Fifty Shades of Grey

2015 Film "Fifty Shades of Grey" released, based on the erotic novel by E. L. James, starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson

Fifty Shades of Grey is a 2015 erotic romantic drama film directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson from a screenplay by Kelly Marcel. Produced by Focus Features, Michael De Luca Productions, and Trigger Street Productions, and distributed by Universal Pictures, it is based on E. L. James' 2011 novel of the same name, and serves as the first installment in the Fifty Shades film series. Starring Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Jennifer Ehle and Marcia Gay Harden, the film's story follows Anastasia "Ana" Steele (Johnson), a college graduate, who begins a sadomasochistic relationship with young business magnate Christian Grey (Dornan).

Development of the film commenced in March 2012, when Universal and Focus Features secured the rights to the trilogy following a bidding war. After Marcel was hired to write the film's screenplay, multiple directors, including Joe Wright, Patty Jenkins, Bill Condon, Bennett Miller, and Steven Soderbergh, were attached to the film. Taylor-Johnson was confirmed as the director in June 2013. She cited 9½ Weeks (1986), Last Tango in Paris (1972), and Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013) as her inspirations for the film. The main cast joined the project between October and December 2013. Principal photography commenced in December 2013 and concluded in February 2014. Reshoots involving scenes between Dornan and Johnson took place in Vancouver during the week of October 2014. Danny Elfman was hired to compose the film's score.

Fifty Shades of Grey premiered at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival on February 11, 2015, and was released in IMAX formats on February 13, by Universal Pictures. Despite receiving generally negative reviews from critics who criticised the acting and erotic material but praised the music, it was an immediate box office success, breaking numerous box office records and earning $569.7 million worldwide against a budget of $40 million. The soundtrack album was also successful; "Love Me Like You Do", by English singer Ellie Goulding, was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, while "Earned It", by Canadian singer the Weeknd, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 88th Academy Awards.

The film was the most awarded at the 36th Golden Raspberry Awards, winning five of six nominations, including Worst Picture (tied with Fantastic Four) and both leading roles. Fifty Shades of Grey was succeeded by two sequels: Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed, released in 2017 and 2018, respectively, both of which received similar negative critical reception but commercial success.

 

1971: Baseball Hall of Fame nominates Satchel Paige
Arguably the greatest pitcher in baseball history is recognized for the sport's highest honor, as Satchel Paige becomes the first player from the segregated Negro Leagues to be voted into the Hall.

 

9 Feb 1942
Year-round daylight saving time was reinstated in the United States as a wartime measure to help conserve energy.

George Marshall, Henry Arnold, Harold Stark, and Ernest King attended the first formal meeting of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.

9 Feb 1943
Allied authorities declared Guadalcanal, The Solomon Islands, secure after Japan evacuated its remaining forces from the island.

9 Feb 1945
British and Canadian troops forced their way through a main Siegfried Line/Westwall defensive zone. Meanwhile, half of the German 19th Army was evacuated back into Germany before the final Rhine River bridge in the Colmar Pocket in France was blown.

Elbing and Posen in Germany (now Elblag and Poznan in Poland) were surrounded by the Soviet forces.

German engineers blew up the dam over the Ruhr, thereby presenting the US Ninth Army with an unbridgeable strip of surging water. This led to the attack from the south being postponed as the waters would not subside sufficiently for General William Simpson's leading troops to resume their advance until 23 Feb 1945.

9 Feb 1946
At the Bolshoi Theater in central Moscow, Russia, Joseph Stalin made a speech that effectively claimed that the Western Allies played little or no part in the Soviet victory over Germany in WW2.

 

On February 10, 1978, a new 'Guitar Sheriff' rode into town when Van Halen released their self-titled debut studio album. Peaking at #19 on the Billboard 200 the album went on to sell more than 10 million copies in the US.

