#radio rampage 1944

[from1837to1945]

Eddy x Florence slow-burn collection: What, No Cigarettes? (1945), Wall Street Blues (1946)

"You're too fat!" & "Shut up": Fish Feathers (1932), Brick-A-Brac (1935), Two for the Money (1942), Sock Me to Sleep (1935), Radio Rampage (1944), Wall Street Blues (1946)

Tender moments: Sock Me to Sleep (1935), Ears of Experience (1938), Love on a Ladder (1934), Rough on Rents (1942), What, No Cigarettes? (1945), In-Laws Are Out (1934), The Big Beef (1945), Two for the Money (1942)

Eddy, mother-in-law and brother-in-law: Duck Soup (1942), Edgar Hamlet (1935)

Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair: Social Terrors (1946). Sung by Edgar Kennedy, his wife(Florence Lake), his mother-in-law(Dot Farley), his brother-in-law(Jack Rice), his brother-in-law's sweetheart(Phyllis Kennedy) and his brother-in-law's sweetheart's parents(Paul Maxey, Vivien Oakland).

[vintagedreamsofsennett]

Eddy x Florence slow-burn collection: What, No Cigarettes? (1945), Wall Street Blues (1946)

"You're too fat!" & "Shut up": Fish Feathers (1932), Brick-A-Brac (1935), Two for the Money (1942), Sock Me to Sleep (1935), Radio Rampage (1944), Wall Street Blues (1946)

Tender moments: Sock Me to Sleep (1935), Ears of Experience (1938), Love on a Ladder (1934), Rough on Rents (1942), What, No Cigarettes? (1945), In-Laws Are Out (1934), The Big Beef (1945), Two for the Money (1942)

Eddy, mother-in-law and brother-in-law: Duck Soup (1942), Edgar Hamlet (1935)

Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair: Social Terrors (1946). Sung by Edgar Kennedy, his wife(Florence Lake), his mother-in-law(Dot Farley), his brother-in-law(Jack Rice), his brother-in-law's sweetheart(Phyllis Kennedy) and his brother-in-law's sweetheart's parents(Paul Maxey, Vivien Oakland).

[lightdancer1]

Nor must one overlook that the great victories of 1944-5 laid the groundwork for what the Soviet and Russian armies would become:

In 1944 there was another great offensive launched on 22 June, Operation Bagration. This and the offensive into the Balkans would start the process of creating the Soviet bloc. Here too one can also note that the reality of the Axis-Soviet War would go on to shape the post-WWII history of Central and Eastern Europe from the Elbe to Vladivostok. By 1944 the shattered army of 1941 that mostly served to die in carload lots and grist up the German war machine with a shitload of blood had US radios in its tanks and rode US trucks that gave it a great deal of speed, and achieved by sheer massing of artillery what US armies did with gizmos.

The reality of Soviet power and its limits can also be noted by the very existence of Army Group Center of 1941, still holding most of Belarus because the Rzhev and Smolensk battles were a part of the uglier side of the Soviet war, where vast armies of people dragged from all over the USSR were thrown into meat grinders of poorly-led and poorly-conceived offensives. In the course of this Belarus would go on to lose one in four of its population, for which Belarusians were rewarded by being labeled 'Russians' and their language driven even further into being terminally endangered in its own country, which is one of the many, many reasons why today's Ukrainians insist on Ukrainian over Russian in Ukraine.

Bagration would come to an end at the Vistula, at the gates of Warsaw, where the Polish Home Army rallied to prevent the Soviets from taking Poland in the assumption, always dangerous, that the Georgian bank robber wouldn't notice this and would help them to do it. Somehow, Stalin decided to refuse on it and let Oskar Dirlewanger and other subhuman monsters rampage through Warsaw slaughtering and raping every Pole they could catch.

This offensive simultaneously secured Soviet power in central Europe, hence combining with genuine logistical overstretch and a malicious pleasure in letting the Poles learn the hard way that the Soviets were never going to help Poland keep them out and that the entire idea they would was misguided, for why the Soviet Army would turn to the Balkans and move from the border of the future postwar Ukrainian SSR to that of Hungary.

Soviet people, even briefly, were stupid enough to think that the casualties of the previous years of the war and the totality of the debacle moderated the Stalinists and even during the war new waves of deportations and NKVD executions taught them, as they did Ukrainians, that evicting the people who wanted them all dead meant a return to the unlovely aspects of the prewar state because the very totality of potential collapse meant the Soviet state was meaner, not kinder, after the war.

It knew all too well the margin by which survival was won in the horrors of 1941 fighting. And the very practices it unleashed in victory in and out of the USSR ultimately set in motion the first snowballs that became the avalanche of Soviet collapse, while providing in its own way a set of profound shifts and first steps to reawakening the desires of both Belarus and the larger postwar Ukraine to not be Russians at all costs, given what their Russian overlords were so content to do them.

This, too, was the reality that made the two theaters of WWII so different. Western armies had some excesses and a habit of shooting German POWs from finding it too much work to take POWs. The Soviet army marched with a kind of looting raping and massacring wave to match that of the Germans intent on its pound of flesh and indiscriminate in those it took it from. And that started in the USSR and went all the way to the Elbe, neatly assuring that any prospect of popular legitimacy from the 1945 victory died in the very apocalyptic nature OF that victory.

And in that wave of undisciplined barbarism one can also see the future shadows of Afghanistan, Chechnya, Syria, and Ukraine.

[ducktracy]

162. porky and gabby (1937)

release date: may 15th, 1937

series: looney tunes

director: ub iwerks

starring: mel blanc (porky, gabby, truck driver)

a new name in the director’s guild for the first time in 9 months! feels longer, doesn’t it? ub iwerks, as in flip the frog creator and co-creator of mickey mouse iwerks, landed a very short term gig at warner bros. his warner bros gig was essentially a freelance gig as he floated around studios. he got some work to do, and leon schlesinger was able to meet his cartoon quota. he only directed 2 cartoons until one day he just up and left, leaving his unit to bob clampett. after jack king left the studio in 1936, iwerks came. bob clampett, who had been promised a position by schlesinger for quite some time, wasn’t too happy that this new guy was stepping in and taking a directorial position after HE had been promised a position for quite some time, so schlesinger appointed him to help iwerks out and to get that looney feel in the cartoons. clampett took chuck jones, bobe cannon, and manager ray katz with him. thus, when iwerks left, clampett inherited the unit. essentially, he, chuck, and bobe acted like co-directors on the iwerks films, refining them to give the films a more warner bros feel. clampett’s first entry, porky’s badtime story, was started by iwerks before he left the studio. this newly formed unit became known as the ray katz unit, separate from the leon schlesinger unit.

with a new director comes a new “star” (or not): gabby goat. gabby was warner bros’ response to donald duck. a temperamental, brash, angry sidekick to balance out the good-natured, happy go lucky, though slightly bland porky, whose personality was still up in the air. bob clampett credits cal howard for the creation of gabby, who would actually voice him in gabby’s final appearance, get rich quick porky. gabby himself only starred in three cartoons, never making it out of 1937. however, storyboards for clampett’s porky’s party (1938) DO show gabby (and petunia) starring alongside porky in the short. gabby really interests me as a character. he was so rude that his brash personality was considerably toned down by his last entry. he paved the way for daffy as a sidekick—in fact, clampett would remake porky‘s badtime story in 1944 with tick tock tuckered, daffy usurping gabby’s role in the cartoon. while gabby (and iwerks)’s stint was short, he was actually revived in the second season of wabbit/new looney tunes in 2018, voiced by bob bergen! he’s an interesting case who i like a lot, even though he doesn’t have much to show for himself.

