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A website dedicated to the Flag of the United States of America

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USFlag.org: A website dedicated to the Flag of the United States of America

"The Fourth of July was traditionally celebrated as America's birthday, but the idea of an annual day specifically celebrating the Flag is believed to have first originated in 1885. BJ Cigrand, a schoolteacher, arranged for the pupils in the Fredonia, Wisconsin Public School, District 6, to observe June 14 (the 108th anniversary of the official adoption of The Stars and Stripes) as 'Flag Birthday'. In numerous magazines and newspaper articles and public addresses over the following years, Cigrand continued to enthusiastically advocate the observance of June 14 as 'Flag Birthday', or 'Flag Day'."

This Day in History – Congress adopts the Stars and Stripes

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This Day in History – Congress adopts the Stars and Stripes

"During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress adopts a resolution stating that “the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes red and white” and that “the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” The national flag, which became known as the “Stars and Stripes,” was based on the “Grand Union” flag, a banner carried by the Continental Army in 1776 that also consisted of 13 red and white stripes. According to legend, Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross designed the new canton for the Stars and Stripes, which consisted of a circle of 13 stars and a blue background, at the request of General George Washington. Historians have been unable to conclusively prove or disprove this legend."

Thoughts 50 years after the death of Bobby Kennedy

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Born in 1983, it was some 15 years after the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy on June 5, 1968. But I’m a keen observer of sixties and seventies history because I know how impactful of that era is on today’s times. What happened fifty years ago is still relevant as mistakes made then and lessons not learned are still impacting modern mankind.

One observation I can make being of the younger generation is how awful those times where compared today. People can look back at nostalgic black and white photos of era, but they are ignoring the hate and violence that tore through the country during those most terrible of days.

You can listen to the AM radio Shock Jock that is in the White House or his partisan critics but we live in a time that is a whole lot less awful. Politicians are not getting assassinated left and right, our ghettos are not inflame, riots aren’t commonplace in cities, there is no major war or the draft going on, crime is failing today rather than spiking, unemployment is rock bottom and inflation is low.

Life is good and a heck of a lot better today by objective standard than fifty years ago when Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy lie on the floor dying. Sure there are some scary dark clouds in the future but the arc of justice continues to bend forward. Most of the progress of earlier generations will not be undone, although it will certainly be tweaked. And there is more to do, but there always is.