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#hsitory
utwo · 2 years
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The Esteban Echeverría Public Library
© Travefotografia
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armthearmour · 1 year
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A beautiful blackened Cuirassier’s Armor which belonged to Duke Albrecht von Schleswig-Holstein, Nuremberg, Germany, ca. 1610, housed at the Staatliche Kunstsaamlungen, Dresden.
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morbidology · 1 year
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In 1967, Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to enter and complete the Boston Marathon as a numbered entry. She registered under the gender-neutral name of “K.V. Switzer”. After realizing that a woman was running, race organizer Jock Semple took off after Kathrine  He screamed: “Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers!” However, Kathrine's boyfriend and other male runners provided a protective shield during the entire Marathon. These photographs taken of the incident by Paul Connell made world headlines.
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scotianostra · 10 months
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May 27th 1936 saw the maiden voyage of liner Queen Mary.
According to legend while the Cunard-White Star Line’s new Hull Number 534 was under construction at the John Brown and Company’s shipworks on the Clyde no women were allowed anywhere near it in case a feminine presence should distract a male worker from a delicate task at a critical moment. There were in fact many problems, but in the end the new vessel was formally launched with all proper ceremony in pouring rain on September 26th, 1934, it would be two years before she would actually be able to take passengers.
Another legend has it that Cunard wanted to name the ship Victoria, but after asking the King George V for permission to name the ship “after Britain’s greatest queen”, he replied that his wife would be delighted. The king died shortly before the ship’s maiden voyage.
By May 1936 she was at last in Southampton ready for her maiden voyage to Cherbourg and then across the Atlantic. Supplies loaded included 50,000 lbs of fresh meat, 50,000 eggs, 14,500 bottles of wine and 25,000 packets of cigarettes.
Excited crowds watched the ship leave, a band played and an armada of vessels escorted her out of Southampton harbour. Fog prevented any hope of an Atlantic passage in record time and the ship was found to roll alarmingly and require far more handrails. At its worst, apparently, you could walk along a corridor with one foot on the wall.
The Queen Mary reached New York harbour on the morning of June 1st. Admiring crowds watched her make her way to her berth as bands played her in and many paid a dollar to charity to see round her. Cunard-White Star’s publicity department made much play of the approving comments from American publications: ‘A new peak in luxury at sea’ (New York Times); ‘Just about the most beautiful ship afloat’ (The New Yorker); ‘Regal a ship as ever ruled the waves’ (New York American). In August the Queen Mary took the coveted ‘blue riband’ of the Atlantic with a crossing in record time and the ensuing rivalry between her and the French Normandie would be constantly in the news for the rest of the decade.
The Queen Mary is now berthed at Long Beach California and it costs from about $140 for a nights stay, a tour of the ship cost from $35.
You can read more about The Queen Mary here https://queenmary.com/
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Presidents who died in office
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#9. William Henry Harrison (pneumonia, 1841)
#12. Zachary Taylor (indigestion, 1850)
#16. Abraham Lincoln (assassination, 1865)
#20. James A. Garfield (assassination, 1881)
#25. William McKinley (assassination, 1901)
#29. Warren G. Harding (heart attack, 1923)
#32. Franklin D. Roosevelt (aneurysm, 1945)
#35. John F. Kennedy (assassination, 1963)
I cannot for the life of me draw a halfway decent caricature of JFK. Here are a handful of my failed attempts.
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Jack, I'm so sorry. Squinted eyes, big teeth, prominent chin, lego brick haircut, my brain is seemingly incapable of recreating this man's face.
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tristandelarkadien · 1 year
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The most important video in the history of vidoes
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“princess diana with prince harry in majorca, spain, in 1987.”
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n-rnova · 1 year
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A Short History of the Palace
The Alexander Palace was ordered by Catherine the Great for her grandson, the future Alexander I. She began to plan for the building when he was quite young and intended to present it to him when he became an adult. She enjoyed discussing his future palace with the young Alexander and invited him to draft his own ideas for it.
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Giacomo Quarenghi was the architect of the palace. He was born in Bergamo, Italy in 1744 and died in St. Petersburg in 1817. Quarenghi came from a family of artists. He was originally trained as a painter and had exceptional drawing abilities. He travelled throughout Italy, England and France studying architecture. Quarenghi had been deeply influenced by the Palladian style he saw in his native region around Venice during his youth. He was also impressed by the latest trends in Neo-classical architecture being built in France and the earlier, chaste designs of the English architect, Indigo Jones. Catherine invited Quarenghi to Russia in 1779, when he was thirty.
Physically Quarenghi was short and ugly. He was ridiculed by his critics for his height and appearance. He was clumsy and had a strange booming voice. Quarenghi had 13 children, some of whom lived in Russia and others who stayed in Italy.
Immediately upon his arrival in Russia the Tsarina put Quarenghi to work and commissioned many designs from him throughout her reign. He was one of her favorite architects. He was a master draughtsman and produced splendid sepia plans for the palace for Catherine which still survive.
Originally the Alexander Palace was planned for St. Petersburg. The first designs, (above) which were intended for an urban environment, clearly show a more ornate facade and a complex interior plan. At some point Catherine decided to build Alexander's palace in Tsarskoe Selo and simplify the plan. These changes went through several stages as plans for the palace neared reality.
Catherine selected a spot near her own residence in the Catherine Palace for the building. The site was a low hill on the other side of the palace park. Moving the location of the palace from the city to Tsarskoe Selo changed many of design requirements for the building. In Petersburg the palace had been designed a year-round Imperial residence; in Tsarskoe Selo the palace would function as a summer home, to be used only a few months out of the year. These circumstances reduced the need for expensive interiors and embellishments intended to impress the public. The palace plans were also modified to fit the more relaxed atmosphere of a summer residence.
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Following the practice of the times, in 1792 the Imperial Court placed an advertisement in the St. Petersburg newspapers requesting bids from private contractors to build the palace. The selected firm was placed under the supervision of the Russian architect Nilov, who had been given the assignment of translating Quarenghi's designs into reality. He worked with Minchacci, Rusco and others. 286,000 rubles was paid to the contractor in installments which was to be fully paid by autumn of 1794. The building of the palace presented a number of challenges related to the site. Underground rivers which passed beneath the surface of the site caused the building to shift as it was going up. Major cracks developed in the main vault of the Semi-Circular Hall which can still be seen today. The builders made a number of on-the-spot changes to the design to accommodate problems like this that emerged during construction. A large terrace was built outside the garden entrance of the building to support and reinforce the vaults of the central halls. The contractors who put up the building had made a fixed bid for the construction. Delays and increased building costs came out of potential profits and they were anxious to put up the building as quickly and with as few complications as possible.
The palace foundations are of stone, but elsewhere the Alexander Palace is almost entirely constructed of brick. Millions were required to build the palace and they were made in the immediate vicinity of the of Tsarskoe Selo from local clays. This was a subject of some concern for Catherine. She strictly ordered the protection of local forests for fear the builders would strip the trees around Tsarskoe Selo to fire their kilns and possibly ruin her vistas.
The original bid for the construction of the building did not include funds for the interior decoration. The firm constructing the building did not have responsibility for the interiors and this assignment was given to an international team of British, Russian and Italian craftsmen. But as the construction of the building progressed Catherine found herself pressed for funds, and continued scaling back the interior decoration of the palace. This was not seen as a serious problem, the Empress felt Alexander could make his own additions later according to his own tastes.
Some furniture for the palace was ordered new, but most of it was assembled from other palaces. For example, a number of things were brought from the seldom-used Tauride Palace. Catherine made other selections for Alexander's palaces from her own residences.
At first, the exterior of the palace was left as exposed brick. It took a number of years for the brickwork to dry out and final stuccoing and painting could not safely occur for some years. The "New Palace", as it was then called, was completed and presented to Alexander in June 1796. He and his wife moved in on June 12, 1796. The construction had taken almost four years. Catherine greeted the then sixteen-year-old boy and his new wife, Elizabeth of Baden, on the steps of the palace with bread and salt, traditional gifts of blessing for a new house. Alexander had but a short time to enjoy the palace before the death of his grandmother in November of the same year. This event significantly changed the circumstances of his life and he came under the control of his father, the new Emperor Paul I.
