Today’s abandoned mansion is in Pennsylvania, Elkins Park to be exact—Lynnewood Hall. I found this article about this mansion on the Untapped Cities website. (I am presenting the article in two parts. This is part 1.)

From untappedcities.com:

Untapped New York made a visit to Lynnewood Hall to explore its many rooms and uncover a few of its secrets. We spoke extensively with VanScyoc and the Foundation’s Executive Director Edward Thome about the building’s history, its hidden gems, and the ambitious plans for its future. “There is such a rich history here, not just of the era of the Gilded Age and the family that lived here, but also of tradesmen, craftsmen, architecture…Think of all the stories that could be told,” VanScyoc mused. “It has an uncanny way of drawing you in and not letting you go,” said Thome, who has been mesmerized by the building since he was just 11 years old. While there are fascinating stories to be found around every corner of the massive building, we’ve picked out a few of our favorites to expand upon here. Read on to learn more about this stunning estate (and see photos from inside), from its tragic ties to the Titanic to its hidden room full of safes, mysterious tunnel system, and how you can visit!

1. The Art Galleries Had a Museum-Worthy Lighting System

The original owner of Lynnewood Hall, Peter A.B. Widener, died with a personal fortune that would have been worth tens of billions of dollars today and a museum-worthy art collection, but he came from humble beginnings. Born to a butcher in West Philadelphia, Widener also went into the meat business. His first big break in business was winning a contract to supply mutton to Union troops during the Civil War. He used his earnings to invest in street car lines and moved his way up the political ladder in Philadelphia until he became City Treasurer. He had holdings in foundational American companies such as U.S. Steel, American Tobacco Company, and Standard Oil. Though Widener was one of the wealthiest Americans to ever live, his money couldn’t insulate him from tragedy.

After his wife, Hannah Josephine Dunton, died in 1896, Widener realized he wanted to keep his family close. He commissioned architect Horace Trumbauer to build a home large enough to house the families of Widener’s two sons, George and Joseph, and his own expensive art collection. “Lynnewood is the home that art built,” VanScyoc said, noting how important the art collection was to the family. Widener began collecting art around 1885 and by the time Lynnewood was complete in 1899, he had amassed a collection of priceless masterpieces that included paintings by Raphael, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Gainsborough, and more. The collecting bug was passed on to his son, Joseph, who expanded on his father’s collection.

Widener arranged his works of art in five different galleries throughout his home, one on the first floor and four on the second floor. Each gallery was designed to display specific works based on the artist and style. To ensure the safety of his prized collection and to show the pieces in the best (literal) light, Widener had his home built with the latest technology. “Even though the building is a classical piece of architecture, it’s very technologically advanced,” VanScyoc said.

The main gallery, for instance, is surrounded by walls of concrete 2 feet thick as a fire precaution. The galleries on the second floor were lit by diffused skylights. Above the skylights, there is a mechanical system of long fins that can be adjusted to direct sunlight as the sun changes position in the sky throughout the day. The gallery skylight is also rigged to a ventilation system that allows a person to turn one wheel and simultaneously open a series of glass panels to let air flow.

The art galleries were named after Widener’s favorite artists, including Rembrandt, Raphael, Cellini, and van Dyck. Within each, paintings were displayed on red velvet walls, the remnants of which you can see hanging throughout the galleries today. In the Cellini room, niches in the walls housed precious jewelry items crafted by the Italian goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini. The Rembrandt Room held all Rembrandts. The van Dyck room, which is VanScyoc’s favorite, was also Widener’s favorite. It once held a portrait of Widener by John Singer Sargent. “Restoration would make these galleries the preeminent galleries in the country,” said Thome.

During the Depression, the Wideners opened their art galleries to the public so that anyone who wanted to could see the treasures inside. The philanthropically minded Joseph Widener bequeathed the family’s art collection, over 2,000 items, to the National Gallery in D.C. where you can see many of the items on display today. That creative and philanthropic spirit will be carried on in the estate’s future.

2. A Hidden Room Full of Safes Doesn’t Appear on Floorplans

While working to clean up the mansion and learn more about it, the Preservation Foundation has made many surprising discoveries. One such hidden gem they’ve found is a room full of individually locked safes. It is tucked away behind the Butler’s Pantry and squeezed between the first and second floors and is the only room in the mansion that doesn’t appear on floor plans. There are fourteen safes in total, each lined with a dark blue velvet.  These safes likely held the finest pieces of silver from the Widener’s dinner service. Unfortunately, no long-forgotten treasures were found inside when they were opened.

3. Underground Tunnels and Buried Gardens

The Lynnewood Hall Estate didn’t just include the 100,000-square-foot mansion and the nearly 35 acres of land it sits on today. It originally covered 300 acres. On that land were two structures that still exist – Lynnewood Lodge (the former stables) and the Gatehouse – as well as a lost farm, a Normandy-style village for the staff, a powerplant, greenhouses, a polo field, and more. Snaking below the property is a large system of underground tunnels. VanScyoc told Untapped New York that the tunnel system may be even larger than they know. One branch of the tunnel system definitely goes from the basement of the main house to the central fountain in the front yard. A few manhole covers have been found around the property, but there may be more to uncover.

Another fun fact about the land is that the original gardens were buried. Upon the death of Peter Widener, his son Joseph inherited the property. Joseph and his father had slightly different tastes when it came to architecture and landscape design. Peter’s original landscaping for Lynnewood Hall was of an Italianate style with sunken gardens lined by balustrades. After Peter died, the sunken gardens were filled in and topped with a formal French garden.

4. Secret Doors and the Abraham Lincoln Couch

The smoking room is full of secrets! Take a peek at the right-hand side of the photo above. In the bookcase to the right of the mirror, you can see a hidden door. The door leads to a marble-clad bathroom for the gentlemen who would have enjoyed lounging in this space. The right side of that bookcase actually hides more shelves behind it, complete with false book spines. Throughout Lynnewood Hall there are many hidden doors, usually disguised as mirrors. Some doors are also fake. Rather than opening, they are simply built against a wall and give the illusion of an entryway.

The couch in the smoking room is called the Abraham Lincoln couch because, so the story goes, Lincoln once sat in it. The couch, which is not original to the home, is allegedly from the New York Governor’s mansion and was graced by Lincoln’s rear end when he came to visit.

5. Tragic Ties to the Titanic

Many wealthy 19th-century families, the Wideners were touched by the tragedy of the Titanic. The family of Peter’s eldest son, George, booked tickets on the Titanic for their return trip from Paris. George and his wife Eleanor owned the Philadelphia Ritz-Carlton, so they were traveling to Europe to find a new chef for the hotel. They also needed to pick up a wedding trousseau for their daughter Josephine and some rare books for their son Harry. Harry, George’s valet Edwin Keeping, and Eleanor’s ladies maid Amalia Geigerhey went along for the trip. When the Titanic sank, George, Harry, and Edwin sadly lost their lives. Eleanor and Amalia made it safely to New York. This tragedy has long been one of the things that Lynnewood is most known for, but there is much more to the story of the Wideners and their opulent home.

SOURCE: UNTAPPEDCITIES.COM

(Note: This article is courtesy of Filly!)

The strange reasons medieval people slept in cupboards

22 January 2024

By Zaria Gorvett

These cozy, wardrobe-like pieces of furniture could reportedly sleep up to five people. Why did they fall out of fashion?

