HISTORY: In 1945 An Aircraft squadron disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle has been a mystery since Christopher Columbus' time, and in 1945 an entire Aircraft squadron disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle.  The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a loosely defined region between Florida, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico in the North Atlantic Ocean. Here's the story from History Com:

(Photo:  USS Cyclops (AC-4) was the second of four Proteus-class colliers built for the United States Navy several years before World War I. The Cyclops vanished in the Bermuda Triangle. )

Aircraft squadron disappears in the Bermuda Triangle

At 2:10 p.m. on December 5, 1945, five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers comprising Flight 19 take off from the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida on a routine three-hour training mission. After having completed their objective, Flight 19 was scheduled to take them due east for an additional 67 miles, then turn north for 73 miles, and back to the air station after that, totaling a distance of 120 miles. They never returned.

Two hours after the flight began, the leader of the squadron, who had been flying in the area for more than six months, reported that his compass and backup compass had failed and that his position was unknown. The other planes experienced similar instrument malfunctions. Radio facilities on land were contacted to find the location of the lost squadron, but none were successful. After two more hours of confused messages from the fliers, a distorted radio transmission from the squadron leader was heard at 6:20 p.m., apparently calling for his men to prepare to ditch their aircraft simultaneously because of lack of fuel.

Bermuda Triangle Mystery: What Happened to the USS Cyclops? 

One of the largest ships in the U.S. Navy disappeared without a trace. More than 100 years later, its fate remains unknown.

By this time, several land radar stations finally determined that Flight 19 was somewhere north of the Bahamas and east of the Florida coast, and at 7:27 p.m. a search and rescue Mariner aircraft took off with a 13-man crew. Three minutes later, the Mariner aircraft radioed to its home base that its mission was underway. The Mariner was never heard from again. Later, there was a report from a tanker cruising off the coast of Florida of a visible explosion seen at 7:50 p.m.

SHORT RELATED VIDEO: https://www.history.com/news/bermuda-triangle-uss-cyclops-mystery-world-war-i 

The disappearance of the 14 men of Flight 19 and the 13 men of the Mariner led to one of the largest air and seas searches to that date, and hundreds of ships and aircraft combed thousands of square miles of the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and remote locations within the interior of Florida. No trace of the bodies or aircraft was ever found.

VIDEO OF A DIFFERENT SHIP FOUND: The team has secret intel on a wreck that might be a legendary 1930s disappearance: the champion racing yacht known as Ingomar. See more in this clip from Season 2, Episode 9, "Graveyard of the Atlantic."

 

 VIDEO LINK: https://youtu.be/ZbzEHKTWKw0?si=rqP4ZU6-xOFQfF3J 

 Although naval officials maintained that the remains of the six aircraft and 27 men were not found because stormy weather destroyed the evidence, the story of the “Lost Squadron” helped cement the legend of the Bermuda Triangle, an area of the Atlantic Ocean where ships and aircraft are said to disappear without a trace. 

The Bermuda Triangle is said to stretch from the southern U.S. coast across to Bermuda and down to the Atlantic coast of Cuba and Santo Domingo.

Alaska's Decades-long Struggle for Mount Denali's Name

Since the 1970s, Alaskans (and Alaska Republicans) had a standing request to change Mount McKinley's name to Mount Denali, to recognize the native peoples. Mount Denali is a U.S. National Park. In 2015, President Barack Obama granted the change to Denali. Now, the orange fool wants to revert it back to "McKinley" being disrespectful of the Alaskan people, the natives and people of his own party. Denali is the name given by tribes of the Athabascan people who have been there thousands of years.

SAD UPDATE from the U.S. Dept of Interior on January 24, 2025 - The orange bigot did it.  In accordance with Trump’s recent executive order, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced the implementation of name restorations. The Gulf of Mexico will now officially be known as the Gulf of America and North America’s highest peak will once again bear the name Mount McKinley.   AAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHH.

