History Thread...

[CMRivdogs]

July 31

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/july-31

Quote

On the morning of July 31, 1975, James Riddle Hoffa, one of the most influential American labor leaders of the 20th century, is officially reported missing after he failed to return home the previous night. Though he is popularly believed to have been the victim of a Mafia hit, conclusive evidence was never found and Hoffa’s fate remains a mystery.

Quote

On July 31, 1777, a 19-year-old French aristocrat, Marie-Joseph Paul Roch Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, accepts a commission as a major-general in the Continental Army—without pay.

During his service as the Continental Congress’ secret envoy to France, Silas Deane had, on December 7, 1776, struck an agreement with French military expert, Baron Johann DeKalb, and his protege, the Marquis de Lafayette, to offer their military knowledge and experience to the American cause. However, Deane was replaced with Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee, who were unenthused by the proposal. Meanwhile, King Louis XVI feared angering Britain and prohibited Lafayette’s departure. The British ambassador to the French court at Versailles demanded the seizure of Lafayette’s ship, which resulted in Lafayette’s arrest. Lafayette, though, managed to escape, set sail and elude two British ships dispatched to recapture him.

Following his safe arrival in South Carolina, Lafayette traveled to Philadelphia, expecting to be made General George Washington’s second-in-command. Although Lafayette’s youth made Congress reluctant to promote him over more experienced colonial officers, the young Frenchman’s willingness to volunteer his services without pay won their respect and Lafayette was commissioned as a major-general.

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On July 31, 1941, Hermann Göring, writing under instructions from Hitler, ordered Reinhard Heydrich, SS general and Heinrich Himmler’s number-two man, “to submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question.”

Goering recounted briefly the outline for that “final solution” that had been drawn up on January 24, 1939: “emigration and evacuation in the best possible way.” This program of what would become mass, systematic extermination was to encompass “all the territories of Europe under German occupation.”

 

[oblong]

My wife and mother in law were in the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox that day.  Her parents were divorced and that was the exchange point when she'd visit her dad.  He lived in Pontiac and she was in Dearborn.  

[Dan Gilmore]

Quote

On July 31, 1777, a 19-year-old French aristocrat, Marie-Joseph Paul Roch Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, accepts a commission as a major-general in the Continental Army—without pay.

During his service as the Continental Congress’ secret envoy to France, Silas Deane had, on December 7, 1776, struck an agreement with French military expert, Baron Johann DeKalb, and his protege, the Marquis de Lafayette, to offer their military knowledge and experience to the American cause. However, Deane was replaced with Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee, who were unenthused by the proposal. Meanwhile, King Louis XVI feared angering Britain and prohibited Lafayette’s departure. The British ambassador to the French court at Versailles demanded the seizure of Lafayette’s ship, which resulted in Lafayette’s arrest. Lafayette, though, managed to escape, set sail and elude two British ships dispatched to recapture him.

Following his safe arrival in South Carolina, Lafayette traveled to Philadelphia, expecting to be made General George Washington’s second-in-command. Although Lafayette’s youth made Congress reluctant to promote him over more experienced colonial officers, the young Frenchman’s willingness to volunteer his services without pay won their respect and Lafayette was commissioned as a major-general.

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This seems to have the makings of a great movie.

 

[CMRivdogs]

53 minutes ago, Dan Gilmore said:

 

Quote

On July 31, 1777, a 19-year-old French aristocrat, Marie-Joseph Paul Roch Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, accepts a commission as a major-general in the Continental Army—without pay.

During his service as the Continental Congress’ secret envoy to France, Silas Deane had, on December 7, 1776, struck an agreement with French military expert, Baron Johann DeKalb, and his protege, the Marquis de Lafayette, to offer their military knowledge and experience to the American cause. However, Deane was replaced with Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee, who were unenthused by the proposal. Meanwhile, King Louis XVI feared angering Britain and prohibited Lafayette’s departure. The British ambassador to the French court at Versailles demanded the seizure of Lafayette’s ship, which resulted in Lafayette’s arrest. Lafayette, though, managed to escape, set sail and elude two British ships dispatched to recapture him.

Following his safe arrival in South Carolina, Lafayette traveled to Philadelphia, expecting to be made General George Washington’s second-in-command. Although Lafayette’s youth made Congress reluctant to promote him over more experienced colonial officers, the young Frenchman’s willingness to volunteer his services without pay won their respect and Lafayette was commissioned as a major-general.

——-

This seems to have the makings of a great movie.

 

Lafayette has a great story. There seem to be several rein-actors touring or wrapping up tours in honor of his visit to the US in 1824 at the invitation of Pres Monroe.  

edited

I think a lot has to do with his role in the Hamilton story, or at least the musical version.

Edited Thursday at 07:55 PM by CMRivdogs

[Dan Gilmore]

I was particularly thinking of a depiction of the British attempt to capture him and he escapes, by sea, to end up in America. The story of before he got here adds a lot IMO.

[CMRivdogs]

26 minutes ago, Dan Gilmore said:

I was particularly thinking of a depiction of the British attempt to capture him and he escapes, by sea, to end up in America. The story of before he got here adds a lot IMO.

On his own ship. In fact he defied his father. 
Once he got to America and told the Continental Congress he'd work for free. The fact that he survived the Battle of Brandywine is also interesting.

My favorite is his relationship with a Virginia slave prior to Yorktown. One named James, who was owned by a fellow named Armistead. Lafayette used him as a spy on the British.

[CMRivdogs]

This isn’t the NFL’s first foray into New York—in 1921 there had been a team called Brickley’s Giants, but it folded after just two games. The owner of that team has been approached about renewing his franchise; he isn’t interested but suggests his friend Mara be owner. 
Three other teams are also launched today: the Detroit Panthers, Providence Steam Rollers and Pottsville (Pa.) Maroons. Only the Giants survive as a franchise, although Providence will win the NFL championship in 1928. 

 

 

 

[CMRivdogs]

The bill includes board and lodging for Adams (30s/week) and his servants (15s/week), and Adams’s portion of the candles (4s/week) and liquor (£13 10s over the entire period, around a third of his total cost) he and his fellow boarders have consumed.