Thursday, August 18, 2016

History: The Year is 1852

I've uploaded year 1852 to the TSP Wiki...

http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1852

Here are some one liners...


The Plaster Cast and the Lord of the Rings -- A lot of elements come together this year to produce the modern orthopedic cast.

The Book that Started the War between the States -- Uncle Tom's Cabin is a full on attempt to convince Christians that they are murdering a Black Jesus when they own slaves or let slaves be owned.

In Other News -- Hydraulics, Wells Fargo, and the Prussian education system comes to America.





The Plaster Cast and the Lord of the Rings

Broken bones are set and immobilized so that the body can heal the break. To this point, the various systems for keeping the bones aligned amount to rough splits wrapped in bandages and a lot of pain. For example, when Benedict Arnold broke his leg during the Battle of Saratoga, two halves of a wooden cylinder were strapped to his leg. It was a painful arrangement. By the time of the Napoleonic Wars, wet strips of cardboard were molded to an injured limb and then coated with a starchy paste that dried within 6 hours. This was considered a vast improvement since actual starch would take days to set. An improved system of wrapping the limb in cotton wool before applying the mixture has helped considerably and remains the basic beginning of an orthopedic cast. Finally, the Dutch Army medic, Antonius Mathysen, dips bandages in wet plaster of Paris and then wraps it around the limb. It hardens in minutes rather than hours. Thus we have the plaster cast that will remain the state of the art until the 1980s when it will be replaced by the fiberglass cast which has the virtues of being lighter, waterproof and a formidable weapon. [1] [2] [3] [4]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
The cotton wool mentioned earlier is commonly called Gamgee after the name of its English inventor, Dr. Sampson Gamgee. Its invention marks the time when modern gauze bandages come into use. Dr. Gamgee lived in Birmingham and died well before J.R.R. Tolkien took residence. As a child, Tolkien had heard the name Gamgee and the name tickled his imagination. He bestowed the name to one of the Hobbit characters in his stories as Gaffer Gamgee and the Gaffer's son, Samwise who figured so prominently as Frodo's companion in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tolkien admitted that he never knew who Dr. Gamgee was. It was a simple coincidence. However, after the Lord of the Rings was published, he received a letter from a Sam Gamgee. Tolkien replied with good humor and signed copies of his books. [5] [6]
"For some time I lived in fear of receiving a letter signed 'S. Gollum'." -- J. R. R. Tolkien, from his journal entry. [7]

The Book that Started the War between the States

Harriet Beecher Stowe has been publishing, Uncle Tom's Cabin in serial form in an abolitionist newspaper, but this year it comes out in book form. It sells 300,000 copies in 3 months. Will it really start a war? No. It will take the hard work of three failed Presidents and an army of fool politicians to turn a painful transition into an ugly, ugly war, but the moral impetus to end slavery in America comes from this book. It is the story of Uncle Tom, a black slave and house servant of a poor white family. When the family falls on hard times, they are forced to sell Tom. Uncle Tom suffers trials and tribulations, especially under Simon Legree who beats him and his fellow slaves sadistically. But Tom knows his Bible and he is a model Christian encouraging his fellows to believe in God and take Jesus into their hearts. He is given a chance to escape, but he refuses, "...the Lord's given me a work among these yer poor souls, and I'll stay with 'em and bear my cross with 'em till the end." The end is near. Simon Legree hates Tom, but Tom fights for Simon's soul. Finally, Simon beats Tom to the ground and he faints away. This is not the end of the book. It is only the end of Tom in this life. For the immortal soul of Simon Legree and perhaps the soul of every reader who sits and does nothing, something unforgivable has happened. [8] [2] [9] [10] [11]
"So this is the little lady who made this big war." --President Abraham Lincoln, according to the Stowe family tradition. [12] [13]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
One must read the book to feel the impact. Harriet Beecher Stowe is making a full on attempt at convincing Christians that they are murdering Jesus a second time... both those who actually killed him in body and those who stood by and did nothing. I am not a Christian myself, but the message is clear in the book. That is why I don't understand how the name "Uncle Tom" took on such a negative connotation in later years as if modeling one's self after Jesus is a bad thing. Tom loved his fellow man with all his heart and soul and body. I suspect that not every Christian is required to suffer unto death while turning the other cheek, but there is a basic goal of loving the sinner and hating the sin. I'll leave it to Christians to figure out how this turn of events came about, but I find it hard to believe that the Black-Lives-Matter people are any kind of loving Christian movement. If it hadn't been for Uncle Tom's Cabin, Barack Obama would be getting the Clintons their coffee rather than sitting in the Oval Office as President waiting for the coffee to be served. [14]
"A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee." --former President Bill Clinton remarking on presidential candidate Barak Obama. [15]

In Other News

  • The Grimsby Docks are using hydraulic power! A tower stores 300,000 gallons of water in a reservoir at a height 200 feet. It is used to power the machinery at the dock.[16] [17] [18]
  • Say hello to Wells Fargo and Company. The board of directors at American Express don't want to take a chance in California, so Mr. Wells and Mr. Fargo start their own rough and ready express company. It does a lot more than simply deliver mail. [19]
  • Horace Mann brings the Prussian system of education to Massachusetts. It's just on a trial basis. If anything goes wrong, we'll fix it... endlessly. [20]

This Year in Wikipedia

Year 1852, Wikipedia.

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