Who killed Kurt Cobain, first scalping in America, Spring Heeled Jack

 

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Any white person who brought the element of civilization had the right to take over this continent.
Ayn Rand, American author. Possibly the first recorded instance of scalping in the Americas took place on February 20, 1725

I am convinced that those societies (as the Indians) which live without government enjoy in their general mass an infinitely greater degree of happiness than those who live under the European governments. Among the former, public opinion is in the place of law, and restrains morals as powerfully as laws ever did anywhere. Among the latter, under pretence of governing they have divided their nations into two classes, wolves and sheep. I do not exaggerate.
Thomas Jefferson, American philosopher, statesman

Somewhere In Time is the story of a love which transcends time, What Dreams May Come is the story of a love which transcends death. ... I feel that they represent the best writing I have done in the novel form.
Richard Matheson, American author born on February 20, 1926; introduction to an Omnibus edition of his work, as quoted in Somewhere in Time (1998), pp. 318 - 319

I think What Dreams May Come is the most important (read effective) book I've written. It has caused a number of readers to lose their fear of death – the finest tribute any writer could receive.
Richard Matheson; as quoted in 'Ed Gorman Calling: We Talk to Richard Matheson' (interview originally published in Filmfax magazine in 2004)

Kurt Cobain 

Kurt Cobain

Something black and of the night had come crawling out of the Middle Ages. Something with no framework or credulity, something that had been consigned, fact and figure, to the pages of imaginative literature. Vampires were passé; Summers' idylls or Stoker's melodramatics or a brief inclusion in the Britannica or grist for the pulp writer's mill or raw material for the B-film factories. A tenuous legend passed from century to century.
  Well, it was true.
Richard Matheson; I Am Legend (1954), Ch. 3

Matheson gets closer to his characters than anyone else in the field of fantasy today. ... You don't read a Matheson story — you experience it.
Robert Bloch, about Richard Matheson

Our new economic approach is rooted in ideas which stress the importance of macro-economics, post neo-classical endogenous growth theory and the symbiotic relationships between growth and investment, and people and infrastructure.
Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, born on February 21, 1951; speech at an economic seminar, September 27, 1994; as quoted by Michael White, 'The gift of tired tongues', The Guardian, September 30, 1994; and by Norman Macrae, 'You've never had it so incoherent', Sunday Times, October 2, 1994

I'm going to be a superstar musician, kill myself and go out in a flame of glory.
Kurt Cobain (born on February 20, 1967) as a teenager, to friends. Quoted in Cross, Charles R, Heavier than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain, Hodder and Stoughton, 2001

Kurt Cobain will not be remembered as the John Lennon of his generation. He will be remembered as the Sid Vicious of his generation – a loser.
John McLaughlin

 

 

February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 314 days remaining (315 in leap years).
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The Five Biggest Lies Bush Told Us About Iraq

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Lucifer Ascending: The Occult in Folklore and Popular Culture


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Feast day of Blessed Wulfric (Ulric; Ulrick; Ulfric) of Haselbury, England

Blessed (he was never canonized) Wulfric, who died at Haselbury Plucknett, Somerset, England, on this day 1154, was born circa 1080 at Compton Martin near Bristol. He became a priest, and kept dogs and hawks for sport, till he met a beggar who asked for alms. When Wulfric said he didn't know if he had anything to give, the beggar said "Look in thy purse, and you shall find twopence halfpenny." He found as he was told and gave it to the beggar, who prophesied that Wulfric would become a saint.

He was a hermit, fasting often. "His daintiest food was oaten-bread and water-gruel", wrote a chronicler. Those who sought his advice had to knock on his window and converse with him through the window of his cell.

Wulfric never slept unless he could not stay awake, and slept leaning against a wall. Waking up, he would chastize his body for being so lazy. After a hair-shirt became too comfortable, he changed it for an iron coat of mail. In winter he sat in a tub of cold water reciting psalms. 

