Humpday History Highlight

By Wyatt Earp | October 16, 2008

I know I’m a little late with this, but I have been sick as a dog. Today’s HHH is a two-fer. The first story piqued my interest, and the second story is a personal choice. It’s rare that one of my heroes’ accomplishments falls on HHH day. Enjoy!

October 15, 1917 – Mata Hari Executed

On this day in 1917, the exotic dancer Mata Hari is executed by a French firing squad at Vincennes, outside of Paris, for the crime of espionage.

Born Margueretha Gertruida Zelle in a small town in northern Holland and formerly married to a captain in the Dutch army, Mata Hari had performed in Paris as a dancer since 1903. She adopted an elaborate stage persona, claiming she was born in a sacred Indian temple and taught ancient Indian dances by a priestess who gave her the name Mata Hari, which meant “eye of the dawn.” Her exotic dances soon earned her fans all over Europe, where she packed dance halls from Moscow to Berlin to Madrid, largely because of her willingness to dance almost entirely naked in public.

A courtesan as well as a dancer, Mata Hari amassed an impressive catalog of lovers, including high-ranking military officers and political figures from both France and Germany. With the outbreak of World War I, these relationships immediately made her suspicious to French intelligence, which reportedly put her under surveillance. The circumstances of her alleged spying activities during the war were and remain unclear: It was said that, while in the Netherlands in 1916, she was offered cash by a German consul to report back information obtained on her next visit to France. When British intelligence discovered details of this arrangement, they passed them on to their counterparts in France; Mata Hari was arrested in Paris in February 1917.

You can read the rest HERE.

October 15, 1989 – Wayne Gretzky Breaks Scoring Record

On October 15, 1989, 28-year-old Los Angeles King Wayne Gretzky breaks Gordie Howe’s points record (1,850) in the final period of a game against the Edmonton Oilers. Gretzky’s record-setting goal tied the game; in overtime he scored another, and the Kings won 5-4.

Gretzky had entered the game with 1,849 points. About five minutes into the first period, he tied Howe’s record by earning an assist on the game’s first goal. After that, he didn’t do much, and “almost didn’t play the third period,” Gretzky told reporters after the game, because “I got my bell rung a few times.” But when he came off the bench with three minutes to go in the game, his team down 3-4, he meant business. With 61 seconds left on the clock, defender Steve Duchesne shot the puck toward the corner of the goal. It bounced off winger Dave Taylor’s knee and slid across the front of the goal. Gretzky, who had set up behind the net (a part of the ice that many fans called “Gretzky’s office”), skated around and backhanded the puck past Oilers goaltender Bill Ranford and under the crossbar. The game was tied; the record was broken.

You can read the rest of this story HERE.

A villain and a hero. I’m just trying to keep the balance.

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