Situated 320 feet high in St. Stephen’s Tower, the famous clock, Big Ben, rang for the first time on May 31, 1859.
In October 1834, a fire destroyed the Palace of Westminster. The design of the new palace included a large clock at the top of a tower. Although thought impossible by many clock makers, Sir George Airy who was the royal astronomer wanted the clock to have pinpoint accuracy and be checked twice daily with the Royal Greenwich Observatory. He was backed by Edmund Beckett Denison, a barrister and an expert in the science of measuring time (horology).
E.J. Dent & Co. built the clock tower from Denison’s design and it was completed in 1854. The bell was cast on April 10, 1858 at Whitechapel Bell Foundry in East London. After two weeks of cooling, the bell was transported through the streets of London on a 16-horse drawn carriage while the people lined the route and cheered.
Illustration of Big Ben traveling through the streets of London.
After it was installed in the tower, it was struck for the first time on May 31, 1859, Two months later, the heavy striker cracked the bell.
The crack in Big Ben
Incidentally, this bell was a replacement as the first bell cast elsewhere didn’t get past the testing stage before it cracked. There is another famous bell cast at White Chapel Foundry that is also famous for its crack, the Liberty Bell. I don’t think it can be blamed on shoddy workmanship because the Liberty Bell was in use 90 years before it cracked. For London’s bell, the striking hammer was replaced by one that was lighter and the clock was turned so it would strike a different service but the crack was never repaired.
Was the bell named “Big Ben” for the long-winded commissioner of works, Sir Benjamin Hall or the popular heavyweight boxer Benjamin Caunt? These are the two main stories that exist but soon the name was transferred from just the bell to the clock itself.
During the Second World War, an incendiary bomb destroyed the chamber of the House of Commons but St. Stephen’s Tower and Big Ben survived. The clock is famous for being accurate. This is achieved by a stack of coins placed on the huge pendulum which ensures a steady movement of the clock hands at all times. At night all four clock faces which are 23 feet across are illuminated. There is a light above Big Ben which is lit to let the public know when Parliament is in session.
Throughout history women have made their mark in a wide variety of ways. Each Saturday I plan to highlight one of these remarkable women. There will be no limit to the areas of history that I may include; however as a guide I will look to the month of their birth, the month of their death or the month associated with their mark in history when I select them. Is there an outstanding women in history you would like me to include? I welcome your suggestions. Would you like to guest blog one of the world’s outstanding women? Let me hear from you. To read previous posts in this segment, there is a menu at the top of my site.
Today an outstanding woman who was a heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. Meet Saint Joan of Arc.
Painting, c. 1485. An artist’s interpretation, since the only known direct portrait has not survived. (Centre Historique des Archives Nationales, Paris, AE II 2490)
One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying.
Joan of Arc
Born in 1412 in Domremy, a village in the French part of the duchy of Bar, Joan of Arc was the daughter of Jacques d’Arc and Isabelle Romee. Her parents owned 50 acres of land and her father also had a minor position as a village official collecting taxes and running the local watch.
Joan’s birthplace in Domrémy is now a museum. The village church where she attended Mass is on the right behind the trees.
Joan said she received visions of the Archangel Michael, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine instructing her to support Charles VII and recover France from English domination late in the Hundred Years’ War. The uncrowned King Charles VII sent Joan to the siege of Orléans as part of a relief mission. She gained prominence after the siege was lifted in only nine days. Several additional swift victories led to Charles VII’s coronation at Reims. This long-awaited event boosted French morale and paved the way for the final French victory.
On 23 May 1430, she was captured at Compiègne by the Burgundian faction which was allied with the English. She was later handed over to the English,] and then put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais Pierre Cauchon on a variety of charges. After Cauchon declared her guilty she was burned at the stake on 30 May 1431, dying at about nineteen years of age.
Joan of Arc being burned at the stake
Twenty-five years after her execution, an inquisitorial court authorized by Pope Callixtus III examined the trial, debunked the charges against her, pronounced her innocent, and declared her a martyr. Joan of Arc was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. She is one of the nine secondary patron saints of France, along with St. Denis, St. Martin of Tours, St. Louis, St. Michael, St. Remi, St. Petronilla, St. Radegund and St. Thérèse of Lisieux.
