Important Historical Event in Each State—part 2 of 5

This week is part 2 of 5 of my series highlighting an important historical event in each State. This week's blog post covers Hawaii through Maryland.

11. Hawaii

Event: Attack on Pearl Harbor

Year: 1941

Location: Honolulu

The Japanese Empire's assault on the United States naval fleet at Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack, though relations between the two nations had been deteriorating for years. The United States did not think an attack would occur near the U.S. mainland, and the naval facilities at Pearl Harbor, where the fleet was based, were not well defended. The attack destroyed 20 American ships, more than 300 airplanes, and killed more than 2,400 people. Fortunately for America, oil storage depots, repair shipyards, and other facilities in Hawaii were not destroyed. The U.S. aircraft carriers were not in Hawaii at the time. The attack brought the United States into World War II.

12. Idaho

Event: The Big Burn

Year: 1910

Location: Northern Idaho

In 1910, the Western United States suffered a severe drought that left much of the wilderness susceptible to fire. The extreme conditions led to The Big Burn, a massive forest fire that scorched over 3 million acres of land across Montana, Washington, and Idaho killing 87 people with at least 78 of them firefighters. The deaths and wide spread damage started a renewed interest in conservation among the American people. President Theodore Roosevelt attempted to acquire land for the national forest system after his election in 1904, but Congress refused. The Big Burn shifted public interest, and in 1911, Congress passed a law leading to the purchase of more than 20 million acres of land for the national forest system. The National Forest Service's budget was doubled.

13. Illinois

Event: Chicago Fire

Year: 1871

Location: Chicago

Prolonged dry weather and the haphazard construction of wooden structures all contributed to the conditions for the Chicago Fire. The blaze killed 300 people, destroyed thousands of buildings, and damaged an estimated $200 million worth of property. Luckily for the city, its transportation infrastructure was left intact. In the wake of the conflagration, Chicago implemented stricter building and fire codes. From the ruins emerged the nation's first skyscrapers and a teeming metropolis.

14. Indiana

Event: Native American Uprising

Year: 1811

Location: Tippecanoe

By the early 19th century, Native American tribes had enough of white settlers moving into their lands. Shawnee Chief Tecumseh organized a resistance and set up a village in Central Indiana. Gov. William Henry Harrison led approximately 1,100 men to confront them. Tecumseh's brother, Tenskwatawa, initially requested a ceasefire, but he broke it and attacked the militia in the early morning. Harrison's troops endured the attack and eventually forced the native fighters to retreat. Though Harrison lost more troops than the tribes, he developed a reputation as a war hero that eventually helped him get elected president decades later.

15. Iowa

Event: Creation of caucuses

Year: 1976

Location: Statewide

The caucuses are unique to Iowa in its political procedure of selecting presidential candidates. For candidates such as Jimmy Carter, success at the caucuses in 1976 generated momentum toward his eventual nomination for president. The process emerged out of the chaos of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. For the Democrats, the caucuses are akin to a neighborhood meeting in which supporters of a particular candidate make their pitch to caucus-goers. Caucus attendees then gather in groups in various parts of the room for the candidate of their choice. The elected chairperson of the caucus counts the supporters of each candidate. The Republican process is less complicated.

16. Kansas

Event: Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka

Year: 1954

Location: Topeka

The Supreme Court's decision in the Brown v. Board of Education case provided one of the first major victories of the civil rights movement. Oliver Brown sued the Topeka, Kansas, Board of Education, saying the city's schools for black students were not as good as those for white students. The case made it to the Supreme Court in 1952, where the justices ruled that the idea of public facilities being "separate but equal" was unconstitutional. This decision made racial integration the law of the land and marked a major step forward in U.S. history.

17. Kentucky

Event: Fort Knox starts holding gold bullion

Year: 1937

Location: Fort Knox

Opened in 1937, the United States Bullion Depository in Fort Knox stores the nation's gold reserves. It is one of six U.S. Mint facilities and is located next to a U.S. Army garrison. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the holdings swelled to 649.6 million ounces, the highest amount ever held there. The gold is kept in the form of bars measuring 7 inches in length, 3.625 inches in width, and are 1.75 inches thick. The depository has held other valuables such as the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution.

18. Louisiana

Event: Hurricane Katrina

Year: 2005

Location: Southeastern Louisiana

Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf of Mexico in August 2005. The hurricane hit several states, but Louisiana took the brunt of the storm. Katrina battered New Orleans and the surrounding area with 127 mile per hour winds. Most of the levees in New Orleans failed, leading to overwhelming flooding. The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimated that 1,833 people were killed either directly or indirectly as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Over 1,500 of those fatalities were in Louisiana. The storm also caused over $108 billion in damages.

19. Maine

Event: The Year Maine Burned

Year: 1947

Location: Statewide

In 1947, Maine received about half of its normal rainfall for the summer and into the fall, setting up dry conditions that led to a fire. The blaze began on Oct. 17 in a cranberry bog. Strong winds fanned the flames, spreading the fire until it eventually engulfed more than 17,000 acres, including 10,000 acres of Acadia National Park. Today, the aftermath of the fire at the park can be seen in the diversity of its scenery. Nature has replaced many evergreen trees by a colorful spread of deciduous trees. That fire was a prelude for the rest of the year. The fall of 1947 saw many other serious fires. By the end of the year, more than 200,000 acres and 1,000 homes had been destroyed. The repeated destruction earned 1947 the nickname "The Year Maine Burned."

20. Maryland

Event: The Toleration Act

Year: 1649

Location: Statewide

The colony of Maryland was settled in 1634 with the intention of expanding religious freedoms compared to England at the time. Anglicans and Catholics were often at odds, which made it a surprise when the charter for Maryland was given to a Catholic family from the Anglican King James. Maryland sealed its reputation as a haven for religious liberty when it passed the Toleration Act, which said that no one who "professes to believe in Jesus Christ, shall from henceforth be any way troubled, harassed or embarrassed for…his or her religion." Although restrictive by today's standards, it was a big step in the 17th century.

Next week in part 3 of 5, I'll present Massachusetts through New Jersey.

Important Historical Event in Each State—Part 1 of 5

I've done a previous blog series showing a weird fact about each of the 50 states. This 5 part blog series highlights an important historical event in each of the 50 states—an event that has shaped that state's history for better or worse. In many cases, the event has had implications beyond the state's borders, with consequences for the nation and, in some cases, the world.

These events include political changes, armed conflict, legal rulings, tragedies, cultural shifts, economic upheavals, ecological episodes, and scientific breakthroughs. But all of them changed the destiny of a particular state. The important historical event for each state is a list I came across, I did not determine or select the specific events. I thought the list would make interesting reading for my blog. I hope you enjoy it.

So, in alphabetical order with 10 states represented in each of the 5 blog posts, here are the historical events. Today's blog post covers Alabama through Georgia.

1. Alabama

Event: Selma-to-Montgomery march

Year: 1965

Location: Selma to Montgomery

The 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery was an effort to register African American voters in Alabama. Marchers were attacked by local police and those opposed to equal voting rights. The incident was broadcast on television, and it horrified the nation. Eventually, the marchers received protection from the National Guard. After three days they reached Montgomery. That August, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act that guaranteed the vote for African Americans.

2. Alaska

Event: Exxon Valdez oil spill

Year: 1989

Location: Prince William Sound

The Exxon Valdez oil tanker crashed into a reef in the Prince William Sound. The hull was pierced and more than 10 million gallons of oil spilled into the water. The problems were compounded as a storm spread the oil even farther across Alaska's Southern coast. As a result, thousands of animals died and hundreds of miles of coastlines were polluted. Some of the coast is still damaged today. The Exxon Valdez spill is now known as one of the most environmentally damaging events in history.

3. Arizona

Event: Grand Canyon National Park opened

Year: 1919

Location: Northern Arizona

The Grand Canyon is one of the world's most impressive landscapes. In 1919, the U.S. government declared it a national park. The canyon is 277 river miles long, 18 miles wide at its widest point, and one mile deep. The canyon is famous for its colors and ancient rock formations that tell the geological story of the North American continent. Nearly five million people visit the park each year.

4. Arkansas

Event: Desegregation of Little Rock schools

Year: 1957

Location: Little Rock

Even though the Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional in 1954, segregation remained in effect in many areas with fierce opposition to the ruling. When nine black children attempted to attend classes at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, Gov. Orval Faubus used the Arkansas National Guard to stop them from going to class. The Little Rock Nine were unable to go to class until President Dwight Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce the ruling. The students attending a previously all-white high school, despite the racial abuse they endured, proved to be a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement.

