In my last post "Church: What Is It?" I focused on on three thoughts...
1. In the Scriptural sense, "the Church" is not a building.
2. "The Church" is the body of Christ (the group of people who have been called out by Christ for service in His Kingdom).
3. The body of Christ gathers in many places and these gatherings can look different from gathering to gathering. These gatherings should not necessarily be constrained to any one particular place and time, but should happen regularly and must be real and fluid.
While all of this is true let me add some more to these thoughts.
There are many times throughout the week when I gather with members of the body of Christ. Sometimes I gather with them over something to eat/drink at a restaurant, coffee shop, pub, home, park, ect. When we gather, we hang out and talk and discuss life and often discuss what Jesus is doing in our lives. These are great times and this type of gathering allows my siblings (brothers and sisters in Christ) and I to engage in each others lives in meaningful ways and to uplift, encourage, and challenge each other along with holding one another accountable. While this type of gathering is good and necessary, is this a what a gathering of the church looks like?
In other words, while we know that the Church is the body of Christ, is every type of gathering (of the body of Christ) a Church gathering or are Church gatherings something totally different?
Friday, May 30, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Church: What is it?
If you were to walk up to most anybody and ask them what image comes to mind when you say the word "church" which of the following images do you think would come to their mind...
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
If you chose "Example 1", you have chosen wisely. Now I'll ask you another question. Which of these is a church? Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?? If you chose "Example 1", you have chosen poorly. Don't feel bad though, cause if you had chosen any of the other three you would have been incorrect as well. How could you have been wrong if you chose "Example 1"? The simple answer is that "a church" is not a building.
In the Scriptures, the Greek word ekklesia (or ecclesia) has been translated as the the English word "church". This word literally means a "gathering" of citizens, in an ancient Greek city-state, or a "called-out assembly"; usually defined as "gathering of the called-out ones" or “gathering of those summoned”.
When we read this word in the Scripture, it never refers to a place. It always refers to the body of Christ. If we, being those of us who are called out to serve Christ, are the body of Christ, then that means that "the church" is never a place. That means I am a part of the church.
If we look at the word "church" in this context, does it ever make sense to say any of the following:
- I'm going to church.
- What time does church start?
- I don't want to miss church.
- (Insert sentence using the word "church" to refer to a place <--- here)
Of course not! How do you go to church if you are already in the church? When does "church" stop??? How do you miss "church" if you are always in it?
The fact is that none of this "church = time and place" stuff would make sense to Jesus or the disciples. A wiser man once said to me that church is not about time and place, but church is about times and places.
One more question for you. Out of the pictures above, which of them shows a place where the church (the body of Christ) gathers? The correct answer is all of them. Whether it be at a building designated specifically for the gathering of believers in Wyandotte, a Starbucks in Dearborn, a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Royal Oak, or a pub in Taylor, the body of Christ gathers frequently at all of these places. These are all places where I have gone and had deep, meaningful experiences with Jesus and my fellow believers.
So the next time you sleep in on a Sunday morning there is no reason think that you have failed to meet regularly with your Christian brothers and sister, especially if you had coffee with a few of them on Tuesday, went to watch one of them play in a band at the pub on Thurday, and watched the hockey game with them on Saturday. If you're all fully devoted to Jesus, then it's highly likely that he was glorified during your times together.
On that note, I'm going to bed so I can meet with Aaron at Starbucks "Church" before I go meet up with Ryan at his house "Church". (<---sarcasm filled sentence went here)
Good day all.
In the Scriptures, the Greek word ekklesia (or ecclesia) has been translated as the the English word "church". This word literally means a "gathering" of citizens, in an ancient Greek city-state, or a "called-out assembly"; usually defined as "gathering of the called-out ones" or “gathering of those summoned”.
When we read this word in the Scripture, it never refers to a place. It always refers to the body of Christ. If we, being those of us who are called out to serve Christ, are the body of Christ, then that means that "the church" is never a place. That means I am a part of the church.
If we look at the word "church" in this context, does it ever make sense to say any of the following:
- I'm going to church.
- What time does church start?
- I don't want to miss church.
- (Insert sentence using the word "church" to refer to a place <--- here)
Of course not! How do you go to church if you are already in the church? When does "church" stop??? How do you miss "church" if you are always in it?
The fact is that none of this "church = time and place" stuff would make sense to Jesus or the disciples. A wiser man once said to me that church is not about time and place, but church is about times and places.
One more question for you. Out of the pictures above, which of them shows a place where the church (the body of Christ) gathers? The correct answer is all of them. Whether it be at a building designated specifically for the gathering of believers in Wyandotte, a Starbucks in Dearborn, a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Royal Oak, or a pub in Taylor, the body of Christ gathers frequently at all of these places. These are all places where I have gone and had deep, meaningful experiences with Jesus and my fellow believers.
So the next time you sleep in on a Sunday morning there is no reason think that you have failed to meet regularly with your Christian brothers and sister, especially if you had coffee with a few of them on Tuesday, went to watch one of them play in a band at the pub on Thurday, and watched the hockey game with them on Saturday. If you're all fully devoted to Jesus, then it's highly likely that he was glorified during your times together.
On that note, I'm going to bed so I can meet with Aaron at Starbucks "Church" before I go meet up with Ryan at his house "Church". (<---sarcasm filled sentence went here)
Good day all.
Friday, May 23, 2008
A Short Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
The wait is over and the process of review begins. I have many thoughts on what I watched last night but I won't share them all right now as that would mean spoiling it for a few others.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a good movie and more importantly a good Indy movie. It is not like any of the previous three films, although it's tone is very similar to the Last Crusade and it's believability and pace are closer to Temple of Doom. Other than that is an all new, action packed adventure film featuring our favorite archaeologist.
In this film, everything happens in 1957 rather than the 1930's. The way in which this aspect is handled is perfect, complete with music, cars, dialog, costumes, and situations that fit the era.
There are subtle references to other Indy films and the TV show, along with a few nods to some other movies Spielberg and Lucas have worked on which I thought was a nice touch.
The entire first half of the film is pure Indy gold and I have nothing bad to say about it. After that there are a few issues I had concerning the story and the inclusion of a certain "character" at the end, but for the most part I believe it was handled right.
I think one of the problems of the film was it's overly fast pace. This led to a lack of time for character development, thus not giving the fans much of a chance to fall in love with the characters they are supposed to love and hate those they are supposed to hate.
Another problem was the over use of computer generated imagery. All of that CGI comes as a "film culture shock" after watching the older Indy films with nearly 0% CGI.
I would like to go on but if I do I run the risk of spoiling the film for anyone stumbling onto this site who hasn't seen it.
My official ranking of the entire Indiana Jones series is as follows
1st place: Raiders of the Lost Ark AND The Last Crusade (Tied)
2nd place: The Temple of Doom AND The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Tied)
Raiders and Last Crusade have always been tied in heart.
As far as KotCS and Temple of Doom go, I think KotCS is at least as good as Temple of Doom was and will probably be moved up after a few more viewings. It's hard to beat an old favorite like Temple of Doom :)
Thanks for reading my brief but hopefully helpful review. If you have seen the movie and would like to comment, then feel free. BUT WAIT! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE...NO SPOILERS! I would like to keep this blog spoiler free concerning the new film until everyone has had a couple of months to go and see this film. Thanks.
Until next time...
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a good movie and more importantly a good Indy movie. It is not like any of the previous three films, although it's tone is very similar to the Last Crusade and it's believability and pace are closer to Temple of Doom. Other than that is an all new, action packed adventure film featuring our favorite archaeologist.
In this film, everything happens in 1957 rather than the 1930's. The way in which this aspect is handled is perfect, complete with music, cars, dialog, costumes, and situations that fit the era.
There are subtle references to other Indy films and the TV show, along with a few nods to some other movies Spielberg and Lucas have worked on which I thought was a nice touch.
The entire first half of the film is pure Indy gold and I have nothing bad to say about it. After that there are a few issues I had concerning the story and the inclusion of a certain "character" at the end, but for the most part I believe it was handled right.
I think one of the problems of the film was it's overly fast pace. This led to a lack of time for character development, thus not giving the fans much of a chance to fall in love with the characters they are supposed to love and hate those they are supposed to hate.
Another problem was the over use of computer generated imagery. All of that CGI comes as a "film culture shock" after watching the older Indy films with nearly 0% CGI.
I would like to go on but if I do I run the risk of spoiling the film for anyone stumbling onto this site who hasn't seen it.
My official ranking of the entire Indiana Jones series is as follows
1st place: Raiders of the Lost Ark AND The Last Crusade (Tied)
2nd place: The Temple of Doom AND The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Tied)
Raiders and Last Crusade have always been tied in heart.
As far as KotCS and Temple of Doom go, I think KotCS is at least as good as Temple of Doom was and will probably be moved up after a few more viewings. It's hard to beat an old favorite like Temple of Doom :)
Thanks for reading my brief but hopefully helpful review. If you have seen the movie and would like to comment, then feel free. BUT WAIT! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE...NO SPOILERS! I would like to keep this blog spoiler free concerning the new film until everyone has had a couple of months to go and see this film. Thanks.
Until next time...
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
The Artifacts of Indiana Jones
Henry Jones, Jr. is a professor of Archeology at Marshall College in Connecticut. As an archaeologist himself, Henry, who goes by the name "Indiana Jones", has gone on many adventures through exotic lands in attempts to recover ancient artifacts of historical significance. In this blog post, we will take a look at a few of the more well known artifacts Indy has chased after, along with a few that are not so well known. We will start with two of the pieces he chases in the film Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom.
The Peacocks Eye
In Indy lore, the Peacock's Eye was a diamond once supposedly owned by Alexander the Great. He had it mounted, along with another large diamond, as the two eyes to a large golden peacock statue. After Alexander's death, one diamond was taken by Indian princes who cut it apart, while the other diamond was lost to history, though it had been rediscovered and clues were left to its whereabouts.
The real Peacock's Eye is also known as "The Koh-i-Noor Diamond." In 1600, this diamond belonged to the Mughal Dynasty. It was believed that whomever owned this gem would rule the world. It was set into the Peacock Throne at the Palace of Delhi (in India), as the peacock's eye.
