It is now January 27, 2021. The weather forecast is that it will hit a high of 81 degrees at 3 pm. Who could ask for more? New York will hit 41 degrees and Detroit will reach 31 degrees. You get the idea. Warm is better than cold. Appreciation and gratitude is a good way to start the day. Let’s see what the Commission has come up with for today: It’s National Geographic Day, Auschwitz Liberation Day, Thomas Crapper Day (no, he didn’t invent the flush toilet), Vietnam Peace Day and National Chocolate Cake Day which is my pick for today. Now to history. In 1591 Scottish schoolmaster Dr. John Fian was burned for witchcraft by King James VI. This is part of the Berwick witch trials. I looked up the Berwick trials. 70 people, mostly women were charged, tortured and usually burned at the stake. Wow. On this day in 1825 Congress approved the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for the forced relocation of the Eastern Indian tribes now called the “Trail of Tears. “In 1888, the National Geographic Society was founded in Washington, D.C. In 1944, the Siege of Leningrad was lifted after 880 days and more than 2 million Russians killed. In 1956 “Heartbreak Hotel” single released by Elvis Presley is his first million-selling single. Elvis said, “I never expected to be anybody important.” Today is Samuel Gompers birthday. We was the labor leader who founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL). He said, “Do I believe in arbitration? I do. But not in arbitration between the lion and the lamb, in which the lamb is in the morning found inside the lion.” This is the day that the folk singer Pete Seeger died in 2014. Pete said, “Do you know the difference between education and experience? Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don’t.” He also said, “I don’t believe the world will survive with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer – I think that the pressures will get so tremendous that the social contract will just come apart.” Something to think about. That’s it for this once in a lifetime event, January 27, 2021. Abide.