At a museum in Wick, in the far north of Scotland, is what looks like a particularly large pine wardrobe. With a pair of full-length double doors at the front, and suitcases stacked above it, it wouldn’t look out of place in a modern bedroom. It’s even assembled like regular flat-pack furniture – with each piece slotting together, so it can be easily moved and rebuilt. But this cupboard is not for storing shirts or jackets; there are no hangers or shelves inside. This is a box bed – and it’s designed to hold sleeping people.  

Otherwise known as a closet bed or close bed, the box bed was surprisingly popular across Europe from the medieval era to the early 20th Century. These heavy pieces of furniture involved exactly what you would expect – a box made of wood that contained a bed. Some were plain and humble, no more than basic wooden containers. Others were elaborately decorated, with carved, panelled or painted sides. Often the cupboards had doors that closed to impound the sleeper within the blackness of their cramped interiors, or a little curtained window. The fanciest had a variety of uses – with bonus drawers and a seat at their base. 

For centuries, drowsy farm-workers, fish-gutters, and even members of the nobility would crawl inside these cozy wooden dens each night, presumably being careful not to bash their elbows as they did so, and shut themselves in.

Box beds were versatile pieces of furniture. Often, they were used almost as miniature bedrooms – spillover places for people to sleep where there otherwise wouldn’t be enough space. In one case from 1890, a family living in the Scottish Highlands was too large for their single-room house – so some members slumbered in a box bed in the barn, among dogs and horses, according to the Wick Society. It was also common to use them for migrant workers in some areas, such as the overflow of herring-gutters who descended on the region of Wick during the fishing season – with up to five or six people required to share a bed.

In fact, sharing a box bed with family members or co-workers was not unusual. In the 1825 melodrama The Factory Lad, workers slept in stacks of box beds, with two or three people in each one. Some had holes for ventilation, but cramming too many people in may have carried a risk of suffocation – one tale from 13th-Century France involves a woman hiding three secret guests inside a bed, who then perish in its stuffy interior.  

Box beds were particularly common in Britain and on the continent in Europe. According to one account from 1840, most cottages in Brittany, France, included these pieces of furniture, which were typically made from oak and piled up to 4ft (1.2m) high with bedding. There might be several to a room, and each one would have a long wooden chest placed at their base. “This is always the seat of honor, and serves also as a step to assist mine hostess in mounting to her exalted couch,” wrote the author Thomas Adolphus Trollope.

But there was a further benefit to these sleeping-coffins: warmth. Without modern heating or insulation, in the winter bedrooms could be literally freezing – so cold that it was standard practice to go to bed wearing a hat, so that only your face was exposed. And it was significantly colder then.

Roger Ekirch, a university distinguished professor of history at Virginia Tech, Virginia, and the author of At Day’s Close: A History of Nighttime, explains that from the 14th to the 19th Century, Europe and portions of North America were experiencing the Little Ice Age. In London, the Thames froze over on eighteen occasions – an event that hasn’t happened since 1963. “Diaries spoke of sap from burning logs in fireplaces freezing as soon as it seeped from the bare ends… inkwells would freeze overnight,” he says.

This not only made bedmates an appealing prospect, but also the sheltered environment of a box bed, where warm air became trapped.

The box bed eventually became associated with poverty and country life, and fell out of fashion. By the mid-20th Century they were rare. However, now similar pieces of furniture are making a quiet comeback. Today it’s possible to buy bed tents, which turn sleeping areas into snug little caves with the added benefit of extra privacy, while wooden sleeping “nooks” that look suspiciously similar to box beds are being sold for aspirational “cottage style” homes.

SOURCE: BBC.COM

From History.com:

The Oklahoma City bombing occurred when a truck packed with explosives was detonated on April 19, 1995, outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, killing 168 people and leaving hundreds more injured. The blast was set off by anti-government militant Timothy McVeigh, who in 2001 was executed for his crimes. His co-conspirator Terry Nichols was sentenced to life in prison.

Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building

Shortly after 9:00 a.m. on April 19, 1995, a Ryder rental truck exploded with terrifying force in front of the nine-story Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. The powerful explosion blew off the building’s entire north wall. Emergency crews raced to Oklahoma from across the country, and when the rescue effort finally ended two weeks later, the death toll stood at 168 people. The list of the deceased included 19 young children who were in the building’s day care center at the time of the blast. More than 650 other people were injured in the bombing, which damaged or destroyed over 300 buildings in the immediate area.

What Led to the Oklahoma City Bombing?

Timothy McVeigh

A massive hunt for the bombing suspects ensued, and on April 21 an eyewitness description led authorities to charge Timothy McVeigh, a former U.S. Army soldier, in the case. As it turned out, McVeigh was already in jail, having been stopped a little more than an hour after the bombing for a traffic violation and then arrested for unlawfully carrying a handgun. Shortly before he was scheduled to be released from jail, he was identified as a prime suspect in the bombing and charged.

That same day, Terry Nichols, an associate of McVeigh’s, surrendered in Herington, Kansas. Both men were found to be members of a radical right-wing survivalist group based in Michigan. On August 8, Michael Fortier, who knew of McVeigh’s plan to bomb the federal building, agreed to testify against McVeigh and Nichols in exchange for a reduced sentence. Two days later, McVeigh and Nichols were indicted on charges of murder and unlawful use of explosives.

Domestic Terrorists Behind the Oklahoma City Bombing

While still in his teens, McVeigh, who was raised in western New York, acquired a penchant for guns and began honing survivalist skills he believed would be necessary in the event of a Cold War showdown with the Soviet Union. He graduated from high school in 1986 and in 1988 enlisted in the Army, where he proved to be a disciplined and meticulous soldier. While in the military, McVeigh befriended fellow soldier Nichols, who was more than a dozen years his senior and shared his survivalist interests.

In early 1991, McVeigh served in the Persian Gulf War. He was decorated with several medals for his military service; however, after failing to qualify for the Special Forces program, McVeigh accepted the Army’s offer of an early discharge and left in the fall of 1991. At the time, the American military was downsizing after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Another result of the end of the Cold War was that McVeigh shifted his ideology from a hatred of foreign communist governments to a suspicion of the U.S. federal government, especially as its new leader Bill Clinton, elected in 1992, had successfully campaigned for the presidency on a platform of gun control.

McVeigh, Nichols and their associates were deeply radicalized by such events as the August 1992 shoot-out at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, between federal agents and survivalist Randy Weaver at his rural cabin, and the Waco siege of April, 1993, in which 75 members of a Branch Davidian religious sect died near Waco, Texas. McVeigh planned an attack on the Murrah Building, which housed regional offices of such federal agencies as the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives, the agency that had launched the initial raid on the Branch Davidian compound. On April 19, 1995, the two-year anniversary of the disastrous end to the Waco siege, McVeigh parked a Ryder rental truck loaded with a diesel-fuel-fertilizer bomb outside the Murrah Building and fled. Minutes later, the massive bomb exploded.

McVeigh and Nichols Sentenced

On June 2, 1997, McVeigh was convicted on all 11 counts against him, and on August 14 the death penalty was formally imposed. The following year, Fortier, who had met McVeigh in the Army, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for failing to warn authorities about the Oklahoma City bombing plan. Fortier was released from prison in 2007 and entered the witness protection program. In December 1997, Nichols was found guilty on one count of conspiracy and eight counts of involuntary manslaughter, for killing federal law enforcement personnel, and was sentenced to life in prison. In 2004, he was tried on state charges in Oklahoma and convicted of 161 counts of first-degree murder, including fetal homicide. He received 161 consecutive life terms in prison.

Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum

In December 2000, McVeigh asked a federal judge to stop all appeals of his convictions and to set a date for his execution. The request was granted, and on June 11, 2001, McVeigh, at age 33, died by lethal injection at the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was the first federal prisoner to be put to death since 1963. In May 1995, the Murrah Building was demolished for safety reasons, and the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum later opened at the site.

SOURCE: HISTORY.COM

Pat’s Note: Filly brought a comment about the bombing and I wanted to include it here:

NebraskaFilly

April 10, 2025 at 9:44 am Edit

Yet another quagmire from history – why are they STILL hiding this???

EXCERPT: “After the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City bombing, the FBI launched a massive manhunt for a mystery accomplice to Timothy McVeigh known as “John Doe 2”—only to later claim that he never existed, and that McVeigh acted largely alone.

Nearly 30 years later, an attorney in Utah named Jesse Trentadue is still working to unearth the truth through his ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for surveillance footage of the blast. According to FBI and Secret Service records, the footage shows McVeigh with another unidentified subject.

Since McVeigh’s other known accomplice, Terry Nichols, was confirmed to have been in Kansas on April 19, John Doe 2’s identity remains a subject of debate. Credible researchers have made the case that he may have been an undercover informant, or even an agent.

Trentadue’s nearly 17-year-old FOIA lawsuit hasn’t received much attention over the last decade, largely because it’s been litigated behind closed doors, with gag orders on all parties. That’s because a special master is continuing to investigate stunning allegations that the FBI intimidated an undercover informant involved in the case.

With the OKC bombing anniversary next week, Trentadue recently moved to unseal the deposition he took of the FBI informant—a retired Marine named John Matthews, who allegedly saw McVeigh months before the bombing. However, one of the top officials in the Justice Department, Principal Acting Assistant Attorney General Yaakov Roth, is opposing his motion, according to a letter Trentadue wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi—a copy of which this reporter obtained.

“Mr. Roth appeared in that case in his official capacity and heads the Department of Justice’s vehement opposition to unsealing Matthews’ deposition,” Trentadue told Bondi in a March 26 letter. “Why is the Department of Justice fighting so hard to prevent the unsealing of that deposition when it is contrary to everything the current administration has publicly stated about exposing and cleaning up the FBI lawlessness?”

The contents of Matthews’s deposition are not publicly known. Trentadue said he wasn’t allowed to comment on the matter due to the court-imposed gag order……”

https://thefederalist.com/2025/04/10/why-is-trumps-doj-hiding-an-fbi-informants-deposition-on-the-oklahoma-bombing/

The first Pony Express ride began in St. Joseph, MO on April 3, 1860 and ended in Sacramento, CA, on April 14, 1860. 

“…citizens paraded the streets with bands of music, fireworks were set off….the best feeling was manifested by everybody.”
– New York times, April 14, 1860 on the success of the first Pony Express delivery.

With only two months to make the Pony Express a reality, the team of William H. Russell, Alexander Majors and William B. Waddell had their hands full in January 1860. Over 100 stations, 400-500 horses and enough riders were needed – at an estimated cost of $70,000.

But on April 3, 1860, the first official delivery began at the eastern terminus of the Pony Express in St. Joseph, Missouri. Amid great fanfare and with many dignitaries present, a mail pouch containing 49 letters, five telegrams and miscellaneous papers was handed to a rider. At 7:15 p.m., a cannon was fired and the rider bolted off to a waiting ferry boat.

The Pony Express was set up to provide a fresh horse every 10-15 miles and a fresh rider every 75-100 miles. 75 horses were needed total to make a one-way trip. Average speed was 10 miles per hour.

On April 9 at 6:45 p.m., the first rider from the east reached Salt Lake City, Utah. Then, on April 12, the mail pouch reached Carson City, Nevada at 2:30 p.m.

The riders raced over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, through Placerville, California and on to Sacramento. Around midnight on April 14, 1860, the first mail pouch was delivered via the Pony Express to San Francisco.

Despite the success and approval of the public, the Pony Express was by no means a trouble-free operation after the first delivery. Costs and difficulties of maintaining the extensive network of stations, people and horses were numerous. Yet the Pony Express, with the exception of delays caused by the Pyramid Lake War, stayed in operation until the telegraph’s arrival in 1861.

SOURCE: NPS.GOV

From: historycollection.com:

11. The nearly month long marathon, April 1, 1981

The British tabloid Daily Mail has long been criticized for its sensationalism, its practice of printing stories of a vague and frightening nature, and for its inaccuracies in reporting. It has also been the target of criticism for copyright violations from time to time. Its sensationalist nature provides it with cover, as it were, when some of its stories appear to be, shall we say, of questionable veracity. Such was the case on April Fools’ Day, 1981, when the paper reported a story of a Japanese long distance runner who had come to England for the London Marathon, and due to a misunderstanding, believed the race consisted of 26 days, rather than 26 miles. According to the Daily Mail, he was still running.

Kimo Nakajimi, the evidently quite fit runner, was reported by the newspaper as being “somewhere” on the roads of the United Kingdom, doggedly determined to complete the marathon. The misunderstanding was attributed to a translation error, but the race officials were unable to determine the exact location of the runner, in part because he was in constant motion. According to the article, numerous residents of the British Isles spotted the runner, who refused to stop when hailed. According to a race official quoted in the article, the misunderstanding was fed by the fact that such grueling endurance races were common in Japan, and thus seemed normal to Kimo.

12. Send in the brides, April 1, 1928

According to the Berlin Illustrated Newspaper in April 1928, the tiny principality of Liechtenstein suffered from a shortage of marriageable women, due to the migration of such ladies to neighboring Switzerland in search of work. To relieve the shortage, the government of Liechtenstein was importing women from other European countries, transporting them via freight cars. Once they arrived in the small country they were sold at auction to prospective husbands, eager to obtain brides. A photograph which accompanied the article depicted prospective brides being unloaded from the trains, and was considered by the men of Liechtenstein to be particularly offensive.

Most of the women shown were of an inordinately large size, and the populace, government, and newspapers of the principality took the story as an insult. The government and newspapers denounced the story as an example of tactless German boorishness. The story was picked up by other European and American newspapers, and the hoax was blown out of proportion into an international diplomatic incident. The fact that so many other newspapers ran the story saw the photograph, which was considered by the Liechtensteiners the most insulting part of the story, reproduced worldwide.

13. BBC broadcasts aromas via television, April 1, 1965

On April Fools’ Day 1965 the BBC announced a new dimension to their television broadcasts. An interview with a scientist from the University of London revealed that he had perfected a machine which allowed for the broadcast of odors from the studio to receiving sets, with no modification of the sets required. The entire process was completed in the studio, where his machine absorbed the molecules of the aromas and transmitted them over the airwaves. The scientist agreed to a demonstration of his machine, using the pungent aroma of raw onions and the fragrance of freshly brewed coffee, both of which were inserted into his machine. Viewers were asked to call in when they detected the scents.

