New Year Resolutions - Calvin And Hobbes
Sunday, December 31, 2023
On This Date In History
On December 31, 1999, the United States, in accordance with the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, officially hands over control of the Panama Canal, putting the strategic waterway into Panamanian hands for the first time. Crowds of Panamanians celebrated the transfer of the 50-mile canal, which links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and officially opened when the SS Arcon sailed through on August 15, 1914. Since then, over one million ships have used the canal.
Interest in finding a shortcut from the Atlantic to the Pacific originated with explorers in Central America in the early 1500s. In 1523, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V commissioned a survey of the Isthmus of Panama and several plans for a canal were produced, but none ever implemented. U.S. interest in building a canal was sparked with the expansion of the American West and the California gold rush in 1848. (Today, a ship heading from New York to San Francisco can save about 7,800 miles by taking the Panama Canal rather than sailing around South America.)
In 1880 a French company run by the builder of the Suez Canal started digging a canal across the Isthmus of Panama (then a part of Colombia). More than 22,000 workers died from tropical diseases such as yellow fever during this early phase of construction and the company eventually went bankrupt, selling its project rights to the United States in 1902 for $40 million. President Theodore Roosevelt championed the canal, viewing it as important to America’s economic and military interests. In 1903, Panama declared its independence from Colombia in a U.S.-backed revolution and the U.S. and Panama signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, in which the U.S. agreed to pay Panama $10 million for a perpetual lease on land for the canal, plus $250,000 annually in rent.
Over 56,000 people worked on the canal between 1904 and 1913 and over 5,600 lost their lives. When finished, the canal, which cost the U.S. $375 million to build, was considered a great engineering marvel and represented America’s emergence as a world power.
In 1977, responding to nearly 20 years of Panamanian protest, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panama’s General Omar Torrijos signed two new treaties that replaced the original 1903 agreement and called for a transfer of canal control in 1999. The treaty, narrowly ratified by the U.S. Senate, gave America the ongoing right to defend the canal against any threats to its neutrality. In October 2006, Panamanian voters approved a $5.25 billion plan to double the canal’s size by 2015 to better accommodate modern ships.
Ships pay tolls to use the canal, based on each vessel’s size and cargo volume. In May 2006, the Maersk Dellys paid a record toll of $249,165. The smallest ever toll, 36 cents, was paid by Richard Halliburton, who swam the canal in 1928.
On December 31, 1968, the Soviet Union’s TU-144 supersonic airliner makes its first flight, several months ahead of the Anglo-French Concorde. The TU-144 so closely resembled the Concorde that the Western press dubbed it the “Konkordski.”
In 1962, 15 years after U.S. pilot Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier, Britain and France signed a treaty to develop the world’s first supersonic passenger airline. The next year, President John F. Kennedy proposed a similar U.S. project. Meanwhile, in the USSR, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev ordered his top aviation engineers to beat the West to the achievement.
There were immense technical challenges in building a supersonic airliner. Engines would need to be twice as powerful as those built for normal jets, and the aircraft’s frame would have to withstand immense pressure from shock waves and endure high temperatures caused by air friction. In the United States, Boeing tackled the supersonic project but soon ran into trouble with its swing-wing design. In England and France, however, early results were much more promising, and Khrushchev ordered Soviet intelligence to find out as much as possible about the Anglo-French prototypes.
In 1965, the French arrested Sergei Pavlov, head of the Paris office of the Soviet airliner Aeroflot, for illegally obtaining classified information about France’s supersonic project. Another high-level Soviet spy remained unknown, however, and continued to feed the Soviets information about the Concorde until the spy was identified and arrested in 1967. On December 31, 1968, just three months before the first scheduled flight of the Concorde prototype, the fruits of Soviet industrial espionage were revealed when the Soviet’s TU-144 became the world’s first supersonic airliner to fly.
In 1969, the Concorde began its test flights. Two years later, the United States abandoned its supersonic program, citing budget and environmental concerns. It was now up to Western Europe to make supersonic airline service viable before the Soviets. Tests continued, and in 1973 the TU-144 came to the West to appear alongside the Concorde at the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport. On June 3, in front of 200,000 spectators, the Concorde flew a flawless demonstration. Then it was the TU-144’s turn. The aircraft made a successful 360-degree turn and then began a steep ascent. Abruptly, it leveled off and began a sharp descent. Some 1,500 feet above the ground, it broke up from over-stress and came crashing into the ground, killing all six Soviet crew members and eight French civilians.
Soviet and French investigators ruled that pilot error was the cause of the accident. However, in recent years, several of the Soviet investigators have disclosed that a French Mirage intelligence aircraft was photographing the TU-144 from above during the flight. A French investigator confirmed that the Soviet pilot was not told that the Mirage was there, a breach of air regulations. After beginning his ascent, the pilot may have abruptly leveled off the TU-144 for fear of crashing into this aircraft. In the sudden evasive maneuver, the thrust probably failed, and the pilot then tried to restart the engines by entering a dive. He was too close to the ground, however, and tried to pull up too soon, thus over-stressing the aircraft.
In exchange for Soviet cooperation in the cover-up, the French investigators agreed not to criticize the TU-144’s design or engineering. Nevertheless, further problems with the TU-144, which was designed hastily in its bid to beat the Concorde into the air, delayed the beginning of Soviet commercial service. Concorde passenger service began with much fanfare in January 1976. Western Europe had won its supersonic race with the Soviets, who eventually allowed just 100 domestic flights with the TU-144 before discontinuing the airliner.
The Concorde was not a great commercial success, however, and people complained bitterly about the noise pollution caused by its sonic booms and loud engines. Most airlines declined to purchase the aircraft, and just 16 Concordes were built for British Airways and Air France. Service was eventually limited between London and New York and Paris and New York, and luxury travelers appreciated the less than four-hour journey across the Atlantic.
On July 25, 2000, an Air France Concorde crashed 60 seconds after taking off from Paris en route to New York. All 109 people aboard and four on the ground were killed. The accident was caused by a burst tire that ruptured a fuel tank, creating a fire that led to engine failure. The fatal accident, the first in the Concorde’s history, signaled the decline of the aircraft. The last Concorde flight was on October 24, 2003.
The following pictures are of the Air France Concorde F-BVFA
Saturday, December 30, 2023
NCAAF - Orange Bowl - UGA Vs FSU
UGA was in the mood I guess. That game
was the largest margin of win in ANY Bowl game in the record books I
believe. FSU really surprised me although I know they were missing some
key players. It feels really weird to root against FSU. They don't play UGA every year and my primary team is UGA 'cause I was born there and I root for FSU
because I live in FL and they are my preferred Florida team.
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Ron DeSantis Nails It on Civil War Question, Articulates the Reason the Republican Party Was Founded.
First … to all the people out there hating on DeSantis because he’s
running against Trump for the 2024 Presidential nomination … I plan on
voting for Trump and I wished sincerely that DeSantis had agreed to run
as his VP but that ain’t happening.
But regardless, DeSantis has been the best by far, Governor of Florida.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis capitalized on former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley's flub on what caused the Civil War.
DeSantis was quick to criticize Haley at an Ankeny campaign stop Thursday morning. He told reporters she is "not a candidate that's ready for prime time."
"The minute that she faces any kind of scrutiny, she tends to cave," DeSantis said. "I think that that's what you saw yesterday. Not that difficult to identify and acknowledge the role slavery played in the Civil War, and yet that seemed to be something that was really difficult."
While campaigning in Iowa, DeSantis was asked this similar question posed to Haley on Wednesday. Here's his response.
Q: What would your answer be that Haley got in terms of the cause, the primary cause of the Civil War?
DeSantis: Of course you had the issue of slavery. You had the states that were concerned about Lincoln interfering and potentially eliminating it. And they viewed it as a state's rights issue not as a federal issue, and they were concerned. You have this Republican President who may come in and get rid of the institution of slavery, and you know, it's interesting because the Republican Party was founded to put a stop to the growth of slavery in this country, and the abolition of slavery was to this day, remains the party's top achievement. And it was a partisan achievement, because the people that were fighting Lincoln, the people that wanted to preserve slavery, they were Democrats. So, the Republican Party did that and that's something that you should acknowledge and be proud of as a Republican.
https://twitter.com/aaronlarnavarro/status/1740443551186801150?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1740443551186801150%7Ctwgr%5Eef634cd1021331e2b8fb4695a8770c31b05a0d26%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fredstate.com%2Fjenniferoo%2F2023%2F12%2F29%2Fron-desantis-succeeds-where-nikki-haley-failed-articulates-the-reason-for-the-republican-party-n2168060
Had Haley uttered the word "slavery," in her initial response and connected the dots that the political party she claims was founded on blunting the expansion of and ultimate abolition of slavery, she wouldn't be getting dragged. Brittanica's simple summary would have even sufficed:
During the 19th century the Republican Party stood against the extension of slavery to the country’s new territories and, ultimately, for slavery’s complete abolition.
The tragic part of DeSantis' statement is this: the Republican Party has not been able to claim a "top achievement" for 170 years. There are a few they could tout: the appointment of Supreme Court justices who were instrumental in the overturn of Roe v. Wade comes to mind. But most Republicans are too cowardly and denatured by donors and polls to do that. Frankly, if every candidate running under the Republican Party banner makes it their goal to secure more achievements for the American people, they will make huge wins in 2024 from the top of the ticket to the bottom.
https://redstate.com/jenniferoo/2023/12/29/ron-desantis-succeeds-where-nikki-haley-failed-articulates-the-reason-for-the-republican-party-n2168060
California Secretary Of State Refuses To Remove Trump From Ballot.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber refused to go along with calls from some Democrats in her state to remove former President Donald Trump from the 2024 primary ballot.
Last week, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis called for Weber to strike Trump from the ballot following the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to bar the former president from the ballot, claiming the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment disqualifies him from holding office. Weber responded to the lieutenant governor’s request without clarifying whether she would follow through and remove Trump’s name from the pool of candidates, but on Thursday night, the secretary of state’s office released the list of certified candidates, showing Trump on the ballot, CBS Los Angeles reported.
While Weber didn’t comment on her refusal to go along with some Democrats’ calls for Trump’s removal, she wrote in a letter to Kounalakis last week that “Removing a candidate from the ballot under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment is not something my office takes lightly and is not as simple as the requirement that a person be at least 35 years old to be president.”
Multiple top California Democrats joined Kounalakis’ request for Trump’s removal from the ballot, but Governor Gavin Newsom — who has been floated as a potential future Democratic presidential candidate — slammed the idea of kicking Trump off the primary ballot.
“There is no doubt that Donald Trump is a threat to our liberties and even to our democracy,” Newsom said. “But in California, we defeat candidates at the polls. Everything else is a political distraction.”
Trump, the Republican frontrunner, is back on the ballot in Colorado for the time being after the state’s Republican Party appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. Trump will remain on the state’s ballot “unless the Supreme Court declines to take the case or otherwise affirms the Colorado Supreme Court ruling,” Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s office said on Thursday.
Just hours after the former president was put back on Colorado’s ballot, however, another blue state removed him from its ballot. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said Thursday that Trump is disqualified from the state’s primary ballot, arguing that he violated the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause due to his conduct leading up to the U.S. Capitol breach on January 6, 2021. (Update: The Maine decision was quickly rescinded though.)
https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-secretary-of-state-refuses-to-remove-trump-from-ballot
The Left Just Can't Leave Chick-fil-A Alone.
What is about Chick-fil-A that absolutely drives so many on the Left to push for its destruction via periodic spasms of boycotts (that typically fail) or imposing abusive government regulations like that proposed by New York State Assemblyman Tony Simone?
Simone is a freshman member of the Empire State's legislature, representing a district that encompasses "Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Midtown and part of the Lincoln Center area in Manhattan," according to his official website.
For whatever reason, Simone became deeply concerned about the fact that some Sunday travelers on the New York Thruway (NYTW) might not be able to get their lunch or dinner at one of the Chick-fil-As operating Monday through Saturday at six state-managed rest stops.
"It’s Sunday, Christmas Eve … thousands of New Yorkers are traveling to their families to find restaurants at rest areas across the state. The Thruways are meant to serve New York travelers first. I think it’s ridiculous that you’re able to close on Sunday, one of the busiest travel days of the week," Simone told a local New York media outlet.
"You know, we get hungry when we’re traveling. We may not like our brother-in-law or sister-in-law’s cooking and wanna get a snack on Christmas Eve," the Democrat Assemblyman noted. "To find one of the restaurants closed on the Thruway is just not in the public good."
So Simone's bill commands Chick-fil-A to violate its own well-known practice of not opening its stores on Sundays so that employees are free to worship or not, as they choose, to spend time with their families, and get some well-deserved rest.
And let's not forget that the Sunday closing is immensely respected by the millions of loyal customers, who worship in church on Sundays and keep coming back and coming back the rest of the week to their local Chick-fil-A locations. Obviously, the fact their favorite fast food joint is closed on the Lord's Day is not a problem demanding government action for these people.