When Persia's Nadir Shah invaded India, in 1739, he tried to find the prized diamond, but it was no longer in the eye of the peacock. It seems that Mohammed Shah, the defeated Mongol ruler, had removed it and hidden it in his turban. At a dinner, as was an ancient Asian custom, the Shah asked Mohammed to trade turbans. Of course, Mohammed Shah was destined to honor this request as per custom. When Nadir Shah removed the turban, before retiring to bed, the Koh-i-Noor (meaning "Mountain of Light") tumbled to the floor. It was thus named because of the large, fiery stars it made in the candlelight.
This stone then made its way to England in 1850. It was presented to Queen Victoria. However, by this time, the gem had a reputation of bringing misfortune to all its male owners. Queen Victoria knew of the diamond's history and made a strong request in her will warning that the crown should only be worn by the male ruler's queens. The Koh-i-Noor was set only in the crowns of the Queen Alexandria, Queen Mary and finally in the crown of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother in 1936.
The Sankara Stones
In Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the Sankara Stones were five stones given to Sankara by the Hindu god Shiva, along with the message that he should go forth and battle evil with them. One of these stones ended up in a small village called Mayapore located on the outskirts of India. This particular stone, Shiva Linga, was eventually stolen by the evil Thuggee cult.
In reality, the Sankara Stones are a type of Lingam (also, Linga, Shiva linga Sanskrit लिङ्गं liṅgaṃ, meaning "mark," or "sign,"), and are a symbol for the worship of the Hindu god Shiva. While its origins are debated, the use of this symbol for worship is an ancient tradition in India extending back at least to the early Indus Valley civilization.
The Chachapoyan Fertility Idol
The Chachapoyan Fertility Idol was a solid gold statue, six inches tall, representing the Chachapoyan goddess of fertility. The idol was hidden by the tribe's priests in a temple deep within the jungles of Peru. Braving the temple's deadly traps to stare into the idol's eyes became a rite of passage for young Chachapoyan warriors.
The fictional idol is steeped in reality as many groups and tribes worship inanimate objects in the hopes that the deity these objects represent will grant blessings to those who will worship it.
The Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant is described in the Bible as a sacred container, wherein rested the Tablets of stone containing the Ten Commandments as well as other sacred Israelite pieces. According to the Biblical account, the Ark was built at the command of God, in accord with Moses' prophetic vision on Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:9-10). God communicated with Moses "from between the two cherubim" on the Ark's cover (Exodus 25:22). The Ark and its sanctuary were "the beauty of Israel" (Lamentations 2:1). Rashi and some Midrashim suggest that there were two arks - a temporary one made by Moses, and a later one made by Bezalel.
The Biblical account relates that during the trip of the Israelites, the Ark was carried by the priests ~2,000 cubits (Numbers 35:5; Joshua 4:5) in advance of the people and their army or host (Num. 4:5-6; 10:33-36; Psalms 68:1; 132:8). When the Ark was borne by priests into the bed of the Jordan, the river was separated, opening a pathway for the whole of the host to pass over (Josh. 3:15-16; 4:7-18). The Ark was borne in a seven-day procession around the wall of Jericho by seven priests sounding seven trumpets of rams' horns, the city taken with a shout (Josh. 6:4-20). When carried, the Ark was always wrapped in a veil, in tachash skins (the identity of this animal is uncertain), and a blue cloth, and was carefully concealed, even from the eyes of the Levites who carried it.
When Israel's King Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter, he caused her to dwell in a house outside Zion, as Zion was consecrated because of its containing the Ark (2 Chron. 8:11). King Josiah had the Ark put into the Temple (2 Chron. 35:3), whence it appears to have again been removed by one of his successors.
When the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and plundered the temple, the Ark entered the domain of legend. Many historians suppose that the ark was probably taken away by Nebuchadnezzar and destroyed. The absence of the ark from the Second Temple was acknowledged. The Ark is finally re-established to the Temple in vision: "Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the Ark of his Covenant" (Rev. 11:19 NIV).
The Cross of Coranado
The Cross of Coronado was a jewel-encrusted golden crucifix with a chain; named for Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado. It is believed to contain a piece of the cross Jesus was crucified on.
It was given to Coronado in 1520 by the Spanish conquistador, Hernando Cortez. At some point it was buried alongside other artifacts in a cave in what would later become Utah.
The Holy Grail
According to Christian mythology, the Holy Grail was the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper, said to possess miraculous powers. The connection of Joseph of Arimathea with the Grail legend dates from Robert de Boron's Joseph d'Arimathie (late 12th century) in which Joseph receives the Grail from an apparition of Jesus and sends it with his followers to Great Britain; building upon this theme, later writers recounted how Joseph used the Grail to catch Christ's blood while interring him and that in Britain he founded a line of guardians to keep it safe. The quest for the Holy Grail makes up an important segment of the Arthurian cycle, appearing first in works by Chrétien de Troyes. The legend may combine Christian lore with a Celtic myth of a cauldron endowed with special powers.
Belief in the Grail and interest in its potential whereabouts has never ceased. Ownership has been attributed to various groups (including the Knights Templar, probably because they were at the peak of their influence around the time that Grail stories started circulating in the 12th and 13th centuries).
There are cups claimed to be the Grail in several churches, for instance the Saint Mary of Valencia Cathedral, which contains an artifact, the Holy Chalice, supposedly taken by Saint Peter to Rome in the first century, and then to Huesca in Spain by Saint Lawrence in the 3rd century.
As we close this out let me thank Wikipedia, theraider.net, and The Indiana Jones Wiki for help in my research. I leave you now preparing to see the next adventure of Henry Walton Jones, Jr. in about 7 hours. The gaps will be filled in later. Until then, follow me, I know the way...HeYah!
The Peacocks Eye
In Indy lore, the Peacock's Eye was a diamond once supposedly owned by Alexander the Great. He had it mounted, along with another large diamond, as the two eyes to a large golden peacock statue. After Alexander's death, one diamond was taken by Indian princes who cut it apart, while the other diamond was lost to history, though it had been rediscovered and clues were left to its whereabouts.The real Peacock's Eye is also known as "The Koh-i-Noor Diamond." In 1600, this diamond belonged to the Mughal Dynasty. It was believed that whomever owned this gem would rule the world. It was set into the Peacock Throne at the Palace of Delhi (in India), as the peacock's eye.
When Persia's Nadir Shah invaded India, in 1739, he tried to find the prized diamond, but it was no longer in the eye of the peacock. It seems that Mohammed Shah, the defeated Mongol ruler, had removed it and hidden it in his turban. At a dinner, as was an ancient Asian custom, the Shah asked Mohammed to trade turbans. Of course, Mohammed Shah was destined to honor this request as per custom. When Nadir Shah removed the turban, before retiring to bed, the Koh-i-Noor (meaning "Mountain of Light") tumbled to the floor. It was thus named because of the large, fiery stars it made in the candlelight.
This stone then made its way to England in 1850. It was presented to Queen Victoria. However, by this time, the gem had a reputation of bringing misfortune to all its male owners. Queen Victoria knew of the diamond's history and made a strong request in her will warning that the crown should only be worn by the male ruler's queens. The Koh-i-Noor was set only in the crowns of the Queen Alexandria, Queen Mary and finally in the crown of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother in 1936.
The Sankara Stones
In Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the Sankara Stones were five stones given to Sankara by the Hindu god Shiva, along with the message that he should go forth and battle evil with them. One of these stones ended up in a small village called Mayapore located on the outskirts of India. This particular stone, Shiva Linga, was eventually stolen by the evil Thuggee cult.In reality, the Sankara Stones are a type of Lingam (also, Linga, Shiva linga Sanskrit लिङ्गं liṅgaṃ, meaning "mark," or "sign,"), and are a symbol for the worship of the Hindu god Shiva. While its origins are debated, the use of this symbol for worship is an ancient tradition in India extending back at least to the early Indus Valley civilization.
The Chachapoyan Fertility Idol
The Chachapoyan Fertility Idol was a solid gold statue, six inches tall, representing the Chachapoyan goddess of fertility. The idol was hidden by the tribe's priests in a temple deep within the jungles of Peru. Braving the temple's deadly traps to stare into the idol's eyes became a rite of passage for young Chachapoyan warriors.The fictional idol is steeped in reality as many groups and tribes worship inanimate objects in the hopes that the deity these objects represent will grant blessings to those who will worship it.
The Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant is described in the Bible as a sacred container, wherein rested the Tablets of stone containing the Ten Commandments as well as other sacred Israelite pieces. According to the Biblical account, the Ark was built at the command of God, in accord with Moses' prophetic vision on Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:9-10). God communicated with Moses "from between the two cherubim" on the Ark's cover (Exodus 25:22). The Ark and its sanctuary were "the beauty of Israel" (Lamentations 2:1). Rashi and some Midrashim suggest that there were two arks - a temporary one made by Moses, and a later one made by Bezalel.The Biblical account relates that during the trip of the Israelites, the Ark was carried by the priests ~2,000 cubits (Numbers 35:5; Joshua 4:5) in advance of the people and their army or host (Num. 4:5-6; 10:33-36; Psalms 68:1; 132:8). When the Ark was borne by priests into the bed of the Jordan, the river was separated, opening a pathway for the whole of the host to pass over (Josh. 3:15-16; 4:7-18). The Ark was borne in a seven-day procession around the wall of Jericho by seven priests sounding seven trumpets of rams' horns, the city taken with a shout (Josh. 6:4-20). When carried, the Ark was always wrapped in a veil, in tachash skins (the identity of this animal is uncertain), and a blue cloth, and was carefully concealed, even from the eyes of the Levites who carried it.
When Israel's King Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter, he caused her to dwell in a house outside Zion, as Zion was consecrated because of its containing the Ark (2 Chron. 8:11). King Josiah had the Ark put into the Temple (2 Chron. 35:3), whence it appears to have again been removed by one of his successors.
When the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and plundered the temple, the Ark entered the domain of legend. Many historians suppose that the ark was probably taken away by Nebuchadnezzar and destroyed. The absence of the ark from the Second Temple was acknowledged. The Ark is finally re-established to the Temple in vision: "Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the Ark of his Covenant" (Rev. 11:19 NIV).
The Cross of Coranado
The Cross of Coronado was a jewel-encrusted golden crucifix with a chain; named for Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado. It is believed to contain a piece of the cross Jesus was crucified on.It was given to Coronado in 1520 by the Spanish conquistador, Hernando Cortez. At some point it was buried alongside other artifacts in a cave in what would later become Utah.
