Today in history: Joan Of Arc Martyred (May 30, 1431)

At Rouen in English-controlled Normandy, Joan of Arc, the peasant girl who became the savior of France, is burned at the stake for heresy.

Joan was born in 1412, the daughter of a tenant farmer at Domremy, on the borders of the duchies of Bar and Lorraine. In 1415, the Hundred Years War between England and France entered a crucial phase when the young King Henry V of England invaded France and won a series of decisive victories against the forces of King Charles VI. By the time of Henry's death in August 1422, the English and their French-Burgundian allies controlled Aquitaine and most of northern France, including Paris. Charles VI, long incapacitated, died one month later, and his son, Charles, regent from 1418, prepared to take the throne. However, Reims, the traditional city of French coronation, was held by the Anglo-Burgundians, and the Dauphin (heir apparent to the French throne) remained uncrowned. Meanwhile, King Henry VI of England, the infant son of Henry V and Catherine of Valois, the daughter of Charles VI, was proclaimed king of France by the English.

Joan's village of Domremy lay on the frontier between the France of the Dauphin and that of the Anglo-Burgundians. In the midst of this unstable environment, Joan began hearing "voices" of three Christian saints--St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret. When she was about 16, these voices exhorted her to aid the Dauphin in capturing Reims and therefore the French throne. In May 1428, she traveled to Vaucouleurs, a stronghold of the Dauphin, and told the captain of the garrison of her visions. Disbelieving the young peasant girl, he sent her home. In January 1429, she returned, and the captain, impressed by her piety and determination, agreed to allow her passage to the Dauphin at Chinon.

Dressed in men's clothes and accompanied by six soldiers, she reached the Dauphin's castle at Chinon in February 1429 and was granted an audience. Charles hid himself among his courtiers, but Joan immediately picked him out and informed him of her divine mission. For several weeks, Charles had Joan questioned by theologians at Poitiers, who concluded that, given his desperate straits, the Dauphin would be well-advised to make use of this strange and charismatic girl.
Charles furnished her with a small army, and on April 27, 1429, she set out for Orleans, besieged by the English since October 1428. On April 29, as a French sortie distracted the English troops on the west side of OrlÝans, Joan entered unopposed by its eastern gate. She brought greatly needed supplies and reinforcements and inspired the French to a passionate resistance. She personally led the charge in several battles and on May 7 was struck by an arrow. After quickly dressing her wound, she returned to the fight, and the French won the day. On May 8, the English retreated from OrlÝans.

During the next five weeks, Joan and the French commanders led the French into a string of stunning victories over the English. On July 16, the royal army reached Reims, which opened its gates to Joan and the Dauphin. The next day, Charles VII was crowned king of France, with Joan standing nearby holding up her standard: an image of Christ in judgment. After the ceremony, she knelt before Charles, joyously calling him king for the first time.

On September 8, the king and Joan attacked Paris. During the battle, Joan carried her standard up to the earthworks and called on the Parisians to surrender the city to the king of France. She was wounded but continued to rally the king's troops until Charles ordered an end to the unsuccessful siege. That year, she led several more small campaigns, capturing the town of Saint-Pierre-le-Moitier. In December, Charles ennobled Joan, her parents, and her brothers.
In May 1430, the Burgundians laid siege to Compiegne, and Joan stole into the town under the cover of darkness to aid in its defense. On May 23, while leading a sortie against the Burgundians, she was captured. The Burgundians sold her to the English, and in March 1431 she went on trial before ecclesiastical authorities in Rouen on charges of heresy. Her most serious crime, according to the tribunal, was her rejection of church authority in favor of direct inspiration from God. After refusing to submit to the church, her sentence was read on May 24: She was to be turned over to secular authorities and executed. Reacting with horror to the pronouncement, Joan agreed to recant and was condemned instead to perpetual imprisonment.
Ordered to put on women's clothes, she obeyed, but a few days later the judges went to her cell and found her dressed again in male attire. Questioned, she told them that St. Catherine and St. Margaret had reproached her for giving in to the church against their will. She was found to be a relapsed heretic and on May 29 ordered handed over to secular officials. On May 30, Joan, 19 years old, was burned at the stake at the Place du Vieux-Marche in Rouen. Before the pyre was lit, she instructed a priest to hold high a crucifix for her to see and to shout out prayers loud enough to be heard above the roar of the flames.

As a source of military inspiration, Joan of Arc helped turn the Hundred Years War firmly in France's favor. By 1453, Charles VII had reconquered all of France except for Calais, which the English relinquished in 1558. In 1920, Joan of Arc, one of the great heroes of French history, was recognized as a Christian saint by the Roman Catholic Church. Her feast day is May 30.

Discovering an ancient city

Archaeologists exploring an old military road in the Sinai have unearthed 3,000-year-old remains from an ancient fortified city, the largest yet found in Egypt, antiquities authorities announced Wednesday.

Among the discoveries at the site was a relief of King Thutmose II (1516-1504 B.C.), thought to be the first such royal monument discovered in Sinai, said Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.

It indicates that Thutmose II may have built a fort near the ancient city, located about two miles northeast of present day Qantara and known historically as Tharu.

A 550-by-275-yard mud brick fort with several 13-foot-high towers dating to King Ramses II (1304-1237 B.C.) was unearthed in the same area, he said.

Hawass said early studies suggested the fort had been Egypt's military headquarters from the New Kingdom (1569-1081 B.C.) until the Ptolemaic era, a period of about 1500 years.

The ancient military road, known as the "Way of Horus," once connected Egypt to Palestine and is close to present-day Rafah, which borders the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

Archaeologist Mohammed Abdel-Maqsoud, chief of the excavation team, said the discovery was part of a joint project with the Culture Ministry that started in 1986 to find fortresses along that military road.
Abdel-Maqsoud said the mission also located the first ever New Kingdom temple to be found in the northern Sinai, which earlier studies indicated was built on top of an 18th Dynasty fort (1569-1315 B.C.).
A collection of reliefs belonging to King Ramses II and King Seti I (1314-1304 B.C.) were also unearthed with rows of warehouses used by the ancient Egyptian army during the New Kingdom era to store wheat and weapons, he said.
Abdel-Maqsoud said the new discoveries corresponded to the inscriptions of the Way of Horus found on the walls of the Karnak Temple in Luxor which illustrated the features of 11 military fortresses that protected Egypt's eastern borders.
Only five of them have been discovered to date.

Marcus Licinius Crassus

Crassus grew up as the son of a consul and distinguished general.His career to fame and phenomenal wealth began as he started purchasing the houses of Sulla's victims. Had Sulla confiscated all their belongings he sold them off cheap. And Crassus bought and made sensational profits when selling them on.Using his wealth he also kept a troop of 500 slaves, all skilled builders, on stand-by. He would then simply wait for one of Rome's frequent fires to break out and would then offer to buy the burning properties, as well as the endangered neighbouring buildings. Using his team of builders he would then rebuild the area and keep it to draw income from rent, or sell it on with a large profit. At one point Crassus was said even to own most of the city of Rome. There was no doubt some who wondered, if some of the fires started in Rome might not actually have been his doing.
But Crassus was not a man to be content with being extremely rich. Power was just as desirable to him as money. He used his wealth to raise his own army and supported Sulla on his return from the east.His money bought him the favour among many political friends and he therefore enjoyed great influence in the senate.But Crassus would not merely sponsor and entertain well established politicians. So, too, would he be granting funds to promising young firebrands who might just get lucky. And so his money helped build the careers of both Julius Caesar as well as Cataline.
Crassus; problem however was that some of his contemporaries possessed true genius. Cicero was an outstanding public speaker whilst Pompey and Caesar bathed in the glory of the marvellous military achievements. Crassus was a decent both as a speaker and as a commander, but he struggled and failed to live up to comparison with these exceptional individuals. His talent lay in making money, which might have bought him political influence but couldn't buy him true popularity with the voters.
His money though did open many doors. For his wealth allowed him to raise and maintain an army, at a time when Rome felt its resources stretched. This army was raised, with him as commander in the rank of praetor, to take on the terrifying menace of the the slave revolt of Spartacus in 72 BC. Two specific acts regarding this war made him truly infamous. When his deputy met the enemy and suffered a disastrous defeat, he chose to revive the ancient and gruesome punishment of 'decimation'. Of the five hundred men, whose unit were deemed most guilty for bringing about defeat, he had every tenth man killed in front of the entire army.Then, after defeating Spartacus in battle, the 6000 survivor's of the slave army were crucified along the road from Rome to Capua, where the revolt had first arise.
Despite his evident jealousy towards Pompey he held the consulship with him in 70 BC, the two of them using their term in office to restore the rights of the Tribunes of the People. In 59 BC the two were then joined by Julius Caesar in waht was to become known as the First Triumvirate, a period which saw the three of them cover all bases of Roman power so effectively that they ruled virtually unopposed. In 55 BC he once more shared the consulship with Pompey. Thereafter he managed to gain for himself the governorship of the province of Syria.Syria held two promises for its governor-to-be. The prospect of further riches (it was one of the wealthiest provinces of the entire empire) and the possibility of military glory against the Parthians. Had Crassus always jealously looked upon the military achievements of Pompey and Caesar. Now, alas, he sought to equal them. He charged headlong into a war, embarking on a campaign, whilst ignoring advice offered him on how to proceed.Finally he found himself stranded with little to no cavalry on the plains of Carrhae in Mesopotamia where the Parthian mounted archers shot his armies to pieces (53 BC).
Crassus was killed and it is said that his head as severed and molten gold was poured into his mouth as a mark of his infamous greed.

