Friday January 26, 2018

Good morning and welcome to the Wannaskan Almanac for Friday, the 26^th of January.

It’s the birthday, in 1826, of Julia Dent, wife of Ulysses Grant, and First Lady from 1868-76. She grew up on a plantation near St. Louis and described her childhood as "one long summer of sunshine, flowers, and smiles…” Having thirty slaves around the place helped make that possible. Her brother was a classmate of Grant’s at West Point and introduced the two.  Grant was smitten and proposed, but the 18 year old demurred. Grant was ordered South in the build-up to the Mexican War. Julia had a dream that Grant would appear in civilian clothes and announce he was staying for a week. All this happened and Julia said yes.

During the Civil War, Lincoln made sure Julia accompanied Grant on his campaigns. Grant had a reputation as a drinker when anxious, a bad trait in a general.

Julia loved being First Lady. She spent as much on furnishings and entertainment as had Mary Todd Lincoln without arousing the furor Mrs. Lincoln had; proof that it’s easier to splash out during a gilded age than during a civil war.

Julia welcomed all to the White House. Her only rules were that the ladies wear hats and the gentlemen leave their weapons at home. Her hospitably extended to the newly freed slaves. She wondered why none ever came. After all, she was not a racist. White House security, however, was.

After his presidency, Grant lost all his money in an unwise investment scheme. He wrote his memoirs as he was dying from throat cancer, which left the family financially secure. She lived quietly in Washington until her death in 1902 at the age of 76, and is buried next to her husband in his mausoleum on the banks of the Hudson River in New York City.

Also born on this day in 1907, the Austrian-Canadian endocrinologist Hans Seyle, famous for exploring the concept of stress. He was a workaholic, spending 10-14 hours a day, seven days a week, studying the causes of disease. He said there’s good stress and bad stress and any stress not dealt with can lead to disease. The whole meditation-healthy lifestyle movement has resulted from people becoming aware of Seyle’s insights. He said he should have use the word “strain,” rather than “stress,” back in 1936, but his English was still a little rough then. Most other languages have adopted the English word stress: le stress, el stress, etc. The Chinese use the character for “crisis.”

On this day in 1886, Karl Benz patented the first automobile. The first model was hard to steer and during a public demonstration, crashed into a wall. In 1888, Karl’s wife Bertha, unbeknownst to him, took off on the machine to visit her mother 86 miles away. She took her two sons along and had to stop at pharmacies along the way for fuel. She made several repairs along the way, including putting leather pads on the wooden brake blocks. Publicity about her trip helped sales take off. The French were the biggest early customers.

1885 Benz Tri-Car

Get ready for the total eclipse of the moon Wednesday morning, January 31. It will be a Blue, that is, the second full moon of the month, and a super moon, a moon especially close to the earth.

The moon begins to enter earth’s shadow at 5:48 a.m CST. Total eclipse begins at 6:52 and ends at 8:08.  I’m planning on clear weather that day.

Today's poem is by Chairman Joe

-Ground hog-

Am I grounded

On this spinning ball

This ball with molten core

Spinning 'round another molten ball

That's spinning in its billionness 

Around the universe?

Why I've known drunks

Out fifth floor windows

Who are grounded more

Or are about to be.

Check back Sunday for more Squibs from @jmcdonnell123