What a day in history! Completely unrelated events from 1944, 1973, and 1991. In keeping with the theme, an arbitrary poem by Melville.
The date is August 23rd, Friday, and today I’m coming to you from Portland, OR.
On this day in 1944, King Michael of Romania ousted the military dictatorship and declared war on Germany, switching sides from Axis to Allies.
At the onset of the war, Romania monarch Carol II, Michael’s father, was forced to abdicate after a military coup. Ion Antonescu (eyon Antonescuu)became dictator and had Michael crowned as king, though he only served as a figurehead. Antonescu allied with Nazi Germany in WWII.
By 1944 the Romania was in turmoil. King Michael was able to successfully bring together Ally sympathizers to overthrow Antonescu. King Michael then declared war on Germany, effectively switching sides in the war.
One historian has estimated that this event shortened the war by about six months, preventing countless more lives from being lost. (Romania unfortunately did not fair well in the treaty they signed with the USSR.)
And on this day in 1973, the Salad Bowl Strike began in California. It was the largest strike of farm workers in US history.
The United Farmworkers of America (UFW) had tried repeatedly to negotiate with farmers for better working conditions for labors. When the negotiations had clearly failed, union leader César Chávez led the Salad Bowl Strike in which 5000-7000 laborers walked off grape and lettuce farms in protest against poor working conditions.
The price of iceberg lettuce skyrocketed as a result and crops began to rot in the fields.
Although the Salad Bowl Strike did not see immediate success, it became an important lesson for the United Farmworkers. During the Salad Bowl Strike, UFW’s reputation suffered as their picketing and boycotting led to violence in some areas. Union leader Chávez came to the conclusion that to make real progress he’d have to push for legal reform.
In 1975, the UFW decided on a small march as a show of protest, rather than organize large numbers of picketers and boycott-ers which could lead to unintended riots and/or violence. Leaders of the UFW marched from San Francisco to Modesto in California, about 100 miles. By the time the small group reached Modesto, they weren’t small anymore. Nearly 15,000 people had joined the march along the way and the new governor of California was quick to push for labor law reform.
And finally, in more recent history, on this day in 1991, the World Wide Web was open to the public.
The Web began as a closed system for sharing documents and research at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland. It was created by Tim Berners-Lee, an employee at CERN, who had grown increasingly frustrated with not being able to access the latest information needed in his line of work. He wrote multiple proposals for the creation of a “web” where information could be shared and accessed with linked sources, or “hyperlinks.”
The World Wide Web is a cornerstone of the Information Age. It has become vital to the spread of information and education as well as the increased globalization of the planet.
The Eagle of the Blue
Herman Melville
Aloft he guards the starry folds
Who is the brother of the star;
The bird whose joy is in the wind
Exulteth in the war.
No painted plume—a sober hue,
His beauty is his power;
That eager calm of gaze intent
Foresees the Sibyl’s hour.
Austere, he crowns the swaying perch,
Flapped by the angry flag;
The hurricane from the battery sings,
But his claw has known the crag.
Amid the scream of shells, his scream
Runs shrilling; and the glare
Of eyes that brave the blinding sun
The volleyed flame can bear.
The pride of quenchless strength is his—
Strength which, though chained, avails;
The very rebel looks and thrills—
The anchored Emblem hails.
Though scarred in many a furious fray,
No deadly hurt he knew;
Well may we think his years are charmed—
The Eagle of the Blue.