“Being desirous of allaying the dissensions of party strife now existing within our realm, I do hereby dissolve and abolish the Democratic and Republican parties, and also do hereby decree the disfranchisement and imprisonment, for not more than 10, nor less than five, years, to all persons leading to any violation of this our imperial decree.”—Emperor Norton I, an Imperial Decree, dated August 12, 1869, and published in the San Francisco Herald the next day

Emperor Norton I (above) outlawed the Democratic Party and Republican National Committee on this date in 1869. Emperor?

Joshua Norton was a San Franciscan who lost his fortune in a wild investment speculation in the 1850s and then began suing any party he could think of—including America—to void the contract that had ruined him. Frustrated, and possibly driven insane by the effort, he proclaimed himself Emperor, or, officially, “Norton 1, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico.”
Read More

The Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Braves split a doubleheader 65 years ago today at Ebbets Field. It was a Saturday. At the conclusion of the day, the Dodgers were in first place by 13 games. (Over the next six weeks, the New York Giants played their way up the standings, into a three-game playoff against the Dodgers, and beat the Dodgers to play the New York Yankees in the World Series. “The Giants win the pennant!”)

WCBS-TV in New York broadcast the games on August 11 in color that year. These were the first-ever color broadcasts of a live baseball game. There were not yet many color television sets in private homes ready to receive the broadcast, but that day was coming. The ad above, for a CBS television set declares: “Color television is what you’ve been waiting for.”
Read More

The Swedish warship Vasa (above) was immense: 226 feet long, 172 feet tall, festooned with decorative woodwork, and loaded with cannons. The king, Gustavus Adolphus, ordered that it carry 72 24-pound cannons, far more than any other warship. Ultimately, it was built to carry 64 cannons of various sizes, but on two gun decks. Even without loading the guns on board, two decks above the water line would make the ship top heavy. With the guns, the ship would certainly be top heavy. And if the ship actually needed to fire any of the weapons, the ship ran the risk of blowing itself onto its side with the recoil.

Vasa was launched on this date in 1628 with huge crowds along the waterfront in Stockholm to see it off. The moment that it unfurled its sails and was hit with any wind at all, the tall ship was knocked on its port side, water started rushing in through its open gun windows, and it sank, killing thirty sailors. Its maiden voyage lasted about one thousand feet.
Read More