Every Day Is Special: Kennedy

Showing posts with label Kennedy. Show all posts

September 12 - A Space Speech!

Posted on September 12, 2021

This is an update of my post published on September 12, 2010:

On this day in 1962, President John F. Kennedy gave what is arguably the most famous speech about space exploration ever given.

I well remember this sentence, spoken to Congress more than a year before (in May, 1961):

"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth."

But in the 1962 speech at Rice University in Texas, JFK explained why a moon landing should be our goal. Here is part of that speech:

"We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. For space science, like nuclear science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of pre-eminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war. I do not say that we should or will go unprotected against the hostile misuse of space any more than we go unprotected against the hostile use of land or sea, but I do say that space can be explored and mastered without feeding the fires of war, without repeating the mistakes that man has made in extending his writ around this globe of ours.

Peace in space,
science and exploration for all humankind,
these are VERY worthwhile goals!

"There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?

"We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."

And the U. S. succeeded with, not just one, but six moon landings.

More Space Stuff

On this day in 1959, the Soviet Union launched Luna 2, which was deliberately impacted onto the moon's surface with some experimental equipment and some stainless steel pennants.

The Soviet spacecraft Luna 2 was the first
spacecraft to land on the Moon!

On this day in 1966, U. S. launched Gemini 11, which made 44 orbits of Earth and which also gave astronauts practice with docking and separating.

On this day in 1992, U. S. launched the Endeavor space shuttle. The crew included the first female African American astronaut, Dr. Mae C. Jemison.

Also on this date:

Anniversary of a cave discovery

Physicist Irene Joliot-Curie's birthday

United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation

National Video Games Day

Anniversary of JFK's “space speech” and other space stuff

Cape Verde's National Day

Anniversary of color TV getting a Bonanza

National Day of Encouragement

Birthday of artist Carl Eytel

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February 22 - Happy Birthday, George Washington AND Ted Kennedy

Posted on February 22, 2021

This is an update of my post published on February 22, 2010:

On this day in 1732, George Washington was born in Virginia.

Washington worked as a surveyor and a planter, as a young man, before he became involved with the military. You may know that he eventually led the Continental Army against the British in the American Revolutionary War. You probably know that, after the United States became a country, Washington served as the nation's first president under the Constitution.

But you may not know these facts:

Washington was NOT the first president of the United States of America. Before the Constitution had been written, the new nation had been organized under the Articles of Confederation. This document was signed in 1781, and Congress (which included George Washington) elected John Hanson to be the first president.

Hanson served a one-year term, and there were six other U.S. presidents under the Articles, before the Constitution was written and ratified.

That's why I said that George Washington was the “first president under the Constitution.”

The Electoral College elected Washington unanimously in both 1789 and in the 1792 election. He's the only U.S. president to have received 100% of the vote.
The Precedent President – Washington very deliberately set precedent—that is, acted in a way that would serve as a good example to future presidents—in his brand-new job as president. For example, he wanted to turn down the large (for the time) salary of $25,000 a year, but he didn't want future presidents to have to be wealthy enough to work for free, so he changed his position. He refused to run for a third term as president—and that customary policy of only serving for two terms lasted for many years and is now codified in the Constitution. Washington wouldn't allow kingly titles or trappings, preferring a simple “Mr. President” over flowery honorifics.

And EXACTLY 200 years later...

On this day in 1932, Edward Moore Kennedy – known as Ted – was born
in Massachusetts.

He was one of the younger brothers in an extraordinarily influential and important family. You probably know that two of his brothers—John F. Kennedy, who became U.S. President, and Robert F. Kennedy, who became U.S. Attorney General and presidential candidate—were assassinated. You might also know that Ted Kennedy served as senator for Massachusetts for 47 years. He died in August, 2009.

You may not know these facts:

As a child Ted Kennedy lived, not just in MA, but also in Florida, New York, and London. He went to 10 different schools by the time he was 11.
His brother John, who was his godfather, wanted him to be named George Washington Kennedy because of the shared birthday.
Ted Kennedy climbed the Matterhorn while in the Military Peace Corps, stationed in Europe.

Did Washington chop down a cherry tree?

More importantly, did he confess the act to his father, saying, “I cannot tell a lie”?

Almost certainly not. This story was written—and, scholars say, invented—by a pastor and book seller named Mason Locke Weems. He first printed his biography of George Washington in 1800; this first biography of the first president was entitled Life of George Washington; with Curious Anecdotes, Equally Honorable to Himself, and Exemplary to His Young Countrymen.

Do a Washington word search puzzle from Ducksters. Or do you prefer jigsaw puzzles?

Read the book George Washington's Teeth, by Deborah Chandra and Madeleine Comora. Here are some resources that go along with the book.

Watch a YouTube video about Washington.

Speaking of YouTube videos, you gotta see this one: “From Washington to Obama in less than 4 minutes!”

Check out some of Ted Kennedy's Words

“For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.”

“My brother need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, to be remembered as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.” (About Robert F. Kennedy)

“...[W]hen John Kennedy called [for] going to the moon, he didn't say, 'It's too far to get there. We shouldn't even try.' Our people answered his call and rose to the challenge, and today an American flag still marks the surface of the moon.”