Today in History

Today in History

Today is my birthday. Those who know me well, know that I commandeer the whole month and sprinkle celebrations throughout. This year, I decided to gift myself with a vacation, so I’ve taken the whole week off, and we’re in Vermont, in one of our favorite small towns nestled in the White Mountains.

I was born the night Alan Shepard went into space. My big moment was actually five hours before his. I arrived at 2:32 AM, and he didn’t make it to space until 7:30 AM.

May 5th is also Cinco de Mayo, and we typically go to the local Mexican restaurant for my birthday and pretend the festivities are for me. In reality, the celebration is a commemoration of Mexico’s victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Here in the US, it has become a day to celebration Mexican culture and heritage. In Mexico, the holiday is primarily celebrated in the state of Puebla.

On May 5, 1973, Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby on his way to grabbing the Triple Crown (which

includes the Belmont Stakes and the Preakness). I recently found out that every horse in this year’s Derby is descended from Secretariat. Quite an accomplishment!

Perhaps less exciting for some of us, on this date in 1904, baseball player Cy Young registered the first perfect game (which means no one made it to first base). He played for the Boston Americans (later renamed the Red Sox).

In women’s history, Mary Kries was awarded a patent on May 5, 1809 for a new technique in weaving straw with silk and thread to make hats. The patent was signed by President James Madison. She is the third woman in history to receive a patent.

I share my birthday with Afonso III, King of Portugal (1210), Rupert, King of Germany (1352), and Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany in addition to British-American scientist John William Draper, Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, German philosopher Karl Marx, and American John Stetson, inventor of the favored headgear of cowboys, the Stetson, and the lesser known “Boss of the Plains” hat.

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Spies & Sweethearts – on sale!

She wants to do her part. He’s just trying to stay out of the stockade. Will two agents deep behind enemy lines find capture… or love?

1942. Emily Strealer is tired of being told what she can’t do. Wanting to prove herself to her older sisters and do her part for the war effort, the high school French teacher joins the OSS and trains to become a covert operative. And when she completes her training, she finds herself parachuting into occupied France with her instructor to send radio signals to the Resistance.

Major Gerard Lucas has always been a rogue. Transferring to the so-called “Office of Dirty Tricks” to escape a court-martial, he poses as a husband to one of his trainees on a dangerous secret mission. But when their cover is blown after only three weeks, he has to flee with the young schoolteacher to avoid Nazi arrest.

Running for their lives, Emily clings to her mentor’s military experience during the harrowing three-hundred-mile trek to neutral Switzerland. And while Gerard can’t bear the thought of his partner falling into German hands, their forged papers might not be enough to get them over the border.

Can the fugitive pair receive God’s grace to elude the SS and discover the future He intended?

Purchase Link:https://books2read.com/u/m0Od9l

Photo Credits:

Birthday Cake: Pixabay/Thomas

Horses: Pixabay/Hancock707

John B. Stetson: By Unknown photographer - Twenty-second Annual catalogue of John B. Stetson University. Public Domain