October 21

On the 21st in 1854, Florence Nightingale left England with 38 of her nurses and traveled to Turkey to perform life-saving service in the Crimean War. In addition to being a nurse who exhibited extraordinary dedication to the field of nursing, she was also a brilliant statistician. One of her reports, which would have far-reaching influence, was one that proved that in patients in London hospitals died at a rate of 90% while those patients that did not go to a hospital died at a rate of 60%. She also started the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, which is still in operation today.

Nightingale was also an ardent feminist. Between 1850 and 1851, she wrote Suggestions for Thought to Searchers after Religious Truth a seminal work on women’s rights.

October 20

When the American forces were forced to leave the Philippines during World War II, Douglas MacArthur[i] had promised the people of that nation that he would return. On the 20th in 1944, MacArthur fulfilled that promise by returning to Leyte Island. I don’t mean to disparage MacArthur’s memory but I wonder whether his promise to return was based on any reason other than his duty as a Five Star General. In July of 1941, President Truman had recalled MacArthur to active duty. Truman made MacArthur Allied Commander in the Philippines. Do you think that MacArthur spent his days just been sitting around waiting for Truman to call. No! He had another job already. The Philippines’ President Manuel L. Quezon[ii] had made him Field Marshal of the Philippine Army. Nevertheless, MacArthur took Truman’s job. When MacArthur had to pull out of the Philippines, he was in a bit of a rush. I mean, think about it. The entire Japanese army, navy and air force were heading for the Philippines and he had to get out of there fast. Perhaps there were one or two things that MacArthur had forgotten to take with him. You know: his stapler, some yellow legal pads, a couple of boxes of pens, rubber bands, paper clips, a couple of highlighters, stuff like that. MacArthur would soon be out of a job again and he was going to need some office supplies.

[i] Douglas MacArthur and his father Arthur were the first father and son team to both win Congressional Medals of Honor. The second team to win the medal was Theodore Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. who were awarded the medals posthumously in 2001 for their service in the Spanish-American War.
[ii] To get an idea of Quezon’s approach to his government service, consider this quote from a speech he gave "I prefer a country run like hell by Filipinos to a country run like heaven by Americans. Because, however bad a Filipino government might be, we can always change it."

October 19

John Jay was sworn in as the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on the 19th in 1789. His name has come down to us as the name of one of the brightest of the bright lights of the Founding Fathers. Columbia University has a very selective undergraduate merit scholarship, the winners of which are referred to as John Jay Scholars. Yes, time has been very kind to John Jay. Not long after he was sworn in as Chief Justice, a graffito appeared near his home, which read "Damn John Jay. Damn everyone that won't damn John Jay. Damn everyone that won't put up the lights in the windows and sit up all nights damning John Jay."

October 18

On the 18th in 1851, publisher Richard Bentley published a new book by Herman Melville. Titled The Whale it was a three volume expurgated edition of Melville’s massive work. The following November 14, it would be published in New York by Harper and Brothers in one volume entitled Moby-Dick, or The Whale.

Bentley’s grandson would mention in a book about Bentley that he had a fondness for wine, “preferring port to claret which he said would be port if it could ".

October 17

I guess someonstellations are just more popular that others are. I don't know why it should be, the Ophiuchus constellation seens to be very popular in October. On the 17th in 1604, Johannes Kepler, big shot astronomer, observed what has come to be referred as Kepler's Star in the Opiuchus constellation. While it wasn't a star that he saw, it used to be one. It was the last supernova to be observed in our comfy litttle galaxy the Milky Way.

October 16

Wilhelm Voight was born in Tilsit, Germany on February 13, 1849. He was first arrested when he was only 14 years old and ironically spent 14 days in prison after being convicted of theft. This set a pattern for the rest of his life. The years 1864 through 1891 saw Voight more or less continuously in prison. He had a brief period of freedom until he was was again sentenced to prison for theft. He would be released on February 12, 1906 after serving this sentence. Thoroughly chastened, Voight managed for a time to give up his felonious lifestyle. Fully rested and ready to get back to work, on October 16, 1906 Voight put together a mismatached military uniform with items from several second hand stores. He had by this time become quite familiar with military and police procedures and attitudes and so it was with great confidence that heappeared unannounced at a military barracks in the town of Kopenick, which is east of Berlin. Walking confidently up to a local army barracks, Voight approached a group of four soldiers and a sargeant who were on their way back to the barracks. Voight ordered the soldiers to get their rifles and follow him. He then ordered a sargeant to get six more soldiers from a firing range and bring them back to him. Once properly assembled, Voight and his newly formed platoon marched to CIty Hall. After ordering the soldiers to stand guard at the entrance and all of the exits, Voight entered the building, placed the Town's Secretary and Mayor under arrest and confisicated 4000 marks. Once back at the entrance, VOight ordered the soldiers to not let anyone enter or leave the building and to remain at their posts for half an hour. Voight then calmly walked to the train station, changed in to civilian clothese, boarded a train and made it safely away from the scene of the crime.

October 15

The next time the weatherman tells you that the barometer is dropping, you should remember to take your umbrella and get ready for a storm. On the other hand, if that same weatherman, weatherwoman, meteorologist, or any of the host of other weather professionals with some silly title tells you that the baromoter is rising so get ready to hit the beach, say a word of thanks to Evangelista Torricelli who invented the barometer. He was born on the 15th in 1608.

October 14

On the 14th in 1947, United States Air Force pilot Chuck Yeager, at the controls of a Bell Aircraft Corp. X-1 jet, broke the sound barrier in level flight, becoming the first person to do so. After World War 2, when Yeager was asked if he had seen the new jet airplanes entering the scene he responded by saying, "The first time I ever saw a jet, I shot it down."

I don’t mean to downplay the significance of what Yeager did, but he had a bit of an edge in breaking that barrier because he had been given a highly sophisticated, experimental aircraft to play around with when he accomplished that feat. Several years later, fellow pilot and friend Joseph Kittinger also broke the speed of sound and he didn’t need anything nearly as fancy a plane. He did it on August 16, 1960, by simply jumping out of a balloon at the ridiculous altitude of 102,800 feet, which is sort of cheating isn’t it?