5. California

Event: Gold Rush

Year: 1849

Location: Sutter's Mill

James Marshall, a carpenter from New Jersey, discovered bits of gold in the American River near Sutter's Mill (an area that is now part of Sacramento, California). This discovery set off one of the greatest gold rushes of all time. Miners took about $2 billion worth of gold during the California Gold Rush. California's non-native population grew from about 800 in early 1848 to 100,000 by the end of 1849. The gold rush fast-tracked California's admission to the Union, and it became a state in 1850.

6. Colorado

Event: Legalization of marijuana

Year: 2012

Location: Statewide

Nationwide support for marijuana legalization has slowly increased since the 1970s. One of the biggest victories for cannabis advocates came in Colorado in 2012 when the state voted to legalize it for recreational consumption for anyone over 21. Previously, states only allowed medical marijuana which required a prescription from a doctor. Both Colorado and Washington State voted to legalize marijuana on election day in 2012. Colorado was a bit quicker in drafting rules to sell it, so it is considered the first state to legalize marijuana.

7. Connecticut

Event: First colonial constitution

Year: 1639

Location: Hartford

Connecticut adopted the first colonial constitution in 1639, about 150 years before the United States Constitution was ratified. The document was titled Fundamental Orders. Written mostly by lawyer Roger Ludlow, it outlined a framework of government that placed the well-being of the community above that of the individual. The document conveyed the notion that the basis for authority originated from the "free consent of the people." This document paved the way for the U.S. Constitution. Connecticut is still known as the "Constitution State".

8. Delaware

Event: First state to join the U.S.

Year: 1787

Location: Statewide

Known as "The First State," Delaware was the first of the original 13 states to ratify the Constitution, making it the first member of the United States of America. Even though some states were somewhat skeptical of this new document, Delaware's delegation voted 30-0 to unanimously ratify it on Dec. 7, 1787. Other states in the Constitutional Convention were much slower to adopt the Constitution. Virginia and New York held out until 1788; North Carolina refused to sign before the Bill of Rights was introduced in 1789; and Rhode Island became the last of the 13 states to approve the Constitution in 1790.

9. Florida

Event: Launch of Apollo 11

Year: 1969

Location: Cape Canaveral

Neil Armstrong and Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin were the first humans to set foot on the moon, and Apollo 11 got them there. They lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral (then called Cape Kennedy) on July 16, 1969. Cape Canaveral became the site for space launches because rockets taking off from an East Coast location got a boost from the Earth's spin. The launching facility was located near the ocean in case of accidents.

10. Georgia

Event: Trail of Tears

Year: 1831

Location: Statewide

The forced removal of Native Americans from their homelands, known as the Trail of Tears, took place across several Southern states. However, it is particularly connected to Georgia as the state was involved in two influential court cases that set the stage for the removal. Cherokee Nation v. Georgia and Worcester v. Georgia affirmed that the indigenous tribes could operate as sovereign nations. However, President Andrew Jackson ignored the rulings. From 1831 to 1840, tens of thousands of Native Americans were relocated west. Thousands did not survive the trip.

Next week on part 2 of 5 of my Important Historical Events In Each State blog series, I'll cover Hawaii through Maryland.

Dark Origins Of Fairy Tales

The origin of fairy tales dates back thousands of years. The history of fairy tales or fairy stories have fantasy creatures and talking animals. Enchantments and far-fetched events are also usually part of the plot. Unlike legends and folklore tales, they seldom contain any references to religion, actual places, persons or events. The term "once upon a time" is used rather than an actual reference to a date. Early oral fairy tales and folklore were for adults as much as for children. The early written fairy tales of the literary type definitely contained strictly adult material. In many instances, they were quite gruesome. They became more children's fairy tales in the 19th and 20th centuries.

There are two theories that have attempted to explain the common elements in the text of the different fairytales found spread over many continents. One theory is that a tale comes from a single source and spreads from culture to culture over time. A good example of this is the story of Aladdin, his flying carpet, magic lamp, and the genie. Disney made an animated movie of the tale and a live action film was made more recently. We all associate the story and the characters with the mideast/Arab world. In reality, the original tale came from China. The other theory is that these tales reference common human experience from many cultures and over time evolved into tales of similar human experiences. The first written fairy tales were from ancient Egypt and occurred around 1300 BC. It is amazing to find very similar stories/plots occurring in the folklore from different countries at different times and in totally different cultures.

