Every now and then I’ll look up a random date’s wiki page and see what’s what. I don’t always glean a great deal from these searches, but then again, sometimes I do. That is precisely what happened when I looked up today’s wiki page.
For instance, did you know that today marks the midway point of this leap year? The year’s half gone already! Or is it half-full? I can never tell. Or how about the fact that on this date in 1881, the world’s first international telephone call took place – between St. Stephen, New Brunswick Canada and Calais, Maine US? In 1903, this date marked the start of the first race of the very first Tour de France. Did you know that one? How about the fact that in 1908, S-O-S was adopted as the international distress signal – did you know that? (Thank goodness, because otherwise my favorite ABBA song might not exist.) Did you know the communist Party of China was founded on this date in 1921?
I don’t know why I love these seemingly useless factoids, but I do. And for the record, I don’t retain a danged one of ’em after reading them. It’s just entertainment – momentary entertainment, that is. And for the moment, I enjoy reading about the world. It’s really too bad I don’t remember any of it long-term. It could be fun to play the part of “Cliff Clavin” once in a while. Only I’d prefer to get my facts straight (unlike “Cliff”).
For now, I wish you a Happy July. I also wish a happy birthday to the US Zip Code system (1963) and to the Sony Walkman (1979) – two things that are barely in use anymore.
Oh well. In a few days time, I’ll forget all about those birthdays anyway.