Image:  Mount Denali with a deer in the foreground. NPS Photo / Daniel Leifhei

ABOUT DENALI NATIONAL PARK: Denali is six million acres of wild land, bisected by one ribbon of road. Travelers along it see the relatively low-elevation taiga forest give way to high alpine tundra and snowy mountains, culminating in North America's tallest peak, 20,310' Denali. Wild animals large and small roam un-fenced lands, living as they have for ages. Solitude, tranquility and wilderness await. (Source: Denali National Park)

Trump wants to again rename North America’s tallest peak 

 By CLAIRE RUSH, Associated Press, December 23, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump has once again suggested he wants to revert the name of North America’s tallest mountain — Alaska’s Denali — to Mount McKinley, wading into a sensitive and decades-old conflict about what the peak should be called.

Former President Barack Obama changed the official name to Denali in 2015 to reflect the traditions of Alaska Natives as well as the preference of many Alaska residents. The federal government in recent years has endeavored to change place-names considered disrespectful to Native people.

“Denali” is an Athabascan word meaning “the high one” or “the great one.” A prospector in 1896 dubbed the peak “Mount McKinley” after President William McKinley, who had never been to Alaska. That name was formally recognized by the U.S. government until Obama changed it over opposition from lawmakers in McKinley’s home state of Ohio.

(Image: Park sled dogs patrol Denali and pack down routes for winter visitors to use.

NPS Photo / Jacob W. Frank)

Trump suggested in 2016 that he might undo Obama’s action, but he dropped that notion after Alaska’s senators objected. He raised it again during a rally in Phoenix on Sunday.

“McKinley was a very good, maybe a great president,” Trump said Sunday. “They took his name off Mount McKinley, right? That’s what they do to people.”

Once again, Trump’s suggestion drew quick opposition within Alaska.

“Uh. Nope. It’s Denali,” Democratic state Sen. Scott Kawasaki posted on the social platform X Sunday night.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who for years pushed for legislation to change the name to Denali, conveyed a similar sentiment in a post of her own.

“There is only one name worthy of North America’s tallest mountain: Denali — the Great One,” Murkowski wrote on X.

Various tribes of Athabascan people have lived in the shadow of the 20,310-foot (6,190-meter) mountain for thousands of years.

(Photo: A park ranger greeting winter visitors at the Murie Science & Learning Center
NPS Photo / Mary Lewandowski)

McKinley, a Republican native of Ohio who served as the 25th president, was assassinated early in his second term in 1901 in Buffalo, New York.

Alaska and Ohio have been at odds over the name since at least the 1970s. Alaska had a standing request to change the name since 1975, when the legislature passed a resolution and then-Gov. Jay Hammond appealed to the federal government.

Known for its majestic views, the mountain is dotted with glaciers and covered at the top with snow year-round, with powerful winds that make it difficult for the adventurous few who seek to climb it. 

***************************

FAST FACT: What is special about Mount Denali?

Elevation. Denali has a summit elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190 m) above sea level, making it the highest peak in North America and the northernmost mountain above 19,685 feet (6,000 m) elevation in the world.

SIDE NOTE: If there's a way to insult any group of people other than white, straight, evangelicals, Trump will find it.  

Toured the Historic Biddeford Mills, Part 2: Work Conditions, Old Trolley Line, Famous Blanket!

Today's local blog is the 2nd one about an historic mill! We took a tour of the historic Biddeford textile mills in Biddeford, Maine. This part will uncover uncomfortable conditions, a now extinct trolley, and a famous type of blanket developed here. 

(Photo: Biddeford Mill. Credit: R.G.)

WHAT WAS MADE THERE? The textile mills in Biddeford, Maine produced a variety of goods, including: linens, blankets, towels, sheeting. One specific fabric is called the "Drill fabric."  The Pepperell "drill" fabric was a strong cotton that was popular in China.  The Biddeford Textile Company makes dyed blanket shells and conventional blankets.

WHO BUILT THE FIRST MILLS? Francis Cabot Lowell of Newburyport, Mass. He established his first mill in Waltham, Mass. in 1813. In 1820, he built the first mill in Biddeford. In 1844,  Samuel Batchelder acquired the  defunct cotton mill on the banks of the Saco River in Biddeford, ME, and named it Pepperell Mill.

