not-ready-for-primetime players (12. 790)

Although there has already been much celebration marking the long-running topical and comedy sketch show’s fiftieth season, its actual semicentenary anniversary occurred on this day in 1975 when the network aired the first episode of NBC’s Saturday Night Live (to distinguish it from competing time slot Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell—see above). Hosted by comedian George Carlin with Billy Preston (“Will it Go Round in Circles,” “Nothing from Nothing”) and Janis Ian (“At Seventeen,” “Society’s Child,” “Fly Too High”) were the first musical guests. The cast lived in the studio for the first season and had their footing and direction by the fourth episode, introducing regularly occurring segments and characters.

we now return to regularly scheduled programming already in progress (12. 776)

For the first time in television history in the United States on this day in 1975, the three major television networks declined a request to interrupt broadcasts and pre-empt their line-up for a speech delivered by the American president. Gerald Ford’s nationwide address was only carried by ABC and was a relatively anodyne presentation regarding fiscal discipline for an economy just emerging from a recession, laying the blame of inflation and job scarcity squarely on an “overzealous bureaucracy” and urged congress to make federal tax reductions permanent to encourage hiring with a commensurate cut to government spending, threatening to veto any legislation passed in in keeping with a balanced budget. This decision by TV executives was seen as the first challenge to the use of the bully pulpit of the president and the reach of high office to the public ear. The next day, congress and the senate overturned Ford’s veto by an overwhelming margin bi-partisan support to extend federal school lunch and nutrition programmes.

synchronoptica

one year ago: more adventures on the Mecklinburgischer Seeplate (with synchronopticæ)

thirteen years ago: the Venetian independence movement, more flea market finds plus twinned-towns

fourteen years ago: computer lab plus thirty-one days of Halloween

fifteen years ago: customary Nobel cool-off period 

hooked on phonics (12. 766)

Incredibly after a run of forty-one years, the Chicago Tribune announced on this day in 1975 that it would be revising its style guide and discontinue the editing standards in place since January of of 1934 of offering simplified, phonetic spellings (see previously) of about eight common words, conceding that the newspaper was not making the grade when it came to came to English language conventions of putting words in print (both in headlines and copy) and wanted to cause no further confusion in the classroom, particularly for young pupils. While holding out that sanity and prescription might one day come to orthography, going forward, the paper agreed to no longer publish thru, tho and thoro for through, though and thorough—as well as rime for rhyme, fantom for phantom, sofomore for sophomore, etc.

synchronoptica

one year ago: sea birds in a hurricane (with synchronopticæ) plus a Schoolhouse Rock!-style explainer for Project 2025 

twelve years ago: punctuation marks that failed to catch on plus downplaying the climate catastrophe 

thirteen years ago: real life raiders of the lost Ark plus the debut of Star Trek: TNG (1987)

fourteen years ago: austerity measures for the German economy plus biometric punch-clocks

fifteen years ago: the reckoning of Iceland’s financial crisis 

t-dollar (12. 757)

Representative from Maryland elevated to cabinet secretary of the interior and then commerce secretary during the Nixon and Ford administrations, Rogers Clark Ballard (C B, “Chesapeake Bay,” congressman with a strong pro-environmental record—see also) Morton speaking with the National Press Club on this day in 1975 announced that a new metric was to be used in future releases regarding the economy and federal spending, citing the inexperience and incomprehension of the average American consumer and tax-payer for such astronomical appropriations. The statistic of $14.06 (about $85 presently adjusted for inflation) was derived by dividing one billion by the then seventy-one million households in the United States to make government expenditures more relatable in household economic terms. Unlike the pledge for journalist covering the Department of War, this convention was never enforced and quickly forgotten. 

 synchronoptica

one year ago: JFK’s Sword of Damocles speech to the UN (with synchronopticæ), aggressive cuteness plus Those Were the Days

twelve years ago: a visit to Bad Soden 

thirteen years ago: the US Library of Congress 

fifteen years ago: cyber warfare 

no good deed goes unpunished (12. 754)

Having foiled the attempted assassination of US president Gerald Ford two days prior by grappling with Sara Jane Moore as she tried to aim her pistol, decorated former Marine and disabled veteran of the Vietnam war Oliver Wellington “Billy” Sipple was indirectly pubically outed by San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen after friend and fellow activist Harvey Milk expressed frustration from the community over the president’s delay in recognising Sipple’s heroic intervention. Believing that the White House was reluctant to acknowledge a gay ex-service member, the Caen hoped his article might change stereotypes. Sipple received a personal note from Ford the next day, praising his selfless actions from earlier in the week and offering his heartfelt appreciation. The media sensation surrounding his sexual orientation and associations with the local scene was unwelcome for Sipple, who unsuccessfully tried to sue the Chronicle for invasion of privacy (having asked that that matter be kept off the record) and when the news broke to his conservative, Midwestern parents, whom were unaware that their son was gay, they virtually disowned him, according to some accounts—and afterwards he fell into a cycle of depression and alcohol abuse.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Tanaka Memorial of 1927 (with synchronopticæ)

twelve years ago: German chancellor softens stance on the EU question 

thirteen years ago: inflation and Oktoberfest 

fifteen years ago: Ostalgia 

seventeen years ago: hidden missives in spam 

bank error in your favour (12. 735)

Reminiscent of a possibly apocryphal story circulated by tellers of accepting coin rolls of pfennigs and exchanging them for euro bills shortly some years after the change over, on this day in 1975, one Stephen Holcomb Jr of Transverse City, Michigan presented a hundred-thousand mark note, wishing to trade it for US dollars after a local electronics store refused to take the foreign money for the purchase of an AM/FM radio and suggested he go to the bank. With no malice or fraud intended, the clerk had accepted the bill at face value, giving Holcomb the going rate and exchanging it for nearly forty-thousand in cash, promptly buying the radio and going on a spending spree. Honouring the current rate had been a mistake as the bill was dated 1923, issued during the inter-war period of hyper-inflation and valued at a fraction of a cent—see also here and here. Holcomb’s mother had been an antique dealer and the worthless artefact had been in the house as long as they could remember. Although not criminally charged, the balance of the money was recovered and new truck and other purchases repossessed after Holcomb’s night on the town in Chicago when he was apprehended by a bank detective upon returning home.

primary residence (12. 706)

Planning for a permanent US vice-presidential residence beginning in 1966 under the Johnson administration in order to economise on security detail and upgrades to private residences, as had been done in the past, construction was halted on a new building on the campus of the Naval Observatory in Washington, DC within a month due to the general recession, hoping to commence he project once conditions improved and the conflict in Vietnam had ended. The Government Accounting Office had selected the location in 1974, in the interim retrofitting the private homes of vice-presidents at rather great expense—but with a succession of quick turn overs, Spiro Agnew only living in his re-modeled house for three months prior to his resignation and flipping the property for a great profit at the tax-payer expense and igniting a minor scandal, overshadowed since by the Watergate controversy. Congress moved quickly to appropriate (Public Law 93-346) an existing secured, government building, built originally for the superintendent of the observatory in 1893 in Queen Anne style but so admired by the chief of naval operations it was commandeered by the admiral and remained so until this day in 1975, when the address was dedicated as the temporary official residence of the vice-president of the United States of America—fifty years on, it is still designated as so and unlikely ever to return to the admiralty though the navy is responsible for upkeep and repairs. The first occupants were Nelson and Happy Rockefeller, though already having a larger home in DC, only used the house for entertaining and state functions. Upon the inauguration of Jimmy Carter in January 1977, Walter and Joan Mondale (pictured) became the first second couple to move in.

all the way alive (12. 698)

