Wild About Harry

Hey, guys.

Hope everyone is well, already looking forward to firing down ‘lotsa turkey with all the trimmings, mashed and/or sweet potatoes (gravy optional on the former), stuffing and perhaps preceded by a host of cheese platters, pigs in a blanket and maybe even a stylish cru de te.

Yep, plenty of tryptophan-laced treats are just a few days ahead. (And we haven’t even talked pies, cakes and other yummies yet!)

That said (or instead is it “that written?” (-:), please accept my early Thanksgiving good wishes; it’s a holiday favorite in my house for sure.

In other news, and as for our countdown, it’s cliché maybe, but we’re getting there.

So how ‘bout we turn the clock back a century or so? Most, if not all of us, weren’t around yet, but let’s look back on 1926 and see what we missed.

This stuff is always subjective, of course, but let’s look at some top-10 events from that year (in no particular order):

1. Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SATs) were first administered to students.
2. Don Juan became the first ever talking motion picture. (NOTE: Other films from that era, e.g., The Jazz Singer, were considered “talkies,” but Don Juan was the first feature-length film to have a synchronized soundtrack and sound effects.
3. The first liquid fuel rocket was invented by American engineer Robert Goddard. The rocket was successfully launched on
   March 16, 1926.
4. Future famous folks – Fidel Castro, Hugh Hefner, Harper Lee, Marilyn Monroe and Queen Elizabeth II – were all born that year.
5. A.E. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh was published in London, England.
6. The Army Air Corps was formed.
7. The Great Florida hurricane hit Miami, FL, taking more than 100 lives and causing billions of dollars in damages.
8. Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals won the team’s first World Series title, defeating the New York Yankees games in a best of seven series, 4 games to 3.
9. The first 40-hour work week was announced and put into practice by Henry Ford.
10. Famous escape artist and magician Harry Houdini died in Detroit, Michigan. The cause of death was ultimately determined as peritonitis (the inflammation of tissue that lines the inside of the abdominal cavity) resulting from a ruptured appendicitis, though, Houdini, who claimed that he could take any punch in the stomach, was allegedly “sucker punched” one week before his death.

OK, people, make sure to put some time aside to do your sit-ups, I guess.

Just joshing, Harry. We don’t say “that guy just pulled a Houdini” for nothing. You’re the tops, testver. (“Testver” is “brother” in HH’s native Hungarian.)

Until tomorrow, gang.

JFish
@Copyright 2024 by John L. Fischer