(Image: This is a lithograph from Graham's Magazine, 1846. The company was a cotton textile mill that operated in Biddeford, Maine from 1849–1949. The mill produced linens, blankets, and towels, and many of its products were shipped to Asian countries. Credit: MaineMemory.Net) 

WHO WAS THE MILL NAMED FOR? The Pepperell Manufacturing Company was named after Sir William Pepperrell of Kittery, Maine. He was a merchant, a British officer and served as a colonial governor of Massachusetts. He was Maine's most prolific and infamous slave owner. Why Batchelder named it for him is a mystery.

(Photo: Room in Building 10 of the Mill, the Blanket Division.Credit: R.G.) 

(Photo:Pepperell Manufacturing Company, cotton textile mill at the Saco River falls in Biddeford for 100 years from 1849-1949.   Pepperell made sheeting and blankets many of which were shipped to Asian countries.  Credit: Collections of Dyer Library/Saco Museum ) 

INTOLERABLE CONDITIONS IN THE MILL - During the tour, we learned that the rooms for loom were kept very hot, between 100 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit with high humidity. Think New Orleans in the summertime. The reason for the high heat and humidity was to keep the threads supple. It was also VERY LOUD in the mills with hundreds of looms running at the same time. 

(Image: Vellux Original Blanket, Full/Queen, Wedgewood Blue. Credit: Amazon)

WHAT WAS THE FAMOUS TYPE OF BLANKET CREATED HERE? Vellux is America's most trusted blanket brand. In 1967 the Vellux Original Blanket was created at the Biddeford Mills. The name derives from "vel" for velvet, and "lux" from the Latin for light. The blanket material consists of two layers of a dual density foam melted onto a central membrane and covered with nylon 'flock', requiring no weaving at all.

BENEFITS TO LOCALS - Workers had an in-house doctor, and they also  benefitted by education/classes. 

Women who worked there took home $3.50 a week, and often made so much money at the time, they paid for relatives to attend Harvard University. Because there were several small fires in the mills on a daily basis, many were trained as firefighters, too, and helped town firefighters in other instances. 

(Photo: This photograph was taken in 1954 of a woman weaver at the Pepperell Mills.   Credit: MaineMemory.Net)

RAILROAD TO BIDDEFORD/SACO - From July 4, 1888 to July 5, 1939, the Biddeford and Saco Railroad operated street trolleys that made the hour-long trip from Biddeford to Old Orchard Beach every hour from 9am to 9pm. to take workers to the mills. These 12-row, open-air cars accommodated up to 60 passengers. You can visit the No. 31 car from this bygone era at the Seashore Trolley Museum in nearby Arundel.  The trolleys are no longer there. 

(Photo: Part of the mills. Credit: R.G.)

DECLINE OF THE MILLS AND REBIRTH  -  When production started to decline in the 1960s, many of the sprawling mill buildings that spanned the river in Biddeford and its sister city, Saco, were vacated.  The massive structures that were once essential parts of Biddeford’s economic engine fell into disrepair and became eyesores. The spirit of revitalization made its way to Biddeford in 2015. After years of planning and construction, the first apartments at The Lincoln Lofts opened for leasing in 2021. 

Idiot of the Week: Another Drunk wrong-way driver on Interstate 95 Arrested

It seems to be a thing in northern New England- Driving drunk and getting on a highway, driving in the wrong direction. It's not a good combination and always ends in a crash, often fatal. If you drink, don't drive. It's that simple. There's Uber, Lyft, taxi cabs and buses. I admit I don't drink, so I don't get it, but the thought of accidentally taking another person or animal's life on the road should be horrifying to anyone. Here's this week's idiot of the week, which, fortunately did not wind up killing the person he crashed into. 

Man arrested after head-on collision when driving the wrong way on I-95  

Police say the man was driving under the influence.

WMTW-TV, Dec. 15, 2024 

WINDHAM, Maine — Thirty-year-old Stephan Adams of Windham was arrested for operating under the influence after driving the wrong way on I-95 and hitting another driver head-on.

