The Daily Dose/November 22, 2018
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
In The News
Today is the Thanksgiving holiday here in America. It has been celebrated off and on since the early 17th century, first in Virginia, and was first observed to celebrate a good harvest. The tradition of having it late November originated with President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 and President Franklin D Roosevelt resisted pleas from the nation’s department stores to make it earlier so they could sell more stuff. There was a time when Thanksgiving marked the start of the holiday season, but America’s retailers have been force feeding us earlier and earlier starts and now the first Christmas stuff is trotted well before Halloween.
Yeah, there’s a lot to fret about in our country: Our government is a partisan, fractured and bickering mess and our once-proud nation has turned into a shooting gallery. 2019 will mark the 30th consecutive year America has been at war.
So let’s not worry about that right now. Let’s get selfish and be thankful for what is good in our lives. Here at In The News, we’re thankful for the good health that makes writing two, sometimes three, columns a day possible and for you dropping by to read what we feel needs to be said.
If you’ve made it this far you can be thankful you can read and that you can afford the computer and Internet access required to read this crap and you may well be enjoying a large meal with loved, or at least tolerated, ones. If you’re alone this holiday, well, we’ve been there. We’ve had our share of hot dogs and mac and cheese for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner one year was Church’s Fried Chicken because they were the only place open and we had neglected to buy anything. Hang in there, though perhaps you are grateful for your solitude, as we usually were.
And if none of this pleases you, if some aspects of your life are not measuring up or what you expected, be thankful you live in America where everyone is free to say OK, this may be what I am today, but tomorrow, tomorrow I am going to be this.
We should be thankful for the 24 hours each of us has each day to make something good happen for ourselves. It’s the great prize for having had the great good fortune of being born in this country and is something to be thankful for every day, not just on the fourth Thursday in November.
Today at the Site
The Diary of a Nobody
Sparrow kicks off the holiday season by baking the Thanksgiving pie, despite the fact he’s never baked a pie before in his life. Also, the small town continues to take the diner’s closing well.
The Thought for the Day
Thomas Edison, one of the more useful people we’ve produced, has a quote from earlier this year about doing what we are capable of.
On This Date
In 498 – The Catholic Church elects two popes – Symmachus and Laurence – one more than is required. Though the church recognizes Symmachus as pope and Laurence as antipope, Laurence was actually in control of Rome from 501 until his death in either 506 or 508, History not being entirely clear on this matter. Symmachus would serve as pope until July 514.
In 1985 – Mike Tyson, 20, defeats Trevor Berbick in a second-round TKO to win the WBC heavyweight championship, becoming the youngest heavyweight champion ever. Tyson would later be the undisputed heavyweight champion until losing in 1990 to Buster Douglas. Tyson would regain the WBC title in 1995 and the WBA title in 1996. Tyson last fought in 2005 and now lives near Las Vegas.
In 1969 – Wedding Bell Blues by the Fifth Dimension is at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the third and final week, the second and final #1 for the Fifth Dimension. Earlier in 1969, they had hit #1 with Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In, making them and the Beatles the only acts with multiple #1 songs that year.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
The first song to spend ten weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 was You Light Up My Life by Debby Boone in 1977. The record was equaled and eclipsed before the advent of the Hot 100 and has been eclipsed since then many times.
Today’s Stumper
Thanksgiving replaced another late November holiday that had been celebrated in America. What was it? – Answer Next Time!
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