Important Timelines

Carnivale Plot Timeline, submitted by Elizabeth (cellosong7)

8/01/89 Henry Scudder born to Emma and Hilton in TX
8/01/89 Hilton Scudder & older sons killed by wife, Emma
1890 Lila born
1895 Rita Sue born
1904 Samson begins career at Lilliputia, NY
1905 Lila's brother dies in show accident
1908 Lila's dad dies
1912 Samson joins the Carnivale (Hyde & Teller?)
1913 Sofie Agnesh Bojaskaya born to Appolonia, who goes catatonic
1914 Libby born to Stumpy and Rita Mae Dreifuss
1914 Russian tries to kill Scudder at Battle of Lemberg
1916 Dora Mae born to Stumpy and Rita Mae Dreifuss
1916 Ben Hawkins born to Flora Hawkins and Henry Scudder (who leaves shortly after)
1921 Mine collapse, Babylon (Scudder there)
1922 Scudder and pal (Talbot?) appear at the Templars
1923 Mural drawn by Fr. Kerrigan at Templars
1924 "Death" Mask of Scudder made by Geddes in Creed, OK
1927 Father Balthus' wife dies                                                     1934 Flora Hawkins dies/Ben picked up by Carnivale
1934 Justin starts his migrant ministry
09/08/34 Justin's Dignity ministry is burnt down by Iris
11/01/34 Season 2 opener? (based on Kasper/Flynn boxing match)

Historical Timeline, submitted by Lynn (lzcutter)

1889: Ingram Texas,
Henry "Hack" Scudder is born. The only son of Hilton and Emma Krohn Scudder. Hilton is believed to be a Grand Dragon of the Texas Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Details are sketchy at best, but the story goes: on the night Henry was born, his mother went mad and killed not only his father but her sons from a previous marriage as well.

1890: Location Unknown:
Ruthie is born.

Terrebonne Parrish, Louisana:
Lila is born to a circus family.

1893: Chicago, Illinios:
Ehrich Weiss and Jacob Hyman perform as the "Brothers Houdini" on the
Midway at the World's Columbian Exposition.

1895: Kansas City, Missouri:
Rita Sue Menninger is born to a prosperous merchant family.

Baltimore, Maryland
George Herman "Babe" Ruth is born.

1899: St Paul, Minnesota:
Harry Houdini (Ehrich Weiss) is performing and Theatre Manager Martin Beck catches his act. He wires several days later for Houdini to open in Omaha. Within months, Houdini is in demand at top Vaudeville houses around the country.

1900: England:
Setting sail for Europe, Houdini spends five years touring the continent and becoming an International star.

Location Unknown:
Lila's family, known as the "Flying Villalobos" and veterans of the Traveling Carnival Circuit in the Southeast joins the Ringling Brothers circus where they travel the International Circuit.

1903: Kansas City, Missouri:
Rita Sue Menninger's father, Thomas, unexpectedly dies. Her mother, Emma, is forced to work as a domestic servant.

1904: St Louis, Missouri:
The Louisana Purchase Exposition, also commonly called the World's Fair opens on April 30th and runs for seven months. In addition to all the scientific exhibits and entertainment, the Fair hosts a mile-long midway known as the Pike. The Pike is considered to be the Carnival side of the Fair.

Coney Island, New York:
A new attraction, Lilliputia, opens. It is a miniature village built to resemble 15th century Nuremberg. It is commonly referred to as "Midget City".

At Lilliputia, Edgar "Samson" Leonhardt works as a "mighty-mite", a dwarf strongman.

1905: Stamford, Connecticut:
Harry Houdini returns to America and buys a seven acre farm and brownstone in Harlem, New York. He begins traveling the Eastern Seaboard performing his amazing feats of escape.

Bern,
Albert Einstein publishes his "Theory of Relativity"

Copenhagen, Denmark:
Lila's oldest brother, Oscar, is killed during a performance of the "Flying Villalobos".

