Civil War Music Samples

Today in History

Today’s Highlights in History:

On Aug. 20, 1911, The New York Times sent a message around the world by regular commercial cable to see how long it would take; the dispatch, which said simply, “Times, New York: This message sent around world. Times,” was filed at 7 p.m. and returned to its point of origin 16½ minutes later.

On this date:

In 1833, Benjamin Harrison, 23rd president of the United States, was born in North Bend, Ohio.

In 1866, President Andrew Johnson formally declared the Civil War over, months after fighting had stopped.

In 1882, Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” had its premiere in Moscow.

In 1910, a series of forest fires swept through parts of Idaho, Montana and Washington, killing at least 85 people and burning some 3 million acres.

In 1920, pioneering American radio station 8MK in Detroit (later WWJ) began daily broadcasting.

In 1940, during World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill paid tribute to the Royal Air Force before the House of Commons, saying, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

In 1955, hundreds of people were killed in anti-French rioting in Morocco and Algeria.

In 1968, the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations began invading Czechoslovakia to crush the “Prague Spring” liberalization drive.

In 1977, the U.S. launched Voyager 2, an unmanned spacecraft carrying a 12-inch copper phonograph record containing greetings in dozens of languages, samples of music and sounds of nature.

In 1981, Michael Devine, a member of the Irish National Liberation Army, died after a 60-day hunger strike at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland; he was the tenth and last hunger-striker to die that year.

Ten years ago: Nikolay Soltys (NIK’-oh-ly SOHL’-tihs), a 27-year-old Ukrainian immigrant in Sacramento, Calif., fled after killing his wife and five other relatives. (Soltys was later captured, but ended up committing suicide in his jail cell.) Sir Fred Hoyle, the astronomer who coined the term “Big Bang” but never accepted that theory for the origin of the universe, died in Bournemouth, England, at age 86. Actress Kim Stanley died in Santa Fe, N.M., at age 76.

Five years ago: John Mark Karr, the suspect in the death of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey, sipped champagne and dined on fried king prawns in business class of Thai Airways as he was flown to the U.S. (Although he’d implicated himself in JonBenet’s slaying, Karr was later cleared.) Former Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal, who’d taken the iconic Iwo Jima flag-raising picture during World War II, died in Novato, Calif., at age 94. Tiger Woods won the PGA Championship, closing with a 4-under 68 for a 5-shot victory over Shaun Micheel and his 12th career major.

Live Picks: 08.11.2011 – 08.17.2011 | Live Picks | Barryfest

Austin, TX’s relative newcomers Zorch have quickly made a name for themselves through the perfect employment of quirky, spectacular behavior and a seemingly never-ending flow of creative output, the multiple avenues of which have painted this two-piece keyboard and drum combo as being never less than one step ahead of everyone trying to keep up. Though no strangers to unique and attention-grabbing marketing techniques, Zac Traeger and Shmu Chown totally outdid themselves last month when – in what is possibly the most direct attempt at a tail wagging the dog wagging the tail paradigm – they began releasing songs written for and about notable and influential music critics (the strangest being some sort of Civil War-esque salute song to Pitchfork Media’s own Union General, Ryan Schreiber).