200 years ago this weekend: the battle of Baltimore, inspiration for the Star-Spangled Banner

It was a galling sight for British seamen to behold. And as the last vessel spread her canvas to the wind, the Americans hoisted a most superb and splendid ensign on their battery and fired at the same time a gun of defiance... When the squadron retreated from Baltimore, sullen discontent was displayed and malevolent aspersions cast upon our veteran chief... 

~Midshipman Robert Barrett, RN (1799-1828) (on the British withdrawal from Baltimore, "Naval Recollections of the American War") 

Without any clash on the battlefield the young American republic had humbled the might of the British empire. The rebuff of Britain at Baltimore decisively demonstrated America's independence of its former master. And this explosion of national pride was only to be magnified by the events of the remaining months of the war.* 

~Peter Snow (b.1938) (When Britain Burned the White House - the 1812 

Invasion of Washington,** Ch. 21) 

Larger version of map here

Tomorrow and Sunday, 13 and 14 September, will mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Baltimore (wiki) during the War of 1812, remembered primarily for the unsuccessful British bombardment of Fort McHenry and Francis Scott Key's penning the words of "The Star-Spangled Banner" while interned on a British warship. 

President James Madison had declared war on Great Britain in June 1812 in response to interference with American shipping and the impressment of U.S. merchant seamen during the Napoleonic wars, as well as the British stirring up the Indians of the Ohio Valley to resist American settlement. Following an abortive American invasion of southern Canada, the British sent a modest naval and marine force - newly freed up from the Spanish campaign against Napoleon - to the Chesapeake in retaliation. 

In mid-August 1814, an expeditionary force under Admirals Alexander Cochrane and George Cockburn landed on the lower Patuxent River and after routing U.S. militia at the Battle of Bladensburg on the 24th, occupied Washington that night and burned its major government buildings, including the White House and the Capitol, before withdrawing a day later. (Simultaneously, another Royal Navy flotilla maneuvered up the Potomac River to seize Alexandria and held that city for several days before retiring with significant plunder.) After returning to their ships, the British moved up the Chesapeake Bay to attack Baltimore with a naval penetration of the Patapsco River and an amphibious landing southeast of the city on 12 September. 

By then, however, the Americans had rallied their own forces, stopped the (outnumbered) British at the Battle of North Point, and fought off the Royal Navy's attempt to reduce Fort McHenry on the night of 13-14 September. In the face of these failures, the badly over-extended British expedition withdrew southward and departed the Chesapeake Bay to prepare for the New Orleans campaign. And as for "The Star-Spangled Banner," here's the verse we never sing:

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Here's a rather well-done shortish documentary:

The U.S. Marine Band plays the National Anthem:

* The reference here is to the American victories on Lake Champlain (8-11 September 1814) and in the Battle of New Orleans, 8 January 1815, the second

of which was actually fought two weeks after the Treaty of Ghent ended the war. 

** This recent book (St. Martin's Press, New York, 2013) presents a lively and readable account of the British invasion of Washington and the attack on Baltimore during the War of 1812. It should be remembered that all of this happened while Britain was deeply preoccupied with her struggle against Napoleon. He had been exiled to Elba as recently as April 1814 but would return to France on 20 March 1815 to fight the Hundred Days Campaign, which culminated in the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June. 

Taken from Ed's Quotation of the Day, only available via email. Leave your email address in the comments of you'd like to be added to his list.

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Scientists name newly discovered extinct swamp-dwelling creature after Mick Jagger because big lips

A swamp-dwelling, plant-munching creature that lived 19 million years ago in Africa has been named after Rolling Stones lead singer Sir Mick Jagger, because of its big, sensitive lips and snout. The name of the animal, Jaggermeryx naida, translates to 'Jagger's water nymph.'

Top and side views of a fossilized jaw
bone of an ancient creature recently
 named after Mick Jagger, in honor of the
 animal's big, sensitive lips and snout.

