Vacation Aftermath
The Maundy Monday Newsletter - This Week in History July 24 - July 30
Hello, my Okay History friends, Happy Maundy!
Anonymous and I are back from vacation number two, which proved to be just as good as vacation number one.
One thing I love about vacation is getting back into the rhythm of regular life. You have to unpack, which I have yet to do. You have to do laundry, which I have yet to do. You have to get back to eating healthy, which, again, I have yet to do. There are so many things I haven’t done since I got back on Saturday afternoon.
Anonymous, on the other hand, has done all of this. Her ability to immediately get back to the realities of adulthood is, quite frankly, annoying. (To be clear, it’s a loving annoying).
However, I did a lot of work at the beach, like setting up our spots in the morning.
Look at this excellent job:
It’s not exactly what I do on any other given day, but it’s work that needs to be done, and I gladly accept the role.
Our government takes vacations all the time. I presume back in July 1958, President Eisenhower returned from setting up spots on the beach to come home and do laundry, reset his diet, and begin the regular work of being chief executive.
So on July 29, 1958, Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, formally creating what we now know as NASA.
The civilian-run agency is charged with doing a lot of space stuff, which includes exploration, expansion of technology, and discovering more science. Eisenhower recognized that the final frontier must be engaged and done outside the military.
While we produce space missiles and rockets for military interests, NASA focuses on human-led work, including the Artemis missions, which will land the first woman and person of color on the Moon in 2026.
Can you imagine returning from the Moon vacation and trying to unpack your clothes? My goodness, it would take me three months to get around to it.
Okay, let's highlight what else happened this week. Here's what I got:
1. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was created on July 23, 1908. President Teddy Roosevelt wanted more resources to monitor anarchists' activities following President William McKinley's assassination in 1901. Congress denied the initial idea of the agency becoming a part of the Treasury Department as a security service, fearing they would become secret police. Roosevelt created the Bureau of Investigation anyway and officially changed its name to the FBI in 1935.
2. Armistice to end the Korean War was signed on July 27, 1953. The United Nations, North Korea, and China signed the agreement. South Korea has never signed the document, which probably means something important.
3. The House of Representatives publicly apologized for slavery on July 27, 2008. House Resolution 194 of the 110th Congress was introduced by Tennessee Congressman Stephen Cohen and told the world the United States was sorry for the institution of slavery and the aftereffects of Jim Crow laws. So in case you are wondering why we don’t have any racial problems, you can remember what we did 15 years ago.
Tomorrow I hop on a plane to a client for most of the week. I still plan to get back on track with our Amendment rankings, which I still have many to get through. Anonymous probably would have the following four already written.
Later today, I take Blue for his annual appointment to the vet. This is easily one of his favorite activities, which is to say, he has very few favorite activities, and having strangers touch him all over is not one of them. But first, the plumber arrives to fix the bathroom. Then I have about 700 meetings in between, which happens to be one of my favorite activities.
Despite my life being difficult, with multiple summer vacations and all this unpacking and then packing to do, I have all of you, my wonderful supporters of Okay History. Thanks for being here, vacation or not, to read, like, and comment.
I’ll see you on Friday. Until then, may you experience all of your favorite things in life.
Okay,
Chris
