On this day in history, December 2, 1823,   The Monroe Doctrine was declared and “forbade European interference in the American hemisphere but also asserted U.S. neutrality in regard to future European conflicts”.  However also on this day..like right this instant while you are currently reading these sentences…I wrote my- this, last passion blog about days in history past that we may have forgotten about or never known about.  It’s been a knowledgeable and broadening semester blogging about past events.  I’ve found it extremely interesting, and amusing as I got to blog about what I like to learn about and also what I find enjoyable.  It has allowed me to discover who else shares similar interests, likes, and dislikes as me, as well as who shares similar opinions, and has sparked numerous conversations.

Thank you to anyone and everyone who has loyally or sparingly been following my blogs posts, and getting as much enjoyment out of them as I have.  I’ve appreciated each and every comment and encourage you to continue doing so.  Perhaps one day I will blog again, and you will come across it…

Until then I bid you adieu.

Since I probably won’t get the opportunity to wish you so later in the month…Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Monroe Doctrine

On November 17, 1989 Walt Disney Pictures’ wide release of The Little Mermaid happened. THEN…. every little girls’ dreams were of swimming under the sea, with fish friends, and having her own long beautiful tail, and gorgeous flowing hair-at least mine were, anyways.  Ariel had become a part of our world!  The Little Mermaid was the twenty-eighth animated feature of Disney’s animated feature collection.  It was based off “The Little Mermaid”, short-story by Hans Christian Andersen, and grossed over $111 million in the U.S..  Plus, $99 million worldwide!

About a teenage princess with dreams as big as the ocean she lives in, Ariel’s father, King Trident, doesn’t want his youngest daughter growing up so fast.  Ariel comes across the evil sea witch, Ursula, who trades her for her voice, and in return gives her legs so that she can walk on land and meet Prince Eric, whom she had fallen in love with (and saved after a horrible shipwreck).  But the Prince does not recognize Ariel without her voice (he remembers the song she was singing after she rescued him).  Ursula then disguises herself as a beautiful human and tricks Prince Eric into marrying her instead of Ariel. …eventually all is revealed, BUT you will have to go watch the film (if you haven’t already) to find out the rest of the story!

November 10, 1969, the famous children show that everybody loves, Sesame Street, debut!  It’s memorable theme song, and lessons to teach generations and generations of children the alphabet and how to count still live on today!  It has become “the most widely viewed children’s program in the world”, spanning 120 countries!  since its debut, over 74 million Americans alone, have watched Sesame Street, and approximately 8 million Americans tune in to the show each week.  Producer, Joan Ganz Cooney, had two goals in mind when creating this renown program: 1) A program for preschoolers that was entertaining and at the same time educational. 2) A television show that would still educate the underprivileged  three to five year olds prepare for kindergarten.  Cooney’s setting was “in a fictional New York neighborhood and included ethnically diverse characters and positive social messages”.  So Sesame Street, proved to be academically educational, as well as socially enlightening, as it exposed young children to the differences of race, ethnicities, languages, acceptance, and kindness.

The most loved aspects of the show are the “family of puppets known as Muppets”.  Muppets were famous puppet characters created by the very talented puppeteer, Jim Henson.  Muppet characters included: Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Grover, and Big Bird.  Plus, Elmo, who was an unplanned and spontaneous character that developed after just being an extra puppet lying around.  The show often features segments with puppets, animation, and live actors- frequently in the same scene.

An excellent aspect of Sesame Street is how it has evolved with the times.  Producers will add segments and characters depending on popular occurrences, new norms, or an evolved ideal throughout society (depending on countries) to teach and relate these lessons and events to the younger generation.  In turn, this allows them to gain better understanding of the world they live in, their society and culture that surrounds them, and themselves.

For more info about the history of Sesame Street check out this site!

