Unusual Flooding

October 17, 1814, the streets of London were inundated with porter. People were not celebrating, they weren’t drinking and they were not happy. Instead, they were fleeing for their lives from a 15 foot wave of beer. 

Photo: viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk

At the Horse Shoe Brewery on Tottenham Court Road, a vat had broken and knocked over other others, resulting in about 9,000 barrels of beer flooding the streets of the nearby slum. Two houses were lost, as were seven lives. But many survived, despite their basements being flooded. At the time, no one reported rampant beer drinking instead, the crowd was quiet and calm, which allowed the people who were trapped to be heard. 

Photo: blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

The Horse Shoe Brewery was established in 1764 and primarily produced porter, especially for the area. Just before the flood, it had been bought by Sir Henry Meaux. After the incident, the brewery was brought to court because some believed the brewery could have prevented the accident but a jury cleared the brewery and stated that the flood had been an unavoidable act of God. The brewery continued production until 1921. Today, the nearby pub, the Holborn Whippet, brews ale each year to commemorate the London Beer Flood. 

Photo: www.altasobscura.com 

Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue

Today is Columbus Day, a day to honor the man who "discovered" the New World. Of course, when he landed he thought he was in India. It's not that he thought the world was flat--from the time of the Ancient Greeks mariners, including Columbus, knew the Earth was a sphere--he simply was under the impression that the planet was smaller than it is and he was unaware of the existence of the continents in the Western Hemisphere. 

Photo: mrnussbaum.com

In 1937, Columbus Day became a federal holiday in the US but it had been celebrated for much longer. Italian-Americans have viewed the day as a way to celebrate Italian heritage and the first time it was celebrated as a legal holiday it was because of the efforts by Angelo Noco in Denver, and it became a statewide holiday in Colorado by 1907. 

Photo: claynewsnetwork.com

Four states do not observe Columbus Day but have their own versions. Hawaii celebrates Discovery Day, which commemorates when the Polynesians came upon Hawaii but is not an official state holiday. South Dakota observes Native American Day instead, which is a state holiday.  

Photo: ocw.mit.edu

Human Resiliency

Despite the fact that if they were caught they would be executed, prisoners of the Nazi's Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp attempted a revolt in the camp on October 7, 1944. 

Photo: en.auschwitz.org

The revolt was planned and led by the Sonderkommando, prisoners who had the special job of disposing of bodies from the crematoriums. Since they knew how the camp worked, they were kept apart from the rest of the prisoners, eventually executed because they were witnesses and their bodies were removed by the next generation of Sonderkommando. The rebellion took place on the 7th because they had received word that they were to be killed that day.

Photo: collections.yadvashem.org

Female prisoners in the munitions factory at the camp aided the Sonderkommando by gathering gunpowder and smuggling it to the men. The men used the secret stash of gunpowder to fashion hand grenades that they planned to use it to blow up the crematoriums to begin the revolt, thereby severely damaging the operations of the death camp.

Photo: Hilary Grabowska

The revolt was begun in Crematorium 1, where a Nazi guard was  stuffed into the oven to be burned alive. Other crematoriums joined the revolt, with Crematorium 4 setting off the grenades and destroying themselves as well as the Crematorium for further use. Hundreds of others escaped.

Photo: sonderkommando.info
Image by David Olere, a former Sonderkommando and artist.

Despite the valiant effort, the Nazis took back control of the camp, captured the escapees and executed most of the participating Sonderkommando before torturing the others for information. The men gave up the names of the women who had smuggled them the gunpowder, resulting in the torture of the women until they were executed.

Photo: en.truthabout.camps.eu


The Sonderkommando were always destined to die, but in this case, the men of the crematoriums had the chance to make their deaths an inspiration to others. Though they were unsuccessful, the day of their revolt is remembered and commemorated and perhaps their actions helped some prisoners to hang onto life just a little bit longer because only three months later, January 26, 1945, the camp was liberated.

Photo: collections.yadvashem.org

Washington Crossing the Delaware

Washington Crossing the Delaware is a world famous painting by Emanuel Leutze, completed in 1851. It has been criticized because it is not 100% historically accurate; however, it was painted 75 years after the event took place, and according to a descendent of Leutze, it was an allegorical painting and an inspiration for the German Revolution. 

Photo: Hilary Grabowska

Emanuel Leutze was a German American who developed his artistic talent at the age of 14 when his father died. He sold paintings to support himself, but then in 1840, his talent was discovered and he attended Kunstakademie Düsseldorf to study art. 

Photo: artcyclopedia.com

While in Europe Leutze became a supporter of the Revolutions of 1848 and decided to craft a painting that would inspire his German countrymen. His idea was to use the American Revolution as an example, and he painted the scene of Washington and his troops crossing the Delaware River on December 25-26, 1776 in a surprise attack on the Hessian troops in Trenton. 

Photo: Hilary Grabowska

The original painting was completed in 1850 but a fire in his studio damaged it. Leutze painted a second, full-size copy and sent it to America where it changed ownership several times before being donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The first version was restored but during World War II it was destroyed in a bombing raid by the British Royal Air force. The running joke is that this was England's last retaliation for the the American Revolution.  

