Returning to the thoughts from yesterday, I talked about foxes and FOX News. I also mentioned a poll conducted by the University of Maryland. And that got me thinking about that state on the east coast there. Maryland. I’ve been there a couple of times.
Maryland is one of the oldest states in the country and is brimming with history. There are also quite a few notable figures who were born in The Free State, including Babe Ruth, Thurgood Marshall, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Tubman. I should mention that many have died there. Edgar Allan Poe, for one. Quite mysteriously. But it is worth pointing out that Maryland’s only NFL Team, the Baltimore Ravens, named themselves after Poe’s poem, The Raven.
Those words, and so many more, have been spoken in Maryland. To note, within its borders, the first telegram was received. It came on May 24, 1844, when Samuel F. B. Morse dispatched the first telegraphic message over an experimental line from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore. The message was taken from the Bible, Numbers 23:23, and recorded on a paper tape. “What hath God wrought!” Ahhhh. The first text message. What hath God wrought, indeed.
Anyway, back to Maryland. I’m not sure how much it rains there yearly, but it was where the first umbrella factory was built. The Beehler Umbrella Factory was founded in 1828 by German immigrant Francis Beehler. But check out the company’s motto. It was “Born in Baltimore, Raised Everywhere!”
Cute. But it was a great idea because, by the 20th century, Baltimore had many successful umbrella factories and became the umbrella capital of the world, shipping out over 1.5 million umbrellas across the country each annually. Put ’em up!
Here’s another life gem that came out of Maryland. The Ouija Board got its start in Baltimore.
In 1890, “talking” board games were all the rage in the United States. A spiritual medium named Helen Peters used one of these boards to coin the name “Ouija” for her own version of the game. She called it “Ouija, the Egyptian Luck Board.” It quickly became wildly popular in Baltimore. She and her investors opened several factories, and many Ouija Boards found their way all across the globe from little Maryland. Finally, the rights were sold to Parker Brothers in 1966. You can still buy them today, on Amazon if you’d like, starting around 20 bucks. Y–E–S
But how did it all begin?
George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, applied to King Charles I of England for a royal charter — the area to become the Province of Maryland. After Calvert died, the charter for “Maryland Colony” was granted to his son, Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, on June 20, 1632.
The colony was named in honor of Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles I. Mary-land. The first white settlers pulled in on November 22, 1633 aboard two small ships, the Ark and the Dove.
But. The place, Maryland, has been settled for over 10,000 years. Native American groups have lived there for at least that long. By 1,000 BCE, over 8,000 people across forty tribes lived in the region. They mostly spoke Algonquin languages, and they grew peas, corn, and squash, among other things. And, of course, they hunted.
So there it is. A few things about the “Old Line State,” Maryland. A land with much merry. Maybe.
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Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.
— Mark Twain
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True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.
— Clarence Darrow
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When you look at the stars and the galaxy, you feel that you are not just from any particular piece of land, but from the solar system.
— Kalpana Chawla
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The Old Line. State it.
