54-40..what does their name mean?
Steve Portigal
a decent band), when Al Bundy used the phrase "54-40 or fight" (not
in context, only as a sample phrase) on Married With Children.
So what the hell does it mean?
Steve
--
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| ste...@snowhite.cis.uoguelph.ca (519) 824-4120 x 3580 |
| "Oh Andy Capp, you wife-beating drunk!" - Homer Simpson |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
Peter Wung
If I remember my US History correctly, 54-40 is the latitude used to
separate the slave and the non-slave states pre-civil war. The slogan
was the rallying cry of the southernerns. Like I said, my history
knowledge is rarely tested, so I may be wrong.
---
********************************************************************
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* "Pass, Set, CRUSH!"... *
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Nicolette Roberge
Canadian territory up to the 54'40" parallel. I don't recall the exact
dates, but it was mid-19th century. This would have given the US most of
the territory of Canada, leaving, essentially, only the relatively frozen
northland.
A negotiated settlement was reached that established the border west of the
Great Lakes at the 48th parallel. The Pig Wars resulted when a pig
wandered over this negotiated border and was shot as a trespasser. This
is the only war, as such, between the US and Canada, and occurred in Point
Roberts, WA. Point Roberts is located on a peninsula that has its only
land access through Canada.
Nicolette "formerly a cheesehead" Roberge
Michael Stern
> I just always figured 54-40 was just some stupid band name (although
>a decent band), when Al Bundy used the phrase "54-40 or fight" (not
>in context, only as a sample phrase) on Married With Children.
>So what the hell does it mean?
In the early 19th century, the boundary between the United States and
Canada was not entirely defined. The most disputed section of the border
was the northern part of what is now Washington State. The Canadians
wanted the border to continue along the 49th parallel, but the Americans
wanted our territory to jut north to about where Prince George, B.C.,
now is. This fit the mountainous boundaries better, but was really just
a rallying cry for jingoistic politicians. Specifically, their cry was
"54 (degress) 40 (minutes) or fight", the lattitude of their desired
border.
President Pierce was elected in part on his promise to secure these
advantageous borders, but when the Mexican war became imminent he compromised
at the 49th parallel, and thus ensured that the Brits and Canadians
would not strike from the North while we were busy invading Mexico.
Now you know.
******************************************************************************
Michael Stern * "When I was a boy I was told that anybody
* could become President; I'm beginning to
ste...@husc.harvard.edu * believe it." -Clarence Darrow
******************************************************************************
David W Hatunen
I guess Canadians are taught a different North American
history. Understandably.
As all US-type North Americans are supposed to know, 54-40
or fight refers to the British-US conflict over the border
between the US Oregon Territory and what is now Canada.
54-40 refers to the 54 degrees 40 minutes of latitude line
advocated by US jingos as the only right and proper
boundary. Eventually everyone settled on the 49th parallel
now forming the boundary between BC and Washington state.
And peace continued to reign over the US and British
North America.
It would have been kind of nice to have Vancouver BC
in the States though.
--
--------- DAVE HATUNEN (hat...@netcom.com) ----------
----- Daly City California: almost San Francisco -----
Jonathan Papai
>A negotiated settlement was reached that established the border west of the
>Great Lakes at the 48th parallel. The Pig Wars resulted when a pig
>wandered over this negotiated border and was shot as a trespasser. This
>is the only war, as such, between the US and Canada, and occurred in Point
>Roberts, WA. Point Roberts is located on a peninsula that has its only
>land access through Canada.
48th parallel? I guess we should cede parts of Mich, Minn,
ND, Montana, Idaho and Washington to Canada, since we seem
to have claimed things between 48 and 49 degrees north.
ObGeographyUL: Michigan and Ohio once nearly fought a war over an
8 mile wide strip of land including Toledo. The issue was
settled by Congress. Both sides lost. Ohio got Toledo, Michigan
was compensated with the UP.
>Nicolette "formerly a cheesehead" Roberge
That explains everything.
Jon "40 36' 43" N, 81 12' 58" W " Papai
Ed Suranyi
>a decent band), when Al Bundy used the phrase "54-40 or fight" (not
>in context, only as a sample phrase) on Married With Children.
>
>So what the hell does it mean?
