On this day in history, May 22, 1992, Johnny Carson makes his final appearance on 'The Tonight Show'
Late-night king Johnny Carson drew some 50 million viewers in last appearance on program.


On "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," novelist Jackie Collins during an interview with host Johnny Carson on Oct. 5, 1990.

Johnny Carson, the king of late-night television, hosted his final episode of "The Tonight Show" on this day in history, May 22, 1992, after a 30-year run.

Carson conducted about 22,000 interviews during his tenure and was seen by more people on more occasions than anyone else in U.S. television history, according to the Vancouver Sun.

The long-running "The Tonight Show" was the first, and for decades the most-watched, network talk program on television, said the Television Academy Foundation.

In October 1962, Carson took over as host from Jack Paar and the broadcast became "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson."

Carson hosted the show for 30 years, from 1962 to 1992.

During that time, the show moved from New York City to Burbank, California.

"Carson was known for his glib sense of humor and his middle-American appeal, and quickly recognized his increasing popularity as well as the strain of doing comedy and talk five nights a week," said the Television Academy Foundation.

"He threatened to leave the show, but was lured back with a generous offer that included a huge salary increase and more time off."

Carson was emotional during his last show — and his monologue was fittingly centered on his retirement, the Vancouver Sun noted.

Carson’s insights on his retirement included this comment: "Well, let me try to explain it. If I could magically, somehow — that tape you just saw — make it run backwards, I would like to do the whole thing over again. It’s been a hell of a lot of fun."

 

1843: The Great Emigration wagon trains head west.
Some 1,000 pioneers begin their journey to America's West Coast via the Oregon Trail, a 2,200-mile wagon road spanning half a continent from the Missouri River to the Willamette Valley in the future state of Oregon. Upwards of 400,000 more emigrants will follow its wheel ruts west in the coming decades.

 

On This Day In History
May 22, 1856
Southern Congressman Beats Northern Senator With A Cane In The Halls of Congress

Southern Congressman Preston Brooks savagely beats Northern Senator Charles Sumner in the halls of Congress as tensions rise over the expansion of slavery.

When the controversial Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was passed, popular sovereignty was applied within the two new territories and people were given the right to decide the slavery issue by vote. Because the act nullified the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the debate over slavery intensified. Northerners were incensed that slavery could again resurface in an area where it had been banned for over 30 years. When violence broke out in Kansas Territory, the issue became central in Congress. On May 19, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner, an ardent abolitionist, began a two-day speech on the Senate floor in which he decried the “crime against Kansas” and blasted three of his colleagues by name, one of whom—South Carolina Senator Andrew P. Butler—was elderly, sick and absent from the proceedings.

Butler’s cousin, Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina, who had a history of violence, took it upon himself to defend the honor of his kin. Wielding the cane he used for injuries he incurred in a duel over a political debate in 1840, Brooks entered the Senate chamber and attacked Sumner at his desk, which was bolted to the floor. Sumner’s legs were pinned by the desk so he could not escape the savage beating. It was not until other congressmen subdued Brooks that Sumner finally escaped.

Brooks became an instant hero in the South, and supporters sent him many replacement canes. He was vilified in the North and became a symbol of the stereotypically inflexible, uncompromising representative of the slave power. The incident exemplified the growing hostility between the two camps in the prewar years.

Sumner did not return to the Senate for three years while he recovered.

 

22 May 1940
In Northern France, Rommel held his ground at Arras as he mistakenly believed he was facing 5 division of Allied troops when he was only facing 2 divisions and 2 tank battalions. Guderian, however, advanced toward Calais, Dunkirk, and Boulogne.

Recalled from retirement, General Henry Karslake sailed to France with instructions from General Edmund Ironside to save priority equipment without alarming the French. His top priority was to evacuate anti-aircraft guns that would be urgently needed for the defense of British cites should France fall.

The United Kingdom passed the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act, giving the government authority over persons and property for the duration of the war.

Cryptologist in Bletchley Park, England broke the Luftwaffe Enigma code.

22 May 1942
Carrier USS Saratoga departed Puget Sound Naval Shipyard after repairs from torpedo damage. She would, however, not be available for action in the upcoming Midway campaign.

