2023 Year-End Review

The Chinese called it the Year of the Rabbit. The United Nations dubbed 2023 the International Year of Dialogue as a Guarantee of Peace and the International Year of Millets. It was the year that and the Yom Kippur War and its ensuing Arab Oil Embargo turned 50. The three-way traffic signal turned 100 years old in 2023 which also marked the 100^th anniversary of:

• the 1^st flight of Juan de la Cierva’s autogyro ^{[helicopter’s predecessor]}

• the 1^st dinosaur eggs are dicovered ^[Mongolia]

• the assassination of Pancho Villa ^{[Mexican rebel leader]}

• Vladimir Lenin’s removal as Russian head of state after suffering a 3^rd stroke that leaves him bedridden and unable to speak.

• the Great Kantō earthquake’s devastation of Tokyo ^{[100,000+ dead]}
  

• the 1923 Berkeley fire ^{[consumes 640 structures, including 584 homes]}
  

• the maiden flight of 1^st rigid airship in America^{[USS Shenandoah (ZR-1)]}. She contains most of the world’s extracted reserves of helium.

• the creation of Interpol ^{[the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC)]}
  

• the Honda Point disaster ^{[9 Nine US Navy destroyers run aground]}
  

• the 1^st baseball game in Yankee Stadium^{[Babe Ruth hits a 3-run homer to defeat Red Sox 4–1]}

• the 1^st American Track & Field championships for women

• the birth of Republic of Turkey ends Ottoman Empire ^[1299-1923]

• the creation of the protectorate of Palestine (under British administration)

• Adolph Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch ^{[20 die when Nazi’s attempt to overthrow the Bavarian government]}

• the height of hyperinflation in Germany when it takes 4.2 trillion marks to purchase $1^US

• the 1^st patent for television is filed in the U.S.^{Vladimir K. Zworykin}

• the 1st 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race ^{[André Lagache & René Léonard win]}

• the eruption of Mount Etna in Italy, making 60,000 homeless.
  

• the inauguration of the Hollywood sign ^{[it originally read Hollywoodland]}

• the creation of Disney Brothers Studio ^{[now Walt Disney Company]}

• the founding of Warner Bros. movie studio

• The introduction of the 1^st sounds on film

• the 1^st presidential address on broadcast radio ^{[Calvin Coolidge]}

• the world’s 1^st hemispherectomy ^{[removes half of the brain – the patient lives]}

• the 1^st runway beacons replace bonfires to guide pilots at night.

• Canada’s Chinese Immigration^[Exclusion] Act

• the creation of the Canada’s Department of National Defence.

• the prohibition of marijuana in Canada

• Canada’s signing its 1^st international treaty ^{[Canada/U.S. Halibut Treaty]} that is not vetted by U.K.

• Canada’s last big bank failure ^{[Home Bank of Canada]}
  

• the formation of Canadian National Railway

• the Nobel Prize for Medicine award to Frederick Banting and Charles Best for their discovery of insulin

• the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s 1^st concert

• the world’s 1^st complete play-by-play radio broadcast of a professional hockey game ^{(by Pete Parker in Regina)}

• the Ottawa Senators’ 10^th Stanley Cup victory ^{[over Edmonton Eskimos 2 games to 0]}

• Queen’s University’s 2^nd Grey Cup victory ^{[over Regina Rugby Club 54–0]}

• the words: Bathtub gin, dial tone, endangered species, gross national product, ultrasound, demand deposit

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And now, here we are again at the dawn of yet a new circus around the sun, pondering those age old (if not old age) questions: What just happened? Why am I here now? What does that mean?  Well, you can relax, because the writers’ strike is over and the voices in my head were happy to come out again to assuage your Fears of Missing Out on all the news that was news from 2023 along with some insider (my head) analysis of why we should all care.  As always, keep in mind (if you can) that although hindsight is 2020 (not 2023) my old if not sage voices tend to operate from memory and the off the wall echoes of our mind which has been marinated in and basted with a thick whisky sauce.