Sacco’s Snippets: January 2019
January 3, 2019January 2019 | Happy New Year
History has a way of being one of two things; it’s either repeated or learned from and neither will ever meet. Now we are in the throes of what I as a young grade school pupil thought that the years starting with “2000” were unattainable set of years to actually be within and that it was so far in the future we would just never see it.
In the late 60’s there was a song names “2525” which was a warning of what lies ahead in the future and it was scary to a young child at times. Why would anyone want anything different from what we are enjoying right now. What we enjoyed is simple games and played games of contest where you actually had to run, jump, throw and be smart enough to outwit your playmates.
A world where social media was leaning on a fence and chatting with your next door neighbor. Summer nights included games of “Ring-O-Levio” (which last I heard was called “manhunt”) and parents sitting on the front stoop or in lawn chairs enjoying the clear night and actually watching that their kids behaved themselves.
Times have clearly changed, just like any civilization will, and time passes on with or without us.
Now we are in almost the end of the second decade of the 21st century and although most things have changed still a lot have remained the same.
Basketball must be thrown into the hoop to score points, the Hockey puck must be controlled in order to eventually win the game and the Yankees and Mets fans will still argue about, well whatever and wherever they can find fault with each other’s teams.
The year 2019 is here and when I go out to coach a practice I put on my rocket skates and make sure that the Laser puck is dialed down to a colder temperature than the ice. Well, not quite there yet but there’s always hope. Not! The more that things change, the more they actually stay the same.
I still love going to work and I still love working with younger players guiding them to the next step and phase of their Hockey path. So there is something that hasn’t changed for most of my life.
I have been fortunate to be able to do this and work and support some of the finest people in the game at our level. For you see, you cannot just jump to the next step you will have to grow and mature as an athlete or as it’s said, “develop as a player” and grow with the game.
The Earth will continue to spin, the seasons will continue to change and we will come and go along with the ever moving time.
Now it’s time for the monthly Snippet or Historical nuggets that can definitely make you smarter or clever depending on the situation. Here we go;
January is the first month of the Julian and Gregorian calendars and the first month to have 31 days.
It is the coldest month of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the second month of winter.
The name January is from the Latin word “Ianuarius” meaning “door”. This was loosely based on the month being the door or the gateway to the year ahead and beginning of what was to follow.
The Birthstone is Garnet (means consistency) and the Birth Flower is Galanthus.
Horoscope signs are Capricorn, until the 19th and Aquarius the 20th to the 31st.
Here in the Northeast one of my all-time favorite constellations is nice and bright and can be seen over Brooklyn early evening is Orion the hunter.
One cannot wonder how Marco Polo followed the “3 sisters” or “Orion’s belt” to return to Italy without a map. Orion is also featured in the movie “Men in Black” where a dying alien tells the agents that his planets galaxy is on Orion’s belt. The belt is actually made up of 3 stars; Alnitak, Alniam and Mintaka which are the brightest 3 in the constellation and visible to the naked eye on a clear night.
The galaxy was actually on the alien’s cat’s collar, but that’s another story for another day.
Here is some history on the days of January and some significant birthdays;
1/1– 1797 Albany replaces NYC as capital of the United States
1863 President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation
Born – 1735 Paul Revere
1752 Betsey Ross
1/2 – 1870 The Brooklyn Bridge opens
1929 The U.S. and Canada agree on plan to preserve Niagara Falls
Born – 1920 Isaac Asimov
1/3 – 1496 Leonardo DaVinci tests a flying machine
1959 Alaska becomes the 49th state
Born – 1892 J.R.R.Tolkien
1926 Sir George Martin
1/4 – 1896 Utah becomes the 45th state
2004 NASA Spirit Rover lands on Mars
Born – 1643 Sir Isaac Newtown
1809 Louis Braille
1/5 – 1920 Babe Ruth sold from the Red Sox to the Yankees
1933 The Golden Gate Bridge begins construction
Born – 1931 Robert Duval
1/6 – 1838 Samuel Morse successfully tests the Telegraph
1912 New Mexico becomes the 47th state
Born – 1412 Joan of Arc
1/7 – 1610 Galileo first observes the moons of Jupiter
1927The Harlem Globe Trotters play their first game
Born – 1800 Millard Fillmore becomes the 13th U.S. President
1964 Nicolas Cage
1/8 – 1730 George Washington gives the first “State of the Union” address
1815 Andrew Jackson defeats Great Britain at the Battle of New Orleans
Born – 1935 Elvis Presley
1942 Steven Hawking
1/9 – 1788 Connecticut becomes an American state
1986 I raised my right hand
Born – 1945 Jimmy Page
1951 Crystal Gayle
1/10 – 1776 Thomas Payne publishes “Common Sense”
1861 The Civil War begins as Florida succeeds from the Union
Born – 1944 Frank Sinatra
1949 George Foreman
1/11 – 1922 First use of Insulin
1935Amelia Earhart first solo woman flight from Hawaii to California
Born – 1757 Alexander Hamilton
1971 Mary J Blige
1/12 – 1966 Batman premieres on T.V.
