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Fresh
Beginnings
We celebrate the first
of January so much more than October 1 or June 1.
While turning over a page in the calendar brings
a sense of the movement of time, there's nothing
like throwing out the whole calendar and starting
a new one. We mark New Year's Day in special
ways, saving up momentous proclamations and other
events for that date so they will take on added
significance. And some events that happen
on the first of January don't look all that important
at the time, but looking back they take on added
meaning. Here are a few of them.
Highlights from
History
Hospitals today award gifts
to the first baby born there each year. On
January 1, 1735 there was no contest, but Paul
Revere made his entrance into the
world just the same. In 1752, it was the turn
of Betsy Ross
(Elizabeth Griscom Ross) maker of the Continental
Union Flag, which George
Washington first hoisted on January
1, 1776 -- which means she was 24 when she made
it, not the gray-haired lady we all picture!
Others born on New Year's Day: J.
Edgar Hoover (1895), Barry Goldwater
(1909), Kim Philby
(British/Soviet double agent, 1912) and eight
Soviet cosmonauts (though we seem
to remember reading somewhere that Russians often
list the first of the year as their birthdate, no
matter when it actually happened.)
Book It
In the literary world,
E.M. Forster (author
of Howard's End and A Passage to India) was born
in 1879. Another writer partial to initials,
J.D. Salinger
(author of Catcher in the Rye) was born on New Year's
Day 1919. Sherlock Holmes was first introduced
to his sidekick, Dr.
John H. Watson on New Year's Day
(fictionally, of course) in 1881. President
Abraham Lincoln issued his Emacipation
Proclamation on January 1, 1863. In 1995,
the last "Far Side" cartoon by Gary Larson (he started them in 1980) was published
(fortunately, they live on in books, on mugs and
t-shirts, and wherever you least expect them.)
Music to Our
Ears
The musical world is not
exempt from interesting footnotes that occurred
on January 1. Here are a few:
- 1953 -- Hank
Williams, country singer,
died at age 29.
- 1956 -- Elvis
Presley recorded "Heartbreak
Hotel" for RCA in Nashville.
- 1962 -- The
Beatles auditioned for Decca
Records (and Decca said, "No thanks.")
- 1966 -- Simon
and Garfunkle's "Sounds of
Silence" reached #1.
Party On!
If you're looking for tidbits
to drop into conversation at the New Year's Eve
party you plan to go to, just keep some January
1 milestones in mind -- sure to either start conversation
or stop it dead in its tracks!
- 404 A.D. -- The
last gladiator competition
took place in Rome.
- 1772 -- The first
Traveler's Checks were issued
(in London). And people have been reluctant
to leave home without them ever since.
- 1840 -- The first
recorded bowling match was held in
New York City at Knickerbocker Alleys.
- 1853 -- The
first practical fire engine
(horse-drawn, of course) in the US entered
service. Wonder if they had a Dalmatian
along?
- 1862 -- The first
US income tax went into effect
(3% of incomes over $600, 5% of incomes over
10,000.) Truly a black day!
- 1902 -- The first
Rose Bowl game was played
(Pasadena, CA) and won by University of Michigan
over Stanford, an embarrassing 49-0.
- 1907 -- The ebullient
Theodore Roosevelt shook
a record 8,513 hands in one day while campaigning.
Hope he remembered to move his rings to the
other hand!
- 1908 -- The
first time the ball that signifies a New Year
dropped in Times Square.
- 1928 -- The first
air-conditioned office building opened,
in San Antonio, TX.
- 1934 -- the
FDIC (Federal Depository Insurance
Corp.) went into effect.
- 1946 -- Emperor
Hirohito of Japan announced that
he was not a god.
- 1966 -- All US
cigarette packs have to carry
the warning, "Caution: Cigarette smoking may
be hazardous to your health." And it
was so effective -- NOT!
- 1969 -- Jack Kent
Cooke, owner of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings,
fined each hockey player $100 for
NOT arguing with the referee.
So that's why there are all those fights now!
- 1970 --
"The Epoch" -- Time 0 for
UNIX systems, Midnight GMT.
- 1971 -- Cigarette
advertisements banned on TV -- and
we all breathed easier.
- 1976 -- NBC
replaced the peacock logo.
We still miss him.
- 1985 -- The
first mandatory seat belt law went
into effect in New York.
- 1994 -- Bill
Gates married Melinda French,
and broke the hearts of gold-diggers everywhere.
- 1995 -- After 27
years of Flintstones vitamins, they finally
added Betty Rubble to the
mix.
If you can't get enough
of this kind of trivia, just put "This Day in History"
into your favorite Search Engine, and have fun learning
about other days -- like your birthday, anniversary
day, or other significant day in YOUR history.
Thank
you for your patronage in 2003 --
we look forward to serving you in 2004,
and if we can do anything to make your life
easier where fabricare is concerned,
let us know. We
love to hear from you! |
