Felix's History Musings

to summarise;

• a national geographic film team was shooting a documentary on everest when they spotted the shoe

• the sock has a label with "a.c. irvine" stitched onto it

• irvine's living relatives have been told about the find. his great niece julie summers says she regards the discovery of his partial remains as "something close to closure"

•

"Dancers of the Opera-Comique in Paris try on the respirators provided by the Service de la Defense.”

The SS Warrimoo, a passenger steamship traveling from Vancouver to Australia, was silently knifing its way across the mid-Pacific waters. The navigator had just finished calculating a star fix and handed the results to Captain John DS. Phillips.

The Warrimoo's coordinates were LAT 0º 31' N, LONG 179 30' W. The date was December 31, 1899. "Know what this means?" First Mate Payton announced, "We're only a few miles from the intersection of the Equator and the International Date Line."

Captain Phillips was prankish enough to seize the opportunity to do the nautical feat of a lifetime. He summoned his navigators to the bridge to double-check the ship's position. He altered his course slightly to focus directly on his target. He then altered the engine's speed.

The calm weather and clear night worked to his advantage. At midnight, the SS Warrimoo rested on the Equator, exactly where it had crossed the International Date Line. The ramifications of this odd arrangement were numerous.

These buildings in the San Juan Hill area of the Upper West Side, seen in 1939, were torn down to build Lincoln Center.

Rhyton in the shape of a rams head, Attic Greek, 5th century BC

In the course of time, some quite funny names have emerged, such as HMS Pickle, HMS Beaver, HMS Black Joke or HMS Sandwich. But there are a few others that I don't want to withhold from you.

Falcon in the Fetterlock, English Warship mid 16th century

Three Ostrich Feathers, English Merchant, mid16th century

Bull, Bear and Horse, English Merchant, early 17th century

Mousenest, English Fireship, mid 17th century

Blade of Wheat, English Merchant, late 17th century

Who's afraid, English Privateer, late 18th century

Sturdy Beggar, Salem Privateer, late 18th century

Terrible, English Privateer, late 18th century

Mouse of the Mountain, Hudson River Steamer, early 19th century

Grumbler and Growler, Salem Privateer, early 19th century

Precious Ridicule, New Orleans schooner, early 19th century

Free Love, Mississippi Barque, early 19th century

Catch me who can, Baltimore Privateer, early 19th century

The Twenty - Sixth Day of October 1812, English Schooner, early 19th century

Go ask Her, Neufundland Schooner, early 19th century

Brown Smith Jones, Maryland Police Boat, late 19th century