August 23, 2011: The Virginia Earthquake

August 23, 2011: A rare East Coast earthquake occurs, measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale, with its epicenter in Cuckoo, Virginia.

You read that right: The community was named after a cuckoo clock in the Colonial-era tavern. The nearest full town is Louisa, namesake and seat of Louisa County. The epicenter was 50 miles northwest of the State capital of Richmond, and 100 miles southwest of the national capital of Washington, D.C.

Among the damage in Washington was to the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral. The Monument was closed for repairs for 3 years; the Cathedral was closed for a few weeks, but, as of August 23, 2022, repairs were still being done.

Workmen atop the Washington Monument,

about 550 feet above the ground.

At the time, I was working in Sayreville, on the New York side of New Jersey. My office was in a typical 1960s box-type building that never looked all that stable, and, despite being a little over 300 miles from the epicenter, I thought the building was going to collapse. I thought the shaking was a combination of the bad building and the noisy Indian IT guys in the office next door.

It was only the 2nd earthquake I can remember, following the one at 3.8 that was centered in Marlboro, New Jersey that interrupted my 4th grade class in East Brunswick in 1979.

UPDATE: On April 5, 2024, a quake measuring 4.8 was centered on Lebanon, New Jersey.

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August 23, 2011 was a Tuesday. None of the Major League Baseball games scheduled for this day were postponed due to the earthquake, and were played, with the results as follows:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Oakland Athletics, 6-5 at Yankee Stadium. Brandon McCarthy, later a Yankee, outpitched Bartolo Colón. Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada hit home runs. Derek Jeter went 3-for-3 with a walk. Alex Rodriguez did not play. Brandon Allen hit 2 home runs for the A's.

* The New York Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-4 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Vance Worley outpitched Jon Niese. Shane Victorino and John Mayberry Jr. hit home runs for the Phils, while Lucas Duda hit one for the Mets.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Washington Nationals, 2-0 at Nationals Park in Washington. Ian Kennedy pitched 7 innings of 6-hit shutout ball, and David Hernandez and J.J. Putz finished the 6-hit shutout.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 2-1 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Florida Marlins, 8-6 at Sun Life Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-4 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-4 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Cleveland Indians, 12-7 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-1 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 13-2 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 11-5 at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Adrián González hit 2 home runs.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Houston Astros, 8-6 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-4 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

* And the San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 7-5 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco.

March 24, 2018: The March for Our Lives

The six-minute silent protest of X González

March 24, 2018: The March for Our Lives is held in Washington, D.C., in response to the rash of mass shootings in America, especially in public schools.

It had been 38 days since a shooter had opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Miami suburb of Parkland, Florida. There were 34 people hit, and 17 of them died.

A permit was applied for the National Mall, but the date chosen already had been chosen by a previous group, so the protest was approved instead for Pennsylvania Avenue, on the 1.6-mile stretch between the U.S. Capitol Building and the White House. Talk show host Oprah Winfrey, actor George Clooney, film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, film director Steven Spielberg, and fashion's House of Gucci each donated the sum of $500,000 to the movement.

A prayer and vigil was held at the Washington National Cathedral the night before the rally, as a memorial for the victims of gun violence, and to declare the church's belief, "This work is rooted in our commitment to Jesus' command to love our neighbors as ourselves... We gather out of a conviction that the right to bear arms does not trump the right to life."

The word "trump" may have been purposely chosen, as Donald Trump, then holding the office of the Presidency, did nothing to stop the violence. It wasn't that he had asked Congress to do something, and it had refused: He hadn't even asked.

The estimates of the crowd's size varied widely, but every source agreed that it was at least 200,000. The speakers were all of whom were high schoolers or younger, and included 10 students from Douglas High. Others included survivors of school shootings, and siblings of school shooting victims, including Matthew Soto, whose sister Victoria Soto had died in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012.

Douglas High survivors David Hogg and X González -- then still using their birth name of Emma González, before switching in memory of Malcolm X -- were the main organizers, and the main speakers. González paid tribute to the victims by mentioning each one by name and giving examples of activities they would never again be able to do.

Then González stood at the podium, saying nothing, for 6 minutes and 20 seconds, until an alarm sounded on her cell phone. They said, "Since the time that I came out here, it has been 6 minutes and 20 seconds. The shooter has ceased shooting, and will soon abandon his rifle, blend in with the students as they escape, and walk free for an hour before arrest. Fight for your lives before it's someone else's job."

The March was attacked by the National Rifle Association. NRATV host Grant Stinchfield stated that "March for Our Lives is backed by radicals with a history of violent threats, language and actions," a bald-faced lie. And, of course, Congress, then controlled by the Republican Party, happy to be allied with the NRA due to their campaign contributions, did nothing. And there were more mass shootings, including in schools.

As was said after Sandy Hook, the battle over gun control was lost, because "America" had decided that it loved its guns more than its children.

UPDATE: On June 25, 2022, President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan gun safety package into law, the first major gun violence legislation passed by Congress since the 1994 Crime Bill.

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March 24, 2018 was a Saturday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 120-108 at the Wells Fargo Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Orlando magic beat the Phoenix Suns, 105-99 at the Amway Center (now the Kia Center) in Orlando.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 100-93 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Detroit Pistons beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bulls, 117-95 at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Dallas Mavericks, 102-98 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* And the Houston Rockets beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 114-91 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

And there were 12 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-1 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1 at the Prudential Center in Newark.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens, 6-4 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Arizona Coyotes, 4-2 at the BB&T Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-2 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-3 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 2-1 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Nashville Predators, 4-1 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Vegas Golden Knights, 2-1 in a shootout at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2 at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

* The San Jose Sharks beat the Calgary Flames, 5-1 at the SAP Center in San Jose.

* And the Boston Bruins, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Dallas Stars, the Vancouver Canucks, the Anaheim Ducks and the Winnipeg Jets were not scheduled.