Event

July 20: Last Moments of Eagle

July 20: He had gone through 1000s of simulations preparing for this moment. His craft the Eagle, was approaching the surface and the alarms were sounding multiple problems. Back on land the men in the control room had no answers that could solve all the problems before his craft crashed into the field of boulders. His on-board flight computer was sounding a glaring warning that it couldn’t handle the job. He was on his own.

apollo-11-lm-1-2 — The Eagle Lunar Module (LM) after it separated from the Command Module.

Maneuvering around the Chevy-sized boulders was using up precious fuel and there was no fuel stations closer than more than 238,000 miles. Commander Neil Armstrong was used to difficult if not impossible situations and staying calm when any normal person would have frozen. He could see the dust flying up around his craft. He knew he was close, then his Lunar Module Pilot, Buzz Aldrin called out “Contact light…” The first words sent back to blessed Earth as Apollo 11 made initial contact with the dusty surface. Three seconds later the Lunar Module was on the surface of the moon. Armstrong said, “Shutdown.” Aldrin replied, “Okay, engine stop.”

Charlie Duke, the Mission Control officer back in Houston confirmed the event, “We copy you down Eagle.” After checking a few more switches, Armstrong replied “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” Charlie then replied, “Roger Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We’re breathing again.”

Neil Armstrong with his helmet removed, but still in his dust-covered suit inside the LM. — Neil Armstrong with his helmet removed, but still in his moon dust-covered suit inside the LM after exploring the lunar surface for the first time.

Breathing again for good reason. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin had just 45 seconds worth of landing fuel on board when the engines shut down—45 seconds from failure to success. The boy from Wapakoneta, Ohio who had overcome difficult situations all his life, had just converted a difficult situation into one of the greatest achievements in modern technology– it happened on this day in 1969.

On August 7, 2009, an act of Congress awarded the three astronauts (Commander Neil A. Armstrong, Commander Lunar Module Pilot Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Command Module Pilot Michael Collins) a Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award in the United States.

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May 26: Colonel Crawford Moves Toward Ohio Country

By John Merrill

We were in the final years of the long drawn out American Revolutionary War. General Washington was afraid the British and their Native American allies would soon open a third front to the west of the American colonies. To prevent this he asked his long-time friend retired Colonel William Crawford who had only retired from active military service the year before to head a group of 500 volunteers into the Ohio Country.

Crawford was familiar with the Ohio Country. He had accompanied the younger George Washington many years before down the Ohio River on a survey expedition. Many years later he helped build Fort Laurens in northeast Ohio.

Sandusky Plains Battle Site Memorial — Sandusky Plains Crawford Capture Site Memorial

Crawford’s Expedition into the Ohio Country was to suppress a suspected stronghold of Wyandots along the Sandusky River using a surprise attack that he hoped would catch them off-guard. Unfortunately, British spies hand informed the British of the large expedition marching west from Fort Pitt and Native Americans from around Detroit moved south to reinforce the Wyandots. To complicate this expedition, many of the volunteers making up Crawford’s expedition had taken part in a massacre of Christian Delaware that had returned to their Moravian village where the militia captured them thinking they were part of a raiding party that had killed a young girl of a pioneer family. Although the massacre included killing all of the Delaware, one young man escaped the carnage by slipping out of the cabin and into the woods during the night. He would later identified some of the men involved in the massacre.

As Crawford’s expedition approached the Sandusky Plains on June 4 they encounter a combined force of Shawnee, Delaware and Wyandot. At the end of the first day of the engagement, the Americans seemed to have control of the field. The next morning a British force of Rangers reinforced the Native Americans. This tipped the scales in favor of the British and their Native American allies. Crawford sensing the balance had shifted, decided to withdraw his force south. A sudden attack by the Native Americans forced Crawford’s men into an unorganized retreat.

During the confusion of the retreat, Crawford’s horse collapsed and he was captured along with a few other men. After several days of extreme torture, Colonel Crawford was burned at the stake.

Crawford County was later named for the executed soldier.

May 25: Space, the Final Frontier

By John Merrill

May 25: On this day more than a few decades ago, the space race got a big boost. A little sci-fi movie filmed mostly on sound stages in England, was released with some much ballyhooed publicity that would become the new model for film releases. As word spread, lines, long lines began forming outside of theaters.

The media sensed there was something about this movie that was different, and at a time when the United States was still reeling from a catastrophic war, a failed presidency, the energy crises, gasoline shortages, high crime rates… the country was ripe for escape from bad news and this little movie with its quirky characters and special effects was the answer. Not only did it provide a summer of entertainment, it created an idea that imagination was something to be sought and cherished.

The movie’s producer said he wanted to create a contemporary movie based on the old episodic movies he remembered as a kid where the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys wore black; if only it were that simple.