The album contains some of Van Halen's most well-known songs, including 'Runnin' with the Devil', 'Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love', 'Jamie's Cryin'', and their cover of The Kinks' 'You Really Got Me' which is preceded by the Eddie Van Halen instrumental 'Eruption.' At 1 minute and 42 seconds, it is considered one of the best electric guitar solos of all time and popularised the technique of two-handed tapping.

I was a student at the Guitar Institute of Technology (now Musicians Institute), and Eruption and the riff for Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love were all everybody - at least the rockers, was talking about. One student stopped going to regular classes but locked himself in a practice room and did nothing but perfect his own tapping technique. He later went on to become the lead guitarist for a reasonably well known hard rock band.

This album, and Eddie Van Halen reshaped the world of rock guitar and spawned a generation of tappers. Eddie called his manic, freeform type of soloing and rocketing rapidly through different tonalities, "Falling down the stairs and landing on your feet."





The full album:

 

February 10

1258 - The Sige of Baghdad ended with the surrender of the last Abbasid caliph to Hulego Khan, a prince of the Mongol Empire.



The siege of Baghdad took place in the historic capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. After a series of provocation from its ruler, Caliph al-Mustasim, a large army under Hulegu, a prince of the Mongol empire, attacked the city with 138,000 to 500,000 men to the Mongols 50,000. The Mongol army, led by Hulagu Khan, captured the city within a week effectively marking the end of the Abbasid Caliphate. the Caliph al-Must'sim was executed. The city suffered immense destruction and a devastating loss of lives in the city, ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions.

Hulagu demanded surrender but the caliph refused. Many accounts believe that the caliph failed to prepare for the fight; he neither gathered armies nor strengthened the walls. Hulagu divided his forces so that they threatened the city on the east and west coast of the Tigris River. The attacking Mongols broke some dikes and flooded the ground behind the caliph's army, trapping them. Mush of the army was slaughtered or drowned.

The siege started on January 29. The battle was swift, by siege standards. By February 5 the Mongols controlled a stretch of wall. Al-Musta'sim tried to negotiate but was refused. On February 10 Baghdad surrendered. On February 13 the Mongols swept into the city and began a week of massacre, looting, and destruction.

1763 - French and Indian War: The Treaty of Paris ended the war,



The Treaty of Paris was signed by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France, and Spain, with Portugal in agreement after Great Britain and Prussia's victory in the Seven Year War(French and Indian War in the United States. This began an era of British dominance outside Europe, Great Britain and France each returned much of the territories they captured during the war. However, Great Britain gained much of France,s possessions in North America. France also ceded half of French Louisiana to Britain, the area between the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains. Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain. France regained its factories in India. Britain agreed to demolish its fortifications in British Honduras(now Belize).

1940 - The first "Tom and Jerry" cartoon "Puss Gets the Boot" created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera is released in theaters by MGM.





Puss Gets the Boot was the first collaboration between Hanna and Barbera in what would be a very successful half-century partnership. The musical supervisor was Scot Bradley. The animators were Carl Urbano, Tony Pabian, Jack Zander, Pere Burness, and Bob Allen. The only screen credit on the film was "a Rudolf Ising Production".

The production features the characters Jasper(Tom) and Jinx(Jerry) and went on to 110 short cartoons, seven of which would earn the Academy Award for Best Short Subject. The short begins with Jinx being tormented by Jasper. Jinx struggles to get away live, being chased by Jasper until he unwittingly knocks over a houseplant drawing the ire of his owner. She gave Jasper the ultimatum; if he knocked down one more thing she would throw him out. Jinx uses this to his advantage by threatening to knock over fragile items for the rest of the short.


1942 - Glenn Miller and his Orchestra were awarded the first ever Gold Record for one million copies of "Chattanooga Choo Choo". The B-Side was "I Know Why(And So Do You".



