The rock we live on has now reached the 1.6 million miles of our perpetual journey through space designated as March 11, 2021. We don’t speed up, we don’t slow down, we just keep spinning further into the void. Pretty awesome. But, on this day the Commission has decided it’s Debunking Day (should be every day), Dream Day, Johnny Appleseed Day, Oatmeal Nut Waffles Day and Popcorn Lover’s Day. Since we swim in an ocean of false claims, half truths and outright lies, I’m going with Debunking Day. It would be helpful if we all had the same set of facts. Moving on. On this day in 1669 Mt Etna in Sicily erupted killing 15,000. This is the date of the Great Blizzard of 1888. It was one of the worst storms in American History killing over 400 people. It produced 50 foot snow drifts in some places. It was also referred to as “Great White Hurricane”. In 1869 The West first learned of the Giant Panda from a French missionary who received a skin from a hunter. On this day in 1918 US Army mess cook Private Albert Gitchell of Fort Riley, Kansas was the first documented case of Spanish flu which killed over 50 million people. In 1968 Otis Redding was the first person to posthumously receive a gold record for his single “Sittin’ On the Dock of the Bay”. I looked at the people who were born on this day and died on this day. I didn’t find anyone quotable. I did find someone who is interesting. Victor Lustig died on this day in 1947. He was a con artist from Austria-Hungary. A career criminal who ran scams across Europe and the United States during the early 20th century. Lustig is famous for being “the man who sold the Eiffel Tower twice”. You can Google his name and read about some of his adventures. I’d like to spend an afternoon with him. Have an excellent day. Abide.
