Daily Archives: June 20, 2022

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) Through history, we can better understand ourselves and the world around us. There is a rich chronicle of the past in every field of topic, from politics to music, that helps in seeing a more detailed picture of where society stands today.

Known by Guinness World Record as the worlds most premature baby to survive, Hutchinson celebrated his first birthday.Hutchinson was born 5 months premature at Childrens Minnesota Hospital in Minneapolis where doctors gave him a 0% chance of survival. He weighed less than a pound and could fit into the palm of a hand. He spent more than 6 months in the neonatal intensive care unit.

President Trump was allowed to hold his first rally since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled. Tulsa, Oklahoma attorneys requested a temporary injunction against the 19,000-seat BOK Center to prevent it from hosting the Saturday rally unless the campaign instituted social distancing protocols. The BOK Centers legal team argued the arena had already agreed to provide masks and check attendees temperatures, and the justices all agreed the attorneys couldnt point to a law that required those measures.

Spaceport America would take 18 months to complete and would house Virgin Galactics space tourism business as well as other companies involved in space tourism. The spaceport now provides access to both the National Airspace System and 6,000 square miles of restricted airspace from surface to unlimited. This unique environment creates a quiet zone with minimal commercial aviation traffic that reinforces privacy and allows the safe testing of new designs with fewer regulatory delays.

Atkins v. Virginia involved Daryl Renard Atkins, who was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for abducting, robbing, and killing 21-year-old airman, Eric Michael Nesbitt.

During the penalty phase of the trial, the defense presented Atkinss school records and the results of an IQ test carried out by clinical psychologist Dr. Evan Nelson confirmed that he had an IQ of 59. On this basis they proposed that he had an intellectual disability. In this case the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the imposition of the death penalty in cases involving intellectually disabled defendants violated the Eighth Amendments protection against cruel and unusual punishment. Despite the ruling, the State of Virginia did not immediately reduce Daryl Atkins death sentence.

Roxette, a Swedish pop duo that gained fame starting in the 1980s, dominated the Billboard Hot 100s with this song that was written by Per Gessle, who was half of the duo.The other half, Marie Fredriksson, was known for her powerful voice and dynamic onstage presence passed away in 2019.

Johnny Carson married Alexis Maas in a secret ceremony at his Malibu beach home. He met Maas on a beach a couple of years prior.Carson was 61 years old at the time of the ceremony and host of The Tonight Show on NBC.

While the film hit theaters on June 20, 1975, it was originally planned for a Christmas 1974 release. However, it was a huge success and eventually created the genre of summer blockbusters. The film starred Roy Scheider as police chief Martin Brody, Robert Shaw as shark fisherman Quint, and Richard Dreyfuss as oceanographer Matt Hooper.

Kidman was born in Honolulu to Australian parents. She was raised in Sydney and launched her acting career as a teenager. She would go on to win an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2010 for the role of Becca Corbette in the film Rabbit Hole. She was also a Golden Globe recipient this year for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama for her role as Lucille Ball in the film Being the Ricardos. So far, she has received six Golden Globes in total. She has also won many other awards, including two Primetime Emmy Awards.

The hotline was designed to facilitate communication between the president and Soviet premier. The establishment of the hotline to the Kremlin came in the wake of the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, in which the U.S. and U.S.S.R had come dangerously close to a nuclear war.

The first child of the novelist Charles Dickens and his wife, Catherine, Dickens Jr., became the editor of his fathers magazine All the Year Round, and a successful writer of dictionaries. However, he is most remembered for his two 1879 books Dickenss Dictionary of London and Dickenss Dictionary of the Thames.

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Today in History: 10 historical events on June 20 - WSAV-TV

Tuscarawas County native William Franklin Gilmore developed a strong regional reputation as a watercolor artist, creating more than a thousand drawings in his lifetime.

His works depicted scenery in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and the Carolinas. Some focused on his old hometown of Gilmore in southern Tuscarawas County, including West Union United Methodist Church and Devil's Den.

He taught art in Canton public schools from 1898 to 1931 and was considered the dean of Canton artists when he died 1946. His paintings were exhibited several times at the Massillon Museum.

"During the last 15 years of his life, Mr. Gilmore's watercolor paintings were noted for their extraordinary brilliance, which he attributed to a special technique which he developed," his obituary in the Canton Repository said."Instead of mixing his bright colors, he placed them in juxtaposition on the white paper, and permitted the colors to blend together by optical illusion."

A relative, Greg McFee, is writing a book on Gilmore's life.

"The running theme in his life that I've gotten from everything was he was a strong Christian. He loved the outdoors. Most of his paintings are of the outdoors," McFee said.

Gilmore was born in a log house in Rush Township, a short distance from Gilmore, on April 1, 1865, two weeks before the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He was the oldest child of Gordon and Roann Lakin Gilmore. McFee's great-grandmother, Lessie McFee, was Gilmore's sister.

Frank, as he was known, began teaching at age 19. He taught in Gnadenhutten and later Conover, Ohio. He was the principal of the school at Conover, but when a fire destroyed the building, he lost his job.

That's when he decided to become an artist. He enrolled in an art school in Columbus. Following graduation, he worked as an illustrator at an engraving firm.

Early in 1898, he learned that the job of supervisor of drawing and penmanship was open in the Canton schools. He landed that job, and continued to teach in the school district until his retirement.

After his retirement, Gilmore spent a year traveling on the course of the old Sandy & Beaver Canal from Bolivar to Smith's Ferry, Pa. He documented the canal with his paintings and by talking to people, McFee said. Gilmore used the information he gathered to publish a book on the canal.

In 1935, he accepted an offer as art instructor at Union College, a school in the mountains of southeastern Kentucky. He spent several summers at the school, and, in his spare time, made trips to Cumberland Gap and Cumberland Falls to paint.

