October 9, 2020 • 11 mins
Che Guevara was executed on this day in 1967. / On this day in 1855, American inventor Joshua Stoddard was issued a patent for the calliope.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everyone, it's Eves checking in here to let you
know that you're going to be hearing two different events
in history in this episode, one from me and one
from Tracy V. Wilson. They're both good, if I do
say so myself. One with the show, Welcome to this
day in History Class from how Stuff Works dot Com
and from the desk of Stuff You Missed in History Class.
It's the show where we explore the past one day
(00:21):
at a time with a quick look at what happened
today in history. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm
Tracy V. Wilson and it's October nine. Jay Gavarro was
executed on this day in nineteen sixty seven. He was
born June fourteenth, and his name his full name was
(00:41):
Ernesto Gavara de la Serna. And before becoming a revolutionary,
he grew up in a middle class family. He had
a pretty typical middle class upbringing. He went to medical school.
He traveled a lot during his university years, and now
as he was traveling, he saw the tremendous poverty that
was just endemic many parts of South America. He came
(01:02):
to believe during all this travel and during his studies
that the only way that the common people could take
the power and wealth out of the hands of the
elite was through an armed uprising. He got his medical
degree in nineteen fifty three, and then in nineteen fifty
four he met Fidel Castro for the first time. That
meeting happened in Mexico. He joined up with Fidel Castro
(01:25):
and was instrumental in Castro's overthrow of the Cuban government
in nineteen fifty nine. After the revolution, Gavarro was made
the president of the National Bank of Cuba and also
served as the Minister of Industry. Aside from that, he
was sort of Fidel Castro's right hand man. Gavara was
deeply against US policy and against US influence in Central
(01:47):
and South America. This was at a time when the
United States was using the fear of communism to justify
ongoing intervention in multiple places in Central and South America.
The Nined States was trying to keep governments in power
that were friendly to US interests, or to put such
governments in power where they did not already exist. In
(02:10):
nineteen sixty five, Guvara either left or was dismissed from
his work in Cuba. It's not a clear He did
write a farewell letter, though, in which he said, quote,
I have fulfilled the part of my duty that tied
me to the Cuban revolution, and I say goodbye to you,
to the comrades, to your people who are now mine.
Castro read this letter in a public speech on October
(02:33):
three nine. When Guivara left Cuba, he wanted to spread
revolution to other parts of the world, so he did
things like go to the Congo to train guerrilla forces.
He did also secretly returned to Cuba for a time,
and then he went to Bolivia and he joined a
guerilla uprising against the Bolivian government. He arrived there in
(02:54):
the fall of nineteen sixty six. He got into Bolivia
with a forged Uruguayan power support. The reason he chose
Bolivia was that he thought that conditions were really right
for revolution in lots of Latin America, but he thought
that Bolivia was less of a priority to the United States,
so he might face less opposition from the United States there.
(03:16):
That didn't turn out to be true, though. By May
of nineteen sixty seven, U. S Intelligence had heard that
Gavara was alive and then had confirmed it the CIA
had thought that when he left Cuba earlier that he
had really been killed, because nothing was heard from him
for a time, at least from American authorities, and the
(03:37):
CIA was monitoring the situation was keeping President Lyndon Johnson
updated on what Shay Gavara was doing in Bolivia. By
the fall, Gavar's force was actively fighting against the Bolivian military,
although nearly a third of his men were killed in
one engagement on August thirty one of nineteen sixty seven.
(03:57):
About two weeks after that, the Bolivian government it started
dropping flyers that advertised a reward for Ja Gavar's capture.
Soon he was facing dwindling numbers of his fighting force,
and he and many of his fighting force were ill.
The Bolivian army captured him with support from the United
States military on October eight, and they executed him at
(04:19):
the age of thirty nine on the ninth. They decided
to execute him because they thought that a trial was
just going to spread his ideas and increase his popularity.
So they thought it was a strategic decision that an
execution would put a stop to what he was doing
into his reputation. But it had the opposite effect that
didn't work at all. After he was executed, they cut
(04:39):
off his hands, took photos, cut off some of his hair,
and buried him in an unmarked grave. There were some
questions among US intelligence at first about whether he really
had been killed, but a presidential advisor confirmed Gavara's death
to President Johnson on October in. His mains were located
(05:00):
and sent back to Cuba and reburied there, and Fidel
Castro was at that ceremony, although questions were raised later
about whether those remains really had been his. A picture
of Gavara in a beret has become iconic and very
widely reproduced, and that photo was taken in nineteen sixty
(05:21):
by Alberto Korda. Thanks to Eaves, Jeff Cote for her
research work on today's podcast, and Tutar Harrison for all
her audio work on this podcast. You can subscribe to
This Day in History Class on Apple podcasts, Google Podcasts,
and wherever else you get your podcast. Tune in tomorrow
for the death of an assassin. Welcome back, everyone, I'm
(05:47):
Eves and you're listening to This Day in History Class,
a show where we peel back a new layer of history.
