Whensday: October 16

This day, or there about, has been quite important in various ways in history. On this day in 1793 Marie Antoinette lost her head during the French Revolution. The picture we have of this queen has changed through the years. Whereas the French at the time were more than happy to see her lose her head, people since then have wondered if she was as evil as she was made out to be. 

On October 15, 1917, over 120 years later, Mata Hari, or Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, a Dutch exotic dancer, was executed by a French firing squad for spying for the Germans in World War I. Even during her trial rumors swirled of her being a double agent. After her execution her name took on a mythic quality and a legend grew up around her past and exploits. 

On October 13, 1792, a year before Marie Antionette was beheaded, George Washington was laying the first stone of the White House. The French had helped the new country in its struggle against England, fighting alongside American revolutionary forces. After the Revolutionary War ended and the United States was a reality, making a capital city and home for the president set the country even further on its path in the new political world that was taking shape. 

About 100 years later, on October 15, 1889, the new train station in Amsterdam was officially opened. Amsterdam Central Station would become the center of so much that was happening in the Netherlands. Even today, it is this train station that welcomes so many to the city and so much of what people consider “Dutch”. As you exit the station, all of the wonders of the city of Amsterdam await you across a square. A modern bike parking with all sorts of bikes entering and exiting, boats plying the canals of the city, trams riding the center of the streets taking passengers to the various museums or tourist spots. 

Almost 100 years after the opening of this train station Jon Postel died - it was October 16, 1998. Who? Jon Postel was the co-organizer and pioneer of the internet. These days if we wonder about anything or want information, we simply go to the internet. The internet has become the central station we all enter, being brought to every sort of information at our fingertips. 

This would never have been possible without Jon Postel who also thought up the SMTP protocol. This is the basis for sending email via the internet. Of course these days email is perhaps getting as old as some of the tidbits presented here. It has, after all, already been a quarter of a century since this internet co-organizer passed away. What will things look like in another 100 years?