Themistocles: The Forgotten Hero

Themistocles , c.525-462 BC, Athenian statesman and naval commander. He was elected one of the three archons in 493 BC In succeeding years many of his rivals were eliminated by ostracism and he became the chief figure of Athenian politics. He persuaded the Athenians to build up their navy, foreseeing that the Persians, defeated at Marathon, would send another and stronger force against Greece. Xerxes invaded Greece in 480, and military defense of Athens was impossible; Themistocles evacuated the city. Although the Greek fleet was entrusted to a Spartan, Themistocles determined its strategy, thus bringing about the decisive victory of Salamis (480) and the retreat of Xerxes to Persia. A purported copy of Themistocles' decree to evacuate Athens, discovered at Troezen in 1959, indicates that the evacuation, as well as the battle of Salamis, was not hastily planned but was a measure carefully conceived months before to trap the Persians at Salamis. However, many scholars question the authenticity of the document. Despite Themistocles's prominence, in 479 the chief commands went to his rivals, who had previously been recalled from exile to fight the Persians. Themistocles devoted himself to strengthening the navy and the fortifications, especially those of Piraeus. About 471, after his opponents came to power, he was exiled. Ultimately he lived in Persia, where King Artaxerxes made generous provision for him.

This Day in History

On May 27, 1937, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge was opened to the public for the first time for "Pedestrian Day," marking the start of the weeklong "Golden Gate Bridge Fiesta" held to celebrate its completion. More than 200,000 people paid twenty-five cents each to walk the bridge. The following day at noon President Franklin Roosevelt, from across the continent at the White House, pressed a telegraph key and the Golden Gate Bridge was officially opened for vehicular use. A compilation of raw film footage of both day's events is available as part of the Prelinger Archive, acquired by the Library of Congress in 2002.
Completed just six months after its neighbor, the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge is painted a striking hue known as international orange, a reddish color that was chosen to compliment the bridge's natural surroundings. Like the George Washington, Brooklyn, and Williamsburg bridges in New York City, the Golden Gate is a suspension bridge, held up by massive steel cables strung between towers. Its central span, at 4,200 feet, remained the longest in the world until 1964 when the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, also in New York, was completed. (As of 2007, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge in Japan, at 1,991 meters—about 6,532 feet—has the longest single span of any suspension bridge.)
The area known as the Golden Gate is the narrow channel formed at the mouth of San Francisco Bay, where a gap in the line of low mountains opens to meet the Pacific Ocean. Although topographical engineer John C. Frémont first named these rocky straights the "Chrysopylae or Golden Gate" in his report to Congress in 1848, evidence suggests that the term was in use at least a few years earlier. Fremont's designation, which also appeared on his accompanying map of the region, caught the popular imagination when gold was discovered in California soon after.

The Dow Jones

In todays complex world market, there are many elements that drive the economy up or down. One of these elements is the stock market, and the king indicator of the stock market is the Dow Jones. It was on this day in history that the Dow Jones opened for the first time for trade, though the Dow Jones as a business had been around for years prior (the Dow Jones newsletter became the Wall Street Jornal several years befor the Dow Jones began trading). The folloing is a brief history of this american institution.



History of the Dow
The history of the Dow Jones Industrials Average, or DJIA, goes back to May 26, 1896 when Ch
History of the Dow
The history of the Dow Jones Industrials Average, or DJIA, goes back to May 26, 1896 when Charles Dow - Wall Street Journal editor and founder of Dow Jones and Company - first compiled and published the average as an indicator of stock market performance.

When first published, the original components, or member companies, of the Dow Jones Industrial Average included "smokestack" companies across a range of industries. Of the original twelve companies that made up the Dow Jones Industrials back in 1896, only General Electric is still part of the Industrials. The other eleven companies included:
American Cotton Oil - Predecessor of Bestfoods
American Sugar - Evolved into Amstar Holdings
American Tobacco - Broken up in 1911 by antitrust actions
Chicago Gas - Now part of Peoples Energy
Distilling & Cattle Feeding - Evolved into Millennium Chemicals
Laclede Gas - Still in operation as Laclede Group
National Lead - Now known as NL Industries
North American - Utility broken up in the 1940s
Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company - Bought by U.S. Steel
US Leather - Dissolved in 1952
US Rubber - Now part of Michelin
Dow Jones Indexes
The original components of the Dow Jones Industrials have changed over the years, and no longer represent companies that are in strictly agricultural and "heavy industries" such as tobacco, sugar, iron, leather, and rubber. As the US economy has grown to rely on other sectors, greater emphasis has been placed on companies providing financial services, retailing, and technology.
The first Dow Jones Index to be introduced was the Industrial Average which was first published on May 26, 1896. Leveraging the popularity and success of the industrials, Charles Dow later introduced the Dow Jones Transportation Average on October 26, 1896 and the Dow Jones Utility Average on January 2, 1929.
Dow Jones Industrials
Today the Dow Jones Industrials Average consists of 30 companies that are thought to best mirror the US economy. Representative companies of the Dow Industrials include 3M, Alcoa, Caterpillar, Home Depot, J.P. Morgan Chase, Microsoft and McDonalds. The Dow Jones Industrials is normally quoted as an index. This means the stock price of each company is multiplied by a weighting factor to derive the index number.
By using an index and introducing a weighting into the formula, companies can be inserted into the average without disrupting the historical movement of the index. A complete listing of the industrial companies and their weighting in the index can be found here - Dow Jones Industrials.
Dow Jones Transportation
The Dow Jones Transportation Index consists of 20 companies that provide transportation services including rail, trucking, airlines and automobiles. Representative companies in the Dow Jones Transportation Index include Burlington Northern and Santa Fe, Yellow Roadway, Southwest Airlines, and Ryder System, Inc. Just like the Industrials, each component or company in the transportation index has a weighting. You can download a complete list of the transportation index here - Dow Jones Transportation.
Dow Jones Utility
The last of the Dow indexes to be introduced, the Dow Jones Utility Average consists of 15 companies providing electric and gas to consumers across the US. Representative companies of the Dow Jones Utility Average include Consolidated Edison, Southern Company, and Williams Cos. You can download the utilities and their component weighting here - Dow Jones Utility.
History of the Average
Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the Dow's history is the time it took to reach 1,000 point milestones. When the index was first introduced it stood at 40.94 and it took roughly 76 years to reach the 1,000 mark. As of this writing, the Dow has not hit the 15,000 mark.
The complete milestone history of the average appears in the table below:
DJIA Milestones
Milestone
Date
Time
1,000
November 14, 1972
76 Years
2,000
January 8, 1987
14 Years
3,000
April 17, 1991
4 Years
4,000
February 23, 1985
4 Years
5,000
November 21, 1995
9 Months
6,000
October 14, 1996
11 Months
7,000
February 13, 1997
4 Months
8,000
July 16, 1997
5 Months
9,000
April 6, 1998
9 Months
10,000
March 29, 1999
12 Months
11,000
May 3, 1999
1 Month
12,000
October 19, 2006
7 Years 5 Months
13,000
April 25, 2007
6 Months
14,000
July 17, 2007
3 Months
15,000


The Dow at 12,000
Moving the DJIA from the 11,000 to 12,000 seemed impossible until October 19, 2006 when the Dow broke through a 1,000 milestone for the first time in the 21st century.
This last milestone represents a 1,000 point move in the index, but that's only a 9.1% increase in the average. If you compare that to the 14 years it took to move from 1,000 to 2,000, we're talking about a 50% increase in the average. You can look at our complete article on the Dow at 12,000 for more information on this important and historical achievement.arles Dow - Wall Street Journal editor and founder of Dow Jones and Company - first compiled and published the average as an indicator of stock market performance.

History Of Memorial Day

I found the article below at history.com and found it to be a short yet informative article on the history of Memorial Day. When your kids ask about Memorial Day you can know what you’re talking about. If they don’t ask, tell them anyway! Give them information about relatives, ancestors and friends that have served our country and died to keep us free.

Have a great Memorial Day, but don’t forget why we get a day off from school and work and have a big barbecue, stuffing our faces with our bounteous food!

God Bless America!

~ ~ ~

‘Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because it was a time set aside to honor the nation’s Civil War dead by decorating their graves. It was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former sailors and soldiers. On May 5, 1868, Logan declared in General Order No. 11 that:

The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.



During the first celebration of Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery.

This 1868 celebration was inspired by local observances of the day in several towns throughout America that had taken place in the three years since the Civil War. In fact, several Northern and Southern cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, including Columbus, Miss.; Macon, Ga.; Richmond, Va.; Boalsburg, Pa.; and Carbondale, Ill.

