The Latest Generation

This is Summer of Trinity - a daily description of events in the summer of 1945, touching points around the world but centered (as that summer was) on the Trinity nuclear test.  This episode has daily events for the week ending Saturday July 28th, 1945. Sunday, July 22,1945 - 6 Days After Trinity From Stimson’s diary, excerpts on http://www.doug-long.com/stimson8.htm   Monday, July 23,1945 - 7 Days After Trinity Marshall Philipe Petain is put on trial for treason. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Pétain https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034583/goofs?item=gf6476041 https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVAAZ495DZU8UIV501CI3L12J1LY-THE-1945-TRIAL-OF-PHILIPPE-PETAIN/query/wildcard   Tuesday, July 24,1945 - 8 Days After Trinity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attacks_on_Kure_and_the_Inland_Sea_(July_1945) http://www.ussunderhill.org/html/kaiten_information.html http://www.ussunderhill.org/html/sorryno.htm Nathan G. Benchley, in an article written for the New Yorker in 1953, mentions a conversation about current attitudes towards the war.  "Who’s winning the war?" Roth asked me as I came in. "Search me," I said, and sat down. "I heard that in Guam the birdmen have a pool on it," Tampke said. "They got a million-dollar pool that says the war will be over by October. You can dip into it for any money you want." "Did they say October what year?" I asked. "I don’t know," Tampke replied. "I just heard October."   Wednesday, July 25,1945 - 9 Days After Trinity An official bombing order is made for the first atomic weapon:  From http://www.dannen.com/decision/handy.html Thursday, July 26,1945 - 10 Days After Trinity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potsdam_Declaration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mokusatsu  Friday, July 27,1945 - 11 Days After Trinity https://ancientwarhistory.com/the-final-days-of-imperial-japan-the-potsdam-declaration-soviet-intervention-and-japans-surrender/ https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/truman-papers/correspondence-harry-s-truman-bess-wallace-truman-1921-1959/july-27-1945 Saturday, July 28,1945 - 12 Days After Trinity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945_Empire_State_Building_B-25_crash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aioi_Bridge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima_Peace_Memorial Note: Dobashi is near to Koamicho https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Callaghan_(DD-792)    

This is Summer of Trinity - a daily description of events in the summer of 1945, touching points around the world but centered (as that summer was) on the Trinity nuclear test.  This episode has daily events for the week ending Saturday July 21th, 1945.   Sunday, July 15,1945 - 1 Day Before Trinity 12th Army Situation Map (Germany and surrounding areas) https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Events/1945/trinity_evaluations.htm The American contingent arrives at Potsdam. The imminent start of the conference was a major reason the Trinity test had been planned of this week. Returning from his one-day shakedown cruise for the USS Indianapolis, Captain McVay meets with Captain William Parsons of Project Alberta and Admiral William R. Purnell - one of the chief military advisors for the Manhattan Project. They don’t mention these connections to McVay, who is informed only that his ship has been chosen for an important mission: He is to proceed with all possible speed across the Pacific, first to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and then to the Marianas, on the edge of the Philippine sea. There he will deliver his cargo to the air base on the island of Tinian.  He is assured that every day saved delivering the cargo is a day closer to the end of the war. He is to safeguard the cargo at all costs - ALL costs. If the ship is lost, his first priority will be saving this cargo - if necessary, a lifeboat is to be used to ensure it is undamaged. McVay will not, however, be told what the cargo actually is.     There are some clues, however. There are two Army officers who will accompany the cargo and see it safely ashore at Tinian: Major Robert Furman, and Capt. James Nolan. While they are presented as “artillerymen,” McVay eventually learns from Captain Nolan that he is actually a doctor, with the implication that there are some health concerns about the cargo. Nolan assures McVay that there is no actual danger to the crew of the Indianapolis. Nolan does not mention that he is one of two medical doctors at Los Alamos - not that McVay would have know where that was - nor that he is the doctor who put together the safety plan to ensure the health of those attending the upcoming Trinity test. But McVay knows that there are not a lot of materials that are both relatively small and enough of a health concern to merit the attendance of a doctor. https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/profile/james-f-nolan/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_B._McVay_III https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Indianapolis_(CA-35)   Monday, July 16,1945 - Trinity Yoko Moriwaki's diary is available through online and other booksellers, and in some libraries. https://www.amazon.com/Yokos-Diary-Paul-Ham/dp/0733331173/r https://www.dearfolksies.com/wabern-germany-july-10-august-23-1945/6/ https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/node/400674   Tuesday, July 17,1945 - 1 Day After Trinity The Potsdam Conference began in Potsdam, occupied Germany. Representatives of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States met to discuss how to administer postwar Germany. https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/images/szilard_petition.htm https://biology.indiana.edu/documents/historical-materials/gest_pdfs/hgSzilard.pdf   Wednesday, July 18,1945 - 2 Days After Trinity http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/library/correspondence/groves-leslie/corr_groves_1945-07-18_print.htm Thursday, July 19,1945 - 3 Days After Trinity  https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/timeline  Friday, July 20,1945 - 4 Days After Trinity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpkin_bomb https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proximity_fuze - The atomic bombs used these, which were actually a very new technology, but one that had already proven its worth - Patton proclaimed that the proximity fuze had contributed greatly to the American success in the Battle of the Bulge.  Saturday, July 21,1945 - 5 Days After Trinity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Underhill https://ussunderhill.org/index.html

This is Summer of Trinity - a daily description of events in the summer of 1945, touching points around the world but centered (as that summer was) on the Trinity nuclear test.  This episode has daily events for the week ending Saturday July 14th, 1945.   Sunday, July 8,1945 - 8 Days Before Trinity It is two months since the surrender of Germany. The Utah prisoner of war massacre occurred just after midnight when an American soldier killed nine German prisoners of war and wounded twenty others at a camp in Salina, Utah. Salina is about 150 miles from Salt Lake City and Fort Douglas.     Monday, July 9,1945 - 7 Days Before Trinity   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_July_9,_1945 https://www.ednasjournal.com/post/july-9-1945-monday https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026164/ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/02/science/staring-at-the-sun-as-it-disappeared.html https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history/2025/june/deak-and-little-boy  https://www.atomicheritage.org/key-documents/dangers-accidental-detonations     Tuesday, July 10,1945 - 6 Days Before Trinity https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-mar-01-mn-24352-story.html     Wednesday, July 11,1945 - 5 Days Before Trinity Assembly of the Gadget begins. https://www.atomicheritage.org/event/1945-july-11   Thursday, July 12,1945 - 4 Days Before Trinity https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/truman-papers/correspondence-harry-s-truman-bess-wallace-truman-1921-1959/july-12-1945?documentid=NA&pagenumber=2 https://www.2020hindsight.org/2005/07/12/1945-plutonium-core-leaves-los-alamos/ (for the Trinity test site)   Friday, July 13,1945 - 3 Days Before Trinity The Proving Ground was officially authorized by ASF Circular 269, July 13, effective July 9, 1945.   Saturday, July 14,1945 - 2 Days Before Trinity https://farragutlife.com/mare-island/  

