Thought for Today

  History: 1747: First venereal disease clinic opens--London 1865: Congress passes the 13th Amendment 1876: U.S. orders all Native Americans to move into reservations 1905: First automobile to exceed 100 mph--Daytona Beach 1928: Scotch Tape is first marketed by 3-M 1958: U.S. launches first artificial satellite--Explorer 1 1982: Scott Hamilton wins gold at U.S. Figure Skating Cahmpionships 1985: South African President P.W. Botha offers to free Nelson Mandela if he denounces violence 2006: Sandra Day O'Connor retires from Supreme Court Born: Franz Shubert, Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks, Nolan Ryan, Justin Timberlake Died: Charles Spurgeon, Guy Fawkes, A.A. Milne, Samuel Goldwyn,  Thought: Ever have a day when you ask why doesn't God ________________? Or when will God ______________? I am reading Isaiah 59:1-2 this morning. When God seems to have gone silent. When God seems to have abandoned us. When things seem to be so bad, yet we cannot see God moving. Larry, remember what Isa

  History: 1835: First assassination attempt on a U.S. President--Andrew Jackson 1873: Jules Verne publishes "Around the World in 80 Days" 1933: "The Lone Ranger" begins a 21-year run on ABC radio 1933: Adolph Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany 1848: Mahatma Gandhi assassinated 1956: Elvis records "Blue Suede Shoes" 1968: Tet offensive begins in Vietnam 1975: Erno Rubik applies for a patent on the "Magic Cube" 2003: Belgium recognizes same-sex marriages 2020: WHO declares Coronavirus a public health emergency Born: Franklin Roosevelt, Max Theiler [Yellow Fever vaccine], Barbara Tuchman ["Guns of August"], Francis Schaefer [theologian], Dick Martin, Gene Hackman, Louis Rukeyser, Boris Spassky, Vanessa Redgrave, Dick Cheney, Phil Collins, Curtis Strange, Payne Stewart, Christian Bale, Pam Swift Died: Betsy Ross, Osceola, Orville Wright, Ferdinand Porsche, Sidney Sheldon Thought: Reading Isaiah 58 this morning. This chapter is labeled

 History: 1521: Diet of Worms opens--ends on May 25th with the Edit of Worms condemning Martin Luther 1624: First English colony in the Caribbean founded on St. Kitts 1813: Jane Austen publishes "Pride and Prejudice" 1851: Northwestern University founded 1887: Fort Keogh Montana reports snowflakes 15 inches wide and 8 inches thick 1887: Work begins on the Eiffel Tower 1904: First letters for sports participation issued--"C" on blankets at the University of Chicago 1914: Beverly Hills incorporated 1915: US Coast Guard created 1933: The name "Pakistan" is coined and gradually accepted by Muslims pushing for a Muslim homeland in South Asia 1958: Lego patents the design of Lego bricks 1986: Challenger explodes killing 7 astronauts including Christa McAuliffe Born: Thomas Acquinas, George Edward Pickett [Pickett's Charge], Henry Morton Stanley, Arthur Rubenstein, Robert Stroud [Birdman of Alcatraz], Jackson Pollock, Alan Alda, Gregg Popovich, Rick Warren, N

 History: 1785: First land-grant university chartered in Athens Georgia--Go Dawgs 1820: Antartica discovered 1825: Congress approves Indian Territory beginning theTrail of tears 1880: Edison patents electric incandescent lamp 1888: National Geographic Society formed 1944: Siege of Leningrad ends after 880 days and 2 million deaths 1956: Elvis releases "Heartbreak Hotel" 1867: Apollo 1 fire kills Astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee 1969: Chuck Noll named coach of the Steelers. Since then the Steelers have had only three coaches--Bill Cowher, Mike Tomlin 1976: "Laverne and Shirley" premiers Born: Mozart, Lewis Carroll, Samuel Gompers, Edward Smith [captain of the Titanic], Jerome Kern, William Randolph Hearst, Donna Reed, Troy Donahue, Mikhail Baryshnikov, John Roberts, Chris Collinsworth, Keith Olbermann,  Died: John James Audubon, Giuseppe Verdi, Thomas Crapper [inventor and plumber], Nellie Bly, Mahalia Jackson, Andre the Giant, Jack Parr, John Updike, JD Saling

