Brenda Ann Spencer (born April 3, 1962) is a convicted American murderer who carried out a shooting spree from her home in San Diego, on January 29, 1979.
Brenda Spencer, 16, who police identified as the 16-year-old girl suspect in the sniper shooting at a San Diego elementary school Monday which left two adults dead and one adult and eight children wounded.
During the shooting spree, she killed two people and injured nine others at Cleveland Elementary School, which was located across the street from her home.
Spencer is best known for her quote “I don’t like Mondays,” which inspired the song “I Don’t Like Mondays” by The Boomtown Rats. The song was a UK number one single for four weeks in mid-1979.
School shooting inspired Bob Geldof, lead singer of the Boomtown Rats, to pen hit song “I Don’t Like Mondays.”
Born in San Diego, California, Spencer purportedly took an early liking to guns and also to stories that contained violence. For Christmas in 1978, her father Wallace gave her a semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle. Neighbors claimed that Spencer had a history of petty theft, drug abuse, and truancy. Classmates alleged that the week before the shootings Spencer said that she wanted “to do something big to get on TV.”
On January 29, 1979, Spencer posted herself by a window in her home and began randomly shooting at Grover Cleveland Elementary School across the street. The shooting began as children were waiting outside for principal Burton Wragg to open the gate. The shooting claimed the lives of Wragg and Mike Suchar and injured eight students and a police officer. Wragg was killed while trying to help the children, and Suchar was killed while trying to pull Wragg to safety.
Burton Wragg (left), principal of Grover Cleveland Elementary school, and Mike Suchar (right), a custodian for the school, died in sniper attack by 16-year-old Brenda Spencer.
After firing thirty rounds, Spencer barricaded herself inside of her home for almost seven hours, warning police that she was going to “come out shooting.” Ultimately, she surrendered to police. Although police officers found beer and whiskey bottles cluttered around the house, they stated that Spencer did not appear to be intoxicated.
Brenda Ann Spencer, 16, lays down a .22-caliber rifle as San Diego Police SWAT team officers aim sawed-off shotguns and high-powered rifles at her, ending a 6-hour siege at her suburban San Carlos home, Jan. 29, 1979.
When asked why she committed the shooting Spencer replied, “I just did it for the fun of it. I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day. I have to go now. I shot a pig (policeman) I think and I want to shoot more. I’m having too much fun (to surrender).” She also said, “I had no reason for it, and it was just a lot of fun,” “It was just like shooting ducks in a pond,”‘ and, “[The children] looked like a herd of cows standing around; it was really easy pickings.” At the time of the shootings, Spencer was 16 years old.
Due to the seriousness of her crime, Spencer was tried as an adult. She mentioned the attacks months before: “one of these mornings, you´re gonna look for me”, “no one understands me” “you don´t have to wait very long to see what is going on with me”. Neither her parents nor her friends paid heed to these statements. She pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon. She was sentenced to prison for 25 years to life. She is currently at the California Institution for Women in Chino, California.
Brenda Spencer chained at her hands and ankles leaves the courthouse, escorted by sheriff’s deputies.
After becoming eligible for parole, Spencer was denied four times, including on August 13, 2009, and will not be eligible again until 2019.
In 1993, Spencer claimed that she had been under the influence of PCP and alcohol when she opened fire, adding that the state and her attorney conspired to hide her drug test results. Both former prosecutor Charles Patrick and Spencer’s attorney Michael McGlinn vehemently denied that any evidence had been hidden in her case.
At a parole hearing in 2001, Spencer claimed that her violence was a result of an abusive home life in which her father beat and sexually abused her. The parole board’s chairman, Brett Granlund, expressed doubt about Spencer’s allegations, saying that Spencer had never discussed the allegations with counselors.
Sometime around her 17th birthday, Canadian Bernice Palmer received a Kodak Brownie box camera, either for Christmas 1911 or for her birthday on 10 January 1912. Luck would have it that she was traveling on the Carpathia the day the Titanic sank.
Bernice and her mother were traveling on the Carpathia to the Mediterranean with 700 passengers on board. In the early morning hours of April 15th, 1912, Captain Rostron was awakened by his wireless operator about a distress call from the sinking Titanic. He immediately changed course to traverse the 60 miles to the disaster. After passing six icebergs on its way, it finally arrived at 4:00am and began picking up survivors. Bernice was on hand with her camera the next morning to capture some famous images on her Brownie Box camera. She used the Kodak Brownie box camera to capture some of the most famous and iconic photographs after the Titanic disaster. She was also the first the capture a photo of the iceberg that sank the Titanic.
Bernice awoke from the bitter cold. She opened a port-hole of her first-class cabin on the Carpathia and turned to her mother and said, “Something terrible has happened.” She quickly got dressed and hurried on deck. Bernice and her mother stood quietly on deck as the crew of the Carpathia began rope-lifting passengers up from the life boats. Some of the children from the Titanic rescue boats where so terrified they were drawn up in burlap bags.
Bernice remembers as the passengers where being lifted that “their faces looked frozen and terrified”. She remembers seeing many of the first class passengers being rescued as ‘well-dressed’. “A well-dressed woman always wore a hat when she went out – even on a shipwreck.” She remembers how many of the women were wearing over-sized coats from the men who went down with the Titanic. “Women with borrowed cloths from the lost men who went down with the ship”.
After all the survivors were rescued, the Carpathia made another pass over the site of the Titanic’s sinking. “I saw the floating deck chairs . . . ” It was at this moment that Bernice realized the magnitude of what had happened. It took the Carpathia about three days to return to New York. After rescuing the survivors, Captain Rostron had abandoned the trip to the Mediterranean and returned to New York. He gave strict orders for a news “blackout” regarding the Titanic tragedy during the return trip.
While on the Carpathia, Bernice was approached by an unnamed newsman for Underwood & Underwood, a New York photography agency. Underwood & Underwood quickly drew up a contract to distribute the photos that Bernice had taken on the Carpathia. They offered to develop, print and return the pictures to Bernice for ten dollars. In the contract, however, it states “In consideration of One Dollar, lawful money of the UNITED STATES, and other valuable consideration . . . “. I’m not sure if she actually just got one dollar or ten dollars, but it was a measly sum for five of the most iconic photographs of the Titanic survivors and iceberg. Here are the five photos released to Underwood & Underwood by Bernice Palmer. Sometime later, her father was quite upset with this arrangement since Bernice did not realize the importance of these photos.
The contract reads as follows: Assignment of Copyright. “Know all men by these presents”
That, we, UNDERWOOD & UNDERWOOD, a corporation organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of New Jersey, in consideration of One Dollar, lawful money of the UNITED STATES, and other valuable consideration to us in hand pain, before the ensealing and delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have sold, assigned, transferred and set over and by these presents do sell, assigns, transfer and set over unto BERNICE PALMER of Galt, Ontario, Canada, her executors, administrators and assigns to her and their own proper use and benefit, all our right, title and interest in and to the copyrights heretofore taken out by us for five separate photographs, which are numbered and entitled as follows:
U-140430. First authentic photograph, taken by Miss Bernice Palmer, who was on board the Carpathia, showing a group of rescued passengers of the ill-fated “Titanic” on board the rescue ship.
In the early morning on board the Carpathia, Bernice Palmer captures images of the surivors of the Titanic on her Brownie camera. Most of the women are wearing overcoats or “borrowed cloths” from the men who went down with the Titanic. (Bernice Palmer | Smithsonian)
U- 140432. A most remarkable photograph taken by Miss Bernice Palmer, a passenger on the Carpathia, showing Mr. and Mrs. George A. Harder, a young honey-moon couple of Brooklyn, N.Y., who were rescued from the steamship Titanic. Facing them with her head on her hands weeping, is Mrs. Chas. M. Hayes, who husband, Charles M. Hayes, Pres. of the Grand Trunk Railway went down on the Titanic while she and her two daughters were rescued.
