The Thing About Today – April 25

April 25, 2020April 24, 2020 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 25, 2020
Day 116 of 366

April 25th is the 116th day of the year. It is Parental Alienation Awareness Day, which brings awareness to the process of a child becoming estranged from a parent as the result of the psychological manipulation of another parent.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Hug a Plumber Day, National Telephone Day, National Zucchini Bread Day, National Kiss of Hope Day, National Pool Opening Day, National Rebuilding Day, and National Sense of Smell Day. The last four are all typically observed on the last Saturday in April.

Historical items of note:

In 1792, highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier became the first person executed by guillotine.
Also in 1792, “La Marseillaise” was composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle. It is the national anthem of France, and was composed after the declaration of war by France against Austria. The original title was “Chant de guerre pour l’Armée du Rhin” (“War Song for the Army of the Rhine”).
In 1859, British and French engineers broke ground for the Suez Canal.
In 1900, Austrian-Swiss-American physicist, academic, and Nobel Prize laureate Wolfgang Pauli was born.
In 1901, New York became the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates.
In 1908, journalist Edward R. Murrow was born.
In 1917, singer Ella Fitzgerald was born.
In 1945, the last German troops retreated from Finland’s soil in Lapland, thus ending the Lapland War and all military acts of World War II in Finland.
In 1946, actress Talia Shire was born.
In 1954, the first practical solar cell was publicly demonstrated by Bell Telephone Laboratories.
In 1959, the Saint Lawrence Seaway officially opened to shipping traffic, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean.
In 1960, the United States Navy submarine USS Triton (SSRN-586) completed the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.
In 1961, Robert Noyce was granted a patent for an integrated circuit.
In 1964, actor, voice artist, comedian, and producer Hank Azaria was born.
In 1965, puppeteer and voice actor John Henson was born.
In 1969, actress and producer Renée Zellweger was born.
Also in 1969, actress Gina Torres was born.
In 1983, Pioneer 10 traveled beyond Pluto’s orbit.

Today was a big day in history, so I’m highlighting two events that I found interesting.

In 1945, United States and Soviet troops met in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two.

The first contact between American and Soviet patrols occurred near Strehla, after First Lieutenant Albert Kotzebue, an American soldier, crossed the River Elbe in a boat with three men of an intelligence and reconnaissance platoon. On the east bank, they met forward elements of a Soviet Guards rifle regiment of the First Ukrainian Front, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Gardiev.

The same day, another patrol under Second Lieutenant William Robertson with Frank Huff, James McDonnell and Paul Staub met a Soviet patrol commanded by Lieutenant Alexander Silvashko on the destroyed Elbe bridge of Torgau. The commanders of the 69th Infantry Division of the First Army and the 58th Guards Rifle Division of the 5th Guards Army met at Torgau, southwest of Berlin. They celebrated with the formal “Handshake of Torgau” between Robertson and Silvashko in front of photographers the following day.

The Soviet, American, and British governments released simultaneous statements that evening in London, Moscow, and Washington, reaffirming the determination of the three Allied powers to complete the destruction of the Third Reich. Known as Elbe Day and East Meets West Day, this event marked an important step toward the end of World War II. Elbe Day has never been an official holiday in any country, but in the years since 1945 the memory of this friendly encounter gained new significance in the context of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.

In 1953, James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin and colleagues published “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid” describing the double helix structure of DNA.

In the United States, DNA Day was first celebrated on April 25, 2003. The proclamation of both the Senate and the House of Representatives only declared a one-time celebration, so for every year going forward, annual DNA Day celebrations were organized by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI).

April 25 has since been declared “International DNA Day” and “World DNA Day” by several groups.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

The Thing About Today – April 24

April 24, 2020April 23, 2020 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 24, 2020
Day 115 of 366

April 24th is the 115th day of the year. It is Fashion Revolution Day, a not-for-profit global movement that campaigns for systemic reform of the fashion industry with a focus on the need for greater transparency in the fashion supply chain.

It is also Arbor Day in the United States, which is typically observed on the last Friday of April.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Pigs in a Blanket Day, National Teach Children To Save Day (which changes annually), National Arbor Day, and National Hairball Awareness Day (which is typically observed on the last Friday in April).

Historical items of note:

In 1183 BC, today marked the Fall of Troy (by traditional reckoning), which incurred the end of the legendary Trojan War. The date was given by the chief librarian of the Library of Alexandria, Eratosthenes of Cyrene, among others.
In 1800, the United States Library of Congress was established when President John Adams signed legislation to appropriate $5,000 for the purchase of “such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress”.
In 1885, the American sharpshooter Annie Oakley is hired by Nate Salsbury to be a part of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.
In 1914, the Franck–Hertz experiment was presented to the German Physical Society. This pillar of quantum mechanics was the first electrical measurement to clearly show the quantum nature of atoms.
In 1930, actor, director, and producer Richard Donner was born.
In 1933, Nazi Germany began its persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses by shutting down the Watch Tower Society office in Magdeburg.
In 1934, actress, singer, and dancer Shirley MacLaine was born.
In 1942, singer, actress, activist, and producer Barbra Streisand was born.
In 1964, actor Djimon Hounsou was born.
In 1967, Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov died in Soyuz 1 when the craft’s parachute failed to open. He became the first human to die during a space mission.
In 1968, actress Stacy Haiduk was born.
In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched from the Space Shuttle Discovery during mission STS-31.

This year, April 24th is Arbor Day in the United States.

Arbor Day is a holiday on which people are encouraged to learn about and plant trees.

The first documented Arbor Day in the world was held in the Spanish village of Mondoñedo in 1594. The place remains today as Alameda de los Remedios, and it is still planted with lime and horse-chestnut trees. A humble granite marker and a bronze plate commemorate the event.

In 1805, the Spanish village of Villanueva de la Sierra held the first modern Arbor Day. The first American Arbor Day was in Nebraska City, Nebraska as organized by J. Sterling Morton on April 10, 1872, during which an estimated one million trees were planted.

The idea was globalized when Birdsey Northrop of Connecticut visited Japan in 1883 and delivered his Arbor Day and Village Improvement message. In that same year, the American Forestry Association made Northrop the Chairman of the committee to campaign for Arbor Day nationwide. He also brought his enthusiasm for Arbor Day to Australia, Canada, and Europe.

After lobbying efforts, President Theodore Roosevelt issued an “Arbor Day Proclamation to the School Children of the United States” on April 15, 1907. The proclamation concerned the importance of trees and that forestry deserved to be taught in United States schools.

Arbor Day is also celebrated around the world and across the various states in the country, many of them on different days. Despite the difference in dates, the concept has made a significant impact on the world.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

The Thing About Today – April 23

April 23, 2020April 22, 2020 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 23, 2020
Day 114 of 366

April 23rd is the 114th day of the year. It is National Sovereignty and Children’s Day in Turkey and Northern Cyprus, commemorating the foundation of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on this date in 1920.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Cherry Cheesecake Day, National Lost Dogs Awareness Day, National Picnic Day, National Take a Chance Day, National Talk Like Shakespeare Day, National Poem In Your Pocket Day (of which the date changes annually), and National Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day (typically observed on the fourth Thursday in April).

Historical items of note:

In 1343, St. George’s Night Uprising commenced in the Duchy of Estonia.
In 1348, the founding of the Order of the Garter by King Edward III was announced on St. George’s Day. (That’s today!)
In 1635, the Boston Latin School was founded in Boston, eventually recognized as the first public school in the United States (even though it was established before the country, but whatever).
In 1858, German physicist Max Planck was born.
In 1928, actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat Shirley Temple was born. She was Hollywood’s number one box-office draw as a child actress from 1935 to 1938. In adulthood, she was named United States ambassador to Ghana and to Czechoslovakia, and also served as Chief of Protocol of the United States.
In 1930, actor Alan Oppenheimer was born.
In 1936, singer-songwriter Roy Orbison was born.
In 1939, actor Lee Majors was born.
In 1977, English comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter John Oliver was born.
Also in 1977, actor, comedian, and civil servant Kal Penn was born.
In 1985, Coca-Cola changed its formula and released New Coke. Universally recognized as (potentially) the worst decision in the history of mankind, the response was overwhelmingly negative. The original formula was back on the market in less than three months.
In 2005, the first-ever YouTube video was published. It was “Me at the zoo” by user “jawed”.

