Every Day Is Special: May 1, 2013

May 1, 2013 - Batman Day

It was the spring of 1939.

The world was reeling from the Great Depression. The Spanish Civil War had finally ended, but Italy had invaded Albania, and Adolf Hitler's Nazis had annexed Austria, invaded Czechoslovakia, and seemed to be plotting a takeover of Poland. It was looking very much as if Hitler was about to plunge the entire world into a much larger war, and diplomats and European leaders were scrambling to avoid it.

Things were looking really grim.

Then, on May 1, who should appear?

The Caped Crusader! The Dark Knight!

Batman!

Artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger created the new comic book superhero for Detective Comics, and Batman became immediately popular—so popular that he soon had his own comic book.

Now, Batman couldn't do much about the problems the real world was facing—but I do think that entertainment, especially the sort that pits good versus evil, and has good win, can help people bear harsh reality just a little bit better.