Chatanooga Choo Chpp was written for Sun Valley Serenade, a 1941 movie starring Sonja Henie, Milton Berle, and Joanne Davis. It became the No.1 song across the U.S. and remained there for nine weeks, due in large part to the success of the film. The 78 rpm recording sold 1.2 million copies The Glenn Miller Orchestra stars in Sun Valley Serenade and performs the song in the film. In the eight-minute scene, Miller's band does their song with their vocalists Tex Beneke and Paula Kelly, then starlet Dorothy Dandridge sings it, doing a dance routine with the tap-dancing brothers Harold and Fayard Nicolas.

The original Chattanooga Choo Choo train that inspired this song was a wood-burning locomotive owned by Cincinnati Southern Railway that traveled from Cincinnati to Chattanooga - a newspaper reporter dubbed it the "Chatanooga Choo Choo".

The song lyrics tell the story of a man on a train from Pennsylvania Station in New York City, through Baltimore, and arriving in Chattanooga, Tennessee where he will meet up with his girl. It is a jubilant song with every aspect of the train ride is a delight.

 

1906: The HMS Dreadnought launches a new era in battleships
King Edward VII christens a game-changing new class of naval warfare in the HMS Dreadnought, whose armaments, speed, and agility are leagues beyond ships that sailed into battle before.

 

10 Feb 1945

US First Army captured the last of seven Ruhr dams in Germany, but in general Canadian and American troops continued to make very slow progress as key areas had been flooded by retreating Germans.

In Poland, Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front reached the Niesse River, taking Liegnitz and encircling Glogau in the process.

Fierce German counter attacks near Neustettin, Germany (now Szczecinek, Poland) halted the advance of the Soviet 2nd Byelorussian Front. Nevertheless, some of the troops of the Soviet 2nd Byelorussian Front were withdrawn from the East Prussian Offensive and diverted to the fighting in Pomerania, Germany.

 

Plenty of interesting stuff happened on February 11 over the years, from Mandela's release from prison in 1990, to The Beatles first live show in the U.S. in 1964, to the tragic death of Whitney Houston in 2012, but I can't resist talking about this:

On February 11, 1963, Julia Child's show 'The French Chef' premiered on WGBH-TV in Boston. It had been audience tested with 3 episodes airing in 1962 and tested positively, so it was green-lit for the series premier.

The show introduced French cooking to the American audience, became hugely popular and eventually Julia Child's sense of humor, zany personality, and passion for food and wine made French cooking more relatable and fun and her name became a household word.

The show ran for 10 years, until January 14, 1973.



It is not true that this was her last show:

 

February 11
660 B.C. - The traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.


Emperor Jimmu was the legendary first emperor of Japan according to the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki. In Japanese mythology, he was a descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu, through her grandson Ninigi, as well as the storm god Susanoo. He launched a military expedition from Hyruga, captured Yamato, and established this as his center of power. In modern Japan Emperor Jimmu's legendary ascension is yearly on the date as National Foundation Day. Throughout his journey, he clashed with local tribes and overcame numerous obstacles to establish Yamato as his capital. This also marked the beginning of the imperial line in Japan.

Emperor Jimmu is recognized for his role in promoting agriculture and laying down the foundation for governance in Japan. He is credited with creating the early political and social structure as well as fostering unity and prosperity.

The history of Emperor Jimmu is part "mythological legend with historical fact".

1586 - Sir Francis Drake with an English force captured an occupied the Spanish colonial port of Cartagena de Indias for two months, obtaining ransom and booty.







Cartegena de Indias is a major port on the northern coast of Columbia on the Caribbean Coast. Cartagena's past role as a link in the route to the West Indies provides it with important historical value for world exploration and preservation of heritage from the great maritime routes. As a former Spanish colony, it was a key port for the export of Bolivian silver and the importation of enslaved Africans. It was defensible against pirate attacks and its location between the Magdalena and Sinu Rivers gave it easy access to the interior of New Granada made it a main port for trade.