During Paul's reign the palace was stuccoed and painted. It seems that the building was painted yellow and white from the beginning, although the original color was deeper and more intense that the hue we see today.
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Paul was unpopular with a wide segment of society and was assassinated in the Mikhailovski Castle in St. Petersburg. Some claim Alexander was implicated in the murder, who then succeeded his father on the Russian throne. During his reign Alexander preferred to live in the Catherine Palace over the Alexander Palace when he was in Tsarskoe Selo. This does not mean he neglected the Alexander Palace, which required a great deal of maintenance in this period. In 1809 600,000 rubles had to be allocated for repairs to the building and the building's contents were fully inventoried for the first time.
Alexander and his wife were childless and he decided to designate his second brother, the future Nickolas I, to succeed him. He offered the Alexander Palace to Nickolas and began the tradition of making the Alexander Palace the Heir's semi-official summer palace in Tsarskoe Selo.
The palace retains the indelible mark of Nicholas I and his times. Nicholas had a large and growing family. Although he has a reputation for being a harsh ruler, when outside of governmental affairs he was a sentimental, family oriented man. The Alexander Palace was his favorite residence and he doted on the building, its furnishings and grounds. Many of the changes made to the palace reflect Nicholas' attitude toward the palace as his private home. For example he had special kitchens built within he palace so he could order favorite fast foods when he wanted them. He even did some of the cooking himself. Nicholas personally planted flower beds and made the final decision regarding the placement of each painting and piece of furniture. After becoming Tsar Nicholas' continued to favor the Alexander Palace and stayed there often.
Nicholas chose the Alexander Palace for some of the important events of his reign, including the first telegraph transmission in Russia, which the Tsar made from the palace.
Following in the footsteps of his elder brother, Nicholas gave the use of the Alexander Palace to his eldest son and heir, the future Alexander II, on the occasion of his marriage. This lead to a complete redecoration and updating of the palace. Technical advancements in lighting, heating and cooking meant changes went beyond simply new fabrics, furniture and carpets. The palace was completely modernized and brought up-to-date in the mid 1840's. Later in life, after her husband had become Tsar and taken on a mistress, Alexander's wife, the Hessian Princess Maria Alexandrovna, decided to live in the Alexander Palace year-round. This presented problems because the palace had been built as a summer residence. It lacked the double-paned windows and double floors necessary to keep a building warm during frigid Russian winters. New heating systems were installed in the parts of the palace occupied by the Tsarina.
As Tsarevich the future Tsar Alexander III and his wife Maria were presented the use of the Alexander Palace at their marriage by his father. His mother continued to live in the palace and Alexander's use of it was limited until her death in the palace. In 1874 a part of the palace was remodelled for the honeymoon of Alexander II's only daughter, Maria, to Alfred, the son of Queen Victoria of England.
Alexander III's wife Maria Fyodorovna loved the Alexander Palace passionately. She adored the parties and elegance of Tsarskoe Selo over the austerity of her husband's own preference, Gatchina. Two of Maria and Alexander's sons, the future Nicholas II and his brother George, were born in the palace. As they grew older both boys continued to have apartments in the palace and used them whenever they were in Tsarskoe Selo.
When Nicholas ascended the throne in 1894 he and his new wife Alexandra decided to make the Alexander Palace their principal residence. As a result, Nicholas II and his wife made the most significant changes to the building since the reign of Catherine the Great. Extensive renovations were made to the building and new systems, such as electricity, telephones, washing machines, elevators and flush toilets, were installed. One whole wing of the palace was completely redone in a strikingly domestic and luxurious way. Nicholas and Alexandra's principal objectives were to create a comfortable and elegant family home.
Later changes to the palace in the reign of Nicholas II included the erection of the two finest Imperial Art Nouveau interiors in Russia and delightful rooms created for the Tsar's children.
