October 14

It is undisputed that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. However, the same does not hold true for Los Alamos, Nevada. As part of the United States’ efforts to maintain their nuclear dominance over everybody, though especially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, quaintly known as the Russkies, beginning on the 14th in 1958 the United States began conducting underground tests of nuclear weapons. Tests of nuclear weapons had become quite common by this point. What made this particular test unique, and almost healthy according to the literature, was that it was an underground test whereas most of the others had been aboveground. I wonder if the soldiers trucked in to witness this test took any comfort from the fact that the bomb was detonated underground. While the poor SOBs watching the test missed a chance to see the fabulous, not to mention colorful, mushroom clouds over the stark Nevada landscape. They did however get to see first hand the affects of exposure to nuclear fallout. Not right away of course, some of them didn’t get sick and die until decades later.

October 13

Today is Friday the 13th. Popular culture has attached to any Friday the 13th a reputation for being quite unlucky. Do I buy that? Maybe yes, maybe no. It’s hard for me to say whether it is any more unlucky than any other Friday. Friday the 13ths are slightly more common than, say, Friday the 12ths. However, being ‘common’ isn’t necessarily unlucky is it? It’s boring perhaps but not particularly unlucky. In 1307, October 13th fell on a Friday and for the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, popularly referred to as the Knights Templar; it was a particularly unlucky day. In France, King Philip IV ordered that all Knights Templar be arrested. Once in custody the Knights, after some rather brutal questioning, admitted their heresy and were burned at the stake. That rather makes you question just how King Philip acquired the nickname “Philip the Fair.”

October 12

Suppose that you are Nikita Khrushchev and you are trying the fill the shoes of Josef Stalin, your immediate predecessor. Stalin is a hard act to follow, what with the mass murders, ethnic cleansing, and all the other stuff, yada, yada, yada. On the 12th in 1960, Khrushchev, newly enthroned leader of the Soviet Union was invited to address the world at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. The nominal purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Philippine assertion that the Soviet Union was really just the running dog lackey of the bourgeoisie and was pursuing a colonialist policy in Eastern Europe. Displaying all the grace and politesse expected of the leader of a country capable of incinerating the planet, Khrushchev made his point by taking off a shoe and pounding the lectern from which he addressed the world.

October 11

It’s all very funny until someone puts an eye out, and then it’s hilarious.
I have absolutely no idea how that ties in with October 11 but what the heck. It is funny. In addition, speaking of funny were you aware that on the 11th in 1919, Jean Vander Pyl, was born. You may well ask who the heck is that? Miss Pyl was the voice of not only Wilma but also of Pebbles Flintstone in that smash hit The Flintstones. Additionally, as if that alone wasn’t enough reason to carve her face on Mount Rushmore, she was also the voice of Rosie the Robot Maid in The Jetsons.

October 10

It seemed like a good idea at the time.
It In 1968 Robert McCullough, founder of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, bought the London Bridge. It would be more accurate to say that he bought a bridge that happened to be in London, England. It was not the structure that is generally featured in brochures and post cards, that one is named Tower Bridge, but one that was located conveniently nearby. This bridge had been built in 1831 and by the late 60s, it was no longer capable of handling the flow of traffic that crossed over it. McCullough had the bridge dismantled, carefully numbering each piece as it came down and then had all this stuff shipped to Lake Havasu to be the centerpiece of a development he was building. An artificial lake was built and the bridge reassembled. On October 10, 1971, the mandatory ribbon cutting ceremony was held and the London Bridge Resort and Convention Center was officially opened to the public. Things have not gone quite the way McCullough planned and the site has been in continual decline ever since opening.

October 9

The Vajont Dam, located north of Venice, Italy, is 860 feet tall and 86 feet wide. It is one of the largest dams in the world. It had been built to provide Italy with hydroelectric power. In early November of 1960, a minor landslide poured a bit of rock and soil in to the reservoir. No big deal really, less than a million cubic meters was involved. Hey, these people are professional engineers and civil servants do you really think they wouldn’t notice if it was important? It was decided that if the reservoir was emptied and refilled a couple of times everything would be just hunky dory. On the third emptying and refilling of the dam, on the 9th in 1963, all of sudden an estimated 260 million cubic meters of bits of forest, a bunch of dirt and a heck of a lot of rocks decided to go for a refreshing swim. The wave caused by the mountain doing a belly flop in to the reservoir behind the Vajont Dam was 750 feet taller than the dam and traveled at 68 miles per hour. Records are unclear but it seems that the chief engineer on the project pretty much summed the event up by yelling, “Holy S***, look at that sucker go.” To the pleasant surprise of the insurance companies, only the top three feet of the dam was damaged, and the Vajont still stands today, though very little electricity is produced by it.