July 12th is
Different Colored Eyes Day
Pecan Pie Day
Simplicity Day *
Night of Nights *
________________________________________________________________
MORE! Henry David Thoreau, Shirley Chisholm and Elvis Presley, click
________________________________________________________________
WORLD FESTIVALS AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS
Canada/Northern Ireland/United Kingdom –
Battle of the Boyne/Orangemen’s Day
Kiribati – National Day
Mongolia –
Manly Games/Naadam Holiday – Day 2
Papua New Guinea – Kokopo:
National Mask Festival (first day)
Sao Tome and Principe – Independence Day
Tahiti – Pape’ete: Heiva
(Polynesian cultural festival – ongoing)
____________________________________________________________
On This Day in HISTORY
927 – King Constantine II of Scotland, King Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, Ealdred of Bamburgh and King Owain of the Cumbrians accepted the overlordship of King Æthelstan of England, leading to seven years of peace in the north
Æthelstan presents a book to St Cuthbert, earliest surviving portrait
of an English king, an illustration from Bede’s Life of Saint Cuthbert
1191 – Third Crusade: Saladin’s garrison surrenders to Philip Augustus, ending the
two-year siege of Acre
1468 – Juan del Enzina (also spelled Encina) born, Spanish composer, poet and playwright; son of a shoemaker of Jewish converso descent; noted as ‘one of the
founders of Spanish drama’
1543 – King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, at Hampton Court Palace
1561 – Saint Basil’s Cathedral (Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed) in Moscow is consecrated
1562 –Acting Bishop of Yucatán Diego de Landa burns the Mayan sacred books
1690 – Battle of the Boyne (Gregorian calendar): The armies of now-ruler William III defeat the forces of deposed King James II in County Meath in eastern Ireland
1730 – Josiah Wedgwood founds the Wedgwood China Company
1776 – British Captain James Cook begins his third voyage
1789 – In response to the dismissal of the French finance minister Jacques Necker, who had made himself popular by eliminating some taxes, the radical journalist Camille Desmoulins gives a speech which results in the storming of the Bastille two days later
1790 – French Revolution: The Civil Constitution of the Clergy is passed in France by the National Constituent Assembly, declaring the Catholic Church in France subordinate to the revolutionary government
1799 – Ranjit Singh, age 21, conquers Lahore and becomes Maharaja of the Punjab, ruling the Sikh Empire
1817 – Simplicity Day * – Henry David Thoreau born, cabin-in-the-woods philosopher
1879 – Margherita Piazzola Beloch born, Italian mathematician
1884 – Louis B. Mayer, future MGM Movie Mogul, is born
1862 – The Medal of Honor is authorized by U.S. Congress
1860s? (date not recorded) – George Washington Carver born, African-American son of slaves who didn’t learn to read and write until he was 20 years old; world-renowned scientist whose discoveries helped to improve agriculture in the South, developing uses for sweet potatoes, peanuts and red clay and sandy loam common to Southern states; accorded membership in the Royal Society of London
1870 – William W. Lyman patents the first rotary can opener with a cutting wheel
1895 – Buckminster Fuller born, American architect, engineer, inventor and theorist; popularized the geodesic dome; designed the Montreal Biosphère
1895 – Kirsten Flagstad born, Norwegian soprano, ranked among the greatest singers of the 20th century, known for her roles in the operas of Wagner
1895 – Oscar Hammerstein II born, American songwriter and director-producer
1904 – Pablo Neruda born, Chilean poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate
1917 – Bisbee Arizona: striking miners are kidnapped and deported by vigilantes
1920 – Beah Richards born, American stage, film and television actress, author, poet and playwright, known for performances in the original Broadway productions of The Miracle Worker and A Raisin in the Sun
1925 – Akutagawa Yasushi born, Japanese composer and conductor; his father was Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, an author noted for his short stories
1928 – Pixie Williams born, New Zealand singer, of Māori descent, recipient of a triple platinum award from the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand for “Blue Smoke” and a single platinum award for “Let’s Talk It Over”
1933 – The U.S. Minimum wage is established: 40 cents an hour
1943 – Christine McVie born, British singer-songwriter and keyboardist, solo artist and member of Fleetwood Mac, inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, recipient of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors’ Gold Badge of Merit
1947 – György Orbán born in Romania, Hungarian composer; noted for choral music
1954 – Elvis Presley signs his first recording contract, with Sun Records, and quits his day job as a truck driver
Elvis with Sweetpea
1957 – Surgeon General Leroy Burney warns of direct link between smoking and cancer
1962 – The Rolling Stones perform their first concert at London’s Marquee Club
1965 – The Beach Boys release “California Girls”
1971 – The Australian Aboriginal Flag becomes one of several official flags of Australia and is flown for the first time
1972 – Shirley Chisholm receives 152 votes in the first ballot at the Democratic National Convention, becoming the first black candidate for President of the United States from a major political party and first woman to run for the Democratic presidential nomination