Election day is the day set by law for the public’s elections of their officials.  It always occurs on the Tuesday right after the first Monday in November; as early as November 2, but no later than November 8.  For federal office positions, Election Day occurs only in even numbered years.  Presidential elections are every four years, House of Representative and Senate elections are held every two years.  Election Day is considered a civic holiday in nine states, so most students have off from school and parents are off from work.  Other states require workers be allowed to take time off without loss of pay (assuming they are using that time to vote).

On November 4, 2008 Barack Hussein Obama was elected as the 44th President of the United States of America; a milestone in American politics, as it broke down the racial barrier.  “As much [of] a strikingly symbolic moment in the evolution of the nation’s fraught racial history, a breakthrough that would have seemed unthinkable just two years ago” was made possible.  Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, defeated Senator John McCain of Arizona, running for presidency a second time.  McCain commented, “We both realize that we have come a long way from the injustices that once stained our nation’s reputation”.  Obama’s victory put democrats in control of the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House “for the first time since 1995, when Bill Clinton was in office”.

A candidate needs 270 votes to win.  Obama won with 365 votes  (66,882,230; 53%) compared to McCain’s 173 (58,343,671; 46%) in 2008.  Then in 2012 Obama was reelected for a second term with 332 electoral votes (65,55,010; 51%) over Romney’s 206 electoral votes (60,771,703; 47%).  Electing  Obama as president represented the nation’s cumulative acceptance of African Americans.  It only took 143 years since slavery.

Credit to Adam Nagourney’s article, Obama Elected President as Racial Barrier Falls, from the New York Times.

Ironically, on October 31, 1926 The Great Harry Houdini died of peritonitis in a Detroit hospital.  He was “the most celebrated magician and escape artist of the 20th century” .  Born the son of a rabbi, in Budapest in 1874 as Erik Weisz, he immigrated to Wisconsin when he was still young.  He had a natural talent as an acrobat, and was excellent at picking locks.  At nine years old this prodigy of the abnormal toured the country as part of a circus, and became an infamous contortionist and trapeze performer.  Eventually Houdini became a master of escape acts, as he could escape out of literally ANYTHING (except death).  Unlike almost all showman of his time that relied on allusions and tricks, Houdini relied on his strength, dexterity, and great concentration to execute a performance. In 1900 he went on his first international tour throughout Europe.  By 1908 he was taking his skills to an entirely other level; life or death.  Some of his most well known escapes include him being buried alive six feet under, being “bound and then locked in an ironbound chest that was dropped into a water tank or thrown off a boat. In another, he was heavily bound and then suspended upside down in a glass-walled water tank”.

Later in life Harry Houdini dedicated his life and talents to advocating against those who claimed to have supernatural talents, but were really just little tricks.  Before he died, Harry had made a pact with his wife and friends that whomever died first would attempt to communicate with the real world from the other side (he was a big believer in spiritualism).  Unfortunately, Harry never received a sign from his deceased friends, and his wife never received one from him before she died in 1943.

Harry Houdini died at the age of 52, after bragging to a group of college students about how strong his stomach muscles were and their capability to take hard blows.  Unsuspectingly, one of the students decided to test it out, and punched him twice in the stomach before he could prepare.  The punches ruptured his appendix, and Houdini became extremely ill on his train to Detroit, where he performed one last time before his appendix poisoned him to no avail.

The irony of his death is evident in two instances.  First, the most famous, and darkest magician of all died on Halloween night.  Second, it was the 13th day since he had became a punching bag for some Montreal college student. (Gotta love lucky number 13).  Even though he was in extreme pain, Houdini’s show still went on!

Quotes and info taken from this link!

On October 22, 1934 Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd was shot and killed by FBI agents in a cornfield in East Liverpool, Ohio.  After giving up on trying to farm in a drought, Floyd left Oklahoma and became a bank robber.  His first conquest was a St.Louis payroll delivery in Missouri, where he spent time in prison until he got out on parole in 1929.  Shortly after, Floyd learned that Jim Mills had shot his father to death and was never charged- Mills was never heard from again.