Mr. and Mrs. George A. Harder, a young honey-moon couple of Brooklyn, N.Y., who were rescued from the steamship Titanic. Facing them with her head on her hands weeping, is Mrs. Chas. M. Hayes, who husband, Charles M. Hayes, Pres. of the Grand Trunk Railway went down on the Titanic while she and her two daughters were rescued. (Bernice Palmer |Smithsonian)
U- 140433. First authentic photograph taken by Miss Bernice Palmer, who was on board the “Carpathia”, showing a group of rescued passengers of the ill-fated “Titanic” on board the rescue ship.
Survivors of the Titanic aboard the Carpathia rested on deck chairs, wrapped against the cold. (Bernice Palmer | Courtesy of Cara E. Bute)
U-140434. First authentic photograph taken by Miss Bernice Palmer, who was on board the “Carpathia”, showing iceberg and icefield run into by the Titanic, which caused the greatest marine disaster.
First images of the icebergs and ice field on the morning of April 15th, 1912. Bernice saw debris and deck chairs floating in the ice field. She then realized the magnitude of the tragedy. (Bernice Palmer | Smithsonian)
On the back of this photograph, Bernice wrote: “[The] Titanic struck a North Atlantic iceberg at 11:40 PM in the evening of 14 April 1912 at a speed of 20.5 knots (23.6 MPH). The berg scraped along the starboard or right side of the hull below the waterline, slicing op the hull between five of the adjacent watertight compartments. If only one or two of the compartments had been opened, Titanic might have stayed afloat, but when so many wer sliced open, the water-tight integrity of the entire forward section of the hull was fatally breached. Titanic slipped below the waves at 2:20 AM on 15 April. The Cunard Liner RMS Carpathia arrived at the scene around two hours after Titanic sank, finding only a few lifeboats and no survivors in the 28F degree water. Bernice Palmer took this picture of the iceberg identified as the one which sank Titanic, almost certainly identified by the survivors who climbed aboard Titanic. The large iceberg is surrounded by smaller ice floes, indicated how far north in the Atlantic Ocean the tragedy struck.”
U-140435. First authentic photograph taken by Miss Bernice Palmer, who was on board the “Carpathia”, showing iceberg and icefield run into by the Titanic, which caused the greatest marinedisaster.
This is the iceberg thought to have sunk the Titanic. (Bernice Palmer | Smithsonian)
Bernice also took a number of other photographs on the Carpathia the morning of April 15, 1912.
Carpathia crew members the morning of April 15, 1912. (Bernice Palmer | Smithsonian)Sailor from the Carpathia on the morning of April 15, 1912 (Bernice Palmer | Smithsonian)The first newspapers of the disaster used Bernice’s photographs. This one shows the proposed location of the iceberg that collided with the Titanic. (Bernice Palmer | Smithsonian)Another photo by Bernice showing the iceberg in the distance and one of the Carpathia life boats. She states that this was the largest iceberg in the area and undoubtedly had to be the iceberg involved in the Titanic collision. (Bernice Palmer | Smithsonian)This is a photo of Bernice (Far right), her mother and some friendly passengers taken the morning of April 15th, 1912. (Bernice Palmer | Smithsonian)
In 1986, Bernice Palmer Ellis donated her Kodak Brownie Camera, photographs taken of the Titanic survivors and icebergs, and other materials to the Smithsonian Archive.
The Kodak Brownie Box camera used by Bernice Palmer on the morning of April 15th, 1912 to take the first photos of the rescued passengers from the RMS Titanic. (Smithsonian)
She wrote a letter to the Smithsonian in part as follows:
Letter written to the Smithsonian by Bernice Palmer when she donated her camera and photos to the museum. (Smithsonian Channel)
“I am pleased that the Smithsonian Institution has the camera which took the picture of the iceberg which sank the Titanic, also of the ice flow on the ocean in the area where the ship went down with its terrified passengers of over two thousand. After all the survivors were safe on board our ship, the Carpathia, it sailed all around . . . it was then when I realized the terrible disaster which had happened to such a great number of our humanity. There was much more that I will never forget. ”
In 1963 Jeremy Banks, an editor at Queen magazine, invited Norman Parkinson (21 April 1913 – 15 February 1990) to photograph the Beatles. Parkinson had left Vogue in 1959 and was now working at Queen (later Harper’s & Queen and then just Harper’s). It was September 12 1963 when Parkinson arrived at London’s Abbey Road. He’d no colour film so all the images are in black and white. The band were busy recording their LP With the Beatles. On the day’s roster were: Hold Me Tight, Don’t Bother Me, Little Child and I Wanna Be Your Man. The band – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison – had spent the preceding week preforming for the Saturday Club at the Playhouse Theatre in central London, shows at The Gaumont in Taunton, The Odeon in Luton, Fairfield Halls in Croydon, and Blackpool’s ABC Theatre. At 6:30, the Beatles broke for a 30-minute tea break. At 11pm left Abbey Road for their rooms at the President Hotel on Russell Square.
The Beatles at the President Hotel, Russell Square in London, on 12 September 1963.The band in discussion with their svengali George Martin
The term “Baby Boom” is used to identify a massive increase in births following World War II. Baby boomers are those people born worldwide between 1946 and 1964, the time frame most commonly used to define them. There are about 76 million boomers in the U.S., representing about 29 percent of the population. In Canada, they are known as “Boomies;” six million reside there. In Britain, the boomer generation is known as “the bulge.”
World War II ended in 1945. Most members of the armed forces came home en masse, numbering in the millions. To integrate millions of young veterans into the American economy, the 78th Congress passed the GI Bill of Rights on June 22, 1944. It was the most far-reaching item of veterans legislation passed in the nation’s history. VA loans for homes and farms were made available to GIs at low interest rates, and low or no down payment. In addition, the GI Bill made higher education a reachable goal with low-interest loans.
The first baby boomers reached the standard retirement age of 65 in 2011. Today, members of the baby boomer generation are just beginning to leave the labor force and enter retirement.
A staff nurse greets some new arrivals at the Queen Charlotte Hospital in London. Jan. 25, 1945.Nurses hold babies in a maternity ward at Guy’s Hospital, London. Dec. 1, 1947.Infants and toddlers in an orphanage in post-war Japan, c.1948.An overcrowded dining hall at Walsgrave Colliery School near Coventry, England filled by children of the post war baby boom, 1952.A crowd of schoolchildren in the playground of Walsgrave Colliery School near Coventry, England, 1952.27-year-old Briton Ivy Bourne, mother of triplets and twins. Her mother had a total of 22 children, including one set of triplets and four sets of twins. Jan. 31, 1953.The Finslater triplets at home, March 1955.Nurses with newborns at a hospital in Paris. Jan. 1, 1946.New mothers change their babies’ diapers in New York City. March 15, 1946.A nurse cares for one of many infants at St. Ann’s Infant Asylum in Washington, D.C. May 16, 1946.Participants in a baby show in England, c.1950.The first babies of the new year in a maternity ward in Paris. Jan. 1, 1946.Prisoner mothers bathe their babies in a hospital ward at Holloway Prison in London, March 1947.
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of 2,780,400 km2 (1,073,500 sq mi), making it the largest Spanish-speaking nation in the world by area. It is the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourth-largest country in the Americas, and the eighth-largest country in the world. It shares the bulk of the Southern Cone with Chile to the west, and is also bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, Brazil to the northeast, Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Drake Passage to the south. Argentina is a federal state subdivided into twenty-three provinces, and one autonomous city, which is the federal capital and largest city of the nation, Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system. Argentina claims sovereignty over a part of Antarctica, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
The earliest recorded human presence in modern-day Argentina dates back to the Paleolithic period. The Inca Empire expanded to the northwest of the country in Pre-Columbian times. The country has its roots in Spanish colonization of the region during the 16th century. Argentina rose as the successor state of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish overseas viceroyalty founded in 1776. The declaration and fight for independence (1810–1818) was followed by an extended civil war that lasted until 1861, culminating in the country’s reorganization as a federation. The country thereafter enjoyed relative peace and stability, with several waves of European immigration, mainly Italians and Spaniards, radically reshaping its cultural and demographic outlook; over 60% of the population has full or partial Italian ancestry, and Argentine culture has significant connections to Italian culture.
