The planets line up as they do. All the time. They are constantly changing positions and rotations. I am not an astronomer, by any means. But I do know all the balls rotate around the sun at different speeds, and cycles. So the exact alignments are always in a state of change.
And with that, it seems that certain days on the Earth calendar get busier than others. That is my guess. August 21st is one of those days.
You can Google any day in history, and get the run down of “said historical events.” There are certain days which are filled with crickets chirping. And then… there are August 21st’s. Teaming with Holy Shiitakes.
They vary in scope and degree. But here are some happenings, on this date, which are pretty dang monumental. Brace for impact.
Let’s start by jumping back to 1841. In this year… John Hampton patents venetian blind. I’m telling you, this is huge. Where would any of us be without the venetian blind? The bane of Peeping Tom’s and nosy neighbors. I bow down to the venetian blind. For many reasons I won’t name here.
Here’s another big one. Without the venetian blinds… I may have needed a few of these next ones. In 1878 … the American Bar Association organizes at Sarasota, NY. Bar…. as in Lawyers. Not soap. Not cocktails. Lawyers.
Yep. I know a few lawyers. They really are okay people. They are just misunderstood.
Now a turn in a completely different direction. First came the lawyers… then came the saints. In 1879 ….. None other than the Virgin Mary, along with St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist….. reportedly appeared to the people of Knock, County Mayo, Ireland. Mary, Joseph…. and John the Evangelist.
Kind of an odd combo, but maybe they were out doing lunch that day, and decided to swing by Ireland, for a Pint on their way back to heaven. Just guessing on that one. But honestly, they don’t seem like big swingers to me.
Hey. Speaking of Big Swingers…. in 1887…. Mighty (Dan) Casey struck-out in a game with NY Giants. Mighty Casey at Bat. Strike three you are out dude. Count ‘em. One. Two. Three.
Maybe he needed help counting. He only really had a year to wait. You sssssee, in 1888, the American inventor, William Seward Burroughs, filed the patent for the adding machine. Cha-ching.
Someone else was hoping for a big Cha-Ching. In 1911, the “Mona Lisa” was stolen from the Louvre. Yep. Right of the wall. A guy named Vincenzo Perugia took her smug mug right off the wall. She came back though. The Mona Lisa was recovered in 1913.
And finally a few more interesting tidbits.
In 1947, the First Little League World Series was held. The Maynard Midgets of Williamsport PA won the whole deal. These days, you don’t see many teams nicknamed the Midgets. Maybe not any.
In 1959. Aloha. Hawaii becomes 50th US state. Grab a pineapple Do the hula. Eat some Spam.
And finally, this might be the craziest of all historical happenings. Let me just say, when I drive my car over 100 mph, I get a few little butterflies in my belly. But Donna Patterson Brice, must be some woman of iron, or something. In 1977 …. she managed to set the high speed water skiing record. She went 111.11 mph. On water. On skis. High Carumba.
So there you have it. A brief glimpse of August 21, historically speaking.
And I didn’t even mention that in 959, Erachus becomes bishop of Luik. Bishop of Luik!!! Seriously.
Oh the things we don’t know. So much happens in this world in every minute. And I bet most of us missed the anniversary of the Bishop of Luik.
Go figure. Well, thanks to William Seward Burroughs, we can figure. And thanks to John Hampton, we can do it in private.