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Forgotten History

Eighty-six years ago today - 23rd May 1934 - outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow died in a storm of police bullets in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

1414px-Bonnieclyde_f.jpg


The duo and their gang having already murdered 9 police officers, the lawmen who set up the ambush were not disposed to allow them the chance to use their arsenal of weapons to return fire.

maximus otter
I came across this unusual video and thought this was the best place for it - the video is age locked, but it talks about their death in extreme detail as well as their funerals:
 
In 1940 U-33 was attacked by HMS Gleaner and sunk in the Firth of Clyde, west of the Ayrshire coastal village of Maidens and south of Arran. As interesting as this is to me personally, since it took place not far from where I live, what is more significant is that rotors from the submarine's Enigma machine were captured.

https://www.pressreader.com/uk/ayrshire-post/20230104/281895892329208
 
In 1940 U-33 was attacked by HMS Gleaner and sunk in the Firth of Clyde, west of the Ayrshire coastal village of Maidens and south of Arran. As interesting as this is to me personally, since it took place not far from where I live, what is more significant is that rotors from the submarine's Enigma machine were captured.

https://www.pressreader.com/uk/ayrshire-post/20230104/281895892329208

is there anything on shore to mark this? Always looking for things to ride to :)
 
is there anything on shore to mark this? Always looking for things to ride to :)
I'm not sure there is. I didn't know about it until yesterday.

There is a plaque and memorial just down the coast at Lendalfoot for the Varyag, a former Imperial Russian cruiser which ran aground there in 1920.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_cruiser_Varyag_(1899)

Then of course there is probably the most famous sinking off the Ayrshire Coast - HMS Dasher in 1943. There is a memorial plaque at Ardossan seafront.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Dasher_(D37)
 
is there anything on shore to mark this? Always looking for things to ride to :)

lf your legs are sturdy enough to get you to Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, you can visit the captain’s grave:

Kapitänleutnant zur See Hans-Wilhelm von Dresky

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https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/84927333/hans-wilhelm-von_dresky

- Or, if you’re a strong swimmer:

“The wreck of the U-33 lies in 58 metres of water five miles south of Pladda in position 55° 21.483’N, 005° 01.683’W and rises 3-4 metres above the seabed. She is oriented 100°/180° with her bows pointing east towards the Ayrshire coast. The U-33 is sitting upright on the seabed, her hull is intact and her conning tower is the highest part of the wreck, her deck gun is still in place forward of the tower.”

https://www.scottishshipwrecks.com/u-33/

maximus otter
 
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lf your legs are sturdy enough to get you to Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, you can visit the captain’s grave:

Kapitänleutnant zur See Hans-Wilhelm von Dresky

84927333_1437132260.jpg


https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/84927333/hans-wilhelm-von_dresky

- Or if you’re a strong swimmer:

“The wreck of the U-33 lies in 58 metres of water five miles south of Pladda in position 55° 21.483’N, 005° 01.683’W and rises 3-4 metres above the seabed. She is oriented 100°/180° with her bows pointing east towards the Ayrshire coast. The U-33 is sitting upright on the seabed, her hull is intact and her conning tower is the highest part of the wreck, her deck gun is still in place forward of the tower.”

https://www.scottishshipwrecks.com/u-33/

maximus otter
Interesting that he's buried so far from his place of death. I'm sure there are German war graves in various cemeteries around Ayrshire. I know for definite there are in Dumfries. I saw them while waiting for a train after a particular bad defeat against Queen of the South.
 
Interesting that he's buried so far from his place of death. I'm sure there are German war graves in various cemeteries around Ayrshire. I know for definite there are in Dumfries. I saw them while waiting for a train after a particular bad defeat against Queen of the South.

“Of the U-33 crew, 17 survived, but 25 died. They were buried in a communal grave in Greenock cemetery, the coffins covered in a swastika flag. Later, in the 1960s, they were disinterred and taken to the newly created German War Cemetery in Cannock Chase and reburied.”

http://secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Secrets/U-33#U-33_sinking

maximus otter
 
Here in Filey, we're trying to ginger up some publicity and enthusiasm to celebrate 1779 - the Battle of Flamborough Head between Captain John Paul Jones, commanding the Bonhomme Richard, attacked a merchant convoy but he was engaged by it's escort Serapis (commanded by Captain Pearson) and The Countess of Scarborough (commanded by Captain Piercy).
The Bonhomme Richard took fatal damage but Jones - backed by the Alliance - managed to board the Serapis and accept it's captains surrender, taking the ship as a prize. It must be said that the mini-fleet commanded by Jones outgunned the escort ships but he had 'other issues' with his own ship commanders and it wasn't an easy fight.
The Bonhomme Richard sank sank off Flamborough ... and it's remains have only recently been located. Hence the hoo-ha!