Sierra Nevadas:
A train wreck occurs killing Plemina Belyakov, wife of Lucius Belyakov, and everyone else. For reasons unknown. Plemina was traveling tin the states without her husband. Strangely, her two children Alexi and Irina manage to escape "the bad men" chasing them. They are found by Reverend Norman Balthus. He ultimately becomes the children's ward. As they grow older, Alexi and Irina change their names to Justin and Iris Crowe. Justin follows his mentor's path into religion.

1906: Location Unknown:
Lila marries the first of nineteen husbands, Paco Soza, a ventriloquist.

1908: Location Unknown
Shattered by the loss of his eldest son, Lila's father commits suicide.

Kansas City, Missouri:
Rita Sue Menninger, all of 13 years old, leaves home with an eye towards the Vaudeville Stage. She travels the Eastern Seaboard with the Red Rutherford Traveling Crazy Horse Revue.

1910: Location Unknown:
Felix "Stumpy" Dreifuss begins his career on the Traveling Carnivale Circuit by being the talker for the famed fat-lady twins, Gillian and Shannon Bartholomew.

1912: North Atlantic:
On April 14th, the Titanic strikes an iceberg. The unsinkable ship goes down taking over 1,500 passengers to an icy grave.

Coney Island, New York:
Edgar "Samson" Leonhardt leaves Coney Island's Lilliputia and begins working the Traveling Carnival Circuit, including Carnivale which is then owned by the Hyde & Teller Company.

Location Unknown:
Ruthie gives birth to son, Gabriel. Father is not known.

1913: St. Paul, Minneapolis:
Apollonia Bojakshiya, a noted and renowed seer who once read cards for the rich and famous on the Eastern Seaboard, gives birth to a baby girl she names, Sofie. Due to complications of the birth, Appollonia suffers a series of devastating strokes and is left paralyzed and catatonic. She is initially cared for by her sister, Anash. Sometime later, Anash relinquishes care to Apollonia's young daughter, Sofie. The two eventually begin working the Traveling Carnivale Circuit as a mother-daughter tarot card reading act.

Location Unknown:
Felix "Stumpy" Driefuss joins the Red Rutherford Traveling Crazy Horse Revue.

1914: Atlantic City, New Jersey:
Rita Sue Menninger, 19 years old and seven months pregnant, marries Felix "Stumpy" Dreifuss.

Location Unknown:
Felix and Rita Sue Dreifuss have a daughter, Libby.

Sarajevo, Yugoslavia:
Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is assassinated.
This is the catalyst for the Great War, better known as World War I. The Allies in this war include Great Britain, Russia, Canada, the United States and other nations. The Central Powers include Germany, Bulgaria, Austro-Hungary and Turkey.

Canada:
Henry Scudder joins the 1st Canadian Depot Battalion.

Lemberg, Galacia (Western Ukraine):
Henry Scudder is stationed there as an observer with the Austro-Hungarian Army. While in this position he encounters Lucius Belyakov, Professor Ernst Lodz and Lodz's runaway circus bear, Bruno. The bear's attack prevents Belyakov from killing Scudder.

Belgrade to Paris:
After his tour of duty, Henry Scudder partners with Professor Ernst Lodz in a mentalist act and tours the European continent performing for the wealthy.

Dardanelles:
The Turkish Navy Blockade cuts off the flow of Russian wheat to the rest of the world. To meet the sudden increase demand, farmers on the Great Plains plow under their fields that previously had not been considered crop worthy. Many farmers take out loans to cover the expense of new equipment to cultivate their new fields. Many historians regard this as an important event leading up and contributing to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s

1915: Location Unknown:
Aware that Belyakov survived the bear attack and is looking for him, Henry "Hack" Scudder returns to the United States where he meets and romances Flora Hawkins.

Milfay, Oklahoma:
Flora Hawkins gives birth to baby boy she names Benjamin. Ben's father, the elusive, Henry "Hack" Scudder, abandons Flora and her baby a short time later. Flora never seems to have married Henry.

1916: Location Unknown:
Rita Sue and Felix Dreifuss have a second child, a daughter named Dora Mae.
Location Unknown:
Henry "Hack" Scudder joins the Hyde and Teller Carnival as the "Gentleman Geek". He stays there until the Carnival is purchased by Lucius Belyakov and renamed "Carnivale".

