Thought for Today

  History: 1744: James Bradley announces discovery of earth's wobble 1770: America's first known "watch night" service held at St. George's Methodist Church in Philadelphia 1862: Battle of Stone's River begins 1862: Monitor sinks off Cape Hatteras 1864: Abraham Lincoln proposes to his cabinet that the Constitution be amended to recognize "the Deity." The cabinet opposes the idea and it is dropped. 1879: Cornerstone for Iolani Palace laid, only royal palace in the US 1879: First public demonstration of incandescent lamp 1904: First New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square [Longacre Square] 1911: Marie Curie receives her second Nobel prize 1938: First breath-o-lizer introduced 1945: Ratification of the UN Charter 1961: Beach Boys first play using that name 1961: Packers win 1st of 5 Championships in 7 years under Lombardi 1962: Match Game premiers 1967: Evel Knievel fails to jump the fountains at Caesar's Palace 1981: CNN Headline News premie...

  History:  1903: Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago kills 602 1922: USSR formed 1924: Edwin Hubble announces existence of other galaxies. David recognized this 3000 years earlier. 1925: The first "Ben Hur" premiers 1944: Corrie Ten Boom released from prison camp. She, her sister and father had been imprisoned in April for helping Jews evade the Nazis. Father died within 10 days. She and her sister used a smuggled Bible to witness to many and some were saved. Sister died in December. Returning to Holland, Corrie said, "You can never learn that Christ is all you need until Christ is all you have." 1963: "Let's Make a Deal" premiers 1968: Frank Sinatra first records "My Way" 1978: Woody Hayes fired 2002: Three Christian missionaries are shot and killed in a Baptist hospital in Yemen. A fourth is left in critical condition but survives. 2008 and 2013: Mike Shanahan is fired--Denver in 2008 and Washington in 2013. Born: Titus [destroyed Jerusalem i...

  History: 1170: Thomas Becket assassinated 1640: George Boyle converted at 13 after a strong thunderstorm surrounded him. Afraid he would die unprepared for judgment, he accepted Christ at dawn. He became a great scientist [Boyle's Law of Gases], funded Bible translations, and wrote several religious books.  1835: Treaty of New Echota begins the Trail of tears 1848: Gas lights installed at the White House during the Polk administration 1851: First American YMCA opens in Boston 1862: Bowling ball invented 1890: Massacre at Wounded Knee 1891: Edison patents radio 1899: Sidney Brooks is first victim of Boxer rebellion. Thousands of Christians will be killed the following year. 1902: Scott Joplin copyrights "The Entertainer" 1952:" First transistorized hearing aid offered for sale 1965: "Thunderball" premiers 1970: OSHA becomes law 1972: Eastern Airlines jet crashes in the Everglades killing 101 1982: Bear Bryant coaches his last game Born: Charles MacIntosh [...

  History: 1065: Westminster Abbey consecrated [unfinished] 1849: Dry cleaning discovered when lamp containing turpentine and oil spills on clothing 1869: Chewing gum patented 1905: Intercollegiate Athletic Association founded [NCAA in 1910] 1945: Congress officially recognizes the Pledge of Allegiance 1948: Jacob DeShazzar [one of Jimmie Doolittle's Raiders who was captured and tortured by the Japanese] returns to Japan as an evangelist leading to the conversion of the Japanese pilot who signaled the attack on Pearl Harbor saying "Tora, Tora, Tora. "Wounded Tiger" is a great and inspiring book. 1958: "Greatest Game Ever Played" as Colts beat the Giants in first sudden-death game in the NFL [17 future HOF players participate] 1973: Nixon signs the Endangered Species Act 1973: Solzhenitsyn published "Gulag Archipelago" 1975: First time a pass is called a "Hail Mary"--Staubach to Drew Pearson with 12 seconds left in the game 2012: Putin ba...

  History: 1831: Charles Darwin leaves England aboard the Beagle 1840: George Duffield ordained --wrote "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" 1845: Ether first used in childbirth--Jefferson Georgia 1892: First college football game between black colleges---Biddle beats Livingstone 5-0 in Salisbury NC 1900: Carrie Nation's first public smashing of a bar 1903: First performance of "Sweet Adeline"  1932: Radio City Music Hall opens 1945: International Monetary Fund established and World Bank created 1964: First appearance of the Supremes on Ed Sullivan Show--Sing "Come See About Me" 2002: Movie "Chicago" released Born: Johannes Kepler [laws of planetary motion], Louis Pasteur, Marlene Dietrich, William Masters [Masters & Johnson], John Amos [Good Times], Cokie Roberts, Bill Self [Kansas basketball], Mark Few [Gonzaga basketball],  Died: Stephen F Austin, Gustave Eiffel, Amy Vanderbilt, Hoagy Carmichael, Norman Schwarzkopf, Meadowlark Lemon, Carrie ...

  History: 1606: First known performance of King Lear 1799: Henry Lee eulogizes George Washington saying, "first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen." 1865: First coffee percolator patented 1933: FM radio patented 1946: The Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas opens 1951: "The African Queen" released--one of my favorites. 1954: "The Shadow" airs for the first time 1963: Beatles release "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" 1973: "The Exorcist" premiers--the day after we celebrate the real exorcist's birth. 2004: Tsunami kills 230,000  Born: Calico Jack [pirate], Charles Babbage [computing machine], Henry Miller, Mao Zedong, Rosemary Woods, Steve Allen, Frank Broyles, Phil Spector, John Walsh [America's Most Wanted], Carlton Fisk Died: Gorgeous George [wrestler], Harry Truman, Jack Benny, Diane Fossey [Gorillas in the Mist], Reggie White, Gerald Ford Thought: We are in the last week ...

  History: 1223: Francis of Assisi assembles the first nativity scene 1777: Christmas Island discovered by James Cook 1814: Treaty of Ghent ends the War of 1812 1818: "Silent Night" written by Peter Mohr and composed by Franz Gruber 1851: Fire destroys 35,000 volumes in Library of Congress 1895: George Vanderbilt opens Biltmore House 1906: First broadcast of music on radio 1943: Eisenhower named Supreme Allied Commander 1968: Apollo 8 astronauts read from Genesis while circling the moon 1982: Chaminade [NAIA school with 850 students] beats #1 Virginia and Ralph Samson  Born: Kit Carson, Howard Hughes, Ava Gardner, Anthony Fauci, Paul Tagliabue, Mike Curb, Kate Spade, Jay Bilas, Ricky Martin, Gary Hauk Died: Vasco da Gama, William Thackeray, Johns Hopkins, Lottie Moon, John Muir, Gerard Kuiper, Peter Lawford, Norman Vincent Peale, Cheetah [Tarzan movies at age 80], Jack Klugman, Richard Adams ["Watership Down"] Thought: It is Christmas Eve and many are with family an...

  History: 1788: Maryland votes to cede 10 square miles for Washington DC 1815: "Emma" by Jane Austen published 1823: "Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Moore published 1888: Vincent Van Gogh cuts off his ear 1913: President Wilson signs the Federal Reserve Act 1946: University of Tennessee refuses to play Duquesne because they suggested they might play a black athlete 1947: Transistor invented at Bell Labs 1954: First human kidney transplant 1968: Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders are first men to circle the moon 1972: Terry Bradshaw to Franco Harris--the Immaculate Reception Born: Joseph Smith [Mormon], Paul Hornung, Susan Lucci, Jim Harbaugh,  Died: John Cotton [father of New England Congregationalism], Anthony Fokker [airplane], Jack Webb, Victor Borge, Oscar Peterson [jazz], Mikhail Kalashnikov [AK-47] Thought: I know it's not Christmas Eve yet, but two of our favorite hymns are "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "Silent Night....

