John Pym died today in 1643. He was a Roundhead (or Parliamentarian) during the English Civil Wars (which make the American Civil War look like a day at the beach, in terms of atrocities at least) and a big old thorn in the side of the monarchy. After the victory of the Roundheads Oliver Cromwell had Charles I's head cut off "with the crown on it!" decapitating not just the monarch but also the monarchy.England's experiment with a republican form of government (well, republican-in-name-only as Lord Protector Cromwell was more of a theocratic dictator) fell apart after Cromwell's death - his son was an idiot. General George Monck saw that another civil wasn't what the nation needed and brought Charles II to the throne on April 23, 1661.
Charles II has this image of being very easy-going and pleasure oriented. When you think of the classic vision of "Merrye Olde Englande" you're probably thinking of the reign of Charles II. He was not so mellow, however, as to deny himself a tasty bit of revenge. He had all of the plotters of the destruction of Charles I (including Crommie and Pym) dug up out of their graves, hung and thrown in a deep dark pit. Plotters of the regicide who were still alive at that time found good reason to be out of the country.
Charles II has this image of being very easy-going and pleasure oriented. When you think of the classic vision of "Merrye Olde Englande" you're probably thinking of the reign of Charles II. He was not so mellow, however, as to deny himself a tasty bit of revenge. He had all of the plotters of the destruction of Charles I (including Crommie and Pym) dug up out of their graves, hung and thrown in a deep dark pit. Plotters of the regicide who were still alive at that time found good reason to be out of the country.
1542: Mary, Queen of Scots is born.
1643: John Pym, Parliamentarian dies of cancer.
1765: Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin and interchangeable parts, is born
1775: Siege of Quebec begins.
1854: Pope Pius IX issues the dogmatic definition of Immaculate Conception, which says that Mary, Mother of God was born without Original Sin.
1863: Lincoln issues Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction
1894: James Thurber (author) born in Columbus , OH.
1894: E.C. Segar (creator of Popeye) is born.
1911: Lee J. Cobb, who is perhaps most famous for playing Willie Loman on Broadway in Death of a Salesman (but who was also in the MST3K episode "The Phantom Creeps") is born.
1925: Sammy Davis Jr. is born
1930: Maximilliam Schell (from The Black Hole) is born. I love the dopey over/under laser guns in that movie.
1933: Flip Wilson is born. Dig Leonard Nimoy's groovy New Age crystal in this old clip from Flip's variety show.
1936: David Carradine is born. He was in more B-movies than Mary Woronov and starred with her in Death Race 2000 as President Frankenstein.
1937: James MacArthur (who played Danno on Hawaii Five-0) is born.
1940: The Chicago Bears defeat the Washington Redskins 73-0 in the most lopsided game in NFL history.
1941: President Roosevelt asks Congress to declare war on Japan and delivers the "Day of Infamy" speech. You can listen to it on Wikipedia.
1941: Gas vans were first used by the Nazis as a means of execution.
1943: Jim Morrison is born
1943: Mary Woronov (from Death Race 2000, Rock and Roll High School, Night of the Comet, Eating Raoul and about a million other B-pictures) is born.
1945: Japanese auto industry resumes post-war production. American auto industry has a good laugh, then suddenly feels very cold.
1947: Gregg Allman (rocker) is born.
1950: Rick Baker, special effects and makeup guru, is born. Here's the awesome transformation scene in American Werewolf in London.
1953: Eisenhower gives the Atoms for Peace speech, pushing for the development of peaceful uses of atomic power.
1953: Kim Basinger is born.
1953: Sam Kinison is born.
1964: Teri Hatcher is born. She was never quite so alluring as she was on Lois and Clark.
1966: Sinead O'Connor is born.
1977: Elsa Benitez, Mexican supermodel is born. Yikes!
1980: John Lennon shot by Stephen King.
1983: Slim Pickens dies.
1991: Russia, Belarus and Ukraine agree to dissolve the Soviet Union.
1993: NAFTA signed into law.
Today in History elements mostly cribbed from The History Channel, Wikipedia, The New York Times, The Jewish World Review, The Writer's Almanac and anything else I can dig up.
Today in History elements mostly cribbed from The History Channel, Wikipedia, The New York Times, The Jewish World Review, The Writer's Almanac and anything else I can dig up.
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