The Holy Grail
According to Christian mythology, the Holy Grail was the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper, said to possess miraculous powers. The connection of Joseph of Arimathea with the Grail legend dates from Robert de Boron's Joseph d'Arimathie (late 12th century) in which Joseph receives the Grail from an apparition of Jesus and sends it with his followers to Great Britain; building upon this theme, later writers recounted how Joseph used the Grail to catch Christ's blood while interring him and that in Britain he founded a line of guardians to keep it safe. The quest for the Holy Grail makes up an important segment of the Arthurian cycle, appearing first in works by Chrétien de Troyes. The legend may combine Christian lore with a Celtic myth of a cauldron endowed with special powers.Belief in the Grail and interest in its potential whereabouts has never ceased. Ownership has been attributed to various groups (including the Knights Templar, probably because they were at the peak of their influence around the time that Grail stories started circulating in the 12th and 13th centuries).
There are cups claimed to be the Grail in several churches, for instance the Saint Mary of Valencia Cathedral, which contains an artifact, the Holy Chalice, supposedly taken by Saint Peter to Rome in the first century, and then to Huesca in Spain by Saint Lawrence in the 3rd century.
As we close this out let me thank Wikipedia, theraider.net, and The Indiana Jones Wiki for help in my research. I leave you now preparing to see the next adventure of Henry Walton Jones, Jr. in about 7 hours. The gaps will be filled in later. Until then, follow me, I know the way...HeYah!
The World of Indiana Jones: 1938
In just 22 hours and 50 minutes (it's 1:10 AM now) I will be sitting in a theater, getting ready to enjoy the newest Indiana Jones film. The last Indy film to hit the big screen was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989. The film took place in 1938 and was set primarily in Italy, Austria, Germany, and the Middle East. Let's take a look at the major world events from 1938, when FDR still was still President, stamps were still $0.03, the world was introduced to ball point pens, Superman, and Buggs Bunny, and Adolf Hitler was TIME's Man of the Year.
January
* January 1 - The Merrie Melodies cartoon short Daffy Duck and Egghead is released.
* January 3 - The March of Dimes is established by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
* January 27 - The Niagara Bridge at Niagara Falls, New York collapses due to an ice jam.
February
* February 4 - Adolf Hitler creates the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (High Command of the Armed Forces), giving him direct control of the German military, and sacks political and military leaders considered unsympathetic to his philosophy or policies.
* February 12 - Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg of Austria meets Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden and, under threat of invasion, is forced to yield to German demands for greater Nazi participation in the Austrian government.
* February 24 - A nylon bristle toothbrush becomes the first commercial product to be made with nylon yarn.
March
* March 3 - Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.
* March 12 - Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria; annexation declared the following day.
April
* April 28 - The towns of Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott in Massachusetts are disincorporated to make way for the Quabbin Reservoir.
May
* May 14 - Chile withdraws from the League of Nations
* May 17 - Information Please debuts on NBC Radio.
* May 20 - Czechoslovakia orders a partial mobilization of its armed forces along the German border.
June
* June - Action Comics issue #1 is published, presenting the first appearance of Superman, considered the first superhero.
* June 19 - Italy beat Hungary 4-2 to win the 1938 World Cup (Soccer)
* June 22 - Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis knocks out Max Schmeling in the first round of their rematch (from 1936) at Yankee Stadium in New York City.
* June 24 - A 450 metric ton meteorite strikes the earth in an empty field near Chicora, Pennsylvania.
* June 25 - Dr. Douglas Hyde is elected the first President of Ireland.
July
* July 3 - The last reunion of the Blue and Gray commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
* July 14 - Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91 hour airplane flight around the world.
* July 18 - Wrong Way Corrigan takes off from New York, ostensibly heading for California. He lands in Ireland instead.
August
* August 6 - The Looney Tunes animated short Porky & Daffy is released.
* August 16 - Robert Johnson, father of Blues music (b. 1911)
* August 18 - The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting the United States with Canada, is dedicated by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
September
* September 21 - A large hurricane (the New England Hurricane of 1938) strikes Long Island and southern New England, killing over 300 along the Rhode Island shoreline and 600 altogether.
* September 30 - Neville Chamberlain returns to Britain from meeting with Adolf Hitler and declares "Peace In Our Time"
October
* October 2 - Tiberias massacre: Arabs murder 20 Jews.
* October 10 - The Blue Water Bridge opens, connecting Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario
* October 16 - Winston Churchill, in a broadcast address to the United States, condemns the Munich Agreement as a defeat and calls upon America and western Europe to prepare for armed resistance against Hitler.
* October 24 - Minimum wage established by law in the United States
* October 27 - Du Pont announced a name for its new synthetic yarn: "nylon".
* October 30 - Orson Welles's radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds is broadcast, causing panic in various parts of the United States.
* October 31 - Great Depression: In an effort to try restore investor confidence, the New York Stock Exchange unveils a fifteen-point program aimed to upgrade protection for the investing public.
November
* November 9 - Holocaust: Kristallnacht begins - In Germany, the "night of broken glass" begins as Nazi troops and sympathizers loot and burn Jewish businesses (the all night affair saw 7,500 Jewish businesses destroyed, 267 synagogues burned, 91 Jews killed, and at least 25,000 Jewish men arrested).
* November 10 - The founder of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, dies.
* November 13- The people of New York City held a fruit tasting contest held by managers.
December
* December 16 - MGM releases its successful film version of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. The film was originally intended to star Lionel Barrymore as Ebenezer Scrooge, but Barrymore, ill with arthritis, is replaced by Reginald Owen.
* December 23 - A Coelacanth, a fish thought to have been extinct, is caught off the coast of South Africa near Chalumna River.
* December 27 - 87 killed, a construction worker of domitory site hit avalanche by heavy massivie snow at Kurobe, Japan.
Undated
* The first cartoon to feature a prototypical Bugs Bunny, Porky's Hare Hunt, is released.
* The Schomburgk's Deer becames extinct by this date.
* Siam is renamed Thailand.
Notable Births
* January 8 - Bob Eubanks, American game show host
* January 21 - Wolfman Jack, American disc-jockey and actor (d. 1995)
* March 7 - Janet Guthrie, American race car driver
* March 18 - Charley Pride, American baseball player and musician
* April 8 - Kofi Annan, Ghanaian Secretary General of the United Nations
* April 11 - Michael Deaver, Reagan's Deputy White House Chief of Staff (d. 2007)
* April 29 - Larry Niven, American author
* May 31 - Johnny PayCheck, American singer (d. 2003)
* June 19 - Wahoo McDaniel, American football player and professional wrestler (d. 2002)
* July 20 - Diana Rigg, English actress, Bond girl
* July 29 - Peter Jennings, Canadian-born television news reporter (d. 2005)
* October 17 - Evel Knievel, American motorcycle daredevil (d. 2007)
* October 20 - Iain Macmillan, Abbey Road photographer (d. 2006)
* October 22 - Christopher Lloyd, American actor
* November 17 - Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian folk singer
* November 19 - Ted Turner, modern entrepreneur
* November 26 - Porter J. Goss, American politician and Central Intelligence Agency director
* December 5 - J. J. Cale, American singer
* December 29 - Jon Voight, American actor
Sports in 1938
World Series: New York Yankees defeat the Chicago Cubs, 4-0.
NFL: New York Giants 23-17 Green Bay Packers for the NFL title.
Now we come to a slight pause. I will not be looking at anything involving the new Indiana Jones film until after I have seen the movie. Tonight, before I go to the theater, I will be posting a look back at some of the major artifacts that Indy has gone after. This will include the Ark of the Covenant, the Shankara Stones, and the Holy Grail. After I have seen the film, I will be posting a look back at the year 1957 and a look at the legend surrounding the Crystal Skulls. Until then...
January
* January 1 - The Merrie Melodies cartoon short Daffy Duck and Egghead is released.
* January 3 - The March of Dimes is established by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
* January 27 - The Niagara Bridge at Niagara Falls, New York collapses due to an ice jam.
February
* February 4 - Adolf Hitler creates the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (High Command of the Armed Forces), giving him direct control of the German military, and sacks political and military leaders considered unsympathetic to his philosophy or policies.
* February 12 - Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg of Austria meets Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden and, under threat of invasion, is forced to yield to German demands for greater Nazi participation in the Austrian government.
* February 24 - A nylon bristle toothbrush becomes the first commercial product to be made with nylon yarn.
March
* March 3 - Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.
* March 12 - Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria; annexation declared the following day.
April
* April 28 - The towns of Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott in Massachusetts are disincorporated to make way for the Quabbin Reservoir.
May
* May 14 - Chile withdraws from the League of Nations
* May 17 - Information Please debuts on NBC Radio.
* May 20 - Czechoslovakia orders a partial mobilization of its armed forces along the German border.
June
* June - Action Comics issue #1 is published, presenting the first appearance of Superman, considered the first superhero.
* June 19 - Italy beat Hungary 4-2 to win the 1938 World Cup (Soccer)
* June 22 - Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis knocks out Max Schmeling in the first round of their rematch (from 1936) at Yankee Stadium in New York City.
* June 24 - A 450 metric ton meteorite strikes the earth in an empty field near Chicora, Pennsylvania.
* June 25 - Dr. Douglas Hyde is elected the first President of Ireland.
July
* July 3 - The last reunion of the Blue and Gray commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
* July 14 - Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91 hour airplane flight around the world.
* July 18 - Wrong Way Corrigan takes off from New York, ostensibly heading for California. He lands in Ireland instead.
August
* August 6 - The Looney Tunes animated short Porky & Daffy is released.
* August 16 - Robert Johnson, father of Blues music (b. 1911)
* August 18 - The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting the United States with Canada, is dedicated by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
September
* September 21 - A large hurricane (the New England Hurricane of 1938) strikes Long Island and southern New England, killing over 300 along the Rhode Island shoreline and 600 altogether.
* September 30 - Neville Chamberlain returns to Britain from meeting with Adolf Hitler and declares "Peace In Our Time"
October
* October 2 - Tiberias massacre: Arabs murder 20 Jews.
* October 10 - The Blue Water Bridge opens, connecting Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario
* October 16 - Winston Churchill, in a broadcast address to the United States, condemns the Munich Agreement as a defeat and calls upon America and western Europe to prepare for armed resistance against Hitler.
* October 24 - Minimum wage established by law in the United States
* October 27 - Du Pont announced a name for its new synthetic yarn: "nylon".
* October 30 - Orson Welles's radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds is broadcast, causing panic in various parts of the United States.
