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reetings from Australia. 

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Pip Wilson

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Today is

 
Partridge control

On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
A partridge in a pear tree.

On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Four colly birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Five golden rings.
Four colly birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings.
Four colly birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings.
Four colly birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings.
Four colly birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings.
Four colly birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans
a-swi'mmi'ng, six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings.
Four colly birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings.
Four colly birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the first day of Solstice the Goddess sent to me,
some healing to set me free.

On the second day of Solstice the Goddess sent to me,
Gifts from my love
and some healing to set me free.

etc.

1. Some healing to set me free
2. Gifts from my love
3. A helping dream
4. A branch of evergreen
5. Joyous song!
6. Greetings from my neighbors
7. Magick for the year
8. Fine conversation
9. Nine pearls of wisdom
10. Candles for the lighting
11. Deep contemplation
12. Showers of abundance
13. A grand celebration
Shekhinah Mountainwater; 'The Thirteen Days of Solstice'   Source: Yule Songs from Pagan Digest

On the first day of Yuletide my true love gave to me,
a Circle 'round a Pine Tree.

On the second day of Yuletide my true love gave to me,
Two pointed Horns
and a Circle 'round a Pine Tree.

etc.

A Circle 'round a Pine Tree
Two pointed Horns
Three Silver Cups
Four Pentagrams
Five Magick Rings
Six critters Fetching
Seven Candles Glowing
Eight Fires Blazing
Nine Herbs a-Brewing
Ten Stones a-Standing
Eleven Brooms a-Flying
Twelve Witches Dancing
Carusone; 'The Twelve Days of Yuletide'   Source: Yule Songs from Pagan Digest

We say a congregacyon of people, a hoost of men, a felyshyppynge of jomen, and a bevy of ladyes; we must speak of a herde of dere, swannys, cranys, or wrenys, a sege of herons or bytourys, a muster of pecockes, a watche of nyghtyngales, a fllyghte of doves, a claterynge of choughes, a pryde of lyons, a slewthe of beeres, a gagle of geys, a skulke of foxes, a sculle of frerys; a pontificalitye of prestys, and a superfluyte of nonnes.
Dame Juliana Berners (Barnes; Bernes; b. 1388?), English writer on hawking and hunting; Boke of St Albans, 1486. Regrettably, Dame Juliana does not give the collective noun for maids a-milking,  lords a-leaping, etc.

December 26^th … So passed the first of the Twelve Days … With the plough under thatch and the shutters up in the workshop window, while the gentry entertained the farmers, and the farmers entertained their men. In eighteenth century Cumberland, during this period, the farmers would be meeting night after night in a different house, every man host in his turn, to sing and play, drink punch and eat good food; and should there come a knock at the door, the stranger, benighted on the fells and drawn to the promising lights, would find there a northerner's welcome.
Whistler, English Festivities

We are told that the ancient Egyptians, at the Winter Solstice, used a palm branch containing twelve leaves or shoots to symbolise the "completion of the year". 
Ivor H Evans, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Cassell, London, 1988

When Boxing Day comes round again
O then I shall have money
I'll hoard it up and Box and all
I'll give it to my honey.
Traditional English  

Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.
Alleged last words of St Stephen, whose day this is

Blessed be St Stephen
There's no fast at his Even.
The 'even', or eve, of St Stephen's Day is Christmas, when there is not a fast but a feast. Click for more on the Feast day of St Stephen

Good King Wenceslaus looked out on the feast of Stephen.
When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even.
Brightly shone the moon that night, though the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight, gathering winter fuel.
Christmas carol, 'Good King Wenceslaus'; today is the feast of Stephen; King St Wenceslaus's feast day is September 28 (qv)

St Stephen was a serving-man 
In Herod's royal hall. 
He served him with meat and wine 
That doth to kings befall. 

He was serving him with meat, one day, 
With a boar's head in his hand, 
When he saw a star come from the East 
And over Bethlehem stand ...
From 'St Stephen was a Serving-Man'

Then followeth Saint Stephens day,
   whereon doth every man
His horses jaunt and course abrode,
   as swiftly as he can,
Until they doe extreemly sweate,
   and than they let them blood,
For this being done upon this day,
   they say doth do them good,
And keepes them from all maladies
   and sicknesse through the yeare,
As if that Steven at any time
   took charge of horses heare.
Naogeorgus (1511 - '63), (translated by Barnabe Googe, 1540 - '94)

The inner man is a saint; the outer man is a sinner. That is why we confess in the Creed that the church is holy but pray for forgiveness of sins in the Lord's Prayer.
Martin Luther, church reformer; December 26, 1531

Where ignorance is bliss
'Tis folly to be wise.
Thomas Gray, born on December 26, 1716; Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over.
Ambrose Bierce, who was last heard from on December 26, 1913; An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

Death is a dignitary who when he comes announced is to be received with formal manifestations of respect, even by those most familiar with him.
Ambrose Bierce, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

CYNIC n. A blackguard whose faulty vision causes him to see things as they are, not as they ought to be.
Ambrose Bierce, Devil's Dictionary

