Day Tripping: June 21
In the heat of summer’s first day
Water Logged
Admiral Ludwig von Reuter of the German Navy ordered the scuttling of his fleet off the coast of Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands in 1919. Rather than have his ships end up in the hands of the Royal British Navy or see his government renege on the Treaty of Versailles, the Admiral sank 52 of 74 German warships near the British base before the English were able to step in.
The ships were meant to be interned there but conditions for German seamen aboard made morale so low, the decision to destroy their own ships was much out of shame than to prevent further conflict. At 10 AM, the signal was sent around to the imprisoned ships and officers immediately ordered crewmen to open drain valves and let the sea engulf them.
Mississippi Murder
After being released from jail following a traffic violation in Neshoba County, Mississippi, three civil rights workers went missing in 1964. Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner were traveling through Mississippi trying to register people to vote as part of the Freedom Summer campaign when they were pulled over, jailed, and later released only to be followed to another county where they were shot to death by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
Forty-one years later to the day in 2005, a single member of the Klan, Edgar Ray Killen who was present that night, was convicted of manslaughter and given a sixty-year sentence. The FBI officially closed the case on June 20, 2016, ending any speculation of finding the other perpetrators.
Pushing The Envelope
Climbing to 47,000 feet on the back of the White Knight escort jet, SpaceShipOne separated and ignited its booster rocket for the further climb. Reaching an altitude of 100,124 meters or 100 kilometers, the threshold of Earth’s atmosphere, the ship became the first privately funded spacecraft in history. Pilot Mike Melvill, the first defacto civilian astronaut, brought SpaceShipOne under control after an unexpected 90-degree roll and the implosion of the rocket’s nozzle and successfully reached space for just over ten seconds in 2004.
Returning triumphantly to Earth in the Mojave Desert, Melvill was greeted by the ship’s financer, Paul Allen from Microsoft fame, and Buzz Aldrin, the second man to stand on the moon’s surface.
Musical Milestones
Co-founding artists for Steely Dan, Walter Becker, and Donald Fagen announced they were breaking up to concentrate on solo work in 1981. They teamed up again twelve years later.
Narratives
In 1970, the film version of Catch-22 features a debut acting performance by Art Garfunkel. The news doesn’t sit well with Paul Simon who was also supposed to be in the film but gets dropped, adding more fuel to the duo’s eventual breakup.
Remembrance
Carroll O’Connor will always be remembered and loved for his daring role in the seventies as the irascible Archie Bunker in All In The Family. He died from diabetes complications in 2001 at the age of 76.
Notable Births
1951 — Nils Lofgren has played guitar with Springsteen's E Street Band and Neil Young’s Crazy Horse
1982 — Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
1983—Whistleblower Edward Snowden
K. Barrett Katie Wallace Maria Rattray Maryam Merchant Dr Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, PhD. Terry Trueman Dr Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly Noorain Hassan, BMS Amy Pierovich David Acaster Nora Thewriteyard David Perlmutter Joe Luca
The Story Of Day Tripping Through History What’s Past Is Often Present
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