Hey, Labor Dayers!

A year or two ago, I told you about the history of Labor Day. I posted about how, despite the fact that today it means a relaxing day off, people were working twelve hour shifts, seven days a week throughout the 1800s, just to keep America—the New World—running properly. Here are a few interesting items that I didn’t include in that post:

Labor Day nowadays means picnics in the park, cookouts, and a three-day weekend because Labor Day is always on the first Monday of September. But, the first official Labor Day took place on Tuesday, September 5 of 1882. It wasn’t until after the first year’s celebration that the first Monday in September was set as an annual day of observance.

People often think of Labor Day as a last call for summer fun, bookending the tail-end of the season. But it was very nearly a springtime holiday, set consistently on the first of May. May 1 is the observed day for many other governments and countries to support their working class. President Grover Cleveland decided to move the date since May 1 held bad memories for some of the Haymarket Riot in Chicago.

Though it’s considered to be such an American holiday, we actually owe our Labor Day celebration to our northern neighbors in Canada. Their worker parades were first held in 1872 after some labor disputes in Toronto. It was a whole ten years later that union activist, Peter McGuire (who some say is the founder of Labor Day in America) introduced the idea of the day.

The entire feel of Labor Day could have ended up an entirely different one if history had gone down several different paths. But thankfully, it ended up just the way it is. I like it that way. Enjoy your Labor Day and, as always, thanks for reading!

 

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Today is Mount Vesuvius Day, commemorating the terrible tragedy that took place nearly 2000 years ago in a place near Naples, Italy. After sitting dormant for centuries, one of the most deadly volcanoes erupted on August 24, in the year 79 AD. Volcanic ash filled the sky, blocking out daylight and raining down six inches of ash every hour. By the end of the eruption, roughly 15 feet of ash had accumulated.

The eruption destroyed the two Roman cities Pompeii (as well as the lesser known Herculaneum). Pompeii always steals the spotlight because four-times more people lived in Pompeii and also because of the peculiar way in which it was destroyed.

The ash rained down in such a way that it preserved everything perfectly when it buried the city in large amounts of ash and solidified lava. There were many buildings, remnants of the city, and most of all PEOPLE who were well-preserved and ‘frozen’ in time, just the way they were during their sudden and scary deaths!

Herculaneum, on the other hand, saw the death of 5000 (compared to Pompeii’s 20,000) people who were buried under 60 feet of not just ash and volcanic materials, but lots of MUD too!

I leave you with these three facts concerning Mount Vesuvius and its violent wrath:

1.) The people in Pompeii and Herculaneum truly did not see their deaths coming. They were very surprised when they looked up to see the frightful sight of this mountain spitting molten rock and other volcanic emissions. They didn’t know better than to take heed from the series of massive earthquakes that had been shaking the region—as we now would know.

2.) We know that the terrible tragedy from 2000 years ago was not the first eruption from Mount Vesuvius and that it had previously erupted at least two other times. Recent excavations have pointed to the belief that it erupted almost another 2000 years before 79 AD. (1800 BC), again destroying large settlements of people in that region.

3.) Mount Vesuvius is still active! It last erupted in 1944 and experts say that it poses a threat to the 2 million people who now live in the area. According to them, it’s due for an eruption some time in the not-too-distant future.

If you happen to live in Naples or know someone there, tell them to beware warning earthquakes and hot lava! And, as always, thanks for reading.

 

- John

 

Hey, Flight Fans!

If there’s no greater thrill for you than taking off in a giant piece of metal that goes soaring through the sky, you’re not alone. Lots of people think flying is the greatest. Planes are undeniably awesome. In fact, the Blue Angels just performed a show on the Fourth of July weekend this summer—they’re a hit! That’s why we have National Aviation Day.

In celebration of this awesome holiday, I thought I’d give you these five little-known-facts involving the Wright Brothers—the fathers of Human Aviation.

1.) Did you know that inspiration and obsession with flight was instilled in the Wright Brothers from a young age in 1878 when their father gifted them with a flying model helicopter made out of cork, paper, bamboo, and powered by a rubber band. The boys were hooked.