He shortened his coat of mail, distributing the small rings of metal to the people, and they were cured by the metal. It was even said that he cut the chain mail with scissors as if it were linen. Envying such rare goodness, a demon attacked him till the apparition of a virgin stopped it. 

The joints of his iron coat dissolved and it miraculously fell down around his knees. Upon this he said he would die on the following Saturday, and this indeed came to pass. Or, so it is said.

He is venerated at Haselbury Plucknett (mentioned in the 11th-Century Domesday Book as Halberge, meaning 'the hazel tree hill', from the Old English haesel and beorg; the suffix was acquired later when it was held by Alan de Plugenet c. 1265), Somerset, England, where he is buried in the cell in which he lived, which is now the site of the church's vestry.

Wulfric had the gift of prophecy, was frequently visited by King Stephen of England, and purportedly predicted the death of Stephen's uncle, King Henry I of England. He also foretold that his own death and burial would cause conflict, and as if to make the prognostication come true, the Cistercians laid claim to Wulfric's relics, as did the monks of Montacute Priory, who had been feeding him and attempted to seize his body by force.  However, the saint was unaffiliated with any religious order. Wulfric was a very popular saint during the Middle Ages, and his tomb was visited by many pilgrims.

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Parentalia, ancient Rome  (Feb 13 - 21)

Shiwasu Matsuri, Mikado Jinja, Nango, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan (Jan 20 - Feb 20)

Sounkyo Ice Festival, Sounkyo Onsen (spa), Hokkaido, Japan (Jan 29 - Mar 5)

Powamu, Pueblo/Hopi purification ceremony, (Feb 12 - 28)  

Feast day of St Amata of Assisi

Feast day of St Bolcan of Derken

Feast day of St Eleutherius of Tournai, bishop and martyr

Feast day of St Elizabeth of Mantua

Feast day of St Eucherius, bishop of Orleans

Feast day of St Falco

Feast day of St Jacinta Marto

Saint MildredFeast day of St Mildred, virgin abbess in Thanet
(Navelwort, Cynoglossum omphalodes, is today's plant, dedicated to this saint.)
Mildred was the first abbess of Minster, in the Isle of Thanet, an abbey founded in 670 by King Egbert as a commemoration for having murdered his two nephews, Etheldred and Ethelbright; to which satisfaction he was "miraculously terrified, by seeing a ray of bright light dart from the heavens upon their grave" (Ivor H Evans, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Cassell, London, 1988).

Mildred was the daughter of Merewalh, King of Mercia, and Saint Ermenburga of Thanet; sister of Saint Milburga and Saint Mildgytha.

Feast day of St Leo of Catania

Feast day of St Sadoth, bishop of Seleucia and Ctesipphon, with 128 companions, martyrs

Feast day of Ss Tyrannio, Zenobius, and others, martyrs in Phoenicia

Feast day of St Winnoc (exaltation of)

Click for Eastern Orthodox liturgical days    Shop saints

Goddess month of Moura commences

Native Agents Day   Source: The Daily Bleed

National Day of Solidarity with Muslim, Arab and South Asian Immigrants, USA   Source

According to custom, a good day for planting your beans (but check yer moon phases)    Source

 

 

 

1751 Johann Heinrich Voß (d. 1826), German poet

1757 John 'Mad Jack' Fuller (d. 1834), philanthropist and patron of the arts and sciences

Émile Deschamps1791 Émile Deschamps (pictured; d. April 23, 1871), French poet, one of the chiefs of the Romantic school; his experience with three plum puddings is a famous story of synchronicity often told, including by the psychologist, Carl Jung:

