Dan's Almanac
July 2, 2024: Being an Almanac of Movies for the Day, A Lawyer's Almanac, Nixon's World, Carter's Cartoon World, Shakespeare's World, A Guide to the Presidents, and Miscellany and Opinions
Movies for the Day
Which of today’s three movies would you watch (July 2)?
A Picture of Us (1973) won an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Programming. The star is Sheri Lewis (shown below). A look at America. July 4 (1776) is Independence Day in the United States. ***
Operation Thunderbolt (1977) is a dramatization of Israel’s stunning rescue of hijacked passengers at Entebbe on July 4, 1976. ***
Broadway Bound (1992) is a TV movie based on Neil Simon’s semi-autobiographical play from 1986. Simon was born July 4, 1927. It is part of a comedy trilogy including Brighton Beach Memories (1986) and Biloxi Blues (1988). Broadway Bound won an Emmy for Supporting Actor, to Hume Cronyn. ***
A Lawyer’s Almanac
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was signed into law and published July 2, 1890. The first section states that “Every contract, combination, in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal.” It is the bedrock law for anti-trust in the United States. It was followed by the Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914 and the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914. The principal author of the act was Senator John Sherman (shown below). Sherman was a Republican Senator from Ohio. He also served as Secretary of the Treasury (1877-1881) and Secretary of State (1897-1898). He was born May 10, 1823, in Ohio. He died October 22, 1900, age 77.
Nixon’s World
Jerry Voorhis is remembered mostly as the man Richard Nixon defeated for a Congressional seat in 1946 to begin his political career. Voorhis was a Congressman from California from 1937 to 1947. Voorhis was a liberal Democrat; he was a Socialist prior to 1934 and a Democrat thereafter. He was a graduate of Yale University and Claremont College. The 1946 campaign began the labeling of Nixon as a red-baiter, even though it appears Voorhis was staunchly anti-Communist. Voorhis was born April 6, 1901, in Kansas, and died September 11, 1984, age 83. He wrote a number of books including Confessions of a Congressman, 1947, and The Strange Case of Richard Milhous Nixon, 1972. He is pictured below.
Carter’s Cartoon World
Bill Sanders was a controversial and syndicated political cartoonist who used his talents to attack authority and support civil rights and liberties. He was in the United States Army in the 1950s. He spent the major portion of his career with The Milwaukee Journal, from 1967 to 1991. He was born October 14, 1930, in Tennessee, and died February 27, 2021. He is pictured below in 2010.
Shakespeare’s World
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library is the official library of Oxford University in England. It owes its name to Thomas Bodley who restored the university library after it languished during the time of Edward VI (1547-1553). He erected a building, opened in 1602, and presented a number of books to it. There have been other noatable donors as well. During the 19th century the library greatly expanded. The library has been legally entitled to a copy of every book published in the United Kingdom, and thus has some very valuable books (see, for example, Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003). It is controlled by Oxford University. See Craster, H.H.E., History of the Bodleian Library, 1952. Below is a drawing of the library in 1566, drawn by John Bereblock and given to Queen Elizabeth I as part of a book when she first visited Oxford University.
A Guide to the Presidents
First Lady Anna Harrison was born January 25, 1775, in Walpack Township, Morristown, New Jersey, on a farm called Solitude. Her father was a Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. She married future President William Henry Harrison on November 22, 1795. They lived at Grouseland in Vincennes, Indiana. She was First lady for the short time that Harrison survived as President, March 4, 1841, to April 4, 1841. She never actually entered the White House because during that time she was at home sick. Anna Harrison died February 25, 1864, in North Bend, Ohio, at age 88. She is buried at William Henry Harrison Tomb State Memorial at Mount Nebo in North Bend, Ohio. She was the grandmother of President Benjamin Harrison. She is pictured below.