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On this date in 1837 the now second-longest reigning monarch, Queen Victoria, ascended to the British throne. In 1840 Samuel Morse received his patent for the telegraph. And in a related event, Alexander Graham Bell installed the world’s first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1877.

The famous or infamous 18 1/2 minute gap in the White House tapes was discovered on this date in 1972. In 1975 beachgoers got a scare when Jaws was released in theaters. And disaster struck northern Iran in 1990 when a 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit causing at least 35,000 deaths and at least 60,000 injuries.

German-French composer Jacques Offenbach (Tales of Hoffman) began creating in 1819. This was the birthdate of actors Errol Flynn (1909), Martin Landau (1928), and Olympia Dukakis (1931). Music started coming to us from Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson (1942), Canadian songbird Anne Murray (1945), and current American Idol judge and singer Lionel Richie (1949).

The world said goodbye to Jack Kirby (2005) who was involved in work on integrated circuits at Texas Instruments and came up with the invention of the hand-held calculator.

Today is International Surfing Day (think Brian Wilson) , West Virginia Day (was admitted to the Union in 1863) , and World Refugee Day, which was established in 2001.

And so it began, the accordion music. We can blame it on Cyrill Demian of Vienna, who was granted the patent for it in 1829. In 1995 the first version of the computer programming language Java was released. And one repository of these and other historical facts, the New York Public Library, was dedicated in 1911.

Several agreements and official governmental arrangements were started or came into force on this date in history. The Good Friday Agreement, bringing peace in Northern Ireland, was accepted by referendum in 1998. The Kyoto Protocols, concerning climate change, were accepted – a sufficient number of ratifications – when ratified by Iceland. And the Finish Parliament met for the first time in 1907.

In 1960 the May 22nd earthquake created a tsunami that hit Hawaii on May 23rd, killing 61 people in Hilo. In 2006 Mt Cleveland, a stratovolcano in Alaska erupted. And in 1934 the notorious bank robbers Bonny Parker and Clyde Barrow were killed in a police ambush, ending their crime spree.

The originator of biological nomenclature, Swedish physician, botanist and zoologist, Carl Linnaeus, began exploring his world in 1707. In 1910 both comedian Scatman Carothers and bandleader Artie Shaw stepped onto the world stage. And Russian chess grandmaster Anatoly Karpov(1951) and Moog synthesizer inventor Robert Moog (1934) started flexing their talented fingers on this date.

This was the day the world said goodbye to Scottish pirate William Kidd (1710), American fur trapper and explorer Kit Carson (1868), Norwegian playwright and poet Henrik Ibsen (1906), Standard Oil founder John D Rockefeller (1937), and “Bond, James Bond” actor Roger Moore (2017).

And if you feel trapped or comfortable in your shell, know that it is World Turtle Day.

Today there were two patents issued, the first was the only patent ever issued to a person who served as President. In 1849 future President Abraham Lincoln was issued a patent for an invention to lift boats. just over a half-century later another transportation patent was issued to the Wright brothers – for their “flying machine” (1906).

This was also a day when the earth moved violently. Lassen Peak in northern California erupted with violent force in 1915. It was the only other volcanic eruption in the contiguous US in the 20th century. Long after it settled down my sisters and I took part in a ranger hike to the top of the peak while on a camping trip growing up. We had a great view up the Cascades from the summit because it was a clear day.

Two major earthquakes happened on this date. In Xining, China there was an 8..3 magnitude in 1927 that caused 200,000 deaths in one of the most destructive earthquakes in history. And the world’s strongest earthquake ever recorded – 9.5 magnitude – happened in southern Chile in 1960.

A shakeup of another type happened when the Republic of Ireland, a majority Catholic nation, became the first nation in the world to legalize gay marriage in a public referendum.

Two inventors were born on this date: English physicist William Sturgeon (1783) who invented the electromagnet and electric motor; and Bodo von Borries (1905) who invented the electron microscope. Three creative geniuses were also born today: Titanic talent and ego German composer Richard Wagner (1813), Creative of Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859), and legendary British actor Laurence Olivier (1907).

The sports world was enriched by the arrival of Dodger pitcher Tommy John (who has since gotten name recognition for a specific type of corrective surgery for pitchers) in 1943. And the Seattle area got some recognition for the exploits of Olympic medalist speed skater Apollo Ohno who arrived in 1982.

On this date we remember the passing of world-religion changing Roman emperor Constantine the Great in 337 AD. We remember the passing of the first First Lady of the US Marth Washington in 1802. And the first Union soldier killed in the Civil War died today in 1861.

We also said goodbye on this date to French novelist Victor Hugo (1885), Harlem poet Langston Hughes (1967), the librarian of the Manhattan Project,s Los Alamos site, Charlotte Serber (1967), and Hall of Fame pitcher Lefty Grove (1975).

Today is remembered as International Day for Biological Diversity, US Maritime Day, and World Goth Day.

For the past few months I have been posting the events, births, and deaths on the calendar date. It has been intriguing to me and hopefully educational for you. I have decided to break with that pattern for today. Sometimes there are days, like Labor Day, Easter, Thanksgiving , and other religious and cultural observances that don’t fall on the same date each year. Mothers Day is one of them. It is observed on the second Sunday in May. And this year that is today. Just like the date shifting the day is viewed differently by many people.

It is a day to remember our moms. For me that first means that I remember my Mom and the lessons she taught me and the examples she set for me. I say that when you see me you see my mom. and I am who I am because of her. I remember her always.

I also remember a few others. I remember Pat Ryan, my mother-in-law. She gave birth to and raised my wife Debbie, and for that I will be forever grateful, and she did it as a single mom. I remember Geraldine Briningstool, the preacher’s wife who was like a second mom to me after my mom passed. And also my sister Barb, who if you see family pictures and someone is holding little ole me, it would her.

But there are others I think of for whom this day is a day of sadness. They should not be forgotten, even though many of them will not want to look at Facebook or other social media posts. Help them be remembered.

First of all there are all the single ladies. Being single can be a pain especially on certain dates. The world is often centered around the married part of the population and singles get forgotten. Been there, done that:(

Then there are the single mothers, of which 2 of my 3 sisters were at times. They did a great job raising their kids, but got the flack about their status. Single moms should be celebrated, not shunned. Whether by divorce or death they are doing the work of two and in most cases doing it quite well.

There are also the mothers who are told by a large part of society that they shouldn’t be. Whether they were single choosing to bear or adopt a child, or whether they with a female partner chose to bear or adopt a child, they were shunned and guilt-tripped, they were not given the support they needed. You are not forgotten.

There are those moms who have lost a child. This day can be exceedingly rough. I have a friend in Toastmasters who lost her grown daughter suddenly, and worse yet the doctors did not have an answer for why? As Théoden spoke in the Return of the King (LOTR)”n0 parent should have to bury their child”. It is a sad day for those.

Then there are those we know, and more as we age ourselves, for whom this day reminds them of the missing moms. For some their mothers are still alive but out of touch. Not everyone had a mom who was supportive. Some had a mother, who for whatever reason, was neglectful, absent, or abusive. That is a terribly wrenching experience and is way overlooked.

For a lot of us mom is no longer there because of death. Whether it is a recent passing or, like me over 40 years, it is still a loss. For those the question “have you called your mom?” cuts like a knife. Loss brings bittersweet feelings: happiness for what you had, sadness for what you have now only in memories.

And then there is the really overlooked group. Those women who would have liked to have been moms, but for various reasons are not. It might have been that they couldn’t or circumstances prevented it. No one seems to understand that mother’s day is a day of regret and what-ifs and missing. And of course with society seeming obsessed with the husband/wife 2.5 kids set up and the assumption that every woman should naturally have children, those who don’t can feel really left out.

There are many expressions of family in the world today. Please understand that your particular set up is not the only model. My wife and I are family just as much as my mom and dad and five of us kids were, and so is your family, Make sure on this Mother’s Day that you leave nobody out.

In whatever situation you find yourself, find peace and acceptance in who and what you are. You are not forgotten today.

In 1631 the Massachusetts Bay Colony bans the possession of cards, dice, and gaming tables. Seven years later they banished Anne Hutchinson for religious dissent. Ironically her descendants included three US Presidents -FDR, George Bush Sr, and George Bush Jr.

In 1794 the US tried to tamp down slavery with the Slave Trade Act banning the exporting of slaves from the US and the outfitting of ships for the purpose of importing slaves. It took a Civil War to eliminate it. But in 1873 the Spanish National Assembly abolished slavery in Puerto Rico, which would later become part of the US.

There were 3 sports events on this date: The first Stanley Cup (hockey) was held in, of course, Montreal. Charilaos Vasilakos won the first modern Olympic marathon race in 1896. And 14 yr old Tara Lipinski became the youngest female skater to win the World Figure Skating Championship in 1997, setting her up for her Olympic gold medal the next year in Nagano Japan.

In 2020 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, both announced national lockdowns and curfews to combat the Covid-19 virus.

Three political figures graced the world stage for the first time on this date: Emilio Aguinaldo (1869) Filipino general and first Philippine president; Oregon governor Tom McCall (1913), and hard-right Utah Senator Orrin Hatch(1934). We welcomed a couple of odd pairs: both evangelist and TV preacher Pat Robertson, and director Stephen Sondheim in 1930. And journalist Wolf Blitzer and composer/director Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1948.

And Captain James Tiberius Kirk, aka William Shatner, began his voyage to the stars in 1931.

Those that passed this date included fire and brimstone preacher Jonathan Edwards in 1758, US Navy commander Stephen Decatur in 1820 and German novelist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Faust) in 1832.

And make sure to keep hydrated because it’s World Water Day

Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin on this date in 1852. Two years later on the same date, the Republican Party of the US was organized in Ripon, Wisconsin. And in 1883 the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property – the first intellectual property treaty – was signed.

In 1913 Albert Einstein published his general theory of relativity and in 1922 the first US Navy aircraft carrier – the USS Langley – was commissioned. NBC and CBS broadcast the first telecasts of classical music in 1948, featuring Eugene Ormandy and Arturo Toscanini.

Libby Riddles became the first woman to win the 1,1135-mile Itidarod Trai dog sled race in 1985. The FDA approved the anti-AIDS drug AZT in 1987. And in 2003 the US, UK, Australia, and Poland invaded Iraq to start the ill-fated quagmire that was the Iraq War.

Roman poet Ovid entered the world in 43 AD. Norwegian poet, playwright, and director Henrik Ibsen joined us in 1828. And B.F.Skinner began to psychoanalyze us in 1904.

This was the birthday of several TV personalities: Fred Rogers (and his neighborhood 1928), John de Lance (1948 Q Star Trek TNG), William Hurt (1950 Big Chill), and director Spike Lee (1957).

English King Henry IV of a couple of Shakespeare’s plays laid down his crown in 1413. American broadcaster Chet Huntley (of the Huntley/Brinkley report) spoke his last words in 1974. American billionaire and philanthropist David Rockefeller spent his last dime in 2017. And the great country singer Kenny Rogers finally folded in 2020.

There are four designations for this day – Great American Meat Out, International Day of Happiness (UN), National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, and World Sparrow Day.

On this date in 1766 the English Parliament did a good thing – for which to my knowledge they never got the credit. They repealed the 1765 Stamp Act, one of the “egregious” actions for which they and King George were criticized by the American colonists. In 1834 six farm laborers in England were sentenced to be deported as convicts to Australia for having the gall to form a union. They were later pardoned and returned to England between 1836 and 1839 after mass protests. Again the British righted a wrong, and it only took a short time. In 1942 the War Relocation Authority was established in the US to facilitate the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans, and it took the US government over 40 years to even admit that it was wrong and attempt to compensate those harmed.

In weather news, the Tri-State Tornado hit Missouri, Illinois and Indiana killing 695 people in 1925. In 1944, during WWII, Mt Vesuvius erupted, killing only 26, but causing thousands to flee their homes, and damaging dozens of Allied bombers – nature’s revenge perhaps? And in 1953 an earthquake in western Turkey caused the deaths of over 1,000 people.

A president and vice president were born on this date: VP John C Calhoun (1782)who served with Andrew Jackson, but later resigned and ultimately supported the Confederacy in his native South Carolina. President Grover Cleveland (1837) served in the Civil War for the Union and is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms. This was also the birth date for British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (1869), who is remembered chiefly for his appeasement of Hitler.