Police responded to mile marker 53 in Falmouth following the crash on Saturday night. The driver that Adams hit was a pregnant woman. After a medical evaluation, first responders transported her and her passenger to Maine Medical Center as a precautionary measure.

Adams was also transported to Maine Medical Center for injuries sustained in the crash. He's charged with driving under the influence and driving to endanger.

Good News: Missing New Hampshire cat found more than 700 miles away in Michigan

Whenever a cat or dog has ever escaped from a home, it's traumatic and worrisome for any family. This story provides hope to anyone who has suffered from a missing pet. The KEY here, though, is to microchip your pets with your phone number and address. Here's the good news story of the week.

(Photo: Crouching Tiger went missing eight months ago before being found in Michigan. Courtesy Humane Society of Huron Valley)

Missing New Hampshire cat found more than 700 miles away in Michigan

By Darin ZulloJanuary 13, 2025, Boston Globe

After eight months and a 700-plus-mile journey, a lost cat was safely reunited with its New Hampshire family after being found by the Humane Society of Huron Valley in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“Crouching Tiger came to us as a stray,” the Humane Society said in a Jan. 8 Facebook post. “We never imagined how far she’d traveled from home.”

When the New Hampshire family learned that their furry friend had been found at last, they caught a plane to Michigan to bring her home, the Humane Society said.

The Humane Society was able to find Crouching Tiger’s original adoption center thanks to her microchip. Getting a microchip is a secure way to ensure that families can find their lost pets in the event of emergencies, the Humane Society said.

“We wish Crouching Tiger could tell us the story behind her baffling journey, but the happy ending is what matters,” the society said in the post.

“Although Crouching Tiger’s story is extraordinary, lost pets are unfortunately a common occurrence,” the Humane Society said. “Which is why we always say: microchip, microchip, microchip!”

A Good LGBTQ Mystery: The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks by Josh Lanyon

I've read several of Josh Lanyon's LGBTQ mysteries and have enjoyed every one of them. Josh (which is a pen name for the straight married woman who writes gay fiction) is an amazing author. The Ghost Who Wore Yellow Socks immediately brings you into the mystery with a 23-year-old gay artist named Perry, returning 1 week early from a trip to his apartment in a boarding house, only to find a corpse in his bathtub. The mystery deepens when the body disappears after he flees for help. The characters are interesting, particularly Nick, an ex-Navy Seal who lives on another floor. The boarding house is filled with eccentric characters, each with their own strange background stories.  Plus, there is some romance. It will keep you reading as it did to me! 5 Stars! 

(Photo: New cover) 

ABOUT THE BOOK: The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks by Josh Lanyon

SUMMARY: His romantic weekend in ruins, shy twenty-something artist Perry Foster

learns that things can always get worse when he returns home from San Francisco to find a dead body in his bathtub. A dead body in a very ugly sportscoat -- and matching socks. 

(Right: Older cover) 

The dead man is a stranger to Perry, but that's not much of a comfort; how did a strange dead man get in a locked flat at the isolated Alston Estate in the wilds of the "Northeast Kingdom" of Vermont? Perry turns to help from "tall, dark and hostile" former navy SEAL Nick Reno -- but is Reno all that he seems?

HISTORY: President Lincoln pardoned his sister‑in‑law

 History is fascinating and we should learn from it, however, it's apparent from the recent Presidential election that 50% of Americans have little knowledge of history and will suffer for it. That said, today's History lesson is courtesy of History Com, about when President Lincoln pardoned his sister‑in‑law.

Emilie Pariet Todd Helm (1836-1930)

University of Kentucky

HISTORY: President Lincoln pardoned his sister‑in‑law

On Dec. 14, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln announced a grant of amnesty for Emilie Todd Helm, his wife Mary Lincoln’s half-sister and the widow of a Confederate general. The pardon was one of the first under Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, which he had announced less than a week before.

