It is now the 4th day of December 2023. Carpe Diem! As a reminder, we’re flying through space on a rocky ball with a thin atmosphere at nearly 500,000 miles an hour. We have found no proof that life exists anywhere else in the universe. Earth seems to be the only place humans will ever call home. We should take better care of it. I’ll get off my soap box now. Today is Cabernet Franc Day, International Cheetah Day, National Cookie Day, National Dice Day, National Sock Day, Santa’s List Day, Walt Disney Day, Wear Brown Shoes Day, and World Wildlife Conservation Day. Cookies are good! Now some history: On this day in 1619 38 colonists from England arrive in what is now Virginia and give thanks. This is considered the 1st Thanksgiving in the Americas. On this day in 1783 General Washington bid his officers farewell at Faunce’s Tavern in NYC which is still in operation today. On this day in 1829 the British outlawed “suttee” in India which is the Hindu practice of the widow burning herself to death on the husband’s funeral pyre. On this day in 1930 the Vatican approved the rhythm method for birth control. On this day in 1941 a Nazi ordinance placed the Jews of Poland outside the protection of the courts. On this day in 1943 all MLB Clubs were given permission to sign black players. On this day in 1954 the first Burger King was opened in Miami. On this day in 1961 the first female contraceptive pill became available in England. On this day in 1990 the price of gas in NYC reached $1.60 per gallon ($3.76 in 2023 dollars) due to the Persian Gulf crisis. Today’s dead person is the English philosopher, Thomas Hobbes who died on this day in 1679 at the age of 91. He said, “Life in the state of nature is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” “If nobody makes you do it, it counts as fun.” “Religions are like pills, which must be swallowed whole without chewing.” “It’s not the pace of life I mind. It’s the sudden stop at the end.” “Do not that to another, which thou wouldst not have done to thyself.” Abide.
