BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: HISTORY

                   MORE HISTORY THAN WE BARGAINED FOR

    In late June 1776, as a massive British fleet prepared to invade New York, a complex drama played itself out at the headquarters of General George Washington’s Continental Army in New York City: a former bodyguard of the general was set to be hanged for conspiracy against the Patriot rebellion—and against Washington, himself.

On June 28, some 20,000 people gathered in a field just north of the city and watched a private in the Continental Army mount the gallows on charges of sedition, mutiny and treachery. The doomed man was Thomas Hickey, an Irish-born former British soldier who had joined the rebel cause after the outbreak of war in 1775.

More importantly, Hickey was a member of Washington’s Life Guard, the elite squad tasked with protecting the commander in chief, on whose shoulders the entire fate of the rebellion appeared to rest.

Now, Hickey would become the first Continental soldier to be executed for treason, thanks to his participation in a shadowy plot to foil the rebellion—and possibly even to kill or kidnap Washington. The plot apparently involved the royal governor of New York, the mayor of New York City and more than a dozen others, though Hickey would be the only one to hang for it.

from HISTORY MAGAZINE

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THE MUCH OVERLOOKED ROCK SPRINGS MASSACRE

...in 1885, in Rock Springs,Wyoming, a mob of 150
disgruntled white miners, armed with Winchester
rifles, stormed into the Chinese quarter. They
killed twenty-eight Chinese, wounded fifteen, and
burned much of the district to the ground. According
to one eyewitness, 'the Chinamen were fleeing like
a herd of hunted antelopes, making no resistance.
Volley upon volley was fired after the fugitives. In
a few minutes the hill east of the town was literally
blue with hunted Chinamen.' Some linguists believe
that the word hoodlum comes from the anti-Chinese
cry of 'huddle 'em' a signal for mobs to surround
and harass the Celestials.

Yunte Huang. Charlie Chan. The Untold Story of the
Honorable Detective and His Rendevous with American
History (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 

THE YEARS OF 3 UNITED STATES PRESIDENTS

In 1841, there were three United States Presidents:
Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, and
John Tyler.

In 1881, there were three United States Presidents:
Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, and 
Chester A. Arthur.
***

In 1873, the President of the United States was
paid $50,000 a year. In l969, the President was
paid $200,000.
                       VALUE IN 2020 Dollars
1789	$25,000	        $736,000
1873	$50,000	        $1,080,000
1909	$75,000	        $2,135,000
1949	$100,000	$1,089,000
1969	$200,000	$1,412,000
2001	$400,000	$585,000

**
WALTER MONDALE (1928-2021) 

Walter Mondale
Did not fail
To fight for minorities & the poor,
Citizens Republican Senators today abhor. 
** 

"The opening of the second half of our show
was my personal speciality, followed by a
dancing act, and then a scene with (EDDIE)
Cantor and myself. When the curtain rose
for this portion of the show, there was hardly
anybody in the audience. Cantor immediately
came to the conclusion that I had insulted
the people, that I must have done something
to send them away from the theatre. Later, 
it was found out that in a park near by, the
newly inaugurated Franklin D. Roosevelt had
come to make a speech. Standing with him was
Anton Cermak, beloved Mayor of Chicago. A
mashuginar had attempted to assassinate the
President by firing at him, but the bullet 
found its target in the body of Chicago's 
Mayor. Thousands of people had rushed to the
park for that reason, and our audience had not
returned to see us. The seriousness of this
event made us forget our squabble."

George Jessel.So Help Me: The Autobiography
of George Jessel (New York: Random House, 1943)

**
              JOHN HANCOCK
            
              Hancock, John
              Signed his name upon
              Some document or other,
              Causing the British a lot oF bother,

                                 Louis Phillips