Sir Mick Jagger has a new animal named after him. Scientists have named an extinct swamp-dwelling creature that lived 19 million years ago in Africa after the Rolling Stones frontman, in honor of a trait they both share -- their supersized lips.

"We gave it the scientific name Jaggermeryx naida, which translates to 'Jagger's water nymph,'" said study co-author Ellen Miller of Wake Forest University. The animal's fossilized jaw bones suggest it was roughly the size of a small deer and akin to a cross between a slender hippo and a long-legged pig.

Researchers uncovered the fossils -- consisting of multiple jawbone fragments -- amid the sand dunes and eroded rock of a remote site in the Egyptian desert.

The creature belonged to a family of extinct hoofed animals called anthracotheres. Jaggermeryx is one of six species of anthracotheres found at the site. What distinguished it from other members of this family was a series of tiny holes on either side of its jaw that held the nerves providing sensation to the chin and lower lip.

"The animal probably had a highly innervated muzzle with mobile and tactile lips, thus the Jagger reference," said Duke University paleontologist and study co-author Gregg Gunnell.

More at Science Daily.

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Wednesday links

Feel-good story of the year is from an Ironman Triathlon: "Steen swam 2.4 miles while pulling Peder on a rubber raft, biked 112 miles with his brother seated in front of him, and ran 26.2 miles while pushing Peder in a wheelchair across hilly terrain."

Emerson’s Letter of Appreciation to Young Walt Whitman.

Photos from the late 19th century of thousands of cables crowding the skies.

Footage From Unmade Early ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ Movie Starring Paul (Pee Wee Herman) Reubens.

Handguns decorated by Tiffany circa 1890.

The World of Competitive Rock Paper Scissors.

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and include health benefits of alcohol, video of Disney princes in real life, and what if one person had all of the world's money?

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Read this -> Author Ridley Pearson's article on how he spends his days lying to his senile 93 yo mother

I've copied the article here from Google's cache because the page keeps crashing. Here's the original link.

I'm familiar with Pearson largely as a result of the Peter and the Starcatcher series which he co-wrote with Dave Barry - lots more of his stuff is available here.

Rite of passage: A born liar

How do I learn how to lie to the woman who taught me not to?

My mother turns 93 today and is in advanced senility, a condition that prompted us to move her from her country home near Sun Valley, Idaho, to an assisted living facility only miles from our home in St. Louis.

Each morning I visit her in Sunrise Senior Living. I write my books while she reads (usually she reads the same passage from the same book; two weeks ago she was reading the book upside down and backward and said she wasn’t enjoying the story), an amicable working relationship. She can be close to her youngest son; I get to be with my aging mother. I’m able to accomplish 60 percent of what I could in my home office, but it’s better than nothing.

In the early afternoon I bring her to the house for a change of scenery and, for the most part, she naps with the book in her lap. (One of my thrillers; I try to not take it personally.) When she wakes up, she nearly always follows the same routine.

“Where am I?”

“St. Louis. In my home.”

“Where’s my dog?”

“Safe with a housekeeper.” In fact the dog was given away to a wonderful friend the day we left for St. Louis.

“I need a plane ticket for tomorrow. I have to go back home!”

“OK. I’ll book it.” I won’t book it. I will tell her the same thing tomorrow and the next day. And the next.

“Is my house still there?”

“Yes. It’s being looked after by a caretaker.” In fact, it is still there, but my siblings and I sold it last week, raising enough money to keep her here for years if necessary. It had grown too expensive to have private care in her private home.

So there is no home for her to return to. No dog. Her clothes are in boxes in my basement. And here I am lying my way through a complicated scenario that makes me appreciate being a novelist because I’m okay at inventing and telling stories. But lying to my mother? There’s the rub.

This woman worked with my brother and my sister before me to raise us to be upstanding kids (as far as suburban New York kids go; not that far!). I am an Eagle Scout. I help old ladies across the street. But I lie to my own mother. Each day, every day. It turns my stomach. It costs me sleep. These aren’t “harmless” lies — this is outright deception, playing tricks on the elderly. MY OWN MOTHER!