* October 31 - Great Depression: In an effort to try restore investor confidence, the New York Stock Exchange unveils a fifteen-point program aimed to upgrade protection for the investing public.
November
* November 9 - Holocaust: Kristallnacht begins - In Germany, the "night of broken glass" begins as Nazi troops and sympathizers loot and burn Jewish businesses (the all night affair saw 7,500 Jewish businesses destroyed, 267 synagogues burned, 91 Jews killed, and at least 25,000 Jewish men arrested).
* November 10 - The founder of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, dies.
* November 13- The people of New York City held a fruit tasting contest held by managers.
December
* December 16 - MGM releases its successful film version of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. The film was originally intended to star Lionel Barrymore as Ebenezer Scrooge, but Barrymore, ill with arthritis, is replaced by Reginald Owen.
* December 23 - A Coelacanth, a fish thought to have been extinct, is caught off the coast of South Africa near Chalumna River.
* December 27 - 87 killed, a construction worker of domitory site hit avalanche by heavy massivie snow at Kurobe, Japan.
Undated
* The first cartoon to feature a prototypical Bugs Bunny, Porky's Hare Hunt, is released.
* The Schomburgk's Deer becames extinct by this date.
* Siam is renamed Thailand.
Notable Births
* January 8 - Bob Eubanks, American game show host
* January 21 - Wolfman Jack, American disc-jockey and actor (d. 1995)
* March 7 - Janet Guthrie, American race car driver
* March 18 - Charley Pride, American baseball player and musician
* April 8 - Kofi Annan, Ghanaian Secretary General of the United Nations
* April 11 - Michael Deaver, Reagan's Deputy White House Chief of Staff (d. 2007)
* April 29 - Larry Niven, American author
* May 31 - Johnny PayCheck, American singer (d. 2003)
* June 19 - Wahoo McDaniel, American football player and professional wrestler (d. 2002)
* July 20 - Diana Rigg, English actress, Bond girl
* July 29 - Peter Jennings, Canadian-born television news reporter (d. 2005)
* October 17 - Evel Knievel, American motorcycle daredevil (d. 2007)
* October 20 - Iain Macmillan, Abbey Road photographer (d. 2006)
* October 22 - Christopher Lloyd, American actor
* November 17 - Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian folk singer
* November 19 - Ted Turner, modern entrepreneur
* November 26 - Porter J. Goss, American politician and Central Intelligence Agency director
* December 5 - J. J. Cale, American singer
* December 29 - Jon Voight, American actor
Sports in 1938
World Series: New York Yankees defeat the Chicago Cubs, 4-0.
NFL: New York Giants 23-17 Green Bay Packers for the NFL title.
Now we come to a slight pause. I will not be looking at anything involving the new Indiana Jones film until after I have seen the movie. Tonight, before I go to the theater, I will be posting a look back at some of the major artifacts that Indy has gone after. This will include the Ark of the Covenant, the Shankara Stones, and the Holy Grail. After I have seen the film, I will be posting a look back at the year 1957 and a look at the legend surrounding the Crystal Skulls. Until then...
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
The World of Indiana Jones: 1936
Raiders of the Lost Ark was the first film released in the Indy movie series and takes place during 1936. The largest majority of the film takes place in Egypt.
The World of Indiana Jones did not change much from 1935 to 1936 as much of the political unrest that would lead into the start of World War II was continuing to build. Let's have a look at the major historical events that Indy would have read about in the Papers in 1936, the year when Roosevelt was elected to his second term, a first class stamp still cost $0.03, and the world was introduced to electric guitars, helicopters, and the artificial heart.
January
* January 4 - England's first ever win over the All Blacks in Rugby Union, in particular the 2 famous tries by "The Prince" HH Alexander Obolensky.
* January 15 - The first building to be completely covered in glass is completed in Toledo, Ohio, for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company.
* January 20 - King George V of the United Kingdom dies. His eldest son succeeds the throne becoming Edward VIII.
* January 31 - The Green Hornet radio show debuts on WXYZ Radio in Detroit, MI
February
* February 4 - Radium E. becomes the first radioactive element to be made synthetically.
* February 6 - The IV Olympic Winter Games opens in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
* February 17 The first superhero to wear a skin-tight costume and mask, The Phantom, makes his first appearance in US newspapers
* February 29 - Emperor Hirohito orders the Japanese army to arrest 123 conspirators in Tokyo government offices - 19 of them are executed in July.
March
* March 1 - Construction of Hoover Dam is completed.
* March 7 - In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, Nazi Germany reoccupies the Rhineland.
* March 9 - Pro-democratic militarist Keisuke Okada stepped down as Prime Minister of Japan and was replaced by radical militarist Koki Hirota.
* March 17-18, "St. Patrick's Day Flood" - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, suffered the worst flooding in its history.
April
* April 3 - Bruno Richard Hauptmann, convicted of kidnapping and killing Charles Lindbergh III, is executed in New Jersey.
* April 5 - A tornado hits Tupelo, Mississippi killing 216 and injuring over 700. It is the 4th deadliest tornado in U.S. history.
* April 6 - Two tornadoes strike Gainesville, Georgia. The smaller tornado hit north Gainsville and the stronger tornado hit west side of town. The two paths eventually met but not the tornadoes. 203 die and 1600 are injured in the 5th deadliest tornado in U.S. history.
May
* May 5 - The Italian forces finally occupied Addis Ababa.
* May 7 - Italy annexes Ethiopia.
* May 9 - Italian East Africa is formed from the Italian territories of Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Italian Somaliland.
* May 12 - The Santa Fe railroad in the United States inaugurates the all-Pullman Super Chief passenger train between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California.
* May 25 - The Remington Rand strike of 1936–1937 begins, spawning the notorious "Mohawk Valley formula," a corporate plan for strikebreaking.
* May 27 - British luxury liner RMS Queen Mary leaves Southampton on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic
June
* June - A major heat wave strikes North America; high temperature records are set and thousands die.
* June 19 - Max Schmeling knocks out Joe Louis in the twelfth round of their heavyweight boxing match at Yankee Stadium in New York City.
* June 30 - Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone with the Wind is first published.
July
* July 13 to 14 - Peak of July 1936 heat wave. The states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana all set new state records for high temperature. At Mio, in northern Michigan it soars to 113°F (45°C)
* July 18 - Spain's civil war begins when nationalist troops under the command of General Francisco Franco rise against the legal republic.
August
* August 1 - 1936 Summer Olympics open in Berlin, Germany, and mark the first live television coverage of a sports event in world history.
* August 3 - African-American athlete Jesse Owens wins the 100-meter dash at the Berlin Olympics.
* August 14 - Rainey Bethea is hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky, in the last public execution in the United States
September
* September 6 - The last surviving Tasmanian Tiger dies in Hobart Zoo in Tasmania.
October
* October 11 - Earl Bascom, rodeo cowboy and artist, designs and builds Mississippi's first permanent rodeo arena at Columbia, Marion County, Mississippi.
November
* November 3 - U.S. presidential election: Franklin D. Roosevelt is reelected to a second term in a landslide victory over Alf Landon.
* November 23 - The first edition of Life is published.
* November 25 - Abraham Lincoln Brigade sails from New York City on its way to Spanish Civil War
* November 26 - The Anti-Comintern Pact is signed by Germany and Japan.
December
* December 10-11 - King Edward VIII signs an instrument of abdication at Fort Belvedere in the presence of his three brothers, The Duke of York, The Duke of Gloucester and The Duke of Kent.
* December 11
o The British Parliament passes His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 on behalf of the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
o The King performs his last act as sovereign by giving royal assent to the Act.
o Prince Albert, Duke of York, becomes King, ruling as King George VI
o The abdicated King Edward VIII, now HRH The Prince Edward, makes a broadcast to the nation explaining his decision to abdicate. He leaves the country for Austria
* December 12 - Irish Free State passes the External Relations Act to legislate for Edward VIII's abdication in that realm.
* December 12 - Xi'an Incident: The Generalissimo of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek was kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang.
* December 29 - The United Auto Workers begins the Flint Sit-Down Strike in Flint, Michigan.
Notable Births:
* January 2 - Roger Miller, American singer (d. 1992)
* January 28 - Alan Alda, American actor
* February 11 - Burt Reynolds, American actor
* February 17 - Jim Brown, American football player
* March 11 - Antonin Scalia, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
* March 19 - Ursula Andress, Swiss actress, the first Bond girl
* April 10 - John Madden, American football coach and sportscaster
* April 21 - James Dobson, PH.D, Founder of Focus On The Family, child psychologist
* April 22 - Glen Campbell, American musician
* April 23 - Roy Orbison, American singer (d. 1988)
* May 2 - Engelbert Humperdinck, British/American singer
* May 17 - Dennis Hopper, American actor and director
* June 22 - Kris Kristofferson, American singer, songwriter, and actor
* August 18 - Robert Redford, American actor
* August 21 - Wilt Chamberlain, American basketball player (d. 1999)
* August 29 - John McCain, American politician
* September 7 - Buddy Holly, American singer (d. 1959)
* September 14 - Walter Koenig, American actor (Chekhov on Star Trek).
* September 24 - Jim Henson, American puppeteer, filmmaker (d. 1990)
* October 31 - Michael Landon, American actor (d. 1991)
* December 29 - Mary Tyler Moore, American actress
Sports in 1936
* Plans are announced for a Baseball Hall of Fame to be established in 1939, the game's supposed centennial, in Cooperstown, New York. In the first elections to select 15 initial inductees (5 from the 19th century and 10 from the 20th), Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson are selected from the 20th century; the election for 19th century players is plagued by problems and results in no selections.
* World Series: New York Yankees defeat the New York Giants, 4-2.
* Green Bay Packers defeated Boston Redskins 21-6 for the NFL championship. The game was moved from Boston to New York's Polo Grounds.
* The Detroit Red Wings won the championship in the National Hockey League. Combine this with the Detroit Tigers World Series win and the Detroit Lions NFL Championship in 1934 and in one 12 month period Detroit played home to the Championship teams in the MLB, NFL, and NHL. This feat has yet to be duplicated by any other city.
The World of Indiana Jones did not change much from 1935 to 1936 as much of the political unrest that would lead into the start of World War II was continuing to build. Let's have a look at the major historical events that Indy would have read about in the Papers in 1936, the year when Roosevelt was elected to his second term, a first class stamp still cost $0.03, and the world was introduced to electric guitars, helicopters, and the artificial heart.
