The Daily Dose/February 14, 2020
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience…
CAPSULE BOOK REVIEW: The First Congress by Fergus Bordewich: One of the pleasures of reading is going in-depth on a subject you previously only knew a little about. We’ve long had a big-picture view of our first Congress, mainly through reading biographies of those who were there, but this was the first in-depth reading we’ve done on how they went about their business on a daily basis.
Down To Business: Bordewich does an excellent job of showing the challenges facing the first Congress, challenges that were as numerous as they were enormous because they were no less than inventing an entirely new form of government. For example, while the new Constitution specified a supreme court and other inferior courts, it left no further instructions; it was up to Congress to sort this, as well as other matters, out. Money had to be raised, debts had to be paid, a permanent capital had to be found, the list went on and on.
The More Things Change…: Egos, provincialism and bickering are on full display, too, just like they’ve been on display in every Congress since. This means that the first Congress sometimes met the challenges they were faced with and that sometimes they didn’t, just like every Congress since.
Dry, Technical Matter: The first United States Congress met from March 1789 until March 1791, first in New York City before finishing up in Philadelphia. It started with 22 senators and 59 representatives before Rhode Island and North Carolina ratified the Constitution, which added four senators and six representatives.
Final Ranking: B: Bordewich’s account moves right along, something historians might find some fault with because while a variety of personalities and issues are highlighted, few are gone into in any great detail. For general readers and fans of the era, though, The First Congress is a good read, an excellent introduction for those new to the period, and a useful tool for those who have visited it before.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow enjoys a day off. Today’s Diary.
I efforted around the cabin when I got back, washing dishes and doing laundry and watering the plants and cleaning the cat box…I’m still half-assing it tho, because I still can’t be bothered to vacuum or actually fold the clean clothes, preferring to leave them on the kitchen table.
Click here to get in on the laffs: Sparrow, The Bottom Ten, the funniest books you’ve ever read. We offer 4Ever and Ever access, or cheapskates can purchase books and columns individually.
On This Date
Great moments in us.
In 1349 – History’s long intolerance of the Jews continues in Strasbourg (then a free city, now part of France) when approximately 2,000 Jews are burned to death for assorted reasons, including general intolerance and being blamed for the Black Plague that was devastating Europe at the time. After the murders, residents took any valuables that had not been burned and would later claim the Jews’ property. Jews willing to be baptized, children and good-looking women were spared. Jews would return to Strasbourg 20 years later when it was decided their money was needed again.
In 1966 – Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers establishes a new NBA record for most career points in a 149-123 win over the Detroit Pistons. Chamberlain had 41 points and broke the record of 20,880 points that had been established by Bob Petit between 1954 and 1965 with the Milwaukee/St Louis Hawks. Chamberlain retired in 1973 with 31,419 career points, a mark now good for seventh on the all-time list. The record is now held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who scored 38,387 points between 1969 and 1989,
In 1981 – Kool and the Gang is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the second and final consecutive week with Celebration. Earlier, the song had spent six weeks at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart and also topped Billboard’s dance chart for five weeks. It was their fifth of eight soul chart #1s and remains their only song to top the Hot 100. Celebration also went to #1 in New Zealand and Canada, peaked at #7 in Great Britain and was Billboard’s sixth-biggest song of the year.
Quotebook
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
Let us laugh at fate. It might please her. – Winston Churchill
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
It’s not who you know, but what you know.
Two players have twice scored 100 or more points in an NCAA basketball game: Clarence ‘Bevo’ Francis (Rio Grande College, 1953, 1954) and Jack Taylor (Grinnell College, 2012, 2013). Taylor’s 138 points on Nov 20, 2012, is the all-time NCAA single-game scoring record.
Today’s Stumper
Cheaper than Trivia Night at the bar.
What was the first #1 song on Billboard’s dance chart? – Answer next time!