I'm a little surprised that you, a Canadian, doesn't know this, since
it refers to a nineteenth century border dispute between the US and
what's now Canada.
In the 1840s the border between what's now Washington state and
British Columbia was a matter of considerable dispute. The Americans
wanted it to be at the latitude 54 degrees 40 minutes -- hence
the slogan, "54-40 or fight!" The British wanted it somewhere near
where the Washington/Oregon border is now. A compromise was reached,
whereby the border at 48 degrees that had already been established
partway to the Pacific was merely extended all the way. The border
among the islands off the coast in the Pacific was not settled for
a few more decades.
Lee Crocker
>a decent band), when Al Bundy used the phrase "54-40 or fight" (not
>in context, only as a sample phrase) on Married With Children.
>
>So what the hell does it mean?
During a particularly imperialistic era in the US when we were
expanding our borders as fast as covered wagons would go, there was
a political movement to expand our northern border with Canada to
54 degrees, 40 minutes North lattitude. "54-40 or fight" was the
slogan of that movement, used as a threat to the Canadians: give
us all the land south of 54-40 or we'll take it by force. Last
time I looked at a map, we were apparently unsuccessful.
--
Lee Daniel Crocker | Free minds; free bodies; free trade.
le...@microsoft.com | Libertarian Party 1-800-682-1776
Steven Bellovin
There was once a territorial dispute between the U.S. and Canada. Various
extremists in the U.S. wanted all of the territory up to latitude
54 degrees, 40 minutes, hence the slogan. I think, but I'm less sure,
that various Canadian extremists were claiming all of the territory
(which included the states of Washington and Oregon) for Canada.
Eventually, the obvious was done -- the boundary along the 49th
parallel was extended to the Pacific.
Gerald Olchowy
>ste...@snowhite.cis.uoguelph.ca (Steve Portigal) writes:
>
>> I just always figured 54-40 was just some stupid band name (although
>>a decent band), when Al Bundy used the phrase "54-40 or fight" (not
>>in context, only as a sample phrase) on Married With Children.
>>So what the hell does it mean?
>
>In the early 19th century, the boundary between the United States and
>Canada was not entirely defined. The most disputed section of the border
>was the northern part of what is now Washington State. The Canadians
>wanted the border to continue along the 49th parallel, but the Americans
>wanted our territory to jut north to about where Prince George, B.C.,
>now is. This fit the mountainous boundaries better, but was really just
>a rallying cry for jingoistic politicians. Specifically, their cry was
>"54 (degress) 40 (minutes) or fight", the lattitude of their desired
>border.
>
>President Pierce was elected in part on his promise to secure these
>advantageous borders, but when the Mexican war became imminent he compromised
>at the 49th parallel, and thus ensured that the Brits and Canadians
>would not strike from the North while we were busy invading Mexico.
>
Actually, I think the Brits sold Canada out, because we were really
entitled to the entire Columbia River basin...i.e. most of Washington
State...but I forget most of my history about why Britain caved in
the territorial dispute and sided with the Americans.
Gerald
Gregg Woodcock
|> a decent band), when Al Bundy used the phrase "54-40 or fight" (not
|> in context, only as a sample phrase) on Married With Children.
|>
|> So what the hell does it mean?
Well I'm going to need a little help but I can get the ball rolling.
The phrase "54' 40' or fight" was the battlecry of some PO'ed early
American settlers who were trying to take over the continent. The
"54" and "40" are degrees of Latitude and Longitude and the phrase
meant that if the Americans/British (don't know when this happened)
did not get the land concession, they were going to go to war to take
it. This may have even been part of the civil war; I'm not sure.
Maybe the folks in soc.history can help (or go ask your local history
teacher; I'm sure he'd know).
--
THANX...Gregg wood...@bnr.ca day 214.684.7380 night 214.530.2495
*CLASSIC VIDEOGAME COLLECTOR BUY/SELL/TRADE PRE-NINTENDO (ARCADE/HOME)*
"If you quote me on this I'll have to deny it; I won't remember because
I have such a bad memory. Not only that, but my memory is *terrible*."
mot...@watson.ibm.com
>A negotiated settlement was reached that established the border west of the
>Great Lakes at the 48th parallel.
