October 19, 2023, is here. We’ve been waiting several billion years to reach this point in time space as we orbit the outer edges of the Milky Way. A few hundred years ago you could be burned at the stake as a heretic for suggesting that the earth wasn’t the center of the galaxy. I’d like to say that we’ve come a long way since then but it’s only a few baby steps. I will continue to ignore the chaos and focus on enjoying the present. Today is Conflict Resolution Day, Dress Like a Dork Day, Evaluate Your Life Day, International Gin and Tonic Day, National Seafood Bisque Day, New Friends Day, Rainforest Day, and Wear Purple for Domestic Violence Awareness Day. Several good events in that list. Now some history of this date: On this day in 1298 one of the Rindfleisch Persecutions took place in Heilbron, German when 140 Jews were murdered by a mob lead by a German Knight named Rindfleisch who went from town to town (140 towns in Germany) rallying mobs to kill the Jewish neighbors. Why? Because Jews were rumored to have desecrated the Host (profanity spoken over the wafer used in the Eucharist) in Paris in 1290. On this day in 1596 the Spanish galleon San Felipe was shipwrecked in Urado on the Japanses island of Shikoku. On board the ship were 26 Catholic missionaries who were promptly crucified. They are known as the 26 Martyrs of Japan. This is the ay in 1792 that General Cornwallis signed the terms of surrender at Yorktown ending the US Revolutionary War. This is the day in 1745 that the Irish satirist and author, Jonathan Swift died at the age of 77. I will use him for today’s quotes: “You should never be ashamed to admit you have been wrong. It only proves you are wiser today than yesterday.” “Every day is an opportunity to make a new happy ending.” “We have enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.” “Every man desires to live long, but no man wishes to be old.” “There’s none so blind as they that won’t see.” “Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches as to conceive how others can be in want.” Good one to end on. Abide.
