November 2022 Deaths: Takeoff, Chrysostomas and Cook

**  TAKEOFF, 38

A rapper best known for his work with the Grammy-nominated trio Migos.

Died November 1.

**  ARCHBISHOP CHRYSOSTOMAS II, 81

Outspoken leader of Cyprus' Greek Orthodox Church whose forays into the country's complex  politics and finances fired up supporters and detractors alike.

Died November 7.

**  JEFF COOK, 72

Guitarist who co-founded the country group Alabama and steered them up he charts with such hits as "Song of the South" and "Dixieland Delight."  Of course, their "Farewell Tour" took five years.

Died November 8.

One of my all-time favorite country acts that got their start at Myrtle Beach's "Bowery."  We used to go their regularly.  The house band, which Alabama was before they hit it big, was not paid, but relied on tips.

McHenry Area Historical Society-- Part 2: Early Board Games

They now have a Facebook and Blog up and running.  There are 2100 followers on Facebook with 8-12,000 views per article.

Today's presenter, Pat Wirtz is a bit like me, or the beloved Bill Shea down in Springfield, Illinois, in that he pretty much collects everything.  And, like me, he is a White Sox fan, as is Double D.  Must be a good guy.

His topic today:  Board Games.

The first commercially-sold board game was The mansion of Happiness in 1843.  It was a children's board game based on Christian  morality.  Players raced around a 66-space spiral track depicting  virtues and vices.  Land on a vice square and you go back.

At one time, the two major board game companies were Milton-Bradley (Pat says 2/3 of his games are made by them) and Parker brothers.  Both are now owned by Hasbro.

The earliest board games were made by lithography companies.  But production unfortunately was only limited to a few hundred copies.  Then, they changed to using watercolors.

--Cooter

11 Little-Known Facts About George Washington-- Part 2

6.  When he stepped down as commander of the Army, he didn't want to run his country.

7.   He had no biological children, but his wife, Martha Custis was a wealthy widow who had two children and he became legal guardian of them:  John Parke Custis and Martha Parke Custis.

8.  Washington was really into his animals.  He was America's first mule breeder.  There were many dog breeds at Mt. Vernon.

9.  He was pretty cagey when it came to his religious beliefs.

10.  Washington had a complicated relationship with slavery.

11.  He was a tough man to kill.  He had had many diseases and two horses shot out from him in battle as well as clothing with bullet holes.  Ironically it was a cold that did him in.

And, Again, Thanks for Our Country.  --DaCoot

'Raiders of the Lost Ark' (1981)-- Part 2: Who Hates Snakes?

Characters in other movies owe a debt to Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones.  Robert Langdon in "The Da Vinci Code" and Lara Croft "Tomb Raider" have since put their lives on the line to solve ancient mysteries.

Captain America fought the same sort of Axis enemies in "Captain America: The First Avenger."  And definitely in the "National Treasure" movies.

But Karen Allen (Mrs. Boone) can't confirm whether or not she'll be in a upcoming fifth installment of "Indiana Jones" with Harrison Ford.  

However, she says the legacy of the film, set in the 1930s, lies in its timelessness.  "It's been passed with great affection from one generation to another," she says.  "I still see kids dressed up as Indiana Jones and Marion, which is really saying something for a film made 40 years ago.

********************************

10,000+

The number of nonvenomous snakes used in the Well of Souls scene where the Ark of the Covenant was discovered.  You know where Indiana said:  "Why did it have to be snakes?  I hate snakes."

--CootJones

Movies We Love: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)-- Part 1

Continued from May 27.

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg wanted to pay homage to the Saturday afternoon serials they grew up watching.  The result was the biggest money-maker of the year and one of the best adventure movies ever made according to Ben Mankiewicz, Turner Classic Movies host.

We're right by Indiana Jones' side as the swashbuckling archaeologist, played by Harrison Ford, attempts to find the religious artifact the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis get it.  (The Ark of the Covenant is a gold-covered wooden chest with lid cover described as containing the  two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments.)

Karen Allen (who played Boone's love interest in "Animal House") played the ex-love interest and sparring partner Marion Ravenwood, still marvels at Indy saying he is "flawed and rarely in the right place at the right time, and the romance was hard won."

--Cooter

Pounding It and Running for Sheriff in 1878

From the June 3, 2020,  MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1878, Many, many Years Ago.

"There were some amusing novelties at the sociable.  The pound party of the Episcopalians  made a good deal of fun.    Each guest brought a pound of something and at nine o'clock,  the 40 or 50 packages were sold at auction.