After King Phillip II of Spain declared war on Queen Elizabeth I of England due to her offer of support for the Protestant Dutch rebels fighting against Spain. Queen Elizabeth sent Sir Francis Drake (one of the most successful privateers in history) on a piratical expedition to the Caribbean to atacck the Spanish Empire's American colonies. On January 1 he sacked Santo Domingo extorting 25,000-ducat ransom after plundering and burning much of the city.

Governor Pedro Fernandez de Bustus was warned of "El Draque's" intent to attack the colony. He ordered all value was to be transported inland, while the city evacuated of all non-combatants. He also called for reinforcements from other settlements and called up Cartagena's militia. He had defensive works prepared, including a seawater-filled moat. Two well-armed galleys carrying 300 men and 570 regulars and militia(100 pikemen) and 54 mounted lancers.

Drake appeared off Cartagena on February 9 and his ships passed through the unfortified Boca Grande passage and anchored off of Cartagena's Outer Harbour, just beyond range of the Spanish guns. As the ships sailed up the Bahia de las Animas, they were blocked by chained barrels and were pushed back by cannon fire. Drake and his infantry commander Christopher Carleill decided to advance on Cartagena via La Caleta, and just before midnight the English troops rowed across the Boca Grade Channel and beached at La Caleta. After the Spanish sentries were surprised and killed, 1,000 English troops avoided the poisoned-tip stakes and attacked Cartagena as Drake organized a naval division. The English pikemen stormed the seaward side of the defenses, cutting down the Spanish defenders and routing them into the city. Carleill and his men soon entered the city itself and turned captured Spanish guns on the defenders, and Drake's fleet routed the Spanish ships protecting the harbor. The English proceeded to capture six abandoned ships and 250 Spaniards including local nobles such as Captain Alanso Bravo. Drake tried to prevent his soldiers from looting as he negotiated ransom, but his men ran amok and ransacked houses and churches until Drake reigned them in. Drake began to burn buildings one-by-one until, with the help of the Catholic Church, the Spanish raised 250,000 pesos.

1858 - First vision of the Virgin Mary to 14-year-old Bernadette of Lourdes, France.






Bernadette Soubirous
Born: January 7, 1844 - Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrenees, Kingdom of France
Passed: April 16, 1879 - age 35 - Nevers, Nievre, France.
Beatified: June 14, 1925 by Pope Pius XI
Canonized: December 8, 1933 by Pope Pius XI

Lourdes Apparition of Our Lady visited Bernadette a total of 18 times while she was gathering firewood with her sister and friend. The Cabot where the Soubirous family was cold and without firewood. At 11 o'clock Bernadette, her sister Toinette, and her friend Jeanne Abadie went to gather firewood, Having arrived at the mill, instead of going into the woods, they came to a river they could not go any further, Toinette and Jeanne prepared to cross the river and soon Bernadette was alone on the other side. As she was removing her stalkings to cross she heard a noise and looked towards the Grotto' She heard the noise again and this time saw a lady dressed in a white robe with a blue sash and yellow roses on her feet. Bernadette took out her rosary and wanted to make the sign of the cross but was not able to from trembling. The Lady made the sign of the cross and the second time she managed to repeat the same technique and recited the rosary. Then the Lady disappeared.

 

1937: General Motors recognized autoworker's union
Following a six week strike by the United Auto Workers, violent clashes with police, and Michigan's governor calling in the National Guard, General Motors is the first American auto company to sign a union contract.

 

11 Feb 1941
Wall Street lawyer and Republican Party candidate Wendell Wilkie, who Franklin Roosevelt had soundly defeated in the November 1940 US presidential election, having returned from a fact-finding mission to London at his own expense, addressed a packed meeting of the House Foreign Affairs Committee at the US Senate's Caucus room. He warned the Committee that should Britain fall the United States would find itself at war in a month and advocated that every American bomber save training planes should be sent to Britain post-haste together with five or ten destroyers a month.

