A SQUEEZING, WRENCHING...COVETOUS OLD SINNER

CHARLES DICKENS PUBLISHES A CHRISTMAS CAROL

London (JFK+50) On December 19, 1843, A Christmas Carol was published here in London by Chapman and Hall.  The Christmas classic was the work of 31 year old Charles Dickens*.

Mr. Dickens started writing A Christmas Carol in October and finished at the end of November.  His book sold out in three days.  He wrote in black ink with a goose quill.  His original manuscript,68 pages in length, is at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City.  

B. Myint of www.biography.com/ tells us that the phrase 'Merry Christmas,' because of its' repeated use in A Christmas Carol, became common.  Dickens visited America twice on speaking tours.  His second tour earned 19,000 pounds (1.4 million today).

In his book, Mr. Dickens describes the main character, Ebenezer Scrooge, as a..."squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner."  That, of course, was before he was visited by three ghosts who helped transform Scrooge into a model citizen who "knew how to keep Christmas well." 

*Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian Era.  He was born in Portsmouth, England.  His works include Oliver Twist, Great Expectations & A Tale of Two Cities.  The remains of CD lie in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey.

SOURCES

"A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens", Literature.org, www.literature.org/

"'A Christmas Carol' Unwrapped:  5 Little-known Facts Revealed," by B. Myint, December 18, 2013, www.biography.com/

"10 Things You Might Not Know About A Christmas Carol," by Molly Oldfield, Mental Floss, www.mentalfloss.com/

A Christmas Carol

by Charles Dickens

Illustrated by John Leech

Chapman & Hall, London (1843)

MARLEY WAS DEAD TO BEGIN WITH...

JFK+50:  Volume 7, No. 2163

A CHRISTMAS CAROL PUBLISHED 173 YEARS AGO TODAY

London (JFK+50) 173 years ago today, December 19, 1843, A Christmas Carol was published here in London by Chapman and Hall*.  The little book was the work of Charles Dickens** who was 31 years old.

Mr. Dickens started writing A Christmas Carol in October and finished at the end of November.  His book sold out in three days.  He wrote in black ink with a goose quill.  His original manuscript,68 pages in length, is at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City.  

B. Myint of www.biography.com/ tells us that the phrase 'Merry Christmas,' because of its' repeated use in A Christmas Carol, became common.

Charles Dickens visited America twice on speaking tours.  His second tour earned 19,000 pounds (1.4 million today).

*Chapman and Hall Publishers, London, was founded in 1834 by Edward Chapman & William Hall.  The company published the works of Charles Dickens from 1840-1844 and 1858 to 1870.  It also published the works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

**Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian Era.  He was born in Portsmouth, England.  His works include Oliver Twist, Great Expectations & A Tale of Two Cities.  The remains of CD lie in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey.

SOURCES

"'A Christmas Carol' Unwrapped:  5 Little-known Facts Revealed," by B. Myint, December 18, 2013, www.biography.com/

"10 Things You Might Not Know About A Christmas Carol," by Molly Oldfield, Mental Floss, www.mentalfloss.com/

A Christmas Carol

by Charles Dickens

Illustrated by John Leech

Chapman & Hall, London (1843)

HISTORIC FIRST FLIGHT 110 YEARS AGO

WRIGHT BROTHERS MADE HISTORIC FLIGHT 110 YEARS AGO

"We were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was always much encouragement to...pursue intellectual interests;  to investigate what ever aroused curiosity."         
                                                       
                                      Orville Wright

Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (JFK+50) 110 years ago this morning, December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright* made the first airplane flight here in Kitty Hawk.

Their aircraft, which began its flight at 10:35 a.m.,  was gas-powered and propeller-driven.  The first manned flight, traveling at a speed of 6.8 m.p.h., lasted 12 seconds and flew a distance of 120 feet. 

The engine was rated at 25 horsepower.

According to Eyewitness to History...

"The distance covered...was less than the wingspan of a modern 747 Jumbo Jet."

At 11:20 a.m., a 2nd flight was made at 10 feet above the ground and a distance of 175 feet.

The 3rd and final flight of the day came at 11:40 a.m.

The Wright Flyer

Air & Space Museum

Photo by RadioFan (2008)

*Orville Wright (1871-1948) and Wilbur Wright (1867-1912).  Orville was born in Dayton, Ohio and Wilbur was born near Millville, Indiana.  The brothers opened a bicycle repair shop in 1892 and later began building their own bikes.

They went to Kitty Hawk in 1900 to experiment in manned gliding and there on Dec. 14, 1903, Wilbur's attempt to fly a motorized, propeller-driven aircraft failed.

Three days later, the brothers succeeded in making the 1st manned flight and followed it with two more on the same day.

Wright Brothers

Long Island, NY

October 1910

by Cole and Company

Library of Congress Image

SOURCES

www.eyewitnesstohistory/

www.wrightbrothers.info/

"Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail."

On December 17, 1843, 170 years ago today, "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens was published in London.  Dickens began writing his epic work in October and completed it by early December 1843. 

6000 copies had "sold out" by Christmas Eve at 5 shillings a copy.

On December 17, 1961, President John F. Kennedy laid a wreath on the tomb of Simon Bolivar in Caracas, Venezuela.  

Later in the day, he and Mrs. Kennedy visited Bogata, Colombia where they greeted Peace Corps workers.