A Year of Blogging: May 19, 2011

May 19 is Circus Day. It was on this day in 1884 that Ringling Brother's Circus first opened. I remember the first time I went to the circus. Mom and Dad took me for my sixth birthday. I didn't ask to go again. I'm sure I've been to a circus since then, although maybe I haven't. For me, the circus wasn't as much fun as it was proclaimed to be. I felt bad for the animals. Elephants and tigers need room. They are not supposed to be in small cages, or performing tricks. As I got older and learned of the abuse circus animals endure, I liked the whole thing even less. I won't go near a circus any more. Today is also Boys and Girls Club Day. I really don't know much about those organizations, which is why I thought the circus would be a better option. The circus just depresses me. On this date in 1749, King George II granted a charter to the Ohio Company. The charter was for several hundred thousand acres around the forks of the Ohio River. The French previously held claim to this area. The charter of the Ohio Company opened up settlement west from Virginia, and led to the French and Indian War of 1754. When France was defeated, the Ohio River and Great Lakes area became part of Canada. Interesting. I did not know that! Of course, my Ohio history is lacking quite a bit. I need to make up for that. The settlers in Ohio protested and joined the patriots in the revolt against Britain. So if things had turned out differently, I could be living in Canada right now! Also on this date in history in 1943, FDR and Churchill plotted D-Day. So says history.com. Come back in a couple of weeks to find out when D-Day is. If you don't already know! And then you'll see why I picked the tidbit about them plotting it. Well, that and I liked the mental image I had of FDR and Churchill plotting. And was it really just today that they plotted it? Did it take just a couple of hours? Picture it: FDR's To Do List: May 19, 1943. Breakfast, meet with Churchill, plot largest amphibious invasion in world history, lunch. How do we know they plotted this on May 19? Did they keep journals? Churchill's journal entry for that night : Met with FDR. Something big is going down! Ok, that's a little silly, but certainly a better image than what I started with!