the synopsis speaks for itself: porky and gabby are headed for a peaceful camping trip, but a variety of mishaps threaten any ounce of their enjoyment.

iris in with porky and gabby (literally) trucking their way through the rolling country side, their car brimming with camping essentials and more. a jolly motif of “gee, but you’re swell” scores quite a majority of the cartoon, and the opening scene is no exception. gabby doesn’t seem to share the same appreciation porky does for the outdoors, haughtily slumped over in his seat as porky asks “sure a swell day to go camping, isn’t it, gabby?” 

before gabby can respond, their jalopy hits a rock, which catapults all of their camping supplies up into the air. thankfully--because why else?--the supplies piles back up neatly in the trunk, recovering from the bump. that is, except for one. a frying pan smacks gabby right on the head and gives him a shiner, much to porky’s amusement. gabby, full of malice, growls “YEAH!” in porky’s face.

just then, the two get stuck behind a moving van. we hear excessive honking as their jalopy zigzags back and forth, attempting to squeeze past, but the van is too big for the small country road they’re on. gabby is the perpetrator behind the horn, doing a fleischer-esque shiver take in anger as he honks on the horn and hurls insults. “hey you! get that big crate off the road! move over, we ain’t got all day! what’s the matter with you, you deaf!? you can hear that, can’t ya!?” while gabby engages in his hotheaded rant, porky, behind the wheel, is able to pull up next to the van, where gabby now yells at the bewildered truck driver in person. “get over, ya big sheep!” 

as gabby threatens to “bounce one up [his] chin”, the truck driver pulls on a lever, attached to a hand shaped paddle. the paddle smacks gabby right in the face, causing him to spin around and dangle helplessly from the outstretched paddle as porky drives on ahead, clueless. reused from porky’s romance and from the radio show community sing, the truck driver tells gabby not to get excited. gabby retaliates in a flurry of sped up anger (the voice clip reused from porky’s romance) “EXCITED?? WHO’S EXCITED!? I’M NOT EXCITED!!!”

conveniently, the paddle dumps gabby right in a mud puddle, sparking another angry outburst, now spewing insults and mud alike. porky, still driving on his merry way, overhears gabby’s rampage and screeches to a halt, now driving in reverse. the animation in this scene and the next one is nice and rubbery, very elastic and stretchy. ub’s cartoons are hardly the most entertaining, but i do love how rubbery and tactile his animation is. a jolly underscore “gee, but you’re swell” triumphantly scores porky’s demise as he too is smacked by the passing paddle on the moving van. he’s then tossed out of the driver’s seat and splayed onto the hood of the car.

while gabby continues his muddy ranting and raving, the car conveniently runs right over gabby, halting just above him. porky looks around, befuddled, stuttering “hey, gabby! where are you?” mel’s deliveries as gabby are more than amusing as gabby growls back “where am i! where am i? now ain’t that a smart question! i’m under the car, you big fathead!” porky, unscathed by the remarks, climbs back into the driver’s seat and tells gabby he’ll pull up. he does so, running over gabby’s head in the process. more scathing remarks from gabby, with some particularly fluid and lovely animation as he jumps up and down in the mud puddle.

transition to the two back in their car, inching their way up a very steep incline. there’s some lovely synchronization between the animation and music as the car trucks its way up, the water in the engine spurting with each push up, all in time with the music. this collaboration is furthered as the score slows down, now as fatigued as the car trying to truck its way up. very clever indeed. just as they finally reach the top, the engine dies.

porky suggests pushing, much to gabby’s chagrin, making his distaste known by slamming the door as he begrudgingly exits the car. more rubbery animation as porky pulls at the bumper from the front, gabby pushing from the back, griping about how he wishes he’d stay home. “i don’t like camping, anyway!” porky manages to pull the bumper off the car entirely, just in time for gabby to get a running head start and ram into the back of the car, causing the car to topple over porky and barrel down the hill.

quite an interesting switch in angles as the duo run down the hill to catch the car, the decline turning into an incline once more, with the car slowing considerably and beginning its journey up the hill. now, porky and gabby run AWAY from the car, not towards it, as the car slides back down the hill, seeing as it can’t accelerate or decelerate on its own. predictable, yet fun to watch as porky and gabby engage in a game of cat and mouse with the car, the car ultimately barreling into them, sending the two twirling up into the air and landing neatly back in their respective seats. cartoon physics to the rescue!

a bit confusing as the car suddenly gains life again, trucking uphill, exhaust coming out of the pipe, but so be it. porky and gabby FINALLY reach their destination, the score now a rendition of “speaking of the weather” (which is the title of a frank tashlin merrie melody as well!) but, as we all know, this is only half the battle. porky triumphantly declares “well, here we are! i’ll put up the tent. you unload the car.” judging by the way porky moves and how gabby squints at him in contempt afterwards, i’d wage this as bob clampett’s animation. gabby retorts “yeah, i get all the hard work!” he struggles to untie the endless luggage piled up on the car. instead, he pulls the weight of the entire car on top of him, luggage spilling out on the ground as the car does a few barrel rolls, landing neatly right side up. gabby pokes his head out of the luggage pile, giving the audience an angry trademark Gabby Wink/Grimace. 

elsewhere, while porky’s setting up the tent, a pesky bee comes to assess the situation. i wonder if bees in cartoons are an ub iwerks thing, or just a coincidence--in porky’s badtime story, which was started by ub, there’s a scene where porky tries to swat a bee away with a pillow, hitting gabby in the process. this could have been a clampett gag, but it wasn’t included in the tick tock tuckered remake, so who’s to say. some more interesting rubbery animation combined with a shiver take as porky angrily attempts to swat the bee away, getting stung in the ass in the process. the tent collapses, pinning porky and the bee together under the same tarp. the animation is just lovely to watch as the bee swoops around in circles, the tarp leaving a trail behind. very rubbery and malleable.

gabby begrudgingly prepares the furniture when he hears porky. “gabby! gabby! get a sly fwatter--a-a--a fly swatter!” gabby mutters to himself, scouting out a fly swatter, when he hits gold. a shovel. three times as big and three times as effective! gabby’s gleeful, slightly twisted grin as he charges towards the tent wielding the shovel is priceless. he’s a little too eager to bash some sense into that bee. 

porky’s still being stung to pieces when gabby arrives. this is probably one of the funniest moments in an ub cartoon at WB, the timing is just too good: gabby hesitates, watching porky writhe around in agony under the tarp, before bashing porky’s head in. porky (rightfully) cries “OW!” and we hear silence. no movement. even better is when gabby carefully picks up the tarp and looks inside, making sure his pal is still breathing. instead, the pesky bee flies out from the tarp and stings gabby right on the nose.

more wonderfully fluid animation and speed lines as gabby now chases the bee with the shovel, cursing all along the way. ub’s flip the frog cartoons didn’t shy away from cursing (lots of “damn!”s), so i wonder if he ever thought about giving gabby a proper sailor mouth. seems likely. the bee lands on the exhaust pipe of their car, and when gabby hits the pipe with his trusty shovel, the force is enough to knock out the engine of the car, popping out of the grill.

more bob clampett animation as porky recovers, struggling to tie the tent’s rope to a stake in the ground. now, porky asks for a piece of rope, much to gabby’s chagrin. “rope... rope... i ain’t got any rope! guy’s always wantin’ something. why don’t he get his own rope? ah, here’s a piece!” sure enough, a spare piece of rope slithers out from the pile of junk by the car. treg brown’s use of a donkey braying as gabby pulls on the rope is a great touch. 

