History! 4/14/09

Could these get any more boring? So why do I continue? Because I will it.

1775 (starting off a bit late huh) the first abolitionist group is founded in America, Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage, otherwise known as SRFNUHB, or Surfin' A Bee (all lies). The founding members were Benjamin Rush, and Benjamin Franklin. Franklin did it to get laid, Rush did it hoping he'd get some of Franklin's left overs.

1846, the Donner party leaves Springfield, Illinois on their way to kick ass California. 150 years later elementary school children everywhere will recreate their journey with the only fun educational game in existence, Oregon Trail.

1865, an actual important event and I'm glad I brought it up. I should probably make an individual post about this as well. Our 16th President Abraham Lincoln is shot at Fords Theater by the assassin John Wilkes Booth. Right now it is about 9:35 back East, and at this moment Booth is waiting at the theater. He arrived 30 minutes earlier and, because he was once an actor he is waiting for the right moment to climb the stairs to the Presidents box. At 10:15 Mary Todd, Lincoln's wife, will note that he is holding her hand, and asks what Miss Harris (a guest of Lincoln's) will think, to which Lincoln will say "She won't think anything about it." Moments later, during an outbreak of laughter from the audience (timed out by booth) Booth will shoot the President at point blank range in the back of the head with a dillinger. Major Rathbone, soon to be husband of Miss Harris, tries to grab Booth, but is stabbed. Booth attempts to climb forward towards the railing, but Rathbone grabs him again, and is rebuffed by Booth's knife again. Booth attempts a graceful leap from the Presidents box to the stage, but his riding spur catches the American flag bunting on the box and he lands awkwardly, breaking his fibula. Limping forward he turns to the audience and shouts "Sic Semper Tyrannis!" Latin for "thus always to tyrants!", the state motto of Virgina. He then fled the stage and made good his escape. Lincoln, now is non responsive, but a group of three doctors are quickly on the scene and after removing a clot from the wound he is moved across the street to William Petersen's Boarding House. Lincoln is placed on a bed there at an angle because he is too tall to lay straight up and down. At 7:22 am, on April 15th (3:22 am our time) Abraham Lincoln passed away, United States Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton was there and commented "Now he belongs to the ages."

I'll throw this up now and follow up with more in a little bit.