Actually, they settled on the 49th parallel from the west side of Lake Superior to
the Strait of Georgia. There was a dispute about how the boundary should be drawn
out into the Strait, and eventually the parties settled on the current border which
gave the Gulf Islands to Canada (actually Britain) and the San Juan Islands to the
U.S.
> The Pig Wars resulted when a pig
>wandered over this negotiated border and was shot as a trespasser. This
>is the only war, as such, between the US and Canada, and occurred in Point
>Roberts, WA. Point Roberts is located on a peninsula that has its only
>land access through Canada.
>
This, in fact, was not the only war between the US and Canada. The war of 1812
was fought in Upper and Lower Canada (now Ontario and Quebec) over what were
euphamistically called border disputes, but in fact was the desire of the US
to expand into British Territory and keep the British in check.
________________________________________________________________________________
Muiz Motani
IBM Canada Lab mot...@vnet.ibm.com
Distributed System Products
Robert Thurlow
>In article AA2...@snowhite.cis.uoguelph.ca, ste...@snowhite.cis.uoguelph.ca (Steve Portigal) writes:
>>| I just always figured 54-40 was just some stupid band name (although
>>|a decent band), when Al Bundy used the phrase "54-40 or fight" (not
>>|in context, only as a sample phrase) on Married With Children.
>>|
>>|So what the hell does it mean?
>If I remember my US History correctly, 54-40 is the latitude used to
>separate the slave and the non-slave states pre-civil war. The slogan
>was the rallying cry of the southernerns. Like I said, my history
>knowledge is rarely tested, so I may be wrong.
I don't know what's worse, a Canadian who's a whole pint short of
history or an American who hasn't seen a globe recently enough to
have a wild-ass-guess as to where 54'40" might run. I'm awestruck.
Rob T
--
Rob Thurlow, thu...@convex.com
"Shouldn't I have this, shouldn't I have this, shouldn't I have all of this,
and, passionate kisses, passionate kisses, passionate kisses, from you?"
- "Passionate Kisses" Lucinda Williams
John Henders
>It would have been kind of nice to have Vancouver BC
>in the States though.
For you, maybe. ;-)
John Henders
Vancouver, BC.
--
John Henders " Only _my_ words are relevant to the issue "
jhen...@jonh.wimsey.bc.ca <1992May11.0...@rotag.mi.org>
T.K.O.O.C.C ke...@rotag.mi.org (Kevin Darcy)
Gregory Taylor
>I just always figured 54-40 was just some stupid band name (although
>a decent band), when Al Bundy used the phrase "54-40 or fight" (not
>in context, only as a sample phrase) on Married With Children.
My goodness. You are Knaydjen, not you are? The phrase refers to a
territorial dispute during ah...the late 19th century between your
baaad Canadian selves and little old us over the latitude at which
our northern border in the area of Warshinin and Briddish Klumbia
was to be drawn. It was such a heated argument that it produced a
slogan. Isn't history wonderful (perhaps I made this whole thing up)?
--
In the desert I prayed only for mercy, not happiness, not vindication,
willing to settle. No price can be too high, no cruelty excessive if the
end finds cruelty exhausted and mercy audible as a hammer's sound in rain.
Gregory Taylor/Heurikon Corporation/8310 Excelsior Drive/Madison WI 52717
Marc Gauthier
> I just always figured 54-40 was just some stupid band name (although
>a decent band), when Al Bundy used the phrase "54-40 or fight" (not
>in context, only as a sample phrase) on Married With Children.
>So what the hell does it mean?
i think it's the number of a particular government form.
Unimployment Insurance or Welfare, i think.
Marc
bill nelson
:
: wandered over this negotiated border and was shot as a trespasser. This
: is the only war, as such, between the US and Canada, and occurred in Point
: Roberts, WA. Point Roberts is located on a peninsula that has its only
: land access through Canada.
It does? Funny, I don't recall ever entering Canada when I drive up the
Olympic peninsula every spring.
Bill
David W Hatunen
Point Roberts isn't off the Olympic Peninsula. It hangs down from
the BC mainland. Check a map.
bill nelson
: Point Roberts isn't off the Olympic Peninsula. It hangs down from
: the BC mainland. Check a map.
Yeah - I was mistaken. I was thinking about a different place.
I wonder why the US government wanted to keep that square mile or
so of land, anyway.