Photo: ww2db.com

A descendent of Leutze has argued that most of the historical inaccuracies were due to Leutze's effort to inspire the Germans: the boat is too small but it symbolizes the struggle by the Americans; Washington would not have been able to stand up, but his defiant stance symbolizes the hope of the Americans; and Leutze painted the crossing in the daytime when it took place at night, but a night painting would be difficult to achieve and ineffective in its aims. The major inaccuracy, which was accidental, was that Leutze painted the wrong flag, the Stars and Stripes, which did not exist at the time of Washington's crossing.

Photo: georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu
Grand Union Flag, the correct flag of the time of the crossing.

Thanks to Bill and Will Howard for their information on the painting. Both are descendents of Leutze. 

"With me poetry has not been a purpose, but a passion."

October 3, 1849, Edgar Allan Poe was seen in public for the last time before he died on October 7th. He was found wandering the streets of Baltimore in someone else's clothing and very delirious. It was unclear as to how he got there or why he was incoherant and he was never cognizant enough to talk before he died. 

Photo: poets.org
Born in 1809 in Boston to two actors, Poe was orphaned at an early age and was taken in by John Allan of Richmond, Virginia. Due to issues with money, Poe left the University of Virginia and enlisted in the US Army but failed as an officer at West Point. At this point, Poe turned to writing. 

Photo: eapoe.org, 
Cover page of a proposed literary journal that Poe planned to publish but never did.

When Poe attempted to make a living on writing alone, he was one of the few Americans to do so. At the time, there were no international copyright laws and publishers in America were more likely to pirate British pieces than to pay American authors. He was also hampered by the Panic of 1837, a financial crisis during which many periodicals failed and writers like Poe were not paid.

Photo: columbia.edu

In 1845, "The Raven" was published in The Evening Mirror and vaulted Poe to being a household name practically overnight. However, he was paid only nine dollars for the poem so his financial troubles continued.  When he was found wandering the streets of Baltimore, his wife had died and he had turned to drinking. The cause of death that was reported in the newspapers was "congestion of the brain," which meant he was an alcoholic. However, all medical records have disappeared. 

Photo: paulelder.org

To add further mystery to the man, for many years, starting in 1949, on January 19, Poe's birthday, an unknown visitor known as "Poe's Toaster" would place three roses on Poe's grave and toast him with cognac. The last appearance of Poe's Toaster was in 2009, the bicentennial of Poe's birth.

Photo: baltimoresun.com

Give Me Your Tired...

The Statue of Liberty is one of the most well-known images around the world. Ever since 1886, her light has welcomed immigrants to America, a country born from the revolution of English colonists aided by the French. Lady Liberty was a gift to the American people by the French, who themselves had a revolution after the American Revolution. 

Photo: Hilary Grabowska

The story goes that French law professor Édouard René de Laboulaye stated in 1865 that if there were to be a memorial in America for independence, it would have to be a united effort between the two nations. Whether he said this or not, it was indeed a united effort. 

Photo: www.nps.gov

Frédéric Aguste Bartholdi designed the Statue of Liberty in the neoclassical style after the Roman goddess of freedom, Libertas, and it very much resembles descriptions of the lost Colossus of Rhodes. In 1871, Bartholdi visited America and selected an island in the Hudson called Bedloe's as the future location.

Photo: Hilary Grabowska

The French financed, designed and built the statue while the Americans provided the location and built the pedestal, and on October 28, 1886, the statue was dedicated by President Cleveland. At the time, the statue was meant to pay tribute to democracy and independence, not to immigrants. It was the immigrants themselves who made Lady Liberty a universal symbol, and then in 1903 The New Colossus poem by Emma Lazarus was dedicated, cementing the image of Lady Liberty as the beacon for newly arrived immigrants. 

Photo: www.uh.edu

The Statue of Liberty, along with Ellis Island, is a National Park and has been since the 1930s. Visitors take a boat out to see her and when they depart Liberty Island for Ellis Island, visitors witness what the immigrants who came through Ellis Island witnessed: Lady Liberty shining through the darkness, welcoming them home to a land of opportunity. 

Photo: Hilary Grabowska

Invasion!

In 1066, Edward the Confessor, King of England, died and left behind a succession question. His heir was just a boy at the time and could not be king. A powerful earl, Harold Godwinson, claimed the throne, despite having no royal ties. And a Viking lord believed he had a claim, as did William of Normandy, Edward's cousin. The stage was set for a succession battle.

Photo: Edward the Confessor, englishmonarchs.co.uk

On September 27, 1066, William of Normandy set sail for England. All interested parties were preparing for a battle.

Photo: http://paulinespiratesandprivateers.blogspot.com/2011/09/seafaring-sunday-conqueror-sets-sail.html?m=1

By the time William arrived in England, Harold had defeated the Viking lord as well as his own brother. The question of succession would be decided on October 14 in the Battle of Hastings.

Photo: britishbattles.com

The battle was fought between infantrymen on the English side and cavalry and archers on the Norman side. Despite the clear advantage, the Normans were not victorious until the end of the day. The battle ended with the death of Harold. His death allowed William the Conquerer to be crowned king of England on Christmas Day.

Photo: mytimemachine.co.uk