A daily description of events in the summer of 1945, touching points around the world but centered (as that summer was) on the Trinity nuclear test.  This episode has daily events for the week ending Saturday July 7th, 1945. Sunday, July 1,1945 - 15 Days Before Trinity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_C4-class_ship http://ww2troopships.com/crossings/1945b.htm https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_7.HTM http://www.yeide.net/World_War_II_History/Cavalry_Histories.html   Monday, July 2,1945 - 14 Days Before Trinity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Sterling_Parsons Captain William Parsons, US Navy - head of Project Alberta, which is the part of the Manhattan Project focused on delivering the bomb to it’s target. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_F._Farrell - Brigadier General Thomas Farrell, who  is “Grove’s deputy for operations” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_R._Purnell - Rear Admiral  William Purnell is Navy liason to manhattan project, also the Navy’s deputy chief for materiel.  http://www.dannen.com/decision/testdate.html The "IT" mentioned a couple of times there appears to be the Little Boy device, which was going to be transported to Tinian aboard the USS Indianapolis (then finishing repairs in the San Franciso area), and which Parsons was coordinating with Purnell. Tuesday, July 3,1945 - 13 Days Before Trinity https://automotivehistory.org/july-3-1945-ford-starts-postwar-production/ https://vtauto.org/1946-ford-tudor/ https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/photograph-records/64-57-01   Wednesday, July 4,1945 - 12 Days Before Trinity https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/truman-independence-day-message-1945 https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/public-papers/72/statement-president-fourth-july   Thursday, July 5,1945 - 11 Days Before Trinity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945_United_Kingdom_general_election   Friday, July 6,1945 - 10 Days Before Trinity https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/delivering-atomic-bombs-silverplate-b-29  https://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/EnolaGay/EnolaGay.html   Saturday, July 7,1945 - 9 Days Before Trinity http://www.brigs.us/Phila/Candids1.htm — photographs from USS Philadelphia http://www.brigs.us/Phila/reunion-files/and-we-were-there-Truman-Potsdam.htm - a first-person account of the trip https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2014/08/14/truman-bacall-and-that-photograph/ https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nara-series/80-g/80-G-600000/80-G-603322.html

This is Summer of Trinity, for the week ending Saturday June 30th, 1945.   Sunday, June 24,1945 - 22 Days Before Trinity https://stanislavs.org/victory-parade-in-moscow-on-june-24-1945/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945_Moscow_Victory_Parade Monday, June 25,1945 - 21 Days Before Trinity Let There Be Light - assigned to John Huston on June 25 1945 https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24480-LET-THEREBELIGHT?sid=f9d82931-bb26-4320-ab6d-68db16b9b687&sr=16.411694&cp=1&pos=0   Tuesday, June 26,1945 - 20 Days Before Trinity https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-n-charter-signed While the war continued, and there was certainly concerns of all sorts that it might not be over soon - that Operation Downfall might be necessary, a full amphibious invasion of Japan to occupy and subordinate it on bayonet and rifle - there were definite expectations of hope. When representatives of 50 nations came to San Francisco to sign the Charter of the United Nations, it was about the peace after, even if the peace hadn’t arrived, yet. It will take some time yet for the headquarters to be built, the general assembly brought together, for it to be a significant part of world diplomacy, but  this day is the start of the United Nations.   Wednesday, June 27,1945 - 19 Days Before Trinity Undersecretary of the Navy Ralph A. Bard sends the following memorandum concerning the use of the atomic bomb. argues that the Japanese should be given some warning ahead of the use of the weapon. https://www.atomicarchive.com/resources/documents/manhattan-project/bard-memo.html         Thursday, June 28,1945 - 18 Days Before Trinity The Ford Willow Run line produces its last B-24 Liberator https://www.motorcities.org/story-of-the-week/2021/remember-ford-motor-company-s-post-war-years-1946-1955 https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/expert-sets/101765   https://detroithistorical.org/things-do/events-calendar/events-listing/story-willow-run “One every 55 minutes” https://ss.sites.mtu.edu/mhugl/2015/10/11/willow-run-b24-liberator/ “The Flying Coffin” https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-history/watch-fords-willow-run-plant-churn-out-a-b-24-every-55-minutes/ “The story of willow run” on Youtube https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/willow-run-airplane-plant/ “44-51928 was flown directly to a storage facility, then later, to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation site at Kingman, Arizona, where it was scrapped.” The picture of 44-51928 shows very small  but distinct shadows, indicating that it did in fact get rolled out right around noon.   Friday, June 29,1945 - 17 Days Before Trinity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Magic_Carpet - return of personnel from Europe begins. Saturday, June 30,1945 - 16 Days Before Trinity     https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/okinawa/ https://80.stripes.com/archives/sure-campaigns-over-dont-forget-mop     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Indianapolis_(CA-35) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa   Okinawa area (per Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okinawa_Island Area 1,199[1] km2 (463 sq mi) as of 1 October 2018[2] Honshu area (ditto) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honshu Area 227,960[1] km2 (88,020 sq mi)   Summer of Trinity is a part of Mapping History here on The Latest Generation.

