Tag Archive: Prologue

The Chinese called it the Year of the Dragon. The United Nations dubbed 2024 the International Year of Camelids. It was the year that U.S President Nixon’s Watergate Resignation and Rubik’s Cube turned 50. Kleenex turned 100 years old in 2024 which also marked the 100^th anniversary of:

• a German court handing Adolf Hitler 5 year sentence to Landsberg Prison for his participation in the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch ^{(he serves less than 9 months)}

• the electoral victory of Mussolini’s fascist party in Italy with a two-thirds majority ^{(he throws off all pretence of democracy and becomes dictator in 1925)}

• the death of thousands in a Georgian uprising against rule by the Soviet Union

• a failed Soviet-backed communist coup d’état in Estonia

• the Dawes Plan is signed in Paris, temporarily resolving the German war reparations dispute.

• the strongest tornado to ever hit Europe (an F4) kills 9 in Hungary

• Edgar Hoover’s appointment as head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

• the end of the American Indian Wars after 315 years

• the Indian Citizenship Act granting citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States.

• the end of S. occupation of the Dominican Republic ^1916–24.

• the 1^st female governor in the United States ^{(Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming)}

• Mongolia’s independence from China

• a flash fire at a Christmas celebration in a one-room schoolhouse in Babbs, Oklahoma ^{(36 mostly small children die)}.

• the Kohat riots break out in India ^{(23 dead, 109 injured, 13 missing)}

• the formation of the Royal Canadian Air Force

• Prince Edward Island changing from driving on the left to the right side of the road

• a fire that burned the Chateau Lake Louise down

• Harry Grindell Matthews’ attempt to demonstrate his “death ray” to the War Office in the United Kingdom

• Radiofax, the forerunner of today’s “fax” machines

• last sighting of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine “going strong for the top” of Mount Everest

• the 1^st aerial circumnavigation of the globe ^{S. Army pilots John Harding and Erik Nelson (175 days, 74 stops)}

• American astronomer Edwin Hubble announcement that the Milky Way is only one of many galaxies in the universe

• the world’s 1^st radio play, Danger being broadcast on BBC radio in London

• Wheaties breakfast cereal

• the 1^st appearance of Iodized table salt in the U.S. at grocers in Michigan

• the 1^st Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

• the formation of Mercedes-Benz after merger of companies owned by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz.

• the Little Orphan Annie comic strip

• the premier of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue at a NYC concert entitled An Experiment In Modern Music

• Clark Gable’s movie debut in White Man

• the words: Bible Belt, cosmetician, domino effect, dump truck, fan mail, finagle, Geiger counter, license plate, nuclear family, penis envy, radiation sickness, sexploitation, slap shot, super billionaire, triathlon, watchband, zipper

***************

But that was then and this is now (and with the exception of the odd ill douche being convicted and/or winning an election, Russia still dick^[tat]ing with how their neighbours should elect to live, and Canadian national treasures burning down in Alberta) the future looks like it’s going to be so great again that everyone (outside of N. Korea) needs to wear shades.  That said, feel free to appreciate and/or ignore another wreckedrospective of the year we survived as dismembered by the voices in my head with a lot of help from their whisky muse.

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.

The Chinese called it the Year of the Tiger. The United Nations dubbed 2022 the International Year of Glass and the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture. It was the year that the Commercial Video Games industry ^[Pong] and the Egg McMuffin turned 50. Commercials ^{(a 10 minute radio spot advertising a new NY apartment complex)} turned 100 years old in 2022 which also marked the 100^th anniversary of:

• The world’s 1^st insulin treatment ^{(Toronto General Hospital in Canada)}

• The discovery of vitamin E

• the formation of USSR ^{(Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia)}

• the partition of Northern Ireland and The Irish Free State and their ensuing Irish Civil War

• Post War German Hyperinflation ^{(7000 marks = $1US vs 12 marks in 1919)}

• Benito Mussolini’s National Fascist Party seizure of Italy ^{(coup d’état)}

• France’s agreement to gift Canada the land around Vimy Ridge

• the discovery of Egyptian Pharoah Tutankhamen’s Tomb

• the 1^st United States Navy aircraft carrier ^{(USS Langley)}

• the 1^st midair collision between airliners ^{(7 die over Picardie, France)}

• the completion of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC

• the Hollywood Bowl open-air music venue

• the Rose Bowl sports stadium

• today’s Wimbledon Center Court stadium

• Commercial Skywriting

• the British Broadcasting Company

• the Reader’s Digest magazine

• the Better Homes & Gardens magazine

• the Harvard Business Review magazine

• the Canadian Tire Company

• the Klondike ice cream bar,

• the Food Blender

• the world’s 1^st vampire film ^(Nosferatu)