"From the book: Coincidences In The Unknown, 1902, Camille Flammarion tells of the experience of his friend, the poet Emile Deschamps. In his childhood, at a school in Orleans, Deschamps shared a table with a certain M. de Fortgibu, who had returned from England with a taste for plum puddings, then unknown in France. He insisted that Deschamps try one. Ten years later Deschamps passed a restaurant and saw a plum pudding being prepared inside. His early taste, long forgotten, urged him to enter and ask for a slice; but the pudding was reserved for another, and Deschamps was obliged to beg the favour from this stranger. It turned out to be M. de Fortgibu, and both were astonished at meeting again for the second time over the same dish. Many years passed again, and Deschamps was invited to a dinner party which featured an English plum pudding; and Deschamps delighted his hosts with the tale of his extraordinary encounter with de Fortgibu. They all joked about the possibility of the old man turning up. During the meal he really did. De Fortgibu had also been invited out to dinner, but by the occupant of another apartment in the building, and had lost his way. 'Three times in my life have I eaten plum pudding, and three times have I seen M. de Fortgibu!' said Deschamps. 'My hair stood up on my head. A fourth time I should feel capable of any thing ... or nothing!'"   Source

1839 Rev. Benjamin Waugh (d. 1908), founder of NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children)

1844 Ludwig Boltzmann (d. 1906), physicist

1844 Joshua Slocum (d. 1909), seaman and adventurer

1848 Edward Henry Harriman (d. 1909), American railway executive

 

1872 The Right Honourable William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp KG PC, (d. November 15, 1938), British politician, succeeded his father as Earl Beauchamp in 1891, and was mayor of Worcester at age 23. A progressive in his ideas, he was surprised to be offered the post of Governor of New South Wales in May 1899, where he became a patron of the Australian writer Henry Lawson. Though good at the job, he was unpopular in the colony, and Beauchamp returned to Britain in 1900, where he joined the Liberal Party.

On July 26, 1902, he married Lady Lettice Mary Elizabeth Grosvenor, granddaughter of the 1st Duke of Westminster. They had three sons and four daughters between 1903 and 1916.

Beauchamp was Lord Steward of the Household to King Edward VII and was made a Privy Counsellor in 1906. He served in the Liberal Government as Lord President of the Council from June to November 1910, First Commissioner of Works from 1910 to 1914, Lord President again from 1914 to 1915 and was Liberal Leader in the House of Lords from 1924, supporting the failing party with his substantial fortune.

Beauchamp was made Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire in 1911, carried the Sword of State at the coronation of King George V, was made Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in 1913 and a Knight of the Garter in 1914. He was also Chancellor of London University, a Six Master (Governor of RGS Worcester) and Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms.

In 1931, he was 'outed' as homosexual to the King and Queen by his violently Tory brother-in-law, the Duke of Westminster, who hoped to ruin the Liberal Party through Beauchamp. Homosexuality was a criminal offence at the time, and the King was horrified, saying "I thought men like that shot themselves." There was no public scandal, but Lord Beauchamp resigned all his offices, except the Wardenship of the Cinque Ports, and went into exile on the Continent. He died of cancer in New York, aged 66.

Lord Beauchamp is generally supposed to have been the model for Lord Marchmain in Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited.

Source: Wikipedia    Lawson & Co: associations with Henry and Louisa Lawson

 

1887 Carl Ebert (d. 1980), German theatre and opera producer and administrator

1887 Vincent Massey (d. 1967), Governor-General of Canada

1902 Ansel Adams (d. 1984), photographer

1904 Alexei Kosygin (d. 1980), Premier of the Soviet Union

1909 Heinz Erhardt (d. 1979), German comedian

1912 Pierre Boulle (d. 1994), author

1924 Gloria Vanderbilt, jeans designer and entrepreneur

1925 Robert Altman, film director

1925 Heinz Kluncker, labor union leader

1926 Richard Matheson, American author (Somewhere In Time; What Dreams May Come) and screenwriter, typically of fantasy, horror, and science fiction

1927 Sidney Poitier, American (born in Miami while Bahamian parents were visiting) actor, the first black actor to win an Oscar, for Lilies of the Field

