August 4th is
Single Working Women’s Day
Hooray for Kids Day
U.S. Coast Guard Day
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WORLD FESTIVALS AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS
Barbados –
Bridgetown: Crop Over Festival
Cook Islands – Constitution Day
El Salvador – Fiestas Patronales
Iceland –
Heimaey: Þjóðhátíð
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On This Day in HISTORY
1735 – NY Weekly Journal writerJohn Peter Zenger acquitted of seditious libel by the jury because “the truth is not libelous,” establishing basis for freedom of the press
1789 – Members of French National Constituent Assembly swear oath to end feudalism and abandon their privileges
1790 – Revenue Cutter Service forms, U.S. naval task force, precursor to Coast Guard
1792 – Percy Bysshe Shelley, British poet, is born
MORE! For Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley and Barak Obama, click
1821 – “The Saturday Evening Post” moves to weekly publication
1830 – Plans laid out for the city of Chicago
1901 – Louis Armstrong, jazz trumpeter, is born
1914 – Britain declares war on Germany, U.S. proclaims neutrality
1956 – Elvis Presley released “Hound Dog”
1958 – Ricky Nelson’s “Poor Little Fool” is first #1 song on Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart
1961 – Barak Obama, future U.S. President, is born
1964 – The Kinks single “You Really Got Me” released in U.K.
1966 – Most U.S. radio stations ban the Beatles after John Lennon says band is more popular than Jesus
1977 – President Carter signs measure to establish the Department of Energy
1984 – African republic Upper Volta changes its name to Burkina Faso
1987 – FCC rescinds the Fairness Doctrine, radio and TV stations no longer required to present controversial issues in a balanced manner
1996 – Marathoner Josia Thugwane is first black South African to win Olympic gold
2007 – NASA spacecraft Phoenix launched, taking the Phoenix lander to Mars
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Visuals
- U.S. Coast Guard forever stamp
- International Flags
- Shelley in the Baths of Caracalla by Joseph Severn
- Louis Armstrong
- President Barak Obama
- NASA Phoenix Mars lander
Semper Paratus
Photo of our front porch:
Wonderful! Our Coast Guard is so underappreciated.
Their Finest Hours was a recently released movie. Teaser for the movie is below. It is the true story of a rescue mission in 1950 that has become legendary. It was before the USCG got the new logo and “racing stripes.”
Sometime about 1964, the USCG commissioned famed industrial designer Raymond Lowey to come up with a distinctive marking. That stripe design has been adopted by just about every country that has a coast guard service.
I was in New Orleans when Katrina hit. The USCG didn’t wait for “the Decider” to pull his head out. They got their ships and they got their helos and they went to work.
Can’t say enough good about the Coast Guard.