Bill
Bruce Tindall
I can think of at least one such area, though it's bigger than a square
mile: the little wedge of land north of Lake of the Woods, Minnesota.
A foolproof bar bet is to ask which of the contiguous 48 states is the
northernmost. Everyone says "Maine," because the projection used for
many maps of the U.S. makes New England appear closer to the top of the
page than the rest of the country, but if you check the latitudes you'll
see that "Minnesota" is the correct answer.
--
The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
internet: laUNChpad.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80
Blake Owen
No, that's UB40 which is a UK unemployment insurance form of
some sort.
54-40 is the latitude at which some Americans wanted the US of A
to stop and British North America to begin. Contrary to what
some people have posted, the area in dispute is not a small
patch of land south of Vancouver. In fact, it's most of
Canada - I don't have a good map handy, but it looks like the
55th parallel is around Flin Flon, Manitoba.
'Fify-four-forty or Fight!' was the slogan used by the
proponents of this cause. Oddly enough, it was not a popular
phrase north of the border.
Blake
p.s. all this is from memory, and so is subject to error. However,
I'm sure that someone will fill in details or make corrections
as required. In the meantime, we return you to the regularly scheduled
music newsgroup.
--
R. B. Owen |
Mitel Corp. |
Kanata, Ontario |
ow...@Software.Mitel.COM |
Jason Hanson
If I am not mistaken, it is a reference line. Like 54 degrees 40 minutes
north. It was in one of the wars, perhaps Vietnam?
--
Jason Hanson | 915 W. Wisconsin Ave #1010 | (414) 288-2179
Marquette University | Milwaukee, WI 53233-2373 | Ham Radio: N9LEA/AA
-- ja...@studsys.mscs.mu.edu ==+== n9lea@n0ary.#nocal.ca.usa.na --
Steve Green
I believe that you're thinking of the band UB-40.
SJ "Only 5 feet from the new 54-40 CD" G
Tom Swiss (not Swift, not Suiss, Swiss!)
Old border dispute, I think between a US territory and Canada,
involving the line of latitude 54 deg 40 min N. Someone who knows more
history, help me out here...
===============================================================================
Tom Swiss/t...@cs.umd.edu | "Born to die" | Keep your laws off my brain!
"What's so funny 'bout peace, love and understanding?" - Nick Lowe
Keep your values off my family.
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be
violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported
by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be
searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
-- The Constitution of the United States of America
David W Hatunen
>
> I just always figured 54-40 was just some stupid band name (although
>a decent band), when Al Bundy used the phrase "54-40 or fight" (not
>in context, only as a sample phrase) on Married With Children.
>
>So what the hell does it mean?
>
>Steve
I am appalled by the abysmal ignorance of North American
history by both my fellow USA types and the Canadians.
(The original poster of this question appears to be an
Ontarian. I wonder how many BCers didn't know the answer.)
As to us *Americans* (that is, residents of the USA), I would
have thought that anyone with the intelligence to find their
way around Internet or Usenet would have the education to have
known of this episode in US history. Or to at least know
that it even was an event in US history, even if it had to be
looked up.
And the War of the Pig was one of those silly little bits
of history everyone should know about, (e.g., the War of
Jenkin's Ear).
Canadians frequently complain that Americans are ignorant
of Canada; hell, they're ignorant of the US.
Although, when I moved to Montreal from Louisville, a nice
Canadian woman wanted to know if, since I lived in Louisville,
did I get to visit LA very often?
bill nelson
: >It does? Funny, I don't recall ever entering Canada when I drive up the
: >Olympic peninsula every spring.
:
: Bill, Point Roberts is not on the Olympic Peninsula; you take I5 up thru
: Canada almost to the Fraser River and take 10 e to 17 s and once you hit
: 54-40 you are back in the usa again
Yeah - a number of others have corrected me. Funny what governments will
do, strictly as a matter of principle. There was no real reason to keep
that approximate 1 square mile of land - except that it extended south
of the parallel.
