June 27^th is

Industrial Workers of the World Day *

National Orange Blossom Day

National Sunglasses Day *

National HIV Testing Day *

National PTSD Awareness Day *

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MORE! Emma Goldman, Joshua Slocum and Angela King, click

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WORLD FESTIVALS AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

Croatia – Zrće Beach: Hideout Festival
(ongoing music festival)

Djibouti – National Day

Sri Lanka – Poson Full Moon Poya Day

Tajikistan –Day of National Unity

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On This Day in HISTORY

1358 – The Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) is founded

1497 – The Cornish Rebellion is led by Michael ‘An Gof’ (the blacksmith) Joseph and Thomas Flamank, marching on London to protest against King Henry VII’s levy of a tax to pay for an invasion of Scotland – they believed it was the business of the barons of the north to defend the Scottish border. But Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London, England, on this day

1542 – Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo claims California for Spain

Route of Cabrillo’s voyage

1556 – The Stratford Martyrs, a group of 11 men and 2 women, are burned at the stake for their Protestant beliefs at Stratford-le-Bow during the marian persecutions – at least 300 people were burned to death during the five years of Mary I’s reign

1743 – During the War of the Austrian Succession, George II becomes the last reigning British monarch to lead his troops in battle, at Dettingen on the River Main in Germany

1745 – Jan Nepomuk Vent born, Czech musician and composer

1767 – Alexis Bouvard born, French astronomer; director of the Paris Observatory

1801 – British forces defeat the French and take control of Cairo, Egypt

1817 – Louise von François born, German writer, best known for her historical novel, Die letzte Reckenburgerin (The Last Lady of Reckenburg)

1844 – Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother Hyrum Smith, are killed by a mob at the Carthage, Illinois jail, where they were being held on charges of starting a riot. After a split had developed among members of the Mormon inner circle – William Law and Robert Foster accuse Joseph Smith of proposing marriage to their wives, and he excommunicates them for supposedly plotting against his life, Law and Foster procure indictments against Smith for perjury and polygamy, then the printing press used to print accusations against Smith is ordered destroyed, and the angry mob marches on the Carthage jail

1846 – Charles Stewart Parnell born, Irish nationalist member of British Parliament

1869 – Emma Goldman born, Russian-born American labor leader and anarchist

1869 – ‘Kate Carew’ pen name of Mary Williams who was born this day; caricaturist and writer who worked for the New York World; she was sent to Europe in 1911 to write and illustrate a series, “Kate Carew Abroad” for which she did about 500 interviews of notables like Pablo Picasso, John Galsworthy, George Moore, Émile Zola, and Lady Sackville-West. Back in the U.S. in 1912, she spent several days with Abdu’l-Bahá, head of the Bahá’í  faith at the time, during his visit to America. She did caricatures of Woodrow Wilson, Mark Twain, Ethel Barrymore and many others. Her work also appeared in the British literary journal, The Tatler, and the London Strand

1872 – Paul Laurence Dunbar born, one of the first African-American poets to gain national attention

1880 – Helen Keller is born; two years later, illness makes her deaf and blind; American author, and activist; first blind and deaf person to earn a bachelor of arts degree; a member of the Socialist Party of America, she campaigned for women’s suffrage, labor rights, for socialism and against militarism

1885 – Chichester Bell and Charles Tainter apply for a patent on a gramophone

1885 – Guilhermina Suggia born, Portuguese cellist, internationally renowned, student of Pablo Casals, bequeathed her Stradivarius cello to the Royal Academy of Music in London to fund a scholarship for cellists

1888 –  Antoinette Perry born, American actress, director, producer and co-founder and chair of the board of the American Theater Wing; the Antoinette Perry Awards, commonly known as the Tony Awards, were established in her honor

1893 – The New York Stock Market crashes, in a panic caused by a run on U.S. gold by European trying to cover losses on investments with an bank in Argentina when crop failures and a coup d’état collapse that nation’s economy

1893 – The song “Happy Birthday to You” is published; in 2016, U.S. courts declared it was in the public domain

1898 – Sailor Joshua Slocum completes the first solo circumnavigation of the globe, returning to Newport RI aboard his rebuilt oyster boat Spray

1905 – The Industrial Workers of the World * (IWW), whose members are nicknamed the ‘Wobblies,’ is founded in Chicago IL

1906 – Catherine Cookson born, Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1993), English best-selling historical romance and fiction author. She left school at fourteen, worked in domestic service and as a laundress, then ran a boarding house; after marrying at age 34, she suffered a series of miscarriages, and it was discovered that she had a rare vascular disease, telangiectasia, which causes bleeding and anemia. She had a mental breakdown, and took up writing to help her cope with depression during her recovery. Her nearly 100 novels have sold over 123 million copies, and been translated into 123 languages. Cookson’s charitable trust has provided major funding for medical research, and supports charitable and artistic organizations

