The value of things
At this moment I'm looking at an object on my desk. Without knowing anything about it, you couldn't possibly determine its value. I'm not referring to the cash price I paid for it at the drugstore. Or how much it has helped me since I bought it over a year ago. Or how much is left in the bottle.
Now you know more. It is a bottle of something. It was purchased at a drugstore, so it has to be something sold there. It isn't a bottle of gasoline nor is it a bottle of diamonds. If I narrow it down to the fact that it is a liquid, do we know that much more? No. It could be a 99 cent bottle of cheap nail polish, or it could be a bottle of a prescription medication that prices out at $400. It is actually a bottle of cough syrup. Now can we determine the value? Yes, within a range. It's price is between the lowest listed price for cough syrup and the highest price for the same product and I'll even let you know it was purchased at Rite-Aid. I'll go one step further and tell you it's the Rite-Aid generic of a brand-name cough syrup.
I paid $4.99 for it. It's a smaller bottle but it's lasted a long time because I haven't had another cold since I purchased it. But it is there, waiting, in case I get another one. So it's value must be $4.99, right? No.
Price and value correlate to some degree, at the moment of purchase. The buyer, in choosing to purchase, has decided that the item they are obtaining from the seller is as valuable, or more valuable than the price they are paying. Even if they don't believe it to be that valuable, their need for something may have driven the decision to buy.
In all the years where I either lived in Las Vegas, or was driving to Las Vegas from L.A., I always filled up before starting the trip. I did not want to have to stop anywhere along the way if possible. There came a day when I was coming home for the weekend and nature began calling loudly. This was in the 1980s, when a gallon of regular gas had a national average price of $0.95.
The next exit had a gas station/convenience store that looked rundown but I stopped anyway. I ran inside, answered that call of nature and then decided I wanted a snack. I picked up a few things and then went to pay. At the counter I discovered that the candy bar, soda and whatever else I'd grabbed was priced at more than twice what I would have paid in Vegas before leaving. I asked why the prices were so high and was told "that's what we charge, now please pay or put em back." I put them back. I went outside and got in my car, noticing for the first time their price for gas. It was around $2.50 for regular and nearly $3.00 for premium.
I had a full tank of gas when I'd left, so gas wasn't worth that price to me. But as I was pulling out, some other traveler on the same highway pulled in and bought gasoline. I asked him why he didn't go to a bigger stop, where the gas was cheaper. "I'm on fumes, I don't want to run out of gas." For that man, the value and/or the need was enough that he overpaid.
Why is this important? Look at our federal budget deficit. Look at Detroit. Our nation is spending itself broke. Is it because government is spending more than it needs to for things? Oh yes.
Imagine paying $608 to lease a car. Sounds okay on the surface. But if it was for a 2004 Dodge Intrepid and you're paying that amount for nearly eight years after the original two year lease was up? You're racking up additional costs in excess mileage at this point for every additional mile. In this case, a car that would have run around $25,000 new has cost the city of Detroit an estimated $65,000. Sounds bad, but just one car wouldn't really matter, would it? What if the number jumps to 110 of these leases. The city of Detroit has lost over $4 million on this deal and it hasn't been undone to my knowledge.
Imagine a city that covers only 1.47 square miles, but has ten parking enforcement officers, some of whom are paid more than $100,000 in total compensation annually. Welcome to Hermosa Beach, CA. The city's parking meters are a cash cow for the city. To ensure that they aren't abused, there must be people patrolling them 7 days per week, in at least two shifts. It was demonstrated that the city could save money by outsourcing this job, which requires only a high school diploma, the ability to drive a stick-shift, the ability to read and understand the violations they will be enforcing, and the strength to handle large animals (they're required to transport stray dogs to the pound). In 2011/2012, the lowest paid member of this force earned over $67,000 in total compensation. Newport Beach outsourced parking enforcement. Since they did, meter revenues are up roughly 25% and salary costs reduced by more than $500,000 per year.
Why didn't Detroit deal with the car lease thing earlier? Because someone was scratching someone else's back no doubt. Corruption has been pervasive in prior administrations there. But that's not the only reason. Why hasn't Hermosa Beach outsourced parking? Because those ten people are members of a union that will fight tooth and nail to keep those union jobs.
