Really? June 11 already?

Hey.  My how time flies when you're not blogging!

A quick look at the most interesting and important event on this date, from the standpoint of Western Culture and literature.  It's June 11, 1184 BC that, according to the ancient polymath Eratosthenes, marks that most glorious day for our culture:  The Fall of Troy.  Yes, if his calculations are correct- and the man was known as "Beta" because he was considered to be second in the world in everything- we should add RIP Priam, Paris, and all the rest.

It's sad to think that the man most responsible for returning the Trojan War to its rightful place in our culture, Heinrich Schliemann, is also responsible for destroying so much evidence of it.  Alas, it was early days in the world of archaeology, and Schliemann wasn't even a professional by the standards of the time, although his mistakes taught his successors an awful lot.   But he apparently destroyed some of the most important evidence of the Troy he sought- VII-A, if memory serves- simply because he assumed that the stuff he wanted was farther down than it was.  Irony, no?

In any case, we can know state with almost complete certainty that the Trojan War occurred.  And right about the time implied by Homer.  The general outlines are sensible, based upon the archaeological and literary evidence from the time.  In this, the Hittite archives are extremely valuable, as shown back in the 80s by the incomparable Michael Wood in his epic "In Search of the Trojan War", which anyone who knows me probably has heard me call "one of the best things in the history of television".

So nod your head to the ancients, look for Michael Wood on Amazon, and read up on the Trojan War.  Remember:  ALL of Western Literature grew out that one event,  and the more we learn, the more we find that Homer had a lot of things correct.

And Eratosthenes?  Well he computed the circumference of the earth for cripes sake (before anyone else, of course), and coined the word "geography".  There's very little reason to doubt his guess, as compared to anyone else's.

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Jumping ahead 3000 years, let's pause for a moment to remember Jeanette Rankin.  She was a politician, among other things, and happened to be a member of Congress in 1917, when the question of entry into WWI came up for a vote.  A pacifist, she voted against it, as did a number of her colleagues.  Ironically, she was also in Congress on December 8, 1941; when the question of WWII came up.  True to her principles, in a way that a loser like John Kerry can never hope to understand, she voted against that declaration of war also.  No flip-flopping, no "I was for the war, and that's why I voted against it".  She did what she felt was correct, and faced the consequences- which were of course severe.  Aware of the cost of principles, she allegedly ran from the floor of Congress into a phone booth and wept after her famous- or is it infamous? vote.  And predictably, her political career basically ended that day.  While I suspect that she and I would disagree about almost everything, I have no hesitation to say that I respect her courage more than I can say.  It takes guts to do something which will ruin your reputation and your career, and even more courage to do so when you are a lone voice out of hundreds.  Truly a credit to her gender, and an inspiration to all.

I'll also mention in passing a few other June 11 births, some of them people who are also inspirations, and legends.  Like 1910 birthday boy Jacques-Yves Cousteau, 1913's Vince Lombardi, and 1956's Joe Montana.  In popular culture, we have 1933's Gene Wilder, 1949's Frank Beard ('49 shares him with ZZ Top).

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In news of the deceased, Captain William F. Halsey, Sr left us on this date in 1920.  Presumably, he taught his son and namesake a lot of good stuff about how to be an outstanding naval officer.  He sure learned it someplace, eh?  In 1979, we lost the one and only John Wayne, about whom I feel no need to elaborate.  He was The Man.  1999 took away "Bones" himself, DeForest Kelley.  Want to see how far your mind can stretch?  Kelley was apparently the first choice to play Spock.  Try to wrap your brain around that!

Two years later, Timothy McVeigh was put to death for the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City.  I for one still think there are a lot of unanswered questions about it, but the government took the attitude of "we got our man" and refused to ever ask the appropriate questions.  So now we'll never know.  Which suits the politicians quite well, I guess.