• the 1^st swimmer to break 1 minute in 100m freestyle ^{(Johnny Weissmuller)}

• the only New Year’s Day Rose Bowl game to end a scoreless tie

• the invention of waterskiing ^{(Ralph Samuelson, USA)}

• British Columbia and New Brunswick change driving from left to right side of Roads

• The Herrin Massacre a two-day strike at the Southern Illinois Coal Co. ends bloody, and 21 people – most of them strike-breakers – are killed

• The words: air traffic controller, anesthesiologist, baloney, brand name, clear-cutting, deep-fry, down-to-earth, eye shadow, French kiss, mad money, mountain gorilla, polyester, robot, tracksuit, and xenophobe.

That’s right folks! In spite of the best efforts of antivaxxers, xenophobes, extreme right radicals, and Vladimir Putin, most of the rest of us seem have come a long way over the past 100 years.

I thought I might just forget about the [SPOILER ALERT!] permacrisis that was 2022 and enjoy a normal New Year’s Eve for a change, but the voices in my head escaped to remind me that it is important that we never forget and/or ignore even the worst years of our lives so as to learn, rinse, and never repeat them again. That said, we took a shot (lots of them actually) at dredging up last year’s most important history lessons.

As always, we’ll do our best to dismember the events through the lens of a glass half full (if not fuller). To that end, and in anticipation that our cups may, at times, runneth over while we enthusiastically attempt to achieve said goal, we asked Santa for and received this spanking new spill proof keyboard we are currently hammered on.

Grab your plungers and buckle up your hip waders folks, it’s time again to plunge down memories drain.

The Chinese called it the Year of the Ox. The United Nations dubbed 2021 the International Year of Peace and Trust. It was the year that email  and the microprocessor turned 50. Tuberculosis vaccinations and insulin turned 100 years old in 2021 which also marked the 100^th anniversary of:

• epidural anesthesia

• the discovery of vitamin D

• Franklin D. Roosevelt’s paralysis at age 39 as a result of polio

• an extraordinarily powerful three-day geomagnetic storm

• the remembrance poppy

• the creation of the Communist Party of China

• the inkblot test

• the polygraph

• the term robot

• crop dusting

• cabin air pressurization for aircraft

• Agnes Macphail becoming the 1^st woman in Canada’s Parliament

• Ontario’s Prohibition^(1921-1927) of the manufacture, importation and sale of liquor.

• Mussolini’s creation of the National Fascist Party after his maniacal supporters (Blackshirts) run amok beating and murdering his political opponents in the streets of Italy.

• Hitler’s inaugural use of Brownshirts a group of fascist thugs he would sick on his political opponents.

• the partitioning of Ireland into Northern and South Ireland

• The Tulsa, Oklahoma Race Massacre where mobs of white residents attack black residents and businesses.

• the beginning of hyperinflation in Germany ^(1921-1923)

• the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest labor uprising and the largest peacetime armed uprising in US history

• the Emergency Quota Act on US immigration.

• the Russian famine of 1921 ^{(roughly 5,000,000 die from 1921–22)}

• the General Mills’ Betty Crocker brand / fictional character

• The 1^st Fast Food Hamburger chain ^{(The White Castle, Wichita, Kansas)}

• Wonder Bread

• the creation of the Gucci fashion accessories brand

• Chanel No. 5 perfume

• the 1^st Miss America beauty pageant

• the sawing a woman in half illusion

• the words Abominable Snowman, fascism, junk mail, sales tax

I’d like to say we’ve come a long way now, but when you consider that 100 years after Hitler and Mussolini turned their fascist thugs loose on their political enemies, that is exactly what Donnie Despot did right from the get go in 2021 when he encouraged his “redhats” to storm the Capitol.  And don’t get me started on how far we’ve fallen in the realm of vaccinations acceptance.

Regardless, we’re not here to dwell on ancient history and those little people who cannot get over it. My voices have graciously agreed to come out of lockdown again this year in order to swap stories about our shared experiences and drink whatever it takes to unmask the truth and/or make sense of the nonsense that was the year 2021.

If you have not already done so, please doff your tinfoil tops and don your head lamps because I have a feeling this year’s rabbit hole could be pretty dark.