January
* January 4 - England's first ever win over the All Blacks in Rugby Union, in particular the 2 famous tries by "The Prince" HH Alexander Obolensky.
* January 15 - The first building to be completely covered in glass is completed in Toledo, Ohio, for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company.
* January 20 - King George V of the United Kingdom dies. His eldest son succeeds the throne becoming Edward VIII.
* January 31 - The Green Hornet radio show debuts on WXYZ Radio in Detroit, MI
February
* February 4 - Radium E. becomes the first radioactive element to be made synthetically.
* February 6 - The IV Olympic Winter Games opens in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
* February 17 The first superhero to wear a skin-tight costume and mask, The Phantom, makes his first appearance in US newspapers
* February 29 - Emperor Hirohito orders the Japanese army to arrest 123 conspirators in Tokyo government offices - 19 of them are executed in July.
March
* March 1 - Construction of Hoover Dam is completed.
* March 7 - In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, Nazi Germany reoccupies the Rhineland.
* March 9 - Pro-democratic militarist Keisuke Okada stepped down as Prime Minister of Japan and was replaced by radical militarist Koki Hirota.
* March 17-18, "St. Patrick's Day Flood" - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, suffered the worst flooding in its history.
April
* April 3 - Bruno Richard Hauptmann, convicted of kidnapping and killing Charles Lindbergh III, is executed in New Jersey.
* April 5 - A tornado hits Tupelo, Mississippi killing 216 and injuring over 700. It is the 4th deadliest tornado in U.S. history.
* April 6 - Two tornadoes strike Gainesville, Georgia. The smaller tornado hit north Gainsville and the stronger tornado hit west side of town. The two paths eventually met but not the tornadoes. 203 die and 1600 are injured in the 5th deadliest tornado in U.S. history.
May
* May 5 - The Italian forces finally occupied Addis Ababa.
* May 7 - Italy annexes Ethiopia.
* May 9 - Italian East Africa is formed from the Italian territories of Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Italian Somaliland.
* May 12 - The Santa Fe railroad in the United States inaugurates the all-Pullman Super Chief passenger train between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California.
* May 25 - The Remington Rand strike of 1936–1937 begins, spawning the notorious "Mohawk Valley formula," a corporate plan for strikebreaking.
* May 27 - British luxury liner RMS Queen Mary leaves Southampton on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic
June
* June - A major heat wave strikes North America; high temperature records are set and thousands die.
* June 19 - Max Schmeling knocks out Joe Louis in the twelfth round of their heavyweight boxing match at Yankee Stadium in New York City.
* June 30 - Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone with the Wind is first published.
July
* July 13 to 14 - Peak of July 1936 heat wave. The states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana all set new state records for high temperature. At Mio, in northern Michigan it soars to 113°F (45°C)
* July 18 - Spain's civil war begins when nationalist troops under the command of General Francisco Franco rise against the legal republic.
August
* August 1 - 1936 Summer Olympics open in Berlin, Germany, and mark the first live television coverage of a sports event in world history.
* August 3 - African-American athlete Jesse Owens wins the 100-meter dash at the Berlin Olympics.
* August 14 - Rainey Bethea is hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky, in the last public execution in the United States
September
* September 6 - The last surviving Tasmanian Tiger dies in Hobart Zoo in Tasmania.
October
* October 11 - Earl Bascom, rodeo cowboy and artist, designs and builds Mississippi's first permanent rodeo arena at Columbia, Marion County, Mississippi.
November
* November 3 - U.S. presidential election: Franklin D. Roosevelt is reelected to a second term in a landslide victory over Alf Landon.
* November 23 - The first edition of Life is published.
* November 25 - Abraham Lincoln Brigade sails from New York City on its way to Spanish Civil War
* November 26 - The Anti-Comintern Pact is signed by Germany and Japan.
December
* December 10-11 - King Edward VIII signs an instrument of abdication at Fort Belvedere in the presence of his three brothers, The Duke of York, The Duke of Gloucester and The Duke of Kent.
* December 11
o The British Parliament passes His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 on behalf of the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
o The King performs his last act as sovereign by giving royal assent to the Act.
o Prince Albert, Duke of York, becomes King, ruling as King George VI
o The abdicated King Edward VIII, now HRH The Prince Edward, makes a broadcast to the nation explaining his decision to abdicate. He leaves the country for Austria
* December 12 - Irish Free State passes the External Relations Act to legislate for Edward VIII's abdication in that realm.
* December 12 - Xi'an Incident: The Generalissimo of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek was kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang.
* December 29 - The United Auto Workers begins the Flint Sit-Down Strike in Flint, Michigan.
Notable Births:
* January 2 - Roger Miller, American singer (d. 1992)
* January 28 - Alan Alda, American actor
* February 11 - Burt Reynolds, American actor
* February 17 - Jim Brown, American football player
* March 11 - Antonin Scalia, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
* March 19 - Ursula Andress, Swiss actress, the first Bond girl
* April 10 - John Madden, American football coach and sportscaster
* April 21 - James Dobson, PH.D, Founder of Focus On The Family, child psychologist
* April 22 - Glen Campbell, American musician
* April 23 - Roy Orbison, American singer (d. 1988)
* May 2 - Engelbert Humperdinck, British/American singer
* May 17 - Dennis Hopper, American actor and director
* June 22 - Kris Kristofferson, American singer, songwriter, and actor
* August 18 - Robert Redford, American actor
* August 21 - Wilt Chamberlain, American basketball player (d. 1999)
* August 29 - John McCain, American politician
* September 7 - Buddy Holly, American singer (d. 1959)
* September 14 - Walter Koenig, American actor (Chekhov on Star Trek).
* September 24 - Jim Henson, American puppeteer, filmmaker (d. 1990)
* October 31 - Michael Landon, American actor (d. 1991)
* December 29 - Mary Tyler Moore, American actress
Sports in 1936
* Plans are announced for a Baseball Hall of Fame to be established in 1939, the game's supposed centennial, in Cooperstown, New York. In the first elections to select 15 initial inductees (5 from the 19th century and 10 from the 20th), Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson are selected from the 20th century; the election for 19th century players is plagued by problems and results in no selections.
* World Series: New York Yankees defeat the New York Giants, 4-2.
* Green Bay Packers defeated Boston Redskins 21-6 for the NFL championship. The game was moved from Boston to New York's Polo Grounds.
* The Detroit Red Wings won the championship in the National Hockey League. Combine this with the Detroit Tigers World Series win and the Detroit Lions NFL Championship in 1934 and in one 12 month period Detroit played home to the Championship teams in the MLB, NFL, and NHL. This feat has yet to be duplicated by any other city.
Monday, May 19, 2008
The World of Indiana Jones: 1935
Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom is a prequel to the 1981 hit film Raiders of the Lost Ark. The film takes place in 1935 and is set mainly in two locations, China and India.
To understand the world in which Indiana Jones lived, let's take a look at the year 1935, when Franklin Roosevelt was U.S. President and a stamp only cost $0.03
January
* January 2 - The trial of Bruno Richard Hauptmann, accused of the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh, Jr., begins in Flemington, New Jersey. On February 13, Hauptmann is convicted and sentenced to death.
* January 8 - Elvis Presley is born in Tupelo, Mississippi.
* January 11 - Amelia Earhart becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.
* January 13 - A plebiscite in Saarland shows that 90.3% of those voting wish to join Nazi Germany.
* January 16 - FBI kills Barker gang, including Ma Barker, in a shootout.
* January 19 - Coopers Inc. sells the world's first briefs.
* January 28 - Iceland becomes the first country to legalize abortion on medical grounds.
February
* February 15 - The discovery and clinical development of Prontosil, the first broadly effective antibacterial drug, is published in a series of articles in Germany's pre-eminent medical journal, Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift, by Gerhard Domagk.
* February 22 - Airplanes are banned from flying over the White House.
March
* March 2 - Porky Pig makes his debut in Looney Tunes's I Haven't Got a Hat.
* March 16 - Adolf Hitler announces German rearmament in violation of the Versailles Treaty.
* March 19 - Riot breaks out in Harlem, NYC after a rumor which claims that police killed a shoplifter in the S. H. Kress & Co. department store circulates.
* March 21 - Persia is renamed Iran.
April
* April 17 - Sun Myung Moon claims to have a revelation from Jesus telling him to complete his mission from almost 2000 years ago.
May
* May 6 - New Deal: Executive Order 7034 creates the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
* May 18 - T. E. Lawrence, English soldier (Lawrence of Arabia) dies
* May 24 - The first nighttime Major League Baseball game is played between the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio.
* May 25 - Babe Ruth hits his 714th home run.
* May 31 - 7.1 magnitude Earthquake destroys Quetta in modern-day Pakistan: 40,000 dead.
June
* June 2 - Babe Ruth announces he is going to retire from baseball.
* June 9 - Ho-Umezu Agreement: China's Kuomintang government concedes Japanese military control of north-eastern China.
* June 10 - Alcoholics Anonymous is founded in Akron, OH by William G. Wilson and Dr. Robert Smith.
* June 12 - Senator Huey Long of Louisiana makes the longest speech on Senate record. The speech took 15½ hours and contained 150,000 words. [1]
* June 13 - James J. Braddock defeats Max Baer at Madison Square Garden Bowl to win boxing heavyweight championship of the world.
* June 18 - Anglo-German Naval Agreement: Britain agrees to a German navy equal to 35% of her own naval tonnage.
July
* July 6 - Tenzin Gyatso the 14th Dali Lama is born.
* July 16 - The world's first parking meters are installed in Oklahoma City.
* July 24 - The dust bowl heat wave reaches its peak, sending temperatures in Chicago, Illinois to a record-high 109°F (44°C).
August
* August 14 - United States President Franklin Roosevelt signs Social Security Act into law.
September
* September 2 - Labor Day Hurricane of 1935: The strongest hurricane ever to strike the United States landfalls in the Upper Florida Keys as a Category 5 storm with 185 mph winds, killing 423.
* September 13 - Howard Hughes, flying the Hughes H-1 Racer, set the airspeed record of 352 mph (566 km/h).
* September 15 - Nuremberg Laws go into effect in Germany.
* September 30 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates Hoover Dam
October
* October 2-3 - Italian army invades Ethiopia under General de Bono (replaced November 11 by Pietro Badoglio)
* October 10 - A tornado destroyed the 160 metre tall wooden radio tower in Langenberg, Germany. As a result of this catastrophe wooden radio towers are phased out.
