May 24-- Part 2: Brooklyn Bridge Opens 1883

1883--  The Brooklyn Bridge, linking Brooklyn and Manhattan, was opened to traffic.

1935--  Major League Baseball's first night game was played in Cincinnati.  The Reds defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1.

1941--  In World War II, the German battleship Bismarck sank the British battle cruiser HMS Hood in the North Atlantic.  Only three aboard survived.

1941--  Bob Dylan born.

1943--  Actor Gary Burghoff (MASH) born.

1951--  Cooter / RoadDog born.

--Cooter

May 24-- Part 1: "What Hath God Wrought!" in 1844

Kind of a special date to me  as I was born this day in 1951.

From the May 24, 2018, Chicago Tribune "On May 24..."

1607--  100 English settlers landed at Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in what was to become the United States.

1686--  Physicist Daniel Fahrenheit, who developed the temperature scale that bears his name (and we use here in the U.S.) was born in modern-day Gdansk, Poland.

1819--  Queen Victoria was born in London.

1830--  "Mary Had a Little :Lamb" by Sarah Joseph Hale published.

1844--  Samuel F.B. Morse transmitted the message, "What hath God wrought!" from Washington to Baltimore as he opened America's first telegraph line.

More.  --Cooter24

USS Detroit (AOE-4)

The fifth USS Detroit was the 4th and last Sacramento-class fast combat support ship.  It was commissioned 14 March 1970 and decommissioned 17 February 2005.  It was scrapped after that.

It was 796 feet long with a 107-foot beam.

It deployed to Vietnam and the Mediterranean Sea.

In 1973, there was an explosion on board that caused much damage.

--Cooter

Fox Lake-Grant Township His. Society-- Part 2: The Frog Hotel

A man donated an old sign from the Frog Hotel on Fox Lake back around 1900.  The building still stands and has the words "The Frogs" on it, but no longer is in use.

The sign reads:  "The Frog Hotel / No Liquor Allowed On the Premises /  Soren Moller."  It is hard to believe a resort on Fox Lake around 1900 would not allow drinking on the premises.  Fox Lake was quite the wide-open town back then.

The graduating classes at Grant High School in Fox Lake has reunions twice a year at Maravella's and they support the historical society a lot.  This last time earlier this month, they gave us $200 from their 50-50 drawing and the winner added $100.  Believe me, $300 for our organization is a lot of appreciated money.

All Grant classes are welcome (as well as anybody from any school) and they meet the first Wednesday in May and October for the $15 buffet and lots of memories.  I wonder if they would let a 1969 Palatine High School grad attend?

There is a group ever-changing displays at the museum.  One of them now has a World War II field desk and there is work on one that people can touch on telephones.

The society inherited a piano when it got the building and it takes up a lot of room so we're looking into how to get rid of it.  We heard that getting rid of a piano is a really hard thing to do these days.

--DaCoot

Fox Lake-Grant Township Area Historical Society Meeting, May 19, 2018-- Part 1: Shootings

The meeting was called to order at 9:40 a.m., and President Kubalanza addressed the assemblage about the horrific school shootings in Texas yesterday.  This was supposed to be a short time of reflection, but ended up with a twenty minute discussion.

To say these school shootings are upsetting is an understatement.  Everyone has an opinion.  But, the general consensus was that banning guns was not the answer.  Those people will find a way to get guns if they want them.  Better to make it really hard to get them.

Most felt that the problem was a mental one, which it is.  But how do you come up with the money to treat all the many crazies we have today?

Also, a problem is that the media is playing the murders up way too much.  The names and photos of the murderers should never be seen or heard unless there is an active search for the murderer.

--Cooter

USS Detroit (C-10)-- Part 2: Spanish-American War

During the Spanish-American War, the Detroit was part of a squadron which shelled Fort San Cristobol and Castillo San Felipe del Morro in San Juan, Puerto Rico and several shore batteries 12 May 1898.

Later, the Detroit patrolled off Nicaragua and Venezuela during problems there.

The ship was decommissioned in May 1900 and recommissioned in 1902, seeing service in the Caribbean Sea.

It was decommissioned again in 1905 and sold for scrap in 1910.

--Cooter

USS Detroit (C-10): Fought in the Spanish-American War

From Wikipedia.

Unprotected cruiser of the Montgomery-class.  Commissioned 20 July 1893.  decommissioned 1 August 1905.  Sold for scrap 1910.

269 feet long, 37-foot beam..  Mounted two 6-inch and eight 5-inch guns in main armament.

Protected American citizens in Rio de Janeiro in 1893 and engaged a rebel cruiser and then sent to the Asiatic Station.

Overhauled in New York in 1897 then went to Key West as tensions between the U.S. and Spain mounted over Cuba.

--Cooter

Writing About the Other USS Detroit Ships In My Other Blogs

I am going into greater detail on the USS Detroit ships in my other blogs.

The first USS Detroit was a War of 1812 ship, originally of the British Navy, but captured at the Battle of Lake Erie.  I am writing about that one in my Not So Forgotten: The War of 1812 blog.

The second USS Detroit had the name only a few months and was a renamed Civil War ship, the USS Canandaigua.  I am writing about that one in my Running the Blockade:  Civil War Navy blog

The third USS Detroit fought in the Spanish-American War I will eventually write about it in this blog.

The fourth USS Detroit fought in World War II and I am writing about it in my Tattooed On Your Soul: World War II blog.

You can access these blogs at My Blog List to the right of this.

--DaCoot

USS Detroit-- Part 3: Spanish-American War and WW II

**  The third USS Detroit (C-10) was a Montgomery-class cruiser that operated 1893-1904.  Its class was one of the poorest ever designed for the U.S. Navy.  It fought in the Spanish-American War and was scrapped after decommissioning in 1904.

**  The fourth USS Detroit (CL-8) was an Omaha-class light cruiser (1923-1946).  It was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and one of the few ships to get underway.  During World War II it earned six Battle Stars.

It was moored alongside the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered in 1945.  So, it was one of the few ships that was present at the beginning of the war for the United States and the end.

**  The fifth USS Detroit (AOE-4) was a fast combat support ship (1970-2005).

--Detrer

USS Detroit-- Part 2: War of 1812 and Civil War

The first two U.S. Navy ships named USS Detroit.

**  The first USS Detroit was a 12-gun ship built by the British during the War of 1812 in Malden, Canada.  It was carrying 19 guns when it was captured at the Battle of Lake Erie where it was the flagship of the Royal Navy.  It then became the USS Detroit and served the Americans until it was scrapped in 1815.

**  The second USS Detroit was that name for only a few months in 1869.  It was the USS Canandaigua before and after then.  This ship served during the Civil War.  The U.S. Navy had a massive renaming of ships around 1869.

Cootroit

USS Detroit-- Part 1: A Civil War Ship By That Name (Well, After the War)

In my Running the Blockade: Civil War Navy blog I have been writing about the USS Canandaigua which for a few months after the Civil War was named the USS Detroit.  I then found out that a couple years ago a new USS Detroit was launched, so looked into the ships by the name USS Detroit in the U.S. Navy.

From the April 21, 2016, Detroit Unspun Blog  "Commissioning of the USS Detroit slated for September, crew visits Detroit" by Marge Stone.

The newest USS Detroit is planned to be commissioned in front of Detroit's Renaissance Center September 17.  It is a Littoral Combat Ship, (LCS-7) and the sixth to bear the name.  It was built by the Marinette Marine Shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin.

Go to the site and see the ship being launched sideways.  It was a bit scary.

I will be writing about the other ships by the name.

--CootDet

Fort Eustis, Va., in World War I: Artillery Training

I have been writing about this fort in Virginia in my Not So Forgotten War of 1812 blog because it was named after Abraham Eustis, a War of 1812 veteran who made the Army his career and eventually rose to the rank of brevet brigadier general and was the first commander of Fort Monroe, Virginia.

To see about its role in World War I, click on the blog site in the My Blog List section to the right of this and go to yesterday's post.

--CootEus

25 Things About "Laverne & Shirley"-- Part 7: What Does "Schmeill, Schmazell Mean?

22.  Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams presented the People's Choice award in 1977 to Henry Winkler and Ron Howard of "Happy Days."

23.  The famous "Schmeill, Schmazell, Hasenpfeffer Incorporated" that preceded Cyndi Grecio's classic theme song "Making Our Dreams Come True" in the opening montage came from Penny Marshall's childhood friends' song they used to sing walking to school.  According to The free Dictionary, Schmeill Schmazell means an unlucky person.

And, I always thought it had to do with the brewery where they worked.

24.  Cindy Williams left a couple episodes into the 8th and final season.  The reasons for her exit vary depending upon who gives it, but everyone agrees part of it was her demands about the show accommodating her pregnancy.  Feelings were hard and Penny and Cindy did not talk for several years.

25.  Cindy and Penny did reunite for a 2013 episode of "Sam & Cat" on Nickelodeon.

--DaCootSchmeill

25 Things About "Laverne & Shirley"-- Part 6: Don't Steal My Boo Boo

18.  Shirley Feeney's beloved Boo Boo Kitty became an inanimate series regular.  It was pulled out from under a bed by Cindy Williams.  Shirley improvised Boo Boo from her mom's car's name.  It was one of a kind and there were no duplicate Boo Boos.  The propmaster had to lock it up after each show was filmed.

19.  There was a line of merchandise for the show, including dolls of Laverne, Shirley, Lenny and Sqiggy.  Also a board game and coloring book among others.

20.  The show was filmed on Paramount's Stage 20.  This stage was also where the original "The Odd Couple" (on which Penny Marsall co-starred), "My Three Sons,"  "Star Trek Voyager" and "Primal Fear."

21.  In Season 3's talent show episode, Frances Williams, Cindy's mother, played Mrs. Bellini and Penny's mother Marjorie Marshall played the dance teacher.

--CootBoo

Measles Delays the Paper in DeKalb in 1918

From the May 2, 2018, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1918, 100 Years Ago.

"The present extensive epidemic of measles is responsible for considerable trouble in delivery of The Chronicle.

"Last night one of the boys notified the office at four o'clock that he would be unable to carry his route on account of measles.  After calling some 15 or 20 boys, a lad was found who delivered the route, but of course, missed some of our customers."

Newspaper Boys?  Do we still have them?

"Boss, I'm Sick."  --Cooter

25 Things About "Laverne and Shirley"-- Part 5: The Big Ragu and Guest Stars

16.  Eddie Mekka played Carmine Raguso, aspiring actor and singer, Shirley's sometime boyfriend, was slated for a spinoff series, but it didn't happen after "Laverne and Shirley" was cancelled.  Remember him singing "Rags to Riches" or "I Left My Heart In San Francisco."

17.  Ted Danson, pre-"Cheers," was in one of the series' more serious episodes "Why Did the Fireman..."  Danson's fireman character, Randy Carpenter, was ready to propose but killed while on the job.

Other "Laverne and Shirley" guest stars:  Jay Leno, Mark Harmon, Carrie Fisher, Art Garfunkel (who dated Penny Marshall), Adam West, Eric Idle and Fred Dryer.

More guest stars:  Vickie Lawrence, Richard Moll, Jim Belushi, Jeff Goldblum, Hugh Heffner, Laraine Newman,Harold Dean Stanton, Howard Hesseman,  and Louis Lasser.

"And Though My Pocket May Be Empty, I'd Be a Millionaire."  --CootRagu

25 Things About "Laverne and Shirley"-- Part 4: Milk and Pepsi Drink?

12.  Laverne's favorite beverage on the show was milk and Pepsi.

13.  Penny Marshall made her directorial debut in the Season 4 episode  "Squiggy In Love."  She later went on to direct the movie "Big," becoming the first female director to do over $100 million at the box office.  later, she directed "A League of Their Own" and "Awakenings."

14.  Producers planned to end "Laverne & Shirley" after Season 5 when they moved to New York City, but Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams protested and remained in Milwaukee before moving to Hollywood for three more seasons.

15.  In 1981, a spinoff cartoon  "Laverne and Shirley in the Army" aired for one season on ABC's Saturday Morning cartoon lineup.

