Day Tripping: March 13

Genius, Genocide, and Galaxies

Welcome to my daily feature where each day on the calendar marks a part of our shared history.

Warming To An Idea

At the age of fifteen, Chester Greenwood was skating during a frigid day at his home of Farmingham, Maine when he came up with an idea to keep his ears warm. With help from his grandmother who provided tufts of fur, Greenwood attached them to wire and created the earmuff. Four years later in 1877, Chester was granted a patent for his invention of an improved ear warmer.

Greenwood’s little spark of ingenuity became a business that kept Farmingham residents employed for more than sixty years.

Cold Blooded Terror

In 1943, Nazi forces set about the business of liquidating all Jews in the ghetto of Krakow, Poland. While 2000 able body Jews were sent to a labour camp in Paszow, several thousand others were either rounded up for transport to Auschwitz concentration camp or murdered in the street. The Nazis were intent on eradicating the more than 30,000 Jewish citizens that were forced to live in the tiny segregated village.

Having advanced notice of the impending total liquidation of all Jews, Oskar Schindler, a non-Jewish factory owner and employer of Jewish workers, kept his charges hidden from the Nazis overnight. He continued his efforts in the protection of Jewish workers throughout WWII at great personal risk.

Tests, Tests, and More Tests

After a ten-day mission in Earth’s orbit to test the uncoupling and docking procedure of the Command craft with the Lunar Module that would land on the moon four months later, Apollo 9 safely returned to Earth in 1969.

The successful mission that splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean only ten seconds off its proposed flight plane, was one of the final tests before Apollo 11 carried Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon and back.

Musical Milestones

2006 — Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducts Black Sabbath, Blondie, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Sex Pistols and…Miles Davis? That can’t get weird.

The Sex Pistols refused the induction with a rude and pointed letter, as did Ozzie Osbourne.

After all, Black Sabbath only invented heavy metal, and though I love Miles, I have no idea why he would be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So much for credibility.

Oh yeah, at the ceremony Debra Harry, (Blondie), snubbed her former bandmates, refusing to let them play on stage with her.

Narratives

The first woman and first Jewish person to be Editor in Chief of National Geographic, Susan Goldberg publicly admits to the past racist coverage by the magazine in 2018. Goldenberg’s admission came before the publication’s intent to devote the April issue entirely to racism to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s death.

In her editor’s article, Goldenberg wrote, “National Geographic did little to push its readers beyond the stereotypes ingrained in white American culture”.

Remembrance

2020 — Does the name Breonna Taylor need any more explanation? In case you were living under a rock, Taylor was shot and killed when plainclothed drug enforcement officers burst into her own home.

Breonna got off a single warning shot at what she thought were intruders. Thirty-two (32) shots were fired in return, six of them fatally wounding Taylor.

Notable Births

1939 —Multi-award-winning songwriter Neil Sedaka whose hit songs included Oh Carol, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, and Love Will Keep Us Together.

1950 —Forgetting for the moment his family’s recent troubles, William H. Macy should be celebrated if only for his role in Fargo alone.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article dedicated to the days of our history. I hope to see you tomorrow for another instalment.

K. Barrett Katie Wallace Maria Rattray Joseph M. Learned Maryam Merchant Dr Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, PhD. Terry Trueman Dr Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly