Today is April 25th, 2021. The Commission has too many Days today. Here are some of them: Independent Bookstore Day, National Crayola Day, DNA Day, East Meets West Day, National Plumbers Day, Red Hat Society Day and my pick, National Zucchini Bread Day. I didn’t leave out the best ones. Now to history: This day in 1544 is when the last Ming Emperor, Chongzhen hanged himself from a tree rather than be captured by forces of Li Zicheng. On this day in 1792 the guillotine is first used in France when highwayman Nicolas Pelletier is executed. In 1901, New York became the 1st state requiring automobile license plates. The price? $1. On this day in 1928 Buddy, a German Shepherd, became the 1st guide dog for a US citizen (Morris Frank). In 1945 on this day Soviet forces completed their encirclement of Berlin, cutting off all access points to the German capital. Finally, on this day in 1983 Yuri Andropov invited US schoolgirl Samantha Smith to the Soviet Union. Samantha had written a letter to Andropov in December asking him if the Soviets were planning to start a nuclear war. Big deal at the time. Today is Edward R. Morrow’s birthday. He was one of the people we listened to when I was young. Edward said, “Anyone who isn’t confused really doesn’t understand the situation.” Slogans and simple solutions can’t solve complex problems (my words). This is the day that the Boston Celtic star John Havlicek died. John said, “If you are honest with yourself and can look into a mirror and believe that you have given 100 percent, you should feel proud. If you cannot, then there is more work to be done.” That applies to a lot of things in life besides sports. Enough for this day. The rest of April 25th is up to you. Abide.
