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reetings from Australia. 

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Pip Wilson

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I suspect or intuit that, as Lenin said, "the machine is running the engineers." We can't dismount, even if the horse seems to have gotten out of control. Information will continue to double faster all the time, leading to new technologies, and the new technologies will unleash Chaos (in the mathematical sense), and society will change in unpredictable and unexpected ways. I suspect or intuit that this ever-accelerating info-techno-sociological rev-and-ev-olution follows the laws of organic systems and continually re-organizes on higher and higher levels of coherence, until something kills it.
Robert Anton Wilson   Source

I don't do well speaking about things I don't know anything about, so I'll speak instead about the Unknown and the Inexplicable. I find them inexhaustibly entertaining as objects of speculation, since they obviously include a lot more than the known and the explicated. I suspect and almost believe that the Unknown and Inexplicable played a role in the design of the DNA molecule, as suggested by Sir Francis Crick, Sir Fred Hoyle, Dr. Timothy Leary and others. I also suspect that the Unknown has meddled a lot in human affairs, and the Inexplicable has laid hands, or tentacles, or something, on us many times.
Robert Anton Wilson   Source

It only takes twenty years for a liberal to become a conservative without changing a single idea.
Robert Anton Wilson

If you can master nonsense as well as you have already learned to master sense, then each will expose the other for what it is: absurdity. From that moment of illumination, a man begins to be free regardless of his surroundings. He becomes free to play order games and change them at will. He becomes free to play disorder games just for the hell of it. He becomes free to play neither or both. And as the master of his games, he plays without fear, and therefore without frustration, and therefore with good will in his soul and love in his being.
Malaclypse the Younger; Principia Discordia

Today the long awaited day eventually came as Supply hauled in for Botany Bay ... We observed some natives. I think it is easy to conceive the ridiculous figure we must appear to these poor creatures, who are perfectly naked.
Captain Arthur Phillip, January 18, 1788, from the log of HMS Supply at Botany Bay (near Sydney)

Men, that old murderer has got away from every soldier command and has left a trail of blood for 500 miles on the old stage line. I want him dead or alive tomorrow morning, do you understand? I want him dead.
Joseph Rodman West, Brigadier General of the Union Army and future senator from Louisiana, addressing sentries he had assigned to guard the Chiricahua Apache chief Mangas Coloradas, 1863   Source

A New York broker says Oscar Wilde is "straddling the market" – short on trousers and long on brains.
   Young Wilde has opened his eyes, "Why," he said, "the United States is not a country, it is a world!"
The Ohio State Journal, February 18, 1882. On January 18, 1882, Wilde visited American poet Walt Whitman.

Almost anyone can be an author; the business is to collect money and fame from this state of being.
AA Milne, English author, born on January 18, 1882

It's a very funny thought that, if Bears were Bees, 
They'd build their nests at the bottom of trees. 
And that being so (if the Bees were Bears), 
We shouldn't have to climb up all these stairs.
AA Milne

On Wednesday, when the sky is blue, 
And I have nothing else to do, 
I sometimes wonder if it's true 
That who is what and what is who.
AA Milne; Winnie-the-Pooh

A 'children's book' must be written, not for children, but for the author himself.
AA Milne

That's another fine mess you've gotten us into, Stanley.
Oliver Hardy, American comedian, born on January 18, 1892

I myself have seen you drunk in the legislative assembly of New South Wales ... I have seen you snoring drunk on several occasions ... you have addressed audiences while under the influence of drink ... when in Brisbane about a year ago you got so disgracefully drunk and incapable that medical aid had to be called in so that you could be "toned up" in time to address a big public meeting. On that occasion your condition and demeanour, the result of your drinking, so shocked some of the audience nearest the platform that they left in shame and disgust ... I charge you with being very frequently under the influence of drink ever since the meeting of the federal parliament ... and when you were supposed to be discharging the duties of your high constitutional office of Prime Minister ... Quite recently you came into chamber so drunk you were scarcely able to stand ... on another occasion, seeing your drunken, helpless state, the Speaker generously put an end to the painful scene [when] he saw you were incapable of properly doing [so] ... 
John Norton (1858 - 1916), Australian muck-raking journalist/editor and politician, 'Open Letter to Edmund Barton, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth, Concerning His Disgusting Drinking Habits', January 1902; Australia's first prime minister, Edmund 'Toby Tosspot' Barton was born on January 18, 1849. (Norton was also a famed drunk.)

Sydney is the only place to live in Australia – the rest is camping out.
Paul Keating, 24^th Prime Minister of Australia, born on January 18, 1944

He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up.
Paul Keating

If one takes pride in one's craft, you won't let a good thing die. Risking it through not pushing hard enough is not a humility.
Paul Keating

I try to use the Australian idiom to its maximum advantage.
Paul Keating

A souffle doesn't rise twice.
Paul Keating on ousted opposition leader Andrew Peacock's chances of ever being Liberal Party leader again (Andrew Peacock, one-time intimate of Shirley Maclean, had a reputation as something of a 'spiv', or vain man)

You've been in the dye pot again, Andrew.
Paul Keating to Andrew Peacock

It is the first time the Honourable Gentleman has got out from under the sunlamp.
Paul Keating to Andrew Peacock

... a fop such as the present Leader of the Opposition.
Paul Keating to Andrew Peacock

John Howard has all the vision of Mr Magoo without the good intentions.
Paul Keating on then opposition leader and later Prime Minister John Howard

You look like an Easter Island statue with an arse full of razor blades.
Paul Keating to former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser

The opposition leader today was like a tired old sock.
Paul Keating on the parliamentary performance of then opposition leader John Hewson

I was implying that the Honourable Member for Wentworth was like a lizard on a rock – alive, but looking dead.
Paul Keating on John Hewson

Yesterday, on a personal matter against me, we had old dozy over there, the Honourable Member for Wentworth.
Paul Keating on John Hewson

I have a psychological hold over Hewson ... He's like a stone statue in the cemetery.
Paul Keating on John Hewson

