Day Tripping: March 20

Time for a shopping spree

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

Beadle Mania

One of London’s most exclusive walkways of shops, Burlington Arcade opened in 1819, linking Piccadilly with the Mayfair District. The enclosed pathway of stores was created by Lord George Cavendish of Burlington House to keep litterbugs, thieves, and ruffians off his property. The world's first shopping arcade featured veterans from the Battle of Waterloo employed by Lord Cavendish to patrol the arcade, calling them Beadles.

Dressed in top hats and frock coats, the Beadles are present to this day around the path. Rumour has it that on one occasion in the 1980s, there was a man caught whistling at an item in a shop window. When the private officer recognized the offender, he granted Paul McCartney full exemption from the law against whistling in Burlington Arcade.

‘Those Aren’t Mine’

The wife of the deposed dictator of Panama, Manuel Noriega, goes on a shopping trip through Burdines department store in Miami with a friend. She enters the women’s clothing area with a shopping bag from a few pre-purchased items, but while browsing, Felicidad Noriega begins to snip the buttons off hanging display jackets, dropping them surreptitiously into her bag.

The former first lady of Panama, Noriega and her friend are arrested and charged in 1992 with grand theft for attempting to steal the buttons. Her husband was a little too busy with a racketeering and drug trafficking charge to come to his wife’s rescue.

An Olive Branch

President Barak Obama and First Lady Michelle are the first American dignitaries to visit Cuba in nearly ninety years in 2016. After normalizing relations with the Cuban government two years earlier, the President started a three-day tour of the island nation that was once the focal point of the Cold War.

The progress made toward peaceful relations with a geographical neighbour was reversed by the administration that followed.

Musical Milestones

One of the most tragic accidents imaginable occurs in 1991 when Eric Clapton’s four-and-a-half-year-old son, Conor, falls 49 storeys to his death from his mother’s apartment window. Clapton later writes the song Tears In Heaven in tribute to his fallen child.

Narratives

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is published in Boston in 1852.

Remembrance

Kenny Rogers was one of the most successful Country Music artists to crossover into other pop genres. Famous for his song The Gambler and an international chicken restaurant chain, he died in 2020

Notable Births

1828 —Norwegian Playwright Henrik Ibsen

1922 — Pioneering radio and television comedian and actor, Carl Reiner

1928 — The red sweater and his neighbourhood brought joy to millions of children, Fred Rogers

1948 —His puck carrying abilities and skating prowess changed hockey forever, Bobby Orr

1950 —One of the rock world’s greatest percussionists, Carl Palmer

1957 — Trailblazing African American filmmaker, Spike Lee

That’s quite an illustrious group.

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

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