Gilmore was one of the founding members of the Canton Art Institute in 1935. He taught classes in art for the education program without pay.

He was awarded honorary annual membership by the Ohio Watercolor Society, a group restricted to 50 artists who submit works around the country in a circulation exhibit. He was awarded first prize in the print division of the 1939 May Show at the Canton Art Institute and was a regular exhibitor every year.

In the summer of 1944, Gilmore took Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Grace Goulder and several others on a tour of southern Tuscarawas County.

The trip began with lunch at Miller's Restaurant on Water Street in Uhrichsville, where they dined on chicken pie, country style, and homemade berry pie. Then they headed on to the town of Gilmore, founded by Frank's great-grandfather William Gilmore,and to Frank's boyhood home in Rush Township.

Goulder wrote that the house and barn at the family farm were empty.

"Where Mr. Gilmore's mother once had had a garden, scarlet rambler roses rioted through the weeds and spilled over the white picket fence," she wrote. "Giant hydrangea blossoms stood at the front door."

She continued, "The view from the front of the house is north toward Uhrichsville, over valley land banded with blue hills on the horizon and a Puritan's prim white church cutting into the sky line, the Kennedy Church two and a half miles away, Mr. Gilmore said.

"Looking in the other direction, from the back porch, was gently sloping pasture land with a spring in it, and beyond it square patches of yellow ripening wheat and green corn and oats of still another green."

They then stopped at the house of Sarah Ann Sanders, 84, who lived alone. Part of her property included the famous Devil's Den.

The group wanted to visit the site. "But you can't drive to it," Sanders told her guests. "You'll have to walk, and it's quite a piece."

The group walked through a forest of beech, tulip and maple before they reached the scenic spot. Gilmore told the others how one time he and his brothers came for a visit, and their pet dog slid through a stone opening to his death on the rock floor below.

"There was a rickety flight of steps built against the rocky wall and leading to the 'den' below, but we remained above, satisfied to look from safer distance," Goulder wrote.

Frank Gilmore died two years later on Feb. 22, 1946, at Aultman Hospital in Canton of a heart ailment. He was buried in the cemetery in Gnadenhutten.

Several months after his death, the Canton Art Institute held a memorial exhibition of his work.

"As a memorial to his untiring work for the institute, a 'Gilmore Memorial Award' was included in last spring's list of prizes at the May Show, and this was won by Roy E. Wilhelm for the best watercolor landscape," the Repository reported.

Greg McFee has devoted a considerable amount of time researching the life of his great-great-uncle and is planning a reunion of the Gilmore family on July 24.

Jon Baker is a reporter for The Times-Reporter and can be reached at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.

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Hooked on History: Gilmore native gained fame as watercolor artist - Times Reporter

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Dr. Ben Carson illustrated the significance of teaching history properly during an appearance on "Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy."

Sunday marked Juneteenth, a federal holiday that commemorates the day slaves learned about the Emancipation Proclamation and the end of slavery in 1865. In regard to the holiday, Carson emphasized its importance noting "Theres so much progress thats been made" since that time.

"Juneteenth is so important because it actually efficiently recognizes the emancipation of the slaves, and slavery was a horrible thing, theres no question about it. But I think we need to recognize that slavery has been a part of virtually every civilization since there has been written history," Carson explained.

The Lincoln Emancipation Statue sits in Lincoln Park on November 11, 2017 in Washington D.C.'s Capital Hill neighborhood. Paid for by former slaves and placed in the park in 1876, the statue depicts racial attitudes of the 19th century from a northern perspective. (Getty Images)

He continued, "We in America have actually done something that no one else really did. That is, we had so many people who are opposed to it that we fought a Civil War, a bloody Civil War, lost a large portion of our population to get rid of this evil. And that says something about this nation as a people. Were not all the same. We have a lot of different opinions but overall tendency was to move toward freedom and justice for people."

LAWRENCE JONES ON JUNETEENTH, FATHERS DAY AND THE GREATNESS OF AMERICA

Acknowledging the countrys history with slavery, Carson explained the need to teach our children the good along with the bad.

"This is what we need to be teaching our children. We need to enhance that. We need to learn from that. We need to build on that rather than back and dredging up every negative thing we could find and saying that is what we are and that we cant get away from it," Carson said.

Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson campaigning at Nashua Community College in Nashua, NH on December 20,2015. (Getty Images)

"I think you have to be truthful about our history because remember, our history is what gives you your identity. And your identity that is thing upon which your beliefs are built. If you disrupt that chain, then you become like a leaf blowing in the wind. You dont really have a foundation. You can learn from good and from bad, and thats what wise people do. They dont try to cover the bad up or rewrite the bad. They learn from the bad and definitely build on the good," he said.

GOP CONGRESSWOMAN-ELECT ON HISTORIC WIN: DEMOCRATS TOOK VOTERS IN TEXAS FOR GRANTED

Carson also expounded on the desire for "people who dont appreciate our freedoms" to learn the significance of the progress made since Juneteenth.

Chants for Antwon Rose Jr. fill the air on Fifth Avenue during Pittsburgh's Juneteenth Parade from Freedom Corner in the Hill District to Point State Park, Saturday, June 23, 2018. (Andrew Russell/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review via AP)

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"It would be very nice if a lot of the people who are complaining today about the United States could go and live in some other parts of the world for a little while, and I think they would have a tremendous appreciation of freedom we have and why it is so vitally important for us to not only understand it but to protect it for those who are coming behind us and particularly for our young people," Carson said.

Lindsay Kornick is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to lindsay.kornick@fox.com and on Twitter: @lmkornick.

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Dr. Ben Carson discusses Juneteenth and the importance of teaching history - Fox News

WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) Many locations in northeastern and central Pennsylvania spent the weekend celebrating Juneteenth.

