History Repeating Itself

History Repeating Itself
Unless We Learn From the Past

This is another essay about George Santayana’s insights. I owe a great deal to Santayana on my journey down my yellow brick road called life. Santayana could create one-liners to capsulate his philosophy into a single sentence, and this is an example. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Take today, April 18, as proof. What happened historically on this date is critically important, and most people don’t have the foggiest idea? Here are some examples.

The first example was that on April 18, 1775, Paul Revere made his midnight ride to warn the colonists that the British were coming either by land or sea.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote Paul Revere’s Ride

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On April 18, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

Longfellow was correct about “hardly a man is now alive” who remembers that ride a year before the American Revolution. He ends his poem by noting that Americans understood the reality of freedom as opposed to the divine rights of kings.

A cry of defiance and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo forevermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

While Americans rallied together “In the hour of darkness and peril and need,” I wonder how many Americans today remember that Revere’s ride took place on April 18. Even more troubling is the seeming lack of many Paul Reveres in 2025. The British aren’t coming, but King Donald is exporting hundreds of migrants without due process. King Donald replaced due process with the divine right as a king. The Constitution and Declaration of Independence are based upon law, not the whims of royalty.

Another significant historical event occurred on April 18, 1906, at 5:12am. Thousands of people were awakened to the Great San Francisco Earthquake. On that date, two large tectonic plates collided along a three-hundred-mile area of the San Andreas Fault. In a matter of seconds, 80% of the city was destroyed, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

On April 12, my family in Myanmar and Thailand lived through a 5.5-magnitude earthquake. My daughter, who just moved to San Deigo, CA., experienced a 5.2 tremor on April 14. Both families lived through their earthquakes. I don’t know how many people in America reached out to assist earthquake victims in 1906. I do not know how many Americans reached out to families in Myanmar or Thailand.

Martin Niemöller reflected upon his fellow Germans didn’t reach out to those suffering because of Hitler.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out,
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out,
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out,
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me,
And there was no one left to speak for me.

If you are looking for another important occurrence on April 18, Robert E. Lee refused an offer to command the Union Army. The Civil War started a week before he was asked to lead the North. Robert E. Lee refused an offer to take command of the Union Army on April 18, 1861. The Civil War started a week before the Union offered Lee the command of the Union forces. Lee never was able to deal with racism.

Finally, on April 18, 1978, the US Senate voted to transfer the Panama Canal to Panama. The French had tried to build a canal but failed for several reasons. They had engineering problems, they lacked money, and around 25,000 died due to diseases. The US replaced the French and completed the project in 1914. After the Senate voted on April 18, 1978, the Torrijos–Carter Treaties was signed the following year.

On Seeing the Light