On This Day
March 6th
“Finding a Place”
Let’s talk about “finding a place”.
Like Ferdinand Magellan —on this day in 1521 he discovered what we now know as Guam.
In 1808, fancy music found a place in higher education when Harvard became the 1st college orchestra in the US.
Missouri and Maine found a place in these here United States on this day in 1820 when the Missouri compromise was signed into law.
In an instance of cosmic coincidence, African Americans couldn’t find a place to be citizens, because on this day in 1857 the US Supreme Court ruled that Dred Scott, regardless of where he was (he had been in a territory designated free by the Missouri Compromise), was not a citizen and, therefore, didn’t have any rights.
In the interval between coincidences, a small group of Texans found themselves hopelessly surrounded. In 1836, after 13 days of fighting, 1,500–3,000 Mexican soldiers found their way into Misión San Antonio de Valero, killing 182–257 Texans including William Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crockett at the Battle of the Alamo.
Russia, 1869 — a fella named Dmitri Mendeleev had found a place for all the elements and told all his scientist friends about it. I’m not sure what he called it then, but today, we call it “the periodic table.”
In 1902, the US government made it easier to find EVERYONE by establishing a permanent US Census office.
The 1923 Cardinals made it easier to find your favorite baseballer by declaring that their players will wear numbers on their uniforms.
Starting in 1950, moms started to urge their kids to find a better place for a pinkish gook getting stuck in the carpets and embedded in their furniture. Silly Putty went on sale in the US.
Unfortunately, some people can’t find a place so they try to find a place among people who don’t get along. That happened on this day in 1951 as the trial of suspected Soviet spies Julius Rosenberg and his wife Ethel Rosenberg kicked off.
Finally, just 56 short years ago, Boxing legend Cassius Clay dropped his “slave name” when he found religion. The fresh new Muslim called himself “Muhammad Ali”.
Point is, sometimes it’s hard to find your place. It’s best to get in where you fit in.
