Illinois elected 44th president of the United States
We start the news with the elephant in the room. The midterm elections went badly – very badly – for the Republicans. I won’t sugar coat it, these results set up a lengthy period of Dem control in the Senate. However, it is not all doom and gloom. Midterm control swaps are the norm. Dating back to the 1970 midterms, the Presidential party retained control of the house twice – Clinton’s 2nd terms and Bush 43’s 1st – and the Senate 4 times – Nixon in 70, Reagan in 82, Bush 43 in 02 and Trump in 18. Last night’s losses were bad, and some losses were likely avoidable, but they are better than the losses Obama suffered in both of his terms.
As you can see from the numbers above, the 25 seat house loss is considerably less than previous midterm flips. If you’re all caught up in the results, do yourself a favor and get out from in front of your screens – after you finish reading this piece that is – and take a walk or pick up a book, anything not politics related. You’ll thank me and yourself for it.
In some good electoral news, Idaho voters chose a state gun. In a nonbinding advisory vote tied to House Bill 932, Idahoans selected the Winchester Model 1873 with 31.14 percent of votes as about 89 percent were tallied, ahead of the Winchester Model 1894 at 25.42 percent and the Colt ‘Peacemaker’ at 15.14 percent.
The measure, signed by Gov. Brad Little in April for the nation’s 250th Independence anniversary, drew local pride in Second Amendment traditions alongside national amusement. Results will guide lawmakers on potentially adopting an official state gun, joining ten other states with such designations.
As far as I can tell after some admittedly perfunctory research, the only movie with the full name of a specific model of firearm in the title is the Jimmy Stewart Western saga Winchester 73.
In some good news, a trailer dropped for a new Peanuts Christmas special. The trailer for ‘Snoopy Presents: 12 Days of Snoopy’ previews Snoopy’s quest to get off the naughty list while the Peanuts kids stay on their best behavior. It features original music from John Legend, Kamasi Washington with Leon Bridges, and Laufey singing ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’.
Hopefully it lives up to the trailer. . .