This is Summer of Trinity, for the week ending Saturday June 23, 1945.   Sunday, June 17,1945 - 29 Days Before Trinity It’s the 78th day of the Battle of Okinawa. https://archive.org/details/FirstBoxingMatchesOnOkinawa Monday, June 18,1945 - 28 Days Before Trinity It’s the 79th day of the Battle of Okinawa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Bolivar_Buckner_Jr. The American submarine USS Bonefish was sunk in Toyama Bay by Japanese warships.  Although it still has not been scheduled, the Trinity test is now 4 weeks away.  Tuesday, June 19,1945 - 27 Days Before Trinity It is the 80th day of the Battle of Okinawa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvin_Mayfield    https://catalog.archives.gov/id/205583221   Wednesday, June 20,1945 - 26 Days Before Trinity It is the 81st day of the Battle of Okinawa.   http://www.v2rocket.com/start/chapters/backfire.html Return of troops on June 20 - picture came from this tweet. https://twitter.com/HistoryInPics/status/1483460234307850249 Thursday, June 21,1945 - 25 Days Before Trinity  It is the 82nd day of the Battle of Okinawa. After being decommissioned due to extensive damage suffered a month earlier, The American destroyer USS Barry was being towed to a location where it would serve as a decoy for Japanese kamikaze attacks. It was sunk northwest of Okinawa by a Japanese kamikaze attack. It is the n+3rd Allied ship sunk since the capitulation of Nazi Germany.    Friday, June 22,1945 - 24 Days Before Trinity Okinawa is captured after 83 days of battle. The defending generals commit seppuku. Emperor Hirohito tells his counselors that he is interested in concrete plans to end the war.  https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa Percy Faith and his Orchestra record “Capullito_de_aleli” for Decca records in New York, New York https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/2000301162/72945-Capullito_de_aleli Eisenhower approves a project where German rocket engineers will launch a V-2, with a dummy warhead, to show the Allies how they worked and what was needed for a successful launch. Stalin announces a military parade, cerebrating the victory over Nazi Germany to be held in Moscow two days later, on June 24th.     Saturday, June 23,1945 - 23 Days Before Trinity Kid who survived freezing experiments at Dachau - literally chopped out of ice seven times. https://www.dearfolksies.com/dachau-concentration-camp-june-6-june-26-1945/6/    

