It became July 29, 2023, at midnight last night. It will slip into history at midnight tonight. What are you going to do with the 18 or so hours of this day you have left? I’ll play pool, shop, read, cook, eat, nap, watch some TV and sleep. I love being retired. Today is International Tiger Day, National Chicken Wing Day, Rain Day, National Lipstick Day, and National Lasagna Day. On this day in 1279 Kublai Khan had sent 5 emissaries from his Mongol Yuan dynasty to Japan with a letter to the Japanese Emperor threatening to use force. The 5 emissaries, upon their arrival in Japan, were promptly beheaded. On this day in 1609 Samuel de Champlain shot and killed two Iroquois chiefs at Ticonderoga, NY starting the French-Iroquois conflict that lasted for the next 150 years. On this day in 1905 US Secretary of War, William Howard Raft made a secret agreement with the Japanese Prime Minister Katsura giving Japan free rein in Korea in return for non-interference with the US in the Philippines. On this day in 1907 sir Robert Baden-Powell formed the Boy Scouts of England. On this day in 1927 the 1st iron lung was installed in Bellevue hospital, NY. On this day in 1954 the “Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien was published. On this day in 1970 a 6-day race riot in Hartford, Connecticut began. On this day in 1987 Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream reach agreement with Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead for a new ice cream flavor named “Cherry Garcia”. It’s one of those bad quote days so I’m going to plan B: Plato. He was a Greek philosopher who died in 348 BC. Plato said, “Reality is created by the mind, we can change our reality by changing our mind.” “The right question is usually more important than the right answer.” “Be kind. Every person you meet is fighting a difficult battle.” “Don’t force your children into your ways, for they were created for a time different from your own.” “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and this is that I know nothing.” I’ll end with “Ignorance is the root cause of all difficulties.” Yep. Abide.
