Ridley's Believe It Or Not-This Day In History-March 13, 2014 Good Sam Day

Ridley's Believe It Or Not--March 13, 2014:  Four days to St. Patrick's Day and counting and only two days left to clean and press your toga if going to the Senate. March Madness about to begin in full swing with bracket announcements this Sunday. If in Vegas this weekend, enjoy the Pac 12 Championship Basketball Tournament. Tough quarter final game for the Cardinal against ASU this afternoon. Go Cardinal! 

           1. Good Samaritan Involvement Day--celebrating acts of kindness and aid, even putting one's own safety at risk, to strangers and honoring Kitty Genovese, a 28 year old woman tragically stabbed to death on this day in 1964 on the street near her apartment building in New York City while over 40 people watched but did not call for help.  One woman dead and a new phrase "the bystander effect" sadly born into the English lexicon of a modern uncaring society.

           2. K-9 Vets Day--honoring the achievements of "war dogs" in the Army Canine Corps established on March 13, 1943 in saving the lives of hundreds of  soldiers with their acute hearing and sense of smell; you see their successors today guarding airports, borders, and public places searching for explosives and illegal drugs. 

           3. Ken Day--observing the introduction of Barbie's companion the Ken Doll aka Ken Carson on March 3, 1961.

           4. Donald Duck Day--according to Bob Bishop  the founder of the Dell Comics Club, our favorite cartoon duck was born on this day in 1914, making him a spry and hopefully immortal 100 years old. http://www.simplecodeworks.com/ndcc/313/   Interesting website and genealogy of Donald Duck.

On this day in:

           a. 1852 the weekly newspaper New York Lantern published the first cartoon drawing of "Uncle Sam" drawn by Frank Henry Bellew.  Hard to recognize him in the recruiting posters for

 World War I or World War II.       

              b. 1970 Digital Equipment Corporation released its PDP11 16-bit minicomputer.

              c. 1986 Microsoft sold its shares to the public in its IPO at $21 per sahre. If you had purchased 100 shares, with subsequent stock splits your $2100 investment would be worth almost $1,100,000 today, not a bad rate of return and again proving hindsight can be everything.

Today do not be a bystander, slow down to smell the roses, be a Good Sam: "I expect to pass through life but once.  If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. William Penn, noted Quaker and founder of the province of Pennsylvania.  The Bystander Effect is not a prized human trait.

    Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join almost 140 growing followers and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs--click on links below. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for an original poem to honor Cindy Abbott, a half blind 54 year old mother suffering from a rare disease who competed in last year's Iditarod until forced out with a broken pelvis after 600 miles; an original poem on Bode Miller and the human spirit; an original poem for Cupid on Valentine's Day; an original poem to honor Cory Remsburg to join a great collection of my poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy. Go to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for poems on Jolly’s upset win over Sink in the 13^th District of Florida Special Election; USS Coronado doing a little whale watching of Dana Point; China's red line on war in Korea; De Blasio's payback to his union contributors by attacking charter schools; Rutgers' faculty despicable attempt to ban Condi Rice from being a commencement speaker; the holiday creep of St. Patrick's Day; the crash of a Malaysian Air flight; Obama's need for vacation time as Ukraine crisis unfolds; Newport Beach's assault on recovery homes, including the Ohio House; food fight between Issa and Cummings as Lerner takes the 5th again; Sally Jewell, Department of Interior, telling the residents of King Cove, Alaska to take a hike in placing wildlife over their lives; on students protesting Keystone XL as the world's largest oil producer militarily occupies the Crimea: the banning the wearing of the American flag on Cinco de Mayo; Putin winning the Great Game against Obama to join numerous other comments on news events always in rhyme of course.

©March 13, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet

www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com  www.twitter.com/alaskanpoet  Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times  Ridley's Believe It Or Not  www.facebook.com/Alaskanpoet  www.linkedin.com/in/octechlaw