On this day in 1975, Manson Family cult member Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme (previously) attempted to assassinate US president Gerald Ford (see previously) in Sacramento on the grounds of the California state capitol to set an example for those refusing to stop environmental pollution and its effects on Air, Trees, Water and Animals (ATWA, also the acronym above—the ecological belief system expounded by Charles Manson and his followers) as the interrelated life-support network of the Earth with attendant acts of civil disobedience and eco-terrorism. The then new Democratic governor Jerry Brown had refused an invitation to address an annual gathering of wealthy business leaders of the state. Members of the politically powerful group called “Host Breakfast,” upset with the shun wanted to teach the recently elected Brown, considered to be an obstacle to industry with a host of regulations and taxes that were unpopular with the lobby, a lesson for his “dilatory response” and had instead invited Ford, a Republican and ally, to deliver the opening speech—which Ford accepted as a chance to appeal to more local voters in the upcoming election and retain office. Preceding his arrival, Ford had asked congress to relax certain provision of the Clean Air act of 1963 and pressure California to roll-back some of its automobile emissions standards, already garnering threats from environmental activists. Feeling personally responsible for the fate of California’s giant redwoods, in danger from smog and urban sprawl, Fromme resolved ambush Ford (studying the agenda of his visit) and demand that respect be paid to nature. Making her way through the crowd, Fromme raised her pistol but the weapon failed to discharge and was immediately apprehended by the Secret Service. A few months following Fromme’s trial and sentencing, director George Lucas was prompted to change the name of his protagonist mid-production from Luke Starkiller for unpleasant connotations and a perceived connection to the Manson Family. After thirty-four years in prison and two years after Ford’s death, Fromme was released on probation in 2009. The malfunctioning gun was donated to the presidential library in Grand Rapids, Michigan and is on display there.

synchronoptica

one year ago: America begins its bicentennial celebrations (with synchronopticæ), coordination problems plus Trump announces the Department of Government Efficiency 

twelve years ago: German license plate naming conventions 

thirteen years ago: some castles of Hessen plus open all hours

fourteen years ago: a visit to Rohr 

seventeen years ago: TGIF 

9x9 (12. 669)

de minimis: new US tariff confusion has many European shipping companies suspending deliveries to the United States—see previously  

o tu illustrata: the 1988 David Lynch produced album of Jocelyn Montgomery performing Hildegard von Bingen compositions—see previously here and here  

thank you for your attention to this matter: Gavin Newson can perhaps ape despots so well because they’re not all that different 

optical illusion: if you stare at this circle for long enough, it becomes a red dot 

sometimes easy, sometimes hard: reflecting on the legacy of post-punk hit Deluxe by Harmonia half-a-century on—via Feuilleton  

labirinti di immagini: fifteenth century Italian architect Francesco Segala pioneered the picture maze  

entartete kunst: Trump orders a purge of diversity narratives at the Smithsonian 

uptown top ranking: a reggae one-hit wonder from duo Althea and Donna  

never let a crisis go unexploited: like the Dole fruit company in Hawaii or the supposed car-jacking in DC that led to its takeover, the US will capitalise on the protest of a newborn being removed from her Greenlandic mother for welfare reasons as the excuse to annex it 

synchronoptica

one year ago: a quick weekend get-away (with synchronopticæ) plus the Formosa Straits crisis of 1958

thirteen years ago: travel bumper stickers

seventeen years ago: designed obsolescence  

public law 94–67 (12. 635)

The culmination of the five year effort which saw the passage of US Joint Resolution 23, begun on the centenary of the 1870 death Confederate general and increased interest in the figure as evinced by growing tourism to Georgia’s Stone Mountain memorial site and other commemorations, on this day in 1975 Gerald Ford (previously) signed into law a declaration championed by senator Harry Byrd of Virginia to posthumously restore citizenship to Robert E Lee. In 1865, after the civil war concluded Lee was paroled and took an oath of allegiance to the United States, petitioning for the revocation of citizenship to be nullified. Portrayed by proponents of the bill as clerical oversight on the part of secretary of state William Seward for not processing the pardon application, thus leaving him a stateless individual, while detractors thought such a symbolic gesture strengthened the mythology and romance of the Confederate cause and was a legitimising acknowledgement of Lee’s status as an icon and cultural hero—something which Lee himself rejected as counterproductive to healing the rift of fighting the war. After the civil war, Washington, DC appropriated Lee’s mansion and grounds in Arlington, Virginia and designated it the National Cemetery, in part so Lee and his family would never be able to return home.

