Chance favors the prepared mind.
Louis Pasteur
In case you haven’t noticed, let me be the first to point it out for you: This year is winding down with ever-increasing speed. Soon enough, we will all be sucked in to the vortex that will deposit us in 2007. I have no idea what any year holds for us but personally, I would have chosen a year other than 2007, though I can’t quite figure out which one. It is somewhat disappointing that the twenty-first century seems to be barely living up to its potential, and it had such great promise, didn’t it? I’m fairly certain that I would go with something twentieth century, which is one of my favorite centuries, although I must confess a fondness for the seventeenth as well.
Boies Penrose was born on the 1st in 1860. As an adult, he would serve in the United States Senate from 1897 until his death on December 31, 1921. His contribution to Public Service can best be summed up in the following quote, delivered in a speech Penrose gave in 1896: “I believe in the division of labor. You send us to Congress; we pass laws under which you make money…and out of your profits, you further contribute to our campaign funds to send us back again to pass more laws to enable you to make more money.” It is unnecessary to mention that Penrose was a Republican.
Radio station KDKA, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was the first licensed commercial radio station. On the 2nd in 1920, the station began its life by broadcasting the results of that year’s Presidential elections. Warren G. Harding decisively beat Franklin D. Roosevelt with a score of 404 electoral votes for Harding and 127 for FDR.
On the 4th in 1825, the Erie Canal was officially completed. New York Governor DeWitt Clinton officiated at the Wedding of the Waters ceremony during which he poured water from Lake Erie in to the water of New York Harbor. It is unusual that they held a wedding ceremony because the Erie Canal can’t really be said to be straight.
The next item has been a favorite of mine ever since John Lennon asked the question “Do you remember the fifth of November.” On the 5th, in 1605, England’s King James I was scheduled to address both houses of Parliament during the opening session of the 1605 parliament. Guy Fawkes was arrested when he was found in the basement with lots of gunpowder, preparing to assassinate James I and give the British another holiday – Guy Fawkes Day.
The London Gazette, the oldest surviving English newspaper began publication on the 7th in 1665. It began life as the Oxford Gazette because King Charles II had left London and fled to Oxford to escape the ravages of the plaque. The publication date is vouched for by no less an authority than Samuel Pepys in his diary.
In 1869, Sir Henry Morton Stanley was hired by the New York Herald to locate Scottish explorer David Livingston. On the 10th in 1871, he finally found Livingston near Lake Tanganyika and uttered the very famous line “Dr. Livingston, I presume.” Contrary to what the Moody Blues say, there is no evidence to suggest that Livingston responded by saying that I’ve seen butterflies galore, I’ve seen people big and small and I’ve still not found what I’m looking for.
On the 14th in 1889, journalist Nellie Bly, having been inspired by Jules Verne’s book Around the World in 80 Days, left Hoboken, New Jersey and began a trip that she and her sponsors hoped would either meet or beat Verne’s time. She arrived, to great fanfare, back in New York 72 days, 6 hours, eleven minutes and fourteen seconds later. Not that anyone was watching the clock or anything like that.
I opted out of the entire political process thirty years ago. Why, are you lazy or just irresponsible? That is a very good question. My answer is simple: I choose to not participate in what I see as an empty, futile gesture. I offer the following as one event, which serves as a good illustration of how politics really works. On the 20th in 1407, John, Duke of Berry brokered a truce between John, Duke of Burgundy and Louis of Valois, Duke of Orleans. It seems that John and Louis had been at odds for quite some time, both attempting to fill a power vacuum, which had developed because King Charles VI was clearly out of his mind. The two never learned how pleasant it could be to share and neither was able to simply shake hands and make nice. Three days after entering into this solemn truce, John had Louis assassinated.