unfortunately, we see that the rope is attached to the outboard motor. gabby gives a hearty tug, and the rope is freed from the motor, which activates it. the motor flies into the air, threatening to guillotine anyone who comes in contact with the blades. gabby is knocked into a hole the motor dug into the ground, peering out of it for safety (in a very similar manner to porky poking his head out of a hole in porky’s last stand). speaking of porky, he dives into his tent for safety as the motor cuts the tarp away into pieces. 

the animation in this sequence is lovely, accented by carl stalling’s favorite “black coffee”. gabby resorts to shooting at the motor with a rifle. cartoon physics--the knockback from the rifle sends gabby flying, landing on a car horn, which catapults him forward. he shoots, he bounces, he shoots, he bounces, and so forth. one excessive shot sends him flying onto a spare mattress, the spring catapulting him into the air. gabby shoots himself down, but it’s no use. the spring gets caught on a tree branch. the motor threatens to graze gabby as he yells at porky for help (”i’m caught on a limb!”). rather, the motor runs into him, sending gabby twirling around the branch and hurtling towards the ground, the spring coming loose. it’s difficult to put into words, but it’s a lovely scene with some lovely animation. 

porky, who has now miraculously found some rope, fashions a lasso and corrals the motor. “i got it! i got it!” but, as always, there’s a catch. a loop ties around porky’s legs, the motor dragging porky along in the wild goose chase. gabby scales up between two, lanky trees for safety, the motor cutting the bottoms off and making makeshift stilts. more beautiful animation as gabby struggles to stay put. eventually, the rope attached to the motor ties the two trees together, the rope loosening from porky’s legs and sending both him and gabby toppling to the ground. 

befuddled, both investigate the eerie silence--no motor in sight. that is until the familiar sound of whirring grows louder from off screen. in a panic, the two bump into each other as they scramble to escape, both flopping to the ground just in tiem for the motor to rocket over their heads. 

all hopes of a camping trip are out the window as the two scramble into their car. the engine, which had been catapulted out the front, is now pulled inside as the two speed away, hoping to outrun the deathtrap. i LOVE the detail of porky paddling at the air as they drive away, as if his meager attempts to paddle would speed the car up even more from the motor that flies threateningly close behind them. 

meanwhile, they encounter an old friend: the moving van that gabby had harassed from before. once more does gabby berate the innocent driver (”HEY! MOVE OUTTA THE WAY, WE’RE COMIN’ THROUGH!”) as we get an interesting angle of the motor heading straight towards the audience. 

porky and gabby duck, ready to meet their demise when the motor crashes into their car, pushing the car forcefully into the moving van. a cloud of smoke as the crash ensues. the truck driver has a tire dangling from his next, much to gabby’s delight. gabby bursts into a fit of hysterical, bleating laughter, nudging a dazed porky so he can get a good look. the van driver pulls on his trusty lever, and the hand shaped paddle from before gives gabby a well deserved smack. iris out as both the van driver and even porky beam at gabby’s humiliation.

what an interesting cartoon, to say the least! there’s a lot of layers to it, while simultaneously, there aren’t at all. to put it bluntly, at surface level, this isn’t a very good cartoon. a few plotholes (like porky randomly finding a rope after he needed one, the car miraculously working again after it had died, etc--but these are mainly cases of cartoon logic, don’t take these too seriously. these are observations rather than critiques), and the plot itself is very bare-bones. this is moreso a series of mishaps rather than a cartoon with a concrete storyline.

yet, with that said, i still enjoy it. the animation is the best part of the cartoon. i’m a very detail oriented person, and not a big picture person, which serves me well and detrimentally at the same time. so, i absolutely love how fluid, bouncy, and fun the animation is in this cartoon. that’s certainly an incentive to watch it. carl stalling’s music score, as always, compliments the cartoon quite nicely. and furthermore, this cartoon has some historical significance to it. not very much, but it’s there: it’s gabby’s first cartoon. that serves as another incentive to watch--gabby isn’t too exciting of a character, but he’s so fascinating to me that i can’t help but like him. he’s like a hidden secret. porky’s first sidekick, unless you count beans, but porky was moreso beans’ sidekick rather than beans being porky’s sidekick. gabby’s pretty obscure, but someone from the simpsons was a big enough classic cartoon fan to know who he was--they make a reference to him as “disgruntled goat”. this could be a coincidence, sure, but i’m definitely thinking this is a reference, especially considering another episode referenced friz freleng’s pigs is pigs from earlier in 1937. 

in all, this isn’t a great cartoon, and you probably COULD go without watching it and be fine, but i say watch it. there’s some wonderful animation and it has some interesting history, such as ub iwerks’ first cartoon at WB and gabby’s first cartoon. check it out for yourself and see what you think!

link!

[majingojira]

Superman Real-Time Aging Timeline

As a followup to my Batman Timeline, here’s Superman!  

After this, it’s either Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, or The Flash, but I don’t think any of them will be this complex.  After all, it’s Superman! 

A thing to understand, just as a general rule, there are other Kryptonian and Kryptonian like species running around.  Sort of.  There are basic species and then several derivatives, which have since become their own cultures, but all hold to the same general roots of which Kryptonians are a part of.  These include, but are not limited to: The Kree, The Kherubim, The Viltrumites, and The Daxamites.  There are others, of course, but that should give you an idea of what’s out there in the vast reaches of the universe.  

As before, I won’t really go into villains that much (unless people ask me to do a quick rundown, at which point I’ll do my best).  

Another thing to note is that, for the purposes of the crossover timeline, things are a lot less powerful than the comics would have you believe.  A lot of people who engage in crossover timeline work tend to work from a “World Outside Your Window” approach.  So, while weird things happen, they aren’t well known or accepted.  

But we live at a time when flat-earthers and all sorts of reality denial run rampant.  

But the short of it is, ya know how the Golden Age Superman couldn’t fly and could only jump 1/8th of a mile? That’s basically where we are at.  Artillery shells can harm him, but bullets can’t.  He has amazing senses and laser-eyes, but only his descendants who study advanced Chi-altering martial arts can exceed the limits of flesh and they are the ones who truly fly.    

This is also why things that would normally be a joke for Superman to face in a crossover turn out to be actual threats.  

But the comics do exaggerate in part to inflate Superman’s abilities to avoid conflicts if at all possible.  Yes, as Watson to Holmes, DC is to Superman as far as this timeline is concerned.  So, we get to take everything with a grain of salt. 

I mean, remember last time when Cass pissed of the editors? Same deal. 

Okay?  Here we go! 

The Crisis: The Crisis is an Even that is, was, and will occur across the multiverse (or segments of it).  It occasionally seeps into time and space at different points.  Since we are here, it can be assumed that the villain was defeated.  It’s a weird time-space thing.  

Pre-history: A humanoid space-faring race suffers through many rises and falls over several thousands of years of development.  This leaves strange pockets where their descendants become their own race on different planets.  Krypton was one such planet.  A heavy gravity mining colony orbiting a red sun.  The species race, now called Kryptonians, managed to maintain some technology of their glory days but did not explore much outside their homeworld.  They augmented themselves into a race of “Supermen” to survive the harsh environment of the planet and the dangers of mining.  This included nanites which acted as solar energy storage for emergency lighting and welding.  However, the mining had begun destabilizing the planet...

1894 - Hugo Danner born. 

Lex Luthor born.

