Arlington National Cemetery 

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. Service Members who died while in the military service. First enacted by formerly enslaved African-Americans to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War – it was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars. (Wiki)

Dr. Jonas Salk

On April 12, 1955, Dr. Jonas Salk announced that the clinical trials of his polio vaccine found it was effective and safe, kicking off a national inoculation campaign.

Two years prior, there were 35,000 new cases of the debilitating disease in America. By 1961, Dr. Salk’s vaccine had reduced the number of new cases to just 161.

Photo ©1956 Yousuf Karsh

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18 years ago on this day, the space shuttle Discovery blasted off with a woman, Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins, in the pilot’s seat for the first time. A former military instructor and test pilot, Collins was the first female pilot and first female commander of a Space Shuttle. Col. Collins logged 38 days 8 hours and 10 minutes in outer space before retiring in 2006. [Wiki]

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

“…I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.”

Excerpt from Martin Luther King’s Address at March on Washington - August 28, 1963. Washington, D.C.

Only two other persons have national holidays in the United States honoring them: George Washington, the first President of the United States, and Christopher Columbus, whose voyages led to general European awareness of the American continents. Take time today to watch, read or listen to this speech so that you may understand a little better as to why Martin Luther King Jr. is deserving of this honor. 

Full speech - Video version | Text version

Joan of Arc at Saint Augustin in Paris, France

600 Years Ago Today in 1412 (according to tradition) Jeanne d’Arc aka Joan of Arc, a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint made her way into this world in Domremy, France.

Wiki: A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years’ War, which paved the way for the coronation of Charles VII. She was captured by the Burgundians, sold to the English, tried by an ecclesiastical court, and burned at the stake when she was only 19 years old. Twenty-five years after the execution, Pope Callixtus III examined the trial, pronounced her innocent and declared her a martyr. Joan of Arc was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. She is one of the patron saints of France.

Image by Eric Tenin

December 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy”.

- President Franklin D. Roosevelt

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