The Mysteries of History (February 4)
Washington, Mormon Emigrants, The Confederacy, Snow White, and Facebook
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana, 1905
1789 — George Washington Elected President
public domain image from wikimedia commons
Eight years after the effective conclusion of the Revolutionary War (1781) and six years after its official end (1783), the United States elected its first President, George Washington.
Questions: Without a President, who was leading the U.S. government during the years between the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783 and 1789? What was George Washington's middle name? Where and when was he born? Where and when did he die? What were some of his accomplishments? Did he really have wooden teeth? Why did he wear a wig? Did he really chop down a cherry tree, but fess up to it? What had Washington accomplished prior to being elected President? Were there any other candidates for President in 1789? What did Washington do after leaving office?1846 — Mormons Flee the U.S.
image generated using Bing Image Creator
Persecuted in New York, the Mormons (their preferred name is the unwieldy Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or LDS) left the Empire State for the “Show Me” State, Missouri. Persecuted in Missouri, the Mormons then relocated to Nauvoo, Illinois. Persecuted in Illinois, too, they decided to leave the United States altogether, departing from Nauvoo, Illinois on this date in 1846 for the part of the Southwest which was still controlled by Mexico. They didn’t know just where in this region they would settle, but “they knew it when they saw it”: the Salt Lake Valley in Utah. But then the U.S. came to them, so to speak, when almost exactly two years after their departure from Illinois, Utah became part of the U.S. with the end of the Mexican-American War/The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, as discussed here.
Questions: Why and how were the Mormons persecuted in New York State? Why and how were the Mormons persecuted in Missouri? Why and how were the Mormons persecuted in Illinois? Were the Mormons persecuted in Utah at first? Why do the Mormons face little, if any, persecution in Utah in modern times? What number and percentage of Utah residents are Mormon? What number and percentage of U.S. residents are Mormon? What number and percentage of the world's residents are Mormon? 1861 — Confederacy Forms in Alabama
public domain image of Jefferson and Varina Davis from wikimedia commons
On this date in 1861, representatives of six southern slave States (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina) met in Montgomery, Alabama, to form a rogue form of government, the “Confederate States of America” in opposition to the United States.
The Southerners, most particularly those who made a living from the slave trade, had not been happy with the slavery-averse North for quite some time, but their disillusionment with the Union reached a flash point when Abraham Lincoln was elected President. That event provoked South Carolina to immediately secede and commence belligerent actions against Northern interests within their borders; the other five member States of the Confederacy soon followed suit. Before long, other States joined them in their treachery, namely Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Questions: In which chronological order did States join the Confederacy? Which States were ideologically divided — in other words, they were part of the Confederacy, but had a large percentage of Union sympathizers, or remained part of the Union, but had a large percentage of Southern sympathizers?1938 — Disney Dares Defy the Depression and Doubts
public domain images from wikimedia commons
Walt Disney released the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on this date in 1938. Many did not view the project with optimism, including Disney’s wife; the skeptics felt that adults would not sit through an 83-minute-long animated film. Walt was confident enough of its success, though, that he risked one-and-a-half million dollars (equal to more than $22 million in 2025), most of it borrowed (obviously, the lenders also had faith in the movie, or at least in Disney’s ability to repay them).
In a short period of time, the film brought in $8 million (well over $100 million today), which was especially impressive due to the low expectations of some and the fact that the country was in the midst of an economic depression.
Seventy years later, in 2008, the American Film Institute selected Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as the best animated film of all time.
Questions: Was the story original to Disney? What were the first words in the movie, and who spoke them? How many of the Seven Dwarfs can you name? Which one are you most like? Which one is your favorite? If the answer to the last two questions is the same, which one is your second favorite? How does the 2025 version of Snow White (see right side of image above) radically differ from previous permutations?2004 — Facebook’s Debut
public domain image of Facebook headquarters from wikimedia commons
Note/caveat emptor/full disclosure: While I don’t use Facebook much at all (I find it confusing and discombobulating, not to mention considering its current links [no pun intended] to dissemination of fabricated information unconscionable), I do “share” these articles to Facebook each day immediately after posting them to substackSomeone born in the U.S. on the same day Facebook launched would, as of today, legally be able to purchase and consume alcohol. While in college, Mark Zuckerberg (which, by the way, and probably apropos of nothing, means “Sugar Mountain” in German) created a forerunner of Facebook called FaceMash. This app showed pictures of random pairs of college students, allowing the viewer to select which one they considered to be more physically attractive.
Facebook was released when Zuckerberg was a sophomore, developed by him and four of his fellow university students. It quickly became so popular that Zuckerberg quit school to spend full time growing the business. Like many Apple products, Facebook is widely and wildly popular, as can be seen by the gigantic proportions of the Facebook (Meta) campus in Menlo Park, California shown above.
Questions: How many users does Facebook have? Which age group primarily uses Facebook? Is it growing or declining in users and time people spend on it? As it is a free app/website/service, how does the company make money? How much does it make per year, and how does that compare with other tech and non-tech firms? When and why did the company change its name to Meta?
