All of the Presidents pictured above were sworn into office on this day.

1569 – The translator of the Bible into English, Miles Coverdale, dies at 80

1942 – Slim Whitman, yodeler and country singer, was born.  Below are two videos of him singing “Indian Love Call.”  The first is from Mars Attacks.

1948 - Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated.  A few quotes from him follow.

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

“I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.”

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it–always.”

1993 - Audrey Hepburn, actress in My Fair Lady, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Roman Holiday, dies of colon cancer in Switzerland at 63.

1563 – The Heidelberg Catechism was first published in Germany. Written by Peter Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus, it was a statement of Calvinist tradition, and was soon after adopted by nearly all of the Reformed churches in Europe.  The complete text can be found here.

Today is the birthday of American author Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849).  Out of all his poems, my favorite is “Annabel Lee,” which is printed below.  It is also the birthday of Paul Cezanne (1839-1906), renowned French Post-Impressionist painter.  The image above is of his painting “Pyramid of Skulls.”

———-

“Annabel Lee”
(published 1849)

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;–
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
She was a child and I was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love–
I and my Annabel Lee–
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud by night
Chilling my Annabel Lee;
So that her high-born kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me:–
Yes! that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of a cloud, chilling
And killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we–
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in Heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee:–

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I see the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea–
In her tomb by the side of the sea.

The poem and painting seem to go together, if you ask me.

1914 – Lester Flatt, famed country musician of “Flatt and Scruggs,” was born.  Here is video of “Foggy Mountain Breakdown.”

1919 – A veritable tidal wave of molasses 15 meters high x 25 meters wide kills dozens in Boston.  To read more about this tragic event and how it helped bring about some essential government regulation of industry, click here.

“A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures.”
“There is nothing so powerful as truth, and often nothing so strange.”
“I mistrust the judgment of every man in a case in which his own wishes are concerned.”

1788 – The first English settlers arrived in Australia’s Botany Bay to establish a penal colony

1882 – A.A. Milne, author and creator of Winnie the Pooh, was born.

1913 – The American actor and comedian Danny Kaye was born.  Here he is singing the song “Inchworm” from the movie Hans Christian Anderson.

1980 – One of my favorite albums of all time, Pink Floyd’s The Wall hits number 1 on Billboard.  Below is the song “Another Brick in the Wall.”

1706 – Benjamin Franklin, statesman and inventor, was born.  At the age of 26, he outlined a list of virtues, which he then attempted to emulate in his daily life.  The following is taken from wikipedia:

These are the virtues[13] that Benjamin Franklin used to develop what he called ‘moral perfection’. He had a checklist in a notebook to measure each day how he lived up to his virtues. They became known through Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography.

1. Temperance: Eat not to Dullness. Drink not to Elevation.
2. Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself. Avoid trifling Conversation.
3. Order: Let all your Things have their Places. Let each Part of your Business have its Time.
4. Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.
5. Frugality: Make no Expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e. Waste nothing.
6. Industry: Lose no Time. Be always employed in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary Actions.
7. Sincerity: Use no hurtful Deceit. Think innocently and justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. Justice: Wrong none, by doing Injuries or omitting the Benefits that are your Duty.
9. Moderation: Avoid Extremes. Forbear resenting Injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. Cleanliness: Tolerate no Uncleanness in Body, Clothes or Habitation.
11. Tranquility: Be not disturbed at Trifles, or at Accidents common or unavoidable.
12. Chastity: Rarely use Venery but for Health or Offspring; Never to Dullness, Weakness, or the Injury of your own or another’s Peace or Reputation.
13. Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

1931 – James Earl Jones, Actor and the voice of Darth Vader, was born.  If my life was to be narrated by anyone, I would have it be James Earl Jones, followed by Morgan Freeman.  Here Jones is in a scene from one of my favorite movies:  Field of Dreams.

1945 - Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, credited with saving tens of thousands of Jews from the Nazis, was arrested by secret police in Hungary and never heard from again.  To read more about Wallenberg, click here.  Wallenberg once said, “I encounter one example after another of how relative truth is.”

1956 – Paul Young, Rock singer, was born.  Young was one of my favorites in the early 80s.  Below is a video:  Love of the Common People.

1740 - English revivalist George Whitefield wrote in a letter: ‘If I see a man who loves the Lord Jesus in sincerity, I am not very solicitous to what…communion he belongs. The Kingdom of God, I think, does not consist in any such thing.’

1749 - Vittorio Alfieri (died 8 October 1803), poet, playwright and philosopher, was born.  Alfieri is often considered the “founder of Italian tragedy.”  A few quotes from him, that I found interesting, follow.

“Ofttimes the test of courage becomes rather to live than to die.”

“To err is human; but contrition felt for the crime distinguishes the virtuous from the wicked.”

“First thoughts are not always the best.”

On this day in 1973, the final episode of the long-running western “Bonanza” aired on NBC.  Featuring the exploits of the Cartwright family (including Little Joe and Hoss) on the Ponderosa, “Bonanza” was one of the longest running Western television series (it ran for 14 seasons) and continues to air in syndication.

Two versions of the Bonanza theme song follow.  The first is the original as seen on the TV series, and the second is one with words sung by the Ponderosa patriarch himself, Lorne Greene.

Today in Norway is Tyvendedagen (Twentieth Day, after Christmas). As this site explains:

“Saint Knut drives Christmas away,” is an old folk saying which explains why, in many country areas it was customary on this day to hold the traditional “Christmas race.” People piled into their sleighs and sledges and drove madly across ice-bound lakes and frosty roads to the accompaniment of joyous shouts and merrily jingling bells; for, according to ancient superstition trolls, led by the troll woman herself, Kari-Tretten, or Karl the Thirteenth, raced over the frozen countryside on the night of January 13.

On Tyvendedagen, which marks the official end of Yuletide and is the last day the greeting “Glaedelig Jul,” “Merry Christmas,” is used, Christmas trees are dismantled and decorations carefully packed away until the following year. Generally the tree is chopped up and burned in the fireplace. The last Christmas parties are held, the final festivities attended on this day.

1695 – Jonathan Swift was ordained an Anglican priest in Ireland

1832 – Horatio Alger was born. Alger, the American author of boy’s adventure stories whose heroes lead exemplary lives and strive to succeed in the face of adversity and poverty, also has the following epitaph on his tombstone: “Here lies a good fellow who spent his life while he had it.”

1884 – Sophie Tucker, American entertainer/singer and the “last of red hot mammas.” was born in Russia. Below is her signature song Some of These Days.

1901 – A.B. Jr. Guthrie, American novelist, was born. Guthrie once said: “Nouns and verbs are the guts of the language. Beware of covering up with adjectives and adverbs.”

1981- The Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to May Swenson & Howard Nemerov.  A poem by each is found below.

The Lowering
by May Swensen

The flag is folded
lengthwise, and lengthwise again,
folding toward the open edge,
so that the union of stars on the blue
field remains outward in full view;
a triangular folding is then begun
at the striped end,
by bringing the corner of the folded edge
to the open edge;
the outer point, turned inward along the open edge,
forms the next triangular fold:
the folding continued so, until the end is reached,
the final corner tucked between
the folds of the blue union,
the form of the folded flag is found to resemble that
of a 3-cornered pouch, or thick cocked hat.

Take this flag, John Glenn, instead of a friend;
instead of a brother, Edward Kennedy, take this flag;
instead of a father, Joe Kennedy, take this flag;
this flag instead of a husband, Ethel Kennedy, take this flag;
this 9-times-folded red-white-striped, star-spotted-blue flag,
tucked and pocketed neatly,
Nation, instead of a leader, take this folded flag.
Robert Kennedy, coffin without coverlet,
beside this hole in the grass,
beside your brother, John Kennedy,
in the grass,
take, instead of a country,
this folded flag;
Robert Kennedy, take this
hole in the grass.

A Life
by Howard Nemerov

Innocence?
In a sense.
In no sense!

Was that it?
Was that it?
Was that it?

That was it.