I'm not going to be fairy flossed away as my opposite number, John Hewson, is prepared to be fairy flossed away by some spaced out, vacuous ad agency.
Paul Keating on John Hewson

What we have got is a dead carcase, swinging in the breeze, but nobody will cut it down to replace him. 
Paul Keating on John Howard

… the brain-damaged Leader of the Opposition …
Paul Keating on John Howard

From this day onwards, Howard will wear his leadership like a crown of thorns, and in the parliament I'll do everything to crucify him.
Paul Keating on John Howard

But I will never get to the stage of wanting to lead the nation standing in front of the mirror each morning clipping the eyebrows here and clipping the eyebrows there with Janette and the kids: It's like 'Spot the eyebrows'.
Paul Keating on John Howard

I am not like the Leader of the Opposition. I did not slither out of the Cabinet room like a mangy maggot.
Paul Keating on John Howard

Come in, sucker.
Paul Keating to John Howard

The principle saboteur, the man with the cheap fistful of dollars.
Paul Keating on John Howard

He's wound up like a thousand-day clock. 
Paul Keating on John Howard

He is the greatest job and investment destroyer since the bubonic plague.
Paul Keating on John Howard

He has more hide than a team of elephants.
Paul Keating on John Howard

I do not want to hear any mealy-mouthed talk from the Member for Benelong.
Paul Keating on John Howard

This is the sort of little-boy, stamp your foot stuff which comes from a financial yuppie when you shoe him into parliament. 
Paul Keating on Liberal Party leader John Hewson

Like being flogged with a warm lettuce.
Paul Keating on John Hewson

I'd put him in the same class as the rest of them: mediocrity. 
Paul Keating on John Hewson

I suppose that the Honourable Gentleman's hair, like his intellect, will recede into the darkness.
Paul Keating on Andrew Peacock

… if this gutless spiv, and I refer to him as a gutless spiv …
Paul Keating on Andrew Peacock

The Leader of the Opposition is more to be pitied than despised, the poor old thing. The Liberal Party ought to put him down like a faithful dog because he is of no use to it and of no use to the nation.
Paul Keating on Andrew Peacock

We're not interested in the views of painted, perfumed gigolos.
Paul Keating on Andrew Peacock

What we have as a leader of the National Party is a political carcase with a coat and tie on. 
Paul Keating on Ian Sinclair

Stick your head out of the building in any capital city in Australia, and it's a sea of cranes. The economy is so robust that it takes a pickaxe to stop it. We're laying into it with a lump of four by two to slow it down!
Paul Keating on the Australian economy

Codd will be lucky to get a job cleaning shithouses if I ever become Prime Minister.
Paul Keating on public servant Mike Codd

... the brain-damaged Honourable Member for Bruce made his first parliamentary contribution since being elected, by calling a quorum to silence me for three minutes.
Paul Keating on Ken Aldred

The Leader of the Opposition hurls all sorts of abuse at me, and all through question time those pansies over there want retractions of the things we've said about them. They are a bunch of nobodies going nowhere.
Paul Keating

Mr Speaker can I have some protection from the clowns on the front bench?
Paul Keating

… for the dullard on the front bench opposite.
Paul Keating

Mr Deputy Speaker, am I to be continually abused by the Honourable Member for Mitchell and the drone beside him, the Honourable Member for Braddon?
Paul Keating

Where you all come a gutser is, over here we think we're born to rule you. And let me tell you this, it's been ingrained in me from childhood, I think my mission in life is to run you.
Paul Keating

You were heard in silence, so some of you scumbags on the front bench should wait a minute until you hear the responses from me.
Paul Keating

What really amuses me and almost makes me spew …
Paul Keating

They have no ideas, no integrity and no ability.
Paul Keating

Damn them for being the cheats they are.
Paul Keating

You are frauds.
Paul Keating

… votes for coalition members who have always been cheats, cheats, cheats and will always be cheats, cheats, cheats and will always defend cheats, cheats, cheats.
Paul Keating

Honourable Members opposite are a joke.
Paul Keating

They are irrelevant, useless and immoral.
Paul Keating

… they insist on being mugs, Mr Speaker, absolute mugs.
Paul Keating

I'm not running a seminar for dullards on the other side.
Paul Keating

Those opposite could not operate a tart shop.
Paul Keating

These intellectual hoboes ...
Paul Keating

This rabble opposite ...
Paul Keating

… for the benefit of the blockheads opposite ...
Paul Keating

If the dummies opposite will just shut up ...
Paul Keating

Shut up for a moment. If you ask questions and want to hear answers, shut up.
Paul Keating

How thick these people are.
Paul Keating

These dummies and dimwits ...
Paul Keating

Talk about desperadoes!
Paul Keating

These are the absolute gutter tactics of a mindless, useless, idealistic, unprincipled Opposition.
Paul Keating

The Opposition is such a motley, dishonest crew.
Paul Keating

… the cowboys on this front bench ...
Paul Keating

It is just a slight of hand by a dingy party.
Paul Keating

The Opposition crowd could not raffle a chook in a pub.
Paul Keating

We will be rejecting the opportunist claptrap coming from the Opposition.
Paul Keating

Honourable Members opposite squeal like stuck pigs.
Paul Keating

… small time punk stuff coming from a punk Opposition.
Paul Keating

The animals on the other side ...
Paul Keating

Laurie Oakes is a cane toad.
Paul Keating on journalist Laurie Oakes

You have got to be joking. Whether the Treasurer wished to go there or not, I would forbid him going to the Senate to account to this unrepresentative swill over there. 
Paul Keating, refusing to allow Treasurer John Dawkins to appear before a Senate inquiry, November 4, 1992

You had an important place in Australian society on the ABC and you gave it up to be a pop star … with a big cheque … and now you're on to this sort of stuff. That shows what a 24 carat pissant you are, Richard, that's for sure. 
Paul Keating to TV journalist Richard Carleton