  History: 1560: After 3 years of torture in prison for distributing Bibles in Spanish, Julian Hernandez is burned at the stake in Seville 1775: Continental Navy formed with 7 ships 1808: Beethoven's Fifth and Sixth Symphonies premier 1882: First string of Christmas lights created--Thomas Edison 1894: US Golf Association forms 1932: "The Mummy" with Boris Karloff released 1937: Lincoln Tunnel opens 2010: President Obama repeals "Don't ask, don't tell" allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the military Born: James Oglethorpe, Puccini, Connie Mack, Lady Bird Johnson, Barbara Billingsley ["Leave it to Beaver"], Gene Rayburn, Steve Carlton, Diane Sawyer, Maurice and Robin Gibb, Jan Stephenson, Ted Cruz Died: John Newberry [Medal for Best Children's Book], Rachel Jackson, Barnett Taylor [pastor noted for helping create and preserve Richmond College, now University], Georg Eliot, Dwight L Moody, Beatrix Potter, Darryl F Zanuck [produced The Lon...

  History: 1872: Phileas Fogg completes his trip in "Around the World in Eighty Days" 1891: First basketball game using the Naismith rules 1898: Pierre and Marie Curie discover radium 1914: First feature length silent film comedy--"Tillie's Punctured Romans"  with Charlie Chaplin and Marie Dressler 1929: First group hospital insurance plan offered--Dallas 1941: The BBC airs the first play in a series by Dorothy Sayers about Jesus, "The Man Born to Be King." Some are offended that a human speaks the voice of God. 1959: Tom Landry accepts coaching position with the Cowboys 1968: Glenn Campbell's "Wichita Lineman" reaches #1 1970: Supreme Court lowers voting age in federal election to 18 1988: Pan Am 103 destroyed over Lockerbie Scotland killing 258 1969: Vice President Quayle sends Christmas card with a misspelling 1995: Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control Born: Thomas Becket, Roger Williams, Benjamin Disraeli, Walter Hagan...

  History: 1552: Suleiman the Magnificent accepts the surrender of the Knights of Rhodes [Crusaders who later become the Knights of Malta] 1803: Formal transfer of Louisiana Purchase to US 1812: "Grimm's Fairy Tales" published 1820: Missouri imposes $1 tax on unmarried men between 21-50 1917: Lenin forms the Checka, later called the KGB 1946: "It's a Wonderful Life" premiers 1957: Elvis receives his draft notice 1960: Viet Cong officially formed in South Viet Nam Born: Harvey Firestone, Jonah Hill, Dick Wolf [Created Law & Order television franchise] Died: Sacagawea, John Steinbeck Thought: Considering Christmas songs that tell of angels and shepherds this morning. In the times when Christ was born, Angels and shepherds seemed like two very different kinds to celebrate the birth of the Savior. Shepherds were lowly, humble and they worked far from the center of things. Their jobs were lonely, hard, and smelly. Their sheep were dumb, nearly blind, defensel...

History: 1686: Robinson Crusoe leaves his island after 28 years [per the book] 1776: Thomas Paine publishes "American Crisis" beginning, "These are the times that try men's souls." 1777: Washington settles troops at Valley Forge 1843: "A Christmas Carol" is published 1862: 80 casualties in skirmish at Salem Church, Jackson TN 1903: Williamsburg Bridge opens between Brooklyn and Manhattan 1910: Rayon first commercially produced 1918: Robert Ripley's first "Believe it or Not" column 1922: Theresa Vaughn confesses to being married 61 times over 5 years in 50 cities in three countries 1942: Robert Stroud transferred to Alcatraz--"Birdman of Alcatraz" 1946: Ho Chi Minh attacks French in Hanoi 1955: Carl Perkins records "Blue Suede Shoes" 1979: "Kramer v. Kramer" released 1980: "Raging Bull"  and "9 to 5" released 1998: House votes to impeach Bill Clinton Born: Leonid Brezhnev, Edith Piaf, Littl...

