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Today in History

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Bugguy

Practically Family
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570
Location
Nashville, TN
George Harrison and John Lennon ended their meditation lessons with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi two weeks early - 4/19/1968.


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SSuperDave

New in Town
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39
Location
Houston TX
I'm a bit late to the party here, but I'm surprised that the Doolittle Raid was not mentioned on April 18th. 50 years after I heard it, this bit of doggerel still comes to mind.

"T'was the 18th of April in '42, and we waited to hear what Jimmy would do. Little did Hiro think that that night, that the skies over Tokyo would be all alight,with the fire Jimmy started on Tokyo's dives, as he led to their target, the B-25's"

There is only one member of that group of brave/crazy/suicidal bunch still with us, 75 years later.
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,775
Location
New Forest
Today, April 23rd, is St. George's Day, probably the least celebrated feast day of the year. St. George is the patron saint of England.

Today is also the Anniversary of William Shakespeare, born on this day in 1564 and died on this day in 1616. He has sold more fictional books than any other, estimated to be around the four billion mark.
 

2jakes

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,680
Location
Alamo Heights ☀️ Texas
Thursday April 23, 1914
Federals.png

The Chicago Whales beat Kansas City Packers 9-1 in the the first major
league game played in Chicago’s Weeghman Park, later renamed Wrigley Field.
The Federal league folded after 1915 season and the next year Cubs
moved in.

DW-IiHDV4AAAu3P.jpg-large.jpg


Screen Shot 2018-04-23 at 5.35.57 AM.png

Bismark Garden billboard, would be changed to Marigold Garden.
 
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2jakes

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,680
Location
Alamo Heights ☀️ Texas
May 2, 1930

President Hoover
2C5993AA-0318-4D05-8B03-8EC8D8309534.jpeg

"I am convinced we have now passed the worst, and with continued unity of effort, we shall rapidly recover. There is one certainty of the future of a people of the resources, intelligence and character of the people of the United States - that is, prosperity."
 
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17,190
Location
New York City
May 2, 1930

President Hoover
View attachment 117016
"I am convinced we have now passed the worst, and with continued unity of effort, we shall rapidly recover. There is one certainty of the future of a people of the resources, intelligence and character of the people of the United States - that is, prosperity."

I was thinking about Hoover the other day and don't want to discuss his politics here for all the reasons we don't discuss politics here, but based on his logistics skills - as shown in his work before, during and after our entry in WWI on world relief efforts - he might be a good man, if he wasn't dead (a big problem), running the VA today as he seemed to have tremendous skills are rationalizing massive organizations and making them efficient and successful.
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
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33,715
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
I dunno as Hoover would have been quite the right guy for the VA, given that he revealed a distinct lack of interest in the well-being of vets by sending that ridiculous popinjay MacArthur out to get rid of the BEF. But I'll grant that he was certainly an able administrator -- if he's coming back, let him run the GSA.
 

ChiTownScion

Call Me a Cab
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2,247
Location
The Great Pacific Northwest
I was thinking about Hoover the other day and don't want to discuss his politics here for all the reasons we don't discuss politics here, but based on his logistics skills - as shown in his work before, during and after our entry in WWI on world relief efforts - he might be a good man, if he wasn't dead (a big problem), running the VA today as he seemed to have tremendous skills are rationalizing massive organizations and making them efficient and successful.

He was a very skilled and able engineer, and as such, was terrific in dealing with the distribution of food logistics. During the Soviet famine of the early 20's he literally saved millions from starvation: not merely handing out bags of grain, but providing the means for future agricultural production.

Arguably, the very life experiences which made him a stellar engineer (years spent directing projects around the world) hampered his knowledge of the needs of the American people. That was a big factor also with the very Dugout Doug whom Miss Lizzie notes. Years spent overseas blinded him to what was going on within his own country, and it might be added, with members of his own Army who were not the RA/ careerist types who were so predominant during the interwar years.
 
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17,190
Location
New York City
⇧ Both good, smart post - smarter than mine as my knowledge is "surfacey" versus the always impressively in-depth knowledge you guys have. While my post wasn't tongue-in-cheek, it also wasn't deeply serious (hard to be serious proposing a dead man for a role) as I was just thinking about what an overwhelming logistics and management issue the VA is - even to somebody whose intentions are spot on - and how Hoover seemed to have those skills.
 

2jakes

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,680
Location
Alamo Heights ☀️ Texas
⇧ Both good, smart post - smarter than mine as my knowledge is "surfacey" versus the always impressively in-depth knowledge you guys have. While my post wasn't tongue-in-cheek, it also wasn't deeply serious (hard to be serious proposing a dead man for a role) as I was just thinking about what an overwhelming logistics and management issue the VA is - even to somebody whose intentions are spot on - and how Hoover seemed to have those skills.

From one “surfer” to another... You're doing just fine!
I always enjoy your honest and interesting posts. :)
 
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LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,715
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
I've always had the sense that engineering types tend not to go in so heavily for the empathetic side of things: they tend to view situations more as blunt mechanical problems -- how to get from X to Y -- than as human problems demanding more complex solutions than simply X into Y equals Z. That would describe Mr. Hoover's mental processes to a T, unfortunately for a man in his particular circumstances. He was not the only man of his time to be so limited -- the whole "technocracy" movement/cult of the early 1930s sought to take the human factor out of the equation entirely -- but he was the one in the highest position of power. I don't think it's too surprising that Hoover was the only actual engineer ever to serve as president.
 

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