Everything that happened to me happened too late ... It was even so with my birth. Slated for Christmas, I was a half hour too late.
Henry Miller, American author born on December 26, 1891; Tropic of Capricorn

Fifty percent of the people in this country don't vote. They simply don't want to be implicated in organized society. With, in most cases, a kind of animal instinct, they know that they cannot really do anything about it, that the participation offered them is a hoax. and even if it weren't, they know that if they don't participate, they aren't implicated, at least not voluntarily. It is for these people, the submerged fifty percent, that Miller speaks.
Kenneth Rexroth, American writer; The Reality of Henry Miller, 'Bird in the Bush'

We don't kick the [expletive] out of them – we send them to other countries so they can kick the [expletive] out of them.
US official explaining how suspected Al Qaeda members are delivered to foreign countries for interrogation, Washington Post, Thursday, December 26, 2002

December 26 is the 360^th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (361^st in leap years), with 5 days remaining.
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Twelvetide

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Day 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12

The first day of Christmas: the 12 Days of Christmas begin  

The twelve days of Christmas owe their origin to the Roman Saturnalia, a festival in honour of Saturn, the god of Agriculture. The first day is December 26 and the twelfth and last is Epiphany, ie, January 6. The Twelve Days have traditionally been a time of festivities, though there are sombre religious days within them.

The already popular British song first appeared in print in 1780, when it was listed as a 'memory-and-forfeits' game in a children's book, Mirth Without Mischief (there were also versions in the European and Scandinavian traditions as early as the 16^th Century). The object of the Twelve Days of Christmas game was to participate in singing the song without mixing up any of the gifts; a mistake could cost a kiss or a sweet.

It's interesting to note that by the twelfth day of Christmas, the true love had cumulatively sent to the singer exactly 364 gifts, or one for each day of the year except Christmas Day. It has been suggested, by William H Riker, Lawrence College, Appleton, Wisconsin, USA (in Journal of American Folklore, LXXII (1959)) that the medieval author was exercising his numerological wit in this old rhyme. Whether a Christmas present was ever sent is not known.

 

Origin of the Twelve Days of Christmas: An Underground catechism  (False)

It's an urban legend  

 

 

When do the Twelve Days of Christmas actually begin and end, and why?

The Romans may have celebrated Saturnalia from December 17 through December 24, but when are the Twelve Days of Christmas? We say they are from December 26 till January 6 inclusive.

Many people believe they are the twelve days preceding December 25, and certainly it's during this period that the famous Christmas song will most often be heard. However, the Twelve Days commence after Christmas and not before.

There seems to be, however, some confusion in books and the mass media and on the Internet as to the precise days on which the festival actually falls, even allowing for the Twelve Days to follow Christmas. Here are some differing conceptions of the dates:

"The twelve days of Christmas begin on Christmas Eve and end on the eve of the Epiphany (January 5th)."   Source

"The twelve days of Christmas begin on Christmas day and end on January 6th, which is called the Epiphany, the day we remember the visit of the Wise Men to Jesus."
Source: Dovedale Baptist Church

" … the days between Christmas Day and the morning of January 6."
Source: Give Us Back Our Twelve Days of Christmas!

"Many of the Christmas festivities used to commence on St. Thomas's Day, December 21, and end on Twelfth Day, or Epiphany, January 6, so-named because it was twelve days after Christmas. Incidentally Twelfth Day is Old Christmas Day."
Source: The Cheshire Magazine

"… the Twelve Days of Christmas which end on January 6th with Twelfth Night."   Source: School of the Seasons

 

The last of these suggestions is the one that Wilson's Almanac also follows. The Twelve Days go from December 26 until January 6 inclusive, for the simple reason that January 6 (Epiphany) has always been known in the English tradition as Twelfth Day. Counting back, Eleventh Day must therefore be January 5 (qv for more), and so on to First Day, December 26. No other explanation that I have seen seems as persuasive.

Similarly, we propose that Twelfth Night customs take place on the night of January 6, not on January 5 (Twelfth Day Eve, or Twelfth Eve) as some suggest (read the reasoning behind this).

One verse of an ancient Pembrokeshire, England 'wren boys' carol traditionally sung on St Stephen's Day is one of many items of evidence that help us date Twelvetide – the Twelve Days of Christmas – as traditionally beginning on December 26 rather than Christmas Day itself, and thus, counting 12 days, the dating of Twelfth Day and Twelfth Night on January 6:

Now Christmas is past, 
Twelvetide is at last, 
And we bid you adieu; 
Great joy to the new. (Rest of song)

Wilson's Almanac Book of Days stands to be corrected if necessary, and I will change all the days' pages between now and January 6, if a persuasive argument to the contrary can be shown. It's a subject that no one seems to be sure of, but the contention that Twelfth Night is the eve of Twelfth Day, and (by counting 12 days backwards) the Twelve Days begin on December 25, seems not to accord with the authorities on the matter. I would be happy – nay, delighted – to hear cogent arguments to the contrary.

