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thedrifter
09-06-07, 09:23 AM
Reflecting on a birth year's history
By JOY STEPHENSON Examiner contributor
The Navasota Examiner, TX

I observed a birthday last week, observed not celebrated. Birthdays become much less welcome when the seventies are ending and the eighties are approaching. Making the best of the occasion, I reflected on some on the happenings of the year of my birth, 1928. The world was much different then, and in spite of technology and science, in some ways, a more pleasant time in which to live. A review of the year reveals that 1928 had its share of problems, just as we do in 2007.

President Calvin Coolidge declined to run for another term and Republicans nominated Herbert Hoover. His campaign slogan was "A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage."

So much for campaign promises. Hoover won by a landslide and the country began a prolonged period known as the "Great Depression." Democrats, holding their convention in Houston, nominated Al Smith who lost, many said, because of his New York accent and his big cigar.

It appears that 1928 was not an exciting year. The Internet takes no notice of my birth, which was of interest only to my family. A search, however, shows that things were under way to reshape the way the world lives. We just didn't realize it at the time.

The comedy team of Laurel and Hardy was becoming famous in 1928. Communists attempted to take over in China. They failed but apparently, they kept trying. Many years later, they rule the country. Duke Ellington was performing at the Cotton Club in New York. President Calvin Coolidge sent 1,000 Marines to Nicaragua after five Marines were killed there by bandits. Charles Lindbergh went to work for Pan Am Airlines. Leon Trotsky was exiled to Kazakstan by Joseph Stalin. Women were called "flappers." General Electric broadcast the first shows to home television. Few people owned a TV. Austrians protested the appearance of black singer Josephine Baker in Vienna. A young woman arrived in the U.S. claiming she was Anastasia, youngest daughter of Russian Czar Nicholas II. She said she had escaped the slaughter of her family by Bolsheviks. No one could prove she was not Anastasia and she could not prove she was. She died many years later still maintaining her claim.

The Turkish National Assembly refused to accept Islam as the country's state religion. Shirley Temple was born. We know how old she is! My mother made me wear those dresses and those curls but it never worked. The stock market hit a new high and if the high rollers had known what was coming, they would have jumped out the window earlier. Chrysler Corporation bought out the Dodge brothers. Amelia Earhart left Boston for a transatlantic flight. Two million Americans were without jobs.

The U.S., Germany, France, Great Britain and 11 other countries signed a treaty renouncing war. Didn't work. Joseph Schenk, president of United Artists, said talking movies would never last. How wrong can you be? A volcano erupted, killing 1,000 people in the Dutch East Indies. Irving Berlin was busy writing songs. The Graf Zeppelin, the first commercial aircraft to cross the Atlantic began regular passenger service from Germany to Lakehurst, N.J. It crashed and burst into flames in New Jersey on a later trip. The Yankees captured their second World Series in a row, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals. The Chrysler Corporation announced plans for a 68-story building in Manhattan. Dr. Mansfield Robinson, who said he had sent wireless messages to Mars, reported that he had received a reply but would take a while to decode the answer. Apparently he is still working on breaking the code. Hirohito was crowned Emperor of Japan. He vowed to work for world peace. He must have changed his mind before l941.

Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in England by mistake. His mistake saved the lives of many.

So, a few good things happened in the year I was born, some with long-lasting consequences.

It was not a year of great importance but if we had known how to read the future, we could have avoided a lot of terrible stuff. So could I!

Stephenson can be reached at jstephenson73@hotmail.com.

Ellie