The transition from the Year of the Fire Monkey to the Year of the Fire Rooster is underway. January 28^th was the first official day of the Fire Rooster and also the first day of Spring. It is time for us to reflect on what changes may occur so that we can be prepared no matter what situations may arise.

What crosses your mind when you think of a rooster? Punctuality (waking us up on time every morning), neat and organized, concerned about appearance, boastful, elaborate dances/moves to prove which rooster is top bird, arrogant, persuasive, self aggrandizing etc… are a few of the traits associated with roosters and those born during rooster years. During rooster years these traits will influence events throughout the year, however, during Fire years these traits have a tendency to be amplified as witnessed during 2016 Year of the Fire Monkey. 2016, however, was a Fire Year during a Yang cycle which helps to explain some of the “circus acts” observed during the year. 2017, is also a Fire year, however, it is during a Yin cycle which could help to limit some of the Roosters tendencies to be amplified during a Fire year.

Fire Rooster years are a good time to examine and reflect inwardly while also being active outwardly, the best manner this year is to cultivate virtues first, then let those virtues radiate outward to others and to your work/mission or project. Without balancing the external with internal you may have a tendency to turn the Roosters traits into liabilities. This is not the year to engage in seeing which Cock is the loudest, on a personal nor global level.

Let’s look at three prior Fire Rooster years (1957, 1897 and 1837):

1957

1. As the last major worldwide influenza pandemic, the 1957 Kweichow strain (H2N2) arrived in the USA by June 1957.
2. Dow Jones plunges 19.4 % as a result of the pandemic, S&P 500 fell 21%. This sets the stage for very strong stock market recovery from 1958-1962.
3. Mercedes-Benz produces first SL class
4. Maya Angelou records her first album
5. U.S. scientist Charles Keeling measures carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
6. Dwight Eisenhower’s second inauguration (many people see similarities between President Trump and President Eisenhower)
7. Northeast Airlines Flight 823 Crashes
8. ‘The Cat In The Hat’ is Published
9. Mid-South Tornado Outbreak (New Mexico to Oklahoma, western Arkansas, southern Kansas, eastern Colorado, and southeastern Wyoming)
10. Hurricane Audrey (kills 416 people and devastates Eastern Texas and Western Louisiana)
11. John Lennon meets Paul McCartney
12. Althea Gibson becomes the first African American woman to win the womens singles title at Wimbledon
13. Tunisia declares Independence from France
14. President Eisenhower signs the 1957 Civil Rights Act
15. Soviet Union Launches Sputnik 1 Satellite (worlds first Earth orbiting artificial satellite)
16. Atlas Shrugged is published
17. François “Papa Doc” Duvalier is Elected President of Haiti by a Vote of 1,320,748 to Zero
18. Soviet Union Launches Sputnik 2 (first dog in space)
19. Lewisham Rail Crash
20. The USSR tests its first successful ICBM
21. Eisenhower Doctrine calls for aid to Mideast countries which resist armed aggression from Communist-controlled nations
22. Anti-American riots erupt in Taipei, Taiwan
23. The International Atomic Energy Agency is established
24. Mao Zedong admits that 800,000 “class enemies” have been summarily liquidated in China between 1949 and 1954 (in other words he admitted they killed over 800,000 people)
25. Cold War: In the United States, the Gaither Report calls for more American missiles and fallout shelters
26. Britain tests the H-Bomb

1897

1. M H Cannon becomes 1st woman state senator in US (Utah)
2. Elva Zona Heaster is found dead in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The resulting murder trial of her husband is perhaps the only case in United States history where the alleged testimony of a ghost helped secure a conviction
3. British troops occupy Bida Gold Coast (Ghana)
4. A meteorite enters the earth’s atmosphere and explodes over New Martinsville, West Virginia. The debris causes damage but no human injuries are reported
5. 1st US orthodox Jewish Rabbinical seminary (RIETS) incorporates in NY
6. France signs treaty with Emperor Menelik II of Abyssinia
7. Japan adopts Gold Standard
8. The Greco-Turkish War, also called “Thirty Days’ War”, is declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire
9. Fire in Paris bazaar at Rue Jean Goujon kills 200
10. Battle at Thessalie: Turkish army beats Greece
11. Possibly most severe quake in history strikes Assam India, shock waves felt over an area size of Europe (low mortality rate given size of earthquake, 1500 casualties)
12. A treaty annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the United States is signed; the Republic would not be dissolved until a year later.
13. The South African Committee, investigating the Jameson Raid releases its report finding that it was conducted almost implicitly through the support and encouragement of Cecil John Rhodes and the mining houses in the Transvaal
14. Oldsmobile begins operation as a General Motors Corp division
15. 1st electric taxis drive in London
16. The Boston subway opens, becoming the first underground rapid transit system in North America
17. King Leopold II takes Belgian crown
18. World’s first car dealer opens in London
19. Mohandas Gandhi is Nearly Lynched by White Settlers in Durban upon Returning from a Brief Trip to Fetch his Family in India
20. William McKinley is inaugurated as the 25th president of the United States
21. Lattimer Massacre
22. The First Library Of Congress Building Opens Its Doors To The Public
23. Recovery begins from the Panic of 1896

1837

1. Earthquake in southern Syria kills thousands
2. American Physiological Society organizes in Boston
3. Riot in New York due to a combination of poverty and increase in the cost of flour
4. US President Andrew Jackson & Congress recognizes Republic of Texas
5. Chicago becomes incorporated as a city
6. Canada gives its black citizens the right to vote
7. Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels (effects of this financial crisis would last until the mid 1840’s)
8. The Broad Street Riot occurred in Boston, fueled by ethnic tensions between English-Americans and Irish-Americans
9. Charles Goodyear obtains his 1st rubber patent
10. Queen Victoria at 18 ascends British throne following death of uncle King William IV. She ruled for 63 years ending in 1901
11. Grand Junction Railway, the world’s first long-distance railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool
12. Queen Victoria is 1st monarch to live in present Buckingham Palace
13. US Mint opens in Charlotte, North Carolina
14. Pharmacists John Lea & William Perrins manufacture Worcestershire Sauce
15. Charles Tiffany founded his jewelry & china stores
16. Battle of Okeechobee-US forces defeat Seminole Indians
17. Uprising under William Lyon Mackenzie in Canada
18. Canadian militia destroy Caroline, a US steamboat docked at Buffalo.
19. Louis Agassiz shows changes in Alpine glaciers
20. Charles Darwin First Speech to the Geological Society of London
21. Lincoln is admitted to the Bar
22. Galilee earthquake
23. Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist begins publication in serial form in London
24. The conglomerate of Procter & Gamble has its origins when British-born businessmen William Procter and James Gamble begin selling their first manufactured goods (soap and candles) in Cincinnati, Ohio
25. The Dutch sack the fortress of Bonjol, ending the Padri War
26. Fire in the Winter Palace, Saint Petersburg

One thing is clear from the above lists, all three Fire Rooster years either had direct Financial Panics/Crises or were recovering from one (1897). Each year also had a build up towards war or involved some type of conflict both internally (civil conflict) and internationally as war or provocation. Major news events involving the middle east, Russia and China dominated these years. A few other similarities: flu pandemics, civil rights issues/legislation, dictators rising to power, anti-American riots, Atomic/Nuclear concerns, war with Turkey, riots in NY and Boston to name a few.

Will these events occur again, keep a watchful eye on world events and we will find out.