Day Tripping: June 23

Appeasement, Achievement, and Appendage

No Turning back

Five days after President James Madison is pressured by Congress into declaring war on Great Britain in 1812, British officials revoke their policy of embargo on American trade in Europe. The lift on restrictions to US commerce is one of the three main reasons the war declaration took place, but the war of futility carries on.

Despite winning back the ability to trade freely in Europe, the ‘War Hawk’ faction of Congress led by Henry Clay with the support of frontiersmen like Henry Harrison, the US attempts an assault on Upper Canada. Their primary motivation remains the insatiable need to gather territory, and because British protectors in the North have been allying with native tribes.

Historic Trek

Canadian Arctic explorer Henry Larsen embarked on the first crossing of the Northwest Passage from the West to the East in 1940. Aboard the RCMP commissioned schooner, St. Roch, Larsen left Vancouver Island for the journey that would end in Halifax Harbour, over five thousand miles East. Larsen had joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1928 as a well-seasoned sailor originally from Norway.

The four-month journey was expectedly marred with unfavorable weather conditions, but St. Roch pushed through across the frozen North as the first ship to ever achieve a West to East crossing. Part of Larsen’s mandate in performing the feat was to protect Canadian interests during the start of World War II.

Frozen North ritual

If you ever wondered what entertainment starved Northern people do for fun, here’s your answer. In 2017, RCMP officers in the Yukon returned a stolen mummified human toe to its rightful owner and no, not the person it was originally attached to either. The returned toe came with a letter of apology. The dehydrated toe is a key ingredient of a strange drinking ritual in a Dawson City bar. Captain Dick Stevenson of the establishment invented the sour toe cocktail in 1973 when he found the frostbitten digit in a house he purchased.

The drink consists of whiskey poured over the toe in a shot glass. More than 100,000 weird patrons have registered as partakers in this odd and disgusting custom with the stipulation that their lips have touched the toe.

Musical Milestones

A jury ruled in 2016 that members of Led Zeppelin were not guilty of plagiarizing the opening bars of Stairway To Heaven. The estate of former Spirit guitar player Randy California had sued the surviving members of Zep, claiming the intro was taken from the Spirit song Taurus. A technicality sent the case back to court again in 2018, but the original verdict was upheld.

Narratives

In 1868, Christopher Latham Sholes patented the first commercially successful typewriter and later invented the QWERTY keyboard.

Remembrance

From the lovable Lieutenant Columbo to the Grandpa in The Princess Bride, Peter Falk was also a two-time Academy Award nominee. He passed away in 2011 at 83.

Notable Births

1912 — The code breaker and man who brought the computer into existence, Alan Turing

1927 — Incomparable choreographer and subject of the film All That Jazz, Bob Fosse

1940 — The original Beatles drummer, Stuart Sutcliffe

1957—One of the finest actors of our generation, Frances McDormand

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

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