Three musicians share this date -Russian romantic pianist and composer Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov (1858), African- American country singer Charley Pride (1934), and Fame/Flashdance singer and actor Irene Cara(1959) who sadly just passed in 2022. This date was also the birthday for a psychic (Edgar Cayce 1877), a winemaker (Ernest Gallo, 1909), a civil rights activist (Fred Shuttlesworth, 1922, co-founded the SCLC), and an Olympic speedskater (Bonnie Blair, 1964).

This date was the passing day for the first British Prime Minister – Robert Walpole (1745), American gardener and missionary Johnny Appleseed (1845), and the German psychologist and philosopher Erich Fromm(1980).

The day is recognized as Rememberance of COVID-19 victims by Italy, which was one of the earliest and hardest hit countries of the pandemic.

This date was a day for states either coming to be or joining the Union. In 1820 Congress passed the Missouri Compromise – admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. In 1845 Florida was admitted as the 27th state. And in 1849 the Territory of Minnesota was created – the first step to becoming a state.

In international news in 1857 the Second Opium War started with the UK and France declaring war on China – an attempt to force wider trade of opium on the Chinese – such “civilized” behavior 🙁 In 1861 on the other hand Russian Tsar Alexander II signed the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing the serfs – those forced to work the land but never owning it. And in 1938 oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia, and haven’t we been having plenty of international conflict over it ever since?

Back at home starting this Women’s Month thousands of women marched in the Women’s Suffrage Procession in Washington DC in 1913. in 1891 the Shoshone National Forest was established as the first national forest in the world, not just in the US. And in 1931 the Star Spangled Banner was adopted as the US National Anthem.

A quartet of American notables shares this date as their birthday. Inventor Alexander Graham Bell (1874), Star Trek actor James Doohan (Scotty, 19220), Mad Max director, producer, and screenwriter George Miller (1945), and American historian, journalist, and author Ron Chernow (1949, Jackson, Hamilton, etc).

A couple of comedians went off the stage and out of the picture on this date -Lou Costello (1959, of the Abbott and Costello duo), and Danny Kaye (1987). Arthur Murray made his last dance move in 1991 and Carlos Montoya played his last guitar note in 1993. Roger Bannister, remembered as the first man to break 4 mins in running a mile, ran his last in 2018, and Fred W Friendly – long time broadcasting cohort of Edward R Murrow, signed off for the last time in 1998 – after doing his best to boost public broadcasting.

Today is World Hearing Day and World Wildlife Day.

I want to start a habit of blog posts every day for at least the next year. I have been stymied by a lack of what to write but then I got an idea. I have always been fascinated by significant dates – like August 6th and 8th for the atomic bombs dropped on Japan or July 14th for Bastille Day. So I thought ‘why not comment on some historic event on each day?”. And since I don’t want to make it an arbitrary day – like a New Year’s resolution – I will begin today. And of course, that means that the first event I will highlight is my and my wife’s anniversary.

On this date 28 years ago my wife and I got married, in front of a Christmas tree, because we got married on the Friday after Christmas and the lady’s house we got married in was still decorated for Christmas. We had luminaries spaced out on the walkway outside and face the Christmas tree as well as a candelabra with plenty of candles. It was a small gathering with simple food and good friends and family. I sang two songs for my bride since I had always wanted to sing at my wedding. She had not heard one of the songs I had composed myself until I sang it.

I had just about given up on being married before we met. And then we dated for a few years before we got over our commitment issues and took the plunge. At the time people said “at last” and “finally”. Since we had known each other for years before we got married, all the usual newlywed issues had already been resolved. We still had adjustments and new things to learn about each other.

We are true soulmates and continue to grow in our love for each other. This is the most significant day of the year and always will be. It is Friday, December 30th. 28 years on to forever.

No matter where you go walking you are liable to see interesting things. Like this windmill in Marymoor Park. Can’t you just imagine Don Quixote riding up or tulips blooming?

You might come upon a row of row of benches ready for eager little minds to sit on and be engaged with a forest lecture.

Or you might just find a nice seat to rest your weary body on.

You might find soccer statues – or a lively game that you can watch.

Or your imagination might run wild and see – a dragon? – in a gnarly tree?

It’s not just for physical fitness that I wander in the woods. It’s also the surprises and treasures of the trees and trails that I set my mind to seek out while I walk. I hope you can do that too.