1900 - The overlord Shao Khan (a.k.a. Mongul) of another realm known as “Outworld” challengers Earth to Mortal Kombat for control over its lands.  He is tricked into doing this, as Earth isn’t another realm, but a whole planet that he could not absorb into his own even if he tried.  For the next 10 years, champions are selected to battle his champions.  10 victories on one side will ‘seed’ territory to the other.  Or, so Shao Khan thinks. 

1910 - Hugo Danner fathers Arnold “Iron” Munroe.  

1916 - Kal-El is born. 

1917 - The destruction of Krypton, leaving only a handful of survivors.  Among them are Kal-EL and the city-ship Argo.  Kal-El is found on earth by the Kent family who adopts him and names him Clark. 

The Argo City ship is affected by space-time and moves slower than Kal-El’s warp rocket.  As it travels to “Pick Up” the stray (Kal’s rocket), they encounter a parasitoid alien life form (”Xenomorph”)that manages to slaughter many of the Kryptonians after assimilating their genetics. Kara Zor-El is the only survivor and manages to destroy Argo before heading to the only family she has left.  The time-dilation effects mean she still thinks of Kal would be a defenseless baby.  (modified Superman vs Aliens) 

1930 - Clark Kent’s growing powers truly start to develop.  He helps out in secret most of the time with the odd ‘disaster’ or two.

Hugo Danner fakes his death.  

1932 - On a visit to New York for the first time, Clark runs into an early instance of true “Supercrime.”  A group of criminals uses terrifying prototype mecha to cause all kinds of hell for law enforcement and people alike.  The young Clark does his best to put a stop to them, but the true end for the gang comes from in a hail of bullets from the vigilante known as The Spider. (Satan’s Murder Machines/Superman (Comic Strip) “The Bandit Raiders of Metropolis”)   

1937 - Clark Kent moves to New York City, THE Metropolis, to work at the Daily Star paper (later renamed the Daily Planet).  He also debuts as Superman later in the year. 

1938 -  The Sarmaks of Mars, responsible for the 1898 invasion of earth, land a small invasion force in New Jersey.  The Military is brought in to put it down, but are unable to accomplish much until a “Man of Action” (Superman) appears and routs the Invaders as they reach the edge of the Hudson River. (The War of the Worlds/It’s That Time Again 3: Even More New Stories of Old-Time Radio  “War Between Two Worlds”/Superman: War of the Worlds).  The event is broadcast partly by Orson Wells but is forced to say that it was all a Halloween radio play by a group of “government agents.” (Funny story, James Moriarity formed a group to aid the Martian Invasion and the thing went so badly for him that he created an organization specifically to make sure no one ever found out how big a mistake he made which eventually evolved into a general ‘coverup’ NGO.  Nothing is more fragile than the ego).  

1939 - Lex Luthor and Superman begin their rivalry.  But at the time it is overshadowed by the so-called “Ultra-Humanite” who desired a new body to host his amazing mind.  Superman and Batman meet for the first time stopping one of the Ultra-Humanite’s plans. 

1940 -  The Masked Vigilante Boom of the 1940s begins in earnest, with many people taking to vigilantism to battle crime. Black Canary and Green Arrow get their start among many others.

The Rocketeer: The Cargo of Doom - The Rocketeer deals with people smuggling animals from Skull Island, Superman lends a hand with the Megaprimatus kong brought with them that the comics later dub “Titano.”

The first Toyman, Winslow Schott, starts bothering people. 

1941 - Formation of the Justice Society.  As a social club for vigilantes and superhumans to unwind in.  They mostly share stories and shoot the breeze, but occasionally teamed up for larger missions, especially when America entered WWII. But it’s primary purpose is networking and recovery.

Many of the Fleischer Superman cartoons occur around this time, except when noted. 

1942 - All-New Collectors’ Edition #c-54 “Superman vs Wonder Woman” - Diana of Themyscira learns about the Manhattan Project and is utterly horrified.  Clark and Diana have a confrontation about it, that does get briefly physical.  They put their differences aside afterward (the threat of a Nazi bomb is a good reason to do so), but Diana starts to grow warry of the American Government. 

1943 - Puck first bothers Superman as Mister Mxyzptlk.  

Clark learns the full story of Krypton and first encounters Kryptonite (World’s Finest #271)

1944 - Superman creates his own “Fortress of Solitude” to hold dangerous things he encountered before it evolved into a general “Home Away from Home” he could visit. 

1945 - The Last Days of the JSA

1946 - Alexis Luthor, son of Lex Luthor, is born.  

1948 - Superman: Terror on the Midway/Mighty Joe Young - A large gorilla is brought from Africa to perform at a nightclub in Los Angeles.  Lois is doing a report on it for the Planet when three drunks manage to get backstage and manage to both get the gorilla, Joe, drunk, but harass him to the point he breaks out of his cage.  The gorilla goes on the rampage, breaking lions out of their cages as he does so.  Lois helps people escape as Clark changes into Superman to subdue the Lions.  He also assists in getting Joe back into his cage as the police arrive to shoot what lions Clark had not yet rounded up.  When the incident goes to court, Clark covers the case. The court, however, rules to have Joe destroyed.  His owner, the nightclub owner, and several others sympathetic to joe engineer his escape -- only to be stymied by a burning orphanage.  Joe’s rescue of the orphans, Superman rounding up the drunks who sparked the conflagration, and Clark’s editorials sway public opinion and Joe is brought back to Africa.  

Clark Kent and Lois Lane wed.  

The House of Un-American Activities starts to target Costumed Vigilantes.  The Justice Society disbanded in response.  Diana Trevor, Wonder Woman, starts working from inside the system to counter McArthy and J. Edgar Hoover.  Subtly and openly, be it the Holiday Girls (secretaries make excellent spies) or secretly abetting other superhumans. Still, most costumed vigilantes retire at this point.  As for the rest… Some are apprehended, others sign up with the government, and others still are killed in FBI Raids.  

As Superheroes are under fire from the government, several class-action lawsuits also hound more public figures of superheroes, and only a few survive with their reputations and resources intact.

1949 - Joel Kent is born to Clark and Lois Lane-Kent.  Clark scales back his Superman work to take spend more time with his family. Joel is born without Superman’s fantastic abilities, but he is better than average almost everywhere else.  

1950 - Jonathan Kent jr. was born to Clark and Lois Lane-Kent.  Jonathan, however, is closer to his father than his brother. This causes some animosity between the boys as they grow older. 

1952 - Richard Tyler, Hourman, is arrested as part of the FBI crackdown on costumed vigilantes.  Very few remain active.  Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Shadow, and The Avenger are the most prominent.  Superman and Wonder Woman working with the Government, The Shadow, the Avenger, and Batman operating outside the law.  

1953 - The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms/Superman “The Arctic Giant”/Batman #104 “The Creature from 20,000 Fathoms”  – A prehistoric monster is awakened by nuclear testing in the arctic and proceeds to swim down to New York, sinking ships along the way. Superman confronts the beast as it lands in New York, driving it off for a moment before the military arrives to deal with the creature. When they manage to injure the creature with an anti-tank weapon, they release a deadly bacterial agent among the populous. Batman (Bruce Wayne) is able to deduce a method for dealing with the agent and the creature hosting it: radiation treatments.  The man who first saw the creature manages to introduce a radioactive isotope to the monster’s system. The creature dies from its wounds in the midst of a roller coaster fire at Coney Island. The film omits the interference of costumed vigilantes, the Batman story, in particular, doing its best to be as far off as possible to the point where it doesn’t even make sense as a Batman story. 

