December has arrived. It’s the first day. Carpe Diem! I’ll start with an odd fact I just picked up. Tom Hanks’ favorite Christmas movie is “All Quite on The Western Front”. I’m going to have to add that one to my required watching list. December is the best month of the year for traditions. Christmas is nothing more than an expectation right now. We’ve got today and it is Bartender Appreciation Day (I celebrate often), Day With Art Day, Eat a Red Apple Day, Faux Fur Friday, National Christmas Lights Day, National Pie Day, Rosa Parks Day, and Wear a Dress Day. It’s also Write a Friend Month. Might be a good idea. Now the history of today: On this day in 1742 Empress Elisabeth ordered the expulsion of all Jews from Russia. On this day in 1884 near Frisco, New Mexico, deputy sheriff Elfego Baca held off a gang of 80 Texas cowboys who want to kill him for arresting Charles McCarthy. Search on “Elfego Baca” and read his Wikipedia page. Should have made a movie about him. On this day in 1913 the 1st drive-up gasoline station opened in Pittsburgh. On this same day, Ford Motor Company started the world’s 1st moving assembly line for the Model T Ford. On this day in 1934 Leningrad’s mayor, Sergey Kirov was assassinated. Stalin used the event as an excuse to begin his Great Purge of 1934 to 1939 which cost 1.2 million people their lives. On this day in 1939 Himmler began the deportation of Polish Jews. Whild Germany’s Jewish population was less than 1%, Poland’s Jewish population was 10%. This is the day in 1953 when Hugh Hefner published the 1st edition of Playboy which featured Marilyn Monroe as the centerfold. Today we celebrate American writer, poet and social activist James A. Baldwin. James said, “I can’t believe what you say, because I see what you do.” “One cannot deny the humanity of another without diminishing one’s own.” “You’ve got to tell the world how to treat you. If the world tells you how you are going to be treated, you are in trouble.” “You cannot fix what you will not face.” “The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose.” That last quote is a profound statement. Enough for today. Abide.
