2019 Year in Review

The Chinese called it the Year of the Pig. The United Nations dubbed 2019 the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements. It was the year that the Apollo 11 Moon Landing and Woodstock turned 50. A&W Root Beer turned 100 years old in 2019 which also marked the 100^th anniversary of:

• the Treaty of Versailles to formally end World War I

• the 1^st Remembrance Day observance

• the Great Molasses Flood in Boston ^{(33 dead, 150 injured)}

• the Save the Children Fund ^{(to raise post-war relief for German & Austrian children)}

• the 1^st transatlantic flight ^{(is made in 23 days, with six stops by US Navy Flying Boat)}

• Alcock and Brown’s 1^st nonstop transatlantic flight ^{(6 hrs, 12 min)}

• the 1^st transatlantic flight by dirigible ^{British airship R34}

• the Winnipeg General Strike ^{(for better wages and working conditions)}.

• America’s 1^st Red Scare sparked by strikes, strikes, & more strikes

• formation of the American Communist Party

• the Chicago Race Riot

• Adolf Hitler’s 1^st speech for German Workers’ Party

• the Enigma coding machine is invented in Germany

• Robert Goddard’s proposal to send small vehicle to moon

• the Dutch airline KLM ^{(oldest airline still flying under original name)}

• Canadian National Railways ^{(longest railway system in North America 30,000 miles)}

• the opening of the Quebec Bridge ^{(the world’s longest bridge of any kind)}

• United Artists Studios ^{founded by W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, & Douglas Fairbanks.}

• Felix the Cat ^{(1st animated character to attain popularity on big screen)}

• 1^st public radio station in N.A. goes on air ^{XWA (now CINW) in Montreal}

• RCA ^{(Radio Corporation of America )} Corporation

• the 1^st air cooled medium machine gun ^{(M1919 Browning .30 calibre)}

• the Hostess Cupcake and the Hostess snack brand name

• Dixie Cups ^{(previously called Health Kups)}

• the Chicago “Black” Sox World Series ^{(Cincinnati Reds win 5 games to 3)}

• the Green Bay Packers football team

• Boston’s trade of Babe Ruth to the NY Yankees ^{(for $125,000)}

• Pitcher Ray Caldwell being struck by lightning ^{but finishes game with win}

We have come a long way in the last hundred years but everyone everywhere still seems to be protesting in the streets, and, although the sky may be the limit on human ingenuity (and an impenetrable barrier to Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft) you wouldn’t know it with everyone everywhere still wanting to put unlimited numbers of satellites into earth’s orbit.

While on the subject of things getting polluted, if you are expecting a source of sober second thought vis a vis the issues and events that defined 2019 (or if you suspect my interpretation of the facts is as bent out of shape as I might be right now) feel free to drill down into the hyper-linked source stories for more context and/or to come to your own conclusions.