The Union Army captured New Orleans in 1862, and slave owners in confederate states moved to Texas with more than 150,000 enslaved African Americans. For 3 years, even after president Abraham Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation, slaves in Texas continued to be deprived of their freedom.

On June 19, 1865, troops marched to Texas, to enforce the emancipation proclamation and free the last enslaved black Americans. Those who were freed from bondage celebrated their long-overdue emancipation on June 19. Nearly 160 years later many say its a good time to reflect.

Its just been a big battle for black people in this country so I think its important to show our representation. Its just a good time to embrace diversity, unity and bring everybody together, said Nanticoke resident, Deidra Lamont.

The date has been observed by many for decades but it officially became a federal holiday last year with a stroke of President Bidens pen.

We cant rest until the promise of equality is fulfilled for every one of us in every corner of this nation. That to me is the meaning of Juneteenth. Thats what its about, said President Biden.

At least 24 states and the District of Columbia are legally recognizing Juneteenth as a public holiday this year according to a Pew Research Center. Governor Tom Wolf designated Juneteenth as an official annual observance in 2019, but Pennsylvania does not recognize it as a federal holiday.

Due to the federal holiday banks will be closed alongside the U.S. Postal Service and DMV.

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Juneteenth and the history behind it - PAHomePage.com

This weekends upcoming Pride festival marks the 50th anniversary of the first Pride march in Minneapolis. This years events will focus on the history of Pride, celebrate the progress thats been made in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and look toward the future by spotlighting the next generation of community leaders.

The first Twin Cities Pride event occurred in 1972 to commemorate the 1969 events at the Stonewall Inn, a bar located in New York Citys Greenwich Village, which was a watershed moment for the LGBTQ rights movement.

At that time, many discriminatory laws were in effect across the U.S. including laws that criminalized dressing as a gender other than that assigned at birth and there were no laws protecting the LGBTQ community from discrimination.

Public gathering spaces were frequently raided, with police often beating and arresting members of the LGBTQ community. Historic events like those at Coopers Donuts, the Black Cat Tavern and Comptons Cafeteria led to increased momentum in the movement for gay rights across the country.

When police raided the Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969, they were met with strong resistance. Frustrated by ongoing harassment, transgender women, drag queens and gay men of color led the fight against discrimination and violence toward their community. Patrons and community members protested the raid and polices actions for six days. The uprising reignited the gay rights movement and led to the creation of many LGBTQ advocacy organizations that continue to thrive today.

One year after the uprising, members of the LGBTQ community returned to the Stonewall Inn and held what would later be recognized as the first Pride parade.

In the time since Stonewall, there has been significant progress made in the fight for equal rights for the LGBTQ community. In the last 15 years alone, weve seen the repeal of Dont Ask, Dont Tell, the legalizing of same-sex marriage and the lifting of the ban that prevented transgender people from serving in the military.

This progress took years of hard work and sacrifice and deserves to be celebrated. And yet, as we celebrate these crucial victories, so much work remains to be done.

The ban that prevented transgender people from serving in the military was initially lifted in 2016 only to see a new policy reimplement the ban in 2018. The 2018 policy was then overturned in 2021. In this brief window of very recent history, our country reversed course three times on basic rights for the transgender community. And this is only one example of ongoing legislative actions that target this community.

In the realm of health care, we saw arguments against the Affordable Care Act as recently as 2020, including the anti-discrimination protections offered by the law. Elimination of those protections would deepen the care gaps already experienced by the LGBTQ community and other marginalized communities, including discrimination that too often prevents essential access to affordable health care.

Since 2021, at least 17 states have enacted anti-LGBTQ legislation, including laws that make it a felony to provide gender-affirming health care to transgender youth, ban transgender girls from participating in sports and limit school curriculum that provides education about the LGBTQ community.

Our recent history and current reality make it clear: equal rights for the LGBTQ community continue to be debated in many spaces. And the fact that someones basic rights are up for discussion has a significant impact on physical, mental and emotional health.

Facing discrimination and barriers to health care continues to be a common experience in the transgender and non-binary community. Systemic issues include things like:

There are also distressing interpersonal interactions across the health system that have a significant impact on mental and physical health. Blue Cross own gender services consultant Alex Jackson Nelson recently described his experiences:

Curiosity about the transgender community has shown up in aggressive and invasive ways. One example was when I was in my early 20s and first went to the emergency room due to a horrible case of the flu. At the time I had a large chest (breasts) and facial hair. While I waited to see the doctor, several residents came in to gawk at me and ask me questions about my genitals and the effects of the testosterone I was taking. I failed to see the connection between these questions and my flu symptoms.

Ive also been asked to disrobe during medical appointments when seeing doctors for things like a long-lasting cold or seasonal allergies, or asked incredibly invasive questions about my body, my transition and my gender-affirming surgeries. These questions come up no matter what my appointment is for, whether it is for tendonitis in my elbow, dental work, a medication check or podiatry.

I regularly avoid making appointments for medical care, and meeting a provider for the first time makes me extremely anxious. This has gotten better over time as Ive learned to advocate for myself to get my needs met, but its still exhausting.

Blue Cross commitment

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is committed to standing with and for the LGBTQ community and improving business operations to address disparities and achieve equity.

One way it does so is through its Gender Care and Service initiative, which is structured to eliminate barriers throughout the health care system and meet the needs of the transgender and non-binary community.

Looking to the future

As we celebrate Pride this weekend, were eager to honor the significant progress that has been made in the fight for equal rights for the LGBTQ community. Were also committed to maintaining focus on the work that remains to be done in order to achieve the vision that one day, everyone has what they need to attain their highest level of health.

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Celebrating the history of Pride on its 50th anniversary - Sahan Journal

Throwing it back!