11 Feb 1942
The US Congress approved the construction of the Alaska-Canadian Highway; President Roosevelt immediately signed it. Canada agreed to this construction under the condition that the United States would bear the entire cost of construction, and that portions of the highway in Canadian territory would turn over to Canadian control after the war.

11 Feb 1943
General Dwight Eisenhower was selected to command the Allied forces in Europe.

11 Feb 1945
The Yalta Agreement was signed by Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin at Yalta, Crimea, USSR. While it largely favored the interests of the USSR in a post war order, it had a provision for Stalin to declare war on Japan three months after the ultimate German surrender.

 

February 12 is noted for being a pretty boring day...

On this day in 1554, 16 year-old Lady Jane Grey, the '9-day Queen' of England and her husband were executed in London by order of her cousin, Mary I, known as 'Bloody Mary.'

Jane was proclaimed queen on 10 July 1553 and awaited coronation in the Tower of London. Support for Mary grew rapidly and most of Jane's supporters abandoned her. The Privy Council of England suddenly changed sides and proclaimed Mary as queen on 19 July 1553, deposing Jane - after much behind-the-scenes political maneuvering.

Oh, those Brits - lopping off everybody's heads all the time.

Oh well.

No images of Jane, because she was only 16.

 

February 12

Happy Birthday Abraham Lincoln, a great hero of mine.



1429 - English forces under Sir John Fastolf defended a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orleans in the Battle of the Herrings.





The Battle of the Herrings was a military action near the town of Rouvray in France, just north of Orleans, that took place on this date during the Siege of Orleans in the Hundred Years' War. The immediate cause of the battle was an attempt by French and Scottish forces, led by Charles of Bourbon and Sir John Stewart of Darnley, to intercept an English supply convoy headed for the English army at Orleans. The supply convoy was escorted by an English force under Sir John Fastolf and had been outfitted in Paris. The battle was decisively won by the English.

The supply chain consisted of 300 carts and wagons carrying crossbow shafts, cannons and cannonballs, and barrels of Herring. The herring was sent for meatless Lent that was approaching.

The field of battle was an almost featureless, flat plain where the French army, numbering between 3,000 to 4,000 men, confronted a much smaller English force who had set up defensive positions by drawing up supply wagons, The entire defensive formation was further protected by the placement af sharpened wooden stakes set up all around. The 400-strong Scottish infantry, contrary to the orders of the Count of Clermont. This forced the premature cessation of the artillery bombardment out of fear of striking their own forces. The Scots were not well protected by armor and they suffered great damage from the English archers and crossbowmen. After a continuation of this the English struck the rear and flanks of the disorganized French/Scottish forces and the ship convoy carried on.

On May 8, 1429, Joan of Arc helped in many ways to end the siege.

1809 - Abraham Lincoln was born.

View attachment


Abraham Lincoln, 16th president
Born: February 12, 1809 - Hodgenville, Hardin County, Kentucky
Passed: April 15, 1865 - age 56 - Washington, D.C. - assassinated by gunshot
Spouse: Mary Todd(m. 1842)

Abraham Lincoln was born near Hodgenville, Kentucky. His family moved to Indiana when he was seven and he grew up on the edge of the frontier. He had very little formal education, but he read voraciously when not working on the family farm. A childhood friend recalled Lincoln's "manic" intellect, and the sight of him red-eyed and tousle-haired as he pored over books late at night. In 1828, at the age of nineteen, he accompanied a produce-laden flatboat down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, Louisiana - his first visit to a large city) and he walked back home. Two years later, trying to avoid health and finance troubles, Lincoln's father moved the family to Illinois.

After moving away from home, Lincoln co-owned a general store for several years before selling his stake and enlisted as a militia captain in the Black Hawk War of 1832. He did not see direct combat but the sight of corpse-strewn battlefields of Stillman's Run and Kellog's Grove deeply troubled him. As a captain he developed a reputation for pragmatism and integrity.