"When Wilkens gave forty cents for a pound of meal and Filkins 10 cents for a pound of tea, when Pillicoddy got his pound of candies for a  dime and Mulligatawney gave a half dollar for a pound of sand the fun was prodigious."

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"Captain Whittemore asked a man from the south of the county what was the news down there and learned that 'half of our people have been sun-struck, and the rest are  running for sheriff."

--  CootPound

Man on the Moon-- Part 2: 11 Things You Might Not Know

4.  The lunar spacesuits had been created by way of an underwear corporation.  Playtex, better known for its bras, had a lot to do with the design of those spacesuits.

5.  NASA was fearful that a launching pad explosion could hurt spectators.  The large Saturn V rocket used for the launch.  In 1965, two engineers figured an explosion on the pad would  create a 14,000 foot fireball with temperatures of up to 2500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bits of shrapnel could rain down on up to a 3 mile radius.    As such, NASA seated Vice President Spiro Agnew and former President Lyndon Johnson and other VIPs three miles away.

6.  Buzz Aldrin took communion on the Moon.  After the lunar module touched down on the Sea of Tranquility Aldrin radioed back to Earth:  "I'd love to take this chance to invite each and every particular person listening in, whoever and  anyplace they is also, to pause for a second and ponder the occasions of the previous few hours and to offer thank you in his or her  personal approach."

Then, Aldrin -- an elder in the Webster Presbyterian Church in Webster, Texas,  -- switched off the radio, opened small plastic boxes of bread and wine and browsed silently from the Gospel of John.

--CootMoon

The Interesting Story of Col. Eugene Lietensdorfer-- Part 2: From Here To There To Everywhere

However, the French suspected him of being a spy and threw him into jail.  He escaped by poisoning his guards and changed his name again, this time to Jean Eugene Lietensdorfer and rejoined the French Army and had been part of the force that invaded Egypt, but had switched sides, later joining the British.

After that he wandered and even ran a coffee shop for British officers in Alexandria, had married a Coptic maiden, his second wife.  But, when the British withdrew, he left as well, leaving his wife and eventually making his way to Messina.  There, he entered a Capuchin monastery as a novice friar.

He found this live wasn't for him so made his way to Constantinople where he became a dervish and Muslim.  He went by the name of Murat Aga and wandered through the Middle East, eventually making his way to Mecca and Jedda.

Finally, he got the job of interpreter to Lord Gordon and accompanied him on a tour of Abyssinia and returned to Egypt where he met William Eaton.  This is where he was involved in the First Barbary War.

And, we're not finished with his story yet.  Wonder where he went next?

Quite A Bit of Moving On For This Man.  --Cooter

OK, What Is a Quaker MM?

Jimmy Peacock reported that the Contentnea MM and Cemetery had been found. But, what does the MM mean?

I know that Quakers gather in Meeting Hoses, but that would be MH. I did come across MM standing for Monthly Meeting and believe that is what MM means in this case.

--Cooter

Wayne Count, NC's Quakers-- Part 3

Upon appearing in the Albemarle area of North Carolina, the religion spread rapidly between 1720 and 1750 when Quakers were looking for places to settle. They ended up in Bath, Pasquotank, Perquimans counties. Between 1772 and 1856, many settled in the Contentnea community. Nearby Falling Creek and Quaker Neck also attracted a lot of Quakers.

Quakers kept careful and very detailed records. They were very structured and had yearly meetings, which started in 1698. There was also regional quarterly meetings held in Eastern, Western, New Garden and Contentnea.

Local monthly meetings were often held in somebody's house.

--Cooter

Wayne County NC's Quakers-- Part 2

Quakers in Wayne County, North Carolina date back to the 1740s. Dr. Rader said "At the end of the day, the argument I'm going to make is that our shared Quaker heritage resonates in Wayne County and beyond."

In NC the Quaker influence can be seen in architecture, painting and even day-to-day words.

In a short background, Rader said that Quakers are known for their silent worship, "Inner Light," refusal to bear arms or swear, high moral and ethical standards, strict common mores and simplicity in speech and diet. (Quaker Oats) They were against slavery and made every attempt to free them.

The church is also known as Society of Friends in North Carolina. It first appeared in the state in the Albemarle area.

I Didn't Know Some of This Stuff.  --Cooter

John William Dunjee: President Tyler's Son?

Wikipedia.

Back on July 29th, while writing about two of Tyler's grandchildren still being alive, I mentioned that he might have fathered a child named John Dunjee with a slave.

