Almanac

TODAY’S HISTORY:

ANDREWS MCMEEL

• In 1778, Baron von Steuben joined the U.S. encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to help train the Continental Army.

• In 1942, a Japanese submarine fired artillery shells at coastal targets near Santa Barbara, California.

• In 1945, American Marines raised the American flag on the island of Iwo Jima.

• In 1954, the first mass vaccination of children against polio began in Pittsburgh.

• In 1991, President George H.W. Bush announced the beginning of an allied ground offensive in Iraq.

TODAY’S FACT:

• Von Steuben Day is celebrated in mid-September with parades in many U.S. cities. Chicago’s Von Steuben Day parade was featured in the 1986 film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

Kenneth N. Morton, Sr. left us Feb. 10, 2023 after a short illness, and after a long and fulfilling life.

Ken was born at home at 15 California Avenue in Hempstead, NY Dec. 22, 1928. His father passed away at a young age, and Ken was raised by his mother and several aunts. He had a typical childhood punctuated by mischief and the beginning of several unique injuries which would follow him through life.

At 12 years old, he was hit by a car which necessitated a summer in Connecticut to help rehabilitate his leg. At 17, he left high school to enlist in the Marines before the end of World War II. He was honorably discharged and returned home to obtain his GED.