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Highlights for January 5
1825 Alexandre Dumas pere fights a duel
On this day, 23-year-old Alexandre Dumas fights his first duel. He sustains no serious injury, although his pants fall down in the fight. He'll later fill his romantic works, including The Three Musketeers, with duels, battles, and daring escapades.
Dumas was the son of one of Napoleon's generals, but his family struggled financially after his father's death in 1806. Dumas went to Paris to find work and was hired by the household of the Duke D'Orleans, who became King Louis-Philippe. Dumas began writing plays, which became huge hits with the public, then turned to historical novels. He published The Three Musketeers in 1844, followed by The Count of Monte Cristo in 1845.
Dumas led a tempestuous life filled with ruinous love affairs. His illegitimate son also became a writer-the two were later known as Dumas pere (French for "father") and Dumas fils (French for "son"). The son reacted against his father's lifestyle by writing highly regarded contemporary dramas supporting marriage and family, with titles like "The Natural Son" (1848) and "The Prodigal Father"(1859) . Dumas pere died in 1870. Five years later, his son was admitted to the elite Academie Francaise. Dumas fils died in 1895.
1861: "Star of the West" leaves for Fort Sumter
The "Star of the West," a Union merchant vessel, leaves New York with supplies and 250 troops to relieve the beleaguered Fort Sumter at Charleston, South Carolina.
This incident came during the sensitive days following the secession of South Carolina on December 20, 1860. The primary cause for secession was the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln to the presidency the month before, but it was President James Buchanan, a Democrat, who had to deal with the first crisis after South Carolina's departure. Inside of Fort Sumter were Major Robert Anderson and 80 Federal soldiers who were surrounded by hostile South Carolinians, who were demanding evacuation by the Yankees. Anderson informed officials in Washington that he needed supplies within a few weeks. Buchanan was reluctant to make any provocative moves but felt that some attempt to save Sumter should be made.
The "Star of the West" was chosen because a civilian vessel was less likely to agitate South Carolinians. It left New York on January 5, but it did not complete its mission. Arriving on January 9, the "Star of the West" encountered an alert South Carolina militia. Word of the mission had leaked to everyone, it seemed, except Anderson. He had received no notification of the mission and was surprised when cannon from the shore opened fire on the approaching ship. One shot hit the "Star of the West," and the ship turned around before taking any more damage. Anderson withheld his fire on the hostile shore batteries, and the standoff in Charleston Harbor continued until April. Then, the South Carolinians opened the massive bombardment that started the Civil War.
Other highlights from the American Civil War
1895 - French officer Alfred Dreyfus, condemned for passing military secrets to the Germans, is stripped of his rank in a humiliating public ceremony in the courtyard of Paris' Ecole Militaire. The Jewish artillery captain, convicted on flimsy evidence in a highly irregular trial, began his life sentence on the notorious Devil's Island Prison in French Guyana four months later.
The Dreyfus case demonstrated the anti-Semitism permeating France's military and, because many praised the ruling, in France in general. Interest in the case lapsed until 1896, when evidence was disclosed that implicated French Major Ferdinand Esterhazy as the guilty party. The army attempted to suppress this information, but a national uproar ensued, and the military had no choice but to put Esterhazy on trial. A court-martial was held in January 1898, and Esterhazy was acquitted within an hour.
In response, the French novelist Émile Zola published an open letter on the front page of the Aurore entitled "J'Accuse," which accused the judges of being under the thumb of the military. By the evening, 200,000 copies had been sold. One month later, Zola was sentenced to jail for libel but managed to escape to England. Meanwhile, out of the scandal a perilous national division was born, in which nationalists and members of the Catholic Church supported the military, while republicans, socialists, and advocates of religious freedom lined up to defend Dreyfus.
In 1898, Major Hubert Henry, discoverer of the original letter attributed to Dreyfus, admitted that he had forged much of the evidence against Dreyfus and committed suicide. Soon after, Esterhazy fled the country. The military was forced to order a new court-martial for Dreyfus. In 1899, he was found guilty in another show trial and sentenced to 10 years in prison. However, a new French administration pardoned him, and in 1906 the supreme court of appeals overturned his conviction. The debacle of the Dreyfus affair brought about greater liberalization in France, a reduction in the power of the military, and a formal separation of church and state.
December 22, 1894 Dreyfus affair begins in FranceJanuary 13,1898 Zola's "J'accuse" letter is printed
1959 Buddy Holly's last record releasedCoral Records releases "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" by Buddy Holly. The record was Holly's last before his tragic death in a plane crash that also killed singers Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson. Holly's record climbed to No. 13 on the charts two months after his death.
The rock pioneer wrote all his own songs, and he popularized the standard lineup of two guitars, a bass, and drums. Legendary artists Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney were among the many musicians who named Holly as an influence in their styles.
As a child, Holly played piano, guitar, and fiddle. In high school, he formed a country group, Western and Bop Band, with friends. The band got some local radio play and recorded demo tapes, some of which were released after his death. Holly and two other musicians signed a contract with Decca under the name Holly and the Two Tunes, but the company chose not to release at least one of their recordings: "That'll Be the Day." Later, as lead singer for the Crickets, he recorded the song, which became a hit.
Holly and drummer Jerry Allison opened for a variety of well-known stars, including Elvis Presley, inspiring Holly to switch from country to rock and roll-a move that catapulted him to stardom. Holly and the Crickets had a regular radio show in the mid-1950s and toured the world. His blockbuster hits included "Peggy Sue," "Oh, Boy!," "Maybe Baby" and "Early in the Morning." His short life came to a tragic end on February 3, 1959. Holly, Valens, and the Big Bopper, fellow performers in the Winter Dance Party Tour, had chartered a plane to avoid driving from Iowa to Minnesota in bad whether. Their Beechcraft Bonanza crashed a few minutes after takeoff, killing everyone aboard. Holly was 22.
Several posthumous collections featured Holly's old demos and incomplete recordings. His life was the basis for the feature film The Buddy Holly Story, and the stage musical Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, and a new generation was introduced to him via the 1987 popular movie La Bamba, based on Valens' life. Holly was also memorialized by Don McLean in the 1972 No. 1 hit, "American Pie," an 8 1/2-minute song that became McLean's legacy and was re-recorded by Madonna in 2000.
If you have other Birthdays or events to add for this day please E-Mail me.
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