The article says he was an American missionary, educator, Baptist minister and founder of Baptist churches. He was born a slave in Virginia to his owners, the Farrel family.

Dinjee's family has always asserted that his father was John Tyler and his mother one of the Farrell slaves. In 1859, he learned that the Farrels were going to move to Alabama and take him. Not wanting to go, he escaped and took the Underground Railroad to Canada.

After the Civil War, Dunjee returned to the United States and studied at the Maine Seminary and Oberlin College in Ohio. As a Baptist minister, he started churches from New England to the South to the Midwest. He also established several black colleges. I was unable to learn more about his relationship to President Tyler.

Quite a Man, Regardless. Perhaps It's Time for a Movie?  --Cooter

Roman Catholics Through the Years AD 30 to AD 2200 (est.)

From the March 3, 2013, Chicago Tribune "The power of the papacy."

30--  as many as 10,000
100--  170,000
300--  4.9 million
500--  12.7 million
800--  15.9 million
1000--  18.9 million
1350--  47.2 million
1500--  44.8 million
1650--  60.1 million
1750--  82.4 million
1800--  106.4 million
1850--  163.2 million
1900--  265.6 million
2000--  1.04 billion
2010--  1.17 billion

Interesting to note the big drop between 1350 and 1500 and the huge growth after 1850.

Popes of the Catholic Church-- Part 8

Continuing with the March 3, 2013, Chicago Tribune article "Focus Papal Legacy."

1939:  Pope Pius XII becomes pope seven months before the outbreak of World War II and his efforts to remain neutral cause great controversy.  Some accuse him of indifference to the persecution of Jews.  His supporters point to his behind-the-scenes efforts to save victims of the Nazis.

1962:  Pope John XXIII opens the Second Vatican Council which continued under his successor, Paul VI.  This effort caused major changes in church doctrine and a big one was allowing Mass to be said in languages other than Latin as well as supporting friendship with other faiths.

1978:   John Paul I dies just a month into his reign.  His successor, John Paul II, is a vigorous, charismatic Polish-born pope.  He is the first non-Italian pontiff in more than 450 years.  During his papacy, he makes more than 100 international trips, survives an assassination attempt and changes the worldwide image of the church.  A 1979 Mass in Chicago's Grant Park attracted 200,000 worshippers.

2013:  Pope Benedict XVI is the first pope in nearly 600 years to abdicate St. Peter's Throne.

And, there you have it, a very short history of the popes of the Catholic Church.

Popes of the Catholic Church-- Part 7

1633:  Pope Urban VIII, who had once been a friend of Italian physicist Galileo Galilei, orders he be put on trial for theorizing that the earth revolves around the sun.  Galileo is found guilty of heresy.  This is part of what is called The Inquisition, a centuries-long crackdown on heretics and nonbelievers (essentially anyone disagreeing with church doctrine and especially Protestants).  Many are imprisoned, tortured or killed..

1799:  Pope Pius VI dies in prison.  He had denounced Napoleon during the French Revolution and Napoleon had him thrown in prison when he invaded Italy.  At the time, many feared Pius was to be the last pope.

1870:  As part of the unification of Italy, the church loses dominion over Rome.  Also, the demise of the Papal States in central Italy led Pope Pius IX to call himself a "prisoner of the Vatican.  For the next 59 years, popes would not leave the Vatican because they did not accept the Italian government's claims to the surrounding area.

The 1929 Lateran Treaty established Vatican City as the Roman Catholic Church's sovereign domain.

Popes of the Catholic Church-- Part 2: On This Rock, I Will Build My Church.

Very little is known about the early popes.  Some early papal succession lists show Linus as being the first bishop of Rome.  AD 60: St. Peter is historically considered to be the first pope, it is unlikely that he was the first bishop in Rome.  When he arrived in Rome in 60 AD, he found a Christian community already in existence.

As one of the original Apostles, Peter played a major role in the Gospels and the early years of the church.  In the New Testament, Jesus refers to him when he says, "On this rock, I will build my church."

The confusion with the early popes is due to the fact that the infant Christian Church was outlawed and early Christians were subject to periodic persecution which didn't end until the 4th century when Emperor Constantine I made Christianity legal.  Christianity was declared the state religion of the Roman Empire in 380.

By 325: the papacy's power had increased and two ecumenical councils were held.  The First Council in Nicaea in 325 and the Council of Chalcedon 125 years later.

The council was the first to define the divinity of Jesus.  They also set the formula by which the date of Easter is decided.  However, the current pope at the time, Sylvester wasn't there, he was back in Rome.

More to Come.