That you Jim? Paul Keating here. Just because you swallowed a fucking dictionary when you were about 15 doesn't give you the right to pour a bucket of shit over the rest of us.
Paul Keating to former Labor politician, 'Diamond' Jim McClelland (on the phone)

Fucking animals. 
Paul Keating on the Press

Go and get a job!
Paul Keating to a University student protesting about fees

You stupid foul-mouthed grub.
Paul Keating to Liberal Party politician Wilson Tuckey

Shut up! Sit down and shut up, you pig!
Paul Keating to Wilson Tuckey

You boxhead, you wouldn't know. You are flat out counting past ten.
Paul Keating to Wilson Tuckey

You know me, love – downhill, one ski, no poles.
Paul Keating on taking risks

I was nearly chloroformed by the performance of the Honourable Member for Mackellar. It nearly put me right out for the afternoon.
Paul Keating on former Shadow Treasurer, Jim Carlton

Paul Keating Insults Archive

Australia is the only place where women say it is too hard to read.
Germaine Greer, Australian feminist, January 18, 1972, at the Australian launch of her book, The Female Eunuch

As far as I'm concerned, men are the product of a damaged gene. They pretend to be normal but what they're doing sitting there with benign smiles on their faces is they're manufacturing sperm ... I mean, we women are more reasonable. We pop one follicle every 28 days, whereas they are producing 400 million sperm for each ejaculation, most of which don't take place anywhere near an ovum. I don't know that the ecosphere can tolerate it.
Germaine Greer, Australian misandrist, (from a news report dated November 14, 1991) 

January 18 is the 18^th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 347 days remaining (348 in leap years).
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Festival of Theogamia of Hêra (Hera), ancient Greece

Women's festival of the goddess Hêra.
Source: The Phoenix and Arabeth 1992 Calendar

In Greek Mythology, Hêra is the goddess of marriage, and wife and sister of Zeus. She spends most of her time plotting revenge on the other women her husband consorts with. This frustrated Zeus so much he occasionally chained her to Mt Olympus by attaching anvils to her feet.

Hêra was known as Juno to the Romans, and also Saturnia. She was wedded to Zeus in the Garden of the Gods where Gaia created in her honour a tree of life bearing golden fruit.

Hêra was especially worshipped at Argos, where the Heraia, festivals in her honor, were celebrated. There were also temples to Hêra in Olympia, Mycene, Sparta, Paestum, Corinth, Tiryns, Perachora, Samos and Delos.

Hêra's wagon was pulled by peacocks, one of her symbols, along with the crow, pomegranate, diadem, veil and cow. Her association with cattle led to an alternate name Bopis ("cow-eyed" or "with big eyes").

Deities of many cultures in the Book of Days    Festivals in ancient Greece

The birthday of Discordian Robert Anton Wilson puts me in mind of ...

The goddess Eris

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia.

Eris is the ancient Greek goddess of discord, daughter of Zeus and Hera (see above) and frequent companion of her brother (some say twin) Ares. The Romans associated her with their goddess Discordia. With Zeus, she was the mother of Ate and the Litae.

The most famous tale of Eris ('strife') recounts her initiating the Trojan War. The goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite had been invited along with the rest of Olympus to the forced wedding of Peleus and Thetis, who would become the parents of Achilles, but Eris had been snubbed because of her troublemaking inclinations.

She therefore tossed into the party a golden apple inscribed 'Kallisti' – 'For the most beautiful one', or 'To the Prettiest One' – provoking the goddesses to begin quarrelling about the appropriate recipient. The hapless Paris, Prince of Troy, was appointed to select the most beautiful. Greek mythological morality being what it was, each of the three goddesses immediately attempted to bribe Paris to choose her. Hera offered political power, Athena skill in battle, and Aphrodite the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. Paris was a red-blooded young man, and while the length of time he meditated on this problem is not recorded, he did eventually award the apple to Aphrodite.

Eris has been adopted as the matron deity of the modern Discordian religion. In the process, however, she has lightened up considerably in comparison to the rather malevolent Graeco-Roman original.

