Unerased History – July 15th

National Ice Cream Day (Third Sunday)

Gummy Worm Day
Saint Swithin’s Day

 

Gummi Worm Cupcakes

Kids just love digging into these decadent chocolate cupcakes, oozing with chocolate frosting and gummi worms. They make the perfect touch for a backyard birthday bash or Halloween party.

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
• 1 (16 ounce) package prepared chocolate frosting
• 3 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
• 1 (16 ounce) package gummi worms

Cooking Instructions

 

Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour batter into cupcake pans and bake as directed on cake mix box. Let cupcakes cool thoroughly before frosting.

Spread cupcakes lightly with chocolate icing. Sprinkle cookie crumbs on top to make it look like “dirt”.

Cut gummi worms in half (as many as you like). Put icing onto cut end of the worms and stick to the top of cupcakes. You can use as few or as many as will fit on each cupcake. Let icing set for 10 minutes and then enjoy.

The goal is to make it look as though the worms are coming from the ground. Another way is to fill small (8oz) cups with chocolate pudding, cover the pudding with ground chocolate cookies and stick the worms in for the same effect.

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

~ Walt Disney

”
Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music.”

~Ronald Reagan

 

vitiate \VISH-ee-ayt\, transitive verb:

1. To make faulty or imperfect; to render defective; to impair; as, “exaggeration vitiates a style of writing.”
2. To corrupt morally; to debase. 
3. To render ineffective; as, “fraud vitiates a contract.”

Vitiate comes from Latin vitiare, from vitium, fault. It is related to vice (a moral failing orfault), which comes from vitium via French.

 

1099 – Christian soldiers take Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after a difficult siege during this First Crusade.
1381 – John Ball, a leader in the Peasants’ Revolt, hanged, drawn and quartered in the presence of Richard II of England.
1799 – Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta, by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard.
1806 – Near St. Louis, Missouri, United States Army Lieutenant Zebulon Pike begins an expedition from Fort Belle Fountaine to explore the west.
1830 – Three Indian tribes, Sioux, Sak & Fox, signed a treaty giving the US most of Minnesota, Iowa & Missouri.
1862 – Civil War: Confederates break naval blockade of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
1863 – Civil War: Confederate raider Bill Anderson and his Bushwhackers attacked Huntsville, MO, where they stole $45,000 from the local bank.
1863 – Civil War: Boat crews from U.S.S. Stars and Stripe and Somerset landed at Marsh’s Island, Florida, and destroyed nearly 60 bushels of salt and 50 salt boilers.
1868 – “The Torrent” sank in Alaska’s Cook Inlet after tidal currents, among the world’s most powerful, rammed it into a reef south of the Kenai Peninsula.
1869 – Margarine is patented by Hippolyte Mège Mouriés in Paris. He won a contest held by Emperor Napoleon III to find a suitable substitute for butter used by the French Navy. He named his product after the Greek word for pearl – margaritari.
1870 – Georgia becomes the last of the former Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union.
1870 – Act of Congress establishes Navy Pay Corps, which later becomes the Navy Supply Corps.
1876 – George Washington Bradley was the first man to pitch an official no-hit, no-run game in major league history. He pitched for St. Louis against Hartford. The score was 2-0 without a single hit being allowed.
1888 – “Printers’ Ink” was first sold.
1897 – The gold-laden ship Excelsior from Alaska landed in San Francisco.
1897 – W. Sheldon of NY patented a seed counter for retail seed sales.
1901 – Over 74,000 Pittsburgh steel workers went on strike.
1912 – Jim Thorpe won the decathlon in the Olympic games in Stockholm, Sweden.
1916 – In Seattle, Washington, William Boeing and George Conrad Westervelt incorporate Pacific Aero Products (later renamed Boeing).
1918 – World War I: Second Battle of the Marne – The battle begins near the River Marne with a German attack.
1920 – Babe Ruth ties his record of 29 home runs in a season.
1922 – First duck-billed platypus publicly exhibited in the US at the New York Zoo.
1933 – Wiley Post began first solo flight around the world.
1940 – Robert Wadlow died at the age of 22. At that time he was 8 feet, 11inches tall and weighed 439 pounds.
1941 – Master spy Juan Pujol Garcia, nicknamed “Garbo,” sends his first communique to Germany from Britain.
1942 – Glenn Miller and his band recorded the classic “Jukebox Saturday Night.”
1943 – World War II: An air battle takes place over Rendova in which the Americans lose three aircraft and claim to shoot down more than forty Japanese planes.
1945 – World War II: President Harry Truman disembarks the heavy cruiser the USS Augusta (CA-31) in Antwerp en route to Potsdam for the Potsdam Conference.
1945 – World War II: American naval vessels bombard Muroran, the second biggest steel center in Japan, lying in Volcano Bay on the east side of the island of Hokkaido.
1945 – World War II: American B-29 Superfortress bombers, based in the Marianna Islands, raided an oil refinery at Kudamatsu on Honshu Island while fighters and bombers from Okinawa attacked objectives on Kyushu and southern Honshu.
1948 – President Truman was nominated for another term of office by the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
1948 – CHART TOPPERS – “Woody Woodpecker Song” by The Kay Kaiser Orchestra (vocal: Gloria Wood & The Campus Kids), “You Can’t Be True, Dear” by  The Ken Griffin Orchestra (vocal: Jerry Wayne), “Little White Lies” by Dick Haymes and “Bouquet of Roses” by Eddy Arnold all topped the charts.