* October 12 - Luciano Pavarotti is born in Modena, Italy. He goes on to become the greatest tenor in history.
November
* November 5 - Parker Brothers releases the board game Monopoly.
* November 22 - The China Clipper takes off from Alameda, California in an attempt to deliver the first airmail cargo across the Pacific Ocean (the aircraft later reached its destination, Manila, and delivered over 110,000 pieces of mail).
December
* December 9 - American newspaper editor Walter Liggett is killed in a gangland murder plot.
* December 27 - Mao Zedong issues the Wayaopao Manifesto: On Tactics Against Japanese Imperialism, calling for a National United Front against Japanese Invasion.
* December 28 - Pravda publishes a letter from Pavel Postyshev, who revives New Year tree tradition in the Soviet Union.
Notable Births
* January 4 - Floyd Patterson, American boxer (d. 2006)
* January 8 - Elvis Presley, American singer and guitarist (d. 1977)
* January 12 - Kreskin, mentalist
* January 16 - A.J. Foyt, American race car driver
* February 16 - Sonny Bono, American singer, actor, and politician (d. 1998)
* February 25 - Sally Jessy Raphaël, American talk show host
* March 1 - Robert Conrad, American actor
* March 15 - Jimmy Swaggart, American televangelist; Judd Hirsch, American actor
* March 27 - Julian Glover, English actor (Played Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade)
* April 21 - Charles Grodin, American actor and journalist
* May 27 - Lee Meriwether, actress
* July 13 - Jack Kemp, American football player and U.S. Vice Presidential candidate
* July 15 - Ken Kercheval, actor
* July 17 - Donald Sutherland, Canadian actor
* August 20 - Ron Paul, Influential American, two-time Presidential candidate
* September 29 - Jerry Lee Lewis, American musician
* October 6 - Bruno Sammartino, Italian professional wrestler, former WWE Champion
* October 12 - Luciano Pavarotti, Italian tenor (d. 2007)
* October 20 - Jerry Orbach, American actor - Law & Order (d. 2004)
* November 9 - Bob Gibson, baseball player
* December 1 - Woody Allen, American film director
* December 17 - Cal Ripken, Sr., baseball player and manager (d. 1999)
* December 21 - Phil Donahue, talk show host
* December 30 - Sandy Koufax, baseball player
Sports in 1935
-Detroit Tigers defeat Chicago Cubs in the World Series, 4-2
-Detroit Lions 26-7 New York Giants for the NFL championship
-Montreal Maroons defeat Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0 to win the Stanley Cup
Come back tomorrow for 1936. Also, if you've been reading these Indiana Jones articles, let me know about it and what you think in the comments.
To understand the world in which Indiana Jones lived, let's take a look at the year 1935, when Franklin Roosevelt was U.S. President and a stamp only cost $0.03
January
* January 2 - The trial of Bruno Richard Hauptmann, accused of the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh, Jr., begins in Flemington, New Jersey. On February 13, Hauptmann is convicted and sentenced to death.
* January 8 - Elvis Presley is born in Tupelo, Mississippi.
* January 11 - Amelia Earhart becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.
* January 13 - A plebiscite in Saarland shows that 90.3% of those voting wish to join Nazi Germany.
* January 16 - FBI kills Barker gang, including Ma Barker, in a shootout.
* January 19 - Coopers Inc. sells the world's first briefs.
* January 28 - Iceland becomes the first country to legalize abortion on medical grounds.
February
* February 15 - The discovery and clinical development of Prontosil, the first broadly effective antibacterial drug, is published in a series of articles in Germany's pre-eminent medical journal, Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift, by Gerhard Domagk.
* February 22 - Airplanes are banned from flying over the White House.
March
* March 2 - Porky Pig makes his debut in Looney Tunes's I Haven't Got a Hat.
* March 16 - Adolf Hitler announces German rearmament in violation of the Versailles Treaty.
* March 19 - Riot breaks out in Harlem, NYC after a rumor which claims that police killed a shoplifter in the S. H. Kress & Co. department store circulates.
* March 21 - Persia is renamed Iran.
April
* April 17 - Sun Myung Moon claims to have a revelation from Jesus telling him to complete his mission from almost 2000 years ago.
May
* May 6 - New Deal: Executive Order 7034 creates the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
* May 18 - T. E. Lawrence, English soldier (Lawrence of Arabia) dies
* May 24 - The first nighttime Major League Baseball game is played between the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio.
* May 25 - Babe Ruth hits his 714th home run.
* May 31 - 7.1 magnitude Earthquake destroys Quetta in modern-day Pakistan: 40,000 dead.
June
* June 2 - Babe Ruth announces he is going to retire from baseball.
* June 9 - Ho-Umezu Agreement: China's Kuomintang government concedes Japanese military control of north-eastern China.
* June 10 - Alcoholics Anonymous is founded in Akron, OH by William G. Wilson and Dr. Robert Smith.
* June 12 - Senator Huey Long of Louisiana makes the longest speech on Senate record. The speech took 15½ hours and contained 150,000 words. [1]
* June 13 - James J. Braddock defeats Max Baer at Madison Square Garden Bowl to win boxing heavyweight championship of the world.
* June 18 - Anglo-German Naval Agreement: Britain agrees to a German navy equal to 35% of her own naval tonnage.
July
* July 6 - Tenzin Gyatso the 14th Dali Lama is born.
* July 16 - The world's first parking meters are installed in Oklahoma City.
* July 24 - The dust bowl heat wave reaches its peak, sending temperatures in Chicago, Illinois to a record-high 109°F (44°C).
August
* August 14 - United States President Franklin Roosevelt signs Social Security Act into law.
September
* September 2 - Labor Day Hurricane of 1935: The strongest hurricane ever to strike the United States landfalls in the Upper Florida Keys as a Category 5 storm with 185 mph winds, killing 423.
* September 13 - Howard Hughes, flying the Hughes H-1 Racer, set the airspeed record of 352 mph (566 km/h).
* September 15 - Nuremberg Laws go into effect in Germany.
* September 30 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates Hoover Dam
October
* October 2-3 - Italian army invades Ethiopia under General de Bono (replaced November 11 by Pietro Badoglio)
* October 10 - A tornado destroyed the 160 metre tall wooden radio tower in Langenberg, Germany. As a result of this catastrophe wooden radio towers are phased out.
* October 12 - Luciano Pavarotti is born in Modena, Italy. He goes on to become the greatest tenor in history.
November
* November 5 - Parker Brothers releases the board game Monopoly.
* November 22 - The China Clipper takes off from Alameda, California in an attempt to deliver the first airmail cargo across the Pacific Ocean (the aircraft later reached its destination, Manila, and delivered over 110,000 pieces of mail).
December
* December 9 - American newspaper editor Walter Liggett is killed in a gangland murder plot.
* December 27 - Mao Zedong issues the Wayaopao Manifesto: On Tactics Against Japanese Imperialism, calling for a National United Front against Japanese Invasion.
* December 28 - Pravda publishes a letter from Pavel Postyshev, who revives New Year tree tradition in the Soviet Union.
Notable Births
* January 4 - Floyd Patterson, American boxer (d. 2006)
* January 8 - Elvis Presley, American singer and guitarist (d. 1977)
* January 12 - Kreskin, mentalist
* January 16 - A.J. Foyt, American race car driver
* February 16 - Sonny Bono, American singer, actor, and politician (d. 1998)
* February 25 - Sally Jessy Raphaël, American talk show host
* March 1 - Robert Conrad, American actor
* March 15 - Jimmy Swaggart, American televangelist; Judd Hirsch, American actor
* March 27 - Julian Glover, English actor (Played Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade)
* April 21 - Charles Grodin, American actor and journalist
* May 27 - Lee Meriwether, actress
* July 13 - Jack Kemp, American football player and U.S. Vice Presidential candidate
* July 15 - Ken Kercheval, actor
* July 17 - Donald Sutherland, Canadian actor
* August 20 - Ron Paul, Influential American, two-time Presidential candidate
* September 29 - Jerry Lee Lewis, American musician
* October 6 - Bruno Sammartino, Italian professional wrestler, former WWE Champion
* October 12 - Luciano Pavarotti, Italian tenor (d. 2007)
* October 20 - Jerry Orbach, American actor - Law & Order (d. 2004)
* November 9 - Bob Gibson, baseball player
* December 1 - Woody Allen, American film director
* December 17 - Cal Ripken, Sr., baseball player and manager (d. 1999)
* December 21 - Phil Donahue, talk show host
* December 30 - Sandy Koufax, baseball player
Sports in 1935
-Detroit Tigers defeat Chicago Cubs in the World Series, 4-2
-Detroit Lions 26-7 New York Giants for the NFL championship
-Montreal Maroons defeat Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0 to win the Stanley Cup
Come back tomorrow for 1936. Also, if you've been reading these Indiana Jones articles, let me know about it and what you think in the comments.
Friday, May 16, 2008
The Life of Indiana Jones (1921-1935)
Today is Sunday, May 18, 2008. Before today, 18 years, 11 months, and 24 days will have passed since the last time fans went into a theater to see a premier for a new Indiana Jones film. Today that clock rolls back to 1 day, as a lucky crowd at the The Cannes Film Festival will be the first to view Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. After that, the rest of us will wait until the upcoming Thursday to experience the adventure.
With that being said, a few days ago I figured that I would post a couple of blogs looking back at the fictional life of Henry Walton Jones, Jr. and the very real word in which his character lives. As you read through this you will see the names of many historical figures. Next to these names is a bracket with a bit of info. I encourage you to look these names up and learn more about the interesting people that Indy ran into during his many adventures.
I started this look back on Thursday by profiling Indy's life from his birth in 1899 to his young teenage years in 1914. Friday I recalled Indy's incredible journeys as a soldier in WWI and how he became a student of archeology at The University of Chicago in 1920 after the end of the war. Today we will look at Jones' life from 1921 until the Summer of 1935.
From 1921 until sometime in 1922, Indy remained faithful to his study of archeology and graduated from the University of Chicago to complete his undergraduate degree. From here he moved on to a graduate program in linguistics at the Sorbonne in Paris.
In Greece, on his first properly qualified archaeological dig with his professor Dorian Belecamus (pictured left) in October 1922, Indy became embroiled in a plot to kill King Constantine (1868-1923: ruled Greece from 1913 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1922). Indy saves the king but loses Dorian when she is killed by a bullet meant for him. This experience refocused Indy's archaeological aims, which had been flagging somewhat after the routines of college, where only the lecturer Abner Ravenwood managed to make the subject exciting.
