Hawaii made it 50 in 1959

We remember that Hawaii made it 50 on this day in 1959.   Alaska became a state in January 1959 and it was followed by Hawaii months later.

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We remember Kenny Rogers (1938-2020)

Kenny Rogers was born in Houston, Texas on this day in 1938 and died in March 2020.    Kenny became one of the biggest recording starts of the last 50 years.    His songs are heard daily on pop and country radio.   

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1858: Lincoln Douglasdebates

We remember another anniversary of The Lincoln-Douglas debates:

"Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois and Abraham Lincoln, a Kentucky-born lawyer and one-time U.S. representative from Illinois, begin a series of famous public encounters on the issue of slavery. 

The two politicians, the former a Northern Democrat and the latter a Republican, were competing for Douglas' U.S. Senate seat. 

In the seven Lincoln-Douglas debates--all about three hours along--Lincoln argued against the spread of slavery while Douglas maintained that each territory should have the right to decide whether it would become
free or slave. 

Lincoln lost the Senate race, but his campaign brought national attention to the young Republican Party."

The debates were a good example of how two people could debate complex and difficult issues.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could debate complicated issues like that today?

What if we had a debate about the role of government?  the level of taxation?  our foreign policy?

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August 1968: Tanks in Prague & "People got to be free" # 1 on Billboard

We remember that Warsaw Pact tanks were crushing the people of Prague this week in 1968.    Like Hungary 1956, the USSR did not tolerate dissent in any of its satellite states.   

Over here, “People got to be free” by The Rascals was #1 on Billboard USA. It spent much of the month of August as the most popular song of that summer.    

We don't know if the Rascals were inspired by The Prague Spring but it was a timely message.

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