Shot at history

Recalling the event decades later, Robert Lee Davis remembered the chaotic noise and fear that permeated the night of February 8, 1968. “Students were hollering, yelling and running,” Despite being the first deadly confrontation between university students and law enforcement in United States history, the Orangeburg Massacre is a rarely remembered tragedy. Occurring two years before the better-known Kent State University shootings, and two months before the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., the incident “barely penetrated the nation’s consciousness,” The Orangeburg Massacre. Fifty years later, the events of the evening remain contested, and no formal investigation into the incident has ever been undertaken. Although some news organizations, including the Associated Press, characterized the shootings as a “riot” at the time, the Orangeburg massacre came after a long series of clashes with local law enforcement and politicians. The city, located between Columbia and Charleston, had about 14,000 residents at the time of the killing. Home to South Carolina State College (today South Carolina State University) and Claflin College, both HBCUs, Orangeburg “played a really important role in the activism happening throughout South Carolina,” says Jack Shuler, a professor of English at Denison University and the author of Blood and Bone: Truth and Reconciliation in a Southern Town. King himself came through the town on multiple occasions to deliver speeches, students protest...

Image: June 1874 battle of Adobe Walls in the Texas Panhandle, So, did it happen? We have two seemingly-related incidents: #1: Billy Dixon fires his rifle at a group of Comanches atop a knoll nearly 1,000 yards away. #2: One of the Comanches is seen to fall from his horse. For years, this has been considered proof positive that Dixon shot the Comanche–but is it? Let’s ask–and answer to the best of our ability–three questions: First, could Dixon have done it? Is the shot in the realm of possibility, given the weapon and the man? Second, how likely is it that Dixon did it? Given the known abilities of human beings, is it at all likely that this happened? Third, did Dixon actually do it? Photo: Billy Dixon, Dixon was shooting a Sharps long-range single- shot rifle. It was chambered either for Sharps’ famous ‘Big Fifty’ cartridge, a .50 caliber, 500 grain slug with a cartridge case 3½” long holding about 125 grains of powder, or for its only slightly smaller brother, the .45×3½, holding the same amount of powder and using about the same weight bullet, but of a slightly more ballistically efficient design. While I don’t have at hand a ballistic table for either of those cartridges, I have one for the Big Fifty’s parent cartridge, the US Government Cal. 50 Rifle cartridge–the .50-70-450. The figures mean .50 caliber (bullet ½” in diameter), 70 grains weight of common rifle powder (1/100 of a pound of powder), and a bullet weighing 450 grains. In 1871, the National Armory at Spri...

DAVIS — On the one-year anniversary of her knee surgery, Galadriel Mellion made history for Weston Ranch High on Friday. She became its first Sac-Joaquin Section Masters champion as well as the first female from her school to qualify for the California Interscholastic Federation State Championships. The junior won the shot put with a throw of 40 feet, 4 inches, which she tossed on her final attempt in the preliminaries at Davis Senior High’s Dewey Halden Field. A year ago, Mellion underwent knock knee correction surgery. Now, she is following in the footsteps of hurdler Angell Mayfield (2009) and sprinter John McDonald (2013, sprints), former Cougars standouts who reached the state meet and went on to earn medals. She is the first female from a Manteca Unified school to win an event at the SJS Masters since Manteca alumna Amanda Dias did it in the 300 hurdles in 1988. “Very proud of myself,” she said. “Didn’t throw what I wanted to throw, but I still made it to state.” Mellion’s season best of 42-8 ½ is ranked fourth in the state. Last year, in a pandemic-shortened campaign, she popped a personal record 44-2 ½ at the West Coast Relays. “It was very fun,” Mellion said. “This is my first time getting to Masters and I’m looking forward to it next year.” Mellion has an opportunity to double her medal count today, as she is the favorite in the discus throw, as well. The top three placers in each event along with at-large qualifiers move on to the state meet on May 27-28 at Buch...

Demonstrators raise their arms and chant, "Hands up, don't shoot," in August 2014 as they protest the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. Joe Raedle/Getty Images Ronell Foster was riding his bicycle through the hushed streets of Vallejo, Calif., one evening when a police officer noticed that the bike had no lights and that he was weaving in and out of traffic. The officer, Ryan McMahon, went after Foster with lights flashing, siren blaring and the car's spotlight pointed directly at him. Foster stopped. The pair exchanged words before Foster, who was on community supervision for a car theft conviction a month earlier, fled, eventually ditching the bicycle. McMahon caught up with Foster and jumped on top of him. The two struggled. McMahon, a rookie on the force, used a Taser on the father of two and struck him several times with his department-issued flashlight. Gunfire erupted — seven shots total. When it was over, Foster, 33, lay dying in the bushes in a darkened courtyard near an apartment complex. Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams declined to bring charges against McMahon, who is white, saying the February 2018 fatal shooting of Foster, who was Black and unarmed, was justified. In a Jan. 31, 2020, Ronell Foster was fatally shot by Vallejo, Calif., police Officer Ryan McMahon in 2018 after being stopped for riding his bicycle without a light. Foster was unarmed. Foster family A year later, he shot again. This time, the slain man was aspiring Bla...

Every year, it seems that swimmers are getting faster and faster. Records, both Olympic and world alike, fall each year between Olympics, FINA and other swimming championship events. Michael Phelps, considered the best swimmer of all time, set 39 records during his historic career. Retired since 2016, he now holds only four world records and four individual Olympic records. This year, a number of events at the Tokyo Olympics look like they could see new names take up the records. Sure, there are others that look like they'll be staying right where they are, but even without Phelps, the U.S. has several men's and women's swimmers that should be in the mix to set best times in the 2021 Summer Games. MORE: Olympics swimming odds, gold favorites Sporting News is taking a look at each event and whether there are Americans that can take home gold and set records, or if others on the international stage might be making history. Below is a breakdown of each individual race in the Olympics, including charts displaying the gold medal-winning times in each of the events 200 meters or shorter, explaining which swimmers, if any, have a shot at breaking an Olympic record this year. Times are listed in seconds in the charts. Tables with the full list of gold medal-winning times can be found at the bottom of the page. Entry times for the swimmers listed are based on the official Olympic swimming records 50 Freestyle MEN: Brazil's Cesar Cielo Filho has held the Olympic record in the 50 fre...