April 23rd is World Book Day. It is also also known as World Book and Copyright Day and International Day of the Book, and it is organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to promote reading, publishing, and copyright.

The idea is credited to Valencian writer Vicente Clavel Andrés. He wanted to honor Miguel de Cervantes, best know for Don Quixote, on his birthdate (October 7th) and his death date (April 23). In 1995, UNESCO chose April 23rd, which is also the anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega.

A bit of historical trivia: Shakespeare and Cervantes died on the same date (April 23, 1616), but not on the same day. In 1616, Spain used the Gregorian calendar and England used the Julian calendar, so Shakespeare actually died 10 days after Cervantes, dated as May 3rd on the Gregorian calendar.

Today is also Canada Book Day.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

The Thing About Today – April 22

April 22, 2020April 21, 2020 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 22, 2020
Day 113 of 366

April 22nd is the 113th day of the year. It is Earth Day.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Girl Scout Leader’s Day, National Jelly Bean Day, National Administrative Professionals’ Day (typically the Wednesday of the last full week in April), and National Bookmobile Day (typically the Wednesday of National Library Week).

Historical items of note:

In 1724, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic Immanuel Kant was born.
In 1864, the United States Congress passed the Coinage Act of 1864. This act changed the composition of the penny, authorized the minting of a two-cent coin, and allowed for the inscription In God We Trust to be placed on all coins minted as United States currency. The phrase replaced E Pluribus Unum as the national motto in 1956 as an attempt to distinguish the United States from the state atheism of the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
In 1904, physicist and academic J. Robert Oppenheimer was born. He is among those credited as the “father of the atomic bomb.”
In 1923, model and actress Bettie Page was born.
In 1926, actress and singer Charlotte Rae was born.
In 1930, the United Kingdom, Japan, and the United States signed the London Naval Treaty. This regulated submarine warfare and limited shipbuilding.
In 1937, actor and producer Jack Nicholson was born.
In 1950, musician Peter Frampton was born.
In 1959, actress Catherine Mary Stewart was born.
In 1966, actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan was born.
In 1972, increased American bombing in Vietnam prompted anti-war protests in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.
In 1977, optical fiber was first used to carry live telephone traffic.
In 1993, eighteen-year-old Stephen Lawrence was murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall, Eltham, London.
In 2000, federal agents seized six-year-old Elián González from his relatives’ home in Miami during a pre-dawn raid.
In 2008, the United States Air Force retires the remaining F-117 Nighthawk aircraft in service.
In 2019, Avengers: Endgame premiered in Los Angeles, California.

In 1970, the first Earth Day was celebrated.

Earth Day annual event celebrated around the world on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. At a 1969 UNESCO Conference in San Francisco, peace activist John McConnell proposed a day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace. He originally wanted to be celebrated on March 21st, the vernal equinox in 1970, and it was later sanctioned in a proclamation written by McConnell and signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations. A month later, United States Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin proposed the idea to hold a nationwide environmental teach-in on April 22nd. He hired young activist Denis Hayes to be the National Coordinator. Earth Day was born, and Nelson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for the effort.

The first Earth Day was focused on the United States. In 1990, Hayestook it international and organized events in 141 nations. In 2009, International Mother Earth Day was established by the General Assembly of the United Nations under a resolution introduced by The Plurinational State of Bolivia and endorsed by over 50 member states.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

The Thing About Today – April 21

April 21, 2020April 20, 2020 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 21, 2020
Day 112 of 366

April 21st is the 112th day of the year. It is National Tea Day in the United Kingdom.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Chocolate Covered Cashews Day, National Kindergarten Day, National Yellow Bat Day, and National Library Workers Day. That last one is observed on the Tuesday of National Library Week.