1914 – Helena Benitez born, Filipina politician, women’s equal rights activist, academic and administrator of the Philippine Women’s University (private university co-founded by her mother); Member of the Philippines Senate from 1967 until it was closed under martial law in 1972, then in the Batasang Pambansa (National Assembly) from 1978 to 1984 (it was abolished in 1986); founder of the Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company in 1956, which was designated as the Philippines national folk dance company in 1998

1914 – Margaret Ekpo born, leading Nigerian women’s rights activist and social mobilizer, helped push the movement beyond ethnic solidarity; at age 20, her hope of advanced training as a teacher was delayed when her father died; she taught in elementary schools, then married a doctor, Udo Ekpo, in 1938. In 1946, she was able to study abroad in Dublin Ireland, earning a diploma in domestic science, then founded a Domestic Science and Sewing Institute in Aba, a Nigerian commercial, textile and handicraft center. By 1945, her husband was frustrated by British colonial dismissive treatment of Nigerian doctors and other professionals, but as a civil servant he couldn’t go to meetings where resistance was forming against the wide-spread discriminatory policies, so Margaret Ekpo went to a political rally, and discovered she was the only woman there. By 1950, she had organized a market women’s association, unionizing  Aba market women, but soon expanded the fight to civil and economic rights for all Nigerian women; Ekpo joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NGNC) which was fighting for independence, and protested with others  the massacre of over 20 anti-colonial miners striking at Enugu coal mine. The NGNC nominated her to the regional House of Chiefs. In 1954, she started the Aba Township Women’s Association, making it an effective political pressure group; by 1955, women voters in a citywide election outnumbered men. After Nigeria became independent and formed the First Republic, Ekpo was elected to the Eastern Regional House of Assembly in 1961, but a military coup overthrew the First Republic in 1966, and her activism was curtailed. She lived to be 92 years old

1915 – Grace Lee Boggs, American author, feminist and social activist; she published her most recent book, The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century, in 2011 at the age of 95

1918 – Two German pilots are saved by parachutes for the first time

1920 – I.A.L. Diamond born in Romania,  American screenwriter, co=author with Billy Wilder of 11 screenplays, including Love in the Afternoon, Some Like it Hot, The Apartment (1960 Oscar Winner for Best Original Screenplay and four other Academy Awards), and Irma La Douce

1936 – Lucille Clifton born, American author, poet and educator, Poet Laureate of Maryland (1979-1985); her work celebrates her African-American heritage and chronicles her experiences as a woman

1944 – Allied forces liberate Cherbourg, France from the Nazis in WWII

1944 – Angela King born, British leader of the environmental movement, co-founder of Common Ground with Sue Clifford and Roger Deakin, which links nature with the Arts in campaigns to encourage people to make positive investments in preserving their local environments. King was the first Friends of the Earth Wildlife Campaigner in Britain, and a consultant to the Nature Conservancy Council; co-author with Sue Clifford of England in Particular, a celebration of the distinctive character and charm of its little-known places, now being lost to corporate, political and media uniformity

1951 – Mary McAleese born, Irish Fianna Fáil/Independent politician; she is pro-choice and a founding member of the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform, which caused criticism of her as a Catholic by members of the Catholic hierarchy. McAleese is the second woman President of Ireland (1997-2011), and first woman to succeed another woman president, President of Ireland Mary Robinson. McAleese was a graduate in Law, appointed in 1975 as Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology at Trinity College, Dublin. In 1987, she became Director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at Queen’s University, Belfast. In 1994, she was the first female Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s University. She built her political career as a member of delegations and committees rather than as an elected official. Her theme as President of Ireland was ‘Building Bridges.’ She worked for social equality and inclusion, continuing the reconciliation process. Member of the Council of Women World Leaders

1953 –Alice McDermott born, American author and academic; her novels That Night, At Weddings and Wakes, and After This were all finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. Her book Charming Billy won the 1998 National Book Award for Fiction, and a 1999 American Book Award

1957 – The British Medical Research Council reports smoking linked to lung cancer

1964 – Jan & Dean release “Little Old Lady from Pasadena”

1972 – Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney found the video game company Atari

1980 – President Jimmy Carter signs legislation reviving draft registration

1985 – Route 66, which originally stretched from Chicago to Santa Monica CA, passes into legend as officials decertify it as a national highway

1995 – The first National HIV Testing Day * is initiated by HIV.gov

2007 – Gordon Brown succeeds Tony Blair as British Prime Minister

2011 – National Sunglasses Day * is launched by the Vision Council – protecting your eyes from UV exposure is always in season

2017 – National PTSD Awareness Day * is officially recognized by the U.S. Senate, marking the 1989 congressional mandate for the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs National Center for PTSD; the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) also joins in this effort to raise awareness of the signs of PTSD, and what resources are available to help those who suffer from PTSD

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