Unions are predominately a good thing. Except many of them choose to ignore fiscal reality and just demand more money and more benefits. The argument that government "benefits" need to be better than those of the private sector doesn't fly. Show me someone doing a job with similar limited skills as a Hermosa Beach parking enforcement officer who is earning over $100,000 in total compensation.
The problem with kicking the can down the road is that eventually, the can becomes so damaged and heavy from the crap it collects along the way; it will reach a point where it can no longer be kicked. It won't budge. That's what we are doing to the next generation. Leaving them a financial can that they won't be able to postpone any further.
In the end, the fault is ours because we have lost sight of something very important. Quis custodiet ipsos custodies? is a question attributed to the Roman poet Juvenal. Translated literally it means, who guards the guardians themselves?
Who is overseeing the manager in Detroit who approved those lease contracts? Who is preventing Hermosa Beach from outsourcing parking enforcement? Ultimately, if you go far enough up the supervisory chain, we reach the elected officials. Part of the reason we elected them was to be the guardians of the guards who guard our public purse. They are failing.
John Dingell is the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives. He's been in Congress since he took office when he was 29. He turned 87 last month. Aside from a very short period in private practice, he's been a government employee or elected politician since he graduated from law school in 1952. In 2006, his net worth was somewhere between $5 million and $8 million. Now did he amass all that wealth by saving his Congressional salary? His wife is younger and probably earns a good salary. After all, she is a consultant to the American Automotive Policy Council. A non-profit organization that pays its president more than $600,000 per year.
Now in all honesty, the wealth was probably hers before they married. She is a descendant of one of the founders of GM. So we don't really know where the wealth came from. But it's illustrative of how our government is run by those who have no real concept of money or value from the perspective of the average citizen. Net worth for members of Congress is reported in a range. The ranges reported can be quite wide, as evidenced by Bob Corker, the junior Senator from Tennessee. In his 2011 financial disclosures his net worth was an average of roughly $40 million, but the minimum and maximum amounts range from $6 million to $75 million. So it's in there somewhere.
Who is guarding the guardians of our money? We certainly aren't.
* * *
Random ponderings:
Did you know that John Lennon wanted to be part of Woodstock but couldn't get there because the U.S. refused him a visa? I didn't.
A 911 dispatcher was so touched by the call from a bride-to-be that her wedding dress had just been stolen on her wedding day; she let the bride wear her own wedding dress. So I guess if you're a bride with a problem, just dial 911.
Even though it was months ago, I still chuckle at the video of a woman pelting Simon Cowell with eggs during the finale of Britain's Got Talent. From the stage! She was one of the backing musicians for the act that was performing.
Why is it that a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client, while physicians are supposed to heal themselves?
I've said it before and I'll say it again. What I really want to see on Maury is a case where the man and woman who are arguing over paternity are totally shocked because Maury announces "you are NOT the father...and YOU are NOT the mother. It could happen. Switched at birth and all that.
Are the mounting losses at OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) starting to hit the namesake in the pocketbook? She appeared on Jimmy Kimmel last night and gave only one audience member a car.
Bruce Willis says he's bored with making action movies. If they're that boring, don't make them anymore. Make other kinds of movies.
Nearly 12 million people tuned in for the season premiere of "Duck Dynasty" and I would love to know why.
This Date In History:
636 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between Byzantine Empire and Rashidun Caliphate begins.
717 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year.
718 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople.
778 – The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed.
927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.
982 – Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria
1018 – Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria.
1040 – King Duncan I is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth. The latter succeeds him as King of Scotland.
1057 – King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.
1070 – The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in England.
1185 – The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia.
1237 – The Battle of the Puig takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista pitting the forces of the Taifa of Valencia against the Kingdom of Aragon. The battle resulted in an Aragonese victory.
1248 – The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.)
1261 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned Byzantine emperor in Constantinople.
1281 – Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of Kōan.
1309 – The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes.
1430 – Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca.
1461 – The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmed II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered.
1483 – Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel.
1511 – Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate.
1517 – Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary.
1519 – Panama City, Panama, is founded.