  History: 1538: Henry VIII excommunicated 1777: France recognizes US independence 1791: First one-way street--NYC 1798: First impeachment trial of a Senator--William Blount of TN 1862: General Grant issues order expelling Jews from Tennessee 1900: Prize of 100,000 francs offered for communication with extraterrestrials--Martians excluded as too easy 1903: Wright Brothers first successful flight at Kitty Hawk 1925: Court Martial of General Billy Mitchell 1947: Patent for holograph issued 1964: "Goldfinger" premiers 1989: "The Simpsons" premiers Born: Arthur Fiedler, Erskine Caldwell, William Saffire, George Lindsey, Ernie Hudson, Chris Matthews, Bill Pullman, Michele Tafoya Died: Simon Bolivar, William Thompson [Kelvin temperature scale], Dana Andrews, Otto Graham, Sammy Baugh, Jennifer Jones, Penny Marshall Thought: Proverbs 3 is a continuation of the search for God's wisdom. Many of you may have Proverbs 3:5-6 as your life verse--"Trust in the Lord with a...

 History: 1631: Mt. Vesuvius erupts killing about 3000 1773: Boston Tea Party 1811: New Madrid earthquake 1897: Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention organized at Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington DC--evangelize Africa 1908: First credit union in the US 1930: Bobby Jones wins Sullivan Award as best amateur athlete 1951: "Dragnet" premiers in black and white 1953: First White House press conference 1962: "Lawrence of Arabia" released 1970: "Love Story" released 1972: Dolphins complete undefeated season, 14-0 1985: "The Color Purple" premiers Born: Catherine of Argon, George Whitfield, Beethoven, Jane Austen, Noel Coward, Margaret Meade, Arthur C Clarke [2001 A Space Odyssey], Frank DeFord, Liv Ullman, Lesley Stahl, Don Myer, Yosemite Sam, Refrigerator Perry Died: Wilhelm Grimm [Fairy Tales], Somerset Maugham, Colonel Sanders, Lee Van Cleef, Dan Fogelberg Thought: Turned to the first 6 verses of Proverbs 2 this morning. I have underlined these ve...

History: 1791: America's first law school established--University of Pennsylvania 1791: Bill of Rights ratified by the States 1792: First insurance policy issued in the US 1844: Methodist Church splits over slavery 1864: Battle of Nashville 1870: African American Episcopal Church established in Jackson TN 1938: Groundbreaking for the Jefferson Memorial  1939: "Gone with the Wind" premiers 1941: USS Swordfish is the first American sub to sink a Japanese ship 1944: Glenn Miller lost over the English Channel 1955: Johnny Cash releases "Folsom Prison Blues" 1973: Tennessee beats Temple 11-6 in basketball 1979: Trivial Pursuit released 2004: "Million Dollar Baby" premiers Born: Nero, Gustave Eiffel, J Paul Getty, Jeff Chandler, Tim Conway Died: Jan Vermeer, Mad Anthony Wayne, Sitting Bull, Charles Laughton, Walt Disney, Oral Roberts, Blake Edwards, Bob Feller, Joan Fontaine Thought: Back in Psalm 127 today. Yesterday we looked at the last 3 verses, today th...

  History: 1900: Max Planck presents a paper beginning the study of quantum physics 1901: First table tennis tournament 1903: Wright Brothers make first attempt at Kitty Hawk 1911: Roald Amundsen beats Robert Perry to the South Pole 1916: America's first Board Certified physicians are named at the University of Tennessee Medical School in Memphis 1947: NASCAR founded in Daytona Beach 1961: Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John" is first country song to get Gold Record 1981: Israel annexes the Golan Heights 1993: The movie "Philadelphia" premiers 2012: Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy--28 killed including 20 children Born: Nostradamus, Tycho Brahe, Jimmy Doolittle, Spike Jones, Charlie Rich, Lee Remick, Ernie Davis, Stan Smith, Bill Buckner, Kyle Shanahan Died: Vlad the Impaler, George Washington, George Gipp, John Harvey Kellogg, Dinah Washington, Roger Maris, Myrna Loy, Peter O'Tolle, Bess Myerson Thought: Thinking about those families at Sandy Hook this morni...

