Today in History

I added something called Today in History to my iGoogle homepage. Turns out today was quite a day. I've been trying to cut and paste the information onto this page, but I think I must be breaking some sort of blog rules, because it deletes every time. So I'll try another tack. I'm going to type the dates listed in a different order than they appear on the homepage:

Some of them, I studied in school.

1890: United Mine workers formed.
1919: League of Nations founded.

 

And I think I might be related to one of the leaders of this one: 1787: Shay's Rebellion. Henry Gale (my early Gale ancestors settled in New Jersey and then in Vermont... just like Henry)

And I read lots of Virginia Woolf, both in school and out. Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, A Room of One's Own. Today would have been her birthday. 1882. She'd be 129 today!

But here's where I began to feel a bit out of touch. Today in 1958, the ALGOL committee met for the first time. I've never heard of ALGOL. Turns out it's a computer language that is the basis for many other languages. First time I ever heard of it!

And then there's St. Dwynwen, the patron saint of lovers and sick animals in Wales. I've always been proud of my Welsh heritage, but I've never heard of Dwynwen or her lover Maelon. One of them drank a potion and one of them turned to ice. No one is sure which. But Dwynwen died a hermit. Who knew?

But this was the biggest shock to me:

LOTR Gandalf falls in Moria. On January 25?!? And when did Lord of the Rings become history?

So, I decided that if Tolkien could write history, so can I: I wore these lovely earrings today. They were a gift from my daughter, who bought them in Lafayette, LA. I think they contain Elvish writing. Written before Gandalf fell in Moria, and foretelling that event.

History has once again been made on January 25th!