  History: 1482: Pentateuch first published as a book 1784: Ben Franklin expresses his disappointment that the eagle [not the turkey] is  chosen as the National symbol 1838: Tennessee passes the first prohibition law in the US 1875: Electric dental drill patented 1906: Church of God convenes its first General Assembly in Cleveland TN 1907: First federal law on corrupt election practices passed 1915: Rocky Mountain National Park established 1926: First public demonstration of television 1960: Pete Rozelle becomes NFL Commissioner on the 23rd ballot 1998: President Clinton says, "I did not have sex with that woman." Born: Mary Mapes Dodge ["Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates"], Douglas MacArthur, Bindo Maserati, Maria Von Trapp, Louis Zamperini ["Unbroken"], Paul Newman, Bob Uecker, Scott Glenn, Gene Siskel, Eddie Van Halen, Ellen Degeneres, Wayne Gretzky Died: Edward Jenner [smallpox vaccine], Peter Marshall, Nelson Rockefeller, Bear Bryant, Barbara Hale [D

  History: 1817: Rossini's "Cinderella" premiers 1819: University of Virginia chartered 1825: First U.S. engineering college opens--Rensselaer Polytechnic 1849: Antartica identified as a continent 1858: Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" first played at the wedding of Queen Victoria's daughter 1890: Nellie Bligh beats Phileas Fogg's record, around the world in 72 days 1919; League of Nations founded 1924: First Winter Olympics--Chamonix France 1939: Team led by Enrico Fermi split the uranium atom 1949: First Emmy Awards 1959: First transcontinental commercial jet flight 1970: The movie "MASH" released 1993: Sears closes catalogue sales after 97 years Born: Robert Burns, Virginia Woolf, Lou Groza, Dean Jones, Don Maynard, Buddy Baker, Alicia Keys Died: Al Capone, Ava Gardner, Jean Dixon, Mary Tyler Moore Thought: Reading in Isaiah 43-45 this morning. Noticing that I have underlined these words "Thus says the Lord." This reminds me that

I WILL BE POSTING THE THOUGHT A LITTLE LATER FOR THE NEXT WEEK SINCE JAN AND I WILL BE ON THE WEST COAST.   History: 1844: Fanny Crosby and 16 other students from the Institute of the Blind give a concert for Congress. Fanny recites a 13 stanza composition calling for institutes for the blind in every state.  1848: James Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill California 1908: Robert Baden-Powell publishes "Scouting for Boys" which inspires the Scout Movement 1972: Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi found hiding in a Guam jungle--did not know WWII was over 1984: Apple introduces the Macintosh Computer 2018: Larry Nassar found guilty of molesting over 150 girls while serving as team doctor Born: Hadrian, Ernest Borgnine, Sharon Tate, Neil Diamond Died: Caligula, Winston Churchill, Ted Bundy, Thurgood Marshall Thought: Isaiah 42 this morning. Another word of encouragement like chapter 40. The first 10 verses have my attention today. This passage speaks of the coming Messiah so we can see Jesu

 History: 1789: First Catholic college in U.S. founded--Georgetown 1821: Lott Carey sails to Sierra Leone to become the 1st African American missionary to Africa 1849: Elizabeth Blackwell is first woman to earn a medical degree in the U.S. 1859: Mauna Loa begins 300 day eruption 1945: Nazis execute Helmuth James von Moltke saying, "the only thing wrong with you is you are a Christian." 1957: First Frisbee produced 1973: Nixon announces end of Vietnam war 1976: Ann Landers asks people with children if they could, would do it over again. 70% of 10,000 respondents said "no" 1977: "Roots" premiers 1986: First Rock and Roll HOF class--Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley 2002: Daniel Pearl kidnapped 2020: 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Born: John Hancock, Edouard Manet, Randolph Scott, Potter Stewart, Gertrude Elion [developed treatments for herpes and leukemia], Ernie Kovacs, Chessley Sullenberger [Miracle on t

  History: 1525: Swiss Anabaptist movement begins when about 15 people baptize each other in Zurich 1549: Parliament establishes the Book of Common Prayer 1672: A church in Bedford England calls John Bunyan as pastor--he is in prison for preaching 1813: First reference to pineapple cultivation in Hawaii 1880: First US sewage disposal system [not a storm drain]--Memphis TN 1887: AAU forms 1915: Kiwanis founded in Detroit 1921: Agatha Christie publishes her first novel 1954: Launch of USS Nautilus--1st nuclear submarine 1968: Battle of Khe-Sanh 1976: First commercial Concorde flight 1984: Scott Hamilton wins US Figure Skating Championship 1994: Lorena Bobbitt found temporarily insane Born: Stonewall Jackson, John Browning, Rasputin, Karl Wallenda [high wire walker], Barney Clark [first permanent artificial heart], Paul Scofield, Telly Savalas, Benny Hill, Jack Nicklaus, Placido Domingo, Paul Allen [Microsoft], Hakeem Olajuwon Died: Lenin, George Orwell, Cecil B DeMille, Col. Tom Parker,

