January 1 in History

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

An Anglican clergyman named John Newton wrote the hymn titled “Faith’s Review and Expectation” late in 1772, and he introduced the hymn in a New Year’s Day service in his parish in Olney, Buckinghamshire, on this date in 1773. The hymn became best known by the two-word exclamation that opens it: “Amazing grace!”

It was not yet attached to any music. Newton and a poet friend named William Cowper collaborated on many hymns for the Olney parish, and in 1779 the two published a collection titled Olney Hymns. (The page with “Amazing Grace” is seen at top.) The book was not a bestseller, but over time it became popular in America during the Second Great Awakening in the 1830s: at least 37 editions were published in America by 1836.
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A Salute to 2016

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

First, the apologies. I am sorry that I have no preditioning talents, so I do not know what 2017 will bring. I can only hope that 2017 spares all of us any sadness that can not be understood, all pointless rage, or a further coarsening of attitudes into an blank-faced acceptance of hate.

I know that all of the above is not possible without work, and that all I can offer is some hope in my immediate neighborhood, which includes this website right here.

When I started this website in December 2013, no one on this planet was waiting to read what I had to write about anything at all. No one was holding their breath.

Thank you to more than 25,000 visitors to this website in 2016. You tallied up 43,000-plus visits this year, which strikes me as 42,999 more than I understand.
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Today in History: December 31

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

U.S. Patent No. 2,026,082 was granted to Charles Darrow on this date in 1935 for his creation of the board game Monopoly. Parker Brothers, the game manufacturer, was included in the patent. (A 1935 game box is at the top.)

The game was (and is) a variation of a board game called The Landlord’s Game, which had been around for decades by 1935. That game was created by Elizabeth Magie, who earned a patent (number 748,626) for her creation in 1904. Monopoly bears more than a passing resemblance to her creation: The Landlord’s Game included “Chance” cards.
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