1991 Persian Gulf War begins
Born – 1944 Joe Frazier
1/13 – 1930 First Mickey Mouse cartoon published
1957 Wham-O invents the Frisbee
Born – 1834 Horatio Alger
1/14 – 1690 The Clarinet is invented
1985 Martina Navratilova wins her 100th tournament
Born – 83 BC Marc Antony
1741 Benedict Arnold the traitor
1/15 – 1891 The Basketball is invented
1967 The first Super Bowl
Born – 1913 Lloyd Bridges
1929 Dr. Martin Luther King
1/16 – 1909 The South Pole is found (guess who the pilot was)
1919 The 18th Amendment ends Prohibition
Born – 1911 Dizzy Dean
1959 Sade (sigh)
1/17 – 1916 The PGA is formed
1917 The U.S. buys the Virgin Islands
Born – 1706 Benjamin Franklin
1931 James Earl Jones
1/18 – 1896First X-Ray machine demonstrated
1911 Eugene Ely becomes the first person to land on a ship with Aircraft
Born – 1782 Daniel Webster
1961 Mark Messier
1/19 – 1955 Scrabble invented
1966 Indira Gandhi elected Prime Minister of India
Birth – 1943 Janis Joplin
1946 Dolly Parton
1/20 – 1885 The Roller Coaster invented
1986 Martin Luther King Day becomes a Federal Holiday
Birth – 1920 Buzz Aldrin
1952 Paul Stanley (the baby never slept because…..)
1/21 – 1888 The AAU founded
1954 The USS Nautilus becomes the first nuclear Submarine
Birth – 1940 Jack Nicklaus
1963 Akeem Olajuwan
1/22 – 1952 BOAC is the first commercial jet carrier in service
1957 Israel withdraws from Sinai Peninsula
Birth – 1561 Sir Francis Bacon
1949 Steve Perry
1/23 – 1973 President Nixon announces the peace accord in Vietnam
1975 The TV show Barney Miller debuts
Birth – 1737 John Hancock
1944 Rutger Hauer
1/24 – 1848 California Gold rush
1922 The Eskimo Pie invented
Birth – 1949 John Belushi
1968 Mary Lou Retton
1/25 – 41 AD Claudius becomes ruler of Roman Empire
1830 Nellie Blye goes around the world in 72 days
Birth – 1759 Robert Burns
1981 Alicea Keys
1/26 – 1837 Michigan becomes a state (first pro Hockey game in the U.P.)
2005 Condoleezza Rice becomes Secretary of State in the U.S.
Birth – 1880 General Douglas MacArthur
1961 Wayne Gretzky
1/27 – 1926 First T.V. broadcast
1973 The Vietnam War ends
Birth – 1756 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
1832 Lewis Carroll
1/28 – 1865 First Locomotive to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific
1915 The U.S. Coast Guard is created
Birth – 1225 St. Thomas Aquinas
1912 Jackson Pollock
1/29 – 1936 first Baseball Hall of Fame inductions
1959 Disney releases Sleeping Beauty
Birth – 1843 President McKinley
1879 W.C. Fields
1/30 – 1862 The USS Monitor launched
1948 Mohandas Gandhi assassinated
Birth – 1882 President Franklin D. Roosevelt
1931 Gene Hackman
1/31 – 1865 General Robert E. Lee becomes General of the Confederate Army
1958 Explorer becomes the first U.S. Satellite in space
Birth – 1919 Jackie Robinson
1947 Nolan Ryan
Well, do you feel a bit smart than you did before?
History is a valuable knowledge bank on many levels.
Without this and without actually reading History one can never know what worked and what failed in our human existence.
If you would like a free lesson than come over to Floyd Bennett field and walk where the history makers walked and flew before.
The Aviator Sports and Events Center is located on this historical first airport in the state of New York.
Next door to us is the Ryan Visitor Center which was the original terminal and flight tower which ran the airport.
If you are looking for a day of fun, entertainment and/or food, well just start by walking through the doors and all the day, week and month’s activities are distributed at our customer service desk by video screen, printed material and a knowledgeable staff who can answer any questions you may have.
Your first step is walking through the door!
We are located at 3159 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11234. By phone 718-758-7500 or just visit our website www.aviatorsports.com. Bt car take Exit 11S from the Belt Parkway, at the second traffic light make a left into the parking lot.
Before I forget, I promised a shout out to My Brother Tommy!
“Everybody for something and something for everybody”
Happy New Year
John Sacco
AC NY Aviators
USPHL
Premiere
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