  History: 1887: Senate approves naval base at Pearl Harbor 1930: First radio broadcast of "The Lone Ranger" 1937: First Presidential inauguration on January 20th 1942: Wannsee Conference organizes "final solution" for the Jews 1968: Peggy Fleming wins US Figure Skating Championship 1981: Hostages in Iran are released 1986: First MLK Day 1987: Terry Waite taken hostage in Beirut 2008" "Breaking Bad" premiers--never seen it Born: George Burns, Joy Adamson ["Born Free"], DeForest Kelley [Dr. McCoy on Star Trek], Federico Fellini, Patricia Neal, Arte Johnson, Buzz Aldrin, Carol Heiss Jenkins [4 time world champ and 1960 Olympic Gold medalist in figure skating], Bill Maher, Nikki Haley, Jalen Rose, Nick Foles Died: Miles Coverdale [first complete English language Bible], Josh Gibson, Johnny Weissmuller [Tarzan and 5 Olympic gold medals in swimming],  Barbara Stanwyck, Audrey Hepburn, Etta James Thought: I love Isaiah 40. It begins with the comma

 History: 1903: Tour de France announced as a new bicycle race 1915: First German air raid on Britain -- Zeppelin's  1915: Neon tube patented 1922: Geological Survey reports that US oil supply will be depleted in 20 years 1929: Acadia National Park established 1935: Cooper's Inc. sells the world's first men's briefs--calls them "Jockey" 1955: First Presidential news conference filmed for TV 1970: UCLA fires Angela Davis for being a communist--now you might need to be a communist to get hired 1974: Notre Dame breaks UCLA's 88 game winning streak 1979" John Mitchell released on parole 1988: "48 Hours" premiers 1991: Last flight of Eastern Airlines 2013: Lance Armstrong admits to doping Born: James Watt, Robert E Lee, Edgar Allan Poe, Paul Cezanne, Matthew Webb [first to swim English Channel unassisted], Guy Madison, Jean Stapleton, Phil Everly, Janis Joplin, Dan Reeves, Dolly Parton, Tommy Fleetwood, Shawn Johnson [gymnast], Mike Arredondo Die

  History: 1644: Pilgrims in Boston report America's first UFO sighting 1865: Battle of Fort Moultrie, Sullivan's Island SC. My children and grandchildren have climbed over the canons. 1896: First demonstration of the x-ray machine in the US 1919: Bentley Motors founded 1929: Walter Winchell debuts on radio 1948: Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour premiers 1951: NFL rules that center, guards and tackles are ineligible for a forward pass 1963: Al Davis becomes head coach and general manager of the Raiders 1974: Premier of "The Six Million Dollar Man" Born: Peter Mark Roget [Thesaurus], Daniel Webster, Joseph Glidden [first usable barbed wire], Daniel Williams [first open heart surgery], AA Milne [Winnie the Pooh], Oliver Hardy, Cary Grant, Danny Kaye, Ray Dolby [sound expert], Bobby Goldsboro, Kevin Costner Died: John Tyler, Rudyard Kipling, Charles Ponzi, Curley Howard [3 Stooges], Goose Tatum [Globetrotters], Minnesota Fats, Sargent Shriver, Richard Harvey Cain, Lo

  History: 1773: First recorded crossing of the Antarctic Circle--James Cook 1912: Robert Scott arrives at the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen 1916: Rodman Wanamaker hosts a lunch to discuss forming a golfers association--later the PGA 1946: First meeting of the UN Security Council 1984: Supreme Court rules home recording on VCR's does not violate copyright.  1991: Operation Desert Storm begins Born: Benjamin Franklin, Al Capone, Betty White, Muhammad Ali, Andrew Vaughn [best son-in-law] Died: Rutherford B Hayes, Juliette Gordon Lowe [Girl Scouts], Boby Fischer [chess] Thought: Reading Isaiah 9:2-7 this morning. Many of us read this passage at Christmas or heard it read. But this passage should speak to me every day. Here is what I see: We were in darkness [9:2] and many of the people around us continue to walk in darkness. Think about what it means to walk in darkness--we cannot see clearly or at all. So we grope and stumble. We walk with fear and doubt. We look for som