1937 Nancy Wilson, singer

1941 Buffy Sainte-Marie, singer

1943 Mike Leigh, director

1946 Brenda Blethyn, actress

1946 Jerome Geils of the J Geils Band

1947 Peter Strauss, actor

1951 Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

1954 Anthony Stewart Head, actor

 

Patty Hearst as Tania

1954 Patty Hearst, socialite, American heiress and sometime actress, who was kidnapped in 1974 by the Symbionese Liberation Army and then engaged in bank robberies with her captors

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1966 Cindy Crawford, model

 

1967 Kurt Cobain, Nirvana lead singer and de facto head of the grunge generation, found by Seattle, Washington, USA, authorities to have committed suicide on April 5, 1994 by putting a shotgun to his head and pulling the trigger, at his Seattle home.

Though the suicide verdict was accepted as the official version, it soon became apparent that his reported suicide was not an open and shut case.

Kurt and Courtney, a documentary by British filmmaker Nick Broomfield (Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer, Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam), explored allegations that Courtney Love, Cobain's widow, arranged her husband's death. Love blocked permission for Broomfield to use any of Cobain's music and ultimately had the film pulled from the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.

In the words of Tom Grant, "The events surrounding the death of Kurt Cobain are filled with lies, contradictions in logic, and countless inconsistencies." Grant is a California state licensed private investigator and former detective with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, who, on April 3, 1994, was hired by Courtney Love, (who was in Los Angeles at the time), to locate her husband after he left a drug rehab centre in Marina Del Rey, California. Grant believes Love hired him to make it look as though she was concerned about her missing husband. Grant's website explores the case.

'Kurt Cobain Was Murdered' Yahoo! Group    Justice for Kurt Cobain

 

1975 Brian Littrell, musician (Backstreet Boys)

1985 Yulia, half of Russian pop group t.A.T.u.

 

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1171 Death of Conan IV (b. 1138), Duke of Brittany.

1194 Death of Tancred, King of Sicily.

1431 Death of Pope Martin V.

1472 Orkney and Shetland were annexed to the crown of Scotland.

1547 Edward VI of England was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.

1579 Death of Nicholas Bacon (b. 1509), English politician.

1626 Death of John Dowland (b. 1563), composer and lutenist.

1724 The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, took place in London.

1725 Possibly the first reported case of white men scalping Native Americans took place in New Hampshire colony.

Ten sleeping Indians were scalped by Captain Lovewell and troops at Wakefield (in what became New Hampshire, USA) for scalp bounty. This is widely believed to be the first recorded instance of scalping, which some authorities insist was introduced to the Americas by Europeans. In 1820, an Allegheny Seneca chieftain named Cornplanter claimed that the natives were peaceful until Europeans came. However, other authorities show evidence that scalping existed in the Americas centuries before European colonization.

Scalping was practised by the ancient Scythians of Eurasia. Herodotus, the Greek historian, wrote of the Scythians in 440 BCE: "The Scythian soldier scrapes the scalp clean of flesh and softening it by rubbing between the hands, uses it thenceforth as a napkin. The Scyth is proud of these scalps and hangs them from his bridle rein; the greater the number of such napkins that a man can show, the more highly is he esteemed among them. Many make themselves cloaks by sewing a quantity of these scalps together."

"The archeological evidence, however, suggests that scalping did in fact originate in the Americas, and that it was widespread long before European contact. Skulls bearing evidence of scalping have been found throughout the Americas, many of them dating to hundreds of years before European contact. What the Europeans did introduce was the practice of paying bounties for scalps. These bounties led to an increase in scalpings by white settlers, male and female; a woman named Hanna Duston was actually known as 'The Hatchet Lady' for her scalping activities. It seems likely that as scalping by whites became more common, Native Americans may also have begun taking more scalps, and that tribes which had not previously practiced scalping may have begun to do so in revenge for the scalpings carried out against their people. If this is the case, then Native Americans and European settlers may actually have taught each other to scalp."   Source

Answering Myths about American Indian Science    British Scalp Proclamation of 1756

1773 Death of King Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy (b. 1701).

1790 Death of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1741).

1792 The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, was signed by President George Washington.

1809 A decision by the United States Supreme Court stated that the power of the federal government is greater than any individual state.

