It was 46 years ago today that "the gales of November came early," and the Edmund Fitzgerald was lost in Lake Superior with all hands.

The Split Rock Lighthouse on the North Shore of Lake Superior has an annual memorial and lighting ceremony (as do other places on the Great Lakes). We heard about the sinking here before the famous song came out, as the iron ore it was carrying originally came from mines in northern Minnesota.

In a few hours it will be Armistice Day in Europe. 

It commemorates the ending of the Great War, at 11 am on the 11th day of the 11th month. 

Sadly, the War to End All Wars didn't. 

My parents grew up in the shadow of that war, and one if my great-uncles died in it.

Waaay back on this date (Dec. 21) in 1968, Apollo 8 lifted off on the first manned flight to the moon. Their Christmas Eve message from lunar orbit was a message of peace and hope to a world filled with strife.

@stargazer 

I remember watching Apollo 8 on TV and when the astronauts read from the book of Genesis.  It was just as interesting as the Apollo 11 space flight about six months later.  It’s amazing how much time has passed.

On this date (April 12) in 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit the earth.

On the same date 20 years later, the first shuttle mission was launched.

During this week in 1970, Apollo 13 was on its way to the moon. It will be 52 years ago tomorrow that Jim Lovell's "Houston, we've had a problem" would indicate a serious explosion in the service module.

On this date in 1961 (May 5), Alan Shepherd became the first American in space.  His suborbital flight came about 3 weeks after the Soviet Union's Gagarin orbited the earth.

Locally, one of the worst tornado outbreaks in Minnesota occurred May 5-6, 1965. 13 tornadoes struck the state, including six that hit the Twin Cities (including two F4 twisters that hit the northern suburb of Fridley).

@stargazer I remember John Glenn, some news when I was in my first years of school. Somehow I didn't know he wasn't the first American "spaceman".

@coracle 

I remember that someone brought a black and white TV set for us to watch John Glenn’s space flight when I was in the second grade. Glenn wasn’t the first man in space, but he was one of the pioneers.

John Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth. (He was the third American and fifth person overall to go to space). I have vague  memories of listening to it on the radio and hearing "Godspeed John Glenn" at launch.

It's national coffee day in United States and Canada! ☕ I will be celebrating with multiple cups of one of my favorite dark roasts.  

Also international coffee day is October 1, it's a good week to drink a lot of coffee.  

SnowAngel

What if one does not care for coffee (or pretty much any hot drink, for that matter)? (That'd be me, although I adore the smell. ) Seriously, SA, enjoy your favourite roast(s) over the next week!  

@jo And I can't stand the smell OR taste of coffee, so I don't know where this leaves me! Is there a National Tea Day?? I never much liked tea — as in black tea (I did drink herbals) — until I moved to England and found that, just as the stereotype suggests, nearly everyone here drinks it. And it's such a central part of social interactions — and I was getting so embarrassed at saying "no" every time it was offered — that I decided "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em"... So I tried Earl Grey tea, which is a popular mild-tasting Chinese-style tea with a bit of citrus, and found I liked it. Now I drink it regularly! (It was also reportedly the favourite of our late Queen Elizabeth II, so I figure I'm in good company — and apparently she even drank it the same way I do, with no milk or sugar. But funnily enough, even when I was in Windsor, she never did invite me over for a cuppa. )

And of course, in the immortal words of C.S. Lewis: "You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me."  

Not just for one day, but October is Dwarfism Awareness Month.  People in the dwarfism community try to use this Month to help others understand our various needs and challenges  as well as the fact that we have ordinary lives  and achieve almost everything they do - but sometimes in a different way. 

Very cool, @coracle!  

Is "dwarfism" still a widely acceptable term, by the way, or is it controversial these days — if you don't mind me asking? I remember some years ago there was quite a debate about it and other such terminology... if there is any call for a better term, do you think "Hobbitism" would do?   (Only joking, of course, with the utmost respect.)

@courtenay thank you for asking that question. (I personally tend to think of myself as a hobbit)

Most Little People have some form of dwarfism, and some say "I have dwarfism", others say "I am a dwarf". (plural: dwarfs, not the one in Middle Earth)  Others don't want a label.  Never use the 'm-word' - explain to others that it is a really insulting term.

People of short stature are people first of all. Many prefer to be called just their name, to be given equal opportunity and respect, and to be able to access all parts of their lives independently.  Where size, reach or disability (depending on how each person's condition affects his or her body) needs assistance, we have the right to support or modifications.