After the war, Lincoln self-taught himself law and earned his law degree. He campaigned for a seat on the Illinois State Senate and although not elected in his first attempt Lincoln persevered and won the position in 1838. He joined the Whig Party, Abraham Lincoln met Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois where he was practicing as a lawyer. They were married in 1842 over her family's objections. They had four sons but only one lived to adulthood. The deep melancholy that pervaded the Lincolns, with occasional detours into outright madness, is in some ways sourced in their close relationship with death.

Lincoln, a self-described "prairie Lawyer", focused on his all-embracing law practice in the early 1850s after one term in Congress from 1847 to 1849. In 1857 he joined the new Republican Party and the ongoing argument over sectionalism and slavery. A series of heated debates in 1858 with Stephen A. Douglas, the sponsor of the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act, over slavery and its place in the United States forged Lincoln into a national figure in politics. Lincoln's anti-slavery platform made him extremely unpopular with Southerners and his nomination for President in 1860 enraged them.

On November 6, 1860, Lincoln won the presidential election without the support of a single southern state. Talk of seccession was bandied about since the 1830s took on a serious tone. Rhe Civil War was not entirely caused by Lincoln's election was one of the primary reasons.

Lincoln's decision to fight rather than secede was not based on slavery rather he felt it was his sacred duty as President of the United States to preserve the Union at all costs. His first inaugural address was an appeal to the rebellious states, seven of which had already seceded, to rejoin the nation. His first draft of the speech ended with an ominous message: "Shall it be peace, or the sword?"

The Civil War began with the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter, South Carolina on April 12, 1861. Lincoln, learning that the Fort was running low on food, sent supplies to reinforce the Union soldiers there. The Southern navy repulsed the supply convoy and then fired on Fort Sumter after a 34-hour long battle.

Throughout the war, Lincoln struggled to find capable generals for his armies. As commander-in-chief he legally held the highest rank in the military and he diligently exercised his authority through strategic planning, weapons testing, and the promotion and demotion of officers. McDowell, Fremont, McClellan, Pope, McClellan(again), Buell, Burnside, Rosecrans - aii of them and more withered under Lincoln's watchful eye as they failed to bring success on the battlefield.

He did not issue his famous Emancipation Proclamation until January 1, 1863 after the Union victory at the Battle of Antietam.
The Emancipation Proclamation which was legally based on the President's right to seize the property of those in rebellion against the state, only freed slaves in Southern states where Lincoln'c forces had no control. Nevertheless, it changed the tenor of the war, making it from the Northern point of view, a fight to preserve the Union and to end slavery,

In 1864 Lincoln ran for re-election and after years of war he feared he would not win. Only in the final months of the campaign did the exertions of General Ulysses S. Grant, the quiet general now in command of all the Union armies begin to bear fruit. A string of Unuion victories buoyed Lincoln's ticket and contributed greatly to his re-election. In his second Inauguration Speech on March 4, 1865 he set the tone he intended to take when the war finally ended, His one goal, he said, was "lasting peace among ourselves. He called for "malice towards none" and "charity for all".

The Lincoln administration did more than just manage the Civil War. He set policies as:
-The Revenue Acr of 1862 - first income tax, largely to pay for the war
-The Morill Act of 1862 - established the basis of the state university system
-The Homestead Act(1862) - encouraged settlement of the West by offering 160 acres of free land to settlers
-created the Department of Agriculture
-instituted Thanksgiving Day
-Internationally he navigated the Trent Affair, a diplomatic crisis of a British ship carrying Confederate envoys

On April 14, 1865 while attending a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Abraham Lincoln was shot by Confederate sympathizer, John Wilkes Booth. The assassination was part of a larger plot to eliminate the Northern government. Secretary of State William Seward was grievously wounded and Lincoln passed away the next day, and with him the hope of reconstructing the nation without bitterness.




Teddy Roosevelt in the second-story window with the open shutters.


