Day Tripping: May 20

Attire, Attendees, A Tense Verdict

A Fashionable Goldmine

In the wake of the ‘goldrush’ of the mid-nineteenth century in California, two businessmen recognized the need for durable and comfortable clothing. In 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis were issued a US patent for producing denim “waist overalls” with copper rivets. The denim pants were the preferred attire of miners for several years and now, with a new formulation for strengthening the pockets with the material provided by Davis, he and Strauss patented and mass-produced Blue Jeans.

Starting with production by ‘work from home’ seamstresses in San Francisco, Strauss and Davis quickly expanded their operation to a full working factory in the 1880s. Since then, Levi Strauss Co. has become the national success we know today.

Crowning Sendoff

A Royal funeral was held for King Edward VII at Westminster Abbey in 1910. The eldest son of Queen Victoria reigned for only nine years but he was respected among the European monarchy, many of whom were relatives. King Edward was dubbed The Peacemaker, and when he passed away two weeks earlier, several of his mainland counterparts arrived to pay their respects.

The photograph above documents the last and largest gathering of sovereigns in a single image. Standing at the centre of the back row is King Wilhelm II of Germany, nephew of the deceased and one with whom the most tension was felt when he was alive. King George V, his successor is seated just below.

The nine Kings rode behind the casket in the procession where an estimated 3 million people witnessed the state funeral including nearly 100 other Royal dignitaries.

A Near Split

The first of two provincial referendums were held in Quebec in 1980 to vote on a proposal to initiate separation proceedings from the rest of Canada. The matter of whether Quebec should seek independence from predominantly English-speaking Canada was put to a YES or NO vote based on a question provided by Quebec’s government under the leadership of Rene Levesque. During the month-long campaign, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, father of today’s PM and a Quebecer himself, argued that the proposed question was too vague and in the form of several sentences.

A compromise was reached by hyphenating the long-winded question which Levesque argued was easily understood. The resulting tally showed a 60% victory for the NO side, and Quebec was still in Canada until another referendum was held in 1995, also won but narrowly by the NO vote. Quebec’s sovereignty has remained an underlying fissure between the Canadian government and French Nationalists ever since.

Musical Milestones

In 1967, BBC banned the Beatle song A Day In The Life because the lyric, “I’d love to turn you on” implied the promotion of drug use.

Narratives

Publisher Thomas Thorpe released printed copies in London of William Shakespeare’s sonnets in 1609. It may never be known if Thorpe acted with the permission of the author.

Remembrance

One of the original members of Saturday Night Live, Gilda Radner became an instant hit with audiences with her array of characters. More than adored by fellow cast members, Gilda dated several of them. She died of ovarian cancer at 42 in 1989. Her husband, the late Gene Wilder fulfilled a promise to her to create awareness and funding for cancer awareness.

Notable Births

1908 — Simply one of the greatest movie stars of all time, James Stewart

1944 — Joe Cocker was probably the only to artist take a Beatles song and make it his own.

1946 — Cherilyn Sarkisian rose to stardom beside her husband Sonny Bono, and then Cher went on to become a mega-star.

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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