Today In History; December 24 – We Wish You A Very MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE !

December 24, 2013

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Good Morning & God Bless Everyone !!!

Today is December 24, the 358th day of 2013 & there are 7 days left this year in which we are blessed to be here working for our Lord at:

For God’s Glory Alone Ministries !!!

It’s another beautiful day outside here in Albuquerque where we’re expecting high’s in the mid 40’s with slightly cloudy skies today. A blessed day, the day before we celebrate the birth of our Savior ‘The Baby Jesus’ !!! How can it get any better than that ?!?!?

We do ask everyone out and about today to please be careful out on the roads as many are in the process of traveling to and fro to get to family and friends to celebrate the joyous day and there are many out doing their very last-minute shopping for Christmas and to get those last-minute dinner items they forgot.

For us here at the Stambaugh house all we have left are those items for dinner we forgot. With my illness with cancer and heart issues and my being on disability now, financial times are thin and ‘we couldn’t care less’! We’ve enough for presents for the kids and grand-kids and the joy on their faces as they see the pile under the tree is all I ask as we spread the real meaning of Christmas to our family. For us, it’s all about the real meaning of Christmas and that’s Jesus Himself!!! Sandy and I have so very, very much to celebrate already with my surviving stage 4 cancer this year and we couldn’t be happier with God granting us yet another Glorious Christmas together!!! What a wonderful, wonderful blessing and gift He has given us!!! God has been so good to me to grant me such a beautiful, wonderful & Godly wife to share my life with!!! On top of all that, I’ve been granted the TOTAL pleasure of volunteering myself to be here to help Pastor’s Dewey and Paul extend God’s Word to everyone here at FGGAM! In my slang, I have to exclaim – It just don’t get no better than that folks!!!

So, What Happened Today In 1809:

American Hero Of The Wild West An Mountain Man ‘Kit Carson’ Is Born

Christopher Houston “Kit” Carson, one of the most celebrated heroes of the American West, is born in Richmond, Kentucky.

Shortly after Carson was born, his family moved west to Howard County, Missouri, an ideal spot for a future frontiersman to learn his trade. By the early 1820s, nearby Franklin, Missouri, had become the starting point for the newly opened Santa Fe Trail. As an apprentice to a Franklin saddle maker, Carson spent three years watching the covered wagons head westward for Santa Fe. Finally, the yearning to follow overwhelmed young Carson, and he ran away from home to join a trading caravan.

Intelligent and resourceful, Carson made a new life for himself once he reached Santa Fe. He learned enough Spanish to serve as a translator, and soaked up information about frontier knowledge and skills from the many mountain men who came to town. When Carson was 22 years old, he met the famous Irish mountain man Thomas Fitzpatrick, who offered to take Carson on a trapping expedition in the northern Rockies. Carson jumped at the chance, and soon became a skilled trapper and a cunning tracker. In January 1833, when a band of Crow Indians stole his party’s horses, Carson trailed the Indians for 40 miles and his party was able to recover the stolen steeds.

Possessed of an uncanny ability to remember geography and topography, the illiterate Carson gained international fame after he served as a guide for John C. Fremont’s 1842 western mapping expedition along the Oregon Trail. Fremont was so impressed with Carson’s frontier and guiding skills that he rehired him to guide his 1843 exploration of the Great Salt Lake and the Sierra Nevada. When Fremont published his reports on the two expeditions, he wrote glowingly of the young scout, and Carson had his first taste of national fame.

After serving with Fremont in the Mexican War, Carson gained even greater renown as an Indian fighter in New Mexico, and the authors of popular dime novels began featuring him in their western tales. Literally a legend in his own time, Carson had the bizarre experience of colliding with his own mythic self. Late in 1849, Carson led the pursuit of a band of Jicarilla Apache who had kidnapped Mrs. J.M. White and her child from an emigrant caravan. Carson and a company of Taos soldiers tracked down and defeated the Apache, but they were too late to save Mrs. White, who was found with an arrow through her heart. Carson discovered a dime novel lying near White’s body-the novel featured Carson as the hero of a story where he single-handedly fought off eight Indians.

