The picture above shows the yacht Reliance successfully defending "the" America's Cup against Sir Thomas Lipton's yacht Shamrock III. Reliance was designed by Nathaniel (Nat) Herreshoff. a genius yacht designer who was noteworthy for designing a wide variety of boats. He was born on March 18, 1848. He designed five yachts which successfully defended "the" America's Cup, one winning twice. These yachts were owned by very wealthy individuals, like, for example, Sir Thomas Lipton, who, by coincidence lost 5 straight America's Cup races. He was, among other things, a baronet and the founder of Lipton Tea Company. So, what has this got to do with Mexico's Oil Expropriation?
Well, Sir Lipton was not an oil baron, though one could perhaps call him a Tea Baronet. Those who became oil barons, however, became fabulously wealthy and could easily afford to own and race such yachts as those shown above. BUT! Not in Mexico. That wasn't always the case and prior to 1917 Mexico's oil bidness followed the usual trajectory of being developed and owned by foreign corporations, with the biggest share being owned by Royal Dutch Shell and two of the seven sisters. In addition to exploiting the resources, they exploited the people, and, because of low demand in Mexico, shipped most of the oil and profits elsewhere. In its 1917 Constitution, Mexico laid claim to the subsoil, including any and all natural resources therein. Initially, oil company operations in operation as of that date were grandfathered.
Over the years, Mexico and its people received ever less and less benefits from its oil resources and the exploitation and abuses of labor and resulting labor unrest grew greater and greater. Eventually, on March 18, 1938, Mexico's President Lázaro Cárdenas issued an order nationalizing all of the petroleum reserves and related extraction, production and other assets of almost all of the foreign oil companies. All mineral and oil reserves were declared to be the property of the nation and oil assets, in particular, were declared to belong to the newly established Petróleos Mexicanos, aka PEMEX, a state owned company. Bingo, the people's oil company. The previous owners were compensated, of course, though they still kicked up a fuss and whined about their losses. For what it's worth, today, and every March 18, is a civic holiday in Mexico.
Also on March 18, in 1314, Jacques de Molay was burned at the stake. It has been alleged that he was a reformer and was about to start reforming "any day now" (starting with yet another Crusade), and I'm sure that he was. I'm sure he and Philip IV were both honorable men reformers, for are we not all honorable men reformers? At any rate, in the end, as in the beginning, it was all about money, the Templars were just too damn rich for their own good. I mean, the Templars were the pride of Christendom, but, they seem to have missed this bit:
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
Ah well.
On this day in history:
0037 -- The Senate tossed Tiberius's will and made Caligula Emperor 1644 -- The Third Anglo-Powhatan War started
1741 -- The New York Conspiracy of 1741 started
1834 -- Six English labourers were sentenced to be transported to Australia for forming a trade union.
1850 -- American Express was founded by Henry Wells and William Fargo.
1871 -- The declaration of the Paris Commune
1874 -- Hawaii signed a treaty granting the US exclusive trade rights
1915 -- Three battleships were lost during a failed Franco-British attack on the Dardanelles
1922 -- Gandhi was sentenced to six years imprisonment for civil disobedience
1938 -- Mexico expropriated all foreign-owned oil reserves and facilities
1965 -- Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov, became the first person to walk in space.
1968 -- Congress took the U.S. off of the Gold Standard
1969 -- The US started secretly bombing Cambodia
1970 -- Lon Nol overthrew Prince Norodom Sihanouk
1990 -- The first democratic elections in East Germany were held
Some people who were born on this day:
“There are only two colors to paint a boat, black or white, and only a fool would paint a boat black.”
~~ Nat Herreshoff
1634 -- Madame de La Fayette, author
1640 -- Philippe de La Hire, mathematician, painter, and astronomer
1690 -- Christian Goldbach, mathematician and conjecturer
1846 -- Kicking Bear, Native American tribal leader and Ghost Dancer
1848 -- Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, naval architect
1858 -- Rudolf Diesel, engineer and inventor
1904 -- Margaret Tucker, indigenous rights activist and author
1922 -- Seymour Martin Lipset, sociologist
1922 -- Fred Shuttlesworth, activist, co-founded the SCLC
1925 -- Alessandro Alessandroni, musician and whistler
1934 -- Charley Pride, country singer
1941 -- Wilson Pickett, singer and songwriter
1945 -- Eric Woolfson, singer, songwriter, pianist, and producer (Alan Parsons Project)
1947 -- B. J. Wilson, drummer
1951 -- Bill Frisell, guitarist and composer
1963 -- Vanessa L. Williams, model, actress, and singer
1964 -- Courtney Pine, sax and clarinet player
Some people who died on this day:
“Women should unite upon a platform of opposition to the teaching and aim of that ever most unscrupulous enemy of freedom – the Church.”
~~ Matilda Joslyn Gage
1823 -- Jean-Baptiste Breval, cellist and composer
1871 -- Augustus De Morgan, mathematician and logician
1898 -- Matilda Joslyn Gage, author, suffragist, Native American rights activist, abolitionist, and freethinker
1907 -- Marcellin Berthelot, chemist
1956 -- Louis Bromfield, farmer, conservationist and author
1978 -- Leigh Brackett, author
1980 -- Erich Fromm, psychologist and philosopher
1988 -- Billy Butterfield, trumpet and cornet player
2001 -- John Phillips, singer, songwriter and guitarist
2017 -- Chuck Berry, guitarist, singer, songwriter
Applies similarly in set theory with respect to union and intersection
Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:
Anniversary of the Oil Expropriation (Mexico)
Act Happy Day
Goddess of Fertility Day
National Biodiesel Day
National Sloppy Joe Day
Today's Tunes
Nat Herreshoff
Alessandro Alessandroni
Charley Pride
Wilson Pickett
Eric Woolfson
B. J. Wilson
Bill Frisell
Vanessa L. Williams
Courtney Pine
Jean-Baptiste Breval
Billy Butterfield
John Phillips
Chuck Berry
Bonus Chuck Berry
Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?
Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com Open Thread, Pemex, Amex, Goldbach, Kicking Bear, DeMorgan, DeMolay, Charley Pride, Wilson Pickett, Chuck Berry