Moving on to a bigger game, in Kansas City, Floyd became friendly with the criminal community.  There, a local prostitute nicknamed him, “Pretty Boy”, and with a few prison friends he robbed a handful of banks in Missouri and Ohio.  But this pretty boy got caught for that one too, as he was sentenced to 12-15 years.  However he never did pay his time for the crime.  On the way, he kicked out a window and jumped out of a speeding train.  Eventually he made it to Toledo and met up with Bill “The Killer” Miller and went on a nation wide crime spree until Miller was killed in a crossfire in 1931.

Floyd went back to Kansas City and became a nationally known criminal figure, after he killed a federal agent during a raid.  He fled to his home state of Oklahoma, where everyone was poor and suffering from the Great Depression.  Naturally, no one was going to turn in a fellow native for robbing banks.  After all they all needed money too.  Charles Floyd became a form of Robin Hood in the eyes of many natives to Oklahoma.  At least, most natives.  The governor of Oklahoma issued a $6,000 bounty for Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd dead or alive.

June 17, 1933 the urgency to capture Floyd grew, as authorities grew even more impatient, after law officials were ambushed by a machine-gun attack in a Kansas City train station while transporting, Frank Nash, to prison.  Whether Floyd was responsible or not was unclear, but either way the FBI and news media blamed him.  As a result, surveillance was stepped up and the fugitive was finally caught on October 22, 1934.

All of my info was taken from this site.

Check out this site for more info from the FBI on Pretty Boy’s Kansas City Massacre: Famous Cases & Criminals

On October 13, 1792 the cornerstone for a presidential residence was laid in the new capital city of Washington, D.C., by President George Washington.  French architect, Charles L’Enfant, designed the city’s unique layout; comprised of dozens of circles, avenues that crisscross, and many parks.  Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and with the guidance and expertise of, James Hoban, an Irish American architect, work began on what would become known as the White House.

On November 1, President John Adams and wife, Abigail, were the first to move into the executive mansion.  During the War of 1812 the White House was set on fire with the rest of the capital by British soldiers.  It was rebuilt and enlarged by Hoban with an addition of east and west terraces, and north and south porticos.  This 1814 fire, resulted in the White House’s name, as the smoke-stained walls were painted white.

The White House is the oldest federal building in our nation’s capital, and attracts over a million tourists a year.

Info found at: White House Cornerstone Laid

On October 8, 1871 around 9:00PM a fire started in the barn of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary, at 13 DeKoven Street, Chicago, Illinois. This barn fire practically ignited the  city for 2 days, killing 200-300 people, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without a home,and destroying more than half the buildings in the city (17,450); Wooden homes, private mansions, and industrial buildings were all set ablaze. This Great Chicago fire caused $200 million dollars in damages, leveling 4 miles of the infamous Windy City.

However fires were not unusual in this dry city.  In fact, the  previous year Chicago averaged 2 fires per day, and the week before there were 20 fires throughout Chicago.  It wouldn’t be too long before this Windy City was alive again.  After all the physical layout of the city remained intact and so did the city’s sewage, water, and transportation systems.  Shortly after, Chicago began to prosper.  The population rapidly grew from 324,000 Chicagoans in 1871, to 500,000 by 1880, and 13 years after that there was approximately 1.5 million citizens of Chicago.  The city was reconstructed into the most modern city of its time, including the privilege of being home to the world’s first skyscrapers! 

Although the great Chicago fire was absolutely devastating to all those who called Chicago home, it would never have modernized into the city it is today without this accident occurring.  And with that said, nothing so devastating has happened thus far, since then.  So lets cross our fingers and hope for the best!

Check out this article where I got most of my info from: This Day In History: Chicago Fire

Also check out this neat website for more info and cool photos from the day and aftermath: The Chicago Fire

September 30, 2007, Green Bay Packer quarterback, Brett Favre, surpassed retired, Dan Marino’s, record for career touchdown passes.  In the first quarter  Favre threw a  TD pass to Greg Jennings for his record breaking 421st  career touchdown pass!  Later in the fourth quarter #4 threw another TD pass to set the standards even higher at 422. Those two touchdown passes aided in Green Bay’s venture for victory over the Minnesota Vikings, 23-16.  Getting that ‘dub’ (W) made the overall team’s record 4-0 for the season; their best starting record since 1998!