This, ladles and germs, became one of the most celebrated naval actions of the war in America, despite its relatively small size and distance from the Continent.
Oh, and a local pub is named Bonhommes which causes visitors no end of confusion. :)
 
Diocrès is known for a miracle that took place at his funeral, which was depicted in several artistic works. The story goes that at his funeral Diocrès briefly returned to life, in order to swear to the assembly that God had judged and condemned his soul. One of his students, Bruno of Cologne, upon witnessing this miracle, decided to abandon civil life and become a monk, thus founding the Carthusian order.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Diocrès
 
How can a ritual, which has no impact on the actual business of state, cause a decline?
You might also argue that the content of television has declined since TV presenters weren't required to wear a dinner suit and bow tie.
Besides ... I dunno how it worked before 1998 but wouldn't that slow down any debate on a vote as the 'magic hat' had to be passed along to the questioner? Could it not be surrendered to prevent counter-arguement, as they do when speakers refuse to sit down? Seems like it should be called Jerry Mander's Hat.
 
I came across this unusual video and thought this was the best place for it - the video is age locked, but it talks about their death in extreme detail as well as their funerals:
What a strange and tragic story they were. In the true Greek sense, at least for her - she knew the inevitable end.

Some of her poetry here:

https://texashideout.tripod.com/poem.html

Tragic of course also for their victims and their victim's families.
 
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How can a ritual, which has no impact on the actual business of state, cause a decline?
You might also argue that the content of television has declined since TV presenters weren't required to wear a dinner suit and bow tie.
Besides ... I dunno how it worked before 1998 but wouldn't that slow down any debate on a vote as the 'magic hat' had to be passed along to the questioner? Could it not be surrendered to prevent counter-arguement, as they do when speakers refuse to sit down? Seems like it should be called Jerry Mander's Hat.
I think it was simply a method to stop everyone shouting out at once.
 
Did not fact check!
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I'm doing homework about polar explorers with my son, who has just described the revelation that Peter Freuchen (pictured, left) dug his way out of an ice cave with a chisel made out of his own frozen turd as "the best fact I have ever heard in my life."
 
Last week, the PLA put out a public tender to source "Wolf's fangs mace" from private companies.

Right image is what the weapon looks like, it's a very deadly and intimidating weapon.

Most people believe it's going to be used on the border with India.
20230203_184736.jpg
 
From this nice book:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show...d?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=QZraRmgruM&rank=1

Philip was especially concerned with the effects of Sixtus’s Italian Bible in the Spanish realm of Naples. Perhaps it would cause heretical movements to sprout like mushrooms.
Philip II instructed his ambassador to deliver the most vehement protests regarding the translation. When Count Olivares made known that he wanted to speak to Sixtus about his Italian Bible, the pope replied, “It is because of your ignoramuses who don’t understand Latin that I made this translation into Italian.”2
The ambassador then delivered a long harangue about the folly of such a translation and all the evils that would follow from people reading the Bible. Philip II, his court, and all the clerics of Spain were scandalized by the publication. He paused periodically, waiting for Sixtus to speak. But the pope didn’t say a word and just glared at him.
Finally Olivares said, “Your Holiness does not reply, and I cannot divine what you are thinking.”
“I was thinking of throwing you out of these windows,” the pope said, nodding to the long windows high above Saint Peter’s Square, “to teach you with what respect you must speak to the head of the Church.” The ambassador raced out of the audience chamber, down the marble stairs, out into Saint Peter’s Square, and into his waiting carriage. Once in his palace, he “threw himself on his bed and said that he had made a good escape.”3
 
From the same book. Highly recommended! :)

Plagued by doubts about Philip’s armada, Sixtus only agreed to pay the king a million scudi if it landed on English soil. The pope foresaw Spanish ineptness, countered by English courage and cleverness, though he couldn’t anticipate the violent storms that scattered the Spanish fleet when it appeared before the English coast in August.
The armada was a financial debacle for Philip, whose ambassador was soon pounding on the door of the papal audience chamber demanding the pope break open his Castel Sant’Angelo treasure chests to pay Philip the promised million scudi. The pope steadfastly refused, pointing out that the only Spaniards who had landed on English soil were drowned sailors washed ashore, and that didn’t count.
A monkey dressed as a Spanish naval officer had swum ashore, but the locals, who had never seen a Spaniard or a monkey, and couldn’t understand the monkey’s chattering, thought the dark hairy little person was a Spaniard and hanged him. That didn’t count either.
 