  History: 1604: Puritan John Rainolds suggests to King James I that a new translation of the Bible be prepared staying as close to the Hebrew and Greek as possible. Seven years later, the King James Version is published. 1605: Cervantes publishes Book One of Don Quixote 1777: Vermont declares independence from New York 1786: Virginia adopts law granting freedom of religion [written by Jefferson] 1868: William Davis [fish dealer] patents the refrigerated rail car 1919: 18th Amendment ratified [prohibition] 1920: First Assembly of the League of Nations 1939: First Superman comic strip appears 1970: Curt Flood sues baseball over the reserve clause and wins 1974: Peter Benchley publishes "Jaws" 1976: The Donnie and Marie Show premiers 2005: Adriana Illiescu has a baby at age 66, said to be oldest birth mother--but we know about Sarai 2020: First impeachment trial of Donald Trump begins Born: Andre Michelin [tires], Frank Zamboni, Eric Liddell [Chariots of Fire], Ethel Merman, Da

  History: 1528: Anabaptist preacher Leonhard Schiemer beheaded and burned in Austria after making 70 converts 1601: Church authorities in Rome burn Hebrew books 1690: Clarinet invented in Germany 1784: Congress of the Confederation ratifies the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War 1878: Supreme Court rules racial separation on trains unconstitutional 1900" Puccini's "Tosca" premiers 1943: FDR becomes first President to travel overseas by plane 1952: "Today Show" with Dave Garroway premiers 1954: Hudson merges with Nash-Kelvinator creating American Motors 1956: Little Richard releases "Tutti Frutti" 1972: "Sanford & Son" premiers 2019: Americans chance of dying by opioid overdose is greater that dying in a car wreck Born: Mark Antony, Benedict Arnold, Albert Schweitzer, Martin Niemoller, William Bendix, Andy Rooney, Guy Williams [Zorro], Big Daddy Don Garlits, Julian Bond, Faye Dunaway, Carl Weathers, Shepard Smith, LL Cool J

  History: 1501: First hymnal not in Latin is published in Prague--89 hymns 1695: Jonathan Swift ordained Anglican priest 1733: James Oglethorpe and 130 colonists arrive in Charleston 1785: First issue of the Times of London published 1920: NY Times reports that rockets can never fly--and we believe what we read? 1930: Mickey Mouse comic strip appears for the first time 1938: Church of England accepts the theory of evolution 1942: Henry Ford patents method for making plastic auto bodies 1962: "The Twist" by Chubby Checker hits #1 1978: NASA accepts first women astronauts 1979: YMCA sues the Village People over the song "YMCA" 1982: Air Florida 737 crashes into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington. We watch witnesses jump into the icy waters of the Potomac to rescue passengers. We see a man repeatedly give up the harness from the helicopter allowing others to be lifted to safety--he drowns. 78 people die. Born: Samuel P Chase, Alfred Fuller [Fuller Brush], Robert Sta

  History: 1629: 53 Christians are beheaded for their faith in Yonezawa Japan 1906: Dow closes above 100 for the first time 1915: House rejects proposal to allow women to vote 1943: Frankfurters replaced by Victory Sausages 1946: Cleveland Rams given permission to move to Los Angeles 1948: Gandhi begins final fast 1952: University of Tennessee admits its first black student 1957: Southern Christian Leadership Council [SCLC] founded 1958: NCAA allows 2 point conversions 1959: Barry Gordy founds Motown Records 1966: "Batman" with Adam West premiers 1981: "Dynasty" debuts 1995: OJ Simpson murder trial begins 2010: Earthquake devastates Haiti Born: Charles Perrault ["Tales of Mother Goose"], John Singer Sargent, Jack London, Hermann Goering, Tex Ritter, William Lee Golden [Oak Ridge Boy], Joe Frazier, Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern, Jeff Bezos [Amazon] Died: Henry Alford ["Come Ye Thankful People Come"], Porcupine [oldest known rodent at age 27], Agatha