Many of our most pervasive stories can be found in the tales of the Brothers Grimm and even earlier and have changed a great deal along the way. All the blindings, sexual misconduct, and death has been mostly scrubbed away in the last century or so. None of the stories with people getting nailed into barrels and thrown down hills or into ponds have really made it into the mainstream. Take a look at a few terrifying, gruesome, often bizarre early versions of ubiquitous fairy tales. Warning—the original versions of these fairy tales contain grisly details.

Sleeping Beauty:

In one of the very earliest versions of this classic story published in 1634, the princess does not prick her finger on a spindle, instead getting a sliver of flax stuck under her fingernail. She falls down, apparently dead, but her father cannot face the idea of losing her, so he lays her body on a bed in one of his estates. Later, a king out hunting in the woods finds her, and since he can't wake her up, rapes her while she's unconscious, then heads home to his own country. Some time after that, still unconscious, she gives birth to two children, and one of them accidentally sucks the splinter out of her finger, so she wakes up. The king who raped her is already married, but he burns his wife alive so he and the princess can be together. To keep everything "morally sound," the wife tries to kill and eat the babies first. Definitely not the type of story to tell children at bedtime.

Little Red Riding Hood

The Brothers Grimm actually made this story a lot nicer than it was when they originally got their hands on it. In the original version from 1697, there is no intrepid huntsman. Little Red simply strips naked, gets in bed, and then dies, eaten up by the big bad wolf. In another even darker version, she eats her own grandmother first. In the Chinese version of the story, it is a tiger instead of a wolf that is the villain and eats the girl.

Rumpelstiltskin

This story is pretty simple. The miller's daughter is trapped and forced to spin straw into gold or be killed. A little man appears to her, and spins it for her, but says that he will take her child in payment unless she can guess his name. In the Grimm fairy tale, when she finally figures out Rumpelstiltskin's name, he yells, "The Devil told you that! The Devil told you that!" He stamps his right foot so hard that he drives it into the ground right up to his waist. Then he takes hold of his left foot with both hands and tears himself in two. Again, certainly not acceptable fare for children, whether bedtime or not.

Cinderella

In the Grimm story, not only do the stepsisters cut off parts of their feet in order to fit into the glass slippers where the blood pooling in their shoes gives them away, but at the end, they have their eyes pecked out by doves, just for good measure.

Snow White

In the original 1812 Grimm Brothers version, the evil Queen is Snow White's actual mother rather than her stepmother, which makes the story more terrifying. The Disney version also left out the fact that the Queen sends the huntsman out to bring back Snow White's liver and lungs, which she then means to eat. In the Grimm version, she's not in a deep sleep when the prince finds her—she's dead. The prince, being an enthusiastic participant in necrophilia, is taking her dead body to his castle when his servant trips, jostles the coffin, and dislodges the poison apple from her throat. And once again, the Grimms gave the story a gruesome consequence for the villain. When the queen shows up at Snow White's wedding, she's forced to step into iron shoes that had been cooking in the fire, and then dances until she falls down dead.

Hansel and Gretel

The version of the story we know is already pretty gruesome—the evil stepmother abandons the children to die in the forest, they happen upon a cannibalistic witch's cottage who fattens them up so she can eat them. They outwit then kill the witch and escape. The Grimm version is basically the same, but an early French version, called The Lost Children, has an even more gruesome ending.

Rapunzel

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair. In the Grimm version, she does just that for a prince on numerous occasions and winds up pregnant. She innocently mentions to her jailer witch that her clothes feel too tight. The witch doesn't want any competition so she chops off Rapunzel's hair and magically transports her far away, where she lives as a beggar with no money, no home, and after a few months, two hungry mouths to feed. As for the prince, the witch lures him up and then pushes him from the window. Some thorn bushes break his fall, but also poke out his eyes. But, surprisingly, there is a happy ending.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

In this tale's earliest known incarnation, there was no Goldilocks—only the three bears and a fox named Scrapefoot, who enters the three bears' palace, sleeps in their beds and messes around with their salmon of knowledge. In the end, she either gets thrown out of the window or eaten, depending on who's telling the tale. Interestingly, it has been suggested that the use of the word vixen to mean female fox is how we got to Goldilocks, by means of a crafty old woman in the intervening story incarnations. 

Weird Origins Of 12 Beloved Nursery Rhymes

Nursery rhymes and fairy tales, thought of as children's fare—yet many have dark and disturbing origins.  This week's blog talks about nursery rhymes. Next week's blog will shine a light of reality on fairy tales.

