03.03.2024. I woke up to a spectacular thunderstorm this morning that rolled through around 5:30 AM. I’ve enjoyed the boomers since I was a boy on the plains of Kansas where the sound would roll on and on. Not so much fun for the 650,000 of our fellow citizens living on the streets. We, and by that, I mean society, should do something about that besides making it a crime to be poor without shelter. Moving on. Today is 22 Flavors Day, Canadian Bacon Day, Daughter’s and Son’s Day, I Want You To Be Happy Day (my pick), If Pets Had Thumbs Day, Namesake Day, National Cold Cuts Day, Peach Blossom Day, Talk In the Third Person Day, and World Wildlife Day. There’s more but that’s enough. Let’s find out what happened on March 3rd. On this day in 1634 the 1st tavern in Boston opened. In 1789 on this day the English ship Emilia harpooned the 1st whale in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America. On this day in 1815 the US declared war on Algiers for taking US prisoners and demanding tribute. This wasn’t a big war. We won. On this day in 1820 the Missouri Compromise passed which admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. This is the day in 1837 that congress recognized the Republic of Texas. In 1845 on this day, Florida became the 27th state. On this day in 1855 congress approved $30,000 to test camels for military use. On this day in 1861 Alexander II of Russia signed the Emancipation Manifesto freeing serfs and granting them full rights as free citizens. Surfs could not be sold as slaves. They were attached to the land and other than that, there wasn’t much difference. Since today is Chief Joseph (Nez Perce) birthday, I’ll use his observations to end this post. “It does not require many words to speak the truth.” “I do not believe that the Great Spirit Chief gave one kind of men the right to tell another kind of men what they must do.” “We gave up some of our country to the white men, thinking that then we could have peace. We were mistaken. The white man would not let us alone.” True enough. Abide.
