The Earth has now entered the time space of March 6, 2024. Mankind lives on a small blue marble of a planet orbiting a small sun on the edge of one of 200 billion galaxies. We may be small in stature, but we are not insignificant. We are conscious. We are alive. We can think. So far, we’ve found nothing like us anywhere in the universe. Today is Alamo Day Day of the Dude (obviously I will celebrate), Dentist Day, Discover What Your Name Means Day, National Day of Unplugging, National Dress Day, National Oreo Cookie Day, National White Chocolate Cheesecake Day, and Stop Bad Service Day. This seems to be a slow history day so I’ll start with 1808 when the 1st college orchestra in the US was founded at Harvard. On this day in 1816 Jews were expelled from the city of Lubeck, Germany. On this day in 1831 Edgar Allan Poe was court martialed and dismissed from West Point for gross neglect of duty and disobedience of orders. This is the day in 1836 that the battle at the Alamo ended with the death of 257 Texans. On this day in 1857 the Dred Scott Decision was handed down by the Supreme Court which ruled that Africans cannot be US citizens. Not the Court’s finest day. This is the day in 1899 that Bayer patented Aspirin. On this day in 1933 Eleanor Roosevelt became the 1st First Lady to hold a press conference at the White House. She is hands down my favorite First Lady and has by far the best quotes. On this day in 1945 George Nissen of Cedar Rapids, Iowa received a patent for the trampoline. This is the day in 1964 that Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali. Today’s dead person is Pulitzer Prize winning author Pearl S. Buck. Pearl said, “The test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members.” “Exclusion is always dangerous. Inclusion is the only safety if we are to have a peaceful world.” “We learn as much from sorrow as from joy, as much from illness as from health, from handicap as from advantage and indeed perhaps more.” “What the common man cannot understand he hates.” “Perhaps one has to be very old before one learns to be amused rather than shocked.” That’s a good one to end on. Abide.