Discussed also at January 5 (Epiphany Eve) in the Book of Days, and here

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Click stars for Universe today Cafe Diem! Highly recommended: Folklore of World Holidays by Margaret Read MacDonald Golden Bough Folklore classic Yule Decking the Halls Folklore & traditions of Christmas plants Mao: The Unknown Story By Jung Chang International best-selling exposé Wild Swans By Jung Chang The Winter Solstice The Fires of Yule A Keltelven Guide for Celebrating the Winter Solstice Sabbat Entertaining The Pagan Book of Days Eight Sabbats for Witches Celebrate the Earth A Year of Holidays in the Pagan Tradition Wheel of the Year Be A Goddess The Wiggles - Yule Be Wiggling The Five Biggest Lies Bush Told Us About Iraq The Oxford Dictionary of Saints The Book of Saints The Encyclopedia of Saints Daily Everything Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable Lord of the Rings   To support this project Search by keywords for books, music, computers, software, home and family products and much more.     Search for posters An Inconvenient Truth By Al Gore; DVD & book The Permaculture Home Garden By Linda Woodrow The Corporation Highly recommended DVD A Question of Torture By Alfred McCoy Remotely Controlled: How Television Is Damaging Our Lives and What We Can Do About It What Would Jefferson Do? By Thom Hartmann How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World Pagan Christianity For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire By James Yee Crimes Against Nature : How George W Bush and His Corporate Pals Are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy By Robert F Kennedy, Jr The Price of Loyalty The Torture Debate in America The Culture of the New Capitalism   Lawless World   The Great War for Civilisation By Robert Fisk The God Who Wasn't There A Question of Torture By Alfred McCoy When Corporations Rule the World Alternatives to Economic Globalization Feminism Without Borders Commercialization of Intimate Life By Arlie Russell Hochschild The Skeptic's Dictionary Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them Lucifer Ascending: The Occult in Folklore and Popular Culture Cassell's Dictionary of Superstitions Encyclopedia of Superstitions Philosophy of Popular Superstitions 1853 More books, calendars, T-shirts, mugs, music, posters, etc at   Cafe Diem! Celtic Daily Prayer Dude, Where's My Country? Photo of the day Mother Earth Spirituality Click to promote  your blog or website  another excellent  way we do

Feast day of goddess Nitauqrit (Nitocris; Rhodopis), Queen of Egypt This Egyptian goddess was known as 'The Rosy-cheeked Beauty', builder of the Third or Southern Pyramid. The Greeks gave her the more harmonious name of Rhodopis, which was the exact translation of the characteristic epithet of the Egyptian queen. One day as she bathed in the Nile, an eagle stole one of her gilded sandals and carried it off in the direction of Memphis. There it let it drop in the lap of the king, who was administering justice outdoors. The king, astonished at this event, caused a search to be made throughout the country for the woman to whom it belonged. Rhodopis thus became queen of Egypt, and was allowed to build herself a pyramid; this, as has been frequently remarked, is reminiscent of the story of Cinderella.   Ursids meteor shower (Dec 17 - 26) Birthday of Horus, ancient Egypt    Source St Stephen's Day, a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Czech Republic, Croatia et al Click for Eastern Orthodox liturgical days    Shop saints Boxing Day Boxing Day is a public holiday observed in Australia and many other Commonwealth countries on December 26. In many European countries it is also a holiday. Independence Day, Slovenia Period of Ursids meteor shower ends Wrenboys celebrate Wren in Ireland First day of Junkanoo street parade in the Bahamas (the second day is on the New Year's Day)     This day at the Book of Days is so big I've had to post it in two parts. Click for the next big page of December 26 quotes and customs       1194 Frederick II (d. 1250), Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire 1532 Guilielmus Xylander (d. 1576), German classical scholar 1536 Yi I (Yulgok) of Joseon (d. 1584), Confucian scholar   1716 Thomas Gray (d. 1771), English poet ('Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard') and letter-writer, born at No 41, Cornhill, London . He was not fitted for society because of extreme quietness. His friends knew him as ultra-fastidious. Did not engage in rough games. Had a morbid fear of fire. He had a fire escaped fitted to the outside of his second-storey college room window. The other lads came one night and yelled "Fire!", and laughed when he fled out the window. This caused him to leave St Peter's college, Cambridge.  His poem, 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard', is sometimes said to be the most quoted poem in the English language. He showed it to his friends without speaking of its publication, but his friend Horace Walpole took it to the editor of The Magazine of Magazines, who told Gray he would publish it. This caused the shy Gray to urge Walpole to have it privately printed anonymously, with an advertisement saying that the publication was by an unavoidable accident. This was done, but the magazine editor beat them to it, and the poem was published in February 1751. 1734 George Romney (d. November 15, 1802), English portrait painter 1735 Prince Josias of Coburg (d. 1815), Holy Roman Empire general 1751 Clement Mary Hofbauer (d. 1820), Redemptorist missionary 1780 Mary Fairfax Somerville (d. 1872), UK mathematician 1791 Charles Babbage (d. 1871), English mathematician and inventor of computing machines 1819 E.D.E.N. Southworth (d. 1899), US novelist 1822 Dion Boucicault (d. 1890), Irish actor and playwright   1827 Étienne Léopold Trouvelot (d. April 22, 1895), French artist, astronomer and amateur entomologist. He is most noted for the unfortunate introduction of the Gypsy moth into North America, but he was also an important figure in the science of astronomy. Following a coup d'état by Louis Napoleon in 1852, he fled with his family to the United States. They settled in the town of Medford, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, at the address of 27 Myrtle St, where he supported himself and his family as an artist.  Trouvelot had an interest as an amateur entomologist. In the US, silk-producing moths were being killed off from various diseases. He decided to experiment with cross-breeding these moths with the disease-resistant Gypsy moth from Europe. Ignoring the known problems with this species, in the late 1860s he imported a cluster of Gypsy moth eggs into the country. While attempting to cultivate these eggs on a tree in his back yard, some of the larvae escaped into the nearby woods. He immediately realized the potential problem he had caused and notified some nearby entomologists, but nothing was done. Shortly following this incident Trouvelot lost interest in entomology and turned to astronomy. In this field he could put his skills as an artist to good use by illustrating his observations. His interest in astronomy was apparently aroused in 1870 when he witnessed several auroras. When Joseph Witlock, the director of Harvard College Observatory, saw the quality of his illustrations, he invited Trouvelot onto their staff in 1782. In 1875 he was invited to use the US Naval Observatory's the 26-inch refractor for a year. During the course of his life he produced about 7,000 quality astronomical illustrations. 15 of his most superb pastel illustrations were published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1881. He was particularly interested in the Sun, and discovered "veiled spots" in 1875. Besides his illustrations, he also published about 50 scientific papers. By 1882, Trouvelot returned to France and joined the Meudon Observatory. This was a few years before the magnitude of the problem caused by his Gypsy Moth release became apparent to the local government of Massachusetts. He died in Meudon, France. The Gypsy Moth became considered a serious pest by 1898, having spread to Virginia in the south and to the states near the Great Lakes in the west. They remain a problem pest up to the present day. Source: Wikipedia Trouvelot and the UFOs On August 29, 1871 at the Meudon Observatory in France, Trouvelot saw several flying objects ... (read on at August 29 in the Book of Days). Trouvelot's chromolithographs    Gyspy moth in North America   1837 George Dewey (d. 1917), admiral in the United States Navy 1853 René Bazin (d. 1932), French novelist 1868 Ernest Lane (Ernie Lane; d. June 18, 1954), English-born Australian journalist, younger brother of William Lane; associate of Edwin Brady, SA Rosa, Alfred Yewen and Larry Petrie. His memoirs are a source of much interesting information about the early Australian labor movement. Along with people such as George Black, WG Spence, and Henry Lawson he was a member of the radical fraternity Knights of Labor. In 1903 Lane with his wife and children went to Cosme, the breakaway colony from New Australia. Lawson & Co: associations with Henry and Louisa Lawson 1891 Henry Miller (d. 1980), American writer (Tropic of Cancer; Tropic of Capricorn)   1893 Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung; Mao Tse Tung; d. 1976), Chinese Communist dictator, greatest mass murderer in history (though some claim his communist ally, Josef Stalin). Figures of between 35 and 100 million murders are quoted for the Chinese Communist holocaust. Hollywood seems assiduously to have neglected, and determined to ignore, this fact, when one notes the ceaseless multitude of movies about Adolf Hitler's awful, but lesser, gruesome activities. People of goodwill and a little historical knowledge might well ask ask why this should be so. The lower figure for Mao's atrocities does not include the figure of 27 million who died as a direct result of Mao's deliberately engineered and misnamed 'Great Leap Forward' famine of 1959 - '63. Beat beat beat Beat down Liu Shaochi Defend defend defend Defend protect Chairman Mao Liu Shaochi Opposes Chairman Mao Wang Guang Mei  [Liu Shaochi's wife] You love fetid beauty Children's jump-rope rhyme from the Cultural Revolution period Mao's campaign against ideological opponents   China's Bloody Century Incidents in the 'Cultural Revolution'    A Memorial to Victims of Communism CASUALTIES OF CHINESE COMMUNISM, 1949-1987 Period   Years   Deaths Totalitarianization   1949-1953   8,427,000 Collectivization   1954-1958   7,474,000 Retrenchment   1959-1963   10,729,000 Cultural Revolution   1964-1975   7,731,000 Liberalization   1976-1987   874,000 TOTAL   1949-1987   35,236,000 Source: China's Bloody Century: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900 by R.J. Rummel (New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publications, 1991)   Mao's 'Cultural Revolution' unleashed massive horror Student Attacks Against Teachers: The Revolution of 1966 "Given the long-standing tradition of reverence for teachers and of respect for the institutions of education throughout Chinese history, the events of the summer of 1966 in which students tortured teachers in Chinese schools are unusual and can be considered a 'revolution,' if we define a revolution merely by the degree of departure from accepted custom. Eventually, these events played an important role in the 'Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution' that Mao Zedong launched and led from 1966 until he died in 1976 ... "These violent attacks on campuses, however, have not been reported for various reasons. In the summer of 1966, when these events occurred, not a word concerning the violence was ever mentioned in the Chinese media, despite the fact that the media enthusiastically hailed the 'Red Guards' -- which had arisen nation-wide in early August of 1966 -- and reported their activities as headline news almost everyday. From the newspapers, magazines and documentary films published by Chinese authorities at that time, we can see pictures in which millions of teenagers wearing Red Guard armbands march through Tiananmen Square, with some Red Guards leaders applauding Mao Zedong who stands on the top of Tiananmen Gate. Against the red background of the red wall of the Gate, Mao's little red books, red flags, and red slogans, stood thousands of young, jubilant Red Guards forming a powerful, distinctive image of the Revolution. The bloody side of the Revolution was lost in the spectacular, uplifting image the media created. Nor were the deaths or torture reported by the Red Guard publications of that period. Aside from these two kinds of materials, there are scarcely any private records left from that period. Unfortunately for today's scholars, government-controlled media and the writings of Red Guards have become the primary and, in fact, almost the only primary source for research on this period of the Revolution ... "In the afternoon of August 5, 1966, some tenth grade students at the Girls Middle School attached to Beijing Teachers University started 'beating the black gang' (da hei bang), a group comprised of three vice principals and two deans (there was no principal.) Many students came to join them. The students splashed ink on the clothes of these five, forced them to wear 'high hats,' hung boards with their names crossed out by red Xs on their necks, forced them to kneel on the ground, hit them with nail-spiked clubs, scalded them with boiling water, and so on. After three hours of torture, the first vice principal, Bian Zhongyun, lost consciousness and was put into a garbage cart. Two hours later she was sent to the hospital across the street. There, she was later found to have been dead for some time. Another vice principal, Hu Zhitao, suffered bone fractures. The others were also severely injured. Bian Zhongyun, 50 years old, who had been working for this middle school for seventeen years, was the first educator to be beaten to death by students in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution." Source Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang, author of Wild Swans   1903 Elisha Cook Jr (d. 1995), actor 1914 Richard Widmark, American actor (The Alamo; Madigan) 1921 Donald Horne (d. September 8, 2005), Australian journalist, writer, social critic, and academic who became one of Australia's best known public intellectuals. Horne published three novels and more then twenty volumes of history, memoir and political and cultural analysis. He also edited The Bulletin, The Observer and Quadrant. His best known work was The Lucky Country (1964), an evaluation of Australian society that questioned many traditional attitudes. A late starter, the popular Australian author first had a book published at 42. 1921 Steve Allen (d. 2000), actor, comedian, composer, author 1927 Alan King (d. 2004), comedian, actor 1939 Fred Schepisi, Australian film director (Six Degrees of Separation; A Cry in the Dark aka Evil Angels; Roxanne) 1940 Phil Spector, music producer 1942 Gray Davis, former Governor of California 1945 John Walsh, talk show host, television presenter 1949 José Ramos Horta, East Timorean Human Rights activist, Foreign Minister of East Timor from independence in 2002 1956 David Sedaris, essayist 1971 Jared Leto, actor   Phew!! Have a rest before the big This day in history section Send free e-cards to friends & family for celebrations & any topic Do you forget birthdays and anniversaries? Schedule your cards to be sent during the coming year. Zodiac birthday Free astrology e-cards Christmas Around The World [ Dec 25 ] Birthdays Hanukkah [ Varies ] Kwanzaa [ Dec 26 - Jan 1 ] Varies Full Moon Day Varies Friday the 13th Varies Buddhist e-cards Varies Christian e-cards Varies Hindu e-cards Varies Jewish e-cards Varies Muslim e-cards Varies Pagan e-cards Varies Peace e-cards Varies Friendship e-cards Varies Hanukkah December 21 Yule 21 World Peace Day 21 Yalda 21 Look At The Bright Side Day 21 Crossword Puzzle Day 22 Christmas Tree Light Day 23 Popcorn Popping Day 23 Two Days To Go 23 Feast Of The Radishes 24 Eggnog Day 25 Christmas 25 Christmas Around The World 26 Boxing Day 26 Candy Cane Day 26 Coffee Percolator Day 27 Fruitcake Day 28 Chocolate Day 28 Return A Gift For Cold Hard Cash Day 28 Call-A-Friend Day 29 Ice Skating Day 29 Bowling Day 29 Enjoying ESP Day 30 Day Before New Year's Eve Day 31 New Year's Eve January 1 New Year 1 Bad Hangover Day 1 Universal Hour Of Peace 1 Daydreamers' Day 1 Solemnity Of Mary 1 Bloody Mary Day 1 New Year's Day Parade (Wisconsin, USA) 2 Science Fiction Day 2 Get Over It Day 3 Drinking Straw Day 3 Start Your New Year's Resolution Day 3 Festival Of Sleep Day ... More Events Visit the Blogmanac, where today's Almanac is 'live' And I hope you will sign my GuestMap Your family and friends will get a kick when they hear their own name being sung in 'Happy Birthday'!! You can schedule your singing cards in advance, and even add your own face to funny animations. (Pay cards)         If you are enjoying this page, click to receive similar items daily with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac ezine Webmaster, webmasters free content, or else articles at very reasonable rates Pip Wilson's articles are available for your website or publication, on application. Further details   268 Death of Pope Dionysius. 418 Death of Pope Zosimus. 1458 Death of Arthur III, the Justicier, Duke of Brittany. 1481 The Battle of Westbroek: Holland defeated the troops of Utrecht. 1530 Death of Babur (b. 1483?), first of the Mogul dynasty. 1606 Shakespeare's King Lear was performed in the Court of England. 1620 The ghastly crimes of Erzsébet Báthory (Elizabeth Bathory; 1560 - 1614) were uncovered. 1620 American colonies: The Pilgrim Fathers landed at what became New Plymouth in Massachusetts. 1624 Death of Simon Marius, German astronomer. Halley's Comet, seen near the Thames River, London, early 1759 1758 Halley's Comet appeared, as predicted in 1705 by Edmond Halley. "In 1705, Edmond Halley found that the comet he had observed in 1682 was on an almost identical orbit with the two comets of 1607 and 1531, and concluded that these had been three apparitions of one and the same comet, which orbits the sun on a highly elliptical orbit with a period of about 76 years. Therefore, he predicted its return in late 1758 or early 1759. "In 1758 and 1759, astronomers, and in particular the young Charles Messier, took considerable effort to find the comet's predicted return. The comet was eventually found by the German amateur astronomer Johann Georg Palitzsch on the night of December 26-27, 1758."   Source 1771 Death of Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher. 1776 American Revolutionary War: The British were defeated in the Battle of Trenton. 1790 King Louis XVI of France gave his public assent to Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution. 1792 The final trial of Louis XVI of France began in Paris. 1793 Battle of Geisberg: The French defeated the Austrians. 1793 The wedding of Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Prussia and Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. 1806 Battle of Pultusk, an indecisive battle between Napoleon and the Russians. 1812 USA: Delaware and Chesapeake were blockaded during the War of 1812. 1861 Confederate diplomatic envoys James Mason and John Slidell were freed by the United States government, thus heading off a possible war between the United States and Britain (see December 21). 1862 Mankato, Minnesota, USA: Convicted of murder and rape, 38 Dakota people (also called the Santee Sioux) were hanged after a brief rebellion. A total of 303 were sentenced to be hanged but President Abraham Lincoln pardoned 265. This was the largest mass execution in US history. "The mass execution was performed for all to see from a single scaffold platform ... Chief Cut Nose was convicted of being involved in the attack on New Ulm, Minnesota, and he was one of the thirty-eight hanged. The bodies of the Indians were pronounced dead by the regimental surgeons and then they were buried in a long trench, which was dug in the sand of the riverbank. Before they were buried, however, a 'Dr. Sheardown' supposedly removed some of the Indians' skin. Little boxes containing the skin were sold in Mankato after the hangings."   Source "W.W. Mayo, who had a practice in Le Sueur, joined other doctors and townspeople taking wagons to the grave site and loading the frozen bodies. They were sold to various colleges and medical facilities — as far away as Chicago — to be used as medical cadavers."   Source Minnesota's Uncivil War   Dakota War of 1862    Detailed history of trials, with documents    More 1865 James Nason patented the coffee percolator. 1869 Death of Jean Louis Marie Poiseuille (b. 1797), French physiologist. 1890 Death of Heinrich Schliemann (b. 1822), German archaeologist. 1898 Marie and Pierre Curie announced the isolation of radium. 1900 August Strindberg's play Dance of Death premiered in Sweden. 1904 Russia's Tsar Nicholas II decreed that, following a long period of unrest in Russia, there would be improving conditions for the people, including the suffering peasants. 