At the time of the Russian Revolution and the exile of the Romanov family to Siberia it was decided to convert the Tsar's palace into a museum which documented the life of the Romanovs in the palace throughout the 19th century . Naturally, the strongest emphasis was placed on events in the reign of Nicholas II. Soon after the departure of the Romanovs for Tobolsk in August 1917 parts of the palace were opened to the public by it's first curator, Lukomskii. After the murder of the Romanovs in Yekaterinburg in July 1918 some of their personal possessions that hand followed them to Siberia were returned.
The museum in the Alexander Palace showcased the interiors as closely as possible to their state in August 1917. They appeared as if the Tsar and his family had just left and might return at any moment. The tragedy of the story of the Romanovs and the intimacy of the private rooms created a lasting impression on those who saw them, creating sympathy for the Tsar and his family and this ran counter to the intentions of the Soviet Government. In 1919, soon after the Bolshevik coup, a part of the palace was converted into a Children's Colony, but this experiment proved to be a disaster and these rooms were returned to the museum. Extensive restoration enabled these rooms to be reopened to the public. In the mid-1920's Nicholas' and Alexandra's historic rooms in the Winter Place, which had been open as a part of the museum there, were closed and their furnishings disbursed. Some items were transferred to the rooms of the Alexander Palace where they were merged into the collection.
The Alexander Palace museum proved to be one of the most popular museums in Russia and was a must see for all foreigners who made it to the new Soviet state. Unfortunately, the government had an indifferent, even hostile attitude toward the "Romanov Museum". Officials began to pilfer objects and furnishings from the palace for sale to foreigners and for the use of party officials. Later the secret police demanded the use of a part of the palace as their private resort. In order to prepare for this transition these rooms were emptied of their contents and the treasures sold off in stores for foreigners in Russia and by Hammer in the USA.
Throughout the 1930's there were frequent threats by the government to close the rest of the museum and sell off its treasures. Somehow, the museum workers and public managed to dissuade the government from this step and the museum operated right up until the beginning of World War II.
At the outset of Hitler's declaration of war on the Soviet Union in 1941 the Director of the Alexander Palace Museum, A. M. Kuchumov, received orders to evacuate around 300 objects from the path of advancing German troops. This was a tiny selection from a collection totalling tens of thousands of objects. Frantically, and with great courage and improvisation, the museum workers were able to pack and ship out of harm's way a significant part of the museums' collection. Sadly, thousands of precious treasures and items of extraordinary historical value were left behind.
When the Germans occupied the town they immediately looted the palaces. What they didn't cart away for use in their military quarters was shipped off to Germany and Spain, where many of the palace treasures remain to this day. The palace itself was converted into an SS hospital and was heavily protected by German troops. An SS monument and graveyard decorated with Nazi symbols was erected in the palace courtyard. The palace was heavily damaged during the war by shell fire and reckless abuse by the Germans and their Spanish allies during their occupation.
Still, considering the ordeal it had been through after the war the palace was discovered by returning museum workers to be in remarkable shape. It was the best preserved of all of the suburban palaces that had been behind German lines and was chosen to become the depot for works of art returning from Siberia to Leningrad. Ambitious plans were made for the restoration of the palace as it had been before the war. At this point the government, perhaps Stalin himself, made a critical decision about the future of the palace - it was not to be a Romanov museum. The palace was to be stripped and restored as a generic 19th century palace - any restoration that presented the private lives of the last Tsar and his family were forbidden. This restoration began and interiors which had survived the German occupation were brutally stripped and destroyed. Before this work was completed Stalin changed his mind and made another decision that the museum was to be closed altogether and the building presented to the Navy for their use.
The invaluable and unique collection of the palace was dispersed among many museums. Pieces went to Pavlovsk, the Catherine Palace, the Hermitage and elsewhere. Most personal items associated with the last Tsar and his family were simply locked up and placed in indefinite storage.
