July 21 2020 is here. A typical Florida day weather wise. Potential hurricane in the Atlantic. Continued chaos around the country. I wish it was National Sarcasm Day but it isn’t. That is on December 10th. I hope by then we’ve got a vaccine. In the mean time it’s Invite an Alien to Live with You Day, Legal Drinking Age Day, Take a Monkey to Lunch Day, National Tug-Of-War Tournament Day and Junk Food Day. This is a pretty weak list of celebratory events. My pick is junk food. Now to history. On this day in 1853 Central Park in New York created when New York State Legislature puts aside more than 750 acres of land on Manhattan Island. This is the day in 1865 In market square of Springfield, Missouri that Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first true western showdown. In 1925 on this day, John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution in the “Scopes monkey trial” in Dayton, Tennessee, fined $100 and costs. And, this is the day in 1962 that 160 civil right activists are jailed after protesting in Albany, Georgia. We can sing Happy Birthday (1899) to Ernest Hemingway today. He said, “There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self.” This is the day in 1967 that Basil Rathbone, British actor (Sherlock Holmes), dies of heart attack at 75. Basil said “As one grows older one becomes more critical of oneself and less of other people.” Both the cited quotes are in the “older but wiser” category. Now the quality of this day is up to you. Make it what you will. Abide.