Clark Kent becomes the editor of the Daily Planet after Perry White retires. 

1955-1975 - The Vietnam War. 

1955 - John Henry Irons is born. 

John Wilson and his family are lynched. He survives, dons a mask and grabbing a hammer, he hunts the Klan as the vigilante John Henry.  

David Xanatos born. 

1956 - Clark Kent first discovers the Phantom Zone Projector, a device from his homeworld, and learns of the various criminals held in there, such as Faora and General Zod.  Some of which escape from time to time.  

1958 - John Wilson is killed, but his legend as the civil rights defending, Klan smashing vigilante John Henry endures.  

The malicious data life form known as Brainiac firsts demonstrates an interest in Earth.  

1959 - The Centre incident occurs.  (DC: The New Frontier)

Diana Trevor works out a government organization to better employ multi-mystery-man operations in the future with her at the head and thus limiting access to their identities or technologies by the other branches.  This is often called “The Justice League” or “The Avengers” among other things.  The laws about costumed vigilantism are changed somewhat.  

Kara Zor-El’s rocket finally lands on earth.  The press dubs her “Supergirl” when she joins in the “Family Business” and, being from a highly enlightened society that’s generally moved beyond barriers of gender or race, is extremely frustrated by the primitive mudball that is 1960s earth. 

1960 - Wilson Fisk, who often claims to be a son of Lex Luthor, becomes the “Kingpin of Crime.”

1961 - The first appearance of the Parasite.  

1963 - Incredible Hulk vs Superman - Superman attempts to apprehend the Incredible Hulk, but finds more dangerous foes about. 

1964 - The children and relatives of many World War II heroes; including Jennifer-Lynn Scott (Jade), Iron Munro, Dee Tyler (Phantom Lady II), Tsunami (Miya Shimada, a Deep One), and Artemis Crock (Tigress II, daughter of Paula Brooks, Tigress I) among others; form a short-lived adventuring group called the Young All-Stars or All-Star Squadron. An adventure to the Maple White’s Lost World and meeting Hugo Danner (and his superhuman progeny) ends the team.  Hugo Danner survives the encounter but is left brain-damaged.  His later rampages are given the moniker of “Bizarro.”

Alex Luthor ‘takes over’ as the primary Luthor giving Clark and his family hell. 

1965 - To battle monstrous threats, robotic sentries dubbed “Sentinels” or, more aggressively, “Terminators” are created.  Though defeated early in their lifespan, they are often re-created in various models.  The Data Life Forms these shells attract are often genocidal and highly dangerous.  This is the start of the aggressive timeline of the rogue A.I. known as “Skynet” that continually attempts to ensure its creation and the destruction of humanity. 

1966 - Kara Zor-El changes her moniker to “Power Femme” to coincide with the feminist movement she supports.  The press still calls her “Power Girl.”  She sometimes shows up to aid protests and has several clashes with the police.  And by clashes, I mean “People hurt themselves trying to hurt her while she protects as many as she can.”  It doesn’t help as much as she’d like. 

Darkseid first shows an interest in earth. 

Natalia Luthor, a niece of Alex Luthor, finds herself involved in her uncle’s business when she clashes with Supergirl. 

1969 - Lois Lane passes away.  

1970-1971 - Joel serves in Vietnam, and is generally horrified at what happens.  he does his best to help where he can, but the system works against him.  He rescues many people, one of them, Mei-Li, eventually becomes his wife.  Together, they have a son.  They name him Conner Kent.  The experience mellows him significantly.  He reconciles with his brother. 

1970 - The Kent State Massacre occurs.  Kara takes it very hard, having missed the protest to deal with other disasters.  

Jack Nimball takes over as the second Toyman. 

1972-1977 - A covert war against various demonic and subterranean attackers is waged primarily across east Asia, the front line of defense being various ‘Super-Robots’ such as Mazinger Z and Getter Robo.  These use a modified ‘spirit engine’ to essentially use raw willpower to make up for what the technology lacked, but it had terrible side effects and the technology was eventually abandoned, if not outright banned. It is likely these helped in the creation of the Biomegas.  

1972 - Lex Luthor passes away.  

1973 - Diana Prince/Wonder Woman and Clark Kent take the time to comfort each other after the deaths of their spouses.  This results in the birth of Athena Prince/Eiko Megami.  She is raised primarily in Japan for the education system.  Her power is best described as “Ungodly.”

Birth of Biko Daitokuji/Kiri Fujikawa, daughter of Tony Stark and Rumiko Daitokuji/Fujikawa (last name dependent on adaptation).  They do not marry but keep open ties to each other.

1974 - Jonathan Kent takes over primarily as “Superman II” Though Clark still helps out where he can. 

1975-1984 - The Biomega War is waged in Japan and in its coastal waters.  It appears to end with the death of Doctor Shinka in 1984.  Parts of him, however, survive, and biomega drones, beasts, and kaiju occasionally rise up from the depths after his defeat.  They appear to be derived from the Centre.  

1975 - Karen Kent Jr, named for her aunt, is born to Joel Kent and Carol Star-Kent.

David Xanatos receives instructions on how to become rich from his future self, as well as the coins to do it.  

Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man: A Duel of Titans - Superman (Clark Kent) and Spider-Man (Peter Parker) are tricked into fighting each other by their foes, Doctor Octopus and Lex Luthor. The two heroes quickly team up and defeat the evildoers.  

Scooby-Doo Team-Up #9 “Truth, Justice, and Scooby Snacks” - Clark Kent brings in Mysteries Inc. to help solve a haunting at the Daily Planet. 

1977 - Jonathan Kent trains with Muhammad Ali to better handle opponents who are as strong or stronger than himself.  

1980 - The being known as Lobo first appears on earth.  

Shao Khan challenges earth to Mortal Kombat and picks up an unexpected “Kombatant” - Jonathan Kent.  Appalled by the entire thing, he, as Superman, smashes not just the competition, but the entire contest of Mortal Kombat that cycle.  The whole thing is thrown out, but Shao Khan is infuriated by this insult.  Since the contest is considered a wash, his win streak remains unbroken...

Spider-Man and Superman: The Heroes and the Holocaust - Doctor Doom has a plan, involving the Parasite, Wonder Woman (Diana), The Hulk, and Superman (Clark).  The timely interference of Spider-Man, however, disrupts his plans for world conquest.  

1982 - Natasha Irons, daughter of John Henry Irons, is born.  

The first true Arm Slave, the M4, is developed.  Military use of giant robots (they tend to max out at 8 to 10m tall without exotic materials).  

David Xanatos has his first clash with Superman in one of his dealings.  The comics dub him “Lex Luthor” in many of his appearances. 

Superman has his first encounter with a Banshee.  

1983 - The “Doomsday Plan” to destroy several different superheroes begins forming.  It culminates in elements from Project Metalbeast/Weapon X and Project Cyborg being applied to the original Mr. Hyde and lacing his body with radioactive substances such as Kryptonite.  They dub this creature “Doomsday.”

The Terminator - The Skynet timeline sends two robotic assassins after its greatest foes.  Against John Connor, it sends a T-800 Terminator. Against the Academy of the Strange/The X-Men/The Doom Patrol, it sends TN-001 Nimrod.  

1984 - Superman Annual #11 “For the Man Who Has Everything” - Shao Khan/Mongul attempts to get revenge on Superman, but is stopped by the combined efforts of Wonder Woman, Batman, and Robin.  