Joan of Arc has been a popular figure in literature, painting, sculpture, and other cultural works since the time of her death, and many famous writers, filmmakers and composers have created works about her. Cultural depictions of Joan of Arc have continued in films, theatre, television, video games, music, and performances to this day.
This is the cover art for the 78 single White Christmas by the artist Bing Crosby. The cover art copyright is believed to belong to the label, Decca Records, or the graphic artist(s).
No need to check your calendar. I know it’s not Christmas time nor is it Christmas in July. On May 29, 1942, Bing Crosby along with the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra recorded White Christmas for Decca Records. It was released on July 30, 1942 as part of an album from the film Holiday Inn. Bing didn’t think the song was anything special and in fact it performed poorly when it was first released. By the end of 1942, White Christmas topped the “Your Hit Parade” chart. It became a special song for listeners during the Second World War and the Armed Forces Network was flooded with requests for the song.
Picture sleeve of 1959 reissue by Decca Records (9-23778)
When you hear the song today, it is not the original 1942 recording because the master became damaged from over use. Bing Crosby recorded the song again in 1947 with the same singers and orchestra and effort was made to reproduce it the same. There are subtle differences but still beloved. Bing Crosby would be associated with White Christmas for the rest of his career.
On May 26, 1897, a novel goes on sale in London that would become the quintessential gothic novel. The writer, Irish born, Bram Stoker, the novel, Dracula.
Although an invalid as a child, Bram Stoker grew up to become a football (soccer) star at Trinity College in Dublin Ireland. After college he was in civil service at Dublin Castle for ten years. While there, he wrote drama reviews for the Dublin Mail and became the manager for Sir Henry Irving where he remained for three decades. He handled Sir Henry Irving’s correspondence and travel with him to the United States. During this time, Stoker wrote horror stories for magazines and in 1890 published his first novel, The Snake’s Pass.
Bram Stoker
He would eventually publish 17 novels but it was his novel, Dracula, published in 1897 that would bring him fame. Dracula is considered to be the masterpiece of Victorian-era Gothic Literature. It is the story of a vampire that travels from Transylvania to England and preys on the innocent to get the blood he needs to live.
The story of vampires was nothing new; however Stoker’s novel, Dracula brought them into 20th century literature. Stokers died in 1912 and in the 1920s, Dracula became a big success due to a Broadway adaptation. In 1931 when there was a blockbuster film from Universal starring Bela Lugosi, Stoker’s novel was catapulted into high gear.
Bela Lugosi
The vampire became the subject of numerous television shows, movies and literature and it all started with Dracula.
Celebrated annually on the last Monday in May, Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday where the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the armed forces are remembered. It was formerly known as Decoration Day and originated after the American Civil War in honor of the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the war.
Originally called Decoration Day, the holiday was created to commemorate the roughly 625,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who died during the Civil War.
This honor was extended to all Americans who died while in military service. It is thought of as the unofficial start of the summer vacation season an idea that I think blurs the real reason for the holiday but that seems to happened with most holidays.
Decoration Day Parade (detail), Brownsville, Texas,
Robert Runyon, photographer, 1916.
The South Texas Border, 1900-1920
This weekend we had the pleasure of hearing our favorite traveling minstrels, Rowan and the Rose at the New Jersey Renaissance Faire. During one of their sets, they performed a song titled Sullivan’s Letter. It is a song about a famous love letter written by Sullivan Ballou to his wife, Sarah. Sullivan Ballou was a lawyer and politician from Rhode Island and he was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Sullivan A. Ballou
He wrote the letter to his wife one week before he fought in the First Battle of Bull Run, where he was mortally wounded. He may not have ever mailed the letter. It was given to his widow after being bound in his trunk after his death. There is more than one version of the letter so it is not known whether the letter in its original text still exists; however here is an extended version:
July the 14th, 1861
Washington D.C.
My very dear Sarah:
The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days—perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel impelled to write lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more.
Our movement may be one of a few days duration and full of pleasure—and it may be one of severe conflict and death to me. Not my will, but thine O God, be done. If it is necessary that I should fall on the battlefield for my country, I am ready. I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans upon the triumph of the Government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing—perfectly willing—to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt.
