Hello! Sorry. I wrote on Friday that I wouldn’t send a Maundy Monday Newsletter. Technically, I didn’t lie. I based my decision on the premise that I need to finish my practicum by next week.
I was nervous about the exact due date, so I searched for the email from my school. To my relief, the thing isn’t due until December 2, giving me about two additional weekends.
It’s fun being wrong!
Here we are, so let’s take a couple of minutes and kick this out.
This happens to be my approach to my practicum: a couple minutes at a time, step by step. Then, we accomplish something big. A huge prize at the end…a certificate! I’ll get to put a letter behind my name! Like, I’m a doctor or something.
On October 29, 1964, two guys from Miami were in New York City looking for their prize, which was secured behind glass displays in the American Museum of Natural History. They planned to steal some jewelry: take a couple of minutes, and knock it out.
Now, Allen Dale Kuhn and Jack Roland Murphy weren’t Rusty Ryan and Danny Ocean, and the heist wasn’t what you imagined. They didn’t have to dodge lasers or use synchronized watches. No, they just scaled the fence, scrambled up a fire escape, tied a rope, and lowered themselves down a window just above where The Star of India, DeLong Star Ruby, The Midnight Star, and other gems were kept.
They cut the glass, scooped up the gems, and raced out the door, committing the biggest jewel heist in American history.
Murphy, known as “Murph the Surf,” was the ringleader, excuse me, gemleader. After stealing the world’s biggest sapphire, the most perfect ruby, and the largest black sapphire, he had no plan for what to do with them.
He knew how to climb over a fence and not how to fence a prize.
Surf and his buddy Kuhn were arrested two days later when the hotel workers grew tired of their partying. The entire story was turned into a 1976 movie called Murph the Surf. No one you know was in it, so don’t bother taking a couple of minutes and knock out watching it.
Okay, let's highlight what else happened this week. As a reminder, these events celebrate their anniversary, ending in 5 or 0. Here's what I got:
1. Congress passed the Volestead Act on October 28, 1919. Better known as the National Prohibition Act, Congress overrode President Woodrow Wilson’s veto. It was the precursor to the worst Constitutional Amendment ever.
2. The New York Stock Exchange Crashed on October 29, 1929. The stock market grew rapidly during the Roaring Twenties. Then unemployment rose, production declined, and the exchange crashed. Known as Black Tuesday, it is not to be confused with Black Friday.
3. Velma Margie Barfield was executed on November 2, 1984. Barfield was a serial killer who confessed to murdering six people. She became the first woman to be executed since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976 and the first person to die by lethal injection. These are the type of firsts I never want to meet.
I received many views and compliments on my latest Even More Okay last Wednesday. Since I can continue procrastinating on my practicum, I have drafted another edition of EMO. This will be an extended essay about my ongoing issue with the country regarding my rights. It’s open for everyone to read.
The final presidential election ranking is on Friday, so it is another busy week before I hit the road and retreat for the weekend, where I shut myself off from the world and be with God. I’ll be praying to finish my practicum, that’s for sure.
Thanks for reading Okay History. Have a wonderful week.
Okay,
Chris