--DaLaverne

25 Things About 'LaVerne and Shirley'-- Part 3: What About Laverne's Famous "L" Monogram

8.  Lenny and Squiggy were originally hired on to the "Laverne & Shirley" show as writers, but wrote themselves into the story line  The network even considered having them get a spin-off of their own.

9.  Squiggy regularly tried to get Laverne to go out with him.  Cindy Williams and David Lander actually dated during the early seasons.

10.  Laverne and Shirley was a Marshall family affair.  Penny Marshall starred in it.  Gary Marshall created, produced, wrote and directed.  Their sister Ronny Hallin was casting director.  Their father Anthony Marshall was producer.  Once Anthony Marshall thought Penny had talked rudely to him and refused to sign her weekly $75,000 check until she apologized.

11.  Laverne's famous ubiquitous "L" monogram came about so viewers would remember her name. on the new show.

--Cooter

25 Things You Didn't Know About 'Laverne & Shirley'-- Part 2

4.  Cindy Willaims and Penny Marshall were working on a movie, "My Country Tis of Thee" for Francis Ford Coppola when they were cast as Laverne & Shirley.

5.  The show debuted January 27, 1976 and was the #1 TV show for that week.  The #1 TV show that year  was "All in the Family" starring Penny Marshall's then husband, Rob Reiner.

6.  The show was an immediate hit and the duo were asked to record an album "Laverne & Shirley Sing" in 1976.  One person tried to turn them into a girl group called "The Rosebuds."

7.  Michael McKean and David Lander, aka Lenny and Squiggy, also released an album called "Lenny & Squiggy Present Lenny and the Squigtones" singing in character.  They even performed the song "King of the Cars" on American Bandstand.

Hello!!  --DaCootSquig

25 Things You Didn't Know About 'Laverne & Shirley'-- Part 1

From the June 16, 2015, Yahoo! TV  "Schlemiel, Schimazel: 25 Things You Never Knew About 'Lavern & Shirley'" by Kimberly Potts.

The sitcom ran from 1976-1983 and was a favorite of mine.

1.  It was a "Happy Days" spinoff.  Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams were guests on the Season 3 of it as Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeny.  The episode was "A Date With Fonzie."  They had a double date with Fonzie and Richie.  It was popular with viewers.  Cindy Williams briefly dated Henry Winkler but on the episode, Laverne was Fonzie's date.

2.  They appeared to be having fun on the episode, but off camera there was a lot of cursing going on during "Lavern & Shirley."

3.  There was almost a war going on between the writers and actors during Laverne & Shirley."

Heeeyyyyyy!   --CootFonz

DeKalb Township (Illinois) Meets Minimum Quota for WW I's Third Liberty Loan

From the May 2, 2018, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1918, 100 Years Ago.

"DeKalb Township has subscribed to the minimum quota for the Third Liberty Loan and has received the honor liberty flag allotted to every township subscribing the minimum quota.The flag arrived last night, and at present time no plans have been made for the unfurling of the liberty flag.  It is probable that the ceremony attendant upon such will be deferred until DeKalb township has subscribed the maximum quota which will be within the next few days."

Hand the Flag.  --Cooter

"

World War I Impact On Germans in Chicagoland and McHenry County, Illinois

I used to belong to an organization that had roots dating back to the 1880s and was German.  Germans could join and with membership came support as well as funds to help them in case of major medical expenses and burial.

I can't remember the name, as part of it was still in German, but think it it had something to do with Understubing, but part of the name was changed from German words to "Welcome Park" because of anti-German sentiment during World War I.

We live in Spring Grove, Illinois, and the town to the south of us is Johnsburg.  Both towns were settled largely by Germans.  I know of no histories written for either town about World War I, but suspect they also encountered anti-German sentiment.

--Cooter

WW I & Chicago Ethnic Groups-- Part 8: Pushing the Train

The tribune chronicled the story of these men, including one man, Corporal Zmrhal, a member of the Czech Legion who continued on and was in Chicago when the fighting stopped on November 11, 1918.  Jubilant crowds gathered in the Loop and the neighborhoods of what the Tribune claimed was "the world's greatest melting pot city."

