Post Number 6083

I kind of missed the 6000th post, but just noticed that milestone in this blog.  I figure it must have been posted at some point in August of 2021.

Anyway you look at it, 6000+ posts  is a lot.  I have to find a life, but I enjoy doing these blogs.

This blog has had 742,165 "Looks."

The very first post was on December 14, 2007, so this year marks the 16th year of it.  It grew our of my Down Da Road I Go blog when I noticed I was doing so much history  in it.  Later I spun the Saw the Elephant blog off of this one when I was getting so many Civil War posts.

It's good to have this blog, because it covers all things not of te Civil War, music, War  of 1812, World War II and road trips.

Oh, Well.  --Cooter

'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.

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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

Ten Coincidences That Helped Shape U.S. History

From the June 28, 2018, ListVerse by Christopher Dale.

I'm just listing them.  You can get the facts and a picture at the site.

10.  The fortuitous fog  that saved Washington's Army during the Revolution.  (I  wrote about this in this blog May 17 and 18.)

9.  Sacagawea with Lewis & Clark Expedition.

8.  Making it 90 feet between bases in baseball.

7.  The "Lost Company" at the Battle of Gettysburg.  (I wrote about this in my Saw the Elephant: Civil War blog on May 16.)

6.  Our three aircraft carriers weren't home at Pearl Harbor during the attack.  

5.  The accidental invention of the microwave.

4.  Lee Harvey Oswald had tried to kill  Major General Edwin Walker seven months later, but failed.

3.  The confusing ballot that skewed the 2000 election.

2.  The ill-timed financial  crisis that hurt McCain's presidential run in 2008.

1.  The inglorious return of Carlos Danger.

--Cooter

Chicago's Mother of Black History, Vivian Harsh-- Part 1: Education the Key

From the February 2, 2020, Chicago Tribune by Ron Grossman.

She didn't write a book, but her name is on a special collection in the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library in Chicago.  When she died in 1960, the Chicago Defender's obituary was headlined:  "Historian Who Never Wrote."

Vivian Harsh once said:  "If we as Negroes knew the full truth about what we, as a race, have endured and overcome just to stay alive with dignity, our respect and hunger for education would triple overnight."

Her devotion and dedication to all things history began back when she was at high school at Wendell Phillips in Chicago, where she joined the Herodotus History Club.  The ancients called Herodotus the "Father of History."

Vivian Harsh was the "Mother of Black History."

After the George Cleveland Hall Branch of the Chicago Public Library opened on the South Side, with Harsh as the head librarian, the Rosenwald Fund gave her a $500 grant to study libraries serving black communities in other cities.  Julius Rosenwald, a philanthropist and president of Sears, Roebuck & Co. was responsible for making the Hall Branch a reality in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood.  Not to mention all the hundreds of Rosenwald schools built in the South to educate black children.

But Seriously Folks, This Blog Has Now Been Around for 14 Years and 5,548 Posts

This was the fourth blog I started back in 2007.  It grew out of my Down Da Road I Go blog when I found I was making so many history posts (I have always been very interested in any sort of history, especially the Civil War).

So, today's post begins the 14th year and this is my 5,548th post in it.

This is a good one as I now have three Civil War blogs, a World War II blog, a War of 1812 blog, an old road blog and one on music and what we've been doing.  I can write about anything in history not appropriate to one of the other blogs in this one.

At one time I seriously considered starting one dedicated to the Great War, World War I, but talked myself out of it.

It's called Cooter's History Thing and Cooter or DaCoot does the sign-offs because, who can take a Cooter seriously folks.

Spending Way Too Much Time On These Blogs, But Enjoying It.  --Cooter

Illinois' Centennial in 1918 in DeKalb County

From the May 23, 2018, MidWeek "Looking Back."

1918, 100 Years Ago.

"Historic spots all over Illinois will be marked appropriately during the Celebration of State Centennial this year.

"DeKalb County will mark the place where the first white child was born in the county, the spot where Lincoln and Jefferson Davis met during the Black Hawk War, the place where the first election took place in the county."

I did not know that Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln met each other in DeKalb County, Illinois.

And, Now We Are in the Bicentennial of Illinois.  --Cooter

Normal Museum of History in DeKalb, Illinois in 1918

From the May 23, 2018, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1918, 100 Years Ago.

"Six years ago, the Normal Museum of History, which has since gained worldwide reputation was opened at the Normal school."

I imagine Normal school referred to what is now Northern Illinois University, but have never heard of it.  Must not be around anymore.

--Cooter

Marking DeKalb County's First Permanent Settlement in 1917

From the December 20, 2017, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1917, 100 Years Ago.

"'Site of the first permanent settlement in DeKalb County (Illinois) by John S. Sebree, 1834, erected by D.A.R. and DeKalb County, 1917, 182 feet west.' This inscription has been carved on a block of red St. Cloud granite which was set up this Tuesday on the site designated, which is in the highway just south of the C.B. & Q railroad track, running north and south about one-half mile west of Hinckley.

"The marker weighs 3,000 pounds.  A proper deed will be obtained assuring the permanency of the monument."

History Even Back In History.  --Cooter

Happy New Year and 2875th Post: Man Does Time Go Fast These Days

Preparing for what should be another "fast" year. Man, time sure flies as you get older. I remember back in elementary school when the academic year went forever, but at least the summer went nearly as long...or so it seemed.

This is my 2875th post to Cooter's History Thing, a blog that started at the end of 2007 when I decided I was writing too much history in my Down Da Road I Go blog. This was my third blog (of seven).

I called it Cooter's History Thing as no one can take a person named Cooter too seriously. My two Civil War blogs and WWII one grew out of this one. The blog is about any history I find interesting other than the Civil War, War of 1812 and World War II, although there is music history in the Down Da Road I Go and lots of history in my RoadDog's RoadLog Blog (-Og, -Og, -Og) which was my very first blog.

Eight Years of "Wasting" My Time. --Cooter

Earl's Take on History

I have become a big fan of a comic strip called Pickles by Brian Crane. It features old guy, at least in his sixties, maybe older, Earl and his wife Opal. I am starting to relate way too much to him. must mean I am getting older too.

From the July 17th Chicago Tribune.


FRAME 1: Earl and a buddy are sitting on a park bench. His buddy is reading a newspaper. Earl: "Who was that guy who sat under the tree? Newton something or other."

FRAME 2: Friend: "Oh, you mean Isaac Newton?"
Earl: "Yeah, that's the one. Didn't he invent the theory of relativity?"

FRAME 3: Friend: "No, No. That was Einstein. Newton discovered gravity."
Earl: "Oh yeah. The thing with the apple."

FRAME 4: Earl: "Some guy shot the apple off his head with a bow and arrow, right?"

FRAME 5: Friend: "Nope. You're thinking of William Tell."
Earl: "Ahh..."

FRAME 6: Earl: "I'm actually pretty good at history stuff. It's just the small details that I'm a little fuzzy on."

Just Like Earl, I'm Getting a Little Fuzzy On Stuff. --RoadDog