Interesting tidbits: 1822 – Missouri trader William Becknell arrived in Santa Fe, New Mexico over a route that became known as the Santa Fe Trail. In 1821 William Becknell was a man facing substantial debt. He had bought a salt works that lost money, and borrowed money to finance an unsuccessfull run for the Missouri Legislature with borrowed money. The Panic of 1819 also took its toll on his business activities by limiting the amount of credit and hard currency available. Owing creditors more than $1,200 dollars (a substantial sum at the time) Becknell found himself jailed briefly until a friend posted bail. The judge in the case gave Becknell until early 1822 to pay his creditors or face more jail time. It was against this background that William Becknell left Franklin, Missouri in September 1821. According to an advertisement Becknell placed in the Missouri Intelligencer newspaper his intent was for the purpose of trading for horses and mules and catching wild animals of every description. Becknell and his group were not the only ones to leave in search of a convenient trade route to Santa Fe, but they were the first to arrive, in mid-November 1821. Becknells timing was near perfect. Mexico had recently shaken off rule by the Spanish, and with it a ban against trade with outsiders. The people of Santa Fe were very eager for the variety of goods Becknells train of pack horses offered and were willing to pay high prices, some cotton cloth and calico bringing the then-unheard of sum of three dollars a yard. After a month of trading Becknell and his party left Santa Fe on December 13 with their saddlebags overflowing with silver, having converted their three hundred dollars in goods to approximately six thousand dollars in coin. Arriving back in Missouri in January, 1822, Becknell almost immediately began planning his next voyage to Santa Fe. For his second journey he chose to haul trade goods by wagon instead of pack horse, and had to slightly alter his original route to accommodate them. The wagon train left Franklin in May, 1822 and after considerable hardship, including nearly dying of thirst in the Cimarron Desert, arrived in Santa Fe forty-eight days later. The second trip proved to be even more profitable than the first. Taking an estimated $3,000 dollars in goods to Santa Fe, Becknells party returned with a profit of around $91,000 dollars. Some of that would be paid out as dividends to shareholders who had helped fund the trip, with even the smallest investor reaping great returns. Becknell would make a third profitable trip to Santa Fe in 1824, and the following year helped map the trail for surveyors hired by the U.S. Congress. For his efforts in opening up a route for regular traffic and military movement William Becknell became known as the Father of the Santa Fe Trail. 1835 - Charles Darwins voyage published in Cambridge Philosophical Society 1841 - Life preservers made of cork are patented by Napoleon Guerin (NYC). 1852 – The English astronomer John Russell Hind discovers the asteroid 22 Kalliope. Most people do not realize that the solar system once contained 13 planets. Before the discovery of Pluto, long considered the 9th planet - the first five asteroids that were discovered were considered to be planets. Eventually the asteroids were re-classified and were no longer considered to be planets. 1875 - William Bonwill, patents dental mallet to impact gold into cavities. 1904 – English engineer John Ambrose Fleming receives a patent for the thermionic valve (vacuum tube). English electrical engineer and physicist. He is known for inventing the first thermionic valve or vacuum tube, the diode, then called the kenotron in 1904. He is also famous for the left hand rule (for electric motors). 1938 - LSD is first synthesized by Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland. Todays birthday crew: 1907 – Burgess Meredith, American actor who appeared in four different starring roles in the acclaimed anthology TV series The Twilight Zone. In the famous Time Enough at Last, a 1959 episode of The Twilight Zone, Meredith plays a henpecked bank teller who only wants to be left alone with his books. In the 1961 episode Mr. Dingle, the Strong, Meredith plays the title character, a timid weakling who, as the subject of a space aliens experiment on human nature, suddenly acquires superhuman strength. In Printers Devil, Meredith portrayed the Devil himself, and in The Obsolete Man he portrayed a librarian, sentenced to death in a future, dystopic totalitarian society. He would later play two more roles in Rod Serlings other anthology series, Night Gallery. Meredith was the narrator for Twilight Zone: The Movie in 1983. He did not receive on-screen credit for his narration so that he could do the job for scale rather than charge his usual minimum fee; as compensation for Merediths uncredited work, his name was inserted into the dialogue in a scene between Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks. Meredith also played The Penguin in the television series Batman from 1966 to 1968. His role as the Penguin was so well-received that the shows writers always had a script featuring the Penguin ready whenever Meredith was available. His last role before his death was the portrayal of both Hamilton Wofford and Covington Wofford, characters in the 1996 video game Ripper by Take-Two Interactive. Meredith was considered to play Penguins father in the 1992 Tim Burton film Batman Returns but illness prevented him from accepting and that role was taken by Paul Reubens. 1916 – Daws Butler, American voice actor who worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company and originated the voices of many familiar animated cartoon characters, including Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, and Huckleberry Hound. 1972 – Missi Pyle, American actress and singer who played Laliari in Galaxy Quest. Happy birthday guys!
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 10:56:05 +0000
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