DBKP Today in Weird History: March 13, 2008

WAR, DISASTER, SCIENCE, RESIGNING, MURDER, TRAGEDY, ABORTION, JEWS, DEALS, ICONS, PATENTS, ATTEMPTS, ASSASSINATION, NAZIS, CLIMATE, INVENTIONS, TRIALS, POLITICALLY CORRECT, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, BORN, BIRTHDAYS, DEATH
Then...

ICONS

1852 Uncle Sam cartoon figure made its debut in the New York Lantern weekly.

...and later

WAR!

2003 U.S. officials said President Bush might delay a vote on his troubled United Nations resolution or even drop it - and fight Iraq without the international body's backing.

DISASTER

1895 Spanish cruiser Reina Regente sinks off Gibraltar, 402 die.

1928 Hundreds of people died when the San Francisquito Valley in California was inundated with water after the St. Francis Dam burst just before midnight the evening of March 12.

1961 Landslide in USSR, kills 145.

1992 570 die in a Turkish earthquake.

1994 Oil tank/airship crash at Bosporus (huge fire/15+ killed).

ATTEMPTS

1915 Dodgers manager Wilbert Robinson tries to catch a baseball dropped from an airplane, but the pilot substituted a grapefruit.

PATENTS

1887 Chester Greenwood of Maine patents earmuffs.

DEALS

1677 Massachusetts gains title to Maine for $6,000.

CLIMATE

1888 Great Blizzard of 1888 rages.

1993 Blizzard of '93 hits north-east US.

INVENTIONS

1894 J L Johnstone of England invents horse racing starting gate.

ASSASSINATION

1981 Attempt on Pope John Paul II by Mehemet Ali Agca.

NAZIS

1933 Josef Göbbels becomes German minister of Information & Propaganda.

1938 Anschluß-Austria annexed by Nazi Germany.

TRIALS

1998 Sgt. Maj. Gene McKinney, once the Army's top enlisted man, was acquitted at his court-martial of pressuring military women for sex, but was convicted of trying to persuade his chief accuser to lie.

SCIENCE

1781 The planet Uranus was discovered by Sir William Herschel. He thought it was a comet.

1925 A law went into effect in Tennessee prohibiting the teaching of the theory of evolution.

JEWS

1656 Jews are denied the right to build a synagogue in New Amsterdam.

1951 Israel demands DM 6.2 billion compensation from Germany.

MURDER

1964 Bar manager Catherine "Kitty" Genovese, 28, was stabbed to death near her New York home; the case generated controversy over charges that Genovese's neighbors had failed to respond to her cries for help.

RESIGNING

1980 Ford Motor Co. Chairman Henry Ford II announced he was stepping down, the same day a jury in Winamac, Ind., found the company innocent of reckless homicide in the fiery deaths of three young women in a Ford Pinto.

2007 Attorney General Alberto Gonzales admitted mistakes in how the Justice Department handled the dismissal of eight federal prosecutors but said he wouldn't resign.

POLITICALLY CORRECT

1988 yielding to student protests, the board of trustees of Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., a liberal arts college for the hearing-impaired, chose I. King Jordan to become the school's first deaf president.

TRAGEDY

1996 a gunman burst into an elementary school in Dunblane, Scotland, and opened fire, killing 16 children and one teacher before killing himself.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

2007 President Bush sought to soothe strained ties with Mexico by promising to prod Congress to overhaul tough U.S. immigration policies, but Mexican President Felipe Calderon criticized U.S. plans for a 700-mile border fence.

ABORTION

2003 The Senate voted 64-33 to ban partial birth abortion.

BORN

1733 Joseph Priestly England, clergyman/scientist (discovered oxygen).

1770 Daniel Lambert England, giant (weighed 739 lbs (334 kg) at death).

1908 American billionaire, publisher and diplomat Walter Annenberg (TV Guide) was born in Milwaukee.

BIRTHDAYS

Jazz musician Roy Haynes is 83. Country singer Jan Howard is 78. Songwriter Mike Stoller is 75. Singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka is 69. Actor William H. Macy is 58. Actress Deborah Raffin is 55. Comedian Robin Duke is 54. Actress Glenne Headly is 53. Actress Dana Delany is 52. Rock musician Adam Clayton (U2) is 48. Jazz musician Terence Blanchard is 46. Actor Christopher Collet is 40. Actress Annabeth Gish is 37. Actress Tracy Wells is 37. Rapper Common is 36. Rapper Khujo (Goodie Mob, The Lumberjacks) is 36. Singer Glenn Lewis is 33. Actor Danny Masterson is 32. Actor Emile Hirsch is 23. Singers Nicole and Natalie Albino (Nina Sky) are 22.

DEATH

1901 Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States, died in Indianapolis.

