Weekend Quiz: Resolute Desk Big Button, Poets, and Celebrations

When Donald Trump was president, he had a big wooden button on the Oval Office’s iconic desk. When he pushed it, a White House staffer would bring him a fresh glass of Diet Coke. The New York Times reported that Trump would drink about 12 cans of Diet Coke each day. As of Jan. 21, 2021, this button is gone.

American poet and activist Amanda Gorman was born in 1998, which means she was ten years old when Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. At 22, she was the youngest poet ever (by far) to read at presidential inaugurations when appearing in the Jan. 20, 2021, inauguration of President Joe Biden. Watch Gorman’s awe-inspiring inauguration poet.

The word inauguration stems from the Latin augur –  the rituals of ancient Roman priests interpreting if it was the gods’ will for a public official to assume office.

Stevie Wonder wrote the tribute song “Happy Birthday” to urge the government to establish a Martin Luther King Jr. Day formally. King was born Jan. 15, 1929, and his birthday is celebrated in the US on the third Monday every January. Wonder released a video message on MLK day 2021  as an open letter to King, who was assassinated in 1968. The legendary musician is urging the incoming Biden administration to form a national commission on equality in the letter.

• Listen to Stevie Wonder on Amazon Music Unlimited. 
• Read or listen to Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? By Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Audiobook, Kindle, or print.

Maya Angelou is an American poet and civil rights activist who received the presidential medal of freedom from Barack Obama and the national award of arts from Bill Clinton. She also spoke at the latter’s inauguration.

Maya Angelou Barbie

Mattel issued a Maya Angelou barbie in 2021. The new Barbie, wearing a head-wrap, and floral print dress, joins Rosa Parks, Ella Fitzgerald, and Florence Nightingale in the “Inspiring Women” series of Barbie dolls.

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma appeared Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, in a 50-second video, congratulating teachers in an online ceremony of the annual Rural Teacher Initiative event, thus ending a two and a half month absence from public view. In October 2020, after billionaire Jack Ma criticized China’s banking rules, Chinese regulators began cracking down on Ma’s business empire. Ma has rarely been seen publicly since then.

R.I.P. Phil Spector, legendary music producer and convicted murderer of Barbarian Queen star  Lana Clarkson. Spector was best known for his novel music production technique, dubbed Wall of Sound – an overdubbed onslaught of instruments, vocals, and sound effects that changed how pop records are produced.

In 2020 veteran gay icon Elton John played piano on Ozzy Osbourne’s “Ordinary Man,” released a duet with Lady Gaga, “Sine from Above,” and collaborated with virtual band Gorillaz and rapper 6lack in the song “The Pink Phantom.”

Phineas is a Hebrew name, and it first appears in the Hebrew Bible as Phinehas or Pinchas.

Justin Timberlake’s Phineas

During a virtual interview on the Jan. 17, 2021, edition of The Ellen DeGeneres show, Justin Timberlake, 39, revealed that he and actress Jessica Biel, also sharing five-year-old son Silas – named their baby boy, born in the summer of 2020, Phineas.

Wikipedia was launched on Jan. 15, 2001. Happy 20th birthday, Wikis.

• Get The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution, a bestseller by Walter Isaacson in Audiobook, Kindle, or print.
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