On this day in 64, a fire begins in merchant area of Rome that would continue to burn
for 6 days, destroying much of the city. Legend has it that Nero, in full stage costume,
sang "Sack of Ilium" and fiddled as the city burned.
On this day in 1919, at what should have been joyous Peace Day celebration marking the
end of World War I, ex-servicemen protesting a lack of jobs begin a riot and burn down
the town hall in Luton, England.
On this day in 1995, The Soufrière Hills volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, erupts.
A British overseas territory located in the West Indies, Montserrat is only 10 miles long. The small, lush tropical island became a haven for musicians in 1979 when Beatle's manager George Martin opened a recording studio on the island so artists could record their music in seculed and peaceful surroundings. The island also became a popular tourist destination.
In 1989, Hurricane Hugo, struck Montserrat and damaged over 90 percent of the structures on the island, but by 1995 much of the island had been rebuilt.
However, on July 18th 1995 The Soufrière Hills volcano, which had lay dormant for centuries, would erupt sending lava and mud flows out and down the side of the volcano heading towards the capital of Plymouth. Over the course of the next few weeks the capital would be buried under almost 40 feet of lava and debris, the airport and seaport destroyed and most of the islands houses lost to the lava flow. Most of the islands inhabitants were evacuated and today only about 5,000 people still live on the island but in an area far away from the volcano which remains active.
In May of 1979, Jimmy Buffett recorded the album Volcano at Martin's AIR Studios in Montserrat.
Now I don't know I don't know I don't know where I'm a gonna go When the volcano blow
Well let me hear ya now I don't know I don't know I don't know where I'm a gonna go When the volcano blow
Ground she's movin' under me Got ya tidal waves out on the sea Sulphur smoke up in the sky Pretty soon we learn to fly
Not the best sound quality, but cool to see Buffett back in '79
On this day in 1717, King George I of Great Britain sails down the River Thames with his close friends the Duchess of Bolton, the Duchess of Newcastle, the Countess of Darlington, the Countess of Godolphin, and the Earl of Orkney. Alongside, a barge of 50 musicians including George Frideric Handel premier "Water Music" a work that the king requested Handel compose for the occasion.
On this day in 1938 – Douglas Corrigan filed a flight plan to fly to Long Beach, California before taking off from Brooklyn airport. Corrigan then proceeded to fly the "wrong way" and claiming low light conditions made it difficult to read his compass, he would land 28 hours later at at Baldonnel Aerodrome, Ireland. Becoming only the second man to make a solo transatlantic flight at that time, he would be forever known as Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan.
Today is Yellow Pigs Day, a celebration observed by mathematicians at Hampshire College, it is a day is marked by exchanging gifts relating to yellow pigs. Who am I to judge.
I will, however, celebrate the day slightly differently.
FOR THE BOURBON- BACON INFUSION:
3 or 4 slices bacon, or enough to render 1 ounce of fat
(PDT uses Benton’s, but any extra-smoky variety will do)
1 750-ml. bottle of bourbon such as Four Roses Yellow Label
FOR THE OLD FASHIONED:
2 ounces bacon-infused bourbon
1/4 ounce Grade B maple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Twist of orange
FOR THE BACON-INFUSED BOURBON: Cook bacon in pan and reserve rendered fat. (1)When bacon fat has cooled a bit, pour off one ounce from pan. (2) Pour bourbon into a non-porous container. (3) Strain the bacon fat into the container and infuse for 4 to 6 hours at room temperature. Place mixture in freezer until all the fat is solidified. With a slotted spoon, remove fat and strain mixture back into bottle.
FOR THE COCKTAIL: In mixing glass, stir 2 ounces bacon-infused bourbon, maple syrup, and bitters with ice. Strain into chilled rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with orange twist.
Apparently Oklahoma once had a huge street parking problem because on this date in 1935, the world's very first parking meter is installed in Oklahoma City.
On this day in 1951, J. D. Salinger's great work, The Catcher in the Rye is published. The tale of then 16 year old Holden Caulfield being expelled from yet another boarding school and deciding to spend the weekend in New York City before returning home to tell his parents, is as relevant today as it was in 1951 - when it also banned from many schools and libraries. In it - Holden smokes cigarettes, drinks scotch and sodas and tries to have sex with a prostitute, giving us insight into the confused state of affairs known as coming of age.
The Historical Inebriant: The Scotch and Soda
If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them. They're quite touchy about anything like that, especially my father. They're nice and all, I'm not saying that—but they're also touchy as hell. Besides, I'm not going to tell you my whole goddam autobiography or anything. I'll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy.
The Catcher in the Rye (1951), J. D. Salinger
He was singing that song, "If a body catch a body coming through the rye." He had a pretty little voice too. He was just singing for the hell of it, you could tell. The cars zoomed by, the brakes screeched all over the place, his parents paid no attention to him, and he kept on walking next to the kerb and singing "If a body catch a body coming through the rye." It made me feel better. It made me feel not so depressed anymore.
Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be.
