The Reno Gang On Western Wednesday...!

Here is a real historical first for ya. The first robbery of a moving train.

I reckon that everything has to begin somewhere, and it looks like the Reno gang really started a trend with this robbery. In fact, they made off with quite a haul! Not bad for beginners, huh?

1866

First U.S. train robbery

On this day in 1866, the Reno gang carries out the first robbery of a moving train in the U.S., making off with over $10,000 from an Ohio & Mississippi train in Jackson County, Indiana. Prior to this innovation in crime, holdups had taken place only on trains sitting at stations or freight yards.

This new method of sticking up moving trains in remote locations low on law enforcement soon became popular in the American West, where the recently constructed transcontinental and regional railroads made attractive targets. With the western economy booming, trains often carried large stashes of cash and precious minerals. The sparsely populated landscape provided bandits with numerous isolated areas perfect for stopping trains, as well as plenty of places to hide from the law. Some gangs, like Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch, found robbing trains so easy and lucrative that, for a time, they made it their criminal specialty. Railroad owners eventually got wise and fought back, protecting their trains’ valuables with large safes, armed guards and even specially fortified boxcars. Consequently, by the late 1800s, robbing trains had turned into an increasingly tough and dangerous job.

As for the Reno gang, which consisted of the four Reno brothers and their associates, their reign came to an end in 1868 when they all were finally captured after committing a series of train robberies and other criminal offenses. In December of that year, a mob stormed the Indiana jail where the bandits were being held and meted out vigilante justice, hanging brothers Frank, Simeon and William Reno (their brother John had been caught earlier and was already serving time in a different prison) and fellow gang member Charlie Anderson.

Seems to me that a lot of these bad guys got caught simply because they didn't know when to quit. Greed can be the downfall of many bad guys, I believe.

Coffee out on the patio again this morning.

A Senior Memory Test...!

Here is another little treat from my Baby Sis. I don't know where she get's some of this stuff, but often it's fun to read.

THIS MAY BE HARDER THAN YOU MAY THINK. THE ANSWERS WILL BE ON THE TIP OF YOUR TONGUE, BUT YOU JUST CAN'T QUITE REMEMBER THE CORRECT ANSWER .

 DON'T LOOK BELOW FOR THE ANSWERS UNTIL YOU HAVE TRIED TO FIGURE IT OUT.

A TEST FOR 'OLDER' KIDS.

I was picky who I sent this to. It had to be those who might actually remember. So have some fun my sharp-witted friends. This is a test for us 'older kids'! The answers are printed below, (after the questions) but don't cheat! answer them first.....

*****************

01. After the Lone Ranger saved the day and rode off into the sunset, the grateful citizens would ask, Who was that masked man? Invariably, someone would answer, I don't know, but he left this behind. What did he leave behind?________________.

02. When the Beatles first came to the U.S. In early 1964, we all watched them on The ____ ___________ Show.

03. 'Get your kicks, __ _________ _______.

04. 'The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to _____ _ _____.'

05. 'In the jungle, the mighty jungle, ____ ____ ____ ____.'

06. After the Twist, The Mashed Potato, and the Watusi, we 'danced' under a stick that was lowered as low as we could go in a dance called the '_____.'

07. Nestle's makes the very best... _________.'

08. Satchmo was America 's 'Ambassador of Goodwill.' Our parents shared this great jazz trumpet player with us. His name was ______ ___________.

09. What takes a licking and keeps on ticking? _______.

10. Red Skeleton's hobo character was named ______ ___ ________ and Red always ended his television show by saying, 'Good Night, and '________ ________ '

11. Some Americans who protested the Vietnam War did so by burning their ______ _______.

12. The cute little car with the engine in the back and the trunk in the front was called the VW. What other names did it go by? ___ & _______.

13. In 1971, singer Don MacLean sang a song about, 'the day the music died.' This was a tribute to _______ ____________.

14. We can remember the first satellite placed into orbit. The Russians did it. It was called __________.

15. One of the big fads of the late 50's and 60's was a large plastic ring that we twirled around our waist. It was called the ______ _____ .

16. Remember LS/MFT _____ _____/_____ _____ _____?

17. Hey Kids! What time is it? It's _____ ______ _____!

18. Who knows what secrets lie in the hearts of men? Only The _____ Knows!

19. There was a song that came out in the 60's that was "a grave yard smash". It's name was the ______ ______!

20. Alka Seltzer used a "boy with a tablet on his head" as it's Logo/Representative. What was the boy's name? ________

ANSWERS:

01.The Lone Ranger left behind a silver bullet.

02. The Ed Sullivan Show

03. On Route 66

04.To protect the innocent.

05.The Lion Sleeps Tonight

06. The limbo

07. Chocolate

08. Louis Armstrong

09. The Timex watch

10. Freddy, The Freeloader and 'Good Night and God Bless.'

11. Draft cards (Bras were also burned. Not flags, as some have guessed)

12. Beetle or Bug

13. Buddy Holly

14. Sputnik

15. Hoola-hoop

16. Lucky Strike/Means Fine Tobacco

17. Howdy Doody Time

18. Shadow

19.Monster Mash

20. Speedy

Guess I must be getting older, cause I can remember them all. Now if I could remember where I put my glasses...

Coffee out on the patio this morning!

Amnesia For Monday Mystery...!

How about another case containing both an unknown feature and an answer? That's what we have today!

We did a story about this man before, but since then there have been a few answers come to light. Ready for this?

The Identity Of ‘Benjaman Kyle’

One of the most mysterious amnesia cases of all time involved an individual known as “Benjaman Kyle.” On August 31, 2004, an unconscious nude man who appeared to be in his fifties was found in a dumpster behind a Burger King in Richmond, Georgia. It appeared that he had been struck on the head with a blunt object, and he had no memory of anything that happened and did not even remember his own name. Doctors determined that he was suffering from retrograde amnesia. Since he was found near a Burger King, the man decided to use the “B.K.” initials to select a new name for himself—Benjaman Kyle.

