December 31: Henry Ford

On this date in History ..... 1927:

Henry Ford publishes the last issue of his newspaper, the Dearborn Independent. 

 

Ford used the paper as a platform for his anti-Semitic views. Ford was “an unapologetic bigot”, hating labor unions, immigrants and everything Jewish, blaming Jewish bankers with everything that was wrong with the world, and convinced that the Jewish population would take over the world by way of commerce and exchange. He believed wars were started by Jews just so they could profit from them.

 

In 1927 a Jewish lawyer sued him for defamation. Ford faked an auto accident to avoid testifying and ended up settling out of court. He issued an insincere apology: “--"to my great regret," he wrote, "I have learned that Jews...resent this publication as promoting anti-Semitism.”  

 

Many of its articles and essays were collected and published in a book called "The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem." It was a bestseller in Nazi Germany and remains in print today.  In January 1937, a Ford statement to the Detroit Jewish Chronicle disavowed "any connection whatsoever with the publication in Germany of a book known as theInternational Jew." 

 

Hitler even quoted the Dearborn Independent in Mein Kampf and Henry Ford was the only American that Hitler specifically named.

 

On Ford’s 75^th birthday, the German Consul gave Ford the award of the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the highest medal Nazi Germany could bestow on a foreigner.

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December 30: Col. Robert Howard, Medal of Honor

On this date in History .... 1968:

Col. Robert Howard

Robert Howard’s action merited the award of the Congressional Medal of Honor while on a rescue mission in Cambodia searching for missing soldier Robert Scherdi.

 

Howard was nominated for the Medal of Honor 3 times, but the rules dictate it can only be awarded once.  In a 54 month period he was wounded 14 times, received eight Purple Hears and four Bronze Stars. He was a Ranger and a Green Beret, Special Forces. He served over 50 years and retired a full colonel.

 

During the rescue mission, Howard was wounded and his gun destroyed but he crawled to his wounded commander to administer 1^st aid.  An enemy bullet then hit an ammunition pack Howard was carrying, detonating several rounds of ammo. Severely wounded, he began dragging other wounded soldiers to safety.

 

For 3-1/2 hrs, he and his men held off the enemy until helicopters could get in to rescue. Even then, Howard made sure his men were loaded up first and he did not leave the “bullet swept landing zone until all were aboard safely.”

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December 29: First Gas Lights in White House

On this date in History .... 1848:

President Polk turns on the first gas lights in the White House. 

 

Polk had eighty gas light installed outside the White House while every single light inside was replaced by gas light with one exception.  Mrs. Polk insisted that one chandelier remain candle-lit.  She thought the chandelier in the Blue Room, believed to have been owned by Napolean, looked better in candlelight. 

 

She was vindicated when on the first night of using gas lights, the gas ran out and all rooms went dark except for her candle-lit one.

 

Electric lights were installed by Pres. Benjamin Harrison in 1891.

 

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December 28: 1st Woman on FBI List

On this date in History ..... 1968:

The first woman is added to the FBI’s Most Wanted List. 

Ruth Eisemann-Schier was arrested March 5, 1969 and later indicted for kidnapping with ransom for the kidnapping of land-heiress Barbara Jane Mackle on December 17. Mackle was buried alive in a fiberglass reinforced box with a battery, air pump, some food and water. After a 1^st botched ransom drop, a 2^nd drop of $500,000 was successful.

Ruth’s partner, Gary Krist, who Schier said was the mastermind of the whole thing, called & gave an FBI operator vague directions to Mackle’s location.  

After 3 days of being buried alive, Mackle was found, suffering from dehydration. She wrote a book of her experiences called “83 Hours till Dawn”. 

Mackle was driven to a remote wooded area where she was confronted by a coffin-shaped hole in the ground and a fiberglass coffin.  She begged with her captors, “I’ll be good!” if they would not put her in the ground.  They chloroformed her and placed her in the box, taking a photo of her holding a sign that said, “Kidnapped”.  

In the box was a letter of instruction with details explaining how her use of the light, air pump and water pump could affect the battery life and her life expectancy.  There was also a case of candy for energy, water (laced with sedatives), and sanitary supplies. They promised her she would be released by Christmas whether her father paid the ransom or not.  Her light went out after only 3 hours and she was left in total darkness for the next 80 hours.

Her father was a personal friend of President-elect Richard M. Nixon so with his connections, J. Edgar Hoover himself took personal charge of the case. 

Krist was captured when the man he bought a boat from got suspicious of the bearded man who paid over $2000 in twenty-dollar bills and called the police.  Krist was convicted but released after only 10 years in prison.  He went to college in the Carribean and became a medical doctor but kept losing his job when his past was discovered.  He last practiced medicine in small town Chrisney, Indiana but when nearby Evansville Indiana ran a story in the paper about the kidnapping, he lost that job, too.

Schier was paroled after a few years in prison and deported to Honduras.

 

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December 27: Tires are rationed

On this date in History .... 1941:

The Office of Price Administration mandates the first rationing program of the war by mandating no one person could own more than five tires and any tires owned in excess of five had to be turned in. 

War with the Japanese made it difficult to get rubber from the Dutch Indies, which was where over 90% of the U.S.’s raw rubber came from, and what rubber could be obtained was used for war supplies. People were urged to save their tires by carpooling and driving less.  Posters sent messages such as “When you ride alone, you ride with Hitler!” 

Scrap rubber drives collected tires, water hoses, swimming caps, gloves, raincoats, baby rubber pants and anything else that could be recycled for the war. 

Gas rationing began on December 1, 1942, not so much as a way to save gas but more as a way to reduce driving which would save the use of tires, which would decrease the civilian demand for rubber. Tire rationing ended on December 31, 1945.

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December 26: U.S. Railroads are Nationalized

On this date in History ..... 1917:

Eight months after entering WWI, Pres. Wilson nationalized the railroads. 

 

The railroads were in financial straits due to rising taxes and operation costs, on top of prices that were fixed by law. Wilson saw they were unable to support the war effort and set up the U.S. Railroad Admnistration to streamline them. Over 100,000 new railroad cars and almost 2000 engines were ordered.

 

The Railroad Control Act (passed in March 1918) stated the railroads would be turned back over to the owners within 21 months of a signed peace treaty. In March 1920, the railroad owners again took possession of their property.

 

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December 25: The Last Christmas Truce

On this date in History .... 1914:

In what was called “the last outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare”, German and British soldiers crawled out of the trenches, crossing no-man’s land to shake each other’s hands,  sing Christmas carols together, exchange gifts of cigarettes and plum puddings and to play a game of soccer.  

This impromptu “Christmas Truce” was never repeated.  Future attempts at holiday ceases fires were stopped by officers who threatened disciplinary action.

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