This day’s name is February 3, 2024. This morning I reminded myself of the benefits of adversity. We learn more from our failures than we do from our successes. We develop our character by overcoming problems. Maybe dark clouds do have a silver lining. Today’s holidays are American Painter Day, Barber Day, Doggy Date Night, Elmo’s Birthday, Feed the Birds Day, Ice Cream for Breakfast Day, National Carrot Cake Day, National Play Outside Day, Take a Cruise Day, and The Day the Music Died. Now lets look for some interesting historical footnotes. On this day in 1740 the King of Naples invited the Jews to return to Sicily. On this day in 1743 the City of Philadelphia established a “pesthouse” to quarantine immigrants. On this day in 1876 Albert Spalding invested $800 to start a sporting goods company to manufacture baseballs, tennis balls, basketballs, golf balls and footballs. On this day in 1941 the US Supreme Court upheld the Federal Wage & Hour Law which set minimum wages and maximum hours. This is the day that a plane crash killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper near Clear Lake Iowa. In 1962 on this day President John f. Kennedy banned all trade with Cuba except for food and drugs. That was 62 years ago. On this day in 1994, President Bill Clinton lifted the US trade embargo on Vietnam. Today’s dead person is Woodrow Wilson who served as President from 1913 to 1921. He is the only President to have a PhD (History and Political Science). He said, “If you want to make enemies, try to change something.” “The government, which was designed for the people, has got into the hands of the bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy.” “We are citizens of the world. The tragedy of our times is that we don not know this.” I’ll end where I started, “The only use of an obstacle is to be overcome. All that an obstacle does with brave men is, not to frighten them, but to challenge them.” After having read a few dozen of Woodrow’s quotes, there seems to have been little change in our political system in the last 100 years. Abide.