It didn’t take long before the telephones were ringing in the studio. Scores of viewers from across the United Kingdom called in to report that the machine – which was called smell-o-vision – was a success. Some viewers reported the smell of onions was so strong that it caused their eyes to water. That smell-o-vision was a carefully conceived April Fools’ Day hoax was revealed after the BBC received a multitude of calls from viewers apparently readily susceptible to suggestion. The concept has been revisited in film and television since, though through the use of peripheral equipment rather than the aroma being broadcast through the television receiver.

14. The Night Watch self-erasure, April 1, 1950

Among the most famous paintings in the world, and noted for its large size, The Night Watch by Rembrandt von Rijn is beloved by the Dutch as a national symbol, as well as a source of national pride. It is widely considered to be the greatest masterpiece of the period known as the Dutch Golden Age. On April 1, 1950, Dutch citizens were stunned to learn, via radio, that the painting was dissolving of apparently its own accord, with little opportunity of its being saved. According to a broadcast of the Dutch national radio network, the painting was inadvertently cleaned with a harmful cleaning fluid, and was melting throughout the day. Already unrecognizable, by midnight it would be gone.

The radio broadcast caused hundreds of art lovers and students to race to the Rijksmuseum, where the painting was housed, in order to view it one last time. The length of time waiting in the queue was hours, and VARA – the Dutch national radio network – had reporters working the line, interviewing those waiting to see the painting live on the air. Many were in tears. They exited the building through an opposite door so as not to reveal to those still waiting the painting was fine and the story was a hoax. The Night Watch has been the subject of vandalism several times, and in 2019 was schedule for a full restoration, to take place while the painting remained on public display.

15 The rain-proof BMW sunroof, April 1, 1983

The German car manufacturer BMW has a long tradition of presenting advertisements on the first of April which are deliberate hoaxes, leading their fans to expect them and limiting their efficiency as a joke, since it is well-known and expected of them. That was not the case on April Fools’ Day, 1983, when magazine and newspaper advertisements revealed their latest innovation in luxury. The company announced a new sunroof, which drivers could leave open in the hardest rain while the interior of the vehicle remained dry. According to the ads, the car could be driven through an automatic carwash with the top open, the occupants protected by the new design.

BMW claimed that the new sunroof was designed by one of their engineers, identified by the company as Herr Blohn. The system used high volume air blowers to direct a jet of air across the opening, which diverted water from entering the vehicle. Those potential customers who wanted additional information were directed to telephone customer service and direct their call to April Wurst (pronounced versed). Since the 1983 April Fools’ Day advertisement BMW has produced many more such jokes, inspiring similar tongue in cheek advertisements and announcements by competitors.

16. A Martian in Germany, April 1, 1950

Those who subscribe to UFO conspiracies will be dismayed to learn that one of the photos of an extraterrestrial which purports to support evidence of alien contact began as an April Fools’ Day joke in a German newspaper. It began with a photograph of an alien which appeared in a Wiesbaden newspaper accompanying an article which described the crash of a UFO discovered by American soldiers. The alien, alive, had been taken into the soldiers’ custody. Several days later the newspaper published an announcement describing the article and photograph as an April Fools’ Day joke. By that time a copy of the photograph was in the FBI’s voluminous files.

In 1980 the photograph was obtained by the authors of the book The Roswell Incident, Charles Berlitz and William Moore. They presented the photograph as proof of an alien encounter, which had been hushed up by the United States military. The German photographer who created the picture, as an April Fools’ Day hoax, later revealed that the “alien” was actually his then five year old son, costumed and posing with amenable American soldiers. The revelation has not stopped those who believe it to be a photograph of a genuine extraterrestrial from continuing to present it as proof that earth has been visited by aliens and governments continue to create cover ups to deny the fact to citizens.

17. Using pigs as lard factories, April 1, 1921

The Germans, through their newspapers, have a long and distinguished history of producing April Fools’ Day hoaxes, some more believable than others. In April, 1921, a Berlin newspaper produced a story which explained how a particularly innovative farmer derived lard from his pigs without killing them. The lard was removed surgically from the living animal, which was then stitched up to presumably produce yet more lard. The animal was numbed during the procedure, which could be performed up to three times per year, making the animal a living lard factory. First British, and later American newspapers reprinted the story and enhanced it.

For over a year the story remained in play. The farmer who discovered the process had been described as living in the town of Schleichegrieben. Once it became apparent that no town of that name existed in Germany British newspapers began to question the story. The name of the fictional town translated to sneaking bacon, another indication of the falsity of the story. The Berlin newspaper which originally published the story admitted it was an April Fools’ Day joke over a year after it first appeared, having fooled hardened news publishers in Europe and America, as well as their readers, for most of that time.

18. Creating write-only memory, April 1, 1973

It would be hard to imagine a purpose for write-only memory, which allows information to be stored but never retrieved. But on April 1, 1973, Signetics, a California based manufacturer of integrated circuit chips founded in 1961, announced that they had successfully developed write-only memory in a press release. A spokesperson for the company, Roy L. Twitty, called the innovation a major achievement which would have a beneficial effect on the lives of all who ever used computers. Signetics included technical data sheets describing the memory as part of the press release, comprised of meaningless diagrams and equations.

The concept became an inside joke within the industry, and was expanded upon by other manufacturers and engineers, including Apple, which included references to it in their reference manual for the Apple IIe computer in 1982. Apple claimed that the concept of write-only memory was developed under a government contract in 1975, and that it had been criticized as a “six-million dollar boondoggle” but that the device allowed for the storage of “excess information”, and thus saved millions of dollars by freeing up conventional memory storage systems for other uses. The concept remains an allusion to a totally worthless device or idea.

19. The lamp which cast darkness, April 1, 1955

Popular Electronics published their April issue for 1955 including an article which described the concept of “Contra-Polar Energy”. Contra-polar energy was described as negative energy, which when applied to any electronic or electrical device would cause it to produce the exact opposite of what it was designed to produce. In other words, if applied to a light bulb, the bulb would cast darkness rather than light. An electric element on a stove would become ice cold rather than generate heat. The energy could act as a brake on an electric motor. According to the magazine the energy was developed secretly by the military during the Second World War.

The magazine included a photograph which depicted a table lamp creating darkness on the surface on which it rested. The article also contained a disclaimer, which directed the readers’ attention to the fact of its being published on the first day of April. Nonetheless, interested readers continued to write to the magazine for additional information for years. In 1959 Popular Electronics was forced to issue a statement which indicated the article had been an April Fools’ Day joke, and continued demand for more information led to their doing so again in 1963, eight years after its original publication.

20. London’s Big Ben converted to digital, April 1, 1980

Once again, in 1980 the BBC perpetrated a hoax in celebration of April Fools’ Day which bemused some and outraged others. Clocks and watches with digital faces rather than traditional dials were all the rage in the late 1970s and early 1980s. On April 1, the BBC reported that in accordance with the times the famed London hallmark, Big Ben, would be equipped with a digital face replacing its dial. The report included much of the history of what is arguably the world’s most famous clock, and closed with the announcement that the hands would be given away to listeners on a first come, first served basis. Calls from around the world began immediately, hoping to obtain a relic of the clock.

Not all of the calls were about gaining one of the clock’s hands. The British public was outraged at the idea. The volume of calls and the anger expressed in them forced the network to issue a statement that the entire report had been an April Fools’ Day joke. That announcement merely increased the numbers of calls into the BBC, from viewers and listeners who did not find the joke the least bit funny. The BBC issued several apologies for the gaffe. The joke has been repeated over the years by British tabloids and magazines, with reasons for the conversion given as an effort to boost tourism and the need to upgrade the clock, but never with the overwhelmingly negative reaction expressed in 1980, which gives an indication of the credibility the BBC held with the public at the time.

SOURCE: HISTORYCOLLECTION.COM

Happy April Fools’ Day!  I found an interesting article on the some of the best April Fools’ pranks ever pulled on the History Collection website. Enjoy!

From: historycollection.com:

Nobody is certain when the custom of setting aside the first day of April to pull pranks on the unsuspecting began. Records of pranks go back centuries. There are reports of people hoaxing their fellows as far back as the early 16^th century in France, at a time when the New Year was celebrated on March 25, one week earlier than April 1. Pranks were considered part of the New Year celebration. By the late 16^th century, the event was recorded in the Low Countries, and it appeared in the British Isles a century or so later. In England, public announcements of a ceremony to wash the lions – statues at the Tower of London – appeared in 1698, though no such event took place.

In any event, throughout the history of the western world, April 1 became the date when harmless pranks were pulled on friends and strangers – and some have been epic. News organizations, governments, and private individuals have generated hoaxes for their own amusement and for the entertainment of others, at the same time demonstrating both their power and the gullibility of sections of the public. Here are some of the best April Fools pranks of all time, which when perpetrated demonstrated the brilliance of the prankster, and the foolishness of those taken in.

1. The Curious Case of Sidd Finch, April 1, 1985

Just before Opening Day, 1985, Sports Illustrated ran an article in their April 1 edition describing a unique phenomenon in the New York Mets training camp. His name was Hayden Siddhartha Finch – known to his teammates as Sidd – and he was capable of throwing a baseball at the unheard of speed of 168 miles per hour, with astonishing accuracy. He was a master of yoga, a dropout from Harvard University, disliked wearing shoes, and preferred playing the French horn to baseball. The article was accompanied by photographs, and the Mets organization played along, assigning both a locker and a uniform number to the fictitious pitcher (21). The response from the public and other media was immediate.

Mets fans called the team’s offices for additional information about Sidd. Sportswriters flocked to the Mets spring training facilities for a glimpse. A press conference was held on April 2, attended by the three major networks at the time, during which Sidd’s retirement was announced. The story, which had been written by George Plimpton, was revealed to have been an April Fools’ joke on the fifteenth of that month, but by then an uncounted number of people had been taken in. The absurdity of the tale and the absence of Finch in camp aside, many believed the story, and the Mets continued to field questions about the pitcher who never was for weeks.

2. The spaghetti harvest in Switzerland, April 1, 1957

In 1957 the British Broadcasting Corporation ran a segment on their popular television program Panorama, presented by the widely respected newsman, called a presenter in the UK, Richard Dimbleby. The three minute segment depicted spaghetti being harvested from the trees on which it had been grown in Switzerland. The report described a bumper crop of Swiss spaghetti, in part because the Swiss government had successfully eradicated the spaghetti weevil. Footage of an annual spaghetti harvest festival was included in the segment. Dimbleby’s deadpan voice-over and his reputation as a newsman gave the segment the air of authenticity, and over eight million Britons watched the program.

How many of them were fooled is unknown, but the BBC received hundreds of telephone calls in the aftermath, many of them asking how they could successfully grow their own spaghetti. Spaghetti was a recently introduced food in the UK in the late 1950s, usually purchased already prepared in tomato sauce in cans, which the British refer to as tins. It was considered somewhat exotic, even in that less than delicious presentation. Callers were told to try to seed their spaghetti in tomato sauce. Decades later the spaghetti hoax was described by CNN as one of the greatest ever pulled by a professional news organization, no matter how unbelievable it seems today.

3. Make your own color television, April 1, 1962

In 1962 Sweden had but one television channel, SVT (Sveriges Television) and the vast majority of television sets in the country were black and white receivers. SVT broadcast its programming in black and white as well, there were no color programs available for airing. On April 1, 1962, its leading technical expert appeared during a news broadcast, with the important news of a technological breakthrough which would allow Swedes to view the channel’s programming in what became known to an American network as “living color”. All they had to do was place an ordinary woman’s nylon stocking across the face of their television screen.

The expert, whose name was Kjell Stensson, demonstrated the process on the air, and the public responded with alacrity. According to Stensson, it was the mesh of the nylon which generated the color in the pictures appearing on the screen, though remember they were being broadcast in black and white. Hundreds, if not thousands, reported successfully obtaining a color image. After the report was revealed to be an April Fools’ Day joke, the number of Swedes who admitted being taken in dropped dramatically. By the way, color television broadcasts did not appear in Sweden until 1970, also on April 1, when it was no longer necessary to have a pair of nylons to receive the transmission.

4. The day the world became lighter, April 1, 1976

Early in the morning of April 1, 1976, the BBC radio station 2 presented an interview with noted astronomer Patrick Moore. Moore announced to his interviewer, and thus to listeners, that later that same morning a rare planetary alignment would occur which would have an effect on the gravitational forces on earth. At precisely 9.47 AM in Great Britain the affect would be at its peak. According to Moore if people were to jump into the air at that time they would achieve heights which up to then had been reachable only by NBA players, and some may even be able to float in the air for an extended period.

The appointed time came and went, and the BBC began receiving calls from listeners who reported successfully accomplishing the feat predicted by Moore in the interview. Hundreds of callers reported being able to reach unforeseen heights, and remaining suspended in mid-air for incredible lengths of time. Others claimed that they had been lifted out of their chairs, with no effort on their part, and floated about the room. How many of the callers were simply playing along with the joke and how many were actually taken in is unknown, but BBC 2 and Moore never revealed the idea had been made up by pranksters in the studio, and the affable Moore went along with the joke.

5. A German joke became American news, April 1, 1934

On April Fools’ Day, 1934, a Berlin newspaper published a photograph which showed a man flying using an apparatus which was powered by his own breathing. The man exhaled into a box worn on his chest, his breath causing rotors to spin and create suction, which according to the accompanying article lifted him into the air. Skis attached to his feet were used to land, and a tail fin was strapped to his back, affording him the capability of steering while airborne. The entire article and photograph was clearly a joke, in accordance with the date of its publication in Germany. American wire services picked up the story, and it appeared in American newspapers, one of which was the New York Times, later in the week.

The American newspapers received the story days after it appeared in Germany, and the significance of the date of publication was lost on them. In the United States the story ran as being real news. It was distributed throughout the United States by Hearst International. Newspapers which subscribed to Hearst carried stories which described the invention as a miraculous new means of man achieving flight, and even speculated on the invention’s potential impact on transportation and daily commuting. Gradually the newspapers came to realize that the whole story had been a joke, and the reports of a breath powered aviator faded out.

6. The Norwegian wine bottle shortage, April 1, 1950

The most widely read newspaper in Norway published a story on its front page on April 1, 1950, which described a dilemma faced by the Vinmonopolet, the wine monopoly in Norway which was owned and operated by the government. According to the story, the monopoly faced an overstock of barreled wine, and at the same time a severe shortage of bottles to fill in order to present the wine for sale to the public. In order to alleviate the glut and distribute the wine, the monopoly would sell at a deep discount, and for just that day tax-free, the wine to individuals who arrived at markets with vessels with which to carry the beverage home. The article recommended buckets.

Dutiful Norwegians formed long lines, laden with the recommended buckets, though some brought with them pitchers, empty bottles, and other vessels to carry their share of the inexpensive wine they felt was their due. Gradually realizing that the lines were not moving, or moving very slowly as those at the head of the line realized they’d been had, the disappointed Norwegian wine drinkers went home, many of them leaving their buckets – the symbol that they had been duped – behind. Who placed the story in the newspaper – whether a government official or an impish editor – was never revealed.

7. The wasp swarm in Auckland, April 1, 1949

In late March every year New Zealand radio stations are warned against perpetrating April Fools’ Day hoaxes on the air, as being a violation of the standards expected of news organizations. The warning came about in the aftermath of an April Fools’ Day joke in 1949. That year a disk jockey by the name of Phil Shone broadcast a report of a swarm of wasps, more than one mile wide, approaching Auckland. Shone exclaimed on the damage the swarm could do to persons who were inundated by it, and told his listeners to take precautions to protect themselves from being stung. He advised them to place traps baited with honey outside their abodes, to keep the wasps from entering the home.

For those who had to go out, he recommended that all skin be covered, with masks and gloves. He also suggested that socks be pulled up over the cuffs of trousers for those forced to be outside. The image of New Zealanders clad as he recommended was no doubt amusing to him, but there were those who did not find the joke entertaining. The New Zealand Broadcast Service determined that the hoax was a violation of the standards all broadcasters were duty bound to meet, and the annual reminder appeared the following year, and every year hence.

8. The Hawaiian tax refund, April 1, 1954

It was another disk jockey, at Hawaii’s KHON radio, who created a frenzy through an April Fools’ Day joke in 1954. The radio station announced that the United States had granted statehood to the territory, and as a result, Hawaiians were to receive refunds on the income taxes paid for 1953. IRS offices in the islands and on the mainland were flooded with calls from citizens demanding additional information. So were radio stations, television stations, congressional offices, savings and loans, and banks. The entire territory of Hawaii, not then as populated as today, was placed in a frenzy before cooler heads prevailed.

The situation of residents of Hawaii, who paid federal income taxes but were not granted full rights as citizens of the United States, had been much in the news. Tax relief for the islanders had been discussed among members of Congress, including those lobbying for statehood for the islands. The joke did little other than roil the islands for a few days, before it was demonstrably proven false. Statehood was not granted to the islands until 1959, and Hawaiians were never refunded the income taxes they paid before statehood was achieved.

9. Americans land on the moon, April 1, 1967

To Americans, the drive to land on the moon by the end of the decade was in limbo in the spring of 1967. A disastrous and tragic fire which killed three astronauts in January of that year had shaken confidence in the space program. Congress was divided on whether to continue to pursue President Kennedy’s vision. But on April 1 of that year, listeners to Radio Zurich in Switzerland were informed that the Americans had landed on the moon. The news was broadcast in a breathless, rushed fashion, complete with winded reporters rushing to their mikes to deliver the latest information, barely able to control their breathing as the story unfolded.

The good citizens of Zurich were informed of the time the American spaceship would depart the moon to return to earth, and encouraged to head for rural areas where, once away from the light pollution of the city, they would be able to view the departure. Thousands did. Even American officials in Switzerland were taken in by the hoax, which was the brainchild of Radio Zurich’s Hans Menge, a respected news broadcaster. The April Fools’ Day hoax was even monitored by the Soviets, though their radar capabilities caused them to question what they were hearing from the Swiss. The Americans finally did land on the moon over two years later, in July 1969.

10. Converting soil into food, April 1, 1878

The New York Daily Graphic was a newspaper which relied on illustrations rather than writers to deliver the news of the day. It was filled with both original artwork and the reproductions of others. It was the first American newspaper to present a daily weather map, provided by an obliging government, which paid the paper to print it for the benefit of its readers. On April Fools’ Day, 1878, the Graphic presented its readers with an illustrated story which described Thomas Edison, then on the crest of fame for his invention of the phonograph, having created a machine which converted dirt into edible protein. His machine could also emulate the Wedding at Cana, converting water into wine.

According to the Graphic, Edison’s invention forever solved the problem of hunger in the world, since the minerals in the soil could be shaped into food without the pesky delay of growing wheat, or corn, or some other comestible. Competing newspapers reprinted the Graphic’s reporting, and Edison was fervently praised on editorial pages across the country. When editors for the Graphic learned of the story being repeated around the country they took the opportunity to needle their compatriots in the media, reprinting their reports, and gloating over the fact that their competitors had bought into their April Fools’ Day hoax. The writer of the hoax, William Croffut, gave birth to Edison’s moniker, “the Wizard of Menlo Park”.

SOURCE: HISTORYCOLLECTION.COM

On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in New York City burned, killing 146 workers. It is remembered as one of the most infamous incidents in American industrial history, as the deaths were largely preventable–most of the victims died as a result of neglected safety features and locked doors within the factory building. The tragedy brought widespread attention to the dangerous sweatshop conditions of factories, and led to the development of a series of laws and regulations that better protected the safety of workers.

The Triangle factory, owned by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, was located in the top three floors of the Asch Building, on the corner of Greene Street and Washington Place, in Manhattan. It was a true sweatshop, employing young immigrant women who worked in a cramped space at lines of sewing machines. Nearly all the workers were teenaged girls who did not speak English and worked 12 hours a day, every day. In 1911, there were four elevators with access to the factory floors, but only one was fully operational and the workers had to file down a long, narrow corridor in order to reach it. There were two stairways down to the street, but one was locked from the outside to prevent stealing and the other only opened inward. The fire escape was so narrow that it would have taken hours for all the workers to use it, even in the best of circumstances.

The danger of fire in factories like the Triangle Shirtwaist was well-known, but high levels of corruption in both the garment industry and city government generally ensured that no useful precautions were taken to prevent fires. Blanck and Harris already had a suspicious history of factory fires. The Triangle factory was twice scorched in 1902, while their Diamond Waist Company factory burned twice, in 1907 and in 1910. It seems that Blanck and Harris deliberately torched their workplaces before business hours in order to collect on the large fire-insurance policies they purchased, a not uncommon practice in the early 20th century. While this was not the cause of the 1911 fire, it contributed to the tragedy, as Blanck and Harris refused to install sprinkler systems and take other safety measures in case they needed to burn down their shops again.

Added to this delinquency were Blanck and Harris’ notorious anti-worker policies. Their employees were paid a mere $15 a week, despite working 12 hours a day, every day. When the International Ladies Garment Workers Union led a strike in 1909 demanding higher pay and shorter and more predictable hours, Blanck and Harris’ company was one of the few manufacturers who resisted, hiring police as thugs to imprison the striking women, and paying off politicians to look the other way.

What Started The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire?

