the Lady Elgin

Ugg Boot

On September 7, 1860 the Lady Elgin left Milwaukee, Wisconsin for Chicago, carrying members of Milwaukee's Union Guard to hear a campaign speech by Stephen A. Douglas. That night, on the return trip, the Lady Elgin was steaming through Lake Michigan in gale force winds when she was rammed by the schooner Augusta, which was trying to pull alongside the Lady Elgin in search of assistance in the rough water. The collision knocked out the lights on the Lady Elgin.

Concerned that she was damaged and believing the Lady Elgin had gotten safely away, the Augusta made for Chicago. Aboard the Lady Elgin, cattle and cargo were being thrown overboard to lighten the load and raise the gaping hole in the Lady Elgin's port side above water level. The lifeboat which was lowered drifted away before anyone could board it. Within twenty minutes, the Lady Elgin had broken apart.

When day broke, between 350 and 500 passengers and crew were floating in the water, holding on to anything they could. Over 400 people are believed to have died in the sinking. Most of those lost were from Milwaukee's Third Ward Irish community and is the second greatest loss of life seen on the Great Lakes. A Wisconsin Historical Marker in the Third Ward commemorates the tragedy, and a monument dedicated at Calvary Cemetery serves as a cenotaph.

Following the wreck, the ship's owner, Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard received a $12,000 payment from his insurance company, but neither Hubbard nor the insurance company accepted abandonment of the ship.

The wreck of the Lady Elgin was discovered in 1989 off Highland Park, Illinois by Harry Zych, who claimed ownership, and which was awarded in 1999 after a protracted legal battle.

Cellular telephones were found inside four prisoners. Yes I said inside. Guess where? Check out the x-ray. Click on the link.

A television reporter investigating a suspected real estate scam was attacked by a woman and her husband, who punched and tackled him as a cameraman videotaped the incident. I guess there was a scam. Click on the link for pictures. The video showed blood streaks and cuts on Mattes' face as he tried to get away.

Did you see the pilot for Fox's Standoff? It didn't get good reviews but it's a great show, so far. I hope it continues.

Today in History:
1251 BC - A solar eclipse on this date might mark the birth of legendary Heracles at Thebes, Greece.
1776 - World's first submarine attack: the American submersible craft Turtle attempts to attach a time bomb to the hull of British Admiral Richard Howe's flagship Eagle in New York Harbor.
1860 - Steamship Lady Elgin sinks on Lake Michigan, with the loss of around 400 lives.
1864 - American Civil War: Atlanta, Georgia, is evacuated on orders of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman.
1876 - In Northfield, Minnesota, Jesse James and the James-Younger Gang attempt to rob the town's bank but are surrounded by an angry mob and are nearly killed.
1906 - Alberto Santos-Dumont flies his 14-bis aircraft at Bagatelle, France for the 1st time successfully.
1911 - French poet Guillaume Apollinaire is arrested and put in jail on suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre museum.
1915 - Former cartoonist Johnny Gruelle is given a patent for his Raggedy Ann doll.
1921 - In Atlantic City, New Jersey, the first Miss America Pageant, a two-day event, is held.
1927 - The first fully electronic television system is achieved by Philo Taylor Farnsworth.
1936 - The last surviving member of the thylacine species, Benjamin, dies alone in her cage at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania.
1940 - World War II: The Blitz - Nazi Germany begins to rain bombs on London. This will be the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing.
1943 - A fire at the Gulf Hotel in Houston, Texas, kills 55 people.
1953 - Nikita Khrushchev becomes head of the Soviet Central Committee.
1963 1st US TV appearance of the Beatles (Big Night Out-ABC)
1966 - The final new episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show airs (the first episode aired on October 3, 1961).
1969 - Monty Python's Flying Circus records first episode.
1970 - An anti-war rally is held at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, attended by John Kerry, Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland.
1971 - The Beverly Hillbillies airs for the last time on CBS (the first episode debuted on September 26, 1962).
1976 US courts find George Harrison guilty of plagarism (He's So Fine)
1978 - While walking across Waterloo Bridge in London, Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov is assassinated by Bulgarian secret police agent Francesco Giullino by means of a ricin pellet fired from in a specially-designed umbrella.
1981 Judge Wapner & the People's Court premier on TV
1986 - Gen. Augusto Pinochet, president of Chile, escapes attempted assassination.
1996 - In Las Vegas, Nevada, actor and recording artist Tupac Shakur is shot several times after attending a boxing match, he would later die in the hospital due to his injuries from the shooting on September 13.
1997 - The first test flight of the F-22 Raptor takes place.
2005 - Apple Computer introduced the iPod nano, a revolutionary full-featured iPod that holds 1,000 songs yet is thinner than a standard #2 pencil and less than half the size of competitive players.

Happy Birthday:
1533 - Queen Elizabeth I of England (d. 1603)
1923 - Peter Lawford, English actor (d. 1984)(Mrs Miniver, The Thin Man)
1936 - Buddy Holly, American singer (d. 1959)
1949 - Gloria Gaynor, American singer (I Will Survive)
1960 David Steele rocker (Fine Young Cannibals-Drive Me Crazy)
1963 - Eazy-E, American rapper (d. 1995 of AIDS) "Woke up quick at about noon, just thought that I had to be in Compton soon. I gotta get drunk before the day begins, before my mother starts bitchin' about my friends......"
1973 - Shannon Elizabeth, American actress (American Pie)


Deaths on this day:
1548 - Catherine Parr, final wife of Henry VIII of England (bc. 1512)
1978 - Keith Moon, English drummer (The Who) (b. 1946)
2003 - Warren Zevon, American musician (b. 1947)