April 5th is
Caramel Day
Go For Broke Day *
Gold Star Spouses Day *
Deep Dish Pizza Day *
Read A Road Map Day
Star Trek First Contact Day *
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MORE! Thomas Hobbes, Bette Davis and Sadao Munemori, click
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WORLD FESTIVALS AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS
China, Hong Kong & Macau –
Qing Ming Jie (Tomb Sweeping Day)
North Korea – Chungmyung Day
(Tomb cleaning day)
South Korea – Arbor Day
Switzerland – Näfels: Näfelser Fahrt
(Glarus 1388 victory over Hapsburgs)
Taiwan – Ching Ming Festival
(tomb-sweeping day)
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On This Day in HISTORY
823 – Lothar I, son of Louis the Pious, is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I
1242 – Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod defeats Teutonic Knights in the Battle of the Ice on Lake Peipus, which is on the modern border between Estonia and Russia
1566 – Two-hundred Dutch noblemen, led by Hendrick van Bréderode, force themselves into the presence of Margaret of Parma, Governor of the Netherlands for Spain, and present the Petition of Compromise, denouncing the Spanish Inquisition in the Seventeen Provinces; Hendrick van Bréderode is banished by the next Spanish Governor of the Netherlands, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, and dies in exile
1588 – Thomas Hobbes born, English philosopher and political theorist
1603 – James VI of Scotland, now the new King of England as James I, begins his journey from Edinburgh to London
1649 – Elihu Yale born in America, English merchant; benefactor of Yale University
1732 – Jean-Honoré Fragonard born, French Rococo painter
1761 – Sybil Ludington born, at age 16, becomes an American Revolutionary War heroine, when she rides to warn American colonial forces the British approach on April 26, 1777, riding twice the distance of Paul Revere
1764 – British Parliament’s Sugar Act restricts importing molasses to America
1792 – U.S. President George Washington exercises the first presidential veto against an apportionment bill passed by Congress which exceeded constitutional guidelines for determining the number of delegates that should comprise the House of Representatives
1803 – First performance of Beethoven’s 2nd Symphony in D
1818 – In the Battle of Maipú, Chile’s independence movement, led by Bernardo O’Higgins and José de San Martín, win a decisive victory over Spain, leaving 2,000 Spaniards and 1,000 Chilean dead
1825 – Mary Jane Hawes Holmes born, American author of novels and short stories, sold 2 million books in her lifetime second only to Harriet Beecher Stowe; Tempest and Sunshine; Rose Mather, a Tale of War; Darkness and Daylight
1827 – Joseph Lister born, English surgeon and scientist
1837 – Algernon Charles Swinburne born, English poet
– from Before Parting, by Algernon Charles Swinburne
1856 – Booker T. Washington born, educator and reformer, important spokesperson for black Americans at the turn of the 20th century
1858 – W. Atlee Burpee born, founds world’s largest mail-order seed company
1873 – Nellie Neilson born, American historian, first woman elected a fellow of the Medieval Academy of America (1926), first woman to serve as president of the American Historical Association
1881 – Edwing Houston and Elihu Thomson patent a centrifugal separator for separating milk
1901 – Hattie Elizabeth Alexander born, American pediatrician and microbiologist, developed treatments for Haemophilus influenzae (influenzal meningitis), reducing the mortality rate from nearly 100 percent to less than 25 percent; among the first scientists to identify antibiotic resistance, which she correctly concluded was caused by random genetic mutations in DNA; first woman president of the American Pediatric Society
1908 – Jagjivan Ram born, Indian politician, spokesman for the untouchables
1908 – Bette Davis born, American actor and movie star; winner of two Academy Awards for Best Actress for Dangerous and Jezebel, and nominated as best actress for eight other performances; sold $2 million worth of WWII war bonds in two days, was the only white member of an acting troupe that performed for black regiments, and co-founded the Hollywood Canteen, a social club for WWII military personnel; first woman President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
