It’s nearly the end of December, a
wonderful month filled with fantastic reasons to celebrate. Whether you believe in things unseen or seen
only, you can’t deny the importance of these often-overlooked December occasions:
·
On December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights, a
collection of 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, became law. That day, the state of Virginia became the 10th
of 14 states (the number needed for a two-thirds majority) to approve 10 of the
proposed 12 amendments sent by the first Congress. Of the two remaining amendments, one--which
concerned the population system of representation--was never ratified. The other, which prohibited laws varying the
payment of congressional members from taking effect until an election
intervened, was ratified more than 200 years later, in 1992. (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/bill-of-rights-is-finally-ratified)
·
December 20, 1803, France transferred authority
of the Louisiana Territory to the United States. The purchase was a bit of a surprise for the
United States. At the time, the United
States was interested only in retaining its rights to store goods in New
Orleans, a right that been given in a U.S.-Spanish treaty and then revoked in
1802 by Spanish authorities, acting under French orders. But in mid-April 1803, Napoleon, most likely
driven by France’s failure to put down a slave revolution in Haiti, an
impending war with Great Britain, and financial difficulties, offered the
Louisiana territory to the United States.
(http://www.history.com/topics/louisiana-purchase)
·
On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers,
Wilbur and Orville, made the first successful flight in history in a gasoline-powered,
propeller-driven biplane near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The brothers took turns and completed four
separate flights, travelling, at the farthest, 852 feet in 59 seconds. The machine, however, would never fly
again. After the final flight, a gust of
wind rolled it over and damaged it beyond easy repair. (https://www.nps.gov/wrbr/learn/historyculture/thefirstflight.htm)
No matter what
you’re celebrating this month, we wish you the best: peace, joy, happiness,
time with family and friends, and rest.
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