Happy MLK Day!
The Maundy Morning Newsletter - This Week in History January 16 - 22.
Happy MLK Day, everyone! Thank you for supporting Okay History.
Apologies for not sending out a Maundy Monday Newsletter last week. My birthday party Saturday turned out to be a blowout, and Sunday was spent recovering before I needed to hit the airport to travel to South Carolina for work for most of last week.
But I’m back! Thanks to everyone for the kind birthday wishes. Being 47 feels great! Well, after Monday, it felt great!
Today we celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday, although technically, it is January 15th. The civil rights icon was born Michael King, Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia. After a trip to Germany in 1934, the home of the Protestant Reformation, Pastor Michael King, Sr. changed his name and his son to Martin Luther King.
MLK advanced equal rights for Blacks in America through nonviolence and civil disobedience. King organized the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and later directed the Selma Marches and the protests over the Birmingham bombings.
His famous I have a Dream Speech took place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington in 1963, and this event spurred the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
King did all of this before the age of 40. I couldn’t get a newsletter out due to partying. It goes without saying that King has had a bigger impact on our lives.
Okay, let's highlight what else happened this week. Here's what I got:
Space Shuttle Columbia took off on January 16, 2003. The last of its 28 missions, Columbia was expected to land at Kennedy Space Center on February 1, but tragically, was destroyed during re-entry. All seven astronauts died. I remember exactly where I was when I learned.
Thornton Wilder’s play Our Town debuted on January 22, 1938. The Pulitzer Prize-Winning Drama about the citizens of Grover’s Corner came to life in Princeton, New Jersey. The 1995 performance in Cincinnati, Ohio, featured an okay historian guy who performed the role of Stage Manager brilliantly.
Roe vs. Wade was decided on January 12, 1973. The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in a landmark case that granted abortion was legal. In June 2022, the Court overturned Roe declaring that abortion was not deeply rooted in this Nation’s history or tradition. If you dislike adverbs, then Dobbs really gets under your skin.
I spent most of the holiday weekend getting some reading in. Right now, I’m reading about the early American Republic and the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson. I’m confident I will be able to turn some of what I am learning into lessons in the future.
Also, I’m on track for the next major series to come in Year Three of Okay History. It’s about a month away! Perhaps I can send out a lesson on Friday regarding the latest House Speaker vote.
Until then, have a great week!
Okay,
Chris
I’m friends with Judith Resnick’s nephew. Judith died in the Columbia Space Shuttle tragedy. They are from Akron, OH.
Before my story, a slight correction. Columbia was not destroyed on Re-entry but just after takeoff as it ascended and O Rings failed. A true awful event.
But on to the story from David Resnick. A few years after the tragic event, Akron’s AA baseball team was relocating to a new ballpark and we’re going to change their nickname. They wanted to have a name that honored the memory of Judith and her Akron heritage & family which was and is a noble intention and appreciated.
BUT....The first name that was proposed to the family was.......wait for it.....The Akron BLAST!!!!!!
Needless to say, the family was not impressed and that proposal disappeared quickly. Now they are the “Quackron” Rubber Ducks. Certainly non offensive.
Have a great week DC!