August 12th is

World Elephant Day

∞

Personal Computer Day

National Middle Child’s Day

U.N. International Youth Day

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WORLD FESTIVALS AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

Ecuador – National Day

Netherlands – Leeuwarden:
Into the Grave Festival

Finland – Helsinki:
Flow Festival

Germany – Linz to Bonn:
Rhine in Flames fireworks

Great Britain – Bristol:
International Balloon Fiesta

Thailand – The Queen’s Birthday

United States –
Atlanta GA: The Wrecking Ball
Dunkirk NY: Grape Country Wine Festival
San Francisco CA: Pancakes and Booze Art Show

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On This Day in HISTORY

1323 – The Treaty of Nöteborg, known as the “permanent peace,” settles the border between Sweden and Novgorod (Russia) for the first time

1624 – Cardinal Richelieu becomes Louis X111 of France’s principal minister

1851 – Isaac Singer patents the double-headed sewing machine

MORE! for Judy Garland, Woody Guthrie and Metallica, click

1865 – Joseph Lister uses disinfectant during surgery for the first time

1879 – U.S. National Archery Association holds its first tournament in Chicago IL

1915 – William Somerset Maugham publishes his novel Of Human Bondage

1918 – Regular airmail service begins between New York City and Washington DC

1939 – The Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland shown for first time in Oconomowoc WI

1953 – Soviet Union secretly tests its first thermonuclear  bomb

1955 – The U.S. Minimum Wage is raised from 75 cents an hour to $1.00 an hour

1960 – First balloon communication satellite, Echo One, launched

1964 – The IOC bars South Africa from the Tokyo Olympics because of Apartheid

1970 – The Hollywood Bowl held a Woody Guthrie Memorial Concert in Los Angeles

1981 – IBM introduces the Personal Computer, IBM PC Model 5150

1991 – Metallica – aka“The Black Album” – was released

2007 – Archaeologists find 8 million-year-old cypress trees preserved in Hungarian  open coal mine

2012 – The first World Elephant Day
“We admire elephants in part because they demonstrate what we consider the finest human traits: empathy, self-awareness, and social intelligence. But the way we treat them puts on display the very worst of human behavior.”
……………………………………– Graydon Carter, Editor of  Vanity Fair
The World Wildlife Federation has a petition urging steps that will prevent the Lion and the African Elephant from disappearing forever:
https://support.worldwildlife.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=903
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Visuals

• Elephant affection
• International flags
• Portrait du Cardinal de Richelieu by Philippe de Champaigne
• World Elephant Day logo