But, my dear wife, when I know that with my own joys I lay down nearly all of yours, and replace them in this life with cares and sorrows—when, after having eaten for long years the bitter fruit of orphanage myself, I must offer it as their only sustenance to my dear little children—is it weak or dishonorable, while the banner of my purpose floats calmly and proudly in the breeze, that my unbounded love for you, my darling wife and children, should struggle in fierce, though useless, contest with my love of country.
Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield.
The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them so long. And hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when God willing, we might still have lived and loved together and seen our sons grow up to honorable manhood around us. I have, I know, but few and small claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me—perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar—that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name.
Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have often been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears every little spot upon your happiness, and struggle with all the misfortune of this world, to shield you and my children from harm. But I cannot. I must watch you from the spirit land and hover near you, while you buffet the storms with your precious little freight, and wait with sad patience till we meet to part no more.
But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the brightest day and in the darkest night—amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours—always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.
Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for me, for we shall meet again.
As for my little boys, they will grow as I have done, and never know a father’s love and care. Little Willie is too young to remember me long, and my blue-eyed Edgar will keep my frolics with him among the dimmest memories of his childhood. Sarah, I have unlimited confidence in your maternal care and your development of their characters. Tell my two mothers his and hers I call God’s blessing upon them. O Sarah, I wait for you there! Come to me, and lead thither my children.
Sullivan
Here is Rowan and Rose performing Sullivan’s Letter (There is about 1 minute of comedic banter before the song begins)
The Floral Headdress and the Proverbial Turkey Leg
When I first decided to write a guest blog for The Top Ten of Anything and Everything, I didn’t know how difficult it would be to narrow it down to just ten photographs. Having recently experienced how enthusiastic the people involved with Renaissance Faires are (my daughter was a supporting cast member for the New Jersey Renaissance Faire), I should have known that there would be a wide variety of photographs from all over the country at my disposal. A Digital Renaissance Feast. Somehow I managed to select ten. If you enjoy these, I recommend visiting the websites and facebook pages of these photographs as well as any other Renaissance Faire in the country. There is so much more to see. If you have never been to a Renaissance Faire, check out the next faire in your area. It will be…
On May 20, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law. This act was designed to grant public land to small famers at low cost. Any application that was head of the household, at least 21 years of age and willing to settle the land for five years and then pay a small filing fee. If they wished to obtain title earlier, they could after six months by paying $1.25 an acre.
The idea of the Homestead Act was proposed much earlier in 1850 but southern congressmen didn’t want small famers to upset the Southern slave system. After the passage of the Act on May 20, 1862, people raced to file land claims. By the end of the Civil War, 15,000 land claims had been made.
The Homestead Act, combined with other factors, unleashed a movement of people that lasted into the 20th Century. In this photo, emigrants arrive at the Gates Post Office in Custer County in 1886.
Photo by Solomon Butcher. Wagon trains became the stuff of legends
Most homesteaders were farmers from Europe or the eastern United States with experience who wanted to leave the crowds behind. By 1900, the claims reached 600,000 and 80 million acres of public land were issued.
Claims continued to be made into the 20th century; however with the changes to American agriculture in the 1930s and 1940s, the small individual homesteads were replaced with much larger farms.
I think in every generation, people have had conversations about dealing with the gap between the generations. I know I’ve been to business seminars where the keynote speaker discusses the fact that there are multiple generations in the workforce. On May 19, 1965, Pete Townsend of the rock band, The Who was contemplating intergenerational conflict when he wrote My Generation. The 1960s was probably one of the most significant periods for intergenerational conflict as it was a period where demographics and baby boom after the Second World War resulted in the largest generation of teenagers in history. This large generation would set its own terms and this was no more so expressed than in the lyrics of “My Generation”. The Who was about to split up but this song that Pete Townsend wrote on a train when he was twenty years old, kept them together and would be the catalyst to make them the most successful rock band of the era.