1913 – Ruth Smith Nielson born, Faroese artist who lived some years in Denmark, then returned to the Faroe Islands; her work is fits the transition in art from Impressionism to realism
Self-Portrait, Ruth Smith Nielson – 1955
1922 – American Birth Control League, founded by Margaret Sanger and forerunner of Planned Parenthood, is incorporated in New York
1925 – Janet D. Rowley born, American geneticist who was the first scientist to identify a chromosomal translocation as the cause of leukemia and some other cancers; she advanced in the University of Chicago’s Department of Hematology from research associate in 1963 to full professor by 1977, improving existing methods of staining to make identifying chromosomes easier; her findings of the link between abnormal chromosomes and cancer was met with some initial resistance, but has become immensely influential, leading to over 70 translocations being identified across different cancers; recipient in 1998 of both the Lasker Award and the National Medal of Science, and in 2009, the Presidential Medal of Freedom
1938 – Nancy Holt born, American sculptor, installation artist and creator of monumental land art; notable for Sun Tunnels in the Utah desert, Dark Star Park in Rosslyn VA, and Solar Web in Santa Monica CA
1939 – Membership in the Hitler Youth becomes obligatory in Germany
1943 – Ike Sewell invents Deep Dish Pizza in Chicago IL
1943 – Miet Smet born, Belgian Christian Democratic and Flemish Party (CD&V) politician, founder and first president of its women’s organization, Vrouw en Maatschappij (Woman and Society); appointed a Minister of State in 2002; Member of the European Parliament (1999-2004); Flemish Parliament member since 2004, and the Belgian Parliament (2007-2010); advocate for improving women’s economic position and their participation in policy-making, and opposing violence against women
1944 – Willeke van Ammelrooy born, Dutch actress and director, noted for her performance in the title role of the feminist film, Antonia’s Line, which won the 1996 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
1945 – Go For Broke Day * honors U.S. Army Private 1st Class Sadao Munemori, who died in Italy on this day by throwing himself on a grenade to save members of his unit, the first Japanese American to be awarded the Medal of Honor; he was one of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, mostly Japanese-American volunteers, the most decorated infantry regiment in U.S. Army history. Their motto was “Go for Broke”
1946 – First performance of Charles Ives’ 3rd Symphony
1949 – Judith Arlene Resnik born, American engineer and NASA astronaut; she died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster January 28, 1986
1954 – Elvis Presley records his debut single “That’s All Right”
1962 – Herb Gardner’s play A Thousand Clowns premieres on Broadway, starring Jason Robards, Jr. and Sandy Dennis
1963 – Susuga Malietoa Tanumafili II becomes chief of Western Samoa
1968 – Simon & Garfunkel’s single “Mrs. Robinson” is released
1969 – Massive anti-war demonstrations across the U.S.
1976 –Tom Stoppard’s Dirty Linen premieres in London
1992 – Peace protesters Suada Dilberovic and Olga Sučić are killed on the Vrbanja Bridge in Sarajevo, becoming the first casualties of the Bosnian War; dispute over who fired the shots
1993 – Construction begins on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland OH
2012 – Suicide of a 77-year-old pensioner outside the Greek Parliament in Athens sparks more protests
2012 – Gold Star Spouses Day * designated by a U.S. Senate resolution to honor the husbands and wives of fallen soldiers
2016 – San Francisco CA becomes the first U.S. city to mandate paid parental leave
2063 – Star Trek First Contact Day *: Zefram Cochrane takes the first flight of an Earthling to exceed Warp 1, making first contact with an alien race, the Vulcans
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I think this is probably OT but I think a few of our aeronautical folks will be interested in it:
Hi Malisha –
I keep getting an error message – What’s the title? I’ll try and find it on YouTube using that.
Oh sorry.
Someone sent it to me and I just copied the link. So now, I looked it up on Youtube using “British Airways Flight 5390” and found the same clip here:
If you don’t get to it by following the link you can use those key words on youtube.
Thanks.
I fixed your link.
Thank you kind sir.
