Today In History...(And there were lots of things on this date)

...May 31, 1859…In London, Big Ben went into operation. The name Big Ben initially referred to the bell inside the tower but later came to the refer to the tower.  It is the largest four-faced chiming clock and the third-tallest free-standing clock tower in the world.

While Corey and I were in London in July of 2000, we went to see and hear Big Ben.

We're almost there!

Corey's ready to set his clock to "Ben Time".

We finally made it to see "Ben".  We were thrilled to be standing there at 12:00 noon which meant we got to hear him bong a total of 12 times.

Big Ben adjoins the Palace of Westminster which is where Parliament meets.

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...May 31, 1907…The first taxis arrived in New York City. They were also the first in the United States.  When I was in New York City in November of 2002, I had my first opportunity to "hail" a cab and they are everywhere and lots of them!.  You cannot be a wimp when doing so.  You almost have to throw yourself out on the street and yell "taxi"!

Hailing a cab is as simple as stepping off the curb and holding out your arm -- it only gets complicated when you need to figure out why many New York taxis seem to drive by without stopping for you. The trick is in the lights atop the cab.

•  When just the center is lit, highlighting the medallion number, the cab is available.
• When the medallion number, as well as the side lamps are lit, the cab is off-duty.
•    When no lights are lit, the cab already has a fare they are bringing to a destination.

Seriously, the best way to grab a cab is to position yourself in the street (the sidewalk, though slightly safer, is considered by taxi drivers to be reserved for those who are not dead serious about getting a cab).

Then, you stand 'up-road' to other cab waiters.  This means you stand in front of other people so you can intercept a cab before it reaches them.  Then you yell "taxi" louder than the others and slightly jump up and down and wave your arm.  It works!

The minimum fare in a cab is $2.50.  That means the moment you step inside a cab, it already costs you $2.50.  I remember my ride from Kennedy Airport to my hotel downtown costs me $45.00 + tip by the time it was over.  That was my most expensive ride. So, I can mark "riding in a New York cab" off my bucket list.

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May 31, 1966…Lulu's first movie, "To Sir With Love," began filming in London.  This was only one of the very few movies that I ever attended with my dad.  In fact, I can name the movies he ever went to with us as a family. (1) Darby O'Gill and The Little People; (2) The Sound of Music; (3) Born Free; and (4) To Sir With Love.

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May 31, 1966…Filming started on "The Monkees (Here Come The Monkees)," the first filmed episode of the television series.  The group reached the height of fame from 1966 to 1968. 

I never missed an episode.  Now if I run across one, I realize how stupid a show it was.  But the music was great and they were one of the most popular groups when I was a teenager.

Slumber party at Cindy Stanley's house in 1967 when I was 15 years old.  These girls were in my M.I.A. class at church.  We were probably sitting around listening to "The Monkees".  We were all in love with Davy Jones.

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May 31, 1982…R.E.M. signed a five-album deal with I.R.S. Records, an independent label based in California.

Their song "Losing My Religion" was released in 1991 and the song became R.E.M.'s highest-charting hit in the United States.

Every time I hear this song, it always brings back memories the most vivid being after Les left.  One afternoon Corey and I were feeling a little bit bummed out and so we decided to get on the interstate, drive a little over the speed limit with all the windows down.  I had a R.E.M. CD in the player and we cranked up this song and blew away our troubles for awhile.

Then one Sunday I was sitting in church, had forgot to turn off my cellphone and Corey called.  (Every time he called, my cell phone played "Losing My Religion").  When he called, my cellphone starting playing..."That's me in the corner, that's me in the spotlight losing my religion".  Oh, my gosh - That was me in the corner and that was me in the spotlight when the song started playing.

National Bridge Day

I added this into my blogs to recall some of the famous bridges I've crossed in my life time. 

Some of them include:

• The Golden Gate Bridge which was the longest suspension bridge span in the world when it was completed in 1937, and has become one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco.
• Sunshine Skyway Bridge - St. Petersburg and Bradenton
  At 29,040 feet long, the Skyway is the world's longest cable-stayed concrete bridge. Tampa Bay's old cantilever bridge was destroyed in 1980 when a freighter, Summit Venture, plowed into it, causing more than 1,000 feet of the bridge to fall into the bay. The Department of Transportation began immediate reconstruction on a safer bridge, which opened to traffic in 1987 and has won dozens of architectural awards.
• Seven Mile Bridge - Florida Keys At a total length of 35,862 feet or 6.79 miles, the present seven-mile-bridge connects Vaca Key to Bahia Honda in the Lower Keys and has attracted many filmmakers. Its "Hollywood credits" include True Lies, 2 Fast 2 Furious and License to Kill.
• Brooklyn Bridge - New York City
• Tower Bride - London, England

Corey checking out the Thames River with the Tower Bridge in the background.