Bill
William VanHorne
>In the article (<C1Mqy...@electra.alb.gvc.com>) Marc Gauthier (ma...@electra.alb.gvc.com) posted to alt.folklore.urban:
>: In <930125203...@snowhite.cis.uoguelph.ca> ste...@snowhite.cis.uoguelph.ca (Steve Portigal) writes:
>
>: > I just always figured 54-40 was just some stupid band name (although
>: >a decent band), when Al Bundy used the phrase "54-40 or fight" (not
>: >in context, only as a sample phrase) on Married With Children.
>
>: Unimployment Insurance or Welfare, i think.
>
>
>In case you're wondering, Napoleon lost the war of 1812.
No, no, no. Napoleon lost the Thirty Years War. And his wallet. And his
virginity. All on the same night. This episode was, of course, the basis
for the STTNG song: "Da Doo Doo Doo".
>The proof is easy, just look at a map showing the border between the USA
>and Canada before and after the war. See. How could he have won.
Ok, I am now going to be truthful. "54-40 or fight" was a campaign slogan
for James K. Polk's presidential run. Polk promised to go to war with
England if they wouldn't give the US *all* of the Oregon Territory. At
least I think it was Polk. He also reneged on his promise once he was
in office and accepted the compromise US-Canada border.
---Bill "Did I say tax *cut*? Sorry" VanHorne
Anton J Aylward
"Those who do not studdy history are doomed to repeat it".
In case you're wondering, Napoleon lost the war of 1812.
The proof is easy, just look at a map showing the border between the USA
and Canada before and after the war. See. How could he have won.
--
Anton J Aylward
"The body politic is swerving from left to right and right to
left looking for quick fixes for systemic problems."
- Paul Palango, Journalist, ex The Globe and Mail
William John M. Christie
>Canadians frequently complain that Americans are ignorant
>of Canada; hell, they're ignorant of the US.
>Although, when I moved to Montreal from Louisville, a nice
>Canadian woman wanted to know if, since I lived in Louisville,
>did I get to visit LA very often?
It does go both ways. Admittedly I'm ignorant of the capitals of your
states (let alone I can't name all fifty of them). But a friend was
recently coming up to Winnipeg from Minneapolis and was telling her
friends there of the trip. One of them commented, "Winnipeg, Minnesota?
Where's that?" Obviously not a hockey fan.
We're only (roughly) in the middle of the continent after all.
Will Christie
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
--
==========================================================================
Any opinions expressed above are usually made with some thought which
is my own and is not intended to represent the University in any way.
==========================================================================
Brad Crafton
>>
>>i think it's the number of a particular government form.
>>Unimployment Insurance or Welfare, i think.
>
Nope. You're thinking of UB40.
--
-----
Brad Crafton bdcr...@descartes.UWaterloo.CA
3B Actuarial Science, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Dale R. Shaver
>>
>>i think it's the number of a particular government form.
>>Unimployment Insurance or Welfare, i think.
54'40" is a longitudinal (latitudinal? I always get those two mixed up)
line north of the equator. It was used as a demarcation line in a battle
or war or descrepancy in the U.S.'s past. The rallying cry was:
54'40" or fight !!
Sorry I cannot remember the exact incident, I'm sure some history whiz
can tell us...
--
--
Dale Shaver, Systems Engineer, Corporate Sales Phone: (800) 24-UNIFY
Unify Corporation, Sacramento, California Fax: (916) 928-6404
d...@unify.com or {{ucdavis,csun,lll-crg}!csusac,pyramid,sequent}!unify!dxs
Jonathan Papai
>54'40" is a longitudinal (latitudinal? I always get those two mixed up)
>line north of the equator. It was used as a demarcation line in a battle
>or war or descrepancy in the U.S.'s past. The rallying cry was:
>
> 54'40" or fight !!
>
>Sorry I cannot remember the exact incident, I'm sure some history whiz
>can tell us...
Please take this interminable geography thread out of
alt.folklore.urban to alt.repeat.the.same.answer.
The degree sign is a superscripted circle, the minute sign
is ' the second sign is " . 54'40" is somewhere 30 miles north
of the equator.
ObUL: The typical posting in this thread has all the
credibility of NBC Dateline.
Jon "Ever had deja-vu? Didn't you ask that yesterday?" Papai
Antony Cooper
>PA...@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Jonathan Papai) writes:
>:
>: The degree sign is a superscripted circle, the minute sign
>: is ' the second sign is " . 54'40" is somewhere 30 miles north
>: of the equator.
