The National Archives is gargantuan. And I’ll tell you just how big it is. There are approximately 10 billion pages of textual records; 12 million maps, charts, and architectural and engineering drawings; 25 million still photographs and graphics; 24 million aerial photographs; 300,000 reels of motion picture film; 400,000 video and sound recordings; and 133 terabytes of electronic data. That’s lollapalooza big.
You’d probably never guess what the most requested photograph is, and I’m here to tell you that too. It is the one where Richard Nixon, and a big-buckled Elvis Presley, stand in the Oval Office shaking hands. The photo was snapped on this date, December 21, in 1970, but many do not know the nature of their meeting.
It came at Elvis’ request. A completely bizarre request. Elvis has a desire to get a badge from the US Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He wanted that badge because he thought he could “legally enter any country both wearing guns and carrying any drugs he wished.” This quote, per his wife, Priscilla.
So Elvis sat in his big white limo and wrote a nice little letter to Tricky Dick. He handed it to a guard outside the Whitehouse. In it, he said: “I can and will do more good if I were made a Federal Agent at Large, and I will help out by doing it my way through my communications with people of all ages. First and foremost, I am an entertainer, but all I need is the Federal credentials.”
He probably wrote some other things, like, I hope Pat is doing well, and of course the girls, Tricia and Julie. Before signing his name, Elvis said he would love to meet the President.
So that is the way it came to be. The letter made its way to Nixon’s aides, and the meeting was scheduled. The men got along just fine during their visit, but Nixon said later he found it slightly awkward. But the bottom line? Presley’s request for a badge was granted.
And that is how the photo came to be, and the most requested one of all. I think this is quite curious.
Of course, most of you know that December 21 is The Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. But historically, so much has happened on this day.
In 1891, the first game of basketball was played. A fellow, name James Naismith, came up with the rules. The dribbling, the shooting, the passing to and fro. So, the first game of hoops was played, unceremoniously, in some gymnasium in Springfield, Massachusetts, by 18 students. I suppose there were teams of nine back then.
Then, before the end of the decade, in 1898, another discovery was made. Those French scientists Pierre and Marie Curie found radium. Certainly, this changed their lives. It would bring them Nobel Prizes. It would also bring them terrible deaths. And so it goes.
Yet, this date was full of fun things too.
In 1913, a man from Liverpool, England, named Arthur Wynne, sat down at his desk. He created the first know crossword puzzle. December 21, 1913 was the date it appeared in a Sunday newspaper called the New York World. Four across is “to daydream,” and nine down is “to sink in the mud.” He covered it all.
In the world of entertainment, things were happening all over the place.
Our good pal, Coco the Clown, first appeared for Bertram Mills Circus in Manchester, England. This in 1929.
Then, a few years later, in 1933, a very wise Fox Films signed Shirley Temple to a studio / film contract. Little Miss Temple was only five years old at the time.
The very next year, in 1934, the French film “Zouzou” premiered in Paris. Notably, this movie starred Josephine Baker. She would be the first black woman to star in a major motion picture.
And last, but certainly not least, Walt Disney Studio was busy with their first full-length animated feature film. This opened in 1939. It was none other than “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and it premiered in Hollywood. I wonder if Dopey wore a tux.
So, as you can see, the Winter Solstice has yielded a wide range of events throughout history. It should remind us how diverse and how big this world can be — and we are a part of this. Each one of us, with our own divinity and our own unique gifts for this world. Whatever that may be.
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“A wonderful gift may not be wrapped as you expect.”
― Jonathan Lockwood Huie
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“Uniqueness is what makes you the most beautiful.”
― Lea Michele
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“Breath is the finest gift of nature. Be grateful for this wonderful gift.”
― Amit Ray
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It happened on a Winter’s day, for hundreds of years.