1917: Russia:
On February 23rd, the Bolshevik Revolution begins.

On March 2nd, Czar Nicholas II, abdicates and a provisional government is formed.

America:
The United States declares war on Germany and enters the Great War.

1918: Russia:
Czar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandria and their children are taken to a basement and shot.

1919: The League of Nations is formed.

1921: Germany:
Adolf Hitler assumes leadership of the National Socialist Party (NAZI)

1922: Loving, New Mexico:
Henry "Hack" Scudder and an unidentified man steal documents from the Knights of Templar Lodge.

Babylon, TX:
A mining disaster occurs. Henry "Hack" Scudder is rumored to be involved. Everyone in the cave-in is reported to have died. Rumors persist that Henry Scudder escaped.

Russia:
The Bolshevik Revolution ends with the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic. (U.S.S.R.)

1926: Washington, D.C.:
Route 66 is commissioned by the Government. Beginning in Chicago, IL and winding its way across the Plains and the West it ends at the beach in Santa Monica, CA.

Royal Oak, Michigan:
Father Charles Coughlin begins broadcasting his weekly sermon on local radio.

1927: Location Unknown:
Rose Balthus, wife of Methodist Minister Reverend Norman Balthus, dies.

1928: Washington D.C.:
The Ku Klux Klan with over 10,000 marching members, marches down Pennsylvania Avenue in the Nation's Capitol.

Location Unknown:
Libby Dreifuss, age 14, joins her mother as part of "The Gay Paree"
Cooch show.

1929: New York City:
Black Tuesday, October 29th. The Stock Market crash brings an end to the Jazz Age of the 1920s. Overnight, many of the rich and middle class find themselves poor.

Location Unknown:
Dora Mae Dreifuss, age 13, joins her mother, Rita Sue and sister, Libby in "The Gay Paree" Cooch Show.

1930: America:
Bank Runs. Banks across the country begin to fail. There is no FDIC
Insurance and people discover that their life savings have been wiped out.
Soup Kitchens spring up from New York City to Los Angeles. Everyone is affected. Men are out of work and often there is no work to be had. In Rural America, people are hit even harder. There is no money to buy new farm equipment, no loans and in many cases, the banks start calling in the existing loans. People are desperate.

Detroit, Michigan:
Father Charles Coughlin begins his weekly Radio Broadcasts on CBS Radio.

1931: Great Plains and Southern Plains, America:
As if it could not get any worse, a severe drought hits the Midwestern and Southern plains. As the crops die, the 'black blizzards" begin. The government agents had taught the Plains farmers to cultivate and plant straight, narrow rows over and over each year. County Fairs and the Government often rewarded the farmers with the straightest rows. This agriculture technique contributes to the hard times when a devastating drought begins in the early 1930s. Dust from the over-plowed and over-grazed land begins to blow.

Detroit, Michigan:
Father Coughlin's contract with CBS radio is not renewed. Unable to find another national sponsor, Coughlin begins his own radio network.

1932: Great Plains, America:
The number of dust storms continue. Fourteen are reported in 1932 alone,
In 1933 there will be 38. Howling winds make it impossible for women to keep the sand and dirt out of their homes. A fine layer of dirt covers everything: floors, window sills, food.
There is no escaping the dust.

Washington, D.C.:
The Bonus Army marches on the Nation's Capitol:
At the end of WW1 a grateful nation and government passed legislation authorizing the payment of cash bonuses to these war veterans in 1945. Due to the Stock Market crash, many veterans, like so many others, lost everything. Over 10,000 veterans and their families traveled to Washington in hopes of convincing the Government to pay the bonuses early. They lived in makeshift tents and huts outside the city limits. In June, the Bonus Bill, which proposed immediate payment of the cash bonuses, was debated in the House. The bill passed in Congress was defeated in the Senate.