I don’t sleep well. I can’t focus. She’s always within arm’s length. If I leave her alone at the facility for more than three hours she goes ballistic and calls me crying and begging to “go home.” I tell her it’ll be okay — it won’t. I tell her, I’ll be right down. I zoom to the facility (they are angels there, thankfully) and there’s a caregiver consoling her. I thank the person and I take over.

She tells me she has to go home tomorrow.

I tell her I’ll arrange it. I won’t.

I tuck her into bed.

Turn off the light.

I trudge back to my car carrying the world on my shoulders.

She’s spending this first month “adjusting.”

I’m spending this first month learning to lie.

The sad thing is: I’m getting good at it.

Ridley Pearson, a nationally best-selling author, lives in Town and Country. His most recent novel is “The Red Room,” published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

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Feel-good story of the year: Wheelchair-Bound Man Completes Ironman Triathlon With Twin Brother

Holy crap: 

Using special equipment, Steen swam 2.4 miles while pulling Peder on a rubber raft, biked 112 miles with his brother seated in front of him, and ran 26.2 miles while pushing Peder in a wheelchair across hilly terrain.

Last Sunday, 34-year-old Peder Mondrup became the first person with cerebral palsy to complete an Ironman triathlon, thanks to his own determination and the tremendous love and support of his twin brother, Steen. 

Using special equipment, Steen swam 2.4 miles while pulling Peder on a rubber raft, biked 112 miles with his brother seated in front of him, and ran 26.2 miles while pushing Peder in a wheelchair across hilly terrain. It took the incredible duo 15 hours, 32 minutes, and 48 seconds to complete the grueling KMD Ironman Copenhagen Challenge, but they finally crossed the finish line together amidst the bright lights and loud cheers of spectators close to midnight on August 24.

The twins, who call themselves Team Tvilling ("Team Twin" in Danish), were born three months premature and weighing only 2.6 pounds each in 1980. Peder, who suffered a lack of oxygen that caused severe cerebral palsy, has been confined to a wheelchair for all of his life. This physical handicap hasn't held him back, however, as he's participated in a variety of marathons and races with Steen, with those efforts finally culminating in the spectacular completion of the extremely demanding Ironman.

"For the first time, I felt like the person I see myself as: a regular participant instead of 'somebody in a wheelchair,'" said Peder. His brother shared, "If I can give Peder the feeling of not sitting in a wheelchair for a few hours, then I will do whatever it takes! I feel like I am really lucky because he has caused me to see the positive in life and to not complain about everyday things. One thing is certain and that is that you never have and never will hear Peder feel sorry for himself."

The twins, who joke that Steen got "the legs" and Peder got "the brains," hope to pursue their dream of giving handicapped people the chance to feel the joy and pride of participating in races and other sports events. With their Ironman accomplishment only serving as the beginning of their journey, they have established the non-profit Team Twin Association, with the goal of establishing the world’s first triathlon training camps for the disabled in 2015. "We are really excited about this next step for Team Twin," they said. "The work has already begun and will now get our full attention."

See the whole thing, with lots more photos, at My Modern Met.

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See Footage From Unmade Early ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ Movie Starring Paul (Pee Wee Herman) Reubens

Walt Disney Productions purchased the film rights to Gary K. Wolf‘s novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? shortly after the book’s publication in 1981, and Disney spent many years trying to bring Who Framed Roger Rabbit to the screen.

In the early ‘80s Disney developed some test footage of Roger Rabbit, casting a pre-Pee-Wee Paul Reubens as the voice of the titular Rabbit and making Jessica Rabbit less of a sexpot and more of a cutting bitch.

More via AV Club and /Film.

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Video: The Scientific Processes Behind Brewing Beer

Joe Hanson of It’s Okay To Be Smart explores the scientific processes behind brewing beer in this video. I always enjoy these videos, and this one is interesting as well, in spite of the fact that it feels a bit more like a commercial for the brewery than a science lesson.

I did learn that cenosillicaphobia is the word for fear of an empty glass.

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