It is said that those who do not know their history are condemned to repeat it. However, history should not merely be something we look back at to determine what to do or not to do. There is so much to look at from so many angles, and we can focus on our own interests. This week, every topic pertains to an interest of mine.
We begin this week on August 7, 1782, the date on which then General George Washington, the commander in chief of the Continental Army, created the military decoration that has come to be known as the Purple Heart, and remains a medal awarded by the United States military to this day. Originally called the “Badge for Military Merit, consisting of a purple, heart-shaped piece of silk edged with a narrow binding of silver, with the word Merit stitched across the face, also in silver. The decoration was designed to be presented to soldiers for “any singularly meritorious action.” The honoree’s name and regiment were to be inscribed in a “Book of Merit,” and anyone wearing it was permitted to pass guards and sentinels unchallenged. It was awarded to three soldiers during the Revolutionary War, but the “Book of Merit” became lost, and the award forgotten until 1927, when, first, General Charles P. Summerall, the army’s chief of staff, and, later, General Douglas MacArthur in 1931, championed its return. On Washington’s 200th birthday in 1932, the award was reintroduced as the “Order of the Purple Heart.” The award, which is now awarded to armed forces members wounded or killed in action, or maltreated as prisoners of war, retained the original design, with the addition of a bust of Washington and his coat of arms.
For another event in the area of war, we next travel to August 8, 1942, the date on which six German saboteurs were executed in Washington, DC. Part of a four-man team designed to be the first of many with a mission to destroy infrastructure as well as Jewish-owned stores, they arrived via submarine on the coast of Long Island. They then bribed their way past a young Coast Guardsman, hid their equipment, and fled to New York City. The officer, despite taking the bribe, quickly informed his superiors, and the FBI launched a massive manhunt for the infiltrators. Despite not knowing of the manhunt, two of them, including the team’s leader, decided to turn on their colleagues – likely believing the mission was already compromised. They informed the FBI, who arrested their team members plus another four-man team that had landed soon after theirs. In a clandestine trial due to the war effort, the two informants were given long prison sentences, while the other six were sentenced to death and killed on August 8 via the electric chair. The infiltration’s failure seemingly put an end to further German sabotage attempts. In 1948, the two saboteurs who had informed the FBI were freed by order of President Harry S. Truman, and they returned to Germany.
Continuing with our theme of military history, we next go all the way back to August 9, 378, the date on which the Roman army was routed in the decisive Battle of Adrianople. Emperor Valens, who commanded the Roman forces, declared war on the Visigoths in 364, and defeated them in 369. They were then permitted to settle south of the Danube River, within the empire, but rose in open revolt after being subjected to oppressive measures by the Romans. In 378, Valens led an army against the Visigoths, led by Fritigern, and came upon the barbarian force near Adrianople. With the Visigoth cavalry not present, Valens ordered an attack. The Romans initially pushed the Visigoths back, but then their cavalry suddenly returned, routing the Romans and forcing them into a retreat, during which the mounted Visigoths rode down the retreating infantry. Approximately two-thirds of the 30,000-strong Roman forces were killed between the battle and retreat, including Emperor Valens. This decisive victory left the Eastern Roman Empire almost defenseless, and the next emperor, Theodosius the Great, would struggle to repel Visigoth hordes raiding the Balkans during his reign. This battle also established the supremacy of cavalry over infantry for nearly a thousand years.
Moving off the topic of war, we next move to August 10, 1846, the legal act establishing the Smithsonian Institution, the Smithsonian Institution Act, was signed into law by President James K. Polk, paving the way for the now famous museums and galleries and ending a decade-long debate on how to utilize a bequest left to the US “to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an Establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.” Smithson, who had been a member of the prestigious Royal Society of London from a young age, had published numerous papers on mineral composition, geology, and chemistry, with a particular zinc carbonate named smithsonite for him. He had never visited the US. How to utilize his fortune, valued at over $500,000, was the subject of much debate after the US accepted the gift, and eventually, the decision was reached to fund a museum, a library, and a program of research, publication, and collection in the sciences, arts, and history. Today, the Smithsonian is widely known and consists of nineteen museums and galleries, including the most visited museum in the world, the National Air and Space Museum.
Continuing in a (relatively) peaceful vein for now, we next jump to a much more recent event, the start of the longest strike in the history of Major League Baseball, which began on August 11, 1994. The strike had its roots in a conflict between the players and the team owners, which flared up during the negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement, with the owners wanting to institute a salary cap, and the players objecting; starting after the 1975 season, players were no longer tied to a team for their career, and the free agent market drove salaries up significantly as teams competed for players. After 1985, the team owners made a secret pact to not sign one another’s players. When the conspiracy came to light, the players’ union sued and won a huge $270 million judgment. This flared up when the previous agreement expired in 1994, and when the talks went badly the players walked out. The owners then locked them out and canceled the rest of the season. Eventually, the courts issued an injunction against the owners, and players returned to work for the 1995 season. The fans expressed their anger at both sides by picketing and not attending games that year, which had the lowest attendance rating in years. Since then, fortunately, trust has been restored and the league prospers again.
For a smaller scale story about something big, we next go to August 12, 1990, the date on which fossil hunter Susan Hendrickson discovered three massive bones that turned out to be part of the largest, and one of the most complete, Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons ever found. It was later named Sue, after its discoverer. The 90-percent-complete skeleton was eventually completely excavated – after a long legal battle, of course – and went on display at Chicago’s Field Museum. The 42-foot-long skeleton also allowed scientists to learn many things about the T. rex, including that it had an amazing sense of smell, and that it had a wishbone – supporting the theory linking dinosaurs and modern birds.
We conclude this week with another military history event. On August 13, 1521, the Aztec Empire’s capital city of Tenochtitlán was captured and leveled by Spanish forces under the command of Hernán Cortés. Cortés had first arrived in the New World in Hispaniola in 1504, and took part in the conquest of Cuba before becoming the leader of the expedition to the American mainland. On the Mexican coast, he founded the city of Veracuz, freeing himself from the authority of the governor of Cuba, and trained an army before burning his own ships to ensure loyalty. He then set his sights on the fracturing Aztec Empire, and through intimidation and gathering allies who hated the Aztecs, took Tenochtitlán unopposed in 1519. After being forced out in 1520 when the Aztecs revolted, he returned in May 1521, defeating a large Aztec army and besieging the city for three months until it fell, and with it so did the Aztec Empire.
That’s it for this week; I hope you found these events as interesting as I did. And if not, I’m sure you can find historical events relating to topics that interest you. Either way, I hope you will join me again next week…in history.
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