Archive for March, 2009

So you remember what it was like to leave your doors and windows open during late winter/early spring? I did, until tonight, when we had to close up the house because a dorky neighbor decided that 9pm was the only time he could burn his leaves and trash.

Jerk.

On this day in 1969, James Earl Ray was convicted for the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was staying at Lorraine Motel in Memphis. He was shot and killed while standing on the motel’s second floor balcony.

A little more than two months after King’s death, on June 8, 1968, Ray was captured at London’s Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the United Kingdom on a false Canadian passport in the name of Ramon George Sneyd because he was alleged to have shot King.[2] Another passport Ray carried with a second name was sighted and made him look suspicious. Ray was quickly extradited to Tennessee and charged with King’s murder, confessing to the assassination on March 10, 1969, (though he recanted this confession three days later) and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. On the advice of his attorney Percy Foreman, Ray took a guilty plea to avoid a trial conviction and therefore the possibility of receiving the death penalty.

Ray later fired Foreman as his attorney (from then on derisively calling him “Percy Fourflusher”) claiming that a man he met in Montreal, using the alias “Raoul” had been deeply involved, as was his brother Johnny, but not himself. He further asserted that although he didn’t “personally shoot Dr. King,” he may have been “partially responsible without knowing it,” hinting at a conspiracy. He spent the remainder of his life attempting (unsuccessfully) to withdraw his guilty plea and secure the trial he never had.

On this day in 1974, Terry Jacks had the number one song, Seasons In The Sun.

On this day in 1975, Olivia Newton-John had the #1 single, Have You Never Been Mellow.

On this day in 1965, demonstrators in Selma, Alabama were brutally attacked by police in an incident that would be known as Bloody Sunday.

Wallace denounced the march as a threat to public safety and declared he would take all measures necessary to prevent it. The first march was led by John Lewis of SNCC and the Reverend Hosea Williams of SCLC, followed by Bob Mants of SNCC and Albert Turner of SCLC. They made it only as far as the Edmund Pettus Bridge, six blocks away. State troopers and the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, some mounted on horseback, awaited them. In the presence of the news media, the lawmen attacked the peaceful demonstrators with billy clubs, tear gas, and bull whips.

Brutal televised images of the attack, which presented people with horrifying images of marchers left bloodied and severely injured, roused support for the U.S. civil rights movement. Amelia Boynton was beaten and gassed nearly to death; her photo appeared on the front page of newspapers and news magazines around the world. Seventeen marchers were hospitalized, leading to the naming of the day “Bloody Sunday”.

On this day in 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that slaves were not citizens.

Dred Scott (1799 – September 17, 1858), was a slave in the United States who sued unsuccessfully for his freedom in the infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1857. His case was based on the fact that he and his wife Harriet were slaves, but had lived in states and territories where slavery was illegal, including Illinois and Minnesota (which was then part of the Wisconsin Territory). The United States Supreme Court ruled seven to two against Scott, finding that neither he, nor any person of African ancestry, could claim citizenship in the United States, and that therefore Scott could not bring suit in federal court under diversity of citizenship rules. Moreover, Scott’s temporary residence outside Missouri did not effect his emancipation under the Missouri Compromise, since reaching that result would deprive Scott’s owner of his property.

Read more at Wikipedia.

Do you remember when businesses actually looked out for the customer?

The Best Buy Sometimes Isn’t

It’s Time For An Apology

Holding Those Accountable

An Optimistic Outlook

On this day in 1978, Andy Gibb hit the top of the charts with (Love Is) Thicker Than Water.

The 1970’s were wild.

On this day in 1965, The Sound Of Music debuted in theaters nationwide.

On this day in 1933, King Kong premiered in New York City.