Ridley's Believe It Or Not For February 28, 2016 Rare Disease Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For February 28, 2016. Unfortunately, still 327 days to go in President Obama’s pathetic lame duck term but fortunately only 6 days until the start of and my daily updates on the Iditarod, the Last Great Race on Earth. Interesting theater today as the Reds and Blues gear up for Super Tuesday and the Reds frantically try to figure out a way to derail Trump.  I trust your Sunday is proving to be a great one; and as always, I hope  you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to George Michael, factoids of interest, a relevant quote by Julie Flygare looking forward to enjoying a bowl of chili, blessed with a positive attitude and  secure in  the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like birthdays, weddings, or  anniversaries, you know that the Alaskanpoet can provide you with a unique customized poem  at a great price  tailored to the event and the recipient. You need only contact me for details.

1. World Tailors Day—observed to honor those artisans with needle and thread that create the suits, dresses and fine clothes that even in a world of business casual we often like to wear and without the tailors would not be able to buy off the rack without their alteration skills.    

2. Rare Disease Day—no one ever wants to be informed he or she has a life threatening illness but a special woe to those who have a rare disease that does not affect enough people to attract research into potential life saving drugs and treatment. This is an observance observed since 2009.                                        

3. 1988 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1988 on a run of two weeks in that position Father Figure by George Michael. Here is a link to George Michael performing Father Figure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_9hfHvQSNo

4. National Chili Day—celebrating a really great way to beat the cold especially if you do not go easy with the jalapeno peppers in your recipe. Great day to get out the crock pot and experiment with creating a signature chili.    

5. Shoot the Three While Dunking the Sheepskin—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1931 of a coaching legend at UNC, Dean Smith who coached 2 NCAA championship teams and went to the Final Four 11 times but more importantly should be honored for the fact that almost 97% of his players graduated.

On this day in:                                                                                                   

a. 1784 John Wesley founded the Methodist Church.    

b. 1849 in what can only be described as snail sail, steamboat service between the east and west coasts is completed with passengers landing in San Francisco after leaving New York City four months and 21 days earlier. No wonder with times like that the U.S. was motivated to build the Panama Canal.

c. 1940 college basketball is televised for the first time in a game played at Madison Square Garden between Fordham and the University of Pittsburgh—thank God for the precedent as we are all anxiously awaiting March Madness.   

d. 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick announced to friends that they had determined the chemical structure of DNA which was revealed to the public in the April issue of Nature that year.

e. 1983 the final episode of the award winning series M*A*S*H aired with a record setting viewing audience of 103 million, the largest number ever to watch the final episode of a TV series.                                                                      

Reflections on rare diseases: “Rare diseases are the underdogs, so how is it that our community is at the FOREFRONT of patient engagement and health policy efforts? It’s because we’ve got ROAR. We’ve been pushed down and overlooked… which has sparked a great passion to stand back up again,  united and stronger than ever, to tell the world WE ARE RARE & WE MATTER.” Julie Flygare, author and spokesperson for the National Narcolepsy Association
Please enjoy the poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs—click on the 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 or go to Ridley's Believe It Or Not for just This Day In History.

© February 28, 2016, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire

Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift