192 years ago, the first railroad accident occurred in Quincy, Massachusetts, proving the then-state-of-the-art technology was not quite “accident-proof.”
175 years ago, the last of the Mormon pioneers led by Brigham Young arrived in Utah. The door-to-door visits came later.
57 years ago, Bob Dylan was booed for daring to play an electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival!
46 years ago, Louise, the world’s first “test tube baby” (conceived through in vitro fertilization) was born in Manchester, England.
Thought for the Week
History matters. But that doesn’t mean that by studying it we can avoid making mistakes, it only means we can make better, or at least more novel, ones. Because both the problem and the beauty of history is that it is made by human beings.
“Every moment happens twice: inside and outside, and they are two different histories.”
~Zadie Smith
“History unravels gently, like an old sweater. It has been patched and darned many times, reknitted to suit different people, shoved in a box under the sink of censorship to be cut up for the dusters of propaganda, yet it always manages to spring back into its old familar shape. History has a habit of changing the people who think they are changing it.”
~Terry Pratchett
“To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.”
~Marcus Tullius Cicero
“Forgiveness is the only way to reverse the irreversible flow of history.”
~Hannah Arendt
“What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, ‘Look! This is new?’ It was here already, long ago.” ~Ecclesiastes 1:9-10
Mitch Teemley 
The wreck of the “accident-proof” train reminded me of the old tale about the only two cars in Ohio in 1895 crashing into each other.
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;>) Hmm, and I live in Ohio.
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Your sketch reminded me that RAGBRAI is this week, the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, the biggest ever!
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Nice thoughts and history lesson on this Monday morning, Mitch. Thanks for sharing!
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Remember that Ecclesiastes was written by an old wise man who had left wisdom behind as he followed what ever his heart desired, although he ‘claimed’ wisdom was still with him. (Ecclesiastes 2:1-9)
As far as human experience is concerned (been there, done that, nothing new here), he was correct, but God can and does do ‘new things!’ See Isaiah 42:9, 48:6, and 65:17!
New things are on the horizon for the follower of the wisdom that comes from the Father of Lights.
❤️&🙏, c.a.
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Yesterday I saw a social media post from a history page I follow that asked, “What one historical event would you choose if you could know the absolute truth about it?” All I could think about was how arrogant and narrow minded the question was.
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Hahaha, the Brigham Young sketch is a hoot! The shepherd leading his flock to neighborhoods wearing their black pants, ties and white shirts. “I will make you fishers of men-if you follow me.”
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Thanks, Neese (I’m sorta proud of that one).
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Love the quote about forgiveness changing history’s irresistible flow. Praise the Lord, it definitely has changed mine!
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Hello Mitch: Indeed. Vanity, all is Vanity. I am writing a column on that subject. I did not wish to do it as the old existentialists and Solomon (the preacher) have covered most of the depressing thoughts of the atheist and worshippers of self. I was checking my mail in the midst of trying to wriggle out of writing the column. In the mail was a big box message stating: ‘ Save BIG money on our sale of Vanities’ I assumed that was a sign to get to work and write. Norm
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;>)
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I particularly like the Terry Pratchett quote.
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Me too, Liz.
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Had to laugh at your sketch of Brigham Young leading an army of bicyclists! Thirteen years ago, I had my own nametag and bike, roaming the rugged roads of Guyana. Of course, some people hated us, and others thought we were alright, but regardless of our street cred (or lack thereof), most of us missionaries just wanted to help people out however we could.
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Good on you, Abe!
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Whenever it was first said/written, Terry Pratchett’s quote was SO fitting for today!
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Wish I’d known the Cicero quote when I was teaching school. That would have made a good poster for the wall to do some “silent teaching!”
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It would indeed, Nancy!
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The general tendency of human beings is not to learn from history or from the mistakes of others or even from one’s own mistakes. Instead, we often repeat our mistakes and make them bigger.
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Good post; hard to imagine today electric guitars be booed
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Contact to me for office work
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