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: Trump assures Christian supporters that if they vote for him this once, they’ll never have to worry about voting again (with synchronopticæ) plus assorted links worth revisiting 

twelve years ago: the Moses Bridge Stairs 

thirteen years ago: smoking is derpy 

fourteen years ago: the debt-ceiling and creative accounting 

the helsinki accords (12. 623)

Though not binding with status as a treaty to be ratified by national parliament, the attempted détente between the West and East was signed on this day in the Finnish capital by leaders of thirty-five countries, including Helmut Schmidt, Erich Honecker, Josef Tito, Leonid Brezhnev, Gerald Ford, Pierre Trudeau and all heads of state of Europe with the exception of Andorra and Albania under Hoxha lead to significant reforms and recognised the spheres of influence of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, sovereignty and self-determination and fostered universal respect for human rights. The declaration was divided into four baskets covering diplomacy; economic and scientific cooperation; promoting familiar integrity, freedom of marriage and travel, an unhindered press and cultural exchange; and the formation of a multinational committee to monitor implementation. Concessions for civil rights and open dialogue, however, came at a high cost, with the recognition of the Soviet Union’s annexation of the Baltic states and a continuation of the policy of broadcast jamming and censorship of Western media. Both Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter and challenger for the Republican party nomination Ronald Reagan accused Ford of legitimising the USSR’s domination of Eastern Europe and weakening the standing of the US as a foreign policy power during the 1976 presidential campaign. Although eventually seen as the catalyst for later peaceful revolutions, much of the diaspora and signatories were displeased with the outcome of their months of work.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Ford is prepped for his new role (with synchronopticæ),  the samplers of Lorina Buwler plus cartographic innovations

made man (12. 617)

On this day, at some time after 15:00 local time, James “Jimmy” Riddle Hoffa, American labour activist and president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, disappeared under mysterious circumstances in Bloomfield Township, Michigan—a suburb of Detroit. Involved with organised crime and the Mafia since his early years working with the union, making accommodations and compromises with gangsters that often controlled trucking and warehouse guilds through the 1930s in order to leverage strength in numbers and consolidate disparate associations for collective bargaining, though the influence of the Mafia increased as membership grew.

Various allegations of bribery, fraud and corruption cast a pall over his tenure from 1957 through his 1963 indictment for jury tampering, prosecuted by Attorney General Robert F Kennedy. Despite harsh sentencing, Hoffa was reelected to a third term as the Teamsters’ president, resigning from office in 1971 while still in prison as a condition of a presidential pardon, Nixon commuting his sentence of thirteen years to time served, less than five, pledging not to engage with any labour organisation for a period of nine years. The unions endorsed Nixon’s 1972 reelection bid, breaking with tradition of supporting the Democratic candidate. By the following year, Hoffa sought to return to union leadership and unsuccessfully sued the administration to invalidate those restrictions, and undeterred planned to regain his role—despite his parole and vocal opposition from dons and caporegimes of prominent criminal syndicates. Hoffa had arranged a meeting on the afternoon of 30 July at the Machus Red Fox restaurant, venue of his son’s wedding reception, in order to make peace with two of those Mafia families. Hoffa was stood up however when none showed at the appointed time, documented by a call home from a payphone, and friends found his unlocked car in the restaurant’s parking lot early the next morning. Extensive searches, surveillance and depositions yielded no leads, and Hoffa was declared legally deceased by a judge on the anniversary of his disappearance in 1982 with no individuals charged. Not infrequent excavations in the Detroit area and perennial indulges from The Irishman to Bruce Almighty sustain the mystery and haunt America’s attitudes toward the labour movement and unions to this day.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronopticæ) plus Monty Hall enlightenment 

twelve years ago: sci-fi author Hugo Gernsbach

fourteen years ago: a trip to Aquitaine and Medoc 

fifteen years ago: metamorphoses plus Big Tech’s partnership with spy agencies

splashdown (12. 604)

On this day in 1975 with the re-entry of the American spacecraft, with the Soviet capsule landing a few days earlier in the steppe of Kazakhstan after the successful joint mission, the Apollo programme came to an end. The international docking manoeuvre and orbital handshake between the two rivals was seem as a moment of détente for the polarised world during the Cold War, leading to later collaborations like the International Space Station. A technical triumph and symbolic of the cooling tensions between the super-powers, in keeping with the spirit of the Space-Race, the link-up with Soyuz-19 went unnumbered by NASA to avoid confusion with the failed Moon landing of Apollo-XVIII, and the mission’s only tense moment was during re-entry with propellants accidentally vented into the astronauts’ chambers. The US engaged in no further orbital ventures until 1981 and there were no more splashdown landings until August of 2020 with the Space-X Crew Dragon demonstration.