The almost-unparalleled increase in prosperity led to Argentina becoming the seventh-wealthiest nation in the world by the early 20th century. In 1896, Argentina’s GDP per capita surpassed that of the United States and was consistently in the top ten before at least 1920. Currently, it is ranked 71st in the world. Following the Great Depression in the 1930s, Argentina descended into political instability and economic decline that pushed it back into underdevelopment, although it remained among the fifteen richest countries for several decades. Following the death of President Juan Perón in 1974, his widow and vice president, Isabel Perón, ascended to the presidency, before being overthrown in 1976. The following military junta, which was supported by the United States, persecuted and murdered thousands of political critics, activists, and leftists in the Dirty War, a period of state terrorism and civil unrest that lasted until the election of Raúl Alfonsín as president in 1983.
Argentina is a regional power, and retains its historic status as a middle power in international affairs. Argentina is a developing country that ranks 46th in the Human Development Index, the second-highest in Latin America after Chile. It maintains the second-largest economy in South America, and is a member of G-15 and G20. Argentina is also a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, World Trade Organization, Mercosur, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the Organization of Ibero-American States. (Wikipedia)
These amazing photos were taken by photographer Juan Rafael Onetto that documented everyday life of Northern Argentina in 1970. The cities include Santiago de Estero, Salta, and especially Jujuy province.
On July 20, 1969, the astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human being to walk on another world, famously marking the moment with the phrase: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” After months of preparation, preceded by years of development and testing, the crew of NASA’s Apollo 11 lifted off from Florida on July 16, arriving at the moon on July 19. While Command Module Pilot Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit, Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin descended to the surface and spent two and a half hours on the moon, setting up experiments, taking photos, and gathering samples. After their safe return home, the crew were celebrated by politicians and the public as they embarked on a 45-day goodwill tour, visiting a total of 27 cities in 24 countries. Below, 50 photos of the historic Apollo 11 mission.
A portrait of the Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, taken by his fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong, standing on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969. Aldrin has his left arm raised and is likely reading the checklist sewn on the wrist cover of his glove.
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Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, also known as Miracle Flight 571, was a chartered flight originating in Montevideo, Uruguay, bound for Santiago, Chile, that crashed high in the Andes mountains on 13 October 1972. The accident became known as the Andes flight disaster (Tragedia de los Andes) and the Miracle of the Andes (Milagro de los Andes).
While crossing the Andes during poor weather, the inexperienced co-pilot of the Fairchild FH-227D mistakenly believed they had reached Curicó, despite instrument readings that indicated otherwise. The aircraft began descending too early to reach Pudahuel Airport and struck a mountain, shearing off both wings and the tail section. The remaining portion of the fuselage slid down the mountain about 725 metres (2,379 ft) before striking ice and snow on a glacier. The flight was carrying 45 passengers and crew, including 19 members of the Old Christians Club rugby union team, along with their families, supporters, and friends.
Survivors of 1972 Andes plane crash.Survivors of 1972 Andes plane crash.
The flight carrying 19 members of a rugby team, family, supporters, and friends originated in Montevideo, Uruguay and was headed for Santiago, Chile. While crossing the Andes, the inexperienced co-pilot who was in command mistakenly believed they had reached Curicó, Chile, despite instrument readings indicating differently. He turned north and began to descend towards what he thought was Pudahuel Airport. Instead, the aircraft struck the mountain, shearing off both wings and the rear of the fuselage. The forward part of the fuselage careened down a steep slope like a toboggan and came to rest on a glacier. Three crew members and more than a quarter of the passengers died in the crash, and several others quickly succumbed to cold and injuries.
On the tenth day after the crash, the survivors learned from a transistor radio that the search had been called off. Faced with starvation and death, those still alive agreed that should they die, the others may consume their bodies so they might live. With no choice, the survivors ate the bodies of their dead friends.
Survivors of Flight 571 outside of the plane.Survivors of Flight 571 outside of the plane.Survivors of Flight 571 outside of the plane.
Roberto Canessa was a second-year medical student when the plane he had chartered with his rugby team mates crashed into the mountains. “Eating human flesh, you feel like you’re the most miserable person on the earth,” he said. “But in my mind, there was the idea that my friend was giving me a chance of survival that he didn’t have.”