Not sure if this is long enough ago to really be 'forgotten' yet, but I'd not seen this before;

In the summer of 1975, tourists were greeted with this ominous brochure at the airport. It featured nine survival tips for navigating the city, including not taking the subway and not walking in any part of the city after 6 PM.

welcome-to-fear-city.jpg
 
Not sure if this is long enough ago to really be 'forgotten' yet, but I'd not seen this before;

In the summer of 1975, tourists were greeted with this ominous brochure at the airport. It featured nine survival tips for navigating the city, including not taking the subway and not walking in any part of the city after 6 PM.

View attachment 63190
Reminds me of that Monty Python spoof travel documentary Away From It All. "Why not take a buggy ride through Central Park. Because you'd get shot, mugged or raped before you got halfway across, that's why not".
 
Wow. Nice production by the tourist industry, eh?
Reminds me of that Monty Python spoof travel documentary Away From It All. "Why not take a buggy ride through Central Park. Because you'd get shot, mugged or raped before you got halfway across, that's why not".
It does make you wonder who these 'tourists' were doesn't it.
(Iirc Axl Rose got the idea for 'Welcome to the jungle' when he visited New York and as he got off the bus a guy came up to him and said "You're gonna die man!"
 
Guernsey Hun Gun Fortress Gets Protected Status.

A fortress that was part of Hitler's plan to stop an Allied invasion of mainland Europe has been given protected building status.

Batterie Strassburg at Jerbourg in Guernsey was built by slave labour during World War Two.

It is one of the last surviving parts of Hitler's Atlantic Wall, a network of defences from Norway to Spain.

Guernsey's Development and Planning Authority (DPA) has given it Grade A protection amid fears for its future.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-guernsey-64675534
 
There's an app where you can find places related to St. Ignatius and the Jesuits, so you can visit them, if you're so inclined.
Full disclosure: I'm a fan of the Jesuits, and I follow this guy on Twitter, where (among others) he feeds stray Vatican cats :)
 
Remembering the rescuers. Dennis Morley lived on for another 79 years instead of drowning.

The daughter of a soldier has spoken of her surprise at receiving a letter from the president of China as part of a campaign started by her father.

Denise Wynn's father Dennis Morley was a prisoner of war (POW) on board the Lisbon Maru when it was sunk in 1942. Mr Morley was rescued by Chinese fishermen and Ms Wynn is continuing his campaign for their "heroic" actions to be recognised with a memorial in China.

"Hopefully my dad's wish will come true," Ms Wynn, from Chalford, said.

On 1 October 1942 the Japanese ship Lisbon Maru was sunk by a torpedo fired by an American submarine, USS Grouper, which had been unaware there were more than 1,800 British POWs on board.

Dennis Morley

Image caption, Dennis Morley settled in Stroud after the war and died aged 101

During the 24 hours it took for the ship to sink, Mr Morley said Japanese troops and crew were evacuated to safety, but POWs were left to force their way out, with many having no option but to jump in the sea.

More than 800 people died.

Mr Morley, then a 22-year-old in the Royal Scots regiment, settled in Stroud after the war and was among the men rescued from the water by Chinese fishermen. He died two years ago at the age of 101.

Ms Wynn contacted a friend of her father's in Hong Kong and he helped her write a letter to the Chinese president Xi Jinping.

"I wasn't really expecting a reply but a few weeks later I got a reply from the president agreeing to look into the matter and things are moving on from there," she said. "The Chinese ambassador's secretary contacted me asking if we could set a date for the ambassador to come and deliver the letter in person to me and he did. I was quite shocked and humbled," she added. ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-64696311
 
In 1938, a card game called Belisha was published to promote road safety.
When I was growing up, we had a full set of these cards, which were sold in a beige box with a padded lid. The lid, in this case, had split and the white wadding was spilling out. I remember that my mother said she had played the game with her parents, during the air-raids, when they were huddled in the cellar. She explained the name, when those orange dome-topped pedestrian crossings were still frequently-encountered*.

Maybe it was the musty smell or that dubious stuffing which limited our destructive curiosity but the game was never attempted, so far as I can recall. There was a book of rules and maybe that seemed daunting.

I had no memory of the charming images on the cards. What a world away! :)

*Curiously, they built a new crossing in the classic style at Boggart Hole Clough, near the site of the old Booth Hall Children's Hospital, in the last year or two. Residents of the new estate can now hope cars recognize the beacons and stop! :thought:
 
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