In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon Johnson, declared Waterloo, N.Y., the official birthplace of Memorial Day. They chose Waterloo—which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866—because the town had made Memorial Day an annual, community-wide event during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.



By the late 1800s, many communities across the country had begun to celebrate Memorial Day and, after World War I, observances also began to honor those who had died in all of America’s wars. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May. (Veterans Day, a day set aside to honor all veterans, living and dead, is celebrated each year on November 11.)

Today, Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave. Also, it is customary for the president or vice-president to give a speech honoring the contributions of the dead and lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. About 5,000 people attend the ceremony annually.

Several Southern states continue to set aside a special day for honoring the Confederate dead, which is usually called Confederate Memorial Day

One reason for the Fall of Rome

It fell because its political make-up left it unable to defend itself against invasion. The Roman Empire was under authoritarian rule, disunited and with many opposed to that rule. Emperors feared arming people. Many lacked the sense that "Roman" rule was worth protecting. The empire's military security was not communities of men ready for mobilization at command from central authority. Instead, people from outside the empire were able to march into the empire with only feeble opposition. Around the year 395, Huns pushed on Germanic peoples, and these Germans crossed the Danube River in great numbers and into the Roman province of Pannonia, and the Roman population there fled westward. The empire was further challenged in 399 when Alaric and his army of Visigoth warriors and civilians moved across the Alps and into Italy. Then, in the winter of 406-7, a coalition of Germanic warrior tribes with their farm animals and children crossed the frozen Rhine River into Gaul. The invaders found only feeble opposition as they spread out, some of them going as far as the Pyrenees Mountains, while only a few towns, among them Toulouse, attempted a significant resistance.

Granted, communications were slower for central Roman authority than communications are today, but the question is why Rome fell given the technological circumstances of those times. Some dislike singular explanations and prefer a host of equivalent contributions to the empire's breakup. There are subsidiary factors, namely all that went into the political decay within Rome and its empire. There was the economic decay that accompanied the political decay. Some add Christianity to the mix, or paganism. These aside, the political system was geared for occasional failures in competent leadership. And one might want to throw in an increase in population among those living outside the Roman Empire - while no serious student of ancient Rome is arguing the kind of morality factor that one might expect from a Cecil B. de Mille Hollywood production. Refraining from mixing the subsidiary with the primary, I claim again that Rome fell because its political make-up left it unable to defend itself against invasion

Cicero

Cicero was born in 106 B.C., six years before the birth of Julius Caesar, into a wealthy family, though none of his family served as senators. He received the Roman equivalent of an Ivy League education, studying rhetoric and philosophy in Rome, Athens, and Rhodes. After making a name as a lawyer in the Roman lawcourts, he was elected to the office of quaestor in 76, which made him a member of the Senate, and in 63 he was elected consul, at the lowest legal age and as the first man for thirty years to gain that position from a family which had not previously held the office. During his year as consul he put down the conspiracy of Catiline, for which he was awarded the title of "Father of his Country." Cicero, however, as a champion of the traditional institutions of the Roman republic and the enemy of autocracy, was no match for the power politics of Julius Caesar and Pompey, and was never afterwards a major influence in public affairs when they erupted onto the scene. Cicero rejoiced at the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. and returned to political life with vigorous public attacks on Mark Antony, but his association with the young Octavian (later the Emperor Augustus) did not save him from Antony's revenge and he was killed in the wave of assassinations which began the triumvirate regime of Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus (43 B.C.).

During the later years of his life, when he could no longer take much part in politics, Cicero devoted his time to writing a number of philosophical works. He intended to make the moral ideas of the Greek philosophers available to Roman public figures who were faced constantly with important decisions but not terribly studious in temperament; these philosophical works were immensely significant in the intellectual life of Europe until very recent times and were an essential part of the education of 18th century Americans. such as just about all the writers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. Perhaps the most important philosophical idea for Cicero was the notion of duties. The word is a slightly misleading translation; the Latin word (officia) in its narrow sense means "reciprocal personal relationships," but for Cicero means something like "what we owe to others based on our specific relationship to them." Cicero's most lasting work in the European tradition is "The Dream of Scipio," a short interlude in a longer (now lost) work on the duties various members of a republic owe to one another, De Re Publica (On Public Affairs: this is the word from which "republic" derives), which is Cicero's Stoic version of Plato's Republic. In it, Scipio Africanus, the hero of the Second Punic War, appears to his descendent, also called Scipio, and shows him the harmonies of the universe and the place just actions and just humans occupy in this universe.

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