On any given day, we can explore many points in years past, each one giving us a wide view of history. These events vary in range and scope.
Here are some random few from this date, October 8, all throughout time.
1871 — A forest fire destroyed Peshtigo, Wisconsin. That big fire killed between 1,200 and 2,500 people. As such, it is the deadliest wildfire in recorded history. These days, there are better warning systems and firefighting methods, so I doubt we will ever see the likes of these numbers again. However, the climate crisis continues to worsen, so who knows?
1871 — Same year. Same day. Same area. The Great Chicago Fire killed an estimated 300 people and destroyed over four square miles of buildings. It also burnt up the original Emancipation Proclamation. The final draft of that document, completed by Lincoln on Dec. 31, 1862, arrived in Chicago in the fall of 1863. A group of women was getting ready to hold a fundraising fair to support wounded soldiers who had returned from the Civil War. So they requested the document from President Lincoln, and he agreed. They asked to purchase the document for the Historical Society of Chicago, where it would eventually reside. And so it did. And then it caught fire. A handwritten copy exists today in the National Archives.
1873 — The first women’s prison, run by women, opened at Indiana Reformatory Institute. I can only imagine. What is it they say about stripes making people look fat?
1918 — An American soldier named Alvin York single-handedly attacked a German gun nest. Yessiree. All by himself. He killed at least 25 of the enemy and captured an additional 132 Germans. He must have looked awful scary to those Germans.
1927 — “The Second Hundred Years” was released. This was a short film starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. This movie marked the first Laurel and Hardy film, where they appeared as a team. I’m a fan of that duo. I don’t know much about them as people, but on screen, they had a magic combo. “Well, this is another fine mess you’ve gotten me into.”
1934 — Bruno Hauptmann was indicted for the murder of Charles Lindbergh’s son. He didn’t do it. I feel it in my bones. Another person, sent to his death, for something he didn’t do.
1942 — Another great comedy duo, Abbott and Costello, launched their weekly radio show. Funny guys.
1945 — The microwave oven was patented by US inventor Percy Spencer. Imagine, way back in 1945. They didn’t show up affordably in households until the late 1970s. I use a microwave, I’ll tell you. I really use it.
2004 — This. That crafty Martha Stewart began five months of incarceration at the Federal Prison Camp, Alderson. She had to wear those aforementioned stripes because she was found guilty of insider trading and obstruction of justice. I bet her prison cell was something else.
So, there it is. All of these things happened on today’s date, in so many years past. Imagine all the days I didn’t mention.
This world is a happening place.
Today, may we all make something good happen. A good piece of history of our own.
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“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.”
― Aldous Huxley, Collected Essays
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“The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end.”
― Leon Trotsky
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“The first duty of a man is to think for himself”
― Jose Marti
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The points in time, and there are many.