Canessa broken his silence to tell his own story in a memoir, I Had To Survive. The specter of resorting to cannibalism haunts him still. “We had long since run out of the meagre pickings we’d found on the plane, and there was no vegetation or animal life to be found,” he recalled. “After just a few days we were feeling the sensation of our own bodies consuming themselves just to remain alive.”
Roberto Canessa in the early 1970s.
“The bodies of our friends and team-mates, preserved outside in the snow and ice, contained vital, life-giving protein that could help us survive. But could we do it?
“For a long time we agonized. I went out in the snow and prayed to God for guidance. Without His consent, I felt I would be violating the memory of my friends; that I would be stealing their souls.
“We wondered whether we were going mad even to contemplate such a thing. Had we turned into brute savages? Or was this the only sane thing to do? Truly, we were pushing the limits of our fear.”
Fuselage of Air Force Flight 571 that crashed in the Andes in 1972.Fuselage of Air Force Flight 571 that crashed in the Andes in 1972.Survivors of Flight 571.Survivors of Flight 571 outside of the plane’s wreckage.Survivors of Flight 571 outside of the plane’s wreckage.
Roberto said he managed to reconcile himself when he remembered the words he had said himself in the aftermath of the crash: that if he died, the rest could use his body to survive. “For me, it was an honor to say that if my heart stopped beating, my arms and legs and muscles could still be part of our communal mission to get off the mountain. I wanted to know I’d still be playing my part,” he explained.
Seventeen days after the crash, 27 remained alive when an avalanche filled the rear of broken fuselage they used as shelter, killing eight more survivors. The survivors had little food and no source of heat in the harsh conditions. They decided that a few of the strongest people would hike out to seek rescue. Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa, lacking mountaineering gear of any kind, climbed from the glacier at 3,570 metres (11,710 ft) to the 4,670 metres (15,320 ft) peak blocking their way west. Over 10 days they trekked about 24 kilometres (15 mi) seeking help. The first person they saw was Chilean arriero Sergio Catalán, who gave them food and then rode for ten hours to alert authorities. The story of the passengers’ survival after 72 days drew international attention. The last 16 survivors were rescued on 23 December 1972, more than two months after the crash.
(L-R) Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa with shepherd (above) who saved their lives.Roberto and Nando reach civilization after their rescue.Roberto returns to civilization.
The survivors were concerned about what the public and family members of the dead might think about their acts of eating the dead. There was an initial public backlash, but after they explained the pact the survivors made to sacrifice their flesh if they died to help the others survive, the outcry diminished and the families were more understanding. The incident was later known as the Andes flight disaster and, in the Hispanic world, as El Milagro de los Andes (The Miracle of the Andes).
“And now, as a doctor, I cannot help associating that event — using a dead body to continue living — with something that would be realized the world over in the coming decades: organ and tissue transplants,” Roberto said. “We were the ones to break the taboo. But the world would break it with us in the years to come, as what was once thought bizarre became a new way to honor the dead.”
(L-R) Roberto Canessa with his mother and wife Lauri.Lauri and Roberto Canessa in the early 1970s.Roberto Canessa with wife Lauri in 2016.
“Gradually, each of us came to our own decision in our own time. And once we had done so, it was irreversible. It was our final goodbye to innocence.
Over 16 million animals served in the First World War. They were used for transport, communication and companionship. Animals were not only used for work. Dogs, cats, and more unusual animals including monkeys, bears and lions, were kept as pets and mascots to raise morale and provide comfort amidst the hardships of war.
