The Plimsoll Line is a line painted on a ship's hull. It indicated the waterline corresponding to the maximum depth to which the ship should sink under maximum load, or the maximum safe draft of the ship or the minimum freeboard. It evolved into a group of lines because the buoyancy of a floating objects depends upon the salinity and temperature of the water in which it floats. It is a boon to shippers, ship owners, captains and crews and maritime commerce.
On this day in 1763 the Treaty of Paris ended the "French and Indian War". This "war" was but the North American theater of the Seven Years' War. Here the French colonists fought the British Colonists. When the Seven Years' War ended with the Prussians and British victorious, the French, among other things, ceded Quebec to Britain.
On this day in 1967 the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified. If provides for a sort of peaceful coup as to the President of the USA under certain conditions as well as assorted other things.
On this day in history:
1763 – The Treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian War and France ceded Quebec to Great Britain. 1870 – The YWCA was founded in New York City. 1906 – The HMS Dreadnought was christened and launched setting off a Naval Arms Race 1947 – The Paris Peace Treaties were signed by Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland and the Allies of World War II. 1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned against US intervention in Vietnam. which he, in fact, carried out. 1962 – Roy Lichtenstein's first solo exhibition opened, and it included Look Mickey, which featured his first employment of Ben-Day dots, speech balloons and comic imagery sourcing, all of which he is now known for. The question, to me, is why? 1967 – The 25th Amendment to the US Constitution, relating to Presidential succession and disability, was ratified. 1996 – IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov in chess for the first time. 2009 – The communications satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 collided in orbit, destroying both. What we had there was a failure to communicate
Some people who were born on this day:
Reason has never failed men. Only force and repression have made the wrecks in the world.
~~ William Allen White
1609 – John Suckling, poet and playwright, also invented cribbage 1766 – Benjamin Smith Barton, botanist and physician 1775 – Charles Lamb, poet and essayist 1785 – Claude-Louis Navier, physicist and engineer 1795 – Ary Scheffer, painter and academic 1821 – Roberto Bompiani, painter and sculptor 1824 – Samuel Plimsoll, merchant and politician, inventor of the Plimsoll line. 1842 – Agnes Mary Clerke, astronomer and author 1868 – William Allen White, journalist, author, and progressive 1883 – Edith Clarke, electrical engineer 1890 – Boris Pasternak, poet, novelist, and literary translator Nobel Prize laureate 1898 – Bertolt Brecht, director, playwright, and poet 1905 – Chick Webb, drummer and bandleader 1914 – Larry Adler, harmonica player, composer, and actor 1927 – Leontyne Price, operatic soprano 1937 – Roberta Flack, singer, songwriter, and pianist 1940 – Kenny Rankin, singer and songwriter 1944 – Peter Allen, singer, songwriter, pianist, and actor 1944 – Rufus Reid, bassist and composer 1947 – Butch Morris, cornet player, composer, and conductor 1949 – Nigel Olsson, drummer, singer, and songwriter 1957 – Katherine Freese, astrophysicist and academic 1962 – Cliff Burton, musician and songwriter 1983 – Vic Fuentes, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
Some people who died on this day:
Moral maxims are surprisingly useful on occasions when we can invent little else to justify our actions.
~~ Alexander Pushkin
1837 – Alexander Pushkin, poet and author 1865 – Heinrich Lenz, physicist and academic 1879 – Honoré Daumier, illustrator and painter 1891 – Sofia Kovalevskaya, mathematician and physicist 1923 – Wilhelm Röntgen, physicist and academic, 1966 – Billy Rose, composer and songwriter 2001 – Buddy Tate, saxophonist and clarinet player 2002 – Dave Van Ronk, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 2005 – Arthur Miller, actor, playwright, and author
Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: Plimsoll Day International Cribbage Day National Have A Brownie Day Umbrella Day
Today's Tunes
Umbrella Day
Berthold Brecht
Chick Webb's Savoy Orchestra
Larry Adler
Leontyne Price
Roberta Flack
Kenny Rankin
Peter Allen, heh
Rufus Reid
Butch Morris
Vic Fuentes
Buddy Tate
Dave Van Ronk
Dave Van Ronk
SPECIAL REMINDER tune by Dave Van Ronk
Image is Plimsoll_Line
BUT WAIT! I forgot that it's 2-10:
Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. What's on your mind?
Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com Open Thread, 25th Amendment, Deep Blue, Dave Van Ronk, Samuel Plimsoll, Luang Prabang