I wonder what January 29, 2020 will become? I’ve got a list of things that I need to do and a plan for the day. My expectation is that it will be a day with enough hooks in it to hang some excellent memories on. The Commission has decided that it’s National Puzzle Day, Curmudgeons Day, National Corn Chip Day and Freethinkers Day. I’ll take the freethinkers day with some corn chips and salsa on the side. This is the date in 1595 that William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet” is thought to have been first performed. In 1834 President Jackson orders first use of US troops to suppress a labor dispute. In 1845, Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “Raven” is published. In 1863 the Bear River Massacre takes place when American soldiers slaughter hundreds of Native Americans at the Bear River and Beaver Creek in present day Idaho. In 1879 the Custer Battlefield National Monument established in Montana. A few words about General Custer: He was an idiot. He attacked an an encampment of around 10,000 Indians with a force of 208 men. Nuff said. In 1892, the Coca-Cola Company is incorporated in Atlanta. In 1920 Walt Disney starts work as an artist with KC Slide Co for $40 a week. Walt said, “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” In 1936 the 1st players were elected to Baseball Hall of Fame: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson & Walter Johnson. In 1944 the USS Missouri, the last battleship commissioned by the US Navy, is launched. In 1964, the most lopsided high-school basketball score ever recorded is 211-29. The game was played in Louisiana but I don’t know the schools involved. Finally, 1964 “Dr Strangelove”, directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Peter Sellers and George C. Scott, premieres. This date is the birthday (1737) of Thomas Paine who said, “My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.” This is the last day (1933) that Sara Teasdale lived. She said, “I make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes.” That’s a poetic way of saying to let go of yesterdays. Good advice. With that, I’ll begin to live this new day. Abide