Today in the Discordian Calendar    Kerry Thornley, co-founder of Discordianism

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Feast of St Peter's Chair, Rome Today's commemoration is a Roman Catholic act of gratitude for the founding of the papacy, and was mentioned in a martyrology in the time of St Willibrod, 720. "Christians," Alban Butler says, "justly celebrate the founding of this mother church, the centre of Catholic communion, in thanksgiving to God for his mercies on his church, and to implore his future blessings." It takes place in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, and is a very solemn occasion, with much splendour. Enclosed in a gilt bronze casing designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and mounted on a tribune designed by Michelangelo is St Peter's Chair – a throne, enshrining the "real, plain, worm-eaten wooden chair, on which St Peter, the prince of the apostles, is said to have pontificated; more precious than all the bronze, gold, and gems, with which it is hidden, not only from the impious, but from holy eyes, and which once only, in the flight of ages, was profaned by mortal inspection." (Lady Morgan, Italy)  (Robert Chambers, (Ed.), The Book of Days: A miscellany of popular antiquities in connection with the calendar, etc, W & R Chambers, London, 1881 [1879 Edition is online and 1869 edition here with CD-ROM available; See also The English Year: A Personal Selection from Chambers' Book of Days]) That occasion was when the French opened the casket and saw the relic. It had Arabic characters written on it, or, so it is said – "There is but one God, and Muhammad is his prophet". The feast of the Chair of St Peter at Antioch is celebrated on February 22.   Feast day of St Ammonius Feast day of St Christina Ciccarelli Feast day of the of the Confession of St Peter the Apostle, Anglican, Lutheran Churches 'Confession' here means profession of faith that Jesus was the Messiah. Feast of the Cross (Eastern Orthodox) Feast day of St Day Feast day of St Deicola (Deicolus, Deel), abbot An Irish priest, he spent his best days in France. His memory is preserved in Franche-comté, where the name Deel was still given in the 1880s, according to the folklorist Robert Chambers, who wrote at that time. Feast day of St Fazzio of Verona Feast day of St Jaime Hilario Barbel Feast day of St Liberata Feast day of St Paul and Thirty-six Companions in Egypt A group of missionaries who went at an early but unknown period into Egypt, and became martyrs. Feast day of St Prisca of Rome, virgin and martyr (Four-toothed moss, Bryum pellucidum, is today's plant, dedicated to this saint.) Prisca was a martyr of the Roman Church, but little is known about her. The name Prisca or Priscilla is often mentioned by early authorities of the history of the Church of Rome. Prisca was of a noble family and at thirteen years of age was accused of Christianity before the 1st-Century Roman Emperor Claudius. By his command she was taken to the temple of Apollo to sacrifice there, and when she refused, was buffeted and sent to prison. She was taken out from thence again, but as she still held steadfastly to the faith, they flogged her, poured boiling tallow upon her, and sent her back a second time. She was at last thrown to a lion in the amphitheatre, but it quietly lay down at her feet. She was starved for three days in a slaves' prison house, and then tortured upon the rack. Pieces of flesh were next torn from her body with iron hooks, and she was thrown on a burning pile. She marvellously still remained alive, and was accordingly beheaded outside the city The grave of a martyr Prisca was venerated in the Roman Catacomb of Priscilla on the Via Salaria (see Basilica of Santa Prisca, which is on the Aventine hill). In art, she is represented between two lions, which refused to eat her. There is also a St Priscilla, mentioned several times in the New Testament, who is also called Prisca the wife of St Aquila, the pupil of St Paul, bore this name. Feast day of St Susanna Feast day of St Ulfrid, bishop and martyr Feast day of St Volusian of Tours Click for Eastern Orthodox liturgical days    Shop saints Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Catholicism Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins, Lutheran Church Festival of Lima, Peru Day of the Revolution, Tunisia Carrot Festival, Holtville, California, USA Fiesta, Taxco, Mexico Featuring dance; a mock battle between Moors (Muslim Africans) and Christians; the Tiger Dance; acrobatics; fireworks, and so on.   Ka Moloka'I Makahiki, Molokai, Hawaii "Held after the harvest, the Makahiki celebration is a Hawaiian tradition. Legend has it that Captain Cook owes his reception in this part of the world to his lucky arrival during Makahiki season. The island of Moloka'I celebrates with hula, Hawaiian arts and crafts, games and food. "The harsh kapu, or laws ruling the tribe, are cast aside in favour of sporting competitions and thanksgiving. Usual deities are replaced by the effigy of Lomo, represented by a staff which bears an uncanny resemblance to the sails of a ship - hence Cook's warm reception, since he was mistaken for a visiting god. "Festivities during the day include ancient Hawaiian games like huki huki (tug-of-war), Ulumaika (lawn bowling) and Uma (arm wrestling), to name just a few."   Source   Pooh Day Another one of those commercial 'days'. Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins, Christian ecumenism       1689 Montesquieu (d. 1755), French writer 1779 Peter Roget (d. 1869), lexicographer, creator of Roget's Thesaurus 1782 Daniel Webster (d. October 25, 1852), leading American statesman during the nation's antebellum, or Pre-Civil War, era The lad who rode sidesaddle (children's story about Webster)     1813 Joseph Farwell Glidden, American farmer from Illinois, who received a patent for the first commercial barbed wire on November 24, 1874. It was an improvement on less successful pointed wire products invented in 1867-68. This simple invention played a part in the partial demise of open range ranching and the cowboy. Although not a young man, Glidden formed, with partner Isaac L Ellwood, the Barb Fence Company, and became one of America's wealthiest men.   