This Day in History

[xoxoxoBruce]

I have the advantage, I spent 17 years working for Westinghouse Steam Turbines, 10 of them traveling to customer's power plants instrumenting turbines for start up.

I had a Spanish solder point a rifle at me because I was smoking a cigarette while adjusting instrumentation on the turbine/generator coupling after they had charged the generator with hydrogen.

[BigV]

OK

Uncle, uncle.

I learned something, from here. I also read a lot of other words at the same site that didn't produce any actual learning, so, no damage done.

Still. ... a flammable mixture when air is introduced at ratios between 4 and 75%. That seems like a wiiiiiidde band of DO NOT GO THERE. Anyhow, all very interesting. And I'm glad you didn't get shot xoB.

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by BigV

And I'm glad you didn't get shot xoB.

Well, maybe just a little.

Directly in the buttock.[/Gump]

[Carruthers]

Further to my post #964...

Collector stopped from selling his £7 eBay picture of Jesse James for £2m after Christie's call in experts

When Justin Whiting discovered a photograph of Jesse James on eBay he thought he stood to make the kind of booty the legendary Wild West outlaw would have been proud of.

After buying the rare photograph of the 19th century bank robber for just £7 in July last year, two American experts told him it was genuine, making it worth as much as £2 million.

But Mr Whiting’s dreams of riding off into the sunset, his saddle bags full of gold, have now been shattered.

Christie’s auctioneers have refused to accept the 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches Victorian tintype photograph for sale, after concluding the man pictured was not in fact Jesse James at all.

It told Mr Whiting: “This photograph would not be suitable for a forthcoming auction with Christie’s.”

Justin Whiting's photo Jesse James (right) and an existing picture of the outlaw at a similar age.

The move came after a surviving descendant of James commissioned British expert Mark Bampton who, after closely examining the photograph, found there were too many facial differences for the person it it to be the outlaw.

Mr Bampton compared an existing picture of James at a similar age to the man in the new photograph, using linear analysis of the two images to establish any differences in facial features.

He found that, crucially, the young man in Mr Whiting’s photograph had a much thicker bottom lip than that of James, as well as a “much shorter neck”.

Mr Brampton also compared Mr Whiting’s photograph with another accepted one of James, and found marked differences between the position of the two men’s ears and eyes.

He concluded: “It is clear from my analysis that there are significant differences proving that Justin Whiting’s photograph is not an authentic one of Jesse James.”

Something of a disappointment to both Mr Whiting and historians.

Daily Telegraph

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May 19

1780 - It was a dark day for New England this day. No, really, it was dark.

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June 2

1953 – Elizabeth II



was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom at Westminster Abbey.

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June 11

1955 - A crash at the 24 Hrs of Le Mans results in 83 spectators, and one driver, being killed, and 178 others injured.

Wikipedia has a very good breakdown on the disaster, and how it all unfolded.

[BigV]

Fuck!

I had to stop reading at "the race was not red-flagged".

Horrible.

[Gravdigr]

They didn't stop the race because an extremely huge number of ppl would have tried to leave the track all at once. This would have ground all traffic to a halt, for miles, preventing emergency vehicles from reaching the places they were needed. Remember, there were 178 ppl injured. There's no way the emergency vehicles on hand could handle them all. And, even if they could, if the race had been red-flagged (stopped), all those ppl trying to leave would have bottled the ambulances up, and they could not have gotten out. Additional, desperately needed, fire trucks and personnel would not have been able to reach the track, much less the victims.

So, prolly a good thing.

[Gravdigr]

July 14, 1881

Pat Garrett



shoots, and kills, Billy The Kid



outside Fort Sumner, in what was then New Mexico Territory.

[Clodfobble]

Man, you can just look at that picture and know that Billy the Kid would be great at online gaming.

[Gravdigr]

Ya mean like a...



























...first person shooter?

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Pat Garrett looks like he could stand behind a barber's chair with a pair of scissors in his hand and tell great stories.

[sexobon]

Q: Who was the best rapper in the old west?

A: Hip-Hop-along Cassidy.

[fargon]

According to the people in Hico Tx , he survived that and lived there. And died in Hamilton Tx. in a nursing home in the early '50s. My Mother says that when they would go visit her Grandparents "Brushy Bill" would be there. He was William Bonney " Billy the Kid".