 

May 23

1785 - Benjamin Franklin announced his invention of bifocals.

1813 - South American independence leader Simon Bolivar enters Marida, leading the invasion of Venezuela. He is proclaimed El Libertador.

1958 - Mao Zedong starts three"Great Leap Forward" movement. Kills between 23 to55 million citizens due to famine and forced labor.

1980 - The horror movie "The Shining is released. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall and written by Steven King.

1883 - Douglas Fairbanks was born

2017 - Roger Moore passed away.

 

On May 23, 1934, Law Enforcement officers finally caught notorious bank robbers and murderers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in a trap where they were ambushed and shot to death.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the ambush took place outside of Gibsland in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. Police officers from Louisiana and Texas, including Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, concealed themselves in bushes along the highway.

Earlier that year, Bonnie and Clyde had been hiding out with friend Henry Methvin and his family. One day, they left Henry at a restaurant, and he attempted to 'dine and dash, but was caught and arrested. Police questioning of the Louisiana native ultimately revealed that Bonnie and Clyde’s northwest Louisiana hideout was the Methvin family’s farm in Bienville Parish. The family struck an immunity deal with police that led to setting up the ambush, according to Explore Louisiana.

For the ambush, the police had the foresight to bring a documentary film crew with them, and the filmmakers captured this stunning footage:

(LOL)

 

23 May 1939
Adolf Hitler held a long speech before his top military commanders, starting by noting Danzig as a means to engage Poland in a war to gain Lebensraum ("living space") for the German people, and then digressing to note the possibility of war with Britain and France, the need to occupy the Low Countries for their airfields, and strategies for a war in western Europe and the Atlantic.

23 May 1940
The German 6th Army crossed the Scheldt River in Belgium. In France, British General Lord Gort withdrew his troops from Arras despite being able to halt Rommel's momentum. Elsewhere, German 2nd Panzer Division attacked Boulogne while the German 1st Panzer Division's forward elements reached Calais.

 

On this day in history, May 23, 1900, Sgt. William H. Carney receives Medal of Honor
First African American to receive the honor, Carney protected Old Glory during the Civil War.


William Harvey Carney (1840-1908), an African American soldier during American Civil War, was the recipient of the Medal of Honor for his bravery during the 1863 Battle of Fort Wagner, W.E.B. Du Bois Collection.

Sgt. William H. Carney was the first African American to be awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military decoration, on this day in history, May 23, 1900, for his efforts at protecting the American flag during the Civil War, says History.com.

Sgt. Carney was born into slavery. He joined the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Civil War, said the National Museum of the U.S. Army.

"As his regiment gained the crest of the parapet at the Confederate-held Fort Wagner in South Carolina, Sgt. Carney took up the American flag after earlier color bearers fell and he carried the flag to the fort, rallying and inspiring the men around him," the museum site notes.

Despite being seriously injured, Sgt. Carney said, "Boys, I only did my duty; the old flag never touched the ground," according to the same source.

Sgt. Carney’s regiment engaged in its first battle at James Island, South Carolina, on July 16, 1863 — and the Battle of Fort Wagner followed two days later.

 

1911: President Taft dedicates marble marvel on 5th Avenue
Fourteen years and $9 million have gone into building the main branch of the New York public Librabry, housed in a Beaux-Arts structure spanning two city blocks, now the largest marble structure in the US. More than a million books are collected inside, with two stone lions standing sentry at the entrance.

 

On This Day In History
May 23, 1979
Tom Petty defies his record label and files for bankruptcy

The music industry is notorious for its creative accounting practices and for onerous contracts that can keep even some top-selling artists perpetually in debt to their record labels. In a typical recording contract, a record label advances an artist a certain sum of money against future earnings from royalties. But because the cost of things like studio time, marketing support and tour expenses must be “recouped” by the label before an artist earns any royalties, many artists who sign recording contracts never sell enough records to “earn out” their advance. Where this system truly breaks down is when a top-selling artist or group like TLC or Run-DMC finds itself deeply in debt to its record label despite having sold millions of records. Those are but two groups that have pursued a strategy made famous by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Tom Petty when he declared bankruptcy on May 23, 1979 in an effort to free himself from his contract with Shelter Records.