What is a problem is efforts like Simone's to impose the heavy hand of government in every nook and cranny of every American's private and public life. Simone is part of the Lefty crowd in government, politics, academy, corporate boardrooms, and the Mainstream Media.
These people constantly instruct us that we must buy an Electric Vehicle (an EV that we can't afford and can't conveniently charge whenever needed), that we can no longer keep our homes and families warm in the winter and cool in the summer using power derived from fossil fuels, that we dare not ever again use a gas-powered lawn mower or weed whacker, that we must... I could go on and on and on.
Somehow I have a feeling that Simone's proposal would inevitably spark a legal challenge if it becomes law. According to Liberty Counsel's Daniel Schmid, New York has a rich recent history of official religious intolerance.
"New York lawmakers targeting Chick-fil-A for its religious beliefs is nothing new, to be certain. In 2016, the former New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio called for New Yorkers to boycott Chick-fil-A when it opened a restaurant in the city, and his only basis for doing so was the company’s religious beliefs on traditional marriage," Schmid, who is Associate Vice President for Legal Affairs for the Florida-based LC.
"The City of Buffalo put up roadblocks when Chick-fil-A wanted to open a location there and ultimately prevented them from opening a restaurant there. Now, the latest iteration of New York’s religious hostility arises in the form of coerced compliance with two lawmaker’s opinions about whether a company should be open on Sunday," Schmid continued.
"The irony is astounding with DeBlasio previously saying he would never patronize a Chick-fil-A because of its religious beliefs and now Assemblyman Tony Simone saying more people should be able to patronize them on Sundays. The only common thread among those two positions is overt hostility towards Chick-fil-A’s religious beliefs," he said.
Given the lengthy list of competing fast food services on the NYTW, it's clear there is no public good need to force Chick-fil-A to open on Sundays, so the motivation for doing so must stem from something else, such as that "overt hostility" that Schmid mentions above.
That hostility is no new thing in New York, as Schmid points out:
For years, New York has unconstitutionally and systematically attempted to excise religion from the public square. During COVID-19, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) ordered churches to close their doors while permitting liquor stores and strip clubs to remain open. The governor’s administration likewise revoked all religious accommodations to compulsory vaccination for healthcare workers in New York.
Now, Tony Simone’s rationale was rather simple: "If you want to eat fried chicken while traveling over the holidays, then Chick-fil-A should be open on Sundays." In Simone’s mind, it appears a traveler’s craving for a particular flavor of physical nourishment outweighs Chick-fil-A’s right to spiritual nourishment on Sundays. Unfortunately for Simone, the First Amendment sets a different order of priority.
For those who think forcing a fast food franchise to stay open on Sundays at a mere six locations in one state is no big deal, think about this: If Simone's proposal becomes law, it becomes a precedent. If New York can force Chick-fil-A locations in one part of the state to stay open on Sundays, why not do the same for all the other locations around the state?
And one more thing: As Patrick Henry (of "Give me liberty or give me death!" fame) warned: "Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel."
https://pjmedia.com/marktapscott/2023/12/28/left-just-cant-leave-chick-fil-a-alone-n4925058?utm_source=pjmedia&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm&bcid=1cec732378a9356510189839ce44a40452f98ff45423cb9e260a096ee14987d2&recip=28431484
Biden said, "I come from a state that has the eighth-largest black population in the country, and as they say the saying goes where I come, you brung me to the dance early on!" … and if you don’t understand that then you ain't trunalimunumaprzure, Jack.
DC Police Officer Byron Evans, who sued Republicans under KKK Act for racist attacks on Jan. 6, now admits he was watching it on TV that day.
Officer Byron Evans and seven black Capitol Police Officers sued Brandon Straka and several Trump supporters under the KKK Act for “racist” attacks on him and seven other police officers on January 6, 2021.
Officer Evans sued Brandon Straka and Roger Stone who was not even at the US Capitol that day along with leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys and others.
Brandon Straka released video on Wednesday of Officer Byron Evans admitting he was watching the January 6 protests on a TV in a room in a secure location.
CNN let the cat out of the bag:
CNN reporter: Did you ever think this might be a life or death situation for you?
Officer Byron Evans: I remember specifically thinking it when I was on the floor. I remember thinking all that stuff. Like, Byron, this is the day. All those times you’ve given thought on what you would do. You’re doing it.
CNN hack: 4 hours. Evans and the senators watched the riot on tv from a secured location.