>Actually, 54 and 2/3rd miles north, or south, of the equator.
>Remember that one minute of latitude is equal to one nautical
>mile.
Yes. Of course, one must not confuse a mile as most people know them
(5280 feet, about 1609.33 metres), and a nautical mile (6080 feet,
about 1853.17 metres). Hence 54'40" is about 100.6889 kilometres
north or south of the Equator.
ObUL: The new datum in the United States for planimetric coordinates
(NAD 83) was defined in metres - when some States adopted it,
they redefined it in feet.
ObUL: What's a foot? Here in South Africa we have Cape feet, English feet,
legal feet and, presumably, feet without a prefix - and they are all
different lengths!
No wonder the SI system was deemed to be a jolly good thing.
ObUL: There is no third ObUL.
Antony "Not a surveyor" Cooper
--
Antony Cooper | Voice: +27 12 841 4121
aco...@nuustak.csir.co.za | Fax: +27 12 841 3037
INFOTEK, CSIR, Box 395, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa | ICBM: 25 45S 28 16E
Antony Cooper
>In article <acooper.729376587@nuustak> aco...@nuustak.csir.co.za (Antony Cooper) writes:
>>ObUL: What's a foot? Here in South Africa we have Cape feet, English feet,
>> legal feet and, presumably, feet without a prefix - and they are all
>> different lengths!
>What is the difference between them?
Here's the definitive answer, drawn from "Metric tables for property and
survey", by PT Koetsier, 1971:
1 British Foot = 1.00000810158 South African Geodetic Feet
1 Geodetic Cape Foot = 1.033 South African Geodetic Feet
1 Geodetic Cape Foot = 1.03299163114 British Feet
The British Foot is also known as the English Foot.
The Geodetic Cape Foot is also known as the Cape Foot.
Originally, the Cape Foot was used, derived from the Dutch measure, the
Rhynland Rood. However, because of isolation and the lack of a proper
standard, the measuring rods and tapes drifted from the original standard.
In the early 19th Century, the British introduced the English Foot, and
the relationship between the Cape Foot and the English Foot was established,
supposedly at 1000 Cape Feet = 1033 English Feet. Unfortunately, through
use of the legal metre as opposed to the international metre to define the
English Foot, this relationship was invalid, and what was then termed the
English Foot, was renamed the South African Geodetic Foot, and the true
relationship between all three was established.
Other exciting units of measurement were:
1 Morgen = 86 400 Cape Square Feet
1 Morgen = 600 Cape Square Roods
1 Acre = 43 560 English Square Feet
1 Acre = 4 Roods
1 Rood = 40 Perches
1 Chain = 66 English Feet
1 Chain = 100 links
So, 1 Rood equals about 1011.5 Square Metres, which in turn equals about
70.85 Cape Square Roods! Go figure ...
And some people think that metric is tricky.
Now, what's a foot in the USA?
Antony "Owner of four-and-a-half perches" Cooper
Diane Kelly
In article <1993Feb3.0...@analsyn.gts.org>,
an...@analsyn.gts.org (Anton J Aylward) writes:
|> Path:
|>
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s.net!usc.edu!cs.utexas.edu!torn!utzoo!telly!uunorth!anton
|> From: an...@analsyn.gts.org (Anton J Aylward)
|> Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.music.misc
|> Subject: Re: 54-40..what does their name mean?
|> Message-ID: <1993Feb3.0...@analsyn.gts.org>
|> Date: Tue, 2 Feb 93 22:09:32 EST
|> References: <C1Mqy...@electra.alb.gvc.com>
|> Reply-To: an...@lethe.gts.org
|> Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban,rec.music.misc
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|> X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]
|>
|> In the article (<C1Mqy...@electra.alb.gvc.com>) Marc Gauthier
|> (ma...@electra.alb.gvc.com) posted to alt.folklore.urban:
|> : In <930125203...@snowhite.cis.uoguelph.ca>
|> ste...@snowhite.cis.uoguelph.ca (Steve Portigal) writes:
|>
|> : > I just always figured 54-40 was just some stupid band name
|> (although
|> : >a decent band), when Al Bundy used the phrase "54-40 or fight"
|> (not
|> : >in context, only as a sample phrase) on Married With Children.
