Dinge en Goete (Things and Stuff)

Monday, October 17, 2011

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

October 17:

1931: Capone goes to prison

On this day in 1931, gangster Al Capone is sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion and fined $80,000, signaling the downfall of one of the most notorious criminals of the 1920s and 1930s.

Alphonse Gabriel Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899 to Italian immigrants. He was expelled from school at 14, joined a gang and earned his nickname "Scarface" after being sliced across the cheek during a fight. By 1920, Capone had moved to Chicago, where he was soon helping to run crime boss Johnny Torrio's illegal enterprises, which included alcohol-smuggling, gambling and prostitution. Torrio retired in 1925 after an attempt on his life and Capone, known for his cunning and brutality, was put in charge of the organization.

Prohibition, which outlawed the brewing and distribution of alcohol and lasted from 1920 to 1933, proved extremely lucrative for bootleggers and gangsters like Capone, who raked in millions from his underworld activities. Capone was at the top of the F.B.I.'s "Most Wanted" list by 1930, but he avoided long stints in jail until 1931 by bribing city officials, intimidating witnesses and maintaining various hideouts. He became Chicago's crime kingpin by wiping out his competitors through a series of gangland battles and slayings, including the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929, when Capone's men gunned down seven rivals. This event helped raise Capone's notoriety to a national level.

Among Capone's enemies was federal agent Elliot Ness, who led a team of officers known as "The Untouchables" because they couldn't be corrupted. Ness and his men routinely broke up Capone's bootlegging businesses, but it was tax-evasion charges that finally stuck and landed Capone in prison in 1931. Capone began serving his time at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta, but amid accusations that he was manipulating the system and receiving cushy treatment, he was transferred to the maximum-security lockup at Alcatraz Island, in California's San Francisco Bay. He got out early in 1939 for good behavior, after spending his final year in prison in a hospital, suffering from syphilis.

Great dog Hachi (1923 - 1935)

In 1923, an Akita Inu (Great Japanese Dog) was born in the Saito family that lived in northern part of Japan, Akita prefecture. At that time, in Tokyo, Dr. Eizaburo Ueno who works for Tokyo University as a professor of the department of agriculture was looking for an Akita Inu. Although Dr. Ueno had kept some Akita Inu until then, unfortunately they died quite young, but he still wished to keep a pedigreed Japanese dog. One of his students who knew Dr. Ueno's wish heard about an Akita Inu of the Saito family from his acquaintance, asked Mr. Saito to give him the dog. Mr. Saito was willing to give a dog and a two-month-old puppy was sent to Tokyo.

Dr. Ueno has already kept two dogs named John and S. The new dog came from Tohoku district was named "Hachi." Dr. Ueno loved Hachi so much that he always had a meal with Hachi. Elderly dog John took good care of the puppy Hachi as well. After a short while, three dogs started to see off and go to meet Dr. Ueno together in the every morning and evening at a ticket gate of Shibuya station or the gate of Tokyo University. The meeting places vary depending on the day of the week because of Dr. Ueno's job, but the dogs remembered the places very well.

One day in May 1925, only Hachi went to see Dr. Ueno off in the morning, and this was the last day for Hachi to see Dr. Ueno. On that day, Dr. Ueno was laid up with cerebral hemorrhage in the University after a faculty meeting, and then he passed away. It happened only one year and a few months after Hachi met Dr. Ueno. Hachi, who had no way of finding Dr. Ueno's death, went to meet Dr. Ueno at the gate of University in the evening as usual and waited for Dr. Ueno until it became dark. Since that day, Hachi shut himself in a lumber-room where Dr. Ueno's things were left behind and he did not eat anything for three days. Hachi, John and S went to Shibuya station even after the funeral of Dr. Ueno.

Later, Hachi was entrusted to one of the relatives of Mrs. Ueno and moved from Nihonbashi to Asakusa. However, even after Hachi moved to Asakusa, he ran eight kilometers from Asakusa to Shibuya to see Dr. Ueno every evening and it lasted for one year. The people of the Ueno family could not stand seeing poor Hachi, so they decided to entrust Hachi to Mr. Kikusaburo Kobayashi who was an old gardener for Ueno's family lived in Yoyogi near by Shibuya. As it was no great distance between previous Ueno's residence and Kobayashi's one, Hachi headed for Ueno's house after the meal and run to Shibuya station, and then sit tight in front of the gate.

Ever since Hachi was entrusted to Mr. Kobayashi, he had kept waiting for his deceased master Dr. Ueno in front of the ticket gate of Shibuya station every day, either on hot summer days or on chilly winter days. Sometimes he was doodled on his face by cruel people, captured by dogcatchers and scolded by station staffs for entering the station yard. One day Mr. Saito, who was a member of Nihonken Hozon Kai (Preservation Society of Great Japanese Dogs.) noted Hachi who kept coming to the station in order to meet his deceased master. Mr. Saito contributed an article about Hachi to a newspaper and then Hachi leaped to fame. Hachi was loved even by the station employees and staffs of the station stands, and nicknamed "Chuken Hachiko" (a faithful dog, Hachi).

In 1934, a bronze statue of Hachiko was erected by Mr. Ando and established in front of the ticket gate of Shibuya station. In connection with the establishment of the statue, the ticket gate was named Hachiko-guchi and it remained as a symbol of Shibuya as our favorite meeting spot until today. However in March 1935, Hachiko was found dead at a silence alley on the opposite side of Shibuya station Hachiko used to stay. Hachiko died of filariasis. Hachiko remains at National Science Museum in Ueno as a stuffed animal and his dead body was buried in Aoyama Cemetery, where Hachiko's dearest master Dr. Ueno rests in peace.

Ten years later after the statue of Hachiko was established, as World War II became serious, metal material was running short and the statue, that was erected by the donation not only from Japanese children but also children of warring nations U.S. was brought to the army to produce weapons as a result. In 1948 after World War II ended, son of Mr. Ando reconstructed today's statue of Hachiko.
Some people said that the reason why Hachiko headed for Shibuya station at designated time every day was that he expected to eat yakitori given by yakitori stall in front of the station. Actually, the result of postmortem, a few spits of yakitori were found in his stomach. However, I believe that he was out of sheer desire to meet Dr. Ueno on that particular time at least during one year period time when Hachiko was running eight kilometers from Asakusa to Shibuya.

Thank you to http://www.jpn-miyabi.com/Vol.43/hachiko-1.html for the above article.

Friday, October 14, 2011

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

October 14:

1947: Yeager breaks sound barrier

U.S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound.

Yeager, born in Myra, West Virginia, in 1923, was a combat fighter during World War II and flew 64 missions over Europe. He shot down 13 German planes and was himself shot down over France, but he escaped capture with the assistance of the French Underground. After the war, he was among several volunteers chosen to test-fly the experimental X-1 rocket plane, built by the Bell Aircraft Company to explore the possibility of supersonic flight.

For years, many aviators believed that man was not meant to fly faster than the speed of sound, theorizing that transonic drag rise would tear any aircraft apart. All that changed on October 14, 1947, when Yeager flew the X-1 over Rogers Dry Lake in Southern California. The X-1 was lifted to an altitude of 25,000 feet by a B-29 aircraft and then released through the bomb bay, rocketing to 40,000 feet and exceeding 662 miles per hour (the sound barrier at that altitude). The rocket plane, nicknamed "Glamorous Glennis," was designed with thin, unswept wings and a streamlined fuselage modeled after a .50-caliber bullet.

Because of the secrecy of the project, Bell and Yeager's achievement was not announced until June 1948. Yeager continued to serve as a test pilot, and in 1953 he flew 1,650 miles per hour in an X-1A rocket plane. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1975 with the rank of brigadier general.

American Revolution
1780 : Patriots sting Loyalists at Shallow Ford, North Carolina
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/patriots-sting-loyalists-at-shallow-ford-north-carolina

Automotive
1857 : Elwood Haynes, "Grandsire of Gasoline Cars," is born
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/elwood-haynes-grandsire-of-gasoline-cars-is-born

Civil War
1863 : Union repels Rebels at the Battle of Bristoe Station
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-bristoe-station

Cold War
1962 : The Cuban Missile Crisis begins
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-cuban-missile-crisis-begins

Crime
1975 : Trial begins in Amityville murders
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/trial-begins-in-amityville-murders

Disaster
1913 : Coal miners die in Wales
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/coal-miners-die-in-wales

General Interest
1066 : The Battle of Hastings
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-battle-of-hastings
1912 : Theodore Roosevelt shot in Milwaukee
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/theodore-roosevelt-shot-in-milwaukee
1964 : King wins Nobel Peace Prize
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/king-wins-nobel-peace-prize

Hollywood

Monday, October 17, 2011

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Great dog Hachi (1923 - 1935)

Friday, October 14, 2011

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

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