Otter Limits

On this day in United States history in 1894, Labor Day is made a federal holiday by Congress.

Originally, Labor Day was celebrated on May 4 in memory of the Haymarket Riots but by the time it was made an official holiday it had been celebrated on the first Monday in September.

It was originally created by labor unions to celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers. It is believed to be first proposed by Peter McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co founder of the American Federation of Labor.

This holiday is also a state-mandated holiday in all 50 states.

On this day in the United States in 1925 the Chrysler Corporation was founded.

It was founded by Walter P. Chrysler who previously worked for the Maxwell Motor Company. The first “Chrysler” automobile was launched in January 1924 by that company. It was one of the first cars in production to include an oil filter.

The company is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.

The Plymouth brand was introduced in 1928 as a low cost alternative to the Chryslers while the Desoto brand was a mid-range alternative. Also in the late 20s the corporation bought the Dodge Brothers auto and truck company. It also acquired AMC in 1987 and shortly thereafter created the Eagle brand (which was discontinued in 1998. The Plymouth brand was discontinued in 2001. The only automobile brands in existence for the company now are Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler.

In September 1979 it asked the government for $1.5 billion to avoid bankruptcy. In December of that year Congress passed the “Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act” which was signed by President Carter in January 1980.

In 1998 the company was purchased by Daimler-Benz and the Chrysler Corporation gained the legal name DaimlerChrysler Motors Company. However, it was announced in May 2007 that 80% of the Chrysler Group would be sold to Cerberus Capital Management for $7.4 billion.

In April 2009 Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced a partnership with Fiat.

So……it seems to me that Congress should have let them go bankrupt back in the late 70s because they have had nothing but problems since then.

On this day in U.S. history in 1790, the Constitutution of the United States was ratified by the 13th and final colony, Rhode Island.

For those that don’t know, this Constitution thing is the supreme law of our country. It was written mostly by James Madison, who came to be known as “The Father of the Constitution” and who later was elected the 4th President of the United States.

Wiki says it best:

“It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America and the Federal Government of the United States. It provides the framework for the organization of the United States Government.”

Before this document was adopted, the country was governed by the Articles of Confederation.

The Constitution of the United States stands the test of time as a nation whose government is composed of, as the Preamble states, “We the People of the United States.”

Sure the framers left a lot of stuff to interpretation which probably was not necessarily the best idea they had and they really left a lot of stuf vague but one can not downplay the influence this document has had not on our own country but on constitution’s later adopted by other nations.

Thank you Mr. Madison!

On this day in U.S. history in 1977, the movie Star Wars (A New Hope) is first released in theaters.

It starred Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness, Peter Cushing, among many others and was directed by George Lucas, who is the mastermind behind the Star Wars saga.

George began work on this film in May 1973, having been inspired by Flash Gordon and the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa. Filming began in March 1976 in the desert of Tunisia.

It has earned $460 million in the United States and received 10 Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture). It won 6 of them including Best Art Direction and Best Music, Original Score (John Williams).

It is ranked the 13th Greatest American movie by the American Film Institute and the #2 (out of the top 10) in their Science Fiction film category.

On this day in U.S. History in 1921, the Emergency Quota Act was passed.

This was a law that limited the number of immigrants that could come into the country in any given year.

Of the number that was allowed, over half of them were limited to northern and western Europeans and the remainder were for eastern and southern Europeans.

The law, however, did not set any limits on the number of immigrants from Latin America.

Interestingly enough, I did not see any information about limiting Asian immigrants either.

On this day in American history in 1894, 3000 employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company went on strike in Illinois in response to a 30% wage cut.

Wages were cut because demand for the company’s train cars declined due to the 1984 economic panic.

The workers, most of which belonged to the American Railway Union, effectively stopped traffic west of Chicago in their strike.

The strike was eventually broken up by President Grover Cleveland, who sent 12,000 Army troops in stating that their strike effected delivery of the mail and presented a threat to public safety.

During this Pullman Strike, 13 strikers were killed in the ensuing violence.

On this day in the United States in 1992, the 27th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified and became law.

This amendment prohibits members of Congress from increasing (or decreasing, yeah like that’ll ever happen) their salary mid-term.

It was originally submitted in 1789.

The amendment reads:

No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.

However, the US Court of Appeals decided in Boehner v Anderson that Congressional cost of living adjustments are exempt.

Now…if we can only get the members of Congress to quit taking pay raises just for the hell of it.

On this day in the United States in 1886, a riot began in Chicago between the local police and union workers which came to be known as the Haymarket Riot.

A strike began on May 1 in support of a nation-wise strike to make the 8 hour work day standard. The purpose of the meeting in Haymarket Square, Chicago, was to protest a police attack on the striking workers at McCormick Harvesting Machine Company where numerous workers were injured.

At some point during the strike a bomb was thrown at the police at which they responded by opening fire on the crowd.

It resulted in the death of 9 police officers and an unknown number of civilians and 8 anarchists that were allegedly involved in the strike were tried for murder, 4 of which were put to death and another committed suicide while in prison.

To this day, nobody is 100% who threw the bomb.

On this day in American history in 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord were fought.

These battles were considered the first engagements and marked the beginning of the War for Independence. They were fought not only in the towns of Lexington and Concord but also in Lincoln, present-day Arlington and Cambridge, all of which are near Boston, Massachusetts.

General Thomas Gage, military governor of Massachusetts, had been ordered by the crown to disarm the rebels who had been massing arms and forming militias for defense against local native tribes. Gage then ordered Lt Col Francis Smith to seize and destroy all of the colonials munitions.

The militias were warned of the coming British troops by the famous ride of Paul Revere, as well as the rides of Samuel Prescott and William Prescott.

The “shot heard round the world” was fired just after sunrise in Lexington.

In the end, victory surprisingly fell to the militias.

On this day in American history in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot in Washington DC at Fords Theatre by John Wilkes Booth.

While watching a play called Our American Cousin, Booth came up from behind Lincoln and shot him with a Philadelphia Deringer. After he shot him, he jumped out of the President’s booth, out of the theatre, jumped onto a horse and rode away. He was eventually shot and killed on April 26 by a Union solider named Boston Corbett.

The President, however, died on April 15 at the age of 56.