This Week: The start of autumn and drone technology

Plus: Did the Chicago Cubs curse themselves? Photo: Pumpkins signal the arrival of autumn.

CHICAGO, September 21, 2013 — A hearty mix of music, sports, politics and science this week. With a dose of grammar thrown in, it’s a public-school parent’s dream week.

Sunday, Sept. 22  Elephant Appreciation Day

2013 - As autumn is ushered in by the equinox at 4:44 p.m. EDT, disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai faces being ushered out when the Chinese court renders its verdict in his corruption trial.  Among other charges, Bo is accused of interfering in the investigation of the murder of a British businessman, which somehow involved Bo’s wife. Are there soap operas in China?

1692 - The original witch-hunt ended in Salem, Mass., as the last person was hanged for practicing witchcraft. Witch-hunts continue, however, on both sides of the congressional aisle.

Monday, Sept. 23  Dogs in Politics Day

NIxon with his dog Checkers

(Seriously. It refers to the Checkers speech given by Nixon in 1952.)

2013 - Watch out, Paris and New York. Fashion Week in DC starts today. According to the website, “Yes, the fashion is back in the Washington Metropolitan area.” They fail to mention where it goes the other 51 weeks of the year.

1908 - NY Giants fans stormed the field believing their team had just won a heated pennant race, not realizing that Chicago Cub Johnny Evers compelled umpire Hank O’Day to enforce, for the first time ever, the force-out rule. Giant Fred Merkle had not touched second base.

The tied game (1-1) could not be completed due to the crowds on the diamond, resulting in a one-game playoff. The Cubs won the pennant and the World Series, but some speculate that their scapegoating of Merkle was the beginning of the Cubbie Curse.

Tuesday, Sept. 24  Punctuation Day (Do English teachers, and editor’s get the day off? [sic])

2013 - Global Gaming Expo (G2E) runs through Sept. 26. Bet you can’t guess where. Las Vegas. What are the odds?

1954 - With host Steve Allen and announcer Gene Rayburn, NBC’s Tonight Show debuted in living rooms everywhere.

Wednesday, Sept. 25  One-Hit Wonder Day (Anyone still wondering “Who Let the Dogs Out?” — see video below)

2013 - Free dress rehearsal for the New York Philharmonic conducted by Music Director Alan Gilbert and featuring Yo-Yo Ma on cello. This really should not be on One-Hit Wonder Day.

1906 - The pathway to today’s drone technology was created when Leonardo Torres Quevedo stood on the shore of a Spanish lake and guided a boat with his Telekino in the first demonstration of remote control.


Thursday, Sept. 26  Johnny Appleseed Day

2013 - High-Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on Nuclear Disarmament. Per the UN website: “At its 67th session, the General Assembly decided (resolution A/RES/67/39) to convene a High-Level meeting on nuclear disarmament during the High-Level segment of the 68th session of the General Assembly.” Apparently, there is a high level of redundancy in UN General Assembly verbiage. Not surprising.

1960 - A secondary source of global warming was unleashed when the first Nixon-Kennedy television debate took place on the same day that Fidel Castro gave the longest speech in the history of the UN (4 hours, 29 minutes). That’s a lot of hot air.

Kennedy-Nixon Debate of 1960

Friday, Sept. 27  Native American Day

2013 - Opening day of the Chicago International Social Change Film Festival, a short-film platform for social issues such as youth gun violence and addressing misgovernment, featuring post-film discussions and brainstorming sessions.

1905 - Albert Enstein’s E=mc2 was introduced by the publication of his paper “Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?” Today it is widely understood that the inertia of a body depends upon what is on TV tonight.

Saturday, Sept. 28  Ask a Stupid Question Day

2013 - In support of ending global poverty, Alicia Keys, John Mayer, Stevie Wonder, and Kings of Leon are among the artists performing without pay at the Global Citizen Festival in New York’s Central Park.

1982 - Remember when you opened a new jar of peanut butter and saw…peanut butter? Tamper-proof packaging for everything from aspirin to ketchup was heightened when a 12-year-old girl was the first of seven people to die after ingesting cyanide-laced Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules. The terrorist was never caught, and the 1986 death of Diane Elsroth led some, including The Tylenol Mafia author Scott Bartz, to suggest supply-side tampering as opposed to the popular madman-in-a-store theory. Maybe that headache’s not so bad after all.

That’s what’s happening Here, There and Everywhere. Go make your day unique!

Read more from Julia Goralka at End of the Day and Here, There, and Everywhere.

Contact Julia via Facebook at www.facebook.com/julia.goralka or through the Ask Me A Question link above. All quoted text is excerpted from the organization or event’s official website.


This article is the copyrighted property of the writer and Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media. REPRINTING TWTC CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION AND/OR PAYMENT IS THEFT AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW.

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Julia Goralka

In addition to her work at The Communities, Julia Goralka is a free-lance novel editor and has served as a volunteer board member or committee member for several local charitable organizations. Prior to writing and editing, Julia was the Division Coordinator for the interest rate derivatives marketing desk at a large financial institution based in Chicago.

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