OLD IRONSIDES VICTORIOUS OVER GUERRIERE 202 YEARS AGO TODAY
Halifax, Nova Scotia (JFK+50) Two centuries and two years ago today, August 19, 1812, HMS Guerriere was defeated by USS Constitution off the coast of Nova Scotia in one of the first major sea battles of the War of 1812.
USS Constitution became known as Old Ironsides because sailors on both sides said that cannon balls seemed to bounce off her sturdy oak sides.
Old Ironsides, commanded by Captain Issac Hull, won the victory in a battle which lasted 20 minutes.
When the American frigate pulled up alongside the 49 gun Guerriere, Captain Hull shouted:
"Now, boys, pour it into them!"
Guerriere lost sail and debris from her rigging fell into the water. As his ship was left a virtual wreck, British Captain James Richard Dacres, who was wounded by a musket ball in the back, struck his flag.
Dacres was taken aboard the Constitution where he offered his sword to Captain Hull who graciously declined to accept it.
SOURCE
www.aviationartstore.com, research by Sir Ernie Hamilton Boyette.
JFK PRESENTED NAVY BOOK ENDS
Halifax, Nova Scotia (JFK+50) Two centuries and two years ago today, August 19, 1812, HMS Guerriere was defeated by USS Constitution off the coast of Nova Scotia in one of the first major sea battles of the War of 1812.
USS Constitution became known as Old Ironsides because sailors on both sides said that cannon balls seemed to bounce off her sturdy oak sides.
Old Ironsides, commanded by Captain Issac Hull, won the victory in a battle which lasted 20 minutes.
Painting by Anton Otto Fischer
Naval Historical Center
"Now, boys, pour it into them!"
Guerriere lost sail and debris from her rigging fell into the water. As his ship was left a virtual wreck, British Captain James Richard Dacres, who was wounded by a musket ball in the back, struck his flag.
Dacres was taken aboard the Constitution where he offered his sword to Captain Hull who graciously declined to accept it.
SOURCE
www.aviationartstore.com, research by Sir Ernie Hamilton Boyette.
JFK PRESENTED NAVY BOOK ENDS
Washington, D.C.(JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy, a veteran of the United States Navy, was presented a pair of wooden bookends with working replica models of 24 pounder cannon carried by "Old Ironsides."
USS Constitution Bookends
JFK Library Image
The bookends, made by Oscar Lee Richardson, were presented to the President by Lt. Commander Rutledge E. Barry. The President displayed the bookends on his desk in the Oval Office.
JFK's office, decorated in a naval theme, also had a painting by Thomas Birch of the battle between the USS United States versus the HMS Macedonian.
BILL CLINTON CELEBRATES 68THHope, Arkansas (JFK+50) William Jefferson Clinton, 42nd President of the United States was born William Jefferson Blythe III 68 years ago today, August 19, 1946, at the Julia Chester Hospital here in Hope.
Bill's widowed mother, Virginia, was a registered nurse. Later she remarried Roger Clinton and when Bill started school he changed his name from Blythe to Clinton.
Bill Clinton Boyhood Home
Hope, Arkansas
Photo by Billy Hathorn (2008)
Bill Clinton spent the first four years of his life in a small frame home at 117 S. Hervey Street in Hope. The family moved to 321 E. 13th Street in 1950 and once again in 1953 to Hot Springs where Bill graduated high school.
Bill Clinton was a delegate at Boys Nation when he shook hands with President Kennedy. William Jefferson Clinton was inspired by the meeting to enter the political profession and in 1992 was elected 42nd President of the United States.
President Bill Clinton
Knoxville, Tennessee
Photo by John White (1996)
JFK+50 NOTE:
During my return to the classroom this past spring, one of my more outspoken US History students made the comment..."I wish Bill Clinton was still president." I answered...."So does he!"
Happy Birthday, Mr. President!
Moscow (JFK+50) American U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers*, captured after being shot down over the Soviet Union on May 1, was sentenced here in Moscow fifty-four years ago today, August 19, 1960, to a prison term of ten years for espionage.
Francis Gary Powers
Photo by Chernov
RIA Novosti Archive
Image #351721/Chernov/
CC-BY-SA 3.0
Powers was shot down over Sverdlovsk in the Ural Mountains. Although able to eject before the crash and make it safely to the ground by parachute, Powers was quickly taken into custody by Soviet authorities.
Powers pleaded guilty but 18 months after his sentencing the U2 pilot was released in exchange for KGB spy Rudolf Abel.
*Francis Gary Powers was born in Jenkins, KY and grew up in Pound, VA. After graduating from Milligan College in Tennessee in 1950, he joined the USAF as a 2nd Lt. Powers was then recruited for reconnaissance missions by the CIA. FGP dies in a helicopter crash in 1977.