In the late 1980's Suzanne Massie and Bob Atchison, with the blessing of the former curator of the Alexander Palace, A. M. Kuchumov, who had made the restoration of the palace as a museum his life's goal, appealed to the press and the city of Leningrad for the reestablishment the Alexander Palace Museum. This intense and exhausting effort proved successful and a government decision was made to re-establish the museum. The only stipulation was the successful relocation of the naval institution occupying the building to an acceptable location.
Work continued to make the museum a reality. Several years of research on the palace under the direction of Kuchumov were financed by Bob Atchison. In 1994 the Alexander Palace website was established to help promote interest in the monument. The results of the research are shared with the public for free on the website.
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kamreadsandrecs · 14 days
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kammartinez · 1 month
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Although popularly known as the "red telephone", the Moscow–Washington hotline was never a telephone line, nor were red phones used. The first implementation of the hotline used teletype equipment, which was replaced by facsimile (fax) machines in 1988. Since 2008, the hotline has been a secure computer link over which the two countries exchange email.[320] Moreover, the hotline links the Kremlin to the Pentagon, not the White House.[321]
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History of Today December 18 (voice)
History of Today--is a snapshot of events that happen on this Day and Famous birthday of people born on this Day though history ENJOY plus Zodiac Lucky numbers Please Help grow my channel on YouTube subscribe THANKS
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fawazarts · 2 years
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In the Year 2015, I drew a picture of Moses, just playing around. Soon I found that after the drywall workers have tape the joints to prep the wall for painting, they had a good belly laugh as Moses appears to be in jail. A few days later a door was installed and was numbered 72 to it. As this place has many more spaces and each one was numbered. Oh my God, I said to myself, This must be an inspired artwork from you. Three days later the drywall came down, the door was removed. So I went to the art supply store and bought a very large canvas. The size was 72” x 62” wide. I drew the artwork on it and prepared it. Oil painting on canvas with fiber optics and sounds. The image Carrie’s the most famous verse of the Torah, and here Moses and the Children of Israel faced the sea of reeds. The tablet that Moses is carrying has the three verses of God’s name. The serpent on the staff represent life and death. It is a painting of symbols and very special. I Sir Fawaz know someone who is knowledgeable on such matters will appreciate such art. #fawazarts #moses #kaballah #torah #jewish #bible #religion #jews #israel #hsitory https://www.instagram.com/p/Chnx5eFuJ2B/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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nostalgicacademia · 2 months
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Dead Poets Society (Peter Weir, 1983)
My articles on Dark Academia:
Dark Academia aesthetic
The imaginary of Dead Poets Society
The Secret History a key fandom
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scotianostra · 1 year
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On 8th April 1783 John Claudius Loudon, the Scottish architect, landscape gardener and journalist was born.
Loudon had a profound influence on the aspiring middle classes through his books on architecture and gardening. Co-author with his wife, Jane Webb, of The Suburban Gardener and Villa Companion, and author of An Encylopaedia of Gardening, British Trees and Shrubs, Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture, he also founded Gardener’s Magazine.
His designs can be seen at Scone Palace and Castle Kennedy, near Stranraer. Loudon was the first to use the term arboretum in writing to refer to a garden of plants, especially trees, collected for the purpose of scientific study, so next time you walk through an Arboretum, remember him and Scotland.
The drawings in the pics are examples of hiswork published in Gardeners magazine in 1839.