1534 – Saint Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540.
1537 – Asunción, Paraguay, is founded.
1540 – Arequipa, Peru, is founded.
1549 – Jesuit priest Saint Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: July 22, 1549).
1599 – Nine Years' War: Battle of Curlew Pass – Irish forces led by Hugh Roe O'Donnell successfully ambush English forces, led by Sir Conyers Clifford, sent to relieve Collooney Castle.
1695 – French forces end the Bombardment of Brussels, leaving a third of the buildings in the city in ruins.
1760 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz – Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon.
1812 – War of 1812: The Battle of Fort Dearborn is fought between United States troops and Potawatomi at what is now Chicago, Illinois.
1843 – The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States.
1843 – Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.
1863 – The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863).
1869 – The Meiji government in Japan establishes six new ministries, including one for Shinto.
1893 – Ibadan area became a British Protectorate after a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton.
1907 – Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies.
1914 – A male servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright sets fire to the living quarters of the architect's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, murders seven people and burns the living quarters to the ground.
1914 – The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon.
1914 – The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia.
1914 – The beginning of the Battle of Cer.
1915 – A story in New York World reveals that the Weimar German government had purchased excess phenol from Thomas Edison that could be used to make explosives for the war effort and diverted it to Bayer for aspirin production.
1920 – Battle of Warsaw so called Miracle at the Vistula.
1935 – Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska.
1939 – 13 Stukas dive into the ground during a disastrous air-practice at Neuhammer. There are no survivors.
1939 – The Wizard of Oz premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California.
1940 – An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbor during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October.
1941 – Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 7:12 am, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for treason.
1942 – World War II: Operation Pedestal – The SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island's defenses.
1944 – World War II: Operation Dragoon – Allied forces land in southern France.
1945 – World War II: Japan surrenders to end the war.
1947 – India gains Independence from the British Indian Empire and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
1947 – Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi.
1948 – The Republic of Korea is established south of the 38th parallel north.
1952 – A flash flood drenches the town of Lynmouth, England, United Kingdom, killing 34 people.
1954 – Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay.
1960 – Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France.
1961 – Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.
1962 – James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok still resides in the capital, Pyongyang.
1963 – Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland, UK.
1963 – President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital.
1965 – The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York, New York, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock.
1969 – Woodstock opens.
1970 – Patricia Palinkas became the first woman to play professionally in an American football game
1971 – President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors.
1971 – Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom.
1973 – Vietnam War: The United States bombing of Cambodia ends.
1974 – Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President of South Korea, Park Chung-hee.
1975 – Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup.
1975 – Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.
1977 – The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project,receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project.
1984 – The PKK in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in Şemdinli and Eruh
1995 – In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later). [Hey, she had to be under enormous pressure].
Famous Folk Born On This Date:
Napoleon Bonaparte
Walter Scott
Ethel Barrymore
Edna Ferber
Julia Child
Huntz Hall
Rose Marie
Bill Pinkney
Jim Lange (the theme for "The Dating Game" just went off in my brain)
Stephen Breyer
Maxine Waters
Linda Ellerbee (one of my idols)
Ann Biderman
Stieg Larsson
Debra Messing
Rob Thomas (the writer)
Ben Affleck
Natasha Hentsridge (she said: "I was about 12 years old when I started getting boobs. I never tried to hide them because I started to realize the power I had with them.")
Kerri Walsh Jennings
Jennifer Lawrence
Today's movie quotes come from "X-Men: First Class" from 2011, because of course, Jennifer Lawrence portrayed "Mystique":
Hank McCoy: Are you sure we can't shave your head?
Professor Charles Xavier: Don't touch my hair.
#2
Erik Lehnsherr: Hank has been busy.
Alex Summers: Do we really have to wear these?
Professor Charles Xavier: As none of us mutated to endure extreme g-force or being riddled by bullets, I suggest we suit up.
#3
Erik Lehnsherr: Excuse me, I'm Erik Lehnsherr.
Professor Charles Xavier: Charles Xavier.
Logan: Go fuck yourself.
#4
Professor Charles Xavier: Would you like to see another magic trick?
Man In Black Suit: Yes!
