Today is Easter Sunday, April 9th, 2023. I have no idea how chocolate bunnies and the crucifixion of Jesus got together but it has, and I do like chocolate, so I’m fine with it. Besides being Easter, this is Jenkin’s Ear Day (more about that when we get to history), National Baked Ham and Pineapple Day, National Cherish an Antique Day, National chicken Little Awareness Day, National Chinese Almond Cookie Day, National Name Yourself Day, National Winston Churchill Day, and my pick, National Gin and Tonic Day. Now let’s get to Jenkin’s Ear Day. On this day in 1731 the Spanish Coast Guard attacked, boarded, and pillaged a British ship captained by Robert Jenkins. For some reason not known, they cut off Jenkin’s ear. He returned to England with his ear in a jar and England promptly declared war on Spain. On this day in 1784 England ratifies the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War. On this day in 1864 the battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana took place. 3,100 people died. On this day in 1865 General Robert E. Lee and 26,765 troops surrendered at the Appomattox Court House. On this day in 1923 the US Supreme Court, in the case of Adkins vs. Children’s Hospital found that the minimum wage for women and children adopted by the District of Columbia was unconstitutional. In 1939 on this day Marian Anderson sung before 75,000 at the Lincoln Memorial. This event was organized after Marian was denied permission to sing to an integrated audience in Constitutional Hall. We will start the quote section of this post with Frank Lloyd Wright who said, “The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.” Next is Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was a German minister and anti-Nazi who was executed in 1945. He said, “The biggest mistake you can make in your life is to be always afraid of making a mistake.” I’ll end with the singer, songwriter Phil Ochs who said, “So good to be alive when the eulogies are read” and “Show me a prison, Show me a jail, Show me the prisoner whose life has gone stale. And I’ll show you a young man with so many reasons why. And there, but for fortune, go you and I.” Happy Easter. Abide.
