Why This Day in History Is Responsible for This Blog Existing

Today is the 14th Birthday of the WWW. The reason is that this is the day CERN [Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (European Council for Nuclear Research)] announced their new technology and that it would be provided for free and thus available to everyone.

Today is the day in 1803 when the U.S. more than doubled its size with the Louisiana Purchase. It acquired all the land west of the Mississippi, from France, for about $15 million, which comes to about 4 cents an acre. & this is the event that would have definitely changed everything if it hadn't happenned.

Part of the Louisiana Purchase was the land that would become the state of Iowa. Dubuque is in Iowa, so is Oelwein, my hometown. My maternal grandparents came from Italia to Oelwein via New York City. My paternal grandparents came from Maryland to Oelwein. Both my grandfathers (& 1 of my maternal greatgrandfathers) worked for the Chicago Great Western Railroad repair shops that existed in Oelwein. I came to DBQ to go to Loras College & stayed here.

Oelwein is named after Gustav Oelwein, 1 of the 1st people to settle in the area.

Dubuque is named after Julien Dubuque, a French miner & 1 of the 1st white men in the area.

OK, so what does all this have to do with bringing this blog into existance. Simple?:

If the USA hadn't bought the land from France, Dubuque probably would still exist as Julien Dubuque was French & settled here before the USA bought the land.

Loras College might have existed as Bishop Matthias Loras was from Lyon, France & might still have ended up as 1st bishop of DBQ as well as founding Loras College.

So far, nothing would have changed, but here's where things might have.

Gustav Oelwein was born in Baltimore, MD of German immigrant parents. But, if what is now Iowa was a part of France, not the USA it is less likely he would have ended up in what becaome Fayette County in Iowa & settling in Jefferson Township & becoming the founder of Oelwein. This came about ( very short version) as a result of land he owner was donated when a forerunner of the Rock Island (RR) decided to go through the area.

It is doubtful that the RI, or later the Chicago Great Western RR (CGW) would have come into existence. Or if they had, that they would have come into the foreign country that what become Iowa would have been. & even less likely that the CGW would have had its roundhouse, shops, etc, there.

& even though both sets of grandparents would have left their homes & come to America, it is unlikely they would have ended up in the same area working for the same railroad. (My maternal grandparents getting together is still highly likely as Nonno Stasi settled in Oelwein because the man who would become his future father-in-law was already there. They were from the same town in Italia. So he & my Nonna Stasi, ne Aiello, probably would still have gotten to know each other as my grandpa would have still settled when my great-grandpa was at.)

If both sets of grandparents hadn't ended up in the same area, my parents wouldn't have met, I wouldn't have been born, let alone gone to Loras College where I now work, & I definitely wouldn't be here blogging.

See how neatly it all fits together.

So today is definitely a day for me to be thankful to God for the historical events of this day.

(Interesting enough, as I was finishing up writing this I am listening to a repeat of Mother Angelica Live. Mother is talking about the various what ifs that had they been a little different, she might not have been born either.