27 th October

1858 President Theodore Roosevelt was born. (See August 22nd entry.)

1914 Dylan Thomas was born.

1938 DuPont announced the invention of nylon.

1939 John Cleese was born.

1975 Menachim Begin and Anwar al-Sadat won the Nobel Peace Prize. (See November 11th entry.)

Theodore Roosevelt—who was born in New York City on this day in 1858—exemplified his own policy. He spoke softly and carried a big stick. As Governor of New York, he was a trust-busting, anti-corruption crusader. He was so hated by political bosses, they persuaded him to run for the vice-presidency just to get rid of him. President McKinley was assassinated six months after the 1900 election and Roosevelt found himself in the White House. As U. S. President, big business found him to be a tough opponent and nature conservationists discovered that he was their strongest advocate. Good people can’t be kept down and good causes can’t be swept under the rug. And as Teddy himself might have said “Bully for the honest man.”

Dylan Thomas is best remembered for the lines, “Do not go gentle into that good night, / Old age should bum and rave at close of day; / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” born on this day in 1914, in Carmarthenshire, Wales, Dylan Thomas’ words inspire us to ask why so many people are willing to “go gentle into that good night” of old age without lifting a finger to improve their quality of life.

Today is British comedian John Cleese’s birthday. So let’s talk a bit about his strife. No, wife. No, life. He was born on this day in 1939. In England, of course, you silly people. Pay attention. He wrote and performed with Monty Python’s Flying Circus. So to celebrate this gentleman’s terrific talent, we should now go on to something completely different.

You could say the fabric of life changed on this day in 1938. Dupont Chemical Company research teams based in New York and London and led by Dr. Wallace Carothers, introduced a new fiber. Named for the two international cities that cooperated in bringing this synthetic into existence, nylon—which stands for New York and London—was born. Stretching far beyond hosiery and leisure suits, nylon and its successors have found their way into our daily lives in a myriad of ways.