On this day in 1858, a man in New York City was granted a copyright on a song. While there was nothing unusual about a New York man writing a song, this case was a bit different. Most folks think this guy didn't write the song (it had probably been sung for ten years or more). Secondly, it seemed to refer to a non-existent flower. The name of the song was…."The Yellow Rose of Texas" and there was no yellow rose native to Texas. That's because the song was about a girl (er...a woman) not a flower.

The song was about a beautiful young slave named Emily Morgan. She was, in the words of those times, a mixed-race with rather fair complexion, a combination which in those pre-Civil War days was called a high yellow.

When General Santa Ana set out to crush Sam Houston and the Texas rebellion, he overran the plantation of James Morgan. He noticed Emily's stunning beauty and carried the young slave off with him to be his "companion" for the campaign. Santa Ana fancied himself a great lover and set up an opulent "love tent" each evening.

When Santa Ana was preparing for what he hoped would be the decisive battle, Emily sent another slave to warn Sam Houston. Then she kept Santa Ana busy through the evening and through much of the next morning. That gave Houston enough time to launch a surprise attack and decimate the Mexican Army in less than 20 minutes. Santa Ana was so surprised he ran from his tent wearing only his underwear.

For the next decade, the Yellow Rose of Texas became celebrated in song.

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
Ford announced the end of the Edsel program on Thursday, November 19, 1959.

1998: Google is founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two students at Stanford University.

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
Two hours later he was arrested for trying to get "dirty" pictures of his wife developed at the drug store.

1972: Mark Spitz becomes the first competitor to win seven medals at a single Olympic Games.

1957: Ford Motor Company introduces the Edsel.

1888: George Eastman registers the trademark "Kodak" and receives a patent for his camera that uses roll film.

301: San Marino is founded

The downing of Flight 007: 30 years later, a Cold War tragedy still seems surreal

1984: The space shuttle Discovery is launched on its maiden voyage

1967: Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice

 buzz wrote: 
Sounds like quite the cluster f*uck...Not only the delays but to have people going in and out of your space for such a long time...Sorry it has been such a comedy of errors, hope they get it finished soon.

 Coaxial wrote: 
who the f**k knows. there's progress and its getting close, but its one delay after another. we picked out 2 pieces of marble for the threshold of the shower and the window sill. the shower piece broke on a fault line yesterday. a very necessary part for the handheld sprayer is not included with the sprayer, but the company doesnt tell you that until you open the box and read the instructions. sh*t like that for 3 weeks. holiday weekend coming up and then i go back to work on tues. im hoping it will be done for christmas.

 buzz wrote: 
What is the estimated day of completion, EDC, now?

It was 3 weeks ago today that our f**king bathroom remodel began.
 
 
you know, the one that was supposed to take 2 weeks

1966: The Beatles perform their last concert before paying fans, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco

1963: Dr. Martin Luther King delivers his "I have a dream" speech in Washington, D.C.

1833: The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 receives Royal Assent, abolishing slavery in most of the British Empire

1789: William Herschel discovers a new Saturnian moon - Enceladus

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
Interesting (to me) factoid:

The technology to drill oil wells was developed for the brine industry.  The salty water contains valuable bromide and then someone figured out that the petroleum that came up with the water could be burned - saving them money on other fuel.  Blake stood the whole thing on its head and now the brine is the worthless waste.