1979 – The Pacific island nation of Kiribati becomes independent from the UK
1984 – Democratic presidential candidate Walter F. Mondale named New York Congresswoman Geraldine A. Ferraro his running mate, making her the first woman to run on a major party ticket
1990 – Dobsonville shanty town women in Soweto, South Africa, strip to the waist and confront bulldozers in a vain attempt to stop the demolition of their homes ordered by government authorities. Dobsonville echoes the destruction of Sophiatown in Soweto between 1955 and 1960, (after passage of the Native Resettlement Act No. 19 of 1954) the forcible removal by police of over 60,000 residents, in spite of protests and violent confrontations which the government blames on agitation by the ANC, specifically naming Nelson Mandela
1990 – Just two days after Mikhail Gorbachev is re-elected head of the Soviet Communist Party, Boris Yeltsin, president of the Republic of Russia, announces his resignation from the party, a serious blow to Gorbachev’s efforts to keep the struggling Soviet Union together. By December 1991, Gorbachev has resigned and the Soviet Union is officially dissolved, but Yeltsin retains power, as president of Russia
1999 – Night of Nights * – the last commercial Morse Code transmission in the U.S. is thought to have been broadcast; each year on the anniversary, historic former Morse code radio stations KPH, KSM, and KFS are returned to the air by radiotelegraphers of the Maritime Radio Historical Society
2000 – X-Men movie premieres in NYC
2010 – Roman Polanski is no longer confined to house arrest in his Alpine villa, after Swiss authorities reject a U.S. request for the Oscar-winning director’s extradition because of a 32-year-old conviction for unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor
________________________________________________________________
Nicole Plyler Fisk
Gene Howington
FFS Guest Blogger
Joy of Fishes
Chuck Stanley
shortfinals
Terry Welshans
ann li-summers
wordcloud9
Flowers For Socrates 
I can’t say that it doesn’t worry me, this Orangemen’s Day.
LOL – No worries – it predates the Orange Menace by over 320 years!
So sad that the Occupant in the Oval Office is giving orange such a bad name.
Orangemen have nothing to do with him, but refers to:
– Historically, supporters of King William III of Orange
– Members of the modern Orange Order (aka Orange Institution), Protestant fraternal organisation
– Members or supporters of the County Armagh Gaelic football team
– Former name of male sports teams of Syracuse University, now just called the Syracuse Orange
– The elite cheering group of the Seattle Pacific University men’s basketball team
Orangemen’s Day (also called The Twelfth) is an Ulster Protestant celebration held on 12 July,originating during the late 18th century in Ulster. It celebrates the Glorious Revolution (1688) and victory of Protestant king William of Orange over Catholic king James II at the Battle of the Boyne (1690), which began the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. On and around the Twelfth, large parades are held by the Orange Order and Ulster loyalist marching bands, streets are bedecked with British flags and bunting, and large towering bonfires are lit. Today the Twelfth is mainly celebrated in Northern Ireland (where it is a public holiday), but smaller celebrations are held in other parts of the world where Orange lodges have been set up. The Twelfth involves thousands of participants and spectators, although not all Protestants celebrate it.
While the clashes between Protestants and Catholics have certainly brought much tragedy into the world, they are about Dogma – although there’s been plenty of Arrogance and Self-Interest to go around on both sides.
First, I managed to catch about 45 minutes of Christopher Wray’s hearing today. I must admit he talked the talk but I’d be curious as to whether or not he walks the walk. He did stand on the ethical side against the Bush regimes desires to wiretap, oh who was that, oh yeah! Everyone.
Second, a quote:
“It’s a hell of a defense to say your collusion might be incompetent.” – Charles Krauthammer
Let me be clear. I loathe Krauthammer. He is a extreme right wing fascist enabling douche with really bad hair and a worse dye job. Every time I see him on TV, I must resist the urge to throw marmosets at the screen. And what kind of family is has such an un-diagnosed rage disorder as to be proud of physically abusing cabbage? Cabbage is a perfectly noble – if stinky – vegetable. As much as I loath that wonky hack, I have to say agreeing with him is almost worse. It’s as bad as that time I had to agree with Gay Talese about the (horrid) nature of Objectivism. Politics make for such strange bedfellows. Maybe I’ll start sleeping on the floor.
Thirdly, I see that I missed Rainer Cherry Day. I am a fan of the cherry, but somehow I had gone most of my life without having sampled the Rainer. Just this last week, I had my first. Several. Hands full. Delicious. Now I will make up for lost time.
Now back to work . . .
Hi Gene –
Thanks for stopping by – always a pleasure!
Not nice, about the marmosets.
I don’t think he actually would – thanks for the video – such cuties!
At least I use foam rubber marmosets which is more than a certain person can say about his “hair”. And it has to be marmosets he’s using. Orangutans are too big and much smarter that he is.
And that is what I have to say about that.