This Day in History… Sept. 15th

 

1940: The Good

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/tide-turns-in-the-battle-of-britain

“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

 

1958: The Bad

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/train-plunges-off-bridge

“Oops.”

 

2008: The Ugly

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lehman-brothers-collapses

“This is the most momentous bankruptcy hearing I’ve ever sat through.”

From History.com

 

 

On this day in 1901, the 42-year-old Theodore Roosevelt is suddenly elevated to the White House when President McKinley dies from an assassin’s bullet. But while McKinley’s untimely death brought Roosevelt the presidency, 17 years earlier two other deaths had sent the young Roosevelt fleeing to the far West where his political ambitions were almost forgotten.

In February 1884, Roosevelt’s young wife died after giving birth to their daughter. A mere 12 hours later his much-beloved mother also died. Devastated by this cruel double blow, Roosevelt sought solace in the wide open spaces of the West. He established himself on two ranches in the Badlands of Dakota Territory and wrote to friends that he had given up politics and planned to make ranching “my regular business.” Despite this, three years later he returned to New York City. There he resumed the political career that would eventually take him to the White House. Even after he had returned to the civilized East, Roosevelt always credited his western interlude with restoring his mental and physical vitality.

From an early age, Roosevelt had been convinced of the benefits of living the “strenuous life.” He argued that too many American males had succumbed to the ease and safety of modern industrialized society and had become soft and effeminate. Roosevelt thought more men should follow his example and embrace the hard, virile, pioneer life of the West, a place where “the qualities of hardihood, self-reliance, and resolution” were essential for survival.

Roosevelt’s own western experience was hardly as harsh and challenging as he liked to claim. Yet the eastern tenderfoot did adapt quickly to the rougher ways of ranch life. He earned the respect of Dakotans by tracking down a gang of bandits who had stolen a riverboat and once knocked out a barroom bully who had taunted him. Though he spent the vast majority of his life in the East, Roosevelt thereafter always thought of himself as a westerner at heart. He did more than any president before him to conserve the wild western lands he loved.

UPDATED 9/12/2019:  This Day in History, 1940, a collection of prehistoric cave paintings is discovered by four teenagers near Montignac, France.  Following their dog “Robot” down a narrow entrance, they stumbled upon a cavern filled with ancient graffiti. The 15,000- to 17,000-year-old paintings consist mostly of animal representations that are among the finest examples of art from the Upper Paleolithic period.

The Lascaux grotto, first studied by the French archaeologist Henri-Édouard-Prosper Breuil, includes a main cavern 66 feet wide and 16 feet high. The walls are decorated with some 600 painted and drawn animals, symbols, and nearly 1,500 engravings.  Numerous animals appear in excellent detail, including horses, red deer, stags, bovines, felines, and other – apparently mythical – creatures. There’s only one human figure in the cave: A bird-headed man with an erect phallus. Archaeologists believe the cave served as a center for hunting and religious rites over a long period of time.

The Lascaux grotto opened to the public in 1948.  It closed in 1963 because artificial lights faded the vivid colors of the paintings and caused algae to grow over some of them. A replica of the Lascaux cave opened nearby in 1983.  Tens of thousands visit annually.

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And graffiti from a slightly later period.

Indigenous artwork in Midtown Sacramento, near 16th & T Streets

On this day in History, 1935…

Senator Huey Long is shot in the Louisiana state capitol building. He died about 30 hours later. Called a demagogue by critics, the populist leader was a larger-than-life figure. He boasted that he bought legislators “like sacks of potatoes, shuffled them like a deck of cards.” He gave himself the nickname “Kingfish,” saying “I’m a small fish here in Washington. But I’m the Kingfish to the folks down in Louisiana.”

 

In 1928 Long became the youngest governor of Louisiana at age 34. His brash style alienated many people, including the heads of the biggest corporation in the state, Standard Oil. Long preached the redistribution of wealth, which he believed could be done by heavily taxing the rich. One of his early propositions, which met with much opposition, was an “occupational” tax on oil refineries. Later, Long would develop these theories into the Share Our Wealth society, which promised a $2,500 minimum income per family.

Long also abolished the state’s poll tax on voting and gained free textbooks for every student. His motto was “Every Man a King.” His populism led to an impeachment attempt, but he successfully foiled the charges. In 1930, he won the election for Louisiana senator but declined to serve until his handpicked successor was able to win the governor’s seat in 1932.

Soon after vigorously campaigning for Franklin Roosevelt in 1932, Long, with his own designs on the office, began loudly denouncing the new president. In response, many of his allies in the Louisiana legislature turned against him and would no longer vote for his candidates. In an effort to regain power in the state, Long managed to pass a series of laws giving him control over the appointment of every public position in the state, including every policeman and school teacher.

Long, who was planning to take on Franklin Roosevelt in the next election, was shot by Dr. Carl Weiss at point-blank range outside the main hall of the capitol building. Weiss’ motives continue to be debated, but some believe he was angry about rumors Long had spread about the doctor’s in-laws, who had opposed Long politically.