Zmrhal, whose first name was not given, addressed the Czech community's celebration in Sokol Hall at Kedzie Avenue and 24th Street.  he spoke about the the hardship and hard work involved in nation-building.  One example was when the legion's train ran out of fuel in Siberia.

Zmhal said: "The men alighted and by muscular force pushed the heavy train for 16 miles until a village, where fuel was available, was reached."

Might Have Been Easier To Walk to the Village and Get the Fuel.  --DaCoot

WW I & Ethnic Chicago-- Part 7: The 50,000 Man Bohemian Army

When a Czechoslovakian independence leader visited Chicago enormous crowds of Bohemians lined the streets between the North Western Railway station and the Blackstone Hotel, where he was staying.

The Tribune reported:  "More than 200,000 cheering Bohemians turned out... to welcome... Professor Tomas Masaryk, commander in chief of the Bohemian revolutionary armies.

"In his Bohemian address, the speaker said he had left behind him in Russia a fully equipped army of 50,000 Bohemians."   This army had quite a story.  They had been conscripted by the Austrians and captured by the Russians.

They set off for Prague, but knew the Germans would block them going west so, they headed east across Siberia, fighting communists and czarists.  Upon reaching the Pacific, they sailed to Europe..

It's Total War.  --Cooter

WW I & Ethnic Chicago-- Part 6: Demonstrations and Czechs

On March 3, 1918, Chicago's Poles gathered at the Coliseum to welcome Ignace Jan Paderewski, celebrated pianist and leader of the Polish independence movement.  he reported that a newly-formed Polish army was fighting in France.  His wife said that he would not play the piano again until the war was over and Poland independent.

At demonstrations all over Chicago, flags of ancient nations about to be reborn were flown.  Some Lithuanians wanted to throw in their lot with Poland, remembering that at one time their country and Poland were in a dual kingdom.

Sometimes these demonstrations came to near rioting.

Chicago neighborhoods, such as  Pilsen and South Lawndale, were home to more Czechs and Slovaks than any other place on earth except for Prague.

--CootCzech

Other Ships named USS Cincinnati-- Part 2: A Light Cruiser and a Nuclear Submarine

3.  THE THIRD USS CINCINNATI--  Was a light cruiser (CL-6) commissioned in 1924.  Did Atlantic patrols in World War II and forced the scuttling of the German ship Annalies Essberger, taking 62 prisoners in November 1942.

Later service in the Mediterranean Sea and the invasion of France.  Scrapped 1946, but the ship's bell and other items saved by the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

4.  THE FOURTH USS CINCINNATI--  (SSN-693)  A Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine in service 1978-1996.  Pieces of it were saved.

--Cooter

Other Ships Named USS Cincinnati-- Part 1: A Union Ironclad and Protected Cruiser

The FIRST USS CINCINNATI was a Union ironclad gunboat during the Civil War that operated on the rivers and Gulf of Mexico.  It was sunk twice in battles and raised each time.  It was sold in 1866.

The SECOND USS CINCINNATI (C-7) was a protected cruiser which served from 1894 to 1919.  The crew adopted a goat from the Cincinnati Zoo as a mascot.  After it was scrapped, pieces of it were used in the construction of the third USS Cincinnati.

This ship was in both the Spanish-American War and World War I.

--DaCoot

A New USS Cincinnati Commissioned

From Cincinnati.com.

The new USS Cincinnati (LCS-290) will be commissioned today.  It is the fifth warship in the U.S. Navy to bear the name.  A picture of it strongly resembles a Civil War Confederate ironclad.

It was built by the Austal USA Shipyard and will be commissioned at Mobile, Alabama.

The ship is an Independence-class littoral combat ship designed to work close to shore and can go at speeds of up to 51 mph.

She is the seventh ship of her class and crewed by just 40.

--Cooter

Magyars and Jugo-Slavs

In the last post I mentioned these two groups and was not sure who they were.

MAGYARS:  Ethnic group associated with Hungary.  Also a name used for the Hungarian language.

As of 2001, there were about 9.5 million Magyars in Hungary.

JUGO-SLAVS:  Yugoslavians   I should have picked up on this one.

--DaCootYar

WW I & Ethnic Chicago-- Part 5: Magyars and Jugo-Slavs

In fact, by now the tide of war had changed.