June 10 to June 16, 1945   This is Summer of Trinity, for the week ending Saturday June 16, 1945.   Sunday, June 10,1945 - 36 Days Before Trinity It’s the 71st day of the Battle of Okinawa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_William_D._Porter_(DD-579) Monday, June 11,1945 - 35 Days Before Trinity It’s the 72nd day of the Battle of Okinawa   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Miles_McCool Tuesday, June 12,1945 - 34 Days Before Trinity It is the 73rd day of the Battle of Okinawa.   General Eisenhower receives the “Freedom of the City” at London’s Guildhall. This symbolic act, with seven hundred years of history behind it, makes him “a citizen of the city.” https://www.nps.gov/articles/general-eisenhower.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franck_Report       Wednesday, June 13,1945 - 33 Days Before Trinity It is the 74th day of the Battle of Okinawa.   Thursday, June 14,1945 - 32 Days Before Trinity It is the 75th day of the Battle of Okinawa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Inmate    Friday, June 15,1945 - 31 Days Before Trinity It is the 76th day of the Battle of Okinawa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calutron (How they enriched U-235 for Little Boy) https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/science-behind-atom-bomb   Saturday, June 16,1945 - 30 Days Before Trinity It’s the 77th day of the Battle of Okinawa.    The Science Panel, headed by Robert Oppenheimer, and also including Enrico Fermi, Ernest O. Lawrence and Arthur H. Compton, gives the following report, classified Top Secret, to the Interim Committee: The report is titled “RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE IMMEDIATE USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS” and begins as follows: [Note to self - some emphasis included here to assist in reading as a script, but there’s no font differences in the original.] You have asked us to comment on the initial use of the new weapon. This use, in our opinion, should be such as to promote a satisfactory adjustment of our international relations. At the same time, we recognize our obligation to our nation to use the weapons to help save American lives in the Japanese war. (1) To accomplish these ends we recommend that before the weapons are used not only Britain, but also Russia, France, and China be advised that we have made considerable progress in our work on atomic weapons, that these may be ready to use during the present war, and that we would welcome suggestions as to how we can cooperate in making this development contribute to improved international relations. (2) The opinions of scientific colleagues on the initial use of these weapons are not unanimous; they range from the proposal of a purely technical demonstration to that of the military application best designed to induce surrender. Those who advocate a purely technical demonstration would wish to outlaw the use of atomic weapons, and have feared that if we use the weapons now our position in future negotiations will be prejudiced. Others emphasize the opportunity of saving American lives by immediate military use, and believe that such use will improve the international prospects, in that they are more concerned with the prevention of war than with the elimination of this specific weapon. We find ourselves closer to these latter views; we can propose no technical demonstration likely to bring an end to the war; we see no acceptable alternative to direct military use. (3) With regard to these general aspects of the use of atomic energy, it is clear that we, as scientific men, have no proprietary rights. It is true that we are among the few citizens who have had occasion to give thoughtful consideration to these problems during the past few years. We have, however, no claim to special competence in solving the political, social, and military problems which are presented by the advent of atomic power.   The report is signed by Robert Oppenheimer, with the note “for the panel” https://www.atomicarchive.com/resources/documents/manhattan-project/interim-committee.html   As this week ends, the Trinity atomic bomb test has not yet been scheduled. However, it is exactly 30 days away.    Summer of Trinity is a part of Mapping History here on The Latest Generation.

Summer of Trinity is a daily look at the summer of 1945, when the Second World War ended.  June 3, 1945. Sunday.  It is the 64th day of the Battle of Okinawa. June 4, 1945. Monday. It is the 65th day of the Battle of Okinawa. Churchill's Gestapo speech June 5, 1945. Tuesday It is the 66th day of the Battle of Okinawa. June 6, 1945. Wednesday It is the 67th day of the Battle of Okinawa. It is the one-year anniversary of D-Day, the invasion of Normandy that culminated one month ago in the surrender of Germany. Dr. Bine's letters can be found at dearfolksies.com https://www.dearfolksies.com/dachau-concentration-camp-june-6-june-26-1945/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dachau_concentration_camp June 7, 1945. Thursday It is the 68th day of the Battle of Okinawa. Didn't include Robert M. McTureous, Jr, but he has a story of his own.  June 8, 1945. Friday It is one month since the surrender of Germany. It is the 69th day of the Battle of Okinawa.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Salute_(AM-294) On Okinawa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Faulkner_Lester dies in combat for actions for which he would posthumously receive the Medal of Honor June 9, 1945. Saturday A classified document is created within the United States War department, named  “Installations in Japan Not To Be Bombed.”  http://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/recovery/Installations_in_Japan_Not_To_Be_Bombed_1945-06-09.pdf     As this week ends, the Trinity atomic bomb test has not yet been scheduled. However, it is only 37 days away.  Summer of Trinity is a part of Mapping History here on The Latest Generation.

A look at each day between Memorial Day and Labor Day, 1945 - the six weeks on either side of the Trinity test on July 16.  (For future weeks, we'll have an entry for each day, but we already did May 1945 in the previous episode.) May 30, 1945. Wednesday. Memorial Day. It is the 60th day of the Battle of Okinawa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_Day https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day   May 31, 1945. Thursday. It is the 61st day of the battle of Okinawa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_B._Craft    June 1, 1945 Friday. It is the 62nd day of the Battle of Okinawa.  Times around the world, as the meeting of the Interim Committee starts, 11AM in Washington DC https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/research-files/notes-meeting-interim-committee?documentid=NA&pagenumber=9 The members of the Interim Committee include (not a complete list) Mr. George H. Bucher, President of Westinghouse - manufacture of equipment for the electromagnetic process. Mr.Walter S. Carpenter, President of Du Pont Company - construction of the Hanford Project. Mr. James Rafferty, Vice President of Union Carbide - construction and operation of gas diffusion plant in Clinton. Mr. James White, President of Tennessee Eastman - production of basic chemicals and construction of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-12_National_Security_Complex The committee also discussed how difficult it would be for the Soviet Union to replicate the work that had been done on the atomic bomb.  https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/research-files/notes-meeting-interim-committee?documentid=NA&pagenumber=4  

A introduction to the state of the world in May 1945.  FDR is dead. Truman is President, only three months after he became vice-president. The Battle of Okinawa is ongoing - it had started on April 1st. USS Indianapolis is in San Francisco for repairs from a kamikaze attack in the waters around Okinawa, just before the invasion began. The USSR has just ended its non-agression pact with the Empire of Japan. Mussoline is dead, killed on April 28 Hitler is dead by suicide on April 30. Nazi Germany is defeated on May 8. The long-term coalition government in the UK ends with the victory over Germany. Churchill has requested that elections be held, around the beginning of July. In Los Alamos, the Manhattan Project team awaits deliveries of uranium and plutonium to use in their Little Boy and Fat Man designs.  And although nobody realizes it for certain, the war is nearly over. 

Summer of Trinity is a look at the summer of 1945, between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Halfway between those dates, on July 16, was the Trinity atomic weapon test - but a lot was happening all around the world, during the 6 weeks before and after Trinity.  That's what this series will be about.

14 09 27 -- The Battle of Flowers parade was my second parade ever. It was April 27, 1979, in San Antonio, Texas, part of "Fiesta," an annual series of events in San Antonio.  I was there with my high school band, on a trip we'd been looking forward to all year. https://battleofflowers.org/events/   The numbering convention is an adaptation of the method used in Defending Your Life. In the movie its a way to refer to specific days in a lifetime while reviewing events that may cover any day within a life. The first number is my age in years on the day this happened, the second is the month number within that year (i.e. the number of months since my previous birthday), and the third is the day within the month. Because I was born at the end of the month, I’ve simply used the day of that month e.g. for November 11 the month number is 4 and the day number is 11 Although the date is described within the movie as being “Daniels nth year,” the actual year used is his age at that point. This means that, for example, 1/1/1 is his first birthday: the first day of the first month when he turned 1., This is noted as a goof on IMDB ( as described, 1/1/1 would be the first day of his first year I.e. the day he was born) but ... having tried to figure it myself, this method turns out to be easier to calculate and more useful to understand about when events are happening. Note that  14 09 27  is NOT “14 years, plus 4 months plus 11 days” but “the 27th day of the 9th month after my 14th birthday.” A Twitter thread from a day I was thinking about the Battle of Flowers.  On WIkipedia, you can find what a Sousaphone looks like. Repo Man and Plain Wrap according to IMDB https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Texas_tower_shooting Hang On Sloopy is not mentioned here and there was no way for me to have included the relevant anecdote in the episode, but I did want to at least have some reference to it. Suffice it to say that it was a song we frequently played at football games.

Three months later and it's not as bad as it seemed. But it's not really getting better, either.  It's been a Redux-heavy month, so planning to do some new episodes of various sorts in April. =========================================================== Lucy Hires a Maid Verna Felton aka Mrs. Porter WarGames at IMDB   https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086567/ Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy   Professor Falken explain how the world works to David and Jennifer https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104940/ (Not a Nomad, not as frightening a person at 53 as Verna was at 63 - a quite believable member of the Silent generation.)   Statler and Waldorf This isn’t about Statler and Waldorf, but it is about the Muppet Christmas Carol, which is close enough here in December.  https://www.gq.com/story/michael-caine-muppet-christmas-carol-interview A random thought on Colonel Dawson - well, two. The first one is that he was named after Cecil Rhodes, which says something about who his parents thought were the good guys in colonial Africa in the late 19th Century. But also that I overheard him saying one time "I thought he was as good a general as he was a President" with an emphatic thumbs-down.  I spent about five minutes searching Twitter for the flame war I mentioned and, I'll be honest, I can't even deal with looking at Musk's timeline for another moment. And the central tweet from him is offensive enough. So, if you want to find it, he posted it on December 27, 2024, at 11:22PM. (Although it's not a bad example of my thesis, that everyone in a Nomad generation has trouble with their world after midlife.)