Fans first met Desiree on Season 17 of The Bachelor. While things didnt work out between Desiree and Sean Lowe, Des went on to be the Season 9 Bachelorette.

Throughout the ups and downs of her journey as the Bachelorette, Chris Siegfried continued to show up for Des regardless of what happened with the other men.

She eventually gave Chris her final rose and the two got engaged during the Season 9 finale.

The couple is still together to this day and they share two children, Asher Wrigley and Zander Cruz.

Now, this week in Bachelor Nation history, were looking back on one of their first dates together in none other than Munich, Germany!

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During Season 9 of The Bachelorette, Des got to travel to Europe for the very first time with the men vying for her heart.

Upon arriving in Munich, she said, Its beautiful here and Im going to have the best time of my life. Munich is so romantic. The buildings are beautiful and full of history. The architecture in this city is just amazing. I am so excited to date in this city.

And for her first date in the city, Desiree took Chris to tour the old city and sightsee.

The two had a blast sampling sausages and beer and even tried on lederhosen!

During their date, Des and Chris swapped relationship stories and Chris ended it by reading a romantic poem he wrote just for her.

Touched by his sincerity, Desiree kissed Chris, and love was clearly in the air!

Later that night, the two continued their date with dinner in a royal hall where they were serenaded by singer Matt White who sang his hit Love and Affection.

Chris ended up receiving the rose and, well, the rest is history!

Check out more of Chris and Desirees time in Munich in the throwback clip below.

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This Week in Bachelor Nation History: Desiree & Chris Siegfried Enjoy a Special 1-on-1 Date in Munich - Bachelor Nation

The Army has adopted an all-around health program that targets a range of areas, including mental, spiritual and physical health. The Holistic Health and Fitness, or H2F, program aims to take the best of current mental and physical health science to improve the condition of soldiers across the force.

But this isnt the first time, by far, that the service has looked for ways to better mold soldiers for the rigors of modern battle.

Army Maj. Garrett Gatzemeyer, 37, has now documented this long and fascinating history in his recent book, Bodies for Battle: U.S. Army Physical Culture and Systematic Training, 1885-1957.

Gatzemeyer was commissioned out of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 2007, and later taught history there as an assistant professor from 2016 to 2019. Like soldiers everywhere, Gatzemeyer did his dose of calisthenics without fail when he hit the regular Army.

And, like many in uniform over the past century, he had a limited understanding of how the Army produced those bodyweight physical routines, its run distance and other measures of fitness.

As the service began revamping its protocols with combat fitness tests and other ways to keep soldiers in fighting shape, the Fruitland, Idaho, native was leafing through old Army manuals as he sought a dissertation topic while working on his doctoral degree at the University of Kansas.

Army Maj. Garrett Gatzemeyer, author of "Bodies for Battle," analyzes Army physical training between 1885 and 1957. (Garrett Gatzemeyer and University Press of Kansas)

The old physical training manuals from the 1920s and 1940s drew his attention.

The language was really rich and interesting, Gatzemeyer told Army Times. And in many ways, the PT manuals felt really, really familiar to me as an Army officer.

The pages, which dated to the pre-World War II era, had instructions on how to do burpees and a series of drills that soldiers had performed for generations.

That finding and a few more years of research led Gatzemeyer to draft his dissertation, obtain his doctoral degree and publish Bodies for Battle.

The first lesson for todays soldiers: What you do now has an origin story, and PT wasnt always the way it is now.

Gatzemeyer talked to Army Times recently about his findings. The interview was edited for length and clarity.

Q: Young students can ignore history. But there are cultural aspects in the military on how leaders and troops view physical fitness. What did you notice while you were researching that stood out?

A: That was about the time, mid-2015 to 2016, that the Army was working itself away from the Army Physical Fitness Test and moving toward what became the Army Combat Fitness Test. The study for what comes next had just concluded and one of the findings in the study was that the Army should reduce its run to 1.5 miles down from the 2-mile run, because science indicated that was the optimal distance to test cardiovascular fitness. I remember reading that the sergeant major of the Army wanted that overruled because, he said, that last half mile tested your spirit and your heart.

I was reading these old manuals at the time, and I said, theres clearly more to fitness than just measures of physiological performance, given the sergeant majors comments and then kind of reflecting on my own experience with how we associate good leaders or good soldiers with high PT scores.

A U.S. Army recruiting poster circa 1919, left, boasts that it will build men. A recruiting poster from 2019, conceived in response to the perceived shrinking of qualified recruits, targets Generation Z young adults with a focus that goes beyond traditional combat roles. (Army)

Q: On the civilian side, fitness goes through various trends and fads. From the jogging-centric 1970s to the bodybuilding craze of the 1980s and 90s and even CrossFit in recent decades. Has the Army seen such shifts?

A: Early in the period of my research I saw a tug-of-war in Army leadership, mostly at West Point, between cavalry, drill, organized sport and later systematic group exercise. And the science was just emerging. It was not just exercise for exercises sake. People are starting to learn that if you repeatedly work a muscle, for instance, that muscle can become larger or stronger and capable of carrying more weight. But theyre also trying to apply that concept more broadly and in an educative sense. So, they make connections between physical and bodily health and things like mental health, social well-being and morality.

The beginning of my research, the late 1800s to the early 1900s is also the Progressive Era. Thats when many people were looking to scientific methods to improve society, hygiene and community planning to make better citizens. The question they were asking was what the physical training was supposed to produce. Some saw it as simply a matter of becoming better horsemen, better at drill and other soldier tasks. That fit the tactics of the time, which required discipline and obedience. But some saw athletics to both improve fitness and create teamwork. But sport often meant injuries and often a focus on the talented star athletes on one team, instead of total force fitness development.

U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, cadets drill in group exercise circa 1903. (West Point archives)

Q: Itd be easy to see how some thought that combat-focused physical training was the priority, especially in the more physically demanding era of early 1900s soldiering. Was that always the case?

A: The Armys physical culture didnt start with training for specific skills or tasks. It was a little bit more abstract. It was about training the soldier and cultivating some characteristics that would be useful on the battlefield but not translate directly. So, theyre not, for instance, teaching grappling or combatives in this early period of the 1880s-1890s. But they are doing things to instill discipline and making a unit work well together.

Q: Much of physical fitness and physical culture came from a variety of other sources. How did the Army bring that knowledge into the force?

A: A lot of it was up to the individual unit commander to create. Then, with the rapid increase in the size of the Army for World War I and World War II, the force needed a more uniform way to bring all soldiers up to a standard. The Army just didnt have the depth and breadth of expertise among its physical trainers at that time. So, they had to turn to civilians and bring in experts from the outside. The institute was forced, in a way, to accept this outside advice and cede some of that territory. But, when the demands were gone, after the two world wars, military leadership took back more control and you see more of the traditional culture reemerge.

Q: You covered a lot of events in your book, from 1885 through 1957. Why did you pick those as the starting and ending points?

A: Within the Army, physical training began gaining traction after 1885 and physical educators took a major step forward, more broadly, with the founding of the American Association for the Advancement of Physical Education at that time. There are three evolutionary periods for the Armys physical culture between 1885 and 1957; the disciplinary era led by Herman Koehler, Master of the Sword at West Point; the combat-readiness interregnum of 1917-1919; and the rise of the scientific measurement school of thought after 1942. In 1957, the debate between drill and sport and systematic training had essentially ended, and Army leaders in a conference that year brought together all the leading physical fitness experts, establishing a doctrine and culture that is like what the Army has today. At that conference, for the first time since 1885, you dont see any question anymore that systematic training is valuable. A lot of it feels like consensus when you read the conference report about what the Army should be doing in terms of exercise and a daily routine for soldiers.

A U.S. Army training circular, published circa 1944, shows different body movements during exercises. (Army)

Q: What did you draw from your historical work thats applicable in thinking about soldier fitness today?

The total fitness model outline of the U.S. Army, circa 1957. (Army)

And it absolutely continues today. There is good evidence that Americans bodies are changing. I know it concerns a lot of people who are thinking on its national security implications. But one thing I can derive from looking at the past century of physical fitness in the Army is that generations tend to rise to the occasions; and the standards by which we measure people in peacetime, when we can afford to be very selective, change in wartime. Physical standards by which we measure the quality of a soldier, are all malleable, those standards are not set precisely down in stone. So, as military service changes, the character of combat evolves, and perhaps our definitions of physical fitness can also evolve alongside that. There is a lot to think about. For instance, when Space Force is standing up and thinking about what it wants its physical culture to look like, there are some big questions to ask.

Spc. Ryan Schultzman, an aircraft power plant repairer with the 404th Aviation Support Battalion, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, completes the final lap of a two-mile run during the Best Army Combat Fitness Test Competition May 24 at Fort Carson, Colo. (Sgt. Clara Harty/Army)

Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.

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As the Army pushes holistic health, an officer examines the history of soldier fitness - ArmyTimes.com

Before there was a vaccination, the only Covid-19 medicine I had for the isolation of the lockdown periods was making music with my oldest friend, Daniel Rapport. We have been friends since we were born, formed a band in high school, and now have an acoustic blues duo, The Blue Tide. We have long drawn our inspiration from the Mississippi Delta blues, with Daniel playing acoustic and slide guitar and me on harmonica. As Covid-19took off, with the death toll rising and all of us sheltering in place, I was able to connect (remotely at first, then later in person) and overcome the loneliness by writing lyrics about the pandemic and pairing them with the guitar licks Daniel was writing. During this time we experienced the uprising for Black lives of 2020 and raging climate change-induced wildfires that filled the air with thick plumes of smokeand so we began writing songs about the overlapping pandemics of Covid-19, racism, and the climate crisis.

As I continued to work on our Plague Blues album over the summer, my dad Gerald Lenoir made a stunning discovery: our family was enslaved on the same plantation in Morgantown, Mississippi as the family of the legendary blues artist, J.B. Lenoir. After years of investigating our genealogy, he finally found out the specific plantationthe Lenoir Plantationour family had been enslaved on in Morgantown, Mississippi.

Then, a few weeks later, I had an unnerving experience that made it too real. My dad sent an email to me and told me to open the attachment to see a photo he had found of the enslavers mansion on the Lenoir Plantation (which you will see featured in our music video). I clicked open the attachment and a sepia tone image with an over-exposed edge popped up that revealed the two-story big house with French windows that opened onto an impressive oval balcony, supported by columns, all sounded by a picket fence. As my eyes swept the snapshot, my process of seeing and meaning-making decelerated dramatically; the light gathered by my cornea, the refracted rays traveling through my pupil, and the visual signals that went to my brain via the optic nerve must have been detoured, taking a circuitous route, because even though I was looking directly at the photo I lost the ability to really see and process the information I was taking in for an indeterminate period.

When the information finally arrived at my visual cortex, I could understand that standing there, on the second-floor balcony, peering back at me were five people with white skin; the family that had bought, owned, used, and abused, my family. When my bewilderment subsided enough for me to regain awareness of where I was and what I was looking at, I zoomed in to try to see the faces of these people who had demanded to be called master. But as I got closer to their faces the image blurred (much like my understanding of what was happening at that moment) and I couldnt clearly see the faces of those who had inflicted generations of pain and anguish on my ancestorsa trauma passed down through the generations that still resides in my body, and a trauma that was being triggered in that very moment as my pulse quickened, my breathing turned shallow, my chest tightened, and my hands clenched. I became aware in that moment of the historical trauma that was disrupting my bodys equilibrium, causing my cerebrum to register sorrow, fear, and fury, which then triggered the release of hormones to the ocular area and produced tears.