Over the course of the next decade, all attempts to uncover Benjaman Kyle’s true identity went nowhere. DNA testing and fingerprint checks turned up empty, and even though Benjaman’s story received a lot of media coverage, no one seemed to recognize him. Since he had no identity, Benjaman could not obtain a Social Security number, so he was forced to work under the table and rely on the kindness of others to survive.

Finally, in September 2015, Benjaman publicly announced that CeCe Moore (the same genetic genealogist who helped the former Paul Fronczak) had used his DNA samples to match him with his biological family. He was originally from Indiana and had apparently broken off all contact with his family, who had not seen him since 1976. The former Benjaman Kyle has since tracked down his original birth certificate and Social Security records and used them to obtain a new identification card under his real name. He has plans to reunite with his family, but for the moment, he is keeping his true identity a secret from the public.

See? We have a solved mystery that's both sad and happy. What a way to start the day, right?

Coffee out on the patio this morning.

The Real Sunday Funnies...!

And today, we have something a little different!

Told ya it was different! Have a great day!

Coffee out on the patio this morning!

A Question About Magnetism...!

While I like to think that I know and understand many things, this is something I don't truly understand at all. Seems I'm not alone, though.

At first glance, the answer seems easy. However, just try and explain it to someone in a fashion they can understand and suddenly it makes almost no sense at all!

How Exactly Do Magnets Work?

Magnetism is a widely observed phenomenon in our universe, but a lot of things about it remain unexplained. For example, why do particles charged with electricity create a magnetic field strong enough to physically move things from far away? And when they do, why exactly do they align themselves to two poles, north and south?

Explanations range from “it’s just one of those things” to particle movement at the quantum level, and MIT even has a whole laboratory dedicated to research on nothing but magnetism. We know that it’s happening, and we have a good idea of what exactly is happening, too—the particles align themselves in a way that adds up their charge in one direction, but it’s not very clear as to why the particles emit a magnetic field to start with. The fact that the Earth’s magnetic field is not well understood either further restricts our ability to understand magnetism.

Don't you find it strange that things like magnetism and gravity are still such a mystery to all the scientist out there? Everybody knows about them and yet no one seems to really understand them! Curiouser and curiouser, isn't it?

Coffee out on the patio this morning.

Lone Woman Of San Nicholas...!

Normally when we think of castaways and ship wreak survivors, we think of men. However, there was at least one woman that became almost a legend as a castaway. This is part of her story.

Juana Maria

Juana Maria was the name given to the famous “Lone Woman of San Nicholas,” a Native American who spent nearly two decades stranded on an island off the coast of California. Juana Maria had grown up on San Nicholas, but most of her tribe was slaughtered in the early 1800s by hostile hunters. Missionaries evacuated the few remaining survivors in 1835, but Juana Maria was left behind when she ran back to the island to locate her missing infant. She never found the child, but when attempts to rescue her stalled, she was forgotten and left to survive on San Nicholas in complete isolation.

Juana Maria spent the next 18 years taking shelter in a cave and fishing with hooks made from seashells. She captured sea birds and seals and fashioned their feathers and skins into dresses, and passed the time weaving baskets and bowls from grasses. Her solitude finally came to an end in 1853, when Captain George Nidever discovered her on San Nicholas. Nidever took Juana Maria to Santa Barbara a few weeks later, and though no one could speak her language, she used hand gestures to relate the astonishing story of her survival. Sadly, she was unable to adjust to the diet of the mainland, and died of dysentery only two months after leaving her island. Her story was later fictionalized in the popular children’s novel “Island of the Blue Dolphins.”

18 years is a long time to be in total isolation. It's a wonder the woman was still sane after all that time. Pretty sad that she died the way she did, though.

Coffee out on the patio this morning, OK?

Some More Secret Government Projects...!

Sometimes you have to wonder just who comes up with all these secret test and why they are (or were ) used on average citizens.

If these are just some of the test we hear about, I wonder what others we never hear about? Truth is...we may not really want to know!

Project 112 And Project SHAD

In 2002, the US military started reaching out to veterans who may have been involved in Project 112 or Project SHAD. Both operations involved exposing personnel to substances chosen to act as stand-ins for biological weapons, allowing researchers to see how they spread. Project 112 was done at the Deseret Test Center in Utah in a series of tests from 1962–73, and Project SHAD (Shipboard Hazard and Defense) was done aboard warships in waters around the world.

The details of the project might have remained under wraps for much longer than they did if it wasn’t for the Department of Veteran Affairs requesting an investigation into the operations, as well as information on whether or not service members’ health may have been compromised. Nearly 6,000 people, both military personnel and Department of Defense civilian staff, were exposed to the tests, with and without knowledge. When information about the tests was released, it was thought that the agents released were harmless. However, it was also stressed that veterans with concerns should come forward and that it was acceptable to reveal information about dates, places, and possible side effects with health care providers.

There’s a long list of biological agents that the test subjects were exposed to, including Coxiella burnetii (Q fever) and staphylococcal enterotoxin B (which causes food poisoning). They also used some pretty horrific nerve toxins, including sarin (now classified as a weapon of mass destruction) and soman (a clear, colorless liquid that can cause death in minutes). Both can be fatal if only the tiniest amount gets on the skin.

I have to thank the folks over at Listverse for making these articles available for us to read and learn from. I honestly never would have guessed this sort of thing actually went on, except in bad movies and in some books. Guess I'm more than just a little naive about some things.

Coffee out on the patio this morning. Buttermilk pie anyone?