Time

The new year is a good time to think about time. In 1903, the Wright brothers performed their first successful flight.

In 1941, 38 years later, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. (Mount Rushmore was completed in 1941).

In 1969, just 28 years after that, man landed on the moon. In 66 years man went from flight a few feet off the earth to flying to the moon.

In 2012, 109 years after the Wright brothers flight we landed a craft on Mars and it is communicating back to us with pictures.

Wikipedia lists the names of 41 people born during or before 1903 that are still living.

Three Flag Facts for the Fourth of July

The historic photo and film footage of the American flag being raised at Iwo Jima actually shows the second flag erected on the Japanese island. The U.S. had suffered more than 4,500 casualties during its 1,000 yard advance to capture Mt. Suribachi. Lt. Col. Chandler Johnson ordered a patrol up the mountain and handed Lt. George Schrier a 54” x 26” flag, saying “If you get to the top, put it up.” Schrier’s 40-man patrol snaked its way up to the mountain’s summit and propped up Old Glory with an abandoned piece of drain pipe and some rocks.

Sensing a historic moment, the colonel sent an assistant to fetch a larger (96″ x 54″) flag that had flown on one of the ships bombed at Pearl Harbor. Johnson handed it to Pfc. Rene Gagnon and ordered him to replace the original, smaller flag, “So every son of a bitch on this whole cruddy island can see it.” Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal snapped the Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of the second flag being raised.

2 - The flag patch on the right sleeves of some U.S. military uniforms may appear to be backwards, as do the decals on the right side of U.S. aircraft and other vehicles. There’s a perfectly legitimate reason for this, of course: flag protocol dictates that the Stars and Stripes should always be displayed as if the flag was flying in a breeze. This practice dates back to the earliest days of the U.S. Army, when one soldier was designated as the “standard bearer.” As the standard bearer marched forward into battle, the flag would naturally unfurl behind him, away from the staff. The canton, or the area with the stars, should always be depicted facing forward.

3 - The Parade of Nations, now a traditional part of the Olympic opening ceremonies, was first added to the program at the 1908 Games in London. As the teams passed the Royal Box, each nation’s flag-bearer was expected to dip his nation’s banner to King Edward VII. Ralph Rose, who was carrying the U.S. flag, refused to do so. As a proud Irish-American, Rose had no particular affection for the British anyway, but when questioned about keeping his nation’s flag vertical, his reply was simple: ”This flag dips for no earthly king.” The U.S. flag bearers at the 1912, 1924 and 1932 Games weren’t so staunch in their patriotism, and lowered Old Glory when passing the head of state, even though the “no dip” rule was part of the official Flag Code adopted in 1923. The United States was the only nation to not dip its flag while passing Adolf Hitler in the stands during the Parade of Nations at the 1936 Games in Berlin, and the tradition has remained steadfast since then.

Decembers Past

In 1942, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered liquidation of the Works Progress Administration, created during the Great Depression to provide work for the unemployed. Seems to me that worked better than unemployment checks.

In 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

In 1768, Encyclopedia Britannica was first published.

In 1954, the first Burger King fast-food restaurant opened in Miami.

In 1975, the US Senate authorized a $2.3 billion emergency loan to save New York City from bankruptcy.

In 2009, the US unemployment rate fell to 10 percent in November, down from its peak of 10.2 percent in October. Analysts called the jobs report the strongest since the recession began two years earlier.

In 2010, the US unemployment rate went up to 9.8% in November, from 9.6% in October.

In 1929, the Ford Motor Co. raised the pay of its employees from $5 to $7 a day despite the collapse of the US stock market.

In 1967, Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the first successful heart transplant at Cape Town, South Africa.