The plan, the president’s blueprint for the reintegration of the South into the Union, allowed for former Confederates to be granted amnesty if they took an oath to the United States. The option was open to all but the highest officials of the Confederacy. Lincoln's sister-in-law received the pardon, but never took the required oath.

Emilie Todd Helm was the wife of Benjamin Helm, who, like the Lincolns, was a Kentucky native. The president was said to be an admirer of Helm, a West Point and Harvard graduate. Lincoln had offered Helm a position in the U.S. Army, but Helm opted to join the Confederates instead. Helm led a group of Kentuckians known as the Orphan Brigade, since they could not return to their Union-held native state during the war. Helm was killed at the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863.

(Photo: Emilie's husband, Benjamin Hardin Helm (1831 - 1863) Credit: University of Kentucky)

After her husband’s death, Helm made her way through Union lines to Washington, D.C. She stayed in the White House and the Lincolns tried to keep her visit a secret. General Daniel Sickles, who had been wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, five months prior, told Lincoln that he should not have a Rebel in his house. Lincoln replied, “General Sickles, my wife and I are in the habit of choosing our own guests. We do not need from our friends either advice or assistance in the matter.” After Lincoln granted her pardon, Emilie Helm returned to Kentucky.

How to Train Your Dog Not to Bark!

Dachshunds LOVE to bark. We have 3, so especially around dinner and treat time, they go crazy. They also like to bark at other dogs! Today's blog is from Chewy Com about how to train your dogs not to bark. We're going to give it a try!

  How to Train Your Dog Not to Bark!

  CHEWY.com Dec. 5, 2024

Teach “Hush” Training solution: helpful for territorial barkers and alarm barkers, as well as some excitement and play barkers.

Teaching “hush” can short-circuit a dedicated barker.

Follow these simple steps to help train your dog to stop barking:

Walk up to your dog while he’s barking with a high-value treat in your fist. Place your hand in front of his nose so that he can smell the treat but can’t get to it. Your dog will likely stop barking to sniff the goody, and once he’s quiet say “hush” (you’re “naming” the silence). Toss the treat a few steps away from him. Repeat the process until you can just say “hush”’ without needing the hand prompt in front of his nose, and then give him a treat.

Gradually ask your dog to do more in order to get the treat, like coming to you and waiting quietly. (This is the technique that I’ve used with my dogs, and they often police themselves; if one dog barks the other runs to me to get a treat for remaining quiet.)

(Photo: Barking at "3 Treat time" with guests Roxi and Myrtle) 

Ignore the Barking 

Management and training solution: helpful for attention-seeking barking, play barking, excitement barking and frustration barking.

What’s the secret ingredient that many barkers want? Your attention! Barkers who are trying to get a reaction from you, whether it’s to get you to throw the ball or hurry up and serve dinner, are looking for some sort of acknowledgement from you when they bark.

You can help your dog understand that barking doesn’t work. By doing the opposite of what your dog wants when they bark, you can train your dog to stop barking for attention:

Turn away, walk out of the room, drop the ball or put the leash down. Wait for a moment of quiet, or a calm. Sit, and then pay attention to your dog. With consistency, your dog will bark less because they understand that quiet works and barking doesn’t.

(Photo: Tyler, Dash and Cody getting a forest walk!) 

Add More Exercise 

Management and training solution: helpful for all barkers.

Nearly every dog can benefit from more exercise, both mental and physical. A dog who has had a good workout will be less likely to be on alert for perceived interlopers or feel the need to pester you for attention.

Take the time to wear your dog out every day with a game of fetch or tug, and get their brain activated by introducing mind-teasers like “find the toy” and hide-and-seek. Remember, a tired dog is a quiet dog!

New Podcast! The Witching Hours w/Rob on Pets, Ireland, Tombstone

 It's a New Podcast! The Witching Hours w/Rob on Pets, Ireland, Tombstone

Rob joined Frosty and Jenny on the Witching Hours Podcast and talked Pet Spirits, Ghosts of Ireland, and Ghosts of the Bird Cage Theatre!

Frosty and Jenny wrote:  We enjoyed the conversation as well and would love to have you on the show again in the future. 

