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I always remember this date. It was the date I began my wilderness journey. My dad had taken early retirement and partly because of my mom’s respiratory issues and partly due to family friends nearby, they decided to move to Arizona, especially the Phoenix area. I had just completed my freshman year of high school so it was quite disruptive – and not just because I am a rain lover. There were good things that came out of it, but I don’t recall loads of fond memories:( Let me clarify that. I met new friends, including my very best friend, my soul mate, my sweet dear Debbie. And I met some good friends. It would be more accurate to say I don’t miss Arizona. We got married and hightailed it up to the Northwest.

Around the world, there were other grand events on this date. In 1521 the invading Spanish conquistadors conquered the Aztec capital Techochtilnn. Harry Brearley produced the first stainless steel in 1913. East and West Berlin were separated by the beginning of the Berlin Wall in 1961, which lasted until its destruction almost 3 decades later. And, on a bright note, Opha May Johnson became the first woman to enlist in the US Marine Corp in 1918.

Notable birthdays include American abolitionist and suffragette Lucy Stone (1818), Bert Lahr (1895) the Cowardly Lion of Wizard of Oz, thriller director Alfred Hitchcock (1899), biochemist Frederick Sanger, who identified and isolated the amino acid structure of insulin (1918), and “Leader of the Band” singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg (1951).

Those who left us on this date include the “Lady with the Lamp” Florence Nightingale (1910) hero of Britain’s Crimean War; English sci-fi writer H G Wells (1946); Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle (1995); American French chef Julia Child (2004), and Star Wars own R2D2 Kenny Baker (2016).

Today is World Organ Donation Day, as well as International Lefthanders Day.

In 1851 Isaac Singer was granted a patent for his sewing machine. In 1865 Joseph Lister performed the first antiseptic surgery. Progress. We had the old and the new – in 1981 the IBM PC was released, and nine years later in 1990 the largest and most complete T-Rex skeleton, nicknamed Sue, was discovered in South Dakota. Yet there were still setbacks. In 1994 the major league baseball players went out on strike causing the cancellation of the World Series that year. And in 2000 the Russian Navy submarine Kursk exploded and sank in the Barents Sea, killing the entire 118-man crew during a military exercise.

Notable people born on this date include Katherine Lee Bates (1859) writer of “America the Beautiful”, American mega movie maker Cecil B DeMille (1881), Austrian Nobel Prize-winning physicist and academic Erwin Schrodinger (1887) remembered most for his mysterious cat, Hungarian-American businessman, financier and fan of Q everywhere George Soros (1930), and Star-Trek reboot Captain Pike and Resident Dr Bell actor Bruce Greenwood (1956).

Cleopatra reportedly got bit by an asp and perished with Mark Anthony in 30 BC. Spy and spy-author Ian Fleming, who brought us James Bond apparently met his match and maker in 1964. Pioneering automaker and assembly line creator Henry Ford reached the end of his line in 1982. Two notable music men died on this date – music theorist and experimenter John Cage (1992) and guitar maker and player Les Paul (2009). And legendary lady of the movies and companion of Bogie – Lauren Bacall left the stage in 2014.

This is International Youth Day and World Elephant Day.

We have an item from way, way back today. This is the traditional date of the beginning of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by the Mayans of Latin America. The year was 3114 BC. More recently the Great Famine of Europe, in 1315, became so dire that even the King of England had difficulty buying bread for himself and his entourage. In 1929 Babe Ruth became the first ballplayer to hit 500 home runs in his career with a home run at League Park in Cleveland. In 1934 the first civilian prisoners arrived at the federal prison at Alcatraz. And in 1972 the last US ground combat unit would leave South Vietnam.

Notables born on this date include American historian and author Alex Haley (Roots, 1921), Frederick W Smith, the founder of FedEx (1944), co-founder of Apple computer scientist Steve Wozniak (1950), American journalist and author David Brooks (1961), and actors Chris Helmsworth (1983 Thor) and Viola Davis (1965,, The Help, and Hidden Figures).

Those who departed on this date include American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1919), American novelist and short story writer Edith Wharton (1937), and American painter Jackson Pollack (1956). It was also the day we said farewell to the kind heart of Eunice Kennedy Shriver (2009) who founded Special Olympics, horror master Peter Cushing (1994), and comedian and master of our heart-strings Robin Williams (2014).