Every day. The day was October nine, eighteen fifty five.
Joshua Stoddard received a patent for the steam powered calliope,
(06:09):
an instrument that produces musical notes when steam is sent
through large whistles. The steam calliope is loud and shrill,
and it was used mainly on riverboats and in circuses
and fairs where steam was readily available. The calliope is
sometimes called the steam piano or steam organ. Stoddard was
(06:30):
a beekeeper, following in line with the family business. Because
his family was well off Starddard had time to invent things.
One of those creations was the calliope. The original calliope
at fifteen whistles of different sizes attached in a row
to the top of a small steam boiler. Stoddard was
issued Patent number thirteen thousand, six sixty eight for his
(06:52):
so called Apparatus for producing music by steam or compressed air.
In his patent, Stoddard no it that his use of
a puppet valve now called a puppet valve to let
steam or air escape was an important feature of the instrument.
As i spoke to cylinder revolved it pressed on the
puppet valve stems, lifting them and letting steam into the whistles.
(07:16):
That meant it was the first patented completely mechanical calliope,
though Startard did later replace the cylinder with a keyboard
so the instrument could be played by hand. Those started
received the patent for the steam calliope. His design built
on existing instruments and concepts. In in in eighteen fifty one
issue of the Day in Journal and Advertiser, William Hoyte
(07:38):
of DuPont, Indiana claimed that he quote invented a plan
whereby music can be produced on steamboats of the softest
and most pathetic character by the agency of steam. He
described the instrument as having a horizontal pipe with seven
or more whistles in it that had different sizes and tones,
and he said it was operated by a set of keys,
(08:01):
but there was no evidence that he ever patented or
built that instrument. Stoddard envisioned the calliope as a replacement
for the caroline or church bills, but the instrument found
success in being mounted on parade wagons and circuses. There
would be a driver who controlled the wagon, a fireman
to stoke the boiler, and a musician to play the
(08:22):
Calliope's keyboard. Calliope whistles are tuned to a chromatic scale,
but the instrument is known for its off pitch notes
because of how hard it is to tune accurately. Stoddard's
calliope made its first official debut in July of eight.
In its second appearance on Worcester Common on July four,
(08:44):
audiences enjoyed performances of Pop Goes, the Weasel, and Yankee Doodle.
Some models of calliopes could be heard for several miles.
Because calliopes were so loud, they were good at attracting attention,
so they were installed on riverboat in circuses and on
steam driven care sales. But it was so loud that
(09:06):
some of Stoddard's family and the people in Worcester were
ashamed of the instrument. The city of Worcester even passed
an ordinance that banned playing the calliope within city limits.
The loudness of the instrument also was not great for
calliope players, as it could cause premature hearing loss. Stoddard
started the American Steam Music Company to make the calliope
(09:29):
for railroads and steamships. Stoddard created improved models of the calliope,
and the instrument was installed on many boats. The number
of whistles on a calliope varied from around twenty to
thirty two, and people experimented with different uses for the calliope,
like using it to alert ships captains of changing weather conditions.
(09:50):
Though it wasn't long before started lost control of the company,
other companies manufactured callyopes for years, as many callyopes were automated,
it through the use of a cylinder or music role.
By the early twentieth century, calliope players became less integral
to the operation of the instruments, but they still had
a keyboard allowing a person to play the calliope manually.
(10:13):
Around this time, compressed air began to replace the steam
used in callyopes, which was safer and more convenient. Calliopes
still exists today and some are still in working order,
though most are no longer playable. Stoddard didn't make a
bunch of money off of the calliope, and after he
lost his company, he returned to farming and beekeeping. I'm
(10:37):
Eve stef Code and hopefully you know a little more
about history today than you did yesterday. Looking for a
content a little more sophisticated than cat memes in your feed.
Connect with us on social media at t the I
h C Podcast, and if you would like to write
me a letter, you can scan it, turn it into
(10:58):
a PDF, and send it to us via email at
this day at i heart media dot com. Thank you
again for listening and we'll see you tomorrow. For more
podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Hello everyone, it's Eves checking in here to let you
know that you're going to be hearing two different events
in history in this episode, one from me and one
from Tracy V. Wilson. They're both good, if I do
say so myself. One with the show, Welcome to this
day in History Class from how Stuff Works dot Com
and from the desk of Stuff You Missed in History Class.
It's the show where we explore the past one day
(00:21):
at a time with a quick look at what happened
today in history. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm
Tracy V. Wilson and it's October nine. Jay Gavarro was
executed on this day in nineteen sixty seven. He was
born June fourteenth, and his name his full name was
(00:41):
Ernesto Gavara de la Serna. And before becoming a revolutionary,
he grew up in a middle class family. He had
a pretty typical middle class upbringing. He went to medical school.
He traveled a lot during his university years, and now
as he was traveling, he saw the tremendous poverty that
was just endemic many parts of South America. He came
(01:02):
to believe during all this travel and during his studies
that the only way that the common people could take
the power and wealth out of the hands of the
elite was through an armed uprising. He got his medical
degree in nineteen fifty three, and then in nineteen fifty
four he met Fidel Castro for the first time. That
meeting happened in Mexico. He joined up with Fidel Castro
(01:25):
and was instrumental in Castro's overthrow of the Cuban government
in nineteen fifty nine. After the revolution, Gavarro was made
the president of the National Bank of Cuba and also
served as the Minister of Industry. Aside from that, he
was sort of Fidel Castro's right hand man. Gavara was
deeply against US policy and against US influence in Central
(01:47):
and South America. This was at a time when the
United States was using the fear of communism to justify
ongoing intervention in multiple places in Central and South America.
The Nined States was trying to keep governments in power
that were friendly to US interests, or to put such
governments in power where they did not already exist. In
(02:10):
nineteen sixty five, Guvara either left or was dismissed from
his work in Cuba. It's not a clear He did
write a farewell letter, though, in which he said, quote,
I have fulfilled the part of my duty that tied
me to the Cuban revolution, and I say goodbye to you,
to the comrades, to your people who are now mine.
Castro read this letter in a public speech on October
(02:33):
three nine. When Guivara left Cuba, he wanted to spread
revolution to other parts of the world, so he did
things like go to the Congo to train guerrilla forces.
He did also secretly returned to Cuba for a time,
and then he went to Bolivia and he joined a
guerilla uprising against the Bolivian government. He arrived there in
(02:54):
the fall of nineteen sixty six. He got into Bolivia
with a forged Uruguayan power support. The reason he chose
Bolivia was that he thought that conditions were really right
for revolution in lots of Latin America, but he thought
that Bolivia was less of a priority to the United States,
so he might face less opposition from the United States there.
(03:16):
That didn't turn out to be true, though. By May
of nineteen sixty seven, U. S Intelligence had heard that
Gavara was alive and then had confirmed it the CIA
had thought that when he left Cuba earlier that he
had really been killed, because nothing was heard from him
for a time, at least from American authorities, and the
(03:37):
CIA was monitoring the situation was keeping President Lyndon Johnson
updated on what Shay Gavara was doing in Bolivia. By
the fall, Gavar's force was actively fighting against the Bolivian military,
although nearly a third of his men were killed in
one engagement on August thirty one of nineteen sixty seven.
(03:57):
About two weeks after that, the Bolivian government it started
dropping flyers that advertised a reward for Ja Gavar's capture.
Soon he was facing dwindling numbers of his fighting force,
and he and many of his fighting force were ill.
The Bolivian army captured him with support from the United
States military on October eight, and they executed him at
(04:19):
the age of thirty nine on the ninth. They decided
to execute him because they thought that a trial was
just going to spread his ideas and increase his popularity.
So they thought it was a strategic decision that an
execution would put a stop to what he was doing
into his reputation. But it had the opposite effect that
didn't work at all. After he was executed, they cut
(04:39):
off his hands, took photos, cut off some of his hair,
and buried him in an unmarked grave. There were some
questions among US intelligence at first about whether he really
had been killed, but a presidential advisor confirmed Gavara's death
to President Johnson on October in. His mains were located
(05:00):
and sent back to Cuba and reburied there, and Fidel
Castro was at that ceremony, although questions were raised later
about whether those remains really had been his. A picture
of Gavara in a beret has become iconic and very
widely reproduced, and that photo was taken in nineteen sixty
(05:21):
by Alberto Korda. Thanks to Eaves, Jeff Cote for her
research work on today's podcast, and Tutar Harrison for all
her audio work on this podcast. You can subscribe to
This Day in History Class on Apple podcasts, Google Podcasts,
and wherever else you get your podcast. Tune in tomorrow
for the death of an assassin. Welcome back, everyone, I'm
(05:47):
Eves and you're listening to This Day in History Class,
a show where we peel back a new layer of history.
Every day. The day was October nine, eighteen fifty five.
Joshua Stoddard received a patent for the steam powered calliope,
(06:09):
an instrument that produces musical notes when steam is sent
through large whistles. The steam calliope is loud and shrill,
and it was used mainly on riverboats and in circuses
and fairs where steam was readily available. The calliope is
sometimes called the steam piano or steam organ. Stoddard was
(06:30):
a beekeeper, following in line with the family business. Because
his family was well off Starddard had time to invent things.
One of those creations was the calliope. The original calliope
at fifteen whistles of different sizes attached in a row
to the top of a small steam boiler. Stoddard was
issued Patent number thirteen thousand, six sixty eight for his
(06:52):
so called Apparatus for producing music by steam or compressed air.
In his patent, Stoddard no it that his use of
a puppet valve now called a puppet valve to let
steam or air escape was an important feature of the instrument.
As i spoke to cylinder revolved it pressed on the
puppet valve stems, lifting them and letting steam into the whistles.
(07:16):
That meant it was the first patented completely mechanical calliope,
though Startard did later replace the cylinder with a keyboard
so the instrument could be played by hand. Those started
received the patent for the steam calliope. His design built
on existing instruments and concepts. In in in eighteen fifty one
issue of the Day in Journal and Advertiser, William Hoyte
(07:38):
of DuPont, Indiana claimed that he quote invented a plan
whereby music can be produced on steamboats of the softest
and most pathetic character by the agency of steam. He
described the instrument as having a horizontal pipe with seven
or more whistles in it that had different sizes and tones,
and he said it was operated by a set of keys,
(08:01):
but there was no evidence that he ever patented or
built that instrument. Stoddard envisioned the calliope as a replacement
for the caroline or church bills, but the instrument found
success in being mounted on parade wagons and circuses. There
would be a driver who controlled the wagon, a fireman
to stoke the boiler, and a musician to play the
(08:22):
Calliope's keyboard. Calliope whistles are tuned to a chromatic scale,
but the instrument is known for its off pitch notes
because of how hard it is to tune accurately. Stoddard's
calliope made its first official debut in July of eight.
In its second appearance on Worcester Common on July four,
(08:44):
audiences enjoyed performances of Pop Goes, the Weasel, and Yankee Doodle.
Some models of calliopes could be heard for several miles.
Because calliopes were so loud, they were good at attracting attention,
so they were installed on riverboat in circuses and on
steam driven care sales. But it was so loud that
(09:06):
some of Stoddard's family and the people in Worcester were
ashamed of the instrument. The city of Worcester even passed
an ordinance that banned playing the calliope within city limits.
The loudness of the instrument also was not great for
calliope players, as it could cause premature hearing loss. Stoddard
started the American Steam Music Company to make the calliope
(09:29):
for railroads and steamships. Stoddard created improved models of the calliope,
and the instrument was installed on many boats. The number
of whistles on a calliope varied from around twenty to
thirty two, and people experimented with different uses for the calliope,
like using it to alert ships captains of changing weather conditions.
(09:50):
Though it wasn't long before started lost control of the company,
other companies manufactured callyopes for years, as many callyopes were automated,
it through the use of a cylinder or music role.
By the early twentieth century, calliope players became less integral
to the operation of the instruments, but they still had
a keyboard allowing a person to play the calliope manually.
(10:13):
Around this time, compressed air began to replace the steam
used in callyopes, which was safer and more convenient. Calliopes
still exists today and some are still in working order,
though most are no longer playable. Stoddard didn't make a
bunch of money off of the calliope, and after he
lost his company, he returned to farming and beekeeping. I'm
(10:37):
Eve stef Code and hopefully you know a little more
about history today than you did yesterday. Looking for a
content a little more sophisticated than cat memes in your feed.
Connect with us on social media at t the I
h C Podcast, and if you would like to write
me a letter, you can scan it, turn it into
(10:58):
a PDF, and send it to us via email at
this day at i heart media dot com. Thank you
again for listening and we'll see you tomorrow. For more
podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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