Seeing the enslavers who stole my familysand J.B.s familysfreedom reified enslavement for me in a way, I realized only then, had been abstract. At that point, I struggled to process my emotions, but I knew I had to create something to tell the story of my family and our connection to J.B.

J.B. Lenoir, a blues hall of famer, is one of the most prolific social commentary blues artists of all time, with songs about police violence, lynching, the Vietnam War, and even had a song about President Eisenhower the record company refused to release. His Alabama Blues was featured in the soundtrack to the movie Selma. Yet J.B. never got stuck in one genre of blues, and as one of his songs attests, I Sing Um The Way I feel; and he did just that, singing about joy, pain, drinking, politics, and playing everything from electric guitar big band blues, to solo acoustic guitar, and even creating a unique blues sound he called, African hunch rhythm with his incorporation of African drums. J.B. also had a flare for showmanship and often performed in a zebra-striped tuxedo jacket, complete with tails. When J.B. diedafter not receiving proper care and being released from the hospital prematurely after being in car accidentblues great John Mayall memorialized him with the classics The Death Of J.B. Lenoir and Im Gonna Fight For You J.B.

At the time of his death, J.B. was employed as a dishwasher because, like many Black artists before him, he was fleeced by the record companies who profited off of his work but didnt fairly compensate him. Because of this, even though he played with some of the biggest names in the bluessuch as Muddy Waters, Memphis Minnie, Willie Dixon, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Elmore James, and Sunnyland Slimand even toured Europe with legends such as Big Mama Thornton, he wasnt able to support himself financially with music. J.B.s most famous song is one that he is credited as co-writing with Willie Dixon, You Shook Me which has been covered by Led Zeppelin and Jeff Beck, among many others.

It was simply unbelievable to me that as I was writing songs about the breakdown of our society, challenging those in power, and the power of love, I discovered a shared family origin with one of the best to ever do what I was attempting. This revelation of my connection to J.B. inspired me to take the stage name J.D. Lenoir and write the lyrics to our new song, Where I Got My Name (Down in Mississippi).

Where I Got My Name also features introductory commentary from my Uncle Ivan I.T. Lenoir. I recorded the interview the first time I saw I.T. after a long quarantine and he offers his raw reaction to learning about where the family was enslaved. My brother, Jamana Lenoir, of Magnum Opus Publications, produced the music video that includes archival photos provided by our dad.

The video begins with a photo of Laura Lenoir that Gerald has safeguarded for many years, the only image that remains of one of our enslaved family members. Laura was my great-great grandmother and she was born into slavery in Mississippi in 1844 and died the year my father was born in 1948. She was married to my great-great grandfather Thomas Lenoir who was born into slavery in 1844 and died in 1922. Laura birthed 19 children, including my great grandfather York Alonzo Lenoir. I had known about Laura and York before, but it was only when I wrote this song that I understood more deeply who they were through our family conversations about their lives and all that they had endured. This process animated my enslaved family members to me in a way that I had never experienced, and I finally felt like I had a connection to them.

The incredible family collaboration that made this videoand the self-discovery and ancestral connection that occurred through the processhas been deeply healing and has proven to be for me the best therapy for the historical trauma of slavery. For the next phase of the healing process, I have now made it my lifes quest to find a way to get in touch with J.B.s children and share our tribute song to their father (if anyone who reads this has any connection to them, please reach out to me).

I hope on this Juneteenth and beyond, you are moved by our song; both feeling the intensity of the trauma of the past and also the incredible healing power of music and storytelling.

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Opinion | A Juneteenth Story of Family History, Music, and 'Where I Got My Name' - Common Dreams

So that was, uh, interesting.

Coming off a thrilling Game 1 battle that felt like a borderline classic, the Lightning and Avalanche served up a plot twist in Game 2, with Colorado caving in the defending champs to the tune of 7-0. It was a stunning spectacle, as a Tampa team thats seemed almost invincible over the years got lit up like they were an undermanned beer league squad.

So now what?

It goes without saying that nobody is counting the Lightning out. They just came back from a 2-0 series deficit against New York in the last round, and theyve earned the benefit of the doubt. After the way the last three seasons have played out, plenty of us wont be ready to close the door on Tampa until the final buzzer sounds on their fourth loss. Maybe not even then.

But still Game 2 wasnt just another loss. It was an all-time butt-kicking, one of the most lopsided results in Stanley Cup Final history. And that had me wondering: Can we learn anything from similar games, and how the rest of the series played out after a major blowout?

Lets find out. Before Saturday night, there had been 14 games in Stanley Cup Final history in which one team scored at least seven goals while winning by at least five. Four of those were from the olden days, and we probably cant learn much from them. That leaves us with a nice even 10 games from the post-expansion era to look at.

Maybe well find a pattern heading into tonights Game 3. Or maybe well just remember some blowouts.

The series: The 1973 final was a rematch of the deeply weird 1971 edition, which had seen the Habs win the Cup in seven games and then immediately fire their coach for it. This time, Montreal came in as overwhelming favorites, having posted 120 points in just 70 games during the season. The Hawks were good, having won the West Division, but they had their work cut out for them.

The game: This one actually looked like it was going to be a blowout in the other direction, as the Hawks scored twice in the games first minute to take a 2-0 lead. It was all Montreal after that, though, with two goals from Jacques Lemaire and multi-point games from names like Guy Lafleur, Frank Mahovlich and Yvan Cournoyer chasing Tony Esposito from the Chicago net.

