Twelve 14s

Evening, friends.

Hope Saturday night is treating you all well.

Just two weeks to the day left to go, and I’m really enjoying hanging out with you guys.

As for our time together, I can’t thank all of you enough for reading and following along with all of this stuff. And while I know it still seems like a ways off, less than two weeks from today, the flip we’ve been hoping for will have flipped! (The actual solstice, the shortest daylight day of the year, occurs at 4:19a.m. [EST] on 12/21/24.)

For today, Day 14, let’s look back on a dozen pivotal events, one 14 for every month of the year.

JANUARY – Have a day. (On 14 January, 1784, the Continental Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain, officially establishing the United States as an independent nation. This day is celebrated annually as Ratification Day.)

FEBRUARY – Show me some heart. (On 14 February, 1982, the first permanent artificial heart was transplanted into Barney Clark, a 61-year-old retired dentist, by surgeons at the University of Utah Medical Center.)

MARCH – Everlasting genius. (Renowned physician Stephen Hawking died on 14 March, 2018. He was 76 years old.)

APRIL – Tragedy theater. (On 14 April, 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot and killed President Abraham Lincoln.)

MAY – Sugar. (On 14 May, 1927, Ben Bernie’s hit single “Ain’t She Sweet” hit #1 on the singles chart.)

JUNE – Let your colors fly. (On 14 June, 1777 – and every 14 June since – the U.S. has celebrated Flag Day, commemorating the official flag act resolution of that year.)

JULY – Vive la France! (On 14 July, 1789, Parisian citizens expressed their opposition to the French monarchy by attacking the Bastille, a royal fortress and prison. Just three years later, the monarch effectively collapsed, leading to King Louis XVI’s arrest and eventual execution in January 1793.)

AUGUST – Follow me. (On 14 August, 1944, Canadian and Polish troops began Operation Tractable, the final offensive of the Battle of Normandy.)

SEPTEMBER – Hallelujah! (On 14 September, 1741, composer Frederick Handel completed “Messiah,” still performed regularly today.)

OCTOBER – Up into the wild blue yonder. (On 14 October, 1947, USAF Captain Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager broke the sound barrier – surpassing 761/mph – during a test flight over Muroc Dry Lake near Bakersfield, California.

NOVEMBER – I just want to be your teddy bear. (On 14 November, 1902, a toymaker named Morris Michtom was inspired by a caricature drawn of President Theodore Roosevelt, showing the then-commander in chief refusing to shoot a bear cub on a hunting trip. Michtom eventually sought permission to use the President’s name and went on to make many “teddy bears.”)

DECEMBER – I sing the body electric. (On 14 December, 1962, NASA’s Mariner 2 became the first space craft to fly by Venus, marking the first successful mission to another planet. The pictures and data collected by the craft enabled scientists to determine that Venus had a high temperature, 867 degrees Fahrenheit, by far the hottest planet in our solar system. Even though Mercury is closer to the sun, Venus’s thick atmosphere creates a greenhouse effect, trapping heat and making it significantly hotter.)

OK, gang, I hope this has been fun. I can’t take credit, though. I owe it all to Mr. Peabody! (Maybe we’ll visit with him and other famous cartoon characters later in the countdown.)

Have a great night!

JFish

@Copyright 2024 by John L. Fischer