1938 Clarence S Darrow Scopes Monkey Trial attorney, dies in Chicago at 80.

Today is March 13, the 73rd day of the year. There are 293 days left in 2008.

compiled by Mondoreb
images:
* sonofthesouth
* allposters
Sources:
* today in history
* Today in History
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Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page

MySpace Suicide: Megan Meier's Story May Prevent Others

The tragedy of the "MySpace Suicide" of Megan Meiers could prevent others like it from occurring in the future. As news of the tragic story spreads across the nation, perhaps an event calamitous for one family may be an opportunity for others.

Upon reading the story, it's hard to come away feeling anything other than shock, disbelief, outrage or sadness.

13-year-old Megan was the object of mean attacks on the popular Internet site MySpace by, what she thought was, an attractive boy, "Josh", she'd taken a liking to. Others on the site joined in.

The attacks caused the depression-suffering girl to hang herself.

It was later learned that the attacks came not from the boy, who proved to be a fictitious creation, but from adults who lived down the street from Megan.

All this took place eventhough, from all accounts, Megan's mom monitored her Internet use in every way possible. Monitored it much more than most parents, in fact.

How could this story prevent others like it from happening?

TAKE 15 MINUTES

Do you have a teen? Do you watch "Jerry Springer"?

Judge Judy?

Oprah?

Turn off the TV, have them sit down and give them a copy of this story. If they haven't already heard about it, have them read it. They will probably wonder what's up at this point.

Did the news of their adventures in science class somehow reach home?

Chances are, after reading it, most will have similar reactions to adults.

Talk to them. Ask them what they think about the story. What would they do in Megan's case? Do they know any of their friends who've met fake characters online? Do they know how often it happens?

How would react if someone on line "said things about them"?

No definitive conclusion need be reached in the discussion. The fact that they're sitting down talking with a parent might be old hat. That's good.

But it might be a new experience--for everyone involved. They will certainly notice that you turned off the TV. That might tip them off that this is serious.

Maybe this sad story might cause them to think, if only for a moment. The disastrous story of the death of Megan Meier may stick with them. Maybe they'll file it away for future reference.

In the end, you can turn the TV back on at the end of all this: you won't have missed much. Jerry, Oprah and Judge Judy won't miss the ratings points. Your teen may look at you funny. That comes with territory--or should.

The word most often used to describe the MySpace suicide of Megan Meier is "tragedy". It is apt. Maybe this tragedy can prevent another Megan from occurring.

It's too late for Megan Meier and her grief-stricken family. It may not be too late for others.

by Mondoreb

More on the MySpace suicide of Megan Meier:

MySpace Suicide: The Megan Meier Story - Video
MySpace Cruel Prank Leads to Teen's Suicide
MySpace Suicide Reactions: Outrage!

[UPDATE: 11:40 11-15-07] Prosecutor to Take Another Look at Case

A St. Charles County teen commits suicide after being targeted by an online attack, but those who instigated it face no criminal charges, or could they? The county prosecutor says he never saw the complete case file. He doesn't want to give anyone false hope, but he says it's not yet case closed.

"Me personally, I've never seen anything on this case," says St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas. He says from what he's heard he knows hearts are broken, but he doesn't believe laws were.

More on the Megan Meier MySpace Suicide:

LATEST:
Supposedly an ex-friend of Megan's replies to our stories in
"Megan Had It Coming"

Megan Meier MySpace Suicide Cruel Hoax: No Justice for Megan
Cruel Hoaxer's Outed: Let the Lesser Outrage Begin
Megan Meier MySpace Suicide Reactions: Outrage! Outrage!



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Soldier Returns Home to Tragedy

A soldier returns from Iraq, anxious to view his baby daughter, born while he was deployed overseas.

What he discovered was much different: the body of his daughter, which he found in his attic. The disturbingly sad story of why mom put dead baby's body in attic

The body of an 11-month-old girl reported missing after her soldier father returned from a deployment in Iraq was found in the attic of her home, authorities said.

Harmony Jude Creech apparently had been dead for weeks, Harnett County Sheriff Larry Rollins said late Saturday night. Rollins said the child's mother, Johni Michelle Heuser, told investigators she had found the baby dead in its crib and put the body in the attic of her home.

Neighbors said they had been bothered by a foul smell for several weeks and that the smell only subsided recently when overnight temperatures dropped. Several neighbors said they had searched their yards for dead animals because of the smell.

Harmony's father, Ronald Earl Creech II, returned to North Carolina from a 15-month deployment in Iraq on Friday hoping to see his daughter. Harmony was born while he was overseas, police said.

Obviously the father is disturbed.

But the story's mother is also disturbed, albeit on a different level.

A soldier returning home from serving his country deserves better.

Remember him in your thoughts and prayers.

by Mondoreb




Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.