Day Tripping: March 14

Game Changers, Killer Killers, and Freed Heroes

Welcome to my daily feature where each day on the calendar marks a part of our shared history.

Man Of Vision Lacking Business Sense

When Eli Whitney left his New England home to travel South as a private tutor, he had no inkling that this day in 1794 would affect changes to the future in so many ways. He could not have been aware that the patent for his design of the Cotton Gin would spark not only industrial growth but civil strife as well.

As the American South grew its cotton yield to three-quarters of the world’s output, the need for labour to run the mills became more pressing. Whitney’s machines became an unwitting catalyst for the use of slavery in producing cotton. Because of his ill-informed business plan, Eli also failed to realize the profits he dreamed of from devising his historic invention.

Man Of Mysterious Motives

With approximately 80 million witnesses who watched in shock as a lone gunman stepped into the frame to fatally shoot Lee Harvey Oswald, it was no surprise that Jack Ruby was convicted of murder in 1964. Though his motives for killing Oswald are still questioned to this day, Ruby was sentenced to death by electric chair for ‘murder with malice’ in the public execution of President Kennedy’s assassin.

Jack Ruby’s execution was stayed to a life sentence but he die of cancer in prison in 1967.

Man Of Honour To Honour

After spending more than five torturous years in a North Vietnamese prison camp cryptically known as the Hanoi Hilton, captured bomber pilot and future Senator, John McCain was released in 1973. After shattering his arms and one leg upon ejection from his aircraft, McCain endured unspeakable treatment at the hands of his captors.

Still, the son of a Navy Admiral refused early patriation, choosing not to use his family’s influence to jump the line on the release of other POWs who were taken long before him. His torture was only made worse as a result of a furious Vietnamese command who sought to use the pilot as a propaganda chip.

Musical Milestones

Rick Rubin, the producer of Johnny Cash’s 1998 Grammy-winning Unchained album spends $20,000 to put a full-page ad in Billboard Magazine with the caption, “American Recordings and Johnny Cash would like to acknowledge the Nashville music establishment and country radio for your support.” The photo shows Cash raising his middle finger to the camera. It is Rubin’s response to Nashville’s indifference to the iconic singer’s late career.

Narratives

Warren G. Harding becomes the first US President to pay income tax. Let’s hope Barak Obama isn’t the last.

Remembrance

The universe lost one of its greatest minds with the passing of Stephen Hawking in 2018. Fittingly, Hawking’s ashes were interred between the graves of Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin in the nave of Westminster Abbey in London.

Notable Births

1916 — Academy Award winning screenwriter for To Kill A Mockingbird, Horton Foote.

1965 — One of the world’s most influential filmmakers and actors, India’s own Aamir Khan.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article dedicated to the days of our history. I hope to see you tomorrow for another instalment.

K. Barrett Katie Wallace Maria Rattray Joseph M. Learned 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

The Story Of Day Tripping Through History What’s Past Is Often Present