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Historical Moments On this day

Joseph Cosgrove

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Can anyone tell me what a life jacket Mae West is called in French?

Actually I know the answer. It's called a gilet de sauvetage Mae West.

nothing better to do cropped.png WTF has that got to do with the thread on this day.

April 19, 1927 — Actress Mae West was found guilty on this day in history of “obscenity and corrupting the morals of youth” in a New York stage play entitled "Sex". She was sentenced to ten days in prison and fined $500. But the resulting publicity did much to launch her Hollywood career and make her one of the highest paid people in the United States.

Born in 1893, Mary Jane "Mae" West started to perform in local theatre groups when she was just seven.

By the age of 14 she was she was part of a vaudeville tour that performed across the country. Vaudeville was a popular theatrical show with several entertainers performing songs, dances and jokes.

She first trod the boards of Broadway in New York when she was 18 and for the next fifteen years she sang and danced in both Broadway and vaudeville shows.

As well as performing she turned to writing and in 1926 began to write, produce, and star in her own plays on Broadway. In the first of these, "Sex" (1926), her performance as a prostitute created a sensation. It ran for several weeks before the guardians of morality in New York put a stop to it.

Garish posters proclaiming "Sex with Mae West" caused outrage among key religious and political figures as well as many members of the public. After several complaints she was arrested and the police closed the show.

She went on to write and star in another show, The Pleasure Man, that dealt with homosexuality, but which ran for only one performance before West was again arrested for obscenity. This time a jury could not agree on her guilt.

Another play, The Constant Sinner, was shut down after just two performances by the District Attorney.

Other Mae West plays were panned by critics but did well at the box office, drawing the attention of Hollywood executives. Despite being 38 years old – an age when most actresses start to wind down their careers – she was offered a contract by Paramount worth $5,000 a week, equivalent to about $80,000 today.

Crucially for West, it was agreed that she could re-write lines in the films, which would allow her to set the tone for her persona. So in her first movie, Night After Night, a hat-check girl says to her: “Goodness, what beautiful diamonds.” To which West replies: “Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.”

The slightly changed line, "Come up and see me some time," forever associated with Mae West, emerged from a 1933 film called She Done Him Wrong in which she starred opposite a young Cary Grant in his first movie.

She is in love with Captain Cummings, played by Grant, and says to him: "You know, I always did like a man in a uniform. That one fits you grand. Why don't you come up some time and see me."

Nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award, the film was a box-office triumph and was said to have saved Paramount from bankruptcy. It grossed over $2 million, the equivalent of $140 million today.

Mae West's blunt sexuality made her both famous and notorious and despite her advancing age she quickly built a reputation as a daring sex symbol. Such was her success that within three years it was claimed she was the second highest paid person in the United States behind only newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst.

When in 1967 The Beatles asked permission to use a picture of West on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, the actress joked: "What would I be doing in a lonely hearts club?” But she agreed to the request.

1618793812321.png

Certainly, she was not short of money. When the management at her apartment building discriminated against William Jones, her African-American boxer boyfriend and barred his entry, West solved the problem simply by buying the building.

In August 1980, she was unable to speak after a fall. Tests revealed that she had suffered a stroke and Mae West died on November 22 that year. She was 87.

Several of the 13 films she made have faded, some into obscurity, but her lines from them remain memorable, such as:

“There are no good girls gone wrong – just bad girls found out.”

“I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.”

“When I'm good, I'm very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better. ”

“Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere.”

“I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.”

But that doesn't tell us anything about the connections between the actress and the gilet de sauvetage.

In World War II, American and British servicemen were issued these inflatable life preservers. When the front air pockets of the life vest inflated, it gave the appearance of a buxom woman, leading the troops to give it the affectionate nickname the “Mae West” in honor of the well-endowed actress of the time
 

Joseph Cosgrove

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27 April 1982 Trial of John Hinckley begins for the attempted assassination of US President Ronald Reagan.

1619485885670.png
The photo is taken literally second after JH fires off his 6 rounds with his 22 caliber. None of them actually touch the president, directly, it's a ricochet.
"Rawhide"* as he was known to the secret service is thought to be OK. Check out the Police officer on the ground. And someone has dropped his briefcase...
On March the 30th, US President Ronald Reagan, who was then only two months into his term, was shot in the lung by John Hinckley, Jr. as he left a speaking engagement in Washington D.C. Several people were injured, most gravely press secretary Jim Brady, who was wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life.

The attack represents the last assassination attempt in which a US President was injured. Reagan was rushed to hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery, joking to the doctors that he hoped they were all Republicans.

Hinckley tried to kill Reagan to impress actress Jodie Foster, who he had an obsession with after seeing her in Taxi Driver. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity but was committed to psychiatric care until his release in September 2016.

*BTW President Trump's Nickname was Mogul (not Humble ;)).
 

Joseph Cosgrove

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It was on this day in 1885 Congo Free State formed by King Leopold II of Belgium

 

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In October 1815, Napoleon was exiled to the remote, British-held island of Saint Helena, in the South Atlantic Ocean. He died there on May 5, 1821, at age 51, most likely from stomach cancer.

 

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On this day 06 May 1682 Louis XIV of France moves his court to Versailles.
I thought that I might mention le roi soleil moving his court to Versailles, because it has something to do with the legion. there will 10 points for anyone who can make the connection.
 

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On this day 06 May 1682 Louis XIV of France moves his court to Versailles.
I thought that I might mention le roi soleil moving his court to Versailles, because it has something to do with the legion. there will 10 points for anyone who can make the connection.
Nec pluribus impar?
 

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Nec pluribus impar?
I know what is means, but the key tp the riddle is Versailles, The Sun King and his courts, not necessarily in that order. Don't forget there's practically 150 years difference before the legion showed it's ugly head.
I'll give you another clue, what were the consequences?
 

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In that case I don't know. What I went for was, what was written on flag of his cavalry is now written on 1REC amblem.
Will wait to see what the answer is...
 

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In that case I don't know. What I went for was, what was written on flag of his cavalry is now written on 1REC amblem.
Will wait to see what the answer is...
I willl reveal all after my run. Yes I'm motivated (for the run).
 

Joseph Cosgrove

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The connection between Louis XIV moving his court to Versailles and the legion is the Bastille day Parade.
But there have been two other Louis (XV & XVI) between the his reign and the beginning of that particular revolution (oh La France wasn't on it's first revolution :rolleyes: -I think it was it's third)

However The Sun King has installed, in his 72 years of rule The absolute monarchy which meant putting down the Nobles and building up the army. Vauban* was one of his side kicks. Which in a nut shell, meant that the monarchs made all the discisions.
To cut long story short, the French people were sick of the Royals living it up in Versailles -Hasard du calandrier it was today in 1664 that Louis The Great aka, The Sun King aka XIV inaugurates the Palace- claiming that they were out of touch with people, which did not go down well when suddenly the price of bread went up. I think we've covered that on here already.

* Vauban Was a military engineer during The Sun King's reign. Fort de Nogent is designed after his original plans.
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