April 12, 2013: It's a small world and a great big beautiful tomorrow.

One huge day in 1945, with three important things we need to talk about on this day. U. S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in Warm Springs, Georgia. Harry S. Truman is sworn in as the 33^rd president of The United State of America. In Europe, an eighteen-year-old soldier is wounded in the knee while serving during World War II. Just before being wounded, he had led half a squad of men in the Dachau concentration camp, the first Allied troops to enter the camp after the German military fled only hours earlier. The soldier’s injury forces him to walk with a cane for the rest of his life. The soldier received two Battle Stars, a Combat Infantryman Badge, and American Campaign Medal, a World War II Victory Medal, a European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and a Good Conduct Medal. In 1952 the soldier and his younger brother Richard will begin writing songs together. Robert and Richard Sherman wrote the soundtrack to a huge chunk of Disney history. Go to the Magic Kingdom, ride It’s a Small World or Carousel of Progress, or better yet, both, and enjoy the music of the Sherman Brothers.

In 1961, three months before I was born, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. Gagarin, a Russian cosmonaut, completed a 108-minute orbit of the Earth. This is also International Day of Human Space Flight. Go to EPCOT and ride Mission: SPACE where there is a plaque memorializing Gagarin’s great achievement.

April 12, 1992, with my daughter almost two months old, Euro Disney opens in Marne-la-Vallee, France. Now know as Disneyland Paris, we can honor the park by going to Hollywood Studios and enjoying Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show! Inspired by the original Paris show, Moteurs! Action! We enjoyed it, you will too.

Quickies:

1777: Henry Clay was born. The Great Compromiser hailed from Kentucky married an ancestor of mine in the Chapman family so we are at least related by marriage. Share my blog with a friend and enjoy The American Adventure at EPCOT.

1877: A Catcher’s mask was used for the first time in a baseball game. Go to Casey’s.

1892: George C. Blickensderfer patents a portable typewriter. Download a Disney App on your modern version of the portable typewriter, your iPhone, iPad or other portable device.

1988: I can’t pass this one up: Harvard University patents a genetically engineered mouse. Said mouse is still not as cool as Mickey.

Remember, your best excuse is always: waiting for your dreams to come true.