In 1925, Indy completed his graduate studies at the Sorbonne and took his first teaching job as a doctor of archeology at London University for the summer program. Here he romanced one of his students, Deirdre Campbell (pictured left), as over the following two years, they were swept up in various mysteries involving Stonehenge and the Mask of Comototz in Guatemala. Their turbulent relationship culminated in marriage aboard a boat off New Orleans. Sadly, in April 1926 during a search for the hidden city of the Ceiba, and the long lost explorer Percy Walcott, Deirdre Jones was killed in a plane crash that Indy only survived due to the grace of forces unknown.
Later that year, in 1926, while still in a bad emotional state, Indy joined his old
archeology professor, Abner Ravenwood (pictured left), on a dig in Jerusalem. The pair found an artifact known as "the headpiece to the staff of Ra." Still reeling from the death of his wife, Indy romanced Abner's daughter Marion (pictured right). This led to a falling out with Dr. Ravenwood. The intense courtship was cut short as Dr. Jones abruptly left the Ravenwoods; he would not see Marion again for ten years.
The next ten years (1926-1935) in Indiana Jones' life were spent scouring the globe, getting involved in many different adventures: the quest for Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat, the search for the last unicorn's horn, the Philosopher's Stone, and the interior world of Easter Island; stories include cavorting with the likes of the giants, dinosaurs, sea devils, and vampires. All the while, Indy worked as a lecturer in various colleges around America and Europe, eventually settling in Marshall College in order to fund his expeditions into the world of archeology.One of his later adventures in 1935 was the search for the Heart of the Dragon. While on this journey, Indy encountered Wu Han, who became a close friend, and also found, attempting to pick his pocket, the homeless orphan Short Round, a young boy who Indy would take under his wing and be friends with for years to come. While in China in 1935, Indiana Jones was hired to recover the remains of Nurhachi (the first Emperor of the Manchu Dynasty in China) by Lao Che, a Chinese crime lord. Indy agreed to do this job in exchange for a treasure that he learned was in Lao Che's possession - The Peacock's Eye, the treasure that had eluded him since 1919.
The end to this story is one best left told in visuals, as this is where the film Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom begins. If you've seen the movie then you know how it unfolds and if you haven't then you should.
This concludes my telling of the early life of Indiana Jones. In the next few days I will be taking a look at the time periods in which the first three Indiana Jones films take place. Tomorrow we will look at 1935. Until then, I'm making this up as I go...
The Early Life of Indiana Jones (1915-1920)
In just 5 days and 20 some hours, theaters everywhere will be crowded with people to see Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. With the release only a few days away, I figured that I would post a couple of blogs looking back at the fictional life of Henry Walton Jones, Jr. and the very real word in which his character lives. As you read through this you will see the names of many historical figures. Next to these names is a bracket with a bit of info. I encourage you to look these names up and learn more about the interesting people that Indy ran into during his many adventures.
I started this look back yesterday by profiling Indy's life from his birth in 1899 to his young teenage years in 1914. Today we pick back up in 1915.
Sometime in 1915 or early 1916, Indy and his father have left Utah and moved back to Princeton. By February 1916, Jones was working as a soda jerk and going to the local high school. The prom was approaching, and he hoped to get a nice car to drive his prom date in. The engine was broke on the car he borrowed, so he took it to Thomas Edison (1847-1941: an American inventor who developed the phonograph and the long lasting light bulb), who offered to fix it for free. However, Indy soon uncovered a plot by the Germans to steal some secret plans Edison had been working on for a new motor. Indy and girlfriend Nancy Stratemeyer were eventually able to locate the plans and trace them to Edison's assistant, who was then taken to jail. In an expression of his gratitude, Edison loaned Indy a Bugati, which Indy then took Nancy to the prom in.
In March, school was let out for spring break, so Indy and his father took a train to New Mexico to visit family members. Once at their destination, Indy and his cousin Frank secretly hitched a ride south across the border to "see the senoritas". Caught in a border clash with Mexican revolutionaries, and impulsively trying to get back a screaming woman's stolen dresses, Indy took off on horse back after the receding marauders. Hopelessly outnumbered and outmatched, Indy was captured and almost shot; however, at the last moment he was released by Pancho Villa (1878-1923: a Mexican Revolutionary general).
He joined this army of revolutionaries, playing a part in the Mexican Revolution of 1916. It is during this time that he met a Belgian man named Remy Baudouin, and the two quickly became friends. After learning the truths about revolution and warfare, and becoming disillusioned, Indy decided to join Remy in heading for the Great War (World War I) in Europe, a war he felt had to be fought. After settling a score with an old enemy, Demetrios, and recovering an Egyptian artifact that had been lost to Howard Carter and Indy during his first archaeological adventure in 1908 (see yesterdays post), Indy and Remy left Mexico in April, departing from Veracruz for Europe and war. (While Indy heads to Europe, Indiana-the family dog-dies.)After a brief stopover in Ireland in time to witness 1916's Easter Rising (a rebellion staged in Ireland in Easter Week), and engage in fisticuffs with future Irish Prime Minister Sean Lemass (1899-1971), Indy and Remy reached London, England and the recruiting office of the Belgian Army (as this was not only Remy's country of birth, but the only army that wouldn't ask awkward questions about age) in May. Enlisting under the pseudonym Henri Defense, Indy, along with Remy, settled in to wait for their call-up papers. Indy spent this time falling in love with the young suffragette Vicky Prentiss, but his proposal was rebuffed and, heartbroken, Indy joined a newly-married Remy at the train station to head for Le Havre, France and basic training.
After seeing action first at Flanders, France, where all their superior officers were wiped out, Indy and Remy were sent to join with French troops at the Somme (France) in August. Here, Indy and Remy were subjected fully to the horrors and pressures of trench warfare, and were engaged in several pushes, a gas attack and the terror of German flamethrowers. Mistrust was rife in Indy's unit, but after some initial difficulties the unit pulled together enough to take their target. Victory did not last long as German reinforcements were quick to swamp the combined French/Belgian defense and Indy was swiftly captured while most of his unit was killed. Remy vanished in the confusion, apparently hit.
Indy was sent to a prison camp, where he joined an escape attempt already in progress. However, he was quickly recaptured and moved to a maximum security prison at Dusterstadt. After many escape attempts Indy, with the help of Charles De Gaulle (1890-1970: 18th President of the French Republic), broke free and, after a brief flirtation with the idea of heading home to America and continuing high school, rejoined what was left of his unit, including a recovering Remy, who Indy was happy to see still alive.
In an effort to get out of the trenches, Indy joined a courier unit attached to French High Command in September. When forced to deliver orders that would result in the pointless death of thousands of his fellow soldiers at Verdun (France), Indy sabotaged his own bike, thereby postponing the massacre, at least for a week or so. This action got Indy fired from courier duty and thrown back to the trenches, rejoining Remy.
While on leave in Paris in October, Indy engaged in a tumultuous sexual affair with Mata Hari (1876-1917: a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was executed by firing squad for espionage during World War I), a first for young Indy. While it ended badly, Mata advised Indy to request a transfer to the somewhat tamer fight in East Africa. Indy followed her advice and, with Remy in tow, arrived on the African continent in November 1916.
Indy was promoted to lieutenant, and assigned to a unit near Lake Victoria (Africa). Indy's ego and haste, however, led to the two getting lost in transit, and while trying to get back to their unit and avoiding a court martial, Indy managed to get caught up with a team of old men under British Command, the 25th Royal Fusiliers. Here Indy was tricked into helping destroy a giant cannon mounted on a train and also fooled into kidnapping the German military genius Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck (1870-1964), whom they were eventually compelled to release.Jones and Remy finally managed to make it to Lake Victoria and join their new unit. During October, Indy and Remy join what Indy believed to be a fight for the indigenous population against the German aggressors. Indy quickly became a skilled, talented and rather vicious officer. During one charge, he disobeyed direct orders, continuing the charge despite an order to retreat. Because of Indy's quick thinking, however, the battle was won and he was subsequently promoted to captain, much to the chagrin of Major Boucher, his direct superior. His unit's next mission was to march across the Congo to retrieve a weapons shipment that ran aground in West Africa. The unit set off, and traveled through Christmas 1916 and into the first weeks of 1917. Unfortunately, the entire unit became seriously ill, and only a fraction of the unit survived. With the death of Major Boucher, Indy assumed command. However Indy had come to realize that this fight in Africa was between White men, fighting for African land, and began to wonder what he was doing there. Devastatingly at the units destination they were denied extra troops for the journey back and, still feverish and exhausted, Indy and a dozen men headed back onto the river.
Indy and his men promptly fell to the fever, but luckily were rescued by the doctor and humanitarian Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965), a German who ran a hospital in the jungle. Indy initially distrusted Schweitzer due to his nationality, but soon saw reason. From Schweitzer Indy learned lessons that would turn his life around: up until meeting Schweitzer, Indy thought he was becoming a man that would demand respect, a military man whose life revolved around orders and discipline. Schweitzer taught Indy a reverence for life and he and Remy pledged themselves to ending the war and the bloodshed.
To that end Indy and Remy joined the Belgian secret service before forging their own transfer to the far more efficient French secret service. The two were split up, Remy being sent to Brussels to become the French contact with the Belgian resistance, known as the White Lady. Indy was shuffled around to various fronts and missions, as French intelligence initially knew not what to do with him. After a brief sojourn as a reconnaissance photographer with the American volunteers of the Lafayette Escadrille, Indy was assigned a series of courier missions, such as a defection plea letter for the aircraft designer Anthony Fokker (1890-1939), and a desperate attempt for a separate peace with Austria. Indy then spent a few months in St. Petersburg, Russia in the Analyst Department, and he and his friends there become caught up in the Bolshevik revolution.
A promotion to military intelligence saw Indy back in Western Europe, and then as the main French agent in Cairo (Egypt), where his skills were brought to bear by his old friend T.E. 'Ned' Lawrence in the liberation of Beersheba in Palestine. Later, while in Italy, Indy struck up a rivalry with Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961: an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist) for the affections of a beautiful Italian girl, who eventually married someone else, leaving Indy and Ernie with a lasting friendship.