Lincoln's Tomb - Oak Ridge Cemetary - Springfield, Illinois

Abraham Lincoln's funeral procession was a series of events that took place over three weeks after his assassination. The procession included a funeral service, lying in states, and a train journey from Wahington D.C. to Springfield, Illinois. The funeral was held on April 19, 1865 at the White House with the East Room draped with black cloth and crepe, and decorated with white flowers and green leaves. The casket was placed on a catafalque covered with a black cloth with a guard of honor watched the casket day and night. The funeral train left Washington D.C. on April 21, 1865 stopping in major cities along the way, where Lincoln's coffin was displayed for public viewing. The train made several stops for processions, orations, and additional lying in state. The train arrived in Springfield, Illinois on May 4, 1865.
The train traveled through 180 cities and seven states. Also, a 12-year-old Teddy Roosevelt saw the procession from the Roosevelt Mansion in New York City.



Abraham Lincoln's, and one of the world's, most famous speeches:

 

1994: Munch's "The Scream" stolen from Norway Museum
Norway's most valuable painting is brazenly snatched from the National Gallery after four thieves pull off a 50-second heist. Police will recover the painting three months later.

 

12 Feb 1945
After pushing through the Siegfried Line, VIII Corps, Third Army took Pruem, Germany.
British and Canadian forces captured Kleve, Germany.

 

February 13 has been the date of a few interesting things over the years, from Henry VIII having his wife Catherine Howard beheaded (again with the Brits chopping off heads) in 1542, to William and Mary being proclaimed king and queen of England this day in 1689, after which they ruled jointly as King William III and Queen Mary II (sorry, no 'head-choppy' for this one), to the firebombing of Dresden, Germany in 1945.

The problem is - ain't nothin' about 'Old Blue Eyes' in all that.

On February 13, 1960, Frank Sinatra founded Reprise Records in order to have more artistic freedom for his own recordings - and for all artists to sign with the label to have the same control and eventual full ownership of their work.

It was due to Frank's position as founder that he was given the nickname 'The Chairman of the Board.' Reprise and its subsidiaries later became the home of many influential US acts such as Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, The Beach Boys, Emmylou Harris, Eric Clapton, Green Day, Gordon Lightfoot, and many others.

IMHO, the 'Reprise Years' are when Frank did much of his best work, from The Way You Look Tonight to New York New York, Luck Be a Lady, and My Way, among many others.



My fave Frank:




Continue to Rest in Peace, Francis Albert Sinatra.

 

February 13

1951 - Korean War: Battle of Chipyong-ni, which represented the "high-water mark" of the Chinese incursion into South Korea commences.





The Battle of Chipyong-ni was a decisive battle in the Korean War that took place from February 13, 1951 to February 15, 1951 between the US and French units of the US 23rd Infantry Regiment and various units of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army(PVA) around the village of Chipyong-ni. The result was a United Nations Command victory.

After Chinese forces entered Korea in November 1950, UN forces uncertain about the intentions and combat capabilities of the Chinese, drew back behind the 38th parallel and waited to see what the Chinese would do. Plans were even made for the complete withdrawal of the peninsula. In this climate of general uncertainty, Lt. General Matthew B. Ridgeway decided to make a stand at Chipyong-ni and Wonjo. He recognized that Chinese forces had outstretched supply lines and would be unable to keep up their advance much longer. Ridgeway intended to use the 23rdRCT to blunt the Chinese attack so the Eighth Army could carry out a counterattack before the Chinese had a chance to consolidate their forces. and they had used the time well.

The town was held by the 23rd Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Division had been there for 10 days from when they took possession of it on February 3rd and had used the time well. The infantry dug in and sent daily patrols into the countryside. Colonel Paul L. Freeman made sure his artillery registered all probable avenues of enemy approach and that all units established good communications. The uhit had the time and the foresight to coordinate infantry, artillery, and air support into an effective combat team. Air support was critical; air strikes forced the Chinese to attack at night.