1950 – “Mona Lisa” by Nat ‘King’ Cole topped the charts.
1950 – Korean War: F-80s accounted for 85 percent of the enemy’s losses to air attack. 
1952 – Two U.S. Air Force Sikorsky H-19s traveled from the U.S. to Wiesbaden, Germany with stops in Labrador, Greenland, Iceland, Scotland, and the Netherlands on their way. Total flight time was about 52 hours, but because of stops the trip took 21 days.
1952 – Singer Patti Page made her TV debut in a summer replacement series for Perry Como.
1953 – Korean War: U.S. Air Force Captain James Jabara, 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, qualified as the second and last “triple ace” of the war — 15 kills.
1954 – The Boeing “Dash 80,” a prototype of the 707, made its first test flight. It was the first American jet passenger airliner.
1956 – CHART TOPPERS – “The Wayward Wind” by Gogi Grant, “My Prayer” by The Platters, “Hound Dog/Don’t Be Cruel” by Elvis Presley and “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” by Elvis Presley all topped the charts.
1957 – Full-scale production of the Edsel automobile begins.
1958 – In Lebanon, 5,000 United States Marines land in the capital Beirut in order to provide military support to the pro-Western government there.
1959 – The steel strike of 1959 begins, leading to significant importation of foreign steel for the first time in United States history.
1960 – “The New York World-Telegram” reported that the average white-collar worker would earn a lifetime income of $200,000 (forty years at $5,000 per year.)
1960 – John F. Kennedy accepted the Democratic nomination for president of the United States.
1961 – “Tossin’ & Turnin‘” by Bobby Lewis topped the charts.
1964 – CHART TOPPERS – “I Get Around” by The Beach Boys, “Memphis” by Johnny Rivers, “Rag Doll” by The Four Seasons and “My Heart Skips a Beat” by Buck Owens all topped the charts.
1964 – Barry M Goldwater (Sen-R-Az) nominated for president by Republicans. His nomination was challenged by more moderate Republicans who thought his hard-line foreign policy stances would come back to haunt him. He lost to Lyndon Johnson in a landslide, and the Republican Party suffered a significant setback nationally, losing many seats in both houses of Congress.
1965 – US scientists display close-up photos of Mars from Mariner IV.
1966 – Singer Percy Sledge earned a gold record for “When a Man Loves a Woman.”
1967 – “Windy” by the Association topped the charts.
1967 – In Alaska a major blizzard caught twelve climbers high on Mount McKinley (Denali). Five of twelve climbers managed to reach safety, but seven were caught and froze to death.
1968 – Soap opera “One Life To Live” premiers.
1968 – Intel was founded.
1972 – CHART TOPPERS – “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers, “Too Late to Turn Back Now” by Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose, “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” by Looking Glass and “Made in Japan” by Buck Owens all topped the charts.
1974 – Christine Chubbuck becomes the first person to commit suicide on-air.
1975 –  Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft take off for U.S.-Soviet link-up in space.
1975 – Virginia records state record high temperature of 110° in Balcony Falls.Johnny Bench
1976 – A 36-hour kidnap ordeal began for 26 schoolchildren and their bus driver when they were abducted by three gunmen near Chowchilla, CA. All of the captives escaped unharmed.
1978 – “Shadow Dancing” by Andy Gibb topped the charts.
1979 – President Jimmy Carter gives his famous “malaise” speech, where he characterizes the greatest threat to the country as “this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation.”
1980 – CHART TOPPERS – “Coming Up” by Paul McCartney & Wings, “It’s Still Rock & Roll to Me” by – Billy Joel, “Little Jeannie” by Elton John and “You Win Again” by Charley Pride all topped the charts.
1980 – Johnny Bench hits his 314th HR as a catcher and breaks Yogi Berra’s record.
1980 – Linda Ronstadt made her dramatic debut in “The Pirates Of Penzance” at the New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park.
1983 – The US Supreme Court struck down state & local restrictions on abortion.
1985 – Baseball players voted to strike on August 6th if no contract was reached with baseball owners. The strike turned out to be just one-day.
1985 – Aldus PageMaker, the first desktop publishing program, was first shipped for sale to consumers. The new software created by Paul Brainard began the era of desktop publishing.
1988 – CHART TOPPERS – “The Flame” by Cheap Trick, “Mercedes Boy” by Pebbles, “Pour Some Sugar on Me” by Def Leppard and “Fallin’ Again” by Alabama
1989 – “If You Don’t Know Me by Now” by Simply Red topped the charts.
1993 – Los Angeles Police announced eight arrests in connection with an alleged plot by white supremacists to ignite a race war by bombing a black church and killing prominent black Americans.
1994 - Microsoft Corp. reached a settlement with the Justice Department, promising to end practices it used to corner the market for personal computer software programs.
1995 – Connecticut sets a record high temperature of 106° in Danbury.
1995 – First item sold on Amazon.com.
1996 – MSNBC, a 24-hour all-news network, made its debut on cable and the Internet.
1996 – Arkansas Gov. Guy Tucker stepped down following a felony conviction in the Whitewater scandal. Lt. Gov. Mike Huckabee became governor.
1997 – In Miami, Florida, serial killer Andrew Phillip Cunanan guns down Gianni Versace outside his home.
1998 – The Congressional Budget Office estimated federal surpluses of $1.55 trillion over the next decade.
1999 – The Seattle Mariners played their first game in their new home, Safeco Field, losing to the San Diego Padres, 3-to-2.
1999 – The US House voted to give Congress a pay raise of $4,600 in January and to double the next president’s salary to $400,000.
1999 – The Religious Liberty Protection Act was signed by 107 House Democrats and 199 Republicans. It said local and state officials must bend their rules to accommodate religious claims.
2002 – “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh pleads guilty to supplying aid to the enemy and for the possession of explosives during the commission of a felony.
2002 – Osama bin Laden is alive and planning another attack on the United States, said an Arab journalist with close ties to the militant’s associates. This ‘new’ attack has not yet materialized.
2002 – Anti-Terrorism Court of Pakistan awarded death sentence to British born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and life term to three other suspects in murdering Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
2003 – AOL Time Warner disbands Netscape Communications Corporation. The Mozilla Foundation is established on the same day.
2003 – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention removed its SARS-related travel advisory for Taiwan, the last area to have such a travel alert.
2004 – Monorail service begins in Las Vegas.
2004 – President Bush signed into law a measure imposing mandatory prison terms for criminals who use identity theft in committing terrorist acts and other offenses.
2005 – Jack Nicklaus plays his last hole of competitive golf during The Open Championship at Hole 18 at St Andrews, finishing with a birdie.
2006 – The space shuttle Discovery undocked from the international space station.
2007 – The Los Angeles Times reported that about 45 percent of all foreign militants targeting US troops and Iraqi security forces were from Saudi Arabia, 15 percent from Syria and Lebanon, and 10 percent from North Africa.
2008 – Mei Ling Chen (46) of Taiwan was arrested in Sunnyvale, Ca., after customs inspectors at SF Int’l. Airport found $380,000 in counterfeit $100 bills in a package of dried seafood.
2008 – Volkswagen announced that it would build a $1 billion car plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., and expected to open it as soon as 2011.
2009 – The National Education Association has thrown its full support behind homosexual “marriage.”
2009 – Space shuttle Endeavour rocketed toward the international space station as engineers on Earth pored over launch pictures that showed debris breaking off the fuel tank and striking the craft.
2010 - BP reports that no oil is leaking into the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for the first time since it began in April.
2010 - World Trade Center site workers in the US excavate a 32 foot-long ship hull said to have been buried in the 18th century.
2010 - Two major US TV networks, CBS and NBC, censor the “Kill the Ground Zero Mosque” advertisement by conservative group National Republican Trust which calls plans to erect a mosque near New York City’s Ground Zero a “monstrosity.”
2011 –  President Barack Obama makes a phone call to the International Space Station (ISS) and jokes with astronauts about pizza.

 

1606 – Rembrandt, Dutch artist (d. 1669)
1779 – Clement Clarke Moore, American educator, author, and poet (d. 1863)
1796 – Thomas Bulfinch, American mythologist (d. 1867)
1921 – Robert Bruce Merrifield, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
1922 – Leon M. Lederman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
1930 – Stephen Smale, American mathematician
1935 – Alex Karras, American football player and actor
1936 – George Voinovich, American politician, senior senator of Ohio
1938 – Barry Goldwater Jr., American politician
1944 – Jan-Michael Vincent, American actor
1946 – Linda Ronstadt, American singer
1958 – Mac Thornberry, American politician
1960 – Kim Alexis, American supermodel and actress
1961 – Scott Ritter, UN weapons inspector in Iraq
1961 – Forest Whitaker, American actor
1972 – Scott Foley, American actor

MODRZEJEWSKI, ROBERT J. VIETNAM

Rank and organization: Major (then Capt.), U.S. Marine Corps, Company K, 3d Battalion, 4th Marines, 3d Marine Division, FMF. Place and date: Republic of Vietnam, 15 to 18 July 1966. Entered service at: Milwaukee, Wis. Born: 3 July 1934, Milwaukee, Wis. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. On 15 July, during Operation HASTINGS, Company K was landed in an enemy-infested jungle area to establish a blocking position at a major enemy trail network. Shortly after landing, the company encountered a reinforced enemy platoon in a well-organized, defensive position. Maj. Modrzejewski led his men in the successful seizure of the enemy redoubt, which contained large quantities of ammunition and supplies. That evening, a numerically superior enemy force counterattacked in an effort to retake the vital supply area, thus setting the pattern of activity for the next 2 1/2 days. In the first series of attacks, the enemy assaulted repeatedly in overwhelming numbers but each time was repulsed by the gallant Marines. The second night, the enemy struck in battalion strength, and Maj. Modrzejewski was wounded in this intensive action which was fought at close quarters. Although exposed to enemy fire, and despite his painful wounds, he crawled two hundred meters to provide critically needed ammunition to an exposed element of his command and was constantly present wherever the fighting was heaviest, despite numerous casualties, a dwindling supply of ammunition and the knowledge that they were surrounded, he skillfully directed artillery fire to within a few meter* of his position and courageously inspired the efforts of his company in repelling the aggressive enemy attack. On 18 July, Company K was attacked by a regimental-size enemy force. Although his unit was vastly outnumbered and weakened by the previous fighting, Maj. Modrzejewski reorganized his men and calmly moved among them to encourage and direct their efforts to heroic limits as they fought to overcome the vicious enemy onslaught. Again he called in air and artillery strikes at close range with devastating effect on the enemy, which together with the bold and determined fighting of the men of Company K, repulsed the fanatical attack of the larger North Vietnamese force. His unparalleled personal heroism and indomitable leadership inspired his men to a significant victory over the enemy force and reflected great credit upon himself, the Marine Corps, and the U.S. Naval Service.

*OTANI, KAZUO
WW II

Posthumously

 

Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company G, 442nd Infantry. Place and date: Pieve di S. Luce, Italy, 15 July 1944. Born: Visalia, Calif.  Entered service at:  Rivers Relocation Center, Ariz. Citation: Staff Sergeant Kazuo Otani distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 15 July 1944, near Pieve Di S. Luce, Italy. Advancing to attack a hill objective, Staff Sergeant Otani’s platoon became pinned down in a wheat field by concentrated fire from enemy machine gun and sniper positions. Realizing the danger confronting his platoon, Staff Sergeant Otani left his cover and shot and killed a sniper who was firing with deadly effect upon the platoon. Followed by a steady stream of machine gun bullets, Staff Sergeant Otani then dashed across the open wheat field toward the foot of a cliff, and directed his men to crawl to the cover of the cliff. When the movement of the platoon drew heavy enemy fire, he dashed along the cliff toward the left flank, exposing himself to enemy fire. By attracting the attention of the enemy, he enabled the men closest to the cliff to reach cover. Organizing these men to guard against possible enemy counterattack, Staff Sergeant Otani again made his way across the open field, shouting instructions to the stranded men while continuing to draw enemy fire. Reaching the rear of the platoon position, he took partial cover in a shallow ditch and directed covering fire for the men who had begun to move forward. At this point, one of his men became seriously wounded. Ordering his men to remain under cover, Staff Sergeant Otani crawled to the wounded soldier who was lying on open ground in full view of the enemy. Dragging the wounded soldier to a shallow ditch, Staff Sergeant Otani proceeded to render first aid treatment, but was mortally wounded by machine gun fire. Staff Sergeant Otani’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.

 

HAYS, GEORGE PRICE
WW I

Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army 10th Field Artillery, 3d Division. Place and date: Near Greves Farm, France, 14-15 July 1918. Entered service at: Okarche, Oklahoma. Born: 27 September 1892, China. G.O. No.: 34, W.D., 1919. Citation: At the very outset of the unprecedented artillery bombardment by the enemy, his line of communication was destroyed beyond repair. Despite the hazard attached to the mission of runner, he immediately set out to establish contact with the neighboring post of command and further establish liaison with two French batteries, visiting their position so frequently that he was mainly responsible for the accurate fire therefrom. While thus engaged, seven horses were shot under him and he was severely wounded. His activity under most severe fire was an important factor in checking the advance of the enemy.

 

BUCHANAN, DAVID M. INTERIM 1871- 1898

Rank and organization: Apprentice, U.S. Navy. Born: 1862, Philadelphia, Pa. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 246, 22 July 1879. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Saratoga off Battery, New York Harbor, 15 July 1879. On the morning of this date, Robert Lee Robey, apprentice, fell overboard from the after part of the ship into the tide which was running strong ebb at the time and, not being an expert swimmer, was in danger of drowning. Instantly springing over the rail after him, Buchanan never hesitated for an instant to remove even a portion of his clothing. Both men were picked up by the ship’s boat following this act of heroism.

 

HAYDEN, JOHN INTERIM 1871- 1898

Rank and organization: Apprentice, U.S. Navy. Born: 1863, Washington, D.C. Accredited to: Washington, D.C. G.O. No.: 246, 22 July 1879. Citation: On board the U.S. Training Ship Saratoga. On the morning of 15 July 1879, while the Saratoga was anchored off the Battery, in New York Harbor, R. L. Robey, apprentice, fell overboard. As the tide was running strong ebb, the man, not being an expert swimmer, was in danger of drowning. David M. Buchanan, apprentice, instantly, without removing any of his clothing, jumped after him. Stripping himself, Hayden stood coolly watching the two in the water, and when he thought his services were required, made a dive from the rail and came up alongside them and rendered assistance until all three were picked up by a boat from the ship.

 

ROBINSON, THOMAS INTERIM 1866- 1870

Rank and organizarion: Captain of the Afterguard, U.S. Navy. Born: 17 May 1837, Norway. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 77, 1 August 1866. Citation: For heroic efforts to save from drowning Wellington Brocar, landsman, of the Tallapoosa, off New Orleans, 15 July 1866.

 

MORRISON, JOHN G. CIVIL WAR

Rank and organization: Coxswain, U.S. Navy. Entered service at: Lansingburg, N.Y. Born: 3 November 1842, Ireland G.O. No.: 59, 22 June 1865. Citation: Serving as coxswain on board the U.S.S. Carondelet, Morrison was commended for meritorious conduct in general and especially for his heroic conduct and his inspiring example to the crew in the engagement with the rebel ram Arkansas, Yazoo River, 15 July 1862. When the Carondelet was badly cut up, several of her crew killed, many wounded and others almost suffocated from the effects of escaped steam, Morrison was the leader when boarders were called on deck, and the first to return to the guns and give the ram a broadside as she passed. His presence of mind in time of battle or trial is reported as always conspicuous and encouraging.

 

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