At the time George Lucas had no inkling that his sci-fi thriller he called “Star Wars” would become a cultural icon not only in America but the entire world. Before its release, the studios didn’t have faith in the movie, much less believe that it was a franchise opportunity. They sold the rights to all future sequels and merchandise to Lucas. I imagine an executive decision regretted more than a few times in the years since.

star-wars4-poster — Original pre-release Star Wars poster.

Several years later, President Reagan revealed his Strategic Defense Initiative which the press mockingly referred to as his Star Wars Initiative. Yet, so popular was that movie that even the political powers in the USSR understood the term and its implications. Their Soviet Empire had been hopelessly lost in the space race and feared the Americans were on the verge of actually having some of those military weapons on display for all to see in the hit movie. They surrendered and when President Reagan asked the Kremlin to tear down the wall in East Germany, they realized it was futile to resist the power of the American space program. Certainly there were other contributing factors, but isn’t it delicious to give credit to a movie?

On this day in 1977, the movie that would become one of the largest grossing box office hits, Star Wars, was released. It received 7 Oscars, grossed close to $800 million, created new mega-stars worthy of any galaxy. Even before the hit movie had moved on to second run theaters, production was already underway for the next two episodes. Today, those episodes are still being released to hungry fans, many of which are grand children of those who witnessed this first release.

Even more surprising is the fact that sixteen years earlier on this very day a young president made a speech before congress asking for support of a new program that would put a man on the moon within the decade which happened on July 20, 1969 when Ohio born astronaut Neil Armstrong, became the first human to leave a footprint on the moon.

Even more amazing is that when President John Kennedy addressed Congress on this day, we had only just recovered our first man in space, Alan Shephard, less than 3 weeks earlier. His flight into space lasted just 15 minutes, but it was long enough to inspire an entire country to go to the moon and back and make a movie like Star Wars seem feasible a few years later.

May 16: Marie Marries Louis

By John Merrill

May 16: On this day in 1770 Marie Antoinette officially married her husband, Louis Auguste. Four years later when Louis XV died, Louis August and his wife Marie would become the King and Queen of France. As a fan of Ohio history, you might wonder hos this event would influence Ohio. The answer requires a bit of American history.

marie-antoinnette-marriage- — Marriage of Marie Antoinette and Louis Auguste on May 16, 1770.

In 1776 American colonies declared their independence from England. A few years after that declaration, France recognized the new United States of America. France began sending supplies and arms to the new country in its revolution and eventually send troops and most important, it sent its navy. Working along with the French, George Washington’s Continental Army and Militia trapped the British General, Lord Cornwallis in Yorktown Virginia which forced the British to eventually withdraw from the United States and the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

Now, here is the connection. In 1788, just five years after the Treaty of Paris, a group of east coast businessmen formed the Ohio Company and sent an expedition west and down the Ohio River. At the mouth of the Muskingum River, they established a small settlement becoming the first community of the Northwest Territory.

Several different town names were discussed by the group of 48 men, but in the end they settled upon the name Marietta in honor of the French Queen, who on this day married Louis XV. Today Marietta is the oldest organized municipality in Ohio. Unfortunately, Marie Antoinette did not live many years after receiving this recognition.

Marie Antoinette and her 3 children in 1787

On October 16, 1793, Marie Antoinette was executed during the French Revolution that began as a result of the financial crisis France faced after giving so much aid to the United States.

May 4, 1970: Kent State Erupts in Violence

By John Merrill

May 4, 1970: It had been just 5 days since President Nixon announced the invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam War. This action sparked wide-spread protests on college campuses. The previous 7 years had been one of the most tumultuous times in our country’s history that seemed to have begun with the assassination of President Kennedy, followed by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., followed by the assassination of the presidential candidate Robert Kennedy.

Towards the end of the 1960s, riots were common place that involved both racial and anti-war protests. The Vietnam War had slowly crept into our culture from a few advisers in the 1950s to almost 550,000 American soldiers in the spring of 1968.

This was the high point of military involvement in the war. From this point forward, deployment numbers began to slowly decrease. There was a perception on the campus that anti-war protests were having some effect on government policy. So that when President Nixon announced a sharp increase in military involvement in the spring of 1970 through the bombing of Cambodia, a perceived widening of the war, student protests also began to heighten.

On Friday, May 1, an anti-war rally was held on the Commons at Kent State University in northeast Ohio. Another anti-war rally was called for Monday, May 4. Saturday afternoon, some protestors began demonstrating in downtown Kent. Mayor Satrom and the Kent City Council decided to seek help from Governor James Rhodes. That Saturday evening Ohio National Guard troops were ordered to the Kent State Campus after the ROTC building was set on fire.

Sunday morning Governor Rhodes announced during a press conference that he wanted to eradicate the problem in Kent. On Monday, May 4, 1970 students began gathering on the Commons protesting the presidents invasion of Cambodia. As the number of student demonstrators grew, the Ohio National Guard assembled and began driving students from the commons. A line of protestors formed in front of the National Guard line, taunting the guardsmen. The guard then began a march back towards a concrete umbrella-like structure known as the “pagoda”. Once they arrived at this spot, members of Company A, 145^th Infantry and Troop G, 107^th Armored Cavalry opened fire on the student protestors. More than 60 shots were fired in less than 15 seconds killing 4 students, wounding 9 others.