|>
|> : >So what the hell does it mean?
|>
|> : i think it's the number of a particular government form.
|> : Unimployment Insurance or Welfare, i think.
|>
I hope I've just come in late on this thread, and someone has already
posted the correct answer to this. The cry "54-40 or Fight" refers to
the conflict between the US and Canada over the northern border of the
Oregon Territory -- the British claimed that Canada extended as far
south as the northern edge of California (which was part of Mexico at
the time, thus effectively blocking the US off from the Pacific), while
the US claimed that the Oregon Territory was NOT part of Canada, and
extended as far north as 54 degrees 40 minutes latitude (roughly the
southern tip of Alaska, which at the time was Russian), therefore
cutting the Canucks off from the Pacific. Needless to say, a compromise
was finally worked out.
Jim Cambias
That History Dude
Misusing the Equipment
at Duke BIO
William Kaufman
] "Those who do not studdy history are doomed to repeat it".
"Those who flunk English are doomed to repeat it."
ObUL: Santayana flunked history in high school, prompting the quote.
-- Bill K.
Bill Kaufman, | "...all conscious species are plastic and
Corporate Lackey | all plastic species are conscious."
wkau...@us.oracle.com | -- Yew-Kwang Ng
Lee Crocker
>survey", by PT Koetsier, 1971:
>
>1 British Foot = 1.00000810158 South African Geodetic Feet
>1 Geodetic Cape Foot = 1.033 South African Geodetic Feet
>1 Geodetic Cape Foot = 1.03299163114 British Feet
...
>Now, what's a foot in the USA?
0.3048 international meters, exactly (the US Yard is 0.9144 m by definition).
ObUL: The metric system has been the US's "official" system of measurement
since 1896, despite the fact that it's not used by the common folk.
--
Lee Daniel Crocker | Free minds; free bodies; free trade.
le...@microsoft.com | Libertarian Party 1-800-682-1776
Bruce Tindall
>ObUL: The metric system has been the US's "official" system of measurement
>since 1896, despite the fact that it's not used by the common folk.
France adopted Paris Mean Time as its official standard of time in 1911,
and simultaneously decreed that Standard Time in France would be 9 minutes
and 21 seconds behind Paris Mean Time. Effectively this put France on
Greenwich Mean Time, but they were loath to adopt the British standard
explicitly, so they did it in this roundabout but patriotic way. Source:
Derek Howse, _Greenwich Time and the Discovery of the Longitude_ (Oxford
Univ. Press, 1980), p. 153.
Bruce "Are there any French people here? No? Good. Let's make
fun of them" Tindall (with apologies to Eddie Murphy)
teresa wise
Jonathan Papai
>In article <1993Feb3.0...@analsyn.gts.org> an...@lethe.gts.org writes:
>]
>] "Those who do not studdy history are doomed to repeat it".
>
"History never repeats itself. At best it sometimes rhymes" Mark Twain
> "Those who flunk English are doomed to repeat it."
Jon "Those who study British Constitutional law" Papai
Antony Cooper
>"54-40 or fight", wasn't that a campaign slogan? (from yonder years ago...)
A few weeks ago, I posted something that I called the "AFU Survival Guide".
In it, I mentioned the following:
> Don't post in your first five minutes of gaining access to the news
> groups. While you might know something about the subject under
> discussion, you don't know what was said about the subject yesterday,
> or the day before, or last week, or last month. For example, thanks to
> about a hundred Americans who responded to a Canadian query about the
> slogan "54 40 or fight", I now know about the dispute over the western
> reaches of the USA/Canada boundary - but unfortunately, the responses
> included about 20 disparate versions of the story. There are a few of
> us here who have been reading this group for a while, at least since
> last year, and it is amazing how often the same thread comes up over
> and over. Of course, this is why there is a FAQ.
Need I say anything more?
Antony
Lee Crocker
>
>> ObUL: The metric system has been the US's "official" system of measurement
>> since 1896, despite the fact that it's not used by the common folk.
>
>of America (except in the state of Hawaii, which joined after the law
>was passed).
Gee, that gives me a lot of confidence.
--
Lee Daniel Crocker /(o\ Free minds; free bodies; free trade.
le...@microsoft.com \o)/ Libertarian Party 1-800-682-1776