When describing how Turnings come about, the Midlife cohort can seem less important than the young adults' exuberant energy or the Elders' wisdom and values. The Nomads (like GenX) are identified as rather uninteresting managers of the Crisis/4th Turning, not much else to do in their role. Perhaps, though, the people in midlife are the key to it all, the real impetus, the ones who push the Crisis towards its peak.    ================================ The tweet that - mostly - got this episode starting up again in my head https://twitter.com/larisa_a/status/1095350964226281473 A few notes here on how age, fertility, and other ways we suspect that midlife is a specific biological event. https://www.webmd.com/depression/features/midlife-crisis-opportunity#2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stage-crisis_view https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erikson%27s_stages_of_psychosocial_development https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_and_female_fertility https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/01/why-do-killer-whales-go-through-menopause/512783/ Hadn’t found this source when doing that earlier episode on The Third Wave http://www.thewavehome.com/1991_The-Wave_article.htm As mentioned, there was an earlier episode on Authoritarianism and Awakenings (Episode 16) that talks about The Third Wave and who was involved. There's another one on anger, it's effect on people and its impact on the Fourth Turning - episode 20 Why Are You So Angry?   A couple of articles about how people have this drop in happiness around 44 or so. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/happiness-and-the-pursuit-leadership/201804/miserable-and-middle-aged-is-something-wrong-you https://www.marketwatch.com/story/miserable-in-your-40s-dont-panic-its-perfectly-normal-2018-07-10 A study of 500 chimpanzees and orangutans rated for happiness by their zoo keepers indicated a primate mid-life crisis at around the age of 30 – a finding that led to speculation that some (as yet unidentified) age-related biological influence is at work. (…in the book Protector, there is speculation that other primates were separate offshoots of breeders, de-volving because of something unexpected like increased radiation.) https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2015/jun/24/life-happiness-curve-u-shaped-ageing A description of Protector on Larry Niven's website. http://news.larryniven.net/biblio/display.asp?key=81&order=4&direction=1 But you can search around and you'll find more about it - like here https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/Protector Marie Kondo was at the Oscars https://twitter.com/TheAcademy/status/1099797651946491904 https://twitter.com/MarieKondo “Tidying is contagious” https://twitter.com/MarieKondo/status/1087735339551244290

This is one of two episodes referenced in "Waiting for the Worms," with respect to the idea that Awakenings (2nd Turnings) are more amenable to authoritarianism than Crisis (2th Turnings). In recent days, we're speed-running towards confirming that is true or...not so much. Planning to repost the other older referenced one as well: Midlife in the Crisis. ======================================== Taking a contrarian view that authoritarian regimes are likely to be more successful during an Awakening / Second Turning than during a Crisis / Fourth Turning Here’s where I first ran into Sarah Kendzior on Twitter (October 22, 2016) https://twitter.com/sarahkendzior/status/790030495568437248 And the more recent, relatively hopeful tweet https://twitter.com/sarahkendzior/status/890375102126272512 Charles Mann’s 1491 is about the New World before Columbus arrived, and the varied cultures across the continents. Highly recommended. The Mexica history is on pages 130-134 of my paperback copy. And if it wasn’t clear, the Mexica were the people ruling what is now Mexico when Cortez arrived. You may want to take a look at Episode 15, Unforgivable Dullness, to hear more about Cromwell and the Turnings during the 17th Century. Some links on the Third Wave, that 1967 high school social experiment. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3559727/The-Wave-the-experiment-that-turned-a-school-into-a-police-state.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Wave_(experiment) You can find me on Bluesky: @generationalize and blogging at  http://crisis.generationalize.com