1986 - Doomsday is unleashed.  Superman I and Power Girl I are crippled.  Superman II is killed.  The monster is killed and, in the light of the full moon, Hyde rejects the implants and continues on his horrible path restored to his former pre Doomsday glory.  In the wake of the tragedy, Conner Kent tries to fill in for his Uncle and Grandfather and is dubbed “Superboy.”  John Henry Irons creates a powered armor for himself and helps out as “The Man of Steel” or just “Steel.”   The Skynet timeline also sends an agent, a “Cyborg Superman” to try and defeat its future foe.  

1987 - Biko Daitkouji gains a controlling interest in her father’s company. 

Project A-Ko - The daughter of Superman and Wonder Woman, under the pseudonym “Eiko Megami”, or just A-Ko, enrolls herself in a Japanese school, where she meets up with (and gets into a rivalry with) “Biko Daitokuji”, the daughter of Tony Stark.  An intense rivalry develops over a ‘friendship’ one has and the other desires.  It eventually devolves into a routine of Biko building a large machine or powered armor and getting into a fight with Eiko before school on a regular basis.  Even an alien invasion (a single rescue ship causing havoc over one city) goes unnoticed until the target of their friendship is revealed to be their target.  They put aside their differences briefly to get her back.  The alien ship is crippled and can’t leave without heavy repairs.  The aliens may be the Zentradi from the Macross series – the all-female Meltrandi side of their species at least.  Its timeline placement is only here due to another crossover cameo and it may be set in the year 2009, but the only real available/likely time for both the character parentage to occur places it here.  The newspaper her father is seen reading contains a reference to the Fleischer Superman short “The Bulleteers”.

Project A-Ko: The Plot of the Daitokuji Financial Group – 3 weeks after the events of Project A-Ko, during summer break, Biko and Eiko continue their rivalry as Biko’s father’s company tries to find the alien ship and raid it for technology.  Unfortunately, every agency imaginable interested in alien technology trips over themselves trying to get the technology, and they end up with nothing once they anger Biko.   The aliens once again manage to escape and hide amongst the populace, resigning their fate to earth until rescue can come.  Eiko’s father is once again seen reading a “Daily Plenet” newspaper with a story discussing another Fleischer Superman short (the very first one, in fact).

Predator

Superman vs Predator - When the “Predator” self-destructs, his ship does not. when an alert signal is sent, another Predator comes to earth to clean up the mess but finds humans using the technology to insidious ends, as well as a worthy opponent: Superman (Conner Kent).  In his first real big case, Conner is kept off-balance by the experienced hunter, but the plot is foiled and Conner manages to defeat the predator.  

1988 - Karen Kent Jr. starts acting as Supergirl II. “Cir-El” is created by a cloning project.

Biko Daitokuji, in an effort to impress someone, starts acting more heroically and takes the moniker “Iron Woman” (as the band Iron Maiden didn’t want the name on a superhero).   She also sometimes refers to herself as “Rescue.”

Project A-Ko: Cinderella Rhapsody – Biko and Eiko clash again over summer break, but this time over a guy.  Ciko, the girl who had their ‘friendship’ earlier, feels left out until it turns out the guy Eiko and Biko are chasing likes Ciko instead of them.  The JSDF is called out over the two girl’s squabbling, including weapons employed against the Frankenstein Brothers Sanda and Gaira (War of the Gargantuas). A brief appearance from the leads of the anime/manga Yawara! The Fashionable Judo Girl occurs in one scene where Eiko is working at a fast-food restaurant.  They were customers. 

1990 - Project A-Ko: Final – Kei’s arranged marriage drives Eiko and Biko into more of a tiff than usual, but they are left to themselves when a battle group of ships finally come to rescue the trapped aliens and their princess Ciko.  She is taken back home and the fleet leaves.

Mortal Kombat - Shao Khan is defeated in Mortal Kombat.  

Superman and Batman vs Aliens and Predator - This story is a mess, but here’s what is known from it: Batman (Bruce Wayne Jr.) and Superman (Connor Kent) are drawn into the ritual hunting of some Xenomorphs by Predators on earth.  It goes sideways, Batman and Superman intervene and help the predators get back home with a “And Don’t come back!” message.  The Predators take it as a challenge. 

1991 - Mortal Kombat II - Shao Khan decides to just invade the earth anyway.  He does so while EIko Megami is on vacation.  The Invasion ends swiftly and Shao Khan slain.  This forces a change in how the magical realms handle their conflicts.  A year later, the Unseelie Accords are adopted by most major supernatural ‘nations’.  

1994 - Karen Kent Jr. becomes Power Woman/Power Girl II. Conner Kent becomes “Superman” in the public eye at long last. 

Arm Slave technology filters down to the public sector.  Heavy construction mecha, known as Labors begin to see use in Japan and later the United States.  These machines are 6 to 10 meters in height.

1995 - The first known instance of Labor-based crime occurs.  After this, police forces with heavy labor use in their districts adopt Special Vehicles Units, police squads that pilot labors, to counter labor crime.  These “Patrol Labors” eventually get nicknamed “Patlabor” Military contractors see this as an excellent testing bed for many technologies that would later be employed on military labors and arm slaves.

Conner Kent and Cassandra Sandsmark wed, but she keeps her name as is. 

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Superman vs Terminator - Parallel to the events of T2, Terminators are sent after another foe Skynet foresees--Superman (Conner Kent).  Working together with Sarah and John Connor, Superman is able to put down the threat from the Skynet timeline, as well as finish it off in the future.   At least, one future...

Shock-Jock Leslie Willis becomes Livewire. 

1996 - An angel with the ‘human’ identity of Linda Danvers aids the Super-family and becomes known as Supergirl III.

Buffy Anne Summers is called as the next Vampire Slayer.   

Wilson Fisk passes away, and his mantle as Kingpin of Crime is taken up by “Gentleman” Johnny Marcone.  

The formation of “Young Justice” - a friendly hangout of many second and third-generation superhumans.  Members include Conner Kent, Cassandra Sandsmark, Tim Drake, Carrie Kelly, Helena Bertinelli Jr, and Bart Allen.  With many others joining the group as time goes on.  Their exploits are occasionally disseminated as either the “JLA” or “Young Justice” depending on the tone of the adventure. 

1997 - David Xanatos, after marrying and having a son, reforms. 

1998 -  Superman/Gen13 

Savage Dragon/Superman -  Superman III (Conner Kent) and Savage Dragon work together on a case in Chicago involving criminals being mind-controlled by parasitic worms. 

Superman/Savage Dragon - Superman and Savage Dragon battle a New God known as Killroy.  

1999 - The third generation of Arm Slaves begins the prototyping phase.  The development of the Lambda Driver alters the development of this mech.  Many of the early bits of technology are taken from prototyping the technologies in police Labor units.

The vampire known as Angel sets up “Angel Investigations” to help the helpless.

Hiro Okuamura attempts to be a “Heroic” Toyman.

JLA/Witchblade - Sarah Pezzini, wielder of the Witchblade, goes to the “Justice League” for help understanding her artifact (primarily Cassie Sandsmark).  The Witchblade then jumps around the group’s female members to find ‘better’ hosts before Sarah shames it into coming back to her.  

2000 - Linda, has taken to calling herself “Lee” leaves the material world behind and moves to the mystical between-worlds city of Bette Noir and eventually becomes its ‘mayor’.  

Conner Kent and Cassandra Sandsmark/Wonder Woman III have a son together, Jon Kent III.  

Natasha Irons takes over her father’s mantle as Steel II.   

Superman III (Conner Kent) confronts the darker actions of his contemporaries who call themselves “The Authority” ... and schools them.  (“What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice and The American Way?”)