 We had a comment from a listener I wanted to pass along: "I lurk a lot, y’all know. But man I REALLY LOVED last night's show. Rob was really awesome to listen to and what he said resonates so much. Thanks for finding and sharing such an awesome person!"

WATCH ON YOUTUBE or LISTEN ON SPOTIFY BELOW! 

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/live/sLwIhk3PNf8?si=CDUFVGie2ViPSpFN

Spotify https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/thewitchinghours/episodes/TWH-Episode-88-Rob-Gutro-e2tbc66 

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DISCOVERY! Construction crew unearths 1,375-year-old pyramid in Mexico!

In Mexico, construction crews who were building a new highway uncovered a pyramid that dates back 1,375 years. Specialists from Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in Hidalgo, investigated the remains of a pyramidal base associated with the Metzca lordship, which settled in the Sierra Alta of Hidalgo in the Epiclassic (650-950 AD) and Late Postclassic (1350-1519 AD) periods. Here's the story.

 

(Photo: In Hidalgo, the INAH preserves archaeological remains found during road construction. Photo: CINAH Hidalgo.) 

Construction crew unearths 1,375-year-old pyramid on Mexico’s future highway 

A 1,375-year-old pyramid unexpectedly discovered on a future highway in Mexico belongs to a pre-hispanic kingdom, a first.

Dec 10, 2024 Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering

Construction crew unearths 1,375-year-old pyramid on Mexico’s future highway The 1,375 Metzca pyramid.

Road construction came to an emergency halt in Hidalgo region in Mexico when workers uncovered a pyramid.

The amazing find can also shed new light on early human occupation in the region – where evidence of settlement has been traced back to roughly 14,000 years.

Under the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico, archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in Hidalgo, Mexico, rushed to the discovery site this June when the foundation of the 1,375-year-old pyramid surfaced unexpectedly on the third lane of a future highway.

According to a December 5 announcement, INAH archaeologists rapidly began excavating “Structure 1″ to learn more about its origins.

They discovered, along with hundreds of artifacts, that it belonged to a pre-Hispanic settlement attached to an indigenous kingdom that predated the arrival of the Spanish.

The preliminary results of the “exhaustive research” have been shared with various educational institutions to continue raising awareness about the region’s archaeological heritage.

However, due to a lack of resources, the pyramid has been reburied to keep it protected from damage that could occur. Still, the data and material from the site will contribute to the preservation of Mexico’s rich indigenous history.

A Metzca pyramid attached to the indigenous kingdom of Metztitlan 

After the pyramid appeared in June 2024, archaeologists conducted a thorough survey of the monument and surrounding area with the assistance of drone technology.

Upon closer investigation, it soon became clear that the sole pyramid was attached to a much larger and significant site. They identified five sections and 10 archaeological mounds, at least.

Additionally, 155 samples of ceramic, malacological, and lithic materials have been collected, from floors of lime, coal, earth, and charred wood, which will undergo further analysis in the upcoming months.

The impressive settlement, according to INAH archaeologists, most likely dates between the Epiclassic period (650 to 950 CE) and the Late Postclassic period (1350 to 1519 CE).

The site called San Miguel, named after the nearby town of San Miguel Metzquititlán was once Metztitlan, a pre-Hispanic kingdom, as per Gizmodo, which managed to stay independent even from Aztec control.

Their “multiethnic imprint,” INAH states, remained visible up until the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century “when the Augustinian order began the construction of various hermitages, churches, and convents there.”

“There were no known remnants of pre-Hispanic civilizations in this immediate area prior to the San Miguel site discovery,” Héctor Labra Chávez, the Secretary of Tourism of San Agustín Metzquititlán, was quoted as saying in Popular Science.

The Metzca pyramid was reburied

Nestled in a nature reserve in the Sierra Alta, the archaeological treasure from Mexico’s pre-Spanish past should equally be preserved and protected as part of Mexico’s untouchable landscape. However, they had to rebury the pyramid, as they cannot properly manage the site at this time, Gizmodo reports.

Measures were taken, INAH explains. 

Prior to its return to an underground existence, they protected the structures with geotextile and built a rock masonry wall running parallel to the archaeological structure for conservation purposes.

The data generated, all the same, “will contribute to the understanding of human occupation in the Sierra Alta region of Hidalgo, specifically in the Barranca de Metztitlán area, where, according to historiography, the first settlements date back at least 14,000 years,” INAH stated in the release.

Toured the Historic Biddeford Mills, Part 1: Biddeford History

Today's local blog is about an historic mill! We took a tour of the historic Biddeford textile mills in Biddeford, Maine, and this is part one of a multi-part blog about the town, the mills and the history behind it. "The Biddeford–Saco Mills Historic District," encompasses the historic mill complex that flanks both sides of the Saco River in Biddeford and Saco, Maine.

HOW DID BIDDEFORD GET ITS NAME? - English settlers named the area Saco, a contraction of the name of the river then known as Sawcotuck. By 1653 the town was incorporated, but in 1688, during King Philip's War, Saco was destroyed by Indians. It was rebuilt and renamed Biddeford in 1719, after Bideford, England.

FUN FACT ABOUT BIDDEFORD, MAINE - First visited by Europeans in 1616, it is the site of one of the earliest European settlements in the United States.

MILL HISTORY- In 1826 the first textile mill was built on the island. The oldest building in the mill complex was built in 1832-33 by the York Manufacturing Company. From this beginning the industrial growth of the area proceeded, occupying the entire island and a large adjacent area on the Biddeford shore.

WHAT IS THE RIVER THAT POWERED BIDDEFORD MILLS? - The neighboring cities of Biddeford and Saco were once industrial giants. The Saco River, which flows between the cities, powered enormous brick mills – including the largest cotton mill ever built in America.

THE BIDDEFORD MILLS MUSEUM- This collection reflects the lives and labors of proud people who worked in and around Biddeford's textile industry. Over the years, the mills employed thousands of people from more than 25 countries and sold products as far away as China. Production began in Biddeford before combustion engines and continued into the computer age.

NEXT MONDAY: A Walk Through Mill History 

Idiots of the Week: Universities Paying a Coaches Millions a Year

This week's Idiots are Universities who pay coaches ridiculous salaries and the coaches who accept them with no consideration of the affordability of schools to students. So many people are trying to afford college and there's a big reason why they can't - Sports Coach Salaries. Recently, Bill Belichick was hired by the University North Carolina at a salary of $50 MILLION a year! Isn't $500,000 enough? WTH? Besides, he's 72. Why does he need that ridiculous amount of money at his age? I don't care how "great" he is (yeah, I know he coached Superbowl winners 6 times). $50 million is ridiculous. - If he cared about the University, OR had one tiny ounce of consideration for the affordability of colleges, he would say "That's ridiculous." But he, like many other College coaches, don't care about students. It's GREED. Isn't there any way to convince Universities to stop paying these ridiculous salaries and make school affordable again?

Here are excerpts from the Boston Globe story  

Bill Belichick joining UNC wasn’t a surprising choice. It was his only choice. 

“College kind of came to me. I didn’t necessarily seek it out.” 

By Conor Ryan, Boston . Com Dec. 13, 2024

After spending nearly half a century patrolling NFL sidelines, the 72-year-old Belichick is moving on from the league he once reigned over in search of an exciting new challenge.

“I always wanted to coach in college football,” Belichick told reporters. “It just never really worked out. I had some good years in the NFL, so that was OK. This is really kind of a dream come true.”

(Image; Outrageous college coach salaries 10 YEARS AGO in 2014! Credit: Business Insider)
Sitting just 15 wins away from the NFL’s all-time coaching wins record, immersing himself in an evolving collegiate environment with NIL and the transfer portal was probably far from the priority for Belichick entering 2025.

For a football mind fixated on the results, surpassing Don Shula’s 347 career victories stood as one of the few peaks that Belichick has yet to summit.

But with no NFL team opting to toss him a rope, Belichick relented — traversing the safer path at the collegiate level.