A QUEENS FELON’S BIRTHDAY? WHO CARES? A MILITARY MARCH SOMEWHERE? NOT WORTH THE TIME

HERE ARE TIDBITS ABOUT TODAY JUNE 14, assembled from a variety of sources including Britannica and the Britannica Book of the Year. Quoted comments are Britannica’s; the rest are my comments or identified by source. 

1645. “The parliamentary New Model Army led by Oliver Cromwell defeated the royalists under Prince Rupert in the Battle of Naseby.”

Oliver Cromwell, 1599–1658, English politician; some say regicidal dictator, others say military dictator, others say a hero of liberty. Portrait by Samuel Cooper, 1656.

See also “Oliver Cromwell—Puritan, Lord Protector, and a Real Piece of Work,” at SimanaitisSays. “Here’s a telling vignette:” I noted, “Lord Protector Cromwell died in 1658 and three years later he was exhumed, chained, and beheaded by his ex-Protectees.” 

Ouch. 

1777. “The Continental Congress approved the Stars and Stripes as the first national flag of the United States.”

In honor of this, I researched the Betsy Ross tale I learned as a kid and found it to be pretty much intact, sorta:

 Wikipedia recounts that she “was an American upholsterer who was credited by her relatives in 1870 with making the second official U.S. flag, accordingly known as the Betsy Ross flag.”

Elizabeth Griscom Ross, 1752–1836, also known by her second and third married names, Ashburn and Claypoole. Posthumous portrait 1893 by H.A. Thomas & Wylie; Weisgerber, Charles H., artist.

Wikipedia continues, “Ross convinced Washington to change the shape of the stars in a sketch of a flag he showed her from six-pointed to five-pointed by demonstrating that it was easier and speedier to cut the latter. However, there is no archival evidence or other recorded verbal tradition to substantiate this story of the first U.S. flag.”

There is plenty of evidence, though, that Ross was hired to make flags for the Pennsylvania fleet, one record indicating payment of fourteen pounds twelve shillings two pence “for Making Ships Colours.”

1811. “American author Harriet Beecher Stowe—whose novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin fueled antislavery sentiment and was cited among the causes of the Civil War—was born in Litchfield, Connecticut.”

Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811–1896, American author and abolitionist.

I especially like the account in Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, Vol. 1 The Early Years and Vol. 2 The Middle Years: Stowe shows her work to President Lincoln and he responds “You gotta get conflict into it. Can’t you make Simon Legree meaner?” Later, he kinda forgets this advice.

1938. “WPA announces it would purchase $10,000,000 of clothing to distribute to needy and to revive clothing manufacture by buying up surplus.”

1938. “Congress passed Wages and Hours bill providing for minimum wages of 25 cents an hour the first year and 30 cents the second year, which industrial boards empowered to fix a 40-cent minimum in certain situations. Maximum hours of work 44 per week during the first year, 42 during second year, and 40 in third year.

Let’s put these Late-Depression dollars in perspective. The $10 million of clothing would be worth $227,514,184.40 in today’s cash. Minimum hourly wages of 25¢, 30¢, and 40¢ work out to $5.69, $6.83, and $9.10, respectively.

The federal minimum wage in 2025 is $7.25/hr, a rate not adjusted since 2009. Effective January 1, 2025, California’s minimum wage is $16.50. Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming continue with the federal minimum. Hmm….

2004. “Denmark’s Tom Kristensen, driving with Japanese driver Sieji Ara [and Italian Rinaldo Capello] for #5 Audi Sport Japan Team Goh, wins the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race for the 6th time, equaling the record of Belgian driver Jacky Ickx.”

The 2004 Le Mans-winning Audi R8. Image from ultimatecarpage.com. 

Indeed, Rinaldo Capello also codrove Le Mans to victory two other times, 2003 with Bentley and 2008 again with Audi. Kristensen codrove in 2008 as well. His current record is nine Le Mans wins.

2025. SimanaitisSays shares a Porsche press release about its 963 RSP (as in “Roger Searle Penske”). It’s nearby.

2025. Today June 14, 2025, is also  “No Kings Day.” The organization says, “In America, We Don’t Do Kings. They’ve defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services. The corruption has gone too far. No Thrones. No Crowns. No Kings.” 

These locations can be accessed at nokings.org. Note the Gulf’s name.

For more information, see also ABC News, June 10, 2025. See also “Army Video of Parade Prep Appeared to Show ‘Hang Fauci’ Graffiti,” The Washington Post, June 8, 2025.

Have a meaningful day. ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025