Monday's Memo: It's Presidents' Day 2019

This is (for the most part) a repost of an entry here on Blogger from a Presidents' Day in bygone years and it includes is a "copy" of an excerpt from a letter that the writer E.B. White wrote to Gluyas Williams in 1971, the year the holiday of celebrating George Washington's birthday with Abraham Lincoln's was created.

Prior  to this both president's birthdays were celebrated on their days of birth, February 12th and February 22nd. In 1971 GW's celebration was moved from 2/15 to the third Monday in February (as was Lincoln's). E.B. White wrote a letter (as mentioned in the first paragraph) in response to this, an excerpt is posted below.

"I am not used to celebrating Washington’s birthday on the 15th of February (or in today's case Fenbruary 18th), so I walked up early this morning and deposited letters in our mailbox. Then had to return and retrieve them an hour later when it dawned on me the mails weren’t moving today, even though George is still locked up tight in his mother’s womb and won’t emerge for a full week. This country is nuts. The only date I would like to see shifted is December 25th, which I would like shifted to February 29th, so that occurs only once every four years. This would have a profoundly beneficial effect on the nation and would set me back even course again." (The letter is included in an anthology, "Letters of E.B. White," and a picture of that book accompanies this entry.)

Charles Schultz died 19 YRs ago today. (Tuesday's Truths WK 114)

The cartoonist, Charles Schultz, died nineteen years ago today on February 12th in the year 2000.

He was 77 years of age. Now, as a small way of paying homage to him, in this 114th segment of my Tuesday's Truths series, I've posted a comic strip (Red and Rover) by Brian Basset.

Monday's Memorandum: It's MLK Day (Assassinated nearly 50 years ago)

In just a few months time, it will be April. Fifty years ago (1968) on the fourth day of that month, the civil rights activist, Martin Luther King Junior was assassinated. He was thirty-nine years old.

Today, Monday, January 15th, would've been King's eighty-eighth birthday. His memory is being revered, as it always is on the third Monday in January, when folks celebrate his life on the holiday known as Martin Luther King Junior Day.

According to Wikipedia, "Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.) is an American federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around King's birthday, January 15. The holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act."

I'm honoring Martin Luther King Junior Day by posting a You Tube video atop today's blog entry, it is the same You Tube clip that I included within an entry here on Blogger for King's holiday in 2017.

I find the song featured in the video haunting and worthy of posting again. Meanwhile, The Seattle Times, created a web-page tribute to him, and in it they state the following:

"Martin Luther King Jr. lived an extraordinary life. At 33, he was pressing the case of civil rights with President John Kennedy. At 34, he galvanized the nation with his 'I Have a Dream' speech. At 35, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. At 39, he was assassinated, but he left a legacy of hope and inspiration that continues today."

GOOD FRIDAY 152 YRS Later

The picture atop this posting is one you might recognize from one of my prior entries here on Blogger, where I discussed Emancipation Day. And as you can see, this image includes the date of this horrific event, which occurred on April 14th 1865.

In 1865, the date for Good Friday was April 14th, as it is today. And I confess that, even though I'm from "The Land of Lincoln (Illinois)," AND attended an elementary school field trip where I visited his home in Springfield Illinois, I had forgotten that in the year of 1865, April 14th was also Good Friday; as is the case today.

Wednesday's Wisdom: A tip for keeping our former president's identities straight!

This Wednesdays Wisdom: A tip for keeping our former president's identities straight! While today February 22nd,  is the anniversary of George Washington's Birthday (b 1732); Abraham Lincoln was the one with the beard!

In Honor of Martin Luther King Junior Day

A Post In Honor of George Washington's Birthday

Last Monday, February 15th, our nation celebrated Presidents' Day. It is a holiday that is celebrated here on the third Monday in February. The holiday of President's Day was originally established in 1885 in honor of President George Washington, and was traditionally celebrated on February twenty-second, the actual birthday date of George Washington, which is today.

According to history.com, "the holiday became popularly known as President's Day after it was moved as part of 1971's Uniform Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three day weekends for the nation's workers." 

Be that as it may, George Washington's was born on February the twenty-second, and the switching of the day to observe this, was a topic E. B. White wrote about in his correspondence with Gluyas Williams in 1971. White's humorous attitude toward our government's switching the celebration is something I discussed in my post this past President's Day and I included E.B. White's musings on the matter. On another note, George Washington has been linked to the creation of our American flag, and that is the reason I'm including photo-ops of my patriotic friends within my entry for GeorgeWashington's birthday.    

However, it seems there is some controversy over Washington's involvement with the creation of our flag, which you can read about in a Wiki Page by clicking here. For my focus in this blog post honoring George Washington's birthday is to provide information on an interest I share with him which is birds.

Happy 1/2 Year!

Well, dear reader, today is June the 30th 2012, which means that tonight is New Year's Eve for the half year! Six months down, and six months to go! And, as I promised in this past Monday's post, I am posting on a non-scheduled day in honor of the half-year.

"Anybody here seen my old friend Abraham?" Happy Emancipation Day . . . BUT FIRST A Moment of Silence for Abraham Lincoln

IMAGE CREDIT

As most everyone knows today's date, April 15th, is associated with the IRS. Normally in New York City, at the twenty-four hour post-office located on Thrirty-Fourth Street and Eighth Avenue, folks are lined up around the block, late at night — in whatever weather condition happens to be occurring — to meet the deadline of having their tax documentation postmarked before midnight.

Tonight that will probably not be the case. The news this week has been filled with relief for procrastinators, like myself, as I confessed a couple of days ago, who wait until the last minute to file their taxes. So probably no lines tonight this year, due to the fact that since the holiday, Emancipation Day, (passed by Abraham Lincoln honoring Lincoln's freeing of 3,100 slaves in the District of Columbia on April 16, 1862 — nearly three years to the date before he was assassinated) falls on a Saturday this year, it is being celebrated today, Friday, the fifteenth of April; and hence the extension, and an apparent cause for célèbre.