On March 25, a Saturday afternoon, there were 600 workers at the factory when a fire began in a rag bin. The manager attempted to use the fire hose to extinguish it, but was unsuccessful, as the hose was rotted and its valve was rusted shut. As the fire grew, panic ensued. The young workers tried to exit the building by the elevator but it could hold only 12 people and the operator was able to make just four trips back and forth before it broke down amid the heat and flames. In a desperate attempt to escape the fire, the girls left behind waiting for the elevator plunged down the shaft to their deaths. The girls who fled via the stairwells also met awful demises–when they found a locked door at the bottom of the stairs, many were burned alive.

Those workers who were on floors above the fire, including the owners, escaped to the roof and then to adjoining buildings. As firefighters arrived, they witnessed a horrible scene. The girls who did not make it to the stairwells or the elevator were trapped by the fire inside the factory and began to jump from the windows to escape it. The bodies of the jumpers fell on the fire hoses, making it difficult to begin fighting the fire. Also, the firefighters’ ladders reached only seven floors high and the fire was on the eighth floor. In one case, a life net was unfurled to catch jumpers, but three girls jumped at the same time, ripping the net. The nets turned out to be mostly ineffectual.

Within 18 minutes, it was all over. A total of 146 people were killed by the fire due to severe burns, smoke inhalation, falls from great heights and injuries sustained during the incident.

The fire helped unite organized labor and reform-minded politicians like progressive New York Governor Alfred E. Smith and Senator Robert F. Wagner, one of the legislative architects of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal agenda. Frances Perkins, who served on a committee that helped to set up the Factory Investigating Commission in New York in the wake of the fire, would later become Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor. The workers union set up a march on April 5 on New York’s Fifth Avenue to protest the conditions that had led to the fire. It was attended by 80,000 people.

Despite a good deal of evidence that the owners and management had been horribly negligent in the fire, a grand jury failed to indict them on manslaughter charges. To settle lawsuits against them, they eventually paid $75 in compensation to each victim’s family—a fraction of the $400 per death that they were paid by their insurer.

Still, the massacre for which they were responsible did finally compel the city to enact reform. In addition to the Sullivan-Hoey Fire Prevention Law passed that October, the New York Democratic set took up the cause of the worker and became known as a reform party. Both were crucial in preventing similar disasters in the future.

SOURCE: HISTORY.COM

From HOWSTUFFWORKS.COM:

For years, plenty of wild rumors and conspiracy theories have swirled around an 840-acre (340-hectare) speck of land a mile-and-a-half off New York’s Long Island, home to a high-security federal research facility that Internet-fueled urban legends have made into the East Coast’s equivalent of Area 51. Some have speculated that animal-human hybrids and biological warfare weapons are being developed inside the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, opened by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the 1950s and under the control of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security since 2003.

“I’ve had questions about Nazi scientists, alien technology and genetically-modified monsters,” says John Verrico, a spokesman for Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate.

But inside the security fences and biocontainment area checkpoints (described in the unredacted parts of this 2007 government report), government researchers work to stave more tangible threats — foreign animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease and African swine fever, which have the potential to wreak havoc with the U.S. food supply if they ever spread across the nation’s farms.

In the U.S., which hasn’t had an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease since 1929, an outbreak of the highly contagious affliction could cause “billions and billions of dollars” in economic losses, Verrico says, because infected farm animals would have to be culled from herds and destroyed. Meat exports would come to a halt until the disease was eradicated, and consumers might face shortages of meat and dairy products. Farmers who produce animal feed would be harmed as well. A 2001 outbreak in the U.K. cost that nation the equivalent of more than $10 billion, according to the BBC.

That longstanding danger led Congress to authorize the Department of Agriculture to create a laboratory to fight animal diseases back in the 1950s, with one major condition — the facility had to be located on an island, to reduce the danger of pathogens or infected animals escaping and spreading to farms, according to this September 1956 booklet. Plum Island, the site of the U.S. Army’s Fort Terry from 1879 to 1948, fit that criteria.

A Super Prison for Deadly Animal Diseases

A 1971 New York Times article described the facility as a “Devil’s Island for the deadliest animal disease germs known to man,” and described the elaborate security measures. They included round-the-clock patrols along the island’s perimeter (intended to warn away boaters who might be attracted by the pristine beaches), buildings with airlocks to keep bacteria and viruses from escaping, and holding tanks to sterilize the waste water from mandatory showers taken by staffers before leaving at the end of the work day. In part because of the risk of a terrorist attack on the facility, in 2003 it was transferred to the Department of Homeland Security, even though agriculture researchers continue to work there, and additional measures such as door sensors and alarms were added, as this 2007 Government Accountability Office report describes.

An al-Qaida operative who was arrested in 2008 in Afghanistan had a handwritten list of various potential targets in the U.S. that included Plum Island, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Despite all the security measures, the Plum Island facility doesn’t work in secrecy. “We actually don’t do any classified work at all,” Verrico says. “Our scientists publish reports on everything we do.”

Plum Island houses the only foot-and-mouth disease vaccine bank in North America, which maintains a variety of vaccines that have been developed to combat the more than 60 different strains of the disease. Those vaccines could be deployed in the event that the disease began to spread in the U.S., Canada or Mexico. “It’s regularly updated,” Verrico explains.

Additionally, if an animal becomes sick and develops suspicious lesions or other possible signs of the disease, tissue samples are sent to Plum Island for analysis, Verrico says. Veterinarians come to Plum Island for training.

Work at Plum Island was instrumental in the conquest of rinderpest, a deadly cattle disease that is one of the only the two diseases — smallpox is the other — that have been totally eradicated, Verico says.

Scheduled for Shutdown in 2023

Although the Plum Island facility and its 400-person workforce have been an important part of the nation’s defenses against animal diseases for decades, it’s scheduled to shut down by approximately 2023. It gradually will be replaced by the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, a $1.25 billion project under construction in Manhattan, Kansas. That facility will be larger than Plum Island and be able to conduct more studies simultaneously. It also will have added layers of security to enable it to function as a level 4 laboratory, meaning that it will be able to study animal diseases that have the potential to be transmitted to humans. It will be the first large-animal facility capable of such research, Verrico says. Advances in security measures will make it unnecessary for it to be located offshore.

What will happen to Plum Island after the animal disease center shuts down isn’t yet clear. The U.S. General Services Administration already has advertised the island and its buildings for sale, in keeping with a provision tucked into the 2009 economic stimulus package that requires it to be auctioned off to defray the construction cost of the Kansas facility and/or Homeland Security’s new headquarters complex.

But local environmentalists don’t want to see Plum Island turned into a waterfront housing development or golf resort. Because the island has been off-limits to development for so many years, much of it has reverted to its natural state and become a refuge for birds and animals, according to Chris Cryder, an outreach coordinator for the Preserve Plum Island Coalition, composed of environmental organizations in New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island. The coalition advocates setting aside 80 percent of the island as a preserve.

In the winters, for example, Plum Island is a haven for 600 harbor and gray seals, who migrate from Canada to forage for food there, Cryder says. It also provides habitat for avian species such as the piping plover and roseate tern. Over the past six decades, “there’s been relatively little disturbance of nature because of the high security operation there,” Cryder explains.

Environmental groups filed a lawsuit in 2016, seeking to prevent the government from going ahead with a sale, on the grounds that it hadn’t complied with requirements of various federal environmental laws. After GSA unsuccessfully sought to get the suit dismissed, the agency announced in August that it would hold off on the sale in order to prepare a new environmental impact statement to augment the review it had done in 2013. In an interview, Roger Reynolds, senior counsel for Connecticut Fund for the Environment, describes the initial study as “remarkably inadequate.”

Now That’s Interesting

Last year, a portion of Plum Island’s power system was utilized by the departments of Homeland Security, Defense and Energy to conduct tests simulating a cyber-attack on U.S. electrical grids, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Plum Island FAQs

Is Plum Island open to the public?

Its beaches are open to the public, but there are no stationed lifeguards in Newbury or Newburyport. The beach at Sandy Point State Reservation is open to the public for swimming and sunbathing.

Did Lyme disease come from Plum Island?

No, but there have been rumors that state otherwise because the island is located near the coast of Lyme, Connecticut, where the first outbreak of Lyme was recorded in 1975.

Can you swim at Plum Island?

You can swim at the beach at Sandy Point reservation.

SOURCE: HOWSTUFFWORKS.COM

Today is Andrew Jackson’s birthday and I found this wonderful article on him, on the funwithhistory.com website.

13 Facts About Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the United States, is a figure of both admiration and controversy in American history. Born into humble beginnings in the Carolinas, he rose to prominence through his military heroics during the War of 1812 and later became known as “Old Hickory” for his unyielding character. Jackson’s presidency, marked by confrontations like the Nullification Crisis and the Indian Removal Act, left a lasting impact on the nation. In this exploration of Andrew Jackson’s life and legacy, we delve into some key facts that illuminate his journey from orphaned youth to one of the most influential figures in American history.

Andrew Jackson Facts

1 Born in the Carolinas in 1767

Andrew Jackson’s exact birthplace is disputed, but it is generally believed that he was born in the Waxhaws region, which straddled the border of North and South Carolina. This region was a rural and frontier area during the 18th century, and Jackson’s humble beginnings shaped his character and worldview.

2 Orphaned at a young age

Jackson faced considerable adversity in his early life. His father, Andrew Jackson Sr., died in a logging accident just a few days before Andrew’s birth. Tragically, his mother, Elizabeth Jackson, died of cholera when he was only 14 years old. This left him an orphan, and he and his older brother, Robert, had to fend for themselves. These early hardships instilled in Jackson a strong sense of self-reliance and resilience that would define his life.

3 Self-taught lawyer

Despite having limited access to formal education, Jackson was a determined and self-motivated individual. He worked as a saddle maker, schoolteacher, and even a law clerk before teaching himself the law. He eventually moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1788 and established a successful law practice. His legal career played a crucial role in his rise to prominence in Tennessee and his later entry into politics. Jackson’s success as a lawyer showcased his intelligence and determination, which would serve him well in his future endeavors, including his military and political career.

4 Military hero during the War of 1812

Andrew Jackson gained national prominence for his military leadership during the War of 1812. He was appointed as a major general in the United States Army and commanded American forces in the Southern theater of the war. His most famous victory came in the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, where he successfully defended the city against British forces. This victory made him a national hero and propelled him into the political spotlight.

5 Nicknamed “Old Hickory”

He earned the nickname “Old Hickory” due to his tough and resilient personality. It was given to him by his soldiers during his military campaigns, reflecting his unyielding and often stern demeanor. Jackson was known for his strong will and determination, and this nickname stuck with him throughout his life.

6 Seventh President of the United States

He was elected as the seventh President of the United States and served two terms from 1829 to 1837. He was the first president to hail from west of the Appalachian Mountains, symbolizing a shift in political power away from the Eastern elite. Jackson’s presidency is often associated with the rise of Jacksonian democracy, characterized by an emphasis on the common man’s role in government. However, it was also marked by controversy, including his confrontations with the Second Bank of the United States and the Indian Removal policy.

7 Faced the Nullification Crisis

During Andrew Jackson’s presidency, the Nullification Crisis emerged as a major challenge. It revolved around the issue of tariffs imposed by the federal government, which disproportionately affected Southern states, particularly South Carolina. In 1832, South Carolina declared that it had the right to nullify or reject federal laws within its borders, including the tariffs. Jackson vehemently opposed this assertion of state sovereignty and believed it could lead to the dissolution of the Union. He responded with the Nullification Proclamation and the Force Bill, which authorized the use of military force to enforce federal laws in South Carolina. Ultimately, a compromise was reached, and the crisis was defused, but it highlighted the tension between states’ rights and federal authority.

8 Signed the Indian Removal Act

In 1830, Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act into law, which provided for the forced removal of Native American tribes from their ancestral lands in the Southeastern United States to lands west of the Mississippi River. This policy resulted in the tragic Trail of Tears, during which thousands of Native Americans, primarily from the Cherokee Nation, died due to exposure, disease, and starvation during their forced relocation. Jackson’s support for this policy remains a deeply controversial and dark chapter in American history.

9 Opposed the Second Bank of the United States

Andrew Jackson was a vocal opponent of the Second Bank of the United States, viewing it as a symbol of corruption and elitism. He believed the bank had too much power and favored the wealthy over the common people. In 1832, Jackson vetoed the recharter of the bank, effectively causing its demise. This decision had a profound impact on American financial policy, leading to a period of economic instability known as the “Bank War.”

10 Survived an assassination attempt

In January 1835, while Jackson was President, he survived an assassination attempt. A disturbed house painter named Richard Lawrence approached Jackson with two pistols and attempted to shoot him. Both pistols misfired, and Jackson, known for his physical toughness, proceeded to physically attack Lawrence with his cane. The attempt on his life cemented Jackson’s image as a strong and resilient leader, and he remained unharmed.

11 Engaged in several duels

Andrew Jackson was involved in several duels during his lifetime, reflecting the dueling culture of the time. Notable among these was his duel with Charles Dickinson in 1806. The dispute arose over insults exchanged between Jackson and Dickinson. During the duel, Dickinson fired the first shot, which struck Jackson in the chest, near his heart. Jackson, despite being wounded, managed to stay standing and calmly took aim at Dickinson, firing and fatally wounding him. The bullet that struck Jackson remained lodged in his chest for the rest of his life, causing him occasional pain. Jackson’s willingness to participate in duels was emblematic of his fiery temperament and his strong sense of personal honor.

12 Controversial marriage to Rachel Donelson Robards

Andrew Jackson’s marriage to Rachel Donelson Robards was a subject of controversy during his political career. Rachel had been previously married to Lewis Robards, but they had separated before her relationship with Jackson began. However, due to a legal technicality, their divorce was not finalized when Jackson and Rachel married in 1791. This led to accusations of adultery and social ostracism against Rachel. The controversy surrounding their marriage was used against Jackson in political campaigns, and it caused him considerable personal anguish.

13 Legacy includes populism and the forced removal of Native Americans

Andrew Jackson’s legacy is complex and polarizing. He is often remembered as a champion of the common people and a symbol of Jacksonian democracy, which emphasized increased political participation for white males without property qualifications. However, his legacy is also marked by controversy and criticism. His role in the forced removal of Native American tribes, such as the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears, is widely condemned as a tragic and inhumane chapter in American history. Additionally, his opposition to the National Bank and his assertion of executive power contributed to political division during his presidency. Jackson’s strong-willed personality and his impact on American politics and government continue to be subjects of debate among historians and scholars.

SOURCE: FUNWITHHISTORY.COM