It is now November 16, 2021. By the power vested in me (?), I hereby declare today as National Cyanobacteria Appreciation Day. Why? You ask. Around 3 billion years ago Cyanobacteria, which is a blue/green bacterium began to grow on earth. It used photosynthesis to convert sunlight into water and carbon dioxide with oxygen being the by product. So? Why should we celebrate them? You ask. Because without them, Earth would not have an oxygen rich atmosphere and we wouldn’t be here. That’s a good enough reason to give Cyanobacteria an appreciation day. It’s also National Button Day, National Fast-Food Day, Have a Party With Your Bear Day (Teddy), National Check Your Wipers Day and International Day for Tolerance. Now the history: On this day in 1676, the 1st colonial prison was organized in Nantucket, Massachusetts. This is the day in 1824 that New York City’s Fifth Avenue opened for business. In 1894, 6,000 Armenians were massacred by Turks in Kurdistan. The Kurds haven’t forgotten this event. In 1901 Booker T. Washington and his family were invited to dine at the White House with Teddy and Edith Roosevelt, prompting condemnation from the South. This is the day in 1969 that the Mỹ Lai massacre of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians by US soldiers was first reported. This is Chinua Achebe’s birthday. Born in 1930, he was a Nigerian poet, author, and critic. These two quotes are interesting: “If you have leaders who are prepared to incite group against group, it is very easy to manufacture reasons and excuses” and “While we do our good works let us not forget that the real solution lies in a world in which charity will have become unnecessary.” Since I’ve verd off into political quotes, I’ll end with one from Charles Maurras who was a French poet who died in 1952. Charles said, “For a monarchy to work, one man must be wise. For a democracy to work, a majority of the people must be wise. Which is more likely?” Good question. Abide.
