JAMES VAN DER ZEE….Was a pioneering African American photographer whose work captured the cultural and social transformations of Harlem during the early 20th century….born in 1886 in Lenox, Massachusetts…..Van Der Zee moved to Harlem in 1916…..just as the neighborhood was beginning to emerge as a center of African American culture…..particularly during the Harlem Renaissance…..his photography would come to define this vibrant period….. showcasing the lives, aspirations….and achievements of Black people in a way that had never been done before……Van Der Zee’s most notable work is his portraiture, which captured the dignified and sophisticated lives of Harlem’s residents…..from the everyday person to influential figures within the community…..he often photographed Harlem’s middle and upper-class residents, dressed in their finest attire……which helped convey a sense of pride and cultural identity…..his images featured couples, families, musicians, and leaders, documenting both personal milestones like weddings and birthdays…..as well as the broader societal changes that were shaping the African American experience…..one of his most famous series of portraits was his documentation of the people of the Harlem Renaissance…..a period that saw the flourishing of Black culture in art, literature, music, and social life…..his photographs became a testament to the achievements of Black artists, intellectuals, and musicians…..many of whom were gaining national recognition during this time……Van Der Zee’s work was often imbued with an air of glamour……as he mastered the art of lighting and posing to create stylized, flattering depictions of his subjects…..despite his success during his lifetime, Van Der Zee’s work fell into relative obscurity for several decades after the Harlem Renaissance faded…..however, in the 1960s and beyond, his photographs were rediscovered and became crucial in understanding the cultural history of Harlem and African American life during the early 20th century…..today, James Van Der Zee is regarded as one of the most important photographers in American history……whose legacy continues to influence the field of portrait photography.

AFTER THE SPANISH CONQUEST OF MEXICO….a Franciscan friar named Bernardino de Sahagún…..set out to preserve a world that was vanishing…..with the help of Nahua scholars and artists….he compiled a twelve-volume encyclopedia of Aztec life…..written in parallel columns of Nahautl and Spanish….and filled with thousands of illustrations….it recorded their gods, medicine, laws and songs…..at a moment those traditions were being erased…..the manuscript was nearly destroyed for its “Pagan” content…..bout one copy survived and was carried to Italy…..and forgotten in a Florentine library…..today, the Florentine Codex……stands as the last voice of an empire….that refused to disappear quietly into history.

AT JOHN HOPKINS HOSPITAL IN 1944….thousands of “Blue Babies” with Tatralogy of Fallot…..faced almost certain death…..lab assistant Vivien Thomas….a Black technician without a medical degree….perfected a shunt on hundreds of dogs….then stood on a stool while guiding Alfred Blalock….through the first life-extending operation.

IN 1982…..Larry Walters….a truck driver from Los Angeles….fulfilled a lifelong dream….he tied 45 helium weather balloons to his patio lawn chair…..packed a BB gun, a sandwich and cut the tether…..he expected to float 30 feet up in the air…..instead, he shot up to 16,000 feet….while freezing in the thin air and drifting into LAX airspace….a commercial airline pilot radioed the tower….. “I have just passed a guy in a lawn chair with a gun”….he survived by shooting ballons to descend.

IN SCOTLAND’S NEW YEAR TRADITION….of first-footing….the first person to enter your home after midnight….sets your luck….a tall, dark-haired man is ideal….since light-haired visitors once evoked the fear of Viking raiders.

IN 1940….Dr. Charles Drew revolutionized medicine by discovering that separating plasma….allowed blood to be stored and shipped overseas….he organized the “Blood for Britian” project…..saving countless lives….however, when the military ordered the Black blood be segregated from White blood….Dr. Drew resigned in protest.