Another Glidden had an important patent: Carlos Glidden (with Christopher Sholes and Samuel W Soule) invented the typewriter, in 1867. Other late starters and late achievers 1818 George Palmer, of Huntley & Palmers biscuit manufacturers, which introduced the first biscuit tins 1840 Henry Austin Dobson (d. September 2, 1921), English poet, essayist, critic and biographer 1842 Albert Alonzo Ames (d. 1911), notorious mayor of Minneapolis 1848 Ioan Slavici (d. 1925), Transylvanian writer of Romanian origin 1849 Edmund Barton (d. January 7, 1920), Australian politician and judge, the first prime minister of Australia and a founding justice of the High Court of Australia. Barton was a strong advocate of the federation of the Australian colonies, and after the death of Sir Henry Parkes in 1896 he effectively led the federal movement. Giving up the chance of high office in New South Wales, he campaigned tirelessly for federation. Barton, not a 'cold water man', was nicknamed 'Toby Tosspot'. "In the early 1880s Barton became a member of the Athenaeum Club. Here, he could satisfy his epicurean taste for fine food and wine while sharpening his debating skills in conversation with some of Sydney's most respected intellectuals, artists, professionals and politicians. The proprietor of the Sydney Morning Herald Sir James Fairfax, the editor of The Bulletin J.F. Archibald, the Professor of English Literature at the University of Sydney Sir Mungo MacCallum, the artist Julian Ashton, as well as the politicians Richard O'Connor and Sir William Lyne, were members. The writers Mark Twain and Robert Louis Stevenson visited the Athenaeum on their travels through Sydney. "When on the 23rd of October 1891 Barton accepted Premier Dibbs's offer to serve in his protectionist government as Attorney-General, he negotiated the right to maintain his private practice as a barrister. Two years later Barton's parliamentary responsibilities came into direct conflict with his private practice when he accepted a brief against the Crown and was forced to resign. "Although it was fully expected that Barton would be selected to be the first Prime Minister to take the people to their first Federal election, the new Governor General Lord Hopetoun instead selected William Lyne Premier of NSW. In a mark of solidarity with Barton, appointed members of Cabinet refused to serve under Lyne. Barton was finally appointed the nation's first Prime Minister, taking the portfolio of Minister of External Affairs. "The celebrations for Federation in Sydney took place on 1st January 1901. For Barton, however, it was the start of yet another campaign trail as a Federal election now had to be fought and won. In March 1901 Barton and his entire Cabinet, including old friends and allies, Alfred Deakin, Charles Kingston and Richard O'Connor, were formally approved by the Australian voters. Although only Prime Minster for a little over two and a half years, the Australian Public Service, the instigation of the White Australia Policy, women's right to vote and the High Court were all established during his term. "Having twice refused a Knighthood, Barton finally accepted a GCMG (Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George) in 1902. In September 1903, worn out by the responsibilities of being Prime Minister and the long and exhausting federation campaign that preceded it, Barton resigned. "Shortly afterwards Barton was appointed to sit on Australia's first High Court. For the next 17 years Barton interpreted the Constitution he had helped to create. Before the opening of the present High Court in Canberra in 1980 the High Court divided its time between the State capital cities. Despite the travelling, the life of a High Court judge was far less onerous than that of a politician. Barton was finally able to resume his dinners at the Athenaeum Club and spend more time with his wife, six children and grandchildren."   Source Barton and Manly "Edmund Barton lived at Calahla (now called Whitehall) corner Woodland and White Streets, Balgowlah from 1888 to 1891, and then in James Street, Manly until 1893."   Source Edmund Barton timeline    Lawson & Co: associations with Henry and Louisa Lawson    More   1850 Seth Low, American politician 1854 Thomas Watson (d. December 13, 1934), telephone pioneer, assistant to Alexander Graham Bell, notably in the invention of the telephone. He is best known because his name is reportedly the first words spoken over the telephone. "Mr Watson, come here, I want to see you" (sources vary as to the phrase), were allegedly the first words Bell said using the new invention, on March 10, 1876. 1882 AA Milne (Alan Alexander Milne; d. 1956), English author of Christopher Robin books "In the 1930's and 40's Milne was active in religious and pacifist polemics. At the age of fifty-six he published his autobiography, IT'S TOO LATE NOW (1938), which focused mostly on his childhood years. For the Pooh books he devoted eight "rather unhappy" pages, as Christopher Milne said it. An operation on Milne's brain in 1952 left him an invalid during the last four years of his life. He died in Hartfield, Sussex, on January 31, 1956. After his wife's death in 1971 part of the fortune earned by the Pooh books came to the Royal Literary Fund, providing for writers in financial distress."   Source More 1888 Thomas Sopwith, British aircraft designer who created the World War I plane, the Sopwith Camel 1892 Oliver Hardy, comedian, actor. Born Norvell Oliver Hardy, he was nicknamed 'Babe'. The rotund actor who played in 263 movies, many with the lachrymose Stan Laurel, died in poverty on August 7, 1957. More 1903 Werner Hinz (d. 1985), German actor 1904 Cary Grant (d. 1986), actor 1905 Joseph Bonanno ('Joey Bananas'; d. 2002), American gangster 1913 Danny Kaye, (Born Daniel Kaminsky; d. 1987), American actor (Hans Christian Andersen; The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) 1914 Arno Schmidt (d. 1979), author 1931 Chun Doo-hwan, President of South Korea 1932 Robert Anton Wilson (d. January 11, 2007), author (Illuminatus Trilogy); one-time editor of Playboy magazine who made Discordianism, Sufism, futurism, the Illuminati and other esoteric or counter-culture philosophies accessible to larger audiences. He was also a proponent of Dr Timothy Leary's 8-Circuit Model of Consciousness, and neurosomatic/lingustic engineering. Wilson maintained his own website, which included thoughts of the month, jokes, and many links to obscure and informative Internet sites. Fnord. maybe logic - The Lives and Ideas of Robert Anton Wilson BlackCrayon.com: People: Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson Online Library    More    RAW at deoxy Krassner, Paul, A Paul Krassner Interview With RAW High Times, 2003 Wilson, Robert Anton booklist from New Falcon Publications Robert Anton Wilson – the Unofficial Page Mondo 2000 articles – written by Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson    Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson 'The Golden Apple' Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson 'Leviathan'    Anachron city biography Robert Anton Wilson    Robert Anton Wilson   Previous Thoughts of the Week Keep the lasagna flying for Robert Anton Wilson How to Live Eleven Days in 24 Hours by Robert Anton Wilson  "For about a year now, I have dated all my letters with my own no-bias multi-cultural calendar. Of course, I know a multi-cultural chronology seems very Politically Correct, but don't let that shock you. I happen to agree with the P.C. cult about many things. In fact, I only differ with them in not liking their intolerance, their fascist tactics, their introduction of Maoist brainwashing to our groves of Academe, and their utter lack of humor or ordinary common sense. Aside from those issues, I almost approve the P.C. agenda.  