Meme Scholar with Madness (PhD)

[EndtheMadnessNow]

July 24, 1851: The Window Tax in Britain was abolished. It was introduced in 1695 and was a progressive tax so that houses with fewer than 10 windows were subject to a flat rate house tax, but those with over 10 windows paid more. To reduce the burden, owners bricked up windows.


Shutter Disbelief


July 24, 1919: a white mob, many of them World War I veterans, began assaulting random Black Americans after a white woman was allegedly attacked in Washington, D.C. Weeks prior, newspapers had fanned hysteria with reports of a "serial attacker" of white women. The prelude to the 1921 Tulsa race massacre was the racial strife flaring across the United States known as the Red Summer of 1919.

Police arrested hundreds of Black men, and the Ku Klux Klan began night rides into the Black community, spreading terror. The NAACP warned the newspapers that they were “sowing the seeds of a race riot by their inflammatory headlines.” Their prediction came true when a white mob in Washington began beating anyone with Black skin, including children.

Historian Carter G. Woodson, who went on to found Black History Month, recalled seeing a Black man shot: “I heard him groaning in his struggle as I hurried away as fast as I could without running, expecting every moment to be lynched myself.”

When police refused to intervene, Black Americans fought back. About 375,000 had served in World War I and were willing to fight for their rights. President Woodrow Wilson ordered 2,000 federal troops to regain control.

By the time the violence ended, as many as 39 were dead and 150 injured. Two Black men went to prison for decades for crimes for which they were likely innocent. Before the year ended, similar violence against Black Americans would take place in more than two dozen cities, killing up to 237 Black men in Elaine, Arkansas alone. The violence became known as “Red Summer.”

Mississippi Today

Race Riots of 1919 - The Red Summer - Map journal.

The riots and killings that spanned over 60 cities were extensively documented by the press, which, along with the federal government, feared socialist and communist influence on the black civil rights movement of the time following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. They also feared foreign anarchists, who had bombed the homes and businesses of prominent figures and government leaders.

Early riots: April 13–July 14
Washington and Norfolk: July 19–23
Chicago riots: July 27–August 12
Omaha: September 28–29
Elaine massacre and Wilmington: September 30–November

Red Summer 1919



July 24, 1936: The GPO (General Post Office which handled telephones at that time) introduced TIM, the first automated speaking clock. It used the "Golden Voice" of London telephonist, Ethel Cain (later an actress), who was selected from a pool of 15,000 telephone operators who then worked for the GPO. The service was obtained by dialing the letters TIM (846) on a dial telephone, and hence the service was often colloquially referred to as "TIM". Her voice was used till 1963.

At the third stroke, it will be seven thirty-three - precisely.



Her only known screen role was the lead in the 1935 film, Vanity. Ethel died, aged 87, in 1996. Her Speaking Clock recording took less than a day to make. But rather than the fleeting celebrity reserved for the modern talent show winner, Ethel Cain achieved it for 26 years, nine months and 14 days. Precisely.

In 2011, the BBC reported: "The service still receives 30 million calls each year."



During the Cold War, The Speaking Clock Network was designed to be used in case of a nuclear attack and to be broadcast from RAF Strike Command at High Wycombe, Bucks. This was then sent to HANDEL Units at Regional Police Stations so automatic sirens could be sounded along with alerts to The Royal Observer Corps Posts and the Civil Defense.



July 24th: Did you feel it? Zyra, a newly discovered planet, passes the earth causing earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis.





July 24, 1951: Lynda Carter aka Wonder Woman aka Diana Prince was born in Phoenix, Arizona.



Oh God, No! WTF happened?! I guess that psychological warfare has claimed another heroine.




July 24, 1967: Problems, problems...




July 24, 1959: Nixon and Khrushchev...



The Kitchen Debate - transcript

Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev


U.S. Embassy, Moscow, Soviet Union

[Both men enter kitchen in the American exhibit.]

Nixon: I want to show you this kitchen. It is like those of our houses in California.

[Nixon points to dishwasher.]

Khrushchev: We have such things.

Nixon: This is our newest model. This is the kind which is built in thousands of units for direct installations in the houses. In America, we like to make life easier for women....

Khrushchev: Your capitalistic attitude toward women does not occur under Communism.

Nixon: I think that this attitude towards women is universal. What we want to do, is make life more easy for our housewives....

The historic humorous transcript continues at CIA Reading Room (4-page PDF)

Most everyone knows about the heated Kitchen Debate between Nixon and Khrushchev in Moscow that took place July 24, 1959. After the debate, Nixon did his duty and led Khrushchev to the exhibit where he downed 7 Pepsi cola's and provided the USSR with an alternative to Coca-Cola. However, less remembered is the fact that the Nixons were subjected to high levels of radiation at Spaso House during their visit to the USSR.


CIA newspaper clipping from WaPo (PDF) It's a crappy OCR scan (per usual)...you can read a very short NYT version here.

The Nixon radiation story was broken in 1976 by Rick Berke and Michael Gill of the Walt Whitman High School student newspaper.


Cold War 1963 to Cold War 2.0 2024:

JFK / Nikita Khrushchev: Space exploration/weapons/UFOs

Ronald Reagan / Mikhail Gorbachev: Space/Star Wars/UFOs & aliens

Trump / Putin: Space/weapons/UFOs/full spectrum dominance

Deep state / Russia, Russia, Russia / UFOs / exotic technology / Assassinations


It's like we've gone full circle after 61 years on a theme park roller coaster. Can we get off the ride now?


July 24, 1969: President Nixon welcomed the Apollo 11 astronauts back to Earth.




U.S. top 40 for July 24, 1971 coming in at #7: