Lesser, but still in context.
As I've noted in the past (not that it particularly needed noting), lots of things
happen every day. Anyone who peruses the various lists of those "lots of
things" will find many that hold no meaning whatsoever for him or her, and
perhaps a couple that do. The special meaning that any particular event acquires
derives not only from the event itself, but from the interests and experiences
of the observer. In the context of the Boidem, for instance, a sporting event
will only rarely seem memorable, or noteworthy. That being the case, it's a bit
strange that statistically, quite a number of Boidem-contextually significant
events took place on October 31.
There certainly are quite a lot of October 31sts upon which something noteworthy
could happen. A couple of items I've noted are relatively recent history, but
the earliest I've mentioned goes back almost 2500 years,
and yet another almost 500. Admittedly, some of the
events I showcase here stretch the meaning of "significant" at least
a bit. But again, their noteworthiness stems not only from the fact that they
happened, but that they are in some way related to the themes dealt with in the
Boidem.
Among those themes have been precursors to the information superhighway - usually
flesh and blood highways that, shall we say, paved
the way for the more ethereal kind. I've noted the passing of the National
Interstate Highways Act, the opening of the first freeway
in the western United States, and even the first sheet
of asphalt paving (lain down in New Jersey). That being the case, there's
at least a bit of noteworthiness in bringing together both a for-some-reason popular
date here, and a slightly more explicable popular topic, in order to note that
on this day, in 1913, the Lincoln
Highway, the first trans-continental automobile road in the United States
(East to West) was dedicated.
Go to: It's too quiet here - I can't think.