Professor Charles Xavier: [Using powers, gives order] Get in the car.
Man In Black Suit: Good idea.
Now you know more. It is a bottle of something. It was purchased at a drugstore, so it has to be something sold there. It isn't a bottle of gasoline nor is it a bottle of diamonds. If I narrow it down to the fact that it is a liquid, do we know that much more? No. It could be a 99 cent bottle of cheap nail polish, or it could be a bottle of a prescription medication that prices out at $400. It is actually a bottle of cough syrup. Now can we determine the value? Yes, within a range. It's price is between the lowest listed price for cough syrup and the highest price for the same product and I'll even let you know it was purchased at Rite-Aid. I'll go one step further and tell you it's the Rite-Aid generic of a brand-name cough syrup.
I paid $4.99 for it. It's a smaller bottle but it's lasted a long time because I haven't had another cold since I purchased it. But it is there, waiting, in case I get another one. So it's value must be $4.99, right? No.
Price and value correlate to some degree, at the moment of purchase. The buyer, in choosing to purchase, has decided that the item they are obtaining from the seller is as valuable, or more valuable than the price they are paying. Even if they don't believe it to be that valuable, their need for something may have driven the decision to buy.
In all the years where I either lived in Las Vegas, or was driving to Las Vegas from L.A., I always filled up before starting the trip. I did not want to have to stop anywhere along the way if possible. There came a day when I was coming home for the weekend and nature began calling loudly. This was in the 1980s, when a gallon of regular gas had a national average price of $0.95.
The next exit had a gas station/convenience store that looked rundown but I stopped anyway. I ran inside, answered that call of nature and then decided I wanted a snack. I picked up a few things and then went to pay. At the counter I discovered that the candy bar, soda and whatever else I'd grabbed was priced at more than twice what I would have paid in Vegas before leaving. I asked why the prices were so high and was told "that's what we charge, now please pay or put em back." I put them back. I went outside and got in my car, noticing for the first time their price for gas. It was around $2.50 for regular and nearly $3.00 for premium.
I had a full tank of gas when I'd left, so gas wasn't worth that price to me. But as I was pulling out, some other traveler on the same highway pulled in and bought gasoline. I asked him why he didn't go to a bigger stop, where the gas was cheaper. "I'm on fumes, I don't want to run out of gas." For that man, the value and/or the need was enough that he overpaid.
Why is this important? Look at our federal budget deficit. Look at Detroit. Our nation is spending itself broke. Is it because government is spending more than it needs to for things? Oh yes.
Imagine paying $608 to lease a car. Sounds okay on the surface. But if it was for a 2004 Dodge Intrepid and you're paying that amount for nearly eight years after the original two year lease was up? You're racking up additional costs in excess mileage at this point for every additional mile. In this case, a car that would have run around $25,000 new has cost the city of Detroit an estimated $65,000. Sounds bad, but just one car wouldn't really matter, would it? What if the number jumps to 110 of these leases. The city of Detroit has lost over $4 million on this deal and it hasn't been undone to my knowledge.
Imagine a city that covers only 1.47 square miles, but has ten parking enforcement officers, some of whom are paid more than $100,000 in total compensation annually. Welcome to Hermosa Beach, CA. The city's parking meters are a cash cow for the city. To ensure that they aren't abused, there must be people patrolling them 7 days per week, in at least two shifts. It was demonstrated that the city could save money by outsourcing this job, which requires only a high school diploma, the ability to drive a stick-shift, the ability to read and understand the violations they will be enforcing, and the strength to handle large animals (they're required to transport stray dogs to the pound). In 2011/2012, the lowest paid member of this force earned over $67,000 in total compensation. Newport Beach outsourced parking enforcement. Since they did, meter revenues are up roughly 25% and salary costs reduced by more than $500,000 per year.
Why didn't Detroit deal with the car lease thing earlier? Because someone was scratching someone else's back no doubt. Corruption has been pervasive in prior administrations there. But that's not the only reason. Why hasn't Hermosa Beach outsourced parking? Because those ten people are members of a union that will fight tooth and nail to keep those union jobs.