Although he spent much of his life fighting Indians, Carson apparently had great sympathy and respect for them–in 1867 he became the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Colorado Territory. Despite his failing health, Carson made a strenuous trip to Washington with delegates from the Ute tribe to argue on the Indians’ behalf in treaty negotiations. Shortly after he returned to his home in Boggsville, Colorado, he died at the age of 58, but his legend continues to grow, thanks to countless novels and movies celebrating his life and adventures.

Other Memorable Or Interesting Events Occurring On December 24 In History:

563 – Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the 2nd time after being destroyed by earthquakes;

1745 – American patriot, physician & social reformer Benjamin Rush is born in Byberry Township, Pennsylvania;

1777 – Kiritimati, also known as Christmas Island, is discovered by Captain James Cook;

1808 – British inventory Richard Trevithick introduces his “Puffing Devil” or “Puffer”, the 1st steam-powered passenger vehicle;

1814 – The treaty of Peach & Amity between His Britannic Majesty & the United States is signed ending the War of 1812;

1818 – “Silent Night” is composed by Franz Joseph Gruber & it is sung for the first time the next day;

1851 – Devastating fire at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. destroys about two-thirds of its 55,000 volumes including most of Thomas Jefferson’s personal library;

1864 – In the Civil War, Union Fleet Admiral David Dixon begins a massive bombardment of Fort Fisher in North Carolina. After an impressive display of firepower, the attack failed to destroy the fort and a ground attack the next day did not succeed either;

1865 – In Pulask, Tennessee, a group of Confederate veterans convenes to form a secret social fraternity that they christen the “Ku Klux Klan, (KKK);

1871 – Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Aida” had its world premier in Cairo, Egypt;

1893 – Henry Ford completes his 1st useful gas motor;

1913 – 73 people, mostly children, died in a crush of panic after someone falsely called out “Fire!” during a Christmas party for striking miners at the Italia Hall in Calumet, Michigan;

1923 – President Calvin Coolidge touches a button & lights up the 1st National Christmas Tree on the White House lawn;

1936 – 1st radioactive isotope medicine is administered in Berkeley, California;

1943 – President Roosevelt officially appoints General Dwight D. Eisenhower Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe as part of Operation Overlord;

1953 – A volcanic eruption in New Zealand causes a flood sweeping away a train filled with passengers. 150 people lost their lives in the unusual & improbable disaster;

1972 – Comedian Bob Hope gives what he says is his last Christmas show to U.S. servicemen in Saigon, South Vietnam;

1972 – President Nixon suspends Operation Linebacker II for 36 hours for Christmas. On December 28, North Vietnam announced that they would return to the Paris Peace Talks if Nixon would end the bombing campaign;

1973 – District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government;

1979 – The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan under the pretext of upholding the Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaty of 1978. Unsuccessful, the Soviet forces withdrew by February 1989. The Soviet invasion resulted in 15,000 Soviet soldiers killed, ended U.S.-Soviet arms talks and the U.S. began re-arming. Bad public relations combined with financial issues eventually helped lead the Soviet Union Empire to its fall in 1991. The war also created a breeding ground for terrorism & the rise of Osama bin Laden;

1989 – Following the invasion by U.S. forces, Manual Noriega seeks asylum at the Vatican embassy;

1990 – Saddam Hussein announces that Israel will be Iraq’s 1st target if the U.S. attacks following their invasion of Kuwait;

1991 – Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of the Soviet Union;

1994 – Four Islamic extremists hijack Air France flight 8969 in Algiers. With France’s permission, the terrorists flew the plane to Marseilles where French Special Forces were waiting. More than 2 days after the plane landed in France, during which 3 hostages were killed, French Commandos stormed the plane killing the terrorists & releasing the remaining hostages unharmed.

Now We’re Off To The Fun Stuff !:

Today’s Inspiration Music Video:

Oh Holy Night – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ-8jYpa1-o

AND

It’s Christmas To Me – https://youtu.be/xS3RaagRv_I

Today’s Word Of The Day:

Ecumenical – which can also be spelled as ecumenic, is an adjective that means universal or general. Ecumenical is also used to describe things pertaining to or promoting the Christian church.

Today’s Christmas Light Show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=vdOGTHy-4ls

Today’s ‘After Christmas Dinner’ Picture: