Ridley's
Believe It Or Not—October 18, 2014: Trust your weekend is off to
a good start and that you enjoy the holidays and observances, factoids and quotes from a note African American poet Maya
Angelou, with a smile on your sunscreened face, looking forward to a chocolate
cupcake as a treat, blessed with a positive attitude, and secure in the
knowledge that if you want to find a gift for a memorable event or the coming
Christmas, you know that the Alaskanpoet can provide you with a unique
customized poem at a great price tailored to the event and the recipient.
1. Alaska Day—celebrating one of the great
coups of American diplomacy; this day in 1867 that Russia transferred Alaska to
the United States for the paltry sum of $7.2 million (about $114 million in
today’s dollars or about a day and a half of the value of the oil pumped
through TAPS; if you see an Alaskan today hug that person (today the
Alaskanpoet will be wearing a red Stanford polo and hugs are always welcome).
2. Persons Day—observed in Canada to commemorate the decision in Edwards
v. Canada by the Canadian equivalent of our Supreme Court that ruled on October
18, 1929 that women were eligible to sit in Canada’s Senate.
3. National No Beard Day—celebrating the
excuse to shave off one’s beard which if one is getting up in years has a
tendency to come in gray anyway—a holiday not celebrated in Iraq or among the
fanatics of ISIS.
4. Great Scott Day—celebrating the birthday
on this day in 1927 of the Academy Award winning actor George C. Scott of Patton and Dr. Strangelove fame.
5. National Chocolate
Cupcake Day—celebrating a great way to blow your diet with this tasty
treat.
On this day
in
a. 1775 Phyllis Wheatley the second published African-American poet and first
woman was freed from slavery. After great fame, like most poets she died penniless.
b. 1851 to the bane and woe of future high school students Herman Melville’s
turgid novel The Whale (later renamed Moby Dick) was published.
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c. 1922 the British Broadcasting
Company (BBC) was founded to create a nationwide network of radio
transmitters to provide for a national broadcasting service.
d. 1954 Texas Instruments announced
the first transistor radio.
Reflections
on why we need more poets and fewer lawyers:
“There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone
from knowing nothing to believing nothing. The main thing in one's own
private world is to try to laugh as much as you cry. Bitterness is like
cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns all clean. Self-pity in its early stages is as snug as
a feather mattress. Only when it hardens does it become uncomfortable.” Maya
Angelou noted African American poet who recited a poem at Bill Clinton’s inauguration
in 1993
Please enjoy the 140
character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you
like them, retweet and join almost 150 growing followers and please
follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems
on my blogs--click on links below. Go to www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com
for Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—This Day In History, poems to inspire,
touch, emote, elate and enjoy and poems on breaking news items of importance.
Go to Rhymes On The
Newsworthy Times for comments on important and breaking news events that
should be of interest.
© October
18, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet
for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire
Beyond Compare
Rhymes on
the Memorable Times
The
Perfect Gift, All Spirits to Receive the Perfect
Lift
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