February 6, 2019
Good morning dearest readers. Many thanks for stopping by today.
In the Almanac, the first Sunday is recorded and Elizabeth II takes charge, we visit 1971 for Top of the Charts while a quote from Don Quixote provides the text for today’s Philosophy 101 lesson.
THE DAILY ALMANAC
On This Date:
In AD 60 – This is the earliest date for which a day of the week is known. Some graffiti on a wall in Pompei, Italy gives the day of the week for February 6, 60 as a Sunday, though in modern reckoning it would have been a Wednesday.
In 1952 – Princess Elizabeth becomes queen of England, immediately upon the death of her father, King George VI. Elizabeth is in Kenya, in a tree house, of all places, at the immediate moment of succession. She would be 0fficially crowned on June 2, 1953, and Elizabeth II still reigns, with today being the 24,473rd day of her reign.
Top of the Charts
#1 songs on this date in 1971:
Hot 100 – Knock Three Times…Dawn (3rd of three weeks)
Soul Chart – (Do The) Push and Pull…Rufus Thomas (1st of two weeks)
Country Chart – Joshua…Dolly Parton (only week)
Album Chart – All Things Must Pass…George Harrison (6th of seven weeks)
– Chart data courtesy of Billboard.
Numbers Racket
10,638: the continuous number of days the US has been at war.
21.966: the number of dollars, in trillions, of America’s national debt. – Source: usdebtclock.org
643: days until Election Day 2020.
Philosophy 101
Fortune is guiding our affairs better than we ourselves could have wished.
Miguel de Cervantes
Don Quixote
We cannot control every aspect of our lives. We can dream and plan and scheme, but there are an awful lot of us on this planet and we are all leading more or less random lives and those who attempt to micromanage their own lives as well as manipulate others often find matters do not work out like they had hoped. However, those who surrender to what their hearts tell them to do, regardless of what that may be, and have the patience to see it through to the end, are generally those who are enjoying lives well spent.
Leaving matters to fortune is simultaneously difficult and easy. It’s difficult because it involves shedding the safety of the familiar and the roles others may have assigned us. On the other hand, it’s easy because all there is to do is follow our hearts, which tell us where to go and trust our instincts, which tell us how to get there.
Fortune has the life we want waiting for us for only the price of the wisdom to recognize our talents, the courage to get the most out of them and the patience to see our journey through to the very end. When we do this, when we shed outside influences and live from the inside out, we allow Fortune to take us where we were meant to go.
Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) was a Spanish writer. The word ‘quixotic’ has worked its way into the worldwide lexicon, meaning something that is foolishly impractical or exceedingly idealistic.
Many thanks for reading, and have a good day.
xoxoxo
Kaitlyn