Actually, I started using a single non-Western calendar back in 1969-71 when working on Illuminatus with Bob Shea ..."   Source Church of the SubGenius   Discordianism From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Discordianism has been described as both an elaborate joke disguised as a religion, and a religion disguised as an elaborate joke. It has also been described as a religion disguised as a joke disguised as a religion. Others view it as a simple rejection of reductionism and dualism, even falsifiability -- not in concept different from postmodernism or certain trends in the philosophy of mathematics. It has also been described as "Zen for roundeyes", and converges with some of the more absurdist interpretations of the Rinzai tradition. Discordianism is said to have been founded in 1958 by Greg Hill (aka Malaclypse the Younger, or Mal-2) and Kerry Thornley (aka Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst). The foundational document of Discordianism is Hill's Principia Discordia. Unlike most religions, which revere the principles of harmony and order in the Universe, Discordianism purports to recognize that disharmony and chaos are equally valid aspects of reality. Discordianism consists almost entirely of playful nonsense, but some feel it has a more serious underlying meaning. The matron deity of Discordianism is Eris, the ancient Greek goddess of discord, whom the Romans identified with their goddess Discordia ... Read on   Not that we needed proof of the divine origins of this religion, but we note that Kerry Thornley (1938 - 1998), the co-founder of Discordianism (in which context he is usually known as Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst), served in the same platoon as Lee Harvey Oswald in 1959, and, in 1961, wrote a book, The Idle Warriors, featuring Oswald as a key character – the only book written about Oswald prior to President John Kennedy's assassination in 1963.   Discordian links   Holydays of Discordia A) Apostle Holydays Mungday Mojoday Syaday Zaraday Maladay Each occurs on the 5th day of each Season B) Season Holydays Chaoflux Discoflux Confuflux Bureflux Afflux Each occurs on the 50th day of the Season C) St Tib's Day – occurs once every 4 years (1+4=5) and is inserted between the 59th and 60th days of the Season of Chaos Discordian calendar    Today in the Discordian Calendar     1933 John Boorman, director 1937 John Hume, politician, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 1941 David Ruffin (d. 1991), singer 1943 Kay Granger, American politician 1944 Paul Keating, 24th Prime Minister of Australia 1946 Joseph Deiss, member of the Swiss Federal Council 1947 Takeshi Kitano, actor and director 1949 Philippe Starck, French designer 1955 Kevin Costner, American actor (Dances With Wolves; The Bodyguard). Kevin Costner and the Queen Britain's Queen Elizabeth was introduced to the director of Dances With Wolves. She said to him,  "I find it quite interesting to meet you. I have a cousin who is a photographer, you know." Kevin Costner: "And I'm quite happy to meet you; I have a cousin who's a queen." 1956 Ray Dolby, inventor of the Dolby noise reduction system 1974 Michael Tunn, Australian TV/radio presenter 1979 Jonathan Davis, lead singer of KoRn   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 Whisper 'I Love You' Day [ Jan 19] Birthdays Shintoism   Spirituality 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 Chinese New Year January 13 Door-To-Door Salespeople Day 13 Blame Someone Else Day 14 Makar Sankranti 14 Pongal 14 Dress Up Your Pet Day 14 Assembly Line Worker's Day 14 Oatmeal Festival (Colorado, USA) 15 Strawberry Ice Cream Day 15 World Religion Day Mid-Jan Martin Luther King, Jr Day, USA 16 Nothing Day Mid-Jan Robert E Lee Day (Alabama, USA) 16 Appreciate a Dragon Day 16 Elementary School Teachers Day 17 Ditch Your New Year's Resolution Day 17 St Anthony's Day 17 Ben Franklin Day 18 Thesaurus Day 18 Metric System Day 19 Whisper "I Love You" Day 19 Popcorn Day 19 Penguin Awareness Day 19 Brew A Potion Day 19 Tin Can Day 20 Cheese Day 20 Stay Young Forever Day 21 Send A Hug Day 21 Polar Bear Festival (Alaska, USA) 22 Come In From The Cold 22 Celebration Of Life Day 23 Pie Day 24 Beer Can Appreciation Day 24 Peanut Butter Day 25 Compliment Day 26 Republic Day (India) 26 Australia Day 27 Chocolate Cake Day 27 Fun At Work Day 27 Thomas Crapper Day 27 Mozart Day 28 Daisy Day 28 Blueberry Pancake Day 28 International Make Your Point Day 28 Kazoo Day 28 Kumquat Festival (Florida, USA) 28 Celtic Festival (Florida, USA) 28 Bald Eagle Day (Illinois, USA) 29 Puzzle Day 29 Bubblegum Sculpture Day 29 Kansas Day 29 Freethinkers' Day 29 Oyster Festival (South Carolina, USA) 30 Jazz Day 31 Backwards Day 31 Hell Is Freezing Over 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   52 BCE Publius Clodius Pulcher (b. c. 92 BCE) was murdered in the Via Appia, Rome. 336 St Mark began his reign as Pope of the Catholic Church. 350 General Magnentius deposed Roman Emperor Constans, proclaiming himself emperor. 474 Death of Leo I (b. 457), emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Leo II became briefly Byzantine emperor. 532 Nika riots in Constantinople failed, 30-40,000 died. 909 The last inscription bearing a Mayan Long Count calendar date in a Mayan monument was dated today, 10.4.0.0.0 in that calendar. "In the year 810 Tikal recorded its final dates. One by one the cities fell still, inscribing no more monuments, until on January 18, 909 (10.4.0.0.0 to the Maya), the last date was carved (at Tonina) and the great machinery of the Long Count calendar ceased to revolve. "What went wrong? As in Rome, all the usual suspects -- war, drought, disease, soil exhaustion, invasion, trade disruption, peasant revolt -- have been questioned. Some of these are too sudden to account for a collapse that took more than a century. But many of these things would flow from ecological malaise. Again, sediment studies show widespread erosion. There are no goats to blame in this case, but small losses each year still added up to bankruptcy. Stone axes are slower than steel, and hoes gentler than ploughs, but enough of them will do the same job in the end."  Ronald Wright, A Short History of Progress, Pages 98-100   Source More 1307 German king Albrecht I named his son, Rudolf, King of Bohemia 1367 Death of King Peter I of Portugal. 1478 Grand Duke Ivan II of Moscow occupied Novgorod. 1479 Louis IX the Rich, duke of Bayern, died aged 61. 1486 The Houses of Lancaster and York were united by the marriage of Henry VII of England (1457 - 1509) to Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of Edward IV. 1520 King Christian II of Denmark and Norway defeated the Swedes at Lake Asunde. 1529 Protestant reformer Hugh Latimer (b. c. 1470) preached a fiery sermon outside St Paul's Cathedral in London, calling on the wicked city to repent lest it suffer the wrath of the Almighty.  He became a bishop and eventually was burned at the stake in Oxford on October 16, 1555. 