You can find more on John Loudon in a more lengthy biography here http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=201913
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Members of Congress who died in office (1790 - 2022)
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Total deaths: 1133
Senate: 302
House of Representatives: 831
Average per year: 4.862660944
Senate: 1.296137339
House: 3.566523605
Year of most deaths: 1936 (18 total)
Senate: 1918 (7)
House: 1939 (15; 14 representatives, 1 resident commissioner from Puerto Rico)
Deaths in both chambers, 1790 - 2022
2,0,0,1,2,0,0,1,4,2,1,1,3,2,3,2,2,3,4,2,1,0,2,1,4,4,5,1,2,1,4,4,4,1,5,0,9,4,2,2,3,4,4,5,5,4,5,3,6,4,6,2,8,4,6,4,4,6,7,2,7,1,6,4,3,1,4,7,4,3,2,4,5,2,2,3,5,6,4,2,6,2,3,4,4,8,4,2,5,6,1,4,6,5,4,1,10,3,0,6,6,9,7,7,8,3,2,7,5,10,8,8,8,6,7,6,9,8,12,6,12,10,13,12,6,2,7,11,13,11,5,11,10,17,8,9,7,6,12,13,14,13,13,15,5,7,18,10,7,17,13,16,3,8,8,9,9,8,7,9,6,11,7,6,10,2,8,5,11,7,8,7,6,7,6,4,3,2,4,4,7,6,6,2,1,2,5,1,9,0,2,2,2,5,2,1,4,3,5,3,1,2,3,1,2,0,1,2,2,2,4,3,2,0,0,1,0,6,2,1,2,0,2,2,0,1,1,0,2,2,1,2,3
Mean: 4.82660944206
Median: 4
Mode: 2 (42 times)
Range: 0 - 18
Deaths in the Senate, 1790 - 2022
1,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,1,1,1,0,1,2,0,2,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,2,0,4,0,0,1,2,1,0,2,0,2,1,1,0,0,3,0,2,2,1,1,1,4,2,0,2,0,2,2,0,1,1,3,2,1,0,3,2,0,1,2,3,1,0,1,1,0,1,0,1,3,1,2,0,2,0,2,1,0,1,0,3,0,0,0,1,3,2,2,3,0,0,3,2,1,2,2,1,0,3,3,1,4,5,2,4,3,4,2,2,0,3,3,7,1,1,2,2,3,3,5,3,1,3,3,2,2,3,4,0,3,5,2,1,2,4,5,0,1,3,5,4,1,2,3,0,3,1,3,6,0,2,1,2,1,2,1,4,2,1,1,1,0,2,1,0,2,1,0,0,0,1,1,3,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,1,1,0,0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,1,0,0,0,0,1,0,1,1,0,1,1,0,1,0,0,1,0,0,0,0
Mean: 1.2961373390558
Median: 1
Mode: 0 (81 times)
Range: 0 - 7
Deaths in the House, 1790 - 2022
1,0,0,0,2,0,0,1,3,1,1,1,2,1,2,2,1,1,4,0,1,0,2,1,2,4,5,0,2,0,3,3,3,0,3,0,5,4,2,1,1,3,4,3,5,2,4,2,6,4,3,2,6,2,5,3,3,2,5,2,5,1,4,2,3,0,3,4,2,2,2,1,3,2,1,1,2,5,4,1,5,2,2,4,3,5,3,0,5,4,1,2,5,5,3,1,7,3,0,6,5,6,5,5,5,3,2,4,3,9,6,6,7,6,4,3,8,4,7,4,8,7,9,10,4,2,4,8,6,10,4,9,8,14,5,4,4,5,9,10,12,11,10,11,5,4,13,8,6,15,9,11,3,7,5,4,5,7,5,6,6,8,6,3,4,2,6,4,9,6,6,6,2,5,5,3,2,2,2,3,7,4,5,2,1,2,4,0,6,0,2,2,2,4,2,1,3,2,5,3,0,1,2,1,2,0,1,2,2,1,3,3,1,0,0,1,0,5,2,0,1,0,1,1,0,0,1,0,1,2,1,2,3
Mean: 3.5665236051502
Median: 3
Mode: 2 (44 times)
Range: 0 - 15
Cumulative deaths, line of best fit (x = year)
Total: y = 5.903216x - 10704.294079
Senate: y = 1.578283x - 2857.541287
House: y = 4.325016x - 7846.905813
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When the y-axes are all scaled the same, the graphs are nearly identical, which shows that the number of deaths in the two chambers are roughly correlated (they have similar peaks and troughs, a spike in one usually sees a spike in the other)
Broken down by decade
1790s: 12 deaths, 4 in the senate, 8 in the house (33.3%-66.7%)
1800s: 23 deaths, 8 senate, 15 house (34.8%-65.2%)
1810s: 21, 4, 17 (19.0%-81.0%)
1820s: 35, 11, 24 (31.4%-68.6%)
1830s: 43, 9, 34 (20.9%-79.1%)
1840s: 49, 16, 33 (32.7%-67.3%)
1850s: 40, 14, 26 (35.0%-65.0%)