 History: 1838: First public demonstration of telegraph messages [dots/dashes] 1869: First African American Sunday School organized by Rev. Kelly Lowe in Augusta GA 1913: First sedan type car displayed--Hudson 1922: Insulin first used to treat diabetes in humans 1927: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences created 1940: Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" premiers 1961: Race riot at the University of Georgia [I arrived in 1964] 1973: American League adopts designated hitter 1976: Dorothy Hammel wins third consecutive US Figure Skating Championship Born: Alexander Hamilton, Alexander Calder, Carroll Shelby, Rod Taylor, Naomi Judd, John Piper, Ben Crenshaw, Tracy Caulkins, Thomas Vaughn [best grandson ever] Died: Timothy Dwight, Francis Scott Key, Gail Borden [condensed milk], Thomas Hardy, John Bradley [raised the flag on Mt. Suribachi], Edmund Hillary [Mt. Everest] Timothy Dwight wrote "I Love Thy Kingdom Lord." More importantly, he started a revival on the camp

 History: 49 BC: Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon 1776: Thomas Paine publishes "Common Sense" 1917: First protest outside the White House by the Suffragettes 1946: First meeting of UN General Assembly [London] 1967: Edward Brooke is seated as the first popularly elected African American Senator 1982: Dwight Clark makes  "The Catch" as the 49ers beat Dallas for the NFC Championship 1999: "The Sopranos" debuts Born: Ethan Allen, Frank James, George Washington Carver, Rod Stewart, George Foreman Died: Carl Linnaeus, Samuel Colt, Coco Chanel, David Bowie Thought: At the end of the book of Ecclesiastes, I have marked 12:12. This is a strange verse: "But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body."  Lord, what should I learn from this truth?  Should I not read or write? No, that's not it. Verse 11 tells me that words of wise men are like goads and nails. So I read th

  History: 1811: First women's golf tournament 1866: Fisk University opens 1959: "Rawhide" premiers 1960: Building of Aswan Dam begins 1976: "Convoy" is #1 on country music charts 1991: Baseball bans Pete Rose from HOF 2001; Apples announces iTunes 2007: Apple announces iPhone Born: Carrie Chapman Catt [founded League of Women Voters], Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney [founded Whitney Museum of Art], Richard Nixon, Lee Van Cleef, Judith Krantz, Bart Starr, Bob Denver, Dick Enberg, Joan Baez, Crystal Gayle, Dave Matthews, Sergio Garcia, Kate Middleton Died: Pete Dye, Bob Saget, Russ Ullery [son of Curt and Judy Ullery] Thought: Well, Congress is back in session as I read a passage I marked in Ecclesiastes 10:17-20. Here is a truth that certainly applies to nations, but also can apply to me and my house. A land is blessed when the king is noble. We often call kings nobility, but the real issue is--is the king noble? Nobleness is the quality of high moral principles and

  History: 1610: Galileo discovers first 3 moons of Jupiter 1785: First balloon flight across the English Channel 1830: First US railroad station opens in Baltimore 1899: Walter Camp publishes first All American Football Team 1927: First game of the Harlem Globetrotters 1929: "Buck Rogers" comic strip premiers 1950: Hank Snow's first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry 1955: Marian Anderson becomes first African American to perform with NY Metropolitan Opera 1959: US recognizes Fidel Castro's government 1999: Bill Clinton's impeachment trial begins 2015: Terrorists attack Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris killing 12 2019: Cyntoia Brown pardoned by Governor Haslam Born: Millard Fillmmore, Butterfly McQueen, Lou Graham, Kenny Loggins, Katie Couric, Rand Paul, Nicholas Cage, Lamar Jackson, Carolyn Curry Died: Catherine of Aragon, William Bradbury [tunes for "Sweet Hour of Prayer," "Jesus Loves Me," "Take My Life and Let it Be,"], Nikola Tesla,

  History: 1494: Columbus celebrates first Mass in the americas--Haiti 1858: Conversion of Charles Spurgeon 1893: Washington National Cathedral chartered by Congress 1907: Maria Montessori opens her first school in Rome 1912: Alfred Wagener presents theory of continental drift 1929: Mother Teresa arrives in Calcutta 1940: Mass execution of Poles by Nazis 1941: Roosevelt makes the Four Freedoms Speech [speech, worship, want fear]. Norman Rockwell created beautiful art to picture these freedoms. 1963: Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom premiers with Marlin Perkins 1975: Wheel of Fortune premiers 1994: Nancy Kerrigan attacked in Detroit Born: John Smith [Jamestown], Sherlock Holmes [according to the book], Carl Sandburg, Tom Mix, Sam Rayburn, Khalil Gibran, Danny Thomas, Loretta Young, Cary Middlecoff, Earl Scruggs, John DeLorean, El Doctorow, Lou Holtz, Nancy Lopez, Paul Azinger, Jameis Winston Died: Gregor Mendel, Theodore Roosevelt, Naimat Ahmer [Christian stabbed 17 times for saying J

  History: 1861: 250 federal troops sent from New York to Fort Sumter 1886: "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" published 1887: First school for librarians in the US opens at Columbia 1925: Nellie Ross becomes first female governor--Wyoming 1930: Bonnie Parker meets Clyde Barrow 1933: Work on the Golden Gate Bridge begins 1959: Bozo the Clown show premiers 2020: First SARS-CoV-2 genome map published allowing scientist to identify Covid -19 Born: Zebulon Pike, King Gillette, Herbert Swope [coined "cold war"], Jeane Dixon, George Reeves, Jane Wyman, Sam Phillips [Sun Records], Walter Mondale, Alvin Ailey, Robert Duvall, Chuck Noll, Diane Keaton, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bradley Coper Died: Felix Manz [drowned for re-baptizing adults, Anabaptist], Kathleen Kenyon, Ernest Shackleton, Calvin Coolidge, George Washington Carver, Rogers Hornsby, Pete Maravich, Sonny Bono Thought:  The first 9 verses of chapter 5 of Ecclesiastes offer some wonderful insights.  5::1-2--When yo

  History: 1754: Columbia University founded as Kings College 1847: Samuel Colt sells his first revolver to the US 1853: Solomon Northrup regains his freedom--author of "Twelve Years a Slave" 1863: 4-wheel roller skates patented--wore the key on a shoestring around my neck 1885: First appendectomy performed in America 1925: Emil Coue introduces self-esteem therapy--"Every day in every way I am getting better and better." 1936: Billboard publishes its 1st hit parade 1947: Peter Marshall elected chaplain of the Senate--"A Man Called Peter" 1965: Johnson gives the "Great Society" speech 1977: Mary Shane is first female play-by-play announcer on TV 2007: Nancy Pelosi becomes first female speaker of the House Born: Jacob Grimm, Louis Braille, Don Shula, Floyd Patterson, Dyan Cannon, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Patty Loveless, Julia Ormond, David Toms, Garrison Hearst, Derrick Henry Died: Hans Bret, Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton [first American born saint], Cor

  History: 1496: Leonardo da Vinci tests a flying machine--fails 1521: Martin Luther is excommunicated by Pope Leo X 1777: Washington's army defeats the British at Princeton 1925: Mussolini proclaims himself "Il Duce"  1977: Wozniak and Jobs incorporate Apple Computer Inc. 1987: Aretha Franklin is first woman artist in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 1996: First flip mobile phone goes on sale--Motorola StarTac 2004: Casey Kasem retires as host of "American Top 40" after over 30 years Born: Cicero, JRR Tolkien, Mel Gibson, Greta Thunberg Died: Jack Ruby, Joy Adamson, Phil Everly,  Thought: Interesting that I arrive in Ecclesiastes the first week in January. Perhaps God has a purpose in this review of things I marked in my Bible. Maybe as I start another year I need to be reminded about the priorities of life. Solomon asked one thing of God, wisdom. And God responded with abundant wisdom. If you visit the law school at Belmont you will find a large sculpture of Sol

 History: 1903: Theodore Roosevelt shuts post office in Indianola MS for refusing to accept black postmistress 1906: Willis carrier receives patent for air conditioner 1921: First religious service broadcasted in the US--Calvary Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh 1938: Simon & Shuster founded 1942: Japanese occupy Manila 1943: Kentucky begins 129 game home winning streak in basketball 1944: First use of helicopter in war 1965: Jets sign Joe Namath 1966: First Jewish child born in Spain since 1492 1974: Nixon imposes 55 mph speed limit Born: Barry Goldwater, Isaac Asimov, Dabney Coleman, Roger Miller, Jim Bakker, Jack Hanna, Cuba Gooding Jr., Taye Diggs Died: Ovid, Edward Perronet ["All Hail the Power of Jesus Name"], Edward Caswall ["When Morning Guilds the Skies"], Sabine Baring-Gould ["Onward Christian Soldiers"], Guccio Gucci, Dick Powell, Tex Ritter, Alan Hale, Little Jimmy Dickens Thought: When I get to the end of Proverbs, I always think about my mo