You have to admit that there's something a little strange about a group of toddlers chanting a nonsensical nursery rhyme. But if you stop and examine the lyrics of these iconic ballads, you'll notice the songs barely conceal their wicked origins.

Behind most nursery rhymes lurks hundreds of years of history that we routinely ignore. But the veil of light-hearted fun has been lifted revealing their dark origins.

1. Mary, Mary Quite Contrary: Vivid images of a sweet little gardener pruning rose bushes leap to mind. However, the Mary in question was far more sinister than a flower enthusiast. Mary I of England, otherwise known as Bloody Mary, was given the gruesome nickname due to her ruthless persecution of Protestants. In the rhyme, the cockleshells and silver bells refer to instruments of torture. Not so kid friendly!

2. Three Blind Mice: Queen Mary was so bloodthirsty she inspired several nursery rhymes chronicling her behavior. The knife-wielding farmer's wife mentioned in the story? Yep—it's Queen Mary I again.

3. Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush: Kids on the playground skipping in circles and singing the familiar tune don't realize it was created by the female inmates of England's Wakefield Prison. Doing laps around the mulberry bush was the daily exercise routine for prisoners. In fact, the bush in question still exists on the grounds of Wakefield.

4. Pop Goes The Weasel: If you grew up in the U.S., this rhyme was lumped together with Mulberry Bush which makes sense as they use the same musical tune. In England, children were familiar with different lyrics… "Half a pound of tuppenny rice, half a pound of treacle; That's the way the money goes," were the weekly groceries paid for by pawning off Dad's suit, or "Pop! goes the weasel."

5. Rub-A-Dub-Dub: As far as bath-time songs go, it's a safer bet to teach your kids Ernie's "Rubber Duckie" tune from Sesame Street. The nursery rhyme Rub-A-Dub-Dub is the opposite of squeaky clean. In the 18th century, embarrassed butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers had to endure the shame of their indiscreet recreational behaviors being revealed such as visiting peep shows and bathhouses and being immortalized in song. No one is quite sure how it ended up as a nursery rhyme.

6. Goosey Goosey Gander: Running through the lyrics you'll discover that the song describes a moral enforcer who busts into women's rooms and tosses their unmarried, and therefore sinful, partners down the staircase. This one doesn't bother pretending to be kid friendly. But it still has a more layered meaning. Back in the 16th century when Goosey Gander emerged, the Protestants offered rewards for Catholic Priest's heads. Apparently, the rhyme details the popular execution method reserved for the clergyman.

7. Rock-A-Bye Baby: Believe it or not, the gentle lullaby stems from the scandalous family drama surrounding King James II's first son. Rumor had it the King and his second wife, Mary of Modena, arranged to take in someone else's baby and presented him as their male heir.

8. Jack and Jill: This one is definitely not about a pair of clumsy siblings. Jack falling down, and subsequently breaking his crown, was the twisted spin on France's King Louis XVI's death by guillotine. Jill, now known to be King Louis XVI's wife Marie Antoinette, went the same way as her husband. The nursery rhyme paints her grim guillotine ending as "tumbling down after."

9. Baa Baa Black Sheep: This baaad boy sheep was presenting his "yeah, you know I've got wool" face. But even with a hefty coat like the one wrapped around this fluffy guy, somebody is going home wool-less. "None for the Little Boy that cries in the lane," seems like a harsh snub for that poor child. That's exactly what the originators intended since the rhyme was a commentary on the high wool taxes in medieval England.

10. Georgie Porgie: The crude rhyme poked fun at the weight of George IV of England, who apparently had a habit of stepping outside of his marriage. Georgie notoriously fathered many illegitimate children and recognized a second wife, ignoring the public perception.

11. London Bridge Is Falling Down: Over the years, there hasn't been a definitive explanation of this bizarre yet cheery song of structural collapse. However, in 1844, a travel writer named Samuel Laing spotted a big clue while translating a Norwegian text. Tracing through the Norse text he found a verse about Viking King Olaf II leading a brutal attack on the famous bridge in the years 1009 or 1014. However, this was never confirmed.

12. Humpty Dumpty: If you take a quick look at the lyrics, you'll notice there's not even one example of identifying Humpty as an egg-like creature. Nevertheless, everyone is sure he's an egg. However, there's more to the story. Humpty Dumpty represents two different subjects: one human, one weapon. The man: King Richard III, nicknamed The Hunchback King. The device: a trusty English Civil War cannon.

Check back next week for a look at the origins of Fairy Tales.