That evening after the shootings, Adjutant General Sylvester Del Corso claimed the shootings were sparked by a sniper firing on the Guard. The onslaught of investigations that followed this event found no evidence of a sniper, or any shooting by anyone other than the National Guard.

On this day in 1970, our country was forced to realize it was a country divided by political forces, forces that continue to this day.

April 14: A Nation Begins to Mourn

By John Merrill

ford-theatre-exterior-2 — Exterior view of Ford’s Theatre after the assassination of the President. Note the black bunting draped across the exterior.

In 1865 this was Good Friday. It had been five days since General Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia, but the War o f Rebellion was still not over. Confederate General Johnson still had 90,000 men under his command. Some thought he could be massing an assault on Grant in Virginia. Even with that lingering threat, the last 5 days were days of celebration in the District. The President had just returned from Richmond where he went to see the total destruction of the Confederate Capital. Near exhaustion he didn’t feel like going to the theatre, but he promised his wife Mary. Plus, his attendance had already been announced for Friday night’s performance.

Mary requested General Grant and his wife to accompany her and the President, but the general had plans to be in Philadelphia so she requested their friends Major Henry Rathbone and his fiance Clara Harris to accompany them. They accepted and the two couples arrived promptly at 8:30 at the theatre.

Presidential double box. Photo taken a few days after. A guard can be seen guarding the entrance on the far right side.

Ford’s Theatre Presidential Box is located on the 2^nd tier and was entered from the Dress Circle through a narrow corridor about 3 feet wide and 10 feet long. The box looked directly down on the right side of the stage. Inside the box were two small chairs, a settee and an upholstered rocker the president used. All of these seats were angled toward the stage except for the settee, which is where Clara Harris sat. The president’s rocker was nearest to the door and the others in the room would have been further forward of his position.

The door to the Presidential Box was unlocked and unguarded when the president arrived. Earlier in the day, one of the actors had cut a small peep hole in one of the doors so he could see the President without being noticed.

At about 10:15 P.M., halfway through Act III, Scene 2, the character of Asa Trenchard, played that night by Harry Hawk, utters his line, considered one of the play’s funniest that always brought hilarious laughter from the audience. It was at this point that the actor standing behind Lincoln knew would be his cue. He quickly fired his .44 caliber derringer. Some in the audience may have heard the shot, but most did not. Perhaps someone dropped something, nothing more. Even in Lincoln’s box, the sound wasn’t immediately identified as coming from their location.

The President’s head slumped slightly forward as if he had nodded off. Thinking the loud sound was part of the on stage clamor, Mary reached over and touched her husband, perhaps so he wouldn’t miss the events on stage. Everyone was laughing. She pulled her hand back and even in the dim light she noticed blood on her fingers. That’s when her screaming began. Everything seemed to happen at once. The actor pushed his way forward. Major Rathbone realized something had happened and reached out to grab the actor’s sleeve as he made his way to the balcony railing. The actor quickly swung a dagger at the major slashing the his arm, then leapt over the railing, landing awkwardly. Now everyone in the large theatre seemed aware something dreadful had happened. The actor shouted a few words that most could not understand then limped across the stage in front of a stunned audience to a side exit.

On the second tier Mary’s screaming intensified when she saw Clara Harris’ evening gown stain bright red, which Mary thought was from her husband’s wound, but was in fact from the major’s wound. The long gash on his arm was bleeding profusely and in just a few moments he had collapsed from loss of blood. The president’s wound, although fatal, there was little bleeding.

peterson-house-room-2 — Photograph of Lincoln’s death bed taken on the morning of April 15 by Julius Ulke, a Peterson House boarder who had an upstairs room. He helped by providing hot water several times. After all the dignitaries left the house and Lincoln’s body was removed, he set up his camera and took 2 photographs. Between images he re-arranged the chair and pillow in slightly different positions.

In the audience Charles Taft, a surgeon was lifted up to the Presidential Box where the president was lying. As the box quickly became swarmed with additional people, it was decided to take him down to someplace where they could find a more suitable place for the doctors to work their miracles.

There would be no miracles tonight. After being carried across the street to a boarding house, the president died the following morning without ever regaining consciousness. The country which had seen hundreds of thousands of its men die in a war that lasted more than 4 years, was suddenly thrust into a national state of mourning.

Thirteen days later the President’s funeral train would be arriving in Cleveland and the following morning in Columbus on its way to Springfield, Illinois. Although embalming had begun to be used, it was not a perfected science. By the time the President’s casket arrived in Columbus, 100s of lilac blossoms were needed to mask the smell of death. The country was facing the awful cost of a tearing itself apart.

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