think the tide is with us (12. 573)

In deference to the silver anniversary of the Peter Benchley and Steven Spielberg and Peter Benchly collaboration—which agreedly holds up and worth a rewatch—Clive Thompson’s Linkfest (lots more great stuff there) directs us to a text-based adventure game inspired by the film authored by programmer and designer Matt Round, that follows the plot pretty faithfully scene by scene but from the point of view of the titular shark with some pretty compelling internal monologue (see also).

qin shi huang mausoleum (12. 570)

Having been discovered by a group of farmers, Wang Puzhi and his neighbour Yang Zhifa (with his five brothers), in March of the year prior, the archaeological community marked a pivotal moment on this day in 1975 in the excavation of the site, unearthing the central burial pits around the tomb of Qin dynasty’s founder and first emperor (皇帝, huángdì) of a unified China to reveal a retinue of some eight thousand life-sized terracotta figures of soldiers and horses standing guard for his journey into the afterlife.  The necropolis is a microcosm of the imperial palace with halls, offices and the thousands of replica units, armed, standing in formation. The tomb itself at the centre of the terracotta army (previously) is hermetically sealed and remains unopened to prevent degradation of the body, artefacts and grave goods inside as well as out of concerns for safety of researchers, with artificial rivers of mercury and other toxic decorative elements suspected to be contained within—possibly also an element of revenant superstition. Aside from the Qin emperor, a mass though ceremonious grave holding the remains of one-hundred-twenty-one individuals has been uncovered, whom researchers believe to have been labourers and artisans that built the necropolis.

synchronoptica 

one year ago: double-click jargon (with synchronopticæ), more on the zombification of the legacy web plus Biden vows to stay in the US presidential race   

thirteen years ago: a hundred-handed cactus plus subversive stickers 

fourteen years ago: odious debts 

ce qu’elle a dit, ce soir-là (12. 517)

A few members having trialed an early version of the song at CBGBs in December of 1975 opening for the Ramones, refining it further over the next two years for their debut performance at the same venue in 1977, the Talking Heads (previously) have released an official music video for their hit number in the lead up to the fiftieth anniversary of their debut studio album. Featuring Saoirse Ronan in very relatable circumstances with those inuring but burdening routines that can become a trigger that has a resolution over the short arc of narrative that is neither violent nor obvious.

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth the revisit (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: fantasy video games, duty to be informed, the Day of the Tiles (1788), a kei truck decorating competition plus more links to enjoy

eight years ago: David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech, amplifying random noise plus the Roman road network as a tube map

nine years ago: a geopolitical flow-chart, Italy’s industrial heritage plus former German royals as ceremonial presidents

ten years ago: textiles and technology, farming birds plus the Rod Pyramid outside of Frankfurt

 

the war is over (12. 448)

Just following the announcement of the cessation of fighting after the Fall of Saigon by US president Gerald Ford, one hundred thousand spectators gathered in New York’s Central Park for a final rally with congress member Bella Abzug and concert organised by Paul Ochs (previously) with a lineup featuring Pete Seeger, Odetta, Harry Belafonte, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and others. After a duet with Baez of the ballad “There but for Fortune”, the concert closed his Ochs’ famous protest anthem, overshadowed by but not to be confused with John Lennon’s song with a similar same name, which was inspired in part by poet Allen Ginsberg’s 1966 declaration that the Vietnam war was over and that it could be ended by simply saying so (“if you want it” like the above) and stripping it of legitimacy—Och’s final public performance, though Lady Gaga sang it for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

Angry artists painting angry signs
Use their vision just to blind the blind
Poisoned players of a grisly game
One is guilty and the other gets the point to blame—pardon me if I refrain

With the choral response: I declare the war is over
It’s over, it’s over

Suffering mental health problems exacerbated by heavy drinking that ultimately led to his suicide in April of the following year, friends and family say that Ochs died many deaths, lastly taking on the persona of one John Butler Train, telling people that this impersonator had murdered him and had replaced him—and in 1968, politically with the violence of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, in 1972, professionally, after being strangled in Tanzania and deciding he could no longer sing, on 11 September 1973, spiritually, when the government of Chile was overthrown by US involvement and finally mentally with this psychotic break. Ochs’ legacy continues with numerous tributes and cultural references as well as a strong influence on subsequent artists.