Out in the streets of Washington, concern rose over the Bonus Army marchers and the possibility of civil disorder. President Hoover considered the Marchers a threat to public safety and his own security. Two veterans were shot and killed on July 28th by a panicked policeman. Hoover called out the Army. Douglas McArthur against his aide, Dwight Eisenhower's advice, took personal command of the operation. Hoover had ordered that only Pennsylvania Avenue be cleared.

McArthur instead, ignoring Hoover's directive, crossed the Anacostia River where the marchers were camped, routed the marchers, their wives and children (some estimates run as high as 600 women and children ) and burned the camp to the ground. McArthur then held a Press Conference praising Hoover's swift action in the matter. Unable to publicly disagree with McArthur, Hoover paid with his political life. The forceful eviction of the Bonus Army marchers, helped turn public opinion against Hoover.

Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
Game 3 of the 1932 World Series:
The New York Yankees vs Chicago Cubs, in the 5th inning, Babe Ruth comes up to bat. In one of the most memorable moments in baseball, the Babe points to center field and amid intense heckling from Cubs fans, the Bambino slams what is regarded as the longest home run ever hit out of Wrigley Field. The Yankees go on to win the series, their third sweep in four years.

England:
John Crockcroft and ETS Walston split the atom thereby proving Einstein's Theory of Relativity.

Los Angeles, California:
Tommy Dolan, a Los Angeles journalist, pioneers the "Roving Reporter" concept in the new medium of radio. Reporting for K-ZAK Radio, he finds success with his "On the Road" series.

Washington, DC:
On November 8th, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected 32nd President of the United States.

1933: Washington, DC:
On March 4th, Franklin Roosevelt takes office proclaiming "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.". He declares a four day Bank Holiday. Congress passes the Emergency Banking Act of 1933. The Banking Act restores people's faith in the banking system and helps stabilize the industry. On the Great Plains, thousands of families have lost everything. With the banks foreclosing, many families pack everything they can into and onto their cars. Thus begins the largest migration in history. Families following the "Mother Road", Route 66, head west in hopes of a better life. They leave behind everything that won't fit in the car. Often, they leave behind farms that have been in their family for generations. They literally "shake some dust". They won't be coming back.

San Joaquin, California:
Migrant workers call the biggest agricultural strike to date. More than 18,000 cotton workers strike for 24 days. Finally, the Union is recognized and workers are given a 25% raise.

Germany:
Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor. The Dachau Concentration camp is created. The Reichstag pass the Enabling Act which allows the government to issue laws without approval of the Reichstag. The Nazis encourage boycotts of Jewish-owned shops and businesses. Book burning becomes common. Jews begin to feel increasingly isolated from the rest of German society.

Europe:
To escape the ever-growing anti-Semitism in Europe, Albert Einstein emigrates to America.

Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard realizes the possibility of the nuclear chain reaction.

Hollywood, California:
Wilfred Talbot Smith, co-founder of the Agape Lodge #2 and a follower of Alistair Crowley, begins to celebrate Gnostic Mass on a weekly basis.

1934: Eastern Colorado/Western Kansas:
The first great storm or "Black Blizzard" is recorded. The Drought Continues. It covers more than 75% percent of the country. 25 states are affected severely. The Great Dust Storms spread from the Plains area. The "Yearbook of Agriculture" for 1934 reads: "Approximately 35 million acres of formerly cultivated land has essentially been destroyed for crop production."

Germany:
With the death of President Hindenburg, Hitler combines the offices of Chancellor and Presidents, and declares himself Fuhrer and Reich Chancellor.

Europe:
The first nuclear fission is achieved by Enrico Fermi of Italy.

Milfay, Oklahoma:
A traveling Carnivale picks up a young convict, Benjamin Hawkins shortly after his mother dies of "dust pneumonia".

Mintern, California:
Brother Justin Crowe, a Methodist Minister, distraught over the burning of an orphanage in his parish, goes missing and is picked up the police and taken to a near-by sanitarium.
Not knowing who Brother Justin is, the doctors at the Sanitarium prescribe shock treatments for their new patient.