As Ridgeway hoped, the 5,000 defenders of Chipyong-ni quickly became the focus of Chinese attention. Throughout the night of February 13 three Chinese divisions, supported by artillery, probed the two-mile perimeter looking for weak points. On the next day of February 14 the Americans used the time to rebuild their defenses and prepare for another attack. Also during the day the 23rd received 24 airdrops and some of the Soldiers got hot meals.

On the night of February 14, the assaults continued and again the fighting was intense. The Chinese directed their attention to the section of the perimeter guarded by the men of G Company led by Lieutenant Thomas Heath. The enemy attack continued without let-up, a persistent assault that progressed from one foxhole to the next. The Chinese eventually dissolved G Company and drove Lieutenant Heath from his hilltop. The hours that followed were filled with intense fighting and as frantic as any in which the infantrymen had ever participated.

The Americans were in trouble, part of the perimeter had fallen and the Americans were slow to realize that their foxholes were captured giving the Chinese time to prepare for counterattack. If the Americans could not recapture their position the whole regiment could be lost. All through the night there were tracers from the enemy machine gun fire, intimidating the Americans. Heath yelled "You'll die down here anyway. You might as well go up on the hill and die there."

All of the men experienced a feeling of relief when daylight came on February 15 because the enemy soldiers usually withdrew then. This time, however, the Chinese did not withdraw. This day the Americans had all of their military units coordinated. The 1st Ranger Company and Company B, 23rd infantry, airstrikes, artillery, and tanks during the day. By evening relief elements from the 5th Cavalry began to arrive and the Chinese finally withdrew. Instead of remaining in the South and retaining their positions that they currently held the Chinese returned north, effectively never having a real chance of victory in the South.

1968 - Johnny Cash performed and recorded at Folsom State Prison in California.



Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison is the first live album by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash, released on May 6, 1968. After his 1955 song "Folsom Prison Blues" Cash had been interested in recording a performance at a prison. His idea was put on hold until 1967 when he had his drug abuse problems under control and was looking to turn his life around after years of limited commercial success. Backed by June Carer Cash, Carl Perkins, and the Tennessee Three performed two shows that day. The initial release of the album consists of fifteen songs from the first and two from the second.

 

Born this day in 1891
American artist, Grant Wood
Best known for his painting titled,
“American Gothic” of 1930

 

1633 Galileo on trial

Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome to stand trial for advocating that the Earth revolves around the Sun, a criminal heresy to the Roman Catholic Inquisition. Galileo will be found "vehemently suspect of heresy" and sentenced to indefinite house arrest, where he will remain until his death.

 

Operation Sea Lion Cancelled

1942 Germany's planned invasion of England, Operation Sea Lion, is canceled by Adolf Hitler

Operation Sea Lion was Nazi Germany's code name for their planned invasion of the United Kingdom. It was to have taken place during the Battle of Britain, nine months after the start of the Second World War. Following the Battle of France and that country's capitulation, Adolf Hitler, the German Führer and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, hoped the British government would accept his offer to end the state of war between the two. He considered invasion to be a last resort, to be used only if all other options had failed.

As a precondition for the invasion of Britain, Hitler demanded both air and naval superiority over the English Channel and the proposed landing sites. The German forces achieved neither at any point of the war. Further, both the German High Command and Hitler himself held serious doubts about the prospects for success. Nevertheless, both the German Army and Navy undertook major preparations for an invasion. These included training troops, developing specialised weapons and equipment, modifying transport vessels and the collection of a large number of river barges and transport ships on the Channel coast. However, in light of mounting Luftwaffe losses in the Battle of Britain and the absence of any sign that the Royal Air Force had been defeated, Hitler postponed Sea Lion indefinitely on 17 September 1940. It was never put into action.

Adolf Hitler hoped for a negotiated peace with the UK and made no preparations for amphibious assault on Britain until the Fall of France. At the time, the only forces with experience and modern equipment for such landings were the Japanese, which they used during the Battle of Wuhan in 1938.