The German offensive had been stopped and Austria-Hungary, Germany's main ally, was on the verge of collapse.  There were wild celebrations in Chicago's Slavic neighborhoods, understand that their homelands would soon no longer be under Austrian or German rule.

A Polish nationalists asked:  "What is Austria-Hungary?  A degenerate crippled empire, ruled by Germans and Magyars against the will of the majority of its population, composed of Czechs, Jugo-Slavs, Poles, Roumanians and Italians."

--Cooter

World War I and Ethnic Chicago-- Part 4: German Books and Newspapers

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra abandoned the German names of works they performed.

Under the headline, "Hun doctrines spread by book in city library," the Tribune reported that a book was found in the Chicago Public Library that didn't  blame Germany for the war.  It was similar to books acquired while the U.S. was still neutral.

A library official thanked the man and said, "Now, of course, with our changed point of view, they should be withdrawn."

The Tribune called the Abendpost, a German-language daily, the "Chicago Hun-tongued newspaper."  It had carried dispatches saying Germans weren't starving  and had sufficient military supplies despite the British Navy's blockade of their ports.

--DaCoot

World War I and Ethnic Chicago-- Part 3: Anti-American and Anti-German Sentiment

The Tribune reported that a soldier and his brother had stopped for a drink in south suburban Crete, in Will County.  The locals, "all Germans, hooted and jeered" and called the young man, in full uniform, "a tin soldier."  The soldier and his brother were beaten badly "almost into insensibility" but they were the ones arrested and held in jail for a night.

More often, it was the Germans who were on the receiving end of hostility though.  The private Chicago Athletic Association fired 18 waiters, cooks and dishwashers "of German extraction."  Some members tried to keep Henry Bauer because he had a son in the U.S. Army.

The Chicago Music College notified staffers that they would be fired if they participated in a concert sung in German.  Women in the South Shore Country Club organized a "Use Nothing German" campaign, pledging to rid their households of anything marked "made in Germany."

Cooter

World War I and Ethnic Chicago-- Part 2: An Ethnic City

From that point on, the war was the talk of the town.  And this especially  applied to each of the belligerents as all had considerable groups living in Chicago.  The city was a checkerboard of ethnic neighborhoods.

The German community was especially targeted with almost a paranoid suspicion.  Chicago's clergy were  calling the war the biblical Armageddon.  One preacher said, "If Germany is victorious, then every Christian ideal will be destroyed and brute force will prevail."

Leaders of the German community tried to deflect the blow with a well-publicized war bond drive.  "We have shown our loyalty by sending our sons to war, "said Henry G. Zander.  "But we must overcome the feeling on the part of many Americans that we are not loyal."

But, the Tribune in a news story said:  "Will County, populated largely by Germans, is a dangerous place for a man wearing the uniform of Uncle Sam to go."

--Cooter

World War I and Ethnic Chicago-- Part 1: Doughboys To the Trenches

From the April 8, 2018, Chicago Tribune by Ron Grossman.

It is spring 1918 and now American troops were fully deployed in France, just in time to help the exhausted British and French forces as Germany was preparing a last ditch offensive.

The United States had entered the Great War, as it was then called, the previous year on April 6, 1917.

There was no commercial radio at the time so people turned to newspapers to keep up with what was going on.  On March 24, 1918, the Chicago Tribune was besieged with callers who wanted to know if the "Doughboys" (as our soldiers were often called, were gong to be tested in battle.

The answer was that American troops were now in the trenches on the Front Lines.

--DaCoot

World War I Chronology, May 1918: Battle of Cantigny

From the April 2017 VFW magazine.

MAY 3-4--  18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division loses 200 KIA and 600 WIA gassed in one night of shelling in the Picardy Sector

MAY 27-JUNE 5--  AISNE DEFENSIVE   U.S. 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions participate.  Stop German advance on Paris.

MAY 28--    BATTLE OF CANTIGNY   First U.S. offensive action of the war.  3,150 men of the 28th Infantry, 1st Division, sustain 187 KIA, 636 WIA in capturing Cantigny and 200 German POWs.

--Cooter