Somewhere "On the Road":
After meeting Brother Justin Crowe, Tommy Dolan leaves K-ZAK Radio, to produce Brother Justin's new "Church of the Air" weekly sermon.

Babylon, Texas:
Dora Mae Dreifus is killed after a Cooch performance that includes the infamous "blow off".

While traveling with the Carnivale in the Southwest, Professor Ernst Lodz
disappears.

Loving, New Mexico:
In November, Appollina Bojakshiya is killed during a fire in the trailer where she and Sofie live. Sofie is saved because of the heroic efforts of Clayton Jones. The cause of the fire is undetermined but rumors suggest that Appy started it using her telekinetic powers.

Los Angeles, California:
Wilfred Talbot Smith gives Brother Justin Crowe a copy of "The Gospel of Matthias".

1935: Hollywood, California
On March 19th Wilford Talbot Smith's Agape Lodge #2 holds its first official meeting.

America
April 14, Black Sunday. The worst "black blizzard" of the Dust Bowl occurs. Extensive damage is reported. In December, experts estimate that 850,000.000 tons of topsoil has blown off the Southern Plains during the course of the year. The drought won't end until 1939.

Baton Rouge, Louisana:
On September 8th, Huey Long is shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He
dies two days later.

Germany:
Jews are stripped of their civil rights as German citizens and separated from Germans legally, socially and politically.

New York City, New York:
Babe Ruth retires.

Damascus, Nebraska:
Clayton Jones and Libby Dreifus are married .

Damascus, Nebraska:
Lucius Belyakov dies but not before passing his boon onto Ben Hawkins.

New Canaan, California:
Henry Scudder finally meets his maker at the bloody hands of Brother Justin Crowe. His death does not end the swirl of rumors and myth that have sprung up around his name.

New Canaan, California:
Reverend Norman Balthus is killed. Rumors of a bloody encounter between Brother Justin Crowe and a faith healer named Benjamin St. John begin. Brother Crowe is feared dead and no one seems to know the whereabouts of Benjamin St. John and the Carnivale he was traveling with
.

1936: California:
Los Angeles Police Chief Davis sends 125 policemen to patrol the borders to keep "undesirables" out. It is estimated one-quarter of the population of the Great Plains migrated west at this time. By 1940, it is estimated, 2.5 million had left the Plains states. Over 200,000 moved to California alone. Upon arrival, they were not welcomed. Often, they were met by Border Guards who would turn them away. The ACLU sued the City and the Border Guards were finally called off when people began questioning the use of city funds to keep the Border Guards there.

Life in California was not much better for the "Okies", as they were commonly called. Farms in California were often corporate owned. Many of the migrants became pickers in the San Joaquin Valley helping to harvest grapes and cotton. They were paid by the quantity of fruit and cotton picked. Wages ranged from .75 cents to $1.25 a day for back breaking work. Out of those wages they paid .25 cents a day for rent on a tar paper shack with no floor or plumbing. On larger ranches they had to buy their groceries from the marked up goods at the company stores.

Roadside camps of poverty stricken migrants grows and pressure on communities to ignore them or disband them grew. It was not uncommon for groups of vigilantes to beat up migrants. Riding the rails became more dangerous. The "Okies" were discriminated against, treated poorly and rarely welcomed.

Washington DC:
FDR wins relection against Alf Landon and a third party candidate supported by Father Charles Coughlin.

Germany:
Berlin hosts the 1936 Olympics. Jesse Owens, the African American track star, becomes the undisputed hero the games.

1937: Lakehurst, New Jersey:
The Hindenburg crashes while docking. It had just crossed the Atlantic on its maiden voyage from Germany. Thirty-six people are killed. With the coming war, zepplin travel from Germany to America and back is halted.

Washington DC:
FDR signs the Neutrality Act.

San Francisco, California
The Golden Gate Bridge is opened.

1938: Europe:
In Europe, invades Austria. Hitler meets with Neville Chamberlain and threatens to go to war if he does not receive the northwestern part of Czechoslovakia known as the Sudetenland. Hitlers prevails upon Britian, France and Italy. Germany begins occupying the Sudetenland in October.