Togo, the cat mascot of the battleship HMS Dreadnought.The fox cub mascot of No.32 Squadron at Humieres Aerodrome, St Pol, France, 5 May 1918.Camels carrying wounded men to safety on the North West Frontier of India, 1917.French Red Cross dogs line up for inspection on the Western Front, 1914.German transport driver and horses wearing gas masks on the Western Front, 1917.The monkey mascot of the Third Army Trench Mortar School sits on a captured German trench mortar, 20 May 1917.Italians landing mules at Salonika in October, 1916.A gunner of the York and Lancaster Regiment with the regimental cat in a trench near Cambrin, France, 6 February 1918.French troops with two carrier pigeons strapped in their travelling basket.A German war dog, fitted with apparatus for laying telephone wires, walking across muddy ground, 1917.British troops scraping mud from a mule near Bernafay Wood on the Western Front, 1916. British military authorities tried to ensure that animal handlers cared for their animals properly.German soldiers wearing respirators as they place carrier pigeons into a gas-proof chamber, presumably during an anti-gas drill.An Australian demonstrating the docility of his camel by putting his wrist in its mouth, Egypt, 17 September 1917.A dog handler of the Royal Engineers (Signals) reads a message brought to him by a messenger dog, France, 19 May 1918.A pack horse with a gas mask is loaded up with equipment during the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, Belgium, 31 July 1917.
Anna Pavlova (1881-1931) was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20th centuries. She was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev. Pavlova is most recognized for the creation of the role The Dying Swan and, with her own company, became the first ballerina to tour ballet around the world.
In 1912, Pavlova took up residence in Ivy House by London’s Hampstead Heath and stocked the ornamental lake with swans. Anna had a particularly impressive relationship with one of the swans named Jack and was often photographed by the press at Ivy House, bonding with her pet swan, a bird not typically known for its friendliness towards humans. But then again, neither was Anna…
In 1952, French motorcycle racing champion Georges Monneret leaving Paris, France for for Calais, where he was met with a crew who installed a pair of custom pontoons to scooter. It was an amphibious craft powered by a 1952 125cc Vespa Douglas. From there, Monneret went about crossing the famed English Channel aboard the waterborne scooter.
This idea came to him by reading an Italian magazine in which an Italian, whose history did not remember his name, ventured on a lake with a scooter mounted on floats.
It all started with the Paris to London race in 1952. Georges had always been into racing so of course he wanted to not just win, but to beat a record while he was at it. He decided that the fastest way to England was via the channel but to cross he would have to build a craft that allowed him to take his Vespa on, cross and ride it back off. He set about designing such a craft, working out different techniques and learning watercraft engineering till eventually, it was born.
The craft consisted of two long aluminium pontoons, a wooden platform for the Vespa, a steering system that used the front wheel of the Vespa to steer the rudder and two rollers beneath the rear wheel to power the three bladed propeller via a three speed gearbox. The propeller could also be raised and lowered for beach landings. It was very simple but it worked. It was stable and the Vespa could be taken on and off to ride in a matter of minutes. It was perfect for the journey. The Vespa also had a larger fuel tank installed.
On October 8, 1952, at midnight, Georges Monneret left the Place de la Concorde in Paris with his destination set as Calais. The race had begun. All the opponents ride from Paris to Calais as fast as they could. After 4 hours and 55 minutes, Georges reached Calais, everyone else arrived later and they all went to the hotel for a drink while they waited for the next ferry. All except for one person, Georges.
He rolled out his watercraft while his opponents watched in amazement and jealousy. The craft was mechanically perfect and the Vespa was running brilliant. It seemed perfect, but of course here had to be one problem, the weather was not on his side. He strapped up the Vespa as tight as he could and set off out to the channel in good spirits. The waves were huge but he was determined to get his record. Unfortunately the heavy waves damaged the craft’s drive shaft forcing him to turn back to Calais and make repairs as it was impossible to do it at sea.
At 8 am, Monneret set out again more determined than ever. He “rode” out of the harbour to find that luckily the weather had calmed down slightly making crossing the channel so much easier. He was thrown about by the remaining waves until he eventually made it to Dover at 5pm where he was greeted by the amazed and slightly shocked locals. He unstrapped the Vespa and hurried to London as quickly as he could. I’m happy to report that he did win the race and as a bonus, gained his record. Being that brave, he definitely deserved it. Overall it took him 15 hours from Paris to London.
Of course, crossing the Channel was only one of Monneret’s many feats, as the French motorcycle racer won 499 wins and 183 world records during his career, including winning the Circuit of Orleans in 1935, the Motorcycle Grand Prix of France in 1936, and placing second of the 1939 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Georges Monneret during the “Fonds de Course” 1938 at Monthléry.