“My Generation”
People try to put us d-down (Talkin’ ’bout my generation) Just because we get around (Talkin’ ’bout my generation) Things they do look awful c-c-cold (Talkin’ ’bout my generation) I hope I die before I get old (Talkin’ ’bout my generation)
This is my generation This is my generation, baby
Why don’t you all f-fade away (Talkin’ ’bout my generation) And don’t try to dig what we all s-s-say (Talkin’ ’bout my generation) I’m not trying to cause a big s-s-sensation (Talkin’ ’bout my generation) I’m just talkin’ ’bout my g-g-g-generation (Talkin’ ’bout my generation)
This is my generation This is my generation, baby
Why don’t you all f-fade away (Talkin’ ’bout my generation) And don’t try to d-dig what we all s-s-say (Talkin’ ’bout my generation) I’m not trying to cause a b-big s-s-sensation (Talkin’ ’bout my generation) I’m just talkin’ ’bout my g-g-generation (Talkin’ ’bout my generation)
This is my generation This is my generation, baby
People try to put us d-down (Talkin’ ’bout my generation) Just because we g-g-get around (Talkin’ ’bout my generation) Things they do look awful c-c-cold (Talkin’ ’bout my generation) Yeah, I hope I die before I get old (Talkin’ ’bout my generation)
The United States formally entered the First World War on April 2, 1917 and six weeks later on May 18, 1917, the U.S. Congress passed the Selective Service Act.
The Selective Service Act, or Selective Draft Act, enacted on May 18, 1917, authorized the federal government to raise a national army.
In his war message to Congress, President Woodrow Wilson pledged all the nation’s material resources to help the allies (France, Britain, Russia and Italy) defeat the Central Powers. The Allies needed fresh troops to relieve their exhausted men but when the United States entered the war, Wilson had no means to provide what was needed.
During 1916, Wilson made effort in war preparedness but at the time of Congress’s war declaration, there were only 100,000 troops and they were not trained or equipped for the war in Europe. Wilson pushed congress for military conscription which they passed on May 18, 1917. The Act called for all men in the U.S. between the ages of 21 and 30 to register for the draft. Within a few months, 10 million men across the country had registered.
A truck full of men detained for not carrying their registration cards are shown in this 1918 poster
The first troops of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) began arriving in Europe in June 1917. The rest of the newly conscripted men still needed to be mobilized, transported and trained so the AEF did not begin to play a substantial role until the summer of 1918. The U.S. role in the interim was in the form of economic assistance to the Allies. World War I ended in November 1918. About 24 million men had registered for the Selective Service act. Almost 4.8 million American served in the war and 2.8 million of them had been drafted.
Column of American troops passing by the Buckingham Palace, London, 1917.
The Assignment: The idea of Photo Fiction is write a story of around 100-200 words (which is also called Flash Fiction) based on a photo as a prompt. In this particular photo fiction, the story must be based on the photo below.
Photo Credit: Al Forbes
The voice of Bobby Rydell crooned from the car sound system.
“Oh those Wildwood days, wild, wild, Wildwood days.”
The songs of summer were nearly drowned out by the usual nagging chant from the back seat.
“Quiet down kids, I’m trying to enjoy the radio. We’ll be in Wildwood before you know it.”
“Dad, please can we, can we please?”
“Yeah Dad. Can we? There goes another ice cream stand. Can we please stop for ice cream cones?”
“Listen up kids. We’ll be in Wildwood soon and the array of junk food at your disposal and my wallet will be enough. Quiet down, I love these old summer songs.”
“And then those party lights wild, wild Wildwood nights.”
“It’s so hot Dad. Ice cream would be great right now.”
George smiled and looked over at his wife. He took his left hand off the steering wheel and pressed the button. “Ah the miracle of electric windows.”
“There you go kids. Fresh air never hurt anyone. We can even smell the salty sea air now.”
“Oh baby, every day’s a holiday and every night is a Saturday night.”
Exiting the Garden State Parkway onto Rio Grande Avenue, George began singing along.
It was a unanimous decision by the United State Supreme Court on May 17, 1954. In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the supreme court handed down its ruling that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. In this specific case, Linda Brown, a young African American girl who had been denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, because of the color of her skin.
This segregation had been the accepted norm in public facilities ever since the Supreme court of 1896 ruled that “separate but equal” accommodations in railroad cards didn’t violate the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection in the case, Plessy v. Ferguson. Unfortunately for Linda Brown, the segregated school that she was forced to attend was far below the quality of a white school that was nearer to her home.