Today is also the 94th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. She is the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch, the longest-serving female head of state in world history, and the world’s oldest living monarch, longest-reigning current monarch, and oldest and longest-serving current head of state.

Historical items of note:

In 1615, the Wignacourt Aqueduct was inaugurated in Malta.
In 1816, Cornish-English novelist and poet Charlotte Brontë was born.
In 1918, German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, better known as “The Red Baron”, was shot down and killed over Vaux-sur-Somme in France.
In 1922, Scottish novelist and screenwriter Alistair MacLean was born.
In 1926, Her Majesty Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and her other realms, was born.
In 1934, the “Surgeon’s Photograph”, the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, was published in the Daily Mail. In 1999, 65 years later, it was revealed to be a hoax.
In 1952, Secretary’s Day was first celebrated. It is now known as Administrative Professionals’ Day.
In 1958, actress Andie MacDowell was born.
In 1962, the Seattle World’s Fair (called the Century 21 Exposition) opened. It was the first World’s Fair in the United States since World War II.
In 1963, the first election of the Universal House of Justice was held, marking its establishment as the supreme governing institution of the Bahá’í Faith.
In 1979, actor James McAvoy was born.
In 1988, actor Robbie Amell was born.

In 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan switched its water source to the Flint River, beginning the Flint water crisis.

Prior to this, Flint used the treated Detroit Water and Sewerage Department water, which came from Lake Huron and the Detroit River. Officials failed to apply corrosion inhibitors to the new water supply, resulting in lead leaching from aging pipes into the water and exposing over 100,000 residents to extremely elevated levels of the heavy metal neurotoxin.

On January 5, 2016, Governor Rick Snyder (of whom related evidence exists regarding corruption and a cover-up) declared a state of emergency in the city, and President Barack Obama declared a federal state of emergency to authorize additional help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.

An extensive lead service line replacement effort began in 2016, and while officials assert that the water quality has returned to acceptable levels, residents are skeptical. As of April 2019, an estimated 2,500 lead service lines were still in place. Work continues, with an expected completion date of July 2020.

Overall, the continuing crisis has caused lead poisoning in up to 12,000 people. In addition, 15 people have died from Legionnaires disease, leading to criminal indictments against 15 people, five of whom have been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

The Thing About Today – April 20

April 20, 2020April 19, 2020 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 20, 2020
Day 111 of 366

April 20th is the 111th day of the year. It is United Nations Chinese Language Day, established in 2010 in an effort to “celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six of its official working languages throughout the organization”. April 20th was chosen as the date “to pay tribute to Cangjie, a mythical figure who is presumed to have invented Chinese characters about 5,000 years ago”.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Cheddar Fries Day, National Lima Bean Respect Day, National Look Alike Day, and National Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day.

Historical items of note:

In 1534, Jacques Cartier began his first voyage to what is today the east coast of Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador.
In 1535, the sun dog phenomenon was observed over Stockholm. It was later depicted in the famous painting Vädersolstavlan, created by either Urban målare or Jacob Elbfas.
In 1657, freedom of religion was granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam, later called New York City.
In 1862, Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard completed the experiment disproving the theory of spontaneous generation.
In 1902, Pierre and Marie Curie refined radium chloride.
In 1937, actor and activist George Takei was born.
In 1949, actress Veronica Cartwright was born.
Also in 1949, actress Jessica Lange was born.
In 1951, actress Louise Jameson was born.
In 1959, actor Clint Howard was born.
In 1964, actor and director Andy Serkis was born.
In 1999, the Columbine High School shooting occurred. Thirteen people were murdered and twenty-four were injured before the two gunmen, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, committed suicide.

In 1946, the League of Nations officially dissolved, transferring most of its power to the United Nations.

The League of Nations was the first worldwide intergovernmental organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on January 10, 1920, following the Paris Peace Conference that ended World War I. President Woodrow Wilson won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919 for his role as the leading architect of the League.

