And yet the drama continues

Even though all of the water was dried up - most of the wall of my office have to be torn down, for fear of the dread 'Black Mold'!!!! So as I am next to homeless in this hallway typing away, here is your Today in History -

February 28, 1574 -
Two impertinent heretics are burned at the stake in Mexico at a spectacular auto-da-fe comparable to those in Spain. The two are the first victims of the Inquisition in the New World, dying for their heretical crimes of... Lutheranism.




February 28, 1844 -
Julia Gardner meets her future husband, President John Tyler. The USS Princeton departed Alexandria, Virginia on a pleasure and trial trip down the Potomac with President John Tyler, his Cabinet and approximately two hundred guests on board. Upon the final firing of Stockton's Peacemaker, the defective gun finally burst, instantly killing Secretary Upshur; Secretary Gilmer; Captain Beverly Kennon, Chief of the Bureau of Construction, Equipment and Repairs; Virgil Maxcy of Maryland, Charge d'Affaires to Belgium, 1837–42; David Gardiner of New York, the father of Julia Gardiner; and the President's valet, a black slave named Armistead. It also injured about 20 people, including Captain Stockton. A Court of Inquiry exonerated Capt. Stockton due to his political influence (he supported Tyler’s campaign), blaming the explosion on Ericsson (despite the fact Ericsson had nothing to do with the design of the Peacemaker gun), and "bad luck".



When Julia Gardiner, who was aboard, found out her father had died in the explosion she fainted into President Tyler's arms. Isn't love grand.


February 28, 1968 -
Singer and early 60's heartthrob Frankie Lymon is found dead from a heroin overdose next to his syringe, in his grandmother's New York City apartment. Years later, three women, Zola Taylor, Elizabeth Waters, and Elmira Eagle, each claim to be Lymon's rightful widow and sue to stake out a piece of his estate. SO, I'm hoping the the answer to the question, "Why do fools fall in love?" isn't so that they can O.D. and have three women pick over the bones of your rotting corpse.




“Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen” was the 251st and final episode of M*A*S*H. Closing out the series' eleventh season, the 2½-hour episode first aired on Monday, February 28, 1983. Written by a large number of collaborators (including series star Alan Alda) and directed by Alda, "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" is still, as of 2007, the single most watched episode of a television series in American history.



February 28, 1986 -
Prime Minister of Sweden Olof Palme assassinated as he left a movie theater in Stockholm. It is unknown who the assailant was, though some suspect a South African death squad.



February 28, 1993 -
Agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco use armed force attempting to serve Branch Davidian leader David Koresh with a search warrant (one with no actual evidence of any illegal activity whatsoever), in what the BATF viewed as a publicity stunt to improve their image. While the agents carefully coordinated the raid with eleven different media outlets, something apparently tipped off Koresh and as these things usual happen - things do not go well: six Davidians and four ATF agents were killed. The warrant instead could have been served peacefully, while Koresh did his daily morning jog.



And so it goes.