Study Of Flight; Monopoly

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February 6th, 2006

in 47,371 BCE, Swikolay leaves Kilimanjaro behind her and tells her descendants, “I don’t believe that this mountain will touch the sky. Together, my children, you will create a way to fulfill this dream.” She walks away from the mountain, never to return. From this point on, she turns her attention to birds, and the study of flight.

in 1659, the English bank Montrose issued a payment to a French bank in the form of a promissory note, or cheque, the first such transaction in European banking. It bounced.

in 1778, the hopeful American delegation to France, headed by Benjamin Franklin, failed to sign the Bourbon monarchy to a treaty. King Louis felt that the betrayal of his fellow King in Britain would set a bad example for his own citizens, leaving the colonists to their own devices. Without French assistance, American President John Jay easily convinced his fellow colonists that the revolution was unsustainable, and forged peace with Britain. Most of the American revolutionary leaders were soon fleeing to their fellows in Canada.

in 1836, the HMS Beagle, a survey ship bound for South America, hit bad weather off the coast of Tasmania and sank with all hands. Deacon Charles Darwin, a naturalist who accompanied the voyage to examine native wildlife of the southern hemisphere, was lost along with the sailors.

in 1904, in a desperate escape attempt, the Congress of Nations crew recapture their ship and beat a hasty retreat from the Mlosh system. In their rush to escape, they leave behind Ambassador Li’Kanto’Mk, who tells them to go on without him when he is taken captive by Q’B’Ton’ra.

in 1918, the being that had been trapped in a gem by Velma Porter carefully sneaks about the Caesar Augustus, trying to find Porter. Unfortunately for him, Porter and her husband, Mikhail von Heflin, have both decided to spend most of their time in their cabin, since the other passengers object to the Baron's German heritage and their interracial relationship. He prowls the ship searching for her, hiding when other passengers approach.

in 1935, Charles Darrow, a hobbyist from Germantown, Pennsylvania, first started selling a game he called Monopoly. The Parker Brothers company had rejected the game the year before for several design flaws; but it became a very popular game in the American northeast during the Great Depression. It ceased production during World War II and Darrow was never able to start it up again.

in 1943, Count Galeazzo Ciano, son-in-law to Italian leader Benito Mussolini, stages a coup against Il Duce, and assumes control of the Italian government. He immediately expels the Germans from Italy, and declares his country neutral in the war raging across the world. Although Germans manage to retake some Italian territory in the north, they are left with a hostile nation on their southern border when the Allies invade France in 1944, and are unable to sustain a defense. They collapse in the autumn of 1944.

in 1966, Comrade President Gus Hall meets with North Chilean leader Salvador Allende on a visit through South America. “We are determined to help prevent aggression,” Comrade Hall said of his government’s support of North Chile against the southern rebels. In addressing the poverty in South Chile that was helping spawn so many rebels, he said, “We are determined to win not only military victory but victory over hunger, disease, and despair."

in 2005, Jeanne Best feels compelled to call back in to her boss, Austin lawyer Jack Armstrong. She is given instructions to lure the Save Earth group she is hiding out with to capture at a warehouse in Houston. She tells her group that she has managed to shake off the control she had been under, and tells them that this warehouse in Houston contains evidence that will help them convince the world of the existence of the “Claws.”

Timelines in today's post: the Speaker, Canadian Independence, the Mlosh, von Heflin, Communist America and The Claw.

Today's "Six Degrees of Star Trek" challenge: Connect the 1978 TV series The Voyage of Charles Darwin to Star Trek. Place your answers in the comments and see the Forum for previous results. For more on 6 degrees games, click here.

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