Learning from the past...
I've mentioned before that I do love history...and today is the anniversary of two significant events.
On April 24, the Library of Congress was established with a $5,000 allocation.
I mention this because on Monday, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, was invited to say a few words at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly renovated Otis Library. In his brief remarks, Courtney noted that he recently had a conversation with the director of the Library of Congress and learned that if it wasn't for that library, the history of Afghanistan's legislative and judicial practices might have been lost forever. It seems one of the first things the Taliban did upon taking control of that country was to destroy all the libraries - and all the books in them. So when the Tailban was overthrown, the new government was at a loss at re-establishing the country's long history of government. But there is a section of the Library of Congress that keeps copies of every important document in the world, and had a copy of Afghanistan's long history of government.
Libraries have become the storage shed of ideas but unfortunately, books are no longer the choice of many when it comes to learning. It's the computer now...not the pages.
Which brings me to the second significant event on this date.
It was April 24, 1981 when IBM introduced its first personal computer.
On April 24, the Library of Congress was established with a $5,000 allocation.
I mention this because on Monday, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, was invited to say a few words at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly renovated Otis Library. In his brief remarks, Courtney noted that he recently had a conversation with the director of the Library of Congress and learned that if it wasn't for that library, the history of Afghanistan's legislative and judicial practices might have been lost forever. It seems one of the first things the Taliban did upon taking control of that country was to destroy all the libraries - and all the books in them. So when the Tailban was overthrown, the new government was at a loss at re-establishing the country's long history of government. But there is a section of the Library of Congress that keeps copies of every important document in the world, and had a copy of Afghanistan's long history of government.
Libraries have become the storage shed of ideas but unfortunately, books are no longer the choice of many when it comes to learning. It's the computer now...not the pages.
Which brings me to the second significant event on this date.
It was April 24, 1981 when IBM introduced its first personal computer.
posted by Ray Hackett at 8:54 AM
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