By: Wanda Campbell
For many, 2018 was a very busy year and we are just a few days into 2019. We have fresh date planners with lots of empty pages. We have made our New Year’s resolutions and we are ready for this new year.
There are some pretty exciting things happening this year. If you are a royal watcher, Prince Harry and Duchess Meagan are going to have a baby in April. For the sky watchers, astronomers say there will be five eclipses this year. Of course, most of them will be in the Southern Hemisphere or the Arabian Peninsula this time. For the history buff, there should be several festivities as we celebrate the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the Normandy Invasion. We can expect a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission which put Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin on the moon.
If you are thinking about a trip out west, you might consider visiting the Grand Canyon. The National Park Service is planning a year of celebrations for the 100th birthday as a national park. The Grand Canyon, located in Arizona, is considered by some to be one of the seven natural wonders of the world. At its widest point, it is 18 miles across.
If you are a teacher, parent, or other type of educator, you might want to know that the United Nations has designated 2019 the Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements. The periodic table was developed by Dmitri Mendeleev 150 years ago. The modern periodic table provides a framework for analyzing chemical reactions and is still used widely in chemistry, nuclear physics, and other sciences.
For the readers and film buffs among us, 2019 will be the first time in 20 years that items published in 1923 will enter the public domain. Starting January 1, hundreds of thousands of works of art, film, literature, and music will be put in the public domain. That means they will be easier to access, sell, buy, and enjoy legally. It is time to enjoy Aldous Huxley, e e Cummings, H.G. Wells, Charlie Chaplin, and Cecil B DeMille, just to name a few.
Whether we like it or not, 2019 will mark the kick off of the 2020 elections. Elizabeth Warren has already announced an exploratory committee to see if she should run for President in 2020. There will be lots more. Whatever your affiliation, I hope you will try to find the truth in your candidate. But most of all, I hope you will VOTE.
Last, and certainly not least, for the music lovers. Kiss fans will have a chance to rock out one last time as the band goes on a 44-stop tour across North America. This is not the first farewell for Kiss, but if you are a fan, who cares. Elton John is also planning a farewell tour, also not his first. Look for information about these tours on the bands’ web sites.
Whatever you are hoping for in 2019, may you have a very Happy New Year from the Center for Lifelong Learning.
By: Wanda Campbell
Center for Lifelong Learning – 121 South Marion Street, Athens, AL 35611 – 256-233-8262