2003 - Cir-El/Mia Kent is adopted by Conner Kent and Cassandra Sandsmark, starts operating as Supergirl IV.

Sunnydale is destroyed and the number of Vampire Slayers goes from a single lineage to over 2000 at any one time. 

The Darkness/Superman - Superman confronts the current wielder of the Darkness, Jackie Escatato.  

JLA/Cyberfoce - An informal group of heroes aid a covert cyborg team with some cyborg-zombies.  

2004 - Fallen Angel Reborn- In order to regain her lost powers, the Old One in a Human Shell, Illyria, travels to Bette Noir to reclaim her icons, and battles Lee the Fallen Angel for them.  Illyria learns something about her new state and accepts that she, herself, has changed. 

The Circle of Black Thorn (also known as The Pride) and Wolfram & Hart are defeated by a group of Runaways, the vampire Angel and his allies.  Angel and his cohorts are caught in a temporal loop as punishment while the children escape.  Massive destruction is initially wrought, but undone via time loop. Many people in LA have vague memories of what happened, eventually leading to the production of the film “Last Angel in Hell” starring Nicholas Cage. 

DC Comics insists Mia wear a blond wig to better display the “Iconic” supergirl.  She really doesn’t like the new look.  

2005-2015 - The Biomega Kaiju menace trickles through with various attacks until it comes to a head in 2015 when it revives the Centre.  The beast is destroyed, ending the Biomega threat...for now. (Atomic Robo and the Ring of Fire, Pacific Rim)

2008 - The Cellphone camera becomes common.  This means that supernatural events are part of common knowledge, but a combination of factors (not lining up with common religious beliefs, the “Somebody Else’s Problem Field”, charlatans continuing to operate regardless, etc) mean that while people ‘know’ they don’t really do much about it, deny its existence, or think of them in completely wrongheaded ways.

Livewire’s powers are finally put under control and she is allowed to perform “Community Service” with her abilities as a hero.  

2010 - Jon Kent starts adventuring as Superboy III.  

*

And that’s where things have left off.  

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 9.8

617 – Battle of Huoyi: Li Yuan defeats a Sui dynasty army, opening the path to his capture of the imperial capital Chang'an and the eventual establishment of the Tang dynasty. 1100 – Election of Antipope Theodoric. 1198 – Philip of Swabia, Prince of Hohenstaufen, is crowned King of Germany (King of the Romans) 1253 – Pope Innocent IV canonises Stanislaus of Szczepanów, killed by king Bolesław II. 1264 – The Statute of Kalisz, guaranteeing Jews safety and personal liberties and giving battei din jurisdiction over Jewish matters, is promulgated by Bolesław the Pious, Duke of Greater Poland. 1276 – Pope John XXI is chosen. 1331 – Stefan Dušan declares himself king of Serbia. 1380 – Battle of Kulikovo: Russian forces defeat a mixed army of Tatars and Mongols, stopping their advance. 1504 – Michelangelo's David is unveiled in Piazza della Signoria in Florence. 1514 – Battle of Orsha: In one of the biggest battles of the century, Lithuanians and Poles defeat the Russian army. 1522 – Magellan–Elcano circumnavigation: Victoria arrives at Seville, technically completing the first circumnavigation. 1565 – St. Augustine, Florida is founded by Spanish admiral and Florida's first governor, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. 1565 – The Knights of Malta lift the Ottoman siege of Malta that began on May 18. 1655 – Warsaw falls without resistance to a small force under the command of Charles X Gustav of Sweden during The Deluge, making it the first time the city is captured by a foreign army. 1727 – A barn fire during a puppet show in the village of Burwell in Cambridgeshire, England kills 78 people, many of whom are children. 1755 – French and Indian War: Battle of Lake George. 1756 – French and Indian War: Kittanning Expedition. 1761 – Marriage of King George III of the United Kingdom to Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. 1775 – The unsuccessful Rising of the Priests in Malta. 1781 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Eutaw Springs in South Carolina, the war's last significant battle in the Southern theater, ends in a narrow British tactical victory. 1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Hondschoote. 1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Bassano: French forces defeat Austrian troops at Bassano del Grappa. 1810 – The Tonquin sets sail from New York Harbor with 33 employees of John Jacob Astor's newly created Pacific Fur Company on board. After a six-month journey around the tip of South America, the ship arrives at the mouth of the Columbia River and Astor's men establish the fur-trading town of Astoria, Oregon. 1813 – At the final stage of the Peninsular War, British-Portuguese troops capture the town of Donostia (now San Sebastián), resulting in a rampage and eventual destruction of the town. 1831 – William IV and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 1831 – November uprising: The Battle of Warsaw effectively ends the Polish insurrection. 1860 – The steamship PS Lady Elgin sinks on Lake Michigan, with the loss of around 300 lives. 1862 – Millennium of Russia monument is unveiled in Novgorod. 1863 – American Civil War: In the Second Battle of Sabine Pass, a small Confederate force thwarts a Union invasion of Texas. 1883 – The Northern Pacific Railway (reporting mark NP) was completed in a ceremony at Gold Creek, Montana. Former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in an event attended by rail and political luminaries. 1888 – Isaac Peral's submarine is first tested. 1888 – The Great Herding (Spanish: El Gran Arreo) begins with thousands of sheep being herded from the Argentine outpost of Fortín Conesa to Santa Cruz near the Strait of Magellan. 1888 – In London, the body of Jack the Ripper's second murder victim, Annie Chapman, is found. 1888 – In England, the first six Football League matches are played. 1892 – The Pledge of Allegiance is first recited. 1900 – Galveston hurricane: A powerful hurricane hits Galveston, Texas killing about 8,000 people. 1905 – The 7.2 Mw  Calabria earthquake shakes southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing between 557 and 2,500 people. 1914 – World War I: Private Thomas Highgate becomes the first British soldier to be executed for desertion during the war. 1916 – In a bid to prove that women were capable of serving as military dispatch riders, Augusta and Adeline Van Buren arrive in Los Angeles, completing a 60-day, 5,500 mile cross-country trip on motorcycles. 1921 – Margaret Gorman, a 16-year-old, wins the Atlantic City Pageant's Golden Mermaid trophy; pageant officials later dubbed her the first Miss America. 1923 – Honda Point disaster: Nine US Navy destroyers run aground off the California coast. Seven are lost, and twenty-three sailors killed. 1925 – Rif War: Spanish forces including troops from the Foreign Legion under Colonel Francisco Franco landing at Al Hoceima, Morocco. 1926 – Germany is admitted to the League of Nations. 1930 – 3M begins marketing Scotch transparent tape. 1933 – Ghazi bin Faisal became King of Iraq. 1934 – Off the New Jersey coast, a fire aboard the passenger liner SS Morro Castle kills 137 people. 1935 – US Senator from Louisiana Huey Long is fatally shot in the Louisiana State Capitol building. 1941 – World War II: German forces begin the Siege of Leningrad. 1943 – World War II: The Armistice of Cassibile is proclaimed by radio. OB Süd immediately implements plans to disarm the Italian forces. 1944 – World War II: London is hit by a V-2 rocket for the first time. 1945 – The division of Korea begins when United States troops arrive to partition the southern part of Korea in response to Soviet troops occupying the northern part of the peninsula a month earlier. 1946 – The referendum abolishes the monarchy in Bulgaria. 1952 – The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation makes its first televised broadcast on the second escape of the Boyd Gang. 1954 – The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) is established. 1960 – In Huntsville, Alabama, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicates the Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA had already activated the facility on July 1). 1962 – Last run of the famous Pines Express over the Somerset and Dorset Railway line (UK) fittingly using the last steam locomotive built by British Railways, BR Standard Class 9F 92220 Evening Star. 1966 – The landmark American science fiction television series Star Trek premieres with its first-aired episode, "The Man Trap". 1970 – Trans International Airlines Flight 863 crashes during takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, killing all 11 aboard. 1971 – In Washington, D.C., the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is inaugurated, with the opening feature being the premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass. 1974 – Watergate scandal: US President Gerald Ford signs the pardon of Richard Nixon for any crimes Nixon may have committed while in office. 1975 – Gays in the military: US Air Force Tech Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, appears in his Air Force uniform on the cover of Time magazine with the headline "I Am A Homosexual". He is given a general discharge, later upgraded to honorable. 1978 – Black Friday, a massacre by soldiers against protesters in Tehran, results in 88 deaths, it marks the beginning of the end of the monarchy in Iran. 1986 – Nicholas Daniloff, a correspondent for the U.S. News & World Report, is indicted on charges of espionage by the Soviet Union. 1988 – Yellowstone National Park is closed for the first time in U.S. history due to ongoing fires. 1989 – Partnair Flight 394 dives into the North Sea, killing 55 people. The investigation showed that the tail of the plane vibrated loose in flight due to sub-standard connecting bolts that had been fraudulently sold as aircraft-grade. 1994 – USAir Flight 427, on approach to Pittsburgh International Airport, suddenly crashes in clear weather killing all 132 aboard, resulting in the most extensive aviation investigation in world history and altering manufacturing practices in the industry. 2004 – NASA's unmanned spacecraft Genesis crash-lands when its parachute fails to open. 2005 – Two Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft from EMERCOM land at a disaster aid staging area at Little Rock Air Force Base; the first time Russia has flown such a mission to North America. 2016 – NASA launches OSIRIS-REx, its first asteroid sample return mission. The probe will visit 101955 Bennu and is expected to return with samples in 2023. 2017 – Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announce the beginning of the Deir ez-Zor campaign, with the stated aim of eliminating the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from all areas north and east of the Euphrates.