Linda Brown walking to school with her sister in 1953
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) came in to support Linda. When the case reached the supreme court, future Supreme Court Justice, African American Thurgood Marshall was the head of the legal team.
Thurgood Marshall
Chief Justice, Earl Warren wrote the opinion for the case. He wrote, “separate but equal” not only was unconditional in Linda Brown’s case, it was unconditional in all cases because educational segregation stamped an inherent badge of inferiority on African American Students. A year later, the Supreme Court published guidelines for the integration with all deliberate speed.
Photo credit: Kansas State Historical Society. Copy and reuse restrictions may apply.
As a result of Brown v. Board of Education, the civil rights movement of the 1950s ad 1960s was highly motivated to continue and ultimately led to the end of racial segregation in all public facilities and accommodations.
Throughout history women have made their mark in a wide variety of ways. Each Saturday I plan to highlight one of these remarkable women. There will be no limit to the areas of history that I may include; however as a guide I will look to the month of their birth, the month of their death or the month associated with their mark in history when I select them. Is there an outstanding women in history you would like me to include? I welcome your suggestions. Would you like to guest blog one of the world’s outstanding women? Let me hear from you. To read previous posts in this segment, there is a menu at the top of my site.
Today an outstanding woman from the world of literature. Meet Daphne Du Maurier.
Daphne Du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning (13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was a Cornish author and playwright.
Early life
Daphne du Maurier was born in London on May 13, 1907. She was the second of three daughters. Her parents were the prominent actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and actress Muriel Beaumont.
Muriel Beaumont with, from left, Jeanne, Angela and Daphne Right: Gerald du Mauri
Her grandfather was the author and Punch cartoonist George du Maurier, who created the character of Svengali in the novel Trilby.
Literary Career
These connections helped her in establishing her literary career, and du Maurier published some of her early work in Beaumont’s Bystander magazine. Her first novel, TheLoving Spirit, was published in 1931.
Regarded as her masterpiece, the novel Rebecca was published in 1938. In the US, the novel was awarded the National Book Award for favorite novel of 1938. In the UK, it was listed at number 14 of the nation’s best loved novel on the BBC survey, the Big Read. Has there ever been a more scarier woman in a novel, then Mrs. Danvers? She gets my vote.
Many of her novels, including Rebecca have been adapted for stage and screen. Others that have been adapted were Jamaica Inn, Frenchman’s Creek, Hungry Hill and My Cousin Rachel. In 1963, one of her short stories became the Alfred Hitchcock film, The Birds.
In later years, she turned her craft to non-fiction including several biographies. Among these were of her own ancestry including Gerald about her father. In addition she wrote a few plays.
Plagiarism Accusations
Some of du Maurier’s works have had some accusations of plagiarism:
When Rebecca was published in Brazil, there was an accusation that the 1934 book, A Sucessora by Brazilian writer Carolina Nabuco had the same main plot and sections with the exact dialogue. Du Maurier and her publishers denied the claim, pointing out that the plot was quite common. Du Maurier was accused of having access to the Sucessora when it was sent to France before it was published.
The short story, The Birds was accused of being plagiarized from a novel by Frank Baker. Du Maurier had been working as a reader for Baker’s publisher, Peter Davies.
There are similarities between her 1959 short story Ganymede (in the anthology The Breaking Point) and the theme of Thomas Mann’s semi-autobiographical 1912 novella Death in Venice.
Personal life
She married Major (later Lieutenant-General) Frederick “Boy” Browning in 1932, with whom she had three children:
Daphne du Maurier and children at Menabilly the inspiration for Manderley
Tessa (b. 1933) married Major Peter de Zulueta, whom she divorced; she later married David Montgomery, 2nd Viscount Montgomery of Alamein in 1970.
Flavia (b. 1937) married Captain Alastair Tower, whom she divorced, before marrying General Sir Peter Leng.
Christian (b. 1940) became a photographer and film-maker. He married Olive White, who was Miss Ireland 1962.
Du Maurier died on 19 April 1989, aged 81, at her home in Cornwall, which had been the setting for many of her books. Her body was cremated and her ashes scattered at Kilmarth.
To read more about her and for a listing of her literary works, there is a website dedicated to her HERE
