30 March

Doctor's Day

Doctor

So we are drinking a...

Doctor

Doctor's Day is here to show appreciation for all the doctors, past and present who work tirelessly every day to help us when we need it most and raise awareness for the issues they face.

Whilst this is an American national day, we see it as an excellent opportunity to celebrate doctors worldwide. Whether in an emergency or just for a routine appointment, a doctor has helped all of us and our loved ones at some point in our lives, and without the skill and knowledge they have acquired over many years, the world would be very different.

The job of a doctor can be very overwhelming, they see multiple patients all with different concerns every day, they work long hours, are the bearer of bad news for some patients and see the end of life far more regularly than the average person. All this combined and more can take its toll.

Doctor's Day started in the US in 1933 in the Winder area of Georgia. It was founded by doctor's wife, Eudora Brown Almond, who believed in setting a particular day to show consideration to physicians. This involved leaving red carnations on the graves of doctors who have passed away, and this is the reason why the red bloom is associated with the day. This can still be done to show appreciation, or the flowers can be gifted to current doctors and is a symbol that can be shared on social media to show support. March 30th was chosen to mark this day as the anniversary of the first ether anaesthesia being used by Dr. Crawford W. Long in 1842.

So, when you see a doctor, whether that happens today or in the future, mention how much you value their work. A few words can go a long way in making someone feel seen and appreciated. Their job is to make us feel better, so we should reciprocate that feeling if we can.

To say thank you to all the doctors out there doing amazing work every day, we're raising an aptly named Doctor.

America bought Alaska

On the penultimate day of March, 1867, America bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million, which works out at roughly five cents per hectare (two cents per acre) - a bargain.

It was bought by US Secretary of State William H. Seward in a deal that was known as "Seward's Folly" - which today doesn't look like such a folly at all. Just to put the numbers into context, the manager of Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace Hotel spent double that sum on a pre-decorated Christmas tree.

Seward's budget bought America a slice of land twice the size of Texas, which became a genuinely valuable acquisition with the Klondike gold strike just 29 years later.

Mix an Alaskan Cocktail, and make a toast to Toast America's 49th state - the purchase of the century.

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