The League proved incapable of preventing aggression by the Axis powers in the 1930s. Its credibility was weakened since the United States never joined. The Soviet Union also damaged the League’s credibility by joining late and then being expelled after invading Finland.

The beginning of World War II proved that the League of Nations had failed in its mission. The United Nations picked up the cause when its charter took effect on October 24, 1945.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

The Thing About Today – April 19

April 19, 2020April 18, 2020 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 19, 2020
Day 110 of 366

April 19th is the 110th day of the year. It is Holocaust Remembrance Day in Poland.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Amaretto Day, National Garlic Day, National Hanging Out Day, and National North Dakota Day.

Historical items of note:

In 1506, the Lisbon Massacre began. A crowd of Catholics, as well as foreign sailors who were anchored in the Tagus, persecuted, tortured, killed, and burnt at the stake hundreds of people who were accused of being Jews. That accusation was enough for the crowd to find the victims guilty of deicide and heresy. This was thirty years before the establishment of the Inquisition in Portugal and nine years after the Jews were forced to convert to Roman Catholicism under King Manuel I.
In 1713, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, having no male heirs, issued the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 to ensure that Habsburg lands and the Austrian throne would be inheritable by a female. His daughter and successor, Maria Theresa, would be born four years later.
In 1775, The American Revolutionary War began with an American victory in Concord during the battles of Lexington and Concord.
In 1782, John Adams secured the Dutch Republic’s recognition of the United States as an independent government. The house which he had purchased in The Hague, Netherlands became the first American embassy.
In 1818, French physicist Augustin Fresnel signed his preliminary “Note on the Theory of Diffraction”. The document ended with what we now call the Fresnel integrals.
In 1933, actress Jayne Mansfield was born.
In 1934, Shirley Temple appeared in her first movie, Stand Up & Cheer.
In 1935, actor and comedian Dudley Moore was born.
In 1946, actor Tim Curry was born.
In 1964, astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic Kim Weaver was born.
In 1968, actress Ashley Judd was born.
In 1971, Salyut 1 was launched. It was the first space station.
In 1979, actress Kate Hudson was born.
In 1981, actor Hayden Christensen was born.
In 1987, The Simpsons first appeared on television as a series of shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show. The first one was “Good Night”.

In 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was bombed. 168 people were killed in the attack, including 19 children under the age of six.

The domestic terror attack was perpetrated by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. McVeigh parked a Ryder truck filled with fertilizer and explosives near the building and detonated it at approximately 9:00 am. They were motivated by the federal government’s standoffs at Ruby Ridge in Idaho (1992) and the Branch Davidian cult compound in Waco, Texas (1993), seeking revenge for those events.

The blast destroyed or damaged 324 buildings within a 4-block radius, and shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings. It created a 30-foot-wide and 8-foot-deep crater at the blast site, destroying one-third of the federal building.

After an extensive investigation, the bombers were tried and convicted in 1997. McVeigh was executed by lethal injection in June 2001 and Nichols was sentenced to life in prison. The United States Congress passes a series of laws, including a tightening of standards for habeas corpus and increased protection around federal buildings to deter future terrorist attacks.

On April 19, 2000, the Oklahoma City National Memorial was dedicated on the site of the Murrah Federal Building, commemorating the victims of the bombing. Remembrance services are held every year on April 19th, at the exact time of the explosion.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

The Thing About Today – April 18

April 18, 2020April 17, 2020 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 18, 2020
Day 109 of 366

April 18th is the 109th day of the year. It is Zimbabwe’s Independence Day, commemorating their independence from the United Kingdom in 1980.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Animal Crackers Day, National Columnists’ Day, National Lineman Appreciation Day, National Auctioneers Day, and National Record Store Day. National Auctioneers Day is normally observed on the third Saturday in April. National Record Store Day changes annually.