The Chinese called it the Year of the Rat. The United Nations dubbed 2020 the International Year of Plant Health. It was the year that the Kent State Massacre and Earth Day turned 50. The Band-Aid turned 100 years old in 2020 which also marked the 100^th anniversary of:

• the 4^th (final) wave of the Spanish Flu pandemic

• America’s Prohibition ^{(making manufacture, transportation or sale of alcohol illegal)}

• America’s 19^th amendment ^{(America women are given the constitutional right to vote)}

• The Ocoee Massacre ^{(white mobs kill 35 African-Americans on U.S. election day)}

• the founding of the American Civil Liberties Union

• the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

• the National Football League

• the 1^st commercial radio station ^{(KDKA in Pittsburgh)}

• the 1^st tri-colour traffic light ^{(Detroit, Michigan introduces the yellow light)}

• the 1^st Jungle Gym playground structure

• the pogo stick

• the Eddie Bauer clothing brand

• the Rubbermaid Container and Storage Company

• the Baby Ruth candy Bar

• the Good Humour ice cream bar

• Agatha Christie’s 1^st novel^{(& Hercule Poirot in The Mysterious Affair at Styles)}

100 years after the last reported casualties of the Spanish Flu pandemic, everyplace in the world was inundated with nothing but news of Covid-19.  Nova Scotia rocked with multiple murders and Beirut who celebrated the 75^th anniversary of Hiroshima with an explosion of their own that was almost akin to the Halifax, Nova Scotia explosion of 1917 were just two examples of the many locales rocked with boatloads of bad news in 2020.

That said, I feel blessed despite my woes which include the revelation that this year, one bottle might not be enough to plumb and, more importantly, forget the sad stories that comprised the dumpster fire that was 2020. Here is 2020 as me and the voices in my head remember it. Let me know if I missed anything, especially if it was good news. Buckle up and enjoy the slide.

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.

The Chinese called it the Year of the Dog.  The United Nations dubbed 2018 the International Year of [absolutely nothing].  It was the year that Hot Wheels and the movie 2001 a Space Odyssey turned 50.   The Grocery Bag  turned 100 years old in 2018 which also marked the 100^th anniversary of:

• the introduction of food rationing in the U.K & Canada

• the end of World War I ^{(20 million died over 4.4 yrs)}

• the outbreak of Spanish flu pandemic ^{(50 -100 million died over 3 yrs)}

• the Romanov family execution/murder ^{(Czar Nicholas II, his wife & 5 children)}

• the right for Canadian women to vote in federal elections

• the right for British women ^{(over 30 years old)} to vote

• the Panasonic Corporation ^{(then a producer of light bulb sockets)}

• Iceland’s Independence ^{(from Denmark)}

• Ripley’s Believe It or Not! ^{(then called Champs & Chumps)}

• Lincoln Logs ^{(Toy-Cabin Construction sets)}

No you did not misread. For the first time since 1959, the UN did not dedicate the year to anything on an international front (nothing, nada). What did they know? Surely 2018 was good for something…or was it? Off the top of my head, although a lot of people and stories resurfaced again and again in the headlines of the world (this guy’s wall, that guy’s Brexit, or those other guys with their historic summits), I can`t recall a single one that actually delivered any kind of tangible results one way or the other.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Hold on to your hip, knee, and/or shoulder replacements everyone, this is bound to be another difficult journey on the rocks_ie road that is memory lane 2018.

The Chinese called it the Year of the Rooster.  The United Nations dubbed 2017 the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.  It was the year that the Super Bowl and the Big Mac turned 50.  Girl Guide Cookies turned 100 years old in 2017 which also marked the 100^th anniversary of:

• the Russian Revolution

• the WWI battles of Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele

• America’s entry into WWI

• England’s Balfour Declaration ^{(supporting a home for Jewish people in Palestine)}

• the National Hockey League (NHL)

• the toggle light switch

• the Converse All Stars basketball shoe

• the Pulitzer Prize

• the Kikkoman Corporation (soy sauce, etc.)