1810 Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean patriot and leader of rebellion against Napoleon's forces, was executed.

1811 Austria declared itself bankrupt.

1834 USA: The Oneida Community was founded in upstate New York, becoming under John Humphrey Noyes in 1848 a communistic society in which work and life were to be shared. Friendly cooperation with the surrounding Indian tribes was actively sought and achieved. The Oneida Community practised communalism (in the sense of communal property and possessions) and group marriage. The community dissolved in 1881, and eventually became the giant silverware company, Oneida Limited.

Oneida"Oneida, founded by John H. Noyes, was one of the most successful utopian communes in history. For approximately 30 years, they lived in a gigantic group marriage (over 200 people at the end) with shared property. Avoiding the 'back to the land' fantasies which were so prevalent in 1800's (and 1960's!) communes, and which typically resulted in city people trying to be farmers and failing miserably, they founded businesses including a spoon factory which evolved (after their breakup) into the Oneida Silversmiths flatware company …"

Source

Early progressives in the Book of Days    CounterCulture Wiki

 

 

1835 Concepción, Chile was destroyed by an earthquake.

Spring-Heeled Jack1838 "On February 20, 1838, Lucy Scales (18) and her sister Margaret Scales were returning home at around 8:30PM, from their brother's house in the Limehouse area.  Reports indicate that Spring Heeled Jack jumped out in front of Lucy Scales and spat blue fire in her face. Written evidence indicate that Lucy was 'blinded' – whether this blindness was temporary, permanent or simply a figure of speech is now [sic] known. After the attack, witnesses claim that Spring Heeled Jack jumped from the ground to the roof of a house and made his escape."   Source

February 22, 1838, Spring-Heeled Jack showed up again.

More at Skeptoid.com    More   More

 

1839 USA: Congress prohibited duelling in the District of Columbia.

1852 Emily Dickinson's mock valentine, Sic transit gloria mundi, appeared (without the author's consent) in the Springfield Republican. It was one of only a handful of poems published during the eccentric and isolated New England, USA, poet's lifetime. Her many hundreds of poems were discovered after her death, bundled and tied with ribbons, in her attic.

Emily Dickinson, written around 1862. It can be found in Introduction to Poetry, Seventh Edition, Edited by X. JU. Kennedy, published by Little Brown, 1990, page 249:


'A Dying Tiger – Moaned For Drink'

By Emily Dickinson

A Dying Tiger – moaned for Drink –
I hunted all the Sand –
I caught the Dripping of a Rock
And bore it in my Hand –

His Mighty Balls - in death were thick-
But searching – I could see
A Vision on the Retina
Of Water – and of me –

 

1864 Battle of Olustee.

1871 Death of Paul Kane, (b. 1810) painter.

1872 In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened.

1873 The University of California opened its first medical school in San Francisco, California.

1893 Death of PGT Beauregard (b. 1818), Confederate general.

 

Frederick Douglass

1895 Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist, editor, orator, author, statesman and reformer, former slave, and consultant to US President Abraham Lincoln, died in Washington, DC.

My Bondage and My Freedom (1855) (Project Gutenberg)

Collected Articles Of Frederick Douglass, A Slave (Project Gutenberg)

Early progressives in the Book of Days

 

1901 The legislature of Hawaii Territory convened for the first time.

1913 Politician King O'Malley drove in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra, capital of Australia.

1921 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse film, starring Rudolph Valentino, premiered.

1929 American Samoa was organised as a territory of the United States.

1931 California got the go-ahead by the US Congress to build the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

1938 Britain's Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden resigned over Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's decision to hold talks with the Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

1942 Lieutenant Edward O'Hare became America's first World War II flying ace.

1942 Norwegian teachers went on strike against Nazification of schools.

1942

"STORY NUMBER ONE 

Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago. Capone wasn't famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder. 

Capone had a lawyer nicknamed 'Easy Eddie.' He was his lawyer for a good reason. Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie's skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time. To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big, but Eddie got special dividends. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. 

The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block. Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him. 

Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his young son had the best of everything: clothes, cars and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object. And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was. 

Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn't give his son; that he couldn't pass on a good name and a good example. One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done. He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al "Scarface" Capone, clean up his tarnished name and offer his son some semblance of integrity. 

To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great. So, he testified. Within the year, Easy Eddie's life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street. But in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he would ever pay. 

STORY NUMBER TWO 

World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O'Hare. He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific. 

One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank. He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship. His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet. As he was returning to the mother ship he saw something that turned his blood cold. A squadron of Japanese aircraft were speeding their way toward the American fleet. 

The American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenseless. He couldn't reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger. There was only one thing to do. He must somehow divert them from the fleet. Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 caliber's blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent. Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible and rendering them unfit to fly. Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction. Deeply relieved, Butch O'Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier. Upon arrival he reported in and related the event surrounding his return. 

The film from the gun-camera mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch's daring attempt to protect his fleet. He had in fact destroyed five enemy aircraft. 

This took place on February 20, 1942, and for that action Butch became the Navy's first Ace of W.W.II, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Congressional Medal of Honor. A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. 

His home town would not allow the memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today, O'Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man. 

So the next time you find yourself at O'Hare International, give some thought to visiting Butch's memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor. It's located between Terminals 1 and 2. 

So What Do These Two Stories Have to Do with Each Other? 

Butch O'Hare was Easy Eddie's son."

Source

The rest of the story is in the book, Fateful Rendezvous: The story of Butch O'Hare

 

1943 American movie studio executives agreed to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.

1943 Paricutín volcano began to form in Paricutín, México.

1944 World War II: 'Big Week' began with American bomber raids on Nazi aircraft manufacturing centres.

1944 World War II: The United States took Eniwetok Island.

1947 Lord Louis Mountbatten, a great-grandson of Queen Victoria, was appointed the last British viceroy in India.  

1952 The film The African Queen opened at the Capitol Theater in New York City.

1959 The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada was cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.

1960 Australian medical scientist Frank MacFarlane Burnet was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine.

1962 Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn orbited the earth three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes, becoming the first American to orbit the earth.

1965 Ranger 8 crashed into the Moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.

1970 USA: Judge Julius Hoffman sentenced the convicted Chicago 7 defendants.

Related items at March 19, 1969; March 22, 1968August 23, 1968; September 17, 1968; September 17, 1969 January 23, 1970, November 21, 1972.

1976 The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbanded.

1981 Coroner Denis Barrit in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, found that baby Azaria Chamberlain had been taken by a dingo.

1985 The Republic of Ireland allowed the sale of contraceptives for the first time.

1987 Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, a bomb exploded in a computer store.

1988 Five hundred people were killed and 10,000 made homeless in Rio de Janeiro's torrential rains. There were no reports of any Australian casualties. Just kidding.

1992 Ross Perot announced on CNN's Larry King Live his intention to run in the 1992 US presidential election.

2001 FBI agent Robert Hanssen was arrested and charged with spying for Russia for 15 years.

2002 In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire on a train killed at least 370 and injured more than 65.

2003 In Rhode Island, The Station nightclub fire killed about 100 and injured more than 200.

2004 Apple Computer began shipping iPod minis.

2005 Spain became the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.

2005 Death of Hunter S Thompson (b. 1937), American journalist and author.

 

 

Tomorrow: Goddess Ishtar of Iraq

 

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Southern Signs 

What's Your "Southern" Sign? Some of us (especially Southerners) are pretty skeptical of horoscopes, and it has become obvious that what we need are "Southern" symbols: 

OKRA (Dec 22 - Jan 20) Although you appear crude, you are actually very slick on the inside. Okras have tremendous influence. An older Okra can look back over his life and see the seeds of his influence everywhere. Stay away from Moon Pies. 

CHITLIN (Jan 21 - Feb 19) Chitlins come from humble backgrounds. A chitlin, however, can make something of himself if he's motivated and has lots of seasoning. In dealing with Chitlins, be careful. They can erupt like Vesuvius. Chitlins are best with Catfish and Okra. 

BOLL WEEVIL (Feb 20 - Mar 20) You have an overwhelming curiosity. You're unsatisfied with the surface of things, and you feel the need to bore deep into the interior of everything. Needless to say, you are very intense and driven as if you had some inner hunger. Nobody in their right mind is going to marry you, so don't worry about it. 

MOON PIE (Mar 21 - Apr 20) You're the type that spends a lot of time on the front porch. It's a cinch to recognize the physical appearance of Moon Pies. Big and round are the key words here. You should marry anybody who you can get remotely interested in the idea. It's not going to be easy. This might be the year to think about aerobics. Or - maybe not. 

POSSUM (Apr 21 - May 21) When confronted with life's difficulties, possums have a marked tendency to withdraw and develop a don't-bother-me-about-it attitude. Sometimes you become so withdrawn, people actually think you're dead. This strategy is probably not psychologically healthy, but seems to work for you. One day, however, it won't work and you may find your problems actually running you over. 

CRAWFISH (May 22 - June 21) Crawfish is a water sign. If you work in an office, you're always hanging around the water cooler. Crawfish prefer the beach to the mountains, the pool to the golf course, the bathtub to the living room. You tend to be not particularly attractive physically, but you have very, very good heads. 

COLLARDS (June 22 - July 23) Collards have a genius for communication. They love to get in the "melting pot" of life and share their essence with the essence of those round them. Collards make good social workers, psychologists, and baseball managers. As far as your personal life goes, if you are Collards, stay away from Moon Pies. It just won't work. Save yourself a lot of heartache. 

CATFISH (July 24 - Aug 23) Catfish are traditionalists in matters of the heart, although ones whiskers may cause problems for loved ones. You catfish are never easy people to understand. You prefer the muddy bottoms to the clear surface of life. Above all else, Catfish should stay away from Moon Pies. 

GRITS (Aug 24 - Sept 23) Your highest aim is to be with others like yourself. You like to huddle together with a big crowd of other Grits. You love to travel though, so maybe you should think about joining a club. Where do you like to go? Anywhere they have cheese or gravy or bacon or butter or eggs. If you can go somewhere where they have all these things, that serves you well. 

BOILED PEANUTS (Sept 24 - Oct 23) You have a passionate desire to help your fellow man. Unfortunately, those who know you best - your friends and loved ones - may find that your personality is much too salty, and their criticism will probably affect you deeply because you are really much softer than you appear. You should go right ahead and marry anybody you want to because in a certain way, yours is a charmed life. On the road of life, you can be sure that people will always pull over and stop for you. 

BUTTER BEAN (Oct 24 - Nov 22) Always invite a Butter Bean because Butter Beans get along well with everybody. You, as a Butter Bean, should be proud. You've grown on the vine of life and you feel at home no matter what the setting. You can sit next to anybody. However, you, too, shouldn't have anything to do with Moon Pies. 

ARMADILLO (Nov 23 - Dec 21) You have a tendency to develop a tough exterior, but you are actually quite gentle. A good evening for you? Old friends, a fire, some roots, fruit, worms and insects. You are a throwback. You're not concerned with today's fashions and trends. You're not concerned with anything about today. You're really almost prehistoric in your interests and behavior patterns. You probably want to marry another Armadillo, but Possum is another somewhat kinky, mating possibility.


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.

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