17 th August

1786 Davy Crockett was born. (See February 23rd entry on the Alamo.) 1892 Mae West was born.

1896 Gold was discovered in Klondike territory.

Not too many women have given their name to a distinctive garment. In the case of bloomers, they were named after the first person who wore them. In the case of the Mae West, the device named after the shape of the woman it resembles. The Mae West was an inflatable life preserver that was widely used during the Second World War. For reasons we needn’t go into the soldiers and seamen who wore them nicknamed them for

The raunchy blonde bombshell who had graced the silver screen since the 1930s. For Mae West, it was a lovely salute. born on this day in 1892—or thereabouts—in Brooklyn, New York, Mae West put more innuendo into a few words than anyone after her. “Come up and see me some time” always seemed steamier when delivered with West’s classic style.

There is a four-letter word that has inspired more hope in mankind and opened more new lands than any other. The word is gold. The search for gold started the settlement of California in 1849; of British Columbia in 1856; and of Alaska and the Yukon territories on this day in 1896. This was the day that George Carmack, Skookum Jim, and Tagish Charlie discovered gold on Bonanza Creek in the Canadian Klondike. Officials were barring fortune-hunters from crossing the border into Canada unless they had enough funds and provisions to stake themselves for a full year in the wilderness. But that didn’t stop the 100,000 adventurers who sought their fortunes during the next two years. Thanks to the Klondike gold rush, Alaska became an American territory. Some brave-hearted people still search for the pot of gold at the end of the Arctic rainbow. But the key word always has been that four-letter one—gold.