Today in history, greetings, and social banter here. (More)

René Descartes’ dreams inspired his Meditations on First Philosophy today (1619). Also, William Franklin, the last colonial governor of New Jersey, signed the charter for Queen’s College, now Rutgers University (1766), Samuel Nicholas founded the U.S. Marine Corps in Philadelphia’s Tun Tavern (1775), Rufina Alfaro issued the Cry of Independence at La Villa de Los Santos, Panama (1821), the wreck of the Stephen Whitney off Ireland’s south coast prompted the building of the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse (1847), Henry Morton Stanley uttered his famous greeting “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” upon finding David Livingstone near Lake Tanganyika (1871), the Wilmington Insurrection began (1898), the American Legion held their first national convention in Minneapolis (1919), direct-dial coast-to-coast telephone service began in the U.S. (1951), President Dwight Eisenhower dedicated the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery (1954), Harry Winston donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution (1958), Sesame Street premiered on National Educational Television, the forerunner to the Public Broadcasting Service (1969), the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a storm on Lake Superior (1975), the first Breeders’ Cup was held (1984), and WorldCom and MCI announced their $37 billion merger, the largest in U.S. history to that time (1997). And Spanish King Juan Carlos said “¿Por qué no te callas?” (“Why don’t you just shut up?”) to Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez during the Ibero-American Summit, on the same day an estimated ten to forty thousand people marched on the royal palace in Kuala Lumpur to demand electoral reform in Malaysia (2007).

Good morning! ::hugggggs::