Also at this game, Favre raised his record to 241 for consecutive starts of a quarterback.  Then in the second quarter he broke Marino’s record for career passes, with number 8,359.  Two weeks earlier #4 broke the record for career victories by a quarterback, against the N.Y. Giants.  2007 turned out to be a record breaking year for the #4 Packer.

Most of Brett Favre’s NFL records have been surpassed by fellow athletes.  Today, he currently holds the record for most touch down passes of all time at 508.; Peyton Manning is second on the list at 499 and current Green Bay quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, isn’t far behind at number nine.

Although Favre’s record breaking game took place only 7 years ago, as a die-hard Cheesehead (yes, I own one) and Favre fan, I simply could not resist to blog about this ordeal…GO PACK GO!

To read more about this article click on this link, Favre Surpasses Marino

Check out some more Brett Favre statistics, too!

September 26, 1969, The Brady Bunch, season premiered on ABC- TV.  This 30 minute sitcom about a man with three sons marrying a woman with three daughters, quickly filled homes and families with joy and laughter.  Created by Sherwood Schwartz, The Brady Bunch, ran for 5 seasons with 117 episodes- all enticing its fans even more.  Although at the time of its television run the sitcom was never top-rated, ever since it’s last episode reruns have constantly been on the air.  There was even a spin-off of an animated cartoon, The Brady Kids, from 1972-1974 with 22 episodes, that the kids played the voices for.

The Brady Bunch did not end there.  After years of reruns, spinoffs were becoming popular.  There was the Brady Bunch Variety Hour, The Brady Bunch Hour, a movie The Brady Girls Get Married then a show The Brady Brides, and finally a holiday film, A Very Brady Christmas. 

This sitcom has become a favorite rerun of many families and young people today, and its 30th anniversary brought many documentaries and specials.  It is the only series to ever be shown on all three major networks.

The Brady phenomenon is far from a finish line.  Check out the first episode, “The Honeymoon” posted above.  For more Brady history check out this link.

Welcome to my blog, Once Upon a Day.  Here, I will blog about interesting events that have happened on that specific day in history.  The topic can vary from births, to deaths, and significant events.  Hopefully it will keep you interested, and you can gain some cool knowledge that you didn’t know before.

A short 33 years ago today (September 19, 1982), the first documented emoticons, 🙂 and 🙁 were posted on Carnegie Mellon University Bulletin Board system by Computer Science Professor Scott Fahlman.  These emoticons became a universal tool.  We have all used them to gain amusement at least once in our life time.  Before the birth of emotions, conflicts were the result of conversation over text, email, and online messaging.  I mean…we’ve all been there before.  A joke or something we typed was taken too seriously, and misunderstood completely out of context.  Our tone does not transition well when not communicating face-to-face or voice-to-voice.  Emoticons offered a solution to those unwanted conflicts.  They enable us to show one another exactly what we mean.  Emoticons reveal our mood, feelings, and tone without any difficulty.  It’s safe to say, emoticons spread like a wildfire across media.

Emoticons built the path for its Japanese relative, emojis.  One of the most popular inventions, that spread vastly- and faster.  These are now more commonly used via text, email, and online.  However not every software system supports specific emojis.  So,  emoticons are the immediate second resort.  Emoticons have a simple charm to them, that does not require any level of computer intelligence to figure it out!  If you aren’t very computer savvy (like myself), then these are a go to choice- especially if you love to use expressions when you text!

Check out this website if you would like to read more about it: In Praise of Emoticons 🙂

P.S. A big THANK YOU goes out to Scott Fahlman for revolutionizing the number one choice for how we communicate. 🙂