1860s: 35, 13, 22 (37.1%-62.9%)
1870s: 44, 11, 33 (25.0%-75.0%)
1880s: 40, 7, 33 (17.5%-82.5%)
1890s: 64, 17, 47 (26.6%-73.4%)
1900s: 78, 23, 55 (29.5%-70.5%)
1910s: 97, 29, 68 (29.9%-70.1%)
1920s: 98, 26, 72 (26.5%-73.5%)
1930s: 119, 24, 95 (20.2%-79.8%)
1940s: 90, 28, 62 (31.1%-68.9%)
1950s: 73, 19, 54 (26.0%-74.0%)
1960s: 51, 15, 36 (29.4%-70.6%)
1970s: 39, 8, 31 (20.5%-79.5%)
1980s: 29, 3, 26 (10.3%-89.7%)
1990s: 16, 4, 12 (25.0%-75.0%)
2000s: 19, 4, 15 (21.1%-78.9%)
2010s: 12, 5, 7 (41.7%-58.3%)
2020s: 6, 0, 6 (0.0%-100.0% ongoing)
Cumulative, by decade
1790s: 12, 4, 8 (33.3%-66.7%)
1800s: 35, 12, 23 (34.3%-65.7%)
1810s: 56, 16, 40 (28.6%-71.4%)
1820s: 91, 27, 64 (29.7%-70.3%)
1830s: 134, 36, 98 (26.9%-73.1%)
1840s: 183, 52, 131 (28.4%-71.6%)
1850s: 223, 66, 157 (29.6%-70.4%)
1860s: 258, 79, 179 (30.6%-69.4%)
1870s: 302, 90, 212 (29.8%-70.2%)
1880s: 342, 97, 245 (28.4%-71.6%)
1890s: 406, 114, 292 (28.1%-71.9%)
1900s: 484, 137, 347 (28.3%-71.7%)
1910s: 581, 166, 415 (28.6%-71.4%)
1920s: 679, 192, 487 (28.3%-71.7%)
1930s: 798, 216, 582 (27.1%-72.9%)
1940s: 888, 244, 644 (27.5%-72.5%)
1950s: 961, 263, 698 (27.4%-72.6%)
1960s: 1012, 278, 734 (27.5%-72.5%)
1970s: 1051, 286, 765 (27.2%-72.8%)
1980s: 1080, 289, 791 (26.8%-73.2%)
1990s: 1096, 293, 803 (26.7%-73.3%)
2000s: 1115, 297, 818 (26.6%-73.4%)
2010s: 1127, 302, 825 (26.8%-73.2%)
2020s: 1133, 302, 831 (26.7%-73.3%, ongoing)
The number of senators and representatives has grown significantly over the centuries. In 1790 there were only 26 senators and 65 representatives (28.6%-71.4%), but since 1963 there have been 100 senators and 435 representatives (18.7%-81.3%). The proportion of deaths has remained steady at the pre-1963 levels, so even though there are proportionally fewer senators, that chamber seems to have a higher death rate. Let's see how we can account for that
Cumulative, since 1960
1960s: 51, 15, 36 (29.4%-70.6%)
1970s: 90, 23, 67 (25.6%-74.4%)
1980s: 119, 26, 96 (21.8%-78.2%)
1990s: 135, 30, 105 (22.2%-77.8%)
2000s: 154, 34, 120 (22.1%-77.9%)
2010s: 166, 39, 127 (23.5%-76.5%)
2020s: 172, 39, 133 (22.7%-77.3%)
That's much closer to the 19%-81% we'd expect today, it'll just take a few decades for the total number of deaths to reflect the now standard 100-435 congress (the senate grows by 2 every time we admit a new state, the last of which was in 1959, but the house stopped growing in the 1920s because rural conservatives didn't want urban areas to gain more seats, so we've been stuck at 435 for a century; we briefly had 437 from 1959 to 1963 because congress only redraws the maps after the census and didn't want to take seats away from other states mid-decade. They just added two until the 1962 redistricting cycle could bring it back down to 435)
Only 15 of the last 233 years have seen zero congressional deaths; 1791, 1792, 1795, 1796, 1811, 1825, 1888, 1979, 1995, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2011, 2014, and 2017
Deaths peaked in the early 20th century and have plateaued to near zero in the last 30 years. I don't know why, but if I had to guess I'd say members of congress have had access to better healthcare post-World War II.
13 members of Congress were killed in office. 4 of them died in duels, 1 died in battle during the Civil War, 1 was killed by the Jonestown cultists in Guyana, 1 had his plane shot down by the Soviets (nearly causing WWIII), and of the remaining 6 only 2 were particularly noteworthy, Huey Long and Bobby Kennedy, both of whom were running for president to the left of an incumbent they famously butted heads with (funny how that works out).
Google says there have been 12421 total members of congress since the legislative branch first convened in 1789. 1133 out of 12421 is about 9.1%, and 13 of 12421 is 0.1%, which means congress is significantly safer than the presidency; 8 out of 46 presidents have died in office (17.4%), 4 by assassination (8.7%)
The most recent Senator to die was John McCain of Arizona in 2018, after which his seat saw an appointment, a resignation, another appointment, a special election, and just this month a general election to finalize his successor for the next full term.
The most recent Representative to die was Don Young of Alaska back in March. Incumbent Democrat Nick Begich's airplane disappeared in the Alaskan wilderness one month before the 1972 election, but he still posthumously defeated Young; Young would go on to win the special election to fill his vacancy the following year. He was the last sitting member of congress elected during the Nixon administration, and his seat flipped blue just this summer in a three-way special election between Democrat Mary Peltola and Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich III (the latter two are COMPLETELY FUCKING INSANE). There was a three-way rematch in the general election this month, and while Peltola has pulled way ahead, the seat hasn't been called yet because she didn't get 50% in the first round. Unlike in Georgia where they hold an entirely new runoff election, Alaska has a ranked-choice system where the first and second place finishers advance and all the other losers' votes are redistributed to the winners until someone reaches 50%, "if my guy doesn't win, then I want this guy to win instead. If neither of them win, then this guy," and so on and so forth.
I've gotten off topic.
My point is that the House and Senate are both as close to being deadlocked 50-50 as they have ever been in their entire history. A tie in the House is impossible because there are an odd number of seats, but the number of vacancies that open up each year has fluctuated well beyond what would be needed to flip the current and incoming Houses to the other side. Republicans are gonna win a slim majority, 220-215, give or take, so if 3 or more republican representatives from competitive districts died, then the House could flip for the Democrats. This is HIGHLY UNLIKELY, but it would be SO FUCKING SATISFYING to see Kevin McCarthy be Speaker for less than a year. The House has never been as competitive as the Senate, but if enough vacancies opened up in 2023 they would be nationally televised races. 2007 saw four Republican deaths, 1988 saw four Democratic deaths, so it could go either way.
I haven't broken down any of the charts by party because the ideological shifts of the 20th century make it difficult to tell who was on which side (Democrats dominated both chambers from the 1930s to the 1990s, but a lot of them were conservative Dixiecrats who supported Republican presidents, so the party lines were blurred until Gingrich's revolution solidified the modern red states and blue states)
1918 saw SEVEN senator deaths! Can you imagine the historical impact if we had 7 special elections in quick succession today? It would be insane! They would be the most expensive races ever run, they would be thermonuclear, no holds barred, no pulled punches, tooth and nail fights to the death when the fate of the judiciary hangs in the balance (as long as Democrats hold it, Biden gets to fill vacancies as fast as they come open, but if Republicans flip it then he gets none, zero, zilch, nada, and all those openings will be held for federalist society nazis the moment Republicans win back the presidency)
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