I always enjoy videos that recreate actual events. There are some pretty scary ones out there.
Thanks Terry
When I lived in Little Rock, there was an incident at Little Rock AFB. B-47 Stratojets were stationed there. Unlike it’s later and bigger cousin, the B-52, the B-47 had a bubble canopy like many fighters. The pilot and second officer sat tandem instead of side by side. One night, a B-47 lost its canopy in flight. The wind was horrendous, but the pilots managed to land the “open cockpit” airplane. I can’t remember if they found the canopy, and a quick search did not turn up any information. Sometime along about the same time, another B-47 came apart in mid air over Little Rock. There are lots of links to that ugly event.
What appears to have happened was that both pilots had their heads down, each thinking the other was flying the plane. The aircraft departed straight and level flight into an unusual attitude. One of the pilots noticed, and yanked the stick to correct the flight path.
Everyone has heard of “G” forces. Not many people, not even pilots, understand “Q” forces. Simply put, it involves aerodynamic forces on the airplane which the plane is not built to take. This maneuver would not have been a problem in an aerobatic plane or a fighter, but not a bomber. The sudden pull up, rolling the wings at the same time, caused that bomber to break up in flight. There were no survivors. The wreckage fell into a school yard. Thankfully, children were not present at the time.
I have read several accounts of the B-47’s flying frailties. Originally, it had no in-flight refueling, so a trip to bomb an enemy was a one-way ride. That got fixed right away when jet-powered refueling planes became available. One of the original bombing methods was to make a low approach, under the enemy radar, then pull up in a half-loop, jettisoning the bomb while in the climb, ‘lofting’ the bomb down-range. The B-47 would continue over the top, roll upright, and dive back close to the ground. If done properly, all was well with the airplane. If done wrong, the wings come off. The last sound you want to hear is the wings applauding above your head.
Happy Spring Bloggers! I just came from a visit at the Turley site….it seems to have gone to wrack, ruin and the supreme far right….at least here there are flowers and airplanes 🙂
Still, that’s a HUGE GULF!!!!! So here is my contribution….
I think I just sprained myself.
Relevant, true, and they have harmony as well.
🙂
You talkin’ about that blog where bots have free speech rights too?
Who would have thunk the First Amendment included Russian trolls and bots?
I love Louie!
Damm! Why does the music have to be so damm good…and catchy! I’ll be humming that tune all day…. O.0
Woosty, just for you. This is Louie Ludwig and features his cat Biscuit. Sad to say, Biscuit crossed the Rainbow Bridge a few weeks ago.
His note said, “Yes, that’s Biscuit starring as the kitty in the cardboard box (the song was pretty much written around that pic). We miss her very much, but are happy she lives on in the intertoobs, where all cats are immortal.”
OMG that was the best best BEST!! Performed flawlessly too, fantastic!
I only hope its message holds….. I hope I hope I hope I hope …
but no, I think it wasn’t bots…..sadly. Programmed? yes, bots? pro- Ruskie? nyet….
It is not about the Russians, per se, it is about money. Lots of money. It is no longer about Communist ideology, that is dead. It is about the richest getting richer. Fascinating interactive map of how all roads lead to connections between Cambridge Analytica and the fossil fuel industry.
How much money is enough, when about 40 families have as much as the bottom 40% or so of the population? There will come a day of reckoning, one way or another. Putin doesn’t want to occupy the US. Red Dawn was a movie. As long as he can keep the US and rest of the world in turmoil, he has power. Somebody should send him a copy of Ozymandias.
Don’t you think he’s miss the irony?
He probably thinks irony is what you hit a golf ball with.
Chuck, I just saw the ‘Bisquit’ post. ❤ Thank you.
I love my facebook. It keeps me human after the goons got me. Let the bad guys rape the data….at the end of the day it can only make them feel like shit…or enlighten them to their own behaviour….or let the rest of us see what they really are….and give us permission to speak.
There are worse things than lonely 😉
Thanks Woosty, these are pretty funny