318. Today is a special day 

Can a book empower a movement? Absolutely. The widely read novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, published in 1852, is often regarded as one of the factors that led to the American Civil War. It energized anti-slavery movements and sparked significant anger. 

Its reach was far and wide because, as a novel and a play, it impacted audiences across the United States and Great Britain. 

It was on this day, June 14, in 1811, that Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe, the author of the novel and a prominent American abolitionist, was born. 

Uncle Tom's Cabin portrays the intense struggles faced by enslaved African Americans. It offers a poignant account of their conditions, drawing from Stowe’s firsthand observations. The book was quickly embraced by abolitionists to bolster their movement.

Harriet was in Cincinnati when she was 21. There, she was separated from Kentucky – a slave state – only by the Ohio River. She met and talked with runaway slaves and learned about life in the South from them and from friends who had visited there.

But it was only in 1851, after her 18-month-old son died, that she began writing the novel. She gained a deeper understanding of the heartbreak slave mothers endured when forced to part with their children at cruel auctions. She expressed her empathy, saying: “Having lost someone so dear, I can sympathize with all the innocent, powerless slaves at these unjust auctions.” 

The novel was serialized in a newspaper, and when it was first published, it sold 300,000 copies in its first year. Its impact was so great that, during that time, 300 babies in Boston alone were named after one of the book’s major characters, Eva.

However, there were strong opponents. In the South, slave owners were furious, convinced that slavery was essential for the economy and that slaves were inherently inferior and incapable of self-care. 

Later, Harriet was invited to meet President Abraham Lincoln in Washington. He greeted her by saying, “So you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war!”

Now, as I said, the day is special, so let us dive deeper into the pages of history.

It was the day in 1934 when Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini met in Vienna. It was also the day in 1936 when the Oranienburg Concentration Camp opened in Germany, and in 1940, the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp opened in Nazi-controlled Poland, where more than 1.1 million died within its walls.

It was also the day in 1940 when German forces entered Paris during WWII. But this day is also special because on this day in 1942, Anne Frank began writing her diary, in Dutch, two days after her 13th birthday.

Many of my readers must have watched the British film “To Sir With Love,” written and directed by James Clavell and starring Sidney Poitier, which was released on this day in 1967.

Sadly, it was the day when the Health Ministry spokesman said that India’s COVID-19 death toll crossed the 9,000 mark with a record daily increase of nearly 12,000, making it the world’s ninth-worst-hit nation in terms of fatalities.

Before we depart, why not remember the United States President, Donald Trump, who is celebrating his birthday today. 

But he is not very happy, as he wrote to Dr. Mehmet Oz, the U.S. Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, who turned 66 today. 

The President told Dr. Oz, “I want to wish you a happy birthday. You’re a young man. You have many, many years to go. You’re doing a fantastic job… You don’t have to wish me a happy birthday because I’m not happy about that birthday I’m having. It’s a number I never thought too much about. It’s not a number I like. But I’m here nevertheless.”

But Trump was only being modest; otherwise, why schedule UFC Freedom 250 on his birthday? Since the event also marks America’s 250th anniversary, this controversial cage-fight day will also commemorate Trump’s 80th birthday in a notable way.

No doubt, the biggest liar and most self-obsessed President the US has ever produced has his own grand, king-size way of living. 

He certainly deserves a Happy Birthday for his courage, bold moves, perseverance, and unique style, all the traits he had before he entered active politics. Unfortunately, he forgot everything on January 20, 2025.