The name of this new day is March 9th, 2023. I’ve only got a limited number of days to live, and I want to celebrate each one. As I’ve aged, my preceptive has changed from “limitless” to “limited”. It’s easy to take each day for granted but I’m doing my best not to get stuck in that rut. Today is special. It’s Bang Clang Day which commemorates the Battle of Hampton Roads in the Civil War when two ironclad ships (the Monitor and the Merrimack) fought. It’s also Barbie Day, False Teeth Day, Get Over It Day, Nametag Day, National Crabmeat Day, National Meatball Day, Panic Day, and Popcorn Lovers Day. Now the history of this day: On this day in 1562 to reduce the spread of the plague, kissing was banned in Naples and was punishable by death. On this day in 1776 Adam Smith published “The Wealth of Nations”. On this day in 1822 Charles Graham of NY was granted the 1st US patent for artificial teeth. In 1834 on this day the French Foreign Legion was founded. On this day in 1907 the 1st involuntary sterilization law was enacted in Indiana. This is the day in 1933 that FDR called the Congress into special session and began the “100 days” in which 15 bills were passed to end the Great Depression. On this day in 1945, 334 B-29 attacked Tokyo with 120,000 firebombs. This is the day in 1959 that Barbie made her debut at the American Toy Fair in NYC. In 1964 on this day the Ford Mustang first rolled off the assembly line. The dead person for today is George Burns. George said, “There’s an old saying, ‘life begins at forty.’ That’s silly. Life begins every morning you wake up.” “Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busty driving taxicabs and cutting hair.” “I look to the future because that’s where I’m going to spend the rest of my life.” “If you live to be one hundred, you’ve got it made. Very few people die past that age.” I’ll end with “I don’t worry about getting old. I’m old already. Only young people worry about getting old.” George was a smart guy. Abide.
