During his lifetime, abolitionists ridiculed Key’s words, sneering that America was more like the “Land of the Free and Home of the Oppressed”

Christopher Wilson | Chair, Division of Home and Community Life, National Museum of American History

Every 4th of July, I ask my family to sit down in front of the radio as if we’re tuning in to one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats, the nationally broadcasted speeches the 32nd president made between 1933 and 1934. Ours is a family tradition of listening while National Public Radio personalities recite the Declaration of Independence. Though the exercise works better in my head than it does in practice—it is always a challenge to get my nine- and six-year kids to sit quietly on a day promising parades and fireworks—I never fail to get something out of the experience.

And I think my children do as well.

We take a bit of time to contemplate the words and ideals that defined the nation. Something about paying attention solely to spoken words for a few minutes provokes deep discussion.

It is instructive and moving to hear the entire text in all its beautiful eloquence and with all the inherent irony of its rhetoric of freedom and equality contrasting with the realities of slavery and the treachery practiced on the “merciless Indian savages.” When we consider the legacy of the Declaration and its author, Thomas Jefferson, we confront and debate this compelling paradox—that the man who trumpeted the “self-evident” truth that “all men are created equal” owned some 175 slaves.

We note the paradox underlying Jefferson’s authorship of the Declaration. It comes up all the time, as in the smash Broadway hit Hamilton when Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Alexander Hamilton takes Jefferson down a peg or two:

A civics lesson from a slaver. Hey neighbor
Your debts are paid cuz you don’t pay for labor
“We plant seeds in the South. We create.”
Yeah, keep ranting. We know who’s really doing the planting

Source: Smithsonianmag.com for the complete article

A very good read

September is most known for Labor Day, a great time to show your appreciation for your own employees or the customers you know work hard year-round themselves.

National Yoga Month occurs in September, as well. This makes it the perfect month to offer your clients exercise mats or even workout apparel.

September is also National Preparedness Month, a month set aside to raise awareness about how to prepare for natural disasters or terrorist attacks. Items like first aid or survival kits could be useful this month. Other awareness events occurring in September include:

• National Acne Positivity Day *
• National Chicken Boy’s Day
• National No Rhyme (Nor Reason) Day
• National Chianti Day – First Friday in September
• National Wildlife Day
• National Newspaper Carrier Day
• National Macadamia Nut Day
• National Lazy Mom’s Day – First Friday in September
• National Food Bank Day– First Friday in September
• National College Colors Day –
• National Cheese Pizza Day
• National Be Late For Something Day
• National Tailgating Day – First Saturday in September
• World Beard Day
• National Coffee DAY
• POW/MIA Recognition Day (third Friday of the month)
• National Yoga Month
• National Preparedness Month
• World Alzheimer’s Day (September 21)
• World Heart Day (September 29)
• Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Month (burgundy)
• Childhood Cancer Awareness Month (gold)
• Prostate Cancer Awareness Month (light blue)
• Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month (teal)
• Blood Cancer Awareness Month (orange)
• Lymphoma Awareness Month (lime green)
• Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month (teal)

resource: internet

On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key pens a poem which is later set to music and in 1931 becomes America’s national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The poem, originally titled “The Defence of Fort M’Henry,” was written after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S. flag still flying over Fort McHenry at daybreak, as reflected in the now-famous words of the “Star-Spangled Banner”: “And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”

Francis Scott Key was born on August 1, 1779, at Terra Rubra, his family’s estate in Frederick County (now Carroll County), Maryland. He became a successful lawyer in Maryland and Washington, D.C., and was later appointed U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

Source: history.com for the complete article

1807 – Former U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr was acquitted of a misdemeanor charge. Two weeks earlier Burr had been found innocent of treason.

1812 – Moscow was set on fire by Russians after Napoleon Bonaparte’s troops invaded.

1814 – Francis Scott Key wrote the “Star-Spangled Banner,” a poem originally known as “Defense of Fort McHenry,” after witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry, MD, during the War of 1812. The song became the official U.S. national anthem on March 3, 1931. 

1847 – U.S. forces took control of Mexico City under the leadership of General Winfield Scott.

1866 – George K. Anderson patented the typewriter ribbon.

1899 – In New York City, Henry Bliss became the first automobile fatality.

1901 – U.S. President William McKinley died of gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt, at age 42, succeeded him.

1915 – Carl G. Muench received a patent for Insulit, the first sound-absorbing material to be used in buildings.

1938 – The VS-300 made its first flight. The craft was based on the helicopter technology patented by Igor Sikorsky.

1940 – The Selective Service Act was passed by the U.S. Congress providing the first peacetime draft in the United States.

1948 – In New York, a groundbreaking ceremony took place at the site of the United Nations’ world headquarters.

1959 – Luna II, a Soviet space probe, became the first man-made object on the moon when it crashed on the surface.

1960 – The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded. The core members were Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.

1963 – Mary Ann Fischer gave birth to America’s first surviving quintuplets.

1965 – “My Mother The Car” premiered on NBC TV. The series was canceled after only a few weeks after the debut.

1972 – “The Waltons” premiered on CBS-TV.

1975 – Pope Paul VI declared Mother Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton the first U.S.-born saint.

1978 – “Mork & Mindy” premiered on ABC-TV.

1983 – The U.S. House of Representatives voted 416-0 in a resolution condemning the Soviet Union for the shooting down of a Korean jet on September 1. 

1984 – Joe Kittinger became the first person to fly a balloon solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

1987 – Tony Magnuson cleared 9.5 feet above the top of the U-ramp and set a new skateboard high jump record.

1989 – Joseph T. Wesbecker shot and killed eight people and wounded twelve others at a printing plant in Louisville, KY. Wesbecker, 47 years old, was on disability for mental illness. He took his own life after the incident.

1994 – It was announced that the season was over for the National Baseball League on the 34th day of the players strike. The final days of the regular season were canceled.

1998 – Jaime Jarrin received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1998 – Israel announced that they had successfully tested its Arrow-2 missile defense system. The system successfully destroyed a simulated target.

1999 – Disney World closed down for the first time in its 28-year history. The closure was due to Hurricane Floyd heading for Florida. 
Disney movies, music and books 

2001 – Nintendo released the GameCube home video game console in Japan.

2001 – The FBI released the names of the 19 suspected hijackers that had taken part in the September 11 terror attacks on the U.S.

2009 – Greyhound UK began operations as an hourly service between London and Portsmouth or Southampton.

2015 – In Livingston, LA, and Hanford, WA, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors detected gravitational waves for the first time. The news was reported on February 11, 2016.