At the time of Tom Petty’s bankruptcy filing, he had little to show financially for the two hit albums already behind him: 1976’s Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers (featuring the hit singles “Breakdown” and “American Girl”) and 1978’s You’re Gonna Get It! Unhappy with the terms of his contract with Shelter Records, Petty seized upon the sale of Shelter by ABC to industry giant MCA as justification to declare himself, in effect, a free agent. In his own words, he would not be “bought and sold like a piece of meat.” (Never mind the fact that the deal was actually a re-acquisition, since Shelter—and with it Petty’s contract—had actually been owned by MCA before being acquired by ABC.) Petty refused to allow his next album to be released, even going so far as to bear the cost of recording it personally, leaving him some $500,000 in debt. This was when he filed for bankruptcy, hoping to gain leverage in the brewing legal dispute by having the bankruptcy court declare null and void an extremely unfavorable contract that Petty felt he had signed under duress.

Ultimately, MCA blinked, agreeing to release Petty from his existing contract but immediately re-signing him to a $3 million contract with a brand-new subsidiary label created especially for this purpose. The album that Petty had held back, Damn The Torpedoes (featuring the singles “Refugee” and “Don’t Do Me Like That”), would go on to be certified Double Platinum and make Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers into true superstars. But if MCA thought that its squabbles with Petty were behind them at that point, they were sorely mistaken. In 1981, Petty once again threatened to withhold his new album, Hard Promises, when MCA announced its intention to sell it for $9.98—a full dollar more than the typical retail price at the time. Said Tom Petty at the time, “If we don’t take a stand, one of these days records are going to be $20.” And once again, MCA finally agreed, selling the album at retail for the then-customary $8.98

 

On May 24, 1883, The Brooklyn Bridge opened to the public. Perhaps the greatest achievement of civil engineer John Roebling, the bridge was by far the longest suspension bridge in the world, with its massive stone towers and a main span of 1,595.5 feet between them. It is hailed as one of the greatest engineering triumphs of the 19th century.

The first two bicyclists crossed the bridge on its first full day in 1883. By 1895, about 200 'wheelmen' were using the bridge every weekday, but they had to walk their bicycles and pay a three-cent fare. By 1901, automobiles were crossing.

Strangely enough, on opening day 214 people showed up to collect tolls, believing they had legally purchased the bridge.

 

1st Telegraph Message

1844 Samuel Morse taps out "What hath God wrought" in the world's first telegraph message.


Samuel Morse

Biography: He contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system based on European telegraphs and a co-developer of the Morse code.

Born: April 27, 1791
Birthplace: Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
Star Sign: Taurus

Died: April 2, 1872 (aged 80)

 

1830: Passenger rail service begins in US
Horse-drawn rail coaches begin scheduled runs on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad between Baltimore, Maryland, and Ellicott's Mills, Maryland. Three months later, after a rail race between the 'Tom Thumb' steam engine and a horse-drawn car, steam-powered travel will come to the route.

 

24 May 1940
In France, the German 10th Panzer Division began an attack on Calais and captured the town of Boulogne (capturing 5,000 Allied troops), Maubeuge, and Saint-Omer. To the north, the German 1st Panzer Division reached the Aa Canal 10 miles from Dunkirk in an attempt to cut off the Allied troops in Belgium. At this key moment and one of his many blunders going forward, Adolf Hitler interfered and ordered the tanks to pull back; he was promised by Hermann Göring that the Luftwaffe would be able to prevent the Allied evacuation from taking place; German Army generals protested, but to no avail.

24 May 1941
British battlecruiser HMS Hood and battleship HMS Prince of Wales engaged German battleship Bismarck and cruiser Prinz Eugen at 0552 hours at the distance of 24 kilometers. At 0600, a 15 inch shells from Bismarck penetrated Hood's thin deck armor, detonating a magazine and sinking her with almost all killed. Prince of Wales broke off from the battle at 0604 hours after being hit 7 times. Bismarck was hit 3 times and began to sail south for repairs. At 2350 hours, 8 British Swordfish torpedo bombers from aircraft carrier HMS Victorious attacked Bismarck and scored one torpedo hit.

 

Powell and 9 fellow explorers set out from Green River, Wyoming on this date in 1869 to explore the Colorado River. They started with 3 custom built boats.
USGS: John Wesley Powell's Exploration of the Colorado River (nps.gov)

While Powell started his adventure on the Green river, at the time no one was sure exactly where the rivers of the west originated or went. Powell wouldn't arrive at the confluence of the Colorado river (then actually called the grand river) and the Green for more than a month.

 

On this day in history.
Mr mstrman becamcam a great grandfather!

 

Congradulations!!!

 

On This Day In History
May 24, 1797
Thomas Jefferson inquires about a former flame

On May 24, 1797, future President Thomas Jefferson writes to his friend Angelica Church, inquiring casually about their mutual friend, Maria Cosway, a woman who had once captured his heart and inspired a romantically themed essay.

In 1786, a widowed Thomas Jefferson met Maria (pronounced Mariah) Cosway in Paris while he was serving as the U.S. minister to France. Cosway was born to English parents in Italy and, by the time she met Jefferson, had become an accomplished painter and musician. She was also married. The two developed a deep friendship and possibly more, although a sexual relationship has never been proven. The usually self-contained Jefferson acted like a giddy schoolboy with Cosway, at one point leaping over a stone fountain while the two were out walking and falling and breaking his right wrist. After the wrist healed, a chagrined Jefferson wrote his famous Head and Heart Letter to Cosway in October 1786, just after she left for London with her husband for an undetermined period of time. The letter reveals him to have been a lovesick man whose intellect battled with a heart aching for a woman he could not have.

In the Head and Heart letter, Jefferson pines for a woman who has made him the most wretched of all earthly beings and at the same time chides himself for giving in to emotional attachments. The dialogue reveals Jefferson’s struggle between his desire for Cosway and his wish to maintain his integrity (she was, after all, married). In the end, the head wins over the desires of the heart and Jefferson declares that the only effective security against such pain of unrequited love is to retire within ourselves and to suffice for our own happiness. Two years later, though, his letters to her still expressed an unrequited longing.

In 1787, Jefferson wrote to Cosway while traveling in Italy, painting an idyllic picture of the two of them together one day in the future: we will breakfast every day [go] away to the Desert, dine under the bowers of Marly, and forget that we are ever to part again. He wrote to her again in 1788 from Paris and expressed his tenderness of affection and wished for her presence though he knew he had no right to ask.

Eventually, Jefferson’s physical separation from Maria and the hopelessness of a relationship with her cooled his ardor. After returning to America in 1789, his letters to her grew less frequent, partly due to the fact he was increasingly preoccupied with his position as President George Washington’s secretary of state. She, however, continued to write to him and vented her frustration at his growing aloofness. In his last letters, he spoke more of his scientific studies than of his love and desire for her, finally admitting that his love for her had been relegated to fond memories of when their relationship had been pure.

Cosway left England in 1789 after her husband died and moved to a village in Italy to open a convent school for girls.

 

May 25

1720 - The ship "La Grand St. Antoine ' reaches Marseille, bringing the last major plague outbreak killing around 100,000 people.

1961 - JFK announces the US goal of putting a man on the moon.

1977 - Original "Star Wars" movie (Episode IV - A New Hope), directed by George Lucas and starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford premieres.

1803 - Ralph Waldo Emerson is born.

 

On May 25, 1977, a Wednesday, Star Wars was released in U.S. theaters for the Memorial Day weekend (I saw it in Westwood that weekend - and stood in a long line to do so).

The weekend grosses were spectacular, fueled in part by an extensive, coordinated marketing push by director George Lucas and his studio, 20th Century Fox, months before the movie’s release date.

According to Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia, as if you didn't know...) “It wasn’t like a movie opening, it was like an earthquake.”

The movie's massive success was in part due to, in Fisher's words, “a new order of geeks, enthusiastic young people with sleeping bags.” The anticipation of a revolutionary movie-watching experience spread like wildfire, causing long lines in front of movie theaters across the country and around the world.

Star Wars received seven Oscars, although was beat out for best picture by 'Annie Hall' (seriously, WTF?), and earned $461 million in U.S. ticket sales and a gross of close to $800 million worldwide. The movie spawned many sequels, prequels and off-shoots and became a massive industry unto itself.