February 12, 2019
Good morning dearest readers.
Today The Daily Almanac visits England in 1554 and Washington, D.C. in 1999 while Top of the Charts is from 1983 and Philosopy 101 is anchored by a quote from Benjamin Franklin about putting our abilities to work for us.
Many thanks for stopping by, and have a good day.
xoxoxo
Kaitlyn
THE DAILY ALMANAC
On This Date:
In 1554 – Lady Jane Grey, all of 17, is beheaded after being convicted of treason. A year earlier Jane had reigned as queen of England for nine days following the death of Edward VI and was succeeded by Mary I. Jane was buried at a nearby chapel though no stone was erected at her grave.
In 1999 – President of the United States Bill Clinton is acquitted in his trial by the United States Senate. Previously, the House of Representatives had issued one article of impeachment against Clinton for perjury and another for obstruction of justice, both stemming from his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Clinton was the second president to be tried by the Senate. In 1868 Andrew Johnson was acquitted on eleven articles of impeachment.
Top of the Charts
#1 songs on this date in 1983:
Hot 100 – Down Under…Men at Work (4th of four non-consecutive weeks)
Soul Chart – Billie Jean…Michael Jackson (1st of nine weeks)
Country Chart – Till I Gain Control Again…Crystal Gayle (only week)
Album Chart – Business as Usual…Men at Work (14th of 15 weeks)
– Chart data courtesy of Billboard.
Numbers Racket
10,644: the continuous number of days the US has been at war.
21.972: the number of dollars, in trillions, of America’s national debt. – Source: usdebtclock.org
637: days until Election Day 2020.
Philosophy 101
I have always thought that one man of tolerable abilities may work great changes, if he first forms a good plan, and makes the execution of that same plan his sole study and business.
Benjamin Franklin
Autobiography
One of the myths of our human experience is that you need an awful lot of talent to succeed at something. Sure, you must have a knack for what you are doing, but if you are listening to your heart as it tells you where to go this will never be a problem, because our hearts will never show us a path that goes against our grain.
Yours truly is a good example of this. You are reading Morning Coffee w/ Kaitlyn because writing is what we have a knack for. We are not out training to run sprints in the Olympics because we have neither a knack for nor an interest in sprinting in the Olympics.
Some resiliency helps and, as we discussed yesterday, you must have confidence in yourself. Those that get on in this world genuinely believe that success is, was, there for the taking. All they had to do was pursue it with diligence and courage.
It’s the same with us. The wisdom to know what we are about, some courage to go and live the life we were meant to live and the patience – and no small measure of it – to see our paths through to the very end, and the success we want will be there for the taking, too.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) was, among other things, an American statesman, inventor and diplomat.