As the war drew to a close, Indy saw missions in Eastern Europe. At one point, he was engaged to Molly, an American school teacher in Istanbul. Tragically, however, she was killed by a bullet meant for Jones. Indy's depression was somewhat lifted by his reunion with Remy; and the war's end found the two on assignment in the trenches to arrest an Indian officer. This snowballed into a post-war quest for Alexander the Great's lost diamond, the "Treasure of the Peacock's Eye" (a quest that would continue for over 15 years). The adventure took them from Alexandria to India and on to the South China Seas. However, after an illuminating run in with the Polish anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski (1884-1942), Indy realized that finding the diamond would have very little impact on his future plans, which was to finally start studying as an archaeologist. In fact, by continuing this wild search, he was only delaying what he had wanted since the age of nine. So he and Remy parted ways, with Remy's obsession with the Peacock's Eye leading him to unknown ends.
Indy headed home, but before he reached Le Harve for the homeward voyage he was brought on to work as a translator at the Paris Peace Conference, where his disillusionment with the war and politics became complete. He saw not only the seeds of a second world war, but also a war in Vietnam and every conflict in the Middle East for years to come. Indy was finally ready, after four years, to head home.
Indy's homecoming found his father emotionally unmoved. Henry Sr. acted as though nothing had transpired. This seeming lack of emotionality did not, however, outlast Indy's declaration that he would not be studying in Princeton, as his father had wished, but rather in Chicago. Indy left his father cold, and would not speak to him again for years.
At the University of Chicago and under the tutelage of Professor Abner Ravenwood, Jones studied archeology alongside Harold Oxley. During his off-campus hours, Indy waited tables at Colosimo's Restaurant, and frequented jazz bars with his reluctant roommate Eliot Ness (1903-1957) and jazz clarinetist Sidney Bechet (1897-1959). With Ness and Ernest Hemingway, Indy investigated the murder of his boss, nearly ending up a victim of Chicago's nascent mob families.
During the summer of 1920, Indy earned money for his tuition in New York theaters and back west in Hollywood where Indy took a job working for Carl Laemmle (1867-1939), head of Universal pictures. There while trying to get Erich Von Stronhiem to finish his film he encountered Irving Thalberg (1899-1936: an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures), Jack Warner (1892-1978: the President of Warner Brothers), and John Ford (1894-1973: an American film director famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach and The Searchers and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath).
As the 1920s come around, we find Indiana Jones much different than when we left him yesterday. While traveling around in the midst of World War I, Indy has experienced alot. Now we leave him as a student of archeology at the University of Chicago under the tutelage of Professor Abner Ravenwood.
Tomorrow we will take a look at Indy's life from the years of 1921 until around the summer of 1935.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
The Early Life of Indiana Jones (1899 - 1914)
With the new Indiana Jones movie coming up in just a few short days, I figured that I would post a couple of blogs looking back at the fictional life of Henry Walton Jones, Jr. and the very real word in which his character lives.
For those who are not very familiar with the Indiana Jones films or the hit TV show The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles the next three posts are a look at Indy's life from it's start until 1935.
On July 1, 1899, Henry Walton Jones 'Junior' (aka Indiana Jones) was born in Princeton, New Jersey to Henry Jones, Sr., a professor at Princeton University, (born in Scotland, in 1872) and Anna Jones (born in Virginia, in 1878).
Nothing is really known of young Indy's life between his birth and May 1908. One must assume that his childhood up to this point was fairly typical of a young boy at the time. In 1908, Henry Jones, Sr. embarks on a two-year lecture tour around the world together with Anna and Indy. From here onward, young Indy will encounter plenty of life experiences that will shape his life and mold him into the man we come to know and love when we see him in the movies.
In May of 1908, while traveling with his family, Indy meets his tutor, Helen Seymour, in England and travels to Cairo, Egypt, where he meets T.E. Lawrence (1888-1935: a British soldier renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt of 1916-18) aka: Lawrence of Arabia. Once there, Indy becomes involved in discussions about archeology, mummies, and the afterlife. He also travels to the Valley of Kings where he meets Howard Carter (1874-1939: the archaeologist who would eventually open the tomb of King Tutankhamon). Later, young Indy explores a tomb from which a fire-eyed Jackal is stolen. Later that month, Indy and his family travel to Florence, Italy where he and his mother meet Puccini (1858-1924: an Italian composer). Indy is tutored in basic physics (the laws of attraction) as his mother and Puccini deal with their own awkward romantic attraction.
In September of 1908, Indy visits Paris, France and meets Norman Rockwell (1894-1978: a 20th century American painter and illustrator) in the Louvre. They sneak out to streetside cafes where they meet several other artists. In November, Indy meets Princess Sophie (1901-1990), the daughter of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1863-1914: an Archduke of Austria-Este whose whose assassination precipitated World War I), at a riding school in Vienna, Austria. Sophie becomes Indy's first love but he is forbidden from seeing her again. Despite this, Indy sneaks into Belvedere Castle to see Sophie and exchanges gifts with her.
In September, 1909, Indy returns to Africa with his father to visit a plantation near Nairobi. While there, Indy meets Teddy Roosevelt (1858-1919: the 26th President of the United States), who is on an expedition to collect specimens for the Smithsonian. Indy helps Roosevelt out when he and a local boy go looking for a rare gazelle, Burton's fringe-eared onyx. The safari teaches Indy a great deal about the relation between man and nature, and Indy actually discourages Roosevelt from shooting too many of the endangered gazelle.
The start of 1910 finds Indy in Benares, India where he learns a great deal about the various religions of the world. He has a discussion with Krishnamurti (1895-1986: a popular writer and speaker on philosophical and spiritual subjects) and Annie Besant (1847-1933), the leader of the Theosophist movement, about the Buddhist, Christian, Hindy and Moslem faiths.
Continuing his travels eastward in March, 1910, Indy next finds himself in Peking, China. Unfortunately, he becomes very sick just after visiting the Great Wall of China. A cold rainstorm and a carriage accident only worsen his condition. After much debate about the merits of Western medicine versus Eastern medicine, Indy is treated by a Chinese doctor. Somewhere around the same time, the family journeys through the countryside of Russia where Indy runs away from his father and meets an 80+ year old runaway, fabled Russian novelist and troglodyte Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910).
A few years later in April of 1912, Indy visits England and is invited to high tea with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930: a Scottish author most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes). Soon after, Indy travels on the ill-fated ocean liner, the Titanic. He and his tutor, Helen, narrowly escape the fate that claimed more than 1,517 lives.
Shortly after this, tragedy strikes the Jones family when Anna Jones contracts scarlet fever and dies.
Indy returns to the United States in June, 1912 while his father lectures in Boston. He travels a bit with Helen (it is her first time in America) along the New England coast and engages in a treasure hunt after hearing tales of Captain Kidd's exploits. Later that summer, in Utah, Indy acquires his famous fedora, some initial experience with a bullwhip and a lifelong horror of snakes. Indy also discovers that many treasures do not end up in museums, but rather in the hands of private treasure hunters when the Cross of Coronado is taken from some Indian ruins.
For the next two years Indy goes on many more adventures with his father, as his father has taken up quite an obsession: a quest to find the cup that Christ drank from at the Last Supper.
We end this blog in 1914, a year which saw the First World War escalate, the invention of the first true television, and Babe Ruth playing his first year of professional baseball. While the character Indiana Jones is the creation of someones imagination, the times and places in which his life is set were as real as the history books.
Tomorrow we'll see about Indy's life from 1915-1920.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Why I Hate Church Denominations
I have been involved in the "church world" for all of my 24 years of existence. For the first 20 or so years of my life I was involved in the Free Will Baptist (FWB) "Church" that my parents raised me in. When you are raised as strictly in the church as I was, you are kind of brainwashed into believing whatever you are taught. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Much of what I was taught throughout my early and teen years was true. However, there were certain things that were taught and believed that were not in line with the Scripture. These things were taught because it was what the National Association of Free Will Baptists (NAFWB) dictated to be true. All of these things were based on Scripture in some form, but only in the sense that it was how the powers that be in the NAFWB saw fit to interpret the Scripture.
When I got to a certain point in life I began to read the Scripture for myself, not in the light of FWB interpretation, but in the light of Scripture for Scripture. When I did this, God revealed to me in his own words what He thought about many topics that the FWB teaching did not agree with what the Scripture teaches.
Unfortunately, many people are still in this realm of believing what is dictated to them instead of reading the Scripture and actually taking God at His Word. Have you ever wondered why Scripture would say something that seemed contradictory to what your denomination teaches? I sure did. From some simple do's and don'ts to important theological truths, the FWB had brainwashed me into believing what they said about any particular topic.
In the end, I am not saying that denominations are bad or that you should not be a part of a denominational body of believers. I am simply encouraging anyone who happens to read this to challenge what you're taught in the light of the Scripture. Does it line up with the whole of Scripture. Sure, a verse or two on any given subject could be used to make a doctrinal position but when you put 20 or 30 verses together does the doctrine still hold up? Seek out God in His word for yourself and do not be deceived my man's interpretation. If you do this God will show up and likely rock your world by breaking down the walls of wrong teaching and doctrine and He will probably change the way you think on many teachings you now hold dear.
I think that my next post will be about how it is not even Biblical to "go to church". Think on that for a couple of days. Leave any questions and/or comments after the tone...
(The Tone)
When I got to a certain point in life I began to read the Scripture for myself, not in the light of FWB interpretation, but in the light of Scripture for Scripture. When I did this, God revealed to me in his own words what He thought about many topics that the FWB teaching did not agree with what the Scripture teaches.
Unfortunately, many people are still in this realm of believing what is dictated to them instead of reading the Scripture and actually taking God at His Word. Have you ever wondered why Scripture would say something that seemed contradictory to what your denomination teaches? I sure did. From some simple do's and don'ts to important theological truths, the FWB had brainwashed me into believing what they said about any particular topic.
In the end, I am not saying that denominations are bad or that you should not be a part of a denominational body of believers. I am simply encouraging anyone who happens to read this to challenge what you're taught in the light of the Scripture. Does it line up with the whole of Scripture. Sure, a verse or two on any given subject could be used to make a doctrinal position but when you put 20 or 30 verses together does the doctrine still hold up? Seek out God in His word for yourself and do not be deceived my man's interpretation. If you do this God will show up and likely rock your world by breaking down the walls of wrong teaching and doctrine and He will probably change the way you think on many teachings you now hold dear.
I think that my next post will be about how it is not even Biblical to "go to church". Think on that for a couple of days. Leave any questions and/or comments after the tone...
(The Tone)
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