1535 Deciding that the Inca capital of Cuzco was too far up in the mountains and far from the sea to serve as the Spanish capital of Peru, Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro (1471 - June 26, 1541) founded the city of Lima, which is still the capital. Just over two years earlier, on November 16, 1532, Pizarro had seized Incan emperor Atahualpa (c. 1502 - August 29, 1533) after victory at Cajamarca, Peru. Pizarro had just 168 men and Atahualpa had 80,000 battle-hardened soldiers who had recently defeated an indigenous enemy. However, the Spaniards had iron swords, guns, horses and armour, which the Incas did not. The result: one of history's most incredible battles, and it was all over in one afternoon. If it's new to you, I think you'll find the incredible tale of the Battle of Cajamarca fascinating. 1573 In Dôle, eastern France, Gilles Garnier, who confessed to eating children while he was in the form of a werewolf, was convicted of lycanthropy and witchcraft and burnt alive. "At Dole … Gilles Garnier, a native of Lyons, was indicted for being a loupgarou, or man-wolf, and for prowling in that shape about the country at night to devour little children. The indictment against him, as read by Henri Camus, doctor of laws and counsellor of the King, was to the effect that he, Gilles Garnier, had seized upon a little girl, twelve years of age, whom he drew into a vineyard and there killed, partly with his teeth and partly with his hands, seeming like wolf's paws -- that from thence he trailed her bleeding body along the ground with his teeth into the wood of La Serre, where he ate the greatest portion of her at one meal, and carried the remainder home to his wife; that, upon another occasion, eight days before the festival of All Saints, he was seen to seize another child in his teeth, and would have devoured her had she not been rescued by the country-people -- and that the said child died a few days afterwards of the injuries he had inflicted; that fifteen days after the same festival of All Saints, being again in the shape of a wolf, he devoured a boy thirteen years of age, having previously torn off his leg and thigh with his teeth, and hid them away for his breakfast on the morrow. He was, furthermore, indicted for giving way to the same diabolical and unnatural propensities even in his shape of a man, and that he had strangled a boy in a wood with the intention of eating him, which crime he would have effected if he had not been seen by the neighhours and prevented. "Gilles Garnier was put to the rack, after fifty witnesses had deposed against him: he confessed everything that was laid to his charge. He was, thereupon, brought back into the presence of his judges, when Dr. Camus, in the name of the Parliament of Dole, pronounced the following sentence:-- "'Seeing that Gilles Garnier has, by the testimony of credible witnesses, and by his own spontaneous confession, been proved guilty of the abominable crimes of lycanthropy and witchcraft, this court condemns him, the said Gilles, to be this day taken in a cart from this spot to the place of execution, accompanied by the executioner (maitre executeur de la haute justice), where he, by the said executioner, shall be tied to a stake and burned alive, and that his ashes be then scattered to the winds. The Court further condemns him, the said Gilles, to the costs of this prosecution. "'Given at Dole, this 18th day of January, 1573.'"   Source 1644 New World: Confused Pilgrims in Boston reported America's first UFO sighting. (I have no further information on this info which is found commonly on the Net.) 1670 English privateer Henry Morgan defeated Spanish defenders and captured Panama. Morgan and his forces entered the city, refreshed themselves with food and wine, then began sacking the wealthy city. One hundred and fifty mules were needed to carry the treasure back to the ships; however, tense relations with his men are supposed to have caused Morgan to abscond with most of the booty. Source: The Daily Bleed 1701 Frederick I became King of Prussia. 1777 USA: Baltimore newspaper publisher and postmaster Mary Katherine Goddard produced the first printed copy of the US Declaration of Independence. 1778 On his third voyage of discovery in the HMS Resolution, Captain James Cook became the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he renamed the 'Sandwich Islands'. 1788 Captain Arthur Phillip (1738 - 1814) dropped anchor at Botany Bay, eastern Australia, in HMS Supply. Botany Bay, which is just outside Sydney, became a feared name in Britain as a place of transportation for prisoners. 1835 Native American princess Diving Mouse, 26-year-old squaw of Michigan tribe chief Muk Coonee (Little Boar) was to have been presented to King William of England at the palace, but she sickened and died on the day. 1843 Giuseppe Verdi's opera, I Lombardi, opened in Milan. 1861 The American State of Georgia joined the Confederacy. 1862 The Confederacy suffered its first significant defeat in the American Civil War at the Battle of Mill Springs. 1862 Death of John Tyler (b. 1790), former President of the United States, member of the Congress of the Confederate States of America. 1863 USA: Apache chief Mangas Coloradas was killed on the orders of Joseph Rodman West, Brigadier General of the Union Army and future senator from Louisiana, after several of West's troopers and a party of miners raised a white flag at Pinos Altos in a symbolic invitation to a council for peace. More 1871 Wilhelm I of Germany became the first German Emperor. 1873 Death of Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (b. 1803), author.   1882 On a successful speaking tour of America, the young Irish playwright, Oscar Wilde, newly famous at home and abroad, visited 62-year-old Walt Whitman. Wilde had gained much notice in newspapers across England, the USA and Canada with articles about his talent and flamboyant ways, adding to his international popularity. Now, the gifted and ambitious 27-year-old had ventured on a North American tour with 125 lectures booked in more than 100 locations, speaking on such topics as 'The English Renaissance,' 'The Decorative Arts' and 'The House Beautiful'. Despite some hostility from some more puritanical parts of America, Wilde had been not only been well received in New York, he was actually lionised in that cosmopolitan city. While in Philadelphia, his second stop on the lecture tour, the Irish playwright and poet had mentioned that he did "so hope to meet Mr Whitman. Perhaps he is not widely read in England, but England never appreciates a poet until he is dead. There is something so Greek and sane about his poetry, it is so universal, so comprehensive. It has all the pantheism of Goethe and Schiller."  Although initially Whitman declined an invitation for a meeting, perhaps he read Wilde's encomium in the press and a card soon arrived at Wilde's hotel: "Walt Whitman will be in from 2 till 3½ this afternoon and will be most happy to see Mr. Wilde and Mr. Stoddart" (referring also to Wilde's friend, JM Stoddart). "I come as a poet to call upon a poet" The dandy Wilde found the roughly attired Whitman at the American poet's simple abode in nearby Camden, New Jersey where he lived with his brother and sister-in-law. "I come as a poet to call upon a poet," announced Oscar Wilde, who then explained to Whitman how, as a boy, his mother had read Leaves of Grass aloud to him. This pleased the aging poet, and the two geniuses, so different in many ways, consumed a bottle of Walt's sister-in-law's elderberry wine. That done, they adjourned to Whitman's den "to be on thee and thou terms" as Whitman expressed it. They discussed aesthetics for an hour – Whitman explaining that he tried to make his verse "look all neat and pretty on the pages, like the epitaph on a square tombstone". However, the aging man would not go as far as Wilde in the extolling literary beauty for its own sake. "Why, Oscar," he remonstrated, "it always seems to me that the fellow who makes a dead set at beauty by itself is in a bad way." The two got on very well, however, and Oscar's famed barbs were well sheathed throughout what to him was an important and honoured encounter. When a friend of the Irishman remarked that, given Wilde's fine tastes, the elderberry wine must have been below his usual tipple, Oscar replied: "If it had been vinegar, I should have drunk it all the same." Monty Python's Oscar Wilde Sketch Wilde and Whitman meet, sort of (a poem by your almanackist)   1896 The X-ray machine was exhibited for the first time. 1911 Eugene B Ely landed on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania stationed in San Francisco Harbor, marking the first time an aircraft had landed on a ship. 1915 Japan issued the 'Twenty-One Demands' to China in a bid to increase its power in east Asia. 1919 World War I: The Paris Peace Conference opened in Versailles, France. 1919 Bentley Motors was founded. 1919 The Food Relief Committee first met, Paris. 1939 Louis Armstrong recorded 'Jeepers Creepers'. 1943 World War II: Soviet officials announced they had broken the Wehrmacht's siege of Leningrad.   1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: The first uprising of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto. 1944 The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City for the first time hosted a jazz concert; the performers were Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, Roy Eldridge and Jack Teagarden. 1948 India: The Peace Committee signed and presented the 'Peace Pledge' to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi; 1869 - 1948), Indian leader and proponent of civil disobedience, who broke his fast by taking orange juice. Gandhi Timeline 1964 Plans were revealed for the World Trade Center in New York City. 1964 The Beatles appeared on the Billboard magazine charts for the first time. 1967 USA: Albert DeSalvo, the 'Boston Strangler', was convicted of numerous crimes and sentenced to life in prison. 1972 In Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Ian Smith's government placed former prime minister Garfield Todd and his daughter under house arrest. 1972 Australian feminist author, Germaine Greer launched her book The Female Eunuch in her home country. 1975 The Jeffersons debuted on CBS. 1977 Scientists identified a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious 'Legionnaires disease'. 1977 Granville Railway Disaster, Australia: Eighty-three people were killed and at least 210 injured in the Granville, New South Wales train crash – Australia's worst rail disaster. Coincidentally, on November 24, 1936, a rail disaster occurred near Granville Station, Chicago, USA. From my cousin Ken Howard's website: "Ken, as a former police officer, was involved as a rescuer in the Granville Train Disaster in Sydney in 1977. However, back in 1936 (Nov. 24), there was another 'Granville' station train wreck, this time in Chicago (USA). The accident happened between 'Wilson' and "'Howard' stations. Ken's mother's maiden name was Wilson." Aha! Synchronicity Central: log coincidences, premonitions, & other weird stuff 1978 The European Court of Human Rights found the United Kingdom government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture. 1978 At the end of the last show of the Sex Pistols' US tour, Johnny Rotten sneered at his San Francisco audience, "How does it feel to be swindled?" The next morning he announced the group was history, blaming manager Malcolm McLaren for "sensationalizing" everything about the band. That afternoon Sid Vicious was taken unconscious off their London bound plane in New York and rushed to a hospital. He was treated for an overdose of barbiturates and alcohol. Johnny Rotten's website     Wilson's Almanac Book of Days hip list   1979 The Money Pit mystery of Oak Island (Nova Scotia, Canada) was the subject of an episode of the television series, In Search of ..., which first aired, bringing the legend of Oak Island to a wider audience. Oak Island Treasure Tales    The Mystery Pit of Oak Island    The Oak Island Enigma    More 1990 USA: Former pre-school operators Raymond Buckey and his mother Peggy McMartin Buckey were acquitted in a Los Angeles, California court of 52 child molestation charges. 1990 Washington, DC: In an FBI sting, Mayor Marion Barry was arrested for drug possession. 1991 USA: Eastern Airlines shut down after 62 years, citing financial problems. 1991 Massive anti-Gulf War demonstrations broke out across the USA, with 1,400 arrested. 1991 The search began for a group of 39 Chinese boat people near the north-west coast of Australia. 1993 For the first time, the Martin Luther King Jr holiday was officially observed in all 50 United States states. 1995 In southern France, near Vallon-Pont-d'Arc, a network of caves was discovered that contain paintings and engravings that are 17,000 to 20,000 years old. 1997 In north-west Rwanda, Hutu militia members killed 3 Spanish aid workers and 3 soldiers and seriously wounded one other. 1997 Børge Ousland (Boerge Ousland) of Norway became the first person to cross Antarctica alone and unaided. 1998 The Lewinsky scandal: Matt Drudge broke the Bill Clinton - Monica Lewinsky affair story on his website The Drudge Report. 2002 USA: A Canadian Pacific Railway train carrying anhydrous ammonia derailed outside of Minot, North Dakota, killing one man and calling into question the maintenance of CP track and the policy of voice-tracking used by Clear Channel Communications. 2003 Australia: Canberra firestorm, the second most expensive in Australian history, behind the calamitous Ash Wednesday fires of 1983. Over the next ten days, four people died and more than 500 homes and thousands of hectares of forest around the national capital were destroyed or severely damaged, requiring a massive relief and reconstruction effort. 2005 Kobe, Japan: A UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction began.   Tomorrow: Edgar Allan Poe; Feast of Thor    Main calendar | Yesterday | Tomorrow | Search     Millihelen: The unit of beauty required to launch one ship.     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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