In 1539 Hernando de Soto claimed Florida for Spain. The US later bought it from Spain. Would they like it back? We could sell it for cheap:) In 1916, just a year before the US got involved in WWI the National Defense Act was signed into law, increasing the size of the US National Guard by 450,000 men. Perhaps we were anticipating?

The father of geology – James Hutton -was born in 1726. A quartet of political leaders was born on this date: Confederate President Jefferson Davis (1808) , our 24th US Vice President Garrett Hobart (1844 – served under McKinley for one term), King George V of England (1865), and our current First Lady – Jill Biden (1951).

French actress, dancer, and French Resistance fighter Josephine Baker arrived on the world stage in 1906. This was also the birthdate for actor Tony Curtis (1925), Beat poet Allen Ginsberg(1926), and CNN host Anderson Cooper (1967).

The music ceased for French pianist and composer Georges Bizet (1875) most famous for Carmen. Mexican-American actor Anthony Quinn played his last role in 2001. Czech-Austrian lawyer and novelist Frank Kafka (1924) laid down his pen. And the great Muhammed Ali ceased his fighting in 2016, but don’t you all remember him lighting the torch at the Sydney Olympic Games? The memory still gives me chills.

Today is World Bicycle Day, and I saw quite a few out on the trails today as I took my Saturday stroll.