• Aqua Velva aftershave

• the Mitsubishi Model A ^{(the first series production automobile manufactured in Japan)}

• Japanese Anime cartoons

• the arrest and execution of Mata Hari in France

• the 1^st US congresswoman ^{(Jeannette Rankin, Montana)}

• the 1^st commercial jazz recording^{(“Dixie Jazz Band One Step”)}

• Lions Clubs International

• the introduction of Canada’s 1^st income tax ^{(as a “temporary” measure)}

• the right for women to vote in Canada

• the right for women to vote in New York State

• the Halifax Explosion ^{(1,963 dead, 9,000 injured)}

It was the year of the Dodder, the hackers, and the usual terrorist stuff we don’t care about because, if we did, the terrorists would just keep doing it and we would just become more numbed to their stupidity… until it effects the price of gas, at which point, holy gas gauge Batman thems fighting words.

The Chinese called it the Year of the Monkey.  The United Nations dubbed 2016 the International Year of Pulses.  It was the year that Star Trek and the Canada Pension Plan turned 50.  Kellogg’s Corn Flakes turned 100 years old in 2016 which also marked the 100^th anniversary of:

• the electric refrigerator

• the world’s 1^st billionaire ^{(John D. Rockefeller)}

• the iconic contoured Coca-Cola bottle.

• Peanut ^{(he Planter’s Peanut Co. mascot)}

• L. Kraft’s process cheese.

• the American Professional Golfers Association (PGA)

• the Boeing Aircraft Company

• the Bavarian Motor Works (BMW) Company

• the largest recorded 24-hour change in temperature ^{(100°F in Browning, Montana)}

• the 1^st successful blood transfusion ^{using blood that was stored and cooled}

• the Canadian Parliament Buildings fire

• the US Army’s punitive expedition into Mexico ^{(in pursuit of Pancho Villa)}

• the toggle light switch

• America’s 1^st invasion of the Dominican Republic

• the Battle of the Somme ^{(more than one million soldiers die / outcome: tactically inconclusive)}

• the Battle of Vimy Ridge ^{(Canadian Corps successfully routes three German divisions)}

• the New Jersey shark attacks ^{(4 die, 1 wounded over 12 days / would later inspire, “Jaws”)}

• the Matheson Forest Fire in Northern Ontario ^{(6 towns destroyed / 233 people die).}

• the Black Tom explosion ^{(7 die when German agents blow up munitions plant in New Jersey)}

• the Wolf Cubs are founded as the junior arm to the Boy Scouts association

• the 2^nd Quebec Bridge collapse ^{(13 workers die)}.

• the highest scoring football game in history ^{(222-0 Georgia Tech beats Cumberland)}

• the 1^stS. birth control clinic

• the 1^st employer mandated 40-hour work week ^{(Endicott-Johnson New York).}

• the 1^st woman elected to US House of Representatives ^{(Jeannette Rankin/ Montana)}

• the Sopwith Camel fighter plane ^{(built as countermeasure to Germany’s Fokker)}

• the composition of The Planets, Opus 32 by Gustav Holst

• the hanging of a circus elephant ^{(it killed it’s handler)} in Erwin, Tennessee.

Notwithstanding the fact that another Canadian town was consumed by wildfire this year nothing could have possibly been more bizarre than a well hung elephant in America, right?

Funny you should ask. While on the subject of the bizarre, America,  and the odd billionaire, its time to dive into my flotscrum from 2016…

The Chinese called it the Year of the Goat.  The United Nations dubbed 2015 the International Year of Soils.  It was the year that Ford’s Mustang and Sugar Bear turned 50.  Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity turned 100 years old in 2015 which also marked the 100^th anniversary of:

• the neon tube advertising sign
• Pyrex Glassware
• the Raggedy Ann doll
• the US Coast Guard
• Typhoid Mary’s arrest
• the 1^st military use of poison gas (chlorine, by Germany) in WW I
• the poem “In Flanders Fields”
• Babe Ruth’s 1^st home run
• the sinking of the SS Lusitania by German submarine; 1198 lives lost
• the 1^st device to record telephone conversations (Edison’s telescribe)
• the 1^st all-metal aircraft (Junkers J-1) test flown at Dessau, Germany
• the 1^st black world heavyweight boxing champion (Jack Johnson)
• the resurrection of the Ku Klux Klan (America’s 1^st terrorist org.)
• the Ottoman Empire’s Armenian Genocide

The bad news: It was not the best of years.  A lot of people died for no apparent reason in 2015 unless, of course, God really did will it.

The Good news: On the brighter side, mankind has survived yet another predicted apocalypse – a.k.a. the Blood Moon Prophesy.  What’s more is that no-one is predicting the world’s demise in 2016.  I see nothing looming from the Christian, Muslim, Atheist or garden variety Nut-Job camps.  Speaking of Nut-jobs…