The rest of the way: Things settled down in Game 2, with Montreal winning 4-1. The Hawks got some revenge with a 7-4 win in Game 3, lost Game 4, and then won a truly wacky 8-7 classic at the Forum to stay alive in Game 5 before Montreal finished the series in six.

The lesson: Im not sure there is one, as this series had plenty of twists and turns still waiting in the wings. If youre a Tampa fan, thats probably what you want to hear.

The series: The 1980 final was a good one, and the Flyers were the favorites. This was the year theyd had that ridiculous 35-game undefeated streak, helping them to first-place overall in the standings. The Islanders had finished well back, and were laboring under the reputation of a regular-season powerhouse that could never win the big one.

The game: Game 1 was a 4-3 overtime classic wait, that sounds familiar that the Islanders won on a Denis Potvin goal. Needing a strong performance to even the series, the Flyers got four points from Bobby Clarke and a hat trick from Paul Holmgren, and probably also some stuff from guys who didnt go on to become their GM.

The rest of the way: The Islanders essentially shrugged off the loss, heading home to win both Games 3 and 4 by comfortable margins. The Flyers extended the series in Game 5, but the Islanders captured their first Cup on Bob Nystroms overtime game winner in Game 6.

(And since Flyers fans will set my house on fire if I dont mention it yes, Game 6 is also the Leon Stickle game.)

At the time, it felt like an upset. In hindsight, not so much, as this was the start of the Islanders dynasty that featured four straight Cup wins.

The lesson: More good news for todays Lightning fans, as we hit our first example of a team on the wrong end of a blowout still winning the series. Even better, its another Game 2 where the losing team gets to head back home. And since were already comparing the current Lightning to the dynasty-era Islanders, its almost too perfect.

Feels inspiring, right Tampa fans? You may want to stop reading right about now

The series: Yes, its the very same Oilers/Islanders matchup weve been using as the comparison to this years Avs/Lightning, with the veteran dynasty meeting the young champs-in-waiting. The two teams had met in the 1983 final, with the Islanders sweeping. This was the rematch, and the two teams had split the first two games.

The game: The Islanders opened the scoring, but it was all Oilers from that moment on. Even given all Edmontons talent, it was a stunning result we hadnt seen the Islanders lose a playoff game like this since that 1980 loss to the Flyers.

The rest of the way: We all nodded grimly about the Islanders having the heart of a champion, and how theyd surely respond with their best game of the series. And then

The series: No, thats not a typo. This is the same blowout happening all over again in the very next game of the same series.

The game: Wayne Gretzky opened the scoring two minutes in, and we were right back to the all-Edmonton show. The Oilers were up 6-1 by the midway mark, and the Islanders looked utterly defeated.

The rest of the way: With Game 5 in Edmonton (these were the days of the 2-3-2 format), this one almost felt like a foregone conclusion before the puck even dropped. It mostly was, with Gretzky scoring twice in the first and the Oilers leading 4-0 at the second intermission. The Islanders did show some of that heart, with two Pat LaFontaine goals early in the third, but it was over. The two blowouts were the moment the young Oilers served noticed that it was their time, and the Islanders dynasty was over. Almost four decades later, theyve never been back to a final.

The lesson: Look, Lightning fans, I told you to stop reading.

The series: A year after beating the Islanders, now it was the Oilers looking to defend their title. But they had to get past an excellent Flyers team to do it. (Look, I promise this post will feature teams other than the Oilers, Islanders and Flyers, just stick with it.)

The game: The Flyers had taken Game 1 before dropping three straight, although all of them were close. This one wasnt, as the Oilers led 4-1 after one period and 7-2 after two.

The rest of the way: There wasnt one, as this blowout ended the series.

The lesson: If youre rooting for Tampa, or just a long series, I guess the takeaway here is that at least Saturday night didnt actually end the series. Yet.

The series: This was the post-Gretzky Oilers, returning to the final after a one-year absence and looking for their fifth Cup in seven years. Standing in their way was Ray Bourque and the Presidents Trophy-winning Bruins, who were the slight favorites. The first game had been a triple-overtime classic, ending on a goal by unlikely hero Petr Klima.

The game: The Bruins fell behind 2-0 early but rallied to tie it. Edmonton didnt pull away until late in the second, scoring three goals in four minutes to go up 6-2.

The rest of the way: Boston did win Game 3, squeaking out a 2-1 win, but theyd follow that with lackluster performances in Game 4 and 5 to lose the series.

The lesson: This one stings a little if youre a Lightning fan, since it feels so familiar. Youve got the Game 1 comeback followed by the heartbreaking loss in overtime, then the Game 2 blowout. If anything, the depressing lesson here is that even a win in Game 3 may not do much more than prolong the inevitable.

(Also, losing this series eventually leads to Bourque requesting a trade and ending up in Colorado, so this was probably every Avalanche fans favorite section in this post.)

The series: The 1990-91 North Stars were quite possibly the greatest Cinderella story in NHL playoff history, a genuinely awful team that hit its stride just in time to pull off three major upsets in a row. That led to a Stanley Cup Final date with Mario Lemieux and the Penguins, a mediocre regular-season team with jaw-dropping star power including eight Hall of Famers.

The North Stars gave them a series but couldnt stop Mario because nobody could back then, and were trailing 3-2 heading into Game 6 in Minnesota.

The game: The Penguins scored two minutes in and never stopped, posting the most lopsided blowout in Stanley Cup Final history.

The rest of the way: The North Stars got beat so bad that a week later, they were taken apart in a dispersal draft. (No, really, that happened. The 1990s NHL was weird.)

The lesson: The Avalanche might not be the Penguins and the Lightning sure arent the North Stars, so Im not sure theres anything we can really learn here. But we should still point out the obvious: Were seven games into this list, and this is the first blowout that was actually as bad as what we saw on Saturday. All the other games, as bad as they were, ended in five-goal deficits. Theres still lots of hockey left to play, but Game 2 really was historically one-sided.

