Notable Events of the Day: January 16th…

Jan 16

Edited by Gerald Boerner

Introductory Comments:

Today’s events range from the loss of New York City to the British during the American Revolutionary War to the landing of the Marines at Inchon during the Korean War to President George W. Bush naming Osama bin Laden as the prime mover behind the 9-11 Terrorist Attack on the Twin Towers. These are events that we have not previously covered in this blog, as such. But we have written about several other events that occurred on this day.

We have looked at the start of a transcontinental passenger system that preceded the building of the Transcontinental Railroad — the Butterfield Overland Mail Stage. These stages were able to carry passengers in relative comfort, if not luxury between Missouri and San Francisco, California starting in 1958. However, the passenger service was a secondary function of these stages; they were primarily designed for carrying the U.S. Mail between the mid-West and Pacific Coast. It would later compete with the Wells-Fargo Stages for both passenger and freight service. It had a ten year period in which it provided the only comfortable passenger service between the two coasts of this country.

We continued with a look at the beginning of Prohibition that was brought about by the Women’s Christian Temperance League through the ratification of the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act in 1920. This caused tremendous disruption to our country through bootlegging, speak-easies, and the gangster wars of the 1920s. Prohibition was finally ended in 1933 by the 21st Amendment during the first days of FDR’s first administration.

In 1938, big band leader Benny Goodman and his jazz orchestra played a concert in Carnegie Hall in Manhattan just off Central Park in New York City. This was the first jazz performance in this venue and marked the acceptance of this musical genre by the sophisticated culture of highbrow American society. This set the stage for pop music concerts to be staged at this venue that previously had allowed only classical programs.

General Motors (GM) introduced a new concept car — the Chevrolet Corvette. This would be the first modern sports car manufactured in this country with its introduction in 1953. While revolutionary for its time, it was equipped with a six cylinder motor, like all Chevys, and a three-speed manual transmission. It would not be equipped with a V-8 engine until 1955. It underwent a major restyling in 1957 and has been manufactured since those early days, providing young teenagers and men going through their “middle-aged crazies” with their dream car in exchange for the family station wagon.

So now we need to proceed to looking at the Notable events occurring on this day… GLB

These Introductory Comments are copyrighted:
Copyright©2012 — Gerald Boerner — All Rights Reserved

[ 933 Words ]

Quotations Related to Prohibition:

[ http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/prohibition.html ]

“Prohibition is better than no liquor at all.”
— Will Rogers

“Prohibition has made nothing but trouble.”
— Al Capone

“Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water.”
— W.C. Fields

“Drug prohibition has caused gang warfare and other violent crimes by raising the prices of drugs so much that vicious criminals enter the market to make astronomical profits, and addicts rob and steal to get money to pay the inflated prices for their drugs.”
— Michael Badnarik

“Instead of giving money to found colleges to promote learning, why don’t they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as good as the Prohibition one did, why, in five years we would have the smartest race of people on earth.”
— Will Rogers

Notable Events of the Day: January 16th…

Other Events on this Day:

In 1776…
British forces under General William Howe occupy New York City during the Revolutionary War.

In 1857…
William Howard Taft, the twenty-seventh U.S. President and only president to also serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, is born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In 1858…
The Butterfield Overland Mail Company begins the first mail delivery to the Pacific Coast, with stagecoaches running between Tipton, Missouri, and San Francisco.

In 1920…
Americans enjoy their last legal drop of alcohol as the 18th Amendment to the Constitution goes into effect, prohibiting the manufacture, sale and transportation of liquor. Prohibition would be repealed by the ratification of the 21st Amendment in December 1933.

In 1938…
Bandleader and clarinetist Benny Goodman brings a jazz orchestra to Carnegie Hall in New York for the first time, marking the acceptance of jazz into highbrow American culture. The sold-out performance, with the best seats in the house going for $2.75, is often regarded as the most important jazz concert of all time.

In 1950…
During the Korean War, U.N. forces led by U.S. Marines land at Inchon.

In 1953…
GM produced the first modern American sports car, the Chevrolet Corvette. It became the dream car of every red-blooded male in America.

In 2001…
President George W. Bush names Osama bin Laden as the prime suspect in the September 11 terrorist attacks and warns Americans that a long, hard war against terrorism lies ahead.

In 2003…
Ilan Ramon, Israel’s first astronaut, is among the seven crew members onboard the space shuttle Columbia when it is launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The shuttle would disintegrate during reentry on Feb. 1, killing the entire crew.