There were several occurrences of official government action on this date. In 1782 George Washington ordered the creation of the Badge of Military Merit to honor soldiers wounded in battle. It was later renamed the Purple Heart. In 1786 the first federal Indian Reservation was created in the US, a preview of the massive tribal relocations to come over the next century in our shameful treatment and segregation of Native Americans. Coincidentally three years later in 1786, the Department of War was established (we know it now as the euphemistical Department of Defense). In 1964 with just two nays the Tonkin Gulf Resolution was passed to allow Pres LBJ more latitude in prosecuting the Vietnam War. It was later shown to be based on false information and hype. And in 1978 President Carter declared a federal emergency at Love Canal due to the negligent disposal of toxic waste.

Birthdays on this date include American Revolutionary general Nathaniel Greene (1742), Kenyan-English paleontologist and archeologist Louis Leakey (1903), American scientist, civil rights activist, and diplomat Ralph Bunche (1904), the only baseball player to pitch a perfect game in the World Series Don Larsen (1929), and the Prairie Home Companion humorist Garrison Keillor (1942), who introduced us to Lake Wobegon.

Those who left us this day include comedian and film star Oliver Hardy (1957 of the Laurel and Hardy duo), Canadian-American journalist and author Peter Jennings (2005), long-time Senator and former Oregon governor Mark Hatfield (2011), and American historian and author David McCullough (2022) who if you haven’t read you really should.

And today is National Purple Heart Day in the US.

Everything pales today compared to the atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. I just watched Oppenheimer yesterday afternoon and saw the buildup to it all. It was an incredible achievement with disastrous results. Oh, we all were taught in school about how it had to happen, that it saved American military lives because of not having to invade Japan, and how it ended WWII. But do we stop to consider how many human lives were lost in Hiroshima and three days later in Nagasaki? Not just on the days but later from burns and radiation poisoning? 70,000 just in Hiroshima actual deaths on that day. It was a different world and there are many divergent views of what should have been done – as well as reconsidering of the options that were not considered. But in terms of just flesh and blood human cost, do we ever really think about and take time to absorb it?

There were a few other things that did happen on this date in history. In 1825 the Bolivian Declaration of Independence was declared. In 1926 Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. In 1965 Pres LBJ signed into law the Voting Rights Act. And in 2012 the Curiosity rover landed on Mars.

Those born on this date include British poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809), Scottish biologist and pharmacologist Arthur Fleming (1881) who gave us the first antibiotic -penicillin, comedian and TV series actress Lucille Ball (1911), and pop artist Andy Warhol (1928) as well as sci-fi writer Piers Anthony (1934).

We also said goodbye the journalist and 60-minutes co-creator Harry Reasoner (1991), coming-of-age teen filmmaker John Hughes (2009),, and pianist, composer, and conductor Marvin Hamlisch (2012)

Today there will be numerous Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremonies happening all around the world, to mirror the first one that occurred in Japan in 1947.

In 1859 the American Dental Association was founded in Niagara Falls NY. One can wonder what kind of techniques they employed back then and how much the sound of falling water distracted patients from the pain. Germany declared war on France in 1914 and WWI was full on for real. In 1958 the USS Nautilus became the first submarine to complete a submerged circumnavigation of the geographical North Pole. In 1972 the world got a little bit safer as the US Senate ratified the Anti-Ballistic Missle Treaty. And in 2004 the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty was reopened to the public after the attacks of 9-11.

The man who helped us go up and down in buildings – Elisha Otis – who founded the Otis Elevator Company, was born in 1813. One of the authors who took our minds far far away in space, Clifford D Simak, was born in 1904. Leon Uris, who wrote about Ireland in Trinity and Israel in Exodus, joined the Earth’s population in 1924. This was also the birthdate of the recently passed singer Tony Bennett (1926), Angolan general Joseph Savimba (1934), and actor, director, producer, and screenwriter John Landis (1950).

Two notable writers ceased penning their works on this date – Polish-born British author Joseph Conrad (1924) whose Heart of Darkness inspired the Vietnam War era film Apocalypse Now, and Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (2008) who opened our eyes to the Soviet prison system in the Gulag Archipelago and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

In 1790 the first US Census was conducted. While in 1923 VP Calvin Coolidge became President on the death of Warren Harding. In 1939 Albert Einstein and fellow scientist Leo Szilard wrote a letter to Pres FDR urging the beginning of the Manhattan Project, starting the race with Germany for the atomic bomb. In 1943 future president JFK’s PT-109 was hit by a Japanese destroyer and split in two. JFK then a lieutenant commanding the boat was able to save all but two of his men.

Two French designers were born on this date – Pierre Charles L’Enfant (1754) who designed Washington DC – and Frederic August Bartholdi (1834), who designed the Statue of Liberty. This was also the birthdate for producer Jack Warner (1892)who co-founded Warner Bros studios, Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Perez (1923), American novelist and critic James Baldwin (1924), American Football League co-founder Lamar Hunt (1932), and British-Irish actor and producer Peter O’Toole (1932).