  History: 1577: Sir Francis Drake sails from England to circumnavigate the globe 1920: International Court of Justice established at The Hague 1989: "Driving Miss Daisy" released 2003: Saddam Hussein captured near Tikrit 2007: The Mitchell Report is released listing players using performance enhancing drugs Born: Archie Moore, Christopher Plummer, Jamie Foxx, Taylor Swift Died: Donatello, Samuel Johnson, Samuel Gompers, Grandma Moses, Alice Marble Thought: I have underlined a lot of Psalm 123 and I think it flows from yesterday's thought that all I need to do is look up. This psalm speaks to why I may be looking up to my keeper for help and how I should look--what is my attitude as I lift my eyes to the One enthroned in heaven. Why or when do I look up? People hold us in contempt and scoff at our faith. We proclaim that our keeper is our shade, our help, our protection, our security--and the world scoffs, jeers, makes fun of us. The prideful, those that call our faith st...

 History: 1694: Edmond Halley censured by The Royal Society for writing that Noah's flood could be the result of a comet striking earth. Censured because his theory was inconsistent with Biblical account. 1792: Beethoven receives his first lesson in music composition--teacher was Haydn 1870: Joseph Rainey of South Carolina is first black to serve in US House of Representatives 1878: Joseph Pulitzer begins publishing the "St. Louis Post Dispatch" 1899: Wooden golf tee patented 1901: Marconi sends the first transatlantic radio signal 1917: Boy's Town founded by Rev. Edward Flanagan [Great movie with Mickey Rooney] 1937: First mobile TV vans--NYC 1946: "Tide" detergent introduced 1946: John D Rockefeller gives UN 6 city blocks for headquarters in NY 1961: Adolph Eichmann convicted of war crimes 1972" "The Poseidon Adventure" premiers 1980: Apple makes its first public stock offering 1985: DC-8 crashes near Gander Newfoundland--258 killed 1988: ...

History: 1520: Martin Luther burns Papal edict requiring him to recant 1864: Sherman reaches Savannah 1884: "Huckleberry Finn" published 1901: First Nobel Prize awarded 1903: Pierre and Marie Curry win for study of radiation 1904: Pavlov wins for study of digestion 1906: Theodore Roosevelt is first American to win 1907: Rudyard Kipling wins for Literature 1919: Woodrow Wilson win Peace Prize 1925: George Bernard Shaw wins for Literature 1935: James Chadwick wins for discovery of the proton 1954: Albert Schweitzer wins  1964: Martin Luther King wins Peace Prize  1978: Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat win Peace Prize 1984: Desmond Tutu wins Peace Prize 1994: Yitzhak Rubin, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat win Peace Prize 2009: Barack Obama wins Peace Prize At the cross, Jesus bought our peace 1922: Canton Bulldogs win first NFL Championship 1926: Hitler publishes the second part of "Mein Kampf" 1927: Grand Ole Opry called that for the first time 1936: Edward VII abdicates...

  History: 1621: Deacon Robert Cushman preaches the first documented sermon in America--also first published sermon in America 1854: Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade" published 1905: Strauss' "Salome" premiers 1907: First Christmas Seals sold 1926: USGA legalizes steel shafts for golf clubs 1941: Hitler orders US ships torpedoed 1946: Communist burn a group of Christians at a seminary in Xiwanzi China 1965: "A Charlie Brown Christmas" premiers 1990: Lech Wallesea wins Polish Presidential election Born: John Milton, Joel Chandler Harris ["Uncle Remus"], Clarence Birdseye [flash freezing vegetables], Emmett Kelly [clown], Margaret Hamilton [wicked witch of the West], Grace Hopper [Navy Admiral; invented first compiler for universal computer programming language; coined the word "debugging"], Broderick Crawford [Highway Patrol], Tip O'Neill, Kirk Douglas, Redd Foxx, Judi Dench, Dick Butkus Died: William Harvey Carney [1s...

