Marching Together to Victory
December 22, 1808 - Ludwig Van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony premieres at a concert in Vienna, directed by Beethoven himself.
1844 - The Morse landline code, or American Morse code, is released using a series of dots and dashes to represent letters. The first four notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, some of the most famous of all time (translated to three dots and a dash), is used to represent the letter V (the Roman numeral for 5).
July 19, 1941 - Winston Churchill publicly uses the V for Victory sign for the first time. The idea was borne the year before. While in Belgium, BBC European Intelligence Director, Jonathan Griffin, had come across an item in an agenda discussing the V for Victory sign. Since V was the first letter in "Victory" (in English, French and Flemish), it was thought it could easily be scribbled on walls, even in the dark, to show resistance. The BBC launched a campaign for it to be adopted during the war.
June 6, 1944 - Seventy-six years ago today, in the pre-dawn skies, Allied bombers and transport aircraft carrying paratroopers, fly over the Normandy shore in advance of the landing. Fixed to their underbelly, lights continually flash the Morse code symbol V, so that the French people below would know that the liberation of western Europe had begun.
Four musical notes, launched in a darkened and extremely cold Viennese theater 136 years earlier, had returned to Europe in the form of electric light flashes. The eyes of the world were upon them.
The free men of the world are marching together to Victory! I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory! Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.
- General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force
Addendum: I had this at first, but then removed it out of respect for the heroic actions 76 years ago. I decided to put back in because it, too, is important.... Sometimes, even little things that we do can have a big or long-lasting impact that we are unaware of.
An encouraging word can literally make the difference between life and death to someone.
The attention to detail and purposefulness of actions that Steve Jobs' dad instilled in him as a youth would later birth some of the most amazing - and beautiful - tech we enjoy today.
Four simple musical notes, marking the call to attention of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, can be transformed into light impulses which sparked excitement and hope in the lives of an occupied country.
Life is cool like that.