07/24 is Simon Bolivar Day (Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, and Bolivia)

Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar Palacios Ponte y Blanco aka Simon Bolivar was a Venezuelan rebel who led New Granada, Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, to independence from Spain. (Those countries included what is now Colombia; Venezuela, New Granada, Ecuador, and Panama were, for a while, merged into Gran Colombia. He served various of these "states" as a military leader and a political leader at various times. He freed the slaves, by edict, in areas he controlled. Some have criticized him as being too autocratic, blithely ignoring the fact that there was a war of revolution ging on, actually several, with a lot of intrique and that he was a military as well as a political leader. In this regard it should be noted that in South and Central America, where it matters, he is known as "liberator", El Liberatador", not "conqueror", Conquistador". He died of TB.

The SS Eastland capsized while docked, killing 844 passengers and crew, the greatest loss of life from any shipwreck on the Great Lakes at the time. A hard luck passenger ship christened in May 1903, she ran into and sank a tug tied to a dock in July of that year and then suffered a mutiny in August, shortly after which her captain was replaced. Because her speed wasn't up to specs and her draft was too deep for Michigan's Black River, she was sent back for modifications that September. The modifications increased her speed and raised her draft, while making her less stable than she had been. After that she had several changes of ownership and a habit of listing to one side or the other, especially when loading, once listing as far as 25 degrees. There were also additional modifications to attempt to deal with this issue, some of which reduced her passenger capacity, removed staterooms, and the like. Finally, after less that 12 years of service she capsized at the dock in Chicago with a great loss of life. Given her history, her owners did the only thing they could do, they raised her and sold her to the Navy, which, after some modifications, named her the USS Wilmette, and used her as a training ship on the great lakes.

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On this day in history:

1534 -- Jacques Cartier claimed the Gaspe' Peninsula for France 1823 -- Chile abolished Slavery 1823 -- The Battle of Lake Maracaibo cemented independence for the Gran Colombia. 1847 -- Brigham Young led 148 Mormons into Salt Lake Valley 1901 -- O. Henry was released from prison after doing time for embezzlement 1911 -- Machu Picchu was re-discovered by Hiram Bingham III 1915 – The SS Eastland capsized while tied to a dock in the Chicago River killing 844. 1922 -- The draft of the British Mandate of Palestine was formally confirmed by the League of Nations 1929 -- The Kellogg-Briand Pact, renouncing war as an instrument of foreign policy, went into effect, heh 1943 -- Operation Gomorrah (bombing of Hamburg) began, eventually killing over 30,000 people 1950 -- Cape Canaveral Air Force Station began operating and launched a rocket 1959 – Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev have their famous "Kitchen Debate". 1974 -- The Supremes ordered Tricky Dick to turn over the tapes 1983 -- The Sri Lankan Civil War began

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Some people who were born on this day:

The United States appear to be destined by Providence to plague America with misery in the name of liberty.

~~ Simon Bolivar

1783 -- Simon Bolivar, revolutionary, military commander, politician 1786 -- Joseph Nicollet, mathematician and astronomer who mapped the upper Mississippi 1802 -- Alexandre Dumas, novelist and playwright 1860 -- Alphonse Mucha, painter and illustrator 1889 -- Agnes Meyer Driscoll, aka Madam X, a cryptanalyst 1895 -- Robert Graves, poet, novelist & critic 1897 -- Amelia Earhart, pilot and author 1900 -- Zelda Fitzgerald, writer, first US flapper 1912 -- Essie Summers, major romance novelist 1914 -- Frances Oldham Kelsey, pharmacologist and FDA reviewer, refused to approve thalidomide 1916 -- John D. MacDonald, author 1920 -- Bella Abzug, aka Battling Bella, lawyer, activist, politician and hat fancier 1921 -- Billy Taylor, jazz pianist 1935 -- Pat Oliphant, political cartoonist 1942 -- Heinz, bassist, singer and songwriter (Telstar) 1942 -- David Miner, guitarist, singer, songwriter, co-founder of The Great Society 1944 -- Jim Armstrong, guitarist 1946 -- Herve Vilard, singer and songwriter 1953 -- Jon Faddis, trumpet player 1969 -- Jennifer Lopez, actress, singer and dancer

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Some people who died on this day:

“He wanted to live life so intensely that he could die at any moment without regrets.”

~~ Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

1601 -- Joris Hoefnagel, painter and printmaker 1927 – Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, author wrote Rashomon and Other Stories 1986 -- Fritz Albert Lipmann, biochemist, co-discoverer of coenzyme A 1991 – Isaac Bashevis Singer, novelist and short story writer 1992 -- Arletty, star of Les Enfants du Paradis 1994 – Helen Cordero, Cochiti Pueblo potter 2011 – Harald Johnsen, bassist and composer 2012 -- Larry Hoppen, singer and guitarist, co-founder of Orleans 2012 – Robert Ledley, physiologist and physicist, invented the CT scanner 2013 – Virginia E. Johnson, half of Masters and Johnson

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Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: Simon Bolivar Day (Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, and Bolivia) Pioneeer Day (Utah) Amelia Earhart Day

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Today's Tunes

The Kellogg-Briand Pact

Cape Canaveral

Billy Taylor

Heinz

David Miner