1906 Australia: The Story of the Kelly Gang (about Australian bushranger Ned Kelly and his gang), directed by Charles Tait, premiered at Melbourne's Athaenaeum Hall. It is sometimes called 'the world's first feature length film', preceding DW Griffith's The Birth of a Nation by nine years – but should we forget Soldiers of the Cross (made by the Salvation Army in Australia, which premiered on September 13, 1900, fully six years before Tait's movie)? Filmed at the Tait family's Chartersville Estate in the Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg, the 70-minute Kelly film toured Australia for nine years (it also toured New Zealand and Britain) and was an enormous success, helping to shape the bushranger's legend. Today, only fragments survive. "In 1906 Dan Barry and Charles Tait of Melbourne produced and directed The Story of the Kelly Gang, a silent film that ran continuously for a breathtaking 80 minutes, definitely the world's first feature film. It wasn't until 1911 that other countries began to make feature films. By this time Australia had made 16 full length feature films."   Source Ned Kelly online    Film in Australia    Pix    More    More    Ned Kelly's Last Stand, in the Scriptorium Highwaymen, outlaws, bushrangers, pirates, gangsters, etc in the Book of Days     1907 Clashes between different factions led to the suspension of the first session of the Indian National Congress.   1908 'The Fight of the Century': I very rarely cover competitive sports in the Almanac, as they get plenty of coverage elsewhere and I don't believe them conducive to emotional health or inter-communal harmony. However, on this occasion (and it is Boxing Day, after all) I will mention a remarkable event: the 1908 World Heavyweight Boxing Championship fought a long way from home by two Americans – one black, one white –  in a 10,000-seat stadium especially constructed for the bout. The building was meant to be torn down afterwards, but lasted another 62 years and even Bob Dylan, The Who and the Beatles played it. The stadium was more than packed full for its premiere function. Twenty thousand boxing fans watched the Jack Johnson/Tommy Burns fight at The Stadium, Rushcutters Bay, Sydney, Australia (the first time ever in boxing history a black man – in this case Johnson – had been allowed to fight for the World Heavyweight Championship, boxing's most prestigious prize). The fight was covered by telegraph for the New York Herald by American author Jack London (The Call of the Wild), who was recuperating in Sydney from a double fistula operation, which interrupted his South Pacific wanderings. The fight lasted fourteen rounds before being stopped by the police. The title was awarded to Johnson as a technical knockout by the referee. The Stadium was meant to be knocked down after the fight, but remained in operation for another 62 years, featuring many acts such as Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, The Who and the Beatles. The Sydney Stadium's last gig was The Four Tops, supported by The Flying Circus, on June 1, 1970. "Burns didn't want to fight a Black, doing all he could to avoid the fight. He was run to ground Christmastime 1908 in Sydney, Australia by the not-to-be-denied Jack Johnson ... The success of Johnson was an affront to Whites in general and the Irish, whose representative he defeated, in particular. The idea of the Great White Hope arose at this time. The only Hope the Irish could come up with was to call the undefeated Jim Jeffries, who was therefore still the "real" champ, out of retirement."   Source "On Boxing Day 1908, Burns defended his heavyweight title against the legendary Johnson -- the first African-American to try for a world title in the class -- at the Stadium. This fight provoked tremendous interest in Sydney for a number of reasons. There was a current fad for all things American, due in part to the recent visit of the United States 'Great White Fleet'; there was also the 'novelty factor' of Johnson's ethnic background, since he was almost certainly one of the first African-Americans to become known by name in Australia; underlying this were racist anxieties in some quarters about Burns' possible defeat and what that might mean for the so-called "white race". All this combined to draw a huge crowd to the fight. "According to the Australian Encyclopaedia, Johnson was paid £1,500 but when he saw the huge crowd in the Stadium on the night, he refused to go on until he was paid more money. Macintosh then allegedly drew a gun and forced Johnson to enter the ring. The fight was stopped by police in Round 14, when Burns was knocked out, and the referee awarded the fight on points to Johnson."   Source A pardon for Jack Johnson? "While performing research for his documentary on Jack Johnson, filmmaker Ken Burns came to the conclusion that racism, and not justice, was the cause of the incarceration of the world's first black heavyweight boxing champion nearly a century ago."   Source Lee Gordon "In the late Fifties Gordon made his name with his legendary series of 'Big Show' concerts -- star-studded events headlined by big American names, with Australian acts supporting. Through these shows, Gordon almost single-handedly launched the first wave of rock in Australia, touring a host of groundbreaking rock'n'roll and R&B acts including Little Richard, The Everly Brothers, Bill Haley & The Comets, Duane Eddy, Eddie Cochrane, Johnny Cash, Jimmie Rodgers, Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly & The Crickets, LaVern Baker, Big Joe Turner and Chuck Berry."   Source More on Tommy Burns     1911 More than 50 people in a Berlin municipal shelter died of poisoning. 1913 American author Ambrose Bierce, travelling with Pancho Villa's army, wrote his last letter and was never heard from again. 1916 Joseph Joffre was made Marshal of France. 1925 The Communist Party of India was founded. 1925 Turkey adopted the Gregorian Calendar. 1931 USA: The Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity was founded. 1933 Tokyo, Japan: The Nissan Motor Company was organized. 1933 FM radio was patented. 1943 The Allies sank the giant German battlecruiser Scharnhorst. 1944 The play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams was first publicly performed. 1944 American troops repelled German forces at Bastogne. 1945 Australia: The first Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race was held. One of the world's big races, it is now an annual Boxing Day event and watched by millions on TV. The commencement of the race draws huge harbourside crowds in Sydney. Sydney culture   Australian culture (now there are two oxymorons for you!) 1945 The CFP franc and CFA franc were created. 1946 The Flamingo Hotel opened in Las Vegas, USA. 1947 About 66 cm (26 in) of snow fell in 16 hours in New York City. 1948 Cardinal Mindszenty was arrested in Hungary.   