[newstfionline]

A One-Eyed Québécois ‘Rambo’ Captures Imaginations in Canada

By Dan Bilefsky, NY Times, May 27, 2018

MONTREAL--It is a plot worthy of Hollywood: A courageous, one-eyed soldier single-handedly liberates a Dutch city during World War II, tricking a German officer into believing the city is surrounded.

Just in case there are any doubters, he rampages through the streets throwing grenades, firing his rifle and--in a final act of defiance--lights the Gestapo headquarters on fire.

Now more than 70 years later, the soldier, Léo Major, a one-time farmer from Montreal, is getting wide recognition in Canada after an hourlong documentary about his life was shown last month on Radio-Canada, the national broadcaster. The news media dubbed him “Quebec’s Rambo.”

He is also the subject of a feature film and a biography set to be published in February.

“What Léo did is larger-than-life and sounds like something even greater than an action movie. But until now, few Canadians knew who he was,” said Bruno DesRosiers, director of the documentary, “The One-Eyed Ghost.”

It probably didn’t help that Mr. Major was a reluctant war hero and hothead who had recklessly disobeyed orders, according to Luc Lépine, a military historian who is writing Mr. Major’s biography, “Léo Major: A Resilient Hero.”

Mr. Major, the first born of 13 children, was a restless 19-year-old when he volunteered to join the Canadian army in the summer of 1940. It was a time when the economic prospects for a young, poor French Québécois in Anglo-dominated Canada were severely circumscribed.

One of his sons, Denis, said his father, a skinny and scrappy boxer and aspiring plumber, was drawn by the prospect of liberating Europe from fascism as well as a quest for adventure.

In June 1944, after training in reconnaissance, Mr. Major, by then a sniper in the army, lost sight in his left eye. A German had thrown a grenade at him a few weeks after D-Day while his unit was helping to liberate the town of Carpiquet in Normandy, France. He wore a patch for the remainder of the war, his son recalled.

Later, during a mission on the German-Dutch border to rescue missing British soldiers, his truck went over a land mine, launching him 50 feet in the air and breaking his arm, three vertebrae and two ankles. Undeterred, he rejoined his unit after escaping from a hospital in Belgium to visit his girlfriend.

“‘I was a sniper. I still had one good eye and could still shoot,’” Denis Major recalled his father saying.

Mr. Major’s daring wartime actions were corroborated by Mr. Lépine, his biographer, using Canadian army records, Mr. Major’s own accounts and interviews with former members of his unit and his family.

During the Battle of Scheldt in the Netherlands in October 1944, the First Canadian Army was assigned the treacherous task of clearing Nazi troops to allow Allied supplies to get to the port of Antwerp. Mr. Major swam through canals, undetected, before killing two sentinels at a German army camp.

He then ambushed the commanding officer, who was sleeping. Unsatisfied with that, he single-handedly captured 93 German soldiers, also slumbering in a nearby barracks. Faced with so many captives on his own, he called in two Canadian tanks, and marched the men toward Canadian forces, according to Mr. Lépine, the military historian.

The documentary recounts Mr. Major’s role in the liberation of Zwolle, a picturesque Dutch city with a population of about 50,000 at the time.

After sunset on April 13, 1945, Mr. Major and another soldier, Willie Arsenault, sneaked into the German-held town on a reconnaissance mission, according to military records. It was just weeks before the war was to end. The area was swarming with German soldiers, and Mr. Arsenault, Mr. Major’s close friend, was killed by the Nazis. Incensed, Mr. Major gunned down the two Germans who had killed his friend.

He then walked into the German officer quarters where he persuaded a senior officer who spoke French that the village was surrounded by Canadian soldiers. He told him to tell his fellow officers to evacuate immediately--or face being captured when the town fell. As a sign of good faith, he let the German keep his gun.

Mr. Major then proceeded to charge through the town to simulate a siege from an encroaching army. With the aide of Dutch resistance officers, he captured more than 50 German soldiers. Other Germans fled, and the town was liberated.

“Major was a loose cannon, a skinny kid from the wrong side of the tracks who wasn’t afraid of anything,” Mr. Lépine said, explaining his sometimes foolhardy bravery.

Mr. Major stayed in the Canadian army and was awarded a medal for bravery during the Korean War after capturing a strategic hill despite being vastly outnumbered by Chinese forces.

He returned to Montreal at age 33, hampered by so many painful war injuries that he couldn’t work. He lived off a veteran’s pension. He passed his time listening to James Brown, sewing clothes and seldom talking about the past--or what he had done, his son said.

Mr. Major said he remained haunted from having killed teenagers as a sniper, and he broke down while watching World War II dramas. He died in Montreal in 2008 at age 87. A Dutch colonel attended his funeral.

His story would still perhaps be unknown, Mr. Major said, were it not for several residents of Zwolle who knocked on his door in Montreal in 1969 to ask him to participate in a ceremony commemorating the town’s liberation from the Nazis. It was only then that his wife and four children learned the truth about their father’s wartime actions.

Today, there is a street named after Mr. Major in Zwolle and an annual ceremony to honor him. Late last month a group of Dutch soccer fans in Zwolle unfurled a banner showing him as a young soldier with an eye patch. Those who knew Mr. Major said he wouldn’t have liked all the fuss.

“If he were American, there would’ve been a dozen films about him by now,” Denis Major said, adding: “My father was an ordinary man who did extraordinary things.”