Quiz: Was Herod the Great, who ordered the firstborn of Nazareth slain, the same king with Pilate who condemned Jesus?

Yesterday’s question answered below: What does it mean to have Carte Blanche?
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History for 12/29/2014
Birthdays: Roman Emperor Flavius Titus, Pablo Casals, Madame de Pompadour, Andrew Johnson, Charles Goodyear, Gelsey Kirkland, Dina Merrill, Tom Bradley, Mary Tyler Moore is 78, Jon Voight is 76, Ray Nitschke, Viveca Lindfors, Ed Flanders, Ted Danson is 67, Marianne Faithful, Paula Poundstone, Jude Law is 42, Patricia Clarkson, Animator Duncan Marjoribanks

1172- ST. THOMAS BECKET murdered. A debate that raged throughout the Europe in the Middle Ages was whether the Church could boss around Kings or visa-versa.
In England when a vacancy opened up for Archbishop of Canterbury, King Henry II arranged to get his old drinking bud, Sir Thomas Beckett elected. However Beckett took his new job so seriously he became the English Churches strongest champion.
On this night King Henry was so fed up with Beckett that he shouted to his court:" Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest!" Two of Henry's dumber knights took this as a hint and went over to Canterbury and murdered the Archbishop while at prayers. The Pope in Rome excommunicated Henry and placed England under the Writ of Interdict, which meant no local priest could administer baptism, marriage or last rites to anyone. They even took down the church bells so you didn’t know what time it was. King Henry apologized and did penance, even allowing himself to be whipped, and Beckett was made a Saint.

1776- George Washington marched his minutemen back to the old Trenton battlefield, scene of their victory of four days before. There he praised them, then begged, pleaded and cajoled them not to go home now that their enlistments were up. Washington announced to the press that all his men had rejoined the colors, but in a private letter to Congress he admitted only about half were staying.

1837- THE CAROLINE INCIDENT. A minor rebellion against England had broken out in Canada led by William Lyon Mackenzie. This day on the American side of the Niagara river a ship full of supplies destined for the rebels called the Caroline was attacked by Canadian loyalist militia. They set fire to the Caroline and pushed it over Niagara Falls. The incident caused tensions between the U.S. and British governments. Mackenzie’s Rising was put down and his grandson became Canadian Prime Minister.

1845- Texas became a U.S. state.

1851- In 1844 the Young Men’s Christian Association or YMCA opened in London. An American named Thomas Sullivan was inspired by this idea and brought it home to Boston. This day the first American YMCA meeting was held in the Old South Church. The idea soon spread across the United States..

1851- Lola Montez dances on tour in America. Lola Montez was originally an Irish lass named Betty James who re-invented herself as an Argentine flamenco dancer. She became mistress to King Ludwig Ist of Bavaria, who I guess couldn’t tell the difference between a girl from Buenos Aires or County Cork.
Ludwig was so besotted with her that he bankrupted his country and anybody she didn’t care for was horsewhipped. Ludwig finally had to abdicate his throne rather than give her up. She did dancing and lecture tours to support herself, and even published books on beauty secrets. If there had been a ninetenth century Oprah show, she would have been on it. She died an elderly social worker in New York and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery. Her ghost is sometimes seen on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

1890- WOUNDED KNEE- The last battle of the Indian Wars. The US government reacted violently to the Ghost Dance Movement then sweeping Sioux reservations. But the Ghost Dance was not calling for an actual rebellion against the US. Ghost dancers believed if they danced with the spirits of their ancestors the white man would go away.
But to the US Department of the Interior even a metaphysical rebellion is rebellion enough. Sitting Bull was arrested and killed. The army was sent to Wounded Knee reservation to demand a disarming of a few braves. When shooting broke out, the army opened up with modern rapid firing cannon and rifles. To 30 US casualties 300 Sioux, mostly women and children were killed. Reports abound of troops shooting the survivors. Ironically the unit was the Seventh Cavalry, and soldiers considered it the revenge of Custer.

1913- Cecil B.DeMille telegraphed his partners back in New York:” Flagstaff no good for our purpose. Have proceeded to California. Want authority to rent a barn in a place called Hollywood for $75 a month.” His partner Sam Goldwyn cabled back: “ Rent barn on month to month basis. Do not make long commitment.” DeMille began shooting the Squaw Man, the first Hollywood Film.

1916-James Joyce’s novel “the Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” published.

1939- Scientist William Shockley first noted in his laboratory notebook that it should be possible to replace vacuum tubes with something called a semi-conductor. Eight years later he led the team that developed the transistor.

1940- Nazi planes firebomb London, causing 1500 fires. At one point they hit St. Paul's Cathedral. CBS correspondent Edgar R. Murrow achieved fame by standing on a rooftop and reporting live on the radio, even as the bombs exploded around him.

1941- Disney animator Bill Tytla tells Time Magazine in an interview about creating "Dumbo": "I don't know a damn thing about elephants!"

1950- Congress passed the Celler-Kefhauver Act, which sought to reign in global companies mega-mergers. It was the last major piece of legislation to try and regulate corporate monopolies in the U.S. So…… what happened?

1964- The first transistorized hearing aid.

1964 – To create the first pilot of the TV series Star Trek, the original filming model of the U.S.S. Enterprise was delivered by model maker Rick Datin, Jr, based on the design created by Star Trek production artist Walter “Matt” Jefferies. The “miniature” was 11 feet long!

1965- First day shooting on Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: a Space Odyssey. It was an indoor set at Elstree Studios in England, and the first setup was the inspection of the excavation of the Monolith in the moon crater Tycho.

1968- Animator Bill Tytla died at age 64, from complications of a stroke.

1972- LIFE Magazine ended publication.

1974- John Lennon signed the last papers dissolving the Beatles while staying at the Polynesian Village in Disneyworld Fla. The band broke up in 1970, but it’s taken this long to unravel all of their vast financial holdings. The other three members had already signed.

1975- Euell Gibbons, early natural foods advocate, died of a stomach ailment.
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Yesterday’s Question: What does it mean when you have Carte Blanche?

Answer: Carte Blanche came from the 1700s when no contest to a candidate was signaled with a white ballot. Carte Blanche means you have the right to do something at your discretion with no argument. It became one of the first popular credit cards, Diners Club being the oldest- about 1950. (Eventually, the Carte Blanche card faded because of competition from AmEx, Visa, Master Card, etc.)