 History:  1813: Beethoven's Seventh Symphony premiers with him directing 1886: AFL forms with Samuel Gompers as President 1915: "In Flanders Fields" published anonymously [John McCrae] 1931: Coaxial cable patented 1934: John and Betty Stam, missionaries to China, are killed by the Communist. Met at Moody Bible College. 1952: First TV acknowledgement of pregnancy--I Love Lucy 1966: Luis Palau leads his first city-wide meeting in Bogota 1978" "The Deer Hunter" premiers 1982: "Sophie's Choice" premiers 2007: Tim Tebow wins the Heisman Born: Horace, Mary Queen of Scots, Eli Whitney, Clinton Bowen Fisk [endowed Fisk University], William Durant [founded GM and Frigidaire], James Thurber, Lee J Cobb, Sammy Davis Jr., Flip Wilson, James Galway, Gregg Allman, Ann Coulter Died: Martin Rinkart ["Now Thank We All Our God"], Tris Speaker, Golda Meir, John Glenn Thought: Psalm 100 has a number of commands that are powerful reminders of how life s...

  History: 1787: Delaware is first State to ratify the Constitution 1934: Wiley Post discovers the jet stream 1941: Pearl Harbor--A Day that will live in Infamy 1957: Ordination of Omar Cabrera in Argentina. He will become internationally known evangelist and pastor of one of the largest churches in the world 1963: First use of instant replay--Army/Navy football game 1967: Otis Redding records "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" 1979: "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" premiers 1985: Bo Jackson wins the Heisman 1995: The Grateful Dead break up Born: Madame Tussaud, Eli Wallach, Ted Knight [Mary Tyler Moore Show], Ellen Burstyn, Harry Chapin, Johnny Bench, Larry Bird, Terrell Owens, Luke Donald Died: Cicero, William Bligh [Bounty], Four Medal of Honor Recipients at Pearl Harbor, Mervyn Bennion, Hebert Jones, Thomas Reeves, Franklin Valkenburgh; Rube Goldberg, Thornton Wilder, Beatrix Loughran [3 time Olympic Gold in Figure Skating], Lee Roy Yarbrough [NASCAR], Harry Mo...

  History: 1768: First edition of Encyclopedia Brittanica published 1865: 13th Amendment ratified 1877: Thomas Edison records himself reciting "Mary Had a Little Lamb" 1992: Jerry Rice catches his 101st TD pass--a record 2006: Photos of Mars by Global Surveyor suggest presence of water on Mars Born: Agnes Moorhead, Andrew Cuomo Died: Saint Nicholas [343 AD], Jefferson Davis, Lead Belly, Honus Wagner Thought: Looking at Psalm 84 this morning. Here are the thoughts that come from the words I have underlined: Does my soul yearn to be in the presence of the Lord? [84:2] Of course God is with me everywhere I go, but do I think about standing in His presence, walking in His courts. Do I really long for those moments? Even on Sunday, do I walk into the sanctuary with a yearning for His presence, an expectation of His speaking? Or is it simply an exercise in religion? Do I realize daily the blessing of dwelling in His house--or being His house? Am I constantly aware that my body is t...

  History: 771: Charlemagne becomes sole King of the Franks 1349: 500 Jews in Nuremberg massacred during Black Death riots 1496: Jews expelled from Portugal 1776: Phi Beta Kappa formed at William & Mary [honored to be a member] 1839: Berlioz' "Symphony Fantastique" premiers 1848: James K Polk announces discovery of gold in California--Gold Rush of 1849 1908: First use of numerals on football uniforms 1933: Prohibition ends 1945: Flight 19, the "Lost Squadron of 5 Torpedo bombers, lost in the Bermuda Triangle 1955: Montgomery Bus Boycott begins 1988: Jim Bakker indicted 2007: 8 people killed in Omaha Mall massacre 2018: State Funeral for George HW Bush 2017: Russia banned from Olympics in South Korea Born: Martin Van Buren, George Armstrong Custer, Walt Disney, Little Richard, Werner Heisenberg [uncertainty principle-Nobel], Strom Thurmond, Jim Messina [Loggins & Messina], Lanny Wadkins,  Died: Mozart, Alexander Dumas, Claude Monet, Gerardus Mercator [cartogra...