Unions are predominately a good thing. Except many of them choose to ignore fiscal reality and just demand more money and more benefits. The argument that government "benefits" need to be better than those of the private sector doesn't fly. Show me someone doing a job with similar limited skills as a Hermosa Beach parking enforcement officer who is earning over $100,000 in total compensation.
The problem with kicking the can down the road is that eventually, the can becomes so damaged and heavy from the crap it collects along the way; it will reach a point where it can no longer be kicked. It won't budge. That's what we are doing to the next generation. Leaving them a financial can that they won't be able to postpone any further.
In the end, the fault is ours because we have lost sight of something very important. Quis custodiet ipsos custodies? is a question attributed to the Roman poet Juvenal. Translated literally it means, who guards the guardians themselves?
Who is overseeing the manager in Detroit who approved those lease contracts? Who is preventing Hermosa Beach from outsourcing parking enforcement? Ultimately, if you go far enough up the supervisory chain, we reach the elected officials. Part of the reason we elected them was to be the guardians of the guards who guard our public purse. They are failing.
John Dingell is the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives. He's been in Congress since he took office when he was 29. He turned 87 last month. Aside from a very short period in private practice, he's been a government employee or elected politician since he graduated from law school in 1952. In 2006, his net worth was somewhere between $5 million and $8 million. Now did he amass all that wealth by saving his Congressional salary? His wife is younger and probably earns a good salary. After all, she is a consultant to the American Automotive Policy Council. A non-profit organization that pays its president more than $600,000 per year.
Now in all honesty, the wealth was probably hers before they married. She is a descendant of one of the founders of GM. So we don't really know where the wealth came from. But it's illustrative of how our government is run by those who have no real concept of money or value from the perspective of the average citizen. Net worth for members of Congress is reported in a range. The ranges reported can be quite wide, as evidenced by Bob Corker, the junior Senator from Tennessee. In his 2011 financial disclosures his net worth was an average of roughly $40 million, but the minimum and maximum amounts range from $6 million to $75 million. So it's in there somewhere.
Who is guarding the guardians of our money? We certainly aren't.
* * *
Random ponderings:
Did you know that John Lennon wanted to be part of Woodstock but couldn't get there because the U.S. refused him a visa? I didn't.
A 911 dispatcher was so touched by the call from a bride-to-be that her wedding dress had just been stolen on her wedding day; she let the bride wear her own wedding dress. So I guess if you're a bride with a problem, just dial 911.
Even though it was months ago, I still chuckle at the video of a woman pelting Simon Cowell with eggs during the finale of Britain's Got Talent. From the stage! She was one of the backing musicians for the act that was performing.
Why is it that a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client, while physicians are supposed to heal themselves?
I've said it before and I'll say it again. What I really want to see on Maury is a case where the man and woman who are arguing over paternity are totally shocked because Maury announces "you are NOT the father...and YOU are NOT the mother. It could happen. Switched at birth and all that.
Are the mounting losses at OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) starting to hit the namesake in the pocketbook? She appeared on Jimmy Kimmel last night and gave only one audience member a car.
Bruce Willis says he's bored with making action movies. If they're that boring, don't make them anymore. Make other kinds of movies.
Nearly 12 million people tuned in for the season premiere of "Duck Dynasty" and I would love to know why.
This Date In History:
636 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between Byzantine Empire and Rashidun Caliphate begins.
717 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year.
718 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople.
778 – The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed.
927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.
982 – Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria
1018 – Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria.
1040 – King Duncan I is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth. The latter succeeds him as King of Scotland.
1057 – King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.
1070 – The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in England.
1185 – The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia.
1237 – The Battle of the Puig takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista pitting the forces of the Taifa of Valencia against the Kingdom of Aragon. The battle resulted in an Aragonese victory.
1248 – The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.)
1261 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned Byzantine emperor in Constantinople.
1281 – Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of Kōan.
1309 – The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes.
1430 – Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca.
1461 – The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmed II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered.
1483 – Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel.
1511 – Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate.
1517 – Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary.
1519 – Panama City, Panama, is founded.
1534 – Saint Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540.
1537 – Asunción, Paraguay, is founded.
1540 – Arequipa, Peru, is founded.
1549 – Jesuit priest Saint Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: July 22, 1549).
1599 – Nine Years' War: Battle of Curlew Pass – Irish forces led by Hugh Roe O'Donnell successfully ambush English forces, led by Sir Conyers Clifford, sent to relieve Collooney Castle.
1695 – French forces end the Bombardment of Brussels, leaving a third of the buildings in the city in ruins.
1760 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz – Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon.
1812 – War of 1812: The Battle of Fort Dearborn is fought between United States troops and Potawatomi at what is now Chicago, Illinois.
1843 – The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States.
1843 – Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.
1863 – The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863).
1869 – The Meiji government in Japan establishes six new ministries, including one for Shinto.
1893 – Ibadan area became a British Protectorate after a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton.
1907 – Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies.
1914 – A male servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright sets fire to the living quarters of the architect's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, murders seven people and burns the living quarters to the ground.
1914 – The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon.
1914 – The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia.
1914 – The beginning of the Battle of Cer.
1915 – A story in New York World reveals that the Weimar German government had purchased excess phenol from Thomas Edison that could be used to make explosives for the war effort and diverted it to Bayer for aspirin production.
1920 – Battle of Warsaw so called Miracle at the Vistula.
1935 – Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska.
1939 – 13 Stukas dive into the ground during a disastrous air-practice at Neuhammer. There are no survivors.
1939 – The Wizard of Oz premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California.
1940 – An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbor during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October.
1941 – Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 7:12 am, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for treason.
1942 – World War II: Operation Pedestal – The SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island's defenses.
1944 – World War II: Operation Dragoon – Allied forces land in southern France.
1945 – World War II: Japan surrenders to end the war.
1947 – India gains Independence from the British Indian Empire and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
1947 – Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi.
1948 – The Republic of Korea is established south of the 38th parallel north.
1952 – A flash flood drenches the town of Lynmouth, England, United Kingdom, killing 34 people.
1954 – Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay.
1960 – Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France.
1961 – Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.
1962 – James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok still resides in the capital, Pyongyang.
1963 – Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland, UK.
1963 – President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital.
1965 – The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York, New York, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock.
1969 – Woodstock opens.
1970 – Patricia Palinkas became the first woman to play professionally in an American football game
1971 – President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors.
1971 – Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom.
1973 – Vietnam War: The United States bombing of Cambodia ends.
1974 – Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President of South Korea, Park Chung-hee.
1975 – Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup.
1975 – Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.
1977 – The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project,receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project.
1984 – The PKK in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in Şemdinli and Eruh
1995 – In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later). [Hey, she had to be under enormous pressure].
Famous Folk Born On This Date:
Napoleon Bonaparte
Walter Scott
Ethel Barrymore
Edna Ferber
Julia Child
Huntz Hall
Rose Marie
Bill Pinkney
Jim Lange (the theme for "The Dating Game" just went off in my brain)
Stephen Breyer
Maxine Waters
Linda Ellerbee (one of my idols)
Ann Biderman
Stieg Larsson
Debra Messing
Rob Thomas (the writer)
Ben Affleck
Natasha Hentsridge (she said: "I was about 12 years old when I started getting boobs. I never tried to hide them because I started to realize the power I had with them.")
Kerri Walsh Jennings
Jennifer Lawrence
Today's movie quotes come from "X-Men: First Class" from 2011, because of course, Jennifer Lawrence portrayed "Mystique":
Hank McCoy: Are you sure we can't shave your head?
Professor Charles Xavier: Don't touch my hair.
#2
Erik Lehnsherr: Hank has been busy.
Alex Summers: Do we really have to wear these?
Professor Charles Xavier: As none of us mutated to endure extreme g-force or being riddled by bullets, I suggest we suit up.
#3
Erik Lehnsherr: Excuse me, I'm Erik Lehnsherr.
Professor Charles Xavier: Charles Xavier.
Logan: Go fuck yourself.
#4
Professor Charles Xavier: Would you like to see another magic trick?
Man In Black Suit: Yes!
Professor Charles Xavier: [Using powers, gives order] Get in the car.
Man In Black Suit: Good idea.
posted by me at 1:12 PM
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