Officer Byron Evans: I just remember the anger I felt when I saw those images. Busting windows, climbing the walls and stuff like that. It was an audible gasp in the room.
Poor Officer Evans. He must have been p*ssing himself during the BLM riots that summer! Poor guy.
Brandon Straka released a thread on Officer Evans and his lawfare case.
This lawsuit was funded by a Soros-connected firm. Complete thread is available at the twitter link:
Much, much more of this thread at the twitter link:
https://twitter.com/BrandonStraka/status/1740091650578235664
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/dc-police-officer-byron-evans-who-sued-republicans/
President Biden has signed an executive order for a 5.2 percent federal employee pay raise in January, with 4.7 percent paid across the board and the funds for the other 0.5 percentage points used for locality pay.
In a routine letter to Congress in September, Biden set an “alternative” raise to be paid by default should no raise figure be enacted into law by year’s end, which just happened as Congress adjourned for the year. The raise is “alternative” to a much larger increase that otherwise would take effect under a 1990 federal pay law of about 24 percent, tallied by the Federal Salary Council.
“I view the increases that would otherwise take effect as inappropriate,” Biden’s letter said. Still, the 5.2 percent figure would be the largest federal pay raise since the 9.1 percent paid in 1980. “This alternative pay plan decision will continue to allow the federal government to employ a well‑qualified federal workforce on behalf of the American people, keeping pace with prior wage growth in the labor market.”
Raises are effective with the first full pay period of the new year, which for most employees will begin January 14. Employees see the impact of the raise with the pay distribution covering that pay period, which they typically receive about a week to 10 days later, meaning early February, in this case.
The order sets the exact figures by locality, based on findings of pay gaps in more than four dozen areas with their own rates. The Federal Salary Council recently reported that the gaps remain the largest in some areas where the locality pay component already is the highest, including the San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles areas.
Four new localities are to be created effective in 2024, in the Fresno, Calif.; Reno, Nev.; Rochester, N.Y.; and Spokane, Wash., areas, and the boundaries of most current localities are to be expanded. In both cases, that will provide an additional pay boost to affected employees, about 16,200 in the new localities and about 17,100 in areas to be added to existing localities.
On This Date In Music
1967 - American songwriter and producer Bert Berns died of heart failure aged 38. He wrote many classic songs including 'Twist And Shout', 'Hang On Sloopy', ‘Here Comes the Night’, ‘I Want Candy’, ‘Under the Boardwalk’, ‘Everybody Needs Somebody to Love’ and 'Brown Eyed Girl’.
1969 - Peter, Paul and Mary's "Leaving On A Jet Plane" is certified Gold.
On This Date In History
On December 30, 1922, in post-revolutionary Russia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is established, comprising a confederation of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation (divided in 1936 into the Georgian, Azerbaijan, and Armenian republics). Also known as the Soviet Union, the new communist state was the successor to the Russian Empire and the first country in the world to be based on Marxist socialism.
During the Russian Revolution of 1917 and subsequent three-year Russian Civil War, the Bolshevik Party under Vladimir Lenin dominated the soviet forces, a coalition of workers’ and soldiers’ committees that called for the establishment of a socialist state in the former Russian Empire. In the USSR, all levels of government were controlled by the Communist Party, and the party’s politburo, with its increasingly powerful general secretary, effectively ruled the country. Soviet industry was owned and managed by the state, and agricultural land was divided into state-run collective farms.
In the decades after it was established, the Russian-dominated Soviet Union grew into one of the world’s most powerful and influential states and eventually encompassed 15 republics, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belorussia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. In 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved following the collapse of its communist government.
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On December 30, 1853, James Gadsden, the U.S. minister to Mexico, and General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the president of Mexico, sign the Gadsden Purchase in Mexico City. The treaty settled the dispute over the location of the Mexican border west of El Paso, Texas, and established the final boundaries of the southern United States. For the price of $15 million, later reduced to $10 million, the United States acquired approximately 30,000 square miles of land in what is now southern New Mexico and Arizona.
Jefferson Davis, the U.S. secretary of war under President Franklin Pierce, had sent Gadsden to negotiate with Santa Anna for the land, which was deemed by a group of political and industrial leaders to be a highly strategic location for the construction of the southern transcontinental railroad. In 1861, the “big four” leaders of western railroad construction, Collis P. Huntington, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker, established the Southern Pacific branch of the Central Pacific Railroad.
James Gadsden, U.S. Minister to Mexico
General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, President of Mexico
On December 30, 1903, fire in the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois, kills more than 600 people. It was the deadliest theater fire in U.S. history. Blocked fire exits and the lack of a fire-safety plan caused most of the deaths.
The Iroquois Theater, designed by Benjamin Marshall in a Renaissance style, was highly luxurious and had been deemed fireproof upon its opening in 1903. In fact, George Williams, Chicago’s building commissioner, and fire inspector Ed Laughlin looked over the theater in November 1903 and declared that it was “fireproof beyond all doubt.” They also noted its 30 exits, 27 of which were double doors. However, at the same time, William Clendenin, the editor of Fireproof magazine, also inspected the Iroquois and wrote a scathing editorial about its fire dangers, pointing out that there was a great deal of wood trim, no fire alarm and no sprinkler system over the stage.
During the matinee performance of December 30, while a full house was watching Eddie Foy star in Mr. Bluebeard, 27 of the theater’s 30 exits were locked. In addition, stage manager Bill Carlton went out front to watch the show with the 2,000 patrons while the other stage hands left the theater and went out for a drink. It was a spotlight operator who first noticed that one of the calcium lights seemed to have sparked a fire backstage. The cluttered area was full of fire fuel, wooden stage props and oily rags.
When the actors became aware of the fire, they scattered backstage; Foy later returned and tried to calm the audience, telling them to stay seated. An asbestos curtain was to be lowered that would confine the fire but when it wouldn’t come fully down, a panic began. It later turned out to be made of paper so it wouldn’t have helped in any case. Soon, all the lights inside the theater went out and there were stampedes near the open exits. When the back door was opened, the shift of air caused a fireball to roar through the backstage area.
The teenage ushers working the theater fled immediately, forgetting to open the locked emergency exit doors. The few doors that were able to be forced open were four feet above the sidewalk, which slowed down the exiting process. Most of the 591 people who died were seated in the balconies. There were no fire escapes or ladders to assist them and some took their chances and jumped. The bodies were piled six deep near the narrow balcony exits. In fact, some people were knocked down by the falling bodies and were eventually pulled out alive from under burned victims.
In the aftermath of the disaster, Williams was later charged and convicted of misfeasance. Chicago’s mayor was also indicted, though the charges didn’t stick. The theater owner was convicted of manslaughter due to the poor safety provisions; the conviction was later appealed and reversed. In fact, the only person to serve any jail time in relation to this disaster was a nearby saloon owner who had robbed the dead bodies while his establishment served as a makeshift morgue following the fire.
On December 30, 1862, the U.S.S. Monitor sinks in a storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Just nine months earlier, the ship had been part of a revolution in naval warfare when the ironclad dueled to a standstill with the C.S.S. Virginia (Merrimack) off Hampton Roads, Virginia, in one of the most famous naval battles in American history, the first time two ironclads faced each other in a naval engagement.
After the famous duel, the Monitor provided gun support on the James River for George B. McClellan’s Peninsular Campaign. By December 1862, it was clear the Monitor was no longer needed in Virginia, so she was sent to Beaufort, North Carolina, to join a fleet being assembled for an attack on Charleston, South Carolina. The Monitor served well in the sheltered waters of Chesapeake Bay, but the heavy, low-slung ship was a poor craft for the open sea. The U.S.S. Rhode Island towed the ironclad around the rough waters of Cape Hatteras. Since December is a treacherous time for any ship off North Carolina, the decision to move the Monitor could be considered questionable. As the Monitor pitched and swayed in the rough seas, the caulking around the gun turret loosened and water began to leak into the hull. More leaks developed as the journey continued. High seas tossed the craft, causing the ship’s flat armor bottom to slap the water. Each roll opened more seams, and by nightfall on December 30, the Monitor was in dire straits.
The Monitor’s commander, J.P. Bankhead, signaled the Rhode Island that he wished to abandon ship. The wooden side-wheeler pulled as close as safety allowed to the stricken ironclad, and two lifeboats were lowered to retrieve the crew. Many of the sailors were rescued, but some men were terrified to venture onto the deck in such rough seas. The ironclad’s pumps stopped working and the ship sank before 16 crew members could be rescued.
Although the Monitor’s service was brief, it signaled a new era in naval combat. The Virginia’s arrival off Hampton Roads terrified the U.S. Navy, but the Monitor leveled the playing field. Both sides had ironclads, and the advantage would go to the side that could build more of them. Northern industry would win that battle for the Union.
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