So, I wrote last night in my previous blog about America celebrating its Semiquincentennial. It’s America’s 250th anniversary.
I have this friend that reads my blog. Let’s call him Charley. He texted me that technically the birthday for America will be July 4, 2026. I’m a year early.
My defense to Charley is that the celebration begins a year in advance. The truth is that I can’t do math. Never could. That’s why I do what I do. No need for numbers.
And then, this happened. From The New York Times today. “200 years ago today: When Americans could agree on history.”
Boom! Justification! The Bicentennial Minute on CBS. 60 second commercials of history lessons for America to see.
Politicians. Actors. Leaders. All of them narrated the Bicentennial Minute. Charlton Heston. Bella Abzug. Lucy. Gloria Steinem. Senator Joe Biden. Just a few of those that participated.
I was reminded reading the article of how each of them ended. Remember, Walter Cronkite’s sign off every night? “And that’s the way it is”. The Bicentenial Minute’s was after our history lesson, “And that’s the way it was.” Loved that.
I remember these things so well. Little 60 second history lessons about the American Revolution.
Now, here’s my justification for my fuzzy math. The New York Times reports that the Bicentennial Minutes aired from July 4, 1974, until the end of 1976. So, CBS kicked off its celebration more than a year early. Fuzzy math or let’s get this party started?
Wouldn’t it be great if CBS or another network would give up 60 seconds of valuable commercial time for a history lesson as we celebrate our country’s next big birthday?
Unfortunately, I don’t think it will happen. And if they did, would we believe it? We can’t even agree on history anymore.
I’ll end this by saying thanks Charley for keeping me honest.
That said, I’m still going to celebrate America’s birthday a year early. Heck, maybe I should do my own Semiquincentennial minute. Once a week history lessons. Need to think of a better title though. I’m not even sure I can say it.