2.) In an issue of The New York Times from 1903, the paper published their prediction that building a flying machine would not be possible for another 1 to 10 million years. Later in 1903, the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk.
3.) The Wright Brothers flew together just once in 1910. Scared to lose his sons to flying accidents, Milton Wright (the Wright father) made his sons promise to never fly together. Milton, however, allowed them to fly together one beautiful day in May. He too, at 82 years old, went for a ride with his son Orville piloting. As they gained elevation, Milton’s said to have shouted, “Higher, Orville, higher!”

4.) The Wright Flyer from 1903 flew for one day and never again. Four flights were made in the Wright Flyer on December 17, 1903. Before taking the Flyer up for one last flight for the day, a heavy wind tossed the aircraft around, flipping it over several times. The damage done to their aircraft was irreparable and it was never flown again.

5.) Neil Armstrong, like the Wright family was from Ohio. Standing on the Wright shoulders of human aviation, Armstrong took a piece of wood from the original 1903 Wright Flyer’s left propeller to the moon with him, honoring Orville and Wilbur who helped to make space travel possible.

As #2 insinuates, outlook was not good in the early 1900s concerning human aviation. We had little to no idea what we were talking about. One thing’s for sure—we certainly wouldn’t be where we are today without the Wright Brothers and their dedication/obsession with conquering the ability of flight.

Enjoy the video below depicting many early, failing attempts of flight. Happy Aviation Day and, as always, thanks for reading.

 

- John

Hey, Fourth of July Fans!

Today is the day of our country’s independence. Way back in a time that we only know from history books, the people who lived in “The New World” (more modernly known as the United States of America) still felt the rule of Great Britain. Independence Day is the day that we adopted our Declaration of Independence in 1776.

For 239 years we’ve been celebrating this federal holiday, but there’s a lot about it that most people don’t know. Here are four things that you probably didn’t know about the Fourth of July:

Did you know…
…that, ironically, three presidents have died on Fourth of Julys past? It’s true. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died within hours of each other in 1826. John Adams last words were, “Thomas Jefferson still survives.” And just five years later, the fifth president James Monroe died in 1831.

Bet you didn’t know…
…the Fourth of July is one of only four other federal holidays that get celebrated on the same calendar date each year? (The other three holidays are Veteran’s Day, New Years, and Christmas.)

And I bet you never knew…
…despite common belief, the Liberty Bell was not rung on the Fourth of July in 1776, but on the eighth of the July. It was rung in honor of the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.

Last, but not least, did you know…
…that some people have argued that the Fourth of July should actually be the Second of July? They’re crazy, right? Well, the argument holds some validity as July 2 is the day that our forefathers did the actual VOTING on their Declaration. The document simply wasn’t written up completely until July 4.

In any case, despite controversy over the proper date or the unfortunate loss of presidents on this national celebration, let your freedom ring along with everyone here at Everything Summer Camp today and enjoy your Independence Day. As always, thanks for reading.

 

- John

A Difficult Reminder:

Unlike most of the special days and other material covered on this Blog, today’s post is of the utmost grave and solemn topics as today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. Stretching from the evening of April 15 to the evening of April 16, the victims of the Holocaust as well as the brave acts of resistance and heroism that were made 80 years ago are commemorated.
Today, we remember the unimaginable number of lives that were taken in the name of prejudice and senseless hatred. For over a decade the mad, German tyrant, Adolf Hitler, led Nazi Germany to methodically persecute and murder a disturbing number of Jews (and others who were seen as inferior races and creeds).

Thought to be a superior race, Aryan people, with their blond hair and blue eyes were honored by Nazi Germany and considered to be the desirable genetic makeup to be spared from this mass extermination called The Holocaust which claimed the lives of an estimated six million Jews.

This number is so immense that its reality is, understandably, a bit lost on us. How big is six million? It’s unfathomable! But I’ll try to give you SOME idea just how big of a number six million is:

1.) Here’s a striking visual. This is a photograph snapped from NASA’s Juno Spacecraft. It shows what planet Earth and our accompanying moon look like from six million miles away.

2.) If every single person in Wisconsin (that’s nearly 2 percent of the U.S. population) were to suddenly vanish, it would still be about 350,000 short of the total Holocaust victims.

3.) If you took a minute to speak the name for each Holocaust victim, it would take you over 11 YEARS to finish the list.

Please, join the rest of the world and take today to remember the unfortunate souls who were killed in this horrible event from our history…