The series: This was the Avs first year in Colorado, with the newly-acquired Patrick Roy in net and a talented roster in front of him. They faced an underdog Panthers team that had clutched and grabbed its way to the final because they had been inspired by a dead rat. Look, I told you the 1990s NHL was weird.

The Avs took the opener 3-1, setting up Game 2 in Colorado.

The game: Peter Forsbergs first-period hat trick, which to this day remains the last one in Cup Final history, jump-started the Avalanche and led to this one being a laugher. When Jon Klemm is scoring multiple goals against you, its bad.

The rest of the way: The Panthers settled down heading back home, but it didnt matter. Games 3 and 4 were close (with Game 4 going into overtime), but the Avalanche won both to capture the franchises first championship in a four-game sweep.

The lesson: If youre a team from Florida and you lose a Game 2 blowout in Colorado, dont even bother trying the rest of the way because youre doomed.

Also, thanks to the 1996 Panthers ushering in the Dead Puck era, we now get to skip ahead 15 years to find our next game

The series: The Presidents Trophy-winning Canucks entered the series as strong favorites over the Bruins, then earned a 2-0 series lead with a pair of squeakers in Vancouver. Heading to Boston for Game 3, the Bruins needed a win.

The game: This one was actually scoreless through one, but all Bruins after that. They scored four unanswered goals in the second, then kept pouring it on in the third.

The rest of the way: More than any other series weve seen so far, this is the one where the blowout game really did feel like the inflection point. The Bruins won Game 4 by a 4-0 final, and while the Canucks did earn a 1-0 win in Game 5, it was the only one theyd get the rest of the way as the Bruins went on to capture the Cup in seven games. Boston outscored Vancouver 13-3 in the four games after this blowout.

The lesson: This is a fun one, because it can go either way. Avalanche fans can see it as proof that a true blowout really can be series-defining, the sort of thing that even a team as good as that 2011 Canucks squad just cant be expected to bounce back from. Lightning fans could point out that all we learned was that a 2-0 series lead doesnt mean a thing, and a strong Game 3 back on home ice can change the course of a series.

But yeah, the real lesson here is that if the Bruins win a Game 3 by a blowout, theyre definitely winning the Cup. Gosh, I wonder what the last game on our list will be

The series: After splitting the first two in Boston, the Gloria-inspired Blues returned home to host a final game for the first time in 49 years.

The game: A last-second goal in the first period gave the Bruins a 3-0 lead and seemed to deflate the Blues and their crowd. Theyd roll from there on, delivering a statement win.

The rest of the way: Do you even remember this game? Im assuming that Blues and Bruins fans do, but it barely resonates with me even though its so recent. Thats because it really didnt have much impact, with the Blues winning the next two games, followed by the Bruins forcing a Game 7 in Boston that the Blues won.

The lesson: Sometimes, a blowout is just a blowout, and two good teams move past it.

A few interesting things, I hope. For one, that Saturday night blowout really was one for the history books it was only the fourth time in Stanley Cup Final history that a team had lost by seven or more. And in each of the other three cases 1991, 1996 and 2011 the team that won the big blowout went on to win the series. In fact, the team on the losing end only went on to win one more game combined, with five losses.

The outlook gets a little bit better for Tampa if we look at the overall list, although just a little bit. Of the nine series we just looked at, the team that won the blowout game went on to win seven. That opens the door to some hope for the Lightning, who can look at the 1980 Islanders or the 2019 Blues for inspiration. That 2019 final is probably the best example for the one game is no big deal crowd; its the most recent, and the blowout barely ended up mattering.

But generally speaking, blowouts in the Stanley Cup Final do seem to tell us something, and its that one of the teams is really good. We already knew that with the Avalanche. Now we see whether the Lightning can do the unlikely but not the impossible by digging their way back.

(Top photo: Isaiah J. Downing / USA Today)

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Down Goes Brown: A brief history of teams getting blown out in the Stanley Cup Final - The Athletic

Crew members prepare a newly-restored cannon for a blast at Fort Sewall in Marblehead. (Magella Cantara)

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MARBLEHEAD Hundreds took a trip back in time to 1644 in celebration of Fort Sewall Saturday.

Saturdays event held a dual purpose for the iconic fort to celebrate its completed restoration and the 100th anniversary of the fort being returned to the towns custody by the federal government. Consisting of approximately two-and-a-half acres located off of Front St. at the mouth of Marblehead Harbor, this public park was formerly a military reserve.

Established in 1644, the fort is one of the oldest coastal fortifications in the nation, the town said in a statement. For years, Fort Sewall was known as the Marblehead Fort or the Fort on Gales Head, and it earned its current moniker in 1800 to honor Samuel Sewall, the chief justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court.

The Fort Sewal Oversight Committee had a few key goals for the $1.5 million restoration that allowed this historic piece of land to come back to life.

The first thing was safety, second was accessibility, the last was education, said Larry Sands, the chairman of the oversight committee.

The forts bomb proof quarters, which were built in the late 1700s received an upgrade without interfering with its naturally historic character, Sands said.

We did some renovations to make the inside accessible. We changed the floors and things but, one of the parts of this project in the educational piece is funding of a Fort Ranger program that will start next summer and well have tour guides up here, he said. One of the final things that we are doing is building furniture for the inside and that is from the Glovers Regiment which is what Im a part of. We received a $2000 grant from Essex Heritage to fund purchasing materials.

At the event Saturday morning, the newly added canon fired, leaving a cloud of smoking gunpowder hanging in the air.

After the first fire, the crowd clapped and cheered while chanting in unison, Hip Hip Hurrah!

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History comes back to life in Marblehead - Itemlive - Daily Item