"New Coke" was introduced on April 23, 1985. We lived in Charlottesville at the time. The uproar was in the news for a few weeks. I tried the drink. It was sweeter, like Pepsi, without that little sharpness that's characteristic of Coke.
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Today is the feast day (and death anniversary) of St Anselm of Canterbury (c. 1033 - 1109). He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093-1109, during which he defended the church in the Investiture Controversy. He is known for his "ontological argument" for the existence of God---God is "that than which nothing greater can be thought." He is also known for his work, "Cur Deus Homo" ("Why Did God Become Human?") in which he argued a "legal" definition of Christ's atonement--that Christ's death paid the penalty that human sin incurred against God's righteousness. Still another legacy of his writings is the idea that religious faith, by its very nature, seeks deeper understanding ("fides quaerens intellectum"), a concept that Karl Barth used as a framework for his "Church Dogmatics" ... The stuff you remember from school, even though you can’t remember where you put your phone, LOL
SO many happy memories of my daughter's school years! Happy birthday to businesswoman Lisa Frank, born in 1955! Her company produced products that were REALLY popular among young girls during the 1980s and 1990s: school supplies, toys, and stickers of animals and unicorns, rendered in neon and rainbow colors.
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Naturalist-writer John Muir was born on this day in 1838! He helped found the Sierra Club and influenced the establishment of what became the US Forest Service, and he was involved in establishing Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Sequoia, and other areas as National Parks. Unfortunately he also wrote racist things, which the Sierra Club has lately addressed in evaluating his legacy. I have Muir's book "A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf," which describes his walk from Indianapolis down into Florida in 1867. He comments on how nature was slowly on the rebound following the environmental damage caused by the Civil War.
My cousins in Texas pointed out that today is the anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto. On April 21, 1836, the Texan Army led by General Sam Houston defeated the Mexican Army led by General Antonio López de Santa Anna. The battle, near the San Jacinto River, lasted only 18 minutes. Santa Anna was captured April 22 and, three weeks later, signed the peace treaty that removed the Mexican Army from the region. Thus ended the Texas Revolution. The Republic of Texas had already declared its independence on March 2. The U.S. recognized the new republic, though Mexico did not. This is a longish article but it provides interesting historical context.
https://www.thealamo.org/remember/battle-and-revolution/san-jacinto?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR10ZfNAiS4TmV-l3wTdFebJ92v-HyNzVSdNHjpocFtbKx6LK3V9ZXCJ82E_aem_AarWoxJz4v9Yug_eQUmIDW5cKSqyZ7fPEYlSP1eILvWqq6DmL65la9UyMm_trysx76SeMzQmKn-c6VLq8WImxVcR
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Something on Facebook this evening reminded me of the time Beth and I ate at the famous Les Deux Magots in Paris in 2019. Fun to pretend to have literary and artistic fame, LOL.
A wonderful set that I purchased in Vienna a few years ago. Schumann's four symphonies make a wonderful "landscape" to traverse. I discovered #1 as I was driving on U.S. 89 in northern Arizona years ago.
