1902

Today in History 09/01 (Sally Hemings)

Painting of President Thomas Jefferson (© John Parrot/Stocktrek Images/Getty Images)(1802) Newspaper alleges US president has an illicit relationship
Virginia’s Richmond Recorder newspaper prints a scandalous story regarding President Thomas Jefferson and a woman whom he “kept, as his concubine,” asserting that she is “one of his own slaves.” The truth of Jefferson’s relationship with Sally Hemings will be investigated centuries later via DNA testing.
Sarah “Sally” Hemings was an enslaved woman of mixed race owned by President Thomas Jefferson of the United States. There is a “growing historical consensus” among scholars that Jefferson was the father of her five children, born after the death of his wife Martha Jefferson, and that he had a long-term relationship with her. Four children survived to adulthood. Hemings died in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1835.
Born: 1773 · Charles City County, VA
Died: 1835 · Charlottesville, VA
Nationality: American
Children: Harriet Hemings (Daughter) · Eston Hemings (Son) · Madison Hemings (Son) · Beverly Hemings (Son)
Parents: John Wayles (Father) · Betty Hemings (Mother)
Siblings: Martha Jefferson (Brother) · Mary Hemings (Sister) · John Hemings (Brother)
Highlights
  • 1773: After John Wayles died in 1773, his daughter Martha and her husband Thomas Jefferson inherited the Hemings family among a total of 135 slaves from his estate, as well as 11,000 acres of land.

  • 1787: Polly and Sally landed in London, where they stayed with Abigail and John Adams from June 26 until July 10, 1787.

  • 1789: Sally Hemings remained in France for 26 months; slavery was abolished in that country after the Revolution in 1789.

  • 1799: unnamed daughter (or possibly named Thenia after Hemings’ sister Thenia) (born in 1799 and died in infancy)

  • 1802: Jefferson having a sexual relationship with Hemings was first reported in 1802 by one of Jefferson’s enemies, a political journalist named James T. Callender, after he noticed several light skinned slaves at Monticello.

  • 1835: Hemings died in Charlottesville, VA, in 1835.

A philosophic cock
Caricature of Jefferson and Hemings, ca. 1804
wiki/Sally_Hemings
4.15.A18

(1802) Newspaper alleges US president has an illicit relationship.
Also on this day,

1859 | The sun spits out a solar superstorm
A coronal mass ejection is released from the sun and impacts the earth’s atmosphere with a brilliant “white light flare,” as described by English astronomer Richard C. Carrington, forming fantastical auroras that are said to have been bright enough to read by at night, and packing enough interference to cripple the globe’s telegraph systems.
1902 | Paris moviegoers head to the moon and back
Jules Verne novels have inspired a new moving picture from French artist Georges Méliès, a fanciful frolic chronicling a lunar landing and a meeting with inhabitants of the moon. ‘A Trip to the Moon’ will open just over a month later in the US and eventually will be called the first science-fiction film.
1939 | History’s most destructive war dawns with a massive invasion
In WWII’s opening salvo, Hitler’s armed forces descend on Poland with blitzkrieg force and, getting assistance from the Soviet Union, will decimate the country’s archaic military, controlling the nation within a month. Per their Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Germany and the USSR will divide up the conquered territory.

Today in History 09/01/17

German tank unit after the defeat of a Polish battalion at the Brda River in Poland in 1939 (© ullstein bild/Getty Images)(1939) History's most destructive war dawns with a massive invasion
In WWII's opening salvo, Hitler's armed forces descend on Poland with blitzkrieg force and, getting assistance from the Soviet Union, will decimate the country's archaic military, controlling the nation within a month. Per their Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Germany and the USSR will divide up the conquered territory.
The Invasion of Poland, known in Poland as the September Campaign or the 1939 Defensive War, and in Germany as the Poland Campaign or Fall Weiss, was a joint invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, the Free City of Danzig, and a small Slovak contingent, that marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, while the Soviet invasion commenced on 17 September following the Molotov-Tōgō agreement that terminated the Russian and Japanese hostilities in the east on 16 September. The campaign ended on 6 October with Germany and the Soviet Union dividing and annexing the whole of Poland under the terms of the German–Soviet Frontier Treaty.
Start date: Sep 01, 1939
End date: Oct 06, 1939
Battle of Poland
Ribbentrop-Molotov
Planned and actual divisions of Poland, according to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, with later adjustments

wiki/Invasion_of_Poland
4.4.j17


Today in History 08/22 (Cadillac Auto Founded)

1902 Cadillac (© AP)(1902) Henry Ford ditches his second company and Cadillac is born
Named for the man who founded Detroit in 1801, Antoine Laumet de La Mothe Cadillac, Michigan’s newest car company launches. The Cadillac Automobile Company rises from the ashes of the Henry Ford Company, after Ford leaves his company over a squabble with investors.
Cadillac, formally the Cadillac Motor Car Division, is a division of the U.S.-based General Motors that markets luxury vehicles worldwide. Its primary markets are the United States, Canada, and China, but Cadillac-branded vehicles are distributed in 34 additional markets worldwide. Historically, Cadillac automobiles have always held a place at the top of the luxury field within the United States. In 2017, Cadillac’s U.S. sales were 156,440 vehicles and its global sales were 356,467 vehicles.
Founded: Aug 22, 1902
President: Steve Carlisle (Since 2018)
Founders: Henry M. Leland · William Murphy · Lemuel Bowen
Phone number: +1 8003334223
Parent organization: General Motors

Cadillac adv 1921
A 1921 Cadillac advertisement
wiki/Cadillac
4.15.A18

(1902) Henry Ford ditches his second company and Cadillac is born.
Also on this day,

1485 | Death of a king ends a dynasty and a three-decade war
The York white rose and the Lancaster red rose meet at the Battle of Bosworth Field, where England’s King Richard III is killed by blows to his crown-encircled head, ending the royal Plantagenet line. Henry Tudor’s triumph will usher in a new dynasty as the Wars of the Roses fade.
1851 | ‘America’ sails to victory
The ‘Auld Mug’ trophy is awarded for the first time to the winners of a sailing race around England’s Isle of Wight. The schooner ‘America’ sails into first place with an ample lead, and so the competition between the world’s best racing yachts will be known as the ‘America’s Cup.’
1986 | ‘Stand by Me’ explores childhood friendships
Rob Reiner’s ‘Stand by Me’ hits theaters. Based on Stephen King’s novella ‘The Body,’ the movie tells the story of four boys searching for a missing boy’s corpse. ‘Stand by Me’ will help make stars out of Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O’Connell, and earn more than $52 million at the box office.

Today in History 08/22/17

Painting depicting Richard III (left) during the Battle of Bosworth on Aug 22, 1485 (© Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)(1485) Death of a king ends a dynasty and a three-decade war
The York white rose and the Lancaster red rose meet at the Battle of Bosworth Field, where England's King Richard III is killed by blows to his crown-encircled head, ending the royal Plantagenet line. Henry Tudor's triumph will usher in a new dynasty as the Wars of the Roses fade.
The Battle of Bosworth Field was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the Houses of Lancaster and York that raged across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 August 1485, the battle was won by the Lancastrians. Their leader Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, by his victory became the first English monarch of the Tudor dynasty. His opponent, Richard III, the last king of the House of York, was killed in the battle. Historians consider Bosworth Field to mark the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, making it a defining moment of English and Welsh history.
Date: Aug 22, 1485
Henry Tudor and Rhys ap Thomas' march through Wales
March through Wales, to Bosworth Field

wiki/Battle_of_Bosworth_Field
4.4.j17