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth the revisit (with synchronoptica) plus the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1927)

seven years ago: Muggertonian star charts, Russian electioneering plus Gaslight (1944)

eight years ago: wood libraries, Trump deflects from ties to Putin, bringing back the Microlino plus mathematical music

ten years ago: the brotagonist of this story, a visit to Hanau plus a visit to the Leipzig Zoo

eleven years ago: rebooting Star Wars plus Kierkegaard’s Either/Or

8x8 (12. 365)

museum of now: This American Life invites us to sit with and reflect on the artefacts of day and hour 

rift valley: a Trump appointed special envoy to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tiffany’s father-in-law, seeking to make a deal on mineral resources in hopes of securing peace with Rwandan rebels 

fay wray: a swarm of drones recreate the iconic scene of King Kong scaling the Empire State building  

toast malone: a short clip of the singer performing Circles, animated on one hundred thirty-three slices of bread  

altair 8800: a retrospective of Microsoft at fifty 

the bronx is up and the battery’s down: new NYC subway map is an homage to an early digrammatic version  

blanket non-fraternisation policy: US bans government personnel stationed in China from forming relationships with locals 

national endowment for the humanities: US museums, libraries and archives see their grants terminated—see previously

cn tower (12. 358)

Topping off on this day in 1975 with last segment of the antenna installed by helicopter skycrane, the Toronto communications and observation spire held the title of the tallest free-standing structure in the world until overtaken by the Burj Khalifa of Dubai in 2007. At just over five hundred fifty metres high, it remains the tallest in the Western Hemisphere, (see also, a member of the World Federation of Great Towers) opening to the public in June of the following year. The CN stands for Canadian National and was conceived by the state railway’s desire to build a large radio and television broadcasting platform to serve the area. Plans were expanded to include the observation gallery—originally the Space Deck but later renamed the SkyPod with a revolving restaurant.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Fabiola Project (with synchronoptica) 

seven years ago: the premier of 2001, assorted links worth revisiting plus the money plant

eight years ago: sculpting with cheese plus a doomsday archive

nine years ago: an appreciation of artisanal signage, a disturbing hack plus hybrid husbandry

ten years ago: epic and pioneering roadtrips,  David Rumsey’s map collection plus more links to enjoy

whistle-stop tour (12. 355)

With a similar route transversed just after World War II, proposed by the attorney general under FDR and Truman who feared that Americans were taking the principals of liberty for granted in the post-war years and the project becoming a model for future outreach efforts during the Cold War, the second American Freedom Train, twenty-six cars conveyed by a stream locomotive outfitted with a special livery, began its twenty-month long journey criss-crossing the continent and visiting all the forty-eight contiguous states on this day in 1975, arriving in Wilmington, Delaware in a lead-up to the country’s bicentennial celebrations—see previously. The display cars carried more than five-hundred pieces of America on loan from various institutions, artefacts including: the original constitution, the Louisiana Purchase, Jesse Owens’ Olympic medals, a Moon rock, Martin Luther King, Jr’s pulpit, George Washington’s fire engine and Judy Garland’s dress from The Wizard of Oz, and was visited by over seven million people in near one hundred forty cities. Afterwards, the cars (without their contents, see also) were purchased by National Museums of Canada and reflagged as the Discovery Train for a similar rail tour.

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica

one year ago: Germany legalises marijuana (with synchronoptica) plus April Fools

seven years ago: more early Easter greetings, a monopoly on local media, a vintage April calendar plus Granny’s University of the Imagination

eight years ago: alphabetic architecture, Trump’s supporting cast, more AI pranks plus the proposed Analemma Tower

nine years ago: precision crowd formation plus a once lost species makes a comeback

ten years ago: assorted links worth revisiting, the roots of monotheism plus an overview of heraldic charges