Historical items of note:

In 1506, the cornerstone of the current St. Peter’s Basilica was laid.
In 1775, the British advancement by sea began in the American Revolutionary War. Paul Revere and other riders warned the countryside of the troop movements.
In 1882, English conductor Leopold Stokowski was born.
In 1897, the Greco-Turkish War was declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.
In 1909, Joan of Arc was beatified in Rome.
In 1912, the Cunard liner RMS Carpathia arrived in New York City with the 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic.
In 1930, it was a slow news day. So slow, in fact, that the BBC news announcer stated “there is no news” at the start of the 20:45 news bulletin and played music instead.
In 1946, the International Court of Justice held its inaugural meeting in The Hague, Netherlands.
Also in 1946, actress Hayley Mills was born.
In 1953, actor and comedian Rick Moranis was born.
In 1956, Eric Roberts was born. He portrayed the Master in the 1996 Doctor Who television movie.
In 1961, actress Jane Leeves was born.
In 1967, actress Maria Bello was born.
In 1969, writer, musician, and all-around good dude Keith R. A. DeCandido was born.
In 1971, David Tennant was born. Among many other roles, he was the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who.
In 1976, actress Melissa Joan Hart was born.

In 1949, the keel for the aircraft carrier USS United States (CVA-58) was laid down at Newport News Drydock and Shipbuilding in Virginia. Construction was canceled five days later, resulting in the Revolt of the Admirals.

The United States was slated to be the lead ship of a new design of “supercarriers” as authorized on July 29, 1948, by President Harry Truman. Five ships were planned in the line of ships designed to support combat missions using the new jet aircraft, which were faster, larger, and significantly heavier than the aircraft the Essex and Midway-class carriers handled at the end of World War II. The carrier was designed to be “flush decked”, which meant no command island on the flat top deck.

The ship design was so versatile that the United States Air Force actually saw it as a threat to its strategic nuclear weapons delivery monopoly. Looking to cut the military budget, Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson accepted the Air Force’s argument about nuclear deterrence by means of large, long-range bombers and canceled the United States project five days after the keel was laid without consulting Congress.

Secretary of the Navy John Sullivan and a number of high-ranking admirals immediately resigned in protest. The United States Congress held an inquiry into Johnson’s decision, but during this “Revolt of the Admirals”, the Navy was unable to advance its case that large carriers would be essential to national defense.

Soon afterward, Johnson and Francis P. Matthews, the man he advanced to be the new Secretary of the Navy, set to punishing officers who publicly opposed them. Admiral Louis Denfeld was forced to resign as Chief of Naval Operations, and a number of other admirals and lesser ranks were punished.

The invasion of South Korea six months later resulted in an immediate need for a strong naval presence, and Matthews’ position as Secretary of the Navy and Johnson’s position as Secretary of Defense crumbled. They both resigned.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

The Thing About Today – April 17

April 17, 2020April 17, 2020 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 17, 2020
Day 108 of 366

April 17th is the 108th day of the year. It is World Hemophilia Day, commemorated in the quest to bring awareness to genetic bleeding disorders and raise funds for research.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Crawfish Day, International Bat Appreciation Day, National Cheeseball Day, National Ellis Island Family History Day, National Haiku Poetry Day, and National Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet Day. That last one is typically observed on the third Friday in April.

I appreciate bats. I also appreciate how they can eat up to 1,000 mosquitoes an hour.

Historical items of note:

In 1521, the trial of Martin Luther and his teachings began during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. He initially felt intimidated, so he asked for time to reflect and was granted one day.
In 1820, firefighter and inventor of the game of baseball Alexander Cartwright was born.
In 1907, the Ellis Island immigration center processed 11,747 people, a single-day record for them.
In 1942, David Bradley was born. He portrayed Walder Frey in Game of Thrones, Argus Filch in the Harry Potter films, and the First Doctor on Doctor Who.
In 1948, composer and producer Jan Hammer was born.
In 1949, twenty-six Irish counties officially left the British Commonwealth at midnight. A 21-gun salute on O’Connell Bridge in Dublin ushered in the Republic of Ireland.
In 1951, the Peak District became the United Kingdom’s first National Park.
In 1954, professional wrestler and actor Roddy Piper was born.
In 1959, actor Sean Bean was born. He dies a lot in cinema.
In 1961, a group of Cuban exiles financed and trained by the Central Intelligence Agency landed at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro. Called the Bay of Pigs Invasion, it ultimately failed in its goal.
In 1967, actor Henry Ian Cusick was born.
In 1970, the ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft safely returned to Earth.
In 1972, actress Jennifer Garner was born.
In 1985, actress Rooney Mara was born.
In 2011, Marvel’s Thor premiered in Sydney, Australia.
In 2014, NASA’s Kepler space telescope confirmed the discovery of the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star.

In 2014, NASA’s Kepler space telescope confirmed the discovery of the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star.

Designated as Kepler-186f, the exoplanet orbits the red dwarf star Kepler-186, about 582 light-years from Earth. The Kepler space telescope detected it along with four additional planets orbiting much closer to the star.

Kepler-186f is about 11 percent larger in radius than Earth. Since atmospheric composition is unknown, conclusions cannot be made about its habitability, though studies have concluded that it may have seasons and a climate similar to our own planet.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

The Thing About Today – April 16

April 16, 2020April 17, 2020 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 16, 2020
Day 107 of 366

April 16th is the 107th day of the year. It is World Voice Day, a worldwide annual event that is devoted to the celebration of the phenomenon of voice. Voice is a critical aspect of effective and healthy communication, and the event brings global awareness to the need for preventing voice problems, rehabilitating the deviant or sick voice, training the artistic voice, and researching the function and application of voice.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Bean Counter Day, National Eggs Benedict Day, National Healthcare Decisions Day, National Orchid Day, National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day, Get to Know Your Customers Day, and National High Five Day. Get to Know Your Customers Day happens on the third Thursday of each quarter, and National High Five Day occurs on the third Thursday in April.

Maybe we should consider “air” hive fives instead?

Historical items of note:

In 1746, the Battle of Culloden was fought in Scotland between the French-supported Jacobites led by Charles Edward Stuart and the British Hanoverian forces commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. The Jacobites suffered a bloody defeat, and after the battle, many highland traditions were banned and the Highlands of Scotland were cleared of inhabitants.
In 1818, the United States Senate ratified the Rush–Bagot Treaty, establishing the border with Canada.
In 1853, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway opened the first passenger rail in India. It went from Bori Bunder to Thane.
In 1867, inventor Wilbur Wright was born.
In 1889, English actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and composer Charlie Chaplin was born.
In 1908, Natural Bridges National Monument was established in Utah.
In 1912, Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.
In 1921, British actor, author, journalist, comedian, and broadcaster Peter Ustinov was born.
In 1924, composer Henry Mancini was born.
In 1943, Albert Hofmann accidentally discovered the hallucinogenic effects of the research drug LSD. He intentionally took the drug three days later.
In 1947, Bernard Baruch first applied the term “Cold War” to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
In 1952, voice actor, singer-songwriter, and comedian Billy West was born.
In 1954, actress Ellen Barkin was born.
In 1962, Walter Cronkite began to anchor the CBS Evening News.
In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. penned his Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
In 1965, actor John Cryer was born. He currently plays one of the best televised Lux Luthors on Supergirl.
In 1972, Apollo 16 was launched with astronauts John Young, Charles Duke, and Ken Mattingly aboard.
In 1975, actor Sean Maher was born.
In 1982, actress and mixed martial artist Gina Carano was born.
In 1984, actress Claire Foy was born.

April 16th is Emancipation Day in Washington, DC, which is part of various year-round observances in many former European colonies in the Caribbean and areas of the United States to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people of African descent.

In 1862, The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia, became law. Signed by President Abraham Lincoln, the Act freed about 3,100 slaves in the District of Columbia nine months before President Lincoln issued his broader Emancipation Proclamation. The Act is the only example of compensation by the United States federal government to former owners of emancipated slaves.

On January 4, 2005, Mayor Anthony A. Williams signed legislation making Emancipation Day an official public holiday in the District. When April 16th falls during a weekend, Emancipation Day is observed on the nearest weekday, sometimes affecting Tax Day by pushing that annual event to either the 17th or the 18th.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

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