27 January

January 27 1142 – Fabled General Yue Fei is Wrongfully Executed

January 27 1142 – Fabled General Yue Fei is Wrongfully ExecutedRate this post Long a defender of the Southern Song Dynasty, the loyal — and frequently successful — General Yue Fei met an untimely end at the age of 39 when his government executed him for treason on January 27, 1142. Plotted against by members of the royal court campaigning behind his back for a surrender to the Jin Dynasty of the north, Yue has gone on to serve as an example of intense devotion for generations of Chinese. According to the most reliable sources, Yue’s life began in Anyang prefecture on a farm. Now the stuff of legend, he […]

January 27 2006 – Western Union discontinues its 155-year-old telegraph service

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January 27 2006 – Western Union discontinues its 155-year-old telegraph serviceRate this post On January 27, 2006, Western Union discontinued its 155 year-old telegraph service. Telegrams became a very important mode of communication through the 20th century and became the standard conveyor of good and bad news. The very first telegram was sent by the inventor of the Morse Code, Samuel Morse. On May 26, 1844, he sent his partner Alfred Vail a telegram that read “WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT?” ushering in an era in which the telegram would rule the roost and completely displace the Pony Express. The telegram was sent from the Supreme Court chamber in the Capitol […]