Histortweet Week in Review - W/E February 13, 2010

[SFX: CHURCHBELL] Greetings, History Lovers! Welcome to This Tweet in History, the Week In Review, podcasting to you on tape delay from our North American Studios.

Here are your top stories for the week ending February 13, 2010:

[SFX: SOUND827]World: DATELINE China, February 12, 1912 - Sun sets on centuries of Manchu rule as 6-year-old emperor steps down: http://bit.ly/93nBNS
The Back-Story: [SFX:Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me; Too much too little too late] Young Pu Yi was not even 3 years old in 1908 when his uncle passed away and Pu Yi was proclaimed his successor as emperor. He was a mere child of 6 when Sun Yat-Sen’s revolution swept through China. Pu Yi, who had gone overnight from royalty to being treated like a god, was, once again, faced with a swift transition at an early age. He was well taken care of, allowed to remain in the Forbidden City and retain his title, where he and his family treated like foreign dignitaries. However, his reign, and, with it, 267 years of Manchu rule, were firmly at an end. [SFX: It’s Over; It’s Over Now; ]

[SFX: SOUND827]Sports: DATELINE Nagano, February 13, SPRT: 1998 - Lucky Friday the 13th for Herminator: walks away from 70mph crash, head-first landing, on to Olympic gold: http://bit.ly/adbg3P
The Back-Story: [SFX: Walk Under Ladders; Hard Headed Woman; ] Hermann Maier was an accomplished champion, known for his work ethic and disciplined practice. In competition, however, he definitely pushed the envelope. Indeed, one of his colleagues said of the crash that the most surprising thing was not that he walked away from it, but that he hadn’t wiped out earlier. His wipe out on that Friday the 13th, at the Nagano Olympics, was spectacular: As he flew into a turn at 70 mph, his skis failed to catch, and he was thrown 30 feet into the air, into high winds. He landed on his head, careened through two safety fences, and, remarkably, walked away. Even more remarkable: Despite the injuries he sustained the intimidation that the crash could have caused, he went on to went two gold medals within days of the horrific event. [SFX:Pick yourself up; ]

[SFX: SOUND827]: In other news: DATELINE Britain, February 10, 1862 - Siddal, Pre-Raphaelite model, muse, mistress, mate, ODs on laudanum: http://bit.ly/FInKr
The Back-Story: [SFX:Opium Den; Cocaine] Elizabeth Siddal a lower-class Londoner who rose in station through her association of with the Pre-Rafaelite Brotherhood, was a poet, as well as the model and mistress of Dante Rosetti. Unable, at first, to marry Rosetti, because of her lower station, she entered a cycle of depression and ill-health that fueled and, in turn, was fed by her addiction to laudanum, an opium-based drug popular in the Victorian era. The deadly mix of the three was her ultimate undoing, and, two years into a brief marriage with Rosetti, following two failed pregnancies, she pinned a note to her nightgown, asking Rosetti to take care of her brother, and consumed a lethal dose of laudanum. [SFX:Suicide is painless; Nightshift]

Suicide is a terrible scourge that has claimed far too many people, extinguishing another bright light just this week. If you need help, please call the Hopeline at 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433), or 1-800-442-HOPE (442-4673), or visit http://www.hopeline.com/gethelpnow.html. You are not alone.

[SFX: SOUND827] This week’s birthdays:[SFX: In the Club]

February 7: Author Charles Dickens
February 8: Actor James Dean
February 9: US President – for one month – William Henry Harrison
February 10: Opera Singer Leontyne Pryce
February 11: Inventor Thomas Edison
February 12: US President Abraham Lincoln
And February 13: Musician Peter Gabriel

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