FURTHERMORE
By Gerry Moran
January – the month when folks try to predict what lies ahead in the coming year. I love to peruse the predictions in Old Moore’s Almanac (on the go for a mere 261 years) though they’re not always accurate. It predicted Kerry to win the Football All Ireland in 2024 and Limerick to win the hurling. Didn’t happen.
For 2025 it predicts Dublin and Limerick. Oh, it also predicted that we’d have a new Pope in 2024. No white smoke there.
Here are a few of its predictions for 2025: Ireland: Eurovision drama; Irish news media collapse; and political skirmish with the UK will affect trade relations. Globally: massive natural disaster in Japan; baby for Taylor Swift while AI becomes very dangerous pitting nations against each other.
So, whatever 2025 holds for us here’s what happened 100 years ago in January 1925. An unprecedented incident marred the touring All Black’s victory over England at Twickenham when New Zealander Cyril Brownlie deliberately kicked an Englishman on the ground and was sent off for foul play; the first time such a severe sanction was applied in an international match.
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Crosswords are good for you was the reassuring message from Chicago’s Department of Health. The president of the British Optical Association had fears that the new crossword craze could cause headaches arising from eye strain. The Chicago verdict said solving crosswords gives us a mental kick that is good for our health and happiness which, as we now know, can help ward off dementia.
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Women could soon be freed from the drudgery of housework by new machines. Mass production methods in engineering are now being introduced to homes; one example is the new electric washing machine. Catering establishments already have machines for washing dishes and preparing food and experts predict that smaller versions are just around the corner for many people.
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The US state of Tennessee has made it a crime to teach the theory of evolution (ie. that we descended from apes) in its schools. The governor said the move was “a distinct protest against an irreligious tendency to exalt so-called science and deny the Bible”. No longer can any teacher in a Tennessee state-supported school propound Darwin’s theories, or any theory, that contradicts the Bible’s account of Creation. Five other southern states are imposing similar laws.
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The world descended on the small Tennessee town of Dayton in the US to watch the trial of a young teacher, John Scopes, on a charge of teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. The case, known as ‘The Monkey Trial’, was the first to be brought under a new law introduced by Bible fundamentalists. The defence was conducted by Clarence Darrow, a noted civil rights lawyer, who saw the case as one of tolerance against bigotry. The judge ruled against hearing scientific evidence. John Scopes was found guilty and fined $100. Hundreds of religious fundamentalists cheered, sang hymns and prayed as the jury handed the verdict to the judge. On appeal the State Supreme Court acquitted Scopes on the technicality that he had been fined excessively but upheld the constitutionality of the law. A movie, Inherit The Wind, is based on the trial.
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Adolf Hitler published his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle) written while in prison after a botched attempt to overthrow the government. It was described by his detractors as a rambling mixture of self-pitying autobiography, diatribes against Jews, the glorification of man as a fighting animal and a call to Germans to join the Nazi party.
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Influential bishops in Italy banned scantily dressed and bare-legged women from church. The move, said to have the approval of the Pope (Pius X1) came as part of a stinging attack on women’s ‘scandalous’ fashions and their growing involvement in sport which, said the bishops, “is utterly incompatible with a woman’s dignity”. (Wonder what they would have made of Katie, Kelly and Sonia?). Traditionalists were concerned that morals declined as hemlines rose. As well as endangering women’s moral welfare some doctors claimed current fashions may be bad for physical health, causing puffiness and chafing of the legs, rarely a problem with long skirts. The Dean of Durham condemned the trend for ‘educated English women’ to confess their immorality in the divorce courts with ‘utter shamelessness’.
Oh dear, oh dear.