Passing away on this date we had British painter Thomas Gainsborough (1788), notorious American sheriff Wild Bill Hickok (1876), Italian tenor and actor Enrico Caruso (1921), American inventor Alexander Graham Bell (1922), and Field Marshall and 2nd President of Germany Paul von Hindenberg (1934).

Also leaving the world’s stage was Austrian-American film director Fritz Lang (1976) who brought us the great silent film Metropolis, and the unmistakable voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers, one of the best in the history of baseball, Vin Scully (2012). He helped get me through my teenage years.

Sometimes timing bites. In 1911 on this date Harriet Quimby became the first woman to get a pilot’s license. The next year she accomplished the first solo crossing of the English Channel. However, the accomplishment got very little news coverage because it came on April 16th, the day after the Titanic sank. Sadly she died a couple of months later when she and her passenger were thrown out of the aircraft she was piloting by a sudden freak downward dip of the plane, which glided to a muddy landing on the ground.

Slavery was abolished in the British Empire by the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, beating the US by over 30 years. In 1876 Colorado was admitted as the 38th US State. In 1936 the Berlin Olympic Games opened and in 1965 Frank Herbert’s novel Dune was published for the first time.

Two Roman Emperors were born on this date -Claudius in 10 BC and Pertinax in 126 AD. This was the birthdate of explorer William Clark (1770), national anthem author Francis Scott Key (1779), Moby Dick author Herman Melville (1819), and rocker Jerry Garcia(1942) of Grateful Dead fame.

Those who passed on include Roman general Mark Anthony (30 BC), American frontierswoman and scout Calamity Jane (1903), U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers (1977), and former Philippine President Corazon Aquino (2009).

This is International Beer Day and also Friendship Day – sometimes those go together.

At the end of July in 1492 all remaining Jews were expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree took effect. Anti-Semitism was all over Europe, not just limited to one area or national group – previously England and France had issued similar decrees. Daniel Defoe was not just known for adventure tales like Robinson Caruso, he was a political pamphleteer and it got him into some trouble. At the end of 1703 he was placed in a public pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing on pamphlet consider political satire. Instead of the usual taunts and rotten produce being thrown at him, however, he was pelted with flowers.

At the end of 1964, the Ranger 7 probe sent back the first close-up photos of the Moon, with images 1,000 times more clear than any Earth-based telescope. And at the end of July 1971, the Apollo 15 astronauts were the first to traverse the moon on a rover.

Two American conservative writers were born on this date – economist Milton Freidman (1912) and journalist and future US Secretary of Education William Bennett (1943). Australian tennis star Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1951) burst onto the scene, as well as the acting talents of sci-fi actor Michael Beihn were revealed (1956) when he not only appeared in Aliens, Terminator, and The Abyss but went on to direct and produce other films.

It was also the birthday of entrepreneur and Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban (1958) and Harry Potter author J K Rowling (1965).

Those who left the world stage on this last day of July include Jesuit founder Ignatius of Loyola (1556), French philosopher Denis Diderot (1784), American general and 17th US President Andrew Johnson (1875), Hungarian pianist, composer, and conductor Franz Lizst (1886), American novelist Gore Vidal (2012) and Hall of Fame NBA legendary center Bill Russell (2022).

In 762 AD the city of Baghdad was founded. Almost a millennium later and half a world away the city of Baltimore Maryland was founded. In 1945 the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese sub while heading for the Philippines after having just left the island of Tinian where it had delivered the uranium and other materials for Little Boy, the 2nd atomic bomb that was subsequently dropped on Nagasaki on August 9th.

In 1956 a joint Congressional resolution was signed by President Eisenhower to change the US national motto to “In God We Trust” from the previous “E Pluribus Unum” (out of many one). And in 1965 President LBJ signed the Social Security Act of 1965, establishing Medicare and Medicaid.

Some notable birthday babies for this date include English novelist and poet Emily Bronte (1818), American automaker Henry Ford (1863), chef and producer Alton Brown (1962), American director, producer, and screenwriter Christopher Nolan (1970) responsible for the current hit Oppenheimer, and actress Hilary Swank (1974).

Those who left us on this date include Pennsylvania founder William Penn (1718), father of Mexican independence Miguel Hidalgo y Castilla (1811), leader of the failed last charge at Gettysburg, General George Pickett (1845), the Iron Chancellor – 1st Chancellor of Germany, Otto von Bismarck (1898), and the incomparable Nichelle Nichols (2022) Uhura of Star Trek.