1966 The first Kwanzaa celebration was organized in Los Angeles, California, by Dr Maulana Karenga, chairman of Black Studies at California State University at Long Beach. He established Kwanzaa as a non-religious African-American holiday to celebrate family, community and culture for seven days, today through to New Year's Day. After the Watts riots in Los Angeles, Karenga searched for ways to bring African Americans together as a community. He founded US, a cultural organization, and researched African 'first fruit' harvest celebrations. He combined aspects of several, such as those of the Ashanti and those of the Zulu, to form the basis of Kwanzaa. The name Kwanzaa is derived from the phrase matunda ya kwanza, which means 'first fruits' in Swahili. Each family celebrates Kwanzaa in its own way, but celebrations often include songs and dances, African drums, storytelling, poetry reading, and a large traditional meal. Source: The Daily Bleed    More on Kwanzaa in the Book of Days   1973 Comet Kohoutek reached perihelion but gave not as great a display as expected. 1973 Soyuz 13 landed. 1974 Salyut 4 was launched. 1975 Tupolev Tu-144 went into service in Soviet Union. 1979 Soviet Special forces troops took over the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. 1980 Aeroflot put the Ilyushin Il-86 into service. 1982 TIME magazine's Man of the Year was for the first time given to a non-human; a computer. 1984 Princess Astrid of Belgium married Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este. 1986 The first long-running American television soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, aired its final episode after thirty-five years on the air. 1988 Start of the Nanjing Anti-African protests. 1990 King Michael of Romania returned to Switzerland after spending less than 12 hours in his homeland. He was hoping to re-establish himself again after having been in exile for 43 years, but Romanian authorities would not allow him to return till after elections. 1991 The Supreme Soviet met and formally dissolved the USSR. 1996 JonBenét Ramsey, a six-year-old ' beauty queen', was found murdered in her family's basement in Boulder, Colorado, USA. 1996 The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification went into force. 1998 Iraq announced its intention to fire upon US and British warplanes that patrolled the northern and southern 'no-fly zones'. 1998 Severe gales over Ireland, northern England, and southern Scotland caused widespread disruption, and blackouts in Northern Ireland and southern Scotland. 1999 On December 26 - 28, France and countries to its east were hit by severe storms and rain. More than 100 people were killed, with the storm causing extensive damage to property, trees and the French national power grid. 2001 The Christmas 2001 bushfires continued burning throughout the state of New South Wales, Australia, including on the outskirts of the capital, Sydney, where on Christmas day the sky had become darkened with smoke. 2002 French Raelian scientist Brigitte Boisselier said that Clonaid has delivered, through cesarean section, the first of a supposed five clone babies. 2003 A major earthquake devastated the southeast Iranian city of Bam, with up to 43,300 killed, and 90,000 homeless; the citadel of Arg-é Bam was destroyed. 2004 The 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and tsunamis: A major earthquake west of Sumatra, Indonesia caused devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, The Maldives and many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea earthquake of moment magnitude 8.9 that struck the Indian Ocean off the western coast of northern Sumatra on December 26, 2004 00:58:50 UTC (or 07:58:50 local time in Jakarta and Bangkok). It was the largest earthquake in the world since the Good Friday Earthquake which struck Alaska in 1964, and the fifth largest since 1900.  At least 280,000 people were killed by the resulting tsunamis, which were as high as 10 m (33 ft) in some locations. The earthquake came just three days after a magnitude 8.1 earthquake in a completely uninhabited region off Macquarie Island near Antarctica.  Source: Wikipedia The stock exchanges of Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand, the five countries in South-East Asia affected by the tsunami and that have stock exchanges, went into an orgy of celebration, for all the money that would enter those nations from the West.   Tomorrow: Did Darwin convert to Christianity?    Main calendar | Yesterday | Tomorrow | Search   12 Days of Christmas (Politically Correct Style) On the 12th day of the Eurocentrically imposed midwinter festival, my significant other gave to me: TWELVE males reclaiming their inner warrior through ritual drumming. ELEVEN pipers piping (plus the 18-member pit orchestra made up of members in good standing of the Musicians Equity Union as called for in their union contract even though they will not be asked to play a note...) TEN melanin-deprived testosterone-poisoned scions of the patriarchal ruling class system leaping, NINE persons engaged in rhythmic self-expression, EIGHT economically disadvantaged female persons stealing milk-products from enslaved Bovine-Americans, SEVEN endangered swans swimming on federally protected wetlands, SIX enslaved fowl-Americans producing stolen nonhuman animal products, FIVE golden symbols of culturally sanctioned enforced domestic incarceration, (NOTE: after member of the Animal Liberation Front threatened to throw red paint at my computer, the calling birds, French hens and partridge have been reintroduced to their native habitat. To avoid further animal-American enslavement, the remaining gift package has been revised.) FOUR hours of recorded whale songs, THREE deconstructionist poets, TWO Sierra Club calendars printed on recycled processed tree carcasses and a Spotted Owl activist chained to an old-growth pear tree ... Wikipedia and David Brown's prodigious Daily Bleed are both excellent resources that aid my research. I frequently make use of their generously liberal 'fair use', 'copyleft' and 'anti-copyright' policies, with much gratitude. © My own copyright policy is also liberal, but as this is my livelihood, conditions apply. Read more about today at Wilson's Blogmanac

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