Germany:
Kristallnact (the Night of Broken Glass) occurs on November 9th.
Over 1,000 synagogues are set on fire and 76 destroyed. Businesses and homes are set ablaze.

1939: Washington DC:
January 26th at a conference at George Washington University, Niels Bohr announces the discovery of fission.

Location Unknown:
January 29th, Robert Oppenheimer realizes the military possibilities of nuclear fission.

Eastern Europe:
Hitler invades Poland. Two days later Britain and France declare War. Hitler initiates the Blitzkrieg (lightning war) and prevails in Poland in less than a month.

Monterey, California:
John Steinbeck completes "The Grapes of Wrath"

New York City, New York:
Albert Einstein writes President Roosevelt regarding the possible construction of a nuclear bomb by Germany.

1940: Europe:
Germany invades France and Paris falls.

England:
The Battle of Britain begins a month later.

Hollywood, California:
"The Grapes of Wrath" directed by John Ford and starring Henry Fonda as Tom Joad premieres.

Meditterranean:
Italy invades Egypt and later in the year, Greece.

Washington, DC:
FDR is re-elected for a third term.

1941: Washington, DC:
The Lend/Lease Act is passed.

Plutonium is discovered by Glenn Seaborg.

The Atlantic:
The Bismarck sinks the British ship Hood.

The British sink the Bismarck.

Russia:
The siege of Leningrad begins.

Nazis take Kiev.

Washington, DC:
October 9th, FDR gives the okay for the development of an atomic weapon.

December 6th, FDR authorizes the Manhattan Project.

Hawaii:
December 7th, Japan attacks Pearl Harbor and America declares War on Japan.

America:
Germany declares war on the United States.

Germany:
Hitler takes command of the German Army.

1942: England:
First US troops arrive in Britain.

The Pacific:
The Doolittle Raid over Tokyo begins.

American troops retreat from the Phillipines.

Allies at Bataan surrender

Corregidor surrenders to Japan

Battle of Midway begins. Allies win.

Allies land on Guadalcanal.

Washington, DC:
Colonel Leslie Groves is placed in charge of the Manhattan Project. J. Robert Oppenheimer becomes the Project's Scientific Director.

Moscow, Russia:
Stalin and Churchill meet in Moscow.

Chicago, Illinois:
Enrico Fermi conducts the first successful controlled nuclear fission reaction at the University of Chicago.

America:
War Rationing begins. Everything is rationed. Sugar, Gasoline, film, tires, paper, etc. Victory Gardens are planted. Drives are conducted to gather needed materials.

America goes back to work as factories are fitted to produce materials for the war.

1943: Casablanca, Morroco:
Conference between Churchill and Roosevelt. It is agreed that Germany must surrender unconditionally.

Sicily:
Allies capture Palermo.

Germans rescue Mussolini.

Mussolini re-establishes a Fascist Government.

Italy:
Allies enter Naples.

Tehran, Iran:
Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin meet.

1944: Russia:
Siege of Leningrad ends after 900 days.

France:
June 6th, D-Day. American and British Troops land on the Beaches of Normandy to begin pushing the Germans back to Germany.

The Pacific:
Americans land at Saipan

First B-29 Raid on Japan.

Americans land at Guam

France:
August 25th, Paris is liberated.

The Ardennes:
December 16th, The Battle of the Bulge.

1945: The Pacific:
US Marines storm Iwo Jima.

Americans land on Okinawa

Warm Springs, Georgia.
April 12th, FDR dies.

Washington, DC:
Vice President Harry Truman becomes the 33rd President of the United States.

Italy:
April 28th, Mussolini is captured and hanged by Italian partisans.

Germany:
April 30th, Hitler commits suicide.

Europe:
May 8th, Germany surrenders. The War in Europe is over though occupation will continue for some time.

New Mexico:
July 16th, at Los Alamos, the first atomic detonation takes place at the Trinity Proving Grounds at Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Washington, DC:
July 21st, Harry Truman orders atomic bombs to be used against Japan if they won't surrender.

July 26th, The United States calls for the Unconditional Surrender of Japan.

Japan:
July 28th, the Potsdam Declaration is rejected by Japan

August 6th, Little Boy, an uranium bomb, is detonated over Hiroshima, Japan

Refusing to surrender, Japan holds steadfast.

August 9th, Fat Man, another uranium bomb, is detonated over Nagasaki, Japan.

September 2nd, Japan announces its formal surrender.

Location Unknown:
October, Edward Teller approaches Robert Oppenheimer to aid in the building of a new hydrogen bomb. Oppenheimer refuses.

For more on World War I timeline and battles:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWchronology.htm

For more on Harry Houdini:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/houdini/timeline/index_2.html

For more on World War II timeline and battles:
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=803301

For more on the Dust Bowl:
http://schools.parkhill.k12.mo.us/Congress/media/dustbowl.htm

For more on the Atomic Bomb:
http://americanhistory.about.com/library/timelines/bltimelinemanhat.htm

During these desperate times, Americans are looking for visionaries to lead them out of the darkness and return them to the safety of simpler times. Into this void step a
number of good men, good women, demagogues, populists and con men.

Father Charles Coughlin: (model for Brother Justin???)
Father Coughlin was ordained in 1916. After assisting various parishes, he was assigned the new Shrine of the Little Flower Church in Royal Oak, Michigan. At the time he only had 25 families but he was so popular he was later able to build a church to hold 600!

Father Coughlin first became preaching via the airwaves in 1926 on a local radio station. He quickly moved from children's topics to social reform. Within four years his weekly sermons were heard around the country, carried by the CBS radio network.

However, by the early 1930s his sermons shifted even further. He warned of the dangers of "socialism, communism and kindred fallacious social and economic theories". He denounced the greed and corruption of America's industrialists and warned about the dangers of the "concentration of wealth in the hands of the few". CBS, alarmed after Coughlin attacked Henry Ford for being a communist on the floor of the Senate, warned Coughlin to "tone down" his broadcasts. When he refused, CBS chose not to renew his contract when it expired in 1931. The good Father responded by organizing his own radio network which eventually grew to over 30 stations.

He popularized a theory and later a program called "social justice". "Social Justice" was a very radical challenge to capitalism and to many of the political institutions of the 1930s. At first he was a supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt but as the 1930s progressed, he turned on FDR and became one of his harshest critics.

"The great betrayer and liar, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who promised to drive the money changers from the temple, had succeeded [only] in driving the farmers from their homesteads and the citizens from their homes in the cities. . . I ask you to purge the man who claims to be a Democrat, from the Democratic Party, and I mean Franklin Double-Crossing Roosevelt."

Father Coughlin had a wide and diverse radio audience. Over 30 million people listened to his weekly radio broadcasts. He was believed to be the second most important political figure in America. He received approximately 80,000 letters a week from listeners.

He joined with Huey Long, Francis Townsend and others to take on and defeat FDR in the 1936 presidential election. Long was assassinated in September 1935 but Coughlin and the others continued the fight. After FDR handily won the election in 1936, Coughlin replaced the National Union of Justice with the Christian Front and became an isolationist. He praised the actions of Hitler and Mussolini in the fight against Communism in Europe.

His sermons often included attacks on well known Jewish figures and many believed smacked of anti-Semitism. Because of this and the continuing controversy swirling around his broadcasts the Catholic Church forced him to stop his broadcasts and return to work as a parish priest. If he refused, they threatened to defrock him. He returned to the Shrine of the Little Flower in 1942 and retired in 1966.

For more information on Father Coughlin:
http://www.ssa.gov/history/cough.html
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAcoughlinE.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Coughlin

For a listing of some of Father Coughlin's radio shows and topics:
http://www.radiomemories.com/radiomemories/fathercoughlin.html

Huey Long (model for Val Templeton???)
"Every man a King" was the motto of the Kingfish himself, Huey Pierce Long, a senator from Louisiana. Long was elected Governor of Louisiana in 1928. In 1932 he resigned as Governor, having been elected Senator .

He was a supporter of FDR's campaign for President in 1932. But shortly after the election, they had a falling out. Long believed that the New Deal did not attack the fundamental problem of the wealthy in America. Long espoused the redistribution of wealth in his "Share the Wealth" crusade. This crusade proposed heavy estate and income taxes that would prevent any family from owning a fortune of more than $5 million and enjoying an annual income of more than $1 million. He claimed this program would make every man a king. With the revenue from this program the federal government would be able to support a large public works program and subsidies to education. Perhaps his most radical idea was that of the government guaranteeing to every family a debt free homestead of $5,000 and an annual income of between $2-3,000.

As Governor he introduced many reforms, including free textbooks and free night classes for adult education. He was a champion of public works, overseeing the paving of 12,000 miles of road and the building of 100 bridges. He was also behind the a new airport being built in New Orleans and a medical school being built at Louisiana State University. These programs were financed by increased taxes on the wealthy and big business. He was so sure he was right, that he bypassed the State Legislature and put considerable effort into ensuring that his own people controlled every level of the state political system.
He became allies with Father Charles Coughlin.
FDR considered Long a demagogue and considered Long to be "one of the most dangerous men in America."
Many in Louisiana and throughout the country considered him a dictator and fascist after he gained control of all branches of Louisiana government. It was widely feared that he would run the country the way he ran Louisiana. He had announced his intentions to run against FDR when he was shot by an assassin in the State Capitol Building in Baton Rouge. He died two days later on September 10, 1935.

For more on Huey Long:
"All the King's Men" by Robert Penn Warren
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=L000418
http://louisianahistory.ourfamily.com/senator.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huey_Long

Read the text and hear a speech by Huey Long:
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5109/

The Manhattan Project and Trinity Proving Grounds:

In 1939, rumors were rife that Nazi Germany was developing an atomic weapon.
Enrico Fermi, Edward Teller and Leo Szilard (all refuges from Eastern Europe) convinced Albert Einstein to write to FDR regarding the possibility of nuclear weapons.

Shortly thereafter, the United States introduced its own nuclear program under the Army Corp of Engineers. The purpose: to build a bomb before Germany or Japan.
On May 12, 1942, President Roosevelt signed the executive order creating a secret project for just that purpose. This program was the largest secret project undertaken by the US government.

Though it involved over thirty different research and production sites, the Manhattan Project was carried out in three secret scientific sites:

Hanford, Washington
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Los Alamos, New Mexico

The Los Alamos National Laboratory was built on a mesa that was formerly a private residential boys school. Famous alum of the school include "beat" author William Burroughs.

The Lab was founded during World War 2 and was the centralized facility to coordinate the needed scientific research for the Project. In September 1942, it became obvious to many that a lab dedicated solely to that purpose needed to be established. General Leslie Groves and Robert Oppenheimer scouted the locations. Oppenheimer, having grown up in New Mexico, was familiar with the area.

During the Manhattan Project's heyday, the lab employed thousands of employees and many Nobel Prize winning scientists. Employees were sworn to secrecy. The only mailing address was PO Box 1663 in Santa Fe.

In May, 1944 the search for a suitable test site began. The site needed to be flat and isolated from public areas and close to Los Alamos. A section of land near Alamogordo, in south central New Mexico fit the bill. It was code-named Trinity.

On July 16, 1945 the atomic future arrived with the detonation of the first atomic bomb. The explosion created a crater which measured nearly 2,400 feet across the desert floor and was the equivalent of 20,000 tons of TNT.

The Manhattan Project developed three bombs. The one for Trinity was nicknamed "Gadget". The second bomb, known as Little Boy, was detonated over Hiroshima and lastly, "Fat Man" was detonated over Nagasaki.

The two bombs were transported from New Mexico to the Pacific Theatre. Little Boy was carried by the B-29 bomber the Enola Gay. The USS Indianapolis which had delivered Little Boy to the Pacific Islands was struck by Japanese torpedo and sunk on its return to Pearl Harbor.

For more on the Manhattan Project:

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1644.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project

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