Four sitting presidents have been killed: Many assassination attempts, both successful and unsuccessful, were motivated by a desire to change the policy of the American government and were undertaken by rational men. Since the vice president, the successor of a removed president, usually shares the president's political party affiliation, the death of the president is unlikely to result in major policy changes. Possibly for that reason, political groups typically do not coordinate such attacks, even in times of partisan strife. Presidents assassinated [ ] Abraham Lincoln [ ] The assassination of As he died, his breathing grew quieter, his face more calm. Beyond Lincoln's death, the plot failed: Seward was only wounded and Johnson's would-be attacker did not follow through. After being on the run for 12 days, Booth was tracked down and found on April 26, 1865, by James A. Garfield [ ] Main article: Three-and-a-half years after he left office, Roosevelt, as an experienced hunter and anatomist, correctly concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung, and he declined suggestions to go to the hospital immediately. Instead, he delivered his scheduled speech with blood seeping into his shirt. At Schrank's trial, the would-be assassin claimed that Ronald Reagan [ ] • January 30, 1835: Just outside the Abraham Lincoln [ ] • February 23, 1861: • August 1864: A lone rifle shot fired by an unknown sniper missed Lincoln's head by inches (passing th...

A Title shot! Until the lead-up to his challenge of Larry Holmes for the WBC Heavyweight Championship fight, Scott LeDoux was best known for throwing a fit on national television, one that culminated in Howard Cosell wrestling with his own toupee at ringside. After losing a horrible decision to Johnny Boudreaux, an angry LeDoux lashed out at the evil forces so familiar, even then. T&Cs apply, 21+ Howard’s Toupee In the early stages of an interview with George Foreman and Cosell, Boudreaux was in the early stages when Ledoux struck, unexpectedly, from the ring apron. Leaning through the ropes, “The Fighting Frenchman” swiped at Boudreaux, setting off a melee witnessed by millions of viewers across the country, and far more entertaining than the mundane fight that had just taken place. In the ensuing tussle, Cosell saw his hairpiece ripped from his dome—almost Looney Tunes style—as if he had stuck his finger in an electrical outlet. That was in 1977, during the rotten-to-the-core U.S. Championships Tournament, a Don King super con sold to ABC TV with the help of his bold backroom henchmen Paddy Flood and Al Braverman, along with a crooked assist from The Ring and its editorial quisling, Johnny (Bought) Ort. The tournament was held to showcase Don King fighters, which LeDoux was not. Boudreaux, unsurprisingly, was. LeDoux knocks off Howard Cosell’s toupee live on ABC TV To a lot of people, Scott LeDoux would be considered a bum, which really no professional boxer should ever ...

College of Nursing alumna Alex Jones leads efforts to vaccinate neighbors against COVID-19 by Susan Neale Alexandria (Alex) Jones, MS, RN, CPH, ('07, '10 MS) has a big job to do. Franklin County has two public health departments that serve the 1.3 million residents in their jurisdiction. Columbus Public Health serves Columbus and Worthington, while What it’s like at the POD Getting vaccinated at the Franklin Country POD is quick, safe and easy. “Probably from door to being vaccinated, it takes six-and-a-half to seven minutes,” Jones said. To ensure that a dose will be available, appointment times are scheduled online, and people receive paperwork to fill out before they arrive. At the POD, they go through “griage” – a combination of greeting, registration and a quick screening triage with a healthcare provider. After vaccination, people are required to stay for a 15-minute observation period to make sure there are no adverse reactions. The POD’s swift timing and smooth operation allow about 100 people to pass through in an hour, all while staying safe and physically-distanced. Staff and volunteers on-site follow safety protocols including wearing masks and sanitizing all surfaces, including tables and chairs. “We have a really great team here,” Jones said. “We have about 20 of our staff plus 30 volunteers on-site every day running POD clinic sites as part of the large-standing POD effort.” There have been character-builders to vaccine administration, including the state of...

A jury on Friday found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges related to his shooting of three men on Aug. 25, 2020. Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber, Gaige Grosskreutz and Rittenhouse had traveled to the scene of unrest in Kenosha, Wis., that night for differing reasons. Protesters had gathered there to speak out against the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was left paralyzed after being shot by a police officer. Rittenhouse, then 17 years old, said he had traveled from his home in Antioch, Ill., to protect private property and help as a medic. Amid protests that had turned violent and destructive, Rittenhouse fatally shot Rosenbaum and Huber, and injured Grosskreutz, with an assault-style rifle. More than a year later, a jury found him not guilty on five charges, including first-degree intentional homicide, in a case that has captivated, and divided, a nation. Here's what we know about the three men shot by Rittenhouse: Joseph Rosenbaum Joseph Rosenbaum was the first person Rittenhouse shot on that chaotic night. Rosenbaum was at the unrest after having just been discharged from a hospital in Milwaukee, his fiancée, Kariann Swart, The 36-year-old crossed paths with Rittenhouse in a used-car lot as Rittenhouse brandished an AR-15-style rifle. Rosenbaum, meanwhile, was unarmed and carried a plastic bag containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, socks, deodorant and some papers. According to Rittenhouse's lawyers, Rosenbaum approached Rittenhouse and attempted t...

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