I thought I'd never get Corey to leave the bench.

Just as we were leaving, the drawbridge was raised.

• The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge that connects the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City at The Narrows, the reach connecting the relatively protected upper bay with the larger lower bay.
• George Washington Bridge - New Jersey/New York
• Mississippi River Bridge

On This Day in History...

May 19, 1536…Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England's King Henry VIII, was beheaded after she was convicted of adultery, incest, and high treason.

In July of 2000, I took Corey to England to visit some of my friends.  We stayed in London for a few days so I could show him some of the tourist sights.  One of the places we went to was the Tower of London, which is in fact a series of towers and not just one tower.  One of the towers we visited was the Bloody Tower. In the mid-16th century, the Tower became known as the Bloody Tower because (or, so James I was told when he visited in 1604) it was where the "Princes in the Tower" had been murdered. Today, a display on the upper floor retells this infamous story.

The princes, 12-year old Edward and his young brother, Richard, sons of Edward IV, had been lodged in the tower following their father's death in 1483, under the protection of their uncle, Richard Duke of Gloucester. Preparations began for Edward's coronation but in the event it was their uncle who was crowned in his place as Richard III. The princes remained in the Tower for a time and then disappeared from view. Much has been written about their fate, mainly in order to prove or disprove Richard's involvement in their deaths, but no conclusive evidence has been produced. Even the bones of two children found buried close to the White Tower in 1674, which were officially reburried in Westminster Abbey as the remains of the princes, cannot be positively identified. 

There have, however, been two authenticated cases of violent death within the Bloody Tower. In 1585 the 8th Earl of Northumerland shot himself to escape conviction for treason and the forfeiture of his lands to Elizabeth I. In James I's reign, in scandalous circumstances that touched the King himself, Sir Thomas Overbury was poisoned while a prisoner there.

That's Corey in the middle with his backpack.  We were heading towards the Bloody Tower.

Corey in front of Bloody Tower

Outside the gate of Bloody Tower.  Some famous prisoners held here include Anne Boleyn, Sir Walter Raleigh and Elizabeth I.

Inside Bloody Tower gate.

Some writings of previous prisoners.

The ravens are one of the most famous sights at the Tower of London.  Legend has it that Charles II was warned that should the ravens leave the Tower, the monarchy would fail and he therefore order that henceforth a small populations should always remain.  We were told that the raven's wings are clipped so that they cannot fly away.

Seven famous prisoners were executed here (see below). The private executions took place on the Tower Green within the walls of the Tower to avoid embarrassing the prisoner- or the monarch. Normally, the executions took place outside on Tower Hill and were usually viewed by thousands of spectators

On this site stood a scaffold on which were executed:

Queen Anne Boleyn 19 May 1536
Second wife of Henry VIII
Margaret, Countess of Salisbury 28 May 1541
Last Plantagenet Princess
Queen Katherine Howard 13 Feb 1542
Fifth wife of Henry VIII
Jane, Viscountess Rochford 13 Feb 1542
Wife of Anne Boleyn's brother
Lady Jane Grey 12 Feb 1554
Uncrowned Queen of 9 days
Robert Devereux 25 Feb 1601
Earl of Essex
Lord Hastings
was also beheaded near

Beheading was confined to those of noble birth who were convicted of treason and was an alternative to the normal punishments for this crime. Men convicted of High Treason were condemned to hanged drawn and quartered and women to be burned at the stake. In the case of the nobility the monarch could vary these punishments to death by beheading. Beheading was both far less painful and considered far less dishonourable than these other methods. Several members of Royalty were beheaded, including Charles I, Anne Boleyn, Mary Queen of Scots and Lady Jane Grey. Many other Earls, Lords and Knights, including Sir Walter Raleigh, and even some bishops were executed this way.

The majority of English beheadings took place at the Tower of London. Seven were carried out in private within the grounds, of which five were of women. A further 86 men were decapitated on Tower Hill outside the walls of the Tower, where there stood a permanent scaffold from 1485. Only a very small number of beheadings were carried out elsewhere, as the Tower was the principal prison for traitors of high birth. Treason often meant displeasing the monarch, rather than betraying the country.

Corey with a Yoeman Warders (often called Beefeaters) who have been at the Tower